Can the Permanent Image Spell Move with the Caster?

Question

Several illusion spells would be useful to keep with the caster so as not to waste them on only one encounter. Notably, the -image line of spells (silent image, minor image, major image, persistent image, programmed image, and permanent image) have a range of Long (400 feet + 40 feet per Caster Level), and an effect line of either 4 10 cubes or a 20 foot cube each adding a 10 foot cube per caster level, (Shapable)

The range of certain other spells, notably the detect- line of spells, like detect thoughts (Range 60 ft.), is assumed to move with the caster as its origin.

Regarding Range, Aiming and Duration, the SRD says

RANGE: A spell’s range indicates how far from you it can reach, as defined in the Range entry of the spell description. A spell’s range is the maximum distance from you that the spell’s effect can occur, as well as the maximum distance at which you can designate the spell’s point of origin. If any portion of the spell’s area would extend beyond this range, that area is wasted.

and

Effect: Some spells create or summon things rather than affecting things that are already present. You must designate the location where these things are to appear, either by seeing it or defining it. Range determines how far away an effect can appear, but if the effect is mobile it can move regardless of the spell’s range.

and finally

Concentration: The spell lasts as long as you concentrate on it. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Anything that could break your concentration when casting a spell can also break your concentration while you’re maintaining one, causing the spell to end. You can’t cast a spell while concentrating on another one. Sometimes a spell lasts for a short time after you cease concentrating.

[...] Effects [...]: [...] If the spell creates an effect, the effect lasts for the duration. The effect might move or remain still. Such an effect can be destroyed prior to when its duration ends[...]

The spell effect of major image, as well as that of permanent image can, with concentration, move throughout the range of the spell, but is the range of the spell measured from the caster's current position, or from his original position when first casting the spell?

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My character, Gnorman the Gne'er-do-well, an 11th level Gnome Illusionist was a profligate, yet also a skinflint. He wanted to make some illusory friends to both share his travels and aid in his defense. He finally grit his teeth and put the powdered jade in with the wool and cast a permanent image of an enormous flock of about seventy flying winged monkeys, complete with little red coats and blue fez hats, with green tassels. Each monkey had his own musical instrument, and they played symphonically as they flew; it sounded distinctly Wagnerian.

Gnorman then concentrated in order to move the flock 800' in the direction he intended to travel and stopped them there, they settled down at attention and waited stoically, nary moving a muscle as he approached them. Gnorman was double moving, not thinking about the spell, as he hustled past them, and moved another 800' away from the grounded aerial monkey orchestra.

Then Gnorman slowed down to his 20' pace, and once again began concentrating on the winged primate musicians, willing them to rise, once more into the air, and fly alongside him, continuing on his journey with his new entourage.

Can he?

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Long question short, can a permanent image be made to move with the caster, essentially forever, with minimal effort?

Answer 1

Possibly, but only the effects of spells like major image and especially permanent image

The 3rd-level Sor/Wiz spell major image [illus] (Player's Handbook 252), in part, says, "While concentrating, you can move the image within the range," and the 6th-level Sor/Wiz spell permanent image [illus] (PH 259), in part, says, "By concentrating, you can move the image within the limits of the range." Fortunately, the only impact of these statements that extends beyond the spells themselves seems to be on the 5th-level Sor/Wiz spell retributive image [illus] (Complete Mage 116) and the 6th-level Sor/Wiz spell mislead [illus] (PH 255), both of which otherwise behave like the major image spell. What I'm saying is this: The scope of this answer is, essentially, pretty much just those two spells, the major image spell and the permanent image spell.^1,2

What does range mean here?

A spell's Range entry is, indeed, "the maximum distance from you [the caster] that the spell’s effect can occur, as well as the maximum distance at which you can designate the spell’s point of origin. If any portion of the spell’s area would extend beyond this range, that area is wasted" (PH 174–5). Also keep in mind that the caster typically needn't stay within the range of a spell like an image spell for the spell's duration to continue: "If a target [of a spell with a Duration entry of concentration] moves out of range, the spell reacts as if your concentration had been broken" (176), yet the image spells lack Target entries (cf. the 1st-level Drd spell animal trance [ench] (PH 198), the 2nd-level Clr spell calm emotions [ench] (PH 207–8) et al.).

