Dollhouse Spells

[Lysander]

Have you watched any of the sci-fi show Dollhouse? Interesting concept. There's a machine that can wipe a person's personality, memories and knowledge clean, leaving them in an innocent childlike state. Then they can have a new mind imprinted. Here's my best attempt to recreate that:

Doll
Enchantment
Level: Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Target: One humanoid
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell utterly erases a person's memories, turning off all class abilities, feats and skills. Only the most general knowledge remains and the ability to speak their native tongue. Their hitdice remains the same. People who have been turned into a doll generally are pliant and have childlike innocence. Unless Imprint Doll is cast on them a doll will regain their abilities within 10d6 days, but remain an amnesiac otherwise. It is possible to cast Doll on a doll to erase their memories again.

Imprint Doll
Enchantment
Level: Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Target: One humanoid under the Doll enchantment
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You may implant whatever memories and personality you choose into the Doll, and reassign their class levels, feats, and skillpoints into whatever you choose. This can alter their hitpoints. The only thing you cannot alter is their stats, their physical appearance, and their alignment. If you imprint classes that use divine magic none of the doll's spells will work because that faith's God will not recognize them. Giving someone a mind grossly at odds with their alignment will result in a very conflicted person.

Casting Imprint Doll will permanently drain one level from the subject unless used to restore a person's original mind and abilities. Restoring someone's original mind with new abilities still incurs a lost level.

[Debihuman]

I think that creating a "doll" from a living subject would be similar to creating a golem, even though you aren't changing the physical aspect of the victim. I immediately thought of Alias from the Forgotten Realms novels though I'm not sure her stats were ever published in 3rd edition.

While I can appreciate a spell that has the effect of creating a doll, I also think that a such a spell might be too powerful. It has multiple effects: erasing a person's memories, personality, and abilities is a lot for a single spell. Furthermore, you may want to reconsider what is lost and what is not. For example, any skills, feats and special abilities gained from class(es) should be lost. However, racial abilities shouldn't be lost.

I think your casting time is too short for the effects of this spell. It should probably also have a hefty monetary cost as well.

BTW, duration should be Instantaneous not Permanent. This can't be dispelled and there is no need for the "magic" to linger while the spell is in effect. Also, a doll would revert to normal in an anti-magic field if the spell is permanent rather than instantaneous.

Debby

[Lapak]

I think your casting time is too short for the effects of this spell. It should probably also have a hefty monetary cost as well. It's about right for the source material, but the source material also requires a helpless subject and what amounts to a non-portable focus component. That might make for a decent compromise. EDIT: The focus would be really expensive, and subject to breakage.

BTW, duration should be Instantaneous not Permanent. This can't be dispelled and there is no need for the "magic" to linger while the spell is in effect. Also, a doll would revert to normal in an anti-magic field if the spell is permanent rather than instantaneous.

DebbyAgain, given the source material, this isn't inappropriate. Indicators are pretty strong that elements of the person who was erased are still there, despite appearances, and can be driven to the surface with the right stimulus.

EDIT: Actually, making the Doll spell instant and the Imprint spell Permanent would be even closer.[/edit]

My comment is on the level-drain mechanic. I can see the need to limit use of this spell, for sure, but it does break with your source; the point of having a Doll is to imprint them with different minds on a regular basis - permanent level drain would kill them in no time. I'd go with something else; possibly a moderate-DC will Save to avoid permanent insanity that attaches itself to any personality, including the original, with a substantial cumulative penalty for repeated casting. The penalty would fade after, oh, a week with no alterations.

Also, given what it does, I'd consider tossing the [Evil] descriptor on this thing.

[sigurd]

I think you need something similar to an enforced magic jar. The personality needs to be drained and kept from its rightful place. The vessel of imprisonment, or the shield against its returning, should be a weakness of the spell.

Perhaps in good voodoo fashion you imprison the personality in a fetch? If the fetch is destroyed it can return to its body.

To me, having a mechanical way of recovery would be a necessary balance for this sort of power.


Sigurd

[Stormthorn]

I think that creating a "doll" from a living subject would be similar to creating a golem, even though you aren't changing the physical aspect of the victim. I immediately thought of Alias from the Forgotten Realms novels though I'm not sure her stats were ever published in 3rd edition.

