Would cannibalism increase STR?

>>51885361
Depends on what you eat, for instance if you eat their heart you'll gain their courage. Their rich, tasty courage.

>eat dick
>gain cha

Cannibalism has some pretty cool lore, like mana. Wish I could do it in games without people looking at me funny

>>51885361
>Seriously, Should it?

If you want.
It should probably give some mechanical benefit if you want to tempt players into doing it.

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>>51885427
>Wish I could do it in games without people looking at me funny
Have you tried not playing with cannibals?

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>>51885361
Most definitely.

>>51885361
I don't see cannibalism as being able to increase physical attributes unless you're consuming a magic user with buffed stats. I do feel as though consuming magic users should grant you some degree of their power temporarily, whether it be stored spells, wards they regularly cast on themselves, or just a bonus to whatever mainstat they used for casting.

It wouldn't be a stat increase, but a character that regularly utilizes cannibalism on enemies should have negative effects to reputation in some circles, and potentially an automatic aura of fear against some enemies if their nature is known.

As for other creepy shit affecting stats, I could see potential background/origins placed on characters granting them a "tortured" bonus, which might limit them in one particular area like their charisma, but could give them an increase to endurance and/or fortitude saves, while a negative bonus to will saves, fear in particular.

One could potentially gain a perk for sneak attacks or "precise strikes" if they've gone the serial killer route and tortured people to death. They'd essentially have learned human anatomy very intimately, so they would know exactly where to strike for vital blows. That said, it should go without saying that their alignment or reputation would be evil, and it would likely have to have some negative affect.

Drugs are also a good option in campaigns, and while you might not think they're creepy at first, a lot of drugs have strong negative effects on people physically and mentally. So while they could get a +2 to dexterity or strength or even intelligence, the longterm effects could start to weigh them down, especially if they try to kick the habit.

Eating human flesh results in prion deseases like kuru and one that is essenttially analogus to mad cow disease. They tend to make you shake, because theyre neurological diseases. If anything eating flesh makes you weaker.

>>51885361
I can only imagine how butthurt necromancers would be.
>WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THAT PERSON!
>What person?

>>51885403
I imagine eating people's hearts would grant bonuses against fear effects.

>>51885361
NO! KHORNE DEMANDS ALL BLOOD GOES TO HIM! TO EAT IT IS TO DEFY HIS WILL!

New question: What characters would actually do this?

>>51885619
>Laughing Bloodreavers.jpg

>>51885635
Hungry ones.

>>51885635
Any character who felt they could actively benefit from it and were not morally opposed to it.

Barbarian sorts might see nothing wrong with it, even with a good alignment. Just because it's part of the way of the wild.

Rangers might do it because sometimes that's what it takes to survive, or it's part of their hunting and tracking abilities.

Natural magic characters such as druids and sorcerers might do it because they know it's part of keeping magic in the cycle and acquiring power.

Wizards could do it purely to gain extra insight and knowledge.

Half-beast races like half-orcs and dragonborn might give no fucks just because who gives a shit? Stop being such a pussy, etc. They also might be opposed to it more than others because it's so prevalent and they're so aware of the judgement of others.

Monks might do it because of oneness and the like, or be opposed to it due to purity of body.

I can't really see stealth types doing it, unless there were a way to gain magical insight into secrets this way, such as consuming the brain of a psionic or mindflayer, etc.

>>51885548
This. It can result in some pretty horrifying diseases.

>>51885548
That's only if you eat the brain tissue, though. Eating other tissue shouldn't cause Kuru or similar afflictions, though any diseases(whether active or dormant) the victim has might be transmitted.

>>51885575
Honestly, i would thing eating a heart would grant Will bonuses, drinking blood would be Constitution, eyes would be Perception, tongue would be Charisma, Brain would be....wisdom? intelligence? Pure muscle would be strength and agility?

I've done a dark knight from a cannibal civilization who sought to eat demon hearts for their supernatural power. It was metal.

>>51885548
Incorrect. Read up on kuru. It seems that after generations of enacting their funerary rites, the Fore people have developed a beneficial mutation in their gene structure that gives an immunity to kuru's malformed prion protein.

As such, generations of cannibalism has actually made the Fore people of New Guinea stronger then normal humans.

Yeah, evolution at work.

>>51885880
It is because the people that weren't resistent would die because of it, they didn't "evolve" to resist Kuru, they killed the ones that didn't naturally have it.

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>>51885361
Liver and Heart are best parts!

