Charming and Being Charmed: Essential Considerations

In which Dyo explains the Condition: Charmed, delineates two modes of Charming a target, and suggests what your responsibilities are, should you find yourself Charmed!

There comes a time in a player' life when-- behold!--she will be charmed. Perhaps it is at the hands of the muscular and wily rogue Boas, he who comes and goes as the tides in his capacity as a tradesman of the East Bromptide Corporation, always smelling of cinnamon, saffron, and tobacco whenever he finally docks and whispers pleasantries intermixed with excuses for his excruciatingly long absence... or if that doesn't do it for your character, perhaps you are charmed by the sunshine-sprinkled Samletta, a girl back home with a constellation of freckles across her upturned nose, a winning smile, a killer recipe for borscht, and a generous hand with the ladle. Or it could even be the borscht itself-- a good stew can captivate, especially after a hearty day at battle! But, fair to say, the finest meal (and often, the most enticing love interest) will not truly Charm, in the sense that Charm (big C) is a specific Condition in RISE governed by particular mechanics. (As I like to say, RISE excels in bringing realism and procedural consistency to bear upon imagination, and in so doing, appeals to logic and creativity in equal measure).

When things sound really good... its time to start thinking you've been Charmed!

A person or creature becomes "Charmed" at the hands of another player. (Generally an NPC is charmed by a party member, and a party member is charmed by an NPC.) As a result, the Charmed subject treats the person who charmed it as an ally (hence why you cannot Charm a member of your own party, as the party is made of allies). For as long as the Condition persists, this blind trust extends to allies of the person who enacted the condition upon the target.

"Charmed" is one of those things that is good to enact on others, not so much to have enacted upon you. As you might imagine, a target might be charmed in order to negate the will to resist a very specific desire or action-- a kiss, perhaps, even so far as a marriage vow... or the revelation of where the ship's charter is kept, since everyone knows that the possessor of the charter is the possessor of the ship. But that is "little c" charmed-- the ship's charter could be won through the acumen Diplomacy or Deception, or affected via Integrate or Intimidate... the marriage vow might be a better target for "big C" Charmed, because it is a more complex scheme, unfolding over a longer period of time and probably involving multiple players. Charmed falls under Influence, a Basic General Utility Power. Influence (capital I) takes takes three specific forms-- Attention, Convince, or Daunt; Convince is the one that causes a target to be Charmed.

You will notice that, quite logically, Convince takes its roots in Diplomacy, which is why it relies on Diplomacy for its check. You would want to use Convince rather than straight Diplomacy as an Acumen in situations where you are seeking greater control of an encounter (again, likely in a prolonged scenario, as Convince lasts until the end of the encounter or "until you or an ally behave in a manner unrepresentative of the conversation" whereas a Diplomacy acumen roll only applies to the immediate circumstance (i.e. you want to ask a specific question: "Can you show me where the ship's charter is kept? I have a fascination with maritime documents." Remember that Diplomacy and all Diplomacy-related affairs rely on the target person trusting not just your words ("This person is telling the truth") but your intention ("This person does not wish ill upon me"). For a series of questions coupled with some actions--say, an encounter-length diplomatic mission in which you are primarily dealing with a single target, Charmed can work, well...like a charm, allowing you to ask the right questions and manipulate the scenario so that you emerge from the encounter with the ship's charter in your breast pocket and your new friend's full confidence intact. Charmed is like the audio equivalent of a glass or two of wine-- whatever you say sounds pretty good to your new friend--within reason. Again, there are limits: the Charmed target can call your bluff if you act like you were the one that drank all the wine. For example: "Where is the ship's charter? May I take it to my room? Look, I happen to have a piece of graphite...what if we amended it to make me the owner?" will almost certainly end the Condition.

Oh, and there is one more thing*... when you use Influence, it is an Check, so you can try and fail. Should your target resist you (Diplomacy vs. Passive Insight + relevant modifiers), you will have made your situation notably worse: the target gains a +3 to his Mental defense until the end of the encounter. So, essentially, Influence-- Convince is much stronger, but also riskier, than the simple Diplomacy check.

So, there's conversational "Charmed" in action. But what about in battle?

Behold! You are Eredgral, a wizard of burgeoning renown (here, a nice way to say that you're still on your way up to the wizarding world-- you're an initiate), and you have stumbled into a nest of bog-trotting, scum-bathing trolls whose only wish is to boil your bones for soup. Luckily, you recall that you have a specific power, Charm Monster, which allows you to charm one target until the end of the encounter. As savvy as your beard is long, you single out the most massive troll, likely the lieutenant of this repulsive gang. Lifting up your gnarled oaken staff, you whisper a caressing word of friendship, false sentiment that flies upon the gossamer wings of magic.

