Possessed Puppets

[KingCorn]

I'm working on a couple of fiends stuck in puppets. Basically Guiseppe thought he could draw the "cruelty and spite" out of his son Maligno and put it into two fiendish puppets. Instead he unwittingly summoned an imp and a quasit who possessed the toys and skipped town.

Now, I'm working off 5e rules where imps and quasits have a limited polymorph ability. How would that work in a puppet body? Could it be an illusion rather than a true polymorph so long as they're still in they're puppet bodies? What would you suggest?

[brilliantlight]

I would allow them to polymorph merely into other dolls. They could change from a Jack in the Box to Toy Soldiers to a marionette (which the players may mistake for a carrionette) etc.

[KingCorn]

I would allow them to polymorph merely into other dolls. They could change from a Jack in the Box to Toy Soldiers to a marionette (which the players may mistake for a carrionette) etc.

Well, the polymorph is into animals. Like they can become a frog, a bat, a centipede, ect. I supposed just becoming toy versions of those could work.

[brilliantlight]

I would allow them to polymorph merely into other dolls. They could change from a Jack in the Box to Toy Soldiers to a marionette (which the players may mistake for a carrionette) etc.

Well, the polymorph is into animals. Like they can become a frog, a bat, a centipede, ect. I supposed just becoming toy versions of those could work.

There is also the fact the DP are free to do what they want. If they want to change the polymorph to be that of any toy they are free to do so.

[The Lesser Evil]

Well, if they're possessing the dolls, wouldn't you just use something like an animated object stats for the body and then use the mental and spell-like abilities of the fiend until the material body is destroyed, upon which the fiend's body would flop out? Kind of like a scaled down version of the eidolon and the sacred statue from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

[KingCorn]

Well, if they're possessing the dolls, wouldn't you just use something like an animated object stats for the body and then use the mental and spell-like abilities of the fiend until the material body is destroyed, upon which the fiend's body would flop out? Kind of like a scaled down version of the eidolon and the sacred statue from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

What I had in mind for them though was that the puppets where their phylacteries, and that they're kinda forced to live in them. The Quasit, Cruelty, has gained some corruption points so his phylactery is slowly turning more and more into his real body, wood slowly turning into vile flesh.

[brilliantlight]

Well, if they're possessing the dolls, wouldn't you just use something like an animated object stats for the body and then use the mental and spell-like abilities of the fiend until the material body is destroyed, upon which the fiend's body would flop out? Kind of like a scaled down version of the eidolon and the sacred statue from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

What I had in mind for them though was that the puppets where their phylacteries, and that they're kinda forced to live in them. The Quasit, Cruelty, has gained some corruption points so his phylactery is slowly turning more and more into his real body, wood slowly turning into vile flesh.

I didn't think of that myself but that makes a lot of sense to me. It still has to pass as a toy IMO so I think the flesh would have a "leathery look".

[ewancummins]

I would probably just deny them the polymorph.

If that weakens them too much for your purposes, give them a compensating ability drawn from carrionettes or doll golems.

And I'd say the dolls are now their bodies. Destroy the doll, the imp is destroyed, or at the least becomes a malign but powerless entity in search of a new devil-doll body. Chucky style.

[brilliantlight]

I would probably just deny them the polymorph.

If that weakens them too much for your purposes, give them a compensating ability drawn from carrionettes or doll golems.

And I'd say the dolls are now their bodies. Destroy the doll, the imp is destroyed, or at the least becomes a malign but powerless entity in search of a new devil-doll body. Chucky style.

That makes sense to me.

[KingCorn]

I would probably just deny them the polymorph.

If that weakens them too much for your purposes, give them a compensating ability drawn from carrionettes or doll golems.

And I'd say the dolls are now their bodies. Destroy the doll, the imp is destroyed, or at the least becomes a malign but powerless entity in search of a new devil-doll body. Chucky style.

I think what I'll do is they can possess the puppets, which are their phylacteries, or manifest themselves outside the puppets. They want bodies (or at least Spite does) to better protect their phylacteries and themselves. Cruelty, the Quasit, has done enough land rituals that while his phylactery is stronger and he can even alter it, its slowly becoming harder and harder to leave when he possesses it, as he slowly just turns it into his body.

They can polymorph when outside the puppets, but rarely leave them as they know how vulnerable they are. They want to possess some mortals so they can better watch over the puppets