Metamorphosis

[bluskreem]

I would like to announce my official intentions to release a supplement for Carcosa some time in early 2009, tenitivly titled: Metamorphosis.

Features planned so far;

Changelings: Born human, changelings slowly become something other. These are not the standard meta-humans of Men and Magic Fame; Changelings are cursed individuals who are slowly loosing control of their mind and and body.

Rituals of Transmogrification: The blasphemous Snake-man art of changing the very nature of men.

Expanded Mutations: More Mutations, expanded tables

New Monsters: Ghouls, Matango*, Mutants, Rat-Things, Reanimated and more...

Adventures: Although I haven't started working on this section yet I hope to have at least one pre-made adventure / Dungeon crawl in the final product. Perhaps a search for a cure for Mutant and or changeling characters the castle in hex 2307, or something based on the plot seed given in 2510.


*(Name subject to change due to copyright)

[geoffrey]

Now this sounds very, very awesome. ;D

[bluskreem]

I'm debating if a section on Cyborgs or Primordial Ones technology is warranted. They both fit the themes of the book, but they might have better homes in a technology themed book, or books on their progenitors. (Plus I'm not really sure how I'd expand Cyborgs.)

[bluskreem]

I've begone play-test on some of the preliminary work on Metamorphosis, so I thought now would be a good time to explain one of the new concepts in the book: the Changeling.

As I said earlier Changelings are not Meta-humans, neither in theme, or mechanics. While meta-humans are races that live besides men in the standard D&D universe, Changelings are men that in the process of becoming something that men fear.

Mechanically Changelings are inspired by Carcosa's Psionics, and mutations. Changelings modify an existing class as a character advances, becoming somewhat of a subclass, rather then applying all the modifiers through out progression as is the case of Metahumans.

Becoming a Changeling:
Unless using optional rules, all 1st level characters with high enough attributes may roll to see if they have inhuman blood coursing through their veins. If the character succeeds in this roll they must select their heritage (making sure they meet the prerequisites.) Each heritage guides the character to their ultimate fate as an inhuman beast.

When ever a changeling character levels they must consult their Heritage chart and apply any modifiers that are listed (the modifiers are similar to mutations in implementation.) If a "monster" modifier is listed then the character has lost the total sum of their humanity, and is counted as a monster (of their heritage's type for the purposes of rituals) once this occurs the character is leaves player control, and will likely try to find members of their own kind.

Becoming a Changelings at Higher Levels: Under some circumstances a character may obtain a heritage after first level (consuming the part of a Matango for example.) When this occurs the character adds modifiers when they level as per usual, in sequence in the same manor of a character that a character that became a changeling at first level. For example if a character became a victim of the Wendigo curse at fourth level they would add the first modification on the Wendigo Heritage chart to their character upon reaching level five (rather then adding the first three modifications immediately.) No Character may have more then one heritage at one time.

Notes:
Originally I had a separate chart and roll for each Changeling heritage. I hadn't put much thought into this implementation obviously, and a player quickly pointed out giving a character so many chances to roll virtually guaranteed that they would 'succeed' in becoming some sort of changeling. The current method takes out much of the randomness, but it at least works for now. In our Playtest I simply allowed players to choose a Heritage if they wished, anyways.

I really need a better word for Modifier.

PS: Our first combat ended up with two out of four characters with D4 hit dice, and two D12 HD Deep One. After a few poor damage dice rolls, the combat ended up quite dramatic for what was meant to be a simple introduction to the system. The next two combats the players had a distinct advantage in Damage, but they still hesitated remembering how close the first combat was. I love the new conventions.

[geoffrey]

Dec 2, 2008 13:43:19 GMT -6 bluskreem said:

When ever a changeling character levels they must consult their Heritage chart and apply any modifiers that are listed (the modifiers are similar to mutations in implementation.) If the character reaches a

then their character's mind has lost the total sum of their humanity, and is counted as a monster (and a member of their heritage's species for the purposes of rituals) once this occurs the character is leaves player control, and will likely try to find members of their own kind.

Your ideas are intriguing. Keep up the great work! I think in the quoted part above some text got left out of the blank space.

What types of changlings are you envisioning?

I'm glad you like the dice conventions. Your example of the Deep Ones is precisely the sort of thing I was after: What may appear to be an easy kill can suddenly become a fight for your life--thus making characters on Carcosa more cautious. No one should ever yawn when encountering a Deep One!

[bluskreem]

Ack! i forgot i was editing some poor wording during the last game. It should be fixed now.

The list has changed a few times already, but this is list of the breeds that are currently used in the playtests, and definitely going to be placed in the supplement when it is complete.

