Page 1494 — Paladin, Paladout
11th Feb 2021, 6:00 AM in A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2

This is probably worth a disclaimer: Unless discussed as a possibility in advance, weakening your players like this is not a good idea. It's not fun to be rendered essentially useless, even as a way to create dramatic vulnerability.

I know it's hard to believe, but Friendship is Dragons is not a How-To guide of best practices for D&D. This is a story where the characters ultimately have more fun than not with a very unusual campaign despite their worst impulses getting in the way.

Shining Armor: Oh no… It's all… going wrong… Should've realized something was off… Should've listened to Twilight…
Princess Cadance: It's alright, Shining. Of all the things we were worried about, nopony could have predicted this.
Rainbow Dash: So that's Step 1 of Twilight's plan complete, right?
Twilight Sparkle: Yep!
Fluttershy: I'm glad we went with this. It feels right.
Pinkie Pie: Heeheehee! The Queen's in trouble now!
DM: Chrysalis comes back in and notices Shining Armor is free. She seems more amused than anything.
Queen Chrysalis: How's it going, "husband?" How does it feel to be completely and utterly conquered? To have your own love turned against you?
Shining Armor: Wow, *rude.* So, out-of-character, how am I doing power-wise? I'm a bit weakened from the hypnosis, right?
DM: Oh, more than "a bit." Your powers are almost completely drained. To put that in game terms: You're bloodied, you're out of healing surges, and your Encounter and Daily powers are all used up.
Shining Armor: Well that sucks.