Jump to content

Possession by Spirits


colinabrett

Recommended Posts

Hi,

I've posted this in the Magic World forum but I do suppose it applies to spirit magic in Rune Quest as well.

If a character is attacked by a Disease Spirit and loses the MP vs. MP struggle, they are then possessed by the spirit and suffer the effects (wasting disease loses STR, brain fever loses INT). I suppose two questions spring to mind:

  • Can the infected/possessed character fight off the disease spirit through mundane medicine or natural remedies?
  • When cured (either by Healing Spirit or Physik or Potions, if possible) what happens to the lost characteristic points? Are they gone forever or do they regenerate over a period of convalescence? (Perhaps one point per week up to one point lower than the original level.)

What I'm looking at is a 'race against time' scenario, where an important NPC is possessed and starts losing characteristic points. The PCs are tasked with finding the cure.

I'd love to hear any suggestions.

Thanks,

Colin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, colinabrett said:

Can the infected/possessed character fight off the disease spirit through mundane medicine or natural remedies?

I would play that they can.

A disease spirit just infects you with a disease, it doesn't infect you will an incurable disease for which you need to exorcise the spirit.

Curing the disease destroys the spirit in my games.

2 hours ago, colinabrett said:

When cured (either by Healing Spirit or Physik or Potions, if possible) what happens to the lost characteristic points? Are they gone forever or do they regenerate over a period of convalescence? (Perhaps one point per week up to one point lower than the original level.)

Curing the disease does not restore characteristic points.

However, there may be spells that hel with that.

By the way, my opinions are for RuneQuest with a Gloranthan slant, not necessarily for Magic World. Other Opinions May Vary.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you want it to  work?

Note that the description of Physik suggests it’s not hugely helpful against diseases (mundane or otherwise) “This  skill  little  influences  the  course  of  diseases  and  ailments  where  Hit  Points  are  lost over  time.  Physik  has  slight  effect  on  many poisons;  see  poisons  in  the  spot  rules.”

I’d allow successful Physik rolls to “assist” the patients own Stamina / stat rolls versus disease effects.

The major wound table makes it clear that exercise / training / exertion is the only way that characteristic loss from major wounds are recovered: “Make  up  points  lost  from most  characteristics  through  special  response  or  training  of  the  characteristic,  but  the  scars  remain.  The  loss is  permanent  if  nothing  is  done.” Whether this would apply to losses caused by disease is of course the question and not explicitly addressed. But note that in MW “typical” “mundane” infections don’t damage characteristics but hit points iirc.

I would carefully consider whether Disease spirit possession and a non-spirit disease are the same thing or not. In a setting like Glorantha, I’d tend to there being no such thing as “non-spirit based” diseases (even if there is a minor category of disease spirits that use different rules); in my Southern Reaches game mundane diseases and Disease spirit caused diseases are quite different, and “mundane” treatments cannot cure but may slow the progress / ameliorate the impact of Spirit diseases.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a bit late replying to these helpful suggestions. Sorry.

I'm going with a mixed bag of options. For example, a character with STR 12 and CON 14 is attacked by a Wasting Disease spirit, loses the spirit combat and is possessed/infected. They begin losing STR points at a rate of one per day and therefore have 12 days to find a cure (being kind here, and assuming the stat loss starts the day after infection).

This possession/infection is considered magical and therefore Physik and mundane medical treatment can't cure the disease but can slow its progress (as suggested by @NickMiddleton ). If the victim is being treated regularly - at least every 6 hours, say - and the medic can make a Physik roll once per day, this grants the victim a Stamina roll to avoid the STR loss on that day. This could keep the victim alive for longer than 12 days. Without daily treatment, the victim is not allowed a Stamina roll, and is doomed to lose one STR per day.

The only way to treat such a magical disease is to combat it with magic, i.e. a Healing spirit. The characters must find, convince (and probably pay) a Shaman with the ability to summon these spirits. This gives us a race-against-time mission to recruit the Shaman, which creates the sort of tension I'm after.

Now, this is where it gets tricky. According to the Magic World Bestiary, a Disease spirit has an average POW of 16-17, while a Healing spirit's POW is just 14, putting it at a mathematical disadvantage in spirit combat against the Disease. I had a thought, then, that an Apothecary working with mundane drugs and potions, cooperating with the Shaman, could grant a bonus to the Healing spirit's POW. I'm not talking a huge bonus (1 or 2 points or 1D3 on a critical Physik skill roll) but it might be enough to swing the balance in favour of the Healing spirit.

When the Disease spirit is destroyed or banished, the lost characteristic points regenerate at a rate of one per week to a level one point below the starting level. Again, Physik and Potions can help with this convalescence (at the same 1, 2 or D3 points rate) until the victim recovers.

I don't know if this seriously unbalances spirit combat but it fosters cooperation between vastly different character types (the nature-attuned Shaman vs. the more clinical Apothecary), lets explorer-type PCs search for and recruit the Shaman, encourages roleplaying, and generates a sense of urgency in the adventure.

Any thoughts or opinions on this sort of approach? I'd love to hear them.

Colin

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...