Magic: Sphere of Illusion
Magic: Sphere of Illusion

The Sphere of Illusion deals with, naturally, the creation of illusions, phantasms, and even the illusion of invisibility. While the Sphere of Mind may create illusions as well, those are illusions of the mind -- of perception. The Sphere of Illusion actually creates sensations, which can be seen by any and all observers. (Theoretically, such illusions would even show up on security cameras, if such things were to be found in Rephidim.)

Limitations of Illusions

While illusions of the mind use the memories and expectations of the observer to make the illusion seem real, those created by an Illusionist depend on the caster's choices in making a realistic depiction of the object or creature meant to be represented. Illusions are thus limited by the caster's knowledge of what he or she is trying to represent. Thus, good Illusionists often have a number of knowledge skills to draw upon, to be the more convincing -- Lore of Sinai, musical talent, artistic skill, knowledge of architecture, minerals, cooking ... whatever knowledge might be applicable to fool their audience. Failing that, the Illusionist must draw upon "models" -- It is far easier for an Illusionist to simulate a concert, if the music being played is from an opera he has seen several times, and it is far easier to fashion an illusory airship if he has a model of an airship to base his "construction" upon.

Illusionists with greater senses tend to be better at fooling those with such senses. Therefore, a human will have difficulty making an illusory sound capable of fooling an Eeee, Zerda or even a Jupani, and a visual illusion might not "look" right when viewed with infravision or night-vision.

Despite these limitations, Illusionists are capable of very convincing phantasms, and are highly sought after for purposes of entertainment, escapism, advertisement ... and sometimes more serious applications.

Sense Groups

When an illusion is listed as being able to cover a single sense, the senses that can be chosen from are:

  • Magical Sense: Illusions can be used to "prick" the sense that spellcasters (and some non-spellcasters) have to detect the presense of active magic nearby. It can be used to "ping" a magic user, to make it seem like something is magical when it really isn't, or perhaps vice versa. Trying to make more specific readings through magic sense, however, requires that the caster be of the same Sphere as the observer in order to be really convincing (or else that the observer be of much lower skill).
  • Scent: This covers the sense of smell, including enhanced senses such as that used by natural trackers. Scent and taste are closely related, so an illusion scent can impact taste to a certain extent as well. Since scent is based on chemical processes rather than light or vibrations, it involves some manipulation of the viewer's senses, and therefore Mental/Magical Resistance may have an effect on seeing through such illusions.
  • Sight: This includes the normally visible spectrum, as well as infravision, ultravision, night vision, etc. As noted above, illusions are more convincing when the caster is able to make use of this sense himself.
  • Sound: This includes very high and very low frequencies, as well as being able to potentially fool things such as echo-location, provided that the caster has enough command of magic to handle anything that detailed.
  • Taste: This covers the sensation of taste, naturally. As with Scent, Magical/Mental Resistance may allow one to see through such an illusion.
  • Touch: This covers the various sensations of touch, including the sensation of hardness/softness, textures, hot and cold, and such things as electrical shock. (It takes particularly powerful illusions, however, to cause a strong enough sensation to inspire pain.) As with Scent and Taste, persons with Magical/Mental Resistance may be able to see through such an illusion, and resist effects of pain.

    It should also be noted that though sensations of touch can be created, there is a limit to how real an object can seem, if there is no actual solid object that the illusion is based off of. Illusory coins may feel cold and heavy, but they won't be able to support any weight, because they don't exist. It would be far more convincing to take a ceramic shekel and make it appear to be gold than to conjure gold shekels from thin air. (It should be noted that making fake currency is a very serious offense, punishable by death in most places.)

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    Cantrips

  • Enhance
    This spell is used to subtly alter perception of something in a given sense, either to make it more desirable or less so. The caster has very little control over the particulars, and its effectiveness may depend greatly upon the personal tastes of the observer compared to that of the caster. Food can be made to taste better, colors seem more vibrant, music is more clear, a speaker's voice carries better, fur is softer, fragrances are more sweet, and so forth.

  • Phantasm
    This creates a simple illusion that exists only in a single sense, and of very small scale. It can be created in one of the six senses. The illusion doesn't last long, and generally an observer can tell immediately that the phantasm is not real. A visual illusion is somewhat ghostly, an audio illusion sounds artificial, and so forth. In creative instances, it can be used to fool people, but not under any great scrutiny. (i.e., it might be used to "project" one's voice, to distract some guards, provided that they aren't wise to the ways of Illusionists.)

    This could be used to create musical accompaniment (dependent upon the caster's musical skill), to fill a room with a pleasant odor or make it seem a little warmer or cooler than it really is, to create a magical "mask" to obscure the face of the caster, or even to create a light source that follows the caster around.

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    Minor Spells

  • Chameleon
    The caster is able to blend into surroundings, by taking on the colors of immediate surroundings, and, to a limited extent, patterns as well. The caster is not "invisible", but merely camouflaged. If the caster moves, he or she must "fine-tune" the spell to shift to the new immediate surroundings.

  • Glamour
    This spell is a sort of "sensory overload", capable of incapacitating weak-willed or dim-witted individuals by surrounding them in a dizzying whirl of sensations. (Some people actually enjoy this particular experience.) This is sometimes used as an offensive spell to incapacitate an enemy, but things such as pain and obvious threats tend to cause the victim to "snap out of it".

  • Image
    This is a more powerful version of Phantom, creating what might be a convincing illusion in a single sense, depending upon the caster's talent, knowledge of the subject, knowledge of the observer, etc. Difficulty varies greatly depending upon the complexity of the object, and the amount of detail. As a rule of thumb, it is easier to take something that already exists and to change its appearance, rather than to create an illusion out of thin air. In the latter case, there can be difficulties when trying to move the illusory object, since such things as shadows being cast by or upon the object comprise another "facet" to the illusion.
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    Rituals

  • Grand Illusion
    The exact illusion to be generated must be determined during the time of casting, at a specific location or focused on a particular "trigger" object. It typically is set to be "triggered" at a later time. This spell takes several hours to cast, and possibly days, depending upon the complexity and desired duration. It covers multiple senses, with a great degree of detail. It can even cause pain. Due to the energies used by this spell, however, it is very difficult to suppress the "reading" that those with the ability to sense magic will get off of this illusion.

  • Illusion
    This spell generally cannot be held, unless the caster has a specific idea of what sort of illusion is to be created when the spell is released. It has the potential of covering multiple senses, but it is more convincing when it can be focused on a limited band of senses. Difficulty varies greatly, and this is generally a more powerful version of Phantasm. The more complex the illusion, the greater the chance for some sort of oversight or irregularity that will alert the viewer to the false nature of the illusion.

  • Invisibility
    This allows the caster, a single recipient or an object to become invisible, though if the object moves about, there may be a "distortion" visible, and a faint "outline" of the object if someone looks closely. With added effort, other senses can be suppressed as well. More complex rituals are required to make large objects (houses, airships, etc.) invisible, and the invisibility tends to work best when viewed at a great distance ... and it's also more regular when on the ground rather than in the air.
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