Aberrant RPG - Famous Comic and Book characters whit Aberrant Sistem

[Guest]

I was think if you can use the Aberrant sistem for well know and famous characters as aberrants:

-Paul Muad'dib (From DUNE)

-The Bene Gessirt (From DUNE)

-Bane (the enemy of Batman in Knight Falls)

-Tetsuo (From the movie/comic Akira)

-Gandalf (All know here who is Gandalf, I don't need to mentionate it).

[Jager]

Paul should use the Aberrant rules, but the Bene Gissert should use Trinity Rules to really show what is going on.

Bane would be a low-level (15 or so point) thing. Remember, he fights a remarkably gifted normal who beats him.

Tesuo is a big, tainted thing while Akira is even scarier.

I don't know if any system can do Gandalf justice, but then he is a central player in the Legend.

[Guest]

Thanks, but what I mean, what kind of powers you will need to create a character like tetsuo (and the others):

Are taint aberrations like his mutations???

And what powers will simulate his psychic powers???

And Paul???

[Sidious]

A bit rusty on Akira so forgive me in advance.

try telekinesis, EM- kinetic, Quantum 5 or 6, taint: at least enough to drive him nuts, and thn you have his arm.

Not even touching Akira himself. And I was never that up on Dune to really tell you anything.

[Guest]

From what I know of Paul Atreides, and it's funny that you mention it because I had been calculating in my head how to fit it into the Aberrant system when it was showing on Sci-Fi channel (deep breath), he would most likely have Precognition, Mega-Dexterity, Intuition, and that sort of thing. He is essentially a super-human prophet sort of thing. Maybe Mega-Manipulation or Charisma, while we're at it.

Points of interest: The Spacing Guild, with their Navigators -- Warp and Precog Powers galore, Sardauker -- mega-attributes more than likely, Fremen -- ???, Bene Gesserit -- I would agree with using Psion/Trinity rules for them, more than likely.

[Guest]

I'm also curious about some other formats/settings one could apply or use with the Aberrant system:

- The Wheel of Time Series, by Robert Jordan

- crossovers from other White Wolf games, are there official rules on that, by the way?

[Jordan]

As far as I am aware, there have been no crossover rules between the AEONverse and WoD. I remember reading an interview with the original developer of Trinity. He said that he had no intention of seeing this type of crossover take place, and as long as he was developer, he would work to make sure it didn't happen. That just wasn't his vision. This is a paraphrase, not a direct quote.

Conversions would be easy to do, you should ask Atwight. He ran a sort of crossover game so should have lots of ideas for you.

[Matt]

I doubt there will ever be any official crossover info for any WoD games. There should be some more crossover material for all the Aeon Universe games at some point in the future.

Speaking of Wheel of Time, has anyone played the RPG for it yet?

[Guest]

Ok. Fundamentally, the rules are similar. In fact, I think Aberrant's rules are a lot more sensible. There was that whole "difficulty vs. amount of successes needed" issue I was never quite clear on, or figured it was unnecessary. I am sure basically just replacing their difficulty system into amounts of successes could work for an on the fly sort of ruling.

I'm only mentioning that, considering all of the systems are basically using the same world (Earth, obviously), there could be the elements of both interwoven. I'd be interested to see a nova pitted against a bunch of Sabbat or something. Werewolves might equate Taint with the Wyrm's contamination, too. Who knows? Just seemed interesting.

As for the Wheel of Time RPG, if you mean the computer version (I haven't seen a tabletop or book version), then all I can say is I've seen it. But I'm sure we all know it wouldn't be as good as the books. I think I've read reviews to such an effect, anyway. That's usually the case, isn't it? Imagine if there were a game for Aberrant for the PC. It wouldn't be as versatile as our own imaginations would be. The only way to integrate such concepts nowadays, I've found, is stuff like (and I use these examples loosely) Ultima Online or Anarchy Online and stuff like that. If they basically created an interactive world to work in, and make up the rest ourselves, sort of thing. One can dream, I guess.

