I'm writing a guide for the young illusionist and am drafting a list of milestones. I'd like it if you could peer review it to make sure I didn't miss anything important.
Milestones by Class Level
Silent Image becomes available, so starting the character's career as an illusionist
Minor Illusion video + audio comes online, providing a lot of utility
Mirror Image becomes available, the core defensive illusion the caster will use over his career. Invisibility also becomes available, possibly, next to Minor Illusion, the most often used utility spell. Your illusion spells can finally inflict hit point damage with Phantasmal Force and Shadow Blade.
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Major Image becomes available, the core bread and butter spell of the Illusionist
Malleable Illusions comes online, reducing the number of spell slots being expended
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Creation becomes available - the first example of shadow magic. Seeming +Malleable Illusion (supported with Telepathic Bond) becomes available and can introduce a lot of fun confusion to encounters
Illusory Self comes online
Major Image, if cast as a 6th level spell, doesn't require Concentration. Most sixth-level and higher illusion spells are niche and can probably be kept on scrolls, reducing the percentage of your prepared spells which need to be illusions. Contingency + Mislead becomes available and offers a lot of illusory defense and shenanigans.
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The Illusionist’s most majestic spells; Simulacrum and Mirage Arcane, become available and break open the game in all kinds of interesting ways
Illusory Reality comes online
Illusory Dragon becomes available bringing terror to everyone and their grandmother within a country mile
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Spell Mastery comes online. Silent Image can be so mastered and then combined with Illusory Reality to casually and endlessly reshape reality itself
Just wanted to say that this looks good overall. Never having played an Illusionist to high level, this has given me some stuff to think about. Thanks!
depending on what books you have available it might also be worth putting int hose form Xanathar's Guide to Everything...notably Shadow Blade (lvl 2 spell melee damage and ranged spell option for psychic damage), Mental Prison (lvl 6 spell the most potent form of phantasm spell) and Illusionary Dragon (lvl 8 spell, creates a huge dragon)
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Just having the illusion school doesn't necessarily support the illusionist playstyle or work well with the illusion archetype features the way silent image/major image do. Mirror Image, Shadow Blade, Blur, Illusionary Dragon are fine for combat but don't get any effect from malleable illusions or illusory reality. I think OP is trying to limit it to things that push the illusionist archetype.
Nevertheless, the first time the caster can do damage with an illusion spell and when they reach the max capacity to do so might reasonably be considered milestones. I certainly don't want to fill this table up with noise. It is to some extent subjective. Mirror Image is included because it feels like illusions being eliminated one by one whereas Blur is not because it is just percentile dice. (Of course, Mirror Image also doesn't require concentration, so it works better with other illusion spells.) - Even though both are the first illusory defenses available. Even if Phantasmal Force is included, Phantasmal Killer isn't any kind of milestone. Programmed Illusion is almost a milestone, but its significance depends on whether it can be "carried around" with the caster, which is a GM's call, so I didn't include it.
I decided to include Illusory Dragon just for fun - scaring everything that can see it (roughly everything within a mile) gives you a sense of just how powerful the caster has become.
There are clear things which aren't milestones. There are clear things that are. There's a lot of subjective stuff in the middle and I really don't know how to get rid of that subjectivity.
Actually, on second pass, while the first time the caster can do hit point damage with illusion spells might be a milestone, I'm not so sure anymore that Mental Prison is. I'm removing that.
If your game involves any sort of roleplay of any depth then a big milestone for Illusionists is the Seeming + Malleable illusions combo. Its 8 hours of protean, flexable identities.
Great murder hobo spell. Paint the town red; escape consequences.
Bluff your party's way past guard/bouncer roadblocks of any kind.
Take the identity of the scouts you just killed and walk into the enemy base.. or at least start fights on your terms when you sucker punch them.
Fake your party's capabilities. Make your bards, yourself, rogue etc appear in heavy dreadnaught armor while your own tanky characters run around as elderly frail grandpas in flapping illusionary moon and star robes.
Obviously the list goes on and the great thing is you can do all the above in the same day with one spell. You're welcome.
Erm. More niche, perhaps not as much of a milestone really. Is Illusory Script + Malleable Illusions. That gives you access to Dr Who's psychic paper: Writs of Passage, Deeds to Property, Papal Bulls, Orders from the King.
The properties of the paper can be changed with a mere action.
Add Nystul's Magic Aura to defeat Detect Magic.
