Illusions

I wrote this as a letter to Dante about the Illusion system.





Hello. I am writing to you concerning your recent post describing the system that would be used to govern the powers and function of illusionists, found at http://superhero-rpg.forumotion.com/t4372-illusion-system and reproduced below. I am particularly irked as I feel it does not accurately reflect what I believe an illusionist is or should be. I will, interspersed between the paragraphs describing the system, add commentary as to what I find odd, silly, incorrect, impossible, or ignorant. These commentaries will subscribe to my definition of the ability, which will be summarised below such.

In light of recent discussion, I am now releasing SHRPG's Illusion System

My Guide to Illusions

Ground Rules:

First, an Illusion is not something that can be spontaneously created, it is a type of trap that is set in a well placed plan. In order for an illusion to be used, it must first be set. So in the case of “It was an illusion all along” scenario, a character would have to set the image first and then find a way to escape. This prevents any sort of sneaky god-mods to prevent damage, and actually requires forethought and etc.

To start this off, I want to address something: an illusion is intangible. That is, it absolutely cannot, on the super-atomic scale, apply a force or in any way cause a significant alteration beyond the scope of its sensory effects (and I use this wording to indicate that illusions can block some niche attacks, such as an attack by light or sound, the physics of each described below) to any physical body or manifestation of energy. Thus, no illusion can be used to prevent damage, as damage cannot be blocked by the illusion. If you meant, however, that an object that was not previously described as an illusion cannot be proclaimed to be an illusion at a later point, especially if it would alter the effect of damage or other alterations that are not readily reversible, unless it had had no effect or had not been addressed previously (determined by whether or not the object had been observed or touched or heard or in some way sensed by anyone without the knowledge of the illusionist or used to perform some task that violates the prior rule that an illusion is intangible, barring the occasion where the original object was moved or hidden and replaced with an illusion of the original object), then that is understood and I agree that this is a reasonable rule.

More importantly, an illusionist is not just about traps. Traps are useful for the person who can anticipate what will happen next with a decent accuracy, which I presume you realise is not always the case. Therefore, spontaneity is absolutely necessary for the action-reaction style of many battles. One of the elements that makes an illusionist powerful is knowledge. If the enemy does not know that the illusionist is an illusionist, the illusionist may manifest any power within the bounds of his imagination. This is vital to the illusionist's performance, as it allows him to utilise the doubt or confidence inherent in humans and robots alike. He could demonstrate, for example, that he is a master of the arcane arts, which would allow him to generate massive destructive energies. He could pretend to whisper a spell and then motion to channel a beam of energy that blasts the walls behind his enemy. These walls would never actually break, but it would look as if they did, especially if one only glanced at them. An enemy faced with a foe of this magnitude might doubt his ability to battle against these odds. In another case, an illusionist might cast a spell on another to make them invincible, and then, to prove that they are, fire a fake bullet from a possibly fake gun that bounces off the target because of the spell. Then, confident with his invincibility, the spell-recipient might be more willing to jump into dubitable situations, and thus more likely to be injured or killed. If you somehow intend for a trap to simply be an illusion that is there before the intended viewer or viewers arrive, I agree that this is an applicable use of the ability. However, I believe that "traps" is a not a functional term for the action, as it suggests that it is somehow harming the target. A typical trap, as I am used to, would harm the target directly or harm its ability to function, perhaps by hindering movement (e.g. a bear trap). An illusion cannot perform this duty unless the illusionist does something to suggest further movement would have harsh consequences (e.g. a forcefield that disintegrates anything that touches it).

Illusions are only images, sounds, and in some instances smell depending on the extent of the illusions. The real effectiveness of an illusion is based on how believable an illusionist can make the illusion, and how much an opponent is capable of being a recipient to it. To be clear, Illusions are universal, having a specific race doesn’t mean you are exempt from illusions. Illusions are merely a projection that is witnessed, how a character reacts is based on who they are.

I completely agree that illusions in this setting are more functional and realistic when expressed as an effect of the environment instead of an effect within the mind. Within the milieu of superhero forum roleplaying, primarily due to the large user base and free-from style, it would be difficult to moderate any mind altering effects. Though I see the usefulness in targeted illusions, affecting only one person or a group of persons, the plethora of disagreements that may result would be an unnecessary and preventable load on the staff.

