Best Uses for Minor Illusion

[foobar1969]

Give your party Paladin theme music. Every good hero needs some.

Party Paladin in the House Tonight?

[Shining Wrath]

Sleeping dangerous animals discourage people from passing through a space: "Shall we tiptoe past the sleeping Mastiff?"

[SharkForce]

Sleeping dangerous animals discourage people from passing through a space: "Shall we tiptoe past the sleeping Mastiff?"

you can make objects or sounds, unfortunately. no creatures.

you could make a statue of a sleeping mastiff. might fool some people in a dark area. that's about it.

[Inevitability]

In a recent OotA session I used it twice, with varying degrees of success.

The first time I created the illusion of a barbed devil to distract a dretch, which succeeded (ah, good ol' demons and their hatred for devils). I could attack the dretch while it tried to hit the illusion. This trick should be useable with a lot of other not-so-smart creatures that have racial grudges.

Later, I ended up in a battle between a drow elite warrior and a barlgura. The drow had created an area of darkness, which covered both it and its demonic adversary. I, not aware what was going on inside the darkness, carefully inched forward... and bumped into something smelly, hairy, and large.

Cue a Minor Illusion of a pit fiend roaring, or at least something that sounded a lot like one. One intimidate check later and I managed to get the barlgura to flee the darkness, rather than attack the squishy mortal it had just encountered.

[Desamir]

Do note that you're not limited to 5' high objects. A 5' by 7' door, for example, still fits within a 5' cube. So does an 8'6" pole.

Great point, I hadn't thought of it that way.

[JumboWheat01]

Do note that you're not limited to 5' high objects. A 5' by 7' door, for example, still fits within a 5' cube. So does an 8'6" pole.

I'm not sure that would still work. A cube, by definition, is the same length on all sides. So a 5' cube is limited to five feet wide, five feet tall and five feet long. Sure, you may be able to fit that 5x7 door in it, if you laid it on its side diagonally, but not as a proper, upright door since that would no longer be a cube. If it was a gnome's door, say only four feet tall, that could totally work.

Now if it actually meant the equivalent cubic feet as a 5' cube, that'll be a whole other story.

[krugaan]

I'm not sure that would still work. A cube, by definition, is the same length on all sides. So a 5' cube is limited to five feet wide, five feet tall and five feet long. Sure, you may be able to fit that 5x7 door in it, if you laid it on its side diagonally, but not as a proper, upright door since that would no longer be a cube. If it was a gnome's door, say only four feet tall, that could totally work.

Now if it actually meant the equivalent cubic feet as a 5' cube, that'll be a whole other story.

does the cube have to be flat on the ground?

[JumboWheat01]

does the cube have to be flat on the ground?

I didn't actually think of that. Is it still a cube if it is set at an angle? I don't really know. And that would probably rely on DM ruling as much as mathematical ruling.

[burninatortrog]

Is it still a cube if it is set at an angle?

Yes, it is. :)

[MaxWilson]

I got one:

If you're a Shadow Monk scouting ahead, tiptoe around a corner and then cast Minor Illusion to create the sound of a scream and then a loud meaty "Thunk." Then cast it again to make an illusion of your own severed head, and hide until your fellow PCs look around the corner.

[georgie_leech]

I got one:

If you're a Shadow Monk scouting ahead, tiptoe around a corner and then cast Minor Illusion to create the sound of a scream and then a loud meaty "Thunk." Then cast it again to make an illusion of your own severed head, and hide until your fellow PCs look around the corner.

As someone whose Monk just reached level 3, I'm stealing this.

[krugaan]

Depends if you're playing on a battlemap? Doesn't that turn the world into squares/cube with specific orientations? :p

im pretty sure the descriptor of the spell is an indicator of volume and max dimensions, not some kind of weird orientation requirement

[Tarvil]

Give your party Paladin theme music.

Every good hero needs some.

Haha, I love this idea


Personally, big rock/barrel/pile of whatever with ranged hero inside is probably my favourite use of minor illusion. Creating sound or image of bag full of gold to distract guards is quite good too.

[Vogonjeltz]

The 'waa-aaa-waahh!' from the good the bad and the ugly theme music (like 10 seconds into this clip)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4

Every time you enter a room: BRAAAAAAAAWWWM!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1khghXRGb6k

Moving images are not specifically forbidden.

Correction, moving images are not specifically allowed. Whereas in Major Image and Silent Image they are specifically provided for.

Also Minor Illusion states that it can not create any other sensory effect, that would easily include the sensation of motion.

On the bright side, it doesn't require concentration and lasts for 1 minute, so you could have up to 10 Minor Illusions going at once. And if you are an Illusionist at 6th level you can animate even the Minor Illusion. So that's pretty cool.

[Madbox]

Cover for the rogue so she can enter stealth midcombat. Create an opaque block, crouch behind it, make your roll. Obviously it wouldn't hold, but it wouldn't need to. If you are in a corridor, use it to hide caltrops or ball bearings. Stow away on a ship by hiding in a "barrel". Make fart sounds every time the cleric speaks.

[SharkForce]

On the bright side, it doesn't require concentration and lasts for 1 minute, so you could have up to 10 Minor Illusions going at once. And if you are an Illusionist at 6th level you can animate even the Minor Illusion. So that's pretty cool.

it does, however, end if you cast the spell while it is already active.

[Vogonjeltz]

it does, however, end if you cast the spell while it is already active.

Wow, second line of the spell and I completely spaced on it. Oh well, I guess it's best served as a personal stereo system.

