The Shifters - Skills and Abilities

Shifters have certain skills and abilities that are different from the rest of the species in Haven, and each animal species has their own unique strengths. The following is a list of abilities that all Shifters have, and then a list of voluntary abilities you can choose from for your shifter.

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All Shifter Permanent Abilities

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Agility/Reflexes  - Shifters are very fast, though their speed also depends on what animal species they shift into. Obviously, a tortoise-shifter is not going to be as fast as a peregrine falcon, etc.

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Animal Interaction  - The ability to communicate with animals on a basic level. This does not mean a shifter is able to have full telepathic conversations with an animal, but they are able to understand basic commands or needs, and are able to communicate in that animal’s language similar commands or needs.

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Body Part Manipulation - The ability to shift one body part in order to aid defense or offense. For example, a bird shifter would be able to sprout their wings without shifting the rest of their body. Canine or feline shifters might sprout claws or fangs when agitated, etc. This does not mean the shifter is able to morph into a hybrid version of themselves, it simply means one body part at a time can be shifted. The effect only lasts for an hour at a time, at most.

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Camouflage - The ability to hide in one's surroundings impeccably well. This means the shifter will, most of the time, go unnoticed if they are using this ability, though someone actively tracking them may still be able to find them.

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Enhanced Senses  - The ability to see, hear, and smell better than an average human.

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Environmental Adaptation - The ability to adapt to one's environment in extreme conditions, including cold, heat, extreme weather, or sudden environmental changes.

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Formidable - The ability to withstand greater damage in battle than an average human. It also makes them much stronger than the average human. This also means their skin might be harder to pierce, bones might be more difficult to break, and smaller weapons may be rendered ineffective. Keep in mind your shifter's animal species in regards to this ability, however. Bird shifters naturally have lighter, weaker bones. Snake shifters might have more sensitive skin, etc. Special weapons, or an attacker with extreme strength or precision, will be able to get past this defense, however.

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Healing Factor  - The ability to heal superficial or deep wounds (as long as they are not deadly) through the use of one's shifting anatomy. This also makes shifters resistant to human-borne illnesses. They are more susceptible to animal-borne illness, but are rarely affected by human sickness, including serious diseases such as cancer or STD’s. Animal-borne illness, such as rabies and FIV, can still affect them. Note: This ability does not allow the user to regrow full limbs or organs. If a limb is removed, this ability will stop the bleeding and seal up the wound. If an organ is punctured, this ability will heal the wound and seal up the body. It will not regrow full limbs or organs.

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Iron Stomach - The ability to ingest things that would otherwise make a human sick, with no negative effects. This ability stems to man-made poisons and chemicals, rotting or spoiled food, allergens, small inedible objects, and plants that are naturally poisonous to humans. This ability does not, however, cover poisons developed from nature, or plants that would naturally be poisonous to the shifter's animal form.

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Natural Defenses - Physical characteristics that could be used as defenses or used for attacks, which come with the shifter's animal form. For example, bird shifters naturally have wings and talons. Canine and feline shifters naturally have claws and fangs. Reptilian shifters might naturally produce venomous saliva, etc.

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Night Vision  - The ability to see clearly in total darkness.

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Shifting Forms - The ability to shift between human and animal form. This does NOT give the user the ability to "pause" their transformation halfway, or become a hybrid of a human and animal. It is either human form or animal form at any one time, though the transformations are quick and painless.

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Slow Metabolism - For shifters whose animal forms may hibernate for winter, this ability allows the shifter to go up to two days without eating or drinking without negative side effects. This, however, does affect their energy levels, and will usually cause fatigue if activated.

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Voluntary Shifter Abilities

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Alpha Call - The ability to assume an alpha role in a herd, flock, pack, or otherwise. Those who are considered part of the pack are subject to the alpha's call and can rarely disobey it. The alpha does not have full mind control over their subjects, but the more open their subjects are to them (or the more intimate they are in their relationships), the firmer their "suggestions" are to their subjects.

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Aqua Lung - The ability to breathe underwater, even in a shifter's human form. If a shifter is not naturally able to breathe underwater (aka they are not a fish), this skill grants them the ability to breathe underwater in whatever form they choose.

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Dual Forms - The ability to possess two animal forms, which must be used independently of each other. This means that there are no forms allowed that are half of one animal and half of another. Additionally, the two forms must be within the same scientific '''family. '''Mythical creatures are BANNED from having this ability.

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Echolocation - The ability to determine the location of objects in the environment by use of reflected sound waves, whether generated by the shifter or ambient sound. This also allows the user to tell distance using sound.

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Fire-Breathing - MYTHICAL CREATURE SHIFTERS ONLY. The ability to ignite flames inside of one's body which are then expelled through the mouth or through the hands. Also gives the user the passive resistance to fire-based attacks, though this ability can be weakened with water or ice.