However, I cannot help but wonder why you chose to only include images, sounds and smells in the set of illusory objects. The five senses—sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste—all have particular and vital roles to play in detailed and convincing illusions. For example, say I wanted to create an illusory person, so that if the situation escalated, I would be safe if the image was killed, captured or injured in some way. I would need to create everything that makes a person a person. I would begin by crafting the shape, size, gender and defining features of this character, dressing the image as is appropriate and expressing convincing reflections and expressions. I would need a working knowledge of human behaviour and I would have to realise the idiosyncrasies that this character would have in order to look natural. I could mirror videos or other people that I have seen or memorised. Next, I would generate the sounds that the person makes: the rustling of clothes, the squeak of the chair he's sitting on, the sound of his breathing (nose or mouth?), his speech, the sounds of his body (things like a growling stomach or a cough or a sneeze). Third, I would apply the smells of each article upon this person. Perhaps he hasn't showered in a while but is wearing a new set of clothes. He has beer on his breath that mingles with these smells. Each smell has to have an origin or more, and they have to realistically mix. The final step involves touch, feeling. The person has to have a texture, body heat, some sort of indicator that he is in fact a living creature. These textures and heats would have to vary immensely with all the different fabrics and injuries, with the differences in blood flow and insulation. Additionally, a person has some sort of taste, whether it be the drop of sweat cascading off of his brow or the taste of his mouth during a kiss. Every illusion is about detail, about convincing a person something is what they initially believe it to be. Some illusions may be simple images in the background with a single, overlapping track of audio, others may be detailed down to the last mark, so perfectly that none could even guess at whether it was true or not.

Also, touch and taste have other utilities. Touch can give a person a fright, by whispering a ghostly tendril across the back of their neck, cooling their perception of their body heat. Nothing would truly change, but they would believe they were cold and that they had been touched by something. Touch can make a light more convincing, since powerful lights cast noticeable heat as well as light. A mock sun shining through a non-existent window would have to emit some sort of heat, else it would be exposed as a fake. Taste can be used to bitter a drink or sweeten junk, helping the illusionist prank a patron or tolerate cheap food. Everything has a use. The illusionist may quietly lay down a trail of disturbances in a person's life, so that they are slowly driven to anger and their mood changes. People will begin to doubt them and they may lose their friends' trust, allowing the illusionist to 'strike'.

For example, an illusionist should take into account that the mind is a powerful thing, it helps the processing. For example, if an illusionist makes a convincing fire, then the victim may interpret it as real and thusly feel the heat as if it were real. In other cases, this usage of placebo effect can also be used to harm an opponent. For example, were an illusionist to throw an illusionary knife without the prior knowledge of illusion, the victim may interpret the cuts as such.

The placebo effect does not function as you suggest that it does. The placebo effect, in definition, is strictly a medical phenomenon. I will try to explain the differences between the effect and your examples. If you would like to know more about the placebo effect, I believe the following two sources are trustworthy enough for one to learn from:
A placebo can only fix what the body has done to itself, and cannot be used to affect the body in ways that the body cannot itself. The effects of a placebo occur in two different ways: either the patient's condition will improve, or the patient will reproduce symptoms of the placebo. On the latter, I mean to say that the patient's body actually attempts to look as if it has a disease that it may or may not have so that it can receive the proper treatment for it. On the former, this only proves that the issue was strictly psychological.

As I described earlier, what makes an illusion convincing is that all criteria for the concept or object are met. A convincing fire, as you used as your example, must not only be coloured flame that emits constant but flickering light, but also must produce the appropriate side-effects of burning. For example, a campfire burns wood, so there will be a smell of burning wood in the air. The smoke produced by the fire will not only have a smell but also a taste (if smoke did not have a taste, why would smoking meats give them flavour?). The fire would have to crackle and spark as it burned, making the same sounds as its real cousin. Most importantly, however, the fire would have to feel hot. Sitting next to a campfire, one feels an obvious heat. The body simply will not replicate this heat based on the other senses. An animal's senses give it the ability to reason whether it is being tricked or not. A predator with a disguise may be revealed if the animal realises that the predator's colouring does not match the smell or the heat or the taste of what it is attempting to replicate. Just as touching a bird's nest makes it more likely to abandon its children; animals are programmed to doubt things. The bird doubts that the nest is safe or that its children are healthy anymore. Humans act in the same exact way. A missing sensory device will not encourage a person to replicate it; a missing sensory device will cause a person to doubt that the object is real. In a similar way, the image of a knife cannot make a person believe he is being cut, or actually cut him, because the feeling of the blade, the sound, the coolness of the metal, is not there, and it is not commonly possible for the human body to split open its own skin to accommodate what did not happen.

