Well, in that case the "the spell has no effect [...] if the command is directly harmful" portion comes into play.
Crap, I forgot about that. Err… I mean…. Self-harming could simply be interpreted like cutting. If hundreds of adolescents all over America can survive it every day, how “harmful” can it really be in D&D terms where things are measured in HP which doesn’t necessary represent any actual injury taken? (I’m not saying that self-harm isn’t bad IRL, but if the ‘80s taught us anything it’s that D&D≠IRL.)
Well, in that case the "the spell has no effect [...] if the command is directly harmful" portion comes into play.
Crap, I forgot about that. Err… I mean…. Self-harming could simply be interpreted like cutting. If hundreds of adolescents all over America can survive it every day, how “harmful” can it really be in D&D terms where things are measured in HP which doesn’t necessary represent any actual injury taken? (I’m not saying that self-harm isn’t bad IRL, but if the ‘80s taught us anything it’s that D&D≠IRL.)
If I was DM, they'd have an idle thought as they continued trying to kill you; this is a 1st level spell and all the given examples are physical actions; ergo, my read is that the spell is meant to cause physical actions. There's other spells that do what you're aiming for, trying to shoehorn it into this one is kinda bad form imo.
Well, in that case the "the spell has no effect [...] if the command is directly harmful" portion comes into play.
Crap, I forgot about that. Err… I mean…. Self-harming could simply be interpreted like cutting. If hundreds of adolescents all over America can survive it every day, how “harmful” can it really be in D&D terms where things are measured in HP which doesn’t necessary represent any actual injury taken? (I’m not saying that self-harm isn’t bad IRL, but if the ‘80s taught us anything it’s that D&D≠IRL.)
If I was DM, they'd have an idle thought as they continued trying to kill you; this is a 1st level spell and all the given examples are physical actions; ergo, my read is that the spell is meant to cause physical actions. There's other spells that do what you're aiming for, trying to shoehorn it into this one is kinda bad form imo.
Creative thinking of uses of command.
Sure, the straight command to “deconcentrate” is a bit of a stretch and could be interpreted in numerous ways, and might result in a moment of confusion, not really getting the job done.
But if I could get that train of thought to derail for second or two, possibly?
Imo "creative thinking" is not a positive with Enchantment spells like this; anything short of Dominate Person is by design supposed to give very limited and narrow function, and pushing for other effects by arguing semantics of wording is trying to make the spell more powerful than it is meant to be.
Why not just tell them to vomit? Vomiting IRL is a pretty intense activity. Gagging for 6 seconds would definitely disrupt the concentration of some people.
Another useful command is "strip" if they having clothing. They probably won't actually be able to take off much clothing in 1 round, but that's actually the point. A creature stuck in its own clothing on the round after trying to take of their armor or clothes in the middle of combat is basically like having the Restrained condition self-applied.
Tell them to write. They'll have to decipher whether you said write, right, rite, or wright, which might take them their whole turn and their concentration.
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Well, in that case the "the spell has no effect [...] if the command is directly harmful" portion comes into play.
Crap, I forgot about that.Err… I mean…. Self-harming could simply be interpreted like cutting. If hundreds of adolescents all over America can survive it every day, how “harmful” can it really be in D&D terms where things are measured in HP which doesn’t necessary represent any actual injury taken? (I’m not saying that self-harm isn’t bad IRL, but if the ‘80s taught us anything it’s that D&D≠IRL.)Not buyin’ it, are ya?
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What if I command them to “Daydream”?
what effect would that impart?
Not for a second.
If I was DM, they'd have an idle thought as they continued trying to kill you; this is a 1st level spell and all the given examples are physical actions; ergo, my read is that the spell is meant to cause physical actions. There's other spells that do what you're aiming for, trying to shoehorn it into this one is kinda bad form imo.
Creative thinking of uses of command.
Sure, the straight command to “deconcentrate” is a bit of a stretch and could be interpreted in numerous ways, and might result in a moment of confusion, not really getting the job done.
But if I could get that train of thought to derail for second or two, possibly?
just curious as to how others might see it.
Imo "creative thinking" is not a positive with Enchantment spells like this; anything short of Dominate Person is by design supposed to give very limited and narrow function, and pushing for other effects by arguing semantics of wording is trying to make the spell more powerful than it is meant to be.
Why not just tell them to vomit? Vomiting IRL is a pretty intense activity. Gagging for 6 seconds would definitely disrupt the concentration of some people.
Another useful command is "strip" if they having clothing. They probably won't actually be able to take off much clothing in 1 round, but that's actually the point. A creature stuck in its own clothing on the round after trying to take of their armor or clothes in the middle of combat is basically like having the Restrained condition self-applied.
Tell them to write. They'll have to decipher whether you said write, right, rite, or wright, which might take them their whole turn and their concentration.