Can't seem to find my answers in the Street Magic book.


Does the spirit have to enter the vessel right after it is prepared, or can I have a vessel prepared and sitting around until I need it for one of my spirits?

Also, when a spirit's services are up and the spirit leaves, do I need to re-prepare the vessel? or does it count as already prepared and I can send a new spirit to occupy the vessel?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Vessel preparation seems to last until the earth falls into the sun. I does not seem like you need to re-prepare it, by I might be missing something.

Let's see.

Any possesion tradition can take any "form" of vessel to manipulate their spirits. While the vessel mantains some flexibilty (if you try to fit the vessel in a statue it won't work unless has joints in the right places) it can be possesed by any spirit. Altought that, some traditions tends to use specifics forms of Vessels.

Summoning spirits needs a vessel, the preparation of the vessel gives a bonus pool for the possesion throw but it's not compulsory to summon spirits (for example, you can command a spirit to posses the security goon that stands in your way and then you can tell him to bash his pal). After the possesion the body owner recuperates the control and after that, he can freak out (while the spirit is in, the subject is still concious but unable to move, sleeping is another thing, because the subjects dont remember anything).

Binding is another thing, the elements (spirit bond mat) needed for the binding is spent in preparing the Vessel. In this case the spirit will ocupy a body and the user of the body will melt with the spirit. The final result of these depends on the binding throw. About the preparation, as is described as paint an so, i'll think it doesn't degrade over time but a living vessel could wake up and clean all the drawings of his body screwing up the preparation of "the Vessel".



The thing is when a bond spirit is free of services, we dont know really what happens. If i dont remeber bad (o at least what i have in mind that happens) is that the spirit becomes a free spirit due to the bond of his new body. At this point, it may thanks the magician (or runs like a b·$%h fleeing his spellcaster) and he may: walk around seeking a new life, throw himself to the railroad hoping to pop out the body or seek the new sensations of a human body like BTL, drugs, booze, gambling, women,... All of this at GM discretion

If the Spellcaster showed some virtue with the spirit it may be voluntary to re-binding process due to the time worked with the spellcaster (he may think the world around is so diferent and scary that he prefers to stay with his master) or may be he is only waiting for his master to make a greater form of him

Now sure there will be people posting this question

No, you don't have to re-prepare a vessel. Once it's a vessel, it's a vessel. Any number of spirits can leave or enter any time, as many times as it wants to, and it won't "wear off."

do you actually have any rules quotes to back *any* of that up, or did you just make it all up off the top of your head?

See that was the answer I was hoping for. Means I can chain my spirits and keep the vessel activated. No dragging vessels around. (or my live ones getting away )



Now, maybe another couple questions about possession I came up with after the first post that I haven't found the answers to.


If I have a spirit possess me, what can my mind still do? Can I still sustain spells? Cast Mana spells?
If not, what if I went to astral space first and then let the spirit have my body? Could I then do those things?

Do Spirits actually have to make a possession test if the vessel is willing?




And on a side note: Possession seems like a very good way to steal cars. Just send the spirit to possess the car and then it can unlock the doors, let you in, and then the car can drive itself away.

Now if only a spirit had someway to deal with all the pesky technological anti-theft features in 2070s cars, such as embedded RFID tracking tags, you might be getting somewhere.

incidentally, if your vessels are trying to get away, i don't think they can be prepared vessels... could've swore for a living creature to be a vessel, they have to be willing to be a vessel.

if a spirit posesses you, you're pretty much helpless other than giving orders to the spirit (provided the spirit is under your control of course) unless you have the channelling metamagic. if you are astrally projecting at the time, you can do anything you would normally be able to do on the astral, which is going to limit you in some areas. in particular, you could sustain spells, and you could cast mana spells (though of course your mana spells would only be able to affect targets on the astral plane, barring unusual circumstances)

and technically, spirits do still have to make possession tests even if the vessel is willing. must be some kind of subconscious resistance on the part of the vessel, i suppose.

The character loses complete physical control and the mind remains in whatever state it was in before - it's up to your GM, but I would rule sustain spells yes, cast spells no, under the grounds that sustaining a spell would be maintaining the mental state prior to possession (of course, you could then not stop sustaining the spell until the possession ends) while casting a spell requires a temporary change in mental state.


Different situation. If you're astral form is floating around and a spirit pops into your empty vessel, then the mind is not "frozen" and your astral form should be able to act normally.


Technically, yes. You could say this is because every metahuman has an innate, unconscious resistance to being spiritually violated blah blah, but in reality unless your GM's got a trick up his sleeve it should just proceed automatically.

i did on the fly because i hadn't got the book at hand but now that you ask i rather explain it with the needed pages of street magic. The thing is i usually read all the content of the books i have and it's dificult to find where the info is.

All the info about living Vessels can be found on page 86 of street magic. As they tell, you can have a living Vessel to participate willingly or just helpless (i think petrified count as helpless). During the process you spend two refine or one radical reagent (maybe be some magic copper rust paint, some awakened deer ashes, whatever you want and you use it to attune the Vessel). Just for some extra info, insect shamans craft cocoons for Vessels using almost anything at their hand (usually living metahumans also).

About the liberty of movement of vessels is on the same page (86) when starts with object vessels.

