Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Orguth the Brawler 01-24-05, 01:30 PM	I, Orguth the Brawler, do hereby dedicate this thread to the propagation of the subtle and deceptive school of magic; Illusion. This place is to be a forum for the discussion of cleverly used illusion spells, new items and spells dealing with illusion, and the power deception has allowed characters to wield in their games. We wish to promote the use of Illusion magic among Dungeons and Dragons spellcasters by revealing to them the utility and power granted by controlling what others percieve. Hearken unto me then, and remember always two fundamental truths; things are not always as they seem, and it doesn't have to be real to kill you...
Orguth the Brawler 01-24-05, 01:43 PM	I shall commence discussion by offering the following subject, as an icebreaker of sorts: cleverly used illusion spells. I submit two of the following, which I have not performed personally but are the best I've heard tell of. A party of PCs is fleeing from a horde of orcs they had angered and weren't able to subdue. The party fled into a forest, a few minutes ahead of the orcs. The party wizard used a Hallucinatory Terrain spell to alter the forest in an unusual manner - he made it appear as though all the trees were two feet to the left of their actual locations. The orcs floundered and fell behind, and the party escaped. This one's a nasty trick I heard about; the party is set to enter an illusionist's fortress in order to destroy him. The party, forewarned of the specialty of the wizard they were seeking to confront, all invested in Goggles of True Seeing, so they would be immune to his spells. Only one member declined, reasoning that this was a tad unfair and that if there was a problem his party would tell him. However, upon entering the second chamber of the castle, the PC without the goggles looked to either side of him to discover all his party members turned to stone. The illusionist had Medusa servants in the room, hidden behind an illusionary wall; the Goggles of True Seeing the party was wearing allowed them to fall victim to their gaze attacks. Please describe any experiences you have had where clever application of a spell saved you, or allowed you to surmount an obstacle, or any other tale of illusion you've heard tell of.
thasis 01-24-05, 05:58 PM	Thasis the Neutrul walks into the clever guild of illusionism. "I have been in hiding since my guild was abandoned. Well it is time for me to re-amerge. I wish to join this rather intressting guild."
Orguth the Brawler 01-25-05, 08:12 PM	Greetings, Thasis, Initiate of the Unseeable Hand. You are now the 1st member of the Foundation for the Illusory Arts. I, Lord High Illusionary, do hereby welcome you. It is perhaps a shame that the Foundation is so thoroughly concealed; trying it is for those who might otherwise be interested to find our haven. One wonders if some advertisement might be in order...[Ponders] Yes. I think I shall send Projections to those who might have an interest.
Aramar the Black 01-25-05, 10:39 PM	A black-cloaked half-elf walks into the young guild; seeming as though he has something on his mind. "A guild of illlusion. Quite interesting. Perception is indeed a mighty tool, making up the most of our world. This might be fun. i have an interest in joining this guild. What do you say?" Anyone read Complete Arcane yet? The section on illusionists? And, is there a spell in which it is possilbe to make a whole landscape appear different, to all but the caster, and the people wihin the landscape can hide behind buildings and whatnot? And, being a fairly new DM, my group has progressed little, and have only use the basics of illusion. Leading orcs in the wrongs direction, etc.
cambric 01-26-05, 09:02 AM	A gnome bard, who specialiazes in illusions, would love to sing the tales of well used placed illusions...for who knows when such valuable information can best be used. (new character, who will be starting within the next few weeks, so definitely am intersted!)
thasis 01-26-05, 07:29 PM	Hmmm, I'm glad you have some activity. Boy, this guild seriously gives me a reason to use my Thasis the Neutrul character. He's been hiding for a long time. I think I'm going to use him as a mercanary in the battle between good and evil.
