Let's get out there and twat it!
Y'know how I said I'd never do anything like the Hellfly Plot ever again?
Well this is nothing like the Hellfly plot, except for the bits where it is...
I now have the_polymorph approved, a bad guy from Dave's canon, which gets its ya-yas by draining negative emotions out of its prey, spreading fear, confusion, and general all round hijinks.
The basic premise is: a shape-changing genetically engineered life form that sucks emotions out of its prey, leaving their personality seriously altered. It needs to be hunted down and killed before anyone can be returned to normal.
There are two ways you can participate in this plot: as a victim or as a hero. Victims can still fight: there's no reason why they can't, and in canon all four of the Boyz from the Dwarf were affected, and still fought it.
This is not a sign-up post! This is a warning post telling you what's going down, give you time to plan your pup's involvement and to gauge some sort of interest, and answer any questions people may have. Posting here does not constitute a definite sign up, either as a victim or as a hero.
Information for Victims
Before the polymorph can drain the emotion, it need to work it's victim into a state in which they are completely overcome by that emotion. It can do this by changing shape in order to invoke that emotion - in the case of Lister, it worked through his greatest fears. To invoke vanity in the Cat, it merely assumed the guise of a beautiful woman who wanted to sleep with him. As it has a voracious appetite, it will usually go for an emotion the character has a big supply of.
Each victim will have a thread with the polymorph, of varying length depending on how far it takes to work the character up into a frenzy of emotion. Then they will be drained, and the polymorph will make it's escape while they're unconscious from the shock
Once the emotion is drained, your character is completely unable to feel that emotion. This will obviously have a major effect on the character's personality - if fear is taken, you'll have a kamakaze pup on your hands. If lust, a complete celibate, etc etc. As I need to thread with everyone, it may take some time to get around everyone, so be prepared to play your affected pup until the plot ends, which may take a couple of weeks to cover everyone.
So, think carefully about what emotion you want drained, how best to provoke that emotion (the polymorph is psychic - it can pick out the shape that will have the best effect AND it can exactly copy any person they may ever have met) and how you plan to play the affected pup. The only canonical caveat is that is be a "negative" emotion, but that gives you a range: fear, vanity, guilt, anger, paranoia, depression, loneliness, aggression, stress, hate, pride... you get the idea.
As a side note - your pup will remember being drained, and the events leading up to it. It doesn't affect memory. Whether your pup cares about the emotion he's lost is a different matter - no one in canon believed there was anything wrong with the way they were acting.
Information for Heroes
(also known as the Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilition Into Society*)
Dave knows what this thing is. Kryten and Rimmer know what this thing is. If they get wind of it, they'll know how to kill it. Otherwise, you're on your own.
The polymorph is a living thing, and it can be killed like any other living thing. Except, of course, that an elastic shape means that it can heal almost instantaneously. Personally, I recommend blowing it up (it works in canon!).
Once again: it can change into anything, and is indistinguishable to the visual senses. As far as heightened senses go - we know it has a smell that the Cat picked up, but he wasn't able to pinpoint it. Maybe it was too vague, or he wasn't paying attention, but there you go. It does, however, emit heat like any endotherm, and probably has a heartbeat as well. HOWEVER, If enough people want to play dungeon-crawl, then I'm going to have to put my foot down about deus ex machina's like "oh, it's over there, SNARL! Dead!" because y'know, dungeon crawls are fun. However, if people would rather play the victim, and the werewolves want to chase the thing through the forest, who am I to argue?
*One drawback with that: the abbreviation is CLITORIS.
Well this is nothing like the Hellfly plot, except for the bits where it is...
I now have the_polymorph approved, a bad guy from Dave's canon, which gets its ya-yas by draining negative emotions out of its prey, spreading fear, confusion, and general all round hijinks.
The basic premise is: a shape-changing genetically engineered life form that sucks emotions out of its prey, leaving their personality seriously altered. It needs to be hunted down and killed before anyone can be returned to normal.
There are two ways you can participate in this plot: as a victim or as a hero. Victims can still fight: there's no reason why they can't, and in canon all four of the Boyz from the Dwarf were affected, and still fought it.
This is not a sign-up post! This is a warning post telling you what's going down, give you time to plan your pup's involvement and to gauge some sort of interest, and answer any questions people may have. Posting here does not constitute a definite sign up, either as a victim or as a hero.
Information for Victims
Before the polymorph can drain the emotion, it need to work it's victim into a state in which they are completely overcome by that emotion. It can do this by changing shape in order to invoke that emotion - in the case of Lister, it worked through his greatest fears. To invoke vanity in the Cat, it merely assumed the guise of a beautiful woman who wanted to sleep with him. As it has a voracious appetite, it will usually go for an emotion the character has a big supply of.
Each victim will have a thread with the polymorph, of varying length depending on how far it takes to work the character up into a frenzy of emotion. Then they will be drained, and the polymorph will make it's escape while they're unconscious from the shock
Once the emotion is drained, your character is completely unable to feel that emotion. This will obviously have a major effect on the character's personality - if fear is taken, you'll have a kamakaze pup on your hands. If lust, a complete celibate, etc etc. As I need to thread with everyone, it may take some time to get around everyone, so be prepared to play your affected pup until the plot ends, which may take a couple of weeks to cover everyone.
So, think carefully about what emotion you want drained, how best to provoke that emotion (the polymorph is psychic - it can pick out the shape that will have the best effect AND it can exactly copy any person they may ever have met) and how you plan to play the affected pup. The only canonical caveat is that is be a "negative" emotion, but that gives you a range: fear, vanity, guilt, anger, paranoia, depression, loneliness, aggression, stress, hate, pride... you get the idea.
As a side note - your pup will remember being drained, and the events leading up to it. It doesn't affect memory. Whether your pup cares about the emotion he's lost is a different matter - no one in canon believed there was anything wrong with the way they were acting.
Information for Heroes
(also known as the Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilition Into Society*)
Dave knows what this thing is. Kryten and Rimmer know what this thing is. If they get wind of it, they'll know how to kill it. Otherwise, you're on your own.
The polymorph is a living thing, and it can be killed like any other living thing. Except, of course, that an elastic shape means that it can heal almost instantaneously. Personally, I recommend blowing it up (it works in canon!).
Once again: it can change into anything, and is indistinguishable to the visual senses. As far as heightened senses go - we know it has a smell that the Cat picked up, but he wasn't able to pinpoint it. Maybe it was too vague, or he wasn't paying attention, but there you go. It does, however, emit heat like any endotherm, and probably has a heartbeat as well. HOWEVER, If enough people want to play dungeon-crawl, then I'm going to have to put my foot down about deus ex machina's like "oh, it's over there, SNARL! Dead!" because y'know, dungeon crawls are fun. However, if people would rather play the victim, and the werewolves want to chase the thing through the forest, who am I to argue?
*One drawback with that: the abbreviation is CLITORIS.