Deep Ones - You know them and love them. I haven't done the fluff write up for these guys yet, but one of the PCs has already started down this path.

Ghouls - As the classical example of a Changeling in the Cthuluh Mythos, Ghouls were pretty much the first Changling I worked on. I've kept them pretty close to their roots, with a few changes. Long before a the transformation process takes place a ghoul changeling is haunted by disturbing dreams, and a desire to express violence. Their disturbing behavior intensifies as they undergo the change, and are soon drawn to the crypts and cemetery for food and to meet their kin. I've purposely been vague on their origins, giving several theories in both the monster and Changeling entries.

Matango - The spoor of a highly addictive fungus slowly takes over it's host, turning them into a lumbering fungoid beast, or a seductive siren before they are completely consumed. It is believed Matango are in some way conected to Glyuathk'th, and the Foul Putrescence.

"Sleeper" (Model 700110) - Reports of abductions are almost as old as the stories of the aliens themselves. Strange lights in the sky, mysterious rays, and "missing time" are all common elements in these stories, what is not common however is ever hearing from those who vanish again. Some do return however, but not all whom are exactly what they seem, some are sleepers. Sleepers are a specialized cyborg that unwittingly gather intelligence by infiltrating a species. After a predetermined amount of time unwittingly gathering information the hidden implants in the victim activate, and the Cyborg is recalled to it's masters, or instructed to die fighting the Old One menace.

700110 is the Taxonomic Serial No for Spinochordodes tellinii, a parasitic worm that secretes proteins into it's grasshopper host that instruct it to drown itself in a nearby pool when the worm needs to breed.

Wendigo - Wendigo will most likely not get a full write up, instead being used as an example for the "Creating New Heritages" section. I imagine that most people know the myths, if not the story by Algernon Blackwood so it should be easy enouph to add them into a game with out much problem.



A few more breeds have been either dropped from the list for some reason an other, but I'm pretty happy with the list right now. I'd really love to get a good Hyborian Changeling on the list however, but I haven't really found any that fit the mold of the changeling. If any come to mind I'd be very happy to hear ideas.

PS: These are obviously not the final fluff write ups before any body asks.

[geoffrey]

That's a great list of changelings. I'm really looking forward to your supplement! ;D

[bluskreem]

Update:

Our play test has blossomed into full on chronicle. So far there has only been five sessions, but the players seem to be having a great time, and there has been some great RP.(I'll have to get a round to posting the story so far one day. )It has been a good tool for figuring out some of the problems I hadn't noticed in my initial versions, however as players are getting more attached to their PC's it is becoming more difficult to change rules to account for changes in rules.

Testing out rituals is difficult with only one sorcerer PC.The rituals are becoming more Mcguffin then adventuring tool in the current story, but that was expected when I got the character concept. One of my favorite moments in the story so far has to be when an NPC (who held knowledge the PCs were seeking) was greviously injured in a fight. Rather than try and question a dying man, the PCs decide to "save him" in a manner, and transmogrify the good doctor into a rat-thing (saving most of his mind at the cost of everything else that made the NPC who and what he was.) It wasn't originaly planned, but it worked great.

Monster play testing has been going well: all of the creatures I've mentioned in the initial announcement thread have at least made an appearance in the game, with a few others hinted at. Ghouls are the only ones that have seen any major changes, so that's going well.

One major Primordial One Artifact has played part in the game, and I have had ideas for a few more, but they are most likely going to be changed into transmogrification rituals in the final draft.

The Mutation list has become more of a chore then I had anticipated. I didn't realize how boring hyphosis, or hydrocephaly could be before this project. With talk about switching to Mutant Future for a core game it's really tempting to clone their mutation list. I'm pretty sure this will be the last thing done, even though it was amongst the first "chapter" started.

The two current Changelings are nearing the end of their journey one way or another, especially the Ghoul character. One of the remaining charters is just starting to realize that they may be a Sleeper and their part in this adventure might have been predetermined. As a result the game might be winding down in the next couple oif weeks, but there is already a sequel story in the works.

[geoffrey]

It's gratifying to learn that my little supplement has been a springboard for you and your players to have so much fun. ;D

I find your new ideas for Carcosa inspiring. I seriously hope you publish them either in a commercial work of your own, or as submissions to the Fight On! fanzine.

[stonetoflesh]

I love the Matango, bluskreem... I just saw that movie this last year and thought the mushroom people had D&D weirdness written all over them. I'm looking forward to your supplement too, have an exalt in the meantime!

[Deleted]

Blueskreem ... are you still planning on releasing this material as a supplement to Carcosa, or may I include it in "The Carcosan Grimoire"?