Dominate person

[Jay R]

The D&D answer is clear, and has been clear for nearly two weeks. And the complete, true answer is this:

Some DMs would rule it one way, some DMs would rule it the other way. And both would point to the rulebook to justify their decision.

Nobody will ever convince everyone that the command was "obviously self destructive", because many people believe that it was not. Nobody will ever convince everyone that the command was not "obviously self destructive", because many people believe that it was.

The DM will make the final ruling, and this discussion shows that different DMs will rule this one differently.

That has always been, and will always be, part of D&D as actually played.

[b_jonas]

I too think that Belkar jumping overboard was only a minor inconvenience and humiliation for him. Belkar has a ring of jumping +20, and both Belkar and Durkon knows how well Belkar can jump with it. Belkar simply jumps overboard but makes sure he gets caught in the giant spear, then in a few turns he'll pull himself up and jump or climb from the spear to the ship. Thus, the command is not self-destructive and the spell allows it.

Durkon didn't intend to kill Belkar (immediately) with the order either, he just wanted to warn or threaten Belkar to make him stop.

[Mike Havran]

Durkula commanded Belkar only to jump overboard, not ''jump overboard and be jubilant about it''. The grin and wheee part was all Belkar, so in his state he was perfectly fine with the command.