Id have to check the spell, but am I correct in thinking that you can have multiple effects happening at the same time? Pretty sure you can create an image and cast it again to create a sound? Aggressive looking taxidermy dire wolf, with a long low growl..? 🤔🤷♂️
@@noone3216 You could. It'd take a separate round for each effect, but it isn't against the rules or intent of the spell. Think of it like a wax mannequin with a speaker. In dim light it'd probably work on your average unsuspecting person. In good light it most likely wouldn't.
I already see a bureaucrat wizard NPC forcing the party to sit through an interminable, utterly boring PowerPoint presentation via Minor Illusions projected to a wall
because you can see through illusions when you know they are an illusion you can hide inside an illusionary object (like a boulder) and see out of it with out others being able to see you inside it!
A slight variation to number 8: Our team was infiltrating a mansion as servants. I knew both minor illusion and prestidigitation, so what I did was prestidigitate the floor and make it super dirty, then minor illusion a small sign of "Cleaning in Progress, do not Enter" onto the door. While the party is inside a room, I can stay outside the door and pretend to be cleaning by hand; if I can't stay outside and need to help out in a room, I just put up a sign to discourage people from getting in.
Pair minor Illusion (sounds of people walking) with dancing lights while traveling at night to make the party seem bigger than it is/ distract enemies/ appear as though a mob is approaching.
MY favorite use of minor illusion is to hide from pursuer. Just run around a corner into a dead end and create the illusion of the end of the dead end jsut 5 feet in front of the real end and hide behind it (like the double wall trick in smuggler trucks). Or create a rock around you to hide.
What if your pursuer gets frustrated and punches the wall or even just leans on it? IMO a better use is making it look like there’s a giant hole in the ground between you and them.
@@hellodumzo sure this could happen, but how often will this happen? Normally people don't simply hit a random stone wall (because it hurts^^) - if my players would ever pull up this sort of stunt, I would NEVER have a NPC do something like this, simply beauce it feels like I just try to get a "cheap" way to deny the players good idea.
I would partially agree... sure a creative player is essential... but if your DM is a type that just won't allow things to happen... then NEVER TAKE IT.
Combine minor illusion with silent image and an unseen servant. For one first level slot (as Unseen Servant can be ritual cast in advance) you now have an illusionary medium sized creature that makes sounds, has an actual physical presence and can interact with its environment.
That's a cool idea! Though the caster would need great Sleight of Hand to get away with all those Minor Illusions. Or they would need to hide out of sight. But this is a clever solution for when you don't have Disguise Self or want to make a creature that isn't your size.
@9:08 this made me imagine a pair of characters with minor illusion, one setting up an obvious trap pressure plate and the other setting up a cover over an actual pit trap in the floor. Monster sees and avoids obvious trap, falls into pit, hilarity ensues!
Minor illusion and prestidigitation. Are the best cantrips in the game and if used together correctly can solve meny problems in the early game. And they can still be of some use in the later game.
I would argue for number 3 that while you could get SOME cover, you wouldn't be able to get the maximum cover that an actual object would provide. Armor Class is a combination of how strong your armor is, as well as how dexterous you are, so it includes both the enemy missing you entirely and/or hitting a hard part of your armor. Getting a cover bonus makes it harder to hit because most of your body is essentially behind natural armor, like a rock. You can't be hit there, so the enemy will try to aim for what limited part of you is available. In terms of how this works in world, you gain a bonus because they have a smaller window to hit you, and are more likely to miss as a result. However, the illusion itself isn't real. You aren't actually being protected. So they might shoot and "miss" by hitting the cover, but the arrow would go through the cover and potentially hit you. You would gain a cover bonus as a result of the enemy not being able to aim center of mass, but not the entire bonus because the illusion is not solid. (Plus it's a cantrip. Getting free 3/4 cover for an entire combat scenario for a single cantrip action, which can be cast out of combat, is a bit OP. So I would say that if you have half-cover from the illusion, you get no cover. If you have 3/4, you have half. Total cover would not be possible with the illusion.
Big brain move. Set down a tripwire and create a badly made illusion of the tripwire over the tripwire. Creature realizes the illusion is an illusion, steps confidently through it, and set off the real tripwire.
Some cantrips are really powerful. Like control water, which technically allows you to drop >7,000lbs of ice on someone’s head Edit: I meant shape water, as someone pointed out
@@emmlenius4167 Rougly equivalent damage would be collapsing a roof on someone, which is 4d10/half bludgeoning on a DC 13 dex save, or collapsing a building on someone which is 5d6 via the Earthquake spell. If the DM is generous, they might give you the falling damage equivalent, which is 1d6/10 feet (20d6 max). The max I'd probably do is 10d10/half on a dex save, which is a deadly damage for tier 2 play. The DM's have an improvised damage table which helps determine what's reasonable
So, what I would do as an arcane trickster is use minor illusion to conceal myself without invisibility. So, in one case during combat in a dark cavern I placed the illusion of a rock over my character effectively allowing him to sit back pop arrows off for continuous sneak attacks, and because most enemies have low intelligence saves they never found me. Once I got the skulker feat it was even better.
