I found this video pretty helpful for manipulating channel maps for game assets in Affinity. https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/37474-how-do-i-modify-channels-freely/
Also you could add a volume of rocks that surround the potential hole and using volume select and delete mesh modifiers create an animation of rocks being crunched up.
Still not on par with the features in Marius's modifier...yes it's a quad chamfer, But Marius's script offers numerous ways to apply and manipulate the quad chamfer that doesn't seem to be in the default max.....
Maybe the Tesselate modifier will help? I'm not sure, but could give it a try. Just make sure to turn the tension all the way up, otherwise it'll change the shape.
A little preview of a paint shader I've been working on. Playing with xNormal "perfect bake". A modified version of the paint shader for normal mapped parts (above is not normal mapped.)
I always dub divide my base mesh into even squares, then chuck a turbo smooth modifier on it and tick smooth by smoothing groups, it will basically tessellate it without smoothing.
Some grain bags. They all use the same mesh and normals. Made mesh-variations with some FFD modifiers. These are quite large in size, so a few in packs will do.
Its all in the main cat helper object- mixed between the modifier and motion panels. Word to the wise though.... its massively unstable and the retargetting is appalling compared to CS
Thank you everyone for the feedback, helped me strengthen the piece. Here is a modified face (not there yet), and the body with suggestions. I think the arms might be a tad short here.