Illusionist Displace Image spell - proposed clarifications
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:22 pm
Okay, so Oren the Illusionist fires off Displace Image, his true self becomes invisible while an exact but visible duplicate of him appears four yards away. I am presuming that if no concentration is used the duplicate looks, sounds, smells, feels and acts exactly as Oren does. All sensory effects are transmitted to the duplicate by the spell. So if Oren is walking the duplicate will walk, if Oren hops, the illusion hops, etc. If someone swings at the duplicate it may pass through or appear to ignore the attacker or maybe be half in, half out a wall (giving the dreaded +5 Sensing test penalty) *unless* Oren uses his Standard action concentrating that round to make the duplicate act appropriately.
1.) "...image appears *up to* four yards away..." - I propose then that what is meant by the description is that the duplicate appears *up to* four yards away, in a place the illusionist chooses, and then can be moved around within a four yard radius if the illusionist is spending their Standard action to concentrate that round. This gives you the more classic feel of the duplicate image type illusion and lets you do some more useful tricks with it, the one that I'm sure springs to mind is the 'Loki' - putting your duplicate in front of a cell door, pit, etc and taunting someone to charge you. Also, if you are hidden under cover you can create the duplicate next to you, even on top of you, also hidden. Does that sound reasonable?
2.) Concentrate on, concentrate off - I also propose that any round the illusionist isn't using their Standard action concentrating the duplicate maintains whatever distance and orientation it was at the previous round to the illusionist and does exactly what they illusionist does. If the illusionist runs forward ten yards, so does the duplicate, if the illusionist casts, it appears to come from the duplicate. Of course, that means anyone attacking or otherwise interacting with the duplicate that round would get the +5 Sensing. I think it is reasonable however to put the duplicate on auto-pilot for a round or two then pick it up again if anyone gets close. What do you think?
3.) Distance from target 20 yards for concentration - If the Illusionist casts Displace Image on someone else it is clear that the original and the duplicate cannot be more than four yards away from each other, but how far away can the illusionist be to control the duplicate through concentration? I propose 20 yards like Unseen Voices, but with the requirement of line of sight or some other means to monitor the duplicate to make it act accordingly to its environment (or +5 Sensing again). Similarly if an extra thread is used to add a target, both targets must be within a 20 yard radius.
4.) Extra Thread: Increase Range (+10 yards) This is a pure addition. There is only one extra thread option, mentioned previously (1 extra target), I propose adding a thread option for extending the range allowed between the target and the duplicate by 10 yards, as with several other spells.
5.) Extra Thread: Extra duplicate (+1) - This is essentially using the extra target thread to cast on the same target more than once. Since the effect is external to the target I think this is a fair interpretation.
6.) Casting change (Teleport) - The current description seems written to make it obvious to anything watching that the duplicate is fake. It has the illusionist drawing an outline then the outline drifts away, eventually looking like the target as the target fades. This is a spell used in combat (it lasts rounds, not minutes) so it is extremely likely that whatever the illusionist wants to fool will be watching her cast it. I propose this casting description instead: "The caster traces the outline of the target, leaving a faint glowing aura as the target fades. The caster swirls her hand in front of the target, seeming to gather them as mystical energy into her fist. The caster then turns and throws this energy up to four yards away where it reforms as the image of the target." This way it appears to be a short-range teleport or similar spell.
1.) "...image appears *up to* four yards away..." - I propose then that what is meant by the description is that the duplicate appears *up to* four yards away, in a place the illusionist chooses, and then can be moved around within a four yard radius if the illusionist is spending their Standard action to concentrate that round. This gives you the more classic feel of the duplicate image type illusion and lets you do some more useful tricks with it, the one that I'm sure springs to mind is the 'Loki' - putting your duplicate in front of a cell door, pit, etc and taunting someone to charge you. Also, if you are hidden under cover you can create the duplicate next to you, even on top of you, also hidden. Does that sound reasonable?
2.) Concentrate on, concentrate off - I also propose that any round the illusionist isn't using their Standard action concentrating the duplicate maintains whatever distance and orientation it was at the previous round to the illusionist and does exactly what they illusionist does. If the illusionist runs forward ten yards, so does the duplicate, if the illusionist casts, it appears to come from the duplicate. Of course, that means anyone attacking or otherwise interacting with the duplicate that round would get the +5 Sensing. I think it is reasonable however to put the duplicate on auto-pilot for a round or two then pick it up again if anyone gets close. What do you think?
3.) Distance from target 20 yards for concentration - If the Illusionist casts Displace Image on someone else it is clear that the original and the duplicate cannot be more than four yards away from each other, but how far away can the illusionist be to control the duplicate through concentration? I propose 20 yards like Unseen Voices, but with the requirement of line of sight or some other means to monitor the duplicate to make it act accordingly to its environment (or +5 Sensing again). Similarly if an extra thread is used to add a target, both targets must be within a 20 yard radius.
4.) Extra Thread: Increase Range (+10 yards) This is a pure addition. There is only one extra thread option, mentioned previously (1 extra target), I propose adding a thread option for extending the range allowed between the target and the duplicate by 10 yards, as with several other spells.
5.) Extra Thread: Extra duplicate (+1) - This is essentially using the extra target thread to cast on the same target more than once. Since the effect is external to the target I think this is a fair interpretation.
6.) Casting change (Teleport) - The current description seems written to make it obvious to anything watching that the duplicate is fake. It has the illusionist drawing an outline then the outline drifts away, eventually looking like the target as the target fades. This is a spell used in combat (it lasts rounds, not minutes) so it is extremely likely that whatever the illusionist wants to fool will be watching her cast it. I propose this casting description instead: "The caster traces the outline of the target, leaving a faint glowing aura as the target fades. The caster swirls her hand in front of the target, seeming to gather them as mystical energy into her fist. The caster then turns and throws this energy up to four yards away where it reforms as the image of the target." This way it appears to be a short-range teleport or similar spell.