Ok, I keep seeing people point out the difference between concealment and cover. While it’s true an illusion doesn’t actually put something between you and the enemy, a lot of people are forgetting something. The enemy doesn’t KNOW that’s not an actual wall (or whatever you made the illusion to be)! To them you actually ARE behind a wall, so if your an archer and you have the choice between someone hiding behind a rock wall, and someone else standing out in the open, who are you gonna shoot at?? The person in the open of course, even if they are better armored, they are the better target.
Also if you go with a School of Illusion you'd get the Improved Minor Illusion that allows you to make a sound and visual with the same casting. You could make a scary looking statue appear in front of someone and make it scream horrififyingly. Or while a guard is running behind you, make floor visually crack on front of him while the sound of a cracking floor comes right underneath the guard. (unlike thaumaturgy, minor illusion doesn't restrict sound in a single point of origin)
I currently play a “Arcane Blade” and I have some suggestions; 1) Forget about the Mirror Image, past AC16 they’re more likely to miss you rather than hitting your copy…if you’re at AC15 or lower with the song and armor/MA active, you’re doing it wrong anyway. 2) If you stay with level 4 or 5 Wizard, you’ll only lose two SA dice…adding a BB/GFB or Shadow Blade is going to make up for it, this is the route I ended up taking. Maths and all that. 3) Telekinetic feat is awesome - being able to get double the range plus the push/pull WITHOUT any somatic or material components at will…incredible. I thought about taking the Feytouched feature for some extra spells etc but, I don’t really use that many anyway. I currently have 45’ base movement and, I can bump it up to 65’ or more…I harass the baddies, dashing in and out stabbing with Dart+BB or, throw the Dart if I need ranged weapons. The average damage between the d4 Darts/Daggers and a d8 Rapier is about 2 points…not anything to worry about. Just some observations I made watching the video. 🤷♂️
@@HowtoRPG No worries, “everyone” seems to favor the Mirror Image because it has no concentration but…yeah, AC16 and higher your copies will take hits that would never have hit you in the first place…it’s a waste of a spell slot at that point. If you have to get some more survivability, the higher your AC = more efficient Blur or PFG&E is. I’m sitting on AC23 (plus Shield if needed) and, with disadvantage…I’m VERY hard to hit, it’s a good protection against critical hits. PFG&E is generally better for survivability but, I have and use Blur as well when needed.
I had a situation where the group was in some woods, I climbed to the top of a tree to see more of the area and then used minor illusion to draw a map of what I saw down on the ground.
An amusing one is to set a bear trap, then create the illusion of another bear trap in front of it. The NPC will discover the illusion, then stride confidently forwards, assuming both traps to be fake and get their ankle broken :)
My idea was to create a see through wall as cover. (Makes all behind it invisible when looked at other than from behind) For example. hide a tankard of mead from the one it belongs to for them to believe as if someone has taken it.
The minor illusion power point presentation idea got me thinking. Could a wizard create an illusory spellbook page base on their own spellbook and use the spells on that page?
No but I would rule that if you want to use major image (the version that is permanent) you could use it to create an illusion of another page, letting you forgo the copy time for high level spells
Im going to play a wizard that starts at level 1 with 20 intelligence, so he should be able to think about all of these things that I wouldnt have think of... So thank you!
Don't forget you can cast this spell to create obstructions. It is NOT a concentration spell and just lasts the duration. You could use it to create an obstruction in an open doorway. This could be a door made of rusty barbed spikes or it could look like a pile of bloody skulls. Because its just Somatic and Material components only, you could keep this illusion up as long as you are willing to spend the action to do it. This is effectively Tiny Wall of Stone at level 1, if you have the time to set it up.
Question for #3... How exactly would you get "cover" mechanically (AC increase) if any attack would technically go through the illusion of it were to hit it. 🤔 I completely get it for stealth, but for combat cover I'm having problems seeing it...
ever see a magician use a cloth canvas? know where they are behind it? how many people are there? depending on how your hiding behind it can make a hit a potential miss. id say quarter cover at 3 quarters would be fair.
also i believe your looking at AC wrong. remember that AC accounts for a fast character who can quickly dodge an attack (hence why dex increases AC) so the ability to hit or miss is determined first. given my earlier answer of how an illusion hiding your body can give an increase in AC, its all about making the opponents aim target miss to negate damage.
