All About Illusions (Part One)

By Skip Williams

One can use an illusion spell to simulate just about anything a person can dream up -- though more complex examples
of phantasmagoria are beyond the limits of lower-level illusion spells. Still, the illusion school caters to player
and DM creativity to a degree no other school can match.
It's no surprise that illusion spells cause difficulties in play, especially when players start testing the spells' limits.
Fortunately for beleaguered DMs and confused players, the rules offer some pretty strong guidelines for handling illusion
spells. As is often the case, it can prove tough to remember and follow those guidelines when a gaming session really
starts to heat up. In this series, we'll examine what the rules have to say about illusion spells and offer some practical tips
for applying them during a game.
This series draws heavily on an earlier Rules of the Game series:READING SPELL DESCRIPTIONS and on the
discussion of the illusion school on pages 173-174 in the Player's Handbook.

From pages 173-174 of the Player's Handbook:

Illusion
Illusion spells deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, not see
things that are there, hear phantom noises, or remember things that never happened. Representative illusions
include silent image, invisibility, and veil. Illusions come in five types: figments, glamers, patterns, phantasms, and
shadows.
Figment: A figment spell creates a false sensation. Those who perceive the figment perceive the same thing, not
their own slightly different versions of the figment. (It is not a personalized mental impression.) Figments cannot
make something seem to be something else. A figment that includes audible effects cannot duplicate intelligible
speech unless the spell description specifically says it can. If intelligible speech is possible, it must be in a
language you can speak. If you try to duplicate a language you cannot speak, the image produces gibberish.
Likewise, you cannot make a visual copy of something unless you know what it looks like.
Because figments and glamers (see below) are unreal, they cannot produce real effects the way that other types
of illusions can. They cannot cause damage to objects or creatures, support weight, provide nutrition, or provide
protection from the elements. Consequently, these spells are useful for confounding or delaying foes, but useless
for attacking them directly. For example, it is possible to use a silent image spell to create an illusory cottage, but
the cottage offers no protection from rain.
A figment's AC is equal to 10 + its size modifier.
Glamer: A glamer spell changes a subject's sensory qualities, making it look, feel, taste, smell, or sound like
something else, or even seem to disappear.
Pattern: Like a figment, a pattern spell creates an image that others can see, but a pattern also affects the minds
of those who see it or are caught in it. All patterns are mind-affecting spells.
Phantasm: A phantasm spell creates a mental image that usually only the caster and the subject (or subjects) of
the spell can perceive. This impression is totally in the minds of the subjects. It is a personalized mental
impression. (It's all in their heads and not a fake picture or something that they actually see.) Third parties viewing
or studying the scene don't notice the phantasm. All phantasms are mind-affecting spells.
Shadow: A shadow spell creates something that is partially real from extradimensional energy. Such illusions can
have real effects. Damage dealt by a shadow illusion is real.
Saving Throws and Illusions (Disbelief ): Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving
throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion. For example, if a
party encounters a section of illusory floor, the character in the lead would receive a saving throw if she stopped

and studied the floor or if she probed the floor.

A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a
translucent outline. For example, a character making a successful saving throw against a figment of an illusory
section of floor knows the "floor" isn't safe to walk on and can see what lies below (light permitting), but he or she
can still note where the figment lies.
A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that
an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw. A character who falls through a section of illusory floor into a pit knows
something is amiss, as does one who spends a few rounds poking at the same illusion. If any viewer successfully
disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4
bonus.

Illusion Basics
As with any spell in the D&D game, a look at the spell's header (the tabulated information that precedes the text
description for the spell) can settle many questions about how the spell works. For a quick tour of the spell header, see
Rules of the Game: Reading Spell Descriptions, Parts Two through Six.
Most difficulties that arise from an illusion spell vanish when you consider a few key elements in the header. These
include the following:

The spell's subschool.

The illusion school has five subschools: figment, glamer, pattern, phantasm, and shadow. Each school has distinct
properties that define how the spell works. When determining exactly what the caster can accomplish with an illusion
spell, first consider the subschool.

The spell's area, target, or effect entry.

