Lately I've been obsessed with this idea of the Flow. It's this metaphysical thing I made up. It's sort of like the paradigm in which I travel through crowds. I went to a crowded high school in Chicago (wish I could effectively use that background knowledge as a setting in Shadowrun), and I...learned things. About how to make your way through a torrent of people marching in your direction. About how different people react differently to different walking tactics. About when it's appropriate to go left or to go right when you are approaching someone. I feel like I've gained this semi-conscious ability to read people superficially in such a way that I know how to walk past them. And, on a subconscious level, I think I am reading them subficially (What's the word? I want to use subcutaneously for the lolz. I also don't want to say spiritual, because that's not what I'm getting an understanding of. It's almost like I can read their face to establish their emotions, subconscious or not, and react to those.). I have come to call this back-of-the-brain activity the Flow. One who is attuned with the Flow can get through a crowd in a much shorter time than others. One who is disconnected from the Flow simply acts in a way that fits their life's paradigm (an arrogant jock would muscle his way through, a meek bookworm might try to skirt around the edges, etc.). But I also think that this idea has shades, at least in red and blue. Red meaning you know how to cast yourself in an angry or serious demeanor and use that to make people subconsciously avoid you, making a path, and blue meaning you are more evasive, looking for ways to sidle and juke your way through your Path. I think there might also be a green, too, where you look for holes in a crowd and jump through them. I know right now I sound like some kind of bloggin' loser basement dweller, and I'll admit that this is a fantasy of sorts, that my hippocampus and other whatnots are not engorged in the same way a bird's is for migration and flock insticts, but I still think it sounds cool. I don't actively meditate on how to better attune myself to the Flow or anything crazy like that, I just realize myself using fluid movements to go along my (P)path. I have also come up with a little theory that, in the long run, humanity is inversely proportionate to walking speed (in the same way it is to wealth, as suggested in Neuromancer). When you walk more slowly, you see more faces, encounter more people, events, emotions, and natural beauty, and become more in tune with yourself and others. That's why that snappy business man in a hurry is so out of touch with reality (that or his wealth). Seems like "stopping to smell the roses" and "taking the scenic route" are good ideas.

I tried to implement this idea in a Technomancer, which seems to fit this very similarly, albeit with the Matrix and nodes as opposed to people, after reading the "People Watcher" character set-up in PACKS. But I'm no good with the Matrix, hacking, computers, or anything related to AR/VR in Shadowrun.

I was reading about Shapeshifters in Runner's Companion, and I thought about how humorous it would be to play a Blue Whale shifter. Then it started sounding cool and a background developed.

"I was abandoned by my pod when I was young. I think they were frightened of me, of what I could see, of what I could do. They made excuses, saying that I was too big, that the surface skimmers with their narwhal's tusks would see me and come for the pod. I was left alone. I couldn't decide whether to protest, to plead, to offer what I could. I saw their ripples. I knew what they were feeling, what they thought about me. And I knew that I would not, could not follow them. I stayed, and I moaned deep moans. They resounded through the ocean, and the lesser swimmers, and even those who glided in the air, were frightened. I drifted in the Flow, claiming no shade, and I waited, what for, I did not know. But something came. I heard the skimmer, turned to see it, dark in the Flow's current, with its splotches of color suggesting riders. I was tired and hungry, I had not eaten or slept for what felt like many migrations' time. I wanted to make myself small, I wanted to hide. And deep down, I wanted to be free of the waters. I wanted to be free of the Flow that had made me an outcast. And suddenly, I was small. The strangest of feelings came to me. My tail had split and started to sink, my arms extended and waved in all directions. And my chest hurt. I tried to breathe the waters, but my heart rejected them. My very being screamed out, it cried for freedom, freedom from this wet, wretched world. My wish was granted. I felt a wave of the lesser swimmers rise beneath me, pushing me out of the water and into the new world. I coughed and vomited the old waters from my heart, and breathed in the the beloved new waters. They were a delight to my soul. I drank and was satisfied. Wet tendrils embraced me, welcoming me to the bright sea. They felt like a network of seaweed. The wave of the lesser swimmers shifted, brought me gently to the upper side of the skimmer. New beings clutched at me, the vanguard of this shimmering universe. They were beautiful. I looked at myself, and saw that I, too, was beautiful. They were standing on their split tails without any difficulty, and their arms wriggled and gripped like the tentacled ones. I saw that mine did as well. But perhaps the most profound and startling thing that I noticed was the Flow. It had not left me, it was here in this gentle world, as well. But I did not feel cursed, as I thought that I would. I realized that the Flow had not betrayed me; in fact, it was the only friend I had ever had. It joined me in my new journey, and I followed in its footsteps, in the Path that it laid before me."

