.: Help for mutations

The Chrysalis does not merely sicken — over time it rewrites those it touches.
As you live and fight and work, your body drifts toward the shape your deeds
suggest, and the Chrysalis makes that shape flesh. What you become is not chosen
from a menu; it grows from how you play.

━━━ The Ring of Change ━━━

Mutations are arranged as a great ring of nine clusters, each a distinct way
of being:

  Colossus   size and smashing might      Ravener    feral, unarmed ferocity
  Ironhide   the hide that fights back     Stalker    stealth and venom
  Ethereal   incorporeal, psychic power    Manifester brood and summoning
  Zealot     voice, presence, command      Weaver     control, web, disruption
  Trickster  illusion and quicksilver guile

Clusters lean to one of two poles — the Body (raw flesh) or Belief (will
made real). A few are hybrids, shallow on both. Commit deeply to one pole and the
opposite begins to bite.

At the heart of the ring is the Center — the generalist path everyone begins
on: light, adaptable enablers open to anyone, and the road to flight for those who
stay unspecialised.

━━━ How You Drift ━━━

You cannot pick a mutation. Instead, the skills you use pull you toward the
clusters they suit — swing a sword and you drift toward Colossus; strike unarmed
toward Ravener; sneak or shoot toward Stalker; cast toward Ethereal; sway others
toward Zealot; call forth companions toward Manifester; ply a craft toward the
maker's path. As your affinity for a cluster grows, its mutations come within reach,
and combat is what pushes a new one to finally emerge.

━━━ Depth, Keystones, and Apexes ━━━

Each cluster runs from shallow keystones to a single towering apex — an
always-on transformation (Living Carapace, Colossus Form, Discorporation, and their
kin). An apex is earned, not given: you must first grow the keystones along its
spine. Deeper mutations are rarer and demand real, sustained commitment to their
cluster before they will take.

━━━ Bridges and the Maker's Path ━━━

Where two clusters meet, a bridge mutation belongs to both, stitching the ring
together and reachable from either side. And crafters have their own home — the
Chrysifier, the maker's cluster within the Center, grown by working the crafts
rather than fighting.

━━━ Trade-offs and Conflicts ━━━

The Chrysalis never improves you cleanly — most changes trade one capability for
another, and some mutations flatly conflict and cannot share a body. Some species
also carry intrinsic mutations, natural gifts of their kind; machines and the
like are untouched by the Chrysalis entirely.

━━━ Commands ━━━

  mutations           List your current mutations and what they do.
  status              Shows your mutations in your stat panel.

See Also: help status, help combat, help dogmud