Cover is not “physical obstruction” it’s “target obstruction”. Trying to hit someone hiding behind a cloth is more difficult because you can’t expect exactly where they are, especially when they don’t take up a 5x5 space.
Once my group was out in an open field and a dragon was about to fly overhead. I shouted for everyone to fall prone next to me and cast Silent Image to create the effect of grass above us. I had to use Silent Image because it's a 15' cube instead of 5' but I imagine players could do something similar for just themselves using Minor Illusion.
@@romeo23117 Did you mean blind sight? Dragons don't have true sight by default. It was also more than 60' up in the air so blindsight didn't apply anyway.
If the wind wasn't blowing maybe. Minor illusion doesn't move like silent image, so it'd look off in an open field. Dragons are definitely intelligent enough about the natural world and illusions to notice. Maybe a rock or something solid would be a better use.
something to further enhance the gravestone idea is to have unseen servant wear a black robe and carry a scythe approaching whoever it is you're trying to scare
I actually did the one about wine/ale and giving it to someone to shut them up about taking wine from a nice old lady and distracted them long enough with it to let the lady leave.
what some dont realize, is that even if something looks illusionary or perhaps not quite there, doesnt mean its not super great! Visual effects can be really awesome (except in most games that totally ignore them)
Minor Illusion combined with 14th lv Illusion wizard could as an action create 5ft by 5ft boulders to crush enemies for free works great if you catch your victim unaware just Illusion a real boulder to drop onto someone not moving works better if you make it aerodynamic so less noise
So there's one major flaw with the 'Cover' you provided. Concealment and Cover are not the same thing. Concealment, which is what a Minor Illusion would provide. Provides just that, the ability to hide from sight. Cover, actually provides a physical cover and protection against things or in this case, ranged attacks. If someone knows you're there, and shoots arrows at you, putting up a fake wall isn't going to provide real cover to protect you, as the cover isn't physically real. I would never rule this even as a DM, to get a cover AC bonus there needs to be a physical object between you an the attacker.
Here's a thought. Bladesinger wizards get to cast a cantrip as a second attack, imagine attacking 1x, then using your second attack to create the illusion of a 5x5 huge pavise sheild, giving you cover from their next attack, and breaking line of sight preventing opportunity attacks. Should you choose to leave
I made a 5 foot ring of acids around me to try and prevent melee enemy from getting close to me. Or I would make a hologram of a halfling readying a spell or a bow to try and wast a enemies action on it
I would like to add my thoughts on using illusion magic to create cover. Unless you are of sufficient level to make an illusion real then it is still an illusion. I would not rule more than half cover because, for example if your ac with half cover is 12 and they roll an 11 with a bow and arrow, the ruling could be that the arrow flings by your head. But now if 3/4 gives you 15 and they roll a 14, the ruling should note that the arrow hits the cover and sticks into the crate. Therefore the illusion can only give half cover because that range within the 2-5 ac bonus should be striking the cover which of course is not real and would hit you.
Just one detail, around 6:25 you talk about minor illusion giving "cover" since minor illusion is nor solid it will not grant cover, If the archer shoot an arrow at your, the wall do not protect you from the arrow, it does NOT increase your AC. It does give concealment, so you can be "UNSEEN" meaning that archer got disavantage to attack you and you have advantage to attack him. The archer might THINK you have cover and will choose a target he beleive is easier to attack. But you have no real cover behind minor illusion, just concealment. I personnally like the 5ft tall 5 ft wide bush. you can become unseen being it (without need to hide, sure everyone know you are behind the bush, but you are still unseen) When you shoot your arrow trought the bush, the arrow doesn't "interact" with the bush. The arrow is not going throught a solid brick wall, it's passes between the bush leaf/branch so the monster do not automatically disbelieve the illusion And even my 6ft tall half elf can crouch. knee down, sit down to shoot his bow and fit behind the 5ft bush. If you aver shot any range weapon, you should know that shooting while standing up is the hardest way to aim. if you can knee down or sit down (or even lie down with a gun, but I guess with a bow prone of the ground might make it harder, and by RAW attack made while prone have disavantage, so even a crossbow won't work, even if it should) it's much easier and more stable to aim. So even your 7ft tall Goliath can knee down to 5ft and shoot with his bow and benefit from the bush cover. "kneeing" down is not cover by that PhB, so it fall under DM rulign on how it works. you DM might sa it cost 5ft to knee down and 5ft to get back up or he might say it's half movement or wahtever, I suggest talking with your DM before the game about how he rule kneeing down and so you don't force him to do a quick decision mid fight.