Limitations:

Simple illusions are easy to interpret as real up to an extent, for when the ridiculous comes is when a character can start to become skeptical. Making something like a gun or sword can be perceived as real, and can be used properly. But when a character goes on to make a giant creature to punch them, the brain cannot convince the body that it is being crushed and launched away somewhere.

As I have already addressed this above, I have little to say here, but I still want to stress the point that an illusionist is not a summoner. He cannot use an illusion to actually act as a real object. When the illusionist makes an illusory gun or sword, they cannot be used 'properly'. Swinging the sword will only let it pass through what it hits. Firing the gun will send a bullet flying, but it will never do damage. I feel that you are actually trying to accommodate for the lack of offensive ability on the part of the illusionist, and this is counteracting the actual way an illusionist works. The illusionist can never do physical damage without a physical object (e.g. a gun or a knife). He can only convince others that something is happening that is not. He is a master of trickery and guile. He targets the mind and perception to further a greater idea instead of working on point defense.

[/quote]The idea of an Illusionist pulling a person’s greatest fear or visions of their loved ones is false. An illusionist doesn’t get the automatic ability to pull memories and create an image that dictates “Greatest Fear” in all that witness it. Illusions are based on the imagination of the illusionist, whether they happen to bring about another person’s fear is based solely on whether or not the illusionist pre-planned the encounter, or the illusionist is capable of peering into the minds of its opponent.[/quote]

I agree completely. An illusionist is never able to access another's mind; he simply alters what they perceive.

The victim is also a measure of how powerful an illusion is. When faced against an everyday human, the illusions can easily fool them into thinking something is real. However, should an illusionist encounter a creature such as a superhuman or a robot, they know that conventional weaponry does not affect them in the same manner that it does to ordinary people. A robot knows it cannot feel pain, thusly it does not.

The way this is worded is rather closed-minded about what an illusionist actually does. It only addresses the direct damage aspect of the ability instead of the wide array of other facets that allow an illusionist to be truly effective. A powerful illusionist researches his enemies and predicts what they will think when presented a given object. To combat a robot, as suggested earlier, an illusionist would not try to hurt it, but express that it is in the way of danger. The robot must weigh that possibility just as it would anything else. A robot that is intelligent enough to realise it cannot feel pain most likely can value itself enough to avoid what has been presented as certain death. A superhuman with incredible durability would have to be dealt with in the same way: not by injuring, but by tricking and trapping.

An illusionist is capable of altering their own appearance with illusions, but they cannot gain things such as Invisibility, the inability to be heard, and the inability to be smelled.

I do not expect you to believe me by dint of my saying this, but I will tell you as truthfully as I can that I have a working knowledge of physics on the order of particles of the size of the electron and larger. I understand how light and sound work, and how they behave on a subatomic level. I do not have a very good knowledge of modern physics, but I know enough to apply here if needed.

Invisibility and soundlessness are physically possible in a simple and intuitive way. We must first state that the illusionist has a near-perfect control of light and at least a decent control over sound. This must be true, as otherwise the illusionist would not be able to make any convincing illusions. Second, we must realise that sound is a longitudinal wave, and that light is a transverse wave. In this practise, the distinction between longitudinal and transverse is not a factor. A wave for sound or light can be expressed with a sine graph: a shape that moves up and down over a median of magnitude zero. The following webpage shows a sine graph, if you do not know what it is or could use a reference:
All waves are capable of being interfered with. Interference at a given point presents itself in one of two ways: constructive or destructive. Destructive interference will reduce the magnitude of the wave that point, which means that, in the case of sound, it will be less audible, and in the case of light, less visible. If an accurate replica of the sound or light is produced but from a position that would allow it to be one half of a wavelength behind or ahead of the existing wave, the two waves together will negate each other and there will be zero net magnitude at any point in the wave. This means zero sound or zero light. Please ask questions or google this if you do not understand.

I don't know of a way to negate smell, but it would be possible to overpower it, given that the illusionist can already generate it.

