Body Horror Quest - Swarmlings, Ver. 3

SWARMLINGS

#1: INTRODUCTION

#2: SHARED QUALITIES

#3: UNIQUE CLASSES

#4: AUGMENTATIONS

#5: MODIFIERS

#6: CHITINOUS STALWART

#7: SWARMLING DUAL TECHS

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#1: INTRODUCTION

Your name is Shu, and you are a Hive Mistress, a class of Daughter capable of creating a vast array of autonomous constructs that vary in type and purpose to wrest victory in a world gone mad. Specializing in keeping your foes distracted and at a distance, your skill set allows you to tailor a host of creative solutions for practically any obstacle you'll face in your time fighting through the Crucible, be it recon, one-on-one combat, or bolstering the efforts of the friends and allies you've made. Whether you blacken the skies with swarms beyond number or enhance a single creature to stand by your side, one thing is certain...no situation is beyond your control.

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#2: SHARED QUALITIES

>>Your BIO cost of your first ACT of creation in combat is always reduced by 40%. This applies to Swarmling as well as any other creations you see fit to spawn, such as Hundred-Handed.

>>Their reinforced chitin renders them completely immune to ACID and HEAT damage.

>>The drills of all swarmlings that possess them are capable of piercing even the toughest armor.

>>You may see through your Swarmlings' eyes, allowing you to scout with ease (SWARMLING Lvl 3).

>>Wing-beats are muffled, rendering your Swarmlings' movements inaudible to the normal range of hearing. Daughters with augmented auditory capabilities are still able to hear them, however (Swarmling Lvl 3).

>>Any Swarmling class stronger than your Basic Swarmling type is equipped with drill-based stinger capable of delivering a payload of acid that ignites into flame, dealing both corrosive and heat damage *unless otherwise stated*. The drill itself does DOT for as long as the Swarmling is latched onto the target, while the acid is injected immediately for an initial burst of damage.

>>Acid-infused Swarmlings detonate upon death or on your command, dispensing any acidic payload they have in a short-range splash zone around them. This detonation sends acidic barbs that trigger any other acid-laden Swarmlings to detonate in turn, potentially causing a catastrophic chain reaction that covers target and area both in corrosion.

>>If an attack would reduce a Swarmling to 0% HEALTH, then they will be reduced to 1% HEALTH instead. However, Damage Over Time (DOT) fields such as Dorian's fourth form will cut through this, as it deals several repetitive instances of damage, and his field is not uncommon among Flesh Artisans and other Hybrid classes (SWARMLING Lvl 6)

#3: UNIQUE CLASSES

>>Basic Swarmling (COST:1% / HEALTH:Low / ATTACK:Low / SPEED:Low): Though enhanced by a variety of upgrades over the course of your travels, the basic swarmling that you started out with remains your go-to for cheap, expendable offense, defense, and distraction.

>>Baneling (COST:5% / HEALTH:Medium / ATTACK:Medium / SPEED:Medium): where you once had to make a choice between a drill-bit stinger and a belly full of acid, your Banelings have the benefit of both.

>>Plateling (COST:13% / HEALTH:High / ATTACK:Low / SPEED:Medium): A component of the Chitinous Stalwart Armor

>>Kightling (COST:30% / HEALTH:Medium / ATTACK:High / SPEED:High): a heavier variant Swarmling that passively increases the ferocity and speed of swarmlings as long as it is active. Boasting much greater attack power and speed than any Swarmling you've crafted prior, it also automatically benefits from the acidic and piercing powers of your Banelings.

>>Bishop (COST:40% / HEALTH:High / ATTACK:Low / SPEED:Medium):  Stout, rotund members of your brood that boast a neuro-muscular accelerant with the intent of clinging to allies. From the moment the Bishop is attached, they augment your ally’s speed and reaction time, increasing their default movement range by two zones and drastically increasing their chances of scoring a critical hit and resisting critical hits delivered from foes, a potent effect that lasts for three turns.

