From: Tim Olivas Date: Sat, 28 May 1994 20:34:44 CDT Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd Subject: High-level ench/charm spell Not all mages use fireballs to solve their problems. The most successful wizards don't rely on armies of undead. The very cleverest of sorcerers have ALREADY conquered the world...no need to advertise the fact. Until the second edition, I liked to play illusionists, because they rewarded intelligent and creative play. But when the new specialties emerged, I found a new favorite: the Enchanter, or as I prefer, the Charmer. If your DM favors role-playing and flexible play, and doesn't make violence an absolute requirement for sucess, these mental masters can be more effective than any high-ranking invoker or necromancer. However, the Charmer has no 9th-level spell comparable in power to those of the other schools. While Invokers are learning Meteor Swarm and Chain Contengency, while Transmuters are casting Shape Change and Time Stop, while Abjurers get Prismatic Sphere and Illusionists get Weird, Charmers are getting Succor, which is not only weak but appears to be an alteration or conjuration, and Mordenkainen's Disjuction, which is of very limited use and should probably be an abjuration along with Dispel Magic and Anti-Magic Shell. To fill this gap, I submit the following spell. It has its limitations, but in the hands of a dedicated reformer--or a power-hungry nigromancer--can reshape the world as thouroghly as a Gate or a well-phrased Wish. Coalthirst's Universal Mindbender (Enchantment/Charm)--Level 9 Wizard Spell Range: 5 yards Components: V, S, M Duration: Permanent/Indefinite Casting Time: 1 day Area of Effect: 1 creature Saving Throw: Special Using this spell, a high-level wizard can rewrite a creature's entire personality. All the subject's memories, mannerisms, preferences, beliefs, allegences, and behavior can be changed to fit the wizard's specifications. A rampaging giant could be made into a music-loving pacifist, a virtuous knight into a cowardly libertine, a demented killer into a law-abiding citizen--and vice versa. There are limits on what the spell can accomplish. It cannot make subjects wiser, more intelligent, or more charismatic, though it can make them act more cautiously, thoughtfully, or pleasantly. It can also make subjects act more foolish, like a feeblemind spell. The spell cannot bestow new skills or improve existing skills: class and level cannot be altered. However, it could make a fighter think like a thief, or a wizard believe he is a cleric. Furthermore, it will not function on creatures immune to enchantment/charm spells, including but not limited to golems, spirits, mindless creatures, and the undead. To cast the spell, the wizard must be alone in a quiet, secure place with the subject, who must be physically restrained, magically held or charmed, or be cooperating with or unaware of the caster's goal in casting the Mindbender. The caster burns rare incenses and draws arcane symbols on the subject with alchemical ointments--these components cost at least 1,000 gp, and greater amounts may be required for unusually large subjects at the DM's discretion. Then the caster enters the subject's mind through a powerful telepathic link, and over the course of 24 hours, edits it. This ritual drains the wizard's energies, and for the next three days he is unable to cast any spells above fifth level. At the completion of the ritual, the subject receives a saving throw vs. spell at -4, subject to all other adjustments including wisdom, specialization, and Malisions or Mind Fog. Magic Resistance also applies, as do the racial bonuses/immunities of Elves, Half-Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halflings. If the saving throw is failed, the subject's alignment and personality are permanently changed, and only a second application of the Mindbender is sure to restore the old. A Wish or Restoration have only a 50% chance of succeeding, and the personality change cannot be dispeled, though subjects do radiate enchantment magic to appropriate detection spells and can be fended off by protection spells. If the saving throw succeeds, the subject may eventually throw off the spell's effect. The spell's effects will last as long as a Charm Monster spell (pg. 154, PH) automatically. After that, any time the spell would cause the subject to act contrary to his former nature, he immediately receives a new saving throw, without the -4 adjustment, to regain his old personality. Note that once the ritual is over, the wizard cannot again alter the subject's personality. The new personality is set, and if the subject throws off the enchantment, he cannot again be affected by a Mindbender from that particular wizard. Within the constraints noted above, the wizard can create whatever new personality he chooses. Amnesia can be induced, new backgrounds invented. The subject's emotional responses, his loves, hates, and fears, can be chosen. The subject can be made fanatically loyal to the wizard, homicidal, suicidal, or genial, contented, and charitable. Because it seems to deprive subjects of their free will, the use of the Mindbender is an ethical dilemma for many good magicians, though most agree it is a humane alternative to imprisonment and death. Less scrupulous magicians find the Mindbender a most potent tool.