[Space/Thaumatology] Stargate: Fantasy - Worldbuilding thread

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by adm

On the centauroids, I was thinking lynx or serval sized as well, certainly not bigger than cougar.

I think that's consistent with 'SM-1 at full length' (servals and many lynxes are not small kitties, but they're smaller than the Great Cats). I'm pretty sure an adult cougar is SM0.

Originally Posted by adm

I can also see others, like equine or deer etc, With this setting anything out of myth may be some of these being seen here before.

Oh, very probably. It's more a question of who the PCs meet first, and how.

Also, Happy New Year!

[Prince Charon]

OK, so if I'm counting right, 1 - 4 each have three votes, 5 and 8 each have two (but at least two people are interested in Varyon's ideas for 8), 6 has five votes, and 7 has four. Need to think about how this would be applied.


Also, still thinking about having the next Question be about shapeshifting races, or perhaps about shapeshifting in general, with the one after that being about shapeshifting races if the consensus of the first Shapeshifting question allows for that. Would like some feedback on this.

What do you think, and if you don't want the new Question to be about shapeshifting, what should it be on instead?

[Pragmatic]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

though the Goa'Uld or whatever replaces them should probably be demons or magical monsters pretending to be gods.

The Quori (?) from Eberron, maybe? They've taken over a continent already. I'm not familiar enough with Eberron to say how well they can hide in the population or if they can project something (e.g., an aura) to establish superiority.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

The Quori (?) from Eberron, maybe? They've taken over a continent already. I'm not familiar enough with Eberron to say how well they can hide in the population or if they can project something (e.g., an aura) to establish superiority.

My Eberron memories say there was a sort of family line based Possession ability the Quori had. PCs were descended from persons linked with a sort of renegade Quori.

[Prince Charon]

OK, so for clarification purposes, the past few days we (as in, where I live) have been having an unfunny comedy of errors: we're trying to install a new dryer, we have the wrong part and can't get another until the next day, and then we find out that the new part is also wrong, or another part that needs to be put in and looked fine was really not. It's made me a bit distracted, but I still want to work on this, especially as there are long gaps in which I cannot work on getting the ----ing dryer set up.

I'm thinking that the first Shapeshifting Question will be very general, how powerful and rare shapeshifters need to be. So, the first option will be something like 'only spirits and actual gods (the Ascended in canon),' and the second will be 'those plus powerful mortal beings like the Goa'Uld and High Elves.' Neither of those prevent werecats from existing (the Goa'Uld Bastet and Sekhmet make sense as cat-shifters, for example), but they would make them very rare and powerful. I want more than two options for the Question, though, so I would like suggestions, please.

Not sure when the new Question will be posted, it depends on factors that I appear to have no control over.

[TGLS]

Proposed Shapeshifter Question Choices

1) Gods and Ascended usually have the ability to shapeshift

2) Mages can learn polymorphing spells

3) Creatures that can physically alter their appearance drastically exist

4) Intelligent slime creatures (that can at least control their shape) exist

5) Mundane individuals can be afflicted with involuntary shapeshifting

6) Beings composed of swarms of smaller creatures exist

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Proposed Shapeshifter Question Choices

1) Gods and Ascended usually have the ability to shapeshift

'Gods' and 'Ascended' are the same category, the Goa'Uld are pretending to be gods.

Originally Posted by TGLS

2) Mages can learn polymorphing spells

3) Creatures that can physically alter their appearance drastically exist

4) Intelligent slime creatures (that can at least control their shape) exist

5) Mundane individuals can be afflicted with involuntary shapeshifting

6) Beings composed of swarms of smaller creatures exist

Thanks, I may be using some of these, or variants thereof.

[Varyon]

There are rare artifacts (perhaps remnants of one or more of the gatebuilder/Ascended races) that, under the right circumstances (that is, with the correct rituals), can grant a character the ability to morph into anything he or she touches. Artifacts that are small glowing blue cubes, two-hour limits, and gaining the ability to project thought while morphed (since most animals can't speak) are, of course, optional.

There are (super)naturally-existing races that have two or more forms, like the previously-mentioned werecats. These aren't necessarily any more powerful than other races. Possibilities range from free-shifters (those who can shift whenever they feel like it), to involuntary shifters (those who transform due to heightened emotion, lunar cycles, etc), to selkies (animals who can "take off their skin" to turn into humans, and need that skin to turn back).

There are enchanted items - necklaces, probably - that, while worn, grant the user a single Alternate Form - the details of which depend on the item. The item itself may transform to accommodate the new form, or may even be absorbed into it.

There are complex rituals one can undertake to grant oneself a single Alternate Form, much like an Animagus from the Harry Potter series.

[Prince Charon]

Shapeshifting Question I

Roughly what sorts of shapeshifters are the PCs likely to encounter? If an option other than 1 or 2 wins, the next question will probably be on how generally rare shapeshifters are.

1. Only spirits and actual gods (the Ascended in canon) can shapeshift.

2. Spirits and gods, as well as powerful 'mortal' beings like the Goa'Uld and High Elves are able to shapeshift.

3. Races that are not generally powerful may have inherited shapeshifting abilities.

4. Learnable shapeshifting abilities (e.g. spells and rituals) exist, and do not require overwhelming power.

5. Mundane individuals can be afflicted with involuntary shapeshifting (e.g. the Classic Horror version of werewolves).

6. Intelligent slime creatures (that can at least control their shape) exist.

7. Beings composed of swarms of smaller creatures exist who are capable of forming coherent shapes and possibly fooling observers using this.

8. Artifacts and magic items that induce or grant shapeshifting abilities (or that curse the wearer with involuntary shapeshifting) may be encountered.

9. Something else (please specify).

Please remember to include the number(s) of your preferred option(s) when you vote.

*******

Answer: See next question.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Shapeshifting Question I

I'll vote for 2 (Spirits/Gods/Powerful Mortals), 3 (races with inherited shapeshifting), 6 (slime girls people), 7 (swarms), and 8 (artifacts). I'd like to add the caveat that while Spirits/Gods/Powerful Mortals can have relatively open-ended shapeshifting (that is, the Morph Advantage), the others should be more limited. Races with inherited shapeshifting should either only have one (or maybe a few) Alternate Form(s) or have a form of shapeshifting that largely-maintains their base form, so they can't really pass as something they aren't, like the Uryuoms from El Goonish Shive - they can change their form significantly (Lavender there is SM+0 rather than the default ~SM-2, has a full head of hair rather than being bald, has a Caucasian skin tone rather than being a shade of green, and has very human-feminine body structure rather than being genderless), but are still clearly uryuoms. Slimes and swarms should also be fairly obvious what they are (unless purposefully concealed; both would be well-served by illusion magic, or just wearing a mundane disguise that covers their clearly-inhuman nature), and artifacts should probably only grant one (or maybe a few) Alternate Form(s), just like being born a werecat or whatever.