Misc. Illusionist Stuff

Conditions

Many of the illusionist’s spells inflict disadvantages, known as conditions, on the victims in lieu of doing hit point damage.

The official Swords & Wizardry rules explicitly do not specify the exact penalties different conditions inflict. S&W is, after all, a game of imagination, improvisation and creativity. The Referee is encouraged to use her judgment and discretion for the exact effects of various spells. What follows is a list of possible penalties for various conditions. These can be used in part or in whole, as a matter of course or as a base from which the spell’s effects may deviate based on the caster’s success, the phase of the moon, or the purity of his spell components.

Befuddled: A befuddled creature is momentarily perplexed and takes a -2 penalty to its attack rolls and saving throws. Befuddlement typically lasts 1 round.

Blinded: A blinded creature cannot see. It takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class, loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and takes a -4 penalty on its attack rolls. Blind creatures must make a saving throw to move faster than half speed, and fall prone if they fail. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.

Confused: A confused creature is mentally disoriented and cannot act normally. If a confused creature is attacked, it attacks the creature that last attacked it until that creature is dead or out of sight.

Cowering: The character is frozen in fear and can take no actions. A cowering character takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class and loses his Dexterity bonus (if any).

Dazed: The creature is unable to act normally. A dazed creature can take no actions, but has no penalty to AC.

Dazzled: The creature is unable to see well because of overstimulation of the eyes. A dazzled creature takes a –1 penalty on attack rolls.

Deafened: A deafened character cannot hear. He has a 20% chance of spell failure when casting. If individual initiative is used, the character has a penalty (-1 on a d6; -2 on a d10; -4 on a d20). Characters who remain deafened for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.

Distracted: A distracted creature has difficulty paying attention to what they are doing at the moment. Distracted creatures take a -2 penalty to their Armor Class and attack rolls, and must make a successful saving throw to cast a spell or attack that round. If skills are used, distracted creatures take a penalty to skill checks (-1 on a d6; -2 on a d20).

Exhausted: An exhausted character moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –6 penalty to Strength and Dexterity. After 1 hour of complete rest, an exhausted character becomes fatigued. A fatigued character becomes exhausted by doing something else that would normally cause fatigue.

Fascinated: A fascinated creature stands or sits quietly, taking no actions other than to pay attention to the fascinating effect, for as long as the effect lasts. If skills are used, fascinated creatures take a penalty to skill checks (-1 on a d6; -4 on a d20) made as reactions. Any potential threat, such as a hostile creature approaching, allows the fascinated creature a new saving throw against the fascinating effect. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the fascinated creature, automatically breaks the effect.

Fatigued: A fatigued character can neither run nor charge and takes a –2 penalty to Strength and Dexterity. Doing anything that would normally cause fatigue causes the fatigued character to become exhausted. After 8 hours of complete rest, fatigued characters are no longer fatigued.

Frightened: A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight. A frightened creature takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, and checks (if used). A frightened creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape. A frightened creature has a 60% chance to drop whatever they are holding.

Nauseated: Creatures with the nauseated condition experience stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn.

Panicked: A panicked creature drops anything it holds and flees at top speed from the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random path. It can't take any other actions. In addition, the creature takes a –2 penalty on all saving throws (and checks, if used) A panicked creature cowers and does not attack if cornered. Panicked is a more extreme state of fear than shaken or frightened.

Paralyzed: A paralyzed character is frozen in place and unable to move or act. A paralyzed character has effective Dexterity and Strength scores of 0 and is helpless, but can take purely mental actions.

Shaken: A shaken character takes a –1 penalty on attack rolls and saving throws (and checks, if used). Shaken is a less severe state of fear than frightened or panicked.

Sickened: The character takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, and checks if used.

Stunned: A stunned creature drops everything held, can't take actions, takes a –2 penalty to AC, and loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).

Unbalanced: An unbalanced creature suffers a -2 penalty on attack rolls, takes a -1 penalty to AC, and moves at half speed.

Monsters of Illusion

Fungi, Psyche

HD 4 AC 4 [15] Atks 4 tentacles (1d6+poison) Move 4 (Fly 18) Save 13 CL/XP 6/400 Special Hallucinatory poison, spell abilities, all-around vision, low-light vision, plant. Psyche fungi are intelligent plants that stun and kill creatures for sustenance.

They resemble violet fungi, with a mushroom-like stalk and cap, four tentacles anchored just below the brim, and a mass of crawling tendrils at their base.

The surface of their cap are prismatic, and swirls of color continually drift across their cap.

They see through light-detecting eyespots around their brim.

Psyche fungi do not breath or have mouths, and cannot speak.

They communicate with one another through air-borne spores and patterns of light. Psyche fungi travel slowly through the underground, killing whatever they encounter for nourishment. Occasionally, several psyche fungi band together to take on larger prey.

If they find a good site with regular victims, they establish a “killing garden”, using the creatures they kill to grow shriekers, violet fungi, and other deadly plants. Psyche fungi ambush their prey with color spray and hypnotic pattern (which they use at will), then move in to attack with their tentacles.

