Hey all!

I'm thinking of using the concept of Daemonic Possession of both the PCs and NPCs (either the slow and steady kind or the ripping right now kind) in my game, but am unsure (plot wise AND mechanics wise) how to do so in BC...

Which is weird, because you would THINK it'd be easier in this system of all of them...I'm probably just not thinking clearly, need a jumpstart.

Anyone done this before? Any suggestions?

L-

I know that the idea is given rules in Dark Heresy: The Radical's Handbook, but other than that, I'm afraid I can't help you. Is the concept seriously not explored in Black Crusade (my copy's on loan to a friend)? If not, I would try making some (significant) mods to the Daemon Weapon table, merging it with both the mutations table, and the Daemonhost creation tables in the back of Dark Heresy : Core Rulebook. Really wish I could give a better answer than that. Good Luck!

The rules for possession are listed under the possession trait in the trait section.

As far as plot go, I recommend focusing on it relating to NPC's . Possessing players tends to take away character control, which tends to lead to bored players, especially if there's more than one player being robbed of control.

I just tweaked the rules from Radical Handbook for BC for Daemon Vessel to allow the players to try to have more control over the Deamon but if he fails roll well then the Daemon has control for a bit

nethru said:

I was going to suggest using the Daemon Vessel rules too actually. The only thing to factor in is the fact that corruption isn't as inherently bad in BC as it was in DH. Maybe throw in some mental trauma rolls at each corruption milestone in addition to the existing gift roll. Also determine the alignment of and stat up the daemon that the PC is a host for, as it would be impossible to gain the mark of an opposed god etc.

Reverend mort said:

I created a little doc of the rules i'm using for my game. if you send me your email i'll send it over to you. it's not to big.

Having just finished reading First Heretic (warning of light spoilers)...

I can say that the book presents an interesting way of handling possession. As that of a symbiosis between the daemon and host. Over the course of the book the two gradually become more and more in sync with each other, while still remaining largely seperate entities. In the book, the daemon tended to come to the fore during combat, and grow dormant and 'tired' immediately afterward, slumbering until the next fight roused it. While the physical changes recede while the host is in dominance.

(end of spoilers)

Anyway, to get to the point, if you view the possession as a symbiosis (though obviously this situation would be the minority) then you don't necessarily have to take away control from the PC's, just make it clear that the daemon isn't human, it doesn't think the same way the character would normally, and roleplay accordingly when the character's 'daemon side' is at the forefront.

If no one else has added this to think about, another good idea is also to possibly add more WP tests during every turn or two depending on A: the type and alignment of the daemon and B: the whole cause of what's caused the host to call up said daemon.

Blood Pact said:

This is interesting. You've got me thinking of Venom from Marvel comics!

For PCs, I'll leave it to the others' comments.

However for NPCs, unless you're talking about companions, minions, and other hangers on where possession is potentially an ongoing threat, I would probably just figure out which traits/talents/whatever I wanted affected by the possession and treat the rest as narrative and preprogrammed.

If were to happen at some point in a combat scene, I'd probably just do something like "when Maniacal Marcus gets to 1/2 his wound points, the demon Bubbahotep comes to the fore, giving him unnatural toughness and natural/warp weapons" or whatever is appropriate. Then season it with a bit of scene setting and roleplaying. No reason to waste a GM's time on inventing a whole mechanic, really, there's not, and it simplifies tracking it. It's also a lot easier to balance the encounter when you know when the possession is likely to occur. Random power boosts to the enemy usually translate into random difficulty of an encounter. Sometimes that's ok, but it really depends on how much of a boost they're getting.

so far in my own game, i've had 2 players come up with possessed ideas. One after reading Dark Apostle and liking Burias. The other from a background sort of idea.

I'm adapting the Daemonic Vassel rules for both with different daemonic gifts based on alighment and either Chaos Marine or Heretic.