Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: Reverse Possession
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Shadowrun
bibliophile20
Rereading Paladin Of Souls at the moment (by Lois McMaster Bujold, splendid book), and had a gamer thought of "oooh, can I steal that idea?"

Spoilered for those who haven't read the book yet and don't want the twist spoiled:
[ Spoiler ]


Thoughts? How would you pull this off, if you were of a mind to do it?
Neraph
Remember, even a Magic 1 person can be initiated, and all you need is 1 Initiation to get Channeling. Spell/Spirit Knack (page 26, Street Magic) individuals are capable of Initiating... You could have a Spirit Knack Initiate with Channeling in there somewhere. That's only 5 BP for the quality and as little as 11 Karma for the Initiation (ordeal). In fact, that seems like a very cost-efficient method of mitigating Possession spirits...
Stahlseele
But no way to get more magic, so don't summon anything bigger than your head . .
Dakka Dakka
Too bad it is either Channeling or Ally Spirit. An Ally Spirit's Force is not limited by the magician's MAG....
Stahlseele
True . . And you can even invoke him, but you'd need a 2nd initiation and thus a 2nd point of magic for that . .
Dakka Dakka
Wait a minute, there is the optional rule of getting an additional metamagic technique during initiation for 15 karma. You are limited to a total of MAG+Intiate Grade techniques. So Chanelling and Ally Spirit Conjuration would work for the guy with the Spirit Knack. Interesting Concept. No room for Invoking, but allies can't be invoked anyway.

Now if you could get that quality with latent awakening, you could even take 5 points of 'ware devil.gif
Yerameyahu
Regardless, it sounds like Channeling to me. Solved! smile.gif
Dakka Dakka
Channeling alone has the problem of limited services.
Irion
@Dakka Dakka
And how are you going to bind said ally spirit?
And yes, of course ally spirits are limited by your magic, since you need to bind them.
So all you would get is a Force 2 ally spirit... For 16+15+10+15+4(Binding 1)=56 Karma... Great deal.
Udoshi
QUOTE (bibliophile20 @ Feb 2 2012, 11:00 AM) *
Thus, my intent is, some Possession spirit, perhaps one summoned by my hougan PC, or an NPC, possesses some metahuman that should be an easy one to possess and control... and instead finds that the metahuman is made of much sterner stuff than they imagined, perhaps to the point of some sort of "innate channeling"--the spirit's in there, but the person's the one calling the shots, much to the spirit's surprise.
Thoughts? How would you pull this off, if you were of a mind to do it?


We had a voodoo shaman in our group for a brief period of time, and this kind of actually came up. There were two characters - the shaman, and her assistant. The assistant was set up to be a willing vessel for possession, kind of a master/tutor relationship. We found it a pretty acceptable alternative to voodoo spirits possessing everything.

The assistant, though, didn't have any magical talent at all. Or, rather, if she did, it was very weak, and part of the lure of being the assistant was rush of power and capability as the loa took over.

In some behind the scenes chatter about how to make the concept work, I suggested giving the person Astral Sight, and since they are allowed to initiate, bending the rules a little to give them Channeling. That's it, nothing more. They were kind of part of a wizganger group, and being able to see the astral and negotiate with spirits(especially possession ones who can't enter the physical realm) without being a full blown mage kind of makes sense.

I would do exactly that. Someone IS magical - just barely so they hardly even know it (one of the older books had a professional athlete adept who had initiated and hadn't realized it, so its possible), and are hardly worth recruiting for their talent. Its not like they can sling manaballs or anything.
So yeah. Astral Sight and Channeling.
Dakka Dakka
QUOTE (Irion @ Feb 2 2012, 09:12 PM) *
@Dakka Dakka
And how are you going to bind said ally spirit?
And yes, of course ally spirits are limited by your magic, since you need to bind them.
So all you would get is a Force 2 ally spirit... For 16+15+10+15+4(Binding 1)=56 Karma... Great deal.
Woops, I forgot about following the normal summoning/binding rules. Too bad, it does not work. I see the 16 karma for Force 2 but what are the other costs?
Neraph
Umm.... Calling rules guys. Doesn't matter what your Magic is, just your Negotiations.


EDIT:
It occurs to me that all metasapients can do this. Every pixie, naga, or Infected, all Drakes, they can all do this.

Requirements for Initiation are: Have Magic rating. All of them do. They can take Channeling and Invoking and use the Calling Rules (Arcana, Negotiations, Enchanting) to Call spirits and gain favors.

Ta-da.
Yerameyahu
More broken rules. Whoops. smile.gif There'd obviously be prereqs for those things, and of course Calling is simply a total loss.
Irion
@Dakka Dakka
16: Ally spirit
13: Initiation (Right did not change with attributes)
10: Metamagic (Here I am not sure if it wasn't 15)
4 (Binding, the skill oh I forgot summoning)

But still, an ally spirit is a sweet deal.
Great Roleplaying potential. You actually got yourself probably a second character (If you like)
And it is a Powerfocus, sustaining focus(natural spell!), healer, supporter, fighter and more if you like in one...
If your GM is insane enought to allow you a great form ally spirit...
The only drawback is, you need around 56 to 64 karma saved... (unless your GM is very friendly and let you carry over 100 Karma from chargen...)
Well, and you should play a human with at least edge 6, since ally spirit edge=mage edge.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Yerameyahu @ Feb 3 2012, 03:46 PM) *
More broken rules. Whoops. smile.gif There'd obviously be prereqs for those things, and of course Calling is simply a total loss.


I don't have that particular book, but cannot a mundane use the Calling Rules? Maybe not, as you might need a Magic Rating.
Just Curious.
Yerameyahu
No, I assume he meant you need the Magic for the metamagics of this trick. *They* should have prereqs.
KarmaInferno
QUOTE (Neraph @ Feb 3 2012, 02:30 PM) *
Umm.... Calling rules guys. Doesn't matter what your Magic is, just your Negotiations.


EDIT:
It occurs to me that all metasapients can do this. Every pixie, naga, or Infected, all Drakes, they can all do this.

Requirements for Initiation are: Have Magic rating. All of them do. They can take Channeling and Invoking and use the Calling Rules (Arcana, Negotiations, Enchanting) to Call spirits and gain favors.

Ta-da.

Oh god. And my Missions pixie has Negotiation dice pools in the "dozens" range.

Even if you remove all the dice that wouldn't affect a spirit it's still pretty high, especially compared to the limits a spirit has on skills.

...I have to think on this.




-k
Yerameyahu
It's a moral decision, KarmaInferno. Choose wisely.
Stahlseele
Moral let the enemy be.
You, yourself, be nasty and mean.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012