Charming: Do they remember?

[apesamongus]

There's an example of a Charm spell being cast in MGP's Encyclopedia Arcana "Enchantment". In the example (it was a story to add flavor, but it helps regardless), a mage casts a silent, still charm on a waitress, then pretended to not have enough money to pay.

Man, what kind of wizard can cast 3rd level arcane spells but can't afford lunch?

 

[Jack Simth]

Man, what kind of wizard can cast 3rd level arcane spells but can't afford lunch?

He *says* he can't afford lunch. That doesn't mean he actually couldn't..... he may have just been wanting the wench for the night....

 

[Krelios]

In a world with Charm Person, all guards in an area where people have at least some knowledge of magic (thus 99% of the default D&D setting) should know that the sentence for allowing someone past their post is death (and mean it). Then Charm Person doesn't even work for sneaking into a place...

The spell does not enable you to control the charmed person as if it were an automaton, but it perceives your words and actions in the most favorable way. You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.) An affected creature never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but it might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing. Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the charmed person breaks the spell. You must speak the person’s language to communicate your commands, or else be good at pantomiming.

Thus, if the penalty for allowing someone past without authorization is death, and that penalty is known to the guards, then doing so would be suicide--or at the very least, obviously harmful.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I tend to be flexible about folks realizing that they have been charmed - if you charm a corrupt guard into acceping your bribe to let you through the gates he is a lot less likely to notice that you have charmed him than if you charm him into letting you through the gates for free - it gives him something to hang his behavior on.

Charming a Lawful Good judge so that he has an innocent man executed on flimsy evidence is quite likely to be noticed when it wears off. Charming a Lawful Good judge into taking a little extra time while you look for new evidence clearing the innocent man would be less likely to be noticed - assuming that you can find the evidence.

The Auld Grump

 

[Selenim]

Sense Motive would work well for other people to noticee they were charmed. No idea what DC though.

I was leaning towards sense motive as well since it covers odd behavior. As for the DC perhaps the "hunch" example of 20 would do the trick. If the target went out of his way to please the caster add a circumstance bonus (5-10?). The caster could use bluff to help maintain the deception.

 

[Someone]

It´s covered in the rules. Sense motive DC 25 to notice somebody under an enchantment spell; 15 if he´s under domination

 

[Oleander]

There is no reason for a Charmed person not to remember what they have done, and what advice they got from other N/PCs. The real question is whether they will understand that they were under an outside influence during the time they "weren't thinking clearly." As a DM, I have always assumed that an N/PC making their saving throw will know pretty much what they have just avoided and who did it (if they're within sight and visible). I would suggest that a person coming out of a Charm should have a pretty good chance of figuring out that they were under such an outside influence. I give situational bonuses to a Spellcraft check using a DC of 10+(level of Charm spell), giving special consideration for relative Intelligences, previous exposure to Charm spells, and specific tasks that the N/PC was forced/coerced/convinced to perform while under the spell. In the old AD&D system, we gave such situational bonuses to the saving throw. We never did come up with a good pat system for determining bonuses; situational bonuses worked quite well, and with only occasional arguments. Situational bonuses also allows you to retain freedom as the DM and avoid Rules Lawyer attacks... ~O~