[3.5]Spell Use Idea - The Kinky Army

[Defiant]

Presenting: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/dominatePerson.htm

Become any sufficiently competent spellcaster to be able to cast this. Set up food supplies and housing for an entire army. Perhaps you are a wealthy person that can afford this, perhaps you want to add to your own army, or maybe you just have everything you need to build an army except the people.

Go around dominating persons. For each success, give non-threatening orders, such as going to your barracks and doing little else. Amass an entire army. You can probably get battalion-sized, regiment at most. 1200 people need 2 hours of concentration daily as maintenance for example.

Arm them, and instruct them to move towards enemy positions. Perhaps soldiers are better to dominate for this. (For the shrew, you can just have them be a defensive force instead, especially if they're the weakling commoner types that would not be willing to go into battle)

Proceed accordingly.

[Tyger]

Well, yes. But why waste all that power? Simply dominate the general (and maybe a couple of their senior staff)... same effect, easier cost.

Though your title did have me expecting a different use of a different spell. Kinky must mean something different to you than it does to me. :smallbiggrin:

[Nerd-o-rama]

How are you going to get Dominate Person at will?

How are you going to avoid attention from the local government throwing all these mind-control spells around? If you are the local government, how are you going to avoid pissing the populace off by mind-controlling members of it?

If you want a mass of cheap bodies, go for a Necromancy-focused cleric or Dread Necromancer. Or Diplomacy cheese.

[Malacode]

Two flaws:
Flaw 1: Must spend 1 round concentrating on maintaining the spell each day... As you're casting the spell once for every person, you've got to concentrate a number of rounds = to the number of people dominated. 86 400 seconds in a day, divide by six = 14 400 rounds in a day. Thats how many people you can dominate assuming you need no sleep and cast Dominate Person at will, rather than as a spell. If you cast it as a spell, you need eight hours sleep. Leaves you with 9 600 rounds in which to concentrate. Then there's the problem of amassing 9 600 people into a small enough area that you can Dominate them all in a single day (You could split it up over a week, I guess, but still)

Flaw 2: Not so big a problem. The logistics. Of course, by the time you can cast Dominate Person 9 600 times a day, you don't really need to worry about cash, do you?

Still a fun idea though, just spread it out over a few casters

[Dervag]

There are probably easier ways to get a common soldier to obey you and risk death in your service than the spell Dominate Person.

[Asheram]

There are probably easier ways to get a common soldier to obey you and risk death in your service than the spell Dominate Person.

Like impersonating the commanding officer.
Illness, wounds or tragic happenings are gold, when they're expected to be a bit different from their usual selves

[BRC]

Or you simply take the leadership feat, then have your cohort and every 6th-level and higher follower take the same feat.

[Copacetic]

Or you simply take the leadership feat, then have your cohort and every 6th-level and higher follower take the same feat.

Would you like some wine with all that cheese?:smalltongue:

But still. Pointless. Zombies. Much better at following commands, if a bit slow.

[BRC]

Would you like some wine with all that cheese?:smalltongue:

But still. Pointless. Zombies. Much better at following commands, if a bit slow.
Screw Zombies, Go for the Wightpocolypse.

Step one, find a village full of commoners

step 2: get a wight to obey you
Step 3: Have the wight kill commoners, creating spawn which kill more commoners, creating more spawn, all of which obey the original wight, which obeys you.
Step 4: ?
Step 5: PROFIT

[Ravens_cry]

Would you like some wine with all that cheese?:smalltongue:

But still. Pointless. Zombies. Much better at following commands, if a bit slow.

Cheese aside, that is how a feudal system works. It would be a great way to start your rule as Frigs the Friggin' Awesome though. And zombies can't breed. Be a long lived race, take followers of a short lived race, such as humans, and you can be fruitful and multiply, and cover the land with a second darkness. It's win, win baby!

[Simanos]

The spell Dominate only lasts one day/level.
The check "If you don’t spend at least 1 round concentrating on the spell each day, the subject receives a new saving throw to throw off the domination." is an additional restriction. It doesn't mean you can prolong domination for ever with a single casting.

[Devils_Advocate]

The Thrallherd (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/thrallherd.htm) PrC is a good choice if you want to play this sort of character.

Anyway, as others have said, there are logistical problems with amassing an army with dominate person. It doesn't last forever, and eventually you can't do enough castings per day to dominate new people without letting current thralls go. Presumably any magic items useful for dominating people are already being used to maintain other armies of thralls, 'cuz why would you make something like that just to sell it?

It just doesn't have the sustainability and unlimited growth potential that so many other methods do.

[chiasaur11]

Why not combine the leadership and zombie methods?

That way, you get an army of the living, and when they die, you or a leadershipped necromancer bring him back as an undead monstrosity.

You have both growth potential and zombies. It's the best of both worlds.

[Simanos]

I remember my Druid in good old AD&D tried to make an army of Giant Insects and the DM actually allowed it. I didn't use them in any adventure/dungeon only the big army fight at the end of the campaign when the horde came to storm the walls. I used em to destroy the Giants with the Siege Catapults (along with some well placed Walls of Fire).