Author Topic: [3.5] [Spell] "This never happened..." Secret Business spell series (P.E.A.C.H.)  (Read 1429 times)

Offline Draco Dei

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These are inspired by Modify Memory. And yes, the base spell has three footnotes, and a single sentence makes up ~95% of the importance of the main body its description.

Secret Business, Least
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 1, Bard 1, Blackguard 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: 1 willing creature*
Duration: 5 rounds/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will Negates (Willing Only)**
Spell Resistance: Yes (Willing Only)***
*Charm, Domination, torture, blackmail, etc still count, they just autopass on any saving throw attempted. Pro Tip: You can target yourself!
**The save only matters for stuff like "any spell that allows a will save"-type mechanics.
***So if the target has spell resistance, by R.A.W. it has a chance to stop the spell if the target doesn't take the action to drop their resistance.

When this spell ends by the duration expiring, or being dismissed (but NOT by Dispel-ing or other such means) the target forgets all that occurred while it was active.

Note that this does NOT cause a loss of levels, experience, skill ranks (except, at the GMs discretion, those that represent very secret knowledge), etc gained during the duration, just that the character can't remember he has those skills until they are in an appropriate situation to use the specific one, and can't remember how they learned them.

Explaination: The above paragraph is fairly pointless for THIS spell... slightly less so as you get into its higher-level sequels, and very important for the highest level spell in this series.

Also note that a given instance of this spell can't erase the memory of its own casting.


Secret Business, Lesser
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 2, Bard 2, Blackguard 2
Duration: 5 minutes/level (D)

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the increased duration.


Secret Unpleasantness
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 3, Bard 3, Blackgaurd 3
Target: 1 creature*
Duration: 10 minutes/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
*Note the removal of the word "willing".

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the changes in the header above.

Especially note that a given instance of this spell can't erase the memory of its own casting.


Secret Business
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 4, Bard 4, Blackguard 4
Duration: 1 day/level (D)

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the increased duration.


Secret Unpleasantness, Greater
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Bard 5
Target: 1 creature*
Duration: 2 days/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
*Note the removal of the word "willing".

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the changes in the header above.

Especially note that a given instance of this spell can't erase the memory of its own casting.


Secret Life
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 4 (self only), Bard 6, Blackgaurd 4 (self only)
Duration: Permanent (D)

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the increased duration and that the target may spend 1 minute to dismiss it as if they were the caster.



These are great for secret societies. Which makes them more likely to fit in with the villains than the heroes, but there is no reason a heroic character couldn't use them. They have use for doing interviews regarding crimes while keeping the course of investigation secret even from the most important of witnesses/suspects. I've seen something like the 6th level version of this in some fiction although that mind-wipe usually removes skills along with memories.

With the fact that most of them function very much like each other a bard character very focused on this sort of magic might end up using a lot of his "swap spells when leveling up" on this. Is that a bad thing?

Note that the duration increases are a smaller multiple for the ones that can work on an unwilling target. Should there be NO duration increase relative to the previous spell level for those two?

Are there any other changes I should make or implications I should be aware of?


Notes to self:
Add material component of one drink's worth of alcohol, but possibly change this to absinth or nepenthe specifically for the 9th level version? Maybe.
Add option for reversion via a command phrase or (as a drawback) Dispeling (add both if I do this, just that either one works in any specific case) to 2nd and higher level versions of Business, but NOT any version of Unpleasantness? Probably.
Explicitly state that Modify Memory can recover 5 minutes per casting.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2022, 04:43:27 PM by Draco Dei »
P.E.A.C.H. = Please Examine And Critique Honestly

Offline bhu

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So if I have this right, you cast the spell, and when the spells duration ends you (or whoever you cast it on) remembers nothing of the events that happened while the spell was in effect?  Is there a way for regaining these memories?

Offline Draco Dei

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So if I have this right, you cast the spell, and when the spells duration ends you (or whoever you cast it on) remembers nothing of the events that happened while the spell was in effect?
Well, as long as your definition of "duration ends" also includes "the spell is dismissed" then yes.
Is there a way for regaining these memories?
Well, as it stands, Modify Memory could probably get back 5 minutes worth per casting. I am thinking it shouldn't be easy to counter, but I should probably allow at least Wish and Miracle to by-pass it. What do you think?

