New Spells: Disguising and Fooling

Today from The Impermissicon, we have some of the relatively kindest spells in the heretical tome. Among spells that command souls, blood magic, plagues, and crushing psychic assaults, the tricks one can play with these new disguising spells are relatively benign. But don't be fooled into thinking they’re harmless...

Art Credit: http://www.artofmtg.com/art/jace-mind-sculptor/

Delude is an enchantment, not an illusion, but it can still fool an unsuspecting foe into attacking the fighter when they think it's the injured wizard! For a master-class in usage of this versatile spell in and out of combat, look no further than Thunderbolt Fantasy's master thief and conman Rin Setsua.

Hoodwink is another versatile spell that allows you to disguise someone as someone else -- but the possibilities are so much greater than that, because the target is unlikely to notice the change on their own. Want to make a mockery of the king as he delivers his speech from the balcony? Want to camouflage your party for an ambush even as you move around? Want to brandish a deadly weapon across the table of an inn without everyone but your target seeing it as a bouqet of flowers?

Finally, Disguise Other is an example of one of the few spell variants in D&D Unleashed that involves a change in spell level. You can think of it as an extra tax that takes it from 2nd-ish-level to 3rd-level. Why? Well, it seems that disguising non-spellcasters in the party is intended by the designers to be relatively difficult. The only way to do it with published material is seeming at 5th-level, and while that spell also gains some advantages for its higher level (multiple targets, duration). If you're thrilled about the idea, you could play with disguise other as 2nd-level, but we're keeping it at 3rd-level for D&D Unleashed for these reasons and others, like preserving some character role for things like disguise kits, rogue and ranger features, changelings, and other subclasses that specialize in disguise.

PDF Link | D&D Beyond Links: Delude, Disguise Other, Hoodwink