Charmed
- A charmed creature can’t Attack the charmer or target the charmer with harmful Abilities or magical Effects.
- The charmer has advantage on any ability check to interact socially with the creature.
- Creatures with the Fey Ancestry trait will have advantage against these saves.
Causes
Common Causes: Spells like Charm Person, Dryads, Lamias, Vampires, and Bards as a whole
Affected Groups
Why it matters to players: Being charmed is not the same as being dominated outright. The charmer does not have license to do whatever they want to the charmed and can’t expect total obedience. It is also worth noting, the Charmed condition does not mean they have to like you. Threats are also a social tactic. Many DMs might also rule that Insight is a social ability check, making Charm effects a viable option if Zone of Truth or Truth Serum are not available.
Advantage on social ability checks and the inability of the charmed to attack means its best deployed before combat or when a party is attempting to stop a fight.
Many charm abilities build off the base of the Charmed effect and add additional riders and terms. For example, the Charm Person specifies that the spell fails if the Charmer or their friends attack the Charmed. Crafty players might hide their allegiances to one another and pretend to be strangers for an attack on a Charmed target without breaking the effect, assuming the DM agrees to the plan.
Why it matters to DMs: Breaking up the party with a Charm effect is not only interesting on a combat level but deeply challenging on a social level. Particularly interesting is when it happens in a social situation and suddenly one of the characters seems smitten and confused then acts in a way they never would before.
How do the other players react? If the group leader is agreeing with the enemy, how does the party behave? If the Barbarian refuses to attack a target and its rage expires, it’s suddenly a much easier target.
Many charm abilities build off the base of the Charmed effect and add additional riders and terms. For example, the Charm Person specifies that the spell fails if the Charmer or their friends attack the Charmed. Crafty players might hide their allegiances to one another and pretend to be strangers for an attack on a Charmed target without breaking the effect, assuming the DM agrees to the plan.
Why it matters to DMs: Breaking up the party with a Charm effect is not only interesting on a combat level but deeply challenging on a social level. Particularly interesting is when it happens in a social situation and suddenly one of the characters seems smitten and confused then acts in a way they never would before.
How do the other players react? If the group leader is agreeing with the enemy, how does the party behave? If the Barbarian refuses to attack a target and its rage expires, it’s suddenly a much easier target.
Type
Magical
Origin
Magical
