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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CruelSummerLord" data-source="post: 3519311" data-attributes="member: 48692">One particularly wicked idea might be that Psychosis is controlling people and turning them into mindless slaves, only as a distraction from its true plan.  Psychosis is only doing all this to distract any would-be heroes and others from whatever it is you decide Broodax and Terrax are up to.  Being the cold, icy intellect that it is, Psychosis knows that good-aligned humans are especially protective of children, and that serves as a distraction to any would-be heroes, particularly if Psychosis possesses an evil wizard, a mind flayer, or something else that could conceivably be seen to be possessing children.  Little clues and hints, like the fact that psionics or magic don't necessarily work to break mental control in the normal manner, could tip astute players off to the fact that something else is going on.  Seeing the wizard or mind flayer act like automatons in the same way as the children, as well as their confused and hostile reaction when and if the players break the control over them, can also serve as clues.  As to how the mind control is broken, charm spells, psionics, and other similar spells might work to break the spell, as could magically putting them to sleep and then waking them up by tapping them across the face, might work.  If all else fails, a simple bucket of ice-cold water or a similar shock might also break the spell.  That would be one of Psychosis's weaknesses: its victims' mental functions cannot be disrupted by suddenly being startled, shocked, charmed, or in any other way, otherwise it risks losing control over them (roll a Will save, using the DC of the character who is possessed, to see if control is broken).  Children are less resistant to Psychosis's intrusions and possession, but by the same token Psychosis, when he's in there, doesn't have much in the way of mental resources he can hijack.  By the same token, a powerful cleric or wizard might be harder to take control of, requiring more time, but once Psychosis is in there...he's much, much harder to dislodge, as one of his most fiendish powers is his ability to use the mental faculties of his victims for his own benefit.  Again, children are both easy to dominate and easy to liberate, but powerful minds are much harder on both counts.  Even this can be an advantage: if the players simply kill the puppet Psychosis is passing off as the true kidnapper of the children, without realizing that the supposed villain is suffering the same way as the children, they might just view the matter as over and done with, and stop prying into his affairs, leaving Psychosis and his fellows to carry on with their evil.</blockquote>

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