Charm vs. Dominate vs. Fascinate: What does what in Co8?

Greetings, all!

I know Co8 changed how at least some of these Enchantments worked. Thus, in Co8 v8.1 NC with the latest T+, what should I expect to happen to a subject who's charmed? Fascinated? Dominated?

Thankee!

 

Charm turns the charmed creature friendly and adds them as a follower for the spell duration (ie. they switch from red to green and will follow the party around like a hireling would, but they are AI controlled and do not count towards your PC/NPC slot limit). You can have an unlimited number of 'persons' charmed, for as long as you have spell slots and the duration lasts. Getting hit by even the slightest friendly-fire splash effect turns them hostile again. There are so many enemies (and friendlies too, heh heh) that are susceptible to Charm Person in ToEE that it literally forms the core of your survival strategy. Look to use the bugbear commanders (the ones w/ maces and the spiked shields) as uber meat-shields.

Dominate adds the person as an active NPC, but requires a free NPC slot. You have access to all their inventory and full control as you would any normal NPC. The spell duration at that casting-level is about 10 game days, after which you need to re-dominate them if you want them to stay in the party. Te only way to get Dominate Person is to learn it on level-up, because afaik there is no scroll to be found anywhere in the entire adventure. See how to have fun with it here.

Fascinate acts like Hold Person/Monster for the spell duration. It is incredibly OP when combined w/ high Bard perform skill. Imo the Bard's Fascinate song is one of the most OP abilities in the game for neutralizing a tough enemy while you finish off their friends. With maxed-out Perform skill, Cloak of Charisma, Circlet of Persuasion and a Mandolin of Charming, the only time I have seen it fail was against Zuggtmoy or Iuz in the final boss battles! (Even so, the message window listed a "success" but I suspect the game is hard-coded to make the final bosses immune to Fascinate).

When the spell wears off, they immediately turn hostile again (if in the town/dungeon) or auto-leave your party and return to where you found them (if the spell wore-off while enroute on a road). You can sometimes use this to your advantage, as a charmed 'friendly' who is mad at you will 'forget' they are mad and simply go back to their start location if the spell wears off while on the road.

 

Thankee!