Re: Nomads and body hopping

[Wright Frazier <khelek@ns1.cioe.com>]

I agree with Lyle here.  Body hopping = second lifer using elemental means.
Same crime, different method.  Kinda like murder by gun shot instead of
murder by poison.  Same end result.

We all know that second lifers are just BAD in Nomadic culture, says it
quite explicitly, and several of'em have incants devoted to combatting
second lifers.  

As for what should be done about it Nomads doing it, I think their
Guardian Spirits would have words with them, and remind them that this
type of thing is one of the major pillars of what nomads stand against.
So there should be roleplaying consequences to it.

Also, in the legal system I'm working on for Southham, body hoping is
against the law, seriously against it, and results in really bad things.
Sure it'll still happen, but if it is discovered, expect the hammer to
come down.  After all, if you are swapping with a slave, whats to stop
you from trying to swap with say the Prelate?  And he doesn't like that
notion one bit.  The penalty for it is Soul Destruction, either via the
Soul Banish spell, or putting you in a rock and smashing the rock and
then scattering the pieces all over.  Liston, Devon, Kieron's Watch,
and the Shires all also have serious penalties, always involving 
some form of execution for it as well.  *shrug* may be this is enough.

Also, no magician will cast those spells for those purposes.  Could be
a sting operation, and those found doing it are subject to the same
punishment as those found in a swapped body.  Granted some will, but
those who want to make a living at spell casting and live a long time
won't.

Don't get me wrong, there is a SERIOUS social stigma against it, but
it still does happen.  Just you have to be REALLY REALLY careful about
it, and if ya get caught, its your ass.

ANyways, enough spew.

Wright
 
> But Steve, when they've supplanted the spirit/soul of another person,
> they just crossed the line.  Understand?  Guardian Spirits aren't all
> goodness and light, but the idea of the sanctity if one's spirit/soul is
> is absolute; either it is to be held sacred, or it doesn't matter one iota.
> 
> Time sharing is one thing, it doesn't expel the original spirit/soul and
> thus does not cause a problem.  Second-lifers completely expel the
> spirit/soul of the original owner of the body, and that is what must
> occur when body hopping, if the spirit/soul entering the body wants to
> have complete control that is.  Under 'normal' circumstances, a nomad
> and their guardian spirit are two separate entities; a second-lifer is
> just a body that a 'guardian' spirit has forcefully taken over.  When a
> nomad personally and intentionally takes over the body of another,
> they are crossing some line.
> 
> Now, you reply, "But, Lyle, what about Spirit Exchange?"  Well, the book
> _does_ describe this incant as having 'debatable propriety'.  I've only
> heard of this incant being used once, and that was by my nomad, Martin
> (he's just the cook; well, actually, he's now just another spirit on the
> Kurago).  Anyway, as a result of using this incant, he had the opportunity
> to take over, permanently, a body that was much stronger and more agile
> than his original body.  After some thought, he realized that doing so would
> make him no better than a second-lifer (not his guardian spirit, but him
> personally, as it would be his spirit/soul, not the guardian, that had
> supplanted the original spirit/soul).  So, after finishing what he needed
> to do, he allowed the spirits to return to their original bodies before
> proceeding with the completion of the adventure.
> 
> As for incants that have been removed from the originating nomad, I've
> checked and there is no mention of incants being "reset".  The exact
> wording is "Objects endowed with incants slowly lose their potency
> once removed from their creator, becoming completely inert in 2 days
> times the rank of the incant."  Preceding that statement is the line,
> "The nomad keeps these close to his body until needed."  These two
> statements indicate to me that it was never the intention that a nomad
> could "reset" an incant that has left their near vicinity for a period of
> time.  Whoever started this long ago (probably based on some poor
> precedent resulting from GM mistake) should be shot; we've all been
> handling these incorrectly since then.  Unless Dan wants to make an
> official change to allow incants to be "reset", we'd all better go back to
> handling this the right way; no incant resets.
> 
> Lyle
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Steve Ames [SMTP:steve@ns1.cioe.com]
> Sent:	Thursday, August 06, 1998 8:01 AM
> To:	gmlist@cioe.com
> Subject:	Re: Nomads and body hopping
> 
> 
> Where do people get the idea that guardian spirits are all goodness and
> light? Second lifers aren't body hoppers they are guardian spirits who
> took over their host for a second round in the game of life.
> 
> It is easily seeable that you have a guardian spirit with an agenda
> who isn't willing to cross the line and become a second lifer. I've
> also seen guardian spirits who time-share the nomads body... with the
> nomad's permission. They aren't second lifers either.
> 
> 						-Steve
> 
> > I agree it should be some mental ability, and the guardian spirit should
> > be SERIOUSLY peeved at body hoppers.  Less, as Lyle said, they are
> > second lifers.
> >
> > As for time limits.  *shrug* I've always thought, and run it, that
> > so long as it is reconnected for some period of time it resets
> > the timer.  After thinking about it, say the same amount of time
> > that it took to make the thing originally sounds good.  That way
> > you don't get the single touch recharge.
> >
> > Wright
> >
> > > As for Nomads jumping from body to body doing the burn and run. There
> > > is nothing to stop them except ( as Lyle points out ) their gaurdian
> > > spirit.
> > > 
> > > One theory that Steve and me had bounced around was not having HEA as
> > > the "incant" stat and use WIL instead. This would stop the jump and
> > > burn since it is still your WIL. Another thing I thought of was to
> > > have anything created through the burning of someone run out when out
> > > of that body's possession for the same amount of time that incants
> > > last now when not possessed by a Nomad.
> > > 
> > > This last bit brings to question that time limit. Is it cumulative?
> > > Does it reset whenever the Nomad possesses it? Can I have a Nomad
> > > make me a luck amulet and ( providing I don't use it ) have him
> > > reset that 2 week limit on the last day it will work? I don't see
> > > why this should happen ( but then again I don't see why not ).
> > > 
> > > As for the 10.1 pound rock being cracked in half ( or just chipping
> > > a .2 pound chunk off ) the soul goes to Infero ( DI time ).
> > > 
> > > 					'Nuff spew
> > > 					Greg
> > > 
> >
> >
> 
>