Day 4 Prompt: Charm
Week 1 Prompt: Intellect
Weekday Prompt: Full of Grace
Eagle eyed readers may notice that I didn’t change the prompt for the Day 4 entry in the RPGaDAY 2026 Challenge. The reason for this is that I’m writing these on the fly. When I saw the title “Charm”, the first thing that came into my head was the first-level Charm Person spell that always made me raise an eyebrow. First-level? It seemed like a powerful spell at this level, especially if it isn’t done right.
So I pulled out my books for Basic Fantasy, Castles and Crusades, Labyrinth Lord, Dungeon Crawl Classics and even the new Dungeons and Dragons 5.5 players handbook that I just recently obtained with a gift card. They were all variations on the same thing. The target thinks that the caster is a friend. As long as the caster or his party doesn’t attack them or do anything that wrongs them, then they can continue to be charmed with some options to make a save vs the spell effects. Perhaps the name of the spell is altered to avoid OGL license issues, but the process is similar.
I’ve never really cast this spell in all my years of gaming. I don’t recall ever seeing it cast. I asked one of my Geek Kids who has been in several D&D campaigns, and they hadn’t seen it used either. So it got me thinking, if this comes up in my current Castles and Crusades game, or at a one-shot at a convention, how would I handle this as a GM.
I think this is a perfect opportunity for role-playing instead of roll-playing. I’d rather have the table play more of the first than the later. I’d ask the caster how they are going to handle the charmed person. Take into account the current scenario involved (social, physical combat, bartering for goods and services?) and make adjustments to any saves vs affects from there.
Then there is the after affects. Once the spell has worn off or is resisted, how does the target(s) react? Will they know they’ve been charmed? Will they feel violated? Confused? Resentful? The response could make for an interesting roleplaying experience.
Every time there is a tactic that comes up in a magical universe like this, there is also defenses against them. Could shopkeepers, community leaders and other likely targets invest in rings, amulets or other worn items of defense against such spells? That would make for an interesting roleplaying event when a PC tries to be sneaky and suddenly finds out that the town sheriff doesn’t take too kindly to being targeted like this. And for every genuine magical item, hucksters could sell fake items that are promoted to assist with a charm resistance.
I wonder if that’s why this was a first-level spell. A good GM could see the opportunity to get some roleplaying going at the table?
What are your thoughts? Now that I’ve let my muse type this out, I think I’m glad I didn’t go with my initial idea of making a Wild West bordello with charming ladies. Still might, but not with this prompt.
Have you seen this spell in play at your table? How did it go? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
