Suggestion Spell — Enchantment Guide

A spell of honeyed words, quiet pressure, and one reasonable idea placed where it should not belong.

Suggestion is one of the most dangerous social enchantments because it does not feel like domination. It does not seize the body, erase memory, or turn the victim into a mindless servant. It gives the target a course of action that sounds reasonable enough to become their own next decision.

The spell is strongest when the caster understands what the target already fears, wants, believes, or is responsible for. A guard may be convinced that fetching the captain is safer than blocking the passage. A courtier may decide that delivering a sealed letter is wiser than opening it. A mercenary may conclude that collecting unpaid wages matters more than dying for a patron who has already lied to him.

This makes Suggestion a spell of doors, witnesses, messengers, courts, patrols, and betrayals. It rarely needs to win a battle outright. One redirected servant, one delayed alarm, one opened gate, or one “sensible” command obeyed at the wrong moment can change an entire adventure.

Quick Rules Reference

• Spell role: Social enchantment, misdirection, infiltration, and nonviolent control.
• Core effect: The caster suggests a reasonable course of activity to one creature.
• Best wording: A sentence or two that sounds plausible from the target’s point of view.
• Primary defence: The target resists with mental willpower.
• Major limits: The target must understand the suggestion; obviously harmful commands fail.
• Duration logic: The effect lasts until the suggestion is completed or the spell expires.
• Best targets: Guards, servants, messengers, witnesses, courtiers, minor officials, scouts, rivals, and undecided enemies.
• Table warning: Decide whether the suggestion sounds reasonable before resolving resistance.

Mechanics

DM Ruling Framework: The Three Tests of Suggestion

This is the section that keeps Suggestion from becoming either useless or abusive. When the spell causes a dispute at the table, use these three tests before resolving the outcome.

1. The Reasonableness Test

Could the target explain the action afterward without sounding completely insane?

The suggestion does not have to be true. It does not have to be wise. It does not even have to be in the target’s long-term interest. But it must make sense from the target’s immediate point of view.

A guard leaving their post because “there are assassins in the kitchen” can be reasonable. A guard leaving their post because “you feel like abandoning your oath” probably is not.

2. The Harm Test

Would the suggested action obviously damage, doom, disgrace, betray, or permanently ruin the target from their own point of view?

If the answer is yes, the spell should fail. A target cannot usually be made to leap from a tower, stab themselves, confess to a crime that guarantees execution, hand over their life’s savings for no reason, or betray a beloved child.

Risk is not the same as obvious harm. A soldier may be suggested into carrying a warning through a dangerous street. A priest may be suggested into entering a crypt to inspect a desecration. A nervous servant may be suggested into hiding incriminating papers before the search begins. These are risky, but they are still actions a person might rationally choose.

3. The Scope Test

Is this one coherent course of activity, or is the caster trying to smuggle in open-ended control?

A valid suggestion can have steps if they form one clear task: “Take this letter to the captain, wait for his reply, and return by the north stairs.”

An invalid suggestion tries to become a new personality, standing order, or blank cheque: “Obey everything I say,” “Act as my spy forever,” or “Help us whenever we need it.”

Fast Table Ruling

If the suggestion passes all three tests, resolve the spell normally.

If it clearly fails one test, the spell fails.

If it sits on the border, allow the saving throw but adjust the outcome through circumstance: advantage/disadvantage in 5.5e-style play if your table uses it, or the original –1/–2 “very reasonable” penalty in Pathfinder / 3.5e-style play when the suggestion strongly fits the target’s motives.

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Adjudicating Reasonable Suggestions

The central question is not “Does this help the caster?” The real question is: could the target explain this action afterward without sounding completely insane?

A good suggestion gives the target a reason. The reason may be false, manipulative, exaggerated, or incomplete, but it must be something the target could plausibly accept in the moment.

Strong Suggestions

• “Take this sealed message directly to your captain; it concerns a threat to the gate.”
• “Escort us to the archive so we can verify the tax writ before anyone is embarrassed.”
• “You should leave now and warn your patron before your rivals act without you.”
• “The safest place for the prisoner is the inner room until the magistrate arrives.”
• “When the bell rings, open the side door and let the physician in.”

Weak or Invalid Suggestions

• “Kill yourself.”
• “Give me all your treasure for no reason.”
• “Attack your beloved child.”
• “Stand still while we murder you.”
• “Confess to treason in public when you know execution will follow.”

