Possession With Extended Duration

[lugaid]

In GURPS Horror, Ken Hite gives the Dybbuk (p. 78) Possession with Extended Duration. The only thing I can see in Possession that might be affected would be the amount of time that passes before the Possessor gets another -1 to recall memories of the host's. Am I missing something, or is that probably the intention?

[Sam Baughn]

Costs FP requires paying every minute for an ability with continuing effects. Presumably, the ×3 duration increases the interval at which this needs to be paid, so the initial possession costs 5 FP, then 3 FP per 3 minutes thereafter.
Why on earth you would build the ability like that instead of just giving it a lower FP cost in the first place, I don't know.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by lugaid

The only thing I can see in Possession that might be affected would be the amount of time that passes before the Possessor gets another -1 to recall memories of the host's.

If we're talking about Possession with no other modifiers besides Extended Duration then this seems like a reasonable place to apply it.

You could probably also apply it (B75) to the "Your previous host regains
control of his body (if sentient) after 1d seconds of mental stun" effect, increasing the length of mental stun.

Also the "Spiritual -20%" modifier has a similar "If you are exorcised or
leave voluntarily, the host recovers after 1d seconds of mental stun" which I could also see changed to either "1dx3" or 3d seconds of stun.

Originally Posted by Sam Baughn

Costs FP requires paying every minute for an ability with continuing effects. Presumably, the ×3 duration increases the interval at which this needs to be paid, so the initial possession costs 5 FP, then 3 FP per 3 minutes thereafter.

Also seems pretty reasonable.

Originally Posted by Sam Baughn

Why on earth you would build the ability like that instead of just giving it a lower FP cost in the first place, I don't know.

Dybbuk has -25% + 20% for a net -5% ... so as you say, they could've gotten -5% by just taking "Costs Fatigue 1" and paying a fixed 1/minute.

One possibility which occurs to me: assuming the initial activation cost (5 FP) comes from the FP of the Dybbuk's insubstantial body, is it perhaps possible that they might be able to pay the ongoing costs per minute from the FP pool of their new body?

Usually you get control of FP to spend in whatever body you take over so it could be the same in this case. That could be one explanation: because a Dybbuk likes to intentionally drain the FP of their adopted form at a rapid rate, to harm it?

Doesn't seem like the most efficient way though, because there could be a lot of other ways to harm your host body, like ramming it's head against a wall, or just constantly using Extra Effort in Combat.

There isn't exactly a mechanic for preventing someone who wants to exhaust themself to the point of HP loss (aside from falling unconscious in the process) from using EE every single second on AOA:Mighty Blows.

In that way you could burn through 20 FP to go from +10 to -10 in under half a minute.

[lugaid]

Originally Posted by Plane

You could probably also apply it (B75) to the "Your previous host regains
control of his body (if sentient) after 1d seconds of mental stun" effect, increasing the length of mental stun.

I thought about that, but it doesn't apply to Spiritual Possession, which doesn't have a "previous host" due to the spirit body lying dormant in the possessee rather than being abandoned.

I am going to watch people discussing the merits of the FP argument, for sure. It would be nice to see an official clarification, so maybe we can see that at some point.

[lugaid]

Originally Posted by Sam Baughn

Costs FP requires paying every minute for an ability with continuing effects. Presumably, the ×3 duration increases the interval at which this needs to be paid, so the initial possession costs 5 FP, then 3 FP per 3 minutes thereafter.
Why on earth you would build the ability like that instead of just giving it a lower FP cost in the first place, I don't know.

Like you, I can't see why it would be built like that if the intention was simply to draw out the FP cost. I think that Hite intended the 5 FP to be a one-time cost but made an error in the method, though of course I can't be certain. How would one go about making a long-term ability like Possession with no ongoing FP cost but give it an initial FP cost to use?

[Plane]

Originally Posted by lugaid

I thought about that, but it doesn't apply to Spiritual Possession, which doesn't have a "previous host" due to the spirit body lying dormant in the possessee rather than being abandoned.

Yeah so it could instead apply to "host recovers after 1d seconds of mental stun" in that case. I think that's how it works if you take Extended Duration on Mind Control too.

[lugaid]

Originally Posted by Plane

Yeah so it could instead apply to "host recovers after 1d seconds of mental stun" in that case. I think that's how it works if you take Extended Duration on Mind Control too.

Maybe, I guess, though I wouldn't rule that way. Seems like a pretty large Enhancement for such an insignificant effect, in the end.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Sam Baughn

Costs FP requires paying every minute for an ability with continuing effects. Presumably, the ×3 duration increases the interval at which this needs to be paid, so the initial possession costs 5 FP, then 3 FP per 3 minutes thereafter.
Why on earth you would build the ability like that instead of just giving it a lower FP cost in the first place, I don't know.

I'm fairly confident that that was the idea. I guess he was just trying to model a specific time limit on how long the ghost could possess a target.

Originally Posted by lugaid

Like you, I can't see why it would be built like that if the intention was simply to draw out the FP cost. I think that Hite intended the 5 FP to be a one-time cost but made an error in the method, though of course I can't be certain. How would one go about making a long-term ability like Possession with no ongoing FP cost but give it an initial FP cost to use?

Since it's not intended for use as a PC, I wouldn't worry much about the specifics of the build. If you wanted, you could just rule that they actually have a lower value Costs FP instead as Sam was suggesting.

Regarding an initial ONLY FP cost, I guess it would usually be just a Nuisance Effect, or an Accessibility.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by lugaid

Maybe, I guess, though I wouldn't rule that way. Seems like a pretty large Enhancement for such an insignificant effect, in the end.

I agree it's overpriced for those effects on either ability, but sometimes enhancements work better for some abilities than other ones.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by lugaid

How would one go about making a long-term ability like Possession with no ongoing FP cost but give it an initial FP cost to use?

Custom limitation. If you want the fp to be unrecoverable until the effect ends, temporary disadvantage (-5 fp) is -15%.