Shapeshifting

May 10, 2010 · Posted in Powers and Abilities 

Shapeshifting is a talent passed down through Seafarer bloodline since the sea dragon Shenlu took her first husband among human kind. It’s an innate ability, not a magical aptitude and is rare, even among Seafarers, and only occurs in those members who are descended from the original Seafarer bloodline. Characters have a 10% chance of being shapeshifters if they have one Seafarer parent, 25% if they have two.

Shapeshifting is taxing. Even automatic shifts have a small endurance cost. Full shifting causes fatigue. Staying in a shifted form for more than a few requires great endurance and a daily expenditure of fatigue/endurance points.

Every shapeshifter has a “natural form”. That’s the form his body was born to. When a character falls unconscious or his body performs an automatic shift, he reverts to his natural form. A shifter can only take the form of something of his approximate mass. He cannot get larger or smaller than he naturally is.

A shapeshifter’s body will adjust to keep a character alive, even if the character is unconscious or near death. If a character is bleeding out, the wounds will close (but further healing requires the usual procedures) and keep the character from dying. If the character suddenly falls into the water, say from the mast of a ship, her body will automatically shift gills. A character in danger of freezing will grow a thick coat of fur, etc. This takes no thought on the part of character and the endurance cost is minimal. If the character was in another form before she automatically shifted, her body will revert to her natural form as part of the survival process. As soon as the body is out of danger, the character reverts to her natural form (not any form she was in before). This is the body’s natural protection; if a character wants to prevent an automatic shift, she must be conscious and make a Will save to prevent the change.

The shifter may shift a single body part, but his takes practice and skill. For example, he may change a hand into a claw or grow wings. He may imitate any animal feature he’s seen, with practice. But he doesn’t automatically get that animal’s abilities. A winged character may learn to fly, but it’ll take practice and many, many falls before he can get it right.

A shapeshifter may also find herself hunted. Shapeshifter blood is magically potent and is often used to power magical effects or spells.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Shapeshifting”

  1. Elderon Analas on May 14th, 2010 12:58 pm

    Thank you so much for linking my article and might I say what a superb sense of writing this is. I also like you your tribute to one of the great dragons and nicely address our shapeshifting abilities as a whole. I also want to again thank you on what you said on my article. I like all feedback and would like to know what your opinion is on dragons and our society, unless that is a topic to be disscussed elsewhere?

  2. admin on May 24th, 2010 3:18 pm

    Thanks for taking the time to comment. I do intend to discuss the role of dragons in this world. Look for it in a couple of weeks. :)

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