Illusion Spells Are Far More Tactical Than We Give Them Credit For

When we think of magic, we tend to picture the big, flashy spells first; lightning bolts, mind control, walls of fire, and raising the dead to do our bidding. The spells a lot of us ignore, though, are illusions. After all, outside of disguising the party to look like guards or townsfolk during a stealth mission, becoming invisible, or creating the occasional distraction, what is illusion good for, anyway?

Well, if you're creative with it, this particular school of magic can be a literal game changer.

May not be real, but it sure is effective.

While the following tips are geared toward Pathfinder, make sure you read the fine print in your particular edition. You may find that the power level of illusion is something you underestimated in a lot of other games, too.

As usual, if you want to stay on top of all my content subscribe to my weekly newsletter! And with the new year upon us, consider becoming a Patreon patron if you haven't yet! Lastly, to make sure you're following all of my followables take a moment to check out my Linktree.

Wasting The Enemy's Time, Energy, and Resources

Illusionists are never going to deal the most damage in a combat situation. That role will go to the sorcerers and evokers if we're talking about spellcasters, or to the fighters, rangers, and barbarians overall. Actually putting the hurt on the enemy isn't an illusionist's job once initiative is rolled... it's ensuring that the enemy can't make sound tactical decisions because you have limited their options.

What do you mean there's no gunships? I can SEE them!

Take, for example, one of the most basic illusion spells; silent image. This spell allows you to create a rather large illusion that takes up several 10-foot squares even at a low level. Even better, you can make larger and larger illusions as you go up in level. Now say there are archers up on the hill, and they're preparing to tear apart your allies with a vicious volley... you have the ability to conjure an illusory wall between them and your allies. While the wall isn't real it will block their ability to see. This gives your allies a 50% miss chance, and if they step out of the squares they were in before the wall manifested then the archers are essentially firing blind. While the wall won't stop any projectiles, or hinder movement, it is an effective protection that enemies would have to interact with in order to disbelieve it.

For a 1st-level spell, that's not nothing.

This mindset can put a lot of other illusion spells into a different perspective for many players. For example, minor image might be able to conjure an image of a warrior about to strike that would fool a mindless undead, or distract a goblin from a fellow PC. Even if they just waste one turn attacking that smoke and mirrors, that's one turn their actions didn't harm your party. And if they fail a save after interacting with it, then hoo boy, your illusion can eat up several rounds of that enemy's efforts as they try to fight something that isn't even there while your allies seize the advantage.

While bigger illusion spells may be quasi-real in the case of shadow effects, or impose negatives on those who fail saves against them (like you see with illusory poison or wall of nausea), the way to get the most out of them in a tactical situation is to make sure they waste as much of the enemy's time (or suck up as many of their resources) as possible. Even if it's just putting a misty barrier between an ally and the enemies surrounding them that can cut off flanks, grant concealment, and buy the ally some much-needed relief as they try to do their job.

Because while mirror image and invisibility spells are useful, and phantasmal killer is always going to be classic, your real job is to ensure the enemies are swinging, shooting, and casting at things that aren't really there. Because they have to interact with the illusion to know it isn't real, and that buys you and your allies time.

Assuming, that is, you don't use your illusions to avoid combat in the first place by turning invisible and getting the guards to chase figments that look like you and the party down a side corridor.

Weaknesses to Watch Out For

While illusions are more useful than a lot of us give them credit for, they're also a nuanced school of magic that has a lot of holes in it. Illusions come in many different shapes and sizes, and with a lot of different labels. Some are mind-affecting, and some aren't. Some are patterns, some are shadows, and some are figments. It's important to read them carefully so that you know which ones are going to be effective on which enemies, and in what situations.

Additionally, creatures that have alternative senses simply aren't going to be affected by certain illusions. A blind creature with tremorsense, for instance, isn't going to react to a purely visual illusion. A creature who tracks by scent, or by hearing, won't react to an illusion with no smell or sound respectively. Any creatures with true sight are going to look right past anything that isn't real (a major concern for later in the game), and spell resistance is going to be an issue for a lot of creatures.

None of these are deal breakers, of course. It's simply important to know and understand what the strengths and limitations of your spells are before you go too deep into using your special effects to alter the battlefield in favor of your friends.

Check Out Some Gaming Stories!

For folks who haven't been keeping up on my recent changes, I've been largely hosting my Table Talk feature on Vocal, rather than here on Improved Initiative. I talked about this a bit ago in You're Not Missing My Updates (They're Over on Vocal). The short version is that Vocal pays a lot more than my blog does, and I'm trying to capitalize on that as much as I can... but it's tough getting eyeballs and fighting the algorithm. So take a moment to check out some of the following pieces!

- Game Masters Shouldn't Leave Players Twisting in The Breeze (A Red Flags Story)

- Silver Raven Chronicles Part One: Devil's Night

- Silver Raven Chronicles Part Two: From The Ashes

- Silver Raven Chronicles Part Three: The Raven's Nest

Any reads and shares are much appreciated. And, of course, the more traction particular articles get, the more likely it is I'll write more like them in the future. So if you see something you like, help me spread the word on it!

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

5 Things I Like About Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition

As my regular readers know, I'm a Pathfinder main when it comes to my gaming. Hell, I even wrote a post about it titled Why Pathfinder Is My Game Of Choice a few years back. However, just because that's my main game, that doesn't mean I don't try to branch out and try other things. Which was why when I heard there was a 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons coming out I signed up for the playtest, and gave it a shot. I submitted my reactions, and never really gave it much thought beyond that at the time. But recently a friend of mine wanted to start a 5th edition game, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Sure, we'll give it a roll and see what happens.

