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Illusionists tend to be a rare breed. Few villains and even fewer heroes have this most underrated power. Although illusions can't break down walls, or heave Cadillacs, they should not be dismissed. A skilled illusionist can change the apparent nature of reality. Properly handled, this seemingly weak power can leave characters doubting their sanity. Illusion is a power of subtlety and indirection. Use it to mislead, deceive and confuse rather than destroy your opponent. If you accept that illusion is not a power for direct violence, you can give your friends an enormous tactical advantage, and drive your foes out of their minds.
First of all, if you as a player or GM wish to run an illusionist, you should ask yourself these questions: Can I describe images quickly and concisely? Can I come up with them in the first place? If you tend to speak slowly and softly, it's best to stick with other types of characters. Unless you find that the others in your group are hanging form your every word. You should also work up a repertoire of images. Jot down any descriptions you hear or come across that seem effective. If you invent them yourself, so much the better. If the description comes from somewhere else try to understand why it's effective. As for your own deathless prose, try to find ways to tighten it. Remember to go for impression, not detail. Although mental illusions are predominantly visual, you shouldn't limit yourself to vision. The scent of an appropriate species female in heat would be a serious distraction to a bestial type like Jaguar, for instance. Audible, tactile, and gustatory illusions are also possible. Audible illusions, a scream for help, the Philadelphia strings plays "Satisfaction", (The latter might be considered a type of sonic attack) or tactile illusions, a change in the texture of an object, an invisible object, are easily isolated. In other words those senses can be affected without involving any of the others. Gustatory or illusions of taste, are a little harder, since you have to touch your tongue to things to taste them. A purist may argue that taste and smell are linked. But, few people perceive those senses that way, and when working with illusion, perception is everything.
When role-playing an illusionist, you should consider how the character uses the power in 'everyday' situations. In combat, there are many possibilities besides the attack-by-phantom-beast, or phantom ray-gun. To illustrate uses of illusion, both in and out of combat, I use two of my characters as examples:
StarDancer has Images that affect the visual senses, and normal hearing. When not in combat she uses her images to help communicate, for instance, using pictures, rather than try to describe things, or incidents. She also likes to subject everyone within range to her taste in music, and imagery drawn from saturday-morning TV. Autofiring candy-apple-red lip-prints at camera men is one of her favorites. When in combat, she is much more subtle. A common defensive move is displacement. This means she makes something, usually herself, appear to be where it isn't. In game terms, she becomes invisible, and projects the image elsewhere. Since her invisibility is bought usable by others, she can also do this to other characters. Another good defensive tactic is replication. This means multiplying herself, or someone else. This considerably reduces the odds of being targeted, as her opponent has to figure out which image has a person inside. A third tactic is trading places. This is a very good move for dealing with multiple opponents. Trading places is accomplished by flying close to her victim, as if performing a move-through, and then exchanging images. To a bystander, or her opponents, it appears as if she hit her target, and knocked him back several hexes. Lastly, she can set up coordinated attacks. She does this by outlining one of the opposition, (usually in a clashing color) and keeping him outlined until everyone is ready to attack.
Dr. Eidektos takes a more serious approach. If he has to be in combat, he prefers to use naturalistic effects which do not betray his presence. For example, the doctor might generate a mental illusion that would convince his antagonist that he's being attacked by one of his own team-mates. Another illusionist might create a ray-pistol. Dr. Eidektos would create the smell of natural gas (actually a commercial product known as Odalarm(tm)) then sparks from a nearby wall. The unfortunate person caught at ground zero would think the resulting explosion was perfectly reasonable. The good Doctor does not believe that an illusion has to be monstrous or bizarre to be effective. (I also believe that an illusionist should get a bonus for plausibility.) Out of combat, Dr. Eidektos can use his powers to help other characters overcome psychological problems. The process will take weeks, even months of game-time, and is far from pleasant for said character. The Doctor uses telepathy to uncover memories, and his illusions to reveal said memories to his patient. This combination of powers has great potential for abuse, as it is possible to alter memories, given enough time. Finally, Dr. Eidektos will use illusions to enhance his presence attack. He doesn't do this in combat because he likes to keep his profile nice and low. Which is a good survival tactic for any egoist.
Using Dr Eidektos and StarDancer, I have touched on some of the non-combat uses for illusion. An illusionist might use images to create music videos etc. The ways you can use illusions to entertain or annoy fellow players are too numerous for a complete list. Any of the standard practical jokes can be done with illusion. I leave it to your, hopefully, fiendish imagination other possibilities. Keep it light though, and make sure that the other players are amused even if their characters might not be.
Then there is the primary purpose of illusion. That is plain, straightforward deception. One standard 'bit' is disguise. With illusion it is possible for a character to disguise or conceal himself and his friends. Keeping this effect going for extended periods might be a problem. First the illusionist must concentrate or expend energy. (Fourth edition rules do make this easier.) A quick pat-down will reveal visual images, remote surveillance equipment will uncover mental illusions. Even so, illusions are still useful for mass infiltration. Another possibility is to use the disguise phenomenon to break (bend actually) a recalcitrant prisoner. Make him think he's escaped and is now reporting to a superior officer. Or, he can be passing what he knows to a fellow operative. If you make him think he's dreaming he will be less likely to notice small mistakes. This is more effective if preceded by more conventional techniques. (Bright lights, lack of sleep and so on) your subject will think you're just using what little 'convincing' is available to the good guys. No sweat for an agent from Demon or Viper. Disguise is also useful for persuasion. Sometimes who you are can be as important as what you are saying. When dealing with opposing or allied groups the clever illusionist will try to pass himself off as someone they are likely to listen to. Given the right source,and delivery, people will believe all kinds of things. An example of that was the 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people thought the Martians were really invading. So with these ideas to spark your imagination, you should be well equipped to cloud their minds.
So you want to know how to play an Illusionist. Should I tell you the secret to making the most fun character in the world? Why not!
First step is having a character who is a quick thinker, and is able to prowl well . You will need to hide to enjoy the effect of making your enemies go mad.
Use the Illusionist powers in the following way.
SOUND - Used for distractions or to deafen an opponent. Can also be used to disguise your sounds as something else. In other words, if the person fails his save, you have complete control over what they hear.
VISUALS BUT NO SOUND - My classic example is known as "there's something in the oven". My Dwarven Illusionist had disgusied himself as some guard in a kitchen and was using imitate voices to complete the disguise. There was also one other guard in the place. My dwarf told him something scary was in the oven and played the part of the coward, so the buddy went over to check. While he was walking over I had plenty of time to get control over his visual senses. When he opened the oven, a "giant octupus" ate him, big coincidence huh? Well the next guy fell for it as well untill my dwarf was the only one left. Put your illusions in places where only one person could possibly see what is going on so even the people who can't see it will believe it.
