Now a general mage (let's say an NPC under DM control) is going to be really savvy about the differences between illusion magic and other schools of magic. I think in a case like this, especially if the mage may be an antagonist, the illusionist is better off obscuring his true nature if at all pos...

I did run out and buy the 3.0 books (after a long break from the game, college, family, etc) when they first came out. But after reading through them and rounding up a batch of friends to play a few times, we quickly moved back to the old 1e and 2e books due to a number of reasons. Now, I really don...

Heya Varl, I think we agree 100%. As long as no one uses the term 'illusionist' or 'snake oil man' or whatever phrase makes the illusionist appear to be a charlatan - there shouldn't be any sort of perceivable difference to the common man between a mage and an illusionist. Now a general mage (let's ...

Wow! :shock: This brings up a whole new dimension to things, Brickman! Motivations for illusionists. I can see it going several ways. For example, the one you gave fits perfectly. An illusionist who wants to portray the illusion that he is anything but an illusionist. He'd be very different from th...

Well reasoned arguments, especially regarding game mechanics. I also think that the art in 3e contributed greatly to the emasculation of that version. We went from line art, sketches and realism in 1e to caricatures of superbeings wielding unrealistic weapons in 3e. Since it's the art that creates t...

Here are a few notes I began a while back but never fully fleshed out. If anyone finds them interesting I can fill in a lot of the missing explanations. I love the idea of the Complete Illusionists book and totally agree it brings back a bit of 1e back to 2e: Motivation One frequent goal of an illus...