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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gadget" data-source="post: 8400329" data-attributes="member: 23716">Fair enough.  To each his/her own.Some of the stars are suggestions posited by others such as having the orcs turn on one another due to the treacherous attack of one of their own (with a strange glowing crown on his head no less).  Plausible in many instances, but does require the DM to play along, so to speak.  But on to your example.  That is all well and good, and I agree the situation described is the ideal situation, or close to it.  However, as I posited above, this assumes that the choice for the victim is to either move and take an OA, or stay and be a meat puppet the next round.  Frequently, this is not the case, as it is possible in many instances (though certainly not all) to move away from an ally while not eating an OA, even when engaged with the party.  Or the ally(s) could be the ones moving away (in a similar manner to avoid OA if possible).  At this point, one might just choose to drop the spell, of course.I've learned a lot from this discussion, and see better how the spell can be best applied.  I think the reasons why many find the spell unpalatable, some of which are campaign dependent, are as follows:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In many campaigns, humanoid foes ( with the possible exception of BBEG & lieutenants that might be more resistant to the spell) become mook cannon fodder at even lower levels, usually outnumber the PCs and are meant to be distractions to hinder them while the 'boss' type does the real damage.  In this scenario, applying the spell to minion #4 can be a dubious benefit when the spell caster can spend actions mitigating the real threat.   </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Many campaigns do a more 'theater of the mind' type play style that undervalues the more subtle tactical positioning choices of "do I eat an OA or remain here possibly attack my friends again."</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">There is a tendency among some DMs who are tactically savvy to play all opponents as strategic geniuses, always making the tactically optimal choices that minimize the impact of the spell.    </li> </ul></blockquote>

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