Debby

I have a version of the Azure Bonds that i used to think was a good example of bad fantasy cover art. Then i got to the bit in the book where she was forced into that outfit and i gained a whole new respect for cover art artists.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

This can be a single spell of 9th level, as Mindrape (BoVD) can accomplish everything these spells put together can, and more, as a single standard action.

[JoshuaZ]

This can be a single spell of 9th level, as Mindrape (BoVD) can accomplish everything these spells put together can, and more, as a single standard action.

Yes but Mindrape as written is hideously broken.

[Lysander]

My comment is on the level-drain mechanic. I can see the need to limit use of this spell, for sure, but it does break with your source; the point of having a Doll is to imprint them with different minds on a regular basis - permanent level drain would kill them in no time. I'd go with something else; possibly a moderate-DC will Save to avoid permanent insanity that attaches itself to any personality, including the original, with a substantial cumulative penalty for repeated casting. The penalty would fade after, oh, a week with no alterations.

There are some signs in the show that imprinting minds are subject to some flaws though, so the level drain is a way of showing that the new mind is weaker than before.

Dolls still earn experience and can gain levels. So if they lose one level and gain one level with each adventure they're sent on it maintains a status quo for them.

[TooManySecrets]

I think it might be best to just make this a magic item, rather than a spell. Spells are portable and sharable, magic items are not so much, especially if said magic item takes up a room (which the machine in Dollhouse seems to do).

The main question, however, is how much is this spell going to be part of the setting?

If it's only going to be used by the bad guys antagonists and it's a side thing, then there's no reason to write up anything. It's a plot device - it's does whatever you need it to, stops working when you need it to, and doesn't do what you don't want it to do.

However, if it's the main focus of the campaign and there's a chance the good guys protagonists are going to use it, then it needs to be detailed.

Now, the machine would need to:
~Be able to take a person's personality and skills
~Be able to put it back into multiple people
~Modify memories

I like Djinn's suggestion of basing it off of Mindrape. It allows you to modify a person's memories as you see fit and the machine seems to be able to do it. So, make it something like:

Doll Machine:
This machine can be used to remove a person's personality and skills and store it in personality crystal or imprint a person's personality and skills from a personality crystal into someone who is a doll.

It takes a DC 20 Spellcraft check to remove or imprint a personality crystal. A personality crystal contains everything about the person except for alignment. Failure results in some sort of breakdown, as determined by the DM. Appropriate breakdowns include damage to the machine, the personality breaking down at a critical and stressful junction, or random memories or skills being implanted.

Modification of a personality crystal is a difficult process. Removing memories and skills is far easier than adding them and adding skills and memories from one crystal to another is far easier than creating them from scratch.

With a DC 30 Spellcraft an operator can remove a memory of an amount of time equal to a third of the time spent working. For example, it takes 15 minutes to remove a 5 minute memory. It takes 3 days to completely remove a skill or add an effective negative level.

With a DC 37 Spellcraft an operator can move a memory from one personality crystal to another. It takes an amount of time equal to twice the time of the memory to move it. For example, it takes 2 hours to move a 1 hour memory from one crystal to another. It takes 2 days to move a skill or add a positive level [these things exist. Planar Handbook I think?]. It is usually suggested that "room" is made for these memories, otherwise bad things can happen.

It takes a DC 45 Spellcraft to fabricate a memory or skill from scratch and takes 5 times the amount of time or 5 days respectively. The operator must either have the skill themselves or have access to it somehow (from another person who helps or from appropriate books on the subject).

EDIT: Darn, I just had a bit of a better idea. It would still require an item to do it, but we already have rules that deal with creating something that can take a variable amount of time and can fail - CRAFT! So, you make up the DC and the "cost" for certain memories and skills, modifiers based on whether the skill or memory is available or other things like that.

Also rules for positive levels are on pg. 211 of MM3 (thank you very much, Pun-Pun). It could be limited by the highest level available (either operator or crystal) or it could just have no limit.

Also, I wanted to make a character based off of this, but in Shadowrun. Shadowrun has "bunraku" (puppets) though they're usually used solely for sexual stuff. I was going to make a person who knew who was a puppet and was continually self-modifying himself in terms of skills and personality. Very GitS-y.