Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Crowell
A question on Illusions that I have seen raised elsewhere by others, how do they interact with projectile weapons?
An image struck by a projectile will vanish and the projectile continue on, but the rules don't say for an illusion. Would an Illusionary wall stop an arrow?
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I always ruled that it did. The rationale (such as it is) is that an Illusion spell acts as a sorta magical lens. It focuses the inate natural magic energy of those who perceive the illusion to warp reality as necessary to conform with the illusion. It's power is limited though. An illusory wall can stop an arrow, but probably not an arbalest bolt. A rock might bounce off an illusory floor, but something as heavy as a human body would likely fall through. Unless the Wile E. Coyote Rule intersects with the Rule of Funny...
Yeah, it's the fantasy equivalent of Star Trek TNG technobabble, but what are you gonna do?
I also told my players - at the beginning of the campaigns - that the effects of illusions were often inconsistent in unusual cases. Wizards pretty much know how an illusory swordsman will fight. They may not be able to predict how large or fast an object an illusory wall will block. There's sufficient variation that the scientific method won't help either. In other words, just go with the ruling and understand that attempts to abuse illusion rules have a good chance of blowing back on you.