Goodman Games

Does charm person require concentration to maintain?

The rulebook does state that some spells need concentration to maintain, but I do not see which spells have the concentration attribute.

I was hoping that requiring a concentration check would help prevent the following.

A wizard in our group has charmed a warrior with a check of 21, but the warrior is only allowed to make saves every 2 weeks. The warrior can not even match a save of 21 with his current stats. He has declared that the warrior will now become his servant forever and plans to use spellburn and charm future bosses forcing them to be his slaves. Without concentration being required, I believe that he would succeed unless all future bosses would have immunity to charm.

Any advice from preventing my game from becoming broken would be appreciated.

I would rule that charm person does not require concentration. However, a natural "20" always succeeds for saving throws (in my games, at least), so your warrior would have a 5% chance of throwing off the charm every two weeks.

Were it my game, I would allow the wizard to continue attempting to solve his problems with charm person, making note of any Mercurial Magic or manifestation, and being fully aware that in DCC there are often "tells" that a being is charmed, which other beings can pick up on.

Then you have two jobs, IMHO.

(1) Consider who...or what...notices, and what they will do about it. Possibilities include the patron of a charmed wizard, another wizard who wants the PC's power, a demon, or even a deity concerned enough to send a cleric on a divine mission. +2d30 if you can manipulate it so that the cleric entrusted with such a mission is another PC.

Remember Gandalf's reluctance to start a fire with magic on Cadharas because it would be noticed? What this PC is planning/doing is far more noticeable. Simply have the world react as it should. Read some Clark Ashton Smith, H.P. Lovecraft, or Lord Dunsany for ideas.

(2) Make sure that, sometimes, what appears to be the "boss monster" isn't the last, or even the biggest, threat. Hell, throw whole adventures at the PCs while the wizard is still suffering from spellburn. It's the right thing to do. A smart foe, especially a smart demon or a rival wizard, would wait until the PC was at his weakest before choosing to act. Jack Vance can give you some ideas about this.

In any event, as the PCs become more and more powerful, you should be fine with the wizard charming the common rabble at his convenience. After all, natural "1"s are inevitable, and Luck eventually runs out.

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SoBH pbp:

Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.

Remember also the text (emphasis mine):

The wizard can target a number of creatures equal to his caster level. Each target must make a Will save or fall under the caster’s complete control, as if it were his friend. However, the target will not perform actions that are suicidal or which a devoted friend would not otherwise perform. The target is able to operate at full normal functionality while charmed. The target receives another save to break the charm according to its original Intelligence, as follows: Int 3-6 = one month; Int 7-9 = three weeks; Int 10-11 = two weeks; Int 12-15= one week; Int 16-17 = three days; Int 18+ = next day.

This is not quite the same thing as abject slavery. However, I would not mention this to the player; let him discover the limitations of the spell the hard way!

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SoBH pbp:

Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.

This is where I'd approach it from. Every town or village the group goes to may develop reason to mistrust him, if he seems to have 'slaves' under 'wizardly control'. This could arise from the Wizard's simply telling his minions to do something and of course they hop right up to do it. Not like a traveling companion, not like a servant, but like they are 'compelled'... The villagers may have heard of such things happening elsewhere and elsewhen, and figure that driving the Wizard out is the only way to stay safe ...or maybe just bumping him off when he doesn't expect it. Nuke 'em all -- only way to be sure.

The point is, any complications you can think of to the Wizard's plan, throw them at him.

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Gnome Boy (a.k.a. "Jon") • DCC play-tester @ DDC 35, Feb 2011. • Beta DL 2111, 7:00 AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since 1977 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

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