Minor Transformations and Race Customization...

[=(FGR)=Sentinel]

...Feel kind of counter to each other. A big selling point of the game was the character and race creation, which I do enjoy. The issue is that the near-total lack of limits on Minor Transformations (beyond spawnkin and the giant transformation being mutually exclusive) means that, if you run a game long enough, every race will end up having a lot of the same transformations and lose a lot of their uniqueness. I ended up dropping my last playthrough because I had 2-3 Order factions all become undead anointed leafkin, for instance.

Has anyone else noticed this or is it just me?

[Al-Axe]

Same

[titanopteryx]

When you get multiple races from multiple cultures in your empire, and you become the keeper of multiple races, you can use a mix of minor and major transformations to specialize the races. For instance you can have one race go either demon or angel to give their units and heroes the ability to fly. Or you can pick a race with shield type units you want to use and give them gaia's chosen to make the shield units extra tanky. Then you can pick a race and have them go wightborn and have their units be your undead units for any necromancy shenanigans you want to do.

[[L9] Rhinopotamus]

I really do wish there was an option when you activate one of the minor transformations to not physically change the appearance of your race.

I love leafkin buffs… hated that it turned my people in the hulk. I would have preferred they get barkskin or leaf-hair, etc

[Astasia]

Originally posted by =(FGR)=Sentinel:

every race will end up having a lot of the same transformations and lose a lot of their uniqueness.

What uniqueness is lost? You start as a halfing, at the end of the game you are a halfling with wings and green skin and sparkles, what uniqueness was lost? There is also an orc with wings and green skin and sparkles in that game, but they are still obviously an orc and you are still obviously the halfling you started with. The transformations do not counter your original customization, they just enhance it. You aren't likely to get transformations from more than two affinities, and you can only have one major transformation, the number of combinations means that generally, no, races don't all look the same. You have the gold skinned angels, you have the green demons with oversized arms and hooves, you have the gold demons with sparkles, you have the transparent frostlings, etc. etc. The number of combinations are pretty massive.

In theory if you play long enough you could get all minor transformations (except the size ones), but there's a reason the game normally has a turn limit, and why reaching your t5 tome is generally about the end of the game. Even then though, many of the transformations override the visuals of each other so you only see the last one you applied, so even if every faction on the map has applied every possible transformation, most factions are still going to look different based on the order they applied them, and which major transformation they picked.

[=(FGR)=Sentinel]

Originally posted by Astasia:

What uniqueness is lost? You start as a halfing, at the end of the game you are a halfling with wings and green skin and sparkles, what uniqueness was lost? There is also an orc with wings and green skin and sparkles in that game, but they are still obviously an orc and you are still obviously the halfling you started with. The transformations do not counter your original customization, they just enhance it.

I get where you're coming from, but the point I'm trying to make is when the AI ends up picking the same transformations across multiple rulers and multiple races, the uniqueness of those transformations end up being irrelevant. For instance, if you have three separate factions become undead frostkin with metallic skin in a single game, whatever unique details were put into them during race creation don't matter as much as "these races are all highly resistant to frost, but burn more easily." Yes, they're all "unique" still, but my point is if I can tell half the AI enemies in a game have all gone down the same path it makes that early game uniqueness less interesting, especially knowing that if I let the game go on long enough they'll likely all end up with almost the exact same transformations in different orders.

[Astasia]

Wraithborn and Frostkin are both shadow, so you are bound to see them together occasionally. I think if you really want to avoid this then just make sure to hand pick which factions are on the map so you don't have multiple Dark culture shadow boys all playing by the same gamebook.