The game itself has been going pretty well so far, as evidenced by the Table Talk installment That One Time The Party Solved The Plot With A Legal Battle. And while I've got a lot of thoughts about this particular edition (not all of them positive), I figured I'd share some of the rules I like in it for this particular Crunch update. With that said, I want to be clear; I like these rules as part of the greater structure of the game. I'm not endorsing someone cutting and pasting them into other games with different setups, whose framework isn't meant to accommodate these engine parts.

Okay? Okay.

#1: Hit Dice Are Fun

Hold on... let me catch my breath...

Most folks who've played modern incarnations of DND are familiar with the term hit dice, but in the past it's been a reference for how many dice make up your total hit points. You've got six fighter levels and you're a human, cool, you've got 6 hit dice. It was mainly used as a way to explain where your hit points came from, and as a way to determine if you were too powerful for certain spells to affect you.

In 5th edition, however, your hit dice are an actual pool of resources you can call on, which I think is a fun mechanic. You get knocked around by a hydra, take a breather, and spend three of your hit dice to heal some damage. Or, depending on the races and classes allowed at your table, you might be able to do other things with them. The trollkin from Kobold Press allow you to spend them on the fly, giving you a small measure of your ancestors' regenerative powers, for example. It feels less MMO than the healing surge from 4th edition, even though it performs the same function.

#2: I Enjoy Not Confirming Crits

Pow, right in the kisser!

Anyone who's ever sat at a table with me is aware of just how bad my dice luck is. I once rolled 11 natural 1's in a row. It doesn't matter what game I'm playing, or what numbers I need, I will roll poorly a majority of the time without fail. Which is why I tend to number crunch my PCs to ridiculous lengths... if I didn't, I'd never succeed at anything.

However, 5th edition's critical hit system is less frustrating for me in terms of rolling. If a 20 comes up (and even I roll them every now and again), then it's a crit. There is no critical range on weapons, though, so that balancing out means that while you can't crit on a 15 and up with the right weapon, there's no more worry about a natural 20 being followed by a confirmation roll of a natural 1. Still getting used to multiplying sneak attack on these hits, though.

#3: I Like Bardic Inspiration

You've got 10 minutes guys... make it count!

Bards are one of my favorite classes for a lot of reasons, but a big one is that over the years I've begun to really enjoy the support role. Partly because I rarely have to roll dice to help the party (see previous comments on me being cursed), but also because there's a certain satisfaction that comes with being the platform that elevates others. It lets them have the satisfaction of delivering the death blow, but I get to enjoy the knowledge that, without my aid, it wouldn't have landed.

Teamwork, everybody.

That's one reason I enjoy the idea of a bardic inspiration die, which is a mechanic that gives you a floating die you can roll for most checks when you need a little extra oomph. It's a flexible resource that allows you to add the bonus when you need it, and that can lead to some fun circumstances. Especially since they tend to allow you to add the bonus after you've rolled, but before you know the result. Which is why if you know you're one away from success, it's good to have an ace in the hole courtesy of your party bard.

There are also free-floating inspiration dice you can be rewarded by the DM, which gives the person behind the screen another way to help PCs succeed when appropriate.

#4: Advantage and Disadvantage Is Useful

Scatter!

5th edition, as a game, is a lot more dependent on the luck of the dice for success and failure. Which is a nice way of saying there aren't as many bonuses to stack, so a lot of the time you do need the dice to be hot if you want to do epic stuff. Which is why the mechanic of advantage and disadvantage can be such a game changer.

It's a pretty simple mechanic. If you have advantage, you roll 2 d20s and take the better result. Disadvantage, same thing, but the worse result. And if you have the ability to inflict this condition (such as through a barbarian's Reckless Attack, or via a Fighter's Protection fighting style) that can completely alter the course of the round. And possibly of the challenge you're currently facing. It also provides the DM with a simple way of giving you a reward, instead of trying to figure out a floating bonus for smart positioning, careful planning, etc.

#5: No Races Have Negatives To Traits (Which I Like)

Though humans still have one of the biggest draws.

There are few feelings as frustrating for me as a player than having a cool idea for a character concept, but knowing it's going to be handicapped by the character's racial choice. Such as in 3.5 when I would really want to play a half-orc, but the negatives they took to Intelligence and Charisma meant I'd be losing a lot more than I'd get if I wanted to use that race for a wizard, a sorcerer, a bard, or a lot of other classes.

5th edition solves some of that issue by making sure none of the core races takes negatives. So if you roll a really good stat, you won't have it dropped below that level if it's something your class and concept depends on. The bonuses your race gets might not help you, but they aren't going to hinder you if you want to be a little odd.

Well, That's One Shoe...

As I've said in other places on the Internet, I think 5th edition is a perfectly functional game. It does what it sets out to do, and it provides a lot of fun for a lot of folks. However, I'd like to know in the comments if folks want to see the mirror version of this article for the next Crunch installment, where I lay out some of the things I don't like about this edition, and where I think designers (or failing that, DMs) could do better.

That's all for this week's Crunch installment. If you haven't given 5th edition a try yet, give it a shot. It doesn't hurt. If you'd like to see more work by yours truly, then check out my Vocal archive, or head over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I work with other local gamers to put together skits, advice, and other tabletop videos. To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you want to help support Improved Initiative, then head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, or just Buy Me A Ko-Fi! Either way, my eternal gratitude and some sweet gaming swag is yours.