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01-04-2020, 03:00 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Bards: Song of Command
In my DFRPG Saltmarsh game, the party bard has Song of Command (Adventurers, p. 18). I have a couple of questions about how others would rule on the ability:
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01-04-2020, 05:33 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Poland
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Re: Bards: Song of Command
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01-04-2020, 05:51 PM | #3 | |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Re: Bards: Song of Command
Thanks. Your thoughts match my instincts on this one.
Quote:
EDIT: Still curious for thoughts from others, too! (I know this sort of thing gets hashed out on RPG forums all the time, but the Song of Command is a bit different than many implementations of charm spells, so it's fun to consider what its particular limits and possible abuses are. |
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01-08-2020, 09:28 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Mar 2019
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Re: Bards: Song of Command
I mostly agree with Gnomasz.
In regards to the "If we free you. . ." question, there is a lot of room for tricky answering, if the NPC has an appropriately high IQ. "If you free me, I'll walk away." Might satisfy the interrogators, but says nothing about how far they'll walk before they start to loose arrows. There's also nothing to stop them from changing their mind between answering and being freed: At this moment in the interrogation they might plan to leave peaceably, but once they are compelled to reveal the combination to their safe, they might feel otherwise. . . In terms of "principles," I think the first place to look is disadvantages (anything contrary to a disadvantage would trigger a QC), then perhaps quirks and advantages, if any are relevant. After that, I think it's a question of role-play/storytelling: If a temple is guarded by an acolyte and a mercenary, it will likely be against the acolyte's principles to reveal the secret entrance, but the mercenary would be happy to. Unless, of course, the acolyte is only there to escape his wicked uncle, while the mercenary has grown to be a True Believer over the course of her employment. . . |
01-09-2020, 08:59 AM | #5 | ||
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Re: Bards: Song of Command
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I haven't used a bard against the party yet, but I think that would be fun. I can even imagine a fun scene where two bards go toe-to-toe. Nothing would prevent them, as far as I can tell, from simultaneously successfully charming each other. Of course, the first one could order the other one to stop singing (or playing). I also wonder if the commands are subtle enough, would the target know that they were being magically compelled? Would it be possible, for example, for a bard at court to subtly affect policy decisions by playing music in the background without the monarch being aware that they were being influenced? |
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01-09-2020, 09:54 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Re: Bards: Song of Command
This also impacts the "what will you do later" question. If the subject thinks he's in his right mind now, he'll likely assume that later he'll still be of the same mind.
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