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Yes, Max, it seems we actually agree.  The spell Charm Person is not a bad thing.  Using it does not constitute a crime automatically (excepting societies that outlaw all magic).  But what you end up having the subject do might turn it into a crime.

In the same way, having a rediculously high intimidate and diplomacy skill isn't in and of itself a crime (though some might argue it should be).  But if you use them in bad ways (such as the type of extortion used by the mob), now you have entered criminal territory.

Jan 26, 2011 -- 5:11AM, scylis wrote:

/cast Charm Person
/e waves his hand in a non-threatening way.
/say Oh, don't worry, you can tell me. I'm quite the trustworthy fellow.

Spoiler: Show

Oh snap, I'm going to get burned at the stake when people see what I did there. I blame my "Dutch Courage Coffee" (London dry gin + Kalua + expresso).

lol, yeah, exactly. Now, if there are other unaffected close by observers with some savvy they might cotton to what is going on. The victim might even become suspicious if they're taken advantage of in a really obvious way. Asking a few questions? Nah. The victim simply doesn't think there's anything wrong with having told their nice friend a few useful tidbits.

Jan 26, 2011 -- 6:26AM, oxybe wrote:

Jan 26, 2011 -- 4:28AM, Foxface wrote:

Like, "Wow...he's pretty...oh, he's coming this way! ::giggle::twirl hair:: What did you say, stranger? Why yes, I did see something suspicious last night..."

does this mean you've renamed  "charm person" to "hellooooo ladies... :wink+gun"?

Depends.  I keep two versions memorized.

One is "Power Word: Howyooodoin," for use with the ladies.  "Leomund's Mystical Mentos Brandish" is what I use for convincing authority figures that my wacky hijinks are really okay, and I'm just a youthful prankster with a benign, if somewhat puckish, spirit.

"You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.)"
Apparently some people think this means that if you win a Charisma check, the subject will do anything you tell it to do.
If that is how your DM runs it they're being insanely generous.

I think it's more like this:
you go and Charm Person the bartender. Normally he's a tightwad with money. You tell him to give you all his money. There's no way he would do this. So he doesn't. You tell him to lend you a few gold. Normally he wouldn't do this, but if it's just a loan.. it's a stretch for him, but close enough you can make a Cha check. Succeeding, you get him to loan you some money. (And then skip town, cause you're really a thief, I guess.)

"An affected creature never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but it might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing."
I don't see this as any different than diplomacy. No you can't talk someone into committing suicide (unless they were otherwise inclined to it of course) but as I said before they'll at least listen to what you have to say. Perhaps you can convince them to join the militia and help make a stand against the incoming goblin raiders and defend their town. That's quite dangerous (since they're lowly NPCs not mighty heroes like you) but not outside the realm of convincing.