[SharkForce]

or as the second half of a silent image. after all, no concentration means you can have both running at the same time.

especially if you can use silent image at-will like certain warlock builds.

[Lindonius]

My Bard is a half-elf Elvis impersonator called Elvish Presley and whenever he leaves an area after an interaction uses minor illusion to simulate a loud tannoy blast saying "ELVISH HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!"

[faus7rav3n]

Playing a wizard, I have used Minor Illusion in concert with a Bard to mask footsteps while evading a creature with Tremorsense (a Bulette btw). Reasoning was that sound makes waves, those waves are transferrable to the soil and thus affective to Tremorsense. As a bard he was able to coordinate his pulses to make a discordant cacophony that allowed us to drive off the nasty creature.

Used to deepen shadows around my eyes, generally appearing more menacing for Advantage on Intimidation checks.

My favorite has been making a white noise or water matrix effect to mask conspiratorial conversations in crowded areas.

In a first and last ever successful usage for me, managed to make a brigand believe that a previously identified Bag of Devouring was laden with coins and a fat Agate sitting right on top of the pile was his for the taking. I even offered it to him, as toll payment. He gladly reached in for a fist full of coin, only to find his hand was stuck, and he was subsequently pulled inside. His partners slashed the bag to ribbons destroying the magic and their friend inside.

To embellish spoken tales for children and simpletons.

[Gtdead]

Masking stuff with layers, like traps, pits, or even hide myself behind a false wall.

Creating sounds for manipulation purposes. Creating an explosion sound to lure guards away, or creating speech like an offensive remark near a group of thugs making them start a fight with random people (like a racist remark), or a command from the guard captain (report!). I'm not sure exactly how much freedom I have in creating speech, but if I can create a roar, I suppose I can create a single word. Depends on how much flexibility the DM allows. If he allows for small sentences then I can create very powerful effects.

I also like spreading misinformation by creating a false layer over a written paper that says something else. For exaple if there is a poster for a show, I may create an illusionary copy that has the wrong address. As long as people don't have any reason to touch it, then it's fine.

[Klorox]

Party Paladin in the House Tonight?

I believe the reference is to "I'm gonna git you sucka"

http://youtu.be/e3oeAlOtbkE

[kochecc2]

My DM is letting me use it to store pages of text / charts. I can store a number of pages equal to my Int modifier. Each page takes a minute to store plus one minute for each page already stored this way, but recalling them is just like any other casting of the spell.

My knowledge cleric (magic initiate) uses it as an arcane cheat sheet.

[Dalebert]

I like making mirrors with it, especially around creatures with a gaze attack. But you can also make a mirror appear somewhere to look around a corner for instance.

Make a steel box with an arrow slit in it to shoot out of. This is especially nice if you're a small-sized caster; no squatting.

I use the sounds all the time as distractions. Last night the party was terrified of entering a home that had ominous warnings on the door so I made the sounds of a woman inside calling for help. Then I could watch to see what happened to them before I decided if it was safe to enter.

Since it has no verbal component, it's a great almost-subtle spell. Should be possible to cast it without notice with a sleight of hand check.

My DM is letting me use it to store pages of text / charts.

I don't understand this at all. How is an one minute illusion spell good for that?

[SharkForce]

I like making mirrors with it, especially around creatures with a gaze attack. But you can also make a mirror appear somewhere to look around a corner for instance.

woah, hey now, give this some disclaimers or you'll derail this thread so hard we'll wind up arguing about every unclear passage in the core rulebooks and maybe even beyond!

[Segev]

My DM is letting me use it to store pages of text / charts. I can store a number of pages equal to my Int modifier. Each page takes a minute to store plus one minute for each page already stored this way, but recalling them is just like any other casting of the spell.

My knowledge cleric (magic initiate) uses it as an arcane cheat sheet.

While alone, this would require a house rule, since you can't generally just say, "I recreate the identical illusion down to the last detail as the last time," if you have the feat that lets you remember anything you've seen in the last month, this works beautifully.

The trick is that you make the illusion, and look at it. Any time in the next month, because you remember it perfectly, you can make a new illusion of it. Now that you've seen it again, you've reset the monthly counter.

Since it has no verbal component, it's a great almost-subtle spell. Should be possible to cast it without notice with a sleight of hand check.

I...can't believe I hadn't noticed it was Somatic only. Very nice!

[Dalebert]

woah, hey now, give this some disclaimers or you'll derail this thread so hard we'll wind up arguing about every unclear passage in the core rulebooks and maybe even beyond!

DISCLAIMER: Dalebert is a trouble-maker. Best to just disregard anything he says as pure propaganda with no other purpose than to trigger a flame war.

[Segev]

DISCLAIMER: Dalebert is a trouble-maker. Best to just disregard anything he says as pure propaganda with no other purpose than to trigger a flame war.

If a flame war is triggered, do we all have to gather around it and help it feel better until the trigger goes away?

[LordVonDerp]

ONE MAJOR HICCIUP!


Nothing in the thing says the illusion can move with you, I think it has to stay in place..so if you move..then...it stays in place,especially if your talking at all or moving your head.

"Stay in place" relative to what?

[Segev]

"Stay in place" relative to what?

Always an interesting question. I think it safe to say that "you" are not going to be it, though, because spells which move with you generally say so. It's really the DM's call.

Personally, I'd allow a minor illusion to remain stationary wrt whatever is supporting it. If it's free-floating, then wrt the most notable terrain feature. So on land, "the ground." Inside a moving castle, "the castle." On a ship, "the ship."