In short, when the game says that the caster of a major and persistent image spell can, while concentrating on the spell's effect, move the spell's effect within the spell's range subsequent to the effect coming into play—rather than the effect moving on its own (cf. the 2nd-level Sor/Wiz spell flaming sphere [evoc] (PH 232))—, that isn't a normal function of a spell's Range entry.

In fact, as the question illustrates, it's kind of a big deal. And hardly anybody talks about it. There's vague agreement that this range is relative to the caster on this short 2012 thread on the Paizo forums, but the thread's brevity leads me to suspect that the consequences of this line of thinking weren't deeply explored. (The Third Edition and Pathfinder spells are nearly identical.) This 2007 Giant in the Playground forum question received this terse answer, but I think the answer's author overlooked the important part. Monster Manual author Skip Williams's Rules of the Game column "All About Illusions (Part Two)" (2006) even says

You can make images you create move around, but only with the volume limit set for the spell. For example, you could use a major image spell to create an illusory guard that paces around a room, but you can't make your illusory guard accompany you wherever you go (unless you stay inside the spell's volume limit).

"But, Skip," you may say, "I can stay inside the spell's volume limit by constantly moving the effect!" I'm going to assume that, despite your pleas, Williams remains silent. (Comment below if Williams replies, though.)

So, yeah, in other words, there are pretty much no guidelines on how this should work, but, according to the spell description, it does work: the effect of a major image or permanent image spell can be moved within the spell's range. We just don't know the details about how. Thus those details must be negotiated with the DM. The way I see it, the DM has at least 3 choices:

1. The DM rules that major image and permanent image conform to silent image. Yeah, this is just a straight-up nerf. Then, suddenly, like Williams says, those images are only mobile within their areas. This is easy on the GM but reduces the efficacy of the major and permanent image spells as they are printed. Obviously.

2. The DM rules that a major image or permanent image spell's secondary range isn't from the caster but from the effect's initial point of origin. This should lead to at least one other ruling:

   • The DM rules that the caster must be within range of the spell effect's point of origin to move the spell effect but doing so does not move the point of origin. If the point of origin doesn't move, the spell effect can only be moved to anywhere within a radius around that point of origin. This is playable but reinterprets significantly the game's concept of range.
   • The DM rules that the caster must be within range of the spell effect's point of origin to move the spell effect and doing so moves the point of origin. If the point of origin can move, then the spell effect can be taken on the road, albeit by leapfrogging—caster moves the image ahead of him, walks past it, then moves it ahead of him again.

   The DM must also rule whether the caster that wants to move the effect must have line of sight, line of effect, or both to the spell's point of origin, the spell's effect, the spell effect's new location, or some combination.

3. The DM rules that a major image or permanent image spell's secondary range is relative to its caster. Then another possible ruling:

   • The DM rules that the effect and point of origin move simultaneously. Illusions can be dispelled because their points of origin can usually be reached.
   • The DM rules that the effect moves but not the point of origin. This will lead to images that are nearly impossible to dispel. Kingdoms live in fear of illusionist vandals who deposit their permanent image effects in the town square while the effect's point of origin is hidden on the setting's moon.

   Again, the DM must also rule whether the caster that wants to move the effect must have line of sight, line of effect, or both to the spell's point of origin, the spell's effect, the spell effect's new location, or some combination.

   The DM should be aware that this ruling creates a setting with illusions that can be brought to their creators' locations across great distances nearly instantaneously. The caster of a permanent image spell need only take a standard action to concentrate on any of his permanent image effects "to move the image within the limits of the range" relative to the caster, after all. Wizards of merit should invest in the permanent image spell if only to have at their command amusing illusions, like an orchestral troop of red-coated, blue-fezzed winged simians.

I once more lament the passing of the Wizards of the Coast messageboards for I am certain that this issue was hashed out there, but—alas—that time has passed.

Other issues

Bear in mind that, while not this question's crux, a dispute could arise over an image of an orchestral troop of red-coated, blue-fezzed winged simians. That is, the silent image spell—which is what the permanent image spell is like—says, "This spell creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by you." Read strictly, that's just one creature per casting. Thus the DM may require Gnorman to cast a new permanent image spell for each member of the troop. That could be a lot of jade. Likewise, the permanent image spell says that the image "is static while you are not concentrating." Gnorman may only be able to make one musician play at a time, and it may take all of his concentration to do so.

