Transformation

Just as in Medieval times gender was thought to be on a sliding scale, species can exist on a sliding scale. How does that work? Usually in a painful way. Basically, there are several ways you can become another species. Some are simple (ie, bit by a werewolf, you become a werewolf), and some are not (ie escape human society, establish a solitary existence in the woods, befriend forest spirits, commune with elder deities, imbibe sacred spring water, seal pact with elder beings with specific sacrifices, lose mortality, become a witch). Here are the creatures you are most likely to transform into if you're not careful.

Ghosts
Yes! If you run out of HP, you die, so there. And you're still playing, because you still haven't finished the game. You can also be half-dead or possessed, either voluntarily or otherwise. More on that in another doc.

What changes?

You're incorporeal, you have no Charisma/Strength/HP, and your Perception/Dexterity triples with each level gained. Also, you gain Arcane Knowledge like woah.

the Aegerlach
The Aegerlach are much like golems. Basically, your soul is encased in some form of housing, and your soul becomes that housing's chem, or consciousness/driving purpose. A housing can be anything from a mechanical clock to a clay pot. Or even the body of a slain enemy.

What changes?

Well, whatever all-consuming quest you have you must now follow single-mindedly, and you cannot stray from it, unless you can logically work some other thing into the path towards your final goal. Reaching the goal might result in the destruction of whatever your chem's housing is. This is where Aegerlach differentiate from golems. While the destruction of a golem would erase the chem, an Aegerlach can create or find new housing. Once you have reached your goal, however, you cease to exist completely. But a bonus? The potential for an infinite Tech score: you can literally commune with machines if it is beneficial to reaching your goal.

the Vedali
A Vedalic is basically a sentient elemental. There are various ways to become a Vedalic being, the "easiest" of which is basically extreme paganism. As in, you devote so much of your existence to studying under the school of Paganism that you start to physically transform into whatever element you're immersing yourself in. Also, you can be cursed/blessed by something like a Treant or Nightwalker.

What changes?

Well, you lose all Charisma around humans, but you basically become everyone else's bro. Except for the witches; they are your personal guardians. So booyah there. Also, your strength/dexterity are in flux based on your surroundings, but that means you can be either extremely powerful or extremely weak. Your Perception and Arcane Knowledge are extremely high, but can become clouded around your "enemy" element. Your HP stays exactly the same as if you were a human, and you can die, sometimes very easily (ie, you're a forest Vedalic, and you're on fire) or you can be unstoppable (ie you're a water Vedalic, and you're in the ocean, bitches). Some Vedalic have specific stat bonuses. For instance, mineral and storm Vedalics have a pretty high tech score and can make things like magnets and electricity their bitch.

the Change-Children
The children kidnapped by the Brownie King, if they are considered a worthy offering to Titania, will join her retinue. If they aren't worthy, they are usually eaten by the Brownie swarm. If you join Titania's retinue, however, you slowly transform into a Change-Child. The Change-Children, unless they escape immediately, can never grow old, and, if they so choose, can learn to fly and cast spells that create light and turn it into a weapon. These are all skills they have to learn by diplomatically navigating the Fey court, however, and falling out of favor means death or worse.

What changes?

Aside from never growing old and the potential to fly and create weapons out of even the faintest glimmers of light? Not much, really. Your HP quadruples, sure, but your other stats stay the same, though you have far more chances to quickly boost your Perception/Dexterity/Arcane Knowledge/Instrument Knowledge/Animal Knowledge, and your Perception/Dexterity will boost twice as fast.

the Willi
Willi are generally female, but The Brownie King himself is one, so male Willi are not unheard of. There are a myriad of ways to become a Willi, the most well-known being a virgin bride who dances themselves to death out of grief on their wedding day. But you can also slowly transform into one if you've had your Soul Spiked by a Brownie swarm and then kill the swarm (if you don't, you become a Brownie). However, Willi generally command their own swarm of Brownies, and sometimes humans are chosen by a swarm to become their leader, who will eventually Soul Spike them out of adoration in order to make them immortal. Yes, Willi with a living swarm are immortal as long as their swarm is alive. Granted, it is possible for a swarm of undead Brownies to exist... if a Willi, after killing the swarm that transformed them, somehow wins the favor of the souls of the Brownies they just killed. But that gets really complicated.