I still don't understand if the unmovable part means it can't move just by itself or moving parts or it can't move at all and if so then can it stay floating in space. If i make an illusion of a ring on my finger. Would my hand need to be completely still?
I'm reading up on this spell because one of my players tried to make a brick sphere around a monsters head to blind it completely. Luckily it had true sight so it didn't matter but I'm trying to find out if this is something they could start doing to every boss. It says that if the monster realizes it's an illusion, the illusion becomes faint so I think I'm good.
I understand the illusory image created by Minor Illusion cannot move. If the brick cannot move then it's easy for the blockhead to move, touch their face, breathe, talk, etc.
@@noone3216 Yeah, I meant humanoid type object like a statue, mannequin, or card board cut out. Something that wouldn't pass as a creature within like 20 ft, in normal light.
I don’t think that the point of creating a minor illusion is to make a shredded dwarf with tattoos swinging a battleaxe😂 There’s a difference between your arcane trickster rogue to cast minor illusion to hide the paladin in a wooden box illusion. And trying to create a midget Danny Trejo swinging a battleaxe😂 that’s what spells like silent image and mirror image are for. For my Elden Ring/Dark Souls fans, I’d treat minor illusion like the mimic vale.
I think if a wax object representing a creature as it would represent presumably a creature, it's clothes and weapons but with different colors then this would also allow the argument as to whether a hovering crossbow would also have a crossbow bolt in it. It could be argued then that it's a wax representation of a crossbow and a bolt together. Frankly that's why I don't like these types of spells / abilities. It takes way too much mind gymnastics to be able to adjudicate it and there are some work arounds that could be argued that could accomplish them anyway. This is why I would much rather prefer wizard's being forced to choose only the cantrips that fit within the school of magic they've chosen but make those cantrips much more powerful and give them more powerful options for those schools. Maybe to forego some of the powerful options they could choose to be a multi-talented wizard and be very good at illusions and somewhat good at mage hand or prestidigitation if they want at higher levels. I like that idea a lot more by giving the players good choices that are intended for them to be able to accomplish things with rather than poor ones that it requires mental gymnastics to figure out if it will work or not. Unfortunately it would take a lot of home brewing I think to try and rework the wizard classes to do this and get my player's buy in on it. Frankly I think I like the idea of wizards working this way a lot more as I've always enjoyed in TV shows and movies when there is a wizard or sorcerer who can accomplish a lot by using big flashy spells that don't really do a whole lot or illusions or trickery magic, etc.
The wax creature idea would be fine, so long as that kind of art is common in the world, I'd argue a taxidermized creature might be fine as well.
That is a very smart idea. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Id have to check the spell, but am I correct in thinking that you can have multiple effects happening at the same time? Pretty sure you can create an image and cast it again to create a sound?
Aggressive looking taxidermy dire wolf, with a long low growl..? 🤔🤷♂️
@@noone3216 You could. It'd take a separate round for each effect, but it isn't against the rules or intent of the spell.
Think of it like a wax mannequin with a speaker. In dim light it'd probably work on your average unsuspecting person. In good light it most likely wouldn't.
I already see a bureaucrat wizard NPC forcing the party to sit through an interminable, utterly boring PowerPoint presentation via Minor Illusions projected to a wall
lol.
because you can see through illusions when you know they are an illusion you can hide inside an illusionary object (like a boulder) and see out of it with out others being able to see you inside it!
A slight variation to number 8:
Our team was infiltrating a mansion as servants. I knew both minor illusion and prestidigitation, so what I did was prestidigitate the floor and make it super dirty, then minor illusion a small sign of "Cleaning in Progress, do not Enter" onto the door. While the party is inside a room, I can stay outside the door and pretend to be cleaning by hand; if I can't stay outside and need to help out in a room, I just put up a sign to discourage people from getting in.
Pair minor Illusion (sounds of people walking) with dancing lights while traveling at night to make the party seem bigger than it is/ distract enemies/ appear as though a mob is approaching.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
MY favorite use of minor illusion is to hide from pursuer. Just run around a corner into a dead end and create the illusion of the end of the dead end jsut 5 feet in front of the real end and hide behind it (like the double wall trick in smuggler trucks).
Or create a rock around you to hide.
What if your pursuer gets frustrated and punches the wall or even just leans on it? IMO a better use is making it look like there’s a giant hole in the ground between you and them.
@@hellodumzo sure this could happen, but how often will this happen? Normally people don't simply hit a random stone wall (because it hurts^^) - if my players would ever pull up this sort of stunt, I would NEVER have a NPC do something like this, simply beauce it feels like I just try to get a "cheap" way to deny the players good idea.
@@Sarados1980 it would probably depend on what you rolled, hence my comment.
