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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 6201856" data-attributes="member: 22779">Rolling back to this again, because I think this, for me is the biggest point.&nbsp; Let's alter the situation a bit.&nbsp; Instead of a charismatic character, Doppleganger Ahnehnois is playing a combat character.&nbsp; Half orc barbarian with a great axe.He meets the raging warrior and decides to engage by planting his axe in the forehead of the raging warrior.&nbsp; The DM responds in an identical manner:&nbsp; &quot;The raging warrior is not interested in fighting.&nbsp; You cannot fight this raging warrior.&nbsp; Nothing you do can engage this guy in a fight.&quot;Is that an acceptable DM ruling?&nbsp; What's the difference between that and the original DM?See, to me, the DM has declared unilaterally that a particular encounter must be resolved in a specific way and player choice has been removed from the equation.&nbsp; The DM has decided that this encounter will be a fight, no matter what.&nbsp; Of course, a wizard casting a simple Charm Person spell ends the fight immediately (assuming a failed save) and can do what the non-caster cannot do - reframe the encounter into a non-combat encounter.&nbsp; Unless, of course, there are those here who would rule that Charm Person cannot stop someone from attacking.&nbsp; That being friendly or helpful won't actually change anything in the encounter.&nbsp; After all, that's precisely what this DM did do for the charismatic character.&nbsp; So, it should be ruled the same for spells, shouldn't it?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 6201856, member: 22779"] Rolling back to this again, because I think this, for me is the biggest point. Let's alter the situation a bit. Instead of a charismatic character, Doppleganger Ahnehnois is playing a combat character. Half orc barbarian with a great axe. He meets the raging warrior and decides to engage by planting his axe in the forehead of the raging warrior. The DM responds in an identical manner: "The raging warrior is not interested in fighting. You cannot fight this raging warrior. Nothing you do can engage this guy in a fight." Is that an acceptable DM ruling? What's the difference between that and the original DM? See, to me, the DM has declared unilaterally that a particular encounter must be resolved in a specific way and player choice has been removed from the equation. The DM has decided that this encounter will be a fight, no matter what. Of course, a wizard casting a simple Charm Person spell ends the fight immediately (assuming a failed save) and can do what the non-caster cannot do - reframe the encounter into a non-combat encounter. Unless, of course, there are those here who would rule that Charm Person cannot stop someone from attacking. That being friendly or helpful won't actually change anything in the encounter. After all, that's precisely what this DM did do for the charismatic character. So, it should be ruled the same for spells, shouldn't it? [/QUOTE]

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