The Flow of Shadows
Seddric's quicksilver folio turns a twitch, a sudden shadow, or a rhythmic snap into illusions convincing enough to mislead pursuers and expose hidden truths.
Spellbook · Wizard, School of Illusion · Level 5
The Flow of Shadows
Seddric's quicksilver folio turns a twitch, a sudden shadow, or a rhythmic snap into illusions convincing enough to mislead pursuers and expose hidden truths.
Ex librisSeddric VaneWizard, School of Illusion
At a glance
Level
5
Wizard, School of Illusion
Spells
10
1 cantrip, 3 signature
Spell slots
1st level
2nd level
3rd level
At the table
A margin note
Plot hook
Spells
10 spellsCantrips
1- Create a sound or an image of an object within range. The sound can be heard for the duration; the image must fit within a 5-foot cube and cannot create sound, light, smell, or other sensory effects.
- Duration
- 1 minute
- Target
- A point within range; sound audible within range or an object image fitting in a 5-foot cube
- Components
- S
- Save or attack
- An action and successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC reveals the image as an illusion; physical interaction also reveals it.
- Higher levels
- The cantrip creates no additional effects when cast at higher levels.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
1st level
3- Make yourself, including clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person, look different. You cannot change your body type, and physical interaction reveals the illusion.
- Duration
- 1 hour
- Target
- Self
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- An action and successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC reveals the disguise.
- Higher levels
- No effect when cast using a higher-level spell slot.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- Write on parchment or another suitable surface so that the writing appears different or unintelligible to others. You designate creatures who can read the true message.
- Duration
- 10 days
- Target
- One surface touched, up to 10 square feet
- Components
- S, M (a lead-based ink worth at least 10 gp, which the spell consumes)
- Save or attack
- A creature with truesight can read the hidden message; other creatures see the false script unless the caster permits otherwise.
- Higher levels
- No effect when cast using a higher-level spell slot.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- Create a visual image of an object, creature, or other visible phenomenon that fits within a 15-foot cube. You can move it within range, but it makes no sound, smell, or other sensory effect.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 10 minutes
- Target
- A point within range; image fits in a 15-foot cube
- Components
- V, S, M (a bit of fleece)
- Save or attack
- A creature can use its action to examine the image, making an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC; physical interaction reveals it.
- Higher levels
- No effect when cast using a higher-level spell slot.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
2nd level
4- Create three illusory duplicates that move with you. An attack may target and destroy a duplicate instead of you; the duplicates vanish when destroyed or when the spell ends.
- Duration
- 1 minute
- Target
- Self
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- No save. When a creature targets you with an attack, roll to determine whether it targets a duplicate; the duplicate is destroyed if hit.
- Higher levels
- No effect when cast using a higher-level spell slot.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- Your body becomes blurred and shifting, making you difficult to target with sight-dependent attacks.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- Self
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- No save. Attack rolls against you have disadvantage if the attacker relies on sight; attackers that cannot see or have truesight are unaffected.
- Higher levels
- No effect when cast using a higher-level spell slot.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- A creature you touch becomes invisible, along with anything it is wearing or carrying. The spell ends for a target that attacks or casts a spell.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- One creature touched
- Components
- V, S, M (a bit of fleece)
- Save or attack
- No save.
- Higher levels
- For each slot level above 2nd, you can target one additional creature.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- Create a phantasmal object, creature, or phenomenon in the target's mind. The target rationalizes illogical outcomes; the illusion deals psychic damage to it if it is in the illusion's area or within 5 feet of it at the end of each of your turns.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- One creature you can see within range
- Components
- V, S, M (a bit of fleece)
- Save or attack
- The target makes an Intelligence saving throw. It can use its action to examine the illusion, making an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC.
- Higher levels
- For each slot level above 2nd, the spell's damage increases by .
- Conditions
- incapacitated
- Source
- Player's Handbook
3rd level
2- Create a twisting pattern of colors in a 30-foot cube. Affected creatures are charmed, incapacitated, and have a speed of 0 while they can see the pattern.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- Each creature in a 30-foot cube within range that sees the pattern
- Components
- S, M (a glowing stick of incense or a crystal vial filled with phosphorescent material)
- Save or attack
- Each creature in the area that sees the pattern makes a Wisdom saving throw. The effect ends for a creature if it takes damage or someone uses an action to shake it out of its stupor.
- Higher levels
- No effect when cast using a higher-level spell slot.
- Conditions
- charmed, incapacitated
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- Create an image in a 20-foot cube that includes appropriate sounds, smells, and thermal effects. You can move the image within range and alter it; it cannot deal damage or cause conditions.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 10 minutes
- Target
- A point within range; image fits in a 20-foot cube
- Components
- V, S, M (a bit of fleece)
- Save or attack
- A creature can use its action to examine the image, making an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC; physical interaction reveals it.
- Higher levels
- When cast using a slot of 6th level or higher, the spell lasts until dispelled without requiring concentration.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
In the margins
4 notes
FormulaTwo fingers for the false sound. One sharp turn for the false door. Never pause to admire either.
WarningIf the silver cover shows your reflection smiling before you do, close the book and leave the room.
DiaryI used the dancing pattern to stop a duel without drawing blood. The magistrate insists I also stole his hat. I did not.
DiagramThe three mirrored figures are not three selves. They are three chances to make an enemy strike the wrong one.
The book itself
Seddric casts by twitching his fingers, turning his wrist, or snapping in rhythm; he treats each gesture as practiced muscle memory.
The folio opens most easily for someone who taps its spine twice, then turns it over in one fluid motion.
The caster
Wizard, School of IllusionSeddric Vane
Studies: IllusionManner: Relaxed and watchful, with a performer’s instinct for where every eye in a room is looking.Focus: A quick wrist-snap, practiced finger flicks, and a small silver mirror worn on a cord.Quirk: He punctuates important thoughts with a soft snap of his fingers, as if cueing an invisible stagehand.Wants: To create an illusion so persuasive that it can lure a notorious deceiver into revealing their true face.Once a street conjurer who used sleight of hand to distract pickpockets, Seddric discovered that real magic responded to the same rhythm and precision. He keeps the folio as a record of gestures that worked when words would have been too slow.
The book
A treasured, palm-sized folio bound in midnight-blue leather, its cover inset with a cracked silver mirror. The pages are translucent vellum covered in quick sketches, finger-smudged diagrams, and notes that seem to shift when viewed from the corner of the eye.
Its wards · GM only
About the book
FormatPocket folio
ThemeIllusion
Written by aWizard, School of Illusion
Caster level5
SystemDungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
Plot hooks
1A page containing Seddric's most elaborate illusion has vanished. Its sketch depicts a sealed chamber that no one admits exists.
2A rival performer has learned Seddric's signature wrist-snap and is using it to frame him for a series of impossible break-ins.
3The cracked mirror on the folio's cover sometimes reflects a masked stranger standing behind Seddric, even when he is alone.
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