YCombinator
2016-04-15, 11:35 PM
My DM and I discussed Occluded Mind tonight, as I'm running a Psion. In combat I successfully landed an Occluded Mind and said "If you attack us, you'll die." My DM asked if the monster got to reroll the save DC every round, I said no. "That seems overpowered." he said. I kind of agreed.
Another player suggested that maybe it's like charm person where if you're in combat they won't do what you say. But that's really not in the spirit of Occluded Mind. You're not bringing their level of liking of you down a level from hostile to friendly. You're making them believe something.
I honestly don't even know what happened to my enemy. The Mind Flayer I Occluded (Yes I successfully Occluded a Mind Flayer, I'm so proud) just disappeared (probably plane shift) on the next round of combat. My DM just said "That seems over powered." and "Alright, we'll see what happens on this next turn." and then he was gone.
Here's the text for reference:
As an action, you target a creature that you can see within 120 feet of you. The target must make an Intelligence saving throw (it succeeds automatically if it is immune to being charmed. On a failed save, the target believes one statement of your choice for the next 5 minutes, provided that it understands the statement. The statement can be up to ten words long, and must describe you or a creature or object the target can see. On a successful save, the target is unaffected, and you can’t use this ability on it again until you finish a long rest.
How are DMs ruling this? Is there a wording that doesn't just nullify a character who fails the save from the entire combat? There are tons of ways to just nullify a combatant.
"Your crossbow is a longsword." Bam, the ranged attacker is now in melee uselessly hitting people with a blunt, flexible device. That's an improvised weapon at best.
"You can't cast spells." comes to mind, turning a wizard into a terrible ranger. I hope you've got elven weapon training, bro.
Out of combat, this spell has boundless uses each more entertaining than the next. Honestly I think it's more oriented to out of combat and might be fine with a stipulation that it cannot be used on an enemy combatant but that definitely robs the Psion of a really great control spell. But it definitely seems like it's just not able to be balanced being as vague and open ended as it is.
Anyone playing with this? How do you actually use it? I'm not looking for a 1001 great 10-word sentences to use with Occluded Mind thread. That exists. But examples of phrases you've accepted in the situations they were in would be nice. What, if anything, have you rejected?
Another player suggested that maybe it's like charm person where if you're in combat they won't do what you say. But that's really not in the spirit of Occluded Mind. You're not bringing their level of liking of you down a level from hostile to friendly. You're making them believe something.
I honestly don't even know what happened to my enemy. The Mind Flayer I Occluded (Yes I successfully Occluded a Mind Flayer, I'm so proud) just disappeared (probably plane shift) on the next round of combat. My DM just said "That seems over powered." and "Alright, we'll see what happens on this next turn." and then he was gone.
Here's the text for reference:
As an action, you target a creature that you can see within 120 feet of you. The target must make an Intelligence saving throw (it succeeds automatically if it is immune to being charmed. On a failed save, the target believes one statement of your choice for the next 5 minutes, provided that it understands the statement. The statement can be up to ten words long, and must describe you or a creature or object the target can see. On a successful save, the target is unaffected, and you can’t use this ability on it again until you finish a long rest.
How are DMs ruling this? Is there a wording that doesn't just nullify a character who fails the save from the entire combat? There are tons of ways to just nullify a combatant.
"Your crossbow is a longsword." Bam, the ranged attacker is now in melee uselessly hitting people with a blunt, flexible device. That's an improvised weapon at best.
"You can't cast spells." comes to mind, turning a wizard into a terrible ranger. I hope you've got elven weapon training, bro.
Out of combat, this spell has boundless uses each more entertaining than the next. Honestly I think it's more oriented to out of combat and might be fine with a stipulation that it cannot be used on an enemy combatant but that definitely robs the Psion of a really great control spell. But it definitely seems like it's just not able to be balanced being as vague and open ended as it is.
Anyone playing with this? How do you actually use it? I'm not looking for a 1001 great 10-word sentences to use with Occluded Mind thread. That exists. But examples of phrases you've accepted in the situations they were in would be nice. What, if anything, have you rejected?