Changling shape changing

[Veknironth]

Well, I know that a changling that loses its arm can't regrow or assume another guise with two arms. However, could it work the opposite way? I.e. could the changling assume a form without an appendage, be it arm/leg, hand/foot or digit? Could it assume the form of a body with no head?

-Vek
"I'm assuming a humanoid form with no back is out of the question."

[eliakon]

Well, I know that a changling that loses its arm can't regrow or assume another guise with two arms. However, could it work the opposite way? I.e. could the changling assume a form without an appendage, be it arm/leg, hand/foot or digit? Could it assume the form of a body with no head?

-Vek
"I'm assuming a humanoid form with no back is out of the question."

My go to answer would be "no"
The theory being that if you could shift around limbs like that then there would be no reason that losing a limb should be a hindrance...
My gut feeling is that you are stuck with the same number of limbs in each form.

[kiralon]

Well, I know that a changling that loses its arm can't regrow or assume another guise with two arms. However, could it work the opposite way? I.e. could the changling assume a form without an appendage, be it arm/leg, hand/foot or digit? Could it assume the form of a body with no head?

-Vek
"I'm assuming a humanoid form with no back is out of the question."

My go to answer would be "no"
The theory being that if you could shift around limbs like that then there would be no reason that losing a limb should be a hindrance...
My gut feeling is that you are stuck with the same number of limbs in each form.

I agree with Eliakon. Shrink/Enlarge limbs, change their colour but not add or remove.
However if someone wanted to try to transform into something without a head I'd give them a %5 chance to Darwin themselves out of the gene pool

[ShadowLogan]

Well, I know that a changling that loses its arm can't regrow or assume another guise with two arms. However, could it work the opposite way? I.e. could the changling assume a form without an appendage, be it arm/leg, hand/foot or digit? Could it assume the form of a body with no head?

-Vek
"I'm assuming a humanoid form with no back is out of the question."

Palladium Fantasy 2E Page 309 "This means the creature cannot temporarily eliminate one limb if the person being imitating has lost a limb." That is just before the line about not being able regrow limbs.

So no a Changling could not assume a form w/o an appendage/limb. They might be able to handle a partial limb (GM call) if proportions allow for it. Ex. a Troll with a "stub" arm appropriate to a Gnome/Dwarf to pass it off (with assistance), though it would have full motion abilities and be more like a deformity upon closer inspection.

The main restriction is that the shape still has to be humanoid, so if you can find a humanoid in PF (I can think of one in Rifts SA1) that doesn't have a head you might be able to make a case or if you work out how the Changling could shift to "minimize" its head to appear non-existant and as a member of the species in question (bulked up shoulders?).

[Library Ogre]

I'd argue yes, though it's less convincing. A changeling who wants to hide that it has an arm can put it under the skin of the side, though it will look weird if you see them without clothes.

[Marcethus]

Isn't there a Changeling Metamorph RCC in one of the Rifters? Just thought it might help answer the question in a different light.

[Glistam]

Isn't there a Changeling Metamorph RCC in one of the Rifters? Just thought it might help answer the question in a different light.

Rifter 10, and they still retain a lot of the core limitations of Changelings.

[Library Ogre]

Isn't there a Changeling Metamorph RCC in one of the Rifters? Just thought it might help answer the question in a different light.

Yeah, I wrote it AGES ago.

Basically, they don't change the limitations of changelings, they just let changelings do things that might usually be considered beyond their healing abilities... like meditate to heal themselves via shapechanging, or make severe modifications to their biology.

[Marcethus]

I probably remembered them because I was looking through Rifter 10 recently for things useful to the Nightbane Game I am working on and ran across it in flipping through.