Hello Everyone!

We have released this Patreon Post on our newest upcoming addition to Site-02, SCP-953. This post delves into all the mechanics and abilities that SCP-953 will have. As well as including some CGI shots of the new SCP and commentary from our Design Team!

Hello Patreon Supporters!

The next permanent playable SCP has been a long-awaited addition that many of our players have been anticipating. As revealed in our devlog, that addition is being brought to Megapatch III with SCP-953.

This deep dive will go through an overview of the abilities and gameplay of the next addition to the SCP roster. Note that anything shown below is subject to change, so details will be kept brief.

Essence and Polymorphic Properties

Content from: OnionMan & Mikel — Game Design, syuzhet — Modelling, Purplegoop — Animation.

Essence is a new resource bar unique to SCP-953 and is used for most of her abilities. Essence will begin at 0% and generate passively while disguised up to 50%. Every additional human near SCP-953 will add to the generation of Essence, and a small amount is gained for every point of damage dealt by a human to SCP-953 while disguised. SCP-953 will be unable to passively gain Essence for the first 90 seconds of the round.

Disguises

Spawning

At the start of the round, SCP-953 will spawn amongst other human classes in her disguised form. She can spawn with the Scientists, the Class-D, or even the Facility Guards, each with their respective inventories. SCP-953 will not be able to reveal herself to attack them immediately, as Essence cannot passively generate at the start of the round.

“Outside of SCP-079, SCP-953 has the most unique starting situation out of the SCP roster. The main reason we’re placing her directly with humans at the start is to emphasize the social aspect of her disguises. It also allows her to acclimate and trick others more easily, unlike SCP-3114 who had to awkwardly insert itself into a group at the start (which became predictable due to its consistent spawn). Not only that, but due to the fact that SCP-953 can’t generate Essence at the start of the round, she can’t reveal herself prematurely. This means the player is then forced to socialize and integrate with the humans instead of just immediately going on an early game rampage.” ~ OnionMan

Polymorphic

SCP-953’s default form is her disguised state. In order to disguise, SCP-953 has access to a disguise menu which lists the available disguises and an option to undisguise. Of these disguises, SCP-953 is not limited to just the human roles. Every SCP, excluding SCP-079, can be morphed into by SCP-953, granting unique abilities specific to each SCP form. While disguised as any SCP, SCP-953 also gains moderate resistance to all damage sources and receives additional Essence per point of damage taken. The unique abilities for each morphable SCP are described in the table below.

“Initially, SCP-953 was only going to be able to morph into human classes, but that changed later into development. Disguising as SCPs introduces not only another layer of trickery to SCP-953, but also important utility. Each form offers a unique utility to SCP-953, and makes her more versatile and useful while disguised. The SCP-049-2 disguise is the only one able to use the SCP’s abilities to damage humans. We mostly included that one for fun, so now you can technically play as an SCP-049-2 for the whole round (if you really want to)!” ~ OnionMan

SCP-953 can mimic items she picks up while in her human disguise. As an example, she can pretend to fire weapons without consuming ammunition and without dealing any damage. SCP-953 is unable to pick up any high-value items, such as the O5 keycard or the Micro HID.

“From the get-go, I wanted SCP-953 to be able to more convincingly act like a human when disguised. She can pretend to heal, reload, shoot at SCPs, etc. This will hopefully let her more convincingly blend in with crowds for the sake of building Essence, as well as tricking individual players.” ~ Mikel

SCP-953 cannot reveal herself from her disguise until she reaches 50% Essence, preventing her from attacking humans upon spawning. To encourage aggressive play, SCP-953 will be penalised if she remains at 100% essence; her Hume Shield will start to drain and her eyes will begin to glow, revealing herself to those nearby.

Bewitch and Hexed

Once SCP-953 reaches 75% Essence while disguised, she unlocks the ability Bewitch as an alternative reveal method. Once the ability button is held down for a short period, SCP-953 will release a blinding flash of light and crack reality around her, revealing herself to those nearby. This instantly consumes 25% Essence, and any nearby human is flashed and disoriented for under a second. This applies a new, unique status effect exclusive to SCP-953: Hexed.

