Changeling / Shapeshifters

[Kitriana]

If in a team -- I don't think Calian damage can be rivaled. But thats just my opinion. But this conversation was about shapeshifting. Not Calians.

Again -- I'd really like to see multi forms I really like the idea of being able to do the cool kind of quests where you need the different forms to accomplish the end. That sounds like a really cool puzzle to figure out.

Or -- needing to shift in order to enter certain parts of the guildhall.

ie -Council having a special form that allows them into a council room.

i know I tend to kill rats in Sparkle.. can you imagine coming across a rat that suddenly started attacking in a way I didn't expect. Ouch. but I rather like that idea.

[Tive]

i know I tend to kill rats in Sparkle.. can you imagine coming across a rat that suddenly started attacking in a way I didn't expect. Ouch. but I rather like that idea.

Go to Re Albi castle... er Cadu.

[Strider]

Any thoughts or feedback on this?

Okay, how about...

- guild occupying all 3 slots (obviously)

I am certainly paring down the quote and so may be taking this out of context, but I think that this concept, with it's wide-ranging potentials for power and drawbacks, could be tuned as far down as a simple racial guild, or any combination of slots up from there. Given Draugor's input, I am curious if people would be interested if one of the offerings was straight Layman, especially given that most (all?) forms available at that level would most likely preclude or limit Occupational abilities.

All aspects of the shape shifted body would be that of the actual form (stats, AC, attacks, etc).

I think I really like this idea, if you mean that the resulting form will have it's own stats based on transformations of the base character's stats.

While Genesis has a serious problem around the power differentials between our top-tier largest characters and especially, new characters, I do not think you could tune this in a way a majority of current and future players would accept, if it was completely unmoored from normal character progressions.

There would be some mix of consuming mana in both the maintaining of the form and other aspects, etc.

staying in any form other than base constantly draining mana and you needed mana to change forms [...] although I believe there was a way to change back somehow even without mana but it left you severely weakened for quite a bit

I find this somewhat boring, as it makes this just another flavor of spell-casting guild. I think it would be more interesting if the guild introduced some other limiting factor on how often one could transform, and relied on other stats and pools. Each form "aspect" or form-progression-tree should "burn" something related to the change against the base character.

• Panic - Small Forms - These will probably be some of the first forms available and maintaining them will raise the base character's panic, until they hit their cap and have a forced transformation.
• Encumberence - Large Forms - All non-quest/non-guild/droppable/etc. items in inventory at time of transformation get moved to "mass bank" where they are both corroded and randomly disappeared for weight-based "time points" that allow these forms to be maintained. Any mass remaining when the character transforms returns to their inventory in the form of corroded, broken or sludged mass depending on random chance and time elapsed.
• Health - Undead Forms - Separate from the undead form's apparent health, the health of the base character drops while these forms are maintained, and transforming back too late may result in death. Clearly some provisions for link death or lag should be made, perhaps by forcing a transformation based on whimpy.
• Stuffed - Powerful Forms - Maintaining these forms requires food, but unlike other aspects, eating in-form can replenish the underlying pool, offsetting the quick depletion rate.
• Mana - Magic Forms - Maintaining these forms drain base-mana. Special abilities might as well.
• Intox - Poison forms - Maintaining these forms drains base-intoxication.
• Soaked - Healing forms - Maintaining these forms drains base-soaked.
• Fatigue - Quick Forms - Maintaining these forms drains base-fatigue.

I do think that forced transformations should be painful, probably involving temporary, though long-lasting stat decreases. As transformations would be alterations and based on base-stats and rely on various underlying base-pools, this would be a large draw back when transformed as well.

My thinking in more about a progression of forms as you gain in guild age and experience.

A minor change, but this should be form-age and form-experience. Tax, of course, would not be waived in base form.

Not entirely sure I'd like to transform into a rat or something like that...

While various small forms might have dramatically lowered effective health pools and damage, I imagine they could be almost impossible to hit or block at more advanced levels.

[...] would not be able to wear any armors or wield any weapons.

ignoring the issue.
[...] wouldn't be able to board ships, carry any equipment, speak and so on

I think that the shapeshifter's relationships with stuff, and the drawbacks of their forms may be the most intriguing aspects of this idea.

For starters, there are so many different ways to answer the question of what happens to your gear during a transformation, from the incredibly but unevenly stretchy purple pants, through a dizzying array of incorporation and recovery theories, all the way to the simple expedient of ignoring the issue. For myself, with the one exception above, I think anything the form wouldn't logically carry should be dropped and perhaps damaged.

From there, I think it would be interesting to build some tension between most form's inability to loot and some sort of enhanced need to do so.

[Ilrahil]

Is it really just damage that people seek in guilds this days? That's sad.
I always regarded Rangers and Calians as a support-style guilds, where your soloing capabilities were irrelevant next to what you actually bring to the team. Big shoutout to all the people who used to be Rangers/Blacksmiths for years.

Less active players leads to more solo'ing. Nights I've woken up and I'm the only mortal in game, or one of 3.

[Rhaegar]

Is it really just damage that people seek in guilds this days? That's sad.
I always regarded Rangers and Calians as a support-style guilds, where your soloing capabilities were irrelevant next to what you actually bring to the team. Big shoutout to all the people who used to be Rangers/Blacksmiths for years.

Less active players leads to more solo'ing. Nights I've woken up and I'm the only mortal in game, or one of 3.

Go Ranger then! If you're alone in the night you can always create a campfire, hunt some wild game to cook it and do all sorts of stuff to cheer you up!

[Snowrose]

hope this idea didnt die it sounds awsome.
though id probibly due it like EW do you pick a totem lets say spider and you get a poison spell(debuf) a carapace spell(defence) night vision and spiderclimb maybe summon spiders then a temp transform(limited time)

it could probibly be worked so there were a few choices spider/wolf/reptile/cat/changling and it was simlar to eqivelent guilds like main racial might give emotes, a messeger animal. the laymen aspect would give utilitys and occ give the transform/attack. the powers seeming more impressive as you grow. the changling option would be more about changing descriptions/bodywepontry than animal.

functionwize it probibly woukdnt be much more impressive than EW if done right it would be ALL about the descriptions and the awsomness of being a shifter.