Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Suggestion spell, AKA: the importance of session zero(ish) discussions with your DM
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Bacon Bits" data-source="post: 8108036" data-attributes="member: 6777737"><p>I think the DM's ruling was correct. Your character didn't know, and had no way of knowing, that allowing you to get away was an explicitly deadly action for the cultist. However, that doesn't change the fact that that was an unreasonable request. That's just how reality works. That is to say, this was unfair in the same way that real life is unfair. That's a feature, not a bug! Sometimes you get tripped up by things you don't know.</p><p></p><p>You had no way to know that sword was cursed. You had no way to know that floor was an illusion. You had no way to know the sheriff was a Doppelganger. You had no way to know that the cultists were instructed to return with the treasure or face execution.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Most likely just because the DM didn't think beyond, "a spell was cast that grants a save; let's roll the save before thinking beyond that." However, if you think deeper, it was actually most correct to do it that way! Since the casting character has no idea that their suggestion was unreasonable or why, telling the PC that the NPC doesn't need to roll is giving out metagame information. It's better to just roll.</p><p></p><p>Indeed, this is a perfect example of when the DM <em>should</em> be rolling behind a screen. Then the DM can say, "The spell doesn't appear to have had any effect." It doesn't matter <em>why</em> there was no effect. The PC doesn't get to know that. They might be immune to charm, or they might be illusory creatures, or they might not understand the language the PC spoke, or they might not have been able to hear the PCs, or they might've made their save, or it might be unreasonable, etc. There are <em>lots</em> of ways for the spell to do nothing. Why should the DM tell the PCs which one it was?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bacon Bits, post: 8108036, member: 6777737"] I think the DM's ruling was correct. Your character didn't know, and had no way of knowing, that allowing you to get away was an explicitly deadly action for the cultist. However, that doesn't change the fact that that was an unreasonable request. That's just how reality works. That is to say, this was unfair in the same way that real life is unfair. That's a feature, not a bug! Sometimes you get tripped up by things you don't know. You had no way to know that sword was cursed. You had no way to know that floor was an illusion. You had no way to know the sheriff was a Doppelganger. You had no way to know that the cultists were instructed to return with the treasure or face execution. Most likely just because the DM didn't think beyond, "a spell was cast that grants a save; let's roll the save before thinking beyond that." However, if you think deeper, it was actually most correct to do it that way! Since the casting character has no idea that their suggestion was unreasonable or why, telling the PC that the NPC doesn't need to roll is giving out metagame information. It's better to just roll. Indeed, this is a perfect example of when the DM [I]should[/I] be rolling behind a screen. Then the DM can say, "The spell doesn't appear to have had any effect." It doesn't matter [I]why[/I] there was no effect. The PC doesn't get to know that. They might be immune to charm, or they might be illusory creatures, or they might not understand the language the PC spoke, or they might not have been able to hear the PCs, or they might've made their save, or it might be unreasonable, etc. There are [I]lots[/I] of ways for the spell to do nothing. Why should the DM tell the PCs which one it was? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Suggestion spell, AKA: the importance of session zero(ish) discussions with your DM
Top