[Guest]

I believe Chosen is refering to the WotC Wheel of Time RPG/supplement for 3E D&D. As for crosovers, Trinity to Aberrant works very well. Introduce a Psion/Psiad/Psychomorph to the game and watch your players wet themselves when they meet a non-nova who can read their minds, etc.

The actual World of Darkness and AEONverse don't mesh well as far as story is concerned. There is too much cosmology involved with WoD to make it work well, at least in my opinion anyway. However, the idea of novas vs. the supernatural is a great theme. It has worked wonderfully for me in the past.

[The Ranger]

Isn't Bane really the stereotypical Mite addict? He'd make a great Mitoid enemy for a low power hero...particularly if he had found a way to enhance the mite to make his Mega strength 2.

[Simbiot]

Zorry but....

Who´s Gandalf?

------------------

-=¡WASSUP!=-

........ Warp!

[Winter_Heart]

There's a WoT RPG??? Interesting.

The Big Ass Book of Aeon Crossover is coming out soon, it's going to be called Aberrant: Nexus. Or so the rumors (partly confirmed by Bruce, Trinity developper) goes. It's also going to cover the Aberrant War. It is scheduled for December, but with the switch to Arthaus... don't expect it to happen that soon.

As for the eternal Psion in an Aberrant game... my main problem with that is that my players are savy enough to know Psions exist... as soon as they see something using power that aren't Quantum based, they go "Psi! Psi!" and then roast them (kidding.).

[Guest]

That is the perfect time to give them the scare of their lives W_H. Who says Psi has to be wimpy? Try using the Trinity based Psiad rules from the APG. And remember, psychic attacks (using Noetic energy) cannot be tracked by novas/quantum.

[Winter_Heart]

Well, obviously... I already made my own house rule for Meta-Psychomorph who are match for most starting Nova and all.

But without tweaking rules, those guys are wimp.

[Eddie Cyclone]

The Fremen would probably have a level or two of mega-stamina and maybe mega-dex, and they'd have the aberration 'Aberrant Eyes' because of the affect of the melange.

Gandalf would be one of the 'Yes I can' characters. If he needs to be able to do something, yes he can. ::

Bane is a Mitoid, plain and simple.

[Dr. Arcturus]

Ok,I dont know who among you caught the DC 1,000,000 company wide crossover (if you havent,its a very good read),but I think it poses an interesting question:What would Superman Prime's stats(in Aberrant terms,of course) be immediately before and immediately after his 15,000 years of Chrysalis(thats about what I make of it) in the core of the sun? For that matter,what are the stats for the Superman of that era(called Dynasty)?

Obviously,all of these fellas are going to have mega-attributes so high it would give one nose bleed,but what else?

[Dr. Arcturus]

Oh,I forgot to mention, Superman Prime has the last Green Lantern Power Ring at the end of his Chrysalis. I cant begin to tell you how powerfull that alone would make him....

[N News Service]

Quote:

Originally posted by Quantum Promise:
Ok,I dont know who among you caught the DC 1,000,000 company wide crossover (if you havent,its a very good read),but I think it poses an interesting question:What would Superman Prime's stats(in Aberrant terms,of course) be immediately before and immediately after his 15,000 years of Chrysalis(thats about what I make of it) in the core of the sun? For that matter,what are the stats for the Superman of that era(called Dynasty)?
Obviously,all of these fellas are going to have mega-attributes so high it would give one nose bleed,but what else?

Okay, I read a bit of the DC One Million cross over series (damn all crossovers to hell!!) but I didn't see much of Superman. But you know something? It doesn't matter. I think it is a mistake to try to treat the Aberrant system like a catch all superhero system. It's not. It wasn't designed to be and I think you would just be disapointed in the results. Aberrant was designed to create Novas and Novas were designed with a very specific concept in mind. Superman doesn't fit in that concept and neither do many of the other heroes that people try to mimic with the Aberrant rules. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it is a dismal failure.

