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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Riley37" data-source="post: 6573602" data-attributes="member: 6786839">Hah, well put. That particular guard was a mook, a scrub. However, the Order of the Knights of the Black Fist, as a whole, are a big deal in Phlan, and that's a significant element of the later story. Consider Phlan's survival of a Shadowvar attack, versus what happened at Zhentil Keep. The Fists are not to be dismissed out of hand. The main gate into Phlan is WELL guarded.So I ruled that sure, he's completely bamboozled that one guard. He hadn't said anything about casting *discreetly*, so several of the other guards at the gate objected, readied their crossbows, and told him that casting ANY spell at ANY guard counted as a hostile action. He had two maces, so he offered his spare mace as toll, and they shrugged, accepted the offering, and waved him through the gate into the city. (The guards would RATHER get a handful of gold as toll, but sometimes they just take the path of least resistance.) Scene resolved. Making the point about overt casting cost perhaps a few extra minutes. As you say, it's a Session Zero issue, and I wanted to establish off the bat that at my table, spellcasting defaults to overt. (It is sometimes possible to spellcast covertly, and it's also sometimes possible to stab someone to death in front of Buckingham Palace without anyone noticing what happened... but that's not the default, it takes a bit of effort.)The PC is a tightwad AND a mendicant priest of a trickster goddess, it's part of his schtick. He has played the same schtick brilliantly in some later scenes, and gained important clues by doing so. If I had annoyed the player so badly that he didn't return, that would have been a real loss to the table.</blockquote>

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