Charming, ain't he?

[fable]

I was just wondering if anybody had purchased the spell Charm, and used it on a non-threatening NPC. I'm curious whether Charm has an effect similiar to (though more short-lived than) successful persuasion.

[Tackon D'wall]

My character needs it for sure but I haven't found it anywhere yet. It seems like it'd work that way since there's no use in trying to charm someone who's attacking you but I'm curious if you can use it for that also. So someone PLEASE post if you can or can't.
Fable and I will be u're bestest friends

[THE JAKER]

I saw a charm spell for sale, I think one of the people on the bottom floor of the mage guild has one, but it is incredibly expensive and costs a HUGE amount of magicka to cast.

Bummer. An alternative is to play an Imperial, they have a natural charm ability you can use once a day and get 30-50 points or something - works exactly like succesful persuasion and is very very very handy. I played an Imperial character first when I got the game, now I'm playing a Breton for the extra magicka, which is nice, but boy I sure miss that charm ability.

Note: using something to boost your personality helps in persuasion attempts.

[fable]

Yes, there *is* such a spell for sale from the Dummer in the bottom floor of the Balmora Mage Guild--I don't think it's a spoiler to mention this, since doing so gives nothing away; it's merely an item (a spell) for sale. It is also 2100+ drakes, with speechcraft as a minor skill. I bribed him successfully twice, but that only lowered the price to 1800, and currently I have 1100.

I think that Charm spell may well be worth it, if it actually functions by changing the way an NPC regards you out of combat. On the other hand, if it turns an enemy in battle into a friend, that would be nice, too; just not as nice, IMO.

[THE JAKER]

Well like I said that spell costs a lot of magicka to cast. I just loaded a save game where I had a character near there. The spell costs -get this- 225 magicka to cast

I don't understand why 30 points of charm is such a big deal, and I think to get 225 points of magicka to begin with you'd have to be 30th level archmage, drink a potion to fortify intelligence and have some magic items help or something.

I was getting very frustrated in my game with not being able to persuade people, so I invested about 2000 gold in training it up, and I made sure I got some big bonuses to Personality at level up, now I can persuade some people occasionally, which is a definite improvement. People's reaction numbers to you have quite a large effect on prices among many other things. Interesting - a game that actually makes you care what fictional people think of you.

[fable]

Originally posted by THE JAKER
Well like I said that spell costs a lot of magicka to cast. I just loaded a save game where I had a character near there. The spell costs -get this- 225 magicka to cast

I don't understand why 30 points of charm is such a big deal, and I think to get 225 points of magicka to begin with you'd have to be 30th level archmage, drink a potion to fortify intelligence and have some magic items help or something.

225 magicka, and a base cost of about 2100 drakes...? It's clear that although Bethsoft neglected to close the loops that allow unlimited mana reabsorption and enchanting development, they got this one. Yes, whether Charm acts in either of the two ways I've suggested above, it certainly has the potential to unbalance the game. Such a spell should be extremely costly, especiallly if it acts as a sort of magical bribe. Note, too, that at 225 magicka, you're not about to cast it on a subject more than once. Since personal attitude among NPCs is one major option to solving some quests (either that, or killing), I think I'll probably go with good old-fashioned bribery for now. My next character will have a primary skill in Speechcraft, however. I want to create a silver-tongued sneak thief and jack-of-all-trades, and put him/her in the Imperial Legion or Cult and House Redoran--after my mage finishes with the Magic Guild and house Hlaatu, that is.

[Zantax]

<y guy just hit level 5 and has 238 magika if I recall correctly. Breton born under Atronach. I'll buy it today and let ya know how it works.