Cazic 01-26-05, 11:56 PM	As you all talk a figure moves throw the shadows unseen to you all. He moves about the guild taking everything in without so much noice as a mouse would scrurring along the floor. After looking around he nods to himself and steps into the light revealling himself. He is a small human not larger than a Gnome. He is wearing loose fittting cloths all around him the color of desert sand. He holds a staff twice his size with a golde eye on the top that has two rings coming out of it. He also wears a board around his neck half his size with a eye painted on it. "Hello gentalmen. I believe we could learn from each other...."
Orguth the Brawler 01-31-05, 01:48 PM	Greetings, Aramar the Black, Cambric, Trickster, Initiates of the Unseeable Hand. You are now the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th members of the Foundation for the Illusory Arts. I, Lord High Illusionary, do hereby welcome you. And, is there a spell in which it is possilbe to make a whole landscape appear different, to all but the caster, and the people wihin the landscape can hide behind buildings and whatnot? I would suggest Mirage Arcana, Bard 5 Wizard/Sorcerer 5, to be found on page 254 of the Player's Handbook. It is a complete illusion, covering all the senses, and allows the alteration or addition of structures. As the caster, you know what's real and what's not, and anyone can hide themselves within the illusion, as they could if the terrain were real. Seems to fit the bill.
Cazic 01-31-05, 06:44 PM	Greetings, Aramar the Black, Cambric, Cazic, Initiates of the Unseeable Hand. You are now the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th members of the Foundation for the Illusory Arts. I, Lord High Illusionary, do hereby welcome you. The small figure looks around the room. "Cazic? Is that Drow here? I dont see him." The short human continues to look around the room confused and a little mad. "Are you letting in people that aren't even here? And hey why didn't you say my name? Are not going to let me in this little group? Well then see if I ever give you any of MY meatbunns!" This is my Trickster character. Cazic is my wizard. :D
Aramar the Black 01-31-05, 09:53 PM	Heh. :) Confusions and illusions are already setting in.
Cazic 02-01-05, 08:09 PM	Heh. :) Confusions and illusions are already setting in. As it should be. :D
Frostbite_Ravenheart 02-01-05, 10:15 PM	A good-looking Halfling walks crosses into the realm. "Tis a pleasure to meet ye'r aquintance laddies!" The halfling eyed the gnome who seemed to share his trade "Well then lads, I'm a hopin that yer gonna be exceptin another little bard to add some music to yer bag of tricks." Not a great intro - but it will do ;). I tried my best to make a scottish accent, but its just so hard! -Frosty
Orguth the Brawler 02-07-05, 04:24 PM	Greetings, Frostbite_Ravenheart, Initiate of the Unseeable Hand. You are now the 5th member of the Foundation for the Illusory Arts. I, Lord High Illusionary, do hereby welcome you. "Are you letting in people that aren't even here? And hey why didn't you say my name? Are not going to let me in this little group? Well then see if I ever give you any of MY meatbunns!" Are you so certain, my friend? Look again... As you gaze at the offending record, the objectionable portion wavers and morphs, flowing into a new name. Your name.
Cazic 02-07-05, 07:41 PM	Are you so certain, my friend? Look again... As you gaze at the offending record, the objectionable portion wavers and morphs, flowing into a new name. Your name. "Yes...clever...." :D
I wish I was 02-19-05, 02:26 PM	Well, this is an interesting guild. I always fancied divination, but one must respect one's enemy. I would be interested in joining here. I recall once, in a battle against another sneak, I used a minor image of my self about 10 feet in front of me while a crept in the shadows, crossbow at the ready. And was able to draw my rival out and kill him.
Cazic 02-20-05, 12:25 AM	We are glad to have you in our guild I wish I was.
