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+--- Thread: Changeling Infection - Ability Idea (/showthread.php?tid=12538)
Changeling Infection - Ability Idea - TheMaskedMan2 - 07-04-2019
I have a few ideas here, now this mostly is focused on the RP server, to be honest. Generally I think Ling there is a little bit inconductive to RP with the sorta sting+permakill thing they got going on. As well, Lings essentially must permakill people in order to get DNA points. Which must be spent to get the people you killed back in the round as your critters - so on and so forth. Anyways, down to the ability idea.
Partial Drain/Infect - Instead of husking someone and gathering 10 dna points. You damage them with brute, some toxins, and infect them with a ling-specific disease. This only gives 5 dna points, is noisier, a bit bloodier, but comes with a few upsides!
1) It's quicker than the normal drain.
2)Gives you a quick influx of 5 points that you can use to farm crew. You can not drain or absorb someone who is infected with your disease. Only if they are cured or die.
3)Gives the victim a healthy injection of ling cells that will begin to slowly transform them into a disgusting minion.
but
1) It's bloodier.
2) You do not get their DNA to transform into.
3)They survive which could bite you in the ass later on who you were and other things.
4)The infection takes a long time to start helping you.
The Infection/Disease/Parasite/Whatever.
I am thinking it would have a few effects, starting off it wouldn't be that deadly, but keep progressing until it's really bad. Small draft subject to change obviously of symptoms.
Stage 1: It allows the Ling to always see you as if they have thermals on you. Since it's own cells are replicating inside of you and taking you over. You may occasionally get some scary text on your screen.
Stage 2: Your blood has been replaced enough for you to show up as positive on Changeling tests. Health Analyzers will show the disease.
Stage 3: You are starting to transform. The player begins coughing up blood, staggers, randomly regens small amounts of brute damage while gaining toxins. Essentially their tearing themselves apart from the inside out as Ling cells take hold.
Stage 4: Your arms turn into tentacles/claws, you lose sense of your humanity, and you are essentially mindslaved to the Changeling now as a boot-leg horror. You also get access to the hivemind. You don't have any innate ling abilities besides the spooky tendrils and acid spit maybe? If your master dies you will collapse into a limb critter.
Cure: If you manage to kill the Changeling, its cells inside of you go innert and it'll slowly die off. / The Changelings own blood can be synthesized into a cure if its combined with your blood and like, heated or something? / A whole lot of antibiotics/spaceallin/parasite removal surgery. It shouldn't be trivial to cure but also not impossible.
Speed: The disease actually advances stages fairly slowly, so yes it will transform you eventually, but it's not an instant death sentence. Think about diseased touch from vamps.
Concerns: People will get caught on purpose in order to antag, just like people that run into rev flashes. I'd like to think with how shitty the disease is to have for the most part that will discourage that. As well as the ling might just decide to fully drain you and perma murder you.
How to impliment:
1) Either as a new ability entirely
2) Part of the main Ling ability, and this will proc if it's interrupted after stabbing proboscis but before draining entirely.
Might be slightly ambitious and devs may disagree on it entirely but I think it's a fun idea and I would really enjoy it for both RP (Not perma-killing as much.) and for Goon-2 (I do believe there is some strategic playstyle decisions to be made on going "Loud/Infectious" or "Silent/Critter army".) Plus, even if it is strong, I feel like it would be a lot more engaging for the crew becoming more and more panicked as diseases progress, more husks turn up. Your friend transforms infront of you. Y'know.
In hindsight the disease part is argurably really ambitious and would take a while for a developer to code, however, I would be happy with only having the quick partial-suck without the whole disease part, maybe just leave em with toxins instead. It may also go outside what people would like out of Ling, but ideally in my opinion Changelings should feel like a horror movie, and with your own crew turning against you as well as the animal itself changing faces, you'll never know who to trust. Is that person infected? Oh god they are, when will they turn?
This started as me just wanting a quick way to get DNA points without permanently killing but kinda turned into it's own thing.
Alternative: Let lings nibble limbs off for dna points.
Just sounds fun to me. Feedback is appreciated. If you would change anything lemme know and uh, maybe it will happen. In my dreams. Apologies for the ramble of a post.
Final Note: I am 100% biased towards lings I think they are super cool.
RE: Changeling Infection - Ability Idea - medsal15 - 07-06-2019
What about becoming this once the ling die, if you are infected.
RE: Changeling Infection - Ability Idea - Haprenti - 07-06-2019
(07-06-2019, 01:56 AM)medsal15 Wrote: What about becoming this once the ling die, if you are infected.
It could use the same sprite as the little genetic abomination flesh mounds you become from genetic instability.
RE: Changeling Infection - Ability Idea - Kira - 07-10-2019
Probably too ambitious and major of a change but tbh I like the concept.
I wouldn’t be opposed of perhaps a downscaled version of this.
What if lings had a similar ability to enthrall like Vampires, but instead of zombies it turns the husk into a mini-horror, injected with one of its hivemind people?
Maybe costs 10 points or something. Essentially you inject a husked corpse with ling juice for minion.
Is that too much overlap with Vampire? I just think getting more people in the round is more fun in general.
Random Thought : Though I think lings should be able to eat limbs off of people for points and maybe ling blood should do cool things.
RE: Changeling Infection - Ability Idea - Frank_Stein - 07-10-2019
Here's something along the same line
Make it a high cost stealth based sting. It requires injecting a hivemind member into the target in the form of a parasite
Stage 1: Hivemind parasite rides along in target, can use hivetalk to update Ling
Stage 2: Hivemind parasite takes control of Victims sense of hearing temporarily, making them deaf
Stage 3: Hivemind parasite takes control of victims speech temporarily, making them say something
Stage 4: Hivemind parasite can turn off their victims lungs temporarily, making them lose breath
Stage 5: Hivemind parasite can turn off victim's heart temporarily, stunning them
Stage 6: Hivemind parasite takes control of victims hands and legs, taking control of their movement and turning their arms into tendrils
Performing actions as the parasite gives the victim brain damage. At any point surgery can be performed to remove the parasite. If the victim dies before being absorbed, the hivemind member used as the parasite is lost
RE: Changeling Infection - Ability Idea - WhatATerribleUserName - 07-11-2019
I absolutely love this concept. I've always wanted changelings to be a bit freakier. However, I do agree with Frank_Stein's idea of it being a stealth based sting, with slow changes happening over time. Other than that I think it's perfect.