Rusalka and Quickened Charm Monster


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


Rusalkas have Quickened Charm Monster as a 3/day SLA. Very cool, but...I wonder what application one could use this for, as opposed to not being Quickened. I mean, Charm Monster is a Standard action, so if you're Quickening it, you must be in combat, right? But...

Charm Person/Monster wrote:
If the creature is currently being threatened or attacked by you or your allies, however, it receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw.

A +5 to the save is pretty steep. Unless she was either very confident, or very desperate, why would a Rusalka bother? This is obviously an out-of-combat spell first. Strangely enough, though, Rusalkas don't get Charm Monster as a standard SLA (NOT Quickened). So, if she wants to charm somebody, it HAS to be Quickened.

I'm just curious if I'm missing something here. Is there an obvious element I'm overlooking? It just seems like such a waste of a Quickened SLA. I guess having At Will Charm Monster is a bit...much, so I understand why that's not available. But it's just - why QUICKENED? Honestly, I'd rather have 3/day Extended Charm Monster than Quickened. Or Reach, or Bouncing, or Threnodic to fit her Undead flavor. Quickened seems like such an odd choice.


Well if I had to make a guess, quickened charm lets it charm people that are currently enraptured by Beckoning Call. Since its a standard to maintain Call, Quickened allows it to get some more long term flunkies if it drags in more than one person.

That said, it really should have basic Charm at will since it's an awful waste if it only manages to snatch one person with Call.


Hmm I didn’t think of combining it with Beckoning Call. That’s probably exactly what Quickened Charm Monster was put there for! Can anyone else think of an application for Quickened CM?


It could work nicely for discrete enchantment when combined with their at-will invisibility. A rusalka could invisibly sneak up on a well-protected target, hit them with a swift action charm monster, and still have time to renew their invisibility and dart away before being spotted.

Oh, and for what it's worth, being quickened also means using the SLA doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity.

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