Illusions as Communication Devices

[arnej]

So, I have a character with several Illusion spells. I started playing around with it for communication purposes. For example:

1. An illusion of a statue that speaks when I concentrate, even if I'm not in the room.
2. An illusion of a parrot that speaks from a PC's shoulder
3. An illusion of a brooch with a face on it that goes on the leader's vest, that talks when I concentrate on it

Do those seem kosher? I was most worried about the last, after a thread over on reddit wrt to Illusions moving around.

Thoughts?

[Refplace]

Those are doable, though Illusions are mostly area spells. You need to give them Independence and/or Initiative for them to move around on their own.
Consider doing that with Inscribe too.
For the broach thing I would go with a variant on Illusion Disguise.
However all these will only work with limited presets, a variant on Control Illusion ... say a Long Range version that lets you temporarily take over known illusions to let you communicate through them might be an option.

[arnej]

Originally Posted by Refplace

However all these will only work with limited presets, a variant on Control Illusion ... say a Long Range version that lets you temporarily take over known illusions to let you communicate through them might be an option.

I'll look into your suggestions around Independence, et al.

As for the last here, I was under the impression that a wizard could control his illusions ("Move to a different area, or change size or shape") just by concentrating. My character is still maintaining them, after all.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by arnej

I'll look into your suggestions around Independence, et al.

As for the last here, I was under the impression that a wizard could control his illusions ("Move to a different area, or change size or shape") just by concentrating. My character is still maintaining them, after all.

Yes, but if your concentrating on an illusion your hampered in doing anything else. And if the illusion goes out of sight (such as possible in your broach example) you wont know when or how to respond to circumstances without some other magic.

[Astromancer]

The Broach seems the best to me. Perhaps it needs an Empathy and Communication college spell rather than an Illusion and Creation spell.