diff --git a/src/objects/objects.py b/src/objects/objects.py
index 5d14135528..8c7190b497 100644
--- a/src/objects/objects.py
+++ b/src/objects/objects.py
@@ -14,11 +14,13 @@ That an object is controlled by a player/user is just defined by its
 'user' property being set.  This means a user may switch which object
 they control by simply linking to a new object's user property.
 """
+
+from django.conf import settings
 from src.typeclasses.typeclass import TypeClass
 from src.commands.cmdsethandler import CmdSetHandler
 from src.scripts.scripthandler import ScriptHandler
-#from src.permissions.permissions import has_perm
 from src.objects.exithandler import EXITHANDLER
+from src.utils import utils
 
 #
 # Base class to inherit from. 
@@ -48,12 +50,13 @@ class Object(TypeClass):
         try: 
             dummy = object.__getattribute__(dbobj, 'scripts')
             create_scripts = type(dbobj.scripts) != ScriptHandler            
+            
         except AttributeError:
             create_scripts = True 
         if create_cmdset:
             dbobj.cmdset = CmdSetHandler(dbobj)
-            if dbobj.player:
-                dbobj.cmdset.outside_access = False             
+            if utils.inherits_from(self, settings.BASE_CHARACTER_TYPECLASS):
+                dbobj.cmdset.outside_access = False
         if create_scripts:
             dbobj.scripts = ScriptHandler(dbobj)
 
diff --git a/src/utils/utils.py b/src/utils/utils.py
index 1ad9e5f445..15b8283d35 100644
--- a/src/utils/utils.py
+++ b/src/utils/utils.py
@@ -249,3 +249,29 @@ def validate_email_address(emailaddress):
         return True # Email address is fine.
     else:
         return False # Email address has funny characters.
+
+
+def inherits_from(obj, parent):
+    """
+    Takes an object and tries to determine if it inherits 
+    from parent. What differs this function from e.g. isinstance()
+    is that obj may be both an instance and a class, and parent
+    may be an instance, a class, or the python path to a class (counting
+    from the evennia root directory). 
+    """
+
+    if callable(obj):
+        # this is a class
+        obj_paths = ["%s.%s" % (mod.__module__, mod.__name__) for mod in obj.mro()]
+    else:
+        obj_paths = ["%s.%s" % (mod.__module__, mod.__name__) for mod in obj.__class__.mro()]
+        
+    if isinstance(parent, basestring):
+        # a given string path, for direct matching
+        parent_path = parent
+    elif callable(parent):
+        # this is a class
+        parent_path = "%s.%s" % (parent.__module__, parent.__name__)
+    else:
+        parent_path = "%s.%s" % (parent.__class__.__module__, parent.__class__.__name__)
+    return any(True for obj_path in obj_paths if obj_path == parent_path)