RAW physical adepts are awful., Some possible solutions, including inhabited adepts. Options

[Laodicea]

Long time lurker, second time poster.

The problem

The problem is that physical adepts just suck under RAW. I'm sure that there's been many posts here with houserules on how to fix it. I wanted to post this here because I've been using it for some time and it's always worked well for me.

You can argue that the game isn't supposed to be balanced, magicians are in every way supposed to be better than physical adepts. It's ok with me if you want to run your game like that, I personally do not.

The following is a list of reasons why physical adepts suck:

1. Qualities in SR4 steal a physical adepts thunder. Many of the adept powers can simply be taken as positive qualities instead, and its cheaper, some examples: Exceptional Attribute(20BP, or 2 magic points for an adept) and Astral Sight(5bp, or 1 magic point for an adept)

2. Physical adepts severely lack variety in adept powers. There's only 68 adept powers total in the core books, and most of them are rather useless. 19 in SR4 core manual. 43 in Street Magic. 6 in Digital Grimoire.
Street Magic alone has 73 unique spells, and that's only if you don't count the different ranges possible as different spells.(Touch, LOS, Area) There's many more spells in the SR4 core manual and Digitial Grimoire that I haven't bothered counting. I'm guessing it's roughly double this number.

3. Attributes are more easily and cheaply bought via Wares than they are with adept powers.

You can argue that physical adepts fill unique niches in the shadowrun team, that no one else could fill. You'd be wrong, for the most part.
Physical adept roles:

1. cyber-adept. The physical adept power is cheap to take, and worth taking exclusively to raise your firearms skill. Other than that, this archetype is basically a street samurai with more growth potential than other street samuria, because he can raise his magic attribute in-game via initiation. This is kind of horrible RP.

2. stealth adept. Physical adepts can be quite good stealthers, however, a magician with the right spells, skills, and foci can serve in this role more than twice as effectively.

3. face. The face of a shadowrun team. Takes care of the social interactions. A physical adept can fill this role probably better than anyone else. A magician could do it rather well with the right spells, and no morals about getting inside someone elses head. But a physical adept will fall into this role quite nicely.

4. mystic adepts. This isn't even a pure physical adept. Most mystic adepts will take 4-5 points in adept powers, and purchase a force 3-4 power foci to make up for the magic loss. This, along with sustaining foci to keep the mystic adept buffed with things like increased reflexes, are used to make some pretty powerful characters. If your GM actually lets you overcast, this character is a god. The actual adept powers that this character takes only account for a small portion of this characters massive power. Mystic adepts, in my opinion, should be forced to take aspected magic so that they lose effectiveness for some spells/abilities. But that's a whole other topic.

The first role isn't really a physical adept in my mind, just a twink. The second role is superseded by magicians. The fourth role isn't even a physical adept, and what adept powers it does take are actually rather secondary to its massive magic/foci/conjuring power. Leaving only the third role for a physical adept to excel in. Basically, physical adepts are powerful as long as they're magicians or street samurai. It's a bit like saying the most beautiful parts of Kansas are in Missouri.

Possible Solutions:
There are many ways of solving this problem.

1. Introducing more adept powers. Perhaps stealing straight from the critter powers & spirit powers list. You can make some fun and interesting characters doing this. It adds a lot of variety and flavor. It's cool to have an unarmed adept with energy aura(this too can be done by a mystic adept.)

2. Unwared adepts: Making adept powers cost half their RAW value on the condition that the adept remain un-enhanced by Wares

3. A combination of 1 & 2, depending on what kind of power level your campaign is facing.

4. Inhabited adepts. The rest of this post concerns this interesting option.


Inhabited adepts. These are adepts who, for whatever reason, have invited a spirit to inhabit them. There are many reasons this could happen. The spirit could have been a free spirit who fell in love with the adept. The spirit could have been summoned by a magician and forced to inhabit the adept, and once the services of the spirit were used, the spirit was freed, but cannot uninhabit the adept. There are many possibilities, but it's important that the player choose a specific one for their character for roleplay reasons. This kind of inhabitation could happen to a mundane, but the mundane would have to be prepared as a vessel, whereas a willing adept is automatically a prepared vessel. This could also happen to a magician, but most magicians would be reluctant to do it because they would lose any ability to conjure. There are two main types of inhabited adepts, hybrids and flesh forms(see SM. 100 sidebar). All of this could be done in-game, according to the rules, by a magician with the desire to do so. The GM might force the inhabited character to become an NPC, or he might allow him to continue playing as the inhabited adept. These rules govern the creation of an inhabited adept at character generation, rather than in-game.

