I am running a sandbox.
...And, in a particular area of the world map, say, 200 miles square, a mage, or whatever (some potential foe), in that area, has in place an effect that at certain times causes all mammals and humanoids to drop everything they are doing and walk off in the direction of the mages' lair.
Just, up an leave with no care for their safety, as if hypnotized. Thereby bringing to the mage, lots of slaves, servants, food, whatever, (fill in diabolical plan here).
That, above, is the scenario I want to create, and I want it to be based on the rules. Want it to be legit if the players delve deep enough and find out how the mage did this thing. Want the PCs to have saving throws to work with.
My question is, What kinds of spells, or other trickery could cause this?
My initial thoughts are some sort of compulsion effect.
all feed back appreciated.
Jinki.
In Kingmaker, there's
Other than that, I don't think there's anything RAW that could really work for something that powerful.
In Kingmaker, there's
** spoiler omitted **
Other than that, I don't think there's anything RAW that could really work for something that powerful.
Interesting, that a one mile effect is so powerful, and when I think about it, it definitely is. So a 200 mile effect is crazy powerful.
Perhaps it is due to an artifact. Just thinking here... Just brain storming. Still looking for a legit reason. Your reference though is spot on.
Thanks for the reply Aestereal.
There's definitely no one spell/item/effect that could accomplish your goal. You need to think like a Wizard and get crafting:
Custom Magic item (using Magic Item Creation):
Suggestive Stake
Aura Moderate Ench; CL 11th
Slot None; Price 26800G; Weight 1lb
Description
This unassuming metal stake is made to be hammered into a tree. Once per day - when the sun hits high noon - the stake urges the nearest creatures to it to move to a pre-determined location, decided during the item's creation (Will DC 19). This is a mind-affecting, language-dependent, Compulsion effect, though animals are not subject to the language-dependent factor.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Mass Suggestion, Speak With Animals; Cost 13400G
I don't know if this Wizard has a time/gold budget, but given enough resources, he could fill the forest with these. The range on a CL 11th Mass Suggestion is 210', so if he wanted to hit literally the entire forest, he'd need an insane amount of them, but as long as this doesn't bother you, it's completely within the rules.
Edit: Fixed some math errors.
In line with what Cuup sugested, I'd go with magical traps.
You're only interested in a particular zone, so you don't need a magic object you can move around. As a side advantage, you're not generating treasure that might be problematic if your heroes used, or burdening them with hundreds of stakes townsfolk might not be interested on buying (and that you certainly shouldn't sell to anyone interested in buying).
Traps with really high percepcion DCs, and/or magic aura to conceal would cover the area, and a once per minute/hour save with a low DC might explain why the happenings are random: the efect is always on, but most animals/people save normaly. Only when they "roll a 1" or are specially stressed/vulnerable would the compulsion take hold.
This would also allow PCs, once they discover the mechanism, to disable some of the traps (if they have someone with trapfinding or dispelling capacities) and thus set safe zones to camp.
On a side note, whether you go with the traps route or not, if the compulsion efect has been afecting the area for a long time (say, 20 years or more), it would start to create an evolutionary pressure towards higher Will saves in local animals. Just a thought you might incorporate to make things seem more realistic.
As Aestereal suggested - PF AP #33, Kingmaker 3/6; The Varnhold Vanishing.
KM Spoiler
Plus you could repurpose the BBEG and his lair.
Some monsters can possess people, others can use Suggestion or other mind control. Maybe there's a pack of some such wandering the area and occasionally gathering up peope to go to the lair for some reason, and the mage has worked out a way to take advantage of it.
Maybe instead the mage has (ab)used lesser planar binding to get a pack of umbral shepherds and they're gathering people under his orders.
An occasional thing suggests to me that there is some undiscovered agent moving about and choosing to act. That'd be much logically simpler than an artifact whose effect covers 200 miles, and which works only intermittently.
Thanks everyone for your input. Really appreciate it.
You can use Sympathy as a base for some rule interactions.