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DragonQuest, Third Edition, offers two statements about illusions that seem to be in conflict:
Let's go with this interpretation: The illusion creates a temporary, usable piece of reality formed out of the mana around the caster. Its existence and duration are tenuous, because they work only as long as observers believe they are real. In other words, the illusion of a bridge can function like a real bridge, but only for those who can see it, feel it, and believe it's there.
Given that the illusion is only real to those who perceive it as real, you can't use illusions to fool inanimate objects. An illusionary battering ram is never going to break down a door, because the door won't be fooled by the illusion.
Illusions are made from mana, so an illusionist is heavily dependent on the supply of mana in the area. In addition to the regular rules applying to mana-rich and mana-poor areas, illusionists enjoy a +20% bonus on cast chances in mana-rich areas, and they suffer a -20% penalty on cast chances in mana-poor areas.
Illusions can create the presence of something that isn't there, or they can disguise the appearance of something that is there, but they can't make something seem not to be there.
Any player character can voluntarily make the attempt to disbelieve any time, by taking a Pass action or an Evade action.
NPCs would make the attempt under the following conditions:
The character crossing the illusionary bridge over a chasm has a vested interest in believing in the illusion. A character that's trying to use an illusion might have to make a disbelief attempt anyway under any of the following circumstances:
The character who wants to avoid an involuntary attempt at disbelief can make a Willpower (WP) check, with a difficulty factor equal to [5 - (disbelief difficulty factor)]. In effect, the weaker the illusion, the harder it is to convince yourself it's real. Success means the character is able to stay focused ("It is a bridge, it is a bridge, ..."). Failure means the character is required to make an immediate disbelief attempt.
As a result, an illusionist would have a hard time making items for his own use or for the use of his friends.
If an illusionist disbelieves an illusion (even if another illusionist cast it), the illusion fades, but doesn't disappear. A visual illusion would become transparent, an aural illusion would sound like a thin echo, an olfactory illusion would become the merest hint, and a tactile illusion would be like the touch of a feather. This lets the illusionist keep track of the illusion, even while not believing it's real.
If a non-illusionist disbelieves an illusion, the illusion simply ceases to exist for that character.
If an illusion has moving parts or must otherwise respond properly to what happens around it, the illusionist must concentrate. An illusion of a coil of rope needs no concentration, but if someone is going to use the rope, the caster must maintain concentration to get the illusion to "behave" properly.
To maintain concentration, the illusionist must meet the following criteria:
If the illusionist loses concentration, the illusion becomes unchanging. If that creates suddenly implausible results, observers are likely to make disbelief attempts.
The illusionist can regain concentration as soon as the criteria are met again.
These are the illusions of creatures that aren't really there at all.
| Characteristic | Required Components | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Height or Length | visual | up to [6 x Rank] feet (3' at rank 0) |
| Weight | tactile | as appropriate for the creature and size |
| PS | tactile | up to [10 + 2xRank] |
| MD | visual | up to [10 + 2xRank] |
| AG | visual | up to [10 + 2xRank] |
| MA | n/a | no magical abilities of its own |
| WP | n/a | no independent willpower |
| EN | tactile | up to [10 + 2xRank] |
| FT | visual | calculated from EN. The illusion doesn't actually get tired, but it has to look tired as appropriate to remain plausible. |
| PC | n/a | no ability to perceive its surroundings |
| PB | visual | Minimum: [10 - Rank/2] Maximum: [20 + Rank/2] |
| TMR | visual | normal TMR for the creature (e.g. computed from AG for humanoid beings), or [Rank], whichever is lower |
| Protection rating | tactile | up to [Rank/2, rounded down] |
| Ranked abilities | varies | up to caster's rank with the ability or caster's rank with the illusion spell, whichever is lower |
| Weapon damage modifier | tactile | up to [Rank - 5] |
In addition to the above requirements, an illusionary creature needs an audio component in order to be convincing. If the creatures to be fooled by the illusion have a strong sense of smell, or if the illusionary creature itself normally has a strong smell, an olfactory component is also required for the illusion to remain plausible.
Example: An illusionist combines Visual (rank 8), Audio (rank 9), and Tactile (rank 9) components to make an illusionary knight in partial plate. The combined illusion is at Rank 8. The warrior has PS 26, MD 26 (22 because of a kite shield), AG 26 (23 to properly simulate the encumbrance), EN 26, FT 24, PB 15 (could have been anywhere from 6 to 24), and TMR 7. The illusionary knight has no rank in kite shield or broadsword because the illusionist has no corresponding ability. The knight's maximum damage modifier is +3, even though a real broadsword would have a +4.
These are illusions that make an existing creature seem to be something else. The important distinction is that these disguises change what the creature seems to be, but not what the creature really is. The creature might look shorter or seem lighter, but it isn't really.
