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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aenghus" data-source="post: 7327815" data-attributes="member: 2656">Well, in a particular game it depends what the priorities are and how the magic works in that setting. A RPG is at the one and the same time a bunch of PCs in a gameworld and a bunch of people sitting down and socialising. The relative importance of these activities varies from group to group and day to day.One thing I'm very sensitive to is imposed changes on a PC that could make them no longer satisfying to their player. I'm talking about mid to long term changes here, not short term ones - it's reasonable to expect a player to put up with a short-term condition such as an injury or mind whammy.The one thing that players have nominal control of even in conventional games is their PC - anything that potentially messes up that PC long-term is an issue to consider carefully. Long term mind control of a PC definitely has the potential to be problematic, depending on how it works.(crippling injuries were the other issue that could make a PC unfun or unplayable in the eyes of their player. In the majority of RPGs I've been in the players can retire characters on request, though the referee may try to persuade them  not to. I've seen a number of referees make promises to players that PC issues were temporary over the years, and in some cases these promises were broken.Some systems of magic are absolute and deterministic, but can be run differently, and there are magic systems which are considerably more ambiguous and amenable to negotiation. If the mind control effectively makes the PC an NPC, then forcing the player to keep playing the character seems cruel and unusual punishment.However, if the priority in the game is that the player keeps playing that PC, that means the mind control has to be tolerable and the PC still playable.Seeing as the game magic is entirely fictional and doesn't exist, it can work any way that group wants it to work. Consistency that makes the participants miserable is arguably foolish and counterproductive.</blockquote>

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