Bind Subordinate

3rd-level Compliance & Risk

Casting Time: 1 action, cast the moment a direct report’s name appears on an internal transfer or promotion list
Range/Area: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a business justification for why this creature “can’t be spared right now”)
Duration: Until the caster is no longer the target’s manager, by any means
Classes: Manager, Director, VP

You ward one direct report against a specific change to their employment — an internal transfer, a promotion to a different team, an external offer they were prepared to accept. The target must succeed on a Tenure saving throw or the change is blocked, typically through a delay, a “just one more quarter,” or a counter-offer that resolves nothing about the original reason they wanted to leave.

This spell functions identically whether the caster genuinely believes the block serves the target’s interest or is simply reluctant to lose a good headcount line; the spell cannot distinguish between the two, and neither, usually, can the target.

At Higher Levels. When cast using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you may cast this spell on an entire team at once, preemptively blocking any transfer or promotion attempt for the duration without needing to react to a specific triggering event.

Flavor: “I hear you, and I promise we’ll revisit this next cycle — I just really need you through this next launch.” — 1:1, eighteen months and four “next launches” ago