The wall wouldn't work, since the illusion can only be at most a 5' cube. A crate or a rock, sure
I would partially agree... sure a creative player is essential...
but if your DM is a type that just won't allow things to happen... then NEVER TAKE IT.
True, because you will not get to use it.
Combine minor illusion with silent image and an unseen servant. For one first level slot (as Unseen Servant can be ritual cast in advance) you now have an illusionary medium sized creature that makes sounds, has an actual physical presence and can interact with its environment.
That's a cool idea! Though the caster would need great Sleight of Hand to get away with all those Minor Illusions. Or they would need to hide out of sight. But this is a clever solution for when you don't have Disguise Self or want to make a creature that isn't your size.
@9:08 this made me imagine a pair of characters with minor illusion, one setting up an obvious trap pressure plate and the other setting up a cover over an actual pit trap in the floor. Monster sees and avoids obvious trap, falls into pit, hilarity ensues!
Minor illusion and prestidigitation. Are the best cantrips in the game and if used together correctly can solve meny problems in the early game. And they can still be of some use in the later game.
Yes they can.
I would argue for number 3 that while you could get SOME cover, you wouldn't be able to get the maximum cover that an actual object would provide. Armor Class is a combination of how strong your armor is, as well as how dexterous you are, so it includes both the enemy missing you entirely and/or hitting a hard part of your armor. Getting a cover bonus makes it harder to hit because most of your body is essentially behind natural armor, like a rock. You can't be hit there, so the enemy will try to aim for what limited part of you is available. In terms of how this works in world, you gain a bonus because they have a smaller window to hit you, and are more likely to miss as a result. However, the illusion itself isn't real. You aren't actually being protected. So they might shoot and "miss" by hitting the cover, but the arrow would go through the cover and potentially hit you. You would gain a cover bonus as a result of the enemy not being able to aim center of mass, but not the entire bonus because the illusion is not solid. (Plus it's a cantrip. Getting free 3/4 cover for an entire combat scenario for a single cantrip action, which can be cast out of combat, is a bit OP. So I would say that if you have half-cover from the illusion, you get no cover. If you have 3/4, you have half. Total cover would not be possible with the illusion.
Big brain move. Set down a tripwire and create a badly made illusion of the tripwire over the tripwire.
Creature realizes the illusion is an illusion, steps confidently through it, and set off the real tripwire.
Some cantrips are really powerful. Like control water, which technically allows you to drop >7,000lbs of ice on someone’s head
Edit: I meant shape water, as someone pointed out
Wonder how much damage that's would do
@@emmlenius4167 Rougly equivalent damage would be collapsing a roof on someone, which is 4d10/half bludgeoning on a DC 13 dex save, or collapsing a building on someone which is 5d6 via the Earthquake spell. If the DM is generous, they might give you the falling damage equivalent, which is 1d6/10 feet (20d6 max). The max I'd probably do is 10d10/half on a dex save, which is a deadly damage for tier 2 play. The DM's have an improvised damage table which helps determine what's reasonable
@@joshuatran1556 thanks
Control Water is a 4th level spell not a cantrip. Are thinking of Shape Water?
And there's no way 2 instances of 5 feet of water that's turned to ice weighs 7000 pounds.
So, what I would do as an arcane trickster is use minor illusion to conceal myself without invisibility. So, in one case during combat in a dark cavern I placed the illusion of a rock over my character effectively allowing him to sit back pop arrows off for continuous sneak attacks, and because most enemies have low intelligence saves they never found me. Once I got the skulker feat it was even better.
Some good ideas in here, but the images chosen to illustrate it are the clincher. Good work
Thanks.
Ok, I keep seeing people point out the difference between concealment and cover. While it’s true an illusion doesn’t actually put something between you and the enemy, a lot of people are forgetting something. The enemy doesn’t KNOW that’s not an actual wall (or whatever you made the illusion to be)! To them you actually ARE behind a wall, so if your an archer and you have the choice between someone hiding behind a rock wall, and someone else standing out in the open, who are you gonna shoot at?? The person in the open of course, even if they are better armored, they are the better target.
Yep.
While you're correct, if they decide to take a shot at it, it will go through the wall
Easily one of my favorite spells , it adds so much more to the game. If I DM I would allow any creative idea rather than shutting down my players.
It's a great spell :)
Also if you go with a School of Illusion you'd get the Improved Minor Illusion that allows you to make a sound and visual with the same casting. You could make a scary looking statue appear in front of someone and make it scream horrififyingly. Or while a guard is running behind you, make floor visually crack on front of him while the sound of a cracking floor comes right underneath the guard. (unlike thaumaturgy, minor illusion doesn't restrict sound in a single point of origin)
Yes. I like your suggestions.
