Review: Aberrant
Darren MacLennan
for the idea, whoever you are. :->
Aberrant
Author: Justin R. Achilli, Andrew Bates and others...
Category: game
Company/Publisher: White Wolf Publishing
Line: Aberrant/Trinity
SKU: WW8500
Cost: $24.95
Page count: 290
ISBN: 1-56504-626-9
Capsule Review by Darren MacLennan on 07/03/99.
Genre tags: Science fiction Modern day Space Anime Post-apocalypse
The real bitch of writing a review like this is communicating just how
impressed I am with the entire product. Aberrant is one of the most
exciting
role-playing games that I've seen in a long while, just because of how
incredibly flexible it seems.
Here's what specifically impressed the hell out of me: I've become a fan
of The Authority, by Warren Ellis, which has analogues of the Justice
League of
America - Apollo is somewhat like Superman, the Midnighter is a little
like Batman, and so forth. But their organization is less like a Boy Scout
troop and
more like a military special operations team, and one of the members -
Hawksmoor - is shown punching through some poor fool's head every time
there's a
fight. They're doing everything that the DC Universe's stultifying
continuity can't, including killing off an entire team (Stormwatch) due to
attrition. It's a
fantastic comic by every standard, putting yet another face on the
superheroic genre.
Here's what impresses me: I can simulate most of the characters within.
Midnighter? Dots of Mega-Strenght, Mega-Dexterity and the Tactical Genius
facet
of Mega-Intelligence, plus healthy dots in Melee and Brawl. Hawksmoor? 5
dots in Teleportation and Mega-Strength, plus some other abilities I'm not
aware
of. Jenny Sparks? Quantum Bolt and Bodymorph. The translation is close to
being exact - and there's not even any fudging. You don't know these
superheroes unless you've read the book, of course, but I was amazed to
see that even non-conventional powers like the Midnighter's tactical
genius were
covered. That's pretty impressive, at least in my book.
Now, I'm sure that some of this is due to the fact that I haven't played
the granddaddy of all superhero role-playing games, Champions, which has a
similar
laundry list of powers. Champions also has the advantage of being sure of
what it is, as opposed to Aberrant, with its skeletal background
information and
nondescript setting. But the other part is sheer wonder as to how they
pulled the whole deal off. The White Wolf system gets up and does a dance
in this
system, providing access to dozens of powers and allowing a player to do
just about anything with them. Usually unimportant facets of the game,
like
soaking damage and initiative, become that much more important - Novas can
literally shrug off hits from anti-aircraft missiles and move faster than
any
resident of the World of Darkness could. (Without Celerity 9, I suppose.)
To boot, there's no cosmetic limitations on most powers, so Superman's
heat vision and Cyclops' optic blast would both be differently powered
versions of
Quantum Blast. That adds immense flexibility to character creation. And if
you don't want to play an X-Man, then you can spend Nova creation points
on a
few dots of Mega-attributes and use the rest to pump up attributes,
abilities and skills. You can be Batman just as easily as you can
Superman.
Here's the bad part: The setting is awful. No other role-playing game that
I've seen, including Changeling: 1st ed has been this skimpy on the
setting.
Essentially, the world of Aberrant is as follows: Everything is cool
except for various hot spots around the world. Novas have changed
everything, including
reforesting Ethiopia and improving the quality of just about everybody's
life. Project Utopia, under the aegis or in cooperation with the Aeon
society, is
acting as a control source for Novas - except that Project Utopia may not
be quite as benevolent as it seems, and a Nova who was trying to blow the
whistle
was murdered. Splinter novas move away from Project Utopia, calling
themselves Aberrants, while Divis Mal has created his own Nova group that
strongly
dislikes human oppression of Novas. And that's the setting, in a nutshell.
I don't know how to react to the above, except to say that it seems
incredibly spare. Superhero comics - and games, by extension - typically
run the gauntlet,
with superheroes fighting aliens, supervillains, mystical threats, demons,
angels, invasions from other dimensions, and other superhero teams when
misunderstandings occur. In their spare time, they also deal with their
regular lives, which include grumpy editors, elderly aunts, the rest of
the team and so
forth. In Aberrant, your opposition is going to take the form of other
Novas - and that's about it. It's an internal struggle for...well,
nothing. If the rumors
about Project Utopia are true, then it's going down; only the most
fanatical Nova is going to work for them if said rumor is true. Once
that's done with,
there's Divis Mal's little band of novas to take care of. Then what?
You go and buy White Wolf's Aberrant supplements, which is rather an
annoying way to learn what the game is supposed to be about. All of the
core White
Wolf games, especially the Big Three - Mage, Werewolf and Vampire - have
very strong details about what their particular world is like. Mage can be
played
without a single supplement, although the Book of Worlds helps immensely.
Aberrant, on the other hand, focuses on a single storyline and tosses off
a few
references to other settings, like military campaigns, or Nova rock bands,
or even Novas engaged in the analogue of professional wrestling.
And you know what? I don't mind at all. Specifically because there's an
entire _world_ of comics out there waiting to be mined for source
material. The
Authority alone suggests a high-powered, high-casualty cynical superhero
campaign, with the team answerable to no-one; meanwhile, the X-Men
suggests...well, I don't know what it suggests anymore, except perhaps the
idea that a dead horse can only be beaten so far. But the early Claremont
days
were human beings as well as superheroes, and had their own personal soap
operas going. Rob Liefield's comics disprove the existence of God. You get
the
idea. The fundemental base of the game is solid enough to accomodate you
in just about every form. I fully expect homebrew versions of the X-Men
and so
forth to be popping up on the web on a steady basis after this game is out
long enough. With a world as rich, varied and unpredictable as the comics
industry, I'm not really feeling that despondent about lack of adequate
source material.
The problem that I do have with the setting material is that it's all over
the place, trying to squeeze way too much information into one spot while
throwing
vast amounts of space around elsewhere. Space is wasted on useless
material like pseudoscientific explanation of how Nova cells work, a full
page worth of
Nova wrestlers talking faux-smack, and two pages of a comic strip which is
essentially two guys kicking each other around a sports arena in a
gladitorial
combat. (Werewolf did the same thing, but it was in the combat section and
caught the atmopshere of the game nicely.) The world is detailed by Dr.
Duke
Rollo, giving somebody at White Wolf a chance to write like Hunter S.
Thompson - specifically, to do a pastiche of "Fear and Loathing in Las
Vegas".
Much space wasted on how outlaw "Rollo' is - and the whole thing stopped
being funny, or even relevant about twenty years ago - and not enough on
the
world. London doesn't like novas and is decaying as a result, but
practical results are in scarce supply.
And the comic books are examples of everything that you don't want to do
within a comic book. One of them is an Aberrant going onto a talk show.
Sound
effects are crammed into speech panels, which makes it sound like they're
saying whatever happens to be occurring. There's no sense of movement, no
sense
of character; Kikjak seems to interrupt at random to finish people's
sentences, but I'm not sure if this is a character quirk or if Kikjak just
happens to be
socially retarded. The worst part is the sheer amount of text packed into
each panel; I'm reminded of a parody in "What The!?", Marvel's parody
magazine,
where the Black Panther had a gigantic caption break free and fall on his
head. It's a text piece designed to look like a comic, and it doesn't
succeed.
Elsewhere, we get to see two unflatteringly lit Novas discussing the
reproductive difficulties that Novas have had - the art is okay, but the
text balloons are
much too long, and it's obviously meant to be a text piece. It advances
the plot somewhat, but it's just not that necessary. There's even
man-on-the-street
interviews, with various idiots spouting off on certain issues ("Why do
Novas wear masks?" "They are so beautiful, it would destroy out minds to
look at
them without masks."). It's like an issue of People crossed with USA
Today, two magazines which aren't exactly high up there on the
informational
spectrum. It's vapid. It's goofy. It's lacking in a lot of useful
information, including the immediate agendas of the various factions, and
it contains one
wrestling reference too many. (Pick one out of the four and that's the
one.) Cutting the entire section out and replacing it with a forty-page
tight summary of
what's going on - black and white, no color, just text and fiction - would
have been a lot better.
But I can understand it when I look at the powers section. Almost all of
the work that wasn't put into the setting went into the powers section
instead - and
like I said, there's a HUGE amount of material that you can deal with.
There's Mega-Attributes, which essentially let your character bring an
attribute to the
logical extreme - and extras let you put that little boost into a
particular Mega-attribute. Mega-intelligent characters can find the
weakest spot in a structure, or
have an eidetic memory, or speak languages without effort, or be geniuses
in any number of fields. Mega-Dexterity lets you dodge bullets, even pluck
them
out of the air. Super-Manipulation turns you into a master hypnotist, or
the smoothest seller of snake oil there ever was. Mega-Appearance
characters,
besides having huge breasts (as judged by the Mega-Appearance
illustration) can inspire awe or subtly manipulate their appearance to
suit whatever
somebody else wants to see.
Speaking of which, it's difficult to write about this game without feeling
like you're overusing the word "mega". Darn it.
The other powers range from the relatively uninspired, like Armor -
useful, but somewhat pedestrian - to the fancy stuff, like Quantum
Imprint, which lets
you steal another Nova's power and use it as your own. They're rated in
three levels, rising in power as they increase; level three powers can be
truly
terrifying, like Magnetic Mastery, or Matter Chameleon. (Touch a diamond,
and your body has the consistency of same - including massive soak rolls.
Touch water, same deal - except now you can flow through cracks and such,
simulating other powers.) If you want your power to have an extra sting to
it -
say, the ability to affect an area, or to split up and hit multiple
targets, or home in, then you can buy an extra power with Nova creation
points. The powers
themselves are fueled by Quantum points, which means that you have to
budget your power expenditures - you can't just wail away all day without
risking
death.
It's damned near addictive to make characters, speaking in the same line.
With most White Wolf games, characters start off at the bottom of the
feeding chain
- they're low-powered, have access to few special abilities and have to
work for a while before they can get access to the high-end stuff. With
Aberrant,
characters can literally start off with enough power to destroy a city if
left unchallenged. It's about as high-powered as you can get. Instead of
being content
with a few dots worth of magick, or a few Gifts, or your starting
Disciplines, you can be throwing around Quantum Bolts from the very
beginning of the
game. The rush of power that you get making a character is nigh-well dizzying.
It's a two-tiered system - you create your basic character in the
time-honored White Wolf fashion. Thanks to the innovations of Trinity, you
don't need to
pick out which skills are primary, secondary and so forth - you just spend
23 points in whatever fashion you desire. Once you're done with that, you
get
thirty Nova points to spend - and here's the fun part. Nova points can be
spent buying powers, or you can cash them in for a variable number of
ability/attribute/background points. One Nova point buys you five
background, for example, which is a pretty nice switch from the harsh
budgeting that you
have to do with regular freebie points. Want to be Doc Savage? Blow your
Nova points on all of your Mega-Attributes, the rest on skills and walk
the earth
without really being noticed. The freedom granted by Nova points is fantastic.
But there's the classic balancer, as in all White Wolf games. The more
powerful you get, the more Taint you earn, which in turns mutates your
body in
various ways. At first, the mutations are fairly benign - a weird skin
color, an unearthly glow - but as you gain more Taint, the mutations
become more
severe. Get enough Taint, and you wind up as a walking plague vector, or
with one of your powers set permanently to "on", or your skin looking as
if it
melted and then re-set badly. The Aberrants in Trinity are just extreme
examples, the natural result of going crazy with power. You have lots of
power, but it
isn't unlimited. In addition, you can take extra dots of Taint in order to
buy powers at a much-reduced rate, with the result that you'll be treading
the edge that
much sooner.
The drama section doesn't have a lot to say. There's some nice references
to boot, including Watchmen, Astro City and the Wild Cards series, and
some
details about the nature of superheroes as demigods. There's a minor
misstep in suggesting that Spiderman is a demi-god; he may have powers,
but the
whole idea of most Marvel comics is that superheroes aren't gods, but just
average people who have tremendous powers. The characterization is
accurate for
DC and Wildstorm, but less so for Marvel. Mega-nitpicking, but still, I
wonder how much research they've done into the entire superhero mythos -
or even
how much they'd wanted to. Ennh. Not that big a deal, really.
The remainder of the book is the usual stuff that I've come to expect from
White Wolf systems - there's some new combat manuvers, and details of how
to
resolve Mega-Strength vs. Mega-Strength contests and so forth, (Nicely
handled - there's still an avenue for comptetition, and Mega-Strength is
handled
quite well.) Nothing out of the ordinary if you own another White Wolf
rulebook, though.
Overall, it's a lopsided product. The setting is weak, but the rules - and
the powers - are fantastic, as well as the sheer possibilities for
adventure that it offers.
For the first time in a long while, I was excited to make a character, as
opposed to being a GM. It's got a lot of possibilities, and any comic book
will provide
ideas for an adventure. If you want a truly great super-hero role-playing
game, I would choose Champions, even with its armfuls of six-sided dice;
but if you
want to see what can be done with a much simpler system, check out
Aberrant. It's not yet a competitor with the more serious games, thanks to
its
fragmentary setting and lack of a coherent focus, but the rules setting
alone is flexible to handle just about anything. I'd recommend it highly.
-Darren MacLennan
I'm simultaneuously elated and disappointed; the setting is weak and
underdone, but the rules and the powers are amazingly versatile, making
the White
Wolf system get up and do tricks.
Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
(Games Review Magazine permission granted by author.)
Steven A. Johnson
>in this
>system, providing access to dozens of powers and allowing a player to do
>just about anything with them.
The system is awsome, truely well produced and easy to use. The flexability
you get with the creation of your character is the best part. Leaving the
exact description of the powers open was a nice touch on white-wolfs part.
>Here's the bad part: The setting is awful. No other role-playing game that
>I've seen, including Changeling: 1st ed has been this skimpy on the
>setting.
Im glad to see that I am not the only one who noticed this ;). In all
seriousness, the setting has much potential, but they provide only an
occasional piece of fact about the world itself, and become niegh obsessed with
light hearted but utterly useless information, like the guided tour of T2M
headquarters or the other things you mentioned. The Game would have been
_much_ better had they stuck to giving more setting and less useless banter
from Stone Badass and his friends.
