Flesh CULT Children Gamemode

A place to record your ideas for the game.
Post Reply
User avatar
RandolfTheMeh
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2014 2:56 am
Byond Username: RandolfTheMeh

Flesh CULT Children Gamemode

Post by RandolfTheMeh » #437575

Travel far enough so that no sun can be seen at such a distance, and find the shells of stars consumed. Flesh Children form the basis for the growing, tumorous, parasitic Star Eaters, which close in on humanity as reality is eaten in their wake. They are tasked by one such Star Eater, dying, no longer able to feed off of the waning energies from this dying star. A pocket of organics is deemed the best arrival for her Children, where they shall learn as children do, and grow as children do, until they are ready to become as her, and form a Solar Parasite.
Gamemode Overview:
Flesh Children are humanoid, but cannot wear anything, and cannot hold anything. In place of hands, they have sharp stubs of bone, which can be used to perform various actions at the cost of HP. They have been tasked by their dying mother to spread to nearby pockets of life- gaining from them either a sufficient number of memories, certain health levels, or by forming the Solar Parasite. At the start of the round, there'll only be one Flesh Child, and it will have the ability to warp in at any maintenance tunnel provided certain conditions. Flesh Children gain Vim (life aspect) and Memories (mental aspect) through corpses, meaning they start off as a scavenger, either hunting the misfortunate and unprepared in maintenance, or breaking into places like the morgue for easy starter corpses. For each absorbed corpse, a Flesh Child can choose either Vim (which brings them a step closer to being able to pass as human, as they conjure up a human limb for each point of Vim), or Memories (which unlocks a unique ability, depending on the occupation of the one absorbed). The Flesh Child can also forego both, and instead spawn another Flesh Child, who will duplicate besides the first. This can be done up until a total of six Flesh Children are present, at which point you can only choose to gain Vim or Memories. Furthermore, should there ever be six Flesh Children present, they can form the "Solar Parasite", a flesh mech, with each part controlled by one of the children.

Mechanics Overview
  • Flesh Child - Initial Form
    Spoiler:
    Flesh Children are a humanoid, but incapable of wearing anything, and their hands are replaced with bone stubs that they can expend a bit of stamina damage to do things with. For now, the two main things in mind are 1) Pry open doors and 2) Sharpen bone, which grants them kitchen-knife damage for a short period of time. The goal is for this form to not be the OP killing machine, but rather the tool that let's them get to their hidden form, where they can integrate into regular crew life. Beyond their bone arms, I had an idea when Xhuis playtested his version of shadowling some time ago, which was to give them Nightmare jaunt, but their jaunt didn't work through walls, couldn't be used out of darkness for more than a few seconds, and gave obvious auditory tells (footsteps, laughter, etc.), since that gives them both a means to catching up to those undefended in maintenance, as well as a way to cut them off from escape. Beyond this, they have a one-use mind flare, which causes what is essentially a flashbang to go off on them, but leave them unaffected. Mostly the once-a-round get-away-from-borgs-free pass.

    Absorbing corpses can only be done once per corpse, and absorbing Memories leaves obvious damage on the head- extreme damage, but no dismemberment, and absorbing Vim consumes the corpse, leaving only the head and what it was wearing on the ground below. Individuals cloned after having had their Memories absorbed gain a phobia towards Flesh Children, frightening them if seen in their Initial Form, Solar Parasite Form, or if they see the specific child who absorbed them's hidden form. Was thinking about a custom effect, like a white-noise of rising intensity depending on distance, but that feels too gimmicky/kinda obnoxious for the culture of tg.
  • Flesh Child - Hidden Form
    Spoiler:
    Flesh Children who gain six Vim gain the ability to "Hide Form", giving them a prompt of those people it absorbed Vim from. It can choose from that list the person it wants to impersonate, though the clothes and materials will not be replicated. The Flesh Child in this form gains more changeling-like powers, in the sense that if killed in Hidden Form, it's not dead until decapitated. At any point it can "loosen its skin" and pop back into its Initial Form, dropping the human limbs it had grown in an explosion of gibs. Most memories gained work only in this form, making it the far more ideal form. A Flesh Child can still absorb Memories or Vim in this form, but it is far slower with the flesh it had to grow about itself.
  • Flesh Child - Memories
    Spoiler:
    For each department, there exists a Memory. For each Head, there exists a Unique Memory. Memories are not shared amongst Flesh Children, and cannot be gained from the same person twice. Current ideas for Memories:

    Engineering: Flesh Formation. The ability to sacrifice a bit of HP, which regenerates after a short period, to form a small amount of flesh onto the floor. Similar to xeno weeds, these are a pink-red growth on the floors and walls that regen a Flesh Child's HP, and is the basis for the rest of their "construction". Absorbing multiple engineers reduces the amount of HP it takes to form structures/flesh.
    UNIQUE MEMORY: See Flesh Formation below

