Regarding Disobedience and the Paladin of Freedom

[AlanBruce]

Greetings! I brought this question to Q&A, but they may have overlooked it. I wanted to see if I could get a quicker response here.

1) If a PC has a necrotic cyst (Libris Mortis) implanted into them, would a Disobedience spell (Complete Scoundrel) effectively extended to last 24 hours, cast on the recipient prevent her from falling under Necrotic Domination? The target in question is a paladin of freedom who is already immune to compulsion effects, although I believe Necrotic Domination is not a complusion effect.



2) Would that same PC be immune due to her Paladin of Freedom class feature or the Disobedience spell to Doomspeak (CoR)?

[Fouredged Sword]

The paladin would become immune because disobedience "blocks any attempt to exercise mental control over the subject creature" and Necrotic Domination says "This spell functions like dominate person (see page 224 of the Player's Handbook)" and Dominate person says "You can control the actions of any humanoid creature through a telepathic link that you establish with the subject’s mind."

Necrotic Domination is a mental control, because it works exclusivly though a telepathic link. It gets suppressed even though it lacks the mind effecting and compulsion tags.

As a DM, I would apply the Compulsion tag to Necrotic Domination due to the "as dominate person". Dominate person has those tags, and a spell that functions as dominate person would not work on any target dominate person would not work on, unless expressly altered in the except as text. You have a cyst and it can kill you, but you are a paladin of freedom, nothing will control your mind.

Neither ability will protect you from doomspeak, as that is a simple necromancy effect that applies a debuff, not any form of control or even mind effecting.

[Hamste]

The spell functions like dominate person except where noted. I would definitely say dominate person is exercising mental control over a person so it should work. I'm not sure if it is a charm or compulsion (as I do not know if the evil tag is in addition or replacing the compulsion and mind affecting tags. I would think in addition but I don't know for sure) but disobedience stops all form of mental control and then proceeds to list a few examples.

Doomspeak, I can't say anything about.

[Necroticplague]

Necrotic Domination cannot be a compulsion, because compulsion is a subschool of enchantment, not necromancery. It's also not mind effecting because it doesn't directly effect your mind, it commands the tumor in your body that physically makes you comply. That being said, disobedience would work, since it uses open-ended "such as dominate person", which would include Necrotic Domination (though the longer duration of the domination means it likely wins out eventually).

Doomspeak isn't a compulsion or mental command in any way, shape, or form, so neither the class nor the spell protects from it.

[Alex12]

I'd say Necrotic Domination would be blocked, but Necrotic Tumor wouldn't be. Even if they fail the save.