Potent Potions, Sorcerous Surgeries & Terrible Transmogrifications - Part I

          Aftermarket upgrades are a mixed bag. For every backup camera or key less entry, there are ugly looking spoilers and gaudy under-lights. Attempts at upgrading or altering characters after their creation can also come off as similarly forced; Some of my favorite video game franchises growing up, the Shining Series, or the Ogre Battle games, simply had characters transforming into different classes without much rhyme or reasons upon getting a certain item.

          The most egregious example of this phenomenon in my mind was in Shining Force II, where you could obtain an item for your Centaur Knight known as a Pegasus Wing, which upon level 20 would allow them to be promoted into a Pegasus Knight. I always wondered what was transpiring behind the scenes here, was the item facilitating a sort of magical ritual? Was some other party member grafting Pegasus wings onto them in some back-alley? While the idea of a character having a paradigm shift a la Gandalf or Cecil certainly has an appeal, it can quickly grow to absurd levels.

          Multiclassing or trying to reflect other forms of dramatic character changes has fared little better in table-top games. oD&D had the craziness that was dual-classing (seriously, outside of when I played the Baldur's Gate series I never saw any one dual-class) and the oft-confusing mess that was multi-classing, but 3.X/Pathfinder were little better in that regard, growing particularly infamous at the latter part of the 3.X era. Why is the fighter eating green rocks and turning into the Jolly Green Giant? Is there a decent in-game reason for your party's Wizard to have gotten obsessed with Prismatic Wall & Prismatic Sphere to the point where they've developed an entirely new school of magic off of it? Realistically I know that Referees and Players are likely justifying these changes during the course of play, but why not embrace the utter strangeness and simply bake the transformations in? Science Fiction games such as Shadowrun or Cyberpunk 2020 have embraced this approach since their inception. Fantasy Fiction is rife with examples of characters undergoing terrible changes to better meet the challenges set before them, or simply for kicks. Dr. Jekyll and the Invisible Man leap to mind, but there's also Geralt (and Witchers in general) from the Witcher, and my favorite by far, the Jägermonsters from Girl Genius.

          With all that rambling out of the way, I present a somewhat novel approach to spending Experience and Gold points: Upgrades! These renovations to the character can take many forms, but I've broken them down into two broad categories:

1. One-time, permanent changes which require a mid to large initial sum of GP or XP from the PC. These can be things such as grafted body parts; blessings or investments by a deity or other similar creature; or body and mind-warping rituals, potions or tinctures.
2. Long-term investments which grow increasingly powerful as the PC redirects their XP towards them. The character's progression on their class table stops as they put XP towards the upgrade.

         The first sort is by far the easiest to develop and implement, all we need is a basic idea of what the process is supposed to accomplish and then assign costs in either Gold, XP, or both, along with any other requirements that seem necessary. To use the example above about converting a Centaur Knight into a Pegasus Knight, our ritual/potion/surgery may look something like this:

Name	Cost	Effect
Theft of Icarus	500gp, 1500xp, A set of wings able to feasibly keep the subject aloft. 2 Weeks of recovery time.	The PC gains a Fly speed equal to that of their Move speed. The character may not hover, but may split choose to split their movement between walking or flying. Members of the species that the wings are from now hate and loathe the character.

          The second kind of persistent change to a character requires a far greater commitment on both the PC and the Referee's part, but is superficially similar in many ways to taking levels for a class. Much like a class, all effects are cumulative, and must be taken in order. If a character has built up enough XP, GP or other costs associated with the transformation, the question as to whether or not they can buy multiple levels at once is at the discretion of the Referee. In this example I'll use the transmogrification of a character into a Jägerkin from Girl Genius:

Jägerbräu Transformation

Level	Cost	Effect
1	2,000 XP, a proprietary brew, followed by a successful save vs Poison or immediate death*.	Disadvantage on any Saves from a Heterodyne or their inventions. Roll once on the Jägerkin mutations table. +2 HP.
2	2,250 XP	+1 Attack Bonus. +2 HP.
3	2,500 XP	Roll once on the Jägerkin Mutations table. +2 HP. +1 AC.
4	3,000 XP	Subject grows physically larger, gaining +2 to STR in the process. +1 Attack Bonus. +2 HP.

          *: You could also have them simply pass out for 48 hours if they fail instead. I guess.

Jägerkin Mutations

1d10*	Effect
1	The Jägermonster grows a coat of bristly fur over their entire body. They gain advantage against saves or skill checks involving suffering through inclement or cold weather.
2	Glowing, reflective eyes which grant the imbiber Darkvision.
3	The subject's skin can shift color to suit their environment, or their emotional state. They gain advantage on all stealth checks, provided they stand still for at least a turn.
4	The Jägerkin grows claws, sharp teeth, horns or other farms of natural weaponry. Regardless of it's form, this increases the Jäger's unarmed damage by a step - d2 becomes d4, d4 becomes d6, etc.
5	The subject's body heals with unnatural speed, doubling the amount of HP they restore upon resting. They can also reattach limbs, provided they're largely in one piece.
6	Advantage on all skill rolls involving scent or tracking.
7	Resistance to a form of elemental damage; roll 1d4: 1) Fire, 2) Electricity, 3) Cold, 4) Acid.
8	The Jägerkin gains advantage on all rolls to resist fear or terror.
9	The Jägermonster becomes unusually fleet of foot, gaining 10' to their move speed.
10	The Jägerkin is just ridiculously tough. They gain +5 HP.

          *: Re-roll redundant results.

          With those examples, we'll draw this article to a close. Next up in this series, we're going to be going over the Short Changes! Thanks for reading!

          All artwork and intellectual property belongs to their respective owners, and will be taken down at their discretion. Please don't sue me Phil, I've been reading your comics since 'What's new with Phil and Dixie?'