I believe that it is important for an illusionist to be able to do these things, as it allows them to perform the simple magic tricks that make their gags more believable. An item switch is simple if the original is no longer there. Sound could be negated to stop partners from yelling to each other. It would be considerably more difficult, but nullifying speech into a microphone or creating ghost sounds in one is still a possibility. Additionally, it allows the illusionist to protect himself more effectively, as he can create copies of himself and steal away in the shadows.

Since placebos work mainly on a gullible mind, INT allows smarter characters to be able to counter it with their ability to understand. So to put it up in a sort of graph that would give an idea (To be clear Illusions start off at 3-4 EP) it would be the same as any other ability, except using INT as a source of effectiveness when compared to damage from the placebos, and then considers their DUR when the character knows his or her limits.

In order to generate smell, an illusionist must have a level of power (lvl 5+) in order to generate such smells.

The above is a bit oddly worded, but here's how I've come to understand it: you want to, again, apply the placebo attack. However, you are now adding the common sense of the recipient to it. That is, you are suggesting that if a person is more intelligent, they are more aware of their abilities (or they are very confident in their abilities and possibly not intelligent), so they are less likely to be damaged by an illusion. Since I disagree with this damage on a fundamental level, I, again, disagree with this concept. I feel an illusion should not just pit the strength of the illusionist against the intelligence of the recipient. To model something like this, I believe that it falls on not only the strength of the illusionist, but also his intelligence and experience. Intelligence spawns a more convincing illusion and explains how many active illusions a person can handle at once. The EP level explains how accurately the illusionist can control the pieces of an illusion, and may also have an effect on the amount of illusions possible. This would be opposed by the recipient's intelligence and confidence. Confidence is not a numerical metric in this system, but it can be inferred from a character's past, the situation, and their past victories. A very unintelligent but highly confident bruiser (a character with high fighting stats) wouldn't disbelieve the illusions, but could very well ignore them. So the illusionist, when presented with this situation, must stop threatening the foe and start threatening things the foe will be influenced by (e.g. putting an illusory knife to an image of his mother).

As for the numbers you've put on levels necessary to spawn certain illusions, I'm not perfectly sure how you at the superhero forums typically balance things. One idea I did have was to use the idea that Energy Projection and Intelligence influence illusions in a purely numerical way. Each illusion, based on its strength and detail, 'drains' from those scores. To note, when I say drains, I do not mean that the illusionist becomes less intelligent or less powerful as this happens, I simply mean that it can be used as a metric. Here's what I thought: certain illusions can be deemed more powerful. These illusions are things like detailed beings or illusory buildings or places. Medium strength illusions are primarily image and sound, manifesting themselves as special effects or pieces of an environment (e.g. a wizard casting a powerful spell or a few unimportant patrons in a bar). Small, simple illusions, like souring a person's drink are of negligible impact on the illusionist's ability to do other things. Simply, the idea here is that, based on the power of the illusion, an illusionist would drain on his EP skill. A powerful illusion would take two or three EP out of him, while a medium strength would be worth a half or a whole point. Minor illusions would be negligible until done on a larger scale (e.g. making all the drinks sour). The illusionist's intelligence would influence how many of these illusions he could manage at once. Each illusion, based on its complexity and location, would drain a different amount from his intelligence score, because he must concentrate on more and more things. I think this more appropriately addresses the power of the illusionist, as it forces him to rely on more than one skill to be effective.

Summary

The summary is that characters that use illusions don’t alter a perception or add a slight influence of mind control or dive into the memories of the victim. Instead they create images, sounds, and smells in order to create trickery. It also prevents people from just saying “I’m immune to your illusions” unless of course they have some other means of finding that out. However, it also ensures that Illusions are just trickery, distractions at best for most characters after they know the nature of the ability. Instead of it being some form of mind control, it is instead something that the illusionist has to think up, and something that all beings no matter what race can witness.

I think I've articulated all my thoughts on this matter to you above. Now I will proceed to demonstrate what I think is a more proper definition of an illusionist. I will use the same format that you have, so it is easier to compare the two definitions in parallel. I, in no way, mean to mock you or this design by doing this. It is purely a matter of ease of use. I, also, grant you or any of the superhero forums staff the rights to reproduce or edit this message and the following system in any way should you like to make use of it or an altered version of it to replace the original. However, if this is done, I would like some sort of credit or recognition for this writing.

