Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Inverse Icarus 11-23-05, 10:28 PM	Hello all :) I play a chatroom based game with a few people I know. The DM has his own custom game world, which is pretty amazing. He goes to great lengths to try to keep everything balanced, but has no qualms letting me try to maxmize my character's power, so long as it's justified in my story and playing by the rules. I'm getting sidetracked, sorry. In his game world, he modified the entire spellcasting system quite a bit. All that matters for the sake of my question is that there is a grouping of what he calls "Will Spells", including Sleep, Cause fear, and Charm Person. These spells are absolutely forbidden to be practiced. Casters who specialize in that field are hunted down in pretty much every civilizated nation in his game realm, and if you are stupid enough to show off your Will Spells, someone will take you down. There are large schools in most major cities that teach spellcasting, but the forbidden shifts must be learned in shady alleys from what amount to chaotic evil fugitives. I have begun playing a caster in his game world. He's primarily a "Force" caster by name of his groupings (Mage Armor, Magic Missle, Fly, etc), he has come into some seedy contacts in the back alleys of a major city. Essentially, I was given access to Charm Person. However, actually using it could very well get my ass string up by the "inquisators" in the highly-religious city the adventure is set in. On top of that, one of the PCs is a Cleric of the religion of the city, and another PC is a bounty hunter "with no qualms about killing, for sport or coin". So, not only are the NPCs in the city willing to string me up for being a Warlock, but my party members are apt to as well. Enough backstory, now on to the question! If I use Charm Person on an NPC, at my current caster level they will be "Friendly" with my for 2 hours. What happens after that time is over? Obviously, they revert back to their old disposition, but do they know they have been charmed? Does a Spellcheck roll entitle you to know a spell being cast, even if you don't know the spell yourself? Will the Cleric in my party know immediately that I'm messing with some dude's head, even though knowledge of my spell is strictly forbidden? Basically, is there any way I can ever use my neat super-illegal spell without being chased by bounty hunters?
smrtgmp 11-23-05, 10:37 PM	Your average Joe would have no idea he was charmed, especially if you treated him well while he was under the effects of the spell. Someone with spellcraft would have a chance to detect the spell as it is being cast, though you can obfiscate your casting via sleight of hand (check Races of Stone for details). So long as you cast your spells so that the party cleric doesnt see you do it, the only way he'll know he's dealing with a charmed individual is by making a DC 25 sense motive check, and even then he won't know the source of the charm. If you're really worried about using it in public, you might want to invest in still and silent spell, or one or the other and the coresponding MM rod. Charms are some of the easiest spells to use subtley if done right. One key thing to remember is that it only takes a DC 20 diplomacy check to make a friendly individual helpful. That can get you out of a lot of jams. You might also want to invest in some illusion spells as well if use of various enchantment spells are outlawed and you intend to use them. Disguise yourself as some random person, or better yet a rival. That way if your actions are detected you'll have an easier time eluding pursuite.
syrinth 11-23-05, 10:41 PM	Aren't they also allowed a Spot check DC 20 to tell that he's charmed while observing the two of them? Edit: Ignore me, apparently I've been sleep smoking drugs or something... lol
Inverse Icarus 11-23-05, 11:25 PM	You might also want to invest in some illusion spells as well if use of various enchantment spells are outlawed and you intend to use them. Disguise yourself as some random person, or better yet a rival. That way if your actions are detected you'll have an easier time eluding pursuite. There are no Illusion spells, per-se. Such spells are modified for his system, and are basically more Will shifts, molding the person's mind to see what you want them to see. I don't have access to that spell without finding some more shady people during the adventure. And even if I could, it would open a whole new barrel of running from the authorities. I'll have to think of ways to keep my casting secret from the Cleric wherever possible. What exactly does Races of Stone say about obfiscating spell casting with Slieght of Hand? I'm not sure on what the rules on the forum are about elaborating on such things that aren't part of the SRD, so sorry for asking if I shouldn't have. In any case, I have a 6 DEX, so it wouldn't help all that much :D