>>Rook (COST: 100% /HEALTH:High / Attack:Low /SPEED/Low): The Rook - a defensive juggernaut that manifests as a torso-sized greatshield, boasting a night-impenetrable physical defense and moderate elemental resistance against all damage types. You may swap places with the Rook as a free action on your turn, or by priming it via free action to automatically trigger the swap in reaction to the first attack that would hit you in the current turn.

>>Scarlet Drone (COST:30% / HEALTH:Medium / ATTACK:Low / SPEED:High): the bond between you and Gina will never die, and allows you to generate a Scarlet Drone that boasts a perfect marriage of armor and speed, along with a unique talent. When the Drone impales the enemy with its stinger, you may utilize your Neuromancy abilities as though you was tethered directly to the target, with the sheer speed and armor density of the swarmling making it difficult to avoid and incredibly resilient when tethered to your foe.

>>Soundling (BIO Cost:10% / HEALTH:Low / ATTACK:Low / SPEED:Low): with hollowed out eye sockets replaced by something akin to chitinous satellite dishes and delicate feelers in the place of tearing claws, Soundlings greatly boost Shu's reconnaissance capabilities with a heavy emphasis on sound. Though delicate and unfit for combat, Soundlings passively increase range at which sounds may be perceived, with considerable efficiency at locating movement through liquid, stone, and other substances.

>>Cicadaling (BIO Cost:10% / HEALTH:Low / ATTACK:Low / High): Swarmlings capable of generating high-pitched screeching that is key in disrupting the concentration of other Daughters in a wide range, but be aware that this effect is indiscriminate.

>>Wingling (BIO Cost:20% / HEALTH:Medium / ATTACK:Low / SPEED:High)(Swarmlings with a far larger and more powerful set of wings, capable of easily clearing away clouds or fog-based effects.

>>Striderlings (BIO Cost:30% / HEALTH:High / ATTACK:Low / SPEED:Medium) Flightless Swarmlings with stilt-legs and a strong back. Good for passing difficult terrain and double as pack mules for equipment and Daughter alike.

>>FuzzBuzz (BIO Cost:5%(Always worth it) / HEALTH:Too cute, pls no bully / SOFT:High / CUTE:Maximum) The Team Mascot/pet. A swarmling in the shape of a bumblebee. Covered in Fuzzy, Fluffy fur. Guaranteed to give all but the most cold-hearted Daughter a chuckle of mirth or a squee of cuteness overload.

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#4: AUGMENTATIONS

>>RECURSIVE SWARMLING (Swarmling Augmentation): You may choose to expend an amount of BIO up to the summon cost of the Swarmling you create to effectively nest several, smaller swarmlings inside it that are released upon its host’s destruction. While the damage they can inflict is minimal, they can go unnoticed by larger or distracted foes and are incredibly difficult to dispatch effectively, making it easy to set traps and overwhelm foes with damage over time. What’s more, they do not count against the maximum number of swarmlings you have active. The greater the cost of the host, the more Recursive Swarmlings are nested within.

>>SUBVERSIVE SWARM (Swarmling Augmentation): at a cost of an additional 5% biomass per swarmling, you may modify members of your brood into special variants that boast the ability to conform to the color and texture of their environment, granting both full-sized and specialized swarmlings the ability to instinctively conceal their presence from aggressors. Their adaptive camouflage persists for the duration of combat and transitions seamlessly between terrains, though it may prove less than effective against foes that are not as dependent upon the visual spectrum to track their prey. Additionally, the same principle can be applied to an iteration of Chitinous Stalwart for a total cost of 100% BIO, transforming your sleek alloy into a shifting, stealth-oriented armor, allowing for you to sneak behind foes to deliver a spiked greave's payload of lethal chemicals directly, for that personal touch you occasionally crave.

>>GLUTTONOUS BROOD (Swarmling Augmentation): likes bees returning home with a full harvest of pollen, so to will your Swarmlings bring you a bounty of flesh. Now, when your creations inflict damage on a foe, they will store 20% of the damage within themselves as regenerative biomass, and they gain the ability to restore your health upon returning to you. While the health is lost if the swarmling is destroyed on the return trip, clever use of this system you allow you to establish a blissful cycle to benefit from the piecemeal destruction of your foes.

