Soul Drinking

[Torval]

I would like to get some clarity on soul drinking. Let's keep it simple. When your soul is taken via a soul drinking weapon, do you die? Some of my fellow gamers think so. I am of the opinion that you still are alive but without your soul. I don't have my books in front of me but I basically applied the idea after reading about the Soul Catchers in the Hades book. Do you think there is a difference between a soul drinking weapon and the soul stealing ability of the Soul Catcher(in terms of how it affects the victim).

If you are still alive but missing your soul, how does that affect you? Are there noticeable differences in personality, cognitive thought, emotions, etc? I did use a Soul Catcher against a player of mine a few years ago and basically told him that he was still alive but it left him feeling empty and depressed. Basically just in a state of despair. Does this seem like the appropriate way to handle it?

Edit: I guess a question that should be asked before the second part....does the character need to die before the soul drinking weapon can steal the soul?

[Giant2005]

Personally, I don't see a difference.
However even in the Soul Catcher description, it states that a person can only live for one year after their soul has been destroyed. The Soul Catcher description lists a bunch of ways one can get their soul back but it is different for a Rune Weapon, in the case of a Rune Weapon that soul is forever lost. I'd say the only thing that could stop them from dropping dead after that year would be divine intervention.

[Witchcraft]

Soul Catcher from Hades is totally different from Soul Drinking Rune Weapons (Atlantis / BoM). The scant paragraph of information we get in Atlantis says devoured and imprisoned forever if they don't save or triple damage if they DO save.

[Hotrod]

That's a really neat interpretation.

I always regarded a soul drink as a kind of insta-kill, "I win, you die" attack. With the very essence of you consumed, the body (if not killed by the wound) becomes a vegetative husk. Such a husk could be a good candidate for a mental possession/transfer of essence, or for organ donation, but it wouldn't be good for much else.

Your interpretation is less immediately-threatening, but more creepy to contemplate. TheFarseer trilogy features a threat that essentially consumes the souls of its victims. These victims, "Forged Ones" are without emotions, without souls, driven solely by their animalistic instincts. They care only about satisfying the immediate needs of their bodies, regardless of the cost to themselves and anyone around them (A mother would kill her own daughter for a slice of bread, but not bake any herself, for example). It's a disconcerting state to ponder.

I don't recall any canon explanation of the mechanics on this one.

[Torval]

That's a really neat interpretation.

I always regarded a soul drink as a kind of insta-kill, "I win, you die" attack. With the very essence of you consumed, the body (if not killed by the wound) becomes a vegetative husk. Such a husk could be a good candidate for a mental possession/transfer of essence, or for organ donation, but it wouldn't be good for much else.

Your interpretation is less immediately-threatening, but more creepy to contemplate. TheFarseer trilogy features a threat that essentially consumes the souls of its victims. These victims, "Forged Ones" are without emotions, without souls, driven solely by their animalistic instincts. They care only about satisfying the immediate needs of their bodies, regardless of the cost to themselves and anyone around them (A mother would kill her own daughter for a slice of bread, but not bake any herself, for example). It's a disconcerting state to ponder.

I don't recall any canon explanation of the mechanics on this one.

I did also make it well known to him that he was a prime candidate for possession and that he would have no saving throw against it because there would be nothing inside of him to repel the invasion.

[zyanitevp]

Soul Catcher from Hades is totally different from Soul Drinking Rune Weapons (Atlantis / BoM). The scant paragraph of information we get in Atlantis says devoured and imprisoned forever if they don't save or triple damage if they DO save.

Wow, I actually agree with Witchcraft- write that one down...

[Torval]

Soul Catcher from Hades is totally different from Soul Drinking Rune Weapons (Atlantis / BoM). The scant paragraph of information we get in Atlantis says devoured and imprisoned forever if they don't save or triple damage if they DO save.

Wow, I actually agree with Witchcraft- write that one down...

If the soul is devoured and imprisoned forever, how does the physical body react?

[Tor]

the body (if not killed by the wound) becomes a vegetative husk. Such a husk could be a good candidate for a mental possession/transfer of essence, or for organ donation, but it wouldn't be good for much else.

I like this idea.

It also opens up the option of keeping a body alive on live support until you can convince the rune weapon to release the soul (in which case you'd probably need some way to get it back in the body, like a resurrection spell) or destroy the rune weapon.

[kiralon]

I always played soul drinking as the solve to regeneration/reincarnation. Soul is consumed by the Rune Weapon, you can resurrect/reincanate the body but all you are getting is digested soul poo as the erm . . . controlling force?, doing this can have bad repercussions. Some Rune Weapons destroy the body, and some leave the body partially intact, as mentioned, a perfect candidate for possession (possession is permanent in this case, exorcism will not remove it, only death or more bad luck for the body) and have done some adventures based around that happening to a personage with some power who have had their soul devoured and an enemy take the body. The smartest of them killed off all the bodies closest friends and family members and made it look like it was someone else who did the murders, and had paid this person to do enough specific bad things things to make him look very guilty, even though he didn't do the foulest deeds but the possessed person did.
Deific Intervention couldn't bring the person/soul back. (Utu was sort of an exception, so was Frank)
Old One intervention was the most likely thing that could return the soul . Maybe woundhealer could, but that amounts to pretty much the same thing.