I guess I could also add a background on why he Shadowruns, as well, but all of this creative writing has left me drained. I'll deal with that and the statistical factors later. For now, I'd like to know what you guys think. And how in the world paragraphs work.

Good stuff! I like it - it's pretty interesting.

I don't know if you're taking "Blue Whale" just for kicks or amusement, but it seems fairly unplayable? Dunno, haven't given it a ton of thought, but on the surface (ha!) it seems not really feasible. But your ideas would still work with a dolphin or something like that, I think...

Wetwork: move next to target in hallway. Shift shape.

~J

hehehehe

And then I'll make a shapeshifter that's a potted petunia

I am not sure if the pun was intended.

What attribute modifiers would you propose?^^

PS: whales don´t breathe water....

A quick check of Wikipedia reveals blue whales to be in the neighborhood of 100 feet long and 200 tons in weight. IMO, colossal Body and Strength modifiers, +10 or more, would be appropriate, while Agility and Reaction would suffer (-2 or -3 to each). Not sure what to do about mental attributes, so I'll say leave them at the human 6.

Blue Whale is in Running Wild. Average stats: 24 4 4 25 2 3 3 5
how is this gonna work???

Well, he would never shift. Ever. He hate's the water, and whales aren't exactly amphibious. I'd basically be making a 300 BP character with 400 BP. I'm also thinking of taking some qualities that would seem fatal. Why? Because this is pure roleplay, and I'm just translating it into rollplay. So, Incompetent: Running seems appropriate, and I'm thinking about changing his Severe Allergy to Ivory, which is basically dentite, so I hope nobody tries to bite me. I also think I will take a Geas that requires him to be moving forward or at least sideways (i.e., not backward) for him to cast spells, whether as actual travel or elaborate dance-like maneuvers.
The thing is, he came to live in the city at a young age, and is therefore better behaved than other shapeshifters (still animal in speech and mannerisms, though) and more accustomed to modern things. I'm thinking about making a write-up of the Flow magical tradition, and I have some good ideas for things like spirits and elements. I don't have much time this morning, but I will start.

The Flow
Concept: By attuning one's self to the Flow, one can see the small eddies in the Current and travel more easily along their Path, using the disciplines of different Shades.
Combat: Guardian
Detection: Air
Health: Water
Illusion: Fire
Manipulation: Beasts
Drain: Willpower + Intuition
The Flow is an instinctual (read as Intuitional) feeling that helps to guide its user through obstacles and towards goals. The Current is, essentially, life itself and the world one walks through. It can be taken to mean the entire universe, in essence. The Path is the life one lives; Awakened or not. Most beings travel in a clumsy, unsubtle way along their Path, which disrupts other Paths and is generally difficult to follow, and are thus called Riders because they have no control over the way in which their Path is traversed. A student (I'm thinking of naming them Divers or something) of the Flow, however, can traverse on his own Path past and through other's more easily and swiftly. Note that traveling along your Path swiftly does not mean that a low life expectancy, just a fuller one. In fact, it means having a longer life and seeing more things. "Speed" is determined by the number of objects of beauty you see (human faces, emotions, nature, etc.) and the number of revelations you experience.
Divers use magic in a slightly different way than other Awakened do. They follow various "Shades" of discipline, similar to different elements that other Traditions follow, and different spell categories fall under the different Shades. The discipline of Red uses Illusion spells, often to portray themselves in an intimidating or frightful manner to discourage Riders from crossing their path. Blue focuses on Healing spells, specifically those that Increase Reflexes, allowing them to move through the Current in slow-motion with fluid movements. Green focuses on Detection spells, giving the Diver insight into the Current and how best to transverse their Path. Yellow focuses on Manipulation spells, affecting the Diver's environment to create a better Current for their Path. Black, however, is a forbidden Shade. It is the Shade of a Rider, reckless, unsubtle. It focucses on Combat spells, something that most Divers consider to be destructive to the Current and other Paths. However, some aggresive followers of the Flow will study this Shade utilize it to "better" their Path.
Spirits are believed to be members of the "Lesser Swimmers", and Divers converge Paths with them to gain their assistance. While the term "Lesser" may seem negative, it is actually suggesting that they are not part of this Current, and do not require the same labor that the denizens of this Current have to undergo. Therefore, they have "Lesser" demands, and a kind and courteous Diver is more likely to be succesful when asking them to go through this Current's trials with him.
The Flow is an alien tradition to many metahumans, but after its founder and author released a dissertation and dissection of it to the web, many Chaos magicians have begun to study and implent it.

Oh no, not again.

Problem: In 4E a shapeshifter's human form has some size and attribute relation to thier animal form, note the bear shifter who is the size of a troll (and has reach) even in human form. A whale shapeshifter with 20 something strength and body is going to be twice the size of a troll.

Bear Shapeshifters have reach in human form???