“Since SCP-953 is built around being able to infiltrate a crowd in order to gain Essence, I wanted to be able to reward a SCP-953 player for successfully fooling a group. Bewitch gives SCP-953 a bit of an edge when picking a large fight, as opposed to having everyone gun her down as soon as she reveals herself.” ~ Mikel

Hexed

Hexed is a new status effect that hinders the victim’s sight and hearing, while also making them more vulnerable to SCP-953. Players inflicted with Hexed have their audio distorted, with sounds being warped and made less decipherable. Their vision is also given a purple tint to indicate the effect is active. SCP-953 is capable of seeing these targets through walls while in proximity and unlocks or improves abilities to use on her prey.

Undisguised Abilities

Content from: OnionMan & Mikel — Game Design, syuzhet — Modelling

SCP-953 is capable of using built-up Essence to reveal herself, unlocking her true form and the ability to attack humans. When revealed, SCP-953 constantly drains Essence and can no longer passively regenerate it. The only ways to regain Essence are through acts of swift aggression. If SCP-953 runs out of Essence while undisguised, she will be instantly forced into a disguise.

“SCP-953 has room to be a much more considerable threat when revealed since her reveal period is limited and must be earned. She gains Essence only through violent acts and effective use of her abilities, but eventually, she will run out. The intended playstyle is that of a rabid animal: desperately and aggressively lashing out at any human you can get Essence from to extend the reveal period.” ~ OnionMan

Slash

Slash is the basic attack for SCP-953. She slashes forward and deals moderate damage, capable of quickly killing those who get too close. Every successful hit generates Essence. Hexed targets take additional damage from Slash, and any kills on Hexed targets immediately regenerate a portion of Essence and Hume Shield.

Fox Hunt

SCP-953 drops to all fours as she enters an alternate movement state. Upon activation, SCP-953 glares at and curses all nearby humans within her immediate line of sight, temporarily inflicting them with the Hexed effect. In this state, SCP-953 gains increased movement speed and unlocks another set of abilities: Pounce and Grapple. This comes at the expense of her passive Essence drain, which increases while in this state. SCP-953 will lose access to all other abilities while in Fox Hunt. This ability is automatically cancelled if SCP-953 runs out of Essence.

Pounce and Grapple

During Fox Hunt, SCP-953 gains Pounce: the ability to charge onto targets for devastating damage or to grapple Hexed targets. After a short wind-up (in which she is slowed for the duration), SCP-953 charges forward in the direction she’s facing. Upon landing Pounce, SCP-953 regenerates a portion of Hume Shield and injures the human victim. Pounce requires precision to successfully utilise due to its narrow turn window. If Pounce kills the target, SCP-953 gains Essence. Regardless of landing Pounce, SCP-953 is slowed for a short period following the ability and forced back into Fox Hunt, allowing her to attempt another Pounce.

“Pounce is an offensive ability that focuses on the user being precise and aggressive for it to be effective. This gives SCP-953 additional skill expression while revealed, while also allowing counterplay from the human perspective since SCP-953 has a tight turn window after launching the attack.” ~ OnionMan

Grapple

Pounce has a special variant when used on a Hexed target. SCP-953 will initiate Grapple on Hexed targets, tackling them to the ground immediately with the ability to pull the target around. SCP-953 is subsequently granted the option to either kill the grappled player or immediately disguise as them. If SCP-953 chooses to kill the player, she will rip the player’s liver from their body and consume it, instantly killing them and regenerating both Hume Shield and Essence. If SCP-953 instead chooses to disguise herself as the player, the body of the victim will disappear instantaneously in a cloud of smoke as SCP-953 steals their inventory and takes on the victim’s identity. If SCP-953 does not choose either within a few seconds, she will automatically choose to kill the victim.

Final Notes

That concludes today’s Patreon post. Be sure to catch up on any exclusive upcoming teasers we regularly post on our Discord server (https://discord.gg/scpsl).

If you are not a Patreon supporter reading this post as it becomes public, you can subscribe to our Patreon, in which our Patreon Supporters who are Tier-2 or above will receive early insights into upcoming content for the game.

Thank you for staying with us <3

~Northwood Studios