One of my characters has been using charm person for a while and though I did not think this would ever be possible, he may hit level 9 soon and get dominate person.

I would tell the person OOC first that I want to charm them and I can not force them to play along, that they can say no, and asking if they would. So far, no one has turned me down and i've used charm person a moderate amount.

He would sit someone down in a chair, tell them they were going to need to answer some questions. Then they would get them drunk(presuming so they would be more pliable) and I would cast charm person and extended charm person on them, using all my spell slots I am able to keep them charmed continuously so the duration is not an issue.

Dominate person's duration, sucks. In PnP its hour per level.

Charm is 2 rounds + 1 per 3 levels but was lengthened to 1 round per level, a moderatly high level mage can manage to use it effectivley if he uses all his lvl 1 spell slots and also extends it with lvl 2s.

I doubt that dominate person can be easily scripted to be changed to 1 round per level so it is actually usable for role playing purposes, is it?

I'm asking for DMly guidelines on using dominate person.

Per the spell description in NWN "The target person becomes a faithful and loyal servant to the caster." Can I use dominate person to ask people questions which they have to answer as truthfuly as they know? That is the main thing my mage wants to use the spell for.

First, talk to them OOC and ask them if they'd like to play along. If they don't want to play along, that's FINE. Do not try to bully them into playing along.

If they do want to play along, here's how I'd recommend it working:

Let it last for a day/level, during which they pretty much have to do any non-self-destructive thing you order them to do.

If you order them to do something against their nature, they get a saving throw with a +2 bonus. When they finally make the throw, you, IC, do not know necessarily that they have broken control, until you are able to conclude it. So, for instance, they could continue to follow your orders for the hell of it, and then take advantage of you at the proper moment. =)

That's how I'd play it.

-Cross

I have never pressured ANYONE heh, I have tried to make it entirley clear they have every right to turn me down.

I like your overall guidelines. Is however saying "Are you a spy for X?" something which would invoke the +2?

This is well, a highly specific question thread so I may as well toss in more details. How many PCs have ever learned dominate person? Amolef plans to use the spell to screen all new Fangs and Eyes, if he can get company aprooval.

What qualifies as "against their nature"?

If you can clear that up.... i'd love your outlines to be gold stamped into server law heh.

None of this is server law. It's entirely voluntary, and just my suggestions as a guy who used this tactic before.

"Against their nature" is hard to define. Back when I used dominate person, I just said: Every time I order you to do something your character doesn't want to do, go ahead and make the save. That's probably the most appropriate way to do it.

-Cross

And as for the "how many PCs have learned dominate person!"...you should know better than to ask stuff which can be answered with the all-powerful "Learn this in-game."

-Cross

Whats the point of the spell if they get a save for EVERY order they don't want to do heh? You could not possibly debrief anyone.

The way I always liked to play charm and dominate was a little bit different to Crosswinds - not really as per PnP, but

For Charm Person : If they fail their saving throw, you can basically "Persuade" someone to do -one thing- that is in their nature to do, or give away one or two pieces of information important to you. They will never be the wiser. If they pass their saving throw, they know something funny was up, though not necessarily that they were being charmed.

For Dominate Person : If they fail their saving throw, you can order them to do one (non self-harming) thing that is not necessarily in their nature. They act robotically until said act is accomplished. Even if they fail, they know full well that they were dominated, if they succeed, they are allowed to realise what you were trying to do.

Of course, there're no hard-and-fast rules for something which is basically unenforceable, so if somebody says "I don't like Dominate Person or Charming, it's too arbitrary", too bad, but most players will see it as something fun to do.

Everyone will have a different take on it, of course, mine might be seen as silly but well, it's worked for me in the past, and i think it's pretty neat to not worry about numbers and durations too much.

Whats the point of the spell if they get a save for EVERY order they don't want to do heh? You could not possibly debrief anyone.

Horseshit. You've got about 20 questions, because the vast majority of characters on EFU can't make your minmaxxed sun elf tweak-wizard's save except on a natural 20.

-Cross

He is not tweaked or min max but we'll discuss that in IRC if you want, though as of tonight it seems doubtful Amolef will ever hit 9 heh >< Good point about the saves though.

The above sounded venemous, which was not the intent, for which I apologize.

My point was that it's very, very, very difficult to make the DCs of most wizards, so I think it's balanced, in the case where we're already empowering a spell, to give the person plenty of chances to save against it.

-Cross

And I agree heh, though now its a moot point for me anyway, Amolef won't ever hit 9.

Opps. (Wrong thread!)