> In Aberrant, your opposition is going to take the form of other
>Novas - and that's about it.
Well, there are a few other things, like the Teragen, but your point is well
taken. Then again, in an age where "superheros" make more money endorsing Nike
or staring in movies then they do trying to hold the world hostage, it makes
sense there are not a ton of "evil organizations". Its seems that alot of nova
conflict stems on an individual level rather then in epic numbers.
>You go and buy White Wolf's Aberrant supplements, which is rather an
>annoying way to learn what the game is supposed to be about. All of the
>core White
>Wolf games, especially the Big Three - Mage, Werewolf and Vampire - have
>very strong details about what their particular world is like. Mage can be
>played
>without a single supplement, although the Book of Worlds helps immensely.
>Aberrant, on the other hand, focuses on a single storyline and tosses off
>a few
>references to other settings, like military campaigns, or Nova rock bands,
>or even Novas engaged in the analogue of professional wrestling.
That is exactly what I thought too. The fact that all the world information is
going to be presented in other books is something i find distasteful. Not
because I dont want there to be suplements, but because the book seems to
almost make it purposfuly difficult to run a game without the future setting
suplements.
>And you know what? I don't mind at all. Specifically because there's an
>entire _world_ of comics out there waiting to be mined for source
>material.
Very true, something I also agree with. Still, it would be nice to see what
the aberrant world would be like without having to go and buy a ton of
supplements.
"My obvious charms and god-like powers always dazzel the simple, ordinary
folk!" - Dark Schneider, "Bastard"
CeIestiaI7
>>I've seen, including Changeling: 1st ed has been this skimpy on the
>>setting.
>
>Im glad to see that I am not the only one who noticed this ;). In all
>seriousness, the setting has much potential, but they provide only an
>occasional piece of fact about the world itself, and become niegh obsessed
>with
>light hearted but utterly useless information, like the guided tour of T2M
>headquarters or the other things you mentioned. The Game would have been
>_much_ better had they stuck to giving more setting and less useless banter
>from Stone Badass and his friends.
If I may respectfully submit that you may be missing the point. Watch E! for
24 hours straight. Sit down and read a month's worth of People Weekly. What
conclusion have you reached? That maybe our culture is a bit obsessed with
celebrity? That is the heart of the game. In my opinion, it can be one of the
most fun if a creative ST embraces it.
いいいいいいいいい
Scott M Alvarado
To email, just wipe the crud off my address.
いいいいいいいいい
Nikolaj Lemche
> Im glad to see that I am not the only one who noticed this ;). In all
> seriousness, the setting has much potential, but they provide only an
> occasional piece of fact about the world itself, and become niegh obsessed
> with light hearted but utterly useless information, like the guided tour
> of T2M headquarters or the other things you mentioned. The Game would
> have been _much_ better had they stuck to giving more setting and less
> useless banter from Stone Badass and his friends.
I certainly don't agree. What they have done is that give you a kind of
information that let you _feel_ the mood of the world and use it as an
addendum to our modern world.
Instead of writing a lot of dusty and boring descriptions of how the
world works, then they give us a lot of impressions and experiences that
immerses us in how the world is experienced and then we can self build on
that from our own creativity that (hopefully) have been kickstarted by this
entertaining material.
Nikolaj Lemche
------------------------------------------------
E-mail: nik...@mail1.stofanet.dk
Homepage: http://members.xoom.com/Kuranov/
Soonmot
>24 hours straight. Sit down and read a month's worth of People Weekly. What
>conclusion have you reached? That maybe our culture is a bit obsessed with
>celebrity? That is the heart of the game. In my opinion, it can be one of
>the
>most fun if a creative ST embraces it.
>
>
>いいいいいいいいい
>Scott M Alvarado
>To email, just wipe the crud off my address.
>いいいいいいいいい
>
exactly the pieces that you refered to as useless, actually set the tone of
aberrant wonderfully! This is how the media portrays novas. How does your
character live up to the expectations?
---Mike
***CRF "I love the smell of Glamour in the morning"
JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON
CRAAAAAASH!!!
members.aol.com/soonmot/main.html
ICQ: 31886917
"I don't know where you pixies came from, but i sure like your magic pixie
juice!"
--Barney, The Simsons
Bruce Baugh
fell in love with it during playtesting - it is the _only_ game that
everyone in our playtest group likes. Yes, it does an amazing job of
reproducing a huge array of really cool comic-book stuff in and around
the supers genre. And of course it's always good to praise Warren Ellis'
work, and the work of Kurt Busiek, and that of Alan Moore and Frank
Miller, just as I'm doing here.
I guess I'm boggled at people finding the setting skimpy. I see,
literally, years' worth of campaign material there. The Utopia mission
and its interaction with Proteus, the rightness or wrongness of the
Teragen cause, how powers will react to the Null Manifesto, the workings
of organized crime, the Directive...there's a _lot_ here. We know what
an Elites business contract looks like, how several fields of popular
entertainment are changed by the presence of nova, landmarks in medical
and technological progress, how pro- and anti-nova forces of varying
degrees of sanity use the net. I could go on and on. Honestly, I think
this is a book that doesn't really _need_ supplements, even though I'm
glad it'll be getting them.
--
Bruce Baugh / bruce...@sff.net
"I have joyously shut myself up in the solitary domain where the mask
holds sway, wholly made up of violence, light and brilliance."
- James Ensor
Marizhavashti Kali
Darren MacLennan wrote:
>
> I'm simultaneuously elated and disappointed; the setting is weak and
> underdone, but the rules and the powers are amazingly versatile, making
> the White Wolf system get up and do tricks.
I just wanted to comment that the intent with the setting material isn't
to provide exhaustive lists of setting details, but to provide snapshots
of the setting which can (and hopefully does) inspire the storyteller to
expand upon the nuances presented.
This is the first negative response I've seen to the setting material so
far, but the review seemed to indicate you were bothered that it wasn't
something it wasn't trying to be. I also find it interesting that you
don't tie the Teragen references in the setting chapter with the Teragen
references in the character generation and storytelling chapters, which
indicate they're not just villains, or 2d EEEEEEE-vil monsterz, but
viable player characters. As an example. Or the fact that Utopia isn't
presented as the nasty, terrible, corrupted organization that Slider
thought it was. There's more layers there in the book - and what you (or
anyone else) does with them is up to you.
It's a very flexible setting, given that all it really tries to do is
advance the timeline from 1998 to 2008 and account for the differences
engendered by novas.
For me, there's plenty of information to inspire deeper explorations of
the setting.
--
Deird'Re M. Brooks | xe...@teleport.com | cam#9309026
Listowner: Unofficial Fading Suns mailing list
Listowner: Unofficial Trinity and Aberrant mailing lists
http://www.teleport.com/~xenya | http://www.telelists.com
Marizhavashti Kali
CeIestiaI7 wrote:
>
> If I may respectfully submit that you may be missing the point. Watch E! for
> 24 hours straight. Sit down and read a month's worth of People Weekly. What
> conclusion have you reached? That maybe our culture is a bit obsessed with
> celebrity? That is the heart of the game. In my opinion, it can be one of the
> most fun if a creative ST embraces it.
Aberrant went out on a limb by using cultural references rarely applied
to RPGs. Instead of going to Tolkien or comic books or other aspects of
"geek culture," it goes for the real world - E!, People, Time, etc...
Takes what people see of the everyday world and gives us that.
I fail to see how this is a bad thing.
Mike Bass
, How would you do an Iron Man or Mach-1 charecter?
'battlin JAK
Special Prosecutor and partime leg breaker for the:
Red Raven Revenge Squad
A division of Red Raven Revival Society inc.
^v^ & ^v^
Marizhavashti Kali
Mike Bass wrote:
>
> Bruce , I was wondering. You said that the only supers it can't copy are Mages
> , How would you do an Iron Man or Mach-1 charecter?
Mega-Intelligence, Engineering Prodigy, a lot of resources, work closely
with the storyteller to build gear that won't screw the game over...oh,
and keep in mind that powered armor is "blacktech," or on Utopia's
proscribed list (although the US gov't is developing it).
Steven A. Johnson
clarify. Im not saying I dislike the game, I think its awsome. What I am
saying is that if the game isnt trying to be like a conventional RPG in the way
it is set up (ie, less setting) then it would have been nice to know that in
advance. I think the main reason the setting was a disapointment to me is
because I was _expecting_ more. If I had known from the begining through
advertising and whatnot that the set up of the book would not follow normal
white wolf setup for a system, then I wouldnt have commented. But still, dont
take my comment totaly out of context, I still love the game, and thank
everyone involved with it for making the first superhero type game that was
cool enough for me to buy since marvel superheros (hey, I was 11 when it came
out :P)
Carl L. Congdon
> I feel that I am getting a bit of bad press on this subject, so I would like to
> clarify. Im not saying I dislike the game, I think its awsome. What I am
> saying is that if the game isnt trying to be like a conventional RPG in the way
> it is set up (ie, less setting) then it would have been nice to know that in
> advance. I think the main reason the setting was a disapointment to me is
> because I was _expecting_ more. If I had known from the begining through
> advertising and whatnot that the set up of the book would not follow normal
> white wolf setup for a system, then I wouldnt have commented.
Hey, don't feel bad; the color section of the book totally blew me out of the water
the first time I tried to read it. While it nicely simulates the information
overload the average person in this world negotiates on a daily basis, it can be
migraine-inducing when you try to pull the salient points out of the confusion.
It's the mental equivalent of swallowing a TV set while it's still on.
Do yourself a favor: read the color section again and again and again. Eventually,
you will start to notice cool little plot-hooks and ideas that you missed on the
first few go-arounds. Don't despair: the information you want is there, sort of, it
just takes sorting to get to. And what you don't get, you can extrapolate to your
heart's content.
--
The path of excess leads to the Capital of the USA!
Darren MacLennan
In article <377DC472...@teleport.com>, Marizhavashti Kali
<xe...@teleport.com> wrote:
> CeIestiaI7 wrote:
> >
> > If I may respectfully submit that you may be missing the point. Watch
E! for
> > 24 hours straight. Sit down and read a month's worth of People
Weekly. What
> > conclusion have you reached? That maybe our culture is a bit obsessed with
> > celebrity? That is the heart of the game. In my opinion, it can be
one of the
> > most fun if a creative ST embraces it.
>
> Aberrant went out on a limb by using cultural references rarely applied
> to RPGs. Instead of going to Tolkien or comic books or other aspects of
> "geek culture," it goes for the real world - E!, People, Time, etc...
> Takes what people see of the everyday world and gives us that.
>
> I fail to see how this is a bad thing.
>
People and E! and so forth are essentially non-magazines; full of useless
information, gushing celebrity interviews and pictures of same. While
they're certainly useful for the person who like celebrities, they're
hardly useful when it comes to finding out what the world around you is
like. Read People magazine and you'll find yourself with the impression
that everybody watches celebrities like a hawk and worships their every
move; read, say, the New Republic and you'll see the outside world in
greater detail. It's bold, but not useful.
(Soonmot)
>>exactly the pieces that you refered to as useless, actually set the tone of
aberrant wonderfully! This is how the media portrays novas. How does your
character live up to the expectations?<<
I find the whole novas-as-celebrities thing really creepy. For one thing,
celebrities in the real world are hounded, exploited, have their every
move analyzed and generally live as if they're in a fishbowl. Every other
superhero comic that I've seen has them as on the fringes - when Lois Lane
gets an interview with Superman, say, that's a scoop, not an everyday
occurrence. It also maks novas that much more prone to being at the whims
of the public. If they don't like what you did, then they won't support
you when it comes time for you to square off against Teragen.. Are they
superheroes, or advertisements? And if they're both, then how do they get
anything done? ("Love to help you in your fight against Darkseid, but I'm
afraid that you have to open a new Planet Hollywood. Tough break, there,
Orion.")
I don't like celebrity culture, truth be told. Aberrant hits this aspect
pretty hard, and that's why it turned me off. Bratpack had a really witty
commentary on it - in that book, superheroes took on sidekicks in order to
exploit their mass-marketing possibilities, and then killed them off when
they got stale. Sure, it's extreme, but I think that it was a good
commentary.
>>I certainly don't agree. What they have done is that give you a kind of
information that let you _feel_ the mood of the world and use it as an
addendum to our modern world.
Instead of writing a lot of dusty and boring descriptions of how the
world works, then they give us a lot of impressions and experiences that
immerses us in how the world is experienced and then we can self build on
that from our own creativity that (hopefully) have been kickstarted by this
entertaining material.
Nikolaj Lemche<<
How does Project Utopia organize its strike teams? If a nova kills
somebody, then what are the legal procedures as a result? What kind of
activities will the Aberrants be pursuing againt Project Utopia? If the
allegations are true, then how can Project Utopia even survive? What does
the average Nova do when he's not fighting crime? What other threats exist
that Novas can fight against? What are the <spoil>en doing in this
situation? Have the Qin visited Earth yet? What happens when a Nova falls
from the public's favor? (O.J Simpson) What happens when the public finds
out that their heroes are just normal people, instead of their idols? Are
there nova stalkers?
Are super-intelligent novas allowed to play the stock market? If so, has
the stock market taken on a more formalized cast? If they're not allowed,
has there been any civil-rights legislation as a result? Are there nova
lawyers? Can a nova hold public office, especially if he can hypnotize and
manipulate the opposition at will? Doesn't the whole idea of novas
fighting each other violate some antiquated laws against duelling? Are
there collateral casualties from Nova battles, or are most of them held on
Sunday, like in, say, Superman comics? ("The building came down - thank
God it's Sunday, when it's abandoned!") Are novas expected to pay, both
monetarily and legally, for these battles, or do they simply not pay
attention? Is there a formal code for nova battles, to prevent extra
casualties? How specifically do you go about licensing your image for
sale? Can you sue somebody for taking a picture of you? If a nova crosses
a border during a fight, can he be expected to come under fire from the
local militia? For that matter, wouldn't the local militias trying to be
getting ahold of tank-busting weaponry to deal with the Nova threat? If a
nova kills somebody under a corporate contract, who is he responsible to?
