Changing vertex color in game

[jackalope]

Essentially I am working on a level where the character burns some bushes etc. I accomplish this by using a transition inside of the material. I need to be able to burn one bush at a time, even if there are multiple bushes with the same material. I cant use a triggered parameter because then it would transition all the bushes at the same time.
I was thinking a way to do this would be to use vertex color, is there a way to trigger a change in vertex color of a mesh while in game?
or is there a different way to do this?

thank you

[Xoliul]

You could probably build an elaborate Kismet system that triggers the materials change per bush. it is gonna be a ton of work if you have more than a few separate ones though.

[jackalope]

hmm, might end up just making a new material instance for each bush then.

[Froyok]

A decals system could not be more better ?