Maybe have it vary as you go up the chain? Dispel Magic -> Break Enchantment/Greater Dispel Magic -> Limited Wish->Wish/Miracle. Probably keep it to stuff at least one or two spell levels higher than the specific memory-wiping spell in question? Or maybe select the levels so a Wizard would have to have a higher level to be able to cast the level of spell that can counter it than the minimum bard level to cast it in the first place?
« Last Edit: November 26, 2021, 11:41:11 PM by Draco Dei »
P.E.A.C.H. = Please Examine And Critique Honestly

Offline Draco Dei

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<Trying to delete due to accidentally quoting instead of modifying, but there doesn't seem to be an option for that...>
« Last Edit: November 26, 2021, 11:57:08 PM by Draco Dei »
P.E.A.C.H. = Please Examine And Critique Honestly

Offline bhu

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I'd allow some bypass as it makes the spell more versatile.  You can give an operative orders he doesn't remember, and then remove the spell when you need him to act on them.  That way you can make moles who can pass truth spells.

Offline Draco Dei

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I'd allow some bypass as it makes the spell more versatile.  You can give an operative orders he doesn't remember, and then remove the spell when you need him to act on them.  That way you can make moles who can pass truth spells.
Hmmm... what about making that an option at the time of casting, and perhaps only requiring a trigger-phrase rather than Dispel Magic or whatever?

Or maybe those should be a third sub-series of spells along with the Business/Unpleasantness split, in which case it would DEFINITELY be a trigger-word thing for convenience. What do you think?
« Last Edit: November 28, 2021, 02:19:48 AM by Draco Dei »
P.E.A.C.H. = Please Examine And Critique Honestly

Offline bhu

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making the trigger phrase a casting option works for me

Offline Nanshork

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Here I am reviewing the other thing you asked me to review

I think your ** and *** and (Willing Only) parts of the Saving Throw and Spell Resistance lines can be deleted.  Willing Only is already specified in the Target line, it doesn't need to be repeated.  I'd replace both of those with the standard "(harmless); see text" language from existing spells.

I'd also put the * target explanation stuff in the spell entry itself instead of having this non-standard (for official material) explanation material.  Also your Note and Especially Notes really break the flow of things for me and can easily be rewritten to not do that.  Also there's a lot of repeated information that really seems unnecessary.

Conceptually I don't see any issues with any of these and think that adding a trigger phrase sounds neat.

Something like this as a suggested rewrite (I've also added in the modify memory restrictions because that makes sense to me) (I didn't add any trigger phrase language):

Secret Business, Least (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 1, Bard 1, Blackguard 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: 1 willing creature
Duration: 5 rounds/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will Negates (harmless); see text
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless); see text

This spell can only be cast on willing targets (which includes the caster), but traditionally this willingness is obtained through charm spells, torture, blackmail, etc.  When this spell's duration expires or the spell is dismissed the target forgets everything that occurred during the duration of the spell (this does not occur for any other reason of the spell being removed from the target such as from being dispelled).  This memory erasing cannot negate charm, geas/quest, suggestion, or similar spells.  In addition, this spell cannot erase the memory of its own casting.

This cannot cause a loss of levels, experience points, skill ranks (except, at the GMs discretion, those that represent very secret knowledge), etc gained during the duration.  Instead, the character can't remember he has those skills until they are in an appropriate situation to use them and can't remember how they learned them.


Secret Business, Lesser (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 2, Bard 2, Blackguard 2
Duration: 5 minutes/level (D)

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the increased duration.


Secret Unpleasantness (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 3, Bard 3, Blackguard 3
Target: 1 creature
Duration: 10 minutes/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the removal of the willing target requirement and other changes in the header above.


Secret Business (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 4, Bard 4, Blackguard 4
Duration: 1 day/level (D)

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the increased duration.


Secret Unpleasantness, Greater (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Bard 5
Target: 1 creature
Duration: 2 days/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the removal of the willing target requirement and other changes in the header above.


Secret Life (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting]
Level: Assassin 4 (self only), Bard 6, Blackguard 4 (self only)
Duration: Permanent (D)

This spell functions like Secret Business, Least except for the increased duration and that the target may spend 1 minute to dismiss it as if they were the caster.