Without further ado, I hereby present:


An illusion, at its very core, is simply a manifestation of an object, image, sound, smell, taste, feeling or, at its greatest, reality that is not real or useful. An illusory orange may look like the fruit, may sound the same as one bites into the flesh, may smell of the same sweetness, may taste like a true orange and may feel the same in one's hands, but it will never weigh anything, and it will never have the resistance of a real orange as you bite it or peel it, and, most importantly, it will never feed the consumer. A true illusion's purpose is not to replace a real thing in use, but to fool the recipient of the illusion into thinking that it is real.

Illusions transcend the person; they are objects within space, without regard for the viewers. This, simply, means that they do not depend on what a person thinks or who they are, but only how they see them. An illusion is perceived just as anything else would be. An illusory chair seen from a distance would appear the same and be regarded as the same as a regular chair. An illusion can, however, be disproved if a character or object the character sees interacts with the illusion in a way that they do not deem possible. It is important for an illusionist to realise that this is a possibility and act accordingly. One of the most powerful abilities of an illusionist comes with the opponent not knowing that his enemy is an illusionist. Using this, the illusionist can pretend to be anyone he wants.

An illusion depends on the strength (energy projection) and intelligence of the creator. As a baseline, the energy projection determines the maximum size, power, accuracy and definition of each illusion. The illusionist is limited in his illusions by how many he can manage at a time and how definite each is. Intelligence helps to illustrate the amount of illusions that can reasonably be created, where large, powerful illusions take more concentration and thus more intelligence. Small illusions, such as souring a drink, would be almost negligible—as easy as breathing.


An illusion is intangible. That is, it absolutely cannot, on the super-atomic scale, apply a force or in any way cause a significant alteration beyond the scope of its sensory effects (and I use this wording to indicate that illusions can block some niche attacks, such as an attack by light or sound, possible using deconstructive interference) to any physical body or manifestation of energy. Thus, no illusion can be used to prevent damage, as damage cannot be blocked by the illusion.

Barring confusion and headaches, an illusion cannot cause injury or death or pain directly. An illusion must be used to push the recipient into a situation where they would be harmed instead of doing the actually harming itself. An illusory knife cannot cut or hurt the person it hits; an illusory gun cannot convince a person to believe they have been shot. An illusory gun could, however, be used to hold a hostage so that the hero would have to make a sacrifice.

An illusionist has no control over or insight into the mind. This is absolute and unyielding. An illusionist is completely about the environment and altering how it seems to function. They cannot show a person their fear or their loves unless they guess or research. They cannot force a person's hand or cause them anguish simply through invading their minds. They cannot speak through their mind or hear another's thoughts. An illusionist is all about changing the world around them.

Illusionists rely on the background of the person they are attempting to fool. They depend on the person believing that the illusionist has the powers he says he does. The ability to see through an illusion is determined not only by how fantastic an illusion is, but also by the logic behind it. The hero may determine that the hostage the illusionist is holding could not have gotten there (e.g. if the hostage was the hero's mother and the hero knew his mother was across an ocean or safe with someone else). If this was the case, the illusionist must expand his lies and trickery to address these ideas the hero may have. There is a significant banter of proof and lies behind what this superhuman does, and he can become trapped in his own logic.


The illusionist is a magician. He relies on perception, prior knowledge, trickery and guile to convince others that what he says and does truly is a reality. He is probably charismatic and convincing, able to bluff any situation. Whether slight or major, his illusions are well placed and convincing plays designed to work against other's sanity, affecting paranoia or confidence to impress a command onto others. The possibilities of illusions are limitless but complex and indirect—both a blessing and a curse. The illusionist must be played with intelligence and made to act both with restraint and with risk. An illusionist is not always focused on major things. A true criminal may be a forger or a thief, using tricks of the eye and the hand to argue that something is or is not a real. He may be a government official or a member of a secret organisation, necessary to cover up and blunt the realities of the day. Neutrally, he may work as a therapist, helping others realise their lives by changing them minutely. When he fights crime, he traps the forces of evil, driving them off by presenting them with overwhelming risk or playing on their arrogance to prove to them their current goal is not worthy of their power. He both builds and destroys the elements of the mind. The illusionist is flexible, but his powers cannot harm the body. He cannot kill or injure. He simply directs the currents in the river of life.