Does the government have any novas?
There's a dark side to the celebrity culture a mile wide, one that we've
already seen the result of with the deaths of Princess Di and so forth.
That isn't even touched upon in Aberrant, and it's one of the first things
that was gotten out of the way in, say, Spider-Man. Remember that he
wanted to be a professional wrestler first...
Deird'Re M. Brooks:
>>This is the first negative response I've seen to the setting material so
far, but the review seemed to indicate you were bothered that it wasn't
something it wasn't trying to be. I also find it interesting that you
don't tie the Teragen references in the setting chapter with the Teragen
references in the character generation and storytelling chapters, which
indicate they're not just villains, or 2d EEEEEEE-vil monsterz, but
viable player characters. As an example. Or the fact that Utopia isn't
presented as the nasty, terrible, corrupted organization that Slider
thought it was. There's more layers there in the book - and what you (or
anyone else) does with them is up to you.<<
This is true. But look - compare the Aberrant setting to any other
established superhero setting and you'll see a big gap in terms of
available information. Teragen aren't 2-d villains, no, but there's very
little information included on them. Do they like terrorist raids, or do
they just park themselves in the middle of Central Park and use
pyrotechnics to get their cause across? Have they been specifically
outlawed? Are they like the PLO, which has some legitimacy - which would
merit the existence of Raoul Orzaiz - or are they simply out to cause
damage? Can you be arrested for being a member of Teragen? Can you take
out a contract on a Teragen member's life under the aegis of Project
Utopia aegis? There are examples, but a bit of depth would have been nice.
>>I guess I'm boggled at people finding the setting skimpy. I see,
literally, years' worth of campaign material there. The Utopia mission
and its interaction with Proteus, the rightness or wrongness of the
Teragen cause, how powers will react to the Null Manifesto, the workings
of organized crime, the Directive...there's a _lot_ here. We know what
an Elites business contract looks like, how several fields of popular
entertainment are changed by the presence of nova, landmarks in medical
and technological progress, how pro- and anti-nova forces of varying
degrees of sanity use the net. I could go on and on. Honestly, I think
this is a book that doesn't really _need_ supplements, even though I'm
glad it'll be getting them.<<
I'm sorry, but I find it skimpy. Given the responses here, I'm apparently
in the minority, but I'd like a deeper examination of superheroes in a
White Wolf role-playing game. There's tons of plot hooks - I should have
mentioned that there were - but plot hooks don't quite cut it.
Look at Vampire. Are they just Eastern European bloodsuckers? Nope.
They're anarchists, and flesh-shaping monsters, and crazies, and they've
got a history that runs back to the Bible. Werewolves? They're not just
people who turn into wolves; they've got their own culture, their own
history, their own flaws. Mages aren't just Gandalf; they range from Sons
of Ether to the Verbena to Iteration X. Wraiths and Changelings have their
own variety, from redcaps to sluagh to Spectres to faux-banshees to
fighters for human memory.
Aberrants/Novas/Teragen members - and there has to be a single word
meaning "superhuman" that I could use, any suggestions appreciawted - are
celebrities, and they've got a list of powers a mile wide, but I feel like
I'm missing the depth of the earlier White Wolf games. And _that's_ why I
think that the setting is skimpy.
The Wild Cards series had the answers to a lot of the above questions that
I asked. (Look at the Presidential candidate who had a disassociative
personality that manipulated people's emotion, and then some.) The
legality of what Batman does has been addressed. Recent issues of Superman
had him taking over the world under the mind control of somebody else,
with the resultant drop in public opinion. Spider-man has been pilloried
in the press repeatedly. The X-Men have been declared wanted criminals at
times, and Magneto stood trial for his crimes at the U.N.
But yeah, there is a lot of useful information. It's just not nearly as
deep as I expected; White Wolf's always been very good at taking a
stereotypical image and turning it into something much deeper. And yeah,
the portrayal of Project Utopia is good, and Teragen too. The variable
portrayal of Project Utopia is good. The Null Manifesto is fantastic.
There's tons of plot hooks, including my personal pet favorite, the
military superhero campaign. The stuff that I've seen here makes me think
that I should go over the color section against just to see if I missed
anything. I recommend buying it.
But I don't like the setting; Maybe I'm expecting too much out of it.
Maybe I don't get the whole celebrity thing. Maybe I just missed the point
completely. Maybe I should have said "shallow" in comparison to skimpy. Or
maybe it's deeper than I thought at first.
I don't know - me, I didn't like the setting, and I stand by my review.
-Darren MacLennan
LordSchmit
>>I've seen, including Changeling: 1st ed has been this skimpy on the
>>setting.
>
>seriousness, the setting has much potential, but they provide only an
>occasional piece of fact about the world itself,
One should note that Aberrant is not going to be a game obssesed with "canon
material". It will be more open-ended and allow Storytellers to fill in
whatever details they want without worrying about stepping on the toes of
"canon".
Remember the days when you actually had to be creative, and not rely on the
next supplement to TELL you what was what? You know, the good old days?
Aberrant has brought them back. (:
Use your imiginations folks, and stop being so dependant on what the developers
lay down.
LordSchmit
The Lord of all the Schmits!! HA HA HA!!
Bruce Baugh
>white wolf setup for a system, then I wouldnt have commented. But still, dont
>take my comment totaly out of context, I still love the game, and thank
Oh, I got that, and am delighted.
I think that a little thought puts the need for a setting section unlike
that of the WoD games but also not quite like Trinity into focus. Before
1998, the Aberrant world is basically ours. (Yeah, yeah, Aeon Society,
1925, every age has its heroes, this is a generalization.) You don't
need a guide to the world as it was last year. :)
The world changes a lot in ten years. What the setting chapter does is
give you a feel for how it's changed - not by trying to itemize 6,000
novas, but by showing you big slices of popular culture, different forms
of nova experience, and some looks behind the scenes. Aberrant won't
have a fixed canon in the sense that there is one precisely detailed
course of events and list of major participants. All of this is seed
material around which to build your own world.
Bruce Baugh
>How does Project Utopia organize its strike teams? If a nova kills
>somebody, then what are the legal procedures as a result? What kind of
>activities will the Aberrants be pursuing againt Project Utopia? If the
>allegations are true, then how can Project Utopia even survive? What does
>the average Nova do when he's not fighting crime? What other threats exist
>that Novas can fight against? What are the <spoil>en doing in this
>situation? Have the Qin visited Earth yet? What happens when a Nova falls
>from the public's favor? (O.J Simpson) What happens when the public finds
>out that their heroes are just normal people, instead of their idols? Are
>there nova stalkers?
Page 37 illustrates the organization of Team Tomorrow units. Pages 90-91
illustrate the situation of novas under the law; pages 46-48 suggest
other options. What the Aberrants do and what Utopia does in response
are not defined in the setting because they should be decided by you the
ST. There is no "average nova", and I think this is spelled out pretty
clearly; for examples of what novas do, see pages 3, 19, 29, 33, 36, 40,
43, 45, 51, 53...and that's just the first half of the setting chapter.
Also see the section beginning on page 263. This applies to other
threats, too. No, the Qin haven't visited Earth; in the Trinity timeline
humanity contacts them, not vice versa. If you want to use elements from
Trinity and skip the foreknown future, go for it. Look at Corbin's
career for an example of falling from favor, hard. Nova stalkers aren't
mentioned explicitly, but since they exist in pretty much every role the
ST finds interesting, they shouldn't be hard to do.
Very nearly all of your other questions are also answered just as
explicitly.
>There's a dark side to the celebrity culture a mile wide, one that we've
>already seen the result of with the deaths of Princess Di and so forth.
>That isn't even touched upon in Aberrant, and it's one of the first things
>that was gotten out of the way in, say, Spider-Man. Remember that he
>wanted to be a professional wrestler first...
Um. Pages 35, 51, 59, and 61, among quite a few others, suggest to you
no down side to being perennially in the public eye? And pages 267-268
address this very explicitly.
Pymander7
>Teragen aren't 2-d villains, no, but there's very
>little information included on them. Do they like terrorist raids, or do
>they just park themselves in the middle of Central Park and use
>pyrotechnics to get their cause across?
Teragen are not an "organization" per se, which is exactly how they best
operate. they profess to the public that they are a philosophy, a gathering of
like minds, with no set hierarchy. they have no charter, and "Divas Mal is not
the leader" merely an inspiration. It is a distinct possibility that this is
all a front considering the questionable fate of Directive agent "Turncoat".
However, their public face is one different from an organization.
>Have they been specifically
>outlawed? Are they like the PLO, which has some legitimacy - which would
>merit the existence of Raoul Orzaiz - or are they simply out to cause
>damage? Can you be arrested for being a >member of Teragen?
Utopia, Proteus, and the Directive are all investigating Teragen to varying
degrees of success. They have YET to find anything that could lead to outlawing
the organization as a whole. When one member of Teragen does something like an
act of terrorism or assasination (the example featured in the book), Teragen
provides quiet support for them while claiming that they're not an
organization. After all, if a passing acquaintence of yours killed someone or
several someones, you might be suspected as aiding and abetting them. Without
proof, the only crime you're guilty of is poor choice in friends. Of course,
they could just be a philosophy... Until Utopia or someone else proves
otherwise (or creates OpNet propaganda to that effect) we may never know the
official answer. That's all up the individual ST to decide.
After all, assumptions are easy to make, but what will REALLY drive Divas Mal
to assualt the UN in the Trinity continuity? My guess; the choice is yours.
Kevin Talbot
Darren MacLennan
lords...@aol.com (LordSchmit) wrote:
Please understand me: I'm not going to use Aberrant's setting. I'm going
to make my own. I don't intend to buy Aberrant supplements. The rules
alone are enough to spark ideas for a thousand different scenarios.
But there's no competition with other RPGs for setting. That's my point.
-Darren MacLennann
Darren MacLennan
Baugh) wrote:
> In article <dmaclenn-030...@192.168.237.249>,
dmac...@kent.edu (Darren MacLennan) wrote:
>
> >How does Project Utopia organize its strike teams? If a nova kills
> >somebody, then what are the legal procedures as a result? What kind of
> >activities will the Aberrants be pursuing againt Project Utopia? If the
> >allegations are true, then how can Project Utopia even survive? What does
> >the average Nova do when he's not fighting crime? What other threats exist
> >that Novas can fight against? What are the <spoil>en doing in this
> >situation? Have the Qin visited Earth yet? What happens when a Nova falls
> >from the public's favor? (O.J Simpson) What happens when the public finds
> >out that their heroes are just normal people, instead of their idols? Are
> >there nova stalkers?
>
> Page 37 illustrates the organization of Team Tomorrow units.
This is true. Five-man teams with multiple skills. It's buried underneath
a lot of PR, the kind that you see in advertisements for colleges. I
didn't catch it the first time around. So: Why bury it in ad flack?
Pages 90-91
> illustrate the situation of novas under the law;
It answers very few questions. A guy gets dragged into court for burning
down a warehouse full of black market alcohol, gets thrown into court,
mentions the directive, disses Project Utopia and is declared out of
order. That doesn't entirely answer the questions that I'm asking. The
Directive is definitely interesting, the kind of cynicism that I didn't
see in the first read-through, but it seems more about the competition
with Project Utopia than the law. It's a start.
pages 46-48 suggest
> other options. What the Aberrants do and what Utopia does in response
> are not defined in the setting because they should be decided by you the
> ST.
There is no "average nova", and I think this is spelled out pretty
> clearly; for examples of what novas do, see pages 3, 19, 29, 33, 36, 40,
> 43, 45, 51, 53...and that's just the first half of the setting chapter.
Okay. That was an unfair criticism on my part, I think.
> Also see the section beginning on page 263. This applies to other
> threats, too. No, the Qin haven't visited Earth; in the Trinity timeline
> humanity contacts them, not vice versa. If you want to use elements from
> Trinity and skip the foreknown future, go for it.
I was thinking more along the lines of the Skrulls and Kree from the
Marvel Universe, and the alien race that dropped a gene bomb on the DC
universe some years back. I see what you mean, though.
Look at Corbin's
> career for an example of falling from favor, hard.
He fell for an entirely good reason, I think, as opposed to the usual
celebrity-gets-too-full-of-himself stuff. But I see what you mean.
Nova stalkers aren't
> mentioned explicitly, but since they exist in pretty much every role the
> ST finds interesting, they shouldn't be hard to do.
>
> Very nearly all of your other questions are also answered just as
> explicitly.
>
> >There's a dark side to the celebrity culture a mile wide, one that we've
> >already seen the result of with the deaths of Princess Di and so forth.
> >That isn't even touched upon in Aberrant, and it's one of the first things
> >that was gotten out of the way in, say, Spider-Man. Remember that he
> >wanted to be a professional wrestler first...
>
> Um. Pages 35, 51, 59, and 61, among quite a few others, suggest to you
> no down side to being perennially in the public eye? And pages 267-268
> address this very problem...
Page 35 is public opinion. Page 51 is wrestlers talking smack for the XWF,
which is professional wrestling of a sort, which has its own rules. I'm
not sure what page 59 is even about - psychotic groupies, sure, but the
guy that they're talking about sounds pretty psychotic himself. Page 61
does suggest the problems inherent with being a celebrity, but I wish that
they'd been spelled out in greater detail. Pages 286-287 deal with the
sheer importance of novas and the whole idea of superheros as icons, but
gods don't need to worry about PR; they just smite whoever doesn't agree
with them.
Bruce Baugh
>Please understand me: I'm not going to use Aberrant's setting. I'm going
>to make my own. I don't intend to buy Aberrant supplements. The rules
>alone are enough to spark ideas for a thousand different scenarios.
I just want to make clear that I continue to notice and agre with you
here. I think this is an amazingly flexible and encompassing set of
rules.
>But there's no competition with other RPGs for setting. That's my point.
I agree with the literal meaning of these words but with the opposite
intent - this is also one of my favorite settings.
