Effective Use of Geas in D&D

Salutations, nerds! Today we’re going to talk about geas and magical compulsion in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The way this spell is written and the way people typically tend to use it would have you believe the best purpose is setting someone to watch over an NPC you don’t want the Dungeon Master to attack or putting them under magical compulsion not to hurt you, but it was used very differently in folklore and that’s what I want to discuss tonight.

Cu Chulainn is an Irish mythological demigod who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx mythology.

Making your D&D fresh with geas

Of course no discussion of geas in folklore would be complete without talking about the great hero Cu Chulainn and actually the two geas he was under elegantly illustrates my point so buckle up because this is a fun one.

There are a lot of stories about Cu Chulainn and they are all interesting so I strongly advise going and checking this guy out because he’s an underrated story if one I’ve ever seen. That said he was bound by two geas. In the stories the definition of a geas is just a taboo. Something you either must do or must not do, under severe magical penalty.

The two Cu Chulainn was bound by dictated that he first of all had to take and eat any food offered to him by a woman. And the second was he could not eat dog meat in any form.

And I bet you can already imagine how that worked out for him.

In exchange for taking on these geas he was given great strength as long as he didn’t break their rules. Doesn’t it just sound like the kind of thing an archfey would do to a hero in a D&D campaign?

Yes, I know, the spell geas has a maximum duration of thirty days and the way it’s worded it isn’t used for this kind of long term bargain, however. That’s when mortal creatures cast it. Who’s to say it doesn’t work differently with ancient and wiley beings like greater fey? So let’s talk about how to run a geas on your PCs without the players feeling like you’re railroading them. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: When geas is you using a spell slot of 7th or 8th level, the duration is 1 year. And if it’s cast with a 9th level spell slot it lasts indefinitely!]

Give them something in exchange

Like the great hero Cu Chulainn, the subject of geas should be getting something out of the deal. Heck, even the biblical hero Samson got a massive buff to his strength provided he never cut his long hair. Now for whatever reason stories like this usually go for the might of a demigod or something like that. You aren’t obligated to go in this direction. The mythical being in your campaign might be offering something very different.

The ability to see in the dark is a good one, for example, especially if you have one single party member who chose to play a race without darkvision (not mentioning any names, Kenna). Anything a fairy might offer a child at a christening is fair game here. Grace, beauty, a quick wit. I mean bonuses to stats are nice and no player is ever going to be disappointed with those.

A vain character might be interested in the ability to never scar. The being might offer protection from mind probing like a ring of mind shielding.

Make the geas something in broad strokes

Like how Cu Chulainn wasn’t able to refuse food offered by a woman. When you put a geas on a character think of something that’s going to give them excellent role playing opportunities.

• To fulfill the geas, you must not refuse any challenge that starts with “I dare you.”
• To fulfill the geas, you must leave the last bite of everything you eat on a windowsill for the pixies.
• To fulfill the geas, you must answer the first question asked of you by any stranger with the bluntest of honesty.
• To fulfill the geas, every time rice is spilled in your presence you must count every grain before you may move on.
• To fulfill the geas, you may not enter another person’s home without an explicit invitation.

There are a lot of things you can use that could be inconvenient but fairly easy to get around if you’re clever. And using these as the price for something a character particularly wants or needs, so that they enter into it willingly, can be a fun twist.

Pick things you think your players are going to enjoy roleplaying. Pick things you will get joy out of watching them do and things they might be able to bend a little bit if need be.

It’s so much more interesting than “Guard this door for 30 days.”