Re: Hallucinatory Terrain

> 
> The official description of the effects and uses of this spell is found in
> the _Concordance of Arcane Space_, the book included in the original
> Spelljammer Boxed Set (the one with the Pirate and the Illithid on the
> cover). On page 81:
> 
> "Hallucinatory Terrain: In addition to creating illusionary asteroids and
> similar bodies, this spell can be used to disguise ships in space, either
> making them appear as part of the background stars or as an asteroid or small
> dust cloud, provided the ship is small enough to fit within the area of
> effect of the spell."
> 
> The description of Hallucinatory Terrain on page 158-159 of the PHB indicates
> that the area of effect of the spell is a cube of up to 30' per side per
> level. Thus, a 12th level wizard could produce an illusion of 360' x 360' x
> 360', covering most ships and even some large asteroids quite handily. The
> spell lasts for 1 hour per level, and it's level of veracity is described as
> being such that "The hallucinatory terrain lasts until a dispel magic spell
> is cast upon the area or until the duration expires. Individual creatures may
> see through the illusion, but the illusion persists, affecting others who
> observe the scene". So whether the illusion persists person to person is
> dependent upon how they are affected by the actions of those caught within
> the illusion. Note that any ability to see invisible, naturally or magically,
> would not be useful unless it also allows the person to see through
> illusions; the hallucinatory terrain that makes the ship appear as part of
> the background of stars, for example, is not invisibility per se, rather it
> is a way to make the ship *appear* to be invisible, while in the proper
> context. If the ship disguised as a background of stars was occluded between
> the viewer and a large body, say an asteroid, the viewer would see a
> background of stars appear between himself and the asteroid, obviously
> negating the value of the disguise... the same can be said with an illusion
> of an asteroid around the ship, as asteroids do not move at tactical speeds,
> so unless the disguised ship were simply drifting, it would be pretty
> obvious...
> 
> Mystaros
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An added possibility might be to allow a mage to continue concentrating to
adjust the context of the illusion.  in any case just making the space seem
empty where the ship etc is would eliminate many of these problems of
context.  The problems are shadows outside the area of effect.

  The nature of this spell seems to indicate it is a phantasm rather than
an illusion as each creature is affected individually seems to indicate
this.  If this is true this opens the possibility toi a number of
interesting spell variants.

  At any rate a spell  that takes 1 turn to cast should have some
interesting "programming" and shouldn't be limited to such simple and
uncontrolable things you describe.

     --Steve