laura@l5.uucp (Laura Creighton) (12/03/85)
I have never thought of illusions that way, and upon thinking about it, I don't like it. You have to be a pretty powerful magician in any of my campaigns to deal with spirits or demons at all, and I doubt that there would be many illusionists around if every illusion required binding a hostile spirit. A character who consorts with spirits who freely choose to do his bidding is conceivable, I suppose, but I'd have to introduce a whole new class of supernatural entities into my universe... I always thought that an illusionist was a hypnotist who could hypnotize someone even against their will (if they weren't prepared, and so disbelieved it). Viewed that way, it doesn't seem all that unreasonable to me. Of course, I always was fascinated by a book I read as a child (and now cannot remember the title of, grrr) which purported to be the true story of a person who could do exactly that. I had visions of what I would make my teachers and classmates do -- if I only had the power -- for years... -- Laura Creighton sun!l5!laura (that is ell-five, not fifteen) l5!laura@lll-crg.arpa