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Burr · 07-16-2002, 01:09 PM

Here's another idea for the public domain:

In most muds without perma-death, being killed turns you into a ghost so that a person can get someplace safer than where they died before regenerating. How boring. Some people spice things up a bit by using their ghosts to explore the world; that's a much more interesting idea, but it isn't very ghostly behavior, is it? Here's a much cooler, more plausible possibility: possession.

Generally, a person dying on a mud has died a violent death, and is probably rather angry about it. There's our motive. The very fact that a ghost can exit their body suggests that can also enter a body; so that's our means. And what an opportunity: the person who just killed them is standing right there!

There would, of course, need to be a short time limit. After all, taking possession of a body that you aren't accustommed to has got to tax your strength. And there needs to be some kind of equity: maybe because of the loss of strength, it takes your ghost even longer to regenerate once you are evicted from your host's body.

Taking possession of your killer's body could give you several options during the time limit. If the killer is a humanoid, you could use their body to carry and hide your loot. You could use them to attack their group members. Or to kill a nearby mob. There would be many ways you could use a host body to benefit you. One way it would benefit the mud community as a whole is that it give the killed person a way to vent their frustrations ICly.

Possession could make the tactics of pk extremely interesting. For instance, in a group vs. group fight, the first person killed will also get first choice when it comes to possession. People who can kill quickly in one vs. one pk would have to accept the fact that, if their victim decides to possess, they are the obvious target. All in all, possession would force people to think about pk, rather than relying completely on armor, weapons, and such. Anything you can use, the enemy's ghost could use if their attempt at possession succeeds.

07-16-2002, 01:09 PM	#1
Burr Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 123	Here's another idea for the public domain: In most muds without perma-death, being killed turns you into a ghost so that a person can get someplace safer than where they died before regenerating. How boring. Some people spice things up a bit by using their ghosts to explore the world; that's a much more interesting idea, but it isn't very ghostly behavior, is it? Here's a much cooler, more plausible possibility: possession. Generally, a person dying on a mud has died a violent death, and is probably rather angry about it. There's our motive. The very fact that a ghost can exit their body suggests that can also enter a body; so that's our means. And what an opportunity: the person who just killed them is standing right there! There would, of course, need to be a short time limit. After all, taking possession of a body that you aren't accustommed to has got to tax your strength. And there needs to be some kind of equity: maybe because of the loss of strength, it takes your ghost even longer to regenerate once you are evicted from your host's body. Taking possession of your killer's body could give you several options during the time limit. If the killer is a humanoid, you could use their body to carry and hide your loot. You could use them to attack their group members. Or to kill a nearby mob. There would be many ways you could use a host body to benefit you. One way it would benefit the mud community as a whole is that it give the killed person a way to vent their frustrations ICly. Possession could make the tactics of pk extremely interesting. For instance, in a group vs. group fight, the first person killed will also get first choice when it comes to possession. People who can kill quickly in one vs. one pk would have to accept the fact that, if their victim decides to possess, they are the obvious target. All in all, possession would force people to think about pk, rather than relying completely on armor, weapons, and such. Anything you can use, the enemy's ghost could use if their attempt at possession succeeds.