The best spell to influence those surrounding you is a person of charm that can make a negotiation run much more easily.
It’s also good to aid your friend when they are caught by the town’s guardsmen for stealing from markets square.
These rules of Charm Person can be found inside the Players Handbook on page 221.
Charm Person 5e
Enchantment: 1st Level
Time for casting: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour
You try to attract a humanoid that you can spot within your range. It has to make a Wisdom saving throw, and it does it with an advantage if you or your friends fight it.
If it fails to make the save, then it will be attracted to you till the magic spell is over and until either you or the party take action that is harmful to it.
The creature that is charmed regards you as a kind and friendly friend. After the spell is over the creature realizes that it was attracted by you.
At higher levels, if you cast this spell with an enchanting slot that is 2nd or higher level, you can target an additional creature per slot level higher than the 1st.
The creatures should have a distance of 30 yards from one another to be targeted.
Rules for Charm Person describe it as a non-combat role-play-based spell. The target gets an advantage from the save, even if you or your friends fight it.
The charm is broken instantly if you or your party members hurt the person who is the target.
The most important aspect of the description of the spell is this the creature will know that it was attracted by your charm once the spell has ended.
Is Charm Person Good?
“Charm Person” is an enchantment spell that relies on saving and has the potential to be upcast to target humanoids who are not part of the group.
This spell places the target in the condition of being charmed. This makes the victim ineffective at securing the charmer from dangerous effects or fire.
It also gives the charmer advantages in interpersonal interactions that occur with his target.
Overall the charmer is a weak spell for the 1st class spell slot it’s pretty weak, however, it can be useful when used in the right context.
It is vital to be aware that if your target is injured by you or your friends, then the spell will end.
This is a challenge because, even though the target may be friendly to you, they may not take the time to assist colleagues.
The fey and the other creatures mentioned are either resistant to the charm’s effects, or they are extremely resistant.
It is important to keep this in mind when playing with creatures of the fey that are commonplace in your gaming world.
What happens when Charm Person fails?
There are some theories as to what happens if it comes to the Charm Person spell is not successful in a certain way, for example, the person who is targeted has made wisdom save, or is immune.
The theory that first comes to mind is founded on the idea of the spell not doing anything until the user makes the save.
If they can make the save, there is nothing to happen. It’s an empty spell slot and nothing more.
This could be the best method to deal with trying at enchanting a person who is invulnerable to the effects. Their minds are too strong to be susceptible to manipulation by magical powers.
Another hypothesis is that the spell takes effect, and the person who is affected resists it with their willpower to end it.
This would trigger the final part of the spell, which says, “when the spell is over, the creature will know that it was enthralled by you.”
This would be an issue depending on the circumstances. The target now has been made aware and may respond accordingly.
It all boils down to a rule of the house made by the DM. This is just one of the instances where rules become guidelines.
The consequences of a Charm Person falling short is a judgment decision, and the most crucial thing to keep in mind is the consistency of what does the best for the players will work on behalf of the DM.
Situations that make Charm Person
Charm Person can target specific humanoids specifically. This, depending on the circumstances, can make the spell extremely powerful or a bit weak.
When your person spends most of the time in cities and urban areas or dealing with a large number of humanoid races, this spell can be very effective.
However, if you’re dealing with mostly creatures while out and about in the wild, this spell could be very useless.
Common applications for Charm Person will be in civilized places.
A charm person could be used to obtain discounts at a retailer, convince the guard to let your friend leave, or do anything else that requires the use of persuasion or deception.
In essence, the Charm Person is a great tool for social interactions generally.
There are also a variety of humanoid and monstrous races, such as gnolls and goblins, lizardfolk, and kobolds, which could be targeted by the Charm person.
This could help avoid a confrontation entirely or acquire help from a guide, or in engaging the chief of the tribe.
Remember that when the time has expired the target will know they have been enthralled.
The “Charm Person” spell works on humans. The Charm Person spell targets creatures that are classified as humanoid according to the text.
