This is a quick idea for a better stat-altering artefact than exists in IRE currently. In other IRE games, you buy a stat-altering artifact, and it unbalances the game viciously by giving you a flat increase in stats. However, being able to customise your stats has a lot of value, especially to players who want to be effective at PvP without changing their race to something they'd like less. So here's how a better way of implementing stat-changing could work:

Rune of the Changeling
ATTACH the rune to a gem and EAT the gem to gain a permanent change to your statistics. You'll gain a flat addition of two points, or your statistic will become 12 - Whichever is better. Another statistic will be reduced proportionally to the increase. The bonus is weighted, so statistic-altering skills and effects will be less effective. All balance and equilibrium bonuses you have will go down by one level. The type of gem determines which stat is gained, and which is lost. If the stat you're lowering is already below 12, or if the stat you're increasing is higher than 14, your body will reject the gem. The gem is destroyed when eaten and the bonus is permanent until you change races in any way, including reincarnation and changeling cameos but not changeself. You can't alter the same stat twice with a changeling gem.

This I think is pretty bullet-proof; it avoids amazingly powerful faelings and mugwump, and avoids pumping one's statistics to ridiculous levels; mostly it just works so that people can take a race that would normally not be viable for a particular class and making it more viable. This in turn would mean some races would be played more, and we'd see more variety overall in the game.

You stole this from my changeling race upgrade idea!

Oh, wait, I may not have shown that to you...

Anyway... Interesting idea.

Nah shouldnt negate with a cameo though. Simply because cameos cost 1000cr and I am sure these gems will cost something as well. So it would be like burning through these gems for people who change races with a cameo. If the stat just rolled over to the next race it would be fine.

For example say: (these are made up stats too so dont nit pick me on stats)

Human Str 10 Dex 13, buys a str gem thingie and eats it
Str gem increases str by 2 lowers dex by 2
so now you have Str 12 Dex 11
Human changes into an Illithiod (base stats Str 10 Dex 15)
the cameo gem thingie accounts for this already making the new race stat
Str 12 Dex 13

and so on and so on. -shrug- But to make people not buy a 1000cr item or people who already have make it so they can't switch to say faeling to influence because they also bought one of these gems would be kinda rough

Problem is when you switch to a race that couldn't receive those changes.

For example, let's say you're a changeling illithoid and you eat a gem to gain strength and lose dexterity. What happens if you then switch to Tae'Dae, who have excessively high strength and wouldn't be able to eat the gem and gain bonuses from it in the first place?

Maybe have the gem only effect you when you're the race you ate it at. And, if you get tired of those stats, you can poo it out for no refund, or maybe partial.

or poo it out and eat it as another race

I don't like lowering the balance or equilbrium recovery level. That seems a bit over the top. It my case it would be like this, 'trade ability to be fast enough to stick wounds, to having the strength to stick wounds.' In other words, I end up in the exact same place I am now, and would see no need for this artifact. I understand it for mugwumps and such, but you already put in a safe guard if the base stat is to high. Faeling intelligence is at your upper limit, and mugwump int is well above it, and it shouldn't really be that big of a deal to get a few extra con, in the mugwump case they have to take it from intelligence anyways, so they do less damage.

I also agree, it should always exist for the race it initially done to... but since this is going to largely an aid to us poor Illithoid, Dwarf, Trill, and Kephera players who want to be effective warriors (All of the above) or effective anything else (See Dwarf & Trill.)

The issue here are shadow faeling warriors.

They're already an extremely viable warrior race because of their speed bonus; with higher strength (It would bring up their strength to 13, and it can be further increased with Bear and Flex to 15 or so) they'd be insane.

"Extremely viable" depending on the weapon specialization. The one you're seeking is Bonecrusher.

With their strength, even with the speed, the other specializations are a bit behind-- not as many effective light/medium wounds, which is where a Shadowlord's going to have you most of the time.

I assumed that the rune would reset, to be attached to another gem. Obviously, eating another gem would replace the effect of the first one, so you wouldn't be stacking gem effects. Mechanically, I read this as a permanent-until-cameo/new-gem/reincarnation weight +2 buff to one stat, weight -3 debuff to another, with the stat pairing determined by which gem the rune was attached to? The weights could both be +-2, or both be +-3, of course. Additionally, you have a -1 bal/eq penalty which will not reduce bal or eq below zero and some restrictions about using gems if stats are below 12 or above 14.


People with cameos would have to use gems any time they changed, but gems are cheap. It's the rune that would cost credits.