Illusory Object
Spell, Enchantment, level 3
Creates a convincing illusion of a non-living object; touching it allows a disbelief save, and those who believe can be genuinely harmed by it. This entry holds the general rules for illusions.
From the book
The caster creates the illusion of one object, as large as 1 cu. ft. for each level of ability, within 100 ft. The illusion cannot move and cannot look like any living creature or organism. If the caster knows the kind of object being imitated, it looks entirely real to onlookers. Having no real substance, it can be exposed by touch: anyone who handles it may save vs Perception to see it for what it is. Those who fail, or who never try to touch it, are fully convinced it is genuine.
That belief has teeth. An illusory weapon can wound a person who failed the save, because the victim expects it to hurt, and the pain they feel is real enough to injure or even kill. An illusory bridge cannot hold anyone's weight, yet a victim who fails the save will think they are crossing a solid bridge even as they fall. The illusion lasts 1 hour per level of ability. The other illusion spells refer back to these rules.
At a glance
- Range
- 100 ft.
- Size
- Up to 1 cu. ft. per level of ability
- Duration
- 1 hour per level of ability
- Limits
- Cannot move or resemble living creatures
- Save
- vs Perception on physical contact, as stated
- Spell type
- Variable, as stated
- Restricted to
- Magicians and practitioners of Enchantment only
A scene
The smugglers of Atlantis used a drain tunnel under the Outer Ring to move goods into the city. So the magician Petra, who worked for the tolls office, made them an iron grate. It looked exactly like the real grates all over the city, rusty, solid, stained with river weed, and it blocked the tunnel neatly. The smugglers' boat nosed up to it and stopped short, and the crew swore and began to back water. All but one: the smallest of them leaned out to rattle the bars, felt nothing, and saw through it at once. He told the others. None of them had touched it, and none of them believed him, and they rowed back the way they had come.