Body Swap

[Neepling]

Quick question .... ....
I'm thinking of running a body swap schtick on my players,
Long story short - they've annoyed a Sidhe - everyone give their character sheets to the person on the left.
Obviously I'd like to put each character under the hammer a little to ensure everyone wants to swap back ASAP.

Has anyone tried this?
Did it help forge a stronger team or just cause more friction?

cheers

John

[PirateJack]

Depends on the characters. Also, it may be more difficult in cases where True Faith powers or abilities linked to the soul, but that can be handled by compels easily enough.

[Sanctaphrax]

I've never done anything like that, but if I did I wouldn't swap character sheets around. A wizard in the body of a cop probably still has good Lore, but probably can't use the cop's gun skills. So I'd give each character an Aspect saying IN THE BODY OF X and Compel it lots.

Anyway, whether that'll work out well is gonna depend on your group. You could ask them straight-up whether they're interested, or put it as the take-out condition on a mental attack that they can decide whether or not to absorb with consequences.

[Taran]

Yeah...the knowledge skills would be a bit weird...but you could still do it, I think.

I'd have them keep all their aspects (except those tied to IOP's and swapped powers)

[Mr. Death]

Given the way, in the books, magic ability is linked to the soul, I'm not sure what a body swap would even accomplish. Look at Ghost Story -- Harry keeps his magical power, not Molly's, when he hops into her body, and Corpsetaker keeps her magical ability even when she's in someone who previously had no magical ability.

Of course there's also the case of Luccio losing some ability when she swaps, but she still does retain her magic.

[Kintotech]

I could see it being funny from the RP standpoint, though. Sure you've got all your powers and skills, but you're in the wrong body and expected to possibly fake being this other person if nobody else knows or can find out about the switch.

[Quantus]

Being a Fae source, it wouldnt have to be a literal body swap, it could be more of a mental compulsion combined with glamour; the analogy would be More phantasm:Holomancy::[This]:Transmogrification.  That could even be part of the secret they need to figure out to reverse it.  It would sidestep the Soul mechanics and could reasonably alter mental capacities, memory, and even magic. There might always be somethign that could overwhelm it (True Love or Names or Strong enough Faith).  Some of that could be locked away though, for example a Wizard might not be able to summon his Sight while he thinks he's somebody that doesnt have it; but if shifted into the body of another wizard, there wouldnt be eny mental dissonance to block the ability. 


Also, Id suggest having a situation where the swap occurs randomly, and make them draw names out of a lot.  That way they dont get a chance to get too comfortable in their new skin.