Visceral Baroque: A System For the Cadaverous Earth

[Superfluous Crow]

Ah okay, misunderstood how the shade works. I think they might be okay then, since they are only weak oozes outside a host, and are basically just ordinary characters while inside.
But your changes could work too I think.
Is there any kind of interaction between shade and host during possession? It doesn't really say what state the host will be in if the shade ever leaves him.
Also, is there a size limit to the possession?

As a last comment, are you sure hagmen should have hunter as their favored class? That's basically "tacticians" in Iron Heroes after all.

[Steerpike]

Shades can only possess dead bodies, so there's no issue with host conflicts.  They're sort of the most genteel undead of CE.  If you're familiar at all with Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, he's pretty close to a shade (though I only discovered him recently).

I hadn't considered size limit, but I should probably add one...

It was either the Hunter or the Harrier for the Hagmen, and I just couldn't picture a vermiform crteature with the lower body of a giant eel (basically) in the role of the quick, swashbuckling Harrier.  I like the terrain bonuses, and my description of the Hagmen does emphasize their hunting abilities.  In D&D class terms their favoured class would have been Ranger.

I gave Hagmen the Scent ability.  I looked it up, and apparently hagfish have a good sense of smell.

EDIT: Shades can now only possess a Huge or smaller creature.  I made them immune to critical hits and mind-influencing effects.  LA +3?

[Superfluous Crow]

Yeah, LA +3 if they can possess huge creatures. Would be a very strange, yet hopefully entertaining, race to play :D
scent seems appropriate.
And Wormwood is awesome. I do imagine the shades as slightly less... wormlike, though ^^