Assimilator - Revisions in progress

[ScrapyardDragon]

Assimilator
Normally, an incomplete being dies after a few minutes at most. That just makes sense; anything missing essential parts will fail. Or will it? Rare indeed they are, but there are some beings who violate this law. Assimilators are creatures of hunger. Empty, unfinished, whatever you may call it there is an something missing about them. The kind of void they fill by consuming others, stealing what others have for their own uses, in the most terrifying way possible. Sometimes with a smile and dance.

Power Stat: Genomes
Resource Stat: Bases - CMP+CON+(PS*2). Bases are recovered with your Assimilation power.

Assimilation: You may absorb a dead or helpless creature into your body as a full action to regain Bases equal to the absorbed creature's size.

Incorporation: When you use your assimilation power, you may spend Bases equal to the absorbed creature's level to incorporate it into your own biology, stowing away its DNA and cells to be used later.
You may have a number of incorporated creatures up to your Genomes, and may discard any of them at any time to make room for new ones.

Expression: As a Full Action, you may spend a Base to express the genes of one of the creatures you have Incorporated.
For the rest of the scene, you gain a +1 bonus to the highest skill and characteristic the creature had (your choice if tied), and one of its listed abilities or traits (excluding Resource stat). Any extra maximum hp gained from using this power is treated as temporary hit points.
If an ability uses a resource stat to function, you may use Bases instead at a 1:1 ratio. While using this power, your appearance changes to resemble a mixture of yourself and the expressed creature. Using this power multiple times in a scene overwrites the previous usage.

Apoptosis: If you ever run out of Bases, you take one wound, and then another wound every hour until you regain at least one genome.

*DNA Splicing: when you Assimilate a creature, select either a feat or racial power the creature posesed. You may spend 100 exp to gain that feat, or 100+X exp to gain that racial power, where X equals the amount of racial powers you have already obtained with this power times 100 (ie; the first racial power is 100, the second is 200, and so on).
If a feat references or improves a feat or racial ability you do not have, you may not take that feat.

**Autolysis: You may spend Bases to recover HP in combat as a free action. Whenever you spend Bases (even just to activate this ability, though thats a waste) you no longer need to eat, sleep, drink, or breath for the next day.

***Miracle Fusion: when you use your Expression power, you now instead gain +1 to the expressed creature's two highest skills and characteristics, or +2 to their highest skill and characteristic.

****Instant Fusion: you may use your Expression power as a half action.

*****Triple Fusion: when you use your Expression power, you may spend three bases as a Full Action to express two creatures at once (the skill and characteristic increases are cumulative).

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Physical Features:

In a word? Lacking. While a Paragon may appear as their race's ideal, an assimilator is a flawed failure lacking the true capacity their people would normally have. Their forms are but a pale imitation, formed out of jealousy and what little of 'themselves' are left, if anything is still there to begin with. Stunted wings, atrophied muscles, dull features. There is good reason they are always looking for excellent beings to absorb.

Assimilator tells: As an Assimilator spends Bases, their body appears warp and distort, showing more and more traces of the various organisms the Assimilator as absorbed, with the creatures they've incorporated being the most prominent, especially when they're actively expressing their genes. The exception to this is if they ever completely run out of bases; at that point their body starts to visibly melt down and fall apart, showing signs of rapid aging until they can replenish themselves, or die trying.

Becoming an Assimilator:

Assimilators are a type of freak mutant, typically being created as part of an advanced science project, warp shenanigans, or on rare occasions just an accident of nature. One could in theory become one, but most are born as they are.

Playing an Assimilator:

An Assimilator is a creature of hunger, always seeking their next meal. As they get almost nothing without using their expression power, which itself is dependent on whatever they come across during a campaign, they aren't forced into any one particular direction.

Assimilators in game:
Feed, consume, assimilate. Take the power of everything you come across and make it your own. try to avoid hitting zero bases.

Adapting Assimilators:
Poyo!

