Alright, riddle me this :

Alright, riddle me this :

Alright, riddle me this :

One of my players wanted to play an illusionist in Duskwall.

My gut reaction was that there isn’t really such a thing in the world of Blades in the Dark as far as I can tell, so I suggested that she could play a Spider and create her illusions through the power of Flashbacks à la [Now You See Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_You_See_Me_(film))

We agreed on that method, but I can tell that her heart wasn’t really in it, so I’m wondering how you folks would recommend we handle illusion magic in the world of Blades In The Dark?

Thoughts?

(Art is “Pathfinder – Illusionist” by Mark Molnar)

15 thoughts on “Alright, riddle me this :”

  1. One choice is to have her take the Ritual ability and have the first ritual allow her to make fantasms of some sort, with more illusions available with more rituals.

    You could also write a “when you push yourself” ability for making illusions or a “pay stress equal to magnitude of illusion ability”.

    The last idea that comes to mind is reskinning Cloak And Dagger by swapping out “disguise” with “illusion” and “covert” with “occult”.

  2. “Strange Methods” could let you start with some sort of “electroplasmic manipulator” gadget that I could see creating strange things floating in the air.

  3. There are 2 approaches I feel. The first being a Whisper or a character with Attune doing real magic which focuses on visual displays.

    The second on a sort of ‘con artist’ who does what we in IRL would call a magician. An individual who is whip smart and sees the world from a different point of view. Creating visual slight of had displays for people.

    If you haven’t seen the Illusionist the movie it is well done (imo) and its setting is a very good fit for Blades.

  4. Might be a good idea for a custom playbook. Somewhere between a Slide and a Whisper. Maybe give them two dots in Finesse and one in Attune. A “push yourself to make a small item appear from the ghost field or disappear into it” ability, special armor to resist consequences from being restrained (think Houdini), an ability to keep 1 coin on your person at all times for no Load (it was behind your ear!). Could probably think of a few more. Maybe one like Bonefeel in Apocalypse World, to show up instaneously where you’re needed.

    Call the playbook “The Prestige”.

  6. My first thought would be: Blades doesn’t quite have magic; it has ghosts. And demons.

    So I feel like this is well within the realm of what a Whisper would be capable of, but it would be less “casting an illusion” — more like shaping ghost-stuff (with or without the ghosts’ consent), or getting a demon to manipulate reality for you. Or maybe you can skin it more as a Leech’s invention, using psychoactive chemicals to create incredible and individually-crafted effects at anybody within strike range.

    All of these are kind of like using a steamroller to iron your shirt — it’s playing with enormous power, for an immediate (and relatively minor) effect. It’s rearranging the building blocks of reality, or the essence of malevolent creatures, in order to make a pretty picture.

    In other words, it sounds really really cool.

    Play up the ability, and keep the player on edge with the horrible, horrible dangers they’re bringing into play.

    Ultimately, this sounds to me like a new Special Ability, with maybe a Long-Term Project to get it in the first place. I’m not sure how I’d write it. The Whisper’s “Tempest” is one way to say “You have a special magic spell” (by granting you the ability to push yourself to achieve it), but an illusion doesn’t sound to me any more powerful than compelling a ghost, so “Compel” might be a better template.

    Or, you could fold it directly into “Occultist,” as something a demon can accomplish — and then your PC’s immediate goal is gaining constant access to a demon with the right sphere of influence, and Consorting with it successfully.

    Probably the easiest way to do this would be as a Ritual — with each casting of the Ritual granting the character an N-clock of illusion power. That also gives you the whole process of ritual creation — which is a great way, in-play, to figure out how things work, what price thie power carries, how it’s weird and strange.

  8. Or, you could make an illusionist. Let’s see what I can do in a few minutes to take a run at it.

    You have made a pact with a leviathan that wishes to amp up the insanity of the mortal world. This leviathan allows you to channel power through a pinhole connection between the demon of the deeps and your fleshy ragdoll form, to reshape perception.

    The down side is that the leviathan has a pinhole connection to you, mind body and spirit. The mechanic here is that there can be devil’s bargains where you can have your memories rewritten, or your feelings towards someone changed, or lose your memory, or remember clearly absurd things that never happened with all the crispness of earned recall. Upon taking trauma, the illusionist can get lost somewhere far from the consensual reality of Doskvol; even retrieving the living body doesn’t mean you get the illusionist back right away. Rebuilding memory and identity and relationships lost to the leviathan’s whimsy can be long term projects.

    So, the illusionist has some more power, but in exchange is vulnerable to demonic tampering with relationships and identity.

    Flourishes are free. Rewriting a couple senses costs 1 stress. Rewriting 2 senses costs 2 stress. Overwhelming costs 3 stress. That’s on top of all of it.

    Flourishes are little touches; smoothing away your acne, making your shadow taller, flickering light in your eyes, making your snake-head cane move, that sort of thing. They allow you to add potence to efforts to intimidate or charm. You can do this at will.

    Rewriting 2 senses allows for sight and sound, or sound and touch, etc. That’s a harder pull of energy through the pinhole. What can it do? Fiction first!

    Overwhelming means creating whole environments that one or more people can see, touch, hear, smell, and so on. It requires total concentration to maintain these illusions, and they last as long as the illusionist can focus (though special objects or rituals may extend that longevity.)

    Illusionists can use Finesse to get the details right, Wreck to hurt someone’s psyche, Attune to match a target’s expectations, and Tinker to build plausible machines.

    For an item, they can enchant a phail of their own tears and saliva, and as you look through the curved crystal the world is distorted. This can assist them as a spirit mask assists a whisper.

    Now for special abilities.

    SPELLCASTER. You can conduct rituals to extend what you can do with your illusion magic.

    VENT YOUR DAMAGE. Your trauma rating is the tier of quality you add to your unpleasant illusions.

    INTRODUCTIONS. You can touch a target’s face and put the target’s psyche in direct contact with your sponsoring leviathan. Outcomes can be unpredictable.

    CAPTOR. You can lock someone in their own mind, if you succeed in Wrecking them. It is your choice whether they are locked in with pleasant memories or fears.

    SPECIALIST. When creating a specific kind of illusion, you’re the best, and you add quality factor.

    LANDSCAPES. You can upgrade to affecting an area the size of an alley or ballroom, so you don’t have to push harder to add scale factor.

  12. Definitely encourage them to force ghosts to create effects for them. Rituals to affect the ‘electroplasmic field,’ distilled ghost essence to create thoughts and hallucinations, malarky to tie it all together.

  15. From the deceptively monstrous al-Miraj to the haunting wail of the Maharaja

    of Ghosts, you know the fables of these lands by heart, and you hear more and

    more every day, so long as the Imperials are here. You know the reasons why they

    call ar-Rafiyyah a land of illusions, because you are one of them.

    When you play a Mirage, you earn xp when you address a challenge with

    deception or showmanship. Only the deceit in your subterfuge should be subtle.

    Make yourself the centre of attention and make people believe things that will

    get you what you want.

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