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Grace - Unnaturally fantastic balance and lightfootedness. This ability allows the user to perch in precarious places without the fear of falling, and if they do fall, they will almost always land on their feet. They are very light on their feet, which makes it much easier for them to sneak around.

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Healing Others - MYTHICAL CREATURE SHIFTERS ONLY. The ability to heal another person or animal with a touch of one's hand. This can heal fatal wounds, but not fatal disease. This takes a lot of concentration, and causes fatigue in the user.

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Hormone Control - The ability to manipulate a target's hormones or pheromones in order to induce heightened states of emotion, instinct, or focus.

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Imitation - The ability to imitate any sound a shifter hears, though it cannot directly imitate a person's voice to perfection. The shifter can imitate natural and man-made sounds, including animal calls, and can learn accents and languages extremely easily.

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Limb Regrowth - The ability to regrow arms, legs, or tails. While it is possible, it is an extremely painful process that takes a very long time, and has less and less of a chance of working the more the limb is removed. Note: shifters cannot regrow their own heads, organs, any part of the abdominal cavity, or sex organs.

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Petrification - MYTHICAL CREATURE SHIFTERS ONLY. The ability to turn a target to stone temporarily by making eye contact with the target. The stone is unable to be shattered or broken, and will return to normal over time, though it is a painful process. This ability may also be used to turn the user's body, or sections of the user's body, to stone in order to help with camouflage or defenses, but can only be used temporarily.

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Quills - The ability to sprout sharpened quills from beneath one's fur or feathers, or to grow them from one's skin or scales, which can be used as a defense. Quills can be controlled - the shifter may choose which body part raises quills at any one time, so it could be all over the body as a defense, or to add a bit of a bite to one's punch or kick.

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Resurrection - MYTHICAL CREATURE SHIFTERS ONLY. The ability to be "reborn" any time a fatal blow is taken, though dying via poison or sickness does not allow them to come back from the dead. This ability heals the fatal wound and causes the user to "wake up", though the process by which that is done is up to the writer. The user must have one other way in which they can die and stay dead, which must be shared by the character's writer.

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Silk Spinning - The ability to form a thin, almost invisible, but strong string of spider silk from one's fingers. This silk is so strong that it can be used as a whip, but it is also extremely delicate and can be severed easily.

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Siren's Song - MYTHICAL CREATURE SHIFTERS ONLY. The ability to sing or hum a tune that hypnotizes a target for a short while, making them extremely open to suggestion, though those with iron wills may be able to resist.

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Summon the Pack - The ability to cry out through a scream, a screech, a caw, a howl, or otherwise, for help from the animal kingdom. If there are any animals in the area, from the same scientific family as the shifter, they will be implored to come to the aid of the shifter. This ability rarely brings more than two animal assistants, and no more than five at a time. Note: Unless they are another shifter, or specifically brought by fae, nonnative animal species to the area will not magically appear at the beck and call of a shifter.

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Switch Sexes - The ability to physically morph one's own body to switch their biological form from male to female, or vice versa. This ability can only be used once per day due to the incredible strain it would put on the user's body otherwise. This ability can also be used to find a happy medium between sexes, giving the user partially male and partially female physiology. This ability does not allow the user to gain muscle, breast tissue, or take away fat. The user will have the same relative body type that they normally have, no matter what sex they change into.

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Switch Vision - The ability to switch between regular vision, infrared, night vision, and ultraviolet at will. This ability also allows the user to see a much wider range of colors than the average human, allows them to see in extreme brightness, or very dimly-lit situations.

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Telepathy - The ability to communicate, psychically, with a chosen target. Shifters are not able to communicate telepathically with other animals, but can with other shifters when in either human or animal form. The ability to psychically communicate can also be used on any other race in Haven. It does not give the user the ability to steal information from someone else's mind - it can only be used to talk back and forth between the user and the target, as if they were speaking verbally, even over great distances. The greater the distance, the weaker the ability becomes.

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Venom - Some shifters may have this ability naturally, as part of their "Natural Defenses", but for those who do not automatically have venom, you can choose to give your character a venomous bite or sting while in their animal form. Some shifters might be able to use this ability while in their human forms as well. No venom obtained this way can be deadly, but it can be bad enough to induce weakness, dizziness, fatigue, vomiting, light-headedness, or respiratory problems. It must be delivered through the penetration of skin, either with a bite, scratch, sting, or otherwise. It can also be transferred through the saliva of an individual, if the skin of the target is broken or the user kisses the target.

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Wall Crawling - The ability to adhere to vertical or upside-down surfaces using natural adhesives in the skin, hooks, or claws. Wall-crawling cannot be used while a shifter is in a quadrupedal form whose skeleton would not allow it, such as canines, equines, fish, etc, but may be used in human form - though it can only be used if skin is touching a surface.