Decomposition

Decomposition as a concept of a gradually degrading corpse could actually by done using the Aging rules on B444.
"If any attribute reaches 0 from aging, you die" should be ignored as oversimplistic though.
Aging can be made more complex. This requires splitting into secondary characteristics rolls.
Do not make 1 HT roll to see if an entire IQ is lost, instead make THREE
#to see if IQ w/o secondaries is lost: if it fails, subtract 1 from IQ and then buy up Per and Will by 1 point
#to see if Per is lost
#to see if Will is lost
Do not make 1 HT roll to see if an entire ST is lost: instead make TWO
#to see if ST w/o secondary is lost: if it fails, buy down ST by 1, but add 1 to HP
#to see if HP is lost
Do not make 1 HT roll to see if an entire HT is lost: instead make two:
#to see if HT w/o secondary is lost: i it fails, buy down HT by 1, but add 1 to FP
#to see if FP is lost
Do not make 1 HT roll to see if an entire DX is lost: instead make two:
#to see if DX w/o arms is lost: if it fails, buy down DX by 1, but add 1 level of High Manual Dexterity
#to see if Manual Dexterity is lost
==Note==
*if you don't have a level of B59 High Manual Dexterity to lose, then allow Low Manual Dexterity as a tiered trait or use Ham-Fisted.
*ST loss can similarly be further complicated by allowing individual rolls for other ST components of Lifting ST and Striking ST (ie FOUR rolls), but it is not technically legal to buy them down lower than ST, so if you roll to lose one and don't have any levels, buy down overall ST and buy back +1 HP and +1 other type of ST.
*due to the 30% variation caps on HP/FP from ST/HT, any drop causing a larger gap than is legal should cause an automatic drop in the higher attribute so it is legal. Perks allowing 100% gap could delay this.
*this might be done using Arm ST or Weak Arms too but the mechanics would be unclear. It's hard to make that alternate rather than addditive with the whole-body different forms.
==degrading==
H27 talks about "reanimated" (but not necessarily preserved) bodies as "Will become a rotting corpse" doesn't really seem like a feature. Rotting Corpse (probably better called Rotting Undead) is after all 59 points compared to 90 points for Intact Undead
If it was magic animating them then one proposal would be to buy Mana-Sensitive on many attributes: if you can't use DX or ST or IQ when there's no mana around, for example.
However: there is still a body, perhaps with muscles in an "intact undead" (even though lacking electrical activity) so perhaps a possessing force should be able to animated it.
No Mana Shutdown is an interesting guideline distinctive from Dependency (Mana). T119 is a basis for describing a "shutdown" state in general.
NMS is effectively having a "Shutdown" state and then buying it off with No Shutdown as a Recipricol Advantage, limited by Mana-Sensitive. This means the value of this disadvantage is the points "saved"
Shutdown [-a]
Not Shutdown (Mana-Sensitive -10%) [a*9/10]
-20 = 9a/10 - a
-200 = 9a -10a
a = 200
This means "shutdown" should inherently be worth 200 points.
This happens to tie with the B36 value for Incapacitation of Unconsciousness on Affliction.
IE "unconscious" is a 200 point disadvantage.
Which also happens to be the value of buying down 10 points of IQ from default.
Perhaps this should not be an affliction at all then, but simply buying down IQ?
One interesting option is the idea that there are "two IQs".
One (HT based) is left behind in the body, reflecting the brain's health.
Another (Will based) travels with the body when using Possession.
You could design this as either Alternative Abilities or as Duplicated Advantages.
Duplicated IQ at 1/5 cost would only cost 4/level.
It would be usable in situations where you can't use the other.
Duplicate IQ could have the HT roll shifted to a Will roll, making it a mental trait.
The base cost could actually be limited to make it even cheaper, a leveled perk.
"Only while insubstantial -10%" for example, would mean you could not use the IQ in your physical body. You could only use it while projecting, or as a ghost.
"Requires IQ roll" (as ironic as it seems) would apply FP demands to it's use in such situations. This could be avoided by resting 5 minutes before attempting the IQ again. You could make attempts in partial levels, using portents of IQ while others rested. This would also be an interesting approach for Innate Attack.
You would need to achieve -25% to actually save a point, so you'd need something else like "Hard to Use" to make you -3 to that IQ roll. Another idea might just be to apply Maximum Duration: 12 Hours to the IQ, and need to take brain rests.
==When death comes==
*DX reaching 0 should not mean death, just paralysis.
*ST (base, lifting or striking) should not mean death, just paralysis.
*HP reaching 0 should mean death. Characters with 'bonus points' to spend should probably buy up HP if it's dropping faster than ST, to try and stay alive.
*Perception reaching 0 should just mean being senseless, not death.
*IQ reaching 0 should mean
==Requiring a HT roll==
The interesting thing about IQ needing a HT roll to maintain it is actually that this legally would make it a "physical trait", meaning it should actually not come along while using Possession, and that anyone possessing you should inherit that.
This is an unresolved contradiction.
One way around that might be to require those with Possession to purchase modifiers on IQ that shifted the aging rolls to another attribute (such as IQ or Will) or to buy a limited unaging which does not apply to IQ.
Horror 88 has this for Evil Computer which has IQ only as an accessibility.
Logically this makes sense for creatures who are minds independent of the brain of whatever they are accessing.
Maybe some brains are only able to fully manifest IQ though.
In that case it could make sense to buy IQ that's cosmic but which only applies in human forms, and only a tiny bit of IQ that applies in lower forms.
Category:Concepts