Sorry, this is not directed at you. I just worry that people are trying to use Aberrant as a generic system for superheroes and getting frustrated with it when it doesn't fit. I've seen rants bitching about it on WW Forums and Yahoo Groups and I don't like the system being libeled for the wrong reasons.

Jeez, didn't realize that nerve was there.

Well, as far as Supes 1,000,000,000 goes, give him whatever you think is appropriate. God help your players though.

[Dr. Arcturus]

Ok,calm down.

Im not out to ruin the system,Im just bending it a little. These PC's are going to be extremely powerful,but because that's the kind of game we want to play. I didnt mean to trample on your last nerve.

[N News Service]

Quote:

Originally posted by Quantum Promise:
Ok,calm down.
Im not out to ruin the system,Im just bending it a little. These PC's are going to be extremely powerful,but because that's the kind of game we want to play. I didnt mean to trample on your last nerve.

Nah nah nah. You didn't do any trampling and you ain't gonna ruin the system, you can't. I was just, very badly, stating that maybe you picked the wrong system to do what you want to do. Compared to some other 'super hero' games, Aberrant is fairly limited in scope. I mean yes, some of those level 4+ powers are world shattering and Mastery can definetly make you a big bad cosmic booty shaker, but still, the system wasn't designed to mimic DC style ass kickyness. I just don't wan't you getting frustrated because this particular set of rules can't support your desires.

Have you ever thought of checking out the original DC Roleplaying game? If I remember correctly one of the things it was specifically designed to do was allow for a game where Gods-A-Walkin' could interact easily with Joe Chumpchange and that the differing power levels would be accurately gauged.

[Dr. Arcturus]

Looked for it,couldnt find it.

I can handle the various social penaltie& interactions just fine, for the most part,it's the 15,000 year Chrysalis in the sun and the 1,000,000+ years of evolution Big Blu did that's throwing me off.

[Wizard]

Time spent in chrysalis doesn't equate to power although it can. Clark was tapped out, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He'd enbarked on a quest lasting eons, searching for the woman he loved, and had failed. He didn't enter 'chrysalis' to evolve or nurture taint in a particular direction. He went to recover, to sleep, and to heal. The body mends at it's own speed. So to does the mind and the heart.

I don't think the time was relevant and as for the evolution... I think it would be a mistake to see it as evolution. Look at it instead as a child's last sleep before adulthood. He had become the ultimate it was possible to be physically.

Should one of my characters ever enter into chrysalis, a possiblity no longer as remote as it once seemed, assuming anything about the time would be ill-advised. Especially as I still table top with this character.

[Dr. Arcturus]

I still think a solar powered being spending 15,000 years in the core of the sun must augment him a great deal.

Any idea on how I handle the empowerment of the superman dynasty by Superman Prime? Some sort of "Super" Nova Proxy?

[Wizard]

Rather than say 'augment', I would say he's reached the pinnacle of what he could achieve by power alone. A literary way to look at it is that he became the equivalent in power of solaris.

As for the dynasty, I would simply establish which one are 'special', annotate them on the sheet and remember they are not available unless under the energies of the 'super sun'. God, I can't even write that without smiling.

The real question is what is the power level of those dynasty supermen without access to the energies provided by Superman Prime. While he never reached an unpowered state, at low ebb being able to leap to the moon, he was also so mingled with humanity that krytonian technology didn't recognize his DNA as being Kryptonian. There is a possiblity that, although more powerful than a human, his base power levels are far below that of Superman in the twentieth century.

My core recommendation concerning GL is also applicable here. I think you migh be better served by doing a homage to these characters rather than blatantly lifting them whole into the aberrant system. Between the core book, the APG, and the powers bits found elsewhere in the books there is more than enough power to build characters even if the attribute abilities don't go high enough to suit your tastes.

Good luck.

[Dr. Arcturus]

Ok,so you're saying it would probably be better to run with characters LIKE the Justice Legion,but not actually them. Ok,that's doable. I just think Q10 is a little stifling.(I have an idea for just this situation: Mastery 4:area and range now x10,000,000km, power effects now x2,000; such that the power rating of an ability is the sum of all augmentation through to Mastery 3.This extra's effects would also affect mega-attributes. How about that?)