However, in such matters there's no right or wrong answer, once people
agree on what's actually in the book. Nobody has to like or dislike any
part, or the whole.
Nikolaj Lemche
> I just want to make clear that I continue to notice and agre with you
> here. I think this is an amazingly flexible and encompassing set of
> rules.
I don't quite agree with you on that. All effects are intermingled, and one
power creates changes in another which again cause a third effect, so you
have to calculate and calculate and calculate to find out in the end what
you can do.
You cannot simply say, this is what my character can and can't do. And a GM
certainly cannot bring in a nova NPC on the fly while still being
consistent. This system is much more unclear and rule heavy than f.ex.
Marvel SAGA.
This disappoints me a little because one of the quality things about WW
games has always been that you put down your dots on paper, and then you
knew what you could do. In this game you need to calculate a lot of side
effects that affects other abilities.
A grim example is the Sizemorph (growth) power, where it gives you extra
wound boxes when you grow, but it also adds to your attributes, and when
they reach mega attributes then they add new abilities again like extra
wound boxes again. That's confusing.
Or if you want to be a speedster. Then you have to buy both mega dexterity
and hypermovement, Both affect your movement speeds, but in different ways
and not always and you have to combine the calculations from both to
determine the end result. That is a rather clumsy way of doing it.
I still like this game because I find the background material very cool and
it really gives you stuff to think about if you are a Trinity fan. But the
game suffers from trying to change storyteller which is a heroic game into a
superheroic.
They should have kept the kind of simplicity that we have in Trinity.
There are some concepts that are cool in this game. But the same concepts
makes it difficult to use in non-aberrant games:
The Mega attributes are cool they combined with their enhancement really
give you the feel that when you are superhuman in an aspect, then you can
use it for superhuman feats.
But they limit a lot of common powers to people who have super attributes.
This works well in aberrant because of the logic behind why there are super
powers at all, but it creates lots of problems in other game worlds.
The same goes for the Quantum attribute. This one is very cool in aberrant
because the whole idea behind why novas can do what they do is that they
channel quantum energy and this attribute indicates how powerful their
ability to channel this energy is.
But in other game worlds this concept wouldn't work because there can be
scores of reasons why you can do super powered stuff.
Marizhavashti Kali
"Steven A. Johnson" wrote:
>
> I feel that I am getting a bit of bad press on this subject, so I would like to
> clarify. Im not saying I dislike the game, I think its awsome. What I am
> saying is that if the game isnt trying to be like a conventional RPG in the way
> it is set up (ie, less setting) then it would have been nice to know that in
> advance. I think the main reason the setting was a disapointment to me is
> because I was _expecting_ more. If I had known from the begining through
> advertising and whatnot that the set up of the book would not follow normal
> white wolf setup for a system, then I wouldnt have commented. But still, dont
> take my comment totaly out of context, I still love the game, and thank
> everyone involved with it for making the first superhero type game that was
> cool enough for me to buy since marvel superheros (hey, I was 11 when it came
> out :P)
Sorry, wasn't trying to put you down, I was trying to give you context
for why the setting is at it is. I did express surprise because most
everyone I'd met until now did like the setting. :-)
I'm not gonna put anyone down for liking the game.
Balor
@ <xe...@teleport.com> wrote:
@ > Aberrant went out on a limb by using cultural references rarely applied
@ > to RPGs. Instead of going to Tolkien or comic books or other aspects of
@ > "geek culture," it goes for the real world - E!, People, Time, etc...
@ > Takes what people see of the everyday world and gives us that.
@ >
@ > I fail to see how this is a bad thing.
@ >
@
@ People and E! and so forth are essentially non-magazines; full of useless
@ information, gushing celebrity interviews and pictures of same. While
@ they're certainly useful for the person who like celebrities, they're
@ hardly useful when it comes to finding out what the world around you is
@ like. Read People magazine and you'll find yourself with the impression
@ that everybody watches celebrities like a hawk and worships their every
@ move; read, say, the New Republic and you'll see the outside world in
@ greater detail. It's bold, but not useful.
But, that's the point... Aberrant, as described by WW people, is about what
would happen today if people started waking up with superpowers. If Superman
walked Metropolis today, it wouldn't be just some chicken-headed reporter
running around trying to get a scoop for the Daily Planet, it would be her,
Sam "Twitchy" Donaldson, Ba-ba Wa-Wa, Dan "Hurricane" Rather, and Jerry
"Superslime" Springer (among others) all trying to get at the big Soup. I can
imagine now the painful attempts at humor on the Late Late Show and the Daily
Show about whether or not Superman lays super farts... (Quite seriously)
@ >>exactly the pieces that you refered to as useless, actually set the tone of
@ aberrant wonderfully! This is how the media portrays novas. How does your
@ character live up to the expectations?<<
@
@ I find the whole novas-as-celebrities thing really creepy. For one thing,
@ celebrities in the real world are hounded, exploited, have their every
@ move analyzed and generally live as if they're in a fishbowl. Every other
@ superhero comic that I've seen has them as on the fringes - when Lois Lane
@ gets an interview with Superman, say, that's a scoop, not an everyday
@ occurrence. It also maks novas that much more prone to being at the whims
@ of the public. If they don't like what you did, then they won't support
@ you when it comes time for you to square off against Teragen.. Are they
@ superheroes, or advertisements? And if they're both, then how do they get
@ anything done? ("Love to help you in your fight against Darkseid, but I'm
@ afraid that you have to open a new Planet Hollywood. Tough break, there,
@ Orion.")
Yes... that's the point. It's about what would happen today... There would be
a horrendous media blitz. It's not about the same society that existed when
Superman was first penned... It's about today's society, one in which the
media is much, much less forgiving toward its celebrities.
It IS creepy. It's also how it would go down... There used to be a time when
celebreties were admired but no one really tried to go through their dirty
laundry. That time has passed. It doesn't matter whether or not people
actually truly care about celebrities... the people running the magazines
think they do and people buy it... that's what matters.
If superheros and supervillians were to appear in today's culture, it would
probably take the same route as O.J., Jean Benet, Star Wars, and Monica
Lewinsky... it may even last longer. (Imagine Geraldo going into another
obsession...)
The angst is not in just dealing with having the powers and deciding whether
or not to use them responsibility, but it's also in dealing with the pressure
of becoming an overnight star and trying not to go the way of Todd Bridges.
Or, alternately, the threat of being discovered and outed to the world may
force you to keep the powers under wraps... Bad guys could use your identity
against you, or you could simply want to be left alone... so you either hide
your abilities or you take on a secret identity.
It's not THAT different from traditional comic-book superhero set-up... it
just adds in the fact that modern media personnel are starving piranahs.
[snip]
@ There's a dark side to the celebrity culture a mile wide, one that we've
@ already seen the result of with the deaths of Princess Di and so forth.
@ That isn't even touched upon in Aberrant, and it's one of the first things
@ that was gotten out of the way in, say, Spider-Man. Remember that he
@ wanted to be a professional wrestler first...
Why not touch upon it in your own games? I certainly plan to... (when I get
time to play)
Bruce Baugh
>didn't catch it the first time around. So: Why bury it in ad flack?
>Directive is definitely interesting, the kind of cynicism that I didn't
>see in the first read-through,
I'm seeing a recurring pattern here. I'm certainly willing to agree that
much of the meat of the setting isn't necessarily obvious at first
reading, just as I agree with those pointing out that it tends to work
by example rather than generalization. And it's true that the setting
material does not have a disclaimer to the effect that "There's more
here than meets the eye.", with or without Transformer endorsement
attached. :)
Bruce Baugh
>It's not THAT different from traditional comic-book superhero set-up... it
>just adds in the fact that modern media personnel are starving piranahs.
That's nicely put.
Bruce Baugh
>You cannot simply say, this is what my character can and can't do.
Um, _I_ can. Ever since we got the playtest manuscripts we've been doing
various experiments, and they include creating characters who only do
one thing.
>consistent. This system is much more unclear and rule heavy than f.ex.
>Marvel SAGA.
I find it clear and a joy to work with. More rules-heavy? Yeah,
probably. But then it also seems easier to do a whole lot of
non-four-color things with it.
>A grim example is the Sizemorph (growth) power, where it gives you extra
>wound boxes when you grow, but it also adds to your attributes, and when
>they reach mega attributes then they add new abilities again like extra
>wound boxes again. That's confusing.
The Golden Rule is hereby invoked. :) If you only want to use part of a
power, only use part of the power.
I can also make an argument that the growing characters I can think of
off the top of my head (starting with Colossal Boy because I'm an LSH
goob) _do_ seem to get increased damage resistance and such as part of
the bargain.
>They should have kept the kind of simplicity that we have in Trinity.
I think it does.
> But in other game worlds this concept wouldn't work because there can be
>scores of reasons why you can do super powered stuff.
We went around this topic in playtest, too. Yes, the in-game explanation
is specific to the game world. But you can abstract it as just "energy"
- whatever powers a character.
The same is true of Taint. Taint per se exists only in the Aberrant
universe. But if you look at the _effects_ of Taint, you get....
- the brilliant scientist whose experiments on himself go awry. He's
superhumanly agile, but he's now blue and furry. In the course of his
career he enhances his powers further, often at the cost of temporary or
permanent increase in his level of inhuman appearance and even his
sanity.
- the ace pilot who's now super-strong and enduring, but the same
exposure that gave him those powers turned him orange and rocky.
- the brilliant engineer who erupted while trying to rescue a foolhardy
boy, and who's gone through constant evolution over the years. Sometimes
he's the strongest man on the planet but nearly mindless; sometimes
green, sometimes gray; and so on.
- the brilliant scientist (hey, there's a pattern here, makes one
wonder) who can somehow never manage to permanently overcome the
paralysis of his legs by _any_ means, including getting a whole new
body, and who periodically goes insane in ways that threaten the whole
world.
..and so on. You can match up all those effects to various levels of
Taint, and use it as an out-of-game indicator of the Consequences Of
Power Gone Awry.
Darren MacLennan
Baugh) wrote:
> In article <dmaclenn-030...@10.1.1.3>, dmac...@kent.edu
(Darren MacLennan) wrote:
>
> >didn't catch it the first time around. So: Why bury it in ad flack?
>
> >Directive is definitely interesting, the kind of cynicism that I didn't
> >see in the first read-through,
>
> I'm seeing a recurring pattern here. I'm certainly willing to agree that
> much of the meat of the setting isn't necessarily obvious at first
> reading, just as I agree with those pointing out that it tends to work
> by example rather than generalization. And it's true that the setting
> material does not have a disclaimer to the effect that "There's more
> here than meets the eye.", with or without Transformer endorsement
> attached. :)
>
>
This is true. But damn, man - if I have to read everything with a fine
tooth comb, wade through PR flack and pointless discussions just to get
simple information, that doesn't strike me as a good way to get
information across.
I think that we're coming close to simply...god, I hate that phrase (agree
to disagree) - we just don't agree. It's nice that you tried something
different, but in my experience, it just doesn't work.
-Darren MacLennan
Darren MacLennan
Baugh) wrote:
> _I_ didn't do it. I just think it succeeds brilliantly.
>
> Can we agree that there's a lot to like about the game and that folks
> should check it out and see what works or doesn't for them?
>
>
God, yes. Just for the powers alone.
-Darren MacLennann
Marizhavashti Kali
Darren MacLennan wrote:
>
> I think that we're coming close to simply...god, I hate that phrase (agree
> to disagree) - we just don't agree. It's nice that you tried something
> different, but in my experience, it just doesn't work.
On the other hand, I'm glad you like the rules (chargen and the like).
They're a wonder to work with. :-) No spreadsheets.
(I still like Champions, but Aberrant and MSHSAGA are at the top of my
list)
Bruce Baugh
>I think that we're coming close to simply...god, I hate that phrase (agree
>to disagree) - we just don't agree. It's nice that you tried something
>different, but in my experience, it just doesn't work.
_I_ didn't do it. I just think it succeeds brilliantly.
Can we agree that there's a lot to like about the game and that folks
should check it out and see what works or doesn't for them?
Bruce Baugh
>> Can we agree that there's a lot to like about the game and that folks
>> should check it out and see what works or doesn't for them?
>God, yes. Just for the powers alone.
Okay, cool then.
A lot of my friends have great fun playing Champions. It's never worked
for me, for various reasons that have nothing to do with its merits as a
game. (Someone will still accuse me of of Champions-bashing, of course.)
I am very fond of various other supers games, and still really want to
play the SAGA version of Marvel Super Heroes. But for me, Aberrant is
really the supers game I've been waiting for ever since Superhero 2044.
It does a _lot_ of things in and around supers, including pulp and
action of various sorts.
When I started hearing the behind-the-scenes gossip about Aberrant, I
was profoundly skeptical. Anyone who's run the Storyteller system much
knows how weird things get on the high end. Could it possibly work for
the sorts of things we knew from Trinity it would need to do? "Maybe,"
thought I, "since Rob Hatch has surprised me before...but it'll take a
lot of work."
Well, it got a lot of work. :)
Brandon Quina
> deep as I expected; White Wolf's always been very good at taking a
> stereotypical image and turning it into something much deeper.
I disagree here, totally. White Wolf took a stereotypical game, and
while still allowing you to play superheroes (team tomorrow being a good
way to handle a superhero team, in my opinion), made a game that's about
people with superhuman abilitys and how it changes their life...
Their is lots of stuff to do in the setting, just like every other
white wolf game, but it doesn't all leap out at you... It's like a
vampire game; once you get past the basic, "I'm a vampire, blah blah
blah!" it can get to the point where you have to think to decide what to
do next---the same with Aberrant; the game is hardly restrained to the
"Utopia vs. Aberrants" issue, and in fact you just proved how vibrant
the setting is yourself--every little question you asked in your post
could be an adventure (or, at the very least, a sideplot) in the game --
that's whats cool about the game. You don't /have/ to be some muscle
clad superhero... ;0) /That's/ how it breaks the stereotypes! :)
Brandon,
Brandon Quina
I'd say the book contained as much (more, actually) setting information
as -- for example -- Vampire, or Mage. It talks about the stuff that is
different from the world as we know it, talks about the various ways
things work, and gives us information designed to spark our imaginations
-- if you want more detail, their are (or will be, in the case of
aberrant) more stuff coming out soon, but...
