Okay, so we all know Magic users have to be targeting their enemies to cast spells, but if that target fails its Will save, other than the Spell succeeding, what bonuses does your character actually get?
It's hard to work out whether someone would be aware of the fact you charmed them with a charm spell, because if they've failed their Will save, in character they might have just thought you were being friendly.
Comparing this game to reality; If you manipulate someone in real life, they won't necessarily be aware of being used or played with. They might consider you to be their friend even if you have other intentions.
So, how would you go about determining whether or not your target would be aware of the fact you cast a spell on them or not? How would you know if the target remembers what you've done or cast on them? I'm thinking if they fail their Will save, maybe the spell would be so powerful that they lose memory of even meeting your character. I just don't know how this would work in game.
Compulsion spells are more likely to wipe memories by logic as they're mind-effecting, but I wanted to bring this up as it's been bothering me and I've been wondering if anyone else has ever thought of such things.
Going in on a sneak mission, geas'ing the guards to cause distractions and then doing as you please without them having any memory of what you've done would be great to roleplay, but I don't know if it's possible.
For target spells liked charm person the caster knows if the victim failed or not.
Succeeding on a Saving Throw: A creature that successfully saves against a spell that has no obvious physical effects feels a hostile force or a tingle, but cannot deduce the exact nature of the attack. Likewise, if a creature's saving throw succeeds against a spell, you sense that the spell has failed. You do not sense when creatures succeed on saves against effect and area spells.
So, even if you walked directly up to someone and say, as a Bard you decided to cast Lesser Geas on them and tell them to do something directly to their face, if they failed a Will save would they not still be aware of the fact you manipulated them, or would their memory go fuzzy due to them not remembering what had happened?
It's hard to tell I feel, without analysing the effects of every Spell.
I'm pretty sure if you cast Murderous Command on someone, they'd know you told them to kill their team mate, but they wouldn't be too sure of why they decided to pay attention to you instead of their own given orders from those they serve.
I guess the question is, can successful Spells wipe the memory of those the Spell/s was/were cast on?
I guess you'd have to factor in how badly they failed their save. If they rolled a 1, they wouldn't be aware of anything or have any memory what so ever. I dunno how you'd determine this.