D&D 5E Mislead spell and illusion disbelieve

[CapnZapp]

Reading about the Mislead spell (PHB 260) I can't find anything about revealing it to be an illusion. There's no language to the effect of "interacting with the illusion shows it be not real since things pass through it" or "if you use an action, you can save against some DC to reveal it for what it is".

What's up with that?

Is the Mislead double
a) intended to be automatically revealed as an illusion, as soon as you see it?
b) intended to be impossible to reveal as an illusion, and is it then an illusion?

If neither a nor b, then how come I can't google up some errata or at least discussion about how to run the spell?

 

[Hriston]

I'd say b. "The double lasts for the duration..."

 

[NotActuallyTim]

I doubt a spell called Mislead would reveal itself as soon as a person looked at it. That wouldn't be very misleading at all.

Unless the name of spell refers to how misleading the spell text is...

Anyhow, running it as a sight and sound type illusion would probably work out fine, and if it comes down to it, requiring an Intelligence(Investigation) check versus the casters spell save DC to determine whether or not the creatures looking at the illusion figure out the trick.

 

[iserith]

I would treat it as a Major Image spell in this regard.

 

[CapnZapp]

I'd say b. "The double lasts for the duration..."

Please explain more.

Doesn't illusions need mechanics for how to reveal them?

Other illusions say "since objects pass through, this reveals as illusion". What does the absence of this mean? That you can't reveal it for an illusion even if you attack it?

 

[CapnZapp]

Anyhow, running it as a sight and sound type illusion would probably work out fine, and if it comes down to it, requiring an Intelligence(Investigation) check versus the casters spell save DC to determine whether or not the creatures looking at the illusion figure out the trick.

I would treat it as a Major Image spell in this regard.

Are there no prior discussion on how to handle the spell?

Your suggestions are both reasonable, but I find it hard to believe I'm the first to raise the question.

Thx

 

[iserith]

Are there no prior discussion on how to handle the spell?

Your suggestions are both reasonable, but I find it hard to believe I'm the first to raise the question.

Thx

Your ability to use the enworld search function or Google probably isn't worse than mine.

You don't need the rules or anonymous nerds to tell you what to do here. You're the Dungeon Flumphing Mastah!

 

[CapnZapp]

I guess what I'm asking is:

Is the omission of the following text chunk (or something like it) intentional, and if so, what does it mean for the game? (That "physical interaction" does not reveal it? How would that even work?)

Alternatively, the spell has been errataed or sage-adviced, but I can't find any discussion. Please help.

Physical interaction with the image reveals it to be an
illusion, because things can pass through it. A creature
that uses its action to examine the image can determine
that it is an illusion with a successful Intelligence
(Investigation) check against your spell save DC. If a
creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the creature
can see through the image, and its other sensory
qualities become faint to the creature.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

I haven't been around long to answer that question, but maybe everybody else just doesn't bother casting that spell.

 

[Hriston]

Please explain more.

Doesn't illusions need mechanics for how to reveal them?

Other illusions say "since objects pass through, this reveals as illusion". What does the absence of this mean? That you can't reveal it for an illusion even if you attack it? View attachment 75280

Sure, objects pass through if that happens. It seems it would be pretty easy to prevent if you're the wizard controlling the double. On the other hand, the lack of a DC suggests to me the illusion is that good that it won't fade upon examination.