this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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I seriously don't get what you are trying to accomplish with this awful combo and why it would require you to rebalance the encounter.
For reference:
A couple things stand out to me:
you are postponing your 8th and 9th level arcanum for a very shitty two-turns combo in a game where the vast majority of fights end by turn 3.
Hypnotic Gaze requires your wizard DC, but you dumped your INT because you are a Warlock. If you didn't, your stats probably suck.
Seriously, if you really, really want to thrall someone, just ask your resident fighter to deal a non-lethal blow when they defeat the enemy on turn 3 and use the thrall feature that way instead of... Whatever this thing is.
this combo is not broken and doesn't require you to rebalance your game in any way, shape or form. I'm in the camp of "I hate spellcasters because they break the game" and even I would not have a problem allowing this in my table. Your GOOchantment abomination could just take another level in warlock, learn Glibness and pass whatever mission-critical CHA check that way, or Dominate Monster if you want an actually useful charm effect mid-combat, or, I don't know, Feeblemind? Sure, this combo is technically reusable, but realistically, what monster are you fighting that's consistently failing a DC 14 WIS check at level 16? Like, is you really, really don't want your party to pull this off for whatever reason, just use a legendary resistance (or fudge the dice).
You mentioned using this combo for a villain? Warlocks also get Power Word Stun, and I doubt most of the party members have more than 150 HP at level 16. Again, combats in this game last 2-3 turns on average. Having your party member stunned for 1-2 turns immediately is better than having them charmed on turn 3. Or cast Maddening Darkness and turn everyone blind. Or pick literally any other spell in your arsenal. You are a level 16 warlock. This thing is barely passable for a level 3 midboss.
Now I feel like me and my friends are playing dnd wrong. Ending encounters in 3 turns is very rare for us. Usually they last like ~6 turns. Sometimes more, but 3 and less is extremely rare for us.
Sorry, I meant rounds, not turns.
Anyway, my figure comes from the DMG, which recommends three rounds as the average length of a fight. Your mileage may vary, but that's usually accurate in all the tables I've played in, and the few I have mastered as well.