You have pretty much cleared up all of the matters that need addressing, and I've only got one more: In DC 1,000,000, there is mention of Superman Prime providing Dynasty with powers "gleaned from the boundarie of time and space" and then later,Dynasty can be seen punching through time!

How would you broach that?

[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: Quantum Promise ]

[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: Quantum Promise ]

[Wizard]

I would say:

Requires the quantum pool which is only replenished over time under the sun augmented by Superman Prime (as are those other special powers).

I think it's less relevant that those powers "were gleaned from beyond space and time" than the fact that they are coming from Superman Prime. And, as I recall, the covenant was to protect the Earth not humanity or the universe. It makes a thematic sense that those 'Prime' powers can only be replenished while in our solar system and explosed to the power of Prime.

Also, aside from the personal view that a homage is better than an outright steal, I think you'll find it less frustrating to build the characters. I agree with Prodigy on that point completely.

[Dr. Arcturus]

Mary Mother of God, Starman is dead.

The newest member of my Aberrant troup drew the part of Dynasty,and killed Starman without half trying. I see now that the problem is most likely Dynasty's ability to deal out 100,000 levels of automatic bashimg damage with one punch.......

[Hugin]

Well, yeah. Maybe I should have mentioned that aspect of Aberrant earlier. Fighting in this game is some lethal shit. Ain't no way that Batman would last ten freaking seconds in this game. Hell, my character Prodigy, a mental case with few physical powers capable of affecting baselines could take out Batman in half a mo'. This ain't the game for long drawn out fights where everybody walks away with all their important bodyparts still accounted for.

My condolences to Starman's family.

[Dr. Arcturus]

Christ, it just happened so fast.....

I didnt know 11,000,000,000 soak was so much.Jesus, what would that be compared to Mal?

[Wizard]

It would be a completely different mythos and therefore no comparison. It's like asking which is better, the color blue or the taste of chocolate.

You may want to remember that the system is optimized for and called, StoryTeller for a reason. It's meant to allow you to generate characters quickly, easily and enter play without needing to look up a combat rule every two minutes.

Ever play Champions? Prodigy and Atwight can vouch for this;

- 1 to 3 hours, a personal copy of the powers with stats breakdowns, a calculator and some serious trading around to generate a character.

- One combat per gaming session. Because it can take hours to establish combat resolutions. And those on pretty much straight forward combats, one on one. Send Captain America up against a score of Viper agents and it could take 4-5 hours to run the combat. Now multiply that by additional combatants on both sides.

The reasons for both of these is that it is an extremely detailed system that allows you to simulate almost anything. I say almost simply because there might be something it can't do but I've never run into an example of it. In Champion games I've played we've had beings that could create quantum singularities, craft new worlds, obliterate universes, and take spins aroung the galaxy when they were having trouble sleeping. Every Superhero that anyone has ever cared about has been simulated somewhere on someone's wbsite. Everyone from Uncle Sam to Green Lantern to Santa Claus. I'm not kidding about that by the way. Ther are even game stats for atomic weapons and characters designed to survive them without noticing anything except "Sky look very cloudy today." Very detailed, very flexible, very realistic for the genre.

The Aberrant system, as Prodigy is always reminding me, is not designed for, or optimized to, even try and simulate that. It is designed to make the game flow. Your game death is an excellent example of that. Bigger fist hits weaker object, weaker object breaks. Whoever has the most power and strikes first is going to be the winner.

Incidentally, that's part of the reason that most of the major canon characters are not detailed in any of the books. So that they can be whatever the ST needs them to be. Primarily in the case of Mal and Pax, but to a lesser degree with everyone else of any importance. I've only ever found one vague reference to what Slider's power was and yet she was an early member of T2M, highly thought of by everyone worldwide, and at the trigger event for the end of the golden age of novas.

