Does Iron Flask work on player characters?

Question

Can you use an empty Iron Flask on a player character? Would the character be obligated to obey commands of all other players for 1h? There's no saving throw since they're on the same plane...

Anyway, let me know your thoughts please!

Answer 1

Iron Flask does nothing to creatures native to your current plane.

Iron Flask states:

If the target is native to a plane of existence other than the one you're on, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be trapped in the flask.

It doesn’t say anything about targets native to the plane, so it does nothing to native targets.

You should consider how your fellow player would feel about this.

If the player character you target is not native to the plane you’re on, then it can be affected by Iron Flask.

But you should consider how they will feel about this.

This has the potential to create a very no fun situation for the player who now is to obey your every command. I recommend against this.

Answer 2

Yes, but only if you're not on their native plane. The description says "If the target is native to a plane of existence other than the one you're on, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be trapped in the flask." If the target is native to the plane the item is used on, nothing happens, as evidenced by it not saying that anything happens.

Answer 3

The flask has no effect on most PCs while on the Material Plane

When you target a creature with the flask:

If the target is native to a plane of existence other than the one you're on, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be trapped in the flask.

This effect only happens for creatures not native to the current plane. No effect is specified for a target that is native to the plane of existence, which means that if you are on the Material Plane and target a creature native to the Material Plane, the flask has no effect. The vast majority of playable races are native to the Material Plane, so they generally cannot be trapped by the flask under normal circumstances. However, there are exceptions, such as Eladrin (mechanically a sub-race of elves), who are "native to the Feywild". An eladrin on the Material Plane can be affected by the flask.

However, if the party were to make an excursion to another plane, such as the Feywild, the PCs would indeed be vulnerable to the flask's effect while they are not on the Material Plane. Conversely, an Eladrin PC would be immune to the flask while on the Feywild, since it is their native plane.

It may even be beneficial for a PC to use the flask on another PC under some rare circumstances, since the requirement to obey another PC's orders might help override an enemy charm or mind control effect. This would obviously require quite a lot of trust, both in and out of character.

Answer 4

Yes, it can be used on Player Characters

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The Iron Flask allows you to target any 'creature that you can see within 60 ft of you'.

Player characters count as creatures, so you CAN target them in this way. They will, however, only be affected if they are not native to the current plane.

They will get a saving throw of DC 17 Wisdom.

Failing the saving throw will result in them being trapped in the flask.

When they are released, they will be obligated to obey the flask carrier's commands (not all other players) unless the command is likely to result in the character's death for 1 hour.