    Medical: Flesh Adaptation. The ability to regen a small amount of a certain damage type each tick - as chosen at the time of acquiring. Absorbing a chemist grants internal chem synthesis, which works as a chem dispenser that recharges by inducing fatigue, and can transfer any chem synthesized in a set 50u beaker into the Child's body. Absorbing multiple medics grants multiple regen types/stacks regen types, as well as reduces the induced fatigue from chem synthesis recharging.
    UNIQUE MEMORY: Absorb the CMO, and you gain a small regen to all damage types. Your internal chem synthesis beaker becomes 100u, can be heated, and you gain an elongated tongue that can shoot out and inject people it hits with 10u of whatever's in the beaker.

    Security
    : Flesh Violation. Strengthens the sharpened bone ability, and grants the Child dexterity enough to use guns. No idea for benefits when absorbing multiple officers yet.
    UNIQUE MEMORY: Absorb the HoS, and you can expend a portion of your health to shoot a small bone bullet. It acts just as the det's revolver, but can only be fired once before needing a 30-sec cooldown. You can also expend one Vim to grow an Abominable Mass, a two-handed hammer that can bash through regular walls, windows, doors, and skulls, all with equal ease. Lasts 30 seconds, 3 minute cooldown.

    Science
    : Flesh Discovery. Grants a slightly widened comfort zone for temperature and pressure. Absorbing a roboticist gives the ability to choose either flash protected eyes, or a biojack that briefly stuns adjacent borgs. Absorbing multiple scientists continues to widen this comfort zone, and absorbing more (both?) roboticists grant both abilities.
    UNIQUE MEMORY: Absorb the RD, and you can briefly control those borgs you biojack. You also gain the ability to drain research points from RnD servers to replenish health.

    Service: Flesh Fealty. Absorb the bartender, and drinking booze heals a modest amount. Absorb a botanist, and gain the ability to slowly heal in the light. Absorb the mime? The clown? Congrats you're a true monster, you can briefly horrify nearby people on a fairly-long cooldown, disorienting people for a moment, and stunning those with a Flesh Child phobia. Absorb the chef, and your bone arm weapon actually becomes a bone cleaver, which stacks with Flesh Violation.
    UNIQUE MEMORY: Absorb the HoP, and you can disguise as any member on the crew's manifest- not just those on your Vim list.

    Other: You absorbed an assistant? It kicks you back. Just take his Vim. Absorbed a changeling? Congrats, you're in the ling hivemind now! Absorbed a wizard? You gain one spell that he had! Absorbed a ninja? Not sure how that happened, but hey, your sharpened bone arm is now a bone katana, you weeb! Absorbed a cultist? Now you have access to their cult chat! These are just jokes at this point, they're kinda pointless, but having them there for the off-chance they happen creates interesting stories.
  • Flesh Child - Vim
    Spoiler:
    Short one here, but Vim, unlike Memories, are shared amongst all Flesh Children. This is due to the fact that requiring each Child to get 6 absorbs separate from their Memory pool of absorbs would be kinda ridiculous if you get all 6 Children. When you "loosen your skin" to return back to your initial form, you lose one Vim. Certain abilities, like the Unique Memory the HoS gives, requires you spend Vim to use.
  • Flesh Child - Solar Parasite
    Spoiler:
    DGL actually thought of this one when I was tossing this dumb idea at him, and it sounded really cool. In short, each Child gains control of one limb. Each leg grants one step, so if they coordinate, they can move twice as fast as a normal mech. Otherwise, it just waltz around. Each arm gains access to three weapons - the sinew lash, which pulls those it hits to the mech much like the meat hook pulls, the toothen saw, which is a faster-acting drill, and the culler's cleaver, which is a slow, heavy brute weapon which hits in 3x1 swipes in front of the mech. Swapping between weapons takes a tick, so coordinating pulls/saws or simply double-cleaving is a must if you don't want to just throw two spaghetti noodles at the crew. The chest is central for chemical distribution, and gains a 300u container with the internal chem synthesis that the CMO unique memory would give. He can also briefly force a limb to relinquish control, and grant that control to the Head. The Head can revive a damaged-beyond-use limb with Vim, and controls all coordination. EMPs are useless on this mech, but fatigue damage can take out a certain limb from use for a brief period of time, meaning pelting the head with disablers would prevent it from fixing, for instance, the Solar Parasite's broken legs, and also keep the limbs from communicating.
  • Flesh Child - Flesh Formation
    Spoiler:
    I debated the addition of a base-building angle into this, but decided to do so since this was an antag that I wanted to have a wide variety of things it could do, while all remaining thematic to the concept of what is essentially the Many from SS2. After the basis for a base is placed, there are structures and traps that a Flesh Child can construct.

