Illusionists make use of elemental, mental and spiritual magics to weave powerful deceptions for advantages in battle and various skills. Always one-step ahead of those who take reality for granted, they will constantly make use of the most subtle
inflections of environmental flux within all fields of its energies to attune perfectly for their will. They are a pure class
with a great span of utility and capability in battles, possessing a wide variety of different forms of offensive and defensive spells. In addition to a hardy tactical ability, they have the unique spell and skill of infusing their illusions into weapons.

To give some insight into the design idea, let's take the idea of a wide variety of utility and variation in their spell list first. The goal would be to create a class which has a very open parameter for designing spells which are not necessarily like the others. This is because they are Illusionists and can dream up whatever they need. So instead of having 5 forms of ball spells for Spell Aim training to give them an AS for bolts, they have one or two which they can fine tune to a huge degree so that they have as much variance as many bolt spells. They can do whatever they want--a rainbow bolt which fires 5 separate colors of streaming magic missiles in the direction of whatever critter they engage. They could make the appearance of a tsunami ride a blast of water and fish start striking the foe in a chaotic way. They could inspire a volcano to form in their palm and spew magma all over the critters in front of them. It's all an Illusion and the power of their damage will be in how impressive it is to the enemy as well as how well they formulate it with the physical-magical world immediately surrounding them. They might have an exceptional ability to remove traps from boxes since most of them are hiding something from the perceptions of those around them and a specialist within the circle of magic regarding illusions such as this would be an ideal master. They may be able to offer temporary alters on clothing, containers, gear, etc. If they have a spell which works particularly well on creatures who possess brains and egos even to a limited measure, then it might not work on non corporeal but would be a tremendous weapon on those it does work on. An Illusionist takes on a Storm Giant and convinces the Stormie that they are in fact attacking themselves since the Illusionist takes on the exact form of the specific Storm Giant in front of them! Confused and enraged, the real Stormie peers intelligently at the Illusionist version of themselves which gives the Illusionist an ideal opportunity to launch their next spell. That next spell could be something like a bolt which can be selected to behave exactly as any weapon class of choice: THE, OHB, Polearm.. then with magical precision and speed, deliver a coup de grace while the Stormie is in offensive, possibly on the ground, bewildered. There could be another spell where the Illusionist disappears and has a similar advantage to CAMO and Hiding, with a push-down. It's an Illusionist, so the physical is all from magical use of perceptions.

There would be a barrier for a lot of critters, especially undead but they'd obviously be able to prepare a lot for that. Use of light and space is essential for their magic to work as well as parallel dimensions. They may have more limitations in variation perhaps but could have a profound offensive and defensive effect by concentrating their knowledge into a spell or two which senses the undead presence then uses the convex of energy surrounding them to bring them closer to this world, causing them damage. Illusionists might be able to temporarily speak another language such as from other professions or races, even creatures with the right training paths. Illusionists would be able to make use of the animal world around them to inspire defenses and assaults as needed, such as convincing a flock of wild birds that there is food on a pack of enemies, causing the flock to flurry upon them in a feeding frenzy. They would be able to confuse an enemy to attack critters for them instead of the Illusionist. They might be able to give adventurer's a Saving Throw from death by giving them the idea that they didn't die! They rebound with +1 HP and a second chance because they were convinced to stay in their bodies. Illusionists might be able to refresh spells for an extra 20 minutes despite being from any spell circle because the magic energy of the one the spells are refreshing on are able to be 'stretched'. They might give the target the idea that they have greater strength and agility for a while, there might be a way of revealing loot which was hidden by an Illusion Spell.

If Illusionists craft spells into weapons (or armor or trinkets, whatever the development works into) then it could achieve another layer of influence and creativity for them. Every once in a while, their weapon flares up with an illusion that gives a chance for Confusion (the critters effected starts attacking other critters instead of the adventurers) or an imitation of Spirit Strike which gives a smaller version of it, or possibly it sparks a multiplier for weighting or flares that already exists. Perhaps Illusionists would be able to alter a weapon base so a blunt becomes an edged for example. Illusionists might be able to multiply a disc into three discs or make armor animated so it defends itself from critters who are fooled by the trick (but not against most undead, for example). Perhaps they can animate clothing so whatever they wear does things like those forehead gems that drip all the time or they shine and shimmer magically. I like the idea of an Illusionist using a canvas or a pool of water or something to find a location then step into it, like the tapestry at Voln or a Chrono Ring. Also that the Illusionist might be able to breed little armies to fight for them, miniature Illusionists or a pack of wild animals, etc. Not the same thing as convincing animals to fight for them as making the critters appear there when they actually aren't to begin with.

Illusionists could have a special characteristic that they freeze up with a death blow (not from blood loss) and become a solid cube, impenetrable. It's an illusion but if they get struck it will not harm them further. They carry the critical injury but maintain 1 hp.


Limitless possibilities! I'm sure this will happen by December, we'll have Illusionists everywhere!

Dragons r Real