In my campaign, the goal is to find ten major god-level artifacts, each linked to a specific god in the setting. Each artifact has a part of the soul of the god it’s linked to, and that soul has the ability to possess the attuned wielder of the artifact.
There are three types of possession, each a different level of possession. The lowest level is partial possession — this is a willing choice to allow the god-fragment into the character’s mind, but the god cannot take over the character fully; it’s undetectable except in a few cases, and the character could easily throw off the possession if they wanted. The middle level is full possession — the god-fragment is in the character’s mind to a greater degree (in game the characters are unwilling to be possessed, out of game I cleared it with everyone), the god can take over the character for a limited time (in times of great emotion, when their mental guard is down, or for a single action if the character resists), and the possession cannot be easily removed. The most powerful level is the willing host — they basically are two souls in one body, and this can only happen if the character is so devout that their belief strengthens the god-fragment to the point that it’s unclear how much is godly influence and how much is the mortal (the PCs don’t get to be at this level, it’s for the campaign villain of sorts so it doesn’t have to be balanced).
I explained these levels in general terms when I first brought up the idea of these artifacts being able to possess someone, and I bring it up in more detail to an individual player when it comes up. Everyone understands, but it doesn’t seem like it’s getting used like I intended.
I intended the god-voice in the mind to be primarily a source of plot hooks, conflict, and the occasional thing that none of them could find out but needed to know. However, the players are using it differently.
One player is playing it as intended; they occasionally bring it up to check how the god responds or ask a single question at a time. Sometimes I give them an unprompted hint from the god, the way I do to the others, and they use it to help themself without trying to find a way to get more information. Another player is possibly under-using it; they only bring it up with me if I tell them something the god says or if someone else suggests they check a bit of information against the god. They take hints, but don’t go seeking the god’s advice or really use it as a plot hook, and I’m fine with that because they’re a pretty casual player.
The third player who’s possessed is the problem. She’s a druid, heavily focused on charisma and healing (she wanted to make a character who could mechanically complement the party, who at that time lacked both a face and a healer), and she’s the only one who actively sought out possession (she found the ring of the forest god and pretty much begged it to possess her; the other players were the result of bad choices or happy accidents). She also happens to be the sort of person who likes to win, and we’ve had arguments over this in the past. The problem is not that she wants to be possessed. I’m fine with that and it’s good character development.
The problem is that she abuses the god-voice in her mind. Pretty much every time she comes across anything weird or unusual, she asks the god about it, and won’t accept a vague or cryptic answer. She’ll also occasionally ask random-seeming questions and demand an immediate answer, even when I’m obviously doing something else (we play by zoom and she’s constantly sending me chat messages). This bothers me because she either makes me explain something that was supposed to be a brief mention, such as a rock formation in the desert looking like a crow, or she nearly makes me bypass the entire plot of a session because she asked a question and wants an answer even if it would spoil the plot.
I tried giving cryptic answers. She only asked me to explain them, and kept bugging me until I explained it to her satisfaction. Then, I tried not answering, but she responded by freaking out about why the god wasn’t answering. When I told her it spoiled the plot, she stopped asking about a specific thing, but then she used that meta knowledge to figure out the plot anyways. When I tried requiring a charisma check before any questions got answered, I applied that rule to everyone in the interest of fairness. But any DCs for the checks that would challenge her (she has at least a +7 in pretty much all charisma skills, and more with magic) are so far above the skill level of the other possessed characters (one with +1 to most charisma stuff, one with +0) that it’s unfair to them, and lowering the DC meant she almost always passed it. She understands why I want to limit her, but she doesn’t limit herself so I keep either getting into arguments or acquiescing because getting into an argument would take too much time.
I don’t know how to balance her desire for information and winning with my desire to have at least some of the plot be a surprise for the players, and I don’t know whether it’s something I should solve by changing the mechanic (which I want to leave as open as possible so the other players continue to use it the same way) or by trying to make her see reason. Is this the fault of my mechanic, and how do I solve this in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings or make me have to completely rewrite my mechanic?