Mutations?

The Vault Dweller

The Vault Dweller

always looking for water.
Ive never posted in this part of the NMA forums and since its directly related to Fallout I hope I dont screw it up.
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Ive got an idea for a separate set of character traits. I'll call them "Mutations". The idea is that somewhere along the line in your characters genological history her/his DNA was effected as to produce a strong to mild trait that can be good or bad. This of course fits into the whole "sci-fi" atmosphere and could easily be incorporated into a world after a nuclear war with high radiation levels. You can choose one positive and negative trait considering "mutations" or none at all. If you choose to have one helpful ability you must of course have the downside of another bad ability. (or maybe one ability that is good and bad) Think on these:

-Beneficial Mutations:

*Eyes in the back of your head: "You dodge just as well from the back as you do the front and have no detriment to dodge regardless of the direction your attacked from"

*Scaly skin: "Your skin is hardened into small plates in areas of your body. You have +10% overall damage resistance."

*Third Arm: "You have a degenerate, but functioning third arm growing from your back or front. While it is too small to perform heavy fuctions (like hold a weapon, throw, or shoot) it can be used to either reload a weapon or use an item once each round for free."

*Third eye: "You have an addittional eye in the center of your forehead. You have +25% to your chance to hit."

-Harmful Mutations:

*Weakened Immune System: "Your body doesnt protect itself due to a flaw in the coding of your genes dealing in the immune system. You have -25% resistance to poison."

*Early Osteoperosis: "You have weak bones due to problems facilitating your body's use of calcium. If you would be hurt in a way that could cripple a limb the chance is increased by 20%."

*Premature Aging: "The DNA of your body has been fragmented excessively and led to the increased aging of your cells. The wrinkles really show in spite of your youth. -2 Charisma."

*Tentacle: "You have a random limb in the form of a tentacle growing on you. Under seemingly nonsensical circumstances it may grab an item in your inventory and throw it on the ground. It may also wave in front of you and throw off your aim. The effect is random. You can choose to have it amputated, but only at the loss of 10% your total HP."

*Flammable Perspiration: "The sweat your body gives off must have something combustible in it cause it seems like when you get burnt by an attact the pain is searing and the flames intensify. You get -20% resistance to flame."

-Tradeoff Mutations:

*Horrible Body Odor: "The smell is like a dead brahmin! All combatants withen 10 feet have -10% to hit and -10 to their order as the smell is distracting. You also have -2 charisma."

*Darkvision: "You have no detriment to seeing in the dark, but in bright light your PE goes down by two."

*Slow Metabolism: "You body goes through energy at a much slower pace than most. You require only 3/4's the same food and water as a normal person, but you regain HP during resting at only 1/2 the rate." (only works if they take into account that you need provisions when traveling)

*Fast Metabolism: (opposite of above)

*Random feature color: "You have shockingly strange color of the hair, eyes, or skin that no one else has. No effect other then how you look."

*Asexuality: :lol:
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If you dont like the specific mutations keep in mind there are endless possibilites. Also, I hope everything didnt sound too lame. Also, these could be incorporated into part of the story as to how people respond to you. Like how "The Vault Dweller" was naive having lived in a Vault and how "The Chosen One" was naive growing up in a tribe your character could have been an outcast. It could work.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
The_Vault_Dweller said:
*Random feature color: "You have shockingly strange color of the hair, eyes, or skin that no one else has. No effect other then how you look."
Click to expand...
Hehe, I picture it like the Thieflings in PS:T.
 
I wouldn't mind 'subtle' mutations, like the Osteoperosis or scal..*cough* hard skin.
I could even take a third eye... not in the center of the head of course, that's mythological, not post-apocalyptic. Let's say a malus on charisma and a bonus on ranged weapons or even perception in general.

Tentacles, third arms or eyes at the back of the head or similar are totally off though.
 
Thanks gusy seems like you enjoy the idea especially Claw. Im also not surprised to see it related to another game...

So is it good enough to be seriously considered you think? Also can you think of any other abilities? Not that Im developing a game or anything.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
I like some of the ideas. But I have some a question; are thesethings something you can choose, or are they picked randomly for you? also, do you have to take at least one, because if you can choose not to, why would you take any of the bad ones?
also, did you forget Fast Metabolism allreday is a trait? :wink:
 
Well the idea is that if you take one good mutation you must choose a bad one as well. It evens out, but gives your character more personality.

