Big Red wrote:Here's one I really enjoyed, along with another bit of
original artwork.
HagfishORIGINAL ANIMAL CHARACTERISTICSDescription: The Hagfish is a distasteful, horrid little scavenger that exudes copious amounts of slimy mucous to more easily allow it to burrow into the rotting carcasses it consumes on the sea floor. They have long, veinous, jawless bodies, with a paddle-like tail. They range in color from pink to bluish-grey, and may have black or white mottling. They are extremely primitive vertebrates, with a cartilaginous skeleton, vestigial or no eyes, and six sensory barbels around the mouth. They lack both jaws and teeth, but have two pairs of jagged, tooth-like rasps on top of their extendable, tongue-like structure, which they use to dig into the flesh of their prey. Despite their reputation as carrion-eaters and scavengers, Hagfish will prey upon living fish and whales, burrowing into their skin and eating them from the insides out.
Their reputation as the most disgusting creatures in the ocean is come by honestly. On top of their repellent appearance, Hagfish have the nauseating ability to produce massive amounts of a fiber-filled mucous. This lubricates their body as they burrow into others. They can use their mucous as a defense mechanism, unleashing massive, revolting globs of it at potential predators from glands near the stomach. They also have the unique ability of tying themselves into a knot to give them additional leverage as they force their way through the skin, rip off chunks of flesh, and helps them to clean their slimy secretions from their skin.
These blind, appalling creatures’ two main eyes are either absent or useless, as is their vestigial third eye in the center of their forehead. Their skin is covered in keen, taste bud-like organs that give that allows them to detect their prey in even the darkest or murkiest of conditions, while their sensory barbels further detect taste and motion. Hagfish also have highly developed nasal organs, giving them an exceptional sense of smell. Though little is known of their reproductive habits, they are serially hermaphroditic, able to change gender numerous times throughout their lengthy life. They prey upon numerous fish and mammal species, and are themselves eaten by humans and harbor seals. They can be found in oceans throughout the world, from tropical to cold waters, and from shallow seas to over 2,000 feet (609 m) deep.
Mutant Hagfish are even more despised than their normal cousins. These muculent mutants are universally reviled and shunned, due both to their scavenging ways, and their slubbulent profusity. They are plentiful in number, and are generally found on the outskirts of communities, in garbage dumps, near cemeteries, and anywhere else they might be able to happen upon the sick, dying and dead. The vast majority of them come from a feral background. While it is possible for them to have a more civilized background and apprenticeship, live will be hard on such creatures, with discrimination against them not only approved of but encouraged by others.
Size Level: 4
Length: to 50 inches (127 cm) long
Weight: to 15 pounds
Build: Long
MUTANT CHANGES & COSTSTotal BIO-E: 115
Attribute Bonuses: +2 P.S., Brute Strength, +4 P.E.
Attribute Penalties: Reduce P.B. by two thirds.
HUMAN FEATURESEyes: Hagfish have vestigial or no eyes, and no sense of vision; however, their other senses compensate for this. Their skin is their primary sensory organ, covered with unique, taste bud-like organs that allow them to detect any nearby creatures or prey. They have an exceptional sense of smell, and their sensory barbels detect taste and vibrations, giving them the equivalent of a decent sense of hearing. Eyeless characters do not suffer any penalties for blindness, but will not be able to perform any skills requiring eyes, nor use any long-range weaponry effectively.
10 BIO-E for a set of eyes. The eyes will appear as a set of black, glassy eyes on the sides of the head. Grants sight equal to full human vision.
15 BIO-E for Non-vestigial Eyes. The character has three normal eyes—two on the sides of the head, and one on the forehead. This provides them with Advanced Vision at twice the normal range, and a bonus of +1 to Initiative.
Hands: None. The character has no arms or hands whatsoever. Any objects will have to be manipulated by the mouth (treat as Partial Hand).
10 BIO-E for Partial. The Hagfish develops a pair of stubby (Partial) hands and short arms along the upper part of the body.
15 BIO-E for Full. Gives the mutant Hagfish a full pair of hands, arms, and narrow shoulders.
Biped: None. Character has no legs or fins, and swims via his undulating body movements and paddle-like tail. Can slither along on dry surfaces at up to half his normal Spd. Can swim three times as fast as other mutants. Human Looks: Full is impossible to combine with Biped: None.
10 BIO-E for Partial. Character develops a pair of short, stubby legs, and can now function on land by running on all fours, and will be most comfortable when on all fours. Will only stand up on the hind legs when necessary.