Okay another milestone is when you get Contingency. Contingency + Greater Invisibility lets you bypass the counterspell war with other casters. You always get to counterspell, and they can never counter your stuff. This lets you fire off expensive, short range 60' or less spells without the DM shutting you down, notably Disintegrate etc... all in the same turn.
Doing this without Contingency is clunky... and again, risks Greater Invis getting countered.
My trigger is when my character winks their left eye three times within 3 seconds.
I'm writing a guide for the young illusionist and am drafting a list of milestones. I'd like it if you could peer review it to make sure I didn't miss anything important.
Milestones by Class Level
Major Image, if cast as a 6th level spell, doesn't require Concentration. Most sixth-level and higher illusion spells are niche and can probably be kept on scrolls, reducing the percentage of your prepared spells which need to be illusions. Contingency + Mislead becomes available and offers a lot of illusory defense and shenanigans.
The Illusionist’s most majestic spells; Simulacrum and Mirage Arcane, become available and break open the game in all kinds of interesting ways
You can also pick up silent image at first level and use it without consuming spell slots at 18.
Thanks, Kateful. :-)
The edit has been made.
Just wanted to say that this looks good overall. Never having played an Illusionist to high level, this has given me some stuff to think about. Thanks!
You're welcome! I'm glad you like it. I hope it will continue to be helpful.
depending on what books you have available it might also be worth putting int hose form Xanathar's Guide to Everything...notably Shadow Blade (lvl 2 spell melee damage and ranged spell option for psychic damage), Mental Prison (lvl 6 spell the most potent form of phantasm spell) and Illusionary Dragon (lvl 8 spell, creates a huge dragon)
Just having the illusion school doesn't necessarily support the illusionist playstyle or work well with the illusion archetype features the way silent image/major image do. Mirror Image, Shadow Blade, Blur, Illusionary Dragon are fine for combat but don't get any effect from malleable illusions or illusory reality. I think OP is trying to limit it to things that push the illusionist archetype.
Exactly.
Nevertheless, the first time the caster can do damage with an illusion spell and when they reach the max capacity to do so might reasonably be considered milestones. I certainly don't want to fill this table up with noise. It is to some extent subjective. Mirror Image is included because it feels like illusions being eliminated one by one whereas Blur is not because it is just percentile dice. (Of course, Mirror Image also doesn't require concentration, so it works better with other illusion spells.) - Even though both are the first illusory defenses available. Even if Phantasmal Force is included, Phantasmal Killer isn't any kind of milestone. Programmed Illusion is almost a milestone, but its significance depends on whether it can be "carried around" with the caster, which is a GM's call, so I didn't include it.
I decided to include Illusory Dragon just for fun - scaring everything that can see it (roughly everything within a mile) gives you a sense of just how powerful the caster has become.
There are clear things which aren't milestones. There are clear things that are. There's a lot of subjective stuff in the middle and I really don't know how to get rid of that subjectivity.
Actually, on second pass, while the first time the caster can do hit point damage with illusion spells might be a milestone, I'm not so sure anymore that Mental Prison is. I'm removing that.
Hi. My Illusionist is level 12.
If your game involves any sort of roleplay of any depth then a big milestone for Illusionists is the Seeming + Malleable illusions combo. Its 8 hours of protean, flexable identities.
Obviously the list goes on and the great thing is you can do all the above in the same day with one spell. You're welcome.
Erm. More niche, perhaps not as much of a milestone really. Is Illusory Script + Malleable Illusions. That gives you access to Dr Who's psychic paper: Writs of Passage, Deeds to Property, Papal Bulls, Orders from the King.
The properties of the paper can be changed with a mere action.
Add Nystul's Magic Aura to defeat Detect Magic.
Okay another milestone is when you get Contingency. Contingency + Greater Invisibility lets you bypass the counterspell war with other casters. You always get to counterspell, and they can never counter your stuff. This lets you fire off expensive, short range 60' or less spells without the DM shutting you down, notably Disintegrate etc... all in the same turn.
Doing this without Contingency is clunky... and again, risks Greater Invis getting countered.
My trigger is when my character winks their left eye three times within 3 seconds.
I do mention Contingency + Mislead, which I feel is a bit more in the Illusionist archetype than Contingency + Greater Invisibility.
I think Magic Mouth also deserves noteworthy mention! Prerecorded messages that you can change at any time once you hit lvl 6 is pretty cool!