    Traps:
    Toothy Maw- small white dots on the ground, that shoot up when stepped on, dealing hefty brute damage to the individual who steps on it. They stay protruding, where they are easily destroyed, until reset by a Child.
    Diseased Lung- A brown bag that cyclically grows and shrinks, and explodes into a toxic gas if damaged.

    Structures: The Mind Dwelling- A replicated human mind, in an organic container. Using it allows one to sacrifice a specific Memory and its benefits, giving it to the Mind Dwelling's pool. Others can then take the Memory from the Dwelling.
    Mother's Last Lament- A small twitching eye. Costs 6 Vim. If a Flesh Child dies, it can respawn anew at this eye, bursting the Eye. The new Flesh Child retains their old Memories.
    Bioelectric Conductor- A coil of metal and muscle. Using it as a Flesh Child will induce a significant amount of fatigue damage, which will take time to dissipate, but charge the conductor. Using a non-dismembered corpse on it when charged will awaken the corpse as a Former, which lives for two minutes, and drops Flesh onto the ground periodically, which helps speed up base expansion. It also has the base form of sharpened bone, though it shambles about incredibly slowly.
    Void Flesh- A pitch black stretch of flesh. Use it to swap Vim for Memory.
So the concept was to replace lings, though in reality I don't imagine that'll be necessary anymore, and so instead this is an antag based off "The Many" and other half-finished rpgmaker games I play when bored. Thoughts? Feasibility? Aspects which need improvement? I'm writing this because I couldn't sleep at all and figured "hey I had this idea for a while I might as well write it when I'm hardly lucid". The name cult has been added for consistency with all other game mode ideas.
Last edited by RandolfTheMeh on Thu Sep 06, 2018 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Rarely posts
User avatar
Pizzatiger
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 2:44 pm
Byond Username: Pizzatiger

Re: Flesh Children Gamemode

Post by Pizzatiger » #437792

This Reminds me alot of Necromorphs from dead space and i'm totally fine with that.

I suggest that you figure out some goal for the flesh children to do when they are in mech form so they have a reason to become such as reaching their final form/ending the round
User avatar
D&B
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2016 2:23 am
Byond Username: Repukan
Location: *teleports behind you*

Re: Flesh Children Gamemode

Post by D&B » #437797

Isn't this just the Collective and THEY
Spoiler:
[20:26:02]ADMIN: PM: [censored admin]->[censored]: Welp. It was just a prank bro isn't a very good excuse when it comes to unprovoked nonantag murder, but since this is your first time doing it and you seem to understand the problem instead of a bannu I'm just going to leave you with a warning. Please PLEASE don't do this again in the future, as funny as crackhead broken bottle memes can be. Alrighty? Do you have any input on this?
[20:26:39]ADMIN: PM: [censored]->[censored admin]: Alright, no problem. I have some input. Fuck my boy pussy.
[20:27:06]ADMIN: PM: [censored admin]->[censored]: Okay then. Have fun.
[20:31:29]ADMIN: PM: [censored admin]->[censored]: Excuse me?
J_Madison wrote: that's a stupid fucking stat
you don't play, you've never played
lying little shit with your bullshit stat
fuck you
ColonicAcid wrote:and with enough practise i too could blow my own dick so well that only the gods know how it feels.
User avatar
RandolfTheMeh
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2014 2:56 am
Byond Username: RandolfTheMeh

Re: Flesh Children Gamemode

Post by RandolfTheMeh » #437800

D&B wrote:Isn't this just the Collective and THEY
Talked to you on Discord about this but really the only influences that I pulled from was a game called Fleshchild, The Many from SS2, and from playtesting Xhuis' remade shadowlings.
Pizzatiger wrote:This Reminds me alot of Necromorphs from dead space and i'm totally fine with that.

I suggest that you figure out some goal for the flesh children to do when they are in mech form so they have a reason to become such as reaching their final form/ending the round


Since it's called the "Solar Parasite" I figured it'd be a countdown in which they hijack a pod or shoot off into space using the force of anger and salt, where they burrow into a nearby star, but that'd take them out of the round, and these really aren't supposed to be a main antag, so having them end the round at that would be against what I'm trying to design. I like the premise of them burrowing into a nearby star, as that's their ultimate goal, but I'd likely just give them an "Adult" form to roam around with afterwards, letting them continue the round, but not bother them with objectives and whatnot, since that was technically fulfilled.

I should also point out that the main point of this thread is to gauge interest in the game mode, which I forgot to include in the OP. I haven't coded in byond at all, but I have a feeling it isn't as autistic as x86 ASM so it shouldn't be difficult to pick up.
Rarely posts
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users