D&D 5E Protection from Zone of Truth

[Inglorin]

Out of curiosity [-]my BBEG[/-] - asking for a friend - would like to know what you think is the most easily available protection from this pesky Zone of Truth spell the opposing cleric prepares tomorrow...

(It would be swell if it were available on short notice... I do not have much time to prepare. They are already on my doorstep!)

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Major Image or Mislead. You can't lie after failing a saving throw against the spell, but nothing prevents you from making your illusion lie, so just wait until you fail the save (and the cleric tells everybody you have), then cast your Mislead spell and have your illusionary double lie its head off for you.

 

[Shiroiken]

There are several methods of working around Zone of Truth, but very few of them are mechanical in nature. The trick is the duration of the spell and the meaning of "a deliberate lie." Of course, depending on how brutal your players are, these may or may not work.

Speak like a politician. You can spend a lot of time saying many words that don't actually mean anything. So long as nothing you say counters the truth, it works. You can also imply things that aren't true, so long as you don't actually say them.

Don't say anything. Nothing about the spell forces you to speak.

Relate a story to answer the first question that takes longer than 10 minutes, allowing the spell to expire.

Answer every question with another question.

Speak only in half-truths. You don't have to reveal everything when you speak, just not a deliberate lie. Give away some information without giving away anything meaningful.

Believe the lie. This is actually hard for a BBEG, err... friend, unless they are a fanatic.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

You don't have to tell any lies, only present "alternate facts".

 

[Ahrimon]

Create a variant of a charm or compulsion that puts temporary knowledge in your mind that is the lie you want to tell while blanking the real information. You don't know that you are lying and believe that you are telling the truth. Once the pre-set time is up, your real knowledge comes back.

More powerful versions could be used to create assassins and infiltrators. They genuinely pass all inspections but then at the pre-set or triggered time their real memories come back and they can carry out their tasks.

It's not perfect, but with preparation, someone can beat a zone of truth.

I want to say that there was a spell in 2nd or 3rd edition that would protect against it. If I remember right it was the pre-requisite spell for a ring of mind shielding, or protection against divination and location or something.

 

[Oofta]

In addition to evasive answers, there's a Ring of Mind Shielding. It's an uncommon magic item that makes you immune to magical detection of your thoughts, whether you are lying, knowing your alignment or your creature type.

 

[Chaosmancer]

There are several methods of working around Zone of Truth, but very few of them are mechanical in nature. The trick is the duration of the spell and the meaning of "a deliberate lie." Of course, depending on how brutal your players are, these may or may not work.

Speak like a politician. You can spend a lot of time saying many words that don't actually mean anything. So long as nothing you say counters the truth, it works. You can also imply things that aren't true, so long as you don't actually say them.

Don't say anything. Nothing about the spell forces you to speak.

Relate a story to answer the first question that takes longer than 10 minutes, allowing the spell to expire.

Answer every question with another question.

Speak only in half-truths. You don't have to reveal everything when you speak, just not a deliberate lie. Give away some information without giving away anything meaningful.

Believe the lie. This is actually hard for a BBEG, err... friend, unless they are a fanatic.

These sorts of things are the best answer. To my knowledge the only sure fire way to counter a zone of Truth directly with magic (without it being obvious that dispelled it) would be to cast Glibness, an 8th level bard spell. But, anyone can just say the truth without revealing secrets. If your friend is in a position of power, and they need evidence, they could simply become indignant that the party is knocking down there door to interrogate them, how dare they take such action when you're a well respected member of the community. What evidence do they have suggesting he is responsible for any wrongdoing. Zone of Truth takes a full minute to cast, so he's got time to think this sort of stuff through.

Not sure about the Ring of Mind Shielding, away from my books at the moment.

Another interesting point, what if he succeeds on the charisma saving throw? I think Eagle's Splendor gives you advantage, and it is relatively easy to explain why he won't subject himself to hostile interrogation in his own home, or if he's a politician or wizard, he's been reflexive trained to resist this sort of magic, so it is hard for him to just let the magic take over, he's resisting out of reflex, not any desire to lie (if he succeeds the check he can get away with this, because he can lie)

 

[Oofta]

Not sure about the Ring of Mind Shielding, away from my books at the moment.

The relevant text from ring of mind shielding

you are immune to magic that allows other creatures to read your thoughts, determine whether you are lying, know your alignment, or know your creature type.​

Also remember that if you make your save vs Zone of Truth save the caster knows it. How a Ring of Mind Shielding would interact with ZOT is not really clear. Technically it forces you to tell the truth, it doesn't determine whether you are lying.

I've always interpreted it to be that ZOT could not compel you to tell the truth with the ring or Glibness (which is worded much the same), since the magic cannot detect your lies. I think this is a DM call but I can't think of a magic spell that simply detects lies (there might be one) so the ring and spell would be kind of pointless if it didn't counter Zone of Truth.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Get a lawyer.

 

[The Old Crow]

Make it very obvious that you know you are under the Zone of Truth. Make sure you wear a very obvious item that will detect as magical, preferably a ring, and keep glancing at it. Think of the most outrageous thing you know that are actually true. Tell these truths, in the most shifty way possible. Become indignant if any dare to suggest you are a liar, what a ridiculous thing to suggest when you are clearly in a Zone of Truth!