Any one know some Silent Image tricks? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Any one know some Silent Image tricks? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
HermitIX
08-15-07, 05:07 PM My wizard has Craft (Painting). I decided that because he likes to paint he is really in to the illusion spells; Primarily the Silent Image/Minor Image tree.

My question is, “Can any of you give me some clever ideas for a painter wizard using these spells?”

Thank you.
ravenshrike
08-15-07, 06:22 PM When being chased by people on horseback find a drop off, bog, or some quicksand and make like bugs bunny.
ZocckCastlestorm
08-15-07, 07:33 PM Hi, I have a few ideas for you:

1) Use Silent Image like a Computer/Holographic Projector(in 3 D) to show others something that you've seen, like a the guy that grabbed you belt pouch and ran off with it-that way everyone knows what the thief looks like! Or perhaps to show a 3-D model of the Map your PC's are talking about("This is the Tower of Doom. Notice the repaired areas...")

2) Teaching tool, like a 3-D chalk board.
tiercel
08-15-07, 07:41 PM Ha, yes, the first thought that popped into my mind was Wile E. Coyote vs Roadrunner. Meep meep!

I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for but mostly it seems thematic to me... you could "paint" your illusions in the air using your paintbrush as an impromptu unofficial focus. You could freak friends/enemies out when defending ground by having mundane paintings of your creation hanging/sitting around, and then have illusions of the beings in the paintings seemingly come to life and step out of the paintings.

You could use paintings as an "alternate form" of scrolls or potions (as discussed in Complete Arcane) -- functionally identical in game-mechanics terms, but to activate the item you're actually placing the drawing/painting somewhere to activate the illusion contained within.

Heck, you could use your paintbrush as a sort of magic wand (more in the Harry Potter wand tradition rather than the D&D wand) for non-illusions as well -- when you want to teleport somewhere, you paint your destination in the air. When you baleful polymorph an enemy, you "paint over" him with his new shape. And so on.

I think it goes without saying you will want to get your hands on some marvelous pigments (DMG/SRD), especially if you use some of the techniques above with your spells.
HellflameArcanite
08-15-07, 08:10 PM Actually, the idea of creations coming to life interests me...your opponents are much more likely to run if they see that you can conjure a dragon from a painting, especially if there's a picture of something even more terrifying nearby!
EpicEvokerElf
08-15-07, 09:48 PM Get Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments. Now.
kjenks
08-15-07, 11:15 PM "Summon an earth elemental" was always one of my favorites. It comes up out of the earth and waves about threateningly.

Wall of Stone is pretty effective. Observers only get a saving throw if they interact with it, and who's going to interact with what is obviously a featureless wall?

Check out the Races of Stone alternative skill use for Sleight of Hand to disguise spellcasting. (Trained only.) Disguising your spell is important when facing creatures who have ranks in Spellcraft since they could figure out that you're casting a Silent Image -- and that spoils the whole thing.

It's a good idea to actually summon a real earth elemental before casting your Silent Image. It not only gives credence to your later illusion, it provides a distraction for your opponent's Spot check vs. your Sleight of Hand (-5 penalty).
spamfiltre
08-16-07, 04:58 PM Silent Image is very good at hiding your entire party. Create the image of natural terrain in front of you that merges with the real terrain. Need to hide from aerial surveillance? An image of the ground beneath your feet, 10' off the ground is hard to beat. Need some backup in the middle of a large battle? there's already a lot of noise from clanking armor and weapons, shouts between party members about who to attack, etc. that the "reinforcements" coming around the corner don't need to make noise (this only works if your DM rewards creativity - I like it for a quick enemy morale check).

Of course, there's the ever-popular cover for a pit.
Puca
08-16-07, 05:14 PM Illusions are good for battlefield control.

Move the enemy to where you want them to be:
Maybe they are enjoying some cover or concealment and you want them out of there? An illusion of a creature that scares them more than your archers will make them move.

Keep them from going where you dont want them to go:
You dont want your other casters or archers getting caught in melee. Walls are good for this. Of course, sometimes they are willing to break down a wall. Especially if arrows keep coming through it. On the other hand, Ive yet to see anyone willingly cross a field of Evards Black Tentacles. (Look at other spells to get ideas for illusions.)

