cdrigney@uokvax.UUCP (11/26/85)
<You don't have to be evil to read this, but it doesn't get in the way.>
With all this discussion of how to handle illusion spells, I'd
like to throw my two cents in. Currently, I run illusions as
completely insubstantial; this has the very nice benefit that
illusionists must use their wits to come up with a clever use for
their abilities, instead of the typical "Phantasmal Force
Fireball" that takes no imagination.
If your illusion has visual, audio, and thermal components, you
can cast a fireball that someone will think is sizzling them in
their own juices, but they won't take damage from it.
With a visual illusion, you can make solid floor look like a
chasm, but it still feels like a floor if someone walks on it.
With a tactile illusion, you can make a chasm feel like a solid
floor (and still look like a chasm).
I also don't use saving throws for illusions (although opposing
mages can counter, block, or dispel them if they know how); if
you want to disbelieve the illusion, go right ahead and act
accordingly. But it takes a lot of guts to walk through a
basilisk...
--Carl Rigney
USENET: {ihnp4,allegra!cbosgd}!okstate!uokvax!cdrigney
"You needn't thank me for telling you all this, the havoc created shall
be my reward."