Jester David
Hero
Bags over their heads. No line of sight to aim spells. Plus gags and tied hands.
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Pathfinder 1E How do you keep spellcasting slaves from casting spells?
- Thread starter BuckyLastard
- Start date
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Or utter darkness. No light to see to aim spells. Doesn't work for darkvision-equipped races, of course.
Warbringer
Explorer
...now put them to work in the fields, should be fun to watch, if not particularly productive
Why does the antagonist want spell-casting slaves? If it's not for their power then they are simply to much trouble to keep intact; cut out their tongues, cut a couple of fingers off, brand the clerics with religious symbols of their god's enemies, or really, just kill them.
If they are being transported, JCs idea is a good one, and the interrupted sleep is just damn smart ...
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
Maybe you could just charm them? Or (from a particularly vile plot I read in a sci-fi novel) get them addicted to drugs? Or (nastier plot) infect them with a disease that only affects spellcasters... and give the temporary cures in exchange for labor. If they escape, well, no cure for you. (Naturally, the underground railroad will start working on one.)
Are you worried about preventing them from casting spells during long-term imprisonment or for the duration of a transport?
If the slavers are unaware of spellcasting characters in their midst, then it seems to me that should be a hidden strength the players be allowed to keep. They'll likely keep their magical mouths shut until the time is right for the escape anyway. After all how effective would one or two castings of low level spells be before the guards regulate the players? It could make the inevitable jailbreak more fun when the party starts slinging some low level magics and improvised weapons. Or it could lead to a stealthier and more subversive escape.
If the slavers know that the characters are spellcasters then the aforementioned gagged mouth, hood over head, and tied hands approach seems like it would work well enough. The characters will already be limited with what they can cast without material components, spellbooks, or holy symbols. If the spellcasters are being imprisoned longterm.. well.. good old fashioned midieval stocks were designed to prevent meaningful movement or rest. No rest? No spells.
If the slavers are unaware of spellcasting characters in their midst, then it seems to me that should be a hidden strength the players be allowed to keep. They'll likely keep their magical mouths shut until the time is right for the escape anyway. After all how effective would one or two castings of low level spells be before the guards regulate the players? It could make the inevitable jailbreak more fun when the party starts slinging some low level magics and improvised weapons. Or it could lead to a stealthier and more subversive escape.
If the slavers know that the characters are spellcasters then the aforementioned gagged mouth, hood over head, and tied hands approach seems like it would work well enough. The characters will already be limited with what they can cast without material components, spellbooks, or holy symbols. If the spellcasters are being imprisoned longterm.. well.. good old fashioned midieval stocks were designed to prevent meaningful movement or rest. No rest? No spells.
MoonSong
Rules-lawyering drama queen but not a munchkin
Just kill the sorcerer and the cleric, but more the sorcerer than the cleric, you just cannot keep a sorcerer away from his magic for long, moreover there is a chance he hasn't expended all slots by the time of capture and decides instead to play the fool while biding his time, all he needs is a single second level slot for rope trick in order to escape long enough fo the cleric to pray and replndish spells.
Ohj wait on a second read I noticed a rope trick hasn't entered the game yet, so you shouldn't have much troubles keeping them in check, however don't forget the sorcerer has cantrips too, and those never run out
Ohj wait on a second read I noticed a rope trick hasn't entered the game yet, so you shouldn't have much troubles keeping them in check, however don't forget the sorcerer has cantrips too, and those never run out
Andor
First Post
Assuming the slavers are human then unless these are powerful and sanctioned slavers of some society that deliberately enslaves spell casters then they shouldn't try to enslave the PCs, or at least the spell casters. Otherwise their slavery ring will not be long for the world once word gets back to the Wizards guild/Temples that these idiots are enslaving spell casters. There's nothing like having Elminster and the Red Wizards team up with the Paladins of Pelor and the Cults of Vecna to teach you a lesson in why that's a bad plan.
If they do have the backing of some force powerful enough to thumb their noses at organized Wizardry then as above. If not, then they don't deliberately enslave wizards and they are in for some nasty surprises when your PCs use magic to break free.
