Shifter Abilities

SHAPESHIFTING

The transformative abilities of shifters are unique, powerful, and so perfectly mysterious that they cannot be replicated by other magics. Arcanists the world over have tried to unlock these incredible abilities and have universally met with failure and worse. The primary thing that sets the shifters apart from those who are able to cast illusions over themselves or practice minor shapeshifting magic is that they are the full package, instincts and all. Their bodies and minds are a meld between human and predator so complete that they often forget the difference between their forms, moving between them with a thought.

A shifter can transform half the number of dice in their Cinder pool, rounded down before they begin to experience side-effects. A shift in either direction counts towards the limit: animal to human, or human to animal. After that, a shifter runs the risk of entering a feral state of mind, where the animal urges become more prominent than the human control, no matter their form. They are not mindless, but instinct reigns and impulse control suffers. Read more about Attunement and the Feral incarnation in the Attunement section.

Every shifter transforms into a specific animal that must be a mammalian apex predator. The time it takes to shift is measured in heartbeats. The faster a shifter’s heart is beating, the quicker the transformation. The average is 30-60 slow heartbeats and a shifter can often count them as they go. Shifters cannot speak in their animal form unless they take the ‘Speak’ keyword. They can speak poorly in hybrid form. A non-exhaustive list of possible species:

WOLF, TIGER, LION, BROWN BEAR, POLAR BEAR, GIANT OTTER, LYNX, AFRICAN WILD DOG, ORCA, PANTHER, LEOPARD, COUGAR.

Different Shapes and Sizes

Dire Beast

Oversized. The afflicted shifter is the hulking monster in the dark. In their transformed states, they are unmistakable as something supernatural, with incredible strength, speed, and size. With this keyword, their shift is unnaturally large or monstrously large. (Note: Natural shifters can pick Dire Beast as a keyword at their discretion, but keep note that this is not the standard for natural shifters.)

Facsimile

Natural size. This is a natural born shifter's ability to blend in with the animals of the natural world. What they lack in size and strength they make up for in discreetness. With this keyword, their shift is the normal size for the type of animal they transform into. (Note: Afflicted shifters only get the ability to select Facsimile when they reach Mundian (Apprentice) rank.)

HYBRID FORM

Bipedal shape. A mix of both human and beast, the hybrid form is the only state of the afflicted shifter, and one of two for the natural shifters. Bipedal and invariably larger than the human form, the hybrid form mixes the dexterity and agility of a human with the power and natural weaponry of the shifter. They retain the same coloring and pelt patterns as they do in their full animal form, along with the animal head, but their clawed hands have thumbs and they have vocal cords enough to speak words.

ANIMAL FORM

Natural shape. Animal form is one of two states for natural shifters and one afflicted shifters gain at Mundian (Apprentice) Rank. This is the shape of the natural animal, proportionate and normal (unless the Dire Beast keyword is applied, then they are proportionate but unnaturally large). Combined with the Facsimile keyword, this is the method natural shifters have used to survive human persecution for centuries. They retain the same coloring and pelt patterns as they do in their hybrid form.

PASSING ON THE AFFLICTION

Both natural and afflicted shifters have the potential to pass on their condition. As noted, they can pass it on in their offspring, with 100% transference in couples where both partners are shifters. The child will always be the same species as the mother in couples with two different shifters.

The other method of affliction is far more violent: while a shifter is in animal form, they can be infectious. If they inflict a truly grievous wound on another person, there is a chance of passing on the affliction, although the victim would not know until the next full moon. That said, in most cases, these kinds of attacks result in death.

If your character is attacked by a shifter and you would like to see if they are infected or not, leave a request in the Mod Request thread.

Being mauled by a shifter doesn't mean the affliction can't be cured, so long as the cure is administered before the next full moon, which is the day their transformation is complete and the affliction is irreversible. The cure, if you can call it that, is a lethal dose of wolfsbane–also called aconite–that could cure the afflicted human as well as kill them.

