Lash-esque Character

[KOFFEYKID]

So I've been in love with Lash ever since she popped up in the novels, and naturally I've been wondering how to handle such a character in the RPG. So I've been working on some powers that would help representing a Lash-esque character that might be playable. Here is what I've got so far.

Elias Flemming

HC: Imprisoned Wizard
TB: Trapped in a Piece of Jewelry
OA: 5 Aspects I cant think of Right Now

Skills
5 Conviction, Discipline
4 Lore, Scholarship
3 Presence, Deceit
2 Rapport, Intimidation, Empathy
1 Contacts, Endurance, Investigation

Cost   Power
+3      Bound Spiritual Entity
 -4      Mind Meld
          -Co-Pilot
          --Exert Control
 -3      Evocation
 -3      Thaumaturgy
 -1      The Sight
 -0      Soulgaze
 -1      Refinement
      
Total Refresh Adjustment: -9

Bound Spiritual Entity [+3]
Description: You are a spiritual entity imprisoned in a physical object, you have no body, and cannot act in the physical world without a bearer.
Effect:
Unbodied. You cannot take physical skills,  you cannot move yourself, and you cannot communicate verbally and other neat things.
Communicate with Bearer. You are able to telepathically speak with the bearer of the object you are tied to.
License to Possession. If you have the domination ability you qualify for the possession upgrade, or the Mind Meld power.
Called to Bearer [-1]. You have the ability to tie yourself to the bearer of your physical prison, and you can teach them to call your prison to their hand.

Mind Meld [-1]
Description: You have the ability to possess someone in a benevolent way. Having you in one's head is a good thing, since you can help but not exert control.
Musts: You need some way to become insubstantial in order to enter the target's body.
Effects:
Willing Possession. You may possess somebody, but only if they agree to it. Once they agree they cannot force you out of their body.
Assist Vessel. When someone is possessed by you, they gain the full effect of any powers or stunts you have. What's more, they may use your skills instead of their own.
Co-Pilot [-1]. The person possessed by you gains the effects of the Demonic Co-Pilot power with you as the demon.
Exert Control [-2]. The Co-Pilot upgrade is a prerequisite to this one. This variant is seen most commonly among demons or bound spiritual entities. With this upgrade you may fully possess your host once you've taken him out with the mental strain from your Co-Pilot upgrade. The attack your host suffers from the Co-Pilot upgrade inflicts +2 stress on successful hits. Once you've taken possession, you may control your victim completely, without any easy telltales of mind control, and gain access to all of their physical abilities and many of their mental ones. Once someone has a reason to be suspicious, you must use your Deceit to defend against discovery.

[wyvern]

I'd strongly suggest making the player character be either just the host, or a combined entity - essentially two characters under the control of one player, but with only one body between them.  For one thing, it makes for very simple game mechanics - heck, you can even reflavor "beast change" to allow a skill swap between host and rider.  Playing a disembodied mind just strikes me as something that's neat in concept, but unlikely to work out very well in play - though you'd probably earn a ton of fate points as your host went off and did things you didn't care about...

Then again, maybe it's just not my personal cup of tea.  Maybe it'd work out fine; for an example, it'd certainly be amusing to team up with another player to play your normal host...

As for the actual structure of your character, I'd point out that physical skills would still be quite useful for you - since, when you fully possess a target, you'll be running entirely off your own skills.

[devonapple]

I was just in a LARP, playing a dysfunctional cyborg character, holding a bag containing the telepathic, undying head of his therapist, who had been unsuccessfully executed as a spy and relegated to acting as my shrink. Another player held a sign saying "I'm not here" and whispered things to me. It cant have been a fun role for another player, which is why it was played by a GM assistant acting as an NPC.

For this, the only true way to play this character conflict is to actually have two characters, two players. But there is considerable potential for their crossed agendas to sour the mood of the table. Anything less should/could be a Trouble or other Aspect, along with a Power or two to reflect the passenger spirit.

[bobjob]

Wyvern described how I'd do it. Mess around with the text of Beast Change until you get something that works. Basically it's just a way to change around the skills since the entity inside the head couldn't really affect the outside world and all of it would be story driven by the player. It also gives a great reason for having Sponsored Magic (Crazy Internal Head Wizard). Maybe even an Involuntary Change that could be like having a second character sometimes.

Man, I'd love to see the aspects for that.

[sinker]

Something similar did come up recently and someone made the point that it could be interesting (if a little extra work on the GM's part) if you were playing a bodyless PC with an NPC host. I could see that working. I could also see it any of the other ways mentioned with the exception of two player characters using the same body. There are a number of reasons why that doesn't sound like a great idea.

[zenten]

You could always try some Wraith style Shadowguiding, if one of the PCs typically takes a more backseat supporting role, and the player of that PC is interested in the idea.

[Amseriah]

You could always try some Wraith style Shadowguiding, if one of the PCs typically takes a more backseat supporting role, and the player of that PC is interested in the idea.

This.  To be more specific, the player playing the body would have a character of their own, they would essentially just be NPC-ing the body.  Benefits are that it takes the burden off of the GM (always a good idea to get on their good side about an idea  ), and you still have another person playing the Host so that there is actual conflict of interests.