Hybrid form inhabited adept:
A hybrid forms physical appearance is very obviously not that of a normal metahuman. They take on traits of the spirit inhabiting them. It may be similar to a shamanic mask. It could even go as far as glowing eyes, or traits that appear metagenic in nature such as feathers.
A hybrid form merge enhances the hosts physical attributes by the spirits Force. The spirit retains the hosts natural abilities, including magical powers and SURGE qualities. A hybrid form may not have Wares because their physiology has been drastically altered by the merge. Any Wares the Adept had before the Merge should be rendered in-operable and moot. Hybrid forms will also be very difficult to perform any medical work on. Apply a -6 dice pool to any attempt at mundane medicine on a Hybrid form. A hybrid form may posses only the spirits skills, therefore they may not take technical, matrix, firearms, driving, or technical BR skills. A hybrid form automatically takes the computer illiterate negative quality, but does not receive bonus points for it. A hybrid form retains only a few memories of the adepts past life, and may not suffer from multiple personalities. He may however suffer from flashbacks. hybrid forms may not take the Realistic form power.

Flesh form inhabited adept:
A flesh form looks completely and realistically metahuman. People will mistake them for a regular person unless they are astrally perceiving.
a flesh form does not recieve bonuses to its physical attributes for the spirits force. It can however retain all knowledge and skills of the adept. It may therefore take any technical, matrix, firearms, driving, or technical BR skill. The spirit retains the hosts natural abilities, including magical powers, SURGE, and Wares. Unlike a hybrid form, a flesh form may have active Wares at character creation, and even have new Wares installed in-game. Flesh forms automatically get the Realistic Form power.

Misc. Rules governing all inhabited adepts:
An inhabited adept may not use any skills or abilities related to conjuring. They may posses conjuring knowledge skills, as the adepts previous life may have involved conjuring.
all inhabited forms posses the Immunity to Normal weapons power(SR288), for the mechanics purposes, this power uses the inhabited adepts Spirit Force to determine the amount of hardened armor gained, not their magic attribute.
they receive Immunity to Age.
they may use and bond any type of magic foci except conjuring related foci.
they are continuously dual natured, but do not recieve a penalty for perceiving the way that metahumans do.
they may not have a resonance attribute.
they are immune to diseases that are not magical in nature.
as an inhabited form, you cannot be banished.
the Magician power is prohibited to take as a spirit power. those wishing to be magicians may take it as a magical positive quality, as anyone else.
manawarps/voids will affect the inhabited adepts spirit force attribute as well as magic attribute, simultaneously. The same goes for mana-barriers that the character is forced through. Be careful where you tread....
the inhabited adept may take and use the counterspelling skill even if they do not have the magician quality, as long as they have the Guard spirit power.

creating an inhabited adept:
The inhabitation costs 100 build points, +10 per attribute point of Spirit Force that you wish to have, with the first point being free. Treat Spirit Force as an additional attribute, along side your Magic attribute. For the Karma build system, the inhabitation costs 140 karma points, + karma points for raising your Spirit Force attribute.

Inhabited adepts can be any metavariant available. They will retain some racial characteristics & bonuses/minuses regardless of whether they are a Hybrid Form or a Flesh Form.

Inhabited adepts may not have an infection of any type. Treat the inhabitation as a sort of infection for build point purposes.

Inhabited characters must take whatever magic they wish to posses as a positive quality, just as normal characters. In the case of mystic adepts, this will mean splitting your magic attribute between adept powers and spell power, as normal. the spirit force attribute is separate.