Well, just put it this way -- does Vampire talk about the modern day
work exclusively? Do we get road maps of New York and information on
how the American Legal System works? No, it talks about the vampires
and how they have affected and changed the modern world -- Aberrant does
the same thing, only with novas; anyone comparing this to Trinity (a
setting that is /vastly/ different from ours in everyway; same planet,
but over 100 years in the future! Aberrant, on the other hand, is just
ten years in the future! ;) The book contains just as much information
(more, in my opinion) on how novas work and have changed their society
as -- for example -- the base vampire book talks about vampires and how
they have changed things.. ;)
Brandon,
Brandon,
Mike Bass
>- the brilliant scientist whose experiments on himself go awry. He's
>superhumanly agile, but he's now blue and furry. In the course of his
>career he enhances his powers further, often at the cost of temporary or
>permanent increase in his level of inhuman appearance and even his
>sanity.
>
>- the ace pilot who's now super-strong and enduring, but the same
>exposure that gave him those powers turned him orange and rocky.
>
>- the brilliant engineer who erupted while trying to rescue a foolhardy
>boy, and who's gone through constant evolution over the years. Sometimes
>he's the strongest man on the planet but nearly mindless; sometimes
>green, sometimes gray; and so on.
>
>- the brilliant scientist (hey, there's a pattern here, makes one
>wonder) who can somehow never manage to permanently overcome the
>paralysis of his legs by _any_ means, including getting a whole new
>body, and who periodically goes insane in ways that threaten the whole
>world.
The brilliant science student with the Str , Sta and Dex of a man-sized Spider
who temperarily gains extra arms.
The thug who gains superhuman str and sta by donning a suit that permemetly
bonds to his body.
The former villain who after being trapped in earths magnetic field has his
powers increased , and gains severe meglomania.
The most powerful being in the universe who must consume the life force of
living planets.....
Mike Bass
>
> Bruce , I was wondering. You said that the only supers it can't copy are
Mages
> , How would you do an Iron Man or Mach-1 charecter?
Mega-Intelligence, Engineering Prodigy, a lot of resources, work closely
with the storyteller to build gear that won't screw the game over...oh,
and keep in mind that powered armor is "blacktech," or on Utopia's
proscribed list (although the US gov't is developing it).
Do you think an enhancement of Mego-Int could be a "Power pool" wherein you
could convert EXP into Power Points , and spend them on devices. Make a Int +
Science/Engeneering roll.
Would that be overboard?
TyrsofIce
>for me, for various reasons that have nothing to do with its merits as a
>game. (Someone will still accuse me of of Champions-bashing, of course.)
I love playing Champions as a player, just for the sheer amount of ways to
design a character and the powers he or she may have. However, the game for me,
is nearly impossible to GM..waaaaaaay too many numbers for me to remember. When
you have one character, it's easy, but I could never GM a whole supervillian
team with those complex rules.
Which is why Aberrant may work better for me.
Matt
Marizhavashti Kali
Mike Bass wrote:
>
> Do you think an enhancement of Mego-Int could be a "Power pool" wherein you
> could convert EXP into Power Points , and spend them on devices. Make a Int +
> Science/Engeneering roll.
> Would that be overboard?
If your ST goes that route, probably not. Might be a bit underboard. :-)
Nikolaj Lemche
> I can also make an argument that the growing characters I can think of
> off the top of my head (starting with Colossal Boy because I'm an LSH
> goob) _do_ seem to get increased damage resistance and such as part of
> the bargain.
I'm sorry, but you are missing my point. I agree that of course you get
tougher when you grow, but that increased toughness should have been a part
of the power itself instead of invoking other powers because that makes the
game confusing.
You need to think in absolutes in super RPGs because if you begin to follow
logical lines then you end up in a quagmire of interrelated influences that
makes it difficult to see what is what.
I agree that in time you can learn all these strange pathways through the
rules but they shouldn't have been necessary in the beginning. The rules are
simply far to complicated.
> We went around this topic in playtest, too. Yes, the in-game explanation
> is specific to the game world. But you can abstract it as just "energy"
> - whatever powers a character.
<snip>
Yes I have already done this argument with myself. But the fact is that you
simply fit the world to the system instead of fitting the system to the
world. And that is a very bad thing IMO.
By the way it is very difficult to use the golden rule well, until you
understand all the implications of change. And that is rather difficult in
this game.
Mike Bass
>
> Do you think an enhancement of Mego-Int could be a "Power pool" wherein you
> could convert EXP into Power Points , and spend them on devices. Make a Int +
> Science/Engeneering roll.
> Would that be overboard?
If your ST goes that route, probably not. Might be a bit underboard. :-)
I'll be the ST , I'm still trying to figure out some conversions tho. My
setting is going to be a What If Marvel Series.
Marizhavashti Kali
> I'm sorry, but you are missing my point. I agree that of course you get
> tougher when you grow, but that increased toughness should have been a part
> of the power itself instead of invoking other powers because that makes the
> game confusing.
Sizemorph doesn't really seem to be any more confusing than Champions
Growth - less so, I'd say. The rules for what you add are very
straightforward...
You need only make one notation on your sheet when you buy the power,
and from then on, you know what changes you need to make when you grow.
> You need to think in absolutes in super RPGs because if you begin to follow
> logical lines then you end up in a quagmire of interrelated influences that
> makes it difficult to see what is what.
I don't see what you're getting at here, except maybe that Aberrant
isn't MSHSaga?
> I agree that in time you can learn all these strange pathways through the
> rules but they shouldn't have been necessary in the beginning. The rules are
> simply far to complicated.
The pathways are laid out for you, tho.
> Yes I have already done this argument with myself. But the fact is that you
> simply fit the world to the system instead of fitting the system to the
> world. And that is a very bad thing IMO.
I'm sorry?
Marizhavashti Kali
Mike Bass wrote:
>
> I'll be the ST , I'm still trying to figure out some conversions tho. My
> setting is going to be a What If Marvel Series.
Try it out... It might work out nicely.
FWIW, Dean Shomshak said that he'd written some gadget rules for Year
One (out in September).
> 'battlin JAK
> Special Prosecutor and partime leg breaker for the:
> Red Raven Revenge Squad
> A division of Red Raven Revival Society inc.
> ^v^ & ^v^
--
Bruce Baugh
>Yes I have already done this argument with myself. But the fact is that you
>simply fit the world to the system instead of fitting the system to the
>world. And that is a very bad thing IMO.
Um, no, I found ways in the system to account for phenomena in comic
books ranging back to the 1960s.
In the early 1980s, Robert Plamondon formulated Plamondon's Law: To the
extent that rules deform the world, the rules are broken. I believe in
that very strongly. So I've been testing Aberrant by applying it to
preexisting characters. I find that it works well producing the effects
that we see in comics.
Mike Bass
Quicksilver.
Name
Alias Pietro Maximoff
Nature Loner (While capible of working with groups , Quicksilver really does
not get along well with others and tends to go off on his own , even in combat)
Attributes
Str 3
Sta 3
Dex 5
Per 3
Int 2
Wits 4
Cha 2
Man 2
App 2
Abilities
Ath 3 Brawl 3 Might 2 Pilot 2 Stealth 1 End 3 Res 3 Aware 2 Comp 2 Command 3
Backgrounds
Contacts (inhumans) 4 Resources 3
Quantum 5 Quantum Pool 35 Willpower 7 Taint 1
Aberrations:
Impulsiveness
Powers:
Mega dex 5:Fast tracks -Rapid Strike Mega wits 4 :Quickness -Enhanced
Initiative-Multi Tasking
Hypermovement 4
Nikolaj Lemche
> Sizemorph doesn't really seem to be any more confusing than Champions
> Growth - less so, I'd say. The rules for what you add are very
> straightforward...
But the problem is that it creates mega attributes that again has new
effects on the game that you have to look at in other places in the book. So
while you are creating your Nova, then it isn't clear what you really can or
can't do until you do some recalculations in the end.
> I don't see what you're getting at here, except maybe that Aberrant
> isn't MSHSaga?
No what I'm getting at is that it shouldn't be necessary to recalculate the
effects of your power to find out what you can do in the end.
The first character I created in Aberrant was a speedster. And I couldn't
read out of the hypermovement power how fast she was going to be. I had to
go through the mega dex and then combine it with hypermovement to find out
the result. And you need both traits to be a speedster.
And I had to go from hypermovement and back to mega dex to find out how it
could affect the character in tactical situations. Back-and-forth
back-and-forth and so on...
The overall problem is that you can't simply look through the book and say:
"this is what I want" and then simply use it. You have to find out all the
other factors that influences that ability and then in the end you can
hopefully end up with something close to what you intended.
> The pathways are laid out for you, tho.
They shouldn't have been necessary.
> I'm sorry?
Huh? My statement were quite straightforward. If you have to twist
explanations the world to make it fit a game system, then the game system
fails.
Marizhavashti Kali
Nikolaj Lemche wrote:
>
> Marizhavashti Kali wrote:
>
> > Sizemorph doesn't really seem to be any more confusing than Champions
> > Growth - less so, I'd say. The rules for what you add are very
> > straightforward...
>
> But the problem is that it creates mega attributes that again has new
> effects on the game that you have to look at in other places in the book. So
> while you are creating your Nova, then it isn't clear what you really can or
> can't do until you do some recalculations in the end.
Well, I strongly suspect you don't get any free Enhancements, so all it
does is give you the ability to lift a certain mass, and gain a certain
number successes, or increases your soak, etc. It's nowhere near as
complicated as you're laying out here. If there were more than 5 ranks
to Mega-Attributes, and they had more effects than given in the book, I
might be more inclined to agree with you.
> > I don't see what you're getting at here, except maybe that Aberrant
> > isn't MSHSaga?
>
> No what I'm getting at is that it shouldn't be necessary to recalculate the
> effects of your power to find out what you can do in the end.
Recalculate? You make this sound like a complex algebraic equation. It's
nowhere near. You have 1-5 dots of Growth. Each dot has a specific
effect. So, you write down that specific effect. If you really want, you
can write out what each dot in the mega-attributes does. This isn't
something that should slow down play.
> The first character I created in Aberrant was a speedster. And I couldn't
> read out of the hypermovement power how fast she was going to be. I had to
> go through the mega dex and then combine it with hypermovement to find out
> the result. And you need both traits to be a speedster.
Dex + Mega Dex determines the base numbers for Running and Sprinting.
Hypermovement boosts those again. Enhanced Movement boosts them again. I
can do these numbers without a calculator or a spreadsheet.
> And I had to go from hypermovement and back to mega dex to find out how it
> could affect the character in tactical situations. Back-and-forth
> back-and-forth and so on...
Really?
Hypermovement - each dot adds +6 to multipliers, or 500 kph per dot in
noncombat situations? You had to keep referring back when a simple
notation would suffice?
> The overall problem is that you can't simply look through the book and say:
> "this is what I want" and then simply use it. You have to find out all the
> other factors that influences that ability and then in the end you can
> hopefully end up with something close to what you intended.
The process you describe is an order of magnitude greater in complexity
than the process I use for character creation, honestly.
> > The pathways are laid out for you, tho.
>
> They shouldn't have been necessary.
So how would you reflect the increased strength and resilience of a
larger body from growth?
> > I'm sorry?
>
> Huh? My statement were quite straightforward. If you have to twist
> explanations the world to make it fit a game system, then the game system
> fails.
I don't see how it applies here, you see. You haven't demonstrated that.
Nikolaj Lemche
> The process you describe is an order of magnitude greater in complexity
> than the process I use for character creation, honestly.
I'm only referring to my personal experience with how I had to go back and
forth to find out what I ended up with.
Yes you did write down the factors I found out, but the difference is that
you have played this game and can remember these factors without having to
flip through the book, but for a newcomer it is confusing.
When I get an idea about some power or ability of a super powered person
then I would like to be able to pick up a single ability and then know that
this is what I can do.
But most of the powers are building on other abilities, so you have to be
able to remember each and every factor to be able to find out how you end up
with the result you want.
It could be that I have been unlucky in picking a concept that is hard to
define in Aberrant for my first Nova. But the truth is that I didn't know
what effect my dots had when I put them to paper.
> So how would you reflect the increased strength and resilience of a
> larger body from growth?
By simply writing down the complete effect under growth instead of having
to flip over to mega stamina to calculate the extra wound boxes that you get
(in addition to them you get from the growth power itself), and this is only
one of the follow up effect that you have to flip over and reread.
> I don't see how it applies here, you see. You haven't demonstrated that.
I started this rules/world sub tread because of the factors Bruce used as
examples in his posting. Those are the examples I'm using.
Marizhavashti Kali
Nikolaj Lemche wrote:
>
> Marizhavashti Kali wrote:
>
> > The process you describe is an order of magnitude greater in complexity
> > than the process I use for character creation, honestly.
>
> I'm only referring to my personal experience with how I had to go back and
> forth to find out what I ended up with.
> Yes you did write down the factors I found out, but the difference is that
> you have played this game and can remember these factors without having to
> flip through the book, but for a newcomer it is confusing.
I was doing this by my third character.
> When I get an idea about some power or ability of a super powered person
> then I would like to be able to pick up a single ability and then know that
> this is what I can do.
> But most of the powers are building on other abilities, so you have to be
> able to remember each and every factor to be able to find out how you end up
> with the result you want.
Most of the powers are self-contained. The Enhancements (and one or two
Mega-attributes) have an effect on certain abilities, and a few powers
can affect attributes. Honestly, I don't think there are nearly as many
factors as you state here. The degree of complexity you describe is well
beyond my experience with the game,
> It could be that I have been unlucky in picking a concept that is hard to
> define in Aberrant for my first Nova. But the truth is that I didn't know
> what effect my dots had when I put them to paper.
Did you read the entire character generation, Megas and Powers chapters
before starting out?
> > So how would you reflect the increased strength and resilience of a
> > larger body from growth?