Divide and conquer:
A party of 4 or 5 might have a hard time with 10 or 12 creatures, even low-level ones. But they can mop up a group of 4 or 6 low-level creatures in a round or less. Walls and other obstacles can split your opponents, but making a second front of illusory “allies” can split them up as well.

The key thing with images is deciding what you want your opponents to do. Once you have that, it is pretty easy and fun to come up with ways to motivate them to do it.
Mindolin
08-16-07, 05:51 PM Combo Silent Image with Ghost Sound to have a ghost appear and let Ghost Sound be the wailing. It's incorporal, so attacks against it should not give a will save to disbelieve. It will probably scare them enough for them to run away.

Actually, this would work for any incorporal creatures.
BW0222
08-16-07, 11:01 PM HermitIX,

Any one know some Silent Image tricks?

It applies to many types of illusions, but...

First, hit them with the real thing first. For example, web them. Next make an illusionary web of more hallway behind them. Most folks after seeing the real things won't even bother with the fake. Summon a real hellhound and (while they are fighting it) summon an illusionary one in front of you.

Second, try precasting the illusion. For example, make a wall of stone blocking some place. Likely folks won't even bother touching it.

Third, make illusions that folks don't wish to (or can't easily) touch. For example, an illusionary fire elemental in the middle of a wall of fire which you cast. A flying or spiderclimbing creature somewhere they can't easily get up to. Cast stinking cloud and then an illusionary troll skeleton in the middle of it.

Forth, use it areas where folks can't get missile weapons at it. For example, cast wind wall, and then put some illusionary ghouls next to you.

Fifth, use it for concealment. A wall, fog, boxes, crafts, etc. in order for a friendly PCs to hide behind. Allow the rogue to get his sneak attack in easily.

Sixth, use it to fool folks in terms of the actual situation. For example, make an illusion of a floor above a pit, or make an illusionary stairway leading up to where you are... so folks don't notice the ladder.

Seven, for creatures, try undead or creatures with weird resistances. Shadows, wraith, etc. are extremely scaring and often force folks to waste time with holy water, turn attempts, etc. Most are also fairly quiet, so lack of sound isn't as much of an issue. They may also assume they missed due it being incorporial (if they fail their will save). They are also useful, because when you are ready to stop concentrating, you can have them move through walls. Folks may still think they are around. Were creatures might cause folks to waste time getting out silver, oozes might have them getting out special materials, etc.

Eight, don't go overboard. Don't make illusions of trolls at 1st-level or dragons or anything. Go with simple things which you likely could summon and at those type of levels.

Nine, if you can... try making the area as noisy as possible and illusions which don't make much noise. Alarm spells, sound burts, other PCs yelling as much as possible, etc.

Final bit of advice, don't over use the spell much past low-levels. By mid-levels it is rarely worth the concentration time.
NobodyRemembersThis
08-17-07, 03:20 AM Hide in a corner and then "paint" a copy of the empty corner over yourself. It's like hiding under the drapes, only better because they can't see your feet.
Mordent_Sage
08-17-07, 03:33 AM This one's more useful for the DM, but...

Create some illusions of humans, elves etc (whatever's on your party). Send them against your foes. The illusions advance silently, and the start of combat shows them to be illusions.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Cast silence on your party, and advance in the same way as the illusions did. Most likely, you'll be ignored as "just another illusion". This should buy you time to get into good combat positions (flanking etc), and should buy you a few rounds of confusion, as those enemies that aren't being attacked take a while to realise that you're not illusions.
Knightblde
08-17-07, 11:52 AM I just used it on another PC in a battle. I 'play' an arrogant character that tells you when he is about to attack. I rode out to about 100' from the gate to his keep in the middle of the night. I 'light' a torch so that they could see me and demanded they send out a third PC so that I could kill him. They answered with spells targeted at my illusion. Of course they then knew it was fake, but they already lost three of their best spells for the day!

It worked wonderfully!

