New guy with possession question.

[Cheddarwurst]

Hey guys, new to the forums and game. Our DM threw us a curveball last week and I was the only person to notice that the halfling in our party had a shadow that wasn't matching her movements. I let some more seasoned players in on the situation, and we tried to both surreptitiously stab her shadow and then, rather awkwardly, convinced her drink some Holy water, both didn't do anything. All the while the DM has had her making will saves, and she has been doing rather well, though she is hearing whispers. Basically, I don't know how to proceed, and only being level 4, I'm not sure there is much we can do. How does possession work? I can't seem to find much online, and as entertaining as this has been, it would be a shame to squish her like a bug.

[KillianHawkeye]

This doesn't really sound like your every day demonic possession or ghostly inhabitation. It might be something made up by the DM.

I would try protection from evil. There might not be much else you can do at this level. Possession is, after all, nine tenths of the law. :smallcool:

[Cheddarwurst]

Hahaha, very true. Would protection from evil merely protect her from the influence, or repulse whatever it is from her? From what I understood about the spell, it would be the former.

[Medic!]

It depends on how your DM is going about it if it is indeed a possession issue. If you have access to the Fiend Folio there's a prestige class (Fiend of Possession), if he's using that PrC, protection from evil won't do you any good where the halfling is concerned, but it could prevent host-hopping or re-possession.

[Yorrin]

This could also be a Shadowcaster from ToM, which is a class whose shadow doesn't follow their movements when casting. In which case there is no possession.

[Cheddarwurst]

So the shadowcaster could be following the group? How would it be revealed? I do think it likely that the DM is just giving us a strange possession. He certainly implied it was a possession, after our shadow creature test failed.

[Yorrin]

No, I was implying the halfling IS a shadowcaster. Was she casting a spell when you noticed?

This could be completely wrong. It could be simply a possession, which is hard to deal with aside from some high level spells, iirc. But don't further antagonize your halfling without first asking her some questions.

[Cheddarwurst]

Oh. No, she's a noob as well, and a Ranger, so probability is low. How would you go about expelling the possessing entity then? High level cleric spell? Holy water enema? We still have some silver...

[Yorrin]

Hrm. Well once a possessing creature has gotten in it can be very hard to get out. If it's an undead creature Turn Undead might work. As would high end magic like Miracle. I don't remember if Remove Curse would work, but if you have access it's worth a shot. Or even a simple dispel magic, maybe. Or there's the Sacred Exorcist PrC if someone is willing to take it, which could work.

[NecessaryWeevil]

Find a high-level Wizard or Cleric and get a diagnosis, maybe.

[Mnemnosyne]

If this possession works like that of the fiend of possession, then using a holy word spell or some other spell that specifically affects outsiders or creatures of its alignment. Of course, holy word being 7th level puts it a little outside your reach. Assuming your group is Good, I would indeed take her to a major good-aligned church in your setting, ideally of the same deity that she worships, or at least of the deity that your party's divine caster (assuming you have one) belongs to.

[Cheddarwurst]

Well, at the moment, we're on an unexplored continent and we're heading towards a mountain with giant birds by way of a village that unknowingly called themselves "emergency food supply" in draconic, because that's that the mountain Lord calls them. Luckily there was a druid in the village who could heal me because I critically failed trying to punch a little electric lizard that pissed me off and I shattered the bones in my arm up to the elbow. Not sure if he could do anything about the possession, though. Doubt we'll come across a temple to Kord out here. I'm also having a really good time with this game, by the way. Figuring out the possession while stepping aside with the other players was hysterical.

[cakellene]

Sounds like a bit of houserules I volved, so likely a custom thing by DM.

[hemming]

I critically failed trying to punch a little electric lizard that pissed me off

If you run into a group of those things look out! They can work together to generate larger bursts of electricity

[Ionbound]

Okay. Assuming the 3.5 Fiendish Codex I rules for possession, rolling will saves means one of two things. Either the possessor is trying to take direct control of the Halfling, which is bad, or it's trying to transform the Halfling into it's own image, which is much, much worse.

For control, the solution is simple. If your Halfling fails a Will check, then tie her down until the duration is up. Do this until you find a high-enough level cleric to Exorcise her, and you're in the clear

However, if you're dealing with a transformer, you're on the clock. The way demonic transformation works, is that you have to make a Will Save, and then a Fort Save. If you fail both of these, 1/4th of your body changes into a demonic form. Let all four quadrants be transformed, and *poof*, character is gone. All that's left is the demon, which has a physical form now. The best way I can think of to deal with this is to pump her Will sky-high, and hope she doesn't roll a one until you can find a exorcist.

Best of luck dealing with this. Demonic possession is a nasty thing to throw at new players, and I really hope that everyone makes it out of this with Alignment and sanity intact.