Spirit Force:
The inhabited adept has an additional attribute that other archetypes lack. The attribute is Spirit Force. Spirit Force determines several things. For hybrids, it determines the bonus to physical attributes, so that 1 spirit force = 1 bonus point for every physical attribute. Spirit force also determines the number of spirit powers that the inhabited adept may posses(See RC page 92 sidebar for a list of possible powers and costs). Spirit force may be allowed to exceed the magic rating of the inhabited person, as even mundanes can be inhabited. Spirit force is used to calculate the force of any spirit powers used. The natural maximum for Spirit Force is 6, it may be increased through initiation.

spirit force and Wares:
Spirit force is directly impacted by the installation of cyber/bio/nano ware. treat Spirit force as you would adept power points when losing essence. Spirit Force and adept power points are lost simultaneously. For example, if a character has 6 magic(6 power points) and 4 spirit force, and installed 3 essence worth of Wares, they will have 3 magic(3 power points) and 1 spirit force remaining. this mechanic begins operating at character creation and continues in-game.

when creating the inhabited adept, treat him as 1 character and not 2. You must pick a magic tradition and spirit type for the spirit to come from, but the spirit doesn't come default with skills or powers other than those already mentioned.

qualities:
An inhabited adept may take almost any quality, negative or positive. This includes most magic qualities, cyber/bio qualities, metagenic, and matrix qualities. It is suggested that they hybrid form inhabited adept not take any technical or matrix qualities. They may even have a mentor spirit, or the spirit bane quality. They may not posses qualities that make magic have problems touching them such as murkey link or astral hazing. they may not enter into a spirit pact of any kind.

Qualities recommended for inhabited adepts for good role playing:
spirit bane
spirit affinity
multiple personalities(flesh form)
flash backs (hybrid form)
glamour
nasty vibe
gremlins

Concerning traditions:
The character should more strongly follow the spirits magic tradition than it follows the physical adepts Way. The character is essentially a free spirit, possibly with more baggage from its hosts past life than other kinds of free spirits.

inhabited adepts, initiation, and metamagic:
Inhabited adepts may initiate at the same cost as magicians or adepts. They may join a magic group and have ordeals. When initiating, an inhabited adept may choose to increase his Spirit Force attribute by 1 point, or increase his Magic attribute by 1 point. He may also choose any metamagic not related to conjuring. If the inhabited adept does not posses the magician or mystic adept quality, he may not choose any metamagic related to spellcasting or drain.

Famous inhabited adepts:
The man knelt down in the middle of the pentagram, naked to the waist. Sculpted muscles tensed and relaxed rhythmically with the chanting of low voices in the chamber. Long dark hair lay flat on his pale skin. Pointed ears cut a swath through the hair like a stone in a river. Second Sight revealed more. A blinding white light so brilliant and pure, a less educated man might think him a god or an angel. Five hooded figures stood at each point of the pentagram. A voice rang out, clear and high "Do you, Riven, willingly make this sacrifice, that your very spirit will be destroyed in service to your kin?" A low, loud, and clear bass replied "I do." The lines of the pentagram, etched into the stone floor, caught fire. A wall of flame now confined Riven to the inner circle of the pentagram. Behind the wall of flame, none could see the Balor Lord materialize in front of Riven. "We bind you together! Fire & Flesh!" The Balor reaches out and clasps hands with Riven. A terrible cry of agony escapes Rivens lips. Tears streaming down his face, muscles spasming, he smells his own burning flesh and feels his very spirit being torn asunder. He thinks one final thought of his mother. The screaming stops, he stands alone in the cirlce, the Balor gone. Smoke rises from his body, the fire of the pentagram exhausted. The hooded figures do not recognize him. His hair, once long, dark, flowing, is now brilliant orange. It reaches upward as flame does. His eyes, once emerald green, now brilliant red. His skin, once pale, now charred black. His aura burns so brightly it hurts to look upon. Waves of heat crash over the conjurors who created this being. "Mighty Flesh and Unquenchable Flame, bound together in you. You have become our weapon against the plague of Insects that would destroy all humanity!" Dead silence for a moment, then a low rumbling sound that shakes the chamber, followed by a loud hiss "yyyyeesssssssss"


The demon hunter Riven was an elven physical adept living in chicago around 2064, the time of the insect spirit war. A group of powerful conjurors, desperate for any means by which to beat the insect spirits, requested that Riven invite a fire spirit to inhabit him. Riven agreed. With the help of the conjurors, a Greater Fire Lord was forced to inhabit Riven. What resulted was a hybrid form inhabited adept. Riven was a potent physical adept to begin with, more than three times as powerful as your average physical adept. When the spirit inhabited him, it more than doubled his already dazzling power. Riven is rumored to still be alive today, despite the nuclear explosion that caused the end of that war. There's currently 10 movies and hundreds of books about his adventures, most of them pure fiction.

