:) There would be other benefits, their actions would still be limited as the would think they are blind. I wouldn't have them moving around the battlefield tactically or making ranged attacks but no I wouldn't let it be a cheesy 'insta-win button'.
It's the same level as Hold Person, which is most certainly an insta-win against targets that can be affected.
Hold person doesn't do damage, so swings and roundabouts
No point arguing we obvioulsy see it differently and you are of course free to rule however you see fit at your table.
You cannot simply wander out of a hold person. 10' square is not big at all and since it is only as restrictive as the target believes it to be, low int creatures are more likely to think they can just burrow through it and thus be able to simply walk out of it.
It's honestly OK for people to see things differently in their own comparative evaluations of spells when we know what they do.
I'd add that if you're arguing that the illusion spell can't affect vision or hearing that you've effectively banished illusion spells from your game.
An illusionary wall can't block sight?
An illusionary wind storm can't drown out the sound of people whispering nearby or the sound of the rogues footsteps?
Manipulating your senses is the ONLY function of illusions. If they can't manipulate your senses then they don't work at all.
Given the the level of power you're competing with is Hold Person I absolutely allow Phantasmal Force to effectively blind, restrain or deafen the target. Then if the target thrashes against the imaginary chains I'll count that as their Investigation check. If they try to smash through the illusionary door - same thing.
Another spell you can compare it to is Heat Metal which does 2d8 per round and inflicts disadvantage on attack rolls.
my big problem with phantasmal force is that it can essentially "kill" any monster that fails the save. One of my players in a campaign fought against a spirit naga and he just cast phantasmal force on it. He made it think that the party wasn't there and they kept attacking. Since the naga had no crazy AOE options, it just had to sit there and die because he just kept re-casting it every time it broke out. Its such a busted spell.
I could've made some goofy DM ruling but I didn't want to ruin it by saying "nuh uh" and stopping the spell. Now, I don't really know what to do. I can't think of a way for me to have non construct or undead battle where the creature doesn't have legendary resistance or counterspell that can't just be insta nuked and finished with the spell. It especially sucks because it's a mere 2nd level spell. A sixth level sorcerer can cast the spell 6 times per long rest, and the odds that a monster will be able to succeed all 6 times without fail are astronomically low, especially because it's an INT save.
my big problem with phantasmal force is that it can essentially "kill" any monster that fails the save. One of my players in a campaign fought against a spirit naga and he just cast phantasmal force on it. He made it think that the party wasn't there and they kept attacking. Since the naga had no crazy AOE options, it just had to sit there and die because he just kept re-casting it every time it broke out. Its such a busted spell.
Phantasmal Force doesn't actually permit doing that -- it allows you to make the target think something is there, it does not make the target think something is not there.
Hold person doesn't do damage, so swings and roundabouts
Automatic critical hits are way more damage than 1d6/round.
Hold person only affects humanoids.
We can play this all day m8 :)
No point arguing we obvioulsy see it differently and you are of course free to rule however you see fit at your table.
It's honestly OK for people to see things differently in their own comparative evaluations of spells when we know what they do.
I'd add that if you're arguing that the illusion spell can't affect vision or hearing that you've effectively banished illusion spells from your game.
An illusionary wall can't block sight?
An illusionary wind storm can't drown out the sound of people whispering nearby or the sound of the rogues footsteps?
Manipulating your senses is the ONLY function of illusions. If they can't manipulate your senses then they don't work at all.
Given the the level of power you're competing with is Hold Person I absolutely allow Phantasmal Force to effectively blind, restrain or deafen the target. Then if the target thrashes against the imaginary chains I'll count that as their Investigation check. If they try to smash through the illusionary door - same thing.
Another spell you can compare it to is Heat Metal which does 2d8 per round and inflicts disadvantage on attack rolls.
The illusionary aspect has to do SOMETHING.
my big problem with phantasmal force is that it can essentially "kill" any monster that fails the save. One of my players in a campaign fought against a spirit naga and he just cast phantasmal force on it. He made it think that the party wasn't there and they kept attacking. Since the naga had no crazy AOE options, it just had to sit there and die because he just kept re-casting it every time it broke out. Its such a busted spell.
I could've made some goofy DM ruling but I didn't want to ruin it by saying "nuh uh" and stopping the spell. Now, I don't really know what to do. I can't think of a way for me to have non construct or undead battle where the creature doesn't have legendary resistance or counterspell that can't just be insta nuked and finished with the spell. It especially sucks because it's a mere 2nd level spell. A sixth level sorcerer can cast the spell 6 times per long rest, and the odds that a monster will be able to succeed all 6 times without fail are astronomically low, especially because it's an INT save.
Phantasmal Force doesn't actually permit doing that -- it allows you to make the target think something is there, it does not make the target think something is not there.
Sure it does, if you just describe an illusion of a portal opening and the party going through it.