What changes?

Well, your Perception goes through the roof, for one, and your Dexterity boosts three times as fast. Everything else pretty much stays the same, except you now have a sort of "Static Electricity" power, as well as a psychic connection to the Forest manifested in super-sonic/ultra-red traces with complex odors. Also, you may or may not have a swarm of Brownies (think sentient bees made of static electricity) to execute your every whim.

Witches
As explained above, it is complicated to become a witch. Witches can be either gender, and are both incredibly powerful and incredibly devoted to whichever elder being they've devoted their humanity to. They are guardians of nature.

What changes?

Aside from gaining a powerful arsenal of attacks and a big boost to your Arcane Knowledge, Tech, Animal Skills and Perception? Not much, actually, aside from the conditional immortality.

Vampyres
I'm going with the old-school version of vampyres in this game. Namely, fossilized bodies with spear-like tongues who suck lifeblood through your chest. If one attacks you and doesn't kill you, but you are injured, you die and become a vampyre if your soul isn't consecrated to a deity.

What changes?

Well, your Strength and Dexterity go through the roof, as does your HP. Everything else? Well, pretty much gone. Also, you need to kill one person a night or your strength starts to go. Also, its trendy to hunt you down.

Werecreatures
This can be anything from a werewolf to a were-carrot, really. Were-dom is a rabies-like infection that passes through blood and saliva. If you are bit and not subsequently devoured or killed, you become a were-whatever-you-were-beforehand. This can also change based on what bit you. Werewolves were something that were bit by something that transforms into a wolflike version of its former self. You could be a pig that is bit by something (say, a sheep, now a weresheep) that had survived a werewolf attack, and since the sheep becomes wolf-like, the pig becomes wolf-like. If the pig was bitten by a weresheep that was bitten by something that becomes, say, more like a demon cow, the weresheep and his new werepig friend will transform into sheep/cow and pig/cow demon things at night or at will, depending in the stages of the moon. Its complex, is what I'm saying. And potentially hilarious.

What changes?

When you transform, your Strength and Dexterity multiply by 200, and your HP triples. Otherwise, your Perception boosts four times as fast, and animals are terrified of you, and your Charisma goes down a few points.

The Nightwalkers
Yes, you, too, can become the vastness of space, compressed into the form of a spiky giant warrior! Think "giant, angry Viking" and you've got a vague idea of what a Nightwalker is. To become one, you have to prove yourself to be a great warrior, and then pledge your soul to defending the Fey Court.

What changes?

Well, a whole lot. You're immortal, for one, but you alternate between godlike power and thank-heavens-I'm-stealthy-or-I'd-be-in-trouble (unless you learn shadowmancy, in which case, you have SOME form of defense). During the day, or when in direct or partial sunlight, you are pretty much like a powerless ninja. Super-stealthy, and you get to travel in a pack of Nightwalkers, but you can't do much until the sun sets or you get to the depths of the forest, or a cave or something. Once that happens, you've got your HP/Strength/Perception in the thousands, but your Dexterity is limited. Plus, no matter the amount of light out you get a bitching sword and your Acrane Knowledge/Animal Knowledge is pretty much infinite.

Banshees
A banshee is a lot like a ghost, but they can die. They are the outcasts of the world, with a scream that can kill with a range of a mile.

What changes?

That scream thing? That might sound pretty awesome, and they do have infinite Dexterity, but all other stats are at zero. Yep, zero. And you're pretty much stuck to living on some rock out at sea, usually in the icier parts of the world.