[RPG] Do charmed people realise they were charmed after the end of the spell

charmeddnd-3.5emind-controlpathfinder-1espells

If you cast charm or dominate person on a person in Pathfinder or D&D does the target know (s)he is being charmed? And if (s)he does, does (s)he know this during the effect or only after it?

Best Answer

Charm doesn't modify your target's memories. Nothing in the Enchantment school description, the Charm subschool description, or the [Mind-affecting] tag description, suggests that the target's memory is modified in any way on top of what the spell text describes.

However, there's also no rule saying that the target automatically recognizes what spell was cast on him. He would need to roll a Spellcraft check, for which he has three opportunities:

  • DC 16 when the spell is being cast
  • DC 26 right after the saving throw is made
  • DC 21 at any later time

Since the "sense enchantment" function of Sense Motive does not specify it cannot be used on yourself, the target could also attempt to roll that check for as long as he is charmed, which is a flat DC 25.

Of course, realizing that your best friend has charmed you is not going to change your attitude towards him. That guy, what a jokester! Always pulling tricks like that. Once the spell fades and his attitude towards you returns to normal, he might feel slightly less charitable - but only if he was able to identify that he was charmed in the first place.