PATTERN-BASED SHAPESHIFTING


Cost : 35 points

PRE-REQUISITES : Basic Pattern, ranked Psyche and Endurance

This new power is a variant of Shapeshifting for those who have walked the Pattern, and it considers shapeshifting to be a form of Advanced Pattern.

It is possible to use the basic Pattern power to change one's clothes and vehicle as one shifts through shadow, and to use the Pattern to clean oneself up and do similar things as one moves in shadow. This power takes that one step further, and allows the person with the power to use the Pattern to shift their own body into a desired form as they move through shadow. Using the Pattern to do this is harder than simply using the Pattern to move through shadow, but hardly impossible as long as one has a ranked Endurance and Psyche.

With this power one can, of course, only shift shape when moving through shadow, and so it is quite slow. The forms one can take are also limited depending on the types of shadow one is willing to move through, and the power is harder to use the closer one comes to Amber. This power does not include an Avatar or Demon/War form, or indeed any form which is preferred over any other, including ones own basic form. It also does not include a Primal form, or any kind of unconscious shapeshifting ability. Forms are permanent once they are acquired, until such time as the person with the power can get out into shadow to shift them again. While this does have the advantage that one does not lose ones new form if asleep or unconscious, it also means one is stuck with a form if, for example, one is unexpectedly summoned back to Amber while in the form of a dog...

With this power one cannot learn any forms whatsoever - each form takes just as much shifting through shadow to acquire on the hundredth time as it is took the first time.

One can use this power for healing by moving through shadow and shifting away ones wounds. One can also shift for intrinsic powers and abilities to incorporate into oneself. At higher levels the power even allows one to shift the forms of others one takes with one through shadow.

If the person with this power also has the 'Enhanced Shadow Shifting' part of Advanced Pattern, then one can use it in combination with this power to shift oneself much faster than with the shadow movement available to non-Advanced Pattern initiates, and even to shift oneself, to a very limited extent, within Amber itself.


Note that this power has not, as yet, been play-tested, so I have no idea how balanced, or otherwise, it may actually be.


The power divides into the following sections, which must be brought in order:

SHIFT FACE AND BODY (3 points) - this power includes the ability to permanently change ones appearance as one shifts through shadow, with some effort of constant concentration over that required to actually move through shadow, until it is done. This ability does allow the shifter to mimic the appearance of others (with study) but only physically - there is no imitation of mind or psyche.
HEAL WOUNDS (4 points) - the shapeshifter moves through shadow and shifts their wounds closed as they go. This takes roughly as long as healing with normal shapeshifting, but with the disadvantage of having to move through shadow at the same time (not necessarily very practical, depending on how badly wounded one is).
MAJOR EXTERNAL CHANGES AND ANIMAL ABILITIES (7 points) - as one goes through shadow one can shift ones body to take on animal and other decidedly non-human forms. At their discretion the shifter may or may not gain any intrinsic mundane abilities the animal may possess (such as enhanced senses).
INTERNAL CHANGES (4 points) - one can not only shift the external appearance of ones body as one goes through shadow, but also shift and rearrange ones internal structures and organs.
SHAPESHIFT AURA (4 points) - this includes shifting ones aura as one goes through shadow sufficiently to change ones Trump imprint (either to make them un-Trumpable, or imitate the Trump of another; in the latter case the nearest and/or lowest Psyche gets the call though of course the shapeshifter will have removed the original person if they have any sense). It also allows one to shift the 'appearance' of their mind to avoid psychic recognition or to make ones mind appear more or less powerful than it really is. Close examination by someone with, for example, a high Psyche or Advanced Pattern may allow them to see through this shifting of the aura, however.
MIMIC INTRINSIC POWERS (4 points plus) - essentially the 'Creatures of Power' ability, but the desired Qualities and Powers are gained by shifting oneself to obtain them. This takes as long as normal shadow shifting with the Pattern to find creatures or items with Powers and Qualities (one day per point of Quality and six days per point of Power). It does not allow the mimicry of abilities which can only be found in inanimate objects (for example the power to rack spells). The number of such abilities which can be incorporated into oneself at once depends on one's Psyche (at roughly the rate of 1 point of Power or Quality per 5 points of Psyche); one can have more abilities than one's Psyche would normally allow by paying more points; one point spent gives one 1 extra point of Power or Quality; this can never more than double the number of points of Powers or Qualities one can manifest at the same time. This ability does not allow one to change ones statistics.
SHIFT OTHERS (9 points) - the ability to use any or all of the above powers on people other than yourself, by bringing them through shadow with you. This requires a willing target or a Psyche advantage, however. As with the Mimic Intrinsic Powers part of this power, this ability does not allow one to change the statistics of those one is shifting.

This power does not count as a pre-requisite for assaying the Logrus. If the person with this power wants to do that they must learn 'standard' shapeshifting too.


IMPLICATIONS OF THIS POWER

If this power exists as an Amber-based form of Shapeshifting, then what does that have to say about the Chaos-based form of shapeshifting ('traditional' ADRP shapeshifting)? Perhaps, in Chaos, shapeshifting is not a prerequisite for assaying the Logrus, but a result of assaying it, of becoming 'infected' with the Logrus and acquiring a part of its constantly shifting nature. Of course, were this the case it would definitely have implications for how Chaos was structured, and where and how Chaos shapeshifting (Logrus-based shapeshifting) worked; for example it would undoubtedly work less well, or perhaps not at all, the closer and closer one came to Amber.


Back to my Amber Page.

Or go to the Pattern, Logrus, Alternatives to Logrus, Shapeshifting, Trump, or Magic Pages.