I'm not so sure about that - reading RC, looking at the descriptions of shapeshifters, it sounds like the human form is entirely up to the player. I think the Bear-reach thing is a typo and it should specify that it's for the animal form instead.

Shift (human)
A shapeshifter can only assume a single, specific human form, chosen at character creation.

The "never shift into a whale" thing might be tough, since I think you shift back if you go unconscious

That could cause problems in locating suitable safehouses....

Sounds like this character could use a nice helping of Longhaul and/or Sleep Regulator.

Shortly after the Shifter rules came out in the original Companion for SR2, one of our players started talking about playing one. His favorite move would have been to run at his enemies, jump, and then shift in midair...

Yeah.

Bull

Oh yeah, my tired brain was thinking that their teeth acted like gills, while they are really only filters for food, right? Or something like that. They breath through their blowhole or some nostrils or something, don't they? Man, that makes a good part of the prose sound dumb. Also, if you guys didn't know, the "wet tendrils" and being raised out of the water by the fish is suggesting that he was picked up in a fishing net.


Hmm, that is interesting. I guess I could tie it into the character by saying that it is a nightmare that he must sometimes return to, and he would sleep in a big tank of water somewhere. It would be cool if it could be like one of those krill tanks in Code Zero, as that would supply a food source (he could eat krillburgers in human form). Is krill seen in Shadowrun? I remember reading somewhere that the quality progression was rat-on-stick<soy<krill<real food. And maybe cloned food was in there between krill and real. I might be confusing this with Gibson's works.

Finishing the Tradition now...

Oh god, not again.

My (current) GM* had this exact same idea only in D&D. Gnome were-spermwhale. He'd drag around a GIANT hammer and be (clearly) incapable of using it, then shift to the hybrid form, be huge, and hit people with said hammer.

*Or was it one of the other players?

Yes Krill exists. I dunno about food progression but here's a sample from Runner's Companion

Yeah, Krill's all over. My impression is that it's on the same general plane of prestige as soy.

~J

Then he just "skipped" important parts of the rules. you can only become a were-creature if the two base creatures are within one size-class of another. So a gnome can't even become a were-bear (large)

But enough of THAT GAME.

Having a whale shapeshifter is... just weird. I mean... having something go maghically from 6 kg to 70 (fox) is one thing, or have another go from 300 to 120 (bear) is another... but going from 200 metric TONS (or so called- FUCKTONS) to something human sized... whoa. I know dragons do it a lot... but ... they are dragons *g*

But also... if one think about it. Blue whales certainly fit into the criteria of shapeshifters... just that there are none traditionally. They have associated characteristics, high intelligence. Got assigned mystical powers (new-age crap and such).

But still... it is pretty much: whenever you want to use your weight as a weapon you will injure or kill yourself pretty good: Wouldn't a 2 meter drop pretty much splatter you? And your own weight slowly crushes you on land too (and you need to stay moist).

He was aware of the rule, and wished it didn't exist.

Finished editing the tradition. I'd like to clarify a bit on spirits; the idea is that they are like the fish, krill, and plankton of the sea (the sea being like the metaplane of the Lesser Swimmers, which is their Current) and they have been called to our Current (the land being like our world). In this way, the whale shifter might consider himself to be akin to a Free Spirit, because he hails from the sea, which is akin to the Lesser Swimmer's Current. Comprende? It's sort of a metaphor. The sea is to the land as the Lesser Swimmer's Current is to ours.

Well in this case I'm not a were-whale, I am either a whale or a human with some whale-ish characteristics. I'm thinking about having dermal deposits (no armor bonus) to represent barnacles. Being big and fat wouldn't really work, because I want to be able to squeeze through groups of people with unobtrusive ease. I also want to take the Blandness quality, so any changes to my human characteristics will have to be disguisable, i.e. no facial dermal deposits. I can't be "that guy with rocks on his face that looks like every other guy with rocks on his face" (and yes I know they are not really rocks). I am also going to make a few Mentor Spirits that correspond to the Flow tradition, based on various denizens of the sea. I am thinking one for each Shade. Whale, being aligned to the Shade of Blue and opposed to Red; Shark, aligned with Red and opposed to Blue; Dolphin, aligned to Green and opposed to Yellow; Jellyfish (this can't come off sounding archetypal, unfortunately, but I'm the flavor text will explain), aligned to Yellow and opposed to Green; and finally, Leviathan, aligned to Black, recieving a -1 negative Social modifier outside of specific circumstances. Read aligned as +2 dice to spells and spirits of the Shade's corresponding spell category and spirit type, and opposed as -1 to spells and spirits of the Shade's corresponding spell category and spirit type.

Be quick when you shift though as a blue whales body mass will start it to suffocate on land. Hard to breath with all that tonage on your lungs, best stay in the deep end of the pool. Still though that would be a very nasty suprise, FORM OF A BLUE WHALE! SPLAT goes the KE guard.

