Aberrant RPG - NPC Stats

[Blue Thunder]

I know I can't be the only person that really wishes there were more character stats in the Aberrant books. I'm about to run a T2M campaign, and it's aggravating to only have stats for a few of the T2M characters. Splash, Thorn, Montoya-Bernal, Geisha, Firefly, Melissanda Estevez, Tremor...but where's Skew? Psyche? Griffon Armstrong? Electric? Makara? Firefox? Apollo Kid? I hate to have to make stats for so many major characters.

And what if I was running a Teragen campaign? I understand wanting to keep Pantheon members statless to keep up the image of them being so powerful and influential they don't get stats (except Orzaiz, who gets stats in the Storyteller's Guide). But if the campaign is based on the Teragen it can get annoying to just roll a bunch of dice behind the ST screen and pretend you succeeded or failed based on what would be appropriate. I can safely say that if Geryon is involved in ANY campaign, he's going to be smashing stuff. Stats for him are important. As are stats for people like The Confederate, Shrapnel, Leviathan, Clarion, Synapse... characters that will be interacting with the nova world, and usually in battle.

Even more annoying is when one of the Worldwide scenarios says that a certain nova appears in the plot and does battle with the characters without telling you what that character can do. In the first scenario of WWP2 (the Vatican one) it says that T2M Auxiliary can show up at a certain point, and then it gives a list of who shows up. One of the names is Spinner.

...who the hell is Spinner?

I really wish they'd at least list the powers some of these characters have, even without giving stats. I've heard numerous mentions of Makara of T2M, but I haven't the fogiest clue what his actual abilities are, besides Mega-Appearance. And Harmony, who Geryon scarred. What powers does she have? Mephistofaleez? Gothic Knight? The Stone Badass? Ana Graca Texeira? I have no idea what powers these characters have, yet their names pop up frequently.

So anyone up for making some stats? Or at least listing powers and Mega-Attributes? It's not like we'll see another Aberrant book any time soon...

[Siggismund Auerbach aka Firedrake]

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I've heard numerous mentions of Makara of T2M, but I haven't the fogiest clue what his actual abilities are, besides Mega-Appearance.

Geryon smacks him at one point and mentions something about inch-thick skin, which I presume (since the dude isn't described as ugly) is a reference to him having superhuman toughness. Generally, superhuman strength seems to go along with that, and the fact that he looks kinda like the Rock makes me lean towards just making him a standard brick.

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And Harmony, who Geryon scarred. What powers does she have? Mephistofaleez? Gothic Knight? The Stone Badass? Ana Graca Texeira? I have no idea what powers these characters have, yet their names pop up frequently.

Great mysteries of the force.

From the image of Mephistofaleeze inciting a riot (it seems), I picture some sort of emotion control / mega-charisma (but clearly his 'mojo' is not as big as Alejandra's 'mojo' since she smacks him down socially). Presumably he has some mega-physical stats to back up his smack-talk, and Mega-Stamina would seem to be a requirement of his lifestyle...

The Stone Badass, I'd put down as yet another boring brick. Strong, tough and smack-talking, like the pro wrestler he's channeling. Yawn.

Ana Graca Texiera is shown flying into space to help rescue the shuttle Atlantis, and I get a strong 'superman' vibe from her. Flight, strength, toughness, adaptation. Pax lite.

No clue about Harmony, and just based on the 'Batman' vibe, I'd give the Gothic Knight some Mega-Dex, shadow manipulation, invisibility, illusion control, emotion control or machine control abilities, depending on what sort of 'urban avenger' I was looking for. No more than one dot of Mega-Strength / Stamina, since I don't see him as a brick, so much as a scary, scary man, who plays your fears against you.

My favorite undetailed Nova is Natalya 'Swarm Queen' Dornova, who was described as a member of the Teragen Pantheon, and then completely forgotten by the 'last supper.' Does she have mind control, with a 'hive' of dominated minions? Insect control? Is she herself able to transform into a swarm of insects? Or can she clone herself and form a 'swarm' of people to overwhelm her foes?

I wrote her up as a 30 NP character with just the alt body swarm thing, but I'd expand her into adding mind control / pheremone abilities, to represent the character's new focus on social manipulations (as suggested by her comments about her Russian safehouse).

Then again, I wrote up Mal as a quantum mastery sort. His 'fire' powers were like Jean Grey's, primarily a manifestation / side-effect of his quantum manipulations. (By agitating the quantum energies permeating all matter, he could cause things to burst into flames. The effect was the same, and if someone said he could control fire around him, he'd just roll his eyes and let them run with that explanation. He's not a teacher, and has better things to be doing.)

[Sovereign]

Unfortunately I don't think my statted NPCs will help you much.

I statted out ALL of the Team Tomorrow members, Teragen members, Elites, Aberrants, and even some Project Proteus "alluded to" novas who are more tainted aberrant monsters.

However my NPCs are all statted out in the d20 system. Sorry man.

[Blue Thunder]

It seems Ana Graca Texeira can swim around on seafloors. Whether that means she can't survive there without a suit, has water controlling powers, can breathe water through gills, is impervious to the pressures, or whatever is anyone's guess.

