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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1682590" data-attributes="member: 3146">The best use of a suggestion spell I've seen involved a Nyrondese noble our party was escorting through the Theocracy of the Pale. He was starting to dress down a Pholtan priest because he didn't think he was getting the treatment he deserved as a noble and was on the point of saying, something like "maybe it's time for another Cuthbert torch party in Wintershiven" when our wizard hit him with a stilled, silent suggestion: "Apologize to the priest and comport yourself respectfully lest you end up in a New Dawn Camp." The noble failed his save and the plot device carting off to a New Dawn camp never happened. Too bad really. I read the module later, and the repentant Pholtan noble was a much nicer man.Anyway, suggestion is a very powerful spell but it has to be adjudicated carefully. IMO, the reasonableness of the suggestion is key. A suggestion to flee or surrender is only reasonable if the party making the suggestion is clearly in a superior position and surrendering will not inevitably result in the party's execution. A suggestion that "the real enemy is miles behind you" is only reasonable if there actually IS another enemy that the character knows of miles behind him. A suggestion that the fighter kiss the succubus is probably only reasonable if the fighter has read too many romance novels and suspects that the succubus will melt in his arms when she feels the fiery passion of his kiss, stop fighting, and show him a good time. A good suggestion will generally take the context into consideration. For instance, a bugbear ordered to attack the PCs might be susceptible to the suggestion "He's just using you as cannon fodder to cover his retreat--if you run now you can save yourself and he'll get what's coming to him." If the bugbear's leader actually is that kind of guy (and they usually are), that's a pretty reasonable suggestion. The PHB's examples have to be understood in this context. The pool of acid actually looks like a pool of water (some acid does look like water) and the character in question doesn't know that it's acid. The knight who will give his horse away to a peasant is a knight and, by implication, shares a set of values that include humility and generousity, and a set of stories that include similar acts of generousity. In the context of the medieval Romance, that's an accepted form of displaying virtue. The example of the fighter holding back the dragon for a few seconds is clearly a skilled fighter who is in a party of skilled adventurers rather than a raw recruit who would be unable to accomplish that goal.On the other hand, Suggestion has a lot of non-combat uses. "These aren't the droids you're looking for" is a fairly reasonable suggestion--after all, Astromech and translation droids are fairly common. (Sure, they looked similar to the droids the trooper was looking for so he got a bonus to his save--fortunately he was weak-willed). "Maybe they can make you a better offer; you should listen to what they have to say" would be another good suggestion. "You really need to use the toilet; nobody will know if you just abandon your post for a minute to use the john" would be another good suggestion--especially if the guard had been given something to drink before his shift.</blockquote>

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