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¹ While a serviceable legacy spell, I've seen a Third Edition (inclusive) caster employ the mislead spell only once, and that was in, I think, 2002. And it was an NPC. And it wasn't my NPC. I was completely unaware of the retributive image spell, but now that I know that there's a spell that will kill (low-level and incidental) critics of the illusionist's work—as well as killing any pesky investigating wildlife that rolls 20s on their saving throws—, I'm glad it exists. The game needed more foil-the-villain's-evil-plan spells like the retributive image spell.
² Bard Spells and Sorcerer/Wizard Spells say that the 5th-level Sor/Wiz spell persistent image [illus] (PH 260) and the 6th-level Sor/Wiz spell programmed image (PH 264) are based on the major image spell but their descriptions say that they are, instead, based on the 1st-level Sor/Wiz spell silent image [illus] (PH 279); the Spell Compendium perpetuates the former error in its Illusion Domain (275), and the deluxe edition Player's Handbook (2012) repeats both errors. The 5th-level Sor/Wiz spell false vision (PH 229) also references the major image spell, but the spell's largely inconsequential for this answer's purposes.

Answer 2

Standing on the shoulders...

From reading Hey I Can Chan's well researched answer, and its comments (especially that of Prevarications and Peregrine Took), in working to verify Prevarications answer to this question, and doing more research on my own, I've come to the conclusion that since Range is the distance from the caster to the effect, these spells, and a few others like them, are mobile with the caster, if the caster directs them to move with him, either at his pace or leap-frogging them far ahead and then passing them. The action type varies by the spell, but is often Concentration.

This question was more fundamental than I'd expected

Personally, I'd always assumed that range was set on casting a spell; the location that a caster 'made the magic happen' was noted, and the spell referenced that position. In fact, I'd mistakenly considered that point the 'point of origin' of a spell. My assumption was incorrect. Range, in regards to spells, has nothing to do with the position the caster was in relation to a spell's effect, only where the caster is now in relation to that effect.

For instantaneous spells, or for spells that create a stationary effect or object, the difference is immaterial. For summon spells, or targeted effect spells, it's also largely immaterial, since the former effect is a creature that can move on its own, and the latter effect follows its target. But for some spells with an effect that is directed by the caster over time, the difference can be very important.

Range is simply distance from the caster:

A spell’s range indicates how far from you it can reach, as defined in the Range entry of the spell description. A spell’s range is the maximum distance from you that the spell’s effect can occur, as well as the maximum distance at which you can designate the spell’s point of origin. If any portion of the spell’s area would extend beyond this range, that area is wasted.

-PH 174-5 (emphases mine)

This definition of range allows for a caster to dismiss his dismissible spell by simply being in range, and for a druid to use call lightning or a cleric to use spiritual weapon while still moving.

Other spells, like call lightning, unseen servant refer to the range and (parenthetically) that you measure it from your position at the time. As a partial exception, shambler can measure the range that the shambling mounds created can move from the point they're created at, but only when they are set to guard a location rather than accompany the caster. The normal casting of the spell, however, has the shambling mounds, at the caster's direction, staying within range of the caster.

Here is a partial list of other core spells that are mobile with the caster due to their range and descriptions:

• dancing lights
• flaming sphere
• mage hand
• message
• shield other
• whirlwind
• unseen servant

Most of the different -image spells refer to silent image whose description says:

You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.

As part of their descriptions however, major image and permanent image say that:

you can move the image within the range.

Presuming that this language is intentional, this appears to be due to these spells being more powerful. The upshot of these two being mobile, is that the images produced are still limited in size to the size of the effect, but they are mobile within the range of the spell.

To highlight that the language is not unique to these two spells, some other spells use identical language as well, notably Alustriel's Banner (Silver Marches (3.0) Web Enhancement¹), ashstar (Sandstorm 111), and bloodstar (Libris Mortis 63, Spell Compendium 34).

Not only is this language in those other spells, it has been used across multiple editions and reprinted, presumably after editing, in the cases of both the major- and permanent image spells in the 3.0 and 3.5 Player's Handbooks, and bloodstar in Libris Mortis and later in Spell Compendium.