This entry determines how you can aim the spell and where whatever you create with it can go after the spell takes
effect. Many illusion spells produce images that can't move (or move very far), which limits the sorts of things the caster
can do with the spell.

The spell's saving throw entry.

Some illusion spells have a kind of saving throw that poses some difficulties of its own.
Illusion Subschools
If you remember what illusion spells of each subschool can do, you'll avoid a lot of hassles (and dashed expectations) in
play. Here's an overview:

Figment: These spells create false sensations of creatures, objects, or forces. A

figment always must create the impression of something new. It cannot make
something seem to be something else. For example, you can use a figment to
create an illusory cover for an open pit (more about this in Part Four). You cannot,
however, use it to conceal a trap door since that would be making something seem
like something else.
If a figment spell can produce sound, it cannot duplicate intelligible speech unless
the spell description specifically says so.
A figment is unreal and cannot produce real effects; it can't deal damage, support
weight, provide nutrition, or act as a barrier (except that a visible figment can block
line of sight). You can use a figment to fool opponents, but you can't harm them or
affect them directly. For example, a wall of figment flames might cause foes to halt
or make a detour, but it won't burn anything.
If you create the image of a creature with a figment spell, you usually can make it
move around, but only within the spell's area, which usually isn't mobile. An illusory
creature created with a figment spell cannot deal any damage. You can send it into
combat, however. The figment has an Armor Class of 10 + its size modifier (see
page 173 in thePlayer's Handbook). The rules don't say what a figment's
attack bonus is. Your attack bonus is a good default; remember that a figment
cannot deal damage or have any other real effect, however.
Glamer: A glamer spell makes the recipient look, feel, taste, smell, or sound like something else, or even seem to
disappear.
Beware of attempts to use figments as glamers. For example, you can use a figment to create an apple tree, but you
can't use a figment to make your buddy look like an apple tree. You'd need a glamer spell to perform the latter trick.
Like a figment, a glamer can't have any real effects. If you use a glamer to make your human buddy look like an apple
tree, you can't pick edible apples from the character.
Pattern: A pattern spell creates a visible magical image. The spellcaster usually doesn't have control over the image's
appearance; instead, the spell usually specifies how the pattern looks. A pattern's image has some affect on viewers'
minds. All patterns have the mind-affecting descriptor. Patterns have no effects on creatures that cannot see. Unlike a
figment or glamer, a pattern can have real effects; however, those effects are limited to those set out in the spell
description.
Phantasm: These spells create mental images. Usually, only the caster and the spell's recipient (or recipients) can
perceive the image a phantasm spell creates. All phantasms have the mind-affecting descriptor. Like a pattern, a
phantasm can have real effects, as set out in the spell description. Also like a pattern, a phantasm's exact details usually
aren't under the caster's control.
Because a phantasm exists in the recipient's mind, the recipient can perceive it no matter what its sensory capabilities
are.
Shadow: A shadow spell creates something that is partially real, but made mostly from extradimensional energies the
caster brings together with the spell. A shadow is similar to a figment, but it can have real effects because it's partially
real itself. Unlike a figment, a shadow spell usually limits what the caster can duplicate or depict with the spell.
A shadow's physical characteristics (such as ability scores, Armor Class, attack bonus, hit points, and the like) are
defined in the spell description, and they might vary depending on what the shadow depicts or duplicates. Part Four has
more to say about shadows.
What's Next?
That's all we have time for this week Next week, we'll complete our look at illusion basics.

All About Illusions (Part Two)