I currently play a “Arcane Blade” and I have some suggestions;
1) Forget about the Mirror Image, past AC16 they’re more likely to miss you rather than hitting your copy…if you’re at AC15 or lower with the song and armor/MA active, you’re doing it wrong anyway.
2) If you stay with level 4 or 5 Wizard, you’ll only lose two SA dice…adding a BB/GFB or Shadow Blade is going to make up for it, this is the route I ended up taking. Maths and all that.
3) Telekinetic feat is awesome - being able to get double the range plus the push/pull WITHOUT any somatic or material components at will…incredible. I thought about taking the Feytouched feature for some extra spells etc but, I don’t really use that many anyway. I currently have 45’ base movement and, I can bump it up to 65’ or more…I harass the baddies, dashing in and out stabbing with Dart+BB or, throw the Dart if I need ranged weapons. The average damage between the d4 Darts/Daggers and a d8 Rapier is about 2 points…not anything to worry about.
Just some observations I made watching the video. 🤷♂️
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
@@HowtoRPG No worries, “everyone” seems to favor the Mirror Image because it has no concentration but…yeah, AC16 and higher your copies will take hits that would never have hit you in the first place…it’s a waste of a spell slot at that point.
If you have to get some more survivability, the higher your AC = more efficient Blur or PFG&E is. I’m sitting on AC23 (plus Shield if needed) and, with disadvantage…I’m VERY hard to hit, it’s a good protection against critical hits.
PFG&E is generally better for survivability but, I have and use Blur as well when needed.
I had a situation where the group was in some woods, I climbed to the top of a tree to see more of the area and then used minor illusion to draw a map of what I saw down on the ground.
So, you can’t fit in a 5 foot CUBED box? Can’t crouch, can’t stand on your knees, can’t curl up and lay down???
An amusing one is to set a bear trap, then create the illusion of another bear trap in front of it.
The NPC will discover the illusion, then stride confidently forwards, assuming both traps to be fake and get their ankle broken :)
My idea was to create a see through wall as cover.
(Makes all behind it invisible when looked at other than from behind)
For example. hide a tankard of mead from the one it belongs to for them to believe as if someone has taken it.
The minor illusion power point presentation idea got me thinking. Could a wizard create an illusory spellbook page base on their own spellbook and use the spells on that page?
You'd still be limited by the duration of the illusion. In this case, 1 minute.
Theoretically, you’d have to know the spell enough already to have copied it into the book anyway.
No but I would rule that if you want to use major image (the version that is permanent) you could use it to create an illusion of another page, letting you forgo the copy time for high level spells
Im going to play a wizard that starts at level 1 with 20 intelligence, so he should be able to think about all of these things that I wouldnt have think of... So thank you!
You are most welcome :)
all excellent ideas. I run a game with a gnome illusionist and they have done some of these things and they have worked out well.
I'm here for my forest gnome bard. Cheers
Don't forget you can cast this spell to create obstructions. It is NOT a concentration spell and just lasts the duration. You could use it to create an obstruction in an open doorway. This could be a door made of rusty barbed spikes or it could look like a pile of bloody skulls.
Because its just Somatic and Material components only, you could keep this illusion up as long as you are willing to spend the action to do it.
This is effectively Tiny Wall of Stone at level 1, if you have the time to set it up.
I believe it is concentration.
Question for #3... How exactly would you get "cover" mechanically (AC increase) if any attack would technically go through the illusion of it were to hit it. 🤔 I completely get it for stealth, but for combat cover I'm having problems seeing it...
I agree with this thought.
ever see a magician use a cloth canvas? know where they are behind it? how many people are there?
depending on how your hiding behind it can make a hit a potential miss.
id say quarter cover at 3 quarters would be fair.
also i believe your looking at AC wrong. remember that AC accounts for a fast character who can quickly dodge an attack (hence why dex increases AC) so the ability to hit or miss is determined first. given my earlier answer of how an illusion hiding your body can give an increase in AC, its all about making the opponents aim target miss to negate damage.
In D&D 5e concealment also counts as cover. If the enemy can't see you they're gonna have a hard time hitting you.
Cover is not “physical obstruction” it’s “target obstruction”. Trying to hit someone hiding behind a cloth is more difficult because you can’t expect exactly where they are, especially when they don’t take up a 5x5 space.
I am playing a small sized owlin Illusonist, this cantrip has saved our party so much.
Once my group was out in an open field and a dragon was about to fly overhead. I shouted for everyone to fall prone next to me and cast Silent Image to create the effect of grass above us. I had to use Silent Image because it's a 15' cube instead of 5' but I imagine players could do something similar for just themselves using Minor Illusion.
I dont think illusions work on dragons w true sight
@@romeo23117 Did you mean blind sight? Dragons don't have true sight by default. It was also more than 60' up in the air so blindsight didn't apply anyway.