They attack creatures that are moving in preference to those that are still or stiff. They cannot be surprised or backstabbed thanks to their many eyespots, and their fungal metabolism makes them immune to poison, paralysis, and mental effects. The tentacles of a psyche fungi exude a paralytic poison. Anyone taking damage from a tentacle must succeed on a saving throw or be paralyzed for 1d4 rounds. Imago Creature (Template) Stats See below Not all illusions expire when the spell that created them runs out. Imago creatures are the remnants of powerful illusions, such as alter reality and the like, that have taken on a life of their own. The nature of imagos means that almost all of those that survive are intelligent creatures. They are aware of their existence as illusions, and take extreme measures to hide their condition from “real” people. The reality of their state forms a common bond between imagos that transcends their imitated nature: an imago orc and an imago elf consider themselves members of the same “species”, as it were, rather than “elf” and “orc”. In the rare case that a number of imagos survives a spell, they usually band together and settle in an isolated area to avoid detection. Imagos remain as they were created, and do not age, although they can accumulate knowledge and experience (but do not advance in class levels or other skills). Imagos of individuals know common information about whomever they appear as, and have only a 25% chance of being able to remember more detailed or secret information. An imagos greatest weakness is their illusionary nature. They have the abilities and statistics of whomever or whatever they were created as, except that they have Hit Dice equal to the level of their creator. Their attack bonus, save, and Challenge Level remain unchanged. They deal illusory, not real, damage with their attacks, and targets of an attack get a saving throw to detect their illusory nature. The persistence of an imago depends on the belief that the imago is real. Every time a creature successfully disbelieves an imago, they lose a Hit Die. When their Hit Dice drop to 0, the imago fades away permanently. No known magic, with the possible exception of a wish, can restore an imago that has faded away. Casual interaction with an imago does not grant a saving throw, but prolonged interaction might, at the Referee’s discretion. This weakness to disbelief is what drives imagos to isolation and pacifism, and what swiftly kills less intelligent imagos. An imago can be reduced to zero hit points (but not Hit Dice) and appear to die, but will reform, fully healed, 24 hours later. An imago that loses Hit Dice can only regain them by being reassured of their reality by “real” creatures. This is a prolonged process, and the imago regains one Hit Die per day. Piscidine HD 6 AC 4 [15] Atks 1 bite (2d6) and 2 tentacles (1d4+poison); Move 1 (Fly 18) [30’ (Fly 50’)] Save 11 CL/XP 9/1,100 Special Hallucinatory poison, magic resistance. This bizarre creature looks like a giant orange goldfish the size of a horse. Its fins wave gently as it swims through the air, and rainbow-colored threads of light trail from its gills. Two long tentacles hang from its mouth. Piscidine trawl through caverns and dungeons looking for food. Their tentacles cause vivid psychedelic hallucinations (treat as a confusion spell), and the piscidine slowly eat their prey as it stands dazed and baffled. Piscidine quietly follow prey that show an initial resistance to the hallucinations, waiting for their endurance to flag. They generally avoid combat, preferring quiet, peaceful meals. Piscidine are 50% resistant to magic.

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Guidelines for the Referee

Illusions are magical effects similar to real-world holograms, mirages, delusions, hallucinations, and the like, but ultimately, they are magic.

Illusions should be treated as realistic unless otherwise intended. They do not need to be micro-managed anymore than the magic-user needs to declare the temperature of his fireball.

Disbelief is another word for saving throw.

If an illusion already grants a saving throw, the targets should not get a free chance to disbelieve as well as a save.

If the illusion does not allow a saving throw, ditto.

If a opportunity to disbelieve does arise, it should probably take a round of action to do properly.

Combat is fast and frantic.

The dragon you stop to study is probably real.

Also, dungeons are very dark.

Decide ahead of time what happens when an illusion is disbelieved. Even if the orcs know it’s an illusion, that doesn’t mean it’s invisible to them.

We’re not fooled by holograms or 3-D tv, but we can still see it.

And just try unseeing the two-faces/candlestick illusion once you’ve seen it.

There were a number of articles in a prominent, and now online-only, RPG magazine about adjudicating illusions, determining saving throw bonuses, and how high intelligence, wisdom, or charisma affects that.

Ignore them and anything like them.

Inventing complicated subsystems and extensive rules just for one type of magic goes against the minimalist, improvisational nature of OSR gaming. And it’s a buzz-kill.

Give players the benefit of the doubt, but don’t be a pushover.

Be challenging, not adversarial.

Guidelines for the Player: Don’t goad the Referee. It won’t end well.

Subtlety,) not brute force. That ancient red dragon? More like an ancient red flag. Or red herring.

Not to get all modern and twenty-first century on you, but illusionists are controllers, not strikers. Don’t go for the big boom; manipulate your foes, line them up, and let traps, tactics, and the guy with all the armor knock ‘em down.

Keep moving, at least tactically.

Don’t repeat an illusion.

Come up with a variety of effects in your down time.

An illusory pit creates real headaches. At low levels you’re just going to get one of those weird perspective street paintings, or the glass floor effect.

If you have to do the pit, you might as well throw some snakes into it. Give them a reason to avoid it, not test it.

Have fun.

Playing an illusionist is a license to make up whatever you want, and watch the Referee have to deal with it.

When in doubt, go big and go bold.

Maybe no one will believe the ancient red dragon, but with that yellow polka-dot bikini and the hair extensions, no one is going to be able to look away, either.