The Blessed have the Exorcise miracle. Shamans have a Favor designed to cast out possessing spirits. You'd think that these abilities would be meeting some kind of need, right? When's the last time they actually did? I can't think of one and I see no risen to have a solution to a problem that is rare at best. So, let's make it a touch more common, shall we?
The Ridden are living people who have been possessed by a manitou or other evil spirit. As such, they share many characteristics with the Harrowed. Firstly, they can develop Harrowed powers and even count coup on abominations. Secondly, they must struggle for Dominion against the vile spirit within them. There are, however, some fairly important differences between the two.
The most important difference is that a Ridden is alive. As such, Ridden can have no special pain resistence, can die from drowning, poison, disease, etc. On the other hand, they can also eat, drink, have sex and donīt frighten animals or suffer from Degeneration. Mystical effects still apply to them though (Protection miracle, holy ground, etc.).
Another difference is in the length of the relationship. If it wishes, a manitou may attempt to leave its host and return to the Hunting Grounds though this is rare (a manitou doing this suffers a fairly big loss of face among its brethren). However, the greater the ties between the manitou and its host (measured by the number and level of Harrowed powers the host has), the more difficult it is to voluntarily separate. A manitou wanting to flee its host must make spend the equivalent of a blue chip (1 blue, 3 white, 1 white/1 red) and make a Spirit roll against a difficulty determined by the TOTAL number of levels in Harrowed powers the host has gained. The host automatically senses this attempt and may help or hinder the manitou as he wishes. Exam: Spiritslayer the manitou has 4d10 Spirit and 3 points of Dominion. The host has Claws 3, Ghost 5, Stitchin 3 and Arcane Protection 4. The manitou must therefore beat a difficulty of a 15 on 4d10 + 3 to free itself. The host may apply his own Dominion to either aid the manitouīs attempt ("Get outta here you evil thing") or hinder it ("Stick around, you little bastard, I ainīt finished with you just yet"). A Blessed or Shamanist exorcism is also modified by the power level of the Ridden to a lesser extent. In this case a manitou wanting to resist rolls its Spirit plus Dominion and adds the highest level in its Hostīs Harrowed powers plus 1 for each additional power the host has (so in the above example, a manitou would have a 4d10 (spirit) + 3(current dominion) + 5(Ghost 5) +3 (three other Harrowed powers) for a total of 4d10 + 11 to resist exorcism. The ridden in question may use his Dominion to aid or hinder the exorcism at his own discretion. It is a difficult thing indeed to free the soul of a of long-term possession victim. Death can also sever (or deepen) the relationship between rider and ridden. A ridden who does not die from a maiming wound to the head draws 1 card for each point of grit he has as well as cards equivalent to his manitouīs "bonus" to resist exorcism. Cards drawn for basic Grit are assumed to be pulled last, giving the manitou "first crack" at possessing the ridden. If the ridden comes up Harrowed, note the card on which the Joker appeared. If it came up in those pulled from the ridden modifiers, the Harrowed is possessed by his regular manitou and the Dominion struggle commences from the current totals. Otherwise, a whole new manitou steps in and the Harrowing process commences as normal. Assuming the possession ends (by whatever means), a Ridden KEEPS any Harrowed powers and coup abilities he gained while being possessed. However, he may not raise them any further without becoming possessed or Harrowed at some point in the future.
Along with the length of the relationship between Ridden and Rider, the nature of the relationship is a little different as well. In some ways, itīs almost a business arrangement between the two. Because the powers stick around after the manitou leaves, manitous are far more reluctant to allow Ridden to develop Harrowed power without a little... incentive. Along with Bounty points, a Ridden must sacrifice Dominion points equal to the level of the power he wishes to attain. So, a Ridden wanting to gain Level 3 in Claws must sacrifice 3 points of Dominion to his manitou, along with spending the bounty points required to purchase the power. The Ridden may win the points back during Dominion tests, of course, but those tests are made all the harder in the meantime due to the loss of the Dominion.
Additionally, all Ridden are considered to have the Night Terrors hindrances for no points (just part of the package). Those Ridden wanting the really "interesting" nightmares can take the Harrowed Haunted Hindrance. Unless otherwise specified, the ridden work the same way as the Harrowed do in terms of game play.