Winter Wonderland

School illusion (figment) [mind-affecting]; Level bard 5, cleric/oracle 5, druid 5, sorcerer/wizard 5, witch 5

CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action

Components V, S, M/DF (a holiday ornament)

EFFECT

Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)

Area one 10-ft. cube/level

Duration 1 day/level

Saving Throw Will disbelief; Spell Resistance yes

You throw an illusion over an area to give it a festive, wintry appearance as well as creating illusory humanoid inhabitants. You must set a few general guidelines when you cast the spell pertaining to the nature of the celebratory atmosphere as well as physical identifiable traits (number, race, gender) of its humanoid residents, though the illusion defines the specific details to make the scene appear realistic. For instance, if you envision a holiday dedicated to the winter solstice, the illusion would coat the ground, vegetation, and structures with snow, while adorning the settlement with colorful decorations. The inhabitants would be dressed in clothing befitting the occasion while singing hymns commemorating the holiday. Despite its ability to create illusory residents, the spell can only enhance the already existing structural features of an area. Therefore, while it can adorn trees, buildings, and streets, the illusion cannot create these objects.

Creatures viewing or interacting with the wintry illusion experience a sense of joy and tranquility at the marvelous sight. Creatures who fail their Will save cannot take violent actions (although they can defend themselves) nor do anything destructive within the spell’s area. Any aggressive action against or damage dealt to a creature believing the illusion immediately ends the illusion in that creature’s mind. Otherwise, every illusory creature within the area exudes an aura of infectious merriment and joviality. They are outwardly friendly, welcoming, and gregarious, though any conversation or interaction with a single individual lasting more than five minutes causes the illusory creature to make duplicative or nonsensical statements in addition to taking repetitive actions. Unless they have reason for suspicion, creatures interacting with the illusory creatures believe these individuals always tell the truth and are solely motivated by their desire to spread happiness and love to others.

If a creature is unduly suspicious of the area without a plausible reason, the illusion placates the creature’s misgivings by feeding false readings into the creature’s mind. For instance, if the creature attempts a Sense Motive check to determine if an illusory creature is lying, the check confirms the other creature is telling the truth and is not under the influence of an enchantment spell, regardless of the check’s actual results. Likewise, when a creature uses spells and spell-like effects to discern an illusory creature’s true nature, the illusion tricks its mind into believing it cast the spell or effect and determined everything is at it appears. In reality, the creature never actually used the spell or spell-like effect; it only believes it did.

The preceding conditions apply only to illusory creatures created by the spell. Similar efforts made to discern the true nature of real creatures within the spell’s area function normally. Creatures with sufficient reason to disbelieve the illusion may investigate the illusion further, which grants them another saving throw as they directly interact with the illusion.

Multiple castings of this spell overlap, provided the general parameters of the interconnected illusions remain consistent with one another. If you attempt to conjoin illusions with disparate features, the entire effect collapses and disappears.