By Skip Williams

Last week, we examined illusion subschools and considered what an illusion spell's subschool says about what the spell
can do. This week, we'll continue our look at illusion basics by considering two other key elements in an illusion spell.
Aiming Illusion Spells
As noted in Part One, a spell's area, target, or effect entry determines how and where the caster can aim the spell.
Area: Any spell that has an area entry fills some volume of space when it takes effect. Most spell areas are immobile
after they're cast, but be on the lookout for area spells that are portable. The silence spell, for example, is an illusion spell
with an area (an emanation) that can be centered on a mobile object or on acreature so that the spell's effects move
along with it.
Illusion spells that have area entries often affect subjects that are in the area at the time the spell is cast or that enter the
area while the spell lasts. This is particularly true of illusion spells from the pattern subschool, such as rainbow
pattern. Subjects that merely see the pattern from outside the area it fills aren't affected.
Other illusion spells create a false sensation throughout the area or alter an area's sensory properties. Spells from
the glamer subschool often have areas that work this way. Examples include hallucinatory terrain andmirage arcana.
Anyone with line of sight to such a spell's area can notice whatever sensation the spell produces, even from outside the
spell's area (provided that the creature has the appropriate senses). For example, if you use a hallucinatory terrain spell
to make an empty patch of sand look like an oasis, anyone who can see that patch of sand sees the illusion you have
created. Audible illusions might remain audible even without line of sight. For example, if you create the image of a
creaky windmill, creatures nearby can hear the mill creaking even when it's too dark to see the mill.
Effect: A spell with an effect entry produces something. An illusion spell with an effect entry produces a sound, smell,
texture, taste, visual image, or some combination of the five. Spells from the figment subschool often have effect entries
that look a great deal like areas. The effect entry specifies a maximum volume for the image (or images) the spell
produces.
You can make images you create move around, but only with the volume
limit set for the spell. For example, you could use amajor image spell to
create an illusory guard that paces around a room, but you can't make
your illusory guard accompany you wherever you go (unless you stay
inside the spell's volume limit).
As with an area illusion, anyone nearby can perceive an effect illusion. For
instance, the marching guard from the previous example can be seen and
heard just as a real guard could be.
Target: When a spell has a target entry, you select one or more recipients
to receive the spell (there might be limits to the targets you can select, see
Rules of the Game: Reading Spell Descriptions, Part Five). In any case,
all your targets must be in range and you must have line of effect to them.
If you don't have line of sight to a recipient, you still can select it as a
target if you can touch it.
Once a target receives a spell, the spell's effect moves along with it.
Because glamer spells change the recipient's sensory properties, most glamers have target entries (often the caster or
something the caster touches). Phantasms, which affect the recipient's mind, also usually have target entries.
As with illusion spells that have area or effect entries, anyone with line of sight to the recipient of a targeted illusion spell
perceives the illusion the spell creates (except for phantasms, as noted earlier). For example, the invisibility spell makes
a subject vanish from sight. Anyone looking at the space containing the invisible subject sees nothing (or at least does
not see the subject).
Saving Throws and Illusion Spells
Most spells' saving throw entries are self-explanatory; however, some illusion spells have a kind of saving throw that
causes a few problems.
Most figment spells (and a few other illusions) have saving throw entries that read: "Will disbelief (if interacted with)." This
can prove maddeningly vague, especially when someone decides to start splitting hairs. Anyone who has played the

game for more than a few hours knows what a Will save is. But what is the effect of disbelief and what constitutes
interaction?

From pages 173-174 of the Player's Handbook:

Saving Throws and Illusions (Disbelief ): Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving
throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion. For example, if a
party encounters a section of illusory floor, the character in the lead would receive a saving throw if she stopped
and studied the floor or if she probed the floor.
A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a
translucent outline. For example, a character making a successful saving throw against a figment of an illusory
section of floor knows the "floor" isn't safe to walk on and can see what lies below (light permitting), but he or she
can still note where the figment lies.
A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that
an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw. A character who falls through a section of illusory floor into a pit knows
something is amiss, as does one who spends a few rounds poking at the same illusion. If any viewer successfully
disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4
bonus.

Disbelief
Page 173 in the Player's Handbook covers disbelief in detail. The text there can be summed up fairly easily. If you make
a successful saving throw against an illusion effect and disbelieve it, you stop perceiving the illusion and it has no effect
on you at all. Illusions from the figment or glamer subschools, however, remain behind as faint, translucent outlines even
after you successfully disbelieve them. These see-through remnants have no effects on you at all, but serve to remind
you that the illusion is there. It also reminds you of those things with which other less perceptive individuals might have to
deal. The rules use an illusory section of floor (presumably a figment) as an example. If you have disbelieved the illusion,
you see the floor (light permitting) as it is; that is, with a gaping hole in it. You also see the outlines of the illusion,
however, which can prove handy when an unsuspecting ally comes on the scene. In fact, you can convey your
knowledge to your ally and grant your pal a saving throw bonus (see Pointing Out Illusions in Part Three).
The rules don't say what happens if you successfully disbelieve a figment or glamer that doesn't have a visual element.
It's a safe bet, however, that you remain aware of the figment or glamer without being affected or hindered in any way.
What's Next?
We're out of time for this week. Next week, we'll complete our study of saving throws against illusion spells beginning
with a discussion of what it means to "interact" with an illusion.

