Author Topic: Dybbuk demon getting around type restrictions on possession?  (Read 1749 times)

Offline ksbsnowowl

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The Dybbuk is an incorporeal demon from the Fiendish Codex I that can possess corpses.  It also has an ability to bestow a "gift" on a creature (granting profane bonuses), and can then possess that creature if it dies while the bonuses persist.

Quote
Corpse Possession (Su) A dybbuk that enters a square occupied by a corpse can, as a standard action, possess the body. It can only possess bodies of creatures of the following types: animal, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, and vermin. ...

Dybbuk’s Gift (Su) Once per day as a standard action, a dybbuk in its natural form can impart a gift to a mortal creature by touch...
As long as the gift persists, the dybbuk can monitor the character’s condition and location as if it had placed a status spell on that character. If the character dies, the dybbuk can attempt to possess his body as a standard action, despite any physical distance between the two (as long as the body and the dybbuk are on the same plane).

The way I'm reading that, the Dybbuk could grant its gift to a Giant, and if the giant dies during the 24-hour period that the gift persists, the Dybbuk could possess its corpse, even though it normally could not possess the corpse of a Giant.

Am I wrong?

Also, the gift can be imparted to "a mortal creature."  Obviously that includes things like Giants.  But does it include Native Outsiders?

Offline Kethrian

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Re: Dybbuk demon getting around type restrictions on possession?
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2012, 08:21:06 PM »
I notice that is says they can attempt possession, despite distance.  It gives no exception for type, so I'd say that the attempt would fail due to wrong creature type.

After looking in Races of Destiny, Aasimar and Tieflings have a maximum age, so they are in fact mortal.  I would suppose this to hold true to nearly all native outsiders....
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Offline kurashu

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Re: Dybbuk demon getting around type restrictions on possession?
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2012, 08:30:19 PM »
Looking for more ways to fiendinize your trolls? Looks like you have to hand wave or use Cave Trolls, I think they are monstrous humanoids.

Offline ksbsnowowl

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Re: Dybbuk demon getting around type restrictions on possession?
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2012, 11:57:44 PM »
Looking for more ways to fiendinize your trolls? Looks like you have to hand wave or use Cave Trolls, I think they are monstrous humanoids.
War Trolls, actually.  Cave Trolls are of the Giant type.

For reasons of consistency (and not having the type of world where there are lots of arcane experiments being done on trolls, etc), the only way I use War Trolls is if I alter their type via the Half-Troll template, or the half-fiend template.  Primordial Giant Half-Troll War Trolls are actually the "royalty," as it were, of troll kind.  Loki created a single "super troll" as a joke long ago (a Primordial Giant Half-Troll Monster of Legend War Troll), and when the creature tried mating with a member of his former (Firbolg, before his transformation into a troll) giant species, the progeny were "Troll Scions," from which all the lesser trolls eventually descended, "degenerating" as their blood became less "pure" from cross-breeding with various types of giants and humans.

And yes, fiendinizing trolls is what I live for  :P

In actuality, the "main event" coming up will be a planar breach where demons and devils will spill through (Hathran are working to lessen the flow of fiends as much as possible, but can't completely cut it off), all while an army of trolls and tanarukk are attacking the Hathran.  I was curious if there was any way I could get the Dybbuk to possess the body of a slain troll on the battlefield.

Oh well, it'll be more insidious to have it possess the body of a slain Rashemi barbarian, and have that attack the party.  Then again, the dybbuk might be too much (with the Con damage) for the party to deal with, given everything else I'm going to be throwing at them...  :plotting

Imagine the Battle of Brindol from Red Hand of Doom (where most of the fights are 2-3 EL's above the party level), but scaled up for 11th level gestalt characters.  On top of that, between the encounter with the assassin sniper and the final battle with the general of the evil army, the party will have to assist while a tide of demons and devils pours through the rift.  They will be but a small portion of those battling the demons inside the stonehenge (the location of the rift), but a new demon (or set of demons) will come through the rift each round for six and a half minutes.  The PC's will have to deal with a new demon(s) coming at them every 5-6 rounds. (Maybe every 1d4+5 rounds...)  The rising tide of demons will start with Small- and Medium-sized demons of CR ~5 or 6, and slowly build as the oncoming "tide" builds, will reach a crescendo with something around CR/EL 11 or 12, then ebb back down. (Other, more powerful demons will be fighting "in the background").  Once the rift has "subsided" (held closed only because of the work of the Hathran), the general of the evil army (CR ~13) will make his final strike toward the stonehenge, attempting to disrupt the ritual so the choking-off of the flow of demons is released.  Cue climax as the party saves the day (hopefully...)