>
> By simply writing down the complete effect under growth instead of having
> to flip over to mega stamina to calculate the extra wound boxes that you get
> (in addition to them you get from the growth power itself), and this is only
> one of the follow up effect that you have to flip over and reread.
And how tedious is this (compared to picking up power stunts which mimic
other powers in MSHSaga?)
> > I don't see how it applies here, you see. You haven't demonstrated that.
>
> I started this rules/world sub tread because of the factors Bruce used as
> examples in his posting. Those are the examples I'm using.
Okay. It's my opinion that you've exaggerated the complexity level
involved.
Nikolaj Lemche
> Did you read the entire character generation, Megas and Powers chapters
> before starting out?
*Blush* No, only the character generation, mega attribute and the initial
rules about quantum powers + the powers involved.
> And how tedious is this (compared to picking up power stunts which mimic
> other powers in MSHSaga?)
Good point.
> Okay. It's my opinion that you've exaggerated the complexity level
> involved.
I'm probably just confused right now, and once I try it out it will surely
become easier and simpler. I didn't like MSHSaga too until I tried playing
it....
Chris Davies
: Aberrations:
: Impulsiveness
Um ... I question whether this counts as an Aberration, and, since
QS only has 1 point of taint, whether he should have *any* Aberrations.
: Powers:
: Mega dex 5:Fast tracks -Rapid Strike Mega wits 4 :Quickness -Enhanced
: Initiative-Multi Tasking
I'd add Speed Reading.
Chris Davies, Advocate for Darkness, Part-Time Champion of Light.
"Get yo' hands off'n mah Utena!" -- Shinohara Wakaba, Revolutionary Girl
Utena, "For Friendship, Perhaps" (dub)
Fanfics: http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/banks/277/index.html
Fanfic Revolution: http://come.to/hauthor/
Marizhavashti Kali
Nikolaj Lemche wrote:
>
> Marizhavashti Kali wrote:
>
> > Did you read the entire character generation, Megas and Powers chapters
> > before starting out?
>
> *Blush* No, only the character generation, mega attribute and the initial
> rules about quantum powers + the powers involved.
Hmm. You did the same thing I did.
:-) Iy could be worse, you could be trying to create a character from
computer files (each chapter a different file) and with a Trinity
character sheet.
> > And how tedious is this (compared to picking up power stunts which mimic
> > other powers in MSHSaga?)
>
> Good point.
It can be painful at times. :-)
> > Okay. It's my opinion that you've exaggerated the complexity level
> > involved.
>
> I'm probably just confused right now, and once I try it out it will surely
> become easier and simpler. I didn't like MSHSaga too until I tried playing
> it....
Okay. I was in a bad mood last night, sorry for tossing it at you. :-(
Brandon Quina
> But the problem is that it creates mega attributes that again has new
> effects on the game that you have to look at in other places in the book. So
> while you are creating your Nova, then it isn't clear what you really can or
> can't do until you do some recalculations in the end.
It gives you mega-attributes /when your using the power/. It just
gives you the dots, also; no enhancements. So, except for Mega-Stamina
(where you get into extra soak dice and life span and healing rates) its
fairly straightforward and easy to figure out...
> The first character I created in Aberrant was a speedster. And I couldn't
> read out of the hypermovement power how fast she was going to be. I had to
> go through the mega dex and then combine it with hypermovement to find out
> the result. And you need both traits to be a speedster.
Um, no. You don't... You take four dots of hypermovement, and have a
dexterity of three. That gives you a running speed of (25D + 12) = 87
meters per turn, and a sprinting speed of (27D + 20) = 101 meters per
turn. Outside of combat, you move at a flat 2,000 kph. ALL of that is
detailed in the hypermoment power; nowhere does it even /mention/
mega-dexterity. You can /increase/ those speeds with the mega-dexterity
of enhanced movement, but that is in no way /required/; it just makes
you /even faster/--for short stretches, anyway.
Ohh, and anyone who mentions that "the running equation doesn't have a
multiplier" has to remember that (1D) and (D) are the same thing; i.e.,
the multiple of one is implied; you don't need to show it, because
anything multiplied by one is itself. So, if I have D + 24D, the answer
is 25D. ;0)
> The overall problem is that you can't simply look through the book and say:
> "this is what I want" and then simply use it. You have to find out all the
> other factors that influences that ability and then in the end you can
> hopefully end up with something close to what you intended.
I disagree; I haven't noticed that at all. It's no more a problem in
this game than it is in /any/ game. The rules are quite simple and easy
to use, as I have noticed thus far...
Brandon,
Brandon Quina
> Hypermovement boosts those again. Enhanced Movement boosts them again. I
> can do these numbers without a calculator or a spreadsheet.
I can't; I need a calculator, a lot of time, or some scratch paper. I
have a math disability --- n' even *I* don't find it complicated... ;)
Brandon,
Brandon Quina
> Mike Bass wrote:
> and keep in mind that powered armor is "blacktech," or on Utopia's
> proscribed list (although the US gov't is developing it).
I'm not so sure about that; remember, the first page of the "Project
Proteus" is talking about the funeral of a general. The next page, the
memo your referring to about the development of exoskeletons and how
Utopia will "stay off their backs" if they find out -- well, the General
mentioned as the one who "reassured them" that Utopia would "stay off
their backs" is the one that was mentioned in the funeral.
Obviously, Utopia might stay off their back...but Proteus won't
Brandon,
Mike Bass
> Um ... I question whether this counts as an Aberration, and, since
>QS only has 1 point of taint, whether he should have *any* Aberrations.
>
>: Powers:
>: Mega dex 5:Fast tracks -Rapid Strike Mega wits 4 :Quickness -Enhanced
>: Initiative-Multi Tasking
>
> I'd add Speed Reading.
>
Good points. Hey It's my first translation.I'm still devouring the rules.
Havnt got it all down yet.
ShdwWlkr01
>to RPGs. Instead of going to Tolkien or comic books or other aspects of
>"geek culture," it goes for the real world - E!, People, Time, etc...
>Takes what people see of the everyday world and gives us that.
>
>I fail to see how this is a bad thing.
You haven't watched much E! then I take it?
I don't know, I haven't read the book proper, but if you want a relatively
modern take, a piecemeal powers system that you can use to design a character
with unique powers and vulnerabilities, and don't care to much for a complex
setting, it's called Freak Legion, just ignore the parts where it insists
they're all EEEE-vil!
>--
>Deird'Re M. Brooks |
Tim
Soonmot
>Mike Bass wrote:
>>
>> Do you think an enhancement of Mego-Int could be a "Power pool" wherein you
>> could convert EXP into Power Points , and spend them on devices. Make a Int
>+
>> Science/Engeneering roll.
>> Would that be overboard?
>
>If your ST goes that route, probably not. Might be a bit underboard. :-)
>
>Deird'Re M. Brooks |
Personally i'd go for some mega int witht trhe engineering prodigy, and then
mega dex with fast tasks.
---Mike
***CRF "I love the smell of Glamour in the morning"
JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON
CRAAAAAASH!!!
members.aol.com/soonmot/main.html
ICQ: 31886917
"I don't know where you pixies came from, but i sure like your magic pixie
juice!"
--Barney, The Simsons
Soonmot
>QS only has 1 point of taint, whether he should have *any* Aberrations.
well if the character has taint and yoiu think an abberation is called for, go
for it. I have acharacter with only two taint but i took pure black eyes and
possibly elemental anima(depends on how disconcerting i want him to be, the
character controls darkness, right now he has a SHadow Snare (immobilize)
Shadow Bolt (Quantum bolt) and Armour of Darkness (force field) Having an
undullating inky cloud of darkness appear behind him whenever he uses his
powers... heh
Mike Bass
it's exp converted to power pool then the PC canhave more gadjets when he has a
larger pool , disassemle stuff to make new stuff ans it's not as crippling if
he loses the device.
So Mega Int enhancment: Gadgetry =
Int + Science/Engeneering to build the devive , serum, whatever.
Exp convert to power points which are spent as exp for gadgets.The more points
, the more devices or the motre powerful devices.
Mike Bass
My game assumes that in the marvel universe Doom kept Galactus's power and
defeated the heroes AND villains.No one made ot home. Five years later a civil
war has broken out in Latveria ,unrest in Wakanda and scientest have discovered
something _REALLY_ big is coming toward earth.
With this setting I can extroplate seconed string charecters and not be bound
by continuity.An example is Spider mans former lover the Black Cat.
Name Felicia Hardy
Alias The Black Widow
Nature Penitent
Attributes
Str 3
Sta 3
Dex 4
Per 3
Int 3
Wits 3
Cha 3
Man 2
App 4
Abilities
Brawl 3 Might 2 Athletics 4 Melee 4 Stealth 4 End 3 Res 3 Aware 3
Investigation 3 Arts 2 Intimidation 2 Streetwise 4 Interagation 3 Subterfuge 3
Backgrounds
Contacts 4 Resouces 3
Quantum 3
Quantum Pool 26
Willpower 5
Taint
Aberrations:
Powers:
Mega Dex 1- Accuracy Claws 2 Entropic Control 1 : Probability corruption Luck
3 Hypermovement (Web Shooters)3
When her lover disapeared Felicia went into a state of depression. Once she
learned to cope with her loss however , she chose to continue Spider-Mans
legacy , setting aside the Black Cat identity she took up the name Black Widow.
Marizhavashti Kali
Well, scratch paper qualifies as "without a calculator or spreadsheet,"
Brandon. :-)
--
Marizhavashti Kali
Brandon Quina wrote:
>
> I'm not so sure about that; remember, the first page of the "Project
> Proteus" is talking about the funeral of a general. The next page, the
> memo your referring to about the development of exoskeletons and how
> Utopia will "stay off their backs" if they find out -- well, the General
> mentioned as the one who "reassured them" that Utopia would "stay off
> their backs" is the one that was mentioned in the funeral.
I'm fairly certain that highly advanced weaponry falls on Utopia's bad
list. I'm equally certain this rule gets broken regularly.
> Obviously, Utopia might stay off their back...but Proteus won't
>
> Brandon,
--
Marizhavashti Kali
ShdwWlkr01 wrote:
>
> You haven't watched much E! then I take it?
Alas, I've watched enough E! to know that N! is too damned faithful to
the source. E! frightens me, but it's an interesting window through
which to view Aberrant.
> I don't know, I haven't read the book proper, but if you want a relatively
> modern take, a piecemeal powers system that you can use to design a character
> with unique powers and vulnerabilities, and don't care to much for a complex
> setting, it's called Freak Legion, just ignore the parts where it insists
> they're all EEEE-vil!
No thanks. I prefer Aberrant.
Brandon Quina
> Well, scratch paper qualifies as "without a calculator or spreadsheet,"
> Brandon. :-)
Hehe; only very technically. I've always taken that as meaning "mental
math". Of course, I view anything needing a spreadsheet as an order of
magnitude more confusing than something that just needs a calculator...
Brandon,
Brandon Quina
> I'm fairly certain that highly advanced weaponry falls on Utopia's bad
> list. I'm equally certain this rule gets broken regularly.
Hehe; I agree.. *smiles* I also think that more than a few people
involved end up paying the final price for their research; Proteus is
basically the whole "You'll be peaceful and serene, RIGHT NOW, or we'll
punch your teeth out and bury you six feet under." type people... ;)
Brandon,
gladi...@yahoo.com
> - the brilliant scientist whose experiments on himself go awry. He's
> superhumanly agile, but he's now blue and furry. In the course of his
> career he enhances his powers further, often at the cost of temporary
or
> permanent increase in his level of inhuman appearance and even his
> sanity.
How absolutely beastly!
>
> - the ace pilot who's now super-strong and enduring, but the same
> exposure that gave him those powers turned him orange and rocky.
So now he's some kind of grotesque thing?
>
> - the brilliant engineer who erupted while trying to rescue a
foolhardy
> boy, and who's gone through constant evolution over the years.
Sometimes
> he's the strongest man on the planet but nearly mindless; sometimes
> green, sometimes gray; and so on.
Just another hulking behemoth.
>
> - the brilliant scientist (hey, there's a pattern here, makes one
> wonder) who can somehow never manage to permanently overcome the
> paralysis of his legs by _any_ means, including getting a whole new
> body, and who periodically goes insane in ways that threaten the
whole
> world.
Sounds like one nutty professor to me..
--
Kevin "Ramiel" Schmidt
sph...@bright.net *** gladi...@yahoo.com
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
gladi...@yahoo.com
> Mega-Intelligence, Engineering Prodigy, a lot of resources, work
closely
> with the storyteller to build gear that won't screw the game
over...oh,
> and keep in mind that powered armor is "blacktech," or on Utopia's
> proscribed list (although the US gov't is developing it).
I'm pondering using some of the tech from Trinity suppliments as well...
Then there's always folks like Detroit Steel <Wild Cards> who have an
armour that shouldn't work but does...
gladi...@yahoo.com
> 1925, every age has its heroes, this is a generalization.)
What exactly is the deal with this? Is it a planned expansion or
what? I tell ya, the idea of a 1925 supers game gives me goosebumps.
The L. Cranston refrence didn't help any ;)
As an aside... I am NOT attempting to link the WoD and Abarrent, but..
wasn't Dr. Zorbo the SoE in Mage who almost took over the world with
his zepplin army?
JaniceW643
>> 1925, every age has its heroes, this is a generalization.)
>
In the current market, there are three companies that can produce a
rockin' pulp-era RPG, and make it a financial sucess. White Wolf is one of
them, and if it's as good as Abberant and Trinity, then I'm all over it.
>What exactly is the deal with this? Is it a planned expansion or
>what? I tell ya, the idea of a 1925 supers game gives me goosebumps.
>The L. Cranston refrence didn't help any ;)
It's all about the pulps, baby! Indiana Jones, The Rocketeer, The Shadow,
The Phantom, Batman and Superman's first appearances, Flash Gordon, and much
more- *that* what they're tapping into, and it's about bloody time.
>As an aside... I am NOT attempting to link the WoD and Abarrent, but..
>wasn't Dr. Zorbo the SoE in Mage who almost took over the world with
>his zepplin army?