Additionally, even though the spell minor image has a longer duration than silent image and add more effects, like major image does, it does not reiterate how the effect can be moved, unlike major image. Thus, I conclude that the greater mobility of major image is most likely a function of the greater power of major image, rather than an oversight or miscommunication.

• Regarding Skip Williams' Rules Of the Game article, as in a few other instances, his understanding of the rules is at odds with the written rules. It's reasonable to presume that he knew of the discrepancy and willfully was making a ruling that it doesn't work how the spell reads, but he doesn't say anything about it. However, even though he was in the lead design team for both editions of the Player's Handbook, the wording of major image and permanent image remained identical between both editions. Unfortunately, I suspect that, as I personally have done on several occasions, Mr. Williams was using his understanding and memory of the rules rather than having reread those rules before writing his article.

Conclusion

Since a spell's range is its distance from the caster, and since major- and permanent image, as well as ashstar and bloodstar, are identically written across multiple printings (which is indeed possible, but less likely, in my view), the caster can create an image, then, while within range of the effect, concentrate in order to move it to anywhere within range from himself for as long as the spell lasts.

This is not an exception to the rules, but simply how they interact with the spell effects that are changeable, as per their descriptions, by the caster after casting is complete.

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In regards to Other Issues

• Since Range is where you can designate the effect, for the shapeable -image spells, range is the farthest that any individual 10 foot cube can be designated. There's no area beyond the range that can be 'wasted', as you have to choose each cube's location and cannot choose an illegal location.

• Regarding the potential difficulty in using dispel magic on a permanent image that had moved from its casting point, in reading the dispel magic's description, I found that both the targeted dispel and the area dispel have normal chances of dispelling the effect, as the images produced are a spell effect and can be targeted. Only the area dispel mentions point of origin and that is not the casting location, but the center of the effect as defined on casting, always a grid intersection. The image spells, being shapeable, this point would require adjudication, but can be considered to be largely unimportant; overlapping the area of the dispel magic with the visible portions of the permanent image would still permit the dispelling to occur, in those overlapping areas. Multiple castings might be necessary, due to the shapeable effect area of permanent image, but it's not immune to dispelling by being somewhat mobile. But again, using the targeted dispel magic would simply target the effect, attempting to dispel the whole thing.

• Regarding all the -image spells being limited to a single creature, object, or force, I can see that reading. However, persistent image (also printed this way two or more times) is the only -image spell with example text, which I fully understand are not inherently rules. (Interestingly, it along with programmed image and project image are the only -image spells that say they can produce intelligible speech). That example says:

  For instance, you could create the illusion of several orcs playing cards and arguing, culminating in a fistfight.

  This suggests that an illusionist can make multiple independently active things that fit inside the bounds of any one of the -image spells. As long as they don't talk...

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^1. Requires download of a zipped PDF to reference the source.

Answer 3

I suspect this ambiguity is from an editing mistake

First, the spells in question

Let's start by looking at the root spell of this whole line of vaguely-functioning illusions, silent image:

Effect: Visual figment that cannot extend beyond four 10-ft. cubes + one 10-ft. cube/level (S)

This spell creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by you. The illusion does not create sound, smell, texture, or temperature. You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.

This is actually very clear. Gnorman the Gne'er-do-well, assuming a CL of 11, can cast silent image and define an area of fifteen 10-ft. cubes. Within that area, he visualizes a winged monkey with a little red coat and blue fez hat, with green tassels. As long as he stays within long range (840 ft., for Gnorman) of this figment, he can move it silently all throughout his fifteen 10-ft. cubes, which effectively function as an invisible fish tank for his flying monkey. That shapeable fish tank is immobile, because nothing in the spell description lets Gnorman move it. As long as he stays concentrating, he can circle all the way around the effect, staying within 840 ft. of it. That means he can be well outside 840 ft. of where he cast the spell, but for silent image, there's no reason that where he cast the spell should matter.¹

Things get tricky when we move on to major image and permanent image. Let's look at permanent image:

This spell functions like silent image, except that the figment includes visual, auditory, olfactory, and thermal elements, and the spell is permanent. By concentrating, you can move the image within the limits of the range, but it is static while you are not concentrating.