All About Illusions (Part Three)

By Skip Williams

Last week, we considered how casters aim illusion spells and began a discussion about
disbelieving illusions. This week we'll consider a few more aspects of disbelief -including the crucial step of interacting with an illusion.
Interacting With Illusions

According to page 173 in the Player's Handbook, you don't receive a saving
throw against an illusion effect with a disbelief saving throw until you study the illusion
carefully or interact with it in some way. The text uses an illusory floor as an example.
The character in the example provided there gets a saving throw by stopping to examine
the floor (study) or by probing the floor
(interaction).
For game purposes, we can define
"studying" an illusion as taking an
action (which DMs can choose to
make a move action since this is an
extrapolation of the rules and not an
actual rule) to observe an illusion
effect and note its details. Some DMs I
know require a Spot or
Search check to disbelieve an illusion.
That's going too far. Merely pausing
and using an action to make the check
is enough to allow a saving throw.
Also for game purposes, we can
define "interacting" with an illusion as
doing something that could affect the illusion or allowing the illusion to have an affect on
you. You have a valid claim to an interaction with an illusion when you attack it, touch it,
talk to it, poke it with a stick, target it with a spell, or do something else that one might do
with a real creature or object.
The key to disbelieving an illusion is investing some time and effort in the illusion. If you
decide to ignore the illusion, you don't get a saving throw to disbelieve it. Let's consider
the illusory guard from a previous example. The guard is a figment created with a major
imagespell, and the caster has left the illusory guard to prowl around a chamber. A
character entering or looking into the chamber might react to the illusory guard in several
ways, some of which will allow a saving throw to disbelieve and some that will not. Here
are just a few possibilities:

The character tries to sneak past the guard.

Although both hiding and moving silently are resolved with opposed skill checks, the
character really isn't doing anything that could affect the illusion and isn't really
interacting with it. It would be best to call for the appropriate checks from the sneaking
character and then pretend to make the opposed rolls (the illusory guard cannot see or
hear the character). The character doesn't get a saving throw against the illusion.

The character attacks the guard.

Attacking an illusion is a definite interaction. The character makes the attack, using at
least a standard actionto do so. Hit or miss, the character makes a Will save to
disbelieve the illusion immediately after making theattack roll.
If the attack hits, the character probably should disbelieve automatically (see Automatic
Interactions or Automatic Disbelief, below) as the character sees and feels the weapon
passing through the figment with no effect (just like swinging the weapon through empty
air). If the illusion in question were a shadow instead of a figment, a successful attack
would not result in automatic disbelief (there's something solid to hit there).

The character takes a moment to observe the guard's movements.

The DM can choose to make this at least a move action for the character -- as noted
earlier, this is an extrapolation of the rules, not an actual rule. No check is required, and
the character makes a saving throw to disbelieve the illusion as part of the action used to
observe the guard.

The character tries to identify the guard's uniform or insignia (or simply looks for

the same).
This kind of scrutiny merits a standard action. The character makes a Spot or Search
check to look over the guard's gear (or possibly an appropriate Knowledge check). A
successful check reveals something about the guard's gear. For example, if the illusion's
caster included insignia or if a particular uniform style is included in the figment, the
check reveals those. In any case, the character makes a saving throw to disbelieve the
illusion as part of the action used to study the guard, even if the check fails to uncover
any details.

The character taunts the guard or asks the guard a question.

This one might qualify as an interaction, or it might not. Speaking usually is a free action,
but meaningful communication between two creatures takes up some time.