20 BIO-E for Full. Character has mutated a full set of legs and feet.
Speech: 5 BIO-E for Partial, or 10 BIO-E for Full
Looks: None. Long, eel-like, slimy body, with a paddle-like tail and wrinkled pink to purplish grey skin. Head is tapered, with a tube-like, funnel-shaped mouth surrounded by six tentacle-like barbels, and containing a tongue-like structure topped with two pairs of wicked, jagged teeth-like growths. Any limbs resemble the main body, with loose skin draped over powerful muscles.
10 BIO-E for Partial. Humanoid structure with a more defined torso and head, thick limbs, and a long tail. Mouth is more humanoid and surrounded by six short whiskers, though still lacks a jaw, and speech is often gurgly and hard to understand. Any eyes are less glassy, and more human in appearance.
20 BIO-E for Full. Loose-fitting skin hanging off a powerful frame. Head is bald and rounded, with a pointed nose, and a poorly defined jaw with a massive underbite. Lacks hair, but appears to have the hint of a mustache. Skin has a sickly pallor, and is constantly covered with a gleam of thick, slimy sweat.
Natural Weapons:5 BIO-E for 2D4 damage Boring Tongue.
10 BIO-E for 2D6+2 damage Boring Tongue.
10 BIO-E for 2D4 damage Extra Limb: Tail. A large, flexible tail, at least as long as the character’s body. Does 2D4 damage, plus P.S. bonus, but does not provide an additional attack per melee.
15 BIO-E for
Eject Slime (Special). The character can exude a huge amount of fiber-filled, slimy mucous, up to twelve times per day. The character can choose to eject it from their mouth, their wrists, or from a pair of glands located near the stomach. The slime has a range of 20 feet (6.1 m), and covers an area up to 30 square feet (9.1 m). The character gets a +2 to Strike with the slime, plus any P.P. bonus. Victims struck by, or who fall or step in the slime become stuck, entangled in the slimy mess and grasping fibers. Freeing any stuck character requires a combined P.S. of 50, or a Crushing P.S. of 30. Characters or objects who can not be pulled free will have to wait until the slime dissolves in 6D6+4 minutes.
Mutant Animal Powers:Automatically gets Advanced Taste and Advanced Smell.
5 BIO-E for Nightvision (must have complete set of three eyes).
5 BIO-E for Advanced Touch.
5 BIO-E Advanced Hearing.
20 BIO-E for Lateral Line. Hagfish have a primitive form of Lateral Line, not quite as developed as other fish, and must spend additional BIO-E to acquire one.
10 BIO-E for Extra Mental Affinity.
10 BIO-E for Beastly Strength.
20 BIO-E for Crushing Strength.
10 BIO-E for Extra Physical Endurance.
10 BIO-E for Digging.
20 BIO-E for Tunneling (Automatically gets the ability to tunnel through flesh).
5 BIO-E for Water Breathing: Saltwater.
15 BIO-E for Water Breathing: Dual Environment.
15 BIO-E for Horror Factor of 1D4+9.
10 BIO-E for
Knotting Body (Special, must have a tail). The Hagfish can tie its body into a knot. This provides extra leverage when burrowing into a body or performing feats of strength. When knotted up, the character’s bite does an additional 1D6 points of damage, and they receive a bonus of +1D4+4 for any feats of strength. Also, if the character has been coated in his own slime, or the slime of another Hagfish, he can get out of it without a strength roll by knotting then unknotting. The knotting action “squeegees” the slime off the character’s body. It takes one melee action to knot and another to unknot, or twice as long if the character has Human Looks: Full. Purchasing this power requires the character to have a tail. Characters with Human Looks: Full can still purchase this power, but will never be mistaken for human.
10 BIO-E for Cartilage Skeleton: Gives the character a lightweight and flexible skeleton. Character will never suffer from a broken bone, and is +2 to roll with punch/fall, but is -10 to S.D.C.
30 BIO-E for
Change Gender (Special). Hagfish are serially hermaphroditic, and can switch genders at will. It takes 1D4 weeks for the character to change completely. Female Hagfish are just as hideous as males, and there are no bonuses associated with one gender over another.
Vestigial Disadvantages:-10 BIO-E for Prey Eyes.
-5 BIO-E for Webbed Hands and Feet (only if character has Hands AND Feet).
-10 BIO-E for Vestigial Tail.
-15 BIO-E for Aquatic Respiratory System.
-15 BIO-E for Aquatic Vestigial Skin.
-10 BIO-E for Reptile Brain: Predator
-15 BIO-E for Diet: Scavenger.