About how the possesion is played you have a little paragraph in page 95 of street magic that tells how people feel when they are possesed and also that the magician is also taken into account as a preparated Vessel.

About inhabitation (the equivalent of bonding for possesion tradition) it's explained on spirit powers (page 100) and it clearly tells that the spirit is not disrupted until the Vessel is killed by overflow damage.

ABOUT EXPIRED SERVICES you can find what they tell you on page 100 in the black box of hybrid forms, they clearly tell you once the services are banished the spirit doesn't has the obligation to return to his metaplane and it remains as an uncontrolled spirit indefinitely (The Vessel is now a part of the spirit right?) (flesh form doesn't tell but it's assuming is the same). All after that, i told are some of the reactions that free spirits have and some GM could see apropiate.



Depending if it's a living Vessel or a inanimate one. Of course if we think as living vessel some kind of subordinate of the magician for possesion duties the preparation can take form as tatoos and the like (this is pure GM discretion and explained in an imaginative way, it's not in the book).


In one of the pages i metioned before you have it explained. Saving time, a spellcaster possesed by his own spirit (meant magical one) acts like a rigger in a drone altough it has to move it like using comands. Think of it as the magician can see with his eyes, but to move his body has to ask to some servant to do that.


As ancient history told, you are separated of your body so you can do anything you want. By the way, is a good procedure to assure your body has protection while you are out.



Theoretically yes and in inhabitation is compulsory because the result depends on the throw.
For possesion, personally, i won't make any throw at a willing target (but as said before Ancient, GM discretion)

Also as Jaid said, channeling metamagic empowers possesion to new levels of satisfation as you can move your body and call spirit powers at will (altought this spends services, but i you get your ally Spirit.... you won't have that problem).

I know i'm quite new on this forum, but i assure you i carefully read each book i get . I'll try more often to tell you the pages of my explanations.

No. See, I wrote the Magical Goods chapter and I know for a fact I didn't put a duration on how long it lasts, whether it's a living vessel or an inanimate vessel.

I didn't necessarily mean that the vessels that are trying to get away have been prepared.


And thanks for the information guys. Seems to go along with what I figured would happen. I'll ask my gm about the whole willing just being possessed, but the subconscious resistance makes sense, and we will probably just play with the resistance rules even for willing.




And on the car thing, that is why you have the car drive itself to a chop shop, then collect the money.

Nice work by the way. I know there's not any stablished time in the duration of a Vessel preparation. I know it can be the whole life. But i think if it's not unreversible it will be kind of crappy for players or for NPC (Assume one of the runners is kidnapped by a awakened and tries to turn him into a Vessel, or a triad magician who captures a player, turns him into a Vessel and then extorsionate the player telling him that if he doesn' do what they want they'll put a spirit into him and make him to steal a bank in the middle of downton (sure it's dangerous for the player to survive such situation but it will be harder to not win notoriety and public awareness in the process, or in the worst cases going to jail and winning a criminal SIN)).

Some players may find this interesting and may try to do the same in the other way (Of course retalliation can be the result of that)

I know it's not in the book (and another time, congrats for the book, as if i don't remeber bad it won an award) but i always try to find the middle term between rules and what i think it's fair for the players. It doesn't say that has a duration but it doesn't say it lasts forever right ?

Most of the things i say is at discretion of the players and GM, none of us play the same game as we usually have different point of views and styles.

By the way i have some questions:
Can another magician awakened remove the Vessel preparation?
Can be used a prepared Vessel (living or not) as a link to track the magician?

Just for getting some more info of the Vessels

Yes, your personal Aura is all over the vessel if you have prepared it.

That is, essentially, the idea. It's a check on turning your entire team into vessels, which came up in some of the playtest scenarios.

All items and people are AUTOMATICALLY vessels.

The rules talk about a PREPARED vessel. Preparing a vessel gives the spirit +6 dice to beat the object resistance threshold.

The spirit rolls Forcex2 dice with a threshold of the desired items OR.

Corpses and unconscious people are easily possessed even when unprepared, because their OR is very low. Same goes for animals and trees, sticks, stones and other natural stuff. No real reason to pay preparation on objects such as these, bring a handful of rocks so your spirit can keep trying until it succeeds. (It gets 1 attempt pr. object, but can keep trying indefinately on a new object each complex action).

A possession mage might find Artisan a useful skill, using it to create simple toys from wood, such as balsawood airplanes that are actually able to fly. Once the spirit is inside, it will be able to control flaps, propeller etc. and steer the little plane. As F is added to physical attributes and attacks are abstract, this can be very effective.

OR on wooden toys are still low enough that you might not need to prepare them, if the spirits you summon are routinely able to beat the OR or you bring enough toys for them to keep trying with.

IMO preparation is for when you want some high tech gizmo possessed and you know your spirit will need those +6 dice. Other than these situations, its not required.

Living vessels resist possession with Intuition + Willpower, no OR in sight (and no willing target mod either, unless you count prepared vessels). See possession.

You are right Ryu, but if the target is not conscious, or a mage in astral, his body is just there for the taking. No Int+Wil to defeat.

Or dead. Dead people make good objects for possession.

The mage in the astral is correct, but unconscious people still get the resistance roll - they just can´t resist their preparation as a vessel. The only qualifier for resistance is "living".