[Critias]

On the one hand, I respect that you took the time to think (and write) out an argument, and I'm glad you've obviously put some thought and effort into it. What's more, possession is a new twist on a way to fix the problem, so kudos for that.

On the other hand, I think you're terribly, fundamentally, wrong about adepts sucking, being awful, being worse than anyone else, etc, etc, etc. So...well...yeah. Good argument method, flawed core argument. Sorry you think they don't work. Have a good one.

[Deadmannumberone]

Long time lurker, second time poster.

The problem

The Physical Adept fills the combat role the same way a Technomancer fills the hacker role. Poorly at first, but once he gains experience with his abilities (spends karma) he starts to exceed anything else on the streets.

[Laodicea]

The Physical Adept fills the combat role the same way a Technomancer fills the hacker role. Poorly at first, but once he gains experience with his abilities (spends karma) he starts to exceed anything else on the streets.

On the one hand, I respect that you took the time to think (and write) out an argument, and I'm glad you've obviously put some thought and effort into it. What's more, possession is a new twist on a way to fix the problem, so kudos for that.

On the other hand, I think you're terribly, fundamentally, wrong about adepts sucking, being awful, being worse than anyone else, etc, etc, etc. So...well...yeah. Good argument method, flawed core argument. Sorry you think they don't work. Have a good one.

You can say this as long as you're ready to entirely ignore the problem of Adepts who take Wares. I have already acknowledged that they are better than a mundane street-samurai. The problem is that they're not really a physical adept. They're an awakened chrome-boy.

This post has been edited by Laodicea: Jun 23 2010, 11:33 PM

[Nifft]

The Physical Adept fills the combat role the same way a Technomancer fills the hacker role. Poorly at first, but once he gains experience with his abilities (spends karma) he starts to exceed anything else on the streets.

Yeah. It's kind of like how the Bioware Sammy differs from the Cyberware Sammy. The Bioware guy is harder to get off the ground -- synaptic boosters 2 costs a hell of a lot more ¥ than wired reflexes 2 -- but he has a lot more room to expand, due to low Essence costs. He's stealthier -- no cheap way to scan for bioware, so he can walk into a lot more places.

Adepts are like that, but even more so.

[Critias]

You're free to (a) assume I'm talking about 'ware-enhanced Adepts, which I'm not, and (b) have a perspective that this is a class-based game where someone's either an Adept or a Street Samurai, which I also disagree with.

I've made my share of pure Adepts. I've made my share of Adepts that take the shortcut and take some chrome. I've made my share of brick-mundane razorboys, I've had a long-running gunbunny Awaken into an Adept mid-game...I've got experience with both sides of this equation, and I just plain think you're wrong in your core premise (that of Adepts sucking). Sorry.

If you're as long-time a lurker as you claim, you should know by now that "mundane vs. magic" and "adept vs. sammie" and on and on and on is about as long-running an argument around here as, well, Shadowrun itself. It's not going to get settled in this thread by folks going tit-for-tat at each other, and, in fact, it likely will never get settled. One suggestion I'd make is to check out the Anniversary edition of SR4's core book, where several Adept powers did get their costs reduced (straight up initiative enhancements being chief among them); maybe that will help balance things better in your opinion.

And so, once again, I think you're incorrect and I hope you have a good day. Kudos on an imaginative new "fix" to the problem, and if it works at your gaming table, great.

[Laodicea]

Yeah. It's kind of like how the Bioware Sammy differs from the Cyberware Sammy. The Bioware guy is harder to get off the ground -- synaptic boosters 2 costs a hell of a lot more ¥ than wired reflexes 2 -- but he has a lot more room to expand, due to low Essence costs. He's stealthier -- no cheap way to scan for bioware, so he can walk into a lot more places.

Adepts are like that, but even more so.

A physical adept is easier to spot than a Bioware sammy, to anyone with astral perception.

[Laodicea]

If you're as long-time a lurker as you claim, you should know by now that "mundane vs. magic" and "adept vs. sammie" and on and on and on is about as long-running an argument around here as, well, Shadowrun itself. It's not going to get settled in this thread by folks going tit-for-tat at each other, and, in fact, it likely will never get settled. One suggestion I'd make is to check out the Anniversary edition of SR4's core book, where several Adept powers did get their costs reduced (straight up initiative enhancements being chief among them); maybe that will help balance things better in your opinion

I wasn't expecting to settle the argument. It's just my solution. I like it. I'm willing to defend it to a certain extent. It's not perfect.