I've bolded the important change, here. Where silent image let Gnorman fly his monkey only within the shapeable area he'd defined when casting the spell, now all of the sudden he can move the monkey within an area defined by the spell's range (840 ft. when he casts it, but that could very well change, given that the spell lasts forever). Hey I Can Chan's answer deals extensively with how one might interpret this line, but ultimately there's no clean answer. It's clearly a very abnormal situation.

But look at permanent image's effect line:

Effect: Figment that cannot extend beyond a 20-ft. cube + one 10-ft. cube/level (S)

It gets repeated because now the spell uses a single 20-ft. cube as a base, instead of four 10-ft. cubes, which is certainly weird, but more important is the wording. A "[f]igment that cannot extend beyond" the shapeable area, just like silent image. It is possible to read that as only limiting the size of the illusion, but if that were the case the wording is tortured, and explicitly not how it's used in silent image. Compare minor creation, whose effect line is clearly limiting the size:

Effect: Unattended, nonmagical object of nonliving plant matter, up to 1 cu. ft./level

"Up to" is much more natural language when talking about a size limit than "cannot extend beyond," especially given that silent image uses the latter language to establish a boundary for the figment, not the size of the figment.

The resolution

My assumption is that, at some time in the course of editing the Player's Handbook, major image and permanent image (the latter probably copied from the former) got changed from silent image's "You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect" to "While concentrating, you can move the image within the range."

They needed to change something, of course; silent image disappears when you stop concentrating on it, so its description makes no mention of concentration—it's implicit—whereas the higher level spells still exist in some fashion when not being concentrated on, major image for 3 rounds and permanent image for eternity. Since it couldn't be copy and pasted, it got paraphrased, and I suspect some details were inadvertently changed in the process.

The solution, then, is to change the text in major/permanent image from

While concentrating, you can move the image within the range.

to

While concentrating, you can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.

This neatly solves all the questions about how Gnorman might move around his flying monkeys. He casts permanent image, and shapes an effect with a 20-ft. cube and eleven 10-ft. cubes. After the spell is cast, this size and shape will be permanent.² He visualizes a monkey, and after the spell is finished he can concentrate and move the monkey anywhere within the static boundary he shaped during the casting. As long as he is within long range of the figment, he can move it by concentrating, but it can never leave the boundary he set. This is unambiguous and in line with silent image, and also with Skip Williams's "Rules of the Game: All About Illusions (Part Two)" article, linked in Hey I Can Chan's answer.

The problems

The problems with this solution are twofold. First, it's not RAW. 3.5e isn't functional based purely on the rules-as-written, but there's a difference between filling in the gaps in the written rules—something every DM will have to at some point—and deliberately changing the wording on a spell, which might make some DMs balk.

Second, by assuming an editing mistake, I'm implicitly assuming authorial intent. That's always a dangerous game. In this case, I feel it's warranted: Skip Williams, one of the authors of the Player's Handbook, explicitly said that this was how figments work in "All About Illusions (Part Two)," and while we don't know for certain that he penned these particular spells, it's certainly possible. We also know that 3.5e books were rife with editing mistakes, so I don't think it's such a stretch to assume one here.

Still, ultimately this would be a houserule, so bear that in mind.

Footnotes:

1. There's some ambiguity here, actually: does the zone Gnorman defines have to be wholly within his range, or can it extend past his range? The spell rules actually don't define this, because they only mention area and silent image doesn't have an area—it has an effect. The distinction between area and effect is in theory very important (it could mean extra range on the illusion, here!), but in practice isn't, simply because the Player's Handbook is often written in vernacular rather than technical language.

   So when the PHB says that a spell is wasted when its area extends beyond its range, we should probably also assume the same is true of when its effect extends beyond its range, even though effect and area are two distinct rules terms. And then we can look at guards and wards, a spell whose range is defined by its area, even though we have rules text saying a spell's area can't go beyond its range, and realize just how scuffed the rules really are.

2. Until dispelled, of course, or something weirder happens to it. An incantatrix with ocular spell can probably come along and steal the spell by storing it in her eyeballs, for example, which would be quite rude. Or possibly she'd store it in Gnorman's eyeballs, which would probably be even ruder.