Author Topic: Charm spell target tie to caster  (Read 603 times)

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Offline Jengada

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Charm spell target tie to caster
« on: October 23, 2021, 12:04:23 PM »
A player posed an interesting question the other day. I consider the answer a matter of GM interpretation, but am curious how other GMs interpret it.
Assume a caster has charmed a target. The caster then leaves the room, and changes themself using something like Change Self, Facade, or the like. When they walk back into the room with the target, does the target react to them as a friend? Does the charm spell transcend appearance or physical state? What if the caster uses merge organic to sink into a tree, does the charmed target somehow have an affinity for that tree?
We ask the hard questions here, because they keep us too busy to worry about the hard questions in the real world, and we can go with the answers we like the best.

Offline EltonJ

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Re: Charm spell target tie to caster
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2021, 02:39:00 PM »
A player posed an interesting question the other day. I consider the answer a matter of GM interpretation, but am curious how other GMs interpret it.
Assume a caster has charmed a target. The caster then leaves the room, and changes themself using something like Change Self, Facade, or the like. When they walk back into the room with the target, does the target react to them as a friend? Does the charm spell transcend appearance or physical state? What if the caster uses merge organic to sink into a tree, does the charmed target somehow have an affinity for that tree?

Interesting question.  I'd say it's up to the individual GM.  But I'd say yes in all cases, except for the tree.

Offline MisterK

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Re: Charm spell target tie to caster
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2021, 01:48:08 AM »
I'd say that it depends on how the charm operates.

For charms that have an effect along the lines of "target believes caster is a good friend" (mental suggestion), I'd say no - you don't recognise "good friends" by metaphysical inspection, rather by appearance (first) and behavioural clues (second). Changing appearance would be a sure-way to be, in the target's eye, someone who is not his "good friend". In this case, the caster has "updated" the social patterns in the target's mind to associate his physical and behavioural clues with a positive reaction, and is thus tied to those clues.

For charms that have an effect along the lines of "caster appears as a good friend to target" (mental illusion), I'd say yes - the mental illusion is not linked to physical appearance or behavioural clues, rather by an internal mind landscape and the connection with the caster's mental identity. this would not change with the caster's appearance. In this case, the caster has overwritten the target's mind to appear to him as someone the target considers as a good friend, which is independent on the caster's appearance (since this appearance is rewritten in the target's mind).