Possess

Spell Details

Spell Books: Familiar Tome, Tome of Necromancy
Granted By: Belweir, Tlosh, Pax
Prerequisites: Diagnose

Mana Cost: 20
Experience Cost: 0

Encyclopedia

Casters of this spell have no need to impose their will through clever dialogue or the brandishing of weapons. Instead, they confront their foe on the mental plane. If successful, they subsume their target's will to their own, granting them control of every action. Note that one's own body is left defenceless during the possession so it is wise to plan ahead. If your possessed creature dies you will return to your own body - but be warned the shock exacts a price, so you might consider Releasing your spirit before the final blow is dealt.

Description

Allows you to take over the mind of a creature for 50-100 turns. The target creature may resist according to their intelligence (as compared to your current form), even if tame. This will transfer "avatar-hood" to the new form, leaving your original body helpless. If your host is killed (or otherwise terminated) before the spell ends, you will return to your own body and suffer System Shock. You can escape system shock by ending the spell early, with the Release command. While possessing another creature, you can use all their natural skills and abilities.

Tips and Tricks

General Advice

• Any divine punishments or boons will affect your possessed host.
• However, your original body's dress code, if any, will continue to affect the body. You can use this to recover HP or MP while occupied elsewhere, and dressing as a cleric is helpful if you're possessing a pet. And your host can also dress for a god!
• Your body is vulnerable, and you may need to Release in a hurry if it comes under threat -- however, your possessed host counts as an avatar, so if it's in view, monsters will mostly focus on that instead.
• Neutral and friendly monsters don't seem to take offense at being possessed.
• It's important to remember that, like learned spells and skills, experience gained while possessing a creature goes to the creature. (If it's your pet, you still get your cut of that.) This can help you groom your pet, but it also makes it less worthwhile killing stuff with a possessed Iron Golem or suchlike.
• Similarly, if you set monsters against each other, you don't get experience unless you (or your pet) lands the killing bow. Of course, it may be more important to get the monster(s) out of your way, or you might be more interested in their corpse.

Possessing your pets for "upkeep"

• stocking or raiding their inventory
• choosing their equipment for them
• using healing items or spells, on themselves or you
• reading books to teach them skills and spells. (the pet keeps them after you leave)
• Using Polymorph Control and any form of Polymorph to change it into something cooler. (Note: Version 115 fixed a sneaky booby-trap from doing this.)
• If you teach your pet Transfer Knowledge, you can also skim off its experience since its last level.

Using Stolen Powers

• Kobold Mages setting themselves on fire and/or healing you.
• Making an Earth Elemental bury itself. Even ruder is using its powers to create Earth Hammers.
• Similarly, other chosen victims can assist with creating Lightning Rapiers or even Ice Maces.
• (speaking of which): Making Water Elementals fill pits with water.
• Using Ghosts as spies.
• Using White Dragons to freeze any annoying lava patches if your fire resistance is not up to par (especially if you're a Lich in Quizar's level)
• If you control a Cockatrice, and there's a annoying enemy nearby that can be turned into a statue...
• Making Liches/daemons wear silver equipment. Cursed? All the better! (don't underestimate the damage this can do)
• Kobold Assassin's Track spell (to either reveal itself and/or a particularly troublesome monster)

Gratuitous Abuse

• "Let's you and him fight."

Possess one of the two most powerful monsters around and start a fight with the other one. Be sure to release before your host is in any real danger.

• "Why you hitting yourself, huh?"

Possess something powerful, pick fights or otherwise abuse it to knock down its HP. (If it's a spellcaster, clean out its mana pool too.) Then release for an easy kill.

• "You won't remember a thing!"

Svendre points out that you can also make a possessed creature forget its own spells and skills! This can defang a lot of the nastier monsters. Soul Suckers are particularly difficult targets, but well worth the trouble.

• "Give me that!"

The unique Cave Troll with the +4 Silver Spear OwOwMakitstop....

• "Here, take this!"

... might be a little easier to handle, if he's wielding cursed -1 club and buckler. Naturally, you have the spear.

• "No need to fight, just give me your stuff"

For that matter, you can use this spell to "mug" neutral or friendly uniques or other monsters, making them give you their treasure. Reputedly, this can even be done to rob Baezl'bub of his black heart without actually slaying him. (Admittedly, It'll take a lot of tries.)

• "Not me!"

If you know a divine punishment is about due, you can offload it to someone else.

• "You've served me well...goodbye!"

If you Possess a leader (such as that annoying unique Cave Troll) you can use its power to weaken or kill its tame minions without fear of them attacking you back.

• "Can you get something for me?"

Make a monster your errand boy. Make it raid its own lair or barge into another creature's hideout. If your hp or the posess time starts getting low, toss the item away, and let your main character pick it up. It might be a good idea to get out of there though, because the monsters can leave the lair at this point.

Quirks

• Currently (POWDER V117), failed possessions take no time, so you can keep trying as long as your mana holds out.
• Interestingly, if you possess a creature and go up/down stairs while your brain-dead avatar is nearby, he/she will somehow follow you.

Kender's Body Hop

This trick lets you permanently change to another species, leaving your old body controlled by an AI.

You will involve two monsters: the primary victim "Creature A", with at least two spell slots, and a temporary victim "Creature B". Either or both can be tame, and creature B should at least be neutral. You also need the Possess spell in memory, plus a Familiar Tome or Tome of Necromancy with at least two charges.

Proceed as follows:

1. Stash most of your possessions somewhere you'll be able to retrieve them later. Keep only the book you'll be using, and enough spare equipment to get through the transfer process.
2. Possess Creature A, teach it Diagnose and Possess (that's the two charges), perhaps wait a few turns, and then have it possess another creature (Creature B).
3. When the first ("your") Possess wears off, the Adventurer's body will reactivate... but because you are currently possessing Creature B as the Creature A, you don't go back! Instead, your old body gets an AI. (Note that you can't attack the old body in melee, because it's still your "master", but neither will it attack you.)
4. When the possession of Creature B wears off, it will return you to Creature A's body, for good.
5. With the other possession already over, there's now nothing left to return you to your own body! This one's yours forever -- and if you die, you die.
6. Note that both Possess spells will last 50-100 turns. If the first spell outlasts the second, you'll get dumped back into A's body, where you might be able to take another shot at B. (Or, you can wait up to 50 turns between possessing A and B.)

Try this on a Ghost or a Ghastified Purple Tridude for much hilarity.... The downside is of course, losing your own accumulated skills, spells, HP and MP, and so on. On the other hand, if you have access to the Library (and a victim with lots of spell slots), you may be able to do pretty well.