The reason for this is to limit the effectiveness of the spell in comparison to more powerful spells like Charm Monster. The spell will fail when it is targeting an animal that isn’t humanoid.
When To Use Charm Person?
This spell works best as a roleplaying or non-combat spell to help convince one person.
If you try to use this spell in a fight, the target has the upper hand on the saving throw, and while it might be friendly to you, it might not be to your allies.
The spell will wear off in the end, but your enemy will probably still be your enemy at that point.
You can use the spell in battle, but there are so many things that could go wrong that it’s usually not worth it. It works best when used outside of combat to help with roleplaying and persuasion checks.
You could tell a guard to let your friend off the hook, talk a shopkeeper into lowering their prices, or trick a thief into leaving you alone.
At higher levels, you can charm more people for each level above the first. This means you might be able to get a group of people to do what you want or get a group of guards to help you.
Does Dispel Magic block charm?
Dispel Magic serves the purpose to cancel magic spells that are cast by a particular person or magical source.
The truth is that Dispel Magic can end the charm of the Person. As an aside, The Identify spell will show the existence of the magic spell.
A Dispel Magic spell cancels the charm person spell. The person may be doubly charmed; however, they cannot be cancelled out.
Natural abilities, like the charm of vampires, aren’t identical to spells and are not affected by Dispel Magic.
How To Defend Against Charm Person?
Obviously, if you learn a spell, one of your enemies can also learn it and use it against you. Charm person is a trick that demons, vampires, and other creatures can use to get past your defences and make you think they are your friends.
This can get you kicked out of the party, cause fights between party members, and make you say or do things that aren’t in the best interest of the party for your new “friend.”
So you’ll need to know how to protect yourself from it. When saving against being charmed, elves and Fey have an advantage, so it makes sense to play as one of these characters.
You can also try to make the saving throw as a character with a high wisdom score. Lastly, you can count on your friends. Getting hurt while charmed will break the effect, and your party might even want to beat the charm out of you!
Some classes and skills, like the Aura of Devotion from a Paladin or the countercharm spell from a Bard, can help you make a better save.
Also, some rare items do make people immune to being charmed, and it’s up to your DM to figure out how they get into the world.
The fact that it’s not mind control might be the best defence. You may need to talk to your DM out of character, but you can argue for limits and things that your character would never do.
So, you can still play the part of your character well. It might take some practise, but if you get charmed, you can still play your character and maybe even try on a different one for a while!
Final Words
The Charm Person is a great spell to get a good deal on gear for adventuring. However, as with the majority of illusion and enchantment spells, it’s dependent on circumstances.
If you are aware before you decide on your spells the game will center on espionage and politics is a wise option.
If the game will take you to unknown realms of the universe there’s a good chance you’ll locate something better.
FAQs
Can It Be Dispelled Before The Hour Is Up?
The effects of charming someone last for an hour or until the person is hurt enough to wake up from it. But there are other ways to get rid of charm and find out who has charmed someone. This is because a person doesn’t know they are charmed until the spell wears off.
With the identify spell, you can find out if someone is being charmed, and with the dispel magic spell, you can get rid of a charming spell. But magic that tries to get rid of charm can’t get rid of some natural charms, like a vampire’s. If that’s the case, you’d better hope you make good saves.
What Happens If Charm Person Fails?
If the target makes a successful wisdom check and the spell fails, most DMs have two options. The first is that if Charm Person fails, the spell never got a good hold on the mind of the target, and the action and spell slot were wasted. Other DMs say that the spell didn’t work because the target was actively trying to stop it, because they knew they were being charmed.
Let’s say you tried to make an orc like you. The spell doesn’t work because the orc fought it off, and according to the rules, the creature will know it was charmed by you when the spell ends. The orc would then know that you tried to charm it, since the spell technically ended when he fought it off. It’s a little hard to understand, and most DMs will make different decisions about the spell each time it comes up.
There will be a house rule for it, and depending on what side your DM comes down on, you might want to be careful about using the spell.