From page 144 of the Player's Handbook:

Speak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn't your
turn. Some DMs may rule that a character can only speak on his turn, or that a
character can't speak while flatfooted (and thus can't warn allies of a surprise threat
until he has a chance to act). Speaking more than few sentences is generally
beyond the limit of a free action; to communicate more information than that, your
DM may require that you take a move action or even a full-round action.

If the character and the guard are alone and there hasn't been an initiative roll, the
character needs to stick around to note the guard's reaction to the taunt or wait for the
guard's reply to truly interact with the illusion. (That's the equivalent of a move or
standard action.) The character makes a saving throw to disbelieve the illusion as part of
the action used to communicate with the guard.
If this interaction occurs during an encounter, the character could speak as a free action,
but she probably would have to wait until the following round to attempt a saving throw to
disbelieve. (A real creature would need the same interval to respond, probably using a
free action itself.)
Automatic Disbelief
According to the Player's Handbook, if you're faced with proof that an illusion isn't real,
you disbelieve the illusion without making a saving throw. The rules give a few examples
of "proof" that an illusion isn't real. If you step on an illusory floor and fall through, you
know that floor isn't real. Likewise, if you poke around an illusory floor and your hand (or
the implement you're using as a probe) goes through the floor, you know the floor isn't
real.
It's worth noting that in both examples the illusion fails to function as a real object would.
A real floor is solid. It supports your weight (unless it breaks under you), and you can't
push objects or parts of your body through it. A character could create an illusion that
reacts appropriately when disturbed (with a programmed imagespell, for example). In
such cases, a character interacting with the illusion still must make a saving throw to
disbelieve the illusion. For example, if you use a programmed image spell to create an
illusory floor that collapses when someone touches it or walks in it, that's consistent with
the way at least some real floors work and a saving throw is required to disbelieve even
when someone falls through it.
The rules don't say so, but if you create an illusion that allows a saving throw for
disbelief, you automatically disbelieve it (you know it isn't real because you created it).

Automatic Interactions
As noted in Part Two, you must take some action that could affect an illusion before you
can attempt to make a saving throw to disbelieve it. Some illusion spells, however, allow
saves to disbelieve even when you don't use an action to interact with them.
The ventriloquism spell, for example, allows a saving throw to disbelieve whenever you
hear the figment sound the spell produces. It always pays to read an illusion spell's
description for such exceptions to the general rule.
Dealing with the Unbelievable: The rules governing illusions assume that the
spellcaster is at least trying to create something believable. When an illusion spell allows
a saving throw for disbelief and the caster creates something unbelievably weird, it's
best to allow an immediate saving throw. You're the best judge of what's unbelievable in
your campaign. In a world where dogs breathe fire (hell hounds), immense dragons fly
through the air, and wizards can shoot bolts of lightning from their fingertips, what's
unbelievable covers a tiny slice indeed. Still, if the illusion caster is just being silly
(singing carnivorous vegetables, bloodsucking bunnies, dancing hippos), it's best to just
roll a saving throw.
Pointing Out Illusions
According to page 174 in the Player's Handbook, a character who successfully
disbelieves an illusion and communicates that information to others grants those other
characters a +4 bonus on saving throws to disbelieve the illusion. The rules don't
specifically say so, but a character claiming the bonus still must use an action to study or
interact with the illusion before attempting a saving throw.
What's Next
We're out of time once again. Next week, we'll consider a few miscellaneous topics
related to illusion spells.

All About Illusions (Part Four)

By Skip Williams

Last week, we explored what it means to interact with an illusion and we also considered
a few instances where interacting with an illusion isn't strictly necessary to disbelieve the
illusion. This week, we'll wrap up our study of illusions with a few odds and ends related
to the topic.
Using Figments Well
As noted in Part One, spellcasters often make the mistake of trying to use figment spells
(such as silent image, minor image, and major image) to make something look like
something else. Figment spells don't do that -- you need a glamer spell for the task. You
can craft a figment to fit in with its surroundings or to conceal something. Consider these
situations:

A party wishes to hide in a dungeon room just beyond an archway.

