Post by Admin Anomaly on Apr 20, 2012 11:17:34 GMT -5
To keep in mind while creating a shifter character.
We work with conservation status here. Conservation status determines how rare these kinds of shifters would be and the rare a type of shifter is, the more demands are made before you can play them.
Normal, regular humans fall into the same status as Least Concerned, whereas magic users fall into the same status as Extinct in the wild. In other words: you can't just make a magic user or an animal that only survives in captivity in zoos and the like.
There is a fixed ratio in place and asking to lift the ratio will result in admins and mods making frowny faces at you. For every vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered shifter that you have, you must have two active characters that are either human, least concerned or near threatened.
The only exception is that there are a few animals critically endangered, vulnerable or endangered in the wild but are widely known to be well domesticated and kept as pets, like chinchillas. In this case, the domesticated version is considered either least concerned or near threatened.
All right, moving on from that, keep in mind that certain shifter forms come with very serious drawbacks. Drawbacks you will have to deal with as there is no magical fix. Big carnivores will cause panic when they suddenly pad down the streets. Fish shifters need a great amount of control to be able to shift right back if they accidentally shift on land. Tiny bugs run the danger of meeting an untimely end at the hands of a swatter.
Your shifter character has no extra magical powers other than shifting, moderately increased strength, senses, stamina and healing and, for those who can practice extreme control and calm, partial shift. A partial shift means than the shifter can start shifting in a certain way and then stop the shift. A swan could, for example, shift to have their arms turn into wings. However, no newly applied character can start out with the partial shift ability. You can apply for for you character to start learning it after two weeks of activity. You can find the application form in the Unlock Requests forum.
Shifters occasionally, but not always, begin to exhibit certain characteristics from the species they shift into. They are not in control of these traits and they are permanent.
The changes start slow. There's not much in the first year post infection. The body is still getting used to this foreign magic settling in their DNA, tying them to an animal.
The speed with which the changes show up depends on how well the person is handling their shifting and what kind of 'group' they shift in. Mammals, for example, will show very little and will only very slowly gain these abilities whereas insects are faster. The current order of slowest and/or least to fastest and/or most is mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, cephalopods, arachnids and finally insects.
These 'changes' can encompass appearance, diet, habits and abilities. The latter tends to change much more slowly however and are often tied to the physical changes, and are tied to the animal's natural abilities. So unless your creature heals faster then humans, you're not going to heal faster then a human. But that's modified to scale. Most animals are stronger and faster then humans and have better senses.
A mammal won't end up covered in fur, but a reptile might eventually achieve something similar but with scales and an insect almost certainly with its body covering. Again, the pace at which it happens varies.
Shifters can smell one another and, depending on how good their sense of smell is, what general species they are. They will, at best, be able to smell that someone is 'a sort of predatory bird', 'a kind of herbivore mammal' etc. They cannot, however, 'see' someone's beast unless the other is in animal shape.
Because all shifters are still relatively new, they have no set society or culture yet. Some groups might start to band together, but that will happen in game. You cannot apply as 'king of the lions' or 'snake leader' or anything along those lines.
We work with conservation status here. Conservation status determines how rare these kinds of shifters would be and the rare a type of shifter is, the more demands are made before you can play them.
| Conservation status | Demands |
| Least Concerned | No demands |
| Near Threatened | No demands |
| Vulnerable | Can't be your first character |
| Endangered | Can't be your first character |
| Critically Endangered | Can't be your first character and must post at least once a week |
| Extinct in the wild | Can only be handed out when all admins agree. |
| Extinct | Not available for characters |
Normal, regular humans fall into the same status as Least Concerned, whereas magic users fall into the same status as Extinct in the wild. In other words: you can't just make a magic user or an animal that only survives in captivity in zoos and the like.
There is a fixed ratio in place and asking to lift the ratio will result in admins and mods making frowny faces at you. For every vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered shifter that you have, you must have two active characters that are either human, least concerned or near threatened.
The only exception is that there are a few animals critically endangered, vulnerable or endangered in the wild but are widely known to be well domesticated and kept as pets, like chinchillas. In this case, the domesticated version is considered either least concerned or near threatened.
All right, moving on from that, keep in mind that certain shifter forms come with very serious drawbacks. Drawbacks you will have to deal with as there is no magical fix. Big carnivores will cause panic when they suddenly pad down the streets. Fish shifters need a great amount of control to be able to shift right back if they accidentally shift on land. Tiny bugs run the danger of meeting an untimely end at the hands of a swatter.
Your shifter character has no extra magical powers other than shifting, moderately increased strength, senses, stamina and healing and, for those who can practice extreme control and calm, partial shift. A partial shift means than the shifter can start shifting in a certain way and then stop the shift. A swan could, for example, shift to have their arms turn into wings. However, no newly applied character can start out with the partial shift ability. You can apply for for you character to start learning it after two weeks of activity. You can find the application form in the Unlock Requests forum.
Shifters occasionally, but not always, begin to exhibit certain characteristics from the species they shift into. They are not in control of these traits and they are permanent.
The changes start slow. There's not much in the first year post infection. The body is still getting used to this foreign magic settling in their DNA, tying them to an animal.
The speed with which the changes show up depends on how well the person is handling their shifting and what kind of 'group' they shift in. Mammals, for example, will show very little and will only very slowly gain these abilities whereas insects are faster. The current order of slowest and/or least to fastest and/or most is mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, cephalopods, arachnids and finally insects.
These 'changes' can encompass appearance, diet, habits and abilities. The latter tends to change much more slowly however and are often tied to the physical changes, and are tied to the animal's natural abilities. So unless your creature heals faster then humans, you're not going to heal faster then a human. But that's modified to scale. Most animals are stronger and faster then humans and have better senses.
A mammal won't end up covered in fur, but a reptile might eventually achieve something similar but with scales and an insect almost certainly with its body covering. Again, the pace at which it happens varies.
Shifters can smell one another and, depending on how good their sense of smell is, what general species they are. They will, at best, be able to smell that someone is 'a sort of predatory bird', 'a kind of herbivore mammal' etc. They cannot, however, 'see' someone's beast unless the other is in animal shape.
Because all shifters are still relatively new, they have no set society or culture yet. Some groups might start to band together, but that will happen in game. You cannot apply as 'king of the lions' or 'snake leader' or anything along those lines.