Mutants? o:

[Qzzrbl]

Lacking a scientific rationale for mutations, most attribute them to magick, whether this be a commoner blaming their two-headed baby on an angry magicker or Silt Sea dwellers (mutations do seem to be more common along its shore) simply explaining it as "the Sea marks some for its own".

Maybe I'm missing something-- but considering this bit of info here, shouldn't there be mutant NPCs in Red Storm?

[Synthesis]

Write some up, submit them, and see what happens.

[Sephiroto]

Tuluk stole them all away from their mothers.

[Barsook]

Write some up, submit them, and see what happens.

I dare ya, OP.

[Cutthroat]

1) perhaps one benefit of living in a place where everyone keeps their features obscured most times is that you can hide the mutations you have, and the mutated NPCs are all hooded/facewrapped/whatever.

B) perhaps the mutants are currently only represented in the vNPC population (in which case you would be right in asking if there should be NPCs)

Most mutations are small: oddly colored eyes, a bald patch, strange coloration, elongated ears, etc. A few take a more drastic form: scaly arms, horns, extra or misplaced limbs, and a smaller handful are lethal

III) perhaps since serious mutations are rare, and more cosmetic mutations (say, odd hair, skin, or eye color) are more common in the rest of the world, in Red Storm serious mutations are only slightly less rare, and cosmetic mutations are slightly more common. Perhaps you need to be looking for larger Smurfs  and not unicorns.   Or perhaps the worst of them are dying before they reach the ripe old age of 13, when the vNPC matures into NPC-hood.

Disclaimer: I have not looked at Red Storm NPCs in a while. My memory of them is fuzzy.

[Potaje]

1) perhaps one benefit of living in a place where everyone keeps their features obscured most times is that you can hide the mutations you have, and the mutated NPCs are all hooded/facewrapped/whatever.

B) perhaps the mutants are currently only represented in the vNPC population (in which case you would be right in asking if there should be NPCs)

Most mutations are small: oddly colored eyes, a bald patch, strange coloration, elongated ears, etc. A few take a more drastic form: scaly arms, horns, extra or misplaced limbs, and a smaller handful are lethal

III) perhaps since serious mutations are rare, and more cosmetic mutations (say, odd hair, skin, or eye color) are more common in the rest of the world, in Red Storm serious mutations are only slightly less rare, and cosmetic mutations are slightly more common. Perhaps you need to be looking for larger Smurfs  and not unicorns.   Or perhaps the worst of them are dying before they reach the ripe old age of 13, when the vNPC matures into NPC-hood.

Disclaimer: I have not looked at Red Storm NPCs in a while. My memory of them is fuzzy.

Or

IV All mutations have, over the years become the creatures of the silt sea.

[Malifaxis]

1) perhaps one benefit of living in a place where everyone keeps their features obscured most times is that you can hide the mutations you have, and the mutated NPCs are all hooded/facewrapped/whatever.

B) perhaps the mutants are currently only represented in the vNPC population (in which case you would be right in asking if there should be NPCs)

Most mutations are small: oddly colored eyes, a bald patch, strange coloration, elongated ears, etc. A few take a more drastic form: scaly arms, horns, extra or misplaced limbs, and a smaller handful are lethal

III) perhaps since serious mutations are rare, and more cosmetic mutations (say, odd hair, skin, or eye color) are more common in the rest of the world, in Red Storm serious mutations are only slightly less rare, and cosmetic mutations are slightly more common. Perhaps you need to be looking for larger Smurfs  and not unicorns.   Or perhaps the worst of them are dying before they reach the ripe old age of 13, when the vNPC matures into NPC-hood.

Disclaimer: I have not looked at Red Storm NPCs in a while. My memory of them is fuzzy.

Or

IV All mutations have, over the years become the creatures of the silt sea.

You might want to edit the IC info out there, man.

[Erythil]

While we're at it:

Do mutations ever manifest in adulthood, or are they with a person from birth?

[Qzzrbl]

While we're at it:

Do mutations ever manifest in adulthood, or are they with a person from birth?

That's.... Actually a pretty good question. o-O

As a long-time player of mutants, I'd say it starts at birth.... But I'm no authority on the matter.

[boog]

I mean ... you could probably mutate like, skin chapping due to winds or sun exposure. Eating too much of a certain fruit might cause your skin to turn, like carrots and the beta-carotene causes orangening of the skin. I dunno. It's totally possible, I bet. Well -- Not like, an extra finger or something, but subtle things.

[Barsook]

I think it starts at birth.  I don't think things that change due to weather or what the person eats is a mutate because it won't be passed on the children.

[Bilanthri]

Actual mutations begin in the womb. Particulate radiation can cause cellular mutation, but that results in the cells becoming cancerous or simply dying.

Now, if you are the type of mutant to gain super-powers at puberty, then that's a whole different ball game. (Kudos to Stan Lee)

[number13]

Actual mutations begin in the womb. Particulate radiation can cause cellular mutation, but that results in the cells becoming cancerous or simply dying.

