Changeling bore-eggs

[Balut]

As a rather expensive option (I can't remember if all Changeling powers are the same price or differently priced right now), for a large cost in chems, a Changeling can buy a power that lets him shoot a dart that does a hefty chunk of damage on-hit, and then does some damage over time for a bit. If you target the mouth and it hits, the target takes half the damage as suffocation, but can't speak for the duration. If hit in the eyes, they suffer a big chunk of eye damage.

I forget, do we have anything that gives you messages like 'your left arm hurts' that happen often? If so getting hit with a borer should proc those messages. If not, fuck it - it poops anaesthesia after it settles down, or something.


That's not the main function of the mutation, though: The dart is an egg in a fleshboring worm-thing with a copies of the changeling's genetic information in it. If the changeling were to ever suffer a permanent death (i.e. gibbing or incineration) their psychic death scream will activate the egg, inserting the changeling into any dead corpse with a a bore-egg and allowing it to begin regenerating the corpse so it can live again.

However, as it does have the changeling's DNA in it - all of the ones they've stolen - as well as whatever weird, a doc that realizes its in there and extracts it via surgery can compare the dna strings to his staff list and cross those guys out as DED. Also, by letting one of the genetics research tubes do an exhaustive scan, of the egg, the machine can spit out a disk that can be used on a standard encryption key to gain access to Changeling channel on a headset, or used on a medhud to make it highlight that particular changeling, no matter what form they take.


Alternatively, as the obligatory 'get people back into the round' option - especially important for Changelings - the Changeling also gets a verb that lets them screech into radios or whatever. Any implanted corpse that can hear that screech will (after spending time regenerating) get back up as a 'thing' - essentially a lesser changeling, without normal speech or genome stealing ,but access to :g chat, ventcrawling, the ability to KO and regenerate, and a small amount of points to buy select changeling abilities - the 'scary monster' ones, probably. They get the objective to 'serve the hivemind overlord [Changeling]'. Maybe they also permanently have coffeeshakes. That's pretty common/spooky/stealth-deterring, right?

[Cheimon]

I don't know. I feel like changelings are already pretty damn good at surviving. They have powers to heal, powers to remove stuns, powers to emp guns off, to make a shield, to turn into a monkey to remove cuffs and ventcrawl, and finally a power to gib and infect a corpse.

All in all, I think they're tough enough to kill. Do we really want more ways for changelings to stay in the round? I think the big struggle for changelings currently is staying stealthy, so I reckon that's where effort is best put. If you give them more interesting ways and reasons to be stealthy but dangerous it might be more fun. Maybe. I don't have any big ideas there.

Ghosts getting back in the round sounds fun, but then I think shadowlings already do this slightly better. Forcing it to be the implanted person who gets back in is less interesting, but it might be fun. I think it makes sense to wait for shadowling's release and see how that dynamic works in practice before adding it to other round types.

[Incomptinence]

Well they are very good at being a bore.

[Not-Dorsidarf]

I'm pretty sure the whole shtick of changelings right now is 'Oh god why won't it die', so anything which means that a single assistant with a stunprod and handcuffs can't stun, beat, and gib/cremate the ling alone 360 yolo is bretty gud. Changelings should be something you hunt down en masse with pitchforks and fire, not 'AH AM LE SOLE HERO WATCH THAT REDTEXT APPEAH'

[Balut]

Well they are very good at being a bore.

Heyooooo.

They are quite good at not dying already, yes. They're also too good at being stealthy. I think that another, redundant brand of something they're already good at is an alright trade for easier methods of identifying a Changeling.

Now I'll admit, I haven't played for... quite awhile now, actually, so if any changes have been made to them that makes loud-changelings a better option, I don't know about them. My thinking behind the idea is that there's just too much incentive to play Changeling safely - and more importantly, boringly.


Oh also, implant a monkey pen for maximum minion spam. Have the minions pull from random ghosts, not the corpses' previous owner, I guess.

[Allohsnackbar]

Because changelings need to be buffed FURTHER, RIGHT?
No, not right.
Changelings are supposed to be sneaky shmucks who sting and stun.
Not literally not killable. It's no fun having all your efforts to to waste, for antags OR for regular crew.

[Phalanx300]

Because changelings need to be buffed FURTHER, RIGHT?
No, not right.
Changelings are supposed to be sneaky shmucks who sting and stun.
Not literally not killable. It's no fun having all your efforts to to waste, for antags OR for regular crew.

Are you really suggested changelings are overbuffed? They are nerfed as hell.

[PKPenguin321]

Alternatively, as the obligatory 'get people back into the round' option - especially important for Changelings - the Changeling also gets a verb that lets them screech into radios or whatever. Any implanted corpse that can hear that screech will (after spending time regenerating) get back up as a 'thing' - essentially a lesser changeling, without normal speech or genome stealing ,but access to :g chat, ventcrawling, the ability to KO and regenerate, and a small amount of points to buy select changeling abilities - the 'scary monster' ones, probably. They get the objective to 'serve the hivemind overlord [Changeling]'. Maybe they also permanently have coffeeshakes. That's pretty common/spooky/stealth-deterring, right?

shadowlings are already being coded silly

and the rest of it's basically like a weirder and more powerful headcrab ability which I wouldn't mind having
it's kind of oddly specific with things like "the egg gives you the .g channel"
it'd rather the DNA from the egg allows you to clone anyone the changeling sucked dry

[Not-Dorsidarf]

Because changelings need to be buffed FURTHER, RIGHT?
No, not right.
Changelings are supposed to be sneaky shmucks who sting and stun.
Not literally not killable. It's no fun having all your efforts to to waste, for antags OR for regular crew.

Changelings are not meant to be 'mutesting stunprod nom', that's boring and lazy (and literally just a traitor that can order in more parapens)

Changelings are either: OH GOD WHAT IS THAT KILL IT WITH FIRE
or: IT WILL NOT DIE

not weak-ass shitty traitor-lite that constantly get nerfed and are basically regenerating greytiders.

[Fragnostic]

Wanna make changeling not boring? Make GREENTEXT matter for antag rolls and remove absorb DNA sting.