08-11-2021, 08:45 AM | #11 | |||
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
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08-11-2021, 09:21 AM | #12 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
Note that beyond mind control being dark and illegal, using mind control to get a good deal is somewhere between fraud and theft anyways.
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
08-11-2021, 09:39 AM | #13 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Boston, Hub of the Universe!
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
As others have pointed out, laws and customs will be the biggest deterrent, followed by the possibility of citizens forming mobs to get “justice” on mages/bards who misuse or abuse mind-magic in civilized lands.
If your bard goes around charming merchants to get a discount, the merchants will eventually figure it out and warn all their follows and warn the watch (who then get bonuses to recognize the bard). If the merchants know who the bard is, they’ll just ban him. If the bard continues, the merchants might band together and hire some thugs to get their money back.
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Demi Benson |
08-11-2021, 09:42 AM | #14 | |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
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"I swipe the gewgaw.": Theft.Some people seem to see it this way: "I use magic to persuade someone to give me the gewgaw.": Fraud, aggravated by magic-use.I disagree. I think that use of magic on a person would always add a kind of aggravated assault on top of whatever crime you were up to at the time. And obviously, I feel that using magic always means aggravated crime.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
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08-11-2021, 09:52 AM | #15 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
Spoilers for Babylon 5!
I am reminded of the Psi-Corps of Babylon 5. There the issue was privacy, not control, but the laws enacted by humans to control telepaths eventually led to the telepaths trying to take over. In the end, the Psi-Corps was abolished, but they never really addressed in any detail how privacy would be protected after that. |
08-11-2021, 09:55 AM | #16 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
I'm inclined to call targeted spells assault, though there's edge cases like Presence and using Alter Voice to improve reactions (oddly, there doesn't seem to be a body control spell that gives Appearance; using Steal Beauty is assault on the person you stole it from but not on the merchant).
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08-11-2021, 10:06 AM | #17 |
Join Date: Feb 2009
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
If your a loaded merchant moly amulets become affordable
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08-11-2021, 10:14 AM | #18 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Denver, CO
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
There is one other method if it's not too late. You could just... not allow it.
You could tell your player that this kind of power is not in keeping with the theme of the game. Much like the ability create (gold) or someone with phobia (coins). Or you could tell them that these powers are exceedingly rare in FR and you don't want the PCs to have access. Just like you're not allowing Drow or Djinn PCs. |
08-11-2021, 10:25 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
It's not like D&D doesn't have Charm Person and Suggestion; other than simply ignoring the problem, the main protection is that merchants who actually have things the PCs might want also have dangerous people available to discourage bad behavior.
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08-11-2021, 10:54 AM | #20 | |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: How to protect merchant from mind control?
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Of course, if the Bard is an actual con artist, then things differ again... I think the issue appears to be that D&D also has magic missile and fireball and the game world needs to allow for there to be repercussions for PCs who use any of these spells to rob NPCs. But there we seem to be in essential agreeement... Last edited by The Colonel; 08-11-2021 at 10:57 AM. |
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Tags |
countermeasures, merchants, spells |
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