Dominate Person question

[Lord Zardoz]

Consider the following:
Bob: A spell caster
Xaxos: A different spell caster.
Tim: Hapless Fighter.

At some point, Bob hit Tim with a Dominate person. What happens there is pretty clear, Tim has to do whatever Bob says.

Bob gets into a fight with Xaxos. Xaxos manages to hit Tim with his own Dominate person.

What happens to Tim? Does he have to obey Bob and Xaxos? What happens if the orders countermand one another? What happens if both try to take direct control of Tim?

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[evilbob]

Yes: T has to obey both X and B.

I thought this type of thing was usually settled with opposed Cha checks? Perhaps X and B would need to make opposing checks?

Either that or T is basically forced to carry out both orders to the best of his ability, and it's up to him to decide how he can satisfy both - even if mutually exclusive.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

I do not think it is specifically covered anywhere in the spell, so it is open to some interpretation, I think. I am mostly wondering what happens if the commands conflict. I could see going with a 'last order given' priority, but I am not sure how that interacts with 2 casters trying for direct control.

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[ElectricDragon]

This is covered in the Magic Overview section of the SRD:

Multiple Mental Control Effects: Sometimes magical effects that establish mental control render each other irrelevant, such as a spell that removes the subjects ability to act. Mental controls that don’t remove the recipient’s ability to act usually do not interfere with each other. If a creature is under the mental control of two or more creatures, it tends to obey each to the best of its ability, and to the extent of the control each effect allows. If the controlled creature receives conflicting orders simultaneously, the competing controllers must make opposed Charisma checks to determine which one the creature obeys.

Ciao
Dave