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>>51885635
Barbarians from wasteland tribes whose resources are scarce that there is no vegetation capable of sustaining grazing ungulates or similar larger sources of meat.
These dire straits have forced them to resort to raiding and capture in order to gain a source of food fit for feast and offering to the gods for good fortune.
The only reason they remain in those lands is because of long standing land conflicts and surrounding kingdoms forcing the barbarians away from any fertile ground because of the fact they are known as savage cannibalistic raiders, but language barriers and illiteracy keep them from any form peaceful treaty that would allow them to promise the kingdoms to swear off their cannibalistic ways in return for being fed proper food in return for the kind of hard labor only these barbarians can provide.
Only a few fiefdoms' leaders have sanctioned the occasional barbarian warrior as a prided lieutenant or bodyguard or favored champion in return for the lavish feasts his people can provide, naturally charbroiled swine is the dish they are most familiar with.

Would make for interesting worldbuilding

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>>51885937
Which is evolution.

So much stupidity... it actually hurts my soul to think humanity is this bad.

>>51885361

By default, no.

A lot of people misunderstand cannibalist improvement, saying shit like eating a person's heart to gain their strength or courage. Under normal circumstances, it is just meat from a man. Eating it is just food.

There are rituals that you can use to draw strength from eating the flesh of others, but they require the subject to still be alive during most of the eating, and you need a sympathist that knows what they are doing who can direct the transfer of essential attributes, reflecting the metaphorical consumption from the literal one. Such rituals are not just long and messy but extremely draining, both on the sympathist and the subject doing the eating, and you need a pretty exceptional sacrifice to eat int he first place, because you can expect the vast majority of whatever their strength or vitality you want to absorb to be lost in the transfer, even if you somehow ate all of them (no one does this).

So if you do eeeeeverything right, then yes you can eat someone to gain their 'power'. But most people don't do it, because they don't know the proper way to do so. The people that do manage it, however, tend to do it repeatedly and can get basically superhuman in the process, but at great cost.

>>51885937
I mean, that is evolution. One generation doesn't magically just develop a mutation, the ones that have it outlast the ones that don't and eventually populate the land with their offspring. Repeat for a while and you have evolution.

>>51885962

Yes. But that means that eating people is still generally a bad idea that will weaken and kill you. Its just that, if you do it enough, eventually your descendants won't be as vulnerable to such diseases. But that doesn't help anyone who has to worry about the effects of cannibalism right now.

>>51885961
>Sees image
I see what you did there...

>>51886010
See >>51885806

Assuming you properly cook the meat, it's really only a problem if you eat the brain tissue.

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>>51885981

>>51885361
it will most likely cause diseases
its your freaking fantasy world, make jacking off increase strength for all you care
consumption and eating has always been a simbol for absortion, so consuming the strongest parts or the represantative of those would work.

>>51885361

Follow the normal systems for human sacrifice. Cannibalism in war and ritual is meant to show dominance over a particular family, group, nation, or religion. Or it's meant to acquire their powers.

So I might allow a bonus to rolls, but ONLY versus members of the same identity group that the victim comes from.

Similarly, if the victim has some kind of exceptional ability or quality about them, then cannibalism lets the practitioner have temporary partial access to that quality. Usually from eating a very specific part of the body.

What all this would add up to is a temporary (one night) advantage. Either a generic bonus to rolls or fate points that apply when directly acting against a member of the victim's group. Or temporary and very partial access to the victim's strongest attribute (magic, strength, skill, charisma, etc). This requires eating a small and important part of the body, like the heart, so the benefit per-victim should only go to ONE cannibal, selected in advance. Others might participate (and suffer from related risks and penalties) but won't gain the benefits.

Why involve bystanders, then? So they share in the stigma and guilt, mainly. Most cannibalistic acts are associated with some degree of shame. Such shame can collectively bind a gang together.

You might require that a cannibal intending to gain ANY benefits be a shaman or equivalent who buys this power in advance.

Finally, the downsides. Madness or a "divine curse" that in a realistic society would be disease. Possibly a curse AND disease. Possibly a diminishing returns effect, especially if cannibalism's benefits are available to anyone and doesn't cost spells/points/levels. You might even make the cannibal a temporary member of the victim's group for the purposes of curses and spells.

Cannibalism should ALWAYS be taboo and risky and evil-feeling. If you try to make it innocuous or routine, then why bother having it in the first place?

>>51885361
If a druid eats an animal, Is that cannibalism?

>>51885361
Doesn't cannibalism debilitate you?

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Yes, also being tortured should up your stats if you survive it.

>>51885422
You need to eat a lot of dick for it to improve your charisma