Members of the N-DAX species have been observed to slowly manifest additional adaptations to their environment, the large amount of undifferentiated cells in their bodies shifting into new forms over time. These mutations and their rate of appearance are not constant in the few documented examples of this rare species, and typically appear as a result of some trigger stimulus such as stress, injury or threat.

• N-DAX characters cannot purchase Mutation Skills during character creation or using their starting Character Points - they must be purchased using Character Points acquired by attending events.
• N-DAX characters who acquire Mutation Skills should adopt increasing amounts of Species Trappings to reflect their increasing mutation. At lower ranks, these additional trappings are minimal, but they should become more prominent and obvious at higher ranks of a particular Mutation.
  • Some suggested additional Trappings are suggested in the entry for each of the skills.
  • As N-DAX are highly variable and inconsistent in their appearance, players are encouraged to be creative and vary the “standard appearance” of additional trappings to suit their character's story and development.
• Each Mutation Skill costs 2 Points per Rank, and the cost does not increase with additional Ranks.
• Additional Ranks of existing skills, or entirely new Mutation Skills, may be possible to obtain.
• An N-DAX character's Mutation Skills may influence the outcomes of any plot or storylines that involve their alien biology.

Under extreme circumstances (particularly if threatened without recourse to weapons, or in response to violent amputation by a threat which remains present) N-DAX have been known to grow horrible claws in place of their hands. These claws can usually be retracted or reabsorbed into the body, only to spring forth again in the future in a disturbing and visceral process.

The first rank of this skill allows you to wear and use lrp-appropriate claw weapons. You may choose to either have retractable or permanent claws if you wish, or switch back and forth as the need arises - growing or retracting the claws takes 30 seconds of roleplayed action (slightly handwaved as you will need to put them aside or or retrieve them from a bag). If you require assistance with donning or removing the claws, then you can enlist other characters in the roleplay, or a referee if one is nearby and available.

Mutate Claws 1 - You may wear lrp-appropriate claw weapons, the physreps of which should appear biological. These are part of your biology, and as such respond differently to certain calls. If your claws are hit with a weapon, you take a point of damage as if your body had been hit (appropriate energy fields and armour will protect you as normal if worn). If a claw is struck with a DISARM call, rather than dropping it, it cannot be used for 5 seconds. If a claw is struck with a SUNDER call, it can be regenerated by your normal Regeneration as if it was 1 lost body hit (so after 1 minute it can be used again, but not if you decide to regenerate a body hit instead of your SUNDERed claw).

Mutate Claws 2 - You may call THROUGH with your claws once every 5 minutes.

Mutate Claws 3 - You may call STRIKE with your claws once every 5 minutes.

Mutate Claws 4 - you may call THROUGH with your claws once every minute instead of every 5 minutes.

Mutate Claws 5 - You may call LETHAL with your claws once every 5 minutes.

Mutation Additional Trappings - LRPsafe claws - Orion Sphere allows the use of both fingered claw gloves where the fingers are reinforced (to reduce the likelihood of injury) and large claws strapped to the back of the hand, and in either case should not exceed 12“ past the tip of the fingers. When claws are not currently manifested, appropriate Trappings could include; areas of pigmented or depigmented skin, concentrated around the hands and forearms; scarring, or other unusual markings; growths, or irregularities around the hands, wrists, and/or forearms.

Some N-DAX who regularly perform athletic feats and make good use of their rapid reaction times develop anomalous musculature and neurology (even more so than the “standard” N-DAX physiology). This can manifest as tendons and elastic fibres protruding across the skin, and certain areas of the body becoming encased in ribbed chitinous growths.

Mutate Musculature 1 - While moving at least normal walking pace and wearing no armour, reduces FREEZE and ROOT duration by 5s and RESISTs STRIKEDOWN.

Mutate Musculature 2 - While moving at least normal walking pace and wearing light armour or no armour, reduces FREEZE and ROOT duration by 5s and RESISTs STRIKEDOWN.

Mutate Musculature 3 - Gain +1 Global Body Hit and +1 Global Armour Hit

Mutate Musculature 4 - While moving at least normal walking pace and wearing light armour or no armour, reduces FREEZE and ROOT duration by 10 and RESISTs STRIKEDOWN

Mutate Musculature 5 - While moving at least normal walking pace and wearing light armour or no armour, reduces FREEZE and ROOT duration by 20 and RESISTs STRIKEDOWN

Mutation Additional Trappings - Bundles of dark or light (contrast with base skin colour) fibrous growths on the muscles and joints. With increasing ranks hard ribbed plates of armour-like material appear.

N-DAX who suffer significant injury or are regularly subjected to harmful environmental conditions begin to demonstrate more flexible regenerative ability, their pluripotent undifferentiated cells adapting into specialised organelles and quickly repairing damage.

Mutate Rapid Recovery 1 - When you are treated for an INJURY Condition, +1 Green Card is added to the Surgery Deck.

Mutate Rapid Recovery 2 - You gain the equivalent of 1 bonus rank of the Physician skill which you may use to act as the Lead Character or Assistant in surgeries on yourself only (representing you directing your regeneration to repair the Condition). While this is taking place, you cannot move, use any other skills or engage in combat (requires a Card Draw Action as normal). The 1 rank of Physician grants +1 Green Card when you are the Lead Character (added to any Physician ranks you have), or allows you to Assist another character to add +1 Green Card when they perform surgery on you, whether or not you have Physician. As this ability requires you to direct your Regeneration in complex ways, it cannot be used while you are Unconscious or Walking Wounded, or otherwise incapacitated or unable to focus enough to do so.

Mutate Rapid Recovery 3 - When a RADIATION Condition affecting you is successfully removed, it is not replaced by a Chronic Radiation Condition.

Mutate Rapid Recovery 4 - You automatically diagnose any INJURY Conditions that affect you (you may flip the INJURY Condition over as soon as you receive it). Your Regeneration rate is now 1 Global Body Hit every 50 Seconds.

Mutate Rapid Recovery 5 - You automatically remove any INJURY Conditions that affect you after 30 minutes, without requiring a Surgery or treatment to remove them (although you can be treated to remove them earlier). INJURY Conditions that specifically say they cannot be Regenerated are not affected by this ability.

Mutation Additional Trappings - Line or dotted-line areas of pigmented or depigmented skin, typically seen running down the insides of the arms, the backs of the legs, the front and the back of the torso, and across the scalp. These lines form at the ‘seams’ of the body over many iterations of the skin knitting itself back together. With increasing ranks, the discolouration spreads out from the lines and can become areas of rough, pebbly or scaly skin.