Mutation
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Mutations act much like traits, in that they give your character a variety of passive effects. Unlike traits, which can be selected upon creating a new character, mutations can only be obtained in-game and are somewhat random. Like traits, mutations can be both beneficial and harmful to your character.
Does it hurt?
Yeah, sometimes. Mutations can be obtained by consuming some questionable products (mutagens, misshapen fetuses, arms, legs, sewage samples), romping through radioactive areas, and other unhealthy methods. There is 2/3 chance to have any mutation and 1/3 chance to have only a "bad" mutation, though not all "bad" mutations are really bad ones and not all "good" mutations are equally desirable. Also, check Robust Genetics trait, which changes chances drastically. It flips the 1/3 chance to have only a "bad" mutation to a 1/3 chance to have only a "good" mutation.
If you end up with unwanted mutations a purifier can help purge them. It will revert up to four mutations (this chance is higher if you have a lot of mutations). Note, that purifier will not remove a trait that you took upon character creation or decrease strength of mutation category!
Even if there is no forced "bad" mutation, chances are not equal for all traits. Mutations are split up into a dozen categories and even more trees. Trees have various requirements for the different branches and most branches being opposed to one another. The more branches are opened up, the less likely a new branch or a categorized mutation will be gained, with the game prioritizing current upgrades to everything else. Direct upgrades have the most priority, with a (5/(number of available upgrades + 5)) chance to be skipped, then mutations from a category pool, and only then game picks random mutations from the full list of all mutations.
Trait will be gained if any of its evolutions are picked and lost when opposed or rival trait are chosen.
Categories
Traits tend to provoke other mutations from the same category: your genetic and biochemical makeup is shifting.
When you mutate, the game checks your mutations and notes which category is most strongly represented. There is a (strength/total_strength) chance that a random mutation will be chosen from this category. If it fails this test (due to amount of traits-outsiders), or there are no more mutations in the category, then a random mutation is selected, without any linkage to categories at all. Every in-category trait gives 8 points to his category strength. Every not-in-category trait takes away one point from each rival category unless that category already has strength 0 or passes a 1/strength check.
Once a mutation is selected, you will begin to mutate towards it. If any mutations you currently have conflict with this mutation, then one of the conflicting mutations is randomly removed. If you have no conflicting mutations, but don't have any of the prerequisites, you will begin to mutate towards a random prerequisite. If you already have a prerequisite mutation and no conflicting mutations, you gain the selected mutation immediately.
Starting traits are underlined. However, initial traits do not increase respective categories strength, unless you gain them later via actual mutation! On the upside, this does mean that you can take Robust Genetics without placing yourself into the rather undesirable slime category.
For a complete list of mutations click here
Thresholds
Though most mutations are more or less surface-only (and can be reversed with Purifier) they do affect you whilst they're present. If you use particularly strong doses of targeted mutagen and are already strongly involved in that category, you may permanently transcend your humanity. This is known as "crossing the Threshold". Becoming post-human unlocks further mutations which offer radical alterations to your character's body and mindset. At this point, the only disadvantage to crossing a threshold is that it bars you from crossing others.
Thresholds under the hood
You can only cross a Threshold with injectable mutagen. No matter how many gallons of mutagen you drink, drinking mutagen won't do the job. (That may change later, but it's not a major priority.) In order to be eligible to obtain a Threshold mutation, the character must:
- not have any Threshold mutations (denoted by the threshold boolean set true in mutations.json, and currently all designated THRESH_$CATEGORY for clear reference/sorting)
- have reached third-tier mutation dreams (they occur often and are fairly specific)
At this point, you need to be injecting mutagen specific to your strongest category. If you dream of chasing rats, for instance, you're third-stage Feline. If you meet the above criteria, injecting Feline mutagen will have the usual effects, and then roll to see if you breach the threshold.
The roll is a straight "x in y" roll: your strength in your chosen category over your strength in ALL categories. If, to continue the example, you really wanna be a cat and use exclusively Feline mutagens, two or three injections, if you get all three mutations from each, might do the job. If you spread your mutations around and try different categories, it'll take more effort and more mutagen to breach a Threshold.
Certain messages come up related to thresholds.
- "You feel something straining inside you, yearning to be free" indicates that the mutation process tried to give you a post-Threshold mutation but you didn't have the Threshold required. Your humanity is resisting!
- The various headaches that can come up happen when you're particularly strong in a category and tried for a Threshold, but you missed the roll. Your humanity resisted turning into a mutant creature!