No one has yet pointed out and glaring flaws that would make me reconsider the entire thing. That's what I'm looking for. That's why I posted here. Objectively prove to me that I'm wrong. I would love to see it. Tell me there's more adept powers than spells. Tell me you can easily boost core abilities with adept powers better than with Wares.

This post has been edited by Laodicea: Jun 23 2010, 11:47 PM

[Nifft]

A physical adept is easier to spot than a Bioware sammy, to anyone with astral perception.

Assensing is how you find both Bioware and Adepts.

Of course, if your world has Awakened, Assensing dudes working low-rank security gigs as rent-a-cops, our 6th worlds differ rather significantly.

[tete]

First off, the role of an Adept is Spirit Killer. Adepts IMHO since 2e have always been slow to start with insane power at the end. Remember unlike almost everything else in 4e Magic has no cap, so its possible with enough karma to buy... well everything as an Adept. Also Adepts are simply awesome against magical threats. Street Sam vs Adept against drone the Sam has the edge, Street Sam vs Adept against a Spirit the Adept has the edge (assuming the Adept bought the right powers). The gap may be a bit wider between starting Adepts and Street Sams with 4e but it was always there. Trying to put Street Sam and Adept at the same starting level would be fine if you cap Magic to. Then the difference becomes flavor much like the 4e Mage and Shaman.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

A physical adept is easier to spot than a Bioware sammy, to anyone with astral perception.

Unless, Of Course, the Adept has the Masking Metamagic... at which point he looks exactly like a mundane...

Keep the Faith

[Laodicea]

First off, the role of an Adept is Spirit Killer.

Physical adepts are awful spirit killers.
See this very relevant thread: http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=31717
tldr: the spirit or projecting mage can kite forever in astral form and the adept can never touch them.

[Laodicea]

Unless, Of Course, the Adept has the Masking Metamagic... at which point he looks exactly like a mundane...

as long as he succeeds in an opposed test against the mages assensing + magic vs his intuition + magic.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Physical adepts are awful spirit killers.
See this very relevant thread: http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=31717
tldr: the spirit or projecting mage can kite forever in astral form and the adept can never touch them.

Ahhhh... who said the Adept was attacking into the Astral? That would be stupid... If a Spirit wants to affect the Real World (and Mages Too, for that matter) he has to be on the physical plane, where they are very easy to attack by anyone, it is just that Adepts are are usually a lot better at it than mundanes are, if built for that aspect anyways...

As long as he succeeds in an opposed test against the mages assensing + magic vs his intuition + magic

You got it all wrong... this is an Active task that must be attempted (An Assensing Test), and is in no way reflexive... if they are not looking, then they will NEVER penetrate it.

Keep the Faith

[Shinobi Killfist]

The Physical Adept fills the combat role the same way a Technomancer fills the hacker role. Poorly at first, but once he gains experience with his abilities (spends karma) he starts to exceed anything else on the streets.

the idea that he starts to exceed anything on the streets is off to me. He can get what 3 more dice, and what else? There are some areas they can rock, dodging with combat sense, unarmed combat and thrown weapons but end of the day a street sam will usually be as good if not better in most combat fields. Yeah many hundreds of karma in the adept is a powerhouse, but a cyber monster will be as well assuming he is getting paid decently. So certain fields they exceed anything on the streets, but a lot of other fields only at absurd karma levels and only by a small margin.

For the general topic. While I don't have a major problem with adepts, though I do think an wide range of powers cost too much SR4A did not go far enough. But still there are not terrible broken. And I do not have a problem with cyber/adepts existing I do think SR4 went way to far in making it the best option for adepts. They seem to have given up on the idea that magical types want to avoid ware, which I think is a pity.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

1. Qualities in SR4 steal a physical adepts thunder. Many of the adept powers can simply be taken as positive qualities instead, and its cheaper, some examples: Exceptional Attribute(20BP, or 2 magic points for an adept) and Astral Sight(5bp, or 1 magic point for an adept)

Most of the qualities that can be taken as an Adept power cost roughly the same or less than the quality (Perfect Memory for instance costs 10 points, while the equivalent for adept costs 0.5 magic which is almost 5 points).

And Astral Sight is an awful quality. You only get Magic 1 that can never be raised, which means that if you take ANY point of ware, you lost the ability.