You cannot use a figment to make the archway look like an unbroken wall. You can,
however, use a figment to make the archway look like it has been bricked up; the edges
of the bricked area will conform to the archway. You also could use a figment to create
an illusory door that fills the doorway. You could even include hinges for the door (set
atop the frame of the arch) and a big lock.

You wish to draw some bad guys into an ambush by creating a false oasis in
the desert.

You cannot use a figment to make empty sand look like an oasis. You still can create an
illusory oasis with one or more figment effects. You can create an illusory pool of water
to fill a depression in the sand, and you can sprinkle the area with illusory palm trees and
undergrowth.
If the area is very flat, you won't be able to create a believable figment pool of water, but
you might get away with a spring where water bubbles to the surface and soaks back
into the sand.

A party caught in the open wants to hide from an airborne foe.

A figment can't make the party look like they aren't there. It can, however, make them a
place to hide. You could use a figment spell to make an illusory house, a grove of trees
(with leafy branches for concealment), or even a hill or big rock. The party will be
concealed so long as the characters stay underneath the illusion.
A Few Additional Notes on Figments
The foregoing examples also serve to illustrate concepts from Parts Two and Three:
Characters hiding behind or under the illusions here need to make saving throws to
successfully disbelieve them (assuming they want to do so). The caster, however, knows
the illusions aren't real. If the caster points out the illusions, the characters get a
+4 bonus on their saves; in this case, the DM might want to waive the saving throws and
assume disbelief to save time.
In any case, a successful saving throw against a figment spell reveals the figment to be
unreal, but still visible (if it's a visible figment) as a see-through outline. This is helpful to
characters using a figment for concealment because they can see right through the
figment and also know exactly where the figment is so that they can remain concealed.
In many cases, creatures who are unaware that illusion magic is at work probably will
not gain saving throws to disbelieve the figments in these examples. A creature in the
vicinity of one of these figments probably would pass right by without taking any action to
study or interact with the figment and gain a saving throw. This, however, applies only to
creatures passing casually though the area. A creature that is deliberately searching for
the party that the figments in these examples conceal probably will poke around long
enough to gain a saving throw through study or interaction (or might simply stumble

through the figment). Likewise, a creature that is very familiar with the locale where the
figments have been placed probably will note the sudden appearance of a new feature
and gain an immediate saving throw (because doors, oases, and hills don't just spring up
in a matter of minutes or hours usually).
Illusions and Mindless Creatures
Unraveling an illusion is partly a matter of intellect, but mostly a matter of analysis and
perception. Any creature can attempt to disbelieve an illusion because every creature
has a Wisdom score. A mindless creature, however, is much less likely to find something
just plainly unbelievable (and thus gain a saving throw to disbelieve with no study or
interaction) than a creature with an Intelligence score would be. A mindless creature
lacks an internal catalog of memories and expectations that can generate the level of
incredulity required to evoke instant disbelief.
Illusions and Objects
Objects have no senses and no Wisdom scores. They cannot disbelieve an illusion, but
they can't perceive it either.
Shadows are a special case. A shadow is partly real and can affect an object just as
anything real can.Shadow spells that have a reduced effect when disbelieved generally
have reduced effects against objects because objects can't believe them. Check the
description of the shadow spell in question to be sure. For example, objects
automatically are assumed to make their saving throws against the various shadow
conjuration and shadow evocation spells presented in the Player's Handbook. In other
cases, follow the rules for object saving throws against spells (in most cases an
unattended, nonmagical object doesn't get a saving throw against a spell).
More Fun With Shadows
In most cases, what applies to a figment spell also applies to a shadow spell, with one
important exception: A shadow is partially real. A shadow can have real effects, even
when a subject disbelieves the
shadow.
A shadow's quasi-real nature can
pose some problems in play. Here
are a few tips and reminders for
handling shadows:

A shadow is only partially

real whether a subject
believes it is real or not. A
shadow's degree of reality is
expressed as a percentage
given in the spell description. For example, a creature conjured with a shadow
conjuration spell is only 20% real.

