Illusionary credentials
 

A player just mentioned the idea of creating an illusion of a document from the king to allow the party entry into a secure area. I have been playing ITL since the eighties and surprised this concept never came up before now.
This has similar potential to the "Psychic Paper" used in some Dr. Who (Kinda brilliant IMHO) that a clever wizard might employ in tricky situations.

I would like to hear if anyone has encountered such a ruse before and or thoughts on the subject.

There would be obvious limitations of time (12 turns for 2 ST).

The signature? Do you need to be a forger to cast an illusion of the writing or is that the pure ability of the illusion spell? Meaning wizards cast a zoo full of animal types and I for one seldom question if they have ever seen an eagle up close etc.

Would you give the reader a free IQ test just because they are already naturally questioning the validity of the persons request/authority?

Does this mean that very important identification and such would be stamped in iron to prevent "illusionary" alterration? (new meaning to an iron clad contract).

Re: Illusionary credentials
 

Cool idea. The wizard creating it would certainly have to be literate in the language in question and had better hope that he knows what kind of special paper or seals are standard for such a document. Rolls to disbelieve might be typical if the scrutinizing official has Detect Lies or if the social reaction roll is unfavorable.

A standard anti-illusion trick could be for such documents to be punched by those they are presented to, like a train ticket, since splitting the illusion by punching out a hole would break the illusion.

Re: Illusionary credentials
 

Does the caster have Courtly Graces so they aware of all the fine details to duplicate?

Does deception count as hostile intentions against a Ward spell?

Can Delete Writing be used to erase just a few words (such as a name) from an official document?

Can Analyze Magic tell you who made an enchantment?

Re: Illusionary credentials
 

Streetwise or Business Sense might also help.
Dishonesty is not necessarily hostile.

Going by RAW you'd have to twist "Removes all handwriting" [emphasis mine] substantially to mean that.
There is nothing in Analyze Magic's description that suggests that it reveals the identity of the person who cast the spell in question.

Re: Illusionary credentials
 

In a recent game session, our GM baited Shostak's wizard with a document that was actually an image. Of course, it disappeared when he touched it. If he had taken time to read it without touching it, our GM would have to start building the ruse with written content. LOL!

Re: Illusionary credentials
 

Geez, I hadn't thought of that. Good thing he grabbed it rather than read it.

Well, I said it was a book. I didn't say it was open. Still, should have been writing on the spine, I guess. "Spugwump's Tome of Elixirs like Mammy Used to Make" or something.

Fact is, it doesn't take much to bait Shostak. He's happy to go along, no matter how transparent the ruse.

Re: Illusionary credentials
 

LOL!

Thanks for the clarification. I forgot that it was a book. And no one, not even the wizards, will sit still long enough to actually rest and recover fatigue which, in my opinion, is a HUGE tactical error for the party.

I do find it a bit uncanny that questions like the OP show up on the forum shortly after one of us experience a similar situation in a game.