Cazic 02-21-05, 10:14 PM	I believe the guild may gain from this spell casting class. (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=5392278#post5392278)
I wish I was 02-22-05, 07:48 PM	Well this foundation certainly is not the most active, but so be it. Cazic, that class is enteresting, but a little too powerful, but you are probably still working on it. I would go for more of a rogue/illusionist, bard, or something for an Illusion user, then cleric/wizard or something, but yeah, it is still pretty dang cool. That's about it then, bye.
najoom 02-22-05, 07:48 PM	a dark cloaked man around 5'9 in hight walks into the guild greetings i am najoom(you notice you realy cat make out any distnctions about him and you can barely see his face,when he speaks his voice seems dioslocated and seperate from his body)"i am an illusionost and have dedicated ny entire life to the field"he sais whilst somewhat gliding around the room in and out of the shadows (while he walks his outline seems to triple and the collers blur into a transparent mixture of shadow and and himself his steps are uneven an dont match any other patern you see or here of his movement and yet still his movement seems very gracefull, his words echoe in each direction and words form from all around) i have never exposed what i look like to enyone the person i was before the arkane power engulfed me is gone and so is his life all that is left of himis I. a man wandering through life without a home a mercenary of sorts a disembodied soul serching for knowledge,just another persone another name to remember nothing more(with that all of the pieces of his being stoped and merged together 4 feet in front of you, he extends his hand tword you in a smooth motion)"pleased to meat you" coool huh :D
Cazic 02-22-05, 11:04 PM	Well this foundation certainly is not the most active, but so be it. Cazic, that class is enteresting, but a little too powerful, but you are probably still working on it. I would go for more of a rogue/illusionist, bard, or something for an Illusion user, then cleric/wizard or something, but yeah, it is still pretty dang cool. That's about it then, bye. yay still working any comments please make at the thread.
Orguth the Brawler 02-23-05, 11:25 AM	Greetings, I wish I was, najoom, Initiates of the Unseeable Hand. You are now the 6th and 7th members of the Foundation for the Illusory Arts. I, Lord High Illusionary, do hereby welcome you. My apologies for my absence. Deceptions and arcane mysteries to weave in real life, most regrettably. I have two questions to pose to my guild members (and any others who'd care to join or comment): First, rules semantics. There are a few of the higher-level illusions that allow tactile sensation; meaning, for example, a building would feel real and could be essentially interacted with as real by the one who believes it to be real. My question then is thus; if you cast a spell creating a two-story illusory building with tactile effects, can you yourself, as the caster, stand in the second floor? Secondly, what is everyone's favorite illusion spell? I find myself terribly fond of Project Image - casting spells from an illusory likeness of myself appeals immensely in terms of entertainment value. Besides, who can say no to being able to cast your spells while free from immediate harm?
najoom 02-24-05, 04:43 PM	"nice to be welcomed for a chang" he says while shakeing your hand"you wouldnt believe how racist some guilds are OH you have to be a dwarf . so i decided not to get mad i made them think they hit anundergrount water channel which flooded the place acording to the dwarves , so they had to mine a new place.. and i gained a dungeon"
najoom 02-26-05, 10:51 AM	well does anyone have any interesting storys about illusions. for instance how you use them ihave people hateing me and loveing me the same peron even she thinks iam the guy who killed her dad, which i am not i simplyy looked like him to infiltrate the asassain guild i also met her in myt normal state and told her i would get revenge on the guy so what i did was found the guy, killed him made myself look like him , wondereed around the town untill i was informed of a job at the asassains guild , folowefd the guy to the guild on the way i saw her and she saw me and followed me to the guild now i didnt know she had followed me to the guild so when i was there being debriefed on the job one of the guards came in holdig her off the ground (oh shes around 17 and in the form of me she knows i am 23) by her arm and threw her on the ground in front of us when she didnt move at first my mind started playing through all the possible scenarios , then the guard said he just put sleeping powder on her and i was filled with relief untill they started talkking about ransomeing her and then killing her when they got the money , they ended up chaneing her to the wall and i convinced them to let me guard her while they all had fun killling people so when i was alone with her ( keep in mind she thinks im a fighter) i decide to make an ilusion of the form she knows to come and save her so i played it out that i would be pushed in to her blindspotthere i switchet forms and changed the ilusion so it would look like i killed the asassain ( which i did ) and save her ( which i also did) and escape whiiich i did. the body of the asassain was never found and i parted from the town saying goodby and continuing on my quest i just think that is an interesting story to tell and shows one of the many things you can do with illusionsand i hope to hear more interesting stories from you guys
najoom 02-27-05, 01:44 PM	dispells susoended animation in hopes of haveing people talking
Aramar the Black 02-27-05, 04:39 PM	First, rules semantics. There are a few of the higher-level illusions that allow tactile sensation; meaning, for example, a building would feel real and could be essentially interacted with as real by the one who believes it to be real. My question then is thus; if you cast a spell creating a two-story illusory building with tactile effects, can you yourself, as the caster, stand in the second floor? To answer: Well, would the caster believe in it, if they knew that they had cast it, and it was not real? It might take practice to fool yourself as such. Perhaps a person who had no idea of the illusion, could sense nothing out of the ordinary what-so-ever, might be able to walk on an elevated area. But this is where there comes a thin line between fooling perception, and altering the forcews of nature work. (Walking in the second story of an illusionary building, for example.)
