Swarm

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Swarm

(Current rating x6)

1 - Swarmspeak

The swarmspeaker may whisper directly to the hive-mind intelligence of a given swarm. To her, their collective buzzing, clicks, pharamones, movements, and chips become a sort of language, allowing the swarm to communicate complicated ideas.

System: Stanzi may whisper to swarms and read answers from their collective intelligence by observing the swarm for a while. Roll manipulation + animal ken, difficulty is based on the size of the swarm (3 for a plague of locusts, 5 for a swarm of flies on a dead animal, 9 for a single arthropod). The time it takes is also based on swarm size, with larger swarms able to communicate far more efficiently than human language and single insects taking hours to string simple ideas together. The amount of information recieved is based on successes. This ability is generally effective for information-gathering purposes only; bugs don't make great conversationalists.

2 - Queen of the Swarm

With a gesture or shout, the Queen of the Swarm may command a swarm as she sees fit. Bees will sting her enemies, flies will buzz around her to cover the sound of her steps, and pirhanas will leave her alone as she wades dangerous waters.

System: Make a shout or gesture to a swarm in your line of sight and roll manipulation + animal ken, difficulty is based on the size of the swarm (2 for a single bug, 5 for a hive of bees, 9 for a pleague; non-arthropods weigh far more than bugs and thus are more difficult to control). The number of successes determines how complex the given instructions may be. One success will encourage the swarm to do something they might have otherwise done, 3 successes is enough to cover all simple commands (movement, attack, leave us alone, etc), and 4 successes and beyond may allow for more nuanced control (spelling words with ant trails, forming shapes in swarms of flies, etc).

Supernatural swarms may resist with a willpower roll (Swarm willpower = the average member's will +1).

3 - Plasmoid Genesis

By working with her chemestry set for a while, the Swarm Chemist may produce a strange concoction. When this plasmid comes into contact with human skin, it will immediately be absorbed into the flesh. Within seconds, hundreds of bugs will burrow their way from within the victim. These freshly spawned bugs short-lived, however, dieing of natural cause within hours.

System: Stanzi may concoct a mixture with her chemestry set given access to basic household chemicals. A roll of intelligence + Science difficulty 8 is required to create the mixture, and successes determine the lifespan of the spawned arthropods (in hours). At the time of creation, she must determine what species the mixture is intended to be used on (humans, for example), and which arthropod it will create. A sample of the chosen arthropod must be aquired to concoct each batch, and a single dose takes about an hour to make. When a splash of the concoction comes in contact with a victim, hundreds of bugs will begin pouring from their flesh in the following round. This process can be painful, but will not nessicarily cause injury. The victim may feel hungry or thirsty after the effect has run its course.

4 - Biomass Reintegration

A lord of swarms may assimilate smaller creatures into their body, healing wounds within seconds. Creatures crawling over the wounds will start to replace the missing flesh and bone, and moments later all that is left of the wound is an intricate scar.

System: Spend a point of Hemobile and roll manipulation + animal ken to issue a special command to a particular swarm (Via dot 2). The commanded swarm will climb or fly to your body and climb into your wounds, melding to the flesh and healing the wounds at the rate of one lethal level of damage per 5 rounds. This may only be used on the caster.

5- Heart of the Swarm

Having fully attuned herself with the hive mind inteligence of various swarms, The Heart of the Swarm may now transform into a swarm herself. Flesh cracks and splits and within seconds the entire body's biomass has been converted into swarming creatures.

System: Spend a point of Hemobile and roll willpower, difficulty 8. Success allows you to transform into a swarm of any chosen arthropod (killer bee, flies, butterflies, crabs, cockroaches, praying mantises, spiders, etc) for as long as desired. The transformation takes one round unless a second point of hemobile is spent to make it instantanious, and clothing is not transformed with your body (although signature items are).

While in this form, the swarm is as easy to control as your normal human body. Any member of the swarm that wanders further than willpower x 3 feet from the center of the swarm is 'lost' and no longer under the control of the heart of the swarm. While in this form, all powers are still usable. You still have 8 health levels (all physical damage is healed upon changing forms), and you are particularly weak to fire and other environmental hazards. Blades, bullets, and similar will have a very difficult time harming you. Each health level represents 1/16th of the swarm. If more than half of the swarm is destroyed, you are trapped within this form and health levels cannot be replenished. If the entire swarm is destroyed, true death occurs.

In order to turn back, spend a second point of hemobile and roll willpower, difficulty 8. The swarm will converge and meld together back into your original form. If you are missing biomass (from taking damage, losing proximity of your swarm, or similar), an equivelent amount of biomass will be missing from your human body, usually in the form of a missing limb. Limbs lost in this manner may be recovered with dot 4.

BEWARE: if you do not have enough Hemobile to transform back into your human body, you will be trapped as a swarm until you can obtain more Hemobile. Furthermore, the swarm has all the standard requirements for life and must eat. If you transform into a swarm that cannot find food in your environment, you put yourself at risk of starvation.