Possessor Demons Possessing Sorcerer

[Eric]

So I'm prepping my character for making characters Thursday.  They don't know the system yet, but I asked them to start thinking about what they'd want their demons to be able to do.  Below is a response from one of my players and my answer to him:


> I can already tell you I'm leaning towards a possessor demon who is
> responsible for my hedonism, in return for my increased abilities.  These
> abilities will keep me from being killed for the hedonism (i.e. duels,
> escapes, etc.)  All this works well with the scoundrel reputation and the
> demon surely was the cause of my kicker.  more to follow...

There is no mind control and no telepathy in Sorcerer.  Whatever your character does, they do so out of choice.  No NPC is going to take over your character and force it to anything.  They might point a metaphorical gun at you, but you'd have the choice of being doing what they want or being shot.

That said, possessor demons completely displace the consciousness of the
person they take over.  To have a demon that possesses your character is to be handing your character sheet to the GM on a regular basis.  Which, I admit, in your case makes some sense.  [Because he won't be able to show for every meeting] Hum.  I'll have to think on this.

Anyway, all demons have a need, which you the players get to know, and a desire, which I the GM know.  It is perfectly in the spirit of the rules to have a parasite demon whose need is for hedonistic experiences.  An object demon might have the same need. [Insert joke about kinky actions with various objects here.] Thus, your character would have to live this life-style to keep the demon happy.

My preference is that you not have a possessor demon because on the nights you are there to run the character, the demon would have to go somewhere . . . possessing someone or something else.  It could live out of your character's body, but not for long.  Hum.  Man.  There is a lot of story in this, either way, and which is the point of the game.


Still reading?  So, here is the question.  Has anyone ever run a campaign where the demon possessed the sorcerer that bound it?  How did it go?  Is it even legal?

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Here's my thoughts, for what it's worth. I'm the author of Urge, a supplement where all the PCs are possessed. (Note: I'm in no way suggesting mixing Urge and normal Sorcerer - not a good idea.)

I wish I had Sorcerer in front of me, so I could see the rules and get clearer on this. This is what I'd do:

I'd have the PC have a Parasite demon instead of a Possessor. Possessors do tend to take over completely. With a Parasite demon (who won on the binding roll), the Parasite could take over the PC with a Power + Binding strength vs. PC's Will roll. The PC might not even be aware of this, especially if the Parasite had the Cloud (is it Cloud? Whatever the power is that allows a demon to cloud men's minds) power.

If he insisted on a Possessor, I'd go with this:

In your version of sorcery, the possession really relies on the Lore of the possessed. Someone with 0 Lore (a normal person) cannot resist the possession at all, and is completely taken over (unless the demon gives control back.)

Someone with Lore, however, is fully aware of the possession, and can wrest control of the demon with a Lore (maybe Will) roll vs the demon's Power + Binding Strength.

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

The Possessor rules in the main Sorcerer book are very simplistic and for all intents and purposes replace the host personality with the demon's. In The Sorcerer's Soul, this picture is filled in much more completely and with many nuances.

The fundamental idea is that Possession carries with it the issue of host complicity. That also raises some issues of host-Possessor conflict, as an ongoing thing, regarding specific actions (as opposed to the simple fact of occupancy).

Since the supplement is currently undergoing print, and the PDF is no longer available, I'm not sure what else to say ... you are free to jury-rig some basic principles for when the Possessed host decides to "take the reins," if you will; or even for the host and demon to "switch control" if they both agree. All the mechanics (Lore, Will, Humanity) are there to interact for these purposes, as you and the player see fit.

In dealing with nifty Sorcerer situations like this, you'll find that if you put the problem/conflict into plain English, the system solution to resolving that conflict usually leaps out at you. "Hmmm, I'm a host, Possessed by a demon, and I'd like to say something." No problem: Will vs. Will. If you want more nuances, decide what the "something" is about. Perhaps it's to warn a person about the demon's malevolent plan. So begin with a Humanity roll against the demon's Power, just to set up a contrast of the differences between the two of you, and if you succeed, roll the victories into bonus dice for the Will conflict.

Or whatever seems reasonable. You could even Punish the demon first! (Being Possessed does not shut the host down completely, you see.)

You might want to go over the Currency section in Chapter Four with the players; remember that Sorcerer is not really built to be [GM + book] & [players + sheets].

Best,
Ron

[Eric]

My copy of S&S arrived today.  I should probably just swallow my pride and restart the campaign next month, but I we don't play 7th Sea Thursday, it means another night of video games instead.  Not that I don't like video games, just played too many lately.

So.  I'm not trying to run [GM + book] & [players + sheets], I'm just trying to get the players thinking before Thursday night.  Which means e-mail. Which means that my player is now miffed at me with sharing his concept with everyone when he wanted it kept secret.  That's on me too.  I should have explained that I don't want secrets kept from the players this time around.

Anyway, excuse making asside, thanks for the ideas and the pointers.  Normally I wouldn't go for the demon and the player swapping control of the same body, but if the player still wants to do it, it might work in this case.