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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DragonXNIK" data-source="post: 5187222" data-attributes="member: 83026">I'll take a stab at this.First of all, glad you're learning and enjoying the game so far, I know I do. Being a DM is definitely challenging but you can find a lot of answers if you're willing to peruse the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Handbook. Starting off: Skill check to discover Mage is being mind controlledThis is probably a good place to try and introduce a skill challenge, but without getting into the flaws in the mechanics for that type of encounter, I'd have to say that Insight would probably be the most fitting skill check here.Setting a DC is often plagued by a desire to stick to nice round numbers, like 15 or 20.  A DC 20 is not something you want to have to beat at level one, it's just not likely to happen if you're trained, and nearly impossible if you're untrained in a skill.Monsters don't need to have skills because they can't use them against the PCs in most settings. Your monster shouldn't roll insight to see if a player's bluff check fails, they should have a DC to be fooled.  There's no need to have opposed rolls anywhere in this type of encounter. The players are competing against a DC of how hard it is to tell that something is amiss with an NPC's behavior, not against your D20 skill rolls.Setting this DC can be done with math and preparation, but that's not something that will likely come in handy for an Improvisational style of DMing like you've stated.  Just be aware that for every 1 you increase the DC, the player's chance of success goes down by 5% (this is really bad math, but it's close enough to estimate with).I'd say a DC 13 would allow the PCs to note that his actions don't seem to be his own, followed up by perhaps an Arcana check to detect mind control magic, or if you have no Arcane trained, a diplomacy to try and coax him to reveal his controller. The second DC should be higher, and you should encourage your PCs to aid another to get a good chance of success.  Grab is listed in the PHB page 290, but I'll summarize it here.  STR mod+level mod+Misc bonuses to grab attacks (from items or feats) vs. Reflex defense of monster (or PC).  If that hits, the target is immobilized (unable to move any squares but otherwise able to defend).  Escaping a grab is listed on Page 288.If billy the 2nd level  fighter wants to grab a fleeing mage, he takes his str mod of +4 (from his 18 str), and adds his level mod of +1, then attacks the Mage's reflex defense.  He rolls a 15, resulting in 20 vs. the wizard's 18 reflex defense, so the wizard is unable to move until he uses actions to escape or is otherwise forced out of the grab. To sum up, once you hit the reflex defense, the monster is immobilized until an escape attempt succeeds.  There should be nothing preventing your players from having multiple grabs attempted against one target, making escape impossible in one turn. Once combat started, your players always have the option of choosing to 'knock out' rather then kill any defeated enemy. This is described on page 295 of the player's handbook.  So they should have fought the two wizards until they defeated them, then tied them up and continued the skill encounter.  Lastly, if you want to make a bad guy that can be defeated at the end of the player's Heroic adventuring career (levels 1-10), Mind Flayers are too tough, Liches are WAY too tough, and no specific monster type is coming to mind for me, so I'd suggest you add in an evil Cult of a dark god or devil, and have the Devil/God's cult leader/avatar be a psychic wizard who has connections to the Mage guild and appears to be an upstanding denizen.  Just stat up a solo Human Mage level 11 with an emphasis on psychic damage and a domination power. Oh, after looking around on the monster's manual, a Grell might be a good candidate for the Big bad here. They look like giant floating brains with beaks and tenticles, and they're scoped out with psychic attacks.  No idea what would motivate them to control mages to do their bidding though.</blockquote>

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