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Shifters
(image)
Height: As Human.
Lifespan: 80-100.
Hair: As Human.
Eye color: As Human.
Skin color: As Human.
Shifters.
A catch-all name that includes a wide variety of shapeshifters, also known as Theriocephali and Therianthropes (commonly subcategorized as Therians) such as werewolves, werecats, Valkyries (which were technically wereswans) and other wereanimals.
While their abilities may sometimes have a different theme and nature depending on the specific animal they can change into, their racial strengths and weaknesses remain the same, and thus the ICSA identifies them as subclasses of the Shifters. The difference between Theriocephali and Therianthropes is how much they can shift: Therianthropes can fully change into their animal forms, whereas Theriocephali only have the ability to change a single body part -- usually the head, though on occasion the affected limb is an arm, a leg or a manifested tail.
Shifters cannot be Turned, only Born. If the father is a Shifter, the child, regardless of gender, has a 50% chance of being a Shifter as well. If the mother is a Shifter, due to constant exposure of the fetus that chance is 100%. A woman pregnant with a Shifter baby will not become a Shifter herself, though there may be some behavioral changes associated with hormonal imbalances during the pregnancy.
::Common Misconceptions::
- Genealogy: No, Shifters are not related to animals. They are always base Humans with an alternate form. They are born as Shifters and, much like with Vampires, it is unknown who originally created them.
::Strengths::
- Transformation: Shifte the ability to change into their (usually animal) counterpart. It should be mentioned that the Moon has no influence on their transformation -- a Shifter could transform during the day as easily as during the night. However, the process does require a large amount of energy to complete (see: Weaknesses). The transformation is always to a specific form, so someone knowing what your transformed form looks like would still be able to recognize you. Identifying traits such as tattoos and scars would carry over to their other form, though (if applicable) hidden by fur. In their alternate forms, they have the sensory ability of both their Human and alternate forms, so whichever is greater applies.
- War Form (Therianthropes only): A half-man, half-beast form. In this form, their strength and speed are increased, but their minds are akin to rabid animals incapable of coherent thought and fueled only by instinct. A Shifter's First Transformation is always to War Form (if he is capable of it), and it falls to his pack to subdue him.
- Fast Healing*: Shifters can heal up to four times faster from wounds and injuries than a regular Human would. This also means that they are also more likely to survive severe injuries due to their bodies generating platelets at a high speed.
* It is important to note here the difference between Regeneration (Vampires) and Fast Healing (Shifters). Vampires' bodies naturally return to the state they were in at the moment they had been Turned, without the creation of new cells normally associated with healing so there is no scarring, even to the point of regrowing limbs given enough time. Shifters heal from injuries faster and can survive serious injuries better due to their bodies being able to push out platelets at a high rate, though the wound is as likely to scar as it would for a Human, and a lost limb remains a lost limb. On the other hand, they are up and running faster. In comparison, if a wound would take a Human a month to heal from, it would take a Shifter a week, and for a Vampire it would depend almost entirely on their blood intake (but generally 3-5 weeks).
::Weaknesses::
- Silver: A Shifter touching silver suffers from fast onset rashes, blisters and feelings of nausea and malaise, similar to a vampire in sunlight. Important to note is that naturally derived antibiotics were only invented in 1939 and, before that time, silver was used as a component to germicide and disinfectant, and had been used for thousands of years. With that in mind, Fast Healing is indeed a blessing Shifters could not do without.
- War Form (Therianthropes only): As mentioned in Strengths, the form has up- and downsides. If the Shifter is not subdued within twenty-four hours of his transformation, the Shifter will revert to their non-Human form, which will then become permanent. It is a great Panic Button, but breaking out of it on their own is impossible, which is why most Shifters tend to live in packs regardless of their alternate forms.
- Fast metabolism: In essence a side effect of their Fast Healing. Due to their body working at a high rate, Shifters need about twice as much food and drink per day as a regular Human to sustain themselves, and every Transformation requires the equivalent of a full meal to fuel the process.
::Relations::
Vampires vs. Shifters: There is no racial rivalry between Vampires and Shifters. This is based on Vampires, being sensitive to light and vulnerable to blood loss, generally tending to favor white-collar jobs as entrepreneurs and independent contractors, often having their Childs work for them in order to keep a closer eye on them while they get accustomed to their new bodies, whereas the pack mentality and preference to work with their hands has Shifters naturally gravitate towards blue-collar jobs such as construction. No real rivalry there, but occasionally it gets to be Yankees vs. Red Sox.
There is no such thing as a Vampire Shifter or a Ghoul shifter. Although a vampire can sustain themselves on shifter blood, a shifter cannot be turned by a vampire nor can they become a ghoul after feeding 3 times.
Shifters vs. Sakyubasu: Shifters heal fast, and as such have a racial resistance to the Sakyubasu's ability to draw out energy. The rate at which a Sakyubasu can draw out energy does not change, rather the Shifter can both replenish the lost energy faster, as well as have a better chance to survive large scale depletion. In all other situations, Sakyubasu are similar to Humans in terms of physical abilities.
It is possible for a Sakyubasu to also be born a Shifter. Due to their heightened senses and instinctual tendencies such individuals would be sexually active to a debilitating degree, and have a much harder time regulating their powers in order to not kill their partners. While full Sakyubasu are immune to the effects of their potent pheromones, and have the ability to suppress them when desired, Sakyubasu Shifters are not. Not being immune nor able to regulate their pheromone output, they would, in essence, be Black Widows, and actively hunted and killed by the ICSA for the obvious reason that they are a ticking timebomb, set to go off once puberty hits.
::Shifter Subclasses::
The following details a few subclasses of shifter to aid in game play. Where their abilities differ from the generalisation given above, this will be discussed also:-
Bastet
Lycan
Naga
Ratkin