Pathfinder 1E How do you keep spellcasting slaves from casting spells?

[BuckyLastard]

I'm running a mixed level game (2nd & 3rd), and am just about to capture the party to sell into slavery. But how do I insure that the Cleric & Sorcerer, don't cast any spells, short of cutting out their tongues? (Which would really suck for those characters, but I'm not above doing that). Just looking for some input, any thoughts?

 

[knottyprof]

Magical manacles or collars that negate connection to arcane or divine energies would be the easiest and most humane way of doing that and then still give them opportunity to try and circumvent or remove when they get the chance. There is no official magical item that does this but your world/your rules.

 

[N'raac]

Short of mage maiming, and assuming no magical abilities of the slavers, I suspect they'd be tied and gagged in transport. They will likely have used some spells resisting capture - preventing them regaining spells seems the likely focus.

For the Sorcerer, simply don't allow him uninterrupted rest. Every " interruption adds 1 hour to the total amount of time he has to rest in order to clear his mind, and he must have at least 1 hour of uninterrupted rest immediately prior to preparing his spells", so make sure he's awakened every couple of hours and worked for over 12 hours a day, or just wake him in the early morning and put him to immediate hard labour so he never has that hour right before spell prep.

The Cleric is tougher, depending on how you interpret " If some event prevents a character from praying at the proper time, she must do so as soon as possible. If the character does not stop to pray for spells at the first opportunity, she must wait until the next day to prepare spells." Is any action taken by the slavers automatic "prevention", or can they disrupt the process? Note that the Cleric needs a full hour in prayer to regain spells. All the guards have to do is prevent that prayer. I would not allow the cleric to quietly pray, still and unnoticed, curled up as if in sleep (assuming the deity is not one of secrecy or some such). Keeping the cleric shackled and gagged when not under direct observation should also prevent regaining spells.

Of course, they would logically also remove divine focuses and spell component pouches, which restricts the spells which could be cast if they were available, at least for the cleric.

When the players argue against the effectiveness of these measures, the phrase "So if you needed to escort a captured spellcaster" may be helpful...

 

[foscadh]

Well a device incorporating a variant of this might work:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advanced/spells/wallOfSuppression.html#_wall-of-suppression-

As a GM if some group got in the habit of trying to prevent clerics from praying to their deity I would check periodically to see if they gained the attention of said deity(s). The higher the level the cleric and the more often it was done the more likely I would think.

 

[am181d]

Any plotline that involves "enslaving" the PCs smacks of railroading and doesn't sound like it will be fun for the players. I would advise against.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

There's a few adventures that start that way. Hopefully not for long!

Take away their spellbooks, if they have any.
Take away their components, if they have any.
Tie up their hands.
Gag them.
Deny them rest. although at this point there's little reason to keep them as slaves.

Keeping magically-powered slaves is usually more trouble than it's worth. You can give them magical shackles, but those are expensive, and they might get loose. It's smarter to execute them instead. It's also not a good idea to leave them in the same room as previous pickpockets, tough mercenaries, and the like.

 

[Crothian]

Any plotline that involves "enslaving" the PCs smacks of railroading and doesn't sound like it will be fun for the players. I would advise against.

It's only railroading if they have no choice and it was impossible to not be enslaved. Having PCs enslaved is not a bad thing for the game and can be a lot of fun when done correctly.

Aside from taking away spell books and symbols also have the guards make sure the PCs never get a full nights rest and are never able to recover their spells. That way even if a spellcaster is able to cast something they will quickly find the spells they have available to cast slowly dwindling away.

 

[knottyprof]

For spells with material components -- deny them their components/holy symbols, etc.
For spells with somatic components, binding would work or something that at least offers an arcane failure chance.
For verbal components gagging would be the best humane solution (or maybe for a more magically inclined slaver a device that prohibits speech or garbles it making casting useless).

Or better yet, provide an example to slaves that try and cast spells like removing hands, cutting out tongues, or death. The examples should be of the non-player type initially and should be painfully obvious why the slave was punished and that any attempt at casting will be dealt with in a similar manner.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

- Imprison them in an anti-magic field.
- Make them work for an hour every four hours, to prevent getting enough rest.
- Cut a couple of fingers off each hand -- not enough to prevent them from working, but enough to prevent the use of somatic components. Or break their arms and fingers with a hammer, if you want something more easily reversible. Then stick them in a long-duration silence spell.

 

[N'raac]

Deny them rest. although at this point there's little reason to keep them as slaves.

Outside the cleric, rest denial seems easiest. How long will your slaves be sleeping every day? If you work them 14 hours a day, that's 10 hours to eat and sleep. The sorcerer needs 8 hours rest, plus 15 minutes to focus and concentrate on his spells right after an hour's uninterrupted sleep. An interrupted sleep? Add one hour for each interruption. So, if I ensure that the slave quarters get rousted every two or three hours, and get the slaves moving as soon as they awaken (no sitting there concentrating), all I have left to worry about are the Divine Casters.

They need an hour of prayer. Easy enough to prevent that. [MENTION=8391]foscadh[/MENTION], If the deities are going to look in on Clerics being denied the time to pray and regain spells, why don't they take any affront when their clerics are killed? How many PC groups kill off high priests of evil deities?