Title says it all; but these are not advantages/disadvantages -- you dont choose them. People get mutations. Mutations can be simple stat reductions or buffs, or can be complex that truely effects you. However, the only way to get mutations is if you have enough contamination, so...
What gives you contamination:- Miscasting spells; more powerful miscast - more contamination (esp. if it backfires and damages you in some way. IE: \"Your hands burn like a thousand hot needles\" for a example)
- Staying invisible - Keeping invisibility on for real life hours or casting invisible while already invisible.
- Diseases (and to a lesser extent poison)
- Radiation (though more likely to kill you then anything else)
- Alchemy experaments blowing up in your face
- Getting attacked with something over, and OVER, and
OVER.
- Drinking something that will mutate you outright.
- Eating \" \" \" \" \" \".
- Breathing \" \" \" \" \" \".
- Touching \" \" \" \" \" \".
... and the list can go on for as long as humanity has imagination.
The effects of contamination thusly give you a \"good\", \"bad\", or \"cosmetic\" mutation or a combination therof. the more contamination you have, the greater chance you have to mutate in a short period of time. mutating reduces the contamination level (so you dont get 25 mutations in 2 minutes of gameplay.)
A few examples of \"Good\" mutations:- Toughened skin
- Resistance to poison
- Greater Vitality (faster HP regen, more HP gain, etc)
- ESP (seeing enemies through walls, seeing their health, etc)
A few examples of \"Bad\" mutations:- Frail bones (slower speed, more damage taken from bludgeoning/blunt weapons)
- Bleed profusely (continual loss of HP for longer periods of time)
- Weakness to fire
- Blurred vision
- You body is deformed (armor doesn\'t fit well)
A few examples of \"Cosmetic\" mutations:- You are furry
- Your skin glows blue (could be considered \"bad\" in a dungeon.

)
- You have no hair (just the opposite of \"You are furry\" ouch to the Enkidukai players

)
- Your blood is green (if blood spills on the ground from a wound)
Good/Bad mutations obviously help/harm you, and Cosmetic mutations can go both ways but usually end up doing nothing but changing your appearance. Cosmetic mutations often turn into Good or Bad mutations later on, though, you can get Good/Bad mutations instantly from certain things. Each mutation you have would start out at a level, between 1 and 5. 5 Being the most mutated, 1 being the least. A mutation will always stop at 4, because 5 is perminate; however, if you cause something to make that mutation hit level 5 you can never remove it. (very, VERY,
VERY nearly
IMPOSSIBLE to happen! ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET TO LEVEL 3, EVEN!) however, you will only have one perminate Good and Bad mutation, so no worries of 25 perminate bad mutations.
If you dont like a mutation or need to decontaminate, you can go see a alchemist/mage/doctor that will:
1) Reduce the severity of the mutation
2) Reduce the amount of contamination, causing less severe mutations to spring up later on
3) Remove the mutation if it is cosmetic and below level 5.
Level 5 cosmic mutations turn into Level 1 Good/Bad mutations, btw.
There would also be various amulets, potions, and other items that prevent, reduce, or remove some mutations/contamination. A amulet of Resist Mutation or a item with a contamination-reducing/immunity effect will almost certainly be in every mage\'s safe. Also, there is a mutation that (ironically) stops all further mutation, though it is not perminate (so you can get it removed) and you still retain your level of contamination.
To raise a mutations level, you have to get the mutation again atleast twice. You can somewhat direct at which mutation you want; getting hit lots will increase your chance of getting a good armor/speed mutation, while hanging back and trying to cast offensive spells as a mage will get you a bad armor/speed mutation. If there is a teleportation/translocation spell and you cast it on yourself it can go both ways: You can get a good teleport mutation (teleport that you control within a small radius) or a bad teleport mutation (teleport that occurs at random times, with a destination unknown within a small radius) or it just might make you partially transparent from time to time (\"good\" cosmetic) Even playing for a long enough time will give you a \"Your hair is long\" cosmetic mutation!
Time to visit the barber... :rolleyes: