The Charm Person Spell

What is the Charm Person Spell?

Charm Person is a 1st level spell that affects any humanoid creature of medium size or smaller. If the victim fails the saving throw versus spell, the victim will treat the caster as their "best friend" or otherwise a close personal friend and ally that is to be heeded and protected. The effect lasts until the victim succeeds on another saving throw versus spell, the opportunity to make the new save varying anywhere from 3 months to a couple days depending on the victim's intelligence score. It can also be removed by a Dispel Magic cast upon them.

The victim cannot be compelled to do something that is against their alignment or nature, but they will take significant personal risks to save the caster's life.

Why is this Significant?

You think the thief class is the best at stealing things?

You are wrong. You are very wrong.

Ask yourself something. How much would you trust your best friend with? How much money would you lend someone that you are very close emotionally to? My guess is, quite a lot, but not your life savings.

Ask yourself something else. Would you let your best friend crash at your place for the night? Of course you would. You trust them. It's not like they're going to rob you blind and slip out in the middle of the night. And your best friend would never in a million years stick a knife in your back while you sleep!

That would be your thought process as a victim of the Charm Person spell.

So What?

When we think of D&D fantasy settings, we think of medieval-style castles, cities, and hierarchies.

The people and leadership of this society are woefully unprepared for a smart wizard, let alone several smart wizards working together, even if they are all level 1.

Most nobles, even kings, are not 10th level fighters. More often than not, these people are 0th level. In most editions, a 0th level character has extremely poor resistance against spells. For example, in B/X, 0th level NPCs must roll a 17 or higher to resist a spell. In 2nd Edition AD&D, they must roll a 19 or higher.

This means they have anywhere between 80% and 90% chance of being affected by a Charm Person spell if it's cast on them and being the caster's stooge for an average of 3 weeks, and that's assuming they make their next saving throw- which is still just as unlikely as making the first one. That is a very good gamble for any magic-user seeking to exploit those with money and power for their own gain.

What is the Solution?

Despite the listed repercussions of Charm Person being available at first level, I am not saying that the spell should be changed at all.

What should change is the methods by which lords or officials protect themselves from mind-affecting magic. There are a few solutions to this, which would depend on the culture and resources available.

The idea is that those in positions of power would be aware this spell exists, and would take reasonable precautions. Below are three examples of what strategies a lord might use, but they are by no means the only possibilities in your campaign world.

by Alex Troufanov

Have more "middle men" between the public and the lord.

If you have several different levels in the chain of command between a lord and the general public, or there are large groups of guards stationed instead of just one or two, a magic user would need to have immediate access to a large number of Charm Person spells- maybe needing a dozen. This is not impossible, but it's far less likely to occur. More guards means more protection.

This is the solution of choice for kingdoms with very little magic at their command, or lands who are distrusting of magic in general. This trait could be one of their biggest advantages, since these lands tend to have some laws against the supernatural, and do not permit the free practice of wizards, and perhaps the majority of clerics. Magic of any kind does not go unnoticed.

Disadvantages of this method include the cost of administration and availability of competent guards. Lords would be unable to personally attend to their low-rank guards since one or more could be prone to allow a "new friend" direct access to their superior officer.

by isdira

Commission clerics of a Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral god to defend the lord.

Clerics naturally have higher wisdom scores, which give them greater resistance to mind-affecting spells. Clerics are usually able to wear armor and use weapons, making them practical in a combat situation. Some clerics can even use Detect Charm as a 2nd level spell, giving them a significant edge even over wizards who have somehow successfully charmed the lord.

A kingdom that is highly religious or otherwise has a good amount of clerics on hand is pretty close to the ideal situation if a kingdom is worried about subterfuge by wizards. There is a high likelihood that arcane magic is strictly forbidden, and full-blown inquisitions against them may be part of the kingdom's history.

There are a few disadvantages with this system for the lord employing it. The church will not be keen on defending a lord who is not of their faith, and normally the city or town an order of clerics is protecting must have their god as the highest, if not the only, patron deity. Even Lawful Good orders can have their own agendas that do not align with the kingdom's, and loyalty to their church will always trump loyalty to their lord.

by warnick

Employ one or more highly-trusted wizards to spot and defend against magical influences on the lord.

Fighting magic with like-magic is perhaps the most obvious choice. No one can think like a wizard better than a wizard can. A court mage will be selected from the best, brightest, and most loyal of the land's crop of magic-users, making him or her far better equipped to counter magical threats than anyone else.

A kingdom that is relatively accepting of arcane magic or one that has a policy of giving some wizards official license to cast spells would likely employ this method. These lands may have wizard colleges, making sure the practice of magic is regulated. Wizards who use their spells to harm others or use forbidden spells (like Charm Person) would still be severely punished. This method is mostly employed in worlds that have no clerics or extremely few clerics.

Disadvantages of this system include having no check on the power of the court mage. The lord is required to trust a person with knowledge and magical might beyond his own, and since the study of magic would be limited to a select few, it's almost impossible to know what the wizard is really doing when they're working in their tower. Another disadvantage is the fact that more wizards in the general population means more opportunity for some to use spells irresponsibly.

Playing the Part: Fighters

I'll just avoid telling you what you already know about the role of each of the four "base" classes, the Fighter, the Mage, the Thief, and the Cleric in a dungeon-delving environment. There are other blogs for that.

You know what they're good and bad at when hunting monsters and bagging gold, but how they relate to the wider society of a medieval fantasy campaign world is not quite as clear. In this "Playing the Part" series, I will describe what I believe each class's role is when talking to NPCs.

I propose here that it's not always the person with the highest charisma who should do the talking.

Naturally, I will begin with the class most likely to spark debate (or just anger) over this subject.

by Filip Štorch

The Fighter, the Warrior, the Fighting-Man as they were known in Original Dungeons and Dragons (OD&D). This is the class you play when you want to, yes, Fight.

They deal damage and take damage better than any other class, but that is by no means what they always do. If they used to be a rank and file soldier, they would know about siege weapons, horseback riding, and militia tactics. If they used to be a sailor, they would know about weather, rope work, and navigation.

Talking to the nobility and landed elites is also something fighters should be better at than other base classes.

Hear me out on this one.

When you make a fighter at level 1, what do you envision he or she is like? A scowling brute with a sword? A plucky young swashbuckler with dashing good looks? A wise and jaded mercenary? These are some standard personality sandwiches for a low-level fighter.

What you do not usually envision is a knight in shining plate armor on a steed. Why? Because plate armor and a horse are really expensive, and you're just a lowborn thug for hire, right?

You are, but not permanently.

In OD&D, each level corresponds to a set title. At level 1, a fighting-man is not called that, but rather a "veteran". At level 2 they are called a "warrior", at level 3 a "swordsman" and so on. At level 9 and all levels thereafter, they are called a Lord.

by WL OP

This is significant when you take a look at how other classes refer to their own "name levels." In OD&D and 1st edition AD&D, a mage or "magic-user" isn't called a "Wizard" until level 11, for example. Likewise in 1eAD&D, a "thief" is not called a thief until level 9.

But a Fighter is never actually given the title "fighter". When they achieve their name level, they are a Lord. The reason for that is, the more power a fighter obtains, the more the nobility comes to see him or her as "one of them." It could also be due to the fighter getting a small loyal army practically for free, and the other nobles don't want to start antagonizing them.

A fighter's default aspiration is to become a Lord, with all the advantages that come with such a title. When they gain land and influence, the local nobility will no longer think them a filthy, unwashed peasant undeserving of even a passing glance. They may even consider a new, upstart lord important enough to plot their downfall.

Welcome to the world of politics!

Let's not kid ourselves. A medieval fantasy setting is almost nothing like a historical medieval society. Campaigns are commonly set in worlds where you are not locked into soul-crushing serfdom and have enough freedom to go out and adventure. For this reason, even a lowly grunt can eventually gain enough skill, power, and respect to become a noble in their own right, social spheres be damned. Magic and monsters might have something to do with it too.

But how to reflect the fighter's advantage in an actual game?

Simply, when a fighter reaches name level, treat their charisma score as 2 points higher when interacting with the nobility up to the limit of 18.

Don't like this rule? Don't include it. I however would include this in a game I run, because it's important to understand that a fighter's role extends beyond the scope of combat.