Lycanthropy
I've just come across this post describing a variant form of Lycanthropy.
It has really got me thinking about the other entities that might exist within the setting of the familiars.
One of the key elements in Familiar is that there are humans yearning to be something more spiritual and aware, and there are spirits who are striving to be more intimate and meaningful to the greater cosmos. The two halves are coming at a journey from opposite ends, each bringing ther own baggage (both positive and negative) and it's only when they meet that a new quest for transcendence can begin.
But I've toyed with side ideas a few times as I've developed the project. What other connections might exist between the corporeal and spiritual worlds? If a mystic has a wide range of potential powers, capable of mixing-and-matching metaphysical fragments according to their imagination, perhaps there are other symbiotic relatonships between mortals and spirits that have different effects.
My early thoughts here were vampires. In this system, a vampire might be a union between a suitably resonant mortal and a ravenous spirit with specific predetermined keywords. Instead of drawing power from a range of sources, this hybrid entity is initially lmited to drawing power from consumed blood (or flesh... or maybe they're a psychic vampire).
In time they might learn to draw power from other sources, but blood (or their first source) will provide more benefit for them because this is their affinity. They might gain a bonus point of energy each time they consume ths source, or might even gain double energy points from this source. And similarly, there might be a limited number of keywords that they automatically know, creating a limited range of automatic effects that might be available such as enhanced senses, physical strength and speed, transformation, and hypnotic suggestion. Vampires might learn new keywords, but in exchange for the static benefit of their longevity and enhanced attributes, they would have a dynamic penalty resulting in an inability to combine keywords on the fly.
All this comes from a different type of spiritual bond, with the spirit inhabiting the host and fusing with them rather than guiding them as a separate entity. Lycanthropes would be similar, but instead of a ravenous immortal spirit, a primordial animal spirit might be the source of the bond. There would be an ongoing tension between the spirit and the host, with starting energy derived from lunar phases, seasonal shifts, and communing with nature, while automatic abilities might manfesting in the forms of animal shapeshifting, regeneration, and primal urges.
I like the referred article because it offers ideas to tie the lycanthropes into the elemental connections already inherent in the system. Most lycanthropes might suggest a connection to the primal living energies of the wood element, most vampires might suggest a connection to the eldritch necromantic energies of the metal element. These elements oppose one another, so that gives us the traditional rivalry between the groups. The wood element is naturally disrupted by metal, thus giving us our silver bullet weakness... the metal element is naturally disrupted by wood, thus giving us our wooden stake weakness. It all fits, basically.
It has really got me thinking about the other entities that might exist within the setting of the familiars.
One of the key elements in Familiar is that there are humans yearning to be something more spiritual and aware, and there are spirits who are striving to be more intimate and meaningful to the greater cosmos. The two halves are coming at a journey from opposite ends, each bringing ther own baggage (both positive and negative) and it's only when they meet that a new quest for transcendence can begin.
But I've toyed with side ideas a few times as I've developed the project. What other connections might exist between the corporeal and spiritual worlds? If a mystic has a wide range of potential powers, capable of mixing-and-matching metaphysical fragments according to their imagination, perhaps there are other symbiotic relatonships between mortals and spirits that have different effects.
My early thoughts here were vampires. In this system, a vampire might be a union between a suitably resonant mortal and a ravenous spirit with specific predetermined keywords. Instead of drawing power from a range of sources, this hybrid entity is initially lmited to drawing power from consumed blood (or flesh... or maybe they're a psychic vampire).
In time they might learn to draw power from other sources, but blood (or their first source) will provide more benefit for them because this is their affinity. They might gain a bonus point of energy each time they consume ths source, or might even gain double energy points from this source. And similarly, there might be a limited number of keywords that they automatically know, creating a limited range of automatic effects that might be available such as enhanced senses, physical strength and speed, transformation, and hypnotic suggestion. Vampires might learn new keywords, but in exchange for the static benefit of their longevity and enhanced attributes, they would have a dynamic penalty resulting in an inability to combine keywords on the fly.
All this comes from a different type of spiritual bond, with the spirit inhabiting the host and fusing with them rather than guiding them as a separate entity. Lycanthropes would be similar, but instead of a ravenous immortal spirit, a primordial animal spirit might be the source of the bond. There would be an ongoing tension between the spirit and the host, with starting energy derived from lunar phases, seasonal shifts, and communing with nature, while automatic abilities might manfesting in the forms of animal shapeshifting, regeneration, and primal urges.
I like the referred article because it offers ideas to tie the lycanthropes into the elemental connections already inherent in the system. Most lycanthropes might suggest a connection to the primal living energies of the wood element, most vampires might suggest a connection to the eldritch necromantic energies of the metal element. These elements oppose one another, so that gives us the traditional rivalry between the groups. The wood element is naturally disrupted by metal, thus giving us our silver bullet weakness... the metal element is naturally disrupted by wood, thus giving us our wooden stake weakness. It all fits, basically.
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