unstoppable force vs. immovable object, Sprites vs. possession spirits Options

[augmentin]

Background:

Player has a great idea of a magical rigger. Sorta like taking this idea to the next level.
His plan? to be a spider without a control rig or even more than a disposable commlink. Also, no vehicle or B/R skills.
How? take a possession based tradition and use it to possess and then command drones. Use task spirits and spells to repair as needed.
I think it's kind of a cool thought and hope he uses it if for not other reason than to see it in play.
The other players think he's a retard and should just use a TM. Which prompted this discussion:


Questions:

What happens if a spirit attempts to possess a drone currently being controlled by a sprite?

By RAW (or close approximation), how would you resolve this?

[Draco18s]

Questions:

What happens if a spirit attempts to possess a drone currently being controlled by a sprite?

By RAW (or close approximation), how would you resolve this?

Given that spirits take control of a drone that a rigger is active rigging, I'd say that the same thing happens with a Sprite.

[Doc Chase]

I'm confused. Spirits can possess machines? o.O

[augmentin]

I'm confused. Spirits can possess machines? o.O

Yes, Sir!

Dead or Inanimate Vessels
If the vessel is inanimate or dead, the spir- it’s Force is added to any appropriate Physical ratings (at the gamemaster’s discretion). For instance, a corpse’s attributes would be appro- priate, as would a jar’s Barrier rating, or a vehi- cle’s Body, Armor, and Speed—though not it’s Handling. The spirit does not enhance any tech- or software-based statistics such as an object’s Device rating or a vehicle’s Pilot software. While the spirit may use all of its powers on the physi- cal plane through such a vessel, it may only animate it to perform actions the vessel could otherwise mechanically perform. For instance, a possessed gun would be able to fire or eject a clip, but would be unable to move by itself or access its smartgun functions. Likewise, a pos- sessed bright-red SAAB Fury would be able to drive itself, but not access GridLink, use a Pilot program, or target weapons with sensors. As a rule of thumb, spirits can control mechanical functions, and not those which require complex electronic, DNI, or wireless controls. Ultimately,it’s up to the gamemaster to rule what the spirit can control and what it can’t.
The combined entity uses its enhanced attri- butes (or simply the spirit’s if it lacks attributes) to calculate Initiative, and uses the spirit’s nor- mal Initiative Passes.

Basically, he thinks Kit would make a better ally spirit than a sprite or AI.

[RunnerPaul]

I'm confused. Spirits can possess machines? o.O

Yes. A machine counts as a inanimate vessel, specifically an object vessel for the purposes of using enchanting for vessel preparation.

Basically, he thinks Kit would make a better ally spirit than a sprite or AI.

Being pedantic here but if you're talking about the trans-am with the cylon headlight, it's K.I.T.T., not Kit. Knight Industries Two Thousand. I've seen it with the periods omitted, but the capitalization and the second 'T' are important to the name.

[Shinobi Killfist]

Yes. A machine counts as a inanimate vessel, specifically an object vessel for the purposes of using enchanting for vessel preparation.

True, I wish it weren't but true.

Being pedantic here but if you're talking about the trans-am with the cylon headlight, it's K.I.T.T., not Kit. Knight Industries Two Thousand. I've seen it with the periods omitted, but the capitalization and the second 'T' are important to the name.

Pedantic sure, but that was awesome pedantic.

[Dreadlord]

Being pedantic here but if you're talking about the trans-am with the cylon headlight, it's K.I.T.T., not Kit. Knight Industries Two Thousand. I've seen it with the periods omitted, but the capitalization and the second 'T' are important to the name.

Hm, makes me wonder if Wilton Knight (founder of FLAG and KITT's designer) was Damien Knight's father? o.O

[LurkerOutThere]

You realize that by doing this he gets absolutely nothing out of the deal for it being a drone other then the body and armor stat right? He might as well be ordering his spirits to posses furniture otherwise.

What would likely happen in this situation is the spirit takes control of the body, the sprite retains control of any tech portions.

[Aerospider]

I'd say the spirit wins since Resonance has no power over Magic, but Magic is expected to have power over everything else.

Resonance and Magic were never meant to meet, of course, so perhaps some dramatic reality-shift happens whenever the two mystical forces rub shoulders.

[da Loof]

I'd say that the spirit wins, if only because of the way they operate:

A sprite manipulates the software via tha matrix, while the spirit manifests inside the machine, inside the physical plane. It's like having one person remote control one of those little remote control cars, but the other guy [spirit] is physically there, moving the tires with his hands.

Another system that is equally feasible would be to take the Force of the Spirit or the Rating of the Sprite, whichever is higher, and say that one has control. If the spirit/sprite want to do different things with the drone, you could subtract the Force/Rating of the lesser from the dice pool of the drone.

[Yerameyahu]

This is the third+ thread about possession versus X. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) We should really nail this down someday.

[General Pax]

I'd say that the spirit wins, if only because of the way they operate:

A sprite manipulates the software via tha matrix, while the spirit manifests inside the machine, inside the physical plane. It's like having one person remote control one of those little remote control cars, but the other guy [spirit] is physically there, moving the tires with his hands.

This. The sprite is still just a rigger issuing commands and relying on the mechanics to interprit those commands. The spirit IS the vehicle and can ignore those commands with impunity. You could have an issue where a driver is piloting a vehicle through mechanical controls at which point it would be a contest of STR maybe??? But that wouldnt help in this scenario anyway since sprites are just programs and dont have a STR score. I guess they could rig a robot and then try to make the robot pilot the possessed mechanical vehicle but thats kind of dumb especially since purely mechanical vehicles are all practicly nonexistint.