I'd really like to stat Geryon. At least his powers and megas. He'd have all three Mega-Phsyical Attributes above 3, and maybe mega versions of Perception, Wits, and/or Charisma. Then Dormancy at 5. Chimeric Aberration from the Teragen book is supposed to be his special power, so I'd give it to him at 5 dots. Armor could represent his tough hide. Extra Health Levels could make sense. Sensory Shield, and perhaps Psychic Shield (most important NPcs gets Psychic Shield I notice...I guess to keep players from snooping around their heads). I've never seen Geryon use any kind of external powers "flashy" powers; his powers seem entirely based on his body and form.

For the Swarm Queen, I'm at a loss. The Teragen books gives no clue as to her powers.

[Sovereign]

Well I may not be much help with statting him out in d10, but my d20 Geryon may be useful with the powers, stats, and aberrations.

Maxed Dormancy

2nd level Node

Level 3 Aberration Alteration (Can swap out aberrations for others)

Level 3 Aberration Transfer (Can transfer aberrations to other novas or even baselines)

Mega-Strength-shockwave

Mega-Con (Mega-stamina) Resiliency, Hardbody, Durabilityx2

Level 1 Claws

Level 1 Armor

Aberrations:

*Hyperaccentuated Musculature

*Bad Temper

*Disturbing Voice-Deep Resonance

*Androgynous

*Twisted Limbs-pincer-like fingers

*Sadism

*Hormonal Imbalance-destructive rage

*Bad Luck

*Hardened Skin

*Permanent Power (Aberration Alteration)

This makes him very dangerous allowing him to change his own aberrations to the most detrimental kind and then transfer them to his enemies.

That's MY Geryon. Feel free to use these theory-based stats for your own games.

[Blue Thunder]

I'm pretty sure those pincer fingers from the cover of the main book are just one of his various shifting aberrations from his Chimeric Aberration power. I wouldn't give him Androgynous either...he's definetly male looking to me. But the rest looks pretty good.

One of the problems encountered is when you look at the characters that are stated, and they have more powers then the in-game text lets on. Splash is known as having water and weather powers, so who would guess she has Mega Dexterity at 3 dots and Mega-Charisma with the Soothe enhancement? Corbin is known for his "Bender" power that changes emotions, but how could anyone guess what other powers or abilities he had before reading WWP1?

I find it odd that Corbin lacks Mega-Charisma, given the following he has and the background from his Nova Phile entry. Which brings up another point; a nova may just have a normal Attribute at 5, and no mega-Attribute, despite what the text seems to lead on. Baselines can get really smart and really attractive, and have no Mega-Attribute (obviously). So who's to say that Makara doesn't just have Appearance of 5?

And then the classic question: what powers did Slider have?

We know Teleportation. But what about Warp? She obviously didn't have any strong defensive powers or high Mega-Stamina to resist Chiraben's attack, or high Mega-Dex or Mega-Wits to see the attack coming and/or dodge at the last second. Mega-Charisma maybe, and possibly Mega-Appearance, though I fear that would conflict with the "average person" appearance she has.

[Tekk One]

Quote:

Originally posted by Blue Thunder:


One of the problems encountered is when you look at the characters that are stated, and they have more powers then the in-game text lets on. Splash is known as having water and weather powers, so who would guess she has Mega Dexterity at 3 dots and Mega-Charisma with the Soothe enhancement? Corbin is known for his "Bender" power that changes emotions, but how could anyone guess what other powers or abilities he had before reading WWP1?

I find it odd that Corbin lacks Mega-Charisma, given the following he has and the background from his Nova Phile entry. Which brings up another point; a nova may just have a normal Attribute at 5, and no mega-Attribute, despite what the text seems to lead on. Baselines can get really smart and really attractive, and have no Mega-Attribute (obviously). So who's to say that Makara doesn't just have Appearance of 5?

I agree here with you on this point. It seems to me that when stating out one of these characters we tend to make them more powerful than what they really might be, all based on a just a short description of them. That is why I think that a fully done write of each of the mentioned characters should have been done. That way there would be a better measure of the top tier nova's and the lower class ones.

[Dr. Zero]

If you stat characters, you impose a scale on a game. If you suggest characters, the story teller of any particular game can scale them to the level of their characters. I hate to use Dungeons and Dragons as an example but in their NPC section in the Dungeon Masters Guilde, they give the stats of the same NPC 3 times, at 1st, 5th and 15th level.

This allows a ST to make sure the challenges are suitable for the players level.

[Rorschach]

Here is my Geryon in 2008:

Strenght 5, Dex 4, Stamina 5, Perception 4, Intelligence 3, Wits 4, Appearance 2, Manipulation 2, Charisma 4(he's not quite a Megasocialite, but he managed to get many people under his banner).

Skills: Brawl 3, Might 5, Athletics 4, Martial Arts 4(in fact, he tends to fight more like Batman than Hulk!), Melee 5, Stealth 1, Awareness 4, Investigation 1, Intrusion 1, tactics 3, Intimidation 4, Command 3, Interrogation 2.