cambric 02-27-05, 05:27 PM	If you wanted to make it look "real" if you needed by casting "fly" on yourself...I think that would cause someone to believe that much more that it's real. But I would agree with Aramar, it would take a lot for the spell caster to believe it's real enough to walk on it...as a DM, I would rule that you couldn't...and I know for a fact my DM would laugh me out of the room. :P Cam
I wish I was 02-27-05, 09:28 PM	One's perceptions can not really change the laws of physics. You may think that there is ground below you feet, but gravity doesn't. But who knows, this is D&D, so maybe.
Orguth the Brawler 03-01-05, 05:51 PM	Good point. Levitate, I should think, should serve marvelously well in such an instance. Ha! Consider the exchange between said illusionist and the foolish character to rush up the stairs to confront him: Illusionist: Are you sure it is wise, young fool, to chase a wizard into his very lair? Young Fool: I have you now, fiend! Know that you face certain death! Illusionist: I haven't the time to inform you of the various false certainties you think to be true. But I have time to reveal one or two erroneous beliefs of immediate concern, however...that the floor you are standing on is real, for example. Young Fool: [Looks down] Gyaaaahh! [Thud].
Aramar the Black 03-01-05, 07:44 PM	Good point. Levitate, I should think, should serve marvelously well in such an instance. Ha! Consider the exchange between said illusionist and the foolish character to rush up the stairs to confront him: Illusionist: Are you sure it is wise, young fool, to chase a wizard into his very lair? Young Fool: I have you now, fiend! Know that you face certain death! Illusionist: I haven't the time to inform you of the various false certainties you think to be true. But I have time to reveal one or two erroneous beliefs of immediate concern, however...that the floor you are standing on is real, for example. Young Fool: [Looks down] Gyaaaahh! [Thud]. :rofl: That's awesome. Classic, and wonderful.
Orguth the Brawler 03-01-05, 10:25 PM	Alas, I am thwarted in my designs. The spells such as Hallucinatory Terrain and Mirage Arcana are Glamers, and as such fail to support weight. Now, a Shadow Conjuration of Leomund's Sturdy Shelter, on the other hand, might do the trick... Barring anything else, some short-term researches should suffice to replace those Glamer and Figment effects with a Shadow one. The less real they are in fact the better.
najoom 03-03-05, 06:46 PM	the real trick is not to walk on the isuion that helps
Cazic 03-05-05, 09:16 AM	but if they know that it is a Ilusion then it is not doing its job. The average adventurer wont know about the Ilusion.