Certain aspects of a shadow always depend on its degree of reality. These aspects
include hit points.
Other aspects of a shadow remain fixed, no matter what its degree of reality. These
include gross dimensions (height, width, thickness), superficial details (color, shape,
anatomical features), attack bonus (but see below), saving throw bonuses, skill scores,
and ability scores. For example, a shadow ogre mage (page 200 in the Monster Manual)
that is 20% real has 5 Hit Dice, but only 7 hit points (20% of 37, rounded down to the
nearest whole number). Its initiative and speed ratings are unchanged. Its Armor
Class depends on whether its attacker believes it is real. The rest of the monster's
statistics are unchanged, though some of its combat results will be reduced against foes
who have successfully disbelieved it.

When a creature believes a shadow is real, the shadow interacts with that

creature exactly like the real creature or object it depicts, except as noted
previously.
A shadow creature strikes in combat for full damage if the other creature believes it is
real. It likewise has its full Armor Class bonus if the creature attacking it believes it is
real. Nevertheless, the shadow has only part of its real counterpart's hit points.
When a creature successfully disbelieves a shadow, the shadow has a partially real
effect when interacting with that creature.
When dealing with a partially real effect from a shadow, first attempt to reduce the effect
according to the shadow's degree of reality. If the aspect can be expressed as a number,
you simply reduce it accordingly. Be sure, however, that you apply the reduction only
once to any particular number. For instance the shadow ogre mage from the previous
example normally strikes with its greatsword for 3d6+7 points of damage. Against a foe
who has successfully disbelieved it, the shadow ogre mage uses its normal attack bonus
of +7, but deals only 20% of its usual damage with a successful hit. Roll damage
normally, but apply only 20% of the resulting damage. For example, the shadow ogre
mage hits and rolls 3d6+7 points of damage for a total of 19 points. It deals only 3 points
(20% of 19, rounded down to the nearest whole number). When the disbelieving foe
attacks the shadow ogre mage, its Armor Class is calculated as follows: base 10
(unchanged), -1 size (unchanged), +1 additional bonus (+5 natural, +4 chain shirt; that is
an unadjusted total +9; 20% of that is 1.8, rounded down to the nearest whole number).
The disbelieving foe has to contend with AC 11, touch 9, flat-footed 11. If the shadow
ogre mage had a Dexterity bonus, that, too, would be added into the pool of AC bonuses
that would be reduced.
The shadow ogre mage still occupies 10 feet of space on the battlefield, and it has a
reach of 10 feet. It conducts combat as a Large creature.
You might wonder why the size modifier wasn't altered for the shadow ogre mage's
Armor Class. The shadow ogre mage is still tall and broad enough to present a big
target, so size still has its full effect (as it would if the shadow combatant were small
enough to gain an Armor Class bonus).
Being only part real cannot make a creature a more capable foe. Do not reduce
Dexterity penalties when calculating a shadow's Armor Class.
The shadow ogre mage has its full suite of spell-like abilities. Its damage-dealing
ability, cone of cold, works normally against a disbeliever, except that the damage dealt
is only 20% of normal. Its other abilities (darkness, invisibility, charm person, flight, and
regeneration) aren't so easy to handle. I recommend that any ability that affects only the
shadow creature work normally (in this case, invisibility , flight, and regeneration).
Powers that can affect others or the creature's surroundings (darkness and charm
person) have only a 20% chance to work when theshadow ogre mage uses them. Roll
percentile dice, and on a roll of 81 or higher, the power in question has its full effect.
Otherwise, it has no effects at all.
You can use this method to deal with any ability a shadow creature has. First look to a
numerical damage value or AC bonus you can reduce. If there is none, roll to determine
if the ability takes effect.
In Conclusion
That wraps up our discussion of illusions. Remember that seeing isn't always believing in
the D&D game.

About the Author

Skip Williams keeps busy with freelance projects for several different game companies
and was the Sage ofDragon Magazine for many years. Skip is a co-designer of
the D&D 3rd Edition game and the chief architect of the Monster Manual. When not
devising swift and cruel deaths for player characters, Skip putters in his kitchen or
garden (rabbits and deer are not Skip's friends) or works on repairing and improving the
century-old farmhouse that he shares with his wife, Penny, and a growing menagerie of
pets.