Illusion Spells

[Jaracove]

Page 267: "...an illusory bridge would hold no weight"

Page 267: "...character’s body will react as if the illusion is real if possible—for example, bumping into an illusory wall, or banging their shin on
the illusion of a table"

I'm confused, is an illusion tangible (bridge) or not (wall/table)?

[Slimcreeper]

In the first case, the character would fall through the bridge because the power of delusion can't actually make you walk on air.

In the second case, the character's leg stops short where the table appears to be and he feels like he has banged his shin. Now if he set a real tankard of ale on the illusory table, it would fall through. Would the illusion be strong enough to make him believe it hadn't? Probably not.

[Mataxes]

Pretty much what Slimcreeper said.

Though in the second case (with the tankard), if the character failed the sensing test, they might think that, instead of falling through the table, they didn't place it properly and it fell off the side.

(Which is to say, I would allow that to trigger a sensing test, and depending on circumstances would provide a bonus to the test.)

[Jaracove]

I still can't see the difference

Are you saying a player can fall through a bridge but another player will hurt his foot if he kicked the same bridge?

[etherial]

I still can't see the difference

Are you saying a player can fall through a bridge but another player will hurt his foot if he kicked the same bridge?

Yes. Because the bridge is magic but it's not "Bugs Bunny accidentally walks off a cliff and doesn't fall until he notices" magic.

[Mataxes]

He's not actually kicking the bridge. He only thinks he's kicking the bridge, and reacting to the deception.

The person who falls through the bridge, like the tankard example earlier, might think they fell off the bridge, but not through the bridge. (Assuming they didn't pass the sensing test.)

The illusion doesn't change what is. It changes the individual's perception of (and reaction to) what is. An illusory bridge isn't going to allow you to walk across a ravine, no matter how real the magic convinces you it is.

[Jaracove]

Right, so it's the target's perception that's important here and what they'd expect to happen

Thank you

[Mataxes]

Exactly.

And if, through the course of interactions, something weird happens, that's what Sensing tests (with bonuses you might deem appropriate) are for. If they fail... they will rationalize what happened.