In a fantasy world, I don't think we can take it for a certain fact that there's such a thing as biological cells, radiation, or mutations to DNA or RNA.

The ultimate cause of mutation in Zalanthas must be something magical (whether or not it has anything to do with the magickal processes and rotes used by magickers).  One of the rules of magic, in my mind, is that it has no real rules. Otherwise, it's not magic -- it's a funky science.  There's certain to be traits to magic that one can generally rely upon being true, or else rote magick wouldn't be plausible.  However, that doesn't reject the possibility of the impossible occurring -- for ex: a mutant human who grows to the size of a half-giant and/or growing a third functional eyeball in the center of his head. Or someone grossly, rapidly mutating upon reaching adulthood, but not visibly before.

Actually it would be fun special app -- especially for a noble, merchant house family member, or templar --  a character who starts off with no readily apparent mutations, but is fated to degenerate over the life of the character into a monstrously deformed thing.

[Sokotra]

I figured the defiler sorcorer-king magic and the wacked-out rays of suk-krath might mutate you into a dragon-kin in the middle of your life.  Well... maybe not, but I don't think it is quite like real life.  I would imagine some rare mutations can happen mid-life... or slowly as you age.

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

Now, if you are the type of mutant to gain super-powers at puberty, then that's a whole different ball game. (Kudos to Stan Lee)

We call those "magickers."

[a strange shadow]

There's always the silt sea. Mutations are known to occur more frequently when near it.

It's in the docs somewhere, but I'm damned if I feel like looking it up.

[Ami]

Spotted a reptillian man the other day.

Think it was a mutant.

[Synthesis]

Actual mutations begin in the womb. Particulate radiation can cause cellular mutation, but that results in the cells becoming cancerous or simply dying.

Now, if you are the type of mutant to gain super-powers at puberty, then that's a whole different ball game. (Kudos to Stan Lee)

[nerdrant]
Well aaaaaactually...you see...there are "somatic mutations" and there are "germline mutations" and there are "stem cell mutations."

Somatic mutation is a random (or random as far as we can tell, anyway) process that affects a single cell (or if multiple cells are affected, each genome acquires different, random mutations). However, assuming magick, it's plausible that somatic "mutations" could occur that affect multiple cells/tissues/organs/organ systems in ways that aren't entirely random, and don't typically involve loss of function.

Germline mutations (again, mostly a random process as far as we can tell...although I'm sure there are certain mutations that aren't entirely random, but underlying mechanisms have yet to be elucidated) affect gametes (sperm or ova), and thus technically occur before fertilization and implantation (i.e. "the womb").  Again, usually loss of function, but magick on Zalanthas yadda yadda.

Stem cell mutations are those that occur in a toti-/pluripotent stem cell that gives rise to a distinct lineage(s) of cells/tissues.

Also, I'm sure there are plenty of mutations that are silent until some environmental or developmental cue triggers them.  Not every cell in your body expresses every gene it possesses at every given moment.  Thus, if you've got some mutation lurking in a gene that's only activated under a particular set of circumstances, it won't manifest until you actually encounter that set.  Adolescence is probably a good candidate for such a set.  Infection is another good candidate.  Ingestion of certain foods/beverages is another.  You could probably  make a case for pregnancy.  It's known that certain HLA haplotypes are associated with autoimmune disorders (e.g. HLA DR4 with rheumatoid arthritis and HLA B27 with ankylosing spondylitis), but not everyone with the haplotype develops the disease, which suggests some kind of environmental cue as a necessary condition.  And magick, yadda yadda.

As far as mutations that aren't readily apparent at birth, but result in a slowly progressive disease, there are plenty.  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, a small subset of Parkinson's disease, spinal bulbar muscular atrophy, tuberous sclerosis, neurofibromatosis, Wilson's disease, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, xeroderma pigmentosum, familial adenomatous polyposis, hereditary nonpolyposis coli, sickle-cell anemia, chronic granulomatous disease, Paget's disease of bone, and Alport syndrome come to mind.
[/nerdrant]

[Dan]

You just blew my mind.

[Qzzrbl]

Gotta love Syn and his occasional nerdgasms. <3

[Sokotra]

Just reading Synth's post made me mutate a little bit.

[Potaje]

Just reading Synth's post made me mutate a little bit.

I mutated in my pants.

[Bilanthri]

Excellent...I love learning things.

The statement about pregnancy makes me think of type 3 diabetes.

[lordcooper]

defiler sorcorer-king magic

Is that IC info?

Nobody told me they were defilers 

[Sokotra]

That's the Dark Sun translation... I think it is a little different in Armageddon, but still basically known that they are creepy magic-wielders of some sort.  Like a sorcorer - and a sorcorer is a defiler.  *shrug*  There's a lot more to it than that, I believe.  Pretend you didn't hear it if you want and go on believing that Tektolnes is an enormous fat, fuzzy and cuddly winged tregil or something.