IRONBLOOD BROOD (Hive Mistress Augmentation): The user's Swarmlings gain resistance to flame-based attacks, such as Rath’s flare-bombs. Acid now also deals heat damage on contact with air, doing nothing to increase damage but now allowing even acid-resistant beings to suffer the effects of the wielder's corrosive powers. (BIO +20%)

HEAVENSBREAK STINGER (Hive Mistress Augmentation): Your Swarmlings are more drill than insect now, their stingers having enlarged and taken over the majority of their form. Such an invasive alteration of form allows them to pierce through armor with ease, ignoring the damage-resisting properties of armors such as Sui Tormentis, Sepulchritude, and even Marrow Dragoon. (BIO +30%)

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#5 MODIFIERS

~HOW THEY WORK~

When crafting a swarmling, you may tag them with any of the modifiers below and pay their summoning costs, altering their stats and physiology in turn. Such a swarmling would be represented on your stat sheet at follows; for a Ravenous Maw-modified Knightling, they would be a Knighted-Nomling, while a swole Baneling would be tagged as a Bane-Fistling, and so on and so forth.

~AVAILABLE MODIFIERS~

Ravenous Maw – Nomlings (ATK+, CRIT+, BIO ACCUM+): Sporting a set of powerful jaws, Nomlings quickly and ravenously chew through their target and boast higher damage output and a greater critical hit chance than other variants. What’s more is that they passively gather more BIO to empower your ability to heal yourself. (Cost: 10% BIO)

Hundred-Handed – Grapplings (ATK+, ABILITY+): Perhaps the most unsettling Swarmling in your arsenal, this variant possesses a pair of disconcertingly muscular arms topped with tight fists, permanently clenched and itching for a fight. While they are able to deal surprisingly effective amounts of damage with standard fisticuffs, their true purpose is their passive boost of you own Hundred-Handed limbs’ resilience and raw power, resulting in limbs that are far stronger and much more durable than you own. (Cost: 20% BIO)

Fear to Tread – Spiralings (HP+, ABILITY+): Serving more as an augmentation to a preexisting skill than a combat enhancement, the sturdy Sprialings are able to situate themselves at the epicenter of an instance of Fear to Tread, augmenting its effects by forcing foes caught in the spiral to have a greater chance to fail their saves to avoid falling prone, in addition to disrupting concentration in the spiral’s area of effect. (Cost: 10% BIO)

Exsanguinating Leash – Succlings (HP-, HP REGEN+, ABILITY+): Sucklings, while somewhat fragile, boast a pair of drill-like fangs that constantly regenerate the construct’s health as long as they are in physical contact with their target. Additionally, Exsanguinating Leash’s line-of-sight rule is nullified while a Succling is in contact with the target, allowing you to keep it active even when the target flees or is invisible. (Cost: 30% HEALTH)

Neuromancer – Jacklings (HP-, BIO+, ABILITY+): A unique variant whose carapace is run through with sharp lines of amethyst, the rather brittle Jackling allows you to activate your Neuromancy abilities through it at a slightly reduced BIO cost when you do so, granting you vastly enhanced range for your suite of Neuromantic powers.  Additionally, Jacklings give an additive bonus to your concentration while active, allowing you  a chance to shrug off even the most distracting of effects and maintain your concentration on Gina's gift to you. (Cost: 20% BIO)

Heaven’s Drill – Gurrenlings (HP-, BIO-, ATK++): Eschewing defense and biomass in exchange for devastating offensive power, Gurrenlings are by far your most lethal variant, funneling any protection and damage resistance they have into ensuring a steady and devastating stream of continual damage to your foes. (Cost: 30% BIO, or 10% HEALTH)

Dominus Bloodline - Domling (BIO+, ABILITY+): This creation's transparent shell reveals a swirling storm of biomass beneath this Swarmling's chitin, and any Domling that is connected to a friend or foe that is currently under the effects of your Dominus Bloodline boosts the tether's effects by an additive 20% of the base effect. (Cost: 50% BIO)

Spiritus ex Testa - Spriteling (ABILITY++): This Swarmling variant is specially crafted to attune to a Spiritus Construct, boosting its abilities with each instance of Spriteling that is active. Please note that as these boosts are multiplicative, stacking these can quickly render your summoned ally a force to be reckoned with even at low levels (Cost: BIO:40%)

