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View Full Version : The Highlander Method: A Use for the Thought Bottle and its effects



VestigeArcanist
2010-05-16, 06:37 PM
In an older campaign, lvl 10-11, I was running a generalist wizard who was obsessed with gathering knowledge, for the sole reason of knowing everything. Naturally his Int was up to 28 by that time, via Grey elf bonus and crafting his own Headband of Intellect +6, and had maxxed out knowledge arcana and history, with near max in planes, religion and nature, with minimal ranks in all the others. With the (ab)use of several organization, he was able to up all his knowledge checks another +13-18.

This same wizard was also build so that he knew every single wizard spell, via the True Believer feat and Boccob's Tome of Ancient Lore, found in the Complete Divine. To top it off, he created a thought bottle, which brought up this situation.

After a brief skirmish which was the beginning of the campaign, we captured the second in command of the army (we ended up killing the first in command.) The next day we went to interrogate, but rather than the standard torture, my wizard dominated him (human single class fighter, easy as cake) and order him to use the thought bottle. My wizard proceed to drain the fighter of HIS ENTIRE MEMORY. The plan was for him to continue to use the Dominate Person + thought bottle against every humanoid that needed forcible interrogation, or any person who I really could get away with.

The campaign didn't get much farther for out of game, but it brings up an interesting question. What would the effects of being stripped of all memory be/look like. And what would the effects of having two or multiple sets of memory, to mechanics, alignment and RP? Would my wizard become more evil? Would he gain the skills/feats/classes of the absorbed host? Would an elf be able to distinguish from his own memories and the memories of a shorter lived race?

The answers seem to be logical to all of these, but if you can do all these things, the thought bottle is much more broken beyond the save game/item creation approach to it. The character in question becomes the total of the dominated host's capacities, as far as learned and experiential knowledge goes. While it is true that some things are the result of bodily training, such as HP, many things are purely or at least the result of knowledge.

The result here is that this wizard would have adsorbed the combined experiences of multiple people with differing mental capacities, limited only to who he could dominate. Those who he defeats via domination add their minds to the victor. Hence the Highlander Method.

There can only be one...

Reynard
2010-05-16, 07:03 PM
Crippling schizophrenia seems to be a fairly logical result of this.

Shinizak
2010-05-16, 07:22 PM
mostly you would gain his/her nurtured behavior, but none brought on by his natural state of mind. You would probably gain his knowledge but none of the dexterity or previous experience that comes with it (it would be like having a "how to" video playing in your head). And you would probably gain any issues and emotional baggage that he or she had.

urbanpirate
2010-05-16, 08:06 PM
i see loads of will saves to aviod multiple personality disorder.

Yukitsu
2010-05-16, 08:32 PM
When I did this, I just mind raped myself normal. Normal being relative. I was also an aberration.

deuxhero
2010-05-16, 08:46 PM
i see loads of will saves to aviod multiple personality disorder.

Good thing will is a wizard's strong save then eh?

Flickerdart
2010-05-16, 08:47 PM
If you have access to Mindrape, you can just Mindrape the captives.

Eldaran
2010-05-16, 10:42 PM
You could use something like the rules for intelligent items. So if you've absorbed multiple personalities, anytime you do something one or more disagree with you make a will save against an ego score you develop for them, and if you fail they can take control of your body. If you fail multiple saves have the winning personalities do an opposed check, probably charisma.