Just as long as the KE guard isn't Aquaman.




-k

This character is PURE ROLEPLAY, for the purpose of implementing the Flow tradition. Honestly. I'm just trying to stat it for rollplay. It will have to be in a low-level campaign and I don't plan on any other character, or anyone in the SR universe really, knowing what I really am. I'm afraid that a GM will "force" me at least once to shift to whaleform, probably for combat reasons. Does that make him a good or bad GM? You decide Dumpshock. At least it's not "free BP".

Now for some Mentor Spirits:

Whale
Whale is the king of the Current. His rule is a benevolent one and his followers are many. He is not without rivals; most notably, Shark. He emphasizes the importance of following the disciplines of the Shade of Blue. When observed, his followers seem to travel in a fluid motion through a crowd, anticipating shifts in density and speed well before they happen. They claim to be able to move in such a way that their actions and those of the crowd surrounding them seem to slow down to a manageable crawl.
Advantages: +2 dice for Health spells, +2 dice for Water spirits.
Disadvantages: -1 die for Illusion spells, -1 die for Fire spirits.

Shark
Shark is the spear of the Current. His visage is so grim that even those most stalwart falter under his gaze. Only Whale is unaffected by his talents. He emphasizes the importance of following the disciplines of the Shade of Red. When observed, his followers seem to take the most straightforward route through a crowd; even Trolls take avoid crossing their path. They claim to be able to cast their countenance in such a way that they gain Shark's ability to intimidate.
Advantages: +2 dice for Illusion spells, +2 dice for Fire spirits.
Disadvantages: - 1 die for Health spells, -1 die for Water spirits.

Dolphin
Dolphin is the watcher of the Current. Her eyes see deep into the eddies of Paths, and deep into the eddies of souls. She needs only to see your face to know how you will travel your Path. She emphasizes the importance of following the disciplines of the Shade of Green. When observed, her followers seem to move around erratically through a crowd, but somehow break through the quickest of all other students of the Flow. They claim to be able to judge the intentions of each and every person in a crowd and act accordingly.
Advantages: +2 dice for Detection spells, +2 dice for Air spirits.
Disadvantages: -1 die for Manipulation spells, -1 die for Beast spirits.

Jellyfish
Jellyfish is the manipulator of the Current. Her many fingers control the subtleties of Paths. She manipulates the Terrain (fate) for her own incomprehensible purpose. She emphasizes the importance of following the disciplines of the Shade of Yellow. When observed, her followers use their environment to their advantage, redirecting traffic flow to increase their traveling speed. They claim to be able to be able to control where other Paths lead by making subtle changes to the Current. Students of the Flow should note that, while this practice comes close to the taboo of disrupting another's Path, the subtlety used makes this skill almost admirable to followers of other Shades.
Advantages: +2 dice for Manipulation spells, +2 dice for Beast spirits.
Disadvantages: -1 die for Detection spells, -1 die for Air spirits.

<CAUTION>
Leviathan
Leviathan is the darkness of the Current. Its home is in the Underdark of the Current, the shadowed depths where no Path travels. It has no Path; it goes where it wills and has no respect for any other's Path. Sometimes he will abandon his lurkings to ravage the Paths of the Current, because it can. It emphasizes the disciplines of the Shade of Black, if you can even call them disciplines. When observed, its followers force their way through a crowd with a viciousness not rivaled by even the most lawless of Riders. They spit on the Flow, the Current, and their Path.
Advantages: +2 dice for Combat spells, +2 dice for Guardian spirits.
Disadvantages: Leviathan Divers are single-minded and confident to a fault, as well as sore losers. A Leviathan Diver must make a Willpower+Charisma (3) test to follow advice or orders that are not their own, or to accept a defeat gracefully. (Is this stolen from the Dragon's disadvantages? Yup.)

I'm going to post everything related to the Flow in a new topic now.

>N⏎

too late

Horaaaay....

You guys really don't like it? I know I'm kinda going on about it...I just figured it was hogging space in a thread about the actual shifter, who is seeming less and less viable. Frag it, I can just make a changeling. Adiposis for the whale.

There's a massive understatement. This is like a Phil Foglio cartoon.
The were-blue whale.

I really can´t speak for all the others, but i just dislike the FLOW.^^ Blue whale shifter is ok for me, maybe very limited usability but if your ship goes down and you sit in ice-cold water near the poles a great advantage. ^^

or you're games end up looking more like Toon than SR. (God I reaslyl just dated myself, what's next Snits Revenge?)

Savage Species actually has three types of whales listed in the table for Anthropomorphic Animals.

Bye
Thanee

New magical traditions based on marine life are ok. As long as it seems balanced with the other traditions.

Whale shifters have very little Chutzpah and no Zip to speak of.