TRAITS & ABILITIES

"Wild and free: the wilderness beckons to you as you dig your claws into the dirt. A born shifter has never known anything but balance of mind and beast, while an afflicted shifter must adapt constantly, reframing their human existence with the wilderness in their hearts."

Shifters automatically start with the Universal Keywords of Heightened Strength, Heightened Speed, and Preternatural Senses at the Reden rank.

TRAITS

HEALING FACTOR

Shifters heal rapidly. A small cut may disappear instantly, gone beyond the initial sting of pain. For an afflicted shifter, the first full moon offers a complete body regeneration - missing limbs, organs, other injuries regrow or become completely healed. All shifters possess the ability to slowly regrow severed limbs, although the process is naturally painful and difficult to hide.

INHUMAN STRENGTH & SPEED (MUNDIAN)

Afflicted shifters find their strength developing further as they hone their skills as a shifter, the curse twisting the natural boon of shifters. Their strength increases, enabling them to lift a standard SUV over head and run at the speed of a cheetah, but with human endurance.

ABILITIES

ASPECT OF THE BEAST

The Aspect of a shifter is an ability or a knack that allows them a little something extra from their base abilities. This is a minor ability, so it will not be very powerful. These Aspects can be related to their species or the Path keywords and can take on a magic adjacent flavour, although shifters do not have magic in the sense other Paths do. Shifters deal in physical skills and abilities, so the Aspect generally follows that trend.

Some examples of Aspects can be a feline shifter with exceptional balance, to the degree that they never fall or lose their balance in precarious positions. Using a keyword could be creating an Aspect using Pheromone Charm, where a shifter has the ability to soothe the fears of others around them.

CONCORDANCE

(HYRD)

Although shifters tend to group together (or stay solitary) in similar ways to their animal counterparts, this does not a pack make. Highly attuned shifters have the ability to reach Concordance with another being. This is the ability to bond with another, human or supernatural, because the emotional harmony between the two are strong enough to trigger a magical tie. These relationships can range from close friendship to lover, and it is not limited to one being. In a group with a shifter and several non-shifters, the shifter will be at the center of the metaphorical wheel.

At a distance, with concentration, the shifter is able to sense the general location of their bondmates, while sudden and powerful emotional or physical distress from the other person will come across automatically like a danger-sense. A disturbance in the Force. When bondmates are gathered together, the connection is stronger, with the shifter experiencing faint empathic insight about each person.

The Concordance is benign, and reflects the strength of the relationship. Should the relationship fade, so too will the bond, although it can always be reignited. Only two Shifters can experience the full extent of it, while Concordance between a shifter and another human or meta-human will be one-sided.

WEAKNESSES

MORS ARGENTUM

Because of their powerful healing factor, shifters are able to soak a great deal of physical damage, except in the cases of silver. On contact, silver weakens a shifter and wounds delivered by silver weapon stymies their supernatural healing, meaning that such wounds will heal at a normal human rate. When touched by silver, a Shifter receives a -1d6 penalty to Strike.

MANACLES OF THE MOON

All shifters will feel the pressure to transform on the full moon. On the flip-side, transformation will be very difficult on the new moon.

WOLF'S BANE

All shifters are resistant to poisons except in the case of aconite. When ingested or injected aconite causes lethargy, dizziness, unconsciousness, and eventually death in high doses. A shifter dosed with aconite will not be able to shift into or out of their beast forms, remaining stuck in whatever form they were in when they were poisoned. The blocking of their shifting abilities also manifests in a full-body ache, as if they were suffering from a high fever.

Should a shifter's skin be touched by aconite, it will sap their strength, but it does not block them off from their shifting. On extended contact, aconite causes the fur of a shifter in their beast form to fall out, as if rubbed raw, while a shifter's bare skin will react by spidering black veins around the area of contact. Any exposure to aconite is painful, but it gets worse the longer the shifter is exposed. Touch alone cannot kill a shifter, but it weakens them considerably.

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Cinder is the die pool of mental and magical abilities of a character.

A rolled die of 4 or more.

The member group and type a character is, based on the eight available.

Strike is the die pool of physical abilities of a character.