The Fantasy Trip

Rick_Smith · 03-05-2018, 10:11 PM

Hi all,
The Illusions in basic Wizard worked great. However, I found the Illusions in Advanced Wizard problematic. I didn't like that Illusions could be of anything.

There are a lot of special rules hedging Illusions:
– One hex demons are too tough so if you make an Illusion of a demon, a real one might attack you. (Why??? Why would they care? How can they get to our world, if they can't come normally?)
– Strong elementals are too powerful, so for weird reasons no one understands, you can't make illusions of them.
– Illusions are of ordinary fighters with regular attributes. BUT if the Illusion is of a tough fighter known to the victims, then it is like a tough fighter. BUT if half the victims know of that tough fighter, and half don't know him, then the behavior is undefined.
– An Illusion of a pit under someone generates an automatic, instant disbelief roll, but other Illusions don't generate these rolls.
– Illusion men can't fly, but if the enemy thinks it has a flight ring it can. Does that mean if the Illusion shouts “I have a flight ring!” it can fly? Wouldn't it be more believable to just fly, and let the opponents figure out that it has a flight ring?
– Illusions of winged wolves are legal, but 'totally imaginary' animals are not.
– Illusions of inanimate objects can't hurt you unless they are weapons, then they can.

If new TFT creates a half dozen new, really tough 1 hex figures, I expect that special illusion rules will have to be created for them as well.

I think the simple solution is this: Images can look like anything but Illusion can only be one of the following:
– The wizard duplicates him or herself.
– A standard creation spell. (NOT Invocation type spells, so no demons.)
– Standard magical obstacles. (Fires, Shadows, Magic Ropes, etc.)
– Standard weapons from the weapon list.

Illusions are a knot of force that does real damage.

This solves all the above problems and makes them logical.

I have added Phantasmals which are higher IQ, cost more fST and have severe limitations, BUT can be of anything. (For example, if you disbelieve a phantasmal, you disbelieve all damage it has done to anyone, and if you are killed by a phantasmal, (or it does something virtually impossible), you get a free disbelief roll. Even if you blow it you are not really dead, but you THINK you are, so you go into a coma. This makes phantasmals useful for tricking people, but less useful for fights.

Steve will probably not bother with two types of Illusions in the new TFT, but I recommend that basic Illusion is nerfed so it is simple and logical.

Comments welcome,
Warm regards, Rick.

03-05-2018, 10:11 PM	#11
Rick_Smith Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Coquitlam B.C.	Problems with Illusions in Adv. Wiz. Hi all, The Illusions in basic Wizard worked great. However, I found the Illusions in Advanced Wizard problematic. I didn't like that Illusions could be of anything. There are a lot of special rules hedging Illusions: – One hex demons are too tough so if you make an Illusion of a demon, a real one might attack you. (Why??? Why would they care? How can they get to our world, if they can't come normally?) – Strong elementals are too powerful, so for weird reasons no one understands, you can't make illusions of them. – Illusions are of ordinary fighters with regular attributes. BUT if the Illusion is of a tough fighter known to the victims, then it is like a tough fighter. BUT if half the victims know of that tough fighter, and half don't know him, then the behavior is undefined. – An Illusion of a pit under someone generates an automatic, instant disbelief roll, but other Illusions don't generate these rolls. – Illusion men can't fly, but if the enemy thinks it has a flight ring it can. Does that mean if the Illusion shouts “I have a flight ring!” it can fly? Wouldn't it be more believable to just fly, and let the opponents figure out that it has a flight ring? – Illusions of winged wolves are legal, but 'totally imaginary' animals are not. – Illusions of inanimate objects can't hurt you unless they are weapons, then they can. If new TFT creates a half dozen new, really tough 1 hex figures, I expect that special illusion rules will have to be created for them as well. I think the simple solution is this: Images can look like anything but Illusion can only be one of the following: – The wizard duplicates him or herself. – A standard creation spell. (NOT Invocation type spells, so no demons.) – Standard magical obstacles. (Fires, Shadows, Magic Ropes, etc.) – Standard weapons from the weapon list. Illusions are a knot of force that does real damage. This solves all the above problems and makes them logical. I have added Phantasmals which are higher IQ, cost more fST and have severe limitations, BUT can be of anything. (For example, if you disbelieve a phantasmal, you disbelieve all damage it has done to anyone, and if you are killed by a phantasmal, (or it does something virtually impossible), you get a free disbelief roll. Even if you blow it you are not really dead, but you THINK you are, so you go into a coma. This makes phantasmals useful for tricking people, but less useful for fights. Steve will probably not bother with two types of Illusions in the new TFT, but I recommend that basic Illusion is nerfed so it is simple and logical. Comments welcome, Warm regards, Rick. Last edited by Rick_Smith; 03-05-2018 at 10:35 PM. Reason: Expanded Phantasmals a bit.