(Much of this is theory regarding kran, with little immediate use in PlaneShift.)
It seems to me that the Kran are much more mutable in this regard than others, as they are what they eat moreso than the fleshy species.
As with most asexually budding species, there is very little genetic diversity derived from the conception of progeny (daughters). The book “Kran-ology” describes the metabolism of the kran, and because they apparently have much simpler biochemistry than carbon–based life, they don't have internal chemical mechanics any more intricate than simply using minerals to replace the ones that are lost through wear, damage, et c.
Let's compare this to proteins, which are one of the building parts of our form of life (if you didn't already know). Please pardon the technical talk, as I think it will be helpful here.
Proteins have three (four, if you want to get eruditic) levels of structure:
| primary (alpha) | the amino acids which comprise a protein |
| secondary (beta) | the arrangement of a protein's amino acid strings into planar or 2-dimensional form |
| tertiary (gamma) | the 3-dimensional way in which the protein folds about itself |
As an example of why this is important to us is the prion: Two proteins, identical except with their tertiary-structure, can function differently enough as to cause radical damage to the tissues that contact it because a prion spreads its different configuration to other proteins with the same secondary-structure.
The biochemistry of the kran could be further explored in a similar way.
| elemental | e.g. zinc, copper, tin, lead |
| mineral | i'm not a mineralogist, but these are the microscopic crystals crystals which are clumped together as sheets and clusters in rocks (they are macroscopic in gem crystals, like amethyst or citrine) |
| lithosal | the rocky veins and structures which comprise the bodily organs, joints, limbs, and such of a kran |
Practically, this provides a few opportunities for expansion of the kran. Usually it is said that they eat sand and stuff, plus what other minerals they can get. Here's some of my ideas:
- ability to ingest ores for the changes which they contribute to a kran's body
- addition of other minerals and rocks which can be mined or collected, and refinement of the ores already present: quartz, granite, feldspar, anthracite, schist, et c.
- metallurgy could be quite complicated with such new rocks, so keep it simple: some don't have any metal present in sufficient quantities to be worth harvesting for the metal content; others belong to families of ores, depending on the prevalent metal present
- ditto for alchemy
- Perhaps, as it is granted that PCs don't need to eat because they are always grabbing some munchies where-ever they are, the kran now slowly assume traits derived from the indigenous rocks about them. They also can gulp down a zinc ore or too, and a little later become slightly better with Brown Way, at the loss of other traits which came from the zinc replacing whatever else was in their bodies.
No need for too much detail of mineral composition, because it could get very complex and out of hand.
What's next? The Surgery skills, both physical and magical? Yeah, right.
EDIT: minor grammar
