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TheCountAlucard
2009-11-18, 05:32 PM
I'm thinking of featuring demonic possession in Friday's D&D session. The ninth-level PCs are piling into an abandoned old fort with some refugees after the battle that took place last week. The common belief is that the fort was abandoned after the last bout of border expansion; however, that doesn't quite explain why a pair of demons lie trapped deep in the bowels of the crumbling stone structure...

The demons, a glabrezu and a succubus, are unable to move from their seals or use their teleport SLAs. However, they have the ability to abandon their bodies and travel incorporeally in order to demonically possess people, as per the rules in Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (though they still can't leave the fort). Naturally, they want to get out.

Has anyone used those rules before? Any suggestions? I know it sucks to take control away from the players, so any thoughts on how to deal with that?

EDIT: Also, I'm thinking of also giving them the ability to travel around in dreams, as per Heroes of Horror. Is that overpowered? Any thoughts?

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-11-18, 05:36 PM
My thought of the best way to possess a character is that you tell the player(secretly) that they have been possessed, what the Demon is trying to accomplish with their body, then allowing them to continue to play.

This only works if the player is trustworthy, of course.

NotANinja
2009-11-18, 05:37 PM
Make the PCs control their possessed bodies. What I mean to say is, slide them a note that says "Demon now in control of your body. Roll a bluff check and act in character." :smallsmile:

Shademan
2009-11-18, 05:39 PM
I support the argument of the two before me.
also: is the character I drew for you back in the days in this campaign? the tiefling?

Gamerlord
2009-11-18, 05:54 PM
I had a character possessed once, I didn't tell him about it, as the demon was waiting dormant to take over at the worst possible moment, he was possessed after touching a strange orb, demon stays dormant until the party reaches a important macguffin,demon takes over and steals aforementioned macguffin.

Hadessniper
2009-11-18, 06:03 PM
I'll add a vote for bringing the player your planing on possessing in on it. Ether slide a note telling him he is possessed and the goals of the demon, or talk to him pregame. It will make the night much more fun for everyone involved.

ashmanonar
2009-11-18, 06:05 PM
I'll add a vote for bringing the player your planing on possessing in on it. Ether slide a note telling him he is possessed and the goals of the demon, or talk to him pregame. It will make the night much more fun for everyone involved.

Yup, I gotta agree. Committing terrible crimes against your players is far more fun with accomplices. :smallbiggrin:

TheCountAlucard
2009-11-18, 07:07 PM
I support the argument of the two before me.
also: is the character I drew for you back in the days in this campaign?It's actually the same campaign, but unfortunately, that particular player's been unable to show up. Why?

Anyway, I'm thinking it might be preferable to not actually use the "controller" role for possession - "mutterer" or "transformer" might make for interesting encounters, though. :smallamused:

ghashxx
2009-11-18, 07:29 PM
+1 on all accounts. It'll make for amazing times later on I'm sure.

Toliudar
2009-11-18, 07:38 PM
Obviously, if there's one player who's been unable to show recently, but they're still along for the ride and being NPC'ed, they're also a prime candidate for any form of that possession.

TheCountAlucard
2009-11-18, 07:59 PM
Obviously, if there's one player who's been unable to show recently, but they're still along for the ride and being NPC'ed, they're also a prime candidate for any form of that possession.Err, he's not being NPC'd; he's not there. When we changed locations for our gaming night, it left that player unable to come to the sessions, so we just dropped his character.

TheCountAlucard
2009-11-20, 04:16 PM
Thanks for your input, everyone; it won't be too long before tonight's game.

Largely unrelated, but thought I'd mention it anyway... now that the PCs are ninth-level-ish, the question of PrCs comes to mind. The Healer says he's considering a level of Heirophant just to get Divine Reach, but other than that, he intends to continue with straight Healer. The Scout's actually been going the Swift Hunter route, and her levels in Ranger currently outnumber her levels in Scout (perhaps I should start referring to her as "the Ranger" instead? :smalltongue:), but doesn't seem to have put any further thought into it. The Warlock wouldn't have much trouble getting into Hellfire Warlock, were he to spontaneously decide to enter into it, but at the moment, it's looking like he's going to keep going with Warlock. As for the Fighter, well... I don't think he's put any consideration into PrCing out, and I'm not sure what to recommend to the dual-oversize-axe-wielding, heavy-armor dwarf. Any suggestions?