Firmament's Spiral - Revlings (HEALTH++, DEF++, ABILITY+): A twisted, coiled mass of chitin, each Revling exists for one purpose, and one purpose only; to spread the spiral. Lacking any offensive capabilities, this Swarmling variant instead uses its incredible defense and constitution to automatically 'Rev' an instance of Spiraling Fear once per turn, drastically increasing its area of effect and freeing you up to focus on bringing down the foes caught in its merciless wake. (COST: 30%)


#6: CHITINOUS STALWART

>>13% BIO per piece (Helm, Chestplate, Greaves, Left/Right Gauntlet) 65% BIO for Full Armor. 100% BIO for Subversive Armor.

>>CHITINOUS STALWART: taking inspiration from the Chevalier, Shu now has the ability to generate swarmlings that form a sort interlocking armor plating. Expending 80% BIO crafts an incredible resilient and intimidating suit of slate grey and emerald green chitin, whose pool of BIO serves as both damage buffer and swarmling generator. You may also choose to enhance parts of the suit, allowing varying armor pieces to grow brutal drills that deliver a corrosive payload upon either defensive or offensive impact, though a clever strategist may find further uses for the adaptable fortress. Additionally, you may draw on the biomass that comprises the suit to generate the swarmling classes you have access to, though this naturally reduces the efficacy of the armor, in turn.

>>ASHEN FORTITUDE (CHITINOUS STALWART UPGRADE): Your plateling armor now boasts the passive ability to resist neuromantic efforts indiscriminately, your interlocking plates now laced with ash-grey lines as faint wisps of smoke trail from its seams. Additionally, on suffering a hit, your auto-reactive plating couples its default acidic blast with a cloud of disorienting (though harmless) chaff, the visor of your helm somehow allowing you to cut through the gloom with enhanced sight and granting you advantage on any strikes made against foes foolish enough to stay in the choking mist.

>>SUBVERSIVE SWARM (Swarmling Augmentation):  The same cloaking ability that your Swarmlings possess can be applied to an iteration of Chitinous Stalwart for a total cost of 100% BIO for a full suit of armor, transforming your sleek alloy into a shifting, stealth-oriented plating, allowing for you to sneak behind foes to deliver a spiked greave's payload of lethal chemicals directly for that personal touch you occasionally crave.

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#7: SWARMLING DUAL TECHS

>>UNWILLING HOST (Shu x Julia, Julia -20% BIO per strike): Seemingly contrary to Julia's gentle nature, this ability allows your kindly artist to forego inflicting her bevy of stack-induced status effects to instead inflict INFESTATION stacks at a guaranteed chance per hit. Once a foe has been infested with the desired number of stacks, you may use your normal summoning action to craft your brood directly from the flesh of your foes, with each stack capable of contributing 10% BIO to the creation of your wriggling spawn before they're exhausted. Additionally, while your hive and body may be built to accommodate the high physical strain that comes with birthing your armies, your foes do have such a luxury and will suffer catastrophic damage when you use your foes as a vector for your inevitable victory.

>>SONG OF THE SWARM (Shu x Amara, 2 ACTs from Amara, Concentration): Through spells come song, through song come a harmonious alien chorus recognized only by Amara's people...and those beyond the stars. Amara may choose to spend 2 ACTs to begin a chittering chorus with your hive, with 1 ACT required to maintain the song on subsequent turns. Your hive's capabilities are boosted considerably, with an additional 8 Swarmling slots becoming immediately available for use as long as the song is sung in addition to the passive swarmling cap boost that Amara grants you from being present. Additionally, your higher-tier Swarmling cost and effects are reduced by 10% BIO per unit, to a minimum of 1% BIO per construct. Be advised that should Amara's concentration be disrupted or if you elect to end the song early as a free action, then your Swarmling cap will be reduced back down to its base level, and your swarmlings will automatically detonate in order from weakest to strongest until their numbers match your current cap. Yours is a plague that will drown out the world, and it will be a child that leads them.