Chimera

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 -The Chimera- 

You are a genetic and spiritual abomination. Altered on a profound level by a werewolf mad scientist doctor while still in the womb, you are reliant on the consumption and assimilation of animal spirits for survival. Each creature whose spirit you consume leaves a bit of itself behind, however, and matures your spiritual beast. Your spirit was never human, and is moving further and further away from that as time continues. After consuming enough spirits, the beast will reach adolescence and the chimera template may be taken.

Assimilation of Spirit: Each time you assimilate an animal's spirit into your own, you must take 2d6 of fitting augmentation. You may take 3d6 if you also take an irremovable derangement with the augmentation. You must also roll conviction, difficulty 6, or receive an irremovable derangement in the process of assimilation.

Unstable Mutation: Every time you assimilate a spirit, roll a d10. If the result is a 1, a hideous transformation occurs at the time of assimilation. In the span of ten seconds (or about three rounds), your body twists and transforms into its new true form, dealing unsoakable aggravated damage to you equal to the difference in health levels between your old true form and the animal you switched into.

The resulting body is your new true form, and is a non-excluding mix between your old true form and the animal you transformed from. All of the animal's body parts (organs, legs, head, tail, etc) are retained in your new true form. You gain the disfigured flaw (-1 dex, apperance capped at 0) each time this occurs.

At time of the mutation, you must take three additional d6s of augmentation. The transformation is so unsettling that each time it happens, you lose one point of humanity. This point may be bought back up normally.

The Chimera Template: The Chimera template has the following requirements that must be met before it is taken: Manifest Spirit 5 (used to be earthworm) Apex Predator 5 (used to be dominate beasts) 25d6 of augmentation have been taken 1 gift must be spent

As your spiritual beast reaches adolescence, you become a brand new type of creature. This intense shift in physical and spiritual identity has several side effects.

The growing pains that arise as your spirit warps and grows into new forms are significantly lessened as you become accustomed to the process. All augmentation costs, including those already received, are halved. Therapy may reduce the augmentations down to the new halved minimum.

As an adolescent Chimera, you are an amalgamation of each beast you have assimilated into your spirit. You are now counted as an animal for the purposes of powers, spells, and similar. You may resist these effects by rolling your temporary humanity with each success detracting one from the incoming ability.

Due to your spiritovoric diet, spirits tend to keep you at a respectful distance, much as animals would an apex predator. You will find it difficult to find spirits that will talk to you and almost impossible to gain information from the spirits in the area. Cornered and frightened spirits may attack you in self-defense. All local spirits will chatter about your whereabouts constantly, which can make you very easy to find for creatures that can speak to spirits. Finally, animals you have bonded with will grow sick and die within a couple of weeks of being bonded as their spirits attempt to escape their bodies before they are inevitably consumed or assimilated.

You have a very difficult time learning powers that specifically interact with spirits (such as Sissy's 'craft' powers). When learning these abilities, the cost to increase them is +2 (x6 abilities become x8).

Your body and spirit no longer rely as heavily on the most recent species you have assimilated, having gathered enough spiritual information to form a body of its own. Your regrown body is relatively locked as your true form, with only the irreducible animal features from the latest swap being retained.

Finally, the regrowth time of your adolescent body is dramatically reduced. You will regrow in three hours, during which time you may be partially or fully immobilized. You may delay this regrowth up to an hour by spending a point of gnosis.

Your manifestation of spirit is upgraded to shunt the mundane perils of the world more efficiently. You may now soak aggravated damage with your stamina just as you were able to soak lethal before.

Abilities: Consume Spirit: You may consume any spirit that is bonded to you. Additionally, you become aware of any spirit that is bonded to you when you acquire this dot. The spirit is permanently destroyed in the process, and you feed upon its spiritual energies to power your abilities. System: You may consume the spirit of any bonded creature at any time. roll willpower difficulty six, and the target may resist with a willpower roll of their own; however, resisting and consuming each takes a mental action. For each success over the target, they lose one permanent point of willpower, and you gain a temporary gnosis. If the target is reduced to 0 willpower, they die.

Emergency Switch: You may make a haphazard, unfocused jump. This assimilation is far more straining on the spirit, but does not require the usual extreme expenditure of will. System: Swapping bodies for a Chimera may cost all remaining temporary willpower instead of a permanent dot. In this case, augmentation must always be received and the cost is twice as severe. For example, 2d6 of augmentation becomes 4d6 without additional benefits.

Vessel: Through the innate spiritual connection between your mutated spirit and a similar animal that has been bonded, you may channel your powers through that being at the cost of its body. System: A chimera may use any of its gnosis abilities through an animal it is bonded with if it has assimilated that species before. This ability deals unsoakable aggravated damage to the animal equal to the rank of the ability being used and always stuns the animal for at least two rounds. You take unsoakable lethal damage equal to the rank of ability being used in this way.

Gifts Recall Form: By drawing upon the remnants of each species that you have assimilated, you may replicate their form for a limited time. System: Spend any amount of gnosis not exceeding your permanent score: you shape-shift into the form of any animal you once possessed (including human) for one hour per gnosis point spent. During this time, augmentation is ignored. Transformation takes one round, may be used once per day, and may be ended at will.

Chimera-specific augmentation

Attune Head: If you have an extra head, you may at any time take 4d6 of augmentation and roll conviction (difficulty 7) twice to tame and attune the head. The benefits for an attuned head are as follows: One extra mental action each round. Head may meditate as normal (loses other bonuses while meditating) +3 dice to any alertness roll +5 initiative +1 to wits (maximum of 8).

Alien Anatomy: After undergoing an unstable mutation, the chimera may take alien anatomy for 1d6 of augmentation at any swap. Successes to hit never add additional damage dice as they do on firearms when targeting you. Such attacks deal base damage only.

 Greater Chimera Template (WORK IN PROGRESS)  Once 25 body swaps have occurred, and if the Chimera template is already active, you may accept the Greater Chimera template as a gift.

The greater Chimera has effectevly mastered the unstable aspect of his mutation, and if three or more unstable mutations have been experienced, it is now immune to the effect.

When a Chimera swaps bodies into any animal it has been before, it may choose not to receive augmentation from the swap.

You may choose to take up to 6d6 of augmentation per swap. Never any lower than 2d6.

You take 3 rounds to regrow into its true form. This may be delayed for up to an hour by spending a point of gnosis.

You may "regrow" a bonded animal into a humanoid form. This process may take either a day, or 3 rounds. If it takes three rounds, the animal will survive only one hour after the transformation. The animal may never be regrown into anything mistakable for a human, and instead will be a abhorrent mockery of human and animal form. Its body may allow for speech, but its mental state is unchanged.

You may assume direct control of an animal you are bonded to by spending a point of gnosis. This control lasts one hour. During this time, you may control the animal as though it was your own body. Beyond this, the animal does not gain any special abilities.

outline of augmentation ritual: You may pass off augmentation to a chosen human.
 * eye contact, spend gnosis, join spirit (no benifits of bonding animal)
 * consume physical manifestation of the animal on self
 * consume piece of human
 * human must breathe primarily air you exhale for three hours (head in mouth)
 * aspect manifests immediately.