This is a character I came up with for a GURPS campaign that my friend, Nathan Hansen, will be hosting...all I know is that we create our own dimension or world and a character from there...then all the players, with all their random characters, are thrown into some sort of plot. So here is what I came up within 2 days of brain storming and just under 2 hours of actual art making (a large portion of which was devoted to font choice, lol)...thought I would share it, since it has been a while since I have created artwork of my own volition.... NDA's, deadlines and all.
Enjoy!
Muppets & their Planet
Muppets are, by default, large, Labrador-sized, slug-like creatures with a single survival mechanism: symbiotic shapeshifting. In their slug form they cannot see or hear, navigating through the world only by smell, taste and touch, have no real defenses, no limbs (of course), and only consume algae. Whenever they find a good patch of algae to nibble on for a while, or if they have gone too long without finding any algae, they open, stretching and deforming, their back end to look like a brilliantly colored, fleshy flower with tentacles in the center positioned like the pistols and stamens of real flowers. This, inevitably, attracts some wild animal (either one investigating the flower or simply walking past) or another Muppet and, upon contact, their tentacles begin to grapple the 'victim' and begin the bonding process.
In the case of animals, the Muppet bonds to whatever limb they happened to grab, taking control of that limb completely. Their tentacles pierce the flesh with microscopic neuro-probes which mentally bond the Muppet to the host animal. Usually at this point the Muppet's personality will dominate that of the animal, then the Muppet is able to shapeshift, which is typically into some form that is related to but improving upon the host animal. This ability has made the Muppets the dominant species on their home planet, since they can adapt so readily to fill any niche, as long as they have a host to bond with.
In the case of 2 (or more) Muppets bonding, this serves multiple purposes. The primary purpose is the sharing of genetic material for reproduction...all Muppets are hermaphroditic and both will impregnate the other during bonding...eggs will be laid in some body of water and the young are typically on their own from there (except when birthed in 'civilized' parts of the planet, where they are deposited into nurseries and the offspring are taken care of and prepared for integration into the local society of Muppets. The second purpose of Muppet-to-Muppet bonding is to form more complex brains, sentience, and the chance to shapeshift as they choose without the genetic confines of a foreign host. Muppet societies revolve around their ability to bond with each other and share knowledge and experience directly. The more Muppets that bond together into a single 'individual' the more complex their brains become...which is how their civilization's hierarchies are formed...those highest up the chain of command are bonded with the most number of Muppets, which grants them a more expansive knowledge/experience base and makes them more suited for leadership. However, bonding constantly changes for various reasons, so the personalities of each 'individual' is never set in stone and alters with which & how many Muppets are bonded.
Due to their need to bond in order to attain sentience, they do not have concepts of 'I' or 'me', and always use words like 'we'...this also makes their social structures often appear to be rather socialist in nature. An identity, like Trypp Farr's, is associated to the idea that his personality is dominant in the pairing (which, for Trypp, is usually the case...he's so willful) but if, for example, he were bonded to a more dominant being, 'Trypp Farr' would not identify as himself and would deffer to the new, dominant identity. A typical bonding of two Muppets results in the subservient Muppet forming into a lower Torso and Legs, usually covered in short black fur, while the dominant Muppet forms into a brightly colored upper torso with a head and arms and any other accessories or appendages they choose (the typical Muppet with his puppeteer below). Another result of their constant bonding is a strong connection and understanding of other species and their concerns, so the majority of the Muppets are very Eco-friendly and most consider themselves to be custodians of Nature. They always seek to nurture harmony in any ecosystem...this means they would be disgusted by how humans treat the Earth. ;)
Another useful ability of Muppet-to-Muppet bonding is the forming of living structures and constructs, so their cities and machines are actually living Muppets that have bonded with each other, often incorporating other animals to add to their 'genetic library' of possible forms (this would make rooms for entities like 'Thomas the Train' and the like). As such, they do not often build anything or use any natural resources like metal or wood. All they require is food (algae for their slug form, but more complex food is necessary when bonded to form and fuel the more complex beings, so they do have agriculture and will eat other animals) and water.
Luckily, their home planet, Frackle, is extremely wet and humid (think Naboo from Star Wars) (there are various types of terrain, like deserts, mountains, tundras, etc...but the majority of the planet is wetlands and jungles...the crust & continents of the planet are all porous and the planet has a multitude of moons of various sizes and orbits 3 Suns -a Dark Crystal reference, seemed appropriate...perhaps there is a continent called 'Thra' with the Uru, Skeksis and Gelflings...all different factions of Muppets- )
Trypp Farr
The character I will be playing is Captain Trypp Farr, Explorer. He and his crew have traversed the entire planet of Frackle and recently devised plans for space exploration, bonding into one giant ship with enough resources to get them to neighboring planets and back. It is around this time that Trypp will join the campaign and be separated from his crew and have to fend for himself by bonding with whatever lifeforms he comes in contact with. The illustration I made is an example of the basic form Trypp takes when bonded to another Muppet...his appearance changes, of course, but will usually be based on this basic look. The slug in the bottom right is their default form.
Bonding with Sentient Beings and the mechanics
When a Muppet bonds with a foreign species a battle of wills immediately occurs (after the grappling and possible resistance)...in the case of unintelligent or not very willful species, the Muppet tends to dominate pretty quickly. BUT, if the Muppet ever fails the battle of wills, which is more common in bonding with other sentient species, the result of the shapeshifting will always be that the Muppet turns into a miniature version of the host, acting out some portion of the host's personality (distributing the shapeshifting points to match as closely to the host as possible). If the Muppet wins then the shapeshifting result will be something that helps the muppet (Uncontrolled: either randomized or the GM will determine what the result will be based on the pairing and the situation...example: if I bond with an enemy, a handy result will be mind control limited to the host, etc...if bonded to an ally then the result will be something that helps us achieve some goal or gives us an advantage in combat or something). To make the game go smoothly, one possible 'automatic' result of the bonding could be 'All points into Protection', effectively cocooning the Muppet where he is until the points have been distributed (the metamorphosis takes time, after all), then once the real result has been figured out, he will emerge as whatever he becomes...and until then, game play goes on with Trypp in a cocoon (possible on someone's arm or something)(the mechanics are up to the GM and how the game works, of course, but since I don't know GURPS I am just throwing ideas out there).
