PC casts Soul Jar and Permanent Possession

[Lancewholelot]

I've several questions about Player Character use of the Soul Jar and Permanent Possession spells from GURPS Magic.

If a PC transfers to a new body using Permanent Possession, should the GM force to player to spend all earned CPs toward buying any increased abilities (in addition to the subject's physical body, the spell gives the caster access to all of the subject's skills, spells, and memories)? What if the possession gets dispelled?

If a permanently possessing caster transferred from a Soul Jar rather than a body, does he simply ignore the HT roll to avoid sympathetic damage when the subject body is injured (see Magic p.49)?

Are there any other possible issues I'm overlooking?

[McAllister]

Originally Posted by Lancewholelot

I've several questions about Player Character use of the Soul Jar and Permanent Possession spells from GURPS Magic

Originally Posted by Lancewholelot

the Soul Jar and Permanent Possession spells from GURPS Magic

Originally Posted by Lancewholelot

GURPS Magic

Sorry, I started skimming at that part. GURPS Magic is frustratingly arbitrary and its interactions with other systems are maddeningly vague (and I'm confident I'm not the only person who dislikes it). If I were a GM using GURPS Magic (and I wouldn't be), I'd run a world without that spell, because I'm neither willing to charge PCs points for using it nor let them take whatever body they can and keep it for free.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Lancewholelot

If a PC transfers to a new body using Permanent Possession, should the GM force to player to spend all earned CPs toward buying any increased abilities

See "Mind Transfer" on B296.

In short, yes -- depending on the GM / group's policy toward advantages acquired in play. Some groups just write them down and adjust the character's CP total; some groups have the character go into point debt. Some groups distinguish between increases deliberately sought after (likely in this case) and those that just happen as a side effect of normal play or an intended reward (implying that other characters get similarly-valuable boosts).

You can also pay for the increase by acquiring new Disads (probably mental in this case). If you use point debt, you might want to make it a percentage of earned CP, just so the character isn't otherwise completely frozen while it pays off the increase.

Yet another option is to have the character set aside a pool of CP for "Possession Points", and only be able to possess creatures that increase the point total by that much. Anything else is too powerful for his magic.

If you don't have some sort of control, then you'll just have a world full of ST 8, DX 8, HT 8 mages that immediate upgrade into a big strong brute, plus all the ones that take over dragons and such. Having to pay for the massive increase tends to dampen the enthusiasm of munchkins.

What if the possession gets dispelled?

Again a policy question. Per RAW, Disads acquired in play don't give you any points back; they just lower the point value on the character sheet. (Yes, RAW is asymmetrical in this regard.)

Some groups will give you points back. If you pay for the increase with extra Disads, then these Disads could go away (bought off with the returned points, perhaps the only thing you can spend them on). The Possession Pool system has the advantage that you never spent points, so you don't lose them, either. They're always limiting the current Possession relative to your baseline.

If a permanently possessing caster transferred from a Soul Jar rather than a body, does he simply ignore the HT roll to avoid sympathetic damage when the subject body is injured (see Magic p.49)?

Inanimate objects can also take damage. You could treat it as the subject "body" for this purpose, breaking the spell if the Soul Jar is destroyed.

Keep in mind that the Jar, hidden away somewhere as is traditional for those vulnerable demon hearts, probably can't repair itself. And according to the text for Soul Jar, destroying the Jar permanently kills the inhabitant, even if they still have their body to go back to. These could be reasons why Exchange Bodies is preferable to the intermediate Soul Jar technique. (Which mage also has less mastery of his subject; see the prereqs for Exchange Body and Permanent Possession. It makes sense for the less developed techniques to have more weaknesses compared to more advanced spells in the college.)