@@CrabCrow my b still new and testing out illusions
@@CrabCrow i did something similar with deep snow hiding from a gaint
If the wind wasn't blowing maybe. Minor illusion doesn't move like silent image, so it'd look off in an open field. Dragons are definitely intelligent enough about the natural world and illusions to notice.
Maybe a rock or something solid would be a better use.
14:20 I will say that you should keep in mind players don't take up their 5ft space it's also why allies can pass through your space
Break their mind, have them see their are melting, see the walls bleeding, be itachi. So many fun things to do!
something to further enhance the gravestone idea is to have unseen servant wear a black robe and carry a scythe approaching whoever it is you're trying to scare
4:30 is when they get to the clever uses for those of us who already know the basics
I actually did the one about wine/ale and giving it to someone to shut them up about taking wine from a nice old lady and distracted them long enough with it to let the lady leave.
what some dont realize, is that even if something looks illusionary or perhaps not quite there, doesnt mean its not super great! Visual effects can be really awesome (except in most games that totally ignore them)
Thanks for the feedback.
Minor Illusion combined with 14th lv Illusion wizard could as an action create 5ft by 5ft boulders to crush enemies for free works great if you catch your victim unaware just Illusion a real boulder to drop onto someone not moving works better if you make it aerodynamic so less noise
Unfortunately, it only works with level 1 spells or higher.
So there's one major flaw with the 'Cover' you provided. Concealment and Cover are not the same thing. Concealment, which is what a Minor Illusion would provide. Provides just that, the ability to hide from sight. Cover, actually provides a physical cover and protection against things or in this case, ranged attacks. If someone knows you're there, and shoots arrows at you, putting up a fake wall isn't going to provide real cover to protect you, as the cover isn't physically real. I would never rule this even as a DM, to get a cover AC bonus there needs to be a physical object between you an the attacker.
Here's a thought. Bladesinger wizards get to cast a cantrip as a second attack, imagine attacking 1x, then using your second attack to create the illusion of a 5x5 huge pavise sheild, giving you cover from their next attack, and breaking line of sight preventing opportunity attacks. Should you choose to leave
I made a 5 foot ring of acids around me to try and prevent melee enemy from getting close to me. Or I would make a hologram of a halfling readying a spell or a bow to try and wast a enemies action on it
I am trying to understand the ring of acid.
@@HowtoRPG just a bluff to hopefully keep melee enemies away
You can't make an image of a creature, only an object
I would like to add my thoughts on using illusion magic to create cover. Unless you are of sufficient level to make an illusion real then it is still an illusion. I would not rule more than half cover because, for example if your ac with half cover is 12 and they roll an 11 with a bow and arrow, the ruling could be that the arrow flings by your head. But now if 3/4 gives you 15 and they roll a 14, the ruling should note that the arrow hits the cover and sticks into the crate. Therefore the illusion can only give half cover because that range within the 2-5 ac bonus should be striking the cover which of course is not real and would hit you.
Thanks for this. Terrific ideas!
Thanks. Glad you liked the video Jarrod.
Just one detail, around 6:25 you talk about minor illusion giving "cover" since minor illusion is nor solid it will not grant cover, If the archer shoot an arrow at your, the wall do not protect you from the arrow, it does NOT increase your AC.
It does give concealment, so you can be "UNSEEN" meaning that archer got disavantage to attack you and you have advantage to attack him. The archer might THINK you have cover and will choose a target he beleive is easier to attack. But you have no real cover behind minor illusion, just concealment.
I personnally like the 5ft tall 5 ft wide bush. you can become unseen being it (without need to hide, sure everyone know you are behind the bush, but you are still unseen)
When you shoot your arrow trought the bush, the arrow doesn't "interact" with the bush. The arrow is not going throught a solid brick wall, it's passes between the bush leaf/branch so the monster do not automatically disbelieve the illusion
And even my 6ft tall half elf can crouch. knee down, sit down to shoot his bow and fit behind the 5ft bush. If you aver shot any range weapon, you should know that shooting while standing up is the hardest way to aim. if you can knee down or sit down (or even lie down with a gun, but I guess with a bow prone of the ground might make it harder, and by RAW attack made while prone have disavantage, so even a crossbow won't work, even if it should) it's much easier and more stable to aim. So even your 7ft tall Goliath can knee down to 5ft and shoot with his bow and benefit from the bush cover. "kneeing" down is not cover by that PhB, so it fall under DM rulign on how it works. you DM might sa it cost 5ft to knee down and 5ft to get back up or he might say it's half movement or wahtever, I suggest talking with your DM before the game about how he rule kneeing down and so you don't force him to do a quick decision mid fight.
