[RPG] Does 5e have an equivalent of the Psychic Paper from Doctor Who

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Relating to Does 3.5e have an equivalent of the Psychic Paper from Doctor Who?

Are there any legitimate 5e spells/items/mechanics that reproduce the effect of the Psychic Paper from Doctor Who?

Best Answer

A 6th-level Illusion Wizard with Illusory Script, Detect Thoughts, and Forgery Kit proficiency

Illusion Wizards get access to the following feature at 6th level:

Malleable Illusions. Starting at 6th level, when you cast an illusion spell that has a duration of 1 minute or longer, you can use your action to change the nature of that illusion (using the spell's normal parameters for the illusion), provided that you can see the illusion.

Combined with Illusory Script, this feature can be used to, as just a single action (and without any spell components that would make that action conspicuous), change the text on a Illusory-Script-ed piece of paper they can see.

So, as this Wizard, you can:

  1. Cast Illusory Script on a piece of paper. It doesn't matter what the original script says - designate no other creatures who can see the true script, so that all other creatures (without truesight) will see the illusory script. This is your "psychic paper".
  2. Cast Detect Thoughts out of sight of the gatekeeper/whoever you're trying to fool.
  3. Walk up to them demanding entrance. Use Detect Thoughts to guide your claims about who you are.
  4. When they ask for proof of your authority, get out your "psychic paper", unfolding it facing you. Use their surface thoughts about what they would expect to see on a document which actually proved your claims to guide your Malleable-Illusion changes to what the script says.
  5. Show your "psychic paper" to the gatekeeper. It says whatever they expected it would if it were legitimate.

The Forgery Kit proficiency is just bonus - as a DM I would rule this trick more likely to work if the wizard was also a skilled forger, as the result of their on-the-fly illusion change could then be even more authentic. Illusory script states the writing is "in your own hand" - so if the gatekeeper was expecting a specific hand he would recognise, being able to forge that (for a forger, "in your own hand" can become "in any hand you can forge with your own hand") might be a necessity rather than just a bonus.