Goonhub
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.
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.
