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Old 12-14-2015, 03:37 PM   #7
Fossilized Rappy
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Default Re: Fallen Stars: A Setting in a Mutant-Filled Post-Apocalyptic America

Mutants

Defining "Mutant": A Primer on Post-Apocalyptic Mutation
The Origin of Mutants
Questions of how the strange lifeforms, sapient or otherwise, that arose in the new world inevitably comes back to the questions surrounding the starfall event itself. Answers have remained elusive even after there was time to stop running from danger and start mulling over the possibilities. Various religious, scientific, and even magical explanations have been touted by believers in various causes, but one of the most widely received seems to be one that straddles the border between science and the positively strange: the High Strangeness Hypothesis. Borrowing a term from the pre-apocalyptic Fortean movement, this hypothesis suggests that the starfall was the result of another dimension – one where seemingly impossible phenomena of "High Strangeness" was the norm – briefly brushing against against ours, causing it to create small ruptures that allowed its abnormal laws of physics to encroach on our own. Those who were transformed had the misfortune of being part of a random "rewrite" of reality in an attempt to rebalance this sudden shift. Of course, without any evidence, this hypothesis remains just a hypothesis like all the others, not a theory.



Mutants as Species
Speaking from a very broad point of view, all speciation is effectively mutation on a long term scale: a series of beneficial adaptive mutations in one species propagates and eventually gives rise to a new species. As a result, any creature that breeds true after its transformation during the starfall is referred to as a mutant species. Speciated mutants are typically classified into three categories: near-human, Advanced Humanoid Aberration (AHA), and mutant animal. While mutant animals are any mutant species that arose from a non-human biological lifeform, the other two forms grant at least slightly more discussion.

Near-Human Mutants: One of two forms of human offshoot. A mutant is near-human if it not only retains a generally humanoid shape, but also has enough genetic similarities to be still classified as part of the genus Homo. Mechanically, a near-human mutant always has the Slightly Unusual Biochemistry quirk. This reflects the fact that even though they may have scales, feathers, fins, or other strange surface features, they have enough genetic similarities to Homo sapiens to have at least some compatibility with our pharmaceutical creations. The range of near-human mutants can vary wildly: the haggard, emaciated mutants known as ghouls can be found in urban areas the world over, while the elusive, crab-like carkinoi are only found in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi Bay.

Advanced Human Aberration: To the majority of individuals living in the post-apocalyptic world, a mutant's a mutant, no matter how "normal" or "weird" they are. At least some individuals have surmised, however, that there are certain human offshoots that are now clearly farther away on the family tree. These beings have been dubbed Advanced Human Aberration by a few scientists along the trade routes of the Northeast...though it hasn't caught on with even other academics, much less the general populace. AHAs area varied lot, from entities that are more beast than man to seemingly impossible mutants that have gone from animal to plant or even mineral in their composition. Some AHAs are just barely compatible enough with human medicine to have Unusual Biochemistry, while others are so far off that they are completely incompatible.



Keeping Mutants in Mind
While physical alterations of mutant species are plain for all to see, it is sometimes easy to forget that there is the possibility for mental alteration as well. Species-wide compulsions, phobias, and other neurological traits can manifest, as well as at least some adaptation into being comfortable with new bodily functions and dietary needs. The sense of self, by contrast, is known to never naturally alter – a formerly human mutant will remember their identity from before the starfall just as a post-starfall born mutant will have no understanding of being born and growing up in such a body. While most such mutants have body dysphoria on a level that causes periodic depression or stress, some individuals end up suffering from so much intense psychological distress that it leads to a fabricated belief that they were always the way they are now in an attempt to ignore their dysphoria. In mechanical terms, this is a crucial false memory ("I have always been a mutant") [-15] as described in GURPS Horror, pg. 24.



Mutants as Individuals
While there are specific species of mutated lifeform that have arisen after the apocalypse, there are also localized cases of clans, families, or even single individuals that develop specific mutations. These mutants do not "breed true", and are collectively referred to as localized or isolate mutants. For example, there might be a tribe of seven individuals that were all molded by the starfall to be goat-like mountain climbers, gaining the Short Horns advantage and the Fur and Sure-Footed (Uneven) perks. If a male and a female member of this tribe happen to have a child, however, there is no 100% guarantee that all three mutations would be passed on to the offspring as would be the case in an entirely speciated mutant such as a ghoul. There is a slight (1.5%) chance that it might, of course, but the newborn is more likely to be born with only one or two mutations from the parent, or possibly (around a 5% chance) even as a baseline human with no mutations whatsoever. There is even the very slim chance (around 0.02%) that the infant might be born with none of its parents' mutations, but rather an entirely new set of mutations that neither parent had.

The existence of localized mutants, especially new forms in generations past those that were alive during – and, thus, affected by – the starfall, is a fascinating subject for the scientifically curious in the new world. Like so many matters concerning that fateful day, it is unknown just what keeps these transformations popping up. Did the starfall make human genetic code extremely malleable? Is it literally something in the air or the water, otherwise harmless and imperceptible? If, as some believe, the starfall was an event guided by a greater hand, does the continuation of new localized mutants indicate that the hypothesized hand continues to meddle, and may even be capable of bringing upon another great calamity if it so chose? Answers to these questions are still elusive.

Mechanically, localized mutants always have the Slightly Unusual Biochemistry quirk (being near-human mutants) and at least one advantage, perk, disadvantage, or quirk that is not feasibly found in humans – otherwise they would be baseline humans, after all. They also cannot have the same list of advantages and disadvantages as an existing mutant species racial template. Otherwise, there is little limit to what might crop up with a localized mutant beyond a predisposition toward adaptations for the region. For instance, while it would easily make sense for a localized mutant in the swamps of the deep south to have Doesn't Breathe (Gills) and Amphibious, it would be just as feasible for one to crop up that has Damage Resistance based on chitin and Extra Arms (2 extra arms) for an insectoid look, or even Fur and Amphibious for a muskrat-like mutant.

Small groups of localized mutants can be optionally given game statistics as "Lineages". A lineage should be a set of minor lenses that have between three and five options with some overlap in traits. Using the mountain climbing lineage concept introduced several paragraphs above, which will be referred to as 'Billies, the following is an example of creating such lineage options.
  • 'Billy Lineage Option A [3 Points]: Add Fur [1], Short Horns [2], Sure-Footed (Uneven) [1], and Slightly Unusual Biochemistry [-1].
  • 'Billy Lineage Option B [3 Points]: Add Hooves [3], Sure-Footed (Uneven) [1], and Slightly Unusual Biochemistry [-1].
  • 'Billy Lineage Option C [4 Points]: Add Acute Hearing 1 [2], Fur [1], Short Horns [2], and Slightly Unusual Biochemistry [-1].
  • 'Billy Lineage Option D [5 Points]: Add Acute Hearing 1 [2], Hooves [3], Sure-Footed (Uneven) [1], and Slightly Unusual Biochemistry [-1].

Last edited by Fossilized Rappy; 01-27-2016 at 11:53 PM.
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