All of the following can apply. For example, a rank 2 illusion could make a British peasant seem 2% taller, 2% heavier, 2 PB more attractive, with the basic appearance of a Saxon noble.
| Characteristic | Required Components | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Height | visual | plus or minus [Rank]% |
| Weight | tactile | plus or minus [Rank]% |
| Characteristics | visual | The total apparent change among characteristics cannot exceed [Rank]; can be applied to PS, MD, AG, WP, EN, FT, PB, or PC (but not MA because nobody looks more or less magically apt) |
| Social Class | visual, at least | Each Rank can transform the being by one social class: from slave to peasant, peasant to merchant class, merchant class to noble, noble to royal; the transformation involves various outward signs like wear and tear (or not) on the face and hands, the degree of grooming of one's hair, style of clothing, etc.; corresponding tactile illusions might be useful too. |
| People | visual | Two ranks can make a being seem to be a member of another people, within the same species; among humans, this would normally include Britons, French, Occitanians, Picts, Romans, and Saxons. |
| Gender | visual, perhaps audio, olfactory, and tactile | Four ranks can make the creature seem to be of opposite gender |
| Kind or species | visual, perhaps audio, olfactory, and tactile | Transformation within same DragonQuest rules subsection (earth dwellers, fairy folk, etc.), 4 ranks; transformation within same rules section (mammals, avians, etc.), 6 ranks; transformation between rules sections, 8 ranks; transformation to different "kingdom" (animals, plants, minerals), 10 ranks. In addition, add 1 rank per step of change on the list of aura categories on p. 43. |
Example: A 4'6", 71 lb. elf illusionist (PB 17) can make an audio-visual illusion at rank 6. She wants to disguise her appearance. She can adjust her height up or down by up to 6% (4'3" to 4'9"). She can't adjust her apparent weight because she's not adding a tactile component to the illusion. She could make herself look and sound male. Elves are discussed in DragonQuest section 74.2, so at rank 6, she could look like anything else in section 74, but nothing from another section. Because her aura category (p. 43) is "elves and other long-lived sentients," she'd need an extra rank to look like "humans and most humanoids." In effect, she could look like a giant (long-lived sentient), but not an orc (same section 6 ranks + one step of aura transformation 1 rank = 7 ranks required). She wouldn't be very convincing as an adult giant at 4'3" to 4'9", but she could look like a very young fire giant boy. She could transform her apparent characteristics by up to 6 total, which isn't much, but she still might make a plausible fire giant toddler. Alternatively, she could make herself look like a nymph (apparent PB 23), or she could take the simpler route of looking like some unspecified male elf. She wouldn't be convincing as a pixie of any age, because of her height.
The size or intensity of an illusion is based on the caster's rank with the spell. The caster can create a single full-sized illusion or multiple smaller illusions, as long as the total ranks equal the caster's rank with the spell. Rank 0 counts as 0.5 for this purpose.
Each piece of a divided illusion has a correspondingly reduced rank. A rank 4 audio illusion could produce one rank 4 illusion or two rank 2 illusions, for example.
When the illusion is subdivided, the "sub-illusions" must make up a matched set in some sense. A rank 9 illusion could present a 9' hill giant or three 3' halflings, but not a mixture of various creatures and objects. When an illusion is used to disguise multiple creatures or objects, the same transformations apply to each.
If the audio illusion is being used to mask another sound, anyone trying to listen to the masked sound has a temporary reduction in Perception of one per rank of the audio illusion.
If a taste or smell is intended to be offensive, the beings affected by it must make an Endurance check (difficulty = disbelief difficulty for the rank of the individual piece). Failure means the creature begins retching and vomiting; a Willpower check is then required to avoid fleeing the scene. Example: A rank 7 olfactory illusion is used to render three drinks undrinkable (rank 2 for two of them, rank 3 for the third); the people who drink these drinks must roll [3.5xEN]% to avoid retching, but they'll find the drinks disgusting in any case.
If a smell is supposed to be attractive, creatures that would find it attractive must make a Willpower check or be drawn toward the smell.
If a taste is supposed to be delicious, those who enjoy the food will have a reaction bonus equal to the rank of the illusion. The good food puts them into a better mood.
Tactile illusions can trigger urges in living beings, including the urge to urinate, sneeze, scratch, eat, or drink. The number of beings affected is determined as for visual illusions. Each affected being must make a Willpower check or give into the urge; the difficulty equals the disbelief difficulty. A roll that's more than double the success chance calls for an extreme and perhaps embarrassing and undignified response; otherwise, failure means only that the person has a normal response to the sensation.
Tactile illusions can cause pain. The being suffers a penalty of [-2xRank]% on all success chances while in pain. If the being is engaged in something requiring concentration, a Willpower check is required to continue; the difficulty equals the disbelief difficulty.
An illusion of fatigue reduces the victim's FT score by [rank+1] while the illusion lasts. The FT score won't be reduced below zero; no additional damage is suffered if the character doesn't have at least [rank+1] FT points remaining. When the illusion fades, the lost FT points are immediately restored, up to the creature's original FT score.
An illusion of vigor is possible but risky. It raises the recipient's FT score by [rank+1], up to the recipient's original FT score. As soon as the illusion ends, the recipient spontaneously loses the FT points that were granted by the illusion. Just like magical backfire, if the being doesn't have enough FT points to cover the loss, the additional loss is taken from EN instead.