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-11-20, 04:40 PM
Healer can stay Healer, though something like Heirophant or Sacred Exorcist is nice if he qualifies. Swift Hunter benefits more simply from more Swift Hunter. Hellfire is good, but straight Warlock continues to work all the way to 20.

For the Fighter, has he read Tome of Battle?

TheCountAlucard
2009-11-20, 04:45 PM
For the Fighter, has he read Tome of Battle?No, but then again, neither have I.

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-11-20, 05:02 PM
Then I don't recommend it. It's great for melee, but it's a bit complex and scares a lot of DMs.

Your best bet, then, is going to be dipping front-heavy classes like Barb. Can he get large size somehow?

TheCountAlucard
2009-11-20, 05:05 PM
Your best bet, then, is going to be dipping front-heavy classes like Barb. Can he get large size somehow?Only when the Warlock hits him with his wand of Enlarge Person.

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-11-20, 05:25 PM
Then Exotic Weapon Master and Barb are my preferred option for Dorfs.

TheCountAlucard
2009-11-21, 02:24 AM
Thought I'd let everyone know how the session went.

The PCs were able to neutralize the succubus' attempts to control the Fighter with copious applications of Protection from Evil, at which point the angry dwarf hunted down her physical body within the fortress and killed it with a hammer he found.

The glabrezu was rather unhappy about that, naturally, and attempted to goad the Warlock into helping him in exchange for a wish... at which point the Dwarf's player started talking about that movie with the freakin' evil genie. :smallannoyed: Unfortunately for the PCs, in order to get at the glabrezu's body to kill it, they had to dispel the very things keeping its body imprisoned, at which point it picked up its treasure, laughing, and Power Word Stunned the Fighter standing in the doorway before teleporting out. Naturally, the PCs weren't too happy about that one. :smallyuk: They did get a clay golem manual out if it, thanks to treasure tables. After that, the PCs got their chance to get the heck out of Dodge, heading back to their home country after assuring the safety of the refugees.

At the end of the session, the Warlock got an invitation from an old aquaintance (who revealed himself to be a Hellfire Warlock) to learn a little more about hellfire... by giving him a genuine letter of safe passage to Cania. :sabine:

Woodsman
2009-11-21, 02:30 AM
Ooh, that glabrezu's gonna be back to bite 'em in the ass.

Preferably with an Abyssal horde in tow. :smallamused:

Ooh, genuine safe passage through Caina? Damn, that's amazing. I'd be frothing at the mouth for one of those (of course, devils are my absolute favorite outsiders).

TheCountAlucard
2009-11-21, 12:15 PM
Ooh, that glabrezu's gonna be back...Yep. :sabine:


Ooh, genuine safe passage through Caina?Well, as safe as the Nine Hells can actually be... which, of course, isn't safe at all. :smalltongue: He'd still be subject to taxations, temptations, and other upleasantries along the way. Plus, getting to Cania generally means going through the first seven layers to get there, none of which he has a letter of safe passage for. :smallamused:

TheCountAlucard
2009-11-23, 07:40 PM
Forgot to mention something... earlier on in the session, the Fighter had discovered a large magical warhammer enshrined within the fort. Naturally, he decided to employ the old-fashioned adventurer's Five-Finger Discount. Identification revealed it to be a large +1 holy warhammer, which fit perfectly with his "be a dwarf and use two really big weapons to hit bad guys" plan.

Unfortunately, since he was wielding it when the glabrezu stunned him, the demon saw the opportunity to add insult to injury, and took it with him when he left.

That move certainly gave the Fighter some incentive to fight the glabrezu again. :smallamused: Any thoughts, guys?