Advice for Incorporeal PC's

[Camber_Ludwik]

I'm looking for ideas of ways incorporeal characters can interact within an adventure.

Should I allow them to use a version of a Ghost's Malevolence in order to posess NPC's? If so how should that be handled?

Is there any other mechanic that may help to give the incorporeal players ways of affecting the adventures outcome?

A little background below in case you are interested.

Thanks in advance.

This is a Pathfinder game with some elements of 3.5 if you were wondering.

I'm running a campaign that is heavy on time travel. Where the PC's are trying to stop a city from being destroyed. Currently the PC's are in the past and next session two new players are going to be joining us.

The PC's current mission is to retrieve more of the necessary alchemical items needed to make their time travel possible. Their allies in the present had only a limited amount of the reagents needed to send them back in time. Spontaneously having their allies able to make more of these items would be unlikely.

In order to preserve continuity I would like for the new PC's to join the PC's in the past through a modified version of the time travel. Where they can send only a portion of the character back which will be incorporeal in the past.

One of the new PC's has seen a prophecy that will directly affect the PC's in the past and they must be warned. The adventure is going to revolve around agents of Nerull attempting to disrupt the groups mission by destroying the supplies they are after. Leading to an encounter where the group must defeat the agents of Nerull while protecting the rather fragile alchemical supplies.

[Qwertystop]

the Malevolence ability should not be given unless they are ghosts. There are other incorporeal creatures, but Ghosts are the only ones with Malevolence.

Give them a chance to buy Ghost Touch gloves.

[Draken]

I don't know if pathfinder changed that, but incorporeals are not invisible by default (some can become invisible, but most of them do not). Ghosts have manifestation because they are not incorporeal by default, they are ethereal (aka: existing in the ethereal plane), manifestation just makes them incorporeal in the material (similarly, a ghost can planeshift to the material and be corporeal there).

I don't see what kind of difficulties an incorporeal being could have interacting (holding objects as above can be solved with the ghostly grasp feat, if you can transfer Libris Mortis material over).

[Camber_Ludwik]

I forgot to mention this in my original post.

The incorporeal players will only be so for one session. I just wanted to have something for them to do since they won't be able to fight and use spells as regular PC's would.

Thanks again.

[Psyren]

Should I allow them to use a version of a Ghost's Malevolence in order to posess NPC's? If so how should that be handled?


That's actually an interesting campaign idea - the PCs are a group of ghosts that have to possess various NPCs to get something accomplished. I think it might play out a bit like the games Messiah or Geist, with a dash of F3AR thrown in.

[Kol Korran]

this is a special affect of "partial time travel" right? something you as a DM made up? so why not alter thigns even more- they cannot pass through objects, but might be able to affect things, to an extent (you could put a limit on their strength in this form (4? 5?) or just enable them to use items of a certain strength.

they might be affected by effects of the "material past" 50-75% of the time, including spells and the like.

find a different name than incorporeal ("partly there?) and have them find the limits to it.

[TurtleKing]

Say hello to Ghostly Grasp feat from Libris Mortis with the prereqs of Cha 15, Incorporeal subtype. The effect is can manipulate/hold/touch corporeal items.

[Camber_Ludwik]

I believe I am looking more along the lines of what Kol has suggested.

The PC's in question are already created and don't have the feats to spend on things that they might never need to use again.

I do like the idea of setting some limits and allowing them to figure them out as they go.

Thanks for the ideas so far.

[Finkmilkana]

since they won't be able to fight and use spells as regular PC's would.


If I'm not completely mistaken, being incorporeal doesn't stop you from casting spells at all, only material components "can" become a problem (if their equipment and clothing are also incorporeal, I see nothing stopping them from using spell component pouches, else there's still eschew materials).
So if you don't place any other restrictions on them, at least the spellcasters are not hindered at all.

Because of that I would also advise you to homebrew something instead of using incorporeal.

[gbprime]

If I'm not completely mistaken, being incorporeal doesn't stop you from casting spells at all, only material components "can" become a problem (if their equipment and clothing are also incorporeal, I see nothing stopping them from using spell component pouches, else there's still eschew materials).
So if you don't place any other restrictions on them, at least the spellcasters are not hindered at all.

Because of that I would also advise you to homebrew something instead of using incorporeal.

All solved by the Ghostly Grasp feat (Libris Mortis) as previously mentioned.

[gbprime]

I can't let this thread go without the obvious, though.

Advice for Incorporeal PC's


Get a life.
Get real.
Grow a spine.
Could you be any more transparent?


:smalltongue:

[Necroticplague]

Have access to ghostwall shellac, have them smear themselves with it, have them find a ghost touch gauntlet, manipulate things through the gauntlet, maybe some gauntlets of the ghost brawler (usually, their meant to allow you to puch ghosts, but it also works in reverse)

[McToomin]

If the PCs are already made and thus can't take any new feats (for something they probably won't use again), why not just have a Ghostly Grasp effect become active whenever they do this partial time travel? It could be something as part of the actual ritual/spell/whatever that they cast to get back in time, to make sure that they can still affect things. Just because they can't take the feat as part of their normal repertoire doesn't mean that they still can't be under the effects of it, especially if you're houseruling time-travel rules.

[Person_Man]

There's an entire 3.0 source book, Ghostwalk, which is all about how a PC might become a Ghost, level adjusted Ghost template, Ghost base classes, adventures Ghost PCs might have, and so on. Though the crunch probably wouldn't be useful to you, the fluff and adventure ideas might be.