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.
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 glamours (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.
A figment’s AC is equal to 10 + its size modifier.
A glamour spell changes an object’s observable qualities, making it look, feel, taste, smell, or sound like something else, or even seem to disappear.
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.
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.
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.
A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a translucent outline.
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. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.
Spells per Class and Level
|Blur||The subject’s outline appears blurred, shifting and wavering. This distortion grants the subject concealment (20% miss chance).|
|Displacement||An ally's appearance becomes extremely blurred, giving enemies a 50% concealment miss chance when attacking.|
|Hypnotic Pattern||A twisting pattern of subtle, shifting colors weaves through the air, fascinating targets within it. A successful Will save negates this effect. Creatures that the pattern hits will have their will save momentarily weakened (-3 to will) for 7 seconds.|
|Invisibility||An ally becomes invisible, vanishing from sight, even from darkvision. If he or she attacks a target or interacts with certain objects, the effect is removed.|
|Invisibility, Mass||Casts Invisibility on multiple allied creatures, rendering the creatures Invisible for 1 minute per caster level. This spell simply considers the creatures are hidden with a Hide score of 20, but it isn't a bonus to Hide. Attacking a target, or using an object (Door, lever, etc.) removes this condition.|
|Phantasmal Killer||You create a phantasmal image of the most fearsome creature imaginable to the subject simply by forming the fears of the subject’s subconscious mind into something that its conscious mind can visualize: this most horrible beast. Only the spell’s Foe can see the Phantasmal Killer. You see only a vague shape. The target first gets a Will save to recognize the image as unreal to disbelieve the spell and suffer no ill effects. If that save fails, the phantasm touches the subject, and the subject must succeed on a Fortitude save or die from fear. Even if the Fortitude save is successful, the subject takes 1d3+1 points of bane damage per caster level.|
|Shadow Walk||Transports you to the edge of the Material Plane where it borders the Plane of Shadow. While this spell is active, you receive a 40% Enhancement bonus to run speed, and your outline appears faint and you are harder to hit (50% Concealment). Attacking another creature, or otherwise interacting with objects shunts you back to the Material Plane.|