Possession
Some telepaths can project their consciousness into another's mind, possessing and taking over the target's body for a time.
Possession is a "Special" Talent, with the following attributes:-
The higher of Telepathy or Special, Psionic Strength, 10-60 seconds, Very Difficult (–4) [target conscious and awake] or Difficult(-2) [target unconscious or asleep].
Costs 4+Range.
Use the Telepathy range tables for the range of the initial possession. The possession can have an indefinite range thereafter; the target may wander any distance within reason without breaking the connection to the possessor. The target boarding a ship and entering Jump does not count as "within reason."
The possessing mind is active inside the target's mind. Thoughts and memories remain those of the possessor: he has no access to the victim's thought processes, memories or feelings. The victim's consciousness becomes subsumed by the possessor's. Personality traits are those of the possessor, unless the possessor has spent considerable time studying the target, enough to mimic the target's mannerisms; this requires the possessor's mundane Deception skill, at a difficulty of Difficult(-2), decreasing to Very Difficult (-4) in the presence of people who know the target intimately.
The first time the possessor takes over the target, control is very clumsy: physical tasks receive a -2 DM, reducing to a -1 DM the second time. The third and all subsequent times the possessor takes over the same target, he has grown accustomed to the way the target moves, and receives no further negative DM penalties.
The possessor becomes comatose while possessing the target. The Effect determines the duration in minutes, unless the possessor has the Awareness Talent and uses the Suspended Animation power (costing an additional 3 Psionic Strength points): in which case, the Effect duration is measured in days.
If the target is rendered unconscious, the possessor returns immediately to his body. He must make an Endurance 8+ roll to avoid suffering shock; the possessor cannot use psionics or recover Psionic Strength, suffers -3 to all physical actions, and becomes fatigued until he sleeps for eight hours: see p. 75, Traveller Core Rulebook).
If the target is killed, the possessor returns immediately, but the End roll to avoid shock is 11+ and fatigue is automatic.
if the target sustains an injury but remains conscious, the possessor will feel the pain on his eventual return to the body; physical tasks sustain a -1 penalty DM until the possessor sleeps for a full eight hours.
The body of the possessor remains helpless for as long as the target remains possessed. The possessor remains completely unaware of the status of his vacant body for as long as he remains in possession of the target's body. The possessor's body may seem to be vulnerable to possession by a third party; however, any attempt to do so forces the host possessor's mind out of the target's head and back into his own, with both the host possessor and the invading third party possessor suffering shock automatically.
If the possessor's body is injured, the possessor snaps back to the body and suffers shock and fatigue automatically, in addition to injuries sustained. If the possessor is killed, his consciousness remains within the target's mind for a number of rounds equal to the Effect of the possession, before finally decohering and expiring.
As with Telepathy, if the target enters a psionically shielded area, or the possessor's body is carried into a psionically shielded area, or someone forces a psionic shield helmet on the target or the possessor, the Possession is instantly broken, but the possessor suffers no further ill effects and does not have to make an End roll to avoid shock or fatigue.