As far as it being silent, I just yelled 'through' it but they had no idea I was not in the correct spot. The distance made it so that low light vision was not an issue and made all spot checks they got to make a severe penalities!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
HermitIX 08-15-07, 05:07 PM	My wizard has Craft (Painting). I decided that because he likes to paint he is really in to the illusion spells; Primarily the Silent Image/Minor Image tree. My question is, “Can any of you give me some clever ideas for a painter wizard using these spells?” Thank you.
ravenshrike 08-15-07, 06:22 PM	When being chased by people on horseback find a drop off, bog, or some quicksand and make like bugs bunny.
ZocckCastlestorm 08-15-07, 07:33 PM	Hi, I have a few ideas for you: 1) Use Silent Image like a Computer/Holographic Projector(in 3 D) to show others something that you've seen, like a the guy that grabbed you belt pouch and ran off with it-that way everyone knows what the thief looks like! Or perhaps to show a 3-D model of the Map your PC's are talking about("This is the Tower of Doom. Notice the repaired areas...") 2) Teaching tool, like a 3-D chalk board.
tiercel 08-15-07, 07:41 PM	Ha, yes, the first thought that popped into my mind was Wile E. Coyote vs Roadrunner. Meep meep! I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for but mostly it seems thematic to me... you could "paint" your illusions in the air using your paintbrush as an impromptu unofficial focus. You could freak friends/enemies out when defending ground by having mundane paintings of your creation hanging/sitting around, and then have illusions of the beings in the paintings seemingly come to life and step out of the paintings. You could use paintings as an "alternate form" of scrolls or potions (as discussed in Complete Arcane) -- functionally identical in game-mechanics terms, but to activate the item you're actually placing the drawing/painting somewhere to activate the illusion contained within. Heck, you could use your paintbrush as a sort of magic wand (more in the Harry Potter wand tradition rather than the D&D wand) for non-illusions as well -- when you want to teleport somewhere, you paint your destination in the air. When you baleful polymorph an enemy, you "paint over" him with his new shape. And so on. I think it goes without saying you will want to get your hands on some marvelous pigments (DMG/SRD), especially if you use some of the techniques above with your spells.
HellflameArcanite 08-15-07, 08:10 PM	Actually, the idea of creations coming to life interests me...your opponents are much more likely to run if they see that you can conjure a dragon from a painting, especially if there's a picture of something even more terrifying nearby!
EpicEvokerElf 08-15-07, 09:48 PM	Get Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments. Now.
kjenks 08-15-07, 11:15 PM	"Summon an earth elemental" was always one of my favorites. It comes up out of the earth and waves about threateningly. Wall of Stone is pretty effective. Observers only get a saving throw if they interact with it, and who's going to interact with what is obviously a featureless wall? Check out the Races of Stone alternative skill use for Sleight of Hand to disguise spellcasting. (Trained only.) Disguising your spell is important when facing creatures who have ranks in Spellcraft since they could figure out that you're casting a Silent Image -- and that spoils the whole thing. It's a good idea to actually summon a real earth elemental before casting your Silent Image. It not only gives credence to your later illusion, it provides a distraction for your opponent's Spot check vs. your Sleight of Hand (-5 penalty).
spamfiltre 08-16-07, 04:58 PM	Silent Image is very good at hiding your entire party. Create the image of natural terrain in front of you that merges with the real terrain. Need to hide from aerial surveillance? An image of the ground beneath your feet, 10' off the ground is hard to beat. Need some backup in the middle of a large battle? there's already a lot of noise from clanking armor and weapons, shouts between party members about who to attack, etc. that the "reinforcements" coming around the corner don't need to make noise (this only works if your DM rewards creativity - I like it for a quick enemy morale check). Of course, there's the ever-popular cover for a pit.