Myrdinn 03-05-05, 06:29 PM	: A tall half-elf strolls into the guild hall. he looks around, smiles, and says:"Hello everyone, i am Akkarin, i wish to join your guild as i love illusions." with that he transforms into a young adult green dragon and settles in the corner as you try to work out what his true form is. Hi! can i join? By the way i'm in a few guilds but as the same character just changed into differnt shapes with differnt names. i really am Akkarin and i am a dragon. My favorite illusion that i used against my players was the famous "Nonexistant rope bridge over pit of red hot lava" the best bit was the party cleric knew it wasn't real but no-one would listen to him because he had accidently led them into a drow stronghold with some really bad scrying and i had to fudge die rolls to keep them alive: Cleric: But my Augeries say something bads going to happen and the fact Bressah (the villan) is an illusionist i think we should test every thing with a spell first Fighter: D'you think I'm trusting those Augeries again after what happend with those Drow Cleric: But... And the fighter proceeds to drag him across the bridge... Ah, well. At least it was quick. Wait.... does this mean i'm evil?:thinks:
najoom 03-05-05, 09:36 PM	maye i prefer just to drive them crazy when im dm-ing i had them take a wrong turn and end up in a fake city that looks just like the real one i had fun driveing thm up the wall i made them think they were beiing sucked into a gang war the illusionist is just kinda crazy i gues the endless study of the arkane could do that to a man
Orguth the Brawler 03-07-05, 03:15 PM	Greetings, Myrdinn, Initiate of the Unseeable Hand. You are now the 8th member of the Foundation for the Illusory Arts. I, Lord High Illusionary, do hereby welcome you.
Cazic 03-16-05, 12:22 AM	:bump: :turkey:
Cazic 03-17-05, 02:56 PM	:dragon:
I wish I was 03-17-05, 07:24 PM	You and your damn dragons, Cazic! But I agree that this place could use a bump, it's kindof slow, not that I help much with that. Well, Illusion is pretty potent, but it is not perfect, what is the best way that you have seen someone, anyone, in a game, foil, or get past, or counter, or such it, an illusion spell? I am thinking on this one, and can't think of any, so I just want to hear you all's tales. Ok, that's about it, bye! :tiphat:
Cazic 03-17-05, 11:56 PM	You and your damn dragons, Cazic! :uh-huh: "damn"? Are you insinuating that DRAGONS are a bad thing? :thinks: And keep in mind when you answer this that i am a BIG fan of Dragons. :ahem: So what were you saying I didn't quite catch that first part? :waits:
I wish I was 03-18-05, 09:12 PM	:surrender Umm... I wasn't insinuating anything bad, I swear! Dragons are the best things ever, really, I trully think that... ahem... honest I do...
Cazic 03-18-05, 11:21 PM	:king:
Myrdinn 03-19-05, 04:28 PM	:cheer: Go Dragons! Go Dragons :cheer: :dragon:
Cazic 03-20-05, 03:42 PM	:dragon:
I wish I was 03-20-05, 04:15 PM	:nonono: . . . ahem . . . :bigeyes:
Cazic 03-20-05, 06:33 PM	:nonono: . . . ahem . . . :bigeyes: Oh yes of course. Your forgiven. :D
Orguth the Brawler 03-25-05, 11:47 PM	[Grins] I think we ought to charge admission for such entertaining displays. Too bad this place is so well hidden. How hard do you think it would be to pull of a convincing bluff when you cast an illusion on yourself to make you look like a demon? I would have figured that assuming you aren't dealing with some real experienced soldiery, likely enough the lower-level enemies would simply bail on the off-chance it's for real. Know that I think on it, the next wizard with access to illusion spells...
Cazic 04-09-05, 08:19 PM	[deleted] please forget this post ever excisted.
Cazic 04-26-05, 12:38 AM	:bump:
Aramar the Black 04-26-05, 09:38 PM	Wow, this place is going slow. I thnk I've got some possible topics just inside my head that don't want to come out, but maybe thier just illusions. Something I just thought of, though. If illusions specialize in fooling the senses, then could a spell be constructed that makes the target feel like they are falling, or on the edge of a precipice, gving them vertigo, or possible fear? On the same note, could we make a target feel like they were somewhere compltly differet? Like in a fake pit of acid? Or under the desert sands? Or are those spells around, and I just don't know about them?