Evolutionist

A dwarf stares into a mirror, carefully slotting a glowing crystalline object into the cavity where his eye once was. A sudden click echoes throughout his workshop as the device springs to life. He blinks and gazes around the room, testing his new optical equipment. After a short moment, he places his tools back on the desk in front of him, next to his knife and his recently severed eyeball.
A half-elven woman covered from head to toe in black robes is confronted by a group of thugs in an
alleyway. As they make their demands, she stares at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with them. One of the thugs draws a knife, but before he can take a single step he is abruptly lifted high into the air. The others look on in horror as monstrous tentacles lash out from the woman, grasping him by the throat.
Sweat drips from a halfling’s chin as he kneels within a circle of blood, nightmarish monsters closing in on all sides. His breath quickens as he unsteadily lifts a blade to his shoulder. With one swift motion, he closes his eyes and tears through his upper arm, cleaving it straight from his body. The halfling’s screams echo throughout the cold stone chamber as bones and flesh rapidly erupt from his shoulder, forming a horrendous new limb. In an instant, the pain on his face gives way to a maniacal grin as he stands up, letting loose with his new modification.
What is an evolutionist?
Evolutionists are ambitious warriors; who rather than building their strength through practice and training, improve their natural talents by enhancing and upgrading their body. They reject the idea that they should play the hand they’re dealt, instead seeking to change the game. Where most accept the body they are given, evolutionists aim to control it and push it past its limits. Each evolutionist has different methods and motivations for upgrading their body, but they all are connected by one common goal: evolution.
Continual improvement
Evolutionists are defined by their yearning to improve their bodies through methods that go beyond mere training. They achieve this through a variety of means, from inventive technology and alchemy to ancient magics or even pacts with otherworldly beings. No matter the method, an evolutionist begins to change and alter their form by augmenting their body or growing completely new appendages. These upgrades allow evolutionists
to overpower their enemies, either through raw enhanced capability or through unique tactics enabled by their non-standard biology. Evolutionists live a life of continual growth, utilizing the abilities they gain to seek methods to enhance their bodies even further.
paradoxical identities
An evolutionist’s body is the foundation of their identity, the ultimate focus of their efforts. For them, the body is the most fundamental, intrinsic expression of identity and purpose—from an elk’s antlers to a bat’s ears, every biological adaptation has an explicit reason for existing. Evolutionists often chase after their personal concept of a perfected body, often driven by perceptions of physical weakness, mental ineptitude, or visual unattractiveness. The pursuit of perfection is not without its risks, however. Paradoxically, these same individuals who see the body as a form of expression have a tendency to dissociate from it as they stack up modifications. Some come to perceive the body as little more than a tool or vehicle operated by the brain or soul. While this mentality may facilitate even greater upgrades, it begs an uneasy question; where does the person end and the enhancements begin?
Ambitious sacrifices
Sacrifice is central to the evolutionist’s work. They must forfeit parts of themselves—one day, removing a leg to replace it with an upgraded prosthetic; the next, altering their appearance to suit a new enhancement. While these physically orientated modifications give them the capability to fight toe to toe with the best of martial combatants, evolutionists have greater ambitions. They push their enhancements further than their body can
handle, tearing into their own vitality. Endurance is the most important quality for an evolutionist; the ability to suffer through their ambition is paramount to their success. They stop at nothing in pursuit of their goals; even despite the risk of harm to themselves. Sometimes, they make their greatest sacrifices without even realizing it.

freakish forms
As a result of their work, evolutionists almost always look strange. Modifications to their body rarely go unnoticed, often making people wary of them. Opinions regarding individual evolutionists vary drastically, from disgust and fear to respect and admiration. They are often treated differently not just for their appearance, but also the implications it has for their mental state—surely no one who would do that to themselves is right in their head. Dealing with such reactions on a daily basis, evolutionists tend to be able to overcome others’ opinions of them with relative ease. Some evolutionists are timid and self-conscious, trying to blend in and cowering at hostility. Others relish the notoriety, happily claiming the spotlight—even negative attention is attention. The most dangerous tolerate no hints of judgment, potentially flying into a murderous frenzy at the slightest side-eye.
Creating an evolutionist
As you create your evolutionist character, you should consider exactly how your character upgrades their body. As a starting character, you’ll choose a method that defines the general nature of your enhancements, but the exact form of your upgrades is up to you. Do you enhance your current body? Or do you remove and replace parts of your body?
Is your character methodical and careful when
upgrading their body, or do they make changes as crudely and quickly as possible? Your choice in how your character changes their body is integral to their appearance as well as how others treat them. Each upgrade your character attains will change who they are, and it is this progression of changes that defines you as an evolutionist.
Secondly, you should consider why your character decided to follow this controversial and dangerous path. Was it simply a lust for power, or do they have a larger goal? Each evolutionist has a reason for why they continually improve themselves, due to the sacrifices that come with it. Does your character strive to overcome some obstacle? Or is there something your character wishes to change about themselves? Furthermore, you should consider how your character was led to enhancing their body. Were they introduced to the practice by another, or did it begin with a major chaotic event? Did your character choose this path, or was it thrust upon them?