Complexity--Non-Living Objects

The most important element in determining an illusion's believability is its complexity. The more complex the illusion, the more difficult it is for the caster to get all the details right, and the more likely it is for a subject to notice a mistake. There are more details to a fire-breathing dragon than there are to a stationary boulder, so it is no surprise that a subject would be more likely to disbelieve the illusionary dragon than he would the illusionary rock.

An illusion can be a re-creation of a non-living (inanimate) or a living (animate) object. These need to be treated in different ways.

In general, the complexity of non-living objects depends on size (a pebble vs. a boulder), number (a single boulder vs. a dozen boulders scattered over an area), and appearance (a smooth gray boulder vs. a sparkling, multi-colored gem). External forces affecting the object also affect its complexity (wind blowing pebbles along the ground or an avalanche of boulders tumbling down a hill).

If the illusion has an excessive number of sensory elements, the subject's saving throw may receive a positive modifier. What constitutes an excessive number of elements? A single color or texture (for instance, a smooth gray boulder) is not excessive. Multiple colors and textures (a pile of various types of gems or minerals) or several different sensory elements (a field of variously colored flowers that have a variety of fragrances) could be considered excessive, as could the illusion of motion, such as boulders tumbling down a hill.

These factors are not necessarily cumulative; in fact, only in the most exceptional cases would an illusion of non-living objects result in a saving throw modifier of more than +2.

Examples:

· An illusion of a single blue diamond. Saving throw modifier: 0. Nothing about this illusion is particularly difficult since it is a single, stationary item.

· An illusion of ten thousand sparkling blue diamonds tumbling in an avalanche down a hillside. Saving throw: +2. There are a large number of items, they're sparkling, and they're in motion. The comparatively high saving throw bonus is also justified by the extremely unusual effect--a character might accept an avalanche of boulders, but an avalanche of diamonds is likely to arouse suspicion.

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