Thought Leadership

1st-level Marketing & Optics

Casting Time: 1 action, repeatable indefinitely
Range/Area: Self
Components: S, M (a professional networking profile, a conference badge, or a podcast microphone, not consumed)
Duration: Until the caster stops posting, or is asked a follow-up question requiring genuine expertise, whichever comes first
Classes: Founder, VP, anyone with an audience

You cause yourself to appear, to any creature reading, watching, or listening to you, as an authority on a subject of your choosing. This perception is independent of your actual credentials, track record, or depth of knowledge on that subject.

The illusion persists under passive engagement — reading a post, listening to a talk — but is dispelled immediately for any creature who engages you directly with a specific, technical follow-up question, unless you succeed on a check to redirect the conversation to a related but safer topic.

At Higher Levels. When cast using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, creatures affected by an earlier casting become more likely to amplify future castings without being separately targeted, at no additional cost to you.

Flavor: “Unpopular opinion: most companies are doing this completely wrong. Here’s what I’ve learned after one project.” — networking post, 1,204 reactions