Borderline Suggestions

Borderline suggestions depend on the target, the scene, and the wording.

“Drop your weapon and surrender” may be unreasonable for a fanatical bodyguard defending a ruler, but reasonable for a wounded mercenary surrounded by enemies.

“Open the vault” may fail if the target knows execution awaits them for doing so, but may work if the caster frames it as an emergency inspection, royal order, or protective measure.

“Leave your post” is weak by itself. “Leave your post and warn the captain that assassins are using the kitchens” is much stronger.

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Common Abuses That Should Fail

“Obey everything I say.”

This fails the Scope Test. It is not a single course of activity. It is an attempt to turn Suggestion into domination.

“Tell me all your secrets.”

This is usually too broad. A narrower version may work if framed properly: “Tell the magistrate what you saw before your enemies blame you first.”

“Give me everything you own.”

This usually fails the Reasonableness Test and may fail the Harm Test. A more plausible version might be: “Pay the toll now so the patrol does not search the wagon.”

“Attack your closest ally.”

This usually fails unless the scene already supports the idea that the ally is an immediate threat, traitor, impostor, or danger to someone the target values.

“Forget this happened.”

This fails because Suggestion does not rewrite memory. Use memory-altering magic for that.

“Act normally while betraying your entire life.”

This is too broad and too psychologically extreme. A specific action may be possible; a complete hidden reversal of identity, loyalty, and judgement is not.

“Walk into prison and stay there.”

This usually fails if the target understands it as imprisonment. It may work if framed as temporary safety: “Wait in the secure room until the captain arrives; the corridors may be compromised.”

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Works, Fails, or Depends

“Bring me the key.”

Depends. This may work on a servant told to bring the steward’s key for an inspection. It probably fails on a jailer who knows the key secures a condemned prisoner and that handing it over means treason.

“Open the gate.”

Depends. It may work if framed as allowing in the physician, tax official, returning patrol, or plague inspector. It should fail if the target clearly sees enemy troops waiting outside.

“Run away.”

Depends. It may work on a wounded mercenary or frightened scout. It may fail on a sworn bodyguard defending their child, ruler, or sacred charge.

“Attack him; he is the traitor.”

Depends. It may work if the target already distrusts the alleged traitor or the scene supports the accusation. It should fail if the claim is absurd, unsupported, or aimed at someone the target would never willingly harm.

“Confess.”

Usually fails. A bare confession is rarely reasonable if it ruins the target. Better wording is: “Give your account privately now, before someone else blames you first.”

“Come with me.”

Depends. It may work if the caster offers safety, authority, urgency, or a believable reason. It is weak if it is just a stranger asking the target to follow them into danger.

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Consent, Memory, and Aftermath

Suggestion is especially dangerous because the target may experience the action as their own decision. That does not make the consent clean. In-world, this spell is coercive magic even when the victim can explain their behaviour afterward.

A target may remember the caster speaking, remember the suggested idea, and remember carrying it out. The spell does not automatically reveal itself, but it also does not erase evidence. Witnesses, repeated strange behaviour, magical examination, or the target’s own later doubt may expose what happened.

The aftermath should depend on status and setting. Enchanting a tavern porter may lead to anger, shame, or local trouble. Enchanting a sworn witness, royal officer, guild treasurer, temple judge, hostage guard, or ambassador may become a legal crisis.

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Why This Spell Is Dangerous in the World

Suggestion threatens the trust that holds courts, guilds, armies, temples, and households together. It does not need to enslave a ruler for a year. One persuaded courier, one delayed guard, one redirected witness, or one opened gate can be enough.

A society that knows this spell exists cannot treat every strange decision as ordinary foolishness. Important courts may require repeated testimony, ritual confirmation, trusted scribes, counter-enchantment, waiting periods, or multiple witnesses before major decisions are accepted.

The spell is morally ugly because it hides coercion inside apparent consent. Victims may remember agreeing. They may even defend the action afterward because the suggestion was crafted to sound like their own judgement.

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Best Uses in Play

Infiltration

Use Suggestion to move people rather than remove them. A guard who fetches the captain, escorts the party to the wrong room, or checks a false alarm creates a cleaner scene than a dead body in a corridor.

Intrigue

The spell is excellent for controlling timing. Delay a witness, separate a courtier from allies, redirect a messenger, or make a minor official choose the “safe” bureaucratic option at exactly the wrong moment.

