Suggestions for Suggestion

[Chaldfont]

My players are going up against some mind-flayers. Mind-flayers have suggestion as a spell-like ability. This sounds like it could be a lot of fun!

What types of suggestions do you suggest for suggestion?


Here's the spell from the SRD:

Suggestion
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting]
Level: Brd 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One living creature
Duration: 1 hour/level or until completed
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
You influence the actions of the target creature by suggesting a course of activity (limited to a sentence or two). The suggestion must be worded in such a manner as to make the activity sound reasonable. Asking the creature to do some obviously harmful act automatically negates the effect of the spell.
The suggested course of activity can continue for the entire duration. If the suggested activity can be completed in a shorter time, the spell ends when the subject finishes what it was asked to do. You can instead specify conditions that will trigger a special activity during the duration. If the condition is not met before the spell duration expires, the activity is not performed.
A very reasonable suggestion causes the save to be made with a penalty (such as –1 or –2).
Material Component: A snake’s tongue and either a bit of honeycomb or a drop of sweet oil.

 

[EricNoah]

I think a "very reasonable" suggestion would be "Run away! Flee from the terrible doom that awaits you!"

A less reasonable suggestion but still not "obviously harmful" is to maybe suggest that they start digging a hole right there where they are.

An unreasonable suggestion might be "please chop open your own skull and put salt and pepper on your brains for me."

 

[der_kluge]

This is a bit anachronistic, but one of my friends had a good "suggestion" for suggestion. He said, "toss the victim a rubik's cube, and say SOLVE THIS!"

Just make sure it's not solved before hand. It's even more vile if you swap one of the stickers beforehand so that it becomes unsolvable.

The best use for suggestion I ever pulled off was after some mage threw a rope of entanglement (is that the name?) on me. I couldn't get it off, so I had like 3 evil henchman trying to get it off me after I suggested to them "free me". It's a verbal component only, so I only needed to speak it. Of course, none of them had a magic weapon, and so none of them could get through the DR on the stupid thing. Aaaargh, most annoying magic item ever.

 

[Umbran]

The problem with Suggestion is in this sentence: "The suggestion must be worded in such a manner as to make the activity sound reasonable." Reasonability is highly subjective, which means that what will be good is pretty dependent upon details of the situation.

If the PCs don't know what a mind flayer is, and are encountering one in a situation where talking makes more sense than fighting, I think the power is of much more use than if the PCs are in hot conflict against the creature and attendant minions.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

As a DM, I interpret reasonability very very strictly. Far too many players think it's dominate person on the cheap or Tasha's Hideous laughter with an hour/level duration or Sleep with no HD limit.

"Go to sleep" (generally not unless the creature is tired--certainly never in a battle or a hostile situation).
"Follow me and do exactly as I do" umm no. Why on earth would I do that?
"Close your eyes and do not move." Not a chance. There are people trying to kill me in here. And even if they weren't trying to kill me, why on earth would I want to?

On the other hand,
"Why throw your life away for money you won't live to spend? Join us and we will reward you better than your masters." If the creature isn't particularly loyal and is generally open to betraying people (for instance a drow or an orc), the party clearly has money, and is stronger than the guards, this is a perfectly reasonable suggestion.

"Apologize to the member of the inquisition immediately and don't mention heathen deities in his presence again." Quite reasonable (even if the person it's aimed at isn't reasonable). -4 penalty to the save as an especially reasonable suggestion.

"Your doom is upon you, flee that you might live!" Provided the party actually looks likely to win the battle and the foe has somewhere to flee to, this is a reasonable suggestion. If the party is clearly able to kill the particular foe this might even get the "particularly reasonable" saving throw penalty. I would, however, apply any special fear effect modifiers to saves. And I would treat the suggestion as fulfilled once the NPC reached a location that appeared safe. (So he won't do nothing but run away for 1 hour/level).

"Throw down your arms and surrender; we may yet let you live." Reasonable, provided that the PCs seem likely to take prisoners (if the fighter shouted "No Quarter!" at the start of the fight or if the Pholtan priest has his donkey dragging a portable bonfire on a cart, the victim gets a bonus for a less reasonable suggestion at the very least).

"Let us settle this honorably with a duel" Reasonable, provided the individual buys into the concepts of honor that support duelling under the circumstances. The example of the haughty knight instructed to give his horse to the next peasant supports this. (Such actions wouldn't normally be reasonable but, by identifying the suggestion victim as a knight, it indicates a strong possibility that he buys into the code of Christian Knighthood which--at least in Arthurian legend--sometimes called for such actions as a gesture of charity, piety, and/or humility. Thus, the knight's most likely worldview puts the action within the realm of conceivability).

"We have you over a barrel in these negotiations; double our pay or you will have no protection when the orcs come for you." Potentially reasonable if the circumstances are right. It wouldn't get someone to pay more than he could actually afford but might induce someone to pay more than he would otherwise be willing to pay. (Of course, when it wore off, he might well want to have the PCs killed for manipulating him like that).

 

[Garrett Thorngage]

It seems that the idea that reasonability is all relative has already been brought up, but I thought I would give my two cents as well. I agree that the suggestion that is made is only reasonable, relative to the situation in which it is made. A character probably wouldn't turn on himself, and probably wouldn't sit down and prepare to die in the middle of a combat. However, even things like this could potentially happen. For example, if you happened to have a character that had a strong death wish and had the suggestion of kill yourself put on him or her, then it may actually work.
The key is to find out what type of characters you are dealing with and play off of that information, of course taking into account that the mind flayers wouldn't know all the secrets and happenings of the characters. But if there was a little turmoil in the party, it is possible that the mind flayers could detect that through the character interactions and attempt to turn the PC's against one another. That could be interesting.