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How to run a criminal organization in a City with 8th level spells?
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7522463" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>[MENTION=5889]Stalker0[/MENTION] My thoughts were perfectly stated by [MENTION=6976536]OverlordOcelot[/MENTION]. I'd just add three things. </p><p></p><p>First, having the entire organization wear masks or a homebrew common magic item <em>cowl of face hiding</em> in public really curtails <em>scrying.</em> I wouldn't permit "that masked man we saw yesterday" as a "particular creature" for <em>scrying.</em> </p><p></p><p>Second, a mask or illusion magic can fool the senses of a dead person when <em>speak with dead</em> is a threat. The dead person reports what they saw, believes it's true, but they've been fooled.</p><p></p><p>Third, there's considerable grey area with <em>zone of truth</em>, but it requires clever criminals who anticipate the threat of <em>zone of truth</em> early on. Duping others into unwittingly doing your dirty work, such as slipping poison into the chef's spice rack, can evade all but the most rigorous line of questioning during a <em>zone of truth.</em> </p><p></p><p>There's also psychological tactics you can employ, such as charming/memory-modifying/plain-old-manipulating a creature to believe they committed a crime, so when they say "yes I did" under <em>zone of truth</em>, that registers as truth because they believe it. A magical fall guy, if you will.</p><p></p><p>And furthermore, in a seedy criminal underworld focused game, take a page from great mystery/noir authors: <em>everyone</em> has secrets to hide, but refusing a <em>zone of truth</em> or even trying to mislead/misrepresent the truth under one isn't a crime. Unless the police are gestapo, "I refuse to submit to this spell" shouldn't result in the NPC being manacled and taken away. And if you have players forcibly casting <em>zone of truth</em> in an urban context, there should be secrets that come out which have nothing to do with their case, which could make enemies of powerful NPCs. Similarly, cagey criminals know this, and may attempt to mislead sympathetic sorts into believing their line of questioning is about to reveal a secret love in a monastic order or some other falsehood. They may also attempt to mislead investigators into going after a suspect who is actually innocent of the crime in question, but has other naughtiness in their background and the power to eliminate someone pressing on the matter.</p><p></p><p>Finally, I've never seen anyone cast <em>zone of truth</em> on the original priest who made the <em>zone of truth</em>. So, corruption, blackmail, or leverage could work on the priest. And a priest could suffer a lapse of judgment for personal reasons (e.g. protecting a family member or member of the laity).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 7522463, member: 20323"] [MENTION=5889]Stalker0[/MENTION] My thoughts were perfectly stated by [MENTION=6976536]OverlordOcelot[/MENTION]. I'd just add three things. First, having the entire organization wear masks or a homebrew common magic item [I]cowl of face hiding[/I] in public really curtails [I]scrying.[/I] I wouldn't permit "that masked man we saw yesterday" as a "particular creature" for [I]scrying.[/I] Second, a mask or illusion magic can fool the senses of a dead person when [I]speak with dead[/I] is a threat. The dead person reports what they saw, believes it's true, but they've been fooled. Third, there's considerable grey area with [I]zone of truth[/I], but it requires clever criminals who anticipate the threat of [I]zone of truth[/I] early on. Duping others into unwittingly doing your dirty work, such as slipping poison into the chef's spice rack, can evade all but the most rigorous line of questioning during a [I]zone of truth.[/I] There's also psychological tactics you can employ, such as charming/memory-modifying/plain-old-manipulating a creature to believe they committed a crime, so when they say "yes I did" under [I]zone of truth[/I], that registers as truth because they believe it. A magical fall guy, if you will. And furthermore, in a seedy criminal underworld focused game, take a page from great mystery/noir authors: [I]everyone[/I] has secrets to hide, but refusing a [I]zone of truth[/I] or even trying to mislead/misrepresent the truth under one isn't a crime. Unless the police are gestapo, "I refuse to submit to this spell" shouldn't result in the NPC being manacled and taken away. And if you have players forcibly casting [I]zone of truth[/I] in an urban context, there should be secrets that come out which have nothing to do with their case, which could make enemies of powerful NPCs. Similarly, cagey criminals know this, and may attempt to mislead sympathetic sorts into believing their line of questioning is about to reveal a secret love in a monastic order or some other falsehood. They may also attempt to mislead investigators into going after a suspect who is actually innocent of the crime in question, but has other naughtiness in their background and the power to eliminate someone pressing on the matter. Finally, I've never seen anyone cast [I]zone of truth[/I] on the original priest who made the [I]zone of truth[/I]. So, corruption, blackmail, or leverage could work on the priest. And a priest could suffer a lapse of judgment for personal reasons (e.g. protecting a family member or member of the laity). [/QUOTE]
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