It is a Bold Attack in every sense of the word.

Your target, a massive troll, having been charmed by you, the Initiate wizard Eredgral, immediately lays down his club and attempts to call off his slovenly but surprisingly agile band of followers, as the target of the Charmed state will strive to protect the one who Charmed it. But remember, the appeal of this call to his allies lies in the troll's own personal charisma, as the Charmed state extends only to him, and not to his followers, so tread lightly. Elsewise, your new friend the troll will happily stick up for you, perhaps, even lay down his life for you if his allies aggressive can be made to seem, unfounded-- however, should you attack one of his (original, true) allies, he will be able to make a saving throw against Presence to end the effect (because nothing says 'false friendship' like smiting your new friend's old friend right in front of him). Ah, Eredgral, you wily magician!-- playing with emotions and allegiances is like playing with fire, and your gamble fails when your group's impulsive bard** issues forth a sonic screech that renders the troll momentarily deaf, but no longer blinded to your deceit.

Intriguingly, the troll is also a magician (who's to say trolls cannot be magicians? Let's don't be fictional-species-ist because such leaps of logic would be specious*** and out of place in a game where individual characters' choices surpass stereotypes). Now, brave Eredgral, the tables are turned: you find yourself Charmed by a horrific, warty troll! Out of game, you might say, "How dumb would I need to be to fall for that?" To which I would respond, with some measure of glee, because poetic irony is fun, that it's not an issue of intelligence, since the target of Charmed necessarily does not realize that he IS charmed. Nonetheless, you, as Eredgral's player, must 'play along' in all senses of the word, and take up the burden of friendship with the massive troll and potentially against your group's impulsive bard.

What you cannot do is ignore the effects of your current condition: you MUST act as the troll's ally (and at this point, you might interject that his name is Simeon, and he's not a bad guy, you have recently come to believe, just a bit misunderstood). It is quite possible that someone in your party will meet a gruesome end, scoring you both phenomenal XP for your realism and also the burning resentment of your fellow-player, who never thought you would fall in with a troll gang... but that's part of the glory of RISE-- you get to decide exactly how far your character will go to fulfill the realism of having a specific Condition. Remember, being Charmed is not mind control or Domination. It is the creation of friendship. While we may have "friends" that skirt upon the territory of enemies, Charmed is a condition of earnest admiration and mutual respect. You should find the ability to agree with the source of your charming where possible and bolster the source as a friend would in times of discomfort or need. You may be buddy-buddy or entertaining, dropping an "inside" joke. Should a fight break out, consider what you would do if your best friends took up a brawl. What could you do to stop it or would you join a side. If the troll's allies don't make the first aggressive move, can you really support your other allies dropping fireballs and loosing arrows. Friendship is tough! Should you be Charmed in a more conversational capacity, you will need to go along with the horrible ideas that your charmer is spewing, unless he or she says something so preposterous that it triggers the above-mentioned "Oh, come on!" clause (i.e. breaks the bounds of reasonable Diplomacy).

Here are some important concepts to keep in mind when you are Charmed:

1) Charmed creates immediate friendship, not love or simple acquaintanceship.

2) Charmed is not Dominated.

3) Logical and reason still apply to your actions and choices, but loyalty should flavor your decisions

4) You remember your choices while Charmed and may have to justify them beyond, "I was Charmed," as an excuse.

5) Preposterous things remain so. You would not give your life savings to a friend who asks for it. Keep perspective!

6) Charmed is not always magical. Influencing others can always be done the old fashion way, flatter, admiration, seduction, encouragement, etc. Just add repetition and you "spell" Charmed without a whiff of magic.

P.S. Tell me, if a player kills an impulsive bard from within his own party just because that player was Charmed into believing an enemy is an ally and an ally is an enemy, can it still be considered "friendly fire"?

#realisminfantasy #conditions #RISE #dyo #roleplaying #characterchoices #rulesmatter #readtherulebook #roll20 #novicewizardpower #diplomacycheck #charmed #charmedanddangerous

Art by Jose Etxenagusia Samson and Delilah, 1887

*Famous last words. I didn't forget-- I am going to hit you with bad news. Anything very powerful in RISE has pretty dire consequences if you mishandle it (hence the phrase and reality of "double-edged sword).

**Sometimes it is hard for a bard to sit by and wait while someone else gets the glory.

***Puns are often too much to resist, and as I've found in my own life, can be yet another (unofficial) means of Charming a target-- but certainly is not foolproof.