PCs past 3rd level are basically minor superheros, past 7th level not so minor. No one in their right mind enslaves these people without major magical support. OTOH if your looking for some people who don't like spell casters and can actually deal with them on a reasonable basis check out the Karsites from Tome of Magic (pg 84.) A Karsite slaver or a band of Karsite slavers will be a good deal less impressed with spell casters than most people would be. Or have the head slaver be a Demon/Devil of some sort.
But if they are regular people who don't routinely do this then as this thread shows the slavers will need to have enough Knowledge: Arcana to make the checks to even know that you can screw with spell-casters by hooding, gagging, binding, and sleep disrupting them. If they don't then they are screwing with the wrong people and will get what they deserve just like if they tried to enslave a doppelganger or a disguised demon or a Vampire.
You know just jumping random people in a D&D world and trying to enslave them is probably just a bad plan. There are way too many dangerous things that look like normal people. Is that a hobo or a 20th level Vow of Poverty Monk? Is that a helpless maiden or a Sucubuss trolling for victims?
At any rate, if you do have a slave-taking group that does know how to deal with spell casters and somehow has not brought the Wrath of the High level down upon themselves then the above techniques will work for transport. Actually getting useful work out of a magic-user in the long term will require some sort of coercion or magical enslavement device.
If they do have the backing of some force powerful enough to thumb their noses at organized Wizardry then as above. If not, then they don't deliberately enslave wizards and they are in for some nasty surprises when your PCs use magic to break free.
PCs past 3rd level are basically minor superheros, past 7th level not so minor. No one in their right mind enslaves these people without major magical support. OTOH if your looking for some people who don't like spell casters and can actually deal with them on a reasonable basis check out the Karsites from Tome of Magic (pg 84.) A Karsite slaver or a band of Karsite slavers will be a good deal less impressed with spell casters than most people would be. Or have the head slaver be a Demon/Devil of some sort.
But if they are regular people who don't routinely do this then as this thread shows the slavers will need to have enough Knowledge: Arcana to make the checks to even know that you can screw with spell-casters by hooding, gagging, binding, and sleep disrupting them. If they don't then they are screwing with the wrong people and will get what they deserve just like if they tried to enslave a doppelganger or a disguised demon or a Vampire.
You know just jumping random people in a D&D world and trying to enslave them is probably just a bad plan. There are way too many dangerous things that look like normal people. Is that a hobo or a 20th level Vow of Poverty Monk? Is that a helpless maiden or a Sucubuss trolling for victims?
At any rate, if you do have a slave-taking group that does know how to deal with spell casters and somehow has not brought the Wrath of the High level down upon themselves then the above techniques will work for transport. Actually getting useful work out of a magic-user in the long term will require some sort of coercion or magical enslavement device.
I had my PCs captured once and put them in collars that prevented spellcasting. That was in 2E: if I did it again now, I'd probably allow them a Spellcasting skill check to overcome the block.
One thing you have to consider is that the PCs aren't the only ones in the campaign world who have to solve problems and deal with their enemies. NPCs should be just as devious, experienced and prepared as the PCs.
One thing you have to consider is that the PCs aren't the only ones in the campaign world who have to solve problems and deal with their enemies. NPCs should be just as devious, experienced and prepared as the PCs.
It seems like it's tough to get much further along this line without knowing, first, who the slavers are and, second, their reason for taking the party members (spellcasters especially) as slaves. To the traditional "put them to work in the fields" slaves, I can't see why they would not maim the mage/cleric to prevent spellcasting entirely, or just kill them (ie not retain spellcasting slaves), which seems unlikely to make for a fun game. What in the game requires the PC's be taken as slaves, for how long, and who are the slavers?
I'm still leaning to careful supervision and rest/prayer/meditation interruption (even that Sorcerer needs 15 minutes of meditation every morning), but the question of cantrips is one that bears review. If I don't spend the time to regain my spells, do I still have my cantrips? I'd probably say yes, as I believe you also still have any spells/slots you didn't expend yesterday, and you never fully "expend" cantrips.
I'm still leaning to careful supervision and rest/prayer/meditation interruption (even that Sorcerer needs 15 minutes of meditation every morning), but the question of cantrips is one that bears review. If I don't spend the time to regain my spells, do I still have my cantrips? I'd probably say yes, as I believe you also still have any spells/slots you didn't expend yesterday, and you never fully "expend" cantrips.
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