Bugger! I can't remember his name, but only that he was a Master
Scientist, and that it wasn't "Zorbo".
-----
REV 105, murdered on 3/11/97 by the Disney Corporation.
Founder of the Mean & Evil GM Society.
"A god outgrown immediately becomes a life-destroying demon."- Joe Campbell.
<*> "There is no spoon." -Neo, _The Matrix_.
watc...@no.more.spam.iki.fi
>:-) Iy could be worse, you could be trying to create a character from
>computer files (each chapter a different file) and with a Trinity
>character sheet.
Don't remind me. That was a real bitch. =)
I tinkered with the rules quite a bit during playtest, but that
was some months ago, and while I've continued to goob about the game, I
haven't really DONE anything with it -- until last night, when a friend
who's going to play in my game came over and created a character. Okay,
now, we're both very experienced with the Storyteller system, and know our
way around exchanging points for dots, so this might not apply to total
newcomers, but the character creation process was really easy and lotsa
fun. (Definitely more so when you can actually check the book instead of
trying to find something from somewhere in a huge file on your computer.)
The end result was a supergenius specializing in ecological
sciences, who was, sadly enough, mad as a hatter -- that's Taint for ya. A
great time was had by both of us, and we didn't even get around to gaming.
- Mikki
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Mikko Rautalahti -- "It seems an emotional enema is next on the agenda. -
- watc...@iki.fi -- Flush out the excess humanity." - JTHM ------------
- WatchMan @ IRC ----------------------- http://www.iki.fi/~watchman/ -
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Tolle
Soonmot wrote:
> >
> >Mike Bass wrote:
> >>
> >> Do you think an enhancement of Mego-Int could be a "Power pool" wherein you
> >> could convert EXP into Power Points , and spend them on devices. Make a Int
> >> Science/Engeneering roll.
> >> Would that be overboard?
> >
> >If your ST goes that route, probably not. Might be a bit underboard. :-)
>
> Personally i'd go for some mega int witht trhe engineering prodigy, and then
> mega dex with fast tasks.
Personally, I'd go for Tony being a standard Nova, with Dormancy
5 and some rather odd Taint-based physiological and
psychological flaws. Then again, that's getting into the "why
doesn't the gadget work for anybody else" issue....;')
It could also be possible to decrease the cost of powers by
considering armor a limitation-possibly dropping it one level
or cutting the cost in half. For a variant campaign I'm considering
doing that to produce "magic users" (gestures, incantations, etc.).
--
Eric Tolle sch...@silcom.com
Information does not want to be free. Information wants to be
folded, spindled, mutilated, and used to make funky children's
party hats.
Eric Tolle
Darren MacLennan wrote:
> In article <377DC472...@teleport.com>, Marizhavashti Kali
> <xe...@teleport.com> wrote:
>
> > CeIestiaI7 wrote:
> > >
> > > If I may respectfully submit that you may be missing the point. Watch
> E! for
> > > 24 hours straight. Sit down and read a month's worth of People
> Weekly. What
> > > conclusion have you reached? That maybe our culture is a bit obsessed with
> > > celebrity? That is the heart of the game. In my opinion, it can be
> one of the
> > > most fun if a creative ST embraces it.
> >
> > Aberrant went out on a limb by using cultural references rarely applied
> > to RPGs. Instead of going to Tolkien or comic books or other aspects of
> > "geek culture," it goes for the real world - E!, People, Time, etc...
> > Takes what people see of the everyday world and gives us that.
> >
> > I fail to see how this is a bad thing.
> >
>
> People and E! and so forth are essentially non-magazines; full of useless
> information, gushing celebrity interviews and pictures of same. While
> they're certainly useful for the person who like celebrities, they're
> hardly useful when it comes to finding out what the world around you is
> like. Read People magazine and you'll find yourself with the impression
> that everybody watches celebrities like a hawk and worships their every
> move; read, say, the New Republic and you'll see the outside world in
> greater detail. It's bold, but not useful.
Okay, now think from the perspective of one of those people that
People Magazine and E! gush about. Someone who has part of
nearly every day taken up by people who feed off of their
celebrity and feed it right back to them. Tell me which magazine
is more applicable to describing the lifestyle of Cher-the Nation, or
New Republic magazine?
> >>exactly the pieces that you refered to as useless, actually set the tone of
> aberrant wonderfully! This is how the media portrays novas. How does your
> character live up to the expectations?<<
>
> I find the whole novas-as-celebrities thing really creepy. For one thing,
> celebrities in the real world are hounded, exploited, have their every
> move analyzed and generally live as if they're in a fishbowl. Every other
> superhero comic that I've seen has them as on the fringes - when Lois Lane
Well, there's the early issues of Elementals which do indeed follow
the lives of the Elementals as instant celebrities (I liked the scene
where Fathom's and Monolith's lawyers get into a brawl because
their respective theme restaurants opened up right next to each
other). That's more applicable to Aberrant then any "standard"
comic. Concrete might be another oe to look at for the effects of
"fifteen minutes" of fame, and how a person handles his new
situation..
And why should people with incredible powers be on the fringes?
If I had the ability to churn out a Pulitzer-prize winning novel in
one day, or the ability to send a ton of equipment to the Moon, or
the ability to make computer roll over and do tricks, why would I
want to be on the fringes? In fact, why would I waste my talents on
something as silly as fighting crime? Hell, I'd use my abilities to
change the world as much as I could and have fun. Just as many
Novas in Aberrant do.
> I don't like celebrity culture, truth be told. Aberrant hits this aspect
> pretty hard, and that's why it turned me off. Bratpack had a really witty
And that's a taste issue-Aberrant is not really trying to be an
emulation of standard superhero comics-rather an exploration of
a possible scenario of what would happen if there were people
with powers "far beyond those of mortal man".
> How does Project Utopia organize its strike teams? If a nova kills
> somebody, then what are the legal procedures as a result? What kind of
> activities will the Aberrants be pursuing againt Project Utopia? If the
> allegations are true, then how can Project Utopia even survive? What does
Okay...most of these questions pretty much default to common
sense. So let's see....as applicable to the target, as standard for
any murder with special circumstances, it depends on the Aberrant,
through PR and spin control. Simple.
> the average Nova do when he's not fighting crime? What other threats exist
> that Novas can fight against? What are the <spoil>en doing in this
What is this obsession with fighting things? Why can't Novas play
nicely? ;')
More importantly, if my character has Cyberkinesis and Mega-
Intelligence, why would I _want_ to run around fighting people
when I can make a fortune? The range of interesting things for
Novas to do goes far beyond simply hunting up villains to beat up.
But if you _have_ to have things for Novas to fight, there are a
number of possibilities listed in the books: military and mercenary
conflicts, crime syndicates and cults, anti-Nova organizations,
assorted conspiracies...all with the possibility of having gear and
people that can hurt even a combat-oriented Nova. And of
course sports events and of course athletic events.
> situation? Have the Qin visited Earth yet? What happens when a Nova falls
> from the public's favor? (O.J Simpson) What happens when the public finds
What happens when a movie star falls from the public favor?
What's Ice-T doing these days?
> Are super-intelligent novas allowed to play the stock market? If so, has
Why not? Especially if they go through a reputable broker, what
would be the problem? Are there bans against people like Lewis
Rukhauser or Bill Gates dabbling in the stock market?
> manipulate the opposition at will? Doesn't the whole idea of novas
> fighting each other violate some antiquated laws against duelling? Are
Do boxing matches violate laws against dueling?
> casualties? How specifically do you go about licensing your image for
> sale? Can you sue somebody for taking a picture of you? If a nova crosses
How do celebrities these days handle things?
> a border during a fight, can he be expected to come under fire from the
> local militia? For that matter, wouldn't the local militias trying to be
> getting ahold of tank-busting weaponry to deal with the Nova threat? If a
What happens if a guy carrying a gun, engaged in a fire fight crosses
a border? And yes, national guard units and possibly some SWAT
teams would likely have a few more LAW rockets added to their
arsenals. It would depend on the nation and city to such an extent
that it would be ridiculously long to give a description of a "typical"
police team.
> nova kills somebody under a corporate contract, who is he responsible to?
> Does the government have any novas?
How is that handled currently? And governments do have Novas-
the military is actively recruiting.
Like I said, these questions can be handled with reading the book,
common sense, and about a minute's worth of thought.
Marizhavashti Kali
Eric Tolle wrote:
>
> > the average Nova do when he's not fighting crime? What other threats exist
> > that Novas can fight against? What are the <spoil>en doing in this
>
> What is this obsession with fighting things? Why can't Novas play
> nicely? ;')
I notice you didn't tell him the <spoil>en aren't relevant to Aberrant.
I agree about fighting things. That's a low denominator in my
preferences. Why must it always be fight, fight, fight? This is one of
the few supers games which explores powers that have uses outside
combat.
> > situation? Have the Qin visited Earth yet? What happens when a Nova falls
> > from the public's favor? (O.J Simpson) What happens when the public finds
>
> What happens when a movie star falls from the public favor?
> What's Ice-T doing these days?
Or the Qin, who don't have their own FTL travel.
Otherwise, very good points.
Darren MacLennan
Guh. Okay. Let's open this can of worms up again.
Eric:
> Okay, now think from the perspective of one of those people that
> People Magazine and E! gush about. Someone who has part of
> nearly every day taken up by people who feed off of their
> celebrity and feed it right back to them. Tell me which magazine
> is more applicable to describing the lifestyle of Cher-the Nation, or
> New Republic magazine?
The New Republic. If Hollywood gets bombed, or if there's an enormous
pressure on the entertainment industry to cut down on the violence because
of a couple of morons happened to shoot up a school, then that'll affect
Cher's life. For that matter, I don't particularly care about Cher. I care
about the effect that she has on the rest of the world, and who her music
appeals to, and how her music fits into the development of rock and
roll/pop as a musical culture.
The news that Stone Cold Badass, or whatever his name is, happens to have
a thousand-room mansion means nothing to me. The fact that South Africa
has decided that only novas are legal citizens and that regular citizens
have been demoted to the status of support opens up a whole can of
adventures. O.J Simpson vs. the Balkan conflict - which has more potential
for adventure?
For that matter, how much do you really know about Cher? How much of that
knowledge is a product of her PR department? How much would you find out
with an unauthorized biography?
> > >>exactly the pieces that you refered to as useless, actually set the
tone of
> > aberrant wonderfully! This is how the media portrays novas. How does your
> > character live up to the expectations?<<
> >
> > I find the whole novas-as-celebrities thing really creepy. For one thing,
> > celebrities in the real world are hounded, exploited, have their every
> > move analyzed and generally live as if they're in a fishbowl. Every other
> > superhero comic that I've seen has them as on the fringes - when Lois Lane
>
> Well, there's the early issues of Elementals which do indeed follow
> the lives of the Elementals as instant celebrities (I liked the scene
> where Fathom's and Monolith's lawyers get into a brawl because
> their respective theme restaurants opened up right next to each
> other). That's more applicable to Aberrant then any "standard"
> comic. Concrete might be another oe to look at for the effects of
> "fifteen minutes" of fame, and how a person handles his new
> situation..
True. It's something that hasn't been explored - Dazzler was a celebrity,
for example. But compare to what's been done with Marshal Law, the
Watchmen, the Authority, Bratpack, Miracleman and a dozen other comics.
That's what I was hoping for.
> And why should people with incredible powers be on the fringes?
> If I had the ability to churn out a Pulitzer-prize winning novel in
> one day, or the ability to send a ton of equipment to the Moon, or
> the ability to make computer roll over and do tricks, why would I
> want to be on the fringes? In fact, why would I waste my talents on
> something as silly as fighting crime? Hell, I'd use my abilities to
> change the world as much as I could and have fun. Just as many
> Novas in Aberrant do.
Think about Elvis. Elvis was a great entertainer. People loved him. He
affected millions of people. He died as a bloated, twisted wreck of a
human being, on a toilet. This is not the stuff of which epics are made.
(Well, Greek tragedies, perhaps.) That's not much fun to role-play. Mind
you that it could be, but celebrity culture turns me off.
To boot, wouldn't people be jealous? Wouldn't there be anti-discrimination
suits if a nova happened to take over somebody's job? Would you feel
comfortable working next to somebody who could annhilate somebody with a
thought? Will a celebrity catfight level four city blocks, or do they just
have a normal slapfight?
I don't understand what you mean about on the fringes. You're on the
fringes of organized society, perhaps, and you're not the subject of a
million fawning interviews, but you're the front line of defense against
somebody who's just as powerful as you are.
>
> > I don't like celebrity culture, truth be told. Aberrant hits this aspect
> > pretty hard, and that's why it turned me off. Bratpack had a really witty
>
> And that's a taste issue-Aberrant is not really trying to be an
> emulation of standard superhero comics-rather an exploration of
> a possible scenario of what would happen if there were people
> with powers "far beyond those of mortal man".
This is entirely true. Note also, though, that I don't like the way that
the setting is presented, and I stand by those remarks as well. Wasted
space abounds.
>
> > How does Project Utopia organize its strike teams? If a nova kills
> > somebody, then what are the legal procedures as a result? What kind of
> > activities will the Aberrants be pursuing againt Project Utopia? If the
> > allegations are true, then how can Project Utopia even survive? What does
>
> Okay...most of these questions pretty much default to common
> sense. So let's see....as applicable to the target, as standard for
> any murder with special circumstances, it depends on the Aberrant,
> through PR and spin control. Simple.
Common sense, huh?
>>How does Project Utopia organize its strike teams?<<
>as applicable to the target<
Okay. Who decides? How are they dropped off? Do they tailor every strike
mission to the target? Do they have time to do so? Do they plan it out in
advance, or just wing it? Are they paramilitary, or simply a group of guys
given an assignment? How are casualties handled? Do they have any
traditions for bringing back the dead and so forth?
>>>If a nova kills somebody, then what are the legal procedures as a result?<<
>as standard for any murder with special circumstances,<
And those special circumstances are what? I manipulate you into killing
somebody with Mega-Manipulation or straight-out mind control. You are now
guilty of murder. Do they take mental control into account? If the fight
began in one country and ended in another, who gets jurisdiction? What if
additional casualties are incurred the course of a fight? Who gets the
blame?