Puca 08-16-07, 05:14 PM	Illusions are good for battlefield control. Move the enemy to where you want them to be: Maybe they are enjoying some cover or concealment and you want them out of there? An illusion of a creature that scares them more than your archers will make them move. Keep them from going where you dont want them to go: You dont want your other casters or archers getting caught in melee. Walls are good for this. Of course, sometimes they are willing to break down a wall. Especially if arrows keep coming through it. On the other hand, Ive yet to see anyone willingly cross a field of Evards Black Tentacles. (Look at other spells to get ideas for illusions.) Divide and conquer: A party of 4 or 5 might have a hard time with 10 or 12 creatures, even low-level ones. But they can mop up a group of 4 or 6 low-level creatures in a round or less. Walls and other obstacles can split your opponents, but making a second front of illusory “allies” can split them up as well. The key thing with images is deciding what you want your opponents to do. Once you have that, it is pretty easy and fun to come up with ways to motivate them to do it.
Mindolin 08-16-07, 05:51 PM	Combo Silent Image with Ghost Sound to have a ghost appear and let Ghost Sound be the wailing. It's incorporal, so attacks against it should not give a will save to disbelieve. It will probably scare them enough for them to run away. Actually, this would work for any incorporal creatures.
BW0222 08-16-07, 11:01 PM	HermitIX, Any one know some Silent Image tricks? It applies to many types of illusions, but... First, hit them with the real thing first. For example, web them. Next make an illusionary web of more hallway behind them. Most folks after seeing the real things won't even bother with the fake. Summon a real hellhound and (while they are fighting it) summon an illusionary one in front of you. Second, try precasting the illusion. For example, make a wall of stone blocking some place. Likely folks won't even bother touching it. Third, make illusions that folks don't wish to (or can't easily) touch. For example, an illusionary fire elemental in the middle of a wall of fire which you cast. A flying or spiderclimbing creature somewhere they can't easily get up to. Cast stinking cloud and then an illusionary troll skeleton in the middle of it. Forth, use it areas where folks can't get missile weapons at it. For example, cast wind wall, and then put some illusionary ghouls next to you. Fifth, use it for concealment. A wall, fog, boxes, crafts, etc. in order for a friendly PCs to hide behind. Allow the rogue to get his sneak attack in easily. Sixth, use it to fool folks in terms of the actual situation. For example, make an illusion of a floor above a pit, or make an illusionary stairway leading up to where you are... so folks don't notice the ladder. Seven, for creatures, try undead or creatures with weird resistances. Shadows, wraith, etc. are extremely scaring and often force folks to waste time with holy water, turn attempts, etc. Most are also fairly quiet, so lack of sound isn't as much of an issue. They may also assume they missed due it being incorporial (if they fail their will save). They are also useful, because when you are ready to stop concentrating, you can have them move through walls. Folks may still think they are around. Were creatures might cause folks to waste time getting out silver, oozes might have them getting out special materials, etc. Eight, don't go overboard. Don't make illusions of trolls at 1st-level or dragons or anything. Go with simple things which you likely could summon and at those type of levels. Nine, if you can... try making the area as noisy as possible and illusions which don't make much noise. Alarm spells, sound burts, other PCs yelling as much as possible, etc. Final bit of advice, don't over use the spell much past low-levels. By mid-levels it is rarely worth the concentration time.
NobodyRemembersThis 08-17-07, 03:20 AM	Hide in a corner and then "paint" a copy of the empty corner over yourself. It's like hiding under the drapes, only better because they can't see your feet.
Mordent_Sage 08-17-07, 03:33 AM	This one's more useful for the DM, but... Create some illusions of humans, elves etc (whatever's on your party). Send them against your foes. The illusions advance silently, and the start of combat shows them to be illusions. Repeat. Repeat. Cast silence on your party, and advance in the same way as the illusions did. Most likely, you'll be ignored as "just another illusion". This should buy you time to get into good combat positions (flanking etc), and should buy you a few rounds of confusion, as those enemies that aren't being attacked take a while to realise that you're not illusions.
Knightblde 08-17-07, 11:52 AM	I just used it on another PC in a battle. I 'play' an arrogant character that tells you when he is about to attack. I rode out to about 100' from the gate to his keep in the middle of the night. I 'light' a torch so that they could see me and demanded they send out a third PC so that I could kill him. They answered with spells targeted at my illusion. Of course they then knew it was fake, but they already lost three of their best spells for the day! It worked wonderfully! As far as it being silent, I just yelled 'through' it but they had no idea I was not in the correct spot. The distance made it so that low light vision was not an issue and made all spot checks they got to make a severe penalities!