So the problem you're going to run into by running these Uber-characters is that in combat whoever hits first is probably going to win. Aside from primal forces of nature like Dynasty. Trying to best a being like that in one on one combat is like trying to defeat gravity throughout reality. Theoretically possible but figure the odds?

Just to make your game easier, and to demonstrate a point, I would total up the total offensive combat value of a character, which is the most damage die he can throw on any one attack. Next total the defensive combat value of the character, which is the most dice he can soak in one attack. Lastly figure out the initiative move turns; i.e. who goes first, then second, third, ect.

When somebody is feeling studly and wantd to initiate combat, just compare the attacker versus the defender and resolve the combat. If the soak value is at least 50% of the attack then roll a single die to resolve. On a one or two the defender lives. Anything else he dies. When the attacker rolls a ten he's effectively atomized his opponent so thoroughly that all of his ancestors are removed from the time line as well. It will speed up your combats.

Of course you're playing a ludicrously simplified verison of Champions but what ever makes your troupe happy and they have fun at is okay. If your troupe ever tires of this, and they will eventually, you might want to take a look at Aberrant again later. It's actually a very good system to use for role playing.

I'm not making fun of you by any means. Whatever game your troupe enjoys is no more or less valid than the games I enjoy. However, we seem to be playing for different reasons.

Oh, and if you do look up Champions, you will find it is everything I said it was. And it really can simulate anything. You'll still run into a problem with the kind of games you're running though. Starman vs. Dynasty was like comparing the total energy output of a single star vs the total energy output of an entire galaxy. Which one did you think was going to win?

[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: Wizard ]

[Dr. Arcturus]

Mastery 4 is very dangerous.

Just given my recent experience with the death of Starman,I wouldnt reccomend it to anyone unless they have a serious bone to pick with the rest of the universe and at least Q16.

You might find this interesting Wizard,Ive made the role taken by Solaris in DC 1,000,000 and replaced it with Mal

[Sidious]

ok you are going to be getting to some serious power levels.

superman has sense we dont even have words for...this should be fun. but i'll be going on what has been demonstrated in the book I bought the TPB a while ago.

sadly the tradition of Batman not eing a nova will be discarded. With all those designer genes and telepathic durlan martial arts i'm afraid there is no room fora normal man.

Think I'll be using the old stats for the heroes (ie: pre-crisis)

That Aquaman having control of water should be fun.

you do realized these guys are going to be the embodiment of "Quantum Gods" right? and the only person that could over shadow them would be Superman Prime (figure Quantum 8-9)

(feeding the urge to twink every so often is a good thing)

[Hugin]

Hey Promise, you ever looked into Classic Marvel RPG? Fun, basic system with the absolutely most anti-death combat system ever. You can learn it in about 15 minutes and it has one universal table to figure out everything. Hell, there are limitations, but with the Ultimate Powers Book you got one hell of a selection to choose from.

[Dr. Arcturus]

Sidious,

I thanks you in advance for taking the Challenge of Quantum Insanity

Prodigy,

Ive actually never heard of the RPG youre referring to. Are the system and the Ultimate Powers supplement still in print?

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Quantum Promise:
Sidious,
I thanks you in advance for taking the Challenge of Quantum Insanity
Prodigy,
Ive actually never heard of the RPG youre referring to. Are the system and the Ultimate Powers supplement still in print?

Unfortunately, no. However, I wouldn't be suprised if you were able to find something on Ebay.

[Dr. Arcturus]

Is there an updated version of the game in print?

If so,does it do the job for this sort of Fear of God imposing level of power?

[Guest]

Quote:

Originally posted by Quantum Promise:
I've actually never heard of the RPG youre referring to. Are the system and the Ultimate Powers supplement still in print?

While they are no longer in print, there are many fan based sites where you can get PDFs of the players book, judges book and UPG. Try doing a search using "Marvel superheroes RPG."

[Asche]

Here is a site that has virtually all the marvel books on PDF..... http://www.rabunda.com/~super/dir.php?loc=resources/rules/index.html&bookmark=mshclassic

Hope it is of some use

[Sidious]

woohooo I need to get acrobat like now!