I can come up with answers to all of these questions - God knows the X-Men
has, for example - but I wish that the book has said more about it.
Speaking of which, now that I think about it, there was an article in
Dragon magazine about the various legal questions surrounding superheroes.
Wish that I could remember the issue number.
>>What kind of activities will the Aberrants be pursuing againt Project
Utopia?<<
> it depends on the Aberrant,<
They're just going to go at it piecemeal? An Aberrant does something here,
something there, and there's no real communication between them? Teragen
may run things that way, but I doubt that an organization like the
Aberrants are going to do that. And are they waging a PR war, or a
physical war? (That might be answered, I think, in the book.)
>>If the allegations are true, then how can Project Utopia even survive? <<
> through PR and spin control. <
Okay. Let's think about this for a second.
You've sterilized hundreds of novas against their will, murdered a girl
who found out, systematically engaged in the murder of novas, played novas
off against each other, and abused your power to do what you can to take
control of all novas everywhere. To boot, the people that you sterilized
and murdered are fully capable of horrific acts of vengeance on a scale
that could make God wince, and may or may not have mental aberrations.
Spin and PR, assuming that all of the above are true, aren't going to do a
damned thing.
Mega-Manipulation and Charisma, maybe, but how are you going to recruit
somebody whom you've sterilized against their will? (Again, assuming that
it's true and completely found out.) And if it is a minor organization
within the group itself, then the question of how and why that group was
funded is going to rise.
>
> > the average Nova do when he's not fighting crime? What other threats exist
> > that Novas can fight against? What are the <spoil>en doing in this
>
> What is this obsession with fighting things? Why can't Novas play
> nicely? ;')
Same reason why vampires can't get along, I would imagine. Too much power,
too little room. Or, alternately, because fighting is the quickest route
to conflict, and conflict is the heart of drama, and drama is what drives
every story along.
>
> More importantly, if my character has Cyberkinesis and Mega-
> Intelligence, why would I _want_ to run around fighting people
> when I can make a fortune? The range of interesting things for
> Novas to do goes far beyond simply hunting up villains to beat up.
Sure. You can become a God. The game suggests that you become a celebrity.
Which seems more interesting? And how much role-playing oppurtunity is
there in a celebrity-based game? A nova-based version of This is Spinal
Tap?
>
> But if you _have_ to have things for Novas to fight, there are a
> number of possibilities listed in the books: military and mercenary
> conflicts, crime syndicates and cults, anti-Nova organizations,
> assorted conspiracies...all with the possibility of having gear and
> people that can hurt even a combat-oriented Nova. And of
> course sports events and of course athletic events.
I don't care about the fighting parts. I care about the way that the
novas/aberrants have affected their world, in areas other than just the
entertainment world. There's plenty of oppurtunities to fight, but they're
the kind of fights that you see in Image comics - and you'll notice that I
haven't mentioned a single Image comic in all of the ones that I've
praised. I want novas to fight for something worth fighting for - and
yeah, fighting against Project Utopia, Teragen and a super-powered cult
leader fall into that category. When that fight is over, though, what
happens then?
> > situation? Have the Qin visited Earth yet? What happens when a Nova falls
> > from the public's favor? (O.J Simpson) What happens when the public finds
>
> What happens when a movie star falls from the public favor?
> What's Ice-T doing these days?
Nobody cares.
Your nova has just fallen from the public favor due to a careless remark
or two. The standard celebrity opens up a Psychic Friends Network, or so I
imagine; what does your character do now without the trappings of
celebrity that he had two weeks ago? (Hint: Latoya, Tito and Germaine
Jackson.)
> > Are super-intelligent novas allowed to play the stock market? If so, has
>
> Why not? Especially if they go through a reputable broker, what
> would be the problem? Are there bans against people like Lewis
> Rukhauser or Bill Gates dabbling in the stock market?
When they can utterly destroy an economy for the fun of it, or entirely
corner dozens of markets, yeah, I would imagine so. There's a difference
between incredible human ability and superhuman levels of insight.
>
> > manipulate the opposition at will? Doesn't the whole idea of novas
> > fighting each other violate some antiquated laws against duelling? Are
>
> Do boxing matches violate laws against dueling?
They're not to the death. A duel is usually fought with pistols or swords,
and the intent is to kill; a boxing match is just that. Admittedly, it was
a stupid question, but I was curious.
> > casualties? How specifically do you go about licensing your image for
> > sale? Can you sue somebody for taking a picture of you? If a nova crosses
>
> How do celebrities these days handle things?
Beats the hell out of me. There's been some controversy over the
photographing of the local Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the Hall itself
claims to own the copyright to the image, but I'm not sure how they can
enforce that, or what that means for copyright restrictions in general. As
for Tom Cruise and so forth, their images are part of the public record,
but they can also license their names and so forth to various products. I
imagine that question is answered by yours, though.
> > a border during a fight, can he be expected to come under fire from the
> > local militia? For that matter, wouldn't the local militias trying to be
> > getting ahold of tank-busting weaponry to deal with the Nova threat? If a
>
> What happens if a guy carrying a gun, engaged in a fire fight crosses
> a border? And yes, national guard units and possibly some SWAT
> teams would likely have a few more LAW rockets added to their
> arsenals. It would depend on the nation and city to such an extent
> that it would be ridiculously long to give a description of a "typical"
> police team.
Swat teams are typically armed with at least two IL-28 ".666 Magnum"
automissile guns and a Spanker-class laser. In addition, if novas are
encountered in force, then police-retained novas are called in on an
emergency basis.
Two sentences. You'd need stats for the above guns, mind you...
> > nova kills somebody under a corporate contract, who is he responsible to?
> > Does the government have any novas?
>
> How is that handled currently? And governments do have Novas-
> the military is actively recruiting.
Sorry, sorry - I wrote that poorly. What I mean is this: A nova is hired
to get something, like Lotus Infinite in the book is described doing. She
has a fight, kills an opposing nova with the Infinite Justifier technique,
gets the goods and goes back. Who do the charges go to - the company, or
her? Can both be sued?
In the _Underground_ role-playing game, just for a counterexample,
superheroes can be legal terrorists if they have a permit, but most of the
members of the Underground don't care. To boot, you need a permit for
certain forms of free speech, which the Underground itself fights against.
Everything falls into place after that thanks to a few pages of background
material. And the game itself isn't that great! Aberrant beats it hands
down in almost every respect, but I find Underground slightly more
compelling.
> Like I said, these questions can be handled with reading the book,
> common sense, and about a minute's worth of thought.
Perhaps. Me, I just wanted something different. Frankly speaking, I'm glad
that everybody got a lot out of the setting part, but it wasn't what I was
expecting, and it wasn't helpful to have to go hunting for information
that I need.
Maybe I need to be hand-fed information, or maybe I just like a different
presentation, but that's the way that I feel about it.
-Darren MacLennan
Pymander7
But let's not forget some of the peole who may or may not be developing this
tech and their affiliations. Certainly, the small time players who try to break
Utopia's edicts will get smacked down, but what about the Yakuza? Or the
Directive?
Kevin Talbot
Bill Dowling
pyma...@aol.com (Pymander7) wrote:
In the color section there's a General working on VARGs or PowerSuits or
something like that. He gets smacked down by Proteus and he's probably
working for the US Government, either in the military or through the
Directive or the DIA--didn't seem to help him.
Eric Tolle
Marizhavashti Kali wrote:
> Eric Tolle wrote:
> >
> > > the average Nova do when he's not fighting crime? What other threats exist
> > > that Novas can fight against? What are the <spoil>en doing in this
> >
> > What is this obsession with fighting things? Why can't Novas play
> > nicely? ;')
>
> I notice you didn't tell him the <spoil>en aren't relevant to Aberrant.
Well...that's because I've got this neat idea for an "Invasion of the
Bodysnatchers" type of scenario. Not that it''s anywhere close to
Canon of course...;')
> I agree about fighting things. That's a low denominator in my
> preferences. Why must it always be fight, fight, fight? This is one of
> the few supers games which explores powers that have uses outside
> combat.
Like Mega-Int and Finance. Or Cyberkinesis.
Granted, there are a number of powers that are highly combat
oriented. But even there the orientation of the game doesn't have
to be toward combat. I kind of like the idea of characters who
have combat oriented abilities (like a standard brick, frex), having
to actually make a living. it brings up the question-just what are
those powers good for?
> > > situation? Have the Qin visited Earth yet? What happens when a Nova falls
> > > from the public's favor? (O.J Simpson) What happens when the public finds
> >
> > What happens when a movie star falls from the public favor?
> > What's Ice-T doing these days?
>
> Or the Qin, who don't have their own FTL travel.
Yeah. I didn't touch on the Quin because they're completely
irrelevant. One _might_ do a scenario with the Coalition, but only
in a very non-canon (and likely short) scenario.
> Otherwise, very good points.
Thankee kindly .
>
>
> --
> Deird'Re M. Brooks | xe...@teleport.com | cam#9309026
> Listowner: Unofficial Fading Suns mailing list
> Listowner: Unofficial Trinity and Aberrant mailing lists
> http://www.teleport.com/~xenya | http://www.telelists.com
--
Brandon Quina
> But let's not forget some of the peole who may or may not be developing this
> tech and their affiliations. Certainly, the small time players who try to
> break Utopia's edicts will get smacked down, but what about the Yakuza? Or the
> Directive?
Page 83, then the upper memo on page 84. Read them, preferably the
memo on page 84 first and then page 83. It's /strongly/ hinted that
Project Proteus killed a *general in the United States of America* who
was working to help a certain secret government group (maybe involved
with the Directive?) build powered exoskeletons. I mean, look at the
"evidence". The secret memo talks about the General being able to
"handle Utopia if they find out," and then theres a funeral for the same
General a little over a year later!
*smiles*
As for what they do -- they take care of the problem! Remember, Utopia
has the /power/ to do this; it's just something they do behind the
scenes. The UN gave them the power to handle technological issues to
keep any "dangerous technologies" from being developed; those powers
were even //increased// after some "dangerous technologies" were found
when Team Tomorrow unseated Yaroslav Radocani and found all kinds of
advanced (banned) technology developed by various japanese corporations
in violation of the law.
So if the Directive are working on lots of high tech stuff, that is
technically against the law, and they get caught at it -- or even if
they don't get caught, and it just gets too risky; they *cover it up*.
That's what the government does when they make mistakes; they don't
/fix/ the mistake, they cover it up. Project Utopia, basically, isn't
the kind of organization that you mess around with; they have a lot of
power.
Brandon,
Brandon Quina
> In the color section there's a General working on VARGs or PowerSuits or
> something like that. He gets smacked down by Proteus and he's probably
> working for the US Government, either in the military or through the
> Directive or the DIA--didn't seem to help him.
The Government might be all smiles and handshakes when they need you,
but the second you become a liability they leave you to the wolves; very
often, they /are/ the wolves... Many powerful organizations (even
Project Utopia, I imagine) are like that... Slider, after all, became a
liability...
Brandon,
Pymander7
>technically against the law, and they get caught at it -- or even if
>they don't get caught, and it just gets too risky; they *cover it up*.
>That's what the government does when they make mistakes; they don't
>/fix/ the mistake, they cover it up. Project Utopia, basically, isn't
>the kind of organization that you mess around with; they have a lot of
>power.
>
True enough. A few points however...
- Utopia, even Proteus, knows very little about the Directive. Actually, it
would be a good estimate that Proteus only knows a little more about the
Directive than what is known about them. Sure they may know some of the basic
"official" paperwork, but beyond that just rumors...
- No one is invincible. Just because there's a Proteus Division in Trinity,
doesn't mean that somebody ( be it Corbin, the Directive, JoJo the Dancing
Bear) doesn't reem them a new a**hole, between now and then. Nothing is
perfect.
- Utopia and Proteus need to learn the lesson of Houston Tornado. Remember, the
Michaelites are just baselines with shotguns. But they got the job done. What
happens when Novas and baselines work in concert with the added advantages of
blacktech? Admittedly, an unlikely situation... after all, conflicts between
the two organizations would likely take place on a much more covert
battlefield.
- Consider the nations that make up the Directive. U.S., the U.K., Russia,
Germany, and Japan. Between those nations you have 3 of the most frightening
intelligence backgrounds in the world, not to mention two former axis powers.
Now, I don't now about you, but THAT scares me. It reminds me less of Interpol
and more of Project Eschalon, perhaps the creepiest of all meta-conspiracies.
my 2 cents,
Kevin Talbot
jbu...@my-deja.com
janic...@aol.comaegsucks (JaniceW643) wrote:
> >(Yeah, yeah, Aeon Society,
> >> 1925, every age has its heroes, this is a generalization.)
> >
>
> In the current market, there are three companies that can produce
a
> rockin' pulp-era RPG, and make it a financial sucess. White Wolf is
one of
> them, and if it's as good as Abberant and Trinity, then I'm all over
it.
>
> >What exactly is the deal with this? Is it a planned expansion or
> >what? I tell ya, the idea of a 1925 supers game gives me goosebumps.
> >The L. Cranston refrence didn't help any ;)
>
> It's all about the pulps, baby! Indiana Jones, The Rocketeer,
The Shadow,
> The Phantom, Batman and Superman's first appearances, Flash Gordon,
and much
> more- *that* what they're tapping into, and it's about bloody time.
>
> >As an aside... I am NOT attempting to link the WoD and Abarrent,
but..
> >wasn't Dr. Zorbo the SoE in Mage who almost took over the world with
> >his zepplin army?
>
> Bugger! I can't remember his name, but only that he was a Master
> Scientist, and that it wasn't "Zorbo".
Czar Vargo, the greatest SoE of all.
>
> -----
>
> REV 105, murdered on 3/11/97 by the Disney Corporation.
> Founder of the Mean & Evil GM Society.
> "A god outgrown immediately becomes a life-destroying demon."- Joe
Campbell.
> <*> "There is no spoon." -Neo, _The Matrix_.
>