[Laodicea]

the idea that he starts to exceed anything on the streets is off to me. He can get what 3 more dice, and what else? There are some areas they can rock, dodging with combat sense, unarmed combat and thrown weapons but end of the day a street sam will usually be as good if not better in most combat fields. Yeah many hundreds of karma in the adept is a powerhouse, but a cyber monster will be as well assuming he is getting paid decently. So certain fields they exceed anything on the streets, but a lot of other fields only at absurd karma levels and only by a small margin.

For the general topic. While I don't have a major problem with adepts, though I do think an wide range of powers cost too much SR4A did not go far enough. But still there are not terrible broken. And I do not have a problem with cyber/adepts existing I do think SR4 went way to far in making it the best option for adepts. They seem to have given up on the idea that magical types want to avoid ware, which I think is a pity.

Agree completely.

[Deadmannumberone]

the idea that he starts to exceed anything on the streets is off to me. He can get what 3 more dice, and what else? There are some areas they can rock, dodging with combat sense, unarmed combat and thrown weapons but end of the day a street sam will usually be as good if not better in most combat fields. Yeah many hundreds of karma in the adept is a powerhouse, but a cyber monster will be as well assuming he is getting paid decently. So certain fields they exceed anything on the streets, but a lot of other fields only at absurd karma levels and only by a small margin.

For the general topic. While I don't have a major problem with adepts, though I do think an wide range of powers cost too much SR4A did not go far enough. But still there are not terrible broken. And I do not have a problem with cyber/adepts existing I do think SR4 went way to far in making it the best option for adepts. They seem to have given up on the idea that magical types want to avoid ware, which I think is a pity.

Combat sense 6, improved ability - dodge 3, improved reflexes 1 for powers with reflexes 6, dodge 6 and magic 6 gives you 22 base dice to dodge, or 31 for a full dodge, and once initiated, it becomes even more extreme. This can be done using 100 BP plus 60 Karma (start with reaction and magic at 5 and raise them through karma) or 150 BP.

Edit: Added wrong.

[Glyph]

To address some of the more specific points, in the interest of giving feedback:

Overall, your proposed solutions seem too strong. Currently, adepts can be pretty good at a number of roles. They are moderately good at combat, very good at sneaking, athletics, or social skills, and have far more options against things like spirits with invulnerability to normal weapons. While their ability to get multiple initiative passes or improve their Attributes is far more limited than an augmented character, it is counterbalanced by certain adept powers such as combat sense, mystic armor, and critical strike, as well as the improved ability power.

Adepts are like elves - generally not an optimal choice, but very well suited for certain roles. I could see giving them a bit of a power-up. However, I think your proposed solutions go a bit overboard. Some of the critter powers are extremely powerful, giving adepts effectively double their normal number of power points is complete overkill, and inhabited adepts seem to have the worst game-unbalancing effects of possession traditions.

[sn0mm1s]

If you think adepts are weak then you aren't building them correctly.

[Yerameyahu]

If I played in any games where gaining karma over time actually happened, I'd do adepts every time (when not a mage, of course): sam, hacker, rigger, face, melee, ninja, whatever. In the long run, they'll always beat cyber. Hell, mysad and you're all set, as you said.

[Caelwyn]

Combat sense 6, improved ability - dodge 3, improved reflexes 1 for powers with reflexes 6, dodge 6 and magic 6 gives you 28 base dice to dodge, or 37 for a full dodge, and once initiated, it becomes even more extreme. This can be done using 100 BP plus 60 Karma (start with reaction and magic at 5 and raise them through karma) or 150 BP.

Maybe i'm being obtuse, but I don't have the rules in front of me. Why are you adding your magic attribute to your dodge roll?

[Deadmannumberone]

Maybe i'm being obtuse, but I don't have the rules in front of me. Why are you adding your magic attribute to your dodge roll?

Because my head's not 100% in the posting here. Fixed it.

[Tanegar]

Kind of surprised no one's mentioned the obvious problem: inhabitation kills the host. What you end up with is not a dude walking around with a spirit in his head (that would be possession), but a body whose original soul has been annihilated and replaced with a spirit. Two completely different animals, and outside of super-ultra-mega-batshit insane cults, I really can't see you finding a whole lot of "willing adept" volunteers.

[Yerameyahu]

Duh, they're 'roleplayers'. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) They'll do *anything*.