This idea just popped into my head. Mutant abilities!

Basically a completely random, lottery-type, skill/spell/ability that may or may not happen to a character at some point in their life. Its not a reward, its not a quest, its not something you pick, it may not even turn out to be particularily useful for you, but it is something that could add flavor.

Basically I'm thinking when a person chooses their race/class an invisible (mutant) flag is randomly generated every now and again and at some point (could be right at birth or it could be right before age death or it could trigger after a specific rank or it could trigger if a certain set of circumstances is met) that person gets a random skill/spell/ability.

And I do mean random. A villager berserker could end up being a mutant mage unable to use their special mutant spell ability...or they could RP it out and decide to quit the village and learn magic instead....

Nothing OP, just little flavor things like a mutant ability to summon birds or something slightly powerful like a mutant ability to sense evertyhing around them (unable to be suprise attacked)

Keep it very very rare and random, and I think this would be cool.


Just a thought.

Adds unpredictability to a character, gives them something to shake up their role.

Anyone locked in to a role to the extent that something like this would ruin their character is probably a role to'er as opposed to a rope with'er, and screw them.

If it is rare, hidden, and doesn't show itself until late age you basically have an ability that is so rare it doesn't seem worth the effort. Probably more than half the time the flag is set the character will delete before getting anywhere near finding out they have it.

This could really just tailspin a well thought out character's role as well.

I just don't see much redeeming in this one.

More random power shifts is exactly the opposite of what I'd like to see. Now if you had a point system or something for selecting abilities that was fair between every char, then I'd be interested.

Inevitably, there would be accusations of cheating/favoritism/etc because someone got some something and someone else didn't and feels slighted. Seems like a feature that the conspiracy theorists would love to hate.

I hope to be the very first mutant then. :P

Isn't the whole point that it is completely random (and rare) at character creation and CAN'T be manipulated?!

Sure, but I already know you're not going to believe me when I roll a fire a-p that ends up being immune to surprise attacks. :)

But only if I get the light/wrath/whitesteel immune Orc!

Dealio? :P

-Sarien

Just for the record, this idea isn't meant to be powergamey but the exact opposite. Something that couldn't be powergamed because its random and a good portion of the abilities would be for flavor...like Xanth - you could end up with a useless ability like making spots appear on the wall - but every now and again the stars could align and someone gets lucky and gets something fairly potent. And by rare im thinking like 1-100 characters. And by making the time it shows up random you prevent people from re-rolling characters just to get a mutant ability.

Perfect example of a 'flavor' ability

A warrior human mutant who can shapeshift to a lower-tier form, one of the ones shifters first get. Something they can show off but doesnt really do anything for them outside of perhaps (like a turkey) having the ability to tell when someone is in the area.

Now imagine this happens midway in the life of a village warrior and he finds out he can shapeshift, he may decide to never mention it to anyone and keep doing his thing. Or he may decide to RP with it, and dive into trying to get a class change and abandon the village...

Also if they make it random and halfway through there is nothing the crazies can say because it would be just like shifter forms. I've never heard a single cheating accusation on people getting normal forms. Eventually this badass idea will become normal.


With the exception that you can choose not to have it happen or choose to as a character flaw ect.


Maybe make it an edge that could backfire!

You all clearly underestimate the craziness of the crazies.

Someone will be accused of rerolling with their immortal buddy telling them about the hidden flag until they get what they want.

Hide it from the immortals too?

How can you prove it though? I can sense Pro, Orb, and Cyradia's saliva glands flooding their fat mouths with just the mention of this idea.

This kind of information would likely be visible for IMPs and so on; it would inevitably end up in accusations as it is by its very nature leading to opaque character advantages (or disadvantages.)

If people want these sorts of ideas implemented there needs to be more trust in the staff. You cannot have a game which has neat hidden aspects, Easter eggs etc. and simultaneously have a game where everyone knows every aspect of game mechanics.

Edit: And burden of proof of no Imm tampering is a difficult thing when people shift their parameters just to sustain personal belief systems.

You're asking for something that, by your own description:

1) Impacts very few characters.
2) Makes little difference on those characters it does impact.
3) Requires a large number of 'branches'-- I might have to code 20-30 mutations for a starter set, especially with your suggestion that there be a rarer set of more potent mutations.
4) Doesn't reward good play, and provides no incentives.

That's not going to rise high on my personal to-do list, and I actually like working on cosmetic/flavor stuff.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

To clarify...

1.

It's meant to impact very few because if it impacted alot of characters it wouldnt be special (or fit my thoughts on what a mutation should be).

2. I'd disagree a bit with this. Its impact is in the hands of the person who discovers they have a mutation. This can range from no impact to a great impact. It all depends on what the mutation is and the person playing and how they decide to handle things.

3. And this is bad? LOL For arument's sake...do all mutations have to be 'good'? You could conceivably give 'flaws' as mutations.
I just think making 'bad' mutations would lead to a whole host of complaints so I didn't mention it. I figure instead of 'bad' ones you simply have 'harmless' ones and 'good' ones.

Also a mutation doesnt have to be a skill, spell or ability...it can be as simple as +1 to a stat ( a mutant drow who is healthier than other drow) or the removal of negative (a dwarf who isn't afraid of water) or adding something they wouldn't have normally (a human with infravision)...something the player may never even notice if they don't pay attention....but it impacts them in subtle ways.... The point is to have things happen that are out of IMM and Player control but happen at a low enough rate that you don't get flooded by complaints and accusations.

4. That's kinda the point :) Its not about a reward system or incentive system, its about a touch of randomness beyond the control of anyone and seeing how people roll with what they get. Someone mentioned in a post awhile back that maybe the people who consitently get rewarded are simply people who have learned 'how' to get rewarded....This could end up really challenging the RP of people who are good at having a nice set orderly role they can play and excel at by potentially throwing a random thing that 'could' prove impactful.

In the previous example...a rager finding out that they are a mutant mage...will they rp out feelings of shame? Will they embrace it? Imagine you are that rager, one day you are perusing your skills or type spell and you see the word 'shapeshift'...first off....as a PLAYER...the most likely emotion going through me right then and there is curiosity...and just think of what that does to a rager....you don't know what form you will get...it could be a turkey or a bulette (and either way its not like you can haste/stoneskin/ABS/etc.) but the semi-OCD nature of the average CFer pitted directly against the RP of a rager would create an unplanned dilemna that could lead to a great RP opportunity (in this scenario) that isn't planned by anyone but a direct result of mutation and the stars aligning randomly.

So anyways...once...just ONCE...you give in to curiosity and see what form you got....as a rager....what does that do in an RP sense? Does Thror kick you out of the Village? Or do you as an Imm keep watch to see how the player decides to RP it out? I think its an idea full of promise depending on how you implement it.

Edited to add:

And why 20-30? Why not 5-10? It happens so rarely you don't really need to start with alot, you could use it as a testing ground for new things for example.

Some quests (scavenger hunts, etc.) effectively work this way. I have an active character with a random spell (purge poison) that I was awarded for finding a fortune cookie in the first night-of-100 players scavenger hunt. I found a reasonable way to write it into my role...and it's really more of a utility type of thing (that has admittedly saved my ass a few times). I've seen similar kinds of results for other holiday mini-quests and have always really enjoyed those, even though I've only gotten a reward this once myself. Usually it's pretty minor stuff but fun and adds flare/customization to characters.

It's clearly more work for the IMMs (only on occasion), but shaking things up a little bit more often in a random but fun flare/utility generally not OP kind of way--throw in a little risk and a little upside-- really helps to keep things interesting and fresh...everybody likes that. Plus it seems to keep characters around for longer lives, too.