Friends and Charm Person overpowered - 13/08/21 08:33 PM
I should say at first I really like the changes Larian did to how dice rolls work. The only reason I am still save scumming are rather frequent crashes (Stadia) but definetely not anymore because of dice rolls. However the new mechanic shows new balance issues that were not visible that clearly before. In this case mainly the spells "Friends" and "Charm Person":
"Friends" is a Cantrip, can be casted as much as you want and gives you Advantage on every Charisma Check which is huge. To balance that somewhat there is a downside in DnD5e rules:
"For the duration, you have advantage on all Charisma checks directed at one creature of your choice that isn’t hostile toward you. When the spell ends, the creature realizes that you used magic to influence its mood and becomes hostile toward you. A creature prone to violence might attack you. Another creature might seek retribution in other ways (at the DM’s discretion), depending on the nature of your interaction with it."
But the Larian interpretation of the "Friends" spell has practically no downside apart from the fact that you could choose another Cantrip instead of it. But honestly why would you if "Friends" is that damn strong? Like the spell description says it should be possible to let people prone to violence turn hostile (a bandit for example) and give you Disadvantage on all future Charisma Checks on that creature.
The next one is "Charm Person" which is a 1st level spell and again the Larian interpretation has no downside apart from the fact you could choose another spell instead of it. The fact that on some occasions you could even use it when the check has nothing to do with a person but is triggered by a dialog is obviously a bug (I think I encountered that on the dialogue with the tortured Liam).
But the real problem is the following: The rules say:
"You attempt to charm a humanoid you can see within range. It must make a Wisdom saving throw, and does so with advantage if you or your companions are fighting it. If it fails the saving throw, it is charmed by you until the spell ends or until you or your companions do anything harmful to it. The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance. When the spell ends, the creature knows it was charmed by you."
So it basically says the target must always make a Wisdom Check. But the Larian ingame spell interpretation is always successful. And like "Friends" after the end of the duration the charmed creature knows so I expect at least disadvantage during future checks with the creature.
As it is now "Friends" and "Charm Person" make every dialog Check where they can be used a piece of cake. DC 10 is almost always a win and even DC 20 is doable if you have proficiency, "Guidance", high attributes and/or Inspiration. And you should not forget these are early level spells. You won't use these spell slots much at later levels meaning you are going to use level 1 slots almost entirely for dialogues if it stays that broken.
"Friends" is a Cantrip, can be casted as much as you want and gives you Advantage on every Charisma Check which is huge. To balance that somewhat there is a downside in DnD5e rules:
"For the duration, you have advantage on all Charisma checks directed at one creature of your choice that isn’t hostile toward you. When the spell ends, the creature realizes that you used magic to influence its mood and becomes hostile toward you. A creature prone to violence might attack you. Another creature might seek retribution in other ways (at the DM’s discretion), depending on the nature of your interaction with it."
But the Larian interpretation of the "Friends" spell has practically no downside apart from the fact that you could choose another Cantrip instead of it. But honestly why would you if "Friends" is that damn strong? Like the spell description says it should be possible to let people prone to violence turn hostile (a bandit for example) and give you Disadvantage on all future Charisma Checks on that creature.
The next one is "Charm Person" which is a 1st level spell and again the Larian interpretation has no downside apart from the fact you could choose another spell instead of it. The fact that on some occasions you could even use it when the check has nothing to do with a person but is triggered by a dialog is obviously a bug (I think I encountered that on the dialogue with the tortured Liam).
But the real problem is the following: The rules say:
"You attempt to charm a humanoid you can see within range. It must make a Wisdom saving throw, and does so with advantage if you or your companions are fighting it. If it fails the saving throw, it is charmed by you until the spell ends or until you or your companions do anything harmful to it. The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance. When the spell ends, the creature knows it was charmed by you."
So it basically says the target must always make a Wisdom Check. But the Larian ingame spell interpretation is always successful. And like "Friends" after the end of the duration the charmed creature knows so I expect at least disadvantage during future checks with the creature.
As it is now "Friends" and "Charm Person" make every dialog Check where they can be used a piece of cake. DC 10 is almost always a win and even DC 20 is doable if you have proficiency, "Guidance", high attributes and/or Inspiration. And you should not forget these are early level spells. You won't use these spell slots much at later levels meaning you are going to use level 1 slots almost entirely for dialogues if it stays that broken.