Hallo there,
I have been playing with this character able to cast illusions via the phantasm Bane.
For extra playability I also chose the feat Hallucination.
My character can cast it at power level 6, to affect all senses.
Well, last session we ran into a problem. It was the first time I really used that Bane. My character is kind of cruel so I gave my opponent,which was fleeing, the illusion of being pretty much torn to pieces.
The GM was not amused and said ( the enemy had almost full HP) that he suffered a heart attack from being exposed to his own demise.
So the question is.
Can hallucination or phantasm deliver the feeling of pain and if the opponent has the illusion of being killed how does it affect him?
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I’ve always allowed the feeling of pain through Hallucination; Spectre, one of the PCs in my games, is an illusionist whose signature move is to pick out the biggest threat in a fight and set them on fire (in their mind). As for the illusion being killed, that’s certainly allowed but the effect would be entirely based on what you show them after that point (i.e. what happens after they’re “dead” in the hallucination?). I would only allow it to result in death by heart attack if the PC specifically targeted an extreme fear of the target and it made for a cool story moment, otherwise Spectre (who can now target 5 enemies with a single Hallucination) would be an unstoppable force in battle and the rest of the party may as well not bother. It’s already a very strong bane, turning it into a better version of the Death bane seems a bit much.
It’s possible that your GM was just feeling a little frustrated with how hard it is to balance encounters against this bane, or maybe they just thought it made for a cool moment for your first use of it. Either way, talk to them about your concerns and see what you can work out, maybe send them our way if they’re having issues with planning around this powerful tactic.
Thank you for your quick reply.
I have talked to the gm as well as my teammates regarding the hallucination feat.
I personally came to the conclusion, that my character may be able to show her opponents whatever she likes, but their reaction, if struck by fear, panic or any other negative effect is not in her power.
If I have no information to what exactly their greatest fear is (even though i wanted to create a piece of equipment which would enable me to see exactly that, but i guess that project is scrambled) my illusions’ effect my vary in great lenghts.I only show them what i assume might effect them.
I told them i would accept the one shot ability of hallucination, if the target’s resolve is exceeded by 20+ or if the character is near death already and the illusion might traumatize him enough to finish him.
I thank you a lot, I send my teammates your example if that is ok. I thank you for your help:)
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I’d like to direct your attention to the Mind Dredge bane, which is accessible via Prescience.
I am aware of the mind dredge bane. The equipment i wanted to create was going to unveil the greatest fear by using that bane. My character does not have the prescience attribute, which is a little bit… let’s say impractical, but seeing what the bane (phantasm) did, i think knowing the greatest fear would only make my gm even more angry at my character, and i do not want her to be hit by some random lightning in a sunny day and die…(exaggerating)
So hallucination could totally do HP to 0,but that is typically unconscious, not dead. For some NPC the GM counts as the same thing, for this, if your action roll was enough to do them to 0 HP, even a weak NPC, I would make it just knocked out.
Yes, I think so too, I hope that my group and I are able to get to an agreement.
Thank you for your support:)