You cannot create cover with an illusion, only obscurement.
I still don't understand if the unmovable part means it can't move just by itself or moving parts or it can't move at all and if so then can it stay floating in space. If i make an illusion of a ring on my finger. Would my hand need to be completely still?
I'm reading up on this spell because one of my players tried to make a brick sphere around a monsters head to blind it completely. Luckily it had true sight so it didn't matter but I'm trying to find out if this is something they could start doing to every boss. It says that if the monster realizes it's an illusion, the illusion becomes faint so I think I'm good.
I understand the illusory image created by Minor Illusion cannot move. If the brick cannot move then it's easy for the blockhead to move, touch their face, breathe, talk, etc.
The illusion is 5 ft tall, almost every boss monster is taller than that. If it appears in mid air they would probably tell something is wrong.
It wouldn't work. Physical contact would nullify it's effect.
Brilliant!
Thanks 😊
If you go across a 5' cube the long ways edge to opposite edge is about 7'
I made a 5 foot rock to stand in and then cast frost bite from inside it with no chance of enemy’s had no chance of seeing me
Should work for a round of combat.
I can use the sound ones with ease. Image ones I have to practice.
Combat use of sound? Drums. Drums in the deep.
Why not, sound plausible. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Let me guess what you wanna talk about today
Dungeons and Dragons. ..
@@HowtoRPG :p
If a pile of treasure isn't an object, then neither is a tree.
A rope of gold coins curled up in a pile is 1 object 😮
Do you actually need to make a picture if you want to describe something? Why not a hologram?
Or that.
a 5 foot square, if turned on a corner, is over 7 feet tall, a 5x5x5 cube is even taller! So, no, 5 feet is not the maximum height.
Clever. Unfortunately all you do is force a Dungeon Master to house rule as the spell is not intended to be exploited in that way.
@@HowtoRPG Nah, showed him with a 6-sided die how I wanted the cube-oriented. He got it right away. Besides, it's RAW.
@@HowtoRPG How do you know? That's exactly the way the rule is written. I see nowhere in which cubes must be orthogonal to a the ground.
How is the portrate different then the paper discription?
One is an oil painting and the other is a pencil drawing.
A corpse looks like an object
The hypotenuse of a 5 foot cube is actually 8.66 feet. If you stand it on the corner you can certainly make a 2.5 x 6 ft image of a humanoid.
Nah, you can't- you can create a sound or object, not a creature
@@noone3216 a mannequin is an object.
@@IkaikaArnado yeah it is. But a humanoid isn't. My apologies if you meant 'mannequin' when you said humanoid.
@@noone3216 Yeah, I meant humanoid type object like a statue, mannequin, or card board cut out.
Something that wouldn't pass as a creature within like 20 ft, in normal light.
MI + Comprehend Languages = subtitles.
I don’t think that the point of creating a minor illusion is to make a shredded dwarf with tattoos swinging a battleaxe😂 There’s a difference between your arcane trickster rogue to cast minor illusion to hide the paladin in a wooden box illusion. And trying to create a midget Danny Trejo swinging a battleaxe😂 that’s what spells like silent image and mirror image are for. For my Elden Ring/Dark Souls fans, I’d treat minor illusion like the mimic vale.
I think if a wax object representing a creature as it would represent presumably a creature, it's clothes and weapons but with different colors then this would also allow the argument as to whether a hovering crossbow would also have a crossbow bolt in it. It could be argued then that it's a wax representation of a crossbow and a bolt together.
Frankly that's why I don't like these types of spells / abilities. It takes way too much mind gymnastics to be able to adjudicate it and there are some work arounds that could be argued that could accomplish them anyway. This is why I would much rather prefer wizard's being forced to choose only the cantrips that fit within the school of magic they've chosen but make those cantrips much more powerful and give them more powerful options for those schools. Maybe to forego some of the powerful options they could choose to be a multi-talented wizard and be very good at illusions and somewhat good at mage hand or prestidigitation if they want at higher levels. I like that idea a lot more by giving the players good choices that are intended for them to be able to accomplish things with rather than poor ones that it requires mental gymnastics to figure out if it will work or not.
Unfortunately it would take a lot of home brewing I think to try and rework the wizard classes to do this and get my player's buy in on it. Frankly I think I like the idea of wizards working this way a lot more as I've always enjoyed in TV shows and movies when there is a wizard or sorcerer who can accomplish a lot by using big flashy spells that don't really do a whole lot or illusions or trickery magic, etc.
That's fine. Some people don't like Illusion Spells.
When in the video do you get to the point
@@varyable3758 If you watched the video, you would know.
@@HowtoRPG bro 2 min of useless dialoge...provide pertinent info
@@varyable3758.