[ScrapyardDragon]

So yeah, now you can eat thine enemies and steal their powers. yay. In case you were wondering what the mindflayer example is referring to, check the monster listings in the back of book 1. I know a lot of people don't use them but the stuff in there are the only "core" enemies in the game so if I'm gonna use an example, it might as well be them. SMs have the final say on what they get because some monster abilities are stupid bonkers though. Adding more assets is on the to-do list. A vacuum breath ability used to be one of them but trying to get a balanced version to work just resulted in a text blob, and I'd prefer avoiding those if possible. Please post feedback here if you have any, and I'm reserving the rest of this post for a changelog.


9/19/2018:
-changed IE to EG due to grammer corrections courtesy of Marr.

[ScrapyardDragon]

The assimilator revisions have finally begun~
Pretty much the whole thing got changed so no point in a real changelog, but here is the previous version for reference if you must see it.

SPOILER: Click to show

Static Powers:

Contact Fusion: The Assimilator may absorb a recently dead, helpless, or free-willing creature of equal or lower level as a full action, entering a fused state that increases up to your Completion in skills and characteristics (each) to the absorbed creature's stats. You loose one Fullness every hour or at the start of every turn you are fused while in combat. You may only fuse with one creature at a time. If you run out of Fullness, die, become unconcious, or end the fusion as a half action the absorbed creature is ejected next to you. The absorbed creature may spend a hero point to immediately end the fusion and break out.

DNA Splicing: While using Contact Fusion with a member of a sapient race, you gain their racial power and any racial feats they currently have.

Copy Abilites: You gain a number of spell schools known by a creature absorbed with Contact Fusion equal to your Completion, to a maximum rank of your Completion/2 (Round up) while fused. While fused with a monster, you gain their special abilties (EG: "Eats your goddamn brains" if you absorb a mind flayer), unless those abilities are an Exalt Power. Your SM has final say over what abilities may be gained.

Incomplete: You cannot purchase racial feats, and your natural characteristics cannot be raised above three. At Completion 3 your natural characteristics may be raised to 4.

Power Stat: Completion- An Assimilator's Completion does not necessarily represent they themselves being a finished being. To them, such an idea is a lie. No, their completion is the culmination of everything they have taken in, and how well they mesh with new beings to form a greater sum. At low completion an Assimilator using their powers appears as a twisted mess, features from their victims appearing as if they had been hastily grafted on. At higher completion however, their fusions appear to be perfect beings, an idealized combination of two, and sometimes three.

Resource stat: Fullness- An Assimilator has a maximum Fullness equal to their Completion*2 + his Composure. He regains 1 Fullness for every size 1 of biomatter he eats.

Completion 1- Sustenence: While using Contact Fusion, you may spend a reaction to regain your Completion in Fullness and Hit points. Doing so kills and destroys the target via digestion, ending the fusion. You cannot use this while fused with an exalt.
Completion 2- Instant Fusion: You may use Contact Fusion as a half action or as a reaction.
Completion 3- Fusion Reserve: You do not loose Fullness at the start of your turn while using contact fusion.
Completion 4- Miracle Fusion: You can copy some of an exalt's powers when you absorb them, gaining 2 of their static powers and their PS1 ability.
Completion 5- Triple Fusion: You may use Contact Fusion with one additional creature at a time. While fused with two other beings, you loose an additional point of Fullness every five minutes. Sustenence (the power, mind you) only terminates one of your 'partners', and its use is only prevented if both of your absorbed targets are exalted, as then neither can be digested.

Assimilator Fusion Assets:

X Parasite: Upon using Contact Fusion you may "save" the creature you fused with. You may spend 1 Fullness to use Contact Fusion as if the "saved" creature is available to fuse with. You can only have one creature saved at a time.

Power Bond: you may spend 2 Fullness on skill tests while using Contact Fusion to gain a +1k1 bonus.

Relinquisher: While using contact fusion with a living creature, you may apply damage you take to your fusion partner instead of yourself. If you would die while using Contact Fusion, you may spend a hero point to have the being you are fused with die instead, ending the fusion as their corpse is ejected from your body. You obviously can't use this ability if they were already dead, and they don't die if they wouldn't normally die of whatever you're using them as a (non)human shield against.

the to-do list consists of putting together a new asset batch and tweaking the new version of it a bit until the numbers are where I want them, but I'm much happier with this than the awkward mess that was the old one. Formatting will be un-screwed once the crunch is complete.