Either that or go with one that is both good and bad.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
It would be better if they worked like the current traits were you boosted one thing at the sacrifice of something else. Though they should be randomly gained by exposure to FEV or radiation, like the mutated toe.
 
I like this idea, and I might be able to implement it in FO2, depending on what exactly the mutation(s) are supposed to do.

Should a player be able to choose mutations, or should they be assigned? And should this be at the beginning of the game, or at other point(s) in time.

If you can come up with a few that only adjust the normal stats (in other words ones that I have script commands to adjust traits/skills), I'll try implementing them.
 
There was a system like this in GURPS, which Fallout 1 was supposed to be (how far did that get? was there a playing GURPS Fallout version?). He had joked that in GURPS you can have a "one-armed mute with a plastic allergy" who has such an insane AC that you can't hit him... or something like that, I've never played GURPS so I don't know.

Basically these would fit under "traits" in the current SPECIAL system; If Fallout 3 starts outside a vault I see no reason not to expand the Traits list to include some more... oddball... traits brought on by exposure to radiation, FEV, and other environmental influences. Remember, radiation largely causes bad mutations, while FEV has seemingly about equal potential to do harm or good, and not always both to the same subject.
 
Oh, by the way, according to an article on creation of sensible alien species' for fictional universes, and commonsense, a third eye has practically no beneficial effect.

The problem is that while a second eye provides you with three-dimensional perception, a third eye only adds another spot that could easily attract severe injuries.
Even insects don't have multiple eyes per-se, but rather multiple brightness sensors which function like individual pixels on a computer screen.

Or at least that's what I remember from the text.

So I'd count third eyes as a mallus rather than a bonus.

I do like the (dis)advantages system tho. GURPS had that and that's where Fallout took it from. On the old Fallout GURPS screens you can still see the interface for picking advantages and disadvantages rather than traits. I don't think a playable description of Fallout GURPS survived tho.

Any dev who could say something about it?
 
Thank you all of you!

Let me just say that in all the time Ive been a Fallout fan and having such a vivid imagination Ive thought of many things. Obviously with the downfall of Interplay Ive wished to somehow, someway facilitate the fixing of Fallout 3. This...has made me feel so fulfilled to have you people like the idea.

So!

I figure this can be implemented in one of two ways:

-In story your character could be exposed to radiation long enough or some other mutagen and you gain a mutation based on your time exposed. This would most likely lead to a random mutation, not under player control.

-In story your character hails from a tribe/nomadic band/etc. that is outcast, because of their bizarre features (mutations). Since the mutation would be there from the beginning it should be choosable on the character creation screen. This could also lead to some unique role play...

>Girl: "Mommy that man has three eyes... (points)"
>Mother: "(gasp and scream) Its one of them! Call the guards...help!"
>Character: *has the option to negotiate and calm/threaten the woman, kill her, or run away*

Also remember the mutations I came up with are just examples. Feel free to think of some of your own. Remember they can be some form of science-fiction or just a physical malady. (open a medical book and flip pages)

Thanks Ashmo.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
Instead of a third eye to function as a normal eye, what if it was an unusual organ/growth/alteration to an existing sense organ that provided some sort of non-human sense? Sonar, heat, high or low frequency sounds, geiger, etc....
 
LazyGnome said:
Instead of a third eye to function as a normal eye, what if it was an unusual organ/growth/alteration to an existing sense organ that provided some sort of non-human sense? Sonar, heat, high or low frequency sounds, geiger, etc....
Click to expand...

Sonar would be the ears usually. Sonar (usually) works with the ears (sense) and the respiratory system (noise): http://science.howstuffworks.com/bat2.htm

Sonar capabilities would be a possible mutation considering bats too are mammals.

Senses for high and low frequency sounds would rather require a mutation of the ears as well.

Infravision (heat) would be a possible mutation of the eyes, I suppose (IIRC that's an efficient variant of nightvision -- almost everything emits some amount of warmth, usually). Same might go for ultravision (which might cause problems due to the UV-rays in sunlight -- IANAS).
 
Something like a 3rd arm wouldn't work, but there could be a mutation in which you were abnormally big. That'd be intersting, seeing a 6'10" woman walk in with a spear and almost nothing on, presuming you start with the rags like you did in F2.
 
Great, great! I really like some of your other ideas. Sonar or infravision would be grand...

Come one now. Im intensely happy to see some coder's in here who obviously know they're game mechanics among the general fanatics here, but where are Per and other higher ups? I would really like their input since they have done a lot and I think could really make some recommendations from what they already know...

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
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