An NPC in our campaign is possessed by an allip (kind of). I want to magic jar into the NPC's body. What happens if they fail the save? Are both the NPC and the existing possessor trapped in the jar? Only the possessor? Only the NPC? Possessors usually can't be targeted except with Turn Undead or similar abilities, so I'm worried I'll end up being possessed in the NPC's body.
Allips (by the stat block) can't possess anyone, so that's an additional ability it's been granted. Knowing exactly how that ability works would really help here. The rest of my answer is going to be under the assumption the possession is identical to the Possession ability in the Ghost stat block.
With the above assumption, the Magic Jar spell and the Ghost's Possession ability don't, strictly speaking, interact with each other at all RAW. So it's going to be entirely up to the DM how to handle this going forward. A few possibilities:
The target can't be possessed while already possessed. This could be supported by the DMG's note that the same effect can't be applied to the same target. However, possession is used as an ability name only in one of the two instances and "possess" is an action, not a keyword in this case, so this isn't guaranteed.
You switch places and find yourself in the back seat, with the ghost still in control of the body. This could still be beneficial if you're trying to purge the Allip and your Cha score is higher than the NPC's, because anything that allows you to make a new save would be you making the save instead of the NPC.
You take over the body, causing the NPC's soul to enter the Magic Jar and the Allip to fall out of the body.
You take over the body, causing the NPC and the Allip to both enter the Magic Jar.
I'd discuss this one with the DM before actually trying it. If I were the DM, I'd rule that the possession wouldn't apply because of possibility 1, effectively stating that any possession applies the same as the Ghost's. But if I were asked about this by a player, assuming they already had the Magic Jar spell, I'd also give them that information for free on the basis that someone with the spell learned would know the ins and outs, such as limitations of the spell.
Something thematically similar happened in my game a while back, where a monster used dominate person on a PC and an ally attempted to also cast dominate person on the same PC to wrest control away from the monster. I allowed it and said that the newer casting replaced the older casting, ending the older effect. The ally then promptly dropped concentration, allowing the PC to regain self-control.
EDIT: I believe this works, except for the part about ending the old effect. Both durations would still exist, but the newer effect would apply, assuming the potency was equal.
Something thematically similar happened in my game a while back, where a monster used dominate person on a PC and an ally attempted to also cast dominate person on the same PC to wrest control away from the monster. I allowed it and said that the newer casting replaced the older casting, ending the older effect. The ally then promptly dropped concentration, allowing the PC to regain self-control.
EDIT: I believe this works, except for the part about ending the old effect. Both durations would still exist, but the newer effect would apply, assuming the potency was equal.
You're correct about the durations. Both apply while they overlap, but only the most recent casting has control while they overlap. As an exception: A lower-level casting can't override a higher-level casting's power due to the potency line of overlapping effects.
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An NPC in our campaign is possessed by an allip (kind of). I want to magic jar into the NPC's body. What happens if they fail the save? Are both the NPC and the existing possessor trapped in the jar? Only the possessor? Only the NPC? Possessors usually can't be targeted except with Turn Undead or similar abilities, so I'm worried I'll end up being possessed in the NPC's body.
There's a couple of things about this one...
Allips (by the stat block) can't possess anyone, so that's an additional ability it's been granted. Knowing exactly how that ability works would really help here. The rest of my answer is going to be under the assumption the possession is identical to the Possession ability in the Ghost stat block.
With the above assumption, the Magic Jar spell and the Ghost's Possession ability don't, strictly speaking, interact with each other at all RAW. So it's going to be entirely up to the DM how to handle this going forward. A few possibilities:
I'd discuss this one with the DM before actually trying it. If I were the DM, I'd rule that the possession wouldn't apply because of possibility 1, effectively stating that any possession applies the same as the Ghost's. But if I were asked about this by a player, assuming they already had the Magic Jar spell, I'd also give them that information for free on the basis that someone with the spell learned would know the ins and outs, such as limitations of the spell.
Something thematically similar happened in my game a while back, where a monster used dominate person on a PC and an ally attempted to also cast dominate person on the same PC to wrest control away from the monster. I allowed it and said that the newer casting replaced the older casting, ending the older effect. The ally then promptly dropped concentration, allowing the PC to regain self-control.
EDIT: I believe this works, except for the part about ending the old effect. Both durations would still exist, but the newer effect would apply, assuming the potency was equal.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
You're correct about the durations. Both apply while they overlap, but only the most recent casting has control while they overlap. As an exception: A lower-level casting can't override a higher-level casting's power due to the potency line of overlapping effects.