I’m dming divine contention and one of the final encounters involves the ghost of a high level dragon. How do you handle character possession, as a dm, and as a player? I’m curious about how to successfully run this encounter and wondering what kind of plans a player would typically use when faced with this situation.

I like it when the player gets to play the ghost that possesses their character.

This way the DM doesn't have to look up all class features, the player is still a participant at the table, and for some it's pvp without repercussions ;)

Yeah, I hate possession. It’s a terrible mechanic that effectively destroys a players agency at the table. The suggestion of letting the player just go all out on another player is actually a pretty good one, though. As long as everyone is having fun.

My take on this would be to have the dragon possess something like a little girl or boy and then the kid casts something from a scroll, like fireball. This way the party has to try and subdue the possessed person, gently, instead of kill them outright. Also, have the possessing spirit have little regard for the body it’s in, it can add to the evil inherent in the act. 

hope this helps!

My players might just all be evil, but when I tell one of them they have to act like they're possessed and try kill the rest of the party, this really big grin appears and they start laughing maniacally. 

Quote from Doug_Booshaka >>

My players might just all be evil, but when I tell one of them they have to act like they're possessed and try kill the rest of the party, this really big grin appears and they start laughing maniacally. 

 

 So much, THIS!

Possessed player is given possesser's stats and motivations and roleplays them as they see fit = can be fun. Don't make killing their character the best solution for the party though.

Possessed player sits at the table while DM dictates what their character does = not fun.