Combat

In battle, Suggestion works best against intelligent enemies with duties beyond killing the party. Tell a captain to secure the hostage, a priest to protect the relic, a scout to warn the rear guard, or a mercenary to collect payment before dying for someone else’s cause.

Investigation

A careful caster can make suspects reveal priorities without forcing direct confession. “Bring me the proof of your crime” is usually too blunt. “Secure the documents most likely to embarrass your house before the search begins” can create a useful trail.

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Common Table Questions

Can Suggestion force a target to tell the truth?

Not directly. “Tell me the truth about the murder” is often too blunt unless the scene makes confession feel reasonable. A stronger suggestion is: “Give your account privately now, before someone else blames you first.”

Can Suggestion make someone give away treasure?

Only if the act sounds reasonable. “Give me your gold” is weak. “Pay the toll now so the patrol does not search the wagon” may work if the situation supports it.

Can the caster give multiple instructions?

Only if they form one coherent course of activity. “Take this letter to the captain, wait for his reply, and return by the north stairs” is acceptable. A long chain of unrelated commands is not.

Does the target know it was enchanted?

The spell itself does not necessarily announce that fact. However, the target may become suspicious afterward, especially if the action was out of character, witnessed, or harmful to their interests.

Can the target be made to attack allies?

Usually only in narrow circumstances. “Your ally is a traitor; strike before he kills the prince” may work if the scene supports that suspicion. “Attack your best friend because I said so” should fail.

Can Suggestion make a target ignore obvious danger?

Only if the danger can be plausibly reframed. A target will not calmly step into visible lava. A target might cross a dangerous courtyard if told that the gate is about to close and reinforcements are needed now.

Can Suggestion make someone commit a crime?

Sometimes. Theft, forgery, trespass, or dereliction of duty may be possible if the action sounds reasonable in the moment. Murder, treason, self-destruction, or permanent ruin should usually fail unless the target already has a believable reason to consider it.

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Good Combinations

• Disguise Self: Makes the suggestion easier to believe when the caster appears to be an officer, messenger, servant, physician, priest, or other expected authority.
• Detect Thoughts: Helps the caster discover what the target fears, wants, or already suspects, allowing the suggestion to sound more reasonable.
• Silence: Useful after the spell has already been cast, especially when the party needs to prevent shouted warnings. It cannot replace the spoken suggestion itself.

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Failure, Risk, and Misuse

A failed Suggestion can be socially explosive. The target may not know exactly what happened, but a suspicious guard, noble, priest, or wizard may understand that the caster tried something unnatural.

In lawful spaces, attempted magical coercion may be treated as assault, fraud, treason, witchcraft, oath-breaking, evidence-tampering, or unlawful interference depending on the victim and setting. Using the spell on a warehouse guard is one thing. Using it on a sworn witness, royal heir, temple judge, guildmaster, ambassador, or military commander can create consequences far beyond the scene.

This spell should open doors, create pressure, and reward clever phrasing. It should not replace every social encounter with one saving throw.

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Adventure and Worldbuilding Hooks

The Honeyed Witness

A key witness insists she chose to withdraw her accusation freely. The court believes her. Her family does not. The party must prove whether she was enchanted, persuaded, bribed, frightened, or simply lying.

The Gate That Opened

A city gate was opened during a night raid, but the guard responsible swears he was acting on a reasonable warning about plague carts outside the wall. The truth may reveal an enemy enchanter, a corrupt captain, or a real emergency exploited by magic.

The King’s Sensible Order

A ruler makes a disastrous but superficially reasonable decision after a private conversation. No one can prove coercion, and accusing the wrong courtier of enchantment may start a civil conflict.

Historical, Mythic, and Artistic Context

Henry John Stock’s Influences is a strong visual companion for Suggestion because it externalises pressure on the mind: persuasion, temptation, invisible authority, and half-conscious obedience. Bonhams identifies Influences as an oil on canvas signed and dated 1905, measuring 110.5 × 143.8 cm.

Stock was a British artist who lived from 1853 to 1930. The British Museum identifies him as a painter and draughtsman and notes that his visionary subject matter was inspired by William Blake.

For this spell page, Influences should not be treated as a literal depiction of magic. It is more useful as symbolic context: the mind surrounded by forces it may not recognise as external.

• Bonhams: Henry John Stock, Influences
• British Museum: Henry John Stock