Getting a Hand Up - The Possessed Hand Feat and You

[Sara Marie]

Apupunchau, you really managed to do some impressive things to your original thread and I had to close it out completely. I've created this one for you to give your post another try.

[Apupunchau]

Thank you so much. I have no clue what I did. But your quick ability to take care of it is credit to Paizo's customer service.

One of maybe a half dozen ways I make characters is I find something in one of the games books that catches my eye and a create around that. Sometimes it’s a fluffy story tidbit and sometimes it’s a crunchy mechanical cog. But regardless of what it is, its something I find so intriguing I must make a character using it.

A feat that came out in Pathfinders 2015 release Haunted Heroes Handbook went really passed my notice until recently. But boy does it have some really cool RP and character build possibilities. So if you haven’t already sunk your teeth into it I present to you the some ideas for the feat Possessed Hand.

What kind of characters do you think would have a Possessed Hand? What shorts of entities would be the most interesting to inhabit said hand? What other mechanical bits would you use to compliment this feat? As a GM how would you torture – I mean add a little RP fun – a character with a Possessed Hand?

[QuidEst]

Recently made a character with Possessed Hand. He lost the use of his left arm in a fight with a necromancer. He eventually bound a spirit to his arm in order to make use of it again. He's a haunt collector occultist, so he does a lot of additional spirit-binding to enhance his combat abilities and the like- went for a bit of a coding vibe on the bindings.

[Apupunchau]

QuidEst wrote:

Recently made a character with Possessed Hand. He lost the use of his left arm in a fight with a necromancer. He eventually bound a spirit to his arm in order to make use of it again. He's a haunt collector occultist, so he does a lot of additional spirit-binding to enhance his combat abilities and the like- went for a bit of a coding vibe on the bindings.

Nice. After I wrote the article I had an idea for a witch with the hand familiar. And whenever he learns a new spell it forms as a tattoo on the hand. Probably even going some what up the arm.

[Lemartes]

This feat chain is awesome mechanically and flavour wise.

I had a few ideas a while ago about it.

Oh just as I'm typing this I had an idea. Mix it with the Eyebiter Mesmerist.

"I had my eye on you and I saw that you might need a hand."

"Aahhahhhh."

[Apupunchau]

Lemartes wrote:

This feat chain is awesome mechanically and flavour wise.

I had a few ideas a while ago about it.

Oh just as I'm typing this I had an idea. Mix it with the Eyebiter Mesmerist.

"I had my eye on you and I saw that you might need a hand."

"Aahhahhhh."

Can you get more than one familiar. As a GM I might house rule that it is one familiar. And when the separate from your body the eye sits on the middle finger - proto neck - of the hand.

[Lemartes]

Hand's Detachment wrote:

If you have the familiar class feature, you can choose for your possessed hand to become your familiar, granting it all familiar abilities as normal. If selected as a familiar, your possessed hand grants you a +3 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks.

Looks like you can have it and a familiar.

[Here4daFreeSwag]

Currently got me a PBP character that uses the Possessed Hand feats (including Hand's Autonomy and Hand's Eye). Of course, since that very character is using the Vampire Hunter base class (from the Vampire Hunter D: Message from Mars Kickstarter), it seems pretty fitting. ;)

As a FYI, the PF Vampire Hunter D RPG supplement also has a series of feats that nearly mirror those of the Possessed Hand feats, only that they're referred to as Countenanced Carbuncles- in reference to D's own Left Hand with the face in the palm.

Apupunchau wrote:

Can you get more than one familiar. As a GM I might house rule that it is one familiar. And when the separate from your body the eye sits on the middle finger - proto neck - of the hand.

Heh, or that eye could even be in the stump-end of the wrist. Still might look strange with the fingers moving backwards (or maybe a simultaneous swish pushing backwards) to propel that moving hand forward...

[The Morphling]

Many years ago I played in a very unusual D&D campaign as a noble from a creepy, "Addams Family" style evil family. The most memorable of the characters was Grandfather Vossler, an ancient and decrepit warlock who never moved from his hidden chamber within the family manor, but who used his warlock powers to detach his hand and eyeball to roam about the manor (and beyond), spying on the outside​ world and letting him use his magic through the detached body parts. With the addition of Possessed Hand, the GM and I have managed to recreate the wizened grandfather as an Eyebiter Mesmerist with levels in Beast-Bonded Witch.

[VRMH]

Mechanically, it's a nice feat-chain for a Monk: the drawbacks don't really bother them.
I could see a Drunken Master, blaming his debaucheries on his own hand. It just won't stop feeding him drinks!

[pulseoptional]

I was theorycrafting a Hexcrafter/Card Caster, or a Vigilante (Warlock) with the line up to the Hunger feat. Makes hiding cards a little bit easier (or whatever you decide to stash in your hand-stomach.)

[Cellion]

This is one of my favorite feat chains! I love how the first feat not only makes non-two-handed fighting styles stronger (something they totally need) but also includes a totally amazing utility ability in being able to retrieve a small item as a swift action 1/day. Its almost too good! The flavor is amazing and flexible. I'm particularly partial to the idea of a more novice character being guided and protected by a guardian spirit.

Favorite one in the chain is probably Hand's Autonomy. Your hand attacks for you when you can't, wakes you when you're sleeping, drags you out of danger, feeds you potions when you fall unconscious, and more.

[Son of the Veterinarian]

Know Direction posted a build of the main characters from Parasyte using the Possessed Hand featline.

http://knowdirectionpodcast.com/2016/08/iconic-design-more-like-parasyched/

[Darche Schneider]

One of the things I've wanted to do with the feat myself, is combine it with the Magical Child Vigilante Archetype. So your hand comes off and then transforms into something like a Celestial Wolf or something. Or that One transformation creature that could turn itself into a sword. Or perhaps a parrot?

Then you get the clockwork prosthetic to replace your missing hand or use phantom limb or some such. I've also thought about making a Hand-Witch like in Gravity falls.