Background:Allies 4, Attunement or Eufiber 1+ (he can change his size and keep his clothes, so...), Backing 4, Cipher 5(that's much but even the Directive doesn't know much about him!!!), Dormancy 5 , Node 2+, Ressources 2.

Willpower: 8, Quantum: 5, QP: 40, Taint : many! (and much aberrations )

MegaAttributes: MegaStrenght 5 (in PGp80, he shows himself as handling Montoya-Bernal's grip, who's MS5)-with Lifter and Crush.

MegaDex2-withPhysical prodigy

MegaStamina5-with Resiliency, Adaptation and HArdbody, maybe Regeneration also.

MegaWits2-with Multitasking (sounds very logical when reading his sheet) and Quickness.

Powers: Armor5, Chimeric Aberration 4+, Sensory Shield 4, Psy Shield 3.

He probably has some Body Alterations (I use to add one or 2 bruised levels, and gills).

MAybe even Intuition 1 or 2 dots.

And don't forget what said the Doc: even when you're looking at a "cannon truth", a NPC strenght is related to the TIME you play him: Geryon will be even more powerful in 2010, and in 2015, etc...

[Blue Thunder]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Zero:
If you stat characters, you impose a scale on a game. If you suggest characters, the story teller of any particular game can scale them to the level of their characters. I hate to use Dungeons and Dragons as an example but in their NPC section in the Dungeon Masters Guilde, they give the stats of the same NPC 3 times, at 1st, 5th and 15th level.
This allows a ST to make sure the challenges are suitable for the players level.

A 30 np nova can take down a 50 np nova, they just need to be inventive. Besides, Geryon is supposed to be really powerful, he's the leader of Nova Vigilance, and it's said he can survive combat with four novas without too much sweat.

Some novas are simply way more powerful than others. Look at the various Team Tomorrow cell leaders. Look at Antaeus. Look at The Miracle. Hell, the players have to fight The Miracle in Worldwide Phase 1, and he has Quantum 6.

Scaling isn't really such an issue in my opinion. Granted, it isn't right to set the players up against Caestus Pax and expect them to win. Or even remain conscious. But some characters are simply more powerful than others, either because they had more np when they erupted or because they've gained and used a lot of Experience Points. Geryon would probably be able to fight four 30 np characters without back-up and still manage to get away. That's because he's Geryon.

[Rorschach]

When you build a major NPC "from scratch" , supposed to be very impressive, like Skew, I suggest to add 1 or more dots of MegaAttributes related to her main Power.

This is the way many official NPCs are built, and a drastically improvement of their dicepool.

[Ouchfest]

I'm running a game that started with the Galatea explosion. My PCs will soon meet NPCs that erupted at the same time. I wrote up the NPCs as starting characters, then made a list of what they buy with their xp in 3-month increments. Based on the powers that some of the canon NPCs have at specific times, I've decided to give the NPCs 5 xp per month. My PCs have the opportunity to earn between 1 and 6 xp per month depending on their activity.

The NPCs have new or more powerful tricks every season when the PCs meet them. More work up front, but afterwards I just refer to my list.

The books bother me when they list NPC stats because I have to make up what they would have had 5 or 7 years earlier. It's not like Geryon erupted with everything and never developed anything else.

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

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Blue Thunder:Besides, Geryon is supposed to be really powerful, he's the leader of Nova Vigilance, and it's said he can survive combat with four novas without too much sweat.

Geryon would probably be able to fight four 30 np characters without back-up and still manage to get away. That's because he's Geryon. [/QB]

Unclear.

Can he take on four novas at once without a problem? Of course he can.

Can he take on four COMBAT novas at once without a problem? Now that's a different question.

Geryon mostly attacks baselines. In cannon he ran from four T2M members. It's possible he thought he "had" to run. He got away so technically he won, but he certainly didn't KO all four of them. The problem is most T2M members are not combat machines. Put Geryon against a high end elite of some sort and I'm not sure what happens. Put him against four high end elites and he probably loses.

In Cannon, what we know about Geryon's powers are as follows:
1) He has a defense against Aggravated attacks (probably Hardbody). If he didn't then Lotus Infinite would kill him.
2) He probably has Mega-Strength 3 or 4 (see his phile in AB:Teragen)
3) He probably has Quick.
4) He has that Shapeshift Aberration power.
5) He probably has a reasonable soak and a reasonable level of Mega-Stamina (my book isn't here or I'd post his phile). He certainly has enough to "Puny Human" normal police.
6) He doesn't appear to have Mega-Int or Mega-Manip (from the Night of Long Knives).
7) He has Dorm 5.
8) Since he is the head of his own crew and his own faction, it wouldn't be out of line to give him Mega-Chr.
9) I think it says somewhere that all of his physical abilities are superhuman so he also has Mega-Dex.
10) He's fairly well trained in hand to hand combat, almost certainly Martial Arts.
11) He has a feud going with both Corbin and Lotus.

[Erin 'Stellar' Donovan]

I think by "Shapeshift Aberration power" you mean the Chimerac Aberration from the Terragen book. It also says he has a very acrobatic style of comba so he prolly has a good bit of M-dex