What about making your OWN mutant monsters? I would love to commit mad science in a lab or something. Capture animals or NPCs and turn them into abominations to do your will!
I would love to be able to dig a moat, fill it with water, then breed a bunch of mutant fish, or better yet, alligator-fish hybrids to put in there.
Yes I know, but I’m a mad scientist with some ethical considerations and have read the evil-overlord list. Abusing your followers is a no-no. Alpha or Elf-A Serum is ok, but no turning friendly NPCs into monsters to be used as mindless moat-beasts. I’d do it to a bandit or something, but not a follower. Also, you can’t currently mutate wildlife into moat-beasts either.
What about a mutant threshold? If you consume A LOT of mutagen, you’ll become an amalgamation of every mutations in the game? A more balance-wise threshold.
Since chimera is an attack-wise threshold, we could also have a defense-wise amalgamate threshold focused on tanking and HIGH HP.
How about violent mood swings combined with big hits on intelligence (if certain urges are not fullfilled), general mental degradation (like halucinations) and maybe extreme hits to interactions with NPCs/outright hostile NPCs (ALL of em, maybe unless they are already your followers?)
What’s to stop you purifying away the detriments?
By the time you get this far in the mutation tree, you probably already have several followers if you want them. How does the NPC interaction thing harm you?
Personally I think it just erases one of the big fun elements of mutation, choosing a threshold. Giving players meaningful choices is important.
Just like chimera’s genetic chaos, metallasomaphile(?) or degeneration forces the player to constantly keep maintenance of their health and needs, the “Mutant” threshold could have it’s unique feats and drawbacks.
Thinking about it’s drawbacks is a little tricky. Slime and Chimera constantly need resources but Slime and Medical can conflict each other as they both have mutations affecting how pain affect your character in-game. As some mutations cancel each others out and some may stack, we need a few original ideas before jumping into conclusions.