XY ftw !!!

[Torval]

I always played soul drinking as the solve to regeneration/reincarnation. Soul is consumed by the Rune Weapon, you can resurrect/reincanate the body but all you are getting is digested soul poo as the erm . . . controlling force?, doing this can have bad repercussions. Some Rune Weapons destroy the body, and some leave the body partially intact, as mentioned, a perfect candidate for possession (possession is permanent in this case, exorcism will not remove it, only death or more bad luck for the body) and have done some adventures based around that happening to a personage with some power who have had their soul devoured and an enemy take the body. The smartest of them killed off all the bodies closest friends and family members and made it look like it was someone else who did the murders, and had paid this person to do enough specific bad things things to make him look very guilty, even though he didn't do the foulest deeds but the possessed person did.
Deific Intervention couldn't bring the person/soul back. (Utu was sort of an exception, so was Frank)
Old One intervention was the most likely thing that could return the soul . Maybe woundhealer could, but that amounts to pretty much the same thing.

XY ftw !!!

What is this "woundhealer" that you speak of?

[Hotrod]

You know, if a soul drinker is truly a soul-imprisoner, then one could conceivably free a soul (and resurrect?) if one were to use a Cauldron of Destruction (Rifts England), which is the only means I know of destroying a rune weapon.

[pblackcrow]

Instant kill.

[The Beast]

I would like to get some clarity on soul drinking. Let's keep it simple. When your soul is taken via a soul drinking weapon, do you die? Some of my fellow gamers think so.

They would be correct.

[kiralon]

What is this "woundhealer" that you speak of?

A runeweapon made by the old ones
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=133912&hilit=woundhealer#p2593995

You know, if a soul drinker is truly a soul-imprisoner, then one could conceivably free a soul (and resurrect?) if one were to use a Cauldron of Destruction (Rifts England), which is the only means I know of destroying a rune weapon.

I do like this idea as a save the king/queen/princess type adventure, i might borrow it

[drewkitty ~..~]

I would like to get some clarity on soul drinking. Let's keep it simple. When your soul is taken via a soul drinking weapon, do you die? Some of my fellow gamers think so. ...snip

Yes, and the body drops down dead right then. And, the char can not be resurrected. Nuff said.

[AZ_RUNE]

Soul Catcher from Hades is totally different from Soul Drinking Rune Weapons (Atlantis / BoM). The scant paragraph of information we get in Atlantis says devoured and imprisoned forever if they don't save or triple damage if they DO save.

Wow, I actually agree with Witchcraft- write that one down...

The funny part here for me is think about being accidentally teleported inside a Rune Weapon's dimensional prison! OMG game idea.....


.....scribbling notes

AZ_Rune

[Tor]

I always played soul drinking as the solve to regeneration

Well, bodies can heal without souls (just check out them Xombies) but you've effectively neutralized the threat.

/reincarnation.

This is why even Enlightened Immortals worry about their low magic saves.

Soul is consumed by the Rune Weapon, you can resurrect/reincanate the body but all you are getting is digested soul poo as the erm . . . controlling force?, doing this can have bad repercussions.

That's resurrection, reincarnation is when a soul is born in a new body, something I've only heard of happening with Hades Demons, Dyval Deevils, Devika, the Ti Hsien, and some Rifter fancruft which wasn't all too bad.

The scant paragraph of information we get in Atlantis says devoured and imprisoned forever if they don't save or triple damage if they DO save.

think about being accidentally teleported inside a Rune Weapon's dimensional prison!

I never even considered this possibility. I need to go underline any potential uses of the word 'dimension' in Atlantis and other places that mention Rune Weapons now, I guess.

You know, if a soul drinker is truly a soul-imprisoner, then one could conceivably free a soul (and resurrect?) if one were to use a Cauldron of Destruction (Rifts England), which is the only means I know of destroying a rune weapon.

The "Weapon Breaker" ability of Odin's spear Gungnir (CB2pg148) can destroy lesser rune weapons, and I don't think lessers can be soul drinkers, so you could only rescue the primary fuel source. The Cauldron is the only means I'm aware of to destroy greater/greatest ones though. I feel like I might be forgetting some other way though...

Dyval has soul pools that imprison souls in ways similar to rune weapons. It even mentions that soul drinking weapons can be used helpfully to draw souls out of pools without drinking them itself.

I'd like to think that the means you can use to free souls from the pools (which are pretty hard) might also be usable on soul drinkers. It doesn't say anything like that, but it'd be a nice house rule.