Potential uses for the spell hynoptism

[Question]

Similar to charm person, but you can actually cast it infront of someone and not have them go "hey look, that guy is casting a spell on me! Guards!" (still have not managed to find a use for charm person without taking multiple feats and jumping through hoops...).

Ive had this spell for a while but never found a real good opportunity to use it...any ideas? We have never had to go around bribing guards or anything like that.

[Question]

Uh, nothing?

[Zwordsman]

I dunno.. but I heard of someone casting it to cast charm person/dominate.

It lists offensive spells casting as making them wary but they convinced them first that they were adding them protection

[ryric]

It really depends. In a "kick in the door and stab the bad guys" type game it's of limited utility. In a more political/story driven/roleplay oriented campaign it has more use. It can let a caster be "sneaky" without actually being stealthy. It can help you get into someplace you're not supposed to be, and help you if you're caught while there. It can help you by having patsies do your illegal actions themselves as post-hypnotic suggestions.

I once had a character make great use of the spell. My in combat job was "go cry in the corner." My out of combat job was "fix all our problems."

[Question]

Can you please explain how to use it out of combat?

Our party once hired a guide, and right after one of our party members pissed him off and the guide doubled his price.

Would that have been a good time to use it to convince him to accept the original price along with an apology?

I was hesistant because i didnt know what would happen if he had passed his will save...one way that diplomacy is superior : you fail the check, you dont piss someone off.

[ryric]

It is risky that someone will make the save. I tended to use it on low-level NPCs - "hey serving girl, ~mind zap~, what room is the ambassador staying in?" that sort of thing. Using it out of combat and only on one person is the best way, and it makes indiffernet people helpful for one request. I used it to make srevants hide incriminating evidence in people's rooms, to stop a greedy person from running into a burning building for his valuables, to make thugs tell me where their boss is, and so forth.

Hypnotism probably would have worked on the guide, if he failed his save. Of course, the risk you take is that he makes the save and is now even more pissed.

Diplomacy can piss people off- fail the check by more than 5.