Jump to content

Aberrant RPG - So What Would You Change


Dave ST

Recommended Posts

Not bad overall, one thing it doesn't take into account is Big vs. Small means Small can't get out of the way as fast and Big's foot or fist covers alot more area, not to mention the smaller guy is going to get hosed against area attacks and shockwaves. 2 1/2 inch Small is not going to move 12m/turn with out 'full strength'.

You see my point I think.

I haven't gotten to Shrink yet, but when I get there I'll compare notes and see what we end up with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 183
  • Created
  • Last Reply

So last mondays Abby (Quasi-wannaby Munchkin)game was pushed to tuesday, which never happened either cuz the ST JUST got his months old WoW account working the second I got in the door... As a result we, whilst he was raiding a new dungon that had JUST openned up with the tuesday patch, started chatting about the way the game was going.

I started by saying sorry for asking him to run me though the Quasi-Munchy game and He replyed that he deserved it But&And liked/was thankful that 'I' hadn't Actually done any munchking things and that outside of me min/maxing my character sheet... Which he went on to say that he was supprised that after all that Min/Maxxing I'd done little to use or abuse it. Further more he said that I was the most respectful and non-abusive player (or some such wording) that he'd had in a long time and that I was making the game fun for him to run with my down to earth rping...

Or some such embellishments as to my rp skill.

Then he said that he Still wished that, even though all of it was 'game legal', he'd still wished that I hadn't asked it of him to run me through a game with a M&M PC and that he feared that it may still end up harming the game and that he wished I'd played w/o the M&M's.

To whcih I replyed "I just wished to show you how a game can be fun when (even with min-maxxing of a pc) and that a good (not rude) non-jerk player I actually am. It's alwasy up to the player and not just the ST, GM, or DM to have to do all of the work but that the players must and Should put in their Own amount of work to make the game run smoothly"

But then I also said "But I you think I'm cheating or potentially munchkin with my min-maxxing, let me tell you what I could have done WITH the unquestioning rules minus the M&M"... He was in shock.

WHAT's THE POINT?...

And how does this pertain to THIS thread? Dave And Sky are Both right. The GM/ST/DM's have Alotta damage being leveled at them when the players take Optional Rules or even the Non-optional, canon rules-rules (try the Fish Dave, it's really-real) and beat the ST/GM/DM to death with it/them.

Daves right Sky... Players Will do this now days thanx to an over abundance of over deserved entitlement (the US'S gift to the world), and it ruins the games I've been in Everytime. Just cuz 'A' player goes outta his/her/and now 'Its' way to not be such a gmae destroying element, doesn't mean the other two, three, four, five or more players at the table Won't do so! So the game NEEDS some clear fixes so as to, at the ver least, lessen the damage...

THAT said, Sky you are also right (I and you see Eye to I on more things than not), it IS the ST's job to remind players if and when they are straying too far from their PC's Alingments, Archtypes, Disposition, and general Character. And it is the ST's job to make sure that the players know that THEY too must contribute to the well-being of the game by Not; Power Gaming, playing the same roles to death (IE: I wanna be an Ace Valkery Pilot fer the 33rd time, even in games that Ain't got any Macross in them), stop the Munchkining, Reduce the Min&Max, Stop the Twinking, and absolutly reduce to nil the Meta-Gaming...

The players should feel free to use the rules creativily in both Character Creation and in Play... But not abusively!

That is the ST-GM-DM's job to stop that and NOT restrict the H-E-Double Hockey Stix out of the game due to the potent (not potential, since it is a given that it will happen) fears of abuse.

You both right and Both sides hold much wisedom that I have leared from. So Dave, thank you fer what you've written here, it has been enlightening and helpful to see the games may faults laid out to observe and getting new options for play/st.

Sky, thank you Very much fer being you as I have the most in common with you outta everyone as far as like & dislike go. You keep the boards Bold & Fresh with free form and play ideas and keep us all from becoming too elitest in our play.

Thank you BOTH for keeping the game (one of only a few select RPG's I love) alive and kicking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ICYW (In Case You're Wondering)

What did I tell my super gamer ST & brother in law (yes, I married my best friends hotty sister... I'm so cliché)?

Well, to tell you that I should show you that MASSIVE min/maxing job I pulled first.

Click to reveal..

NP

3NPQR••••• (One dot tainted/two dots bought strictly with 14 Freeby Points/Last Dot purchased by taking 10 points of Flaws in the form of nasty Aberrations that are, Yes, very harmful and link to my powers usage or screw me over. Six of those Flaw points are Added to the one remaining FB point I had left, equaling=7FB points which is enough fer one last point of QR)

3NPShape Shift• (Form Restriction: Human 5 point Weakness, -5 Duration as it is Not intended for combat and it cost success point for Aberration Flaw point value to remove said Flaws *see Aberration/Flaws below. I also to a Level 3 version of the naturally tqo point Weakness "Dendenant power".

This weakness means that Shape Shifting is Dependant of, and Not Linked to Molecular Manipulation and can Only be used when I roll succesfully on first an MM roll, and then a Shape Shift roll. I must spend the cost to active Both powers and if either one fails I take 3 points of Unsoakable Bashing damage... Twice failed would reduce my HL by -6, enough to almost kill a normal nova in just a moment. -2 made up flaw "Success Limiter": This weakness limits the number of successes placed into a power, attribute, skill-ets, to a maximum equal to the PR power Ratings number of Dots.)

Weakness points= 15. I only spent 5 to reduce the level once to a level two power, thus making this power nothing more than a technique' of Molecular Manipulation. I have Yet to realize that I have this power and it is only there for fun and show and will not likely be very helpful in hidding Aberration/Flaws like normal Shape Shifting can, nor is it to very useful (or safe) to use in combat as it is QP costly and takes two turns to use.

8NP Molecular Manipulation••••• (Yes, I reduced the range by -9 since I actually wanted it limited this way, it worked out, but is still game abuse. And yes, I reduced Duration by -4 since it was of benifit. 13 Weakness points! I then spent 3 Weakness on buying the extra 'Affect Life'-see below, and spent the last 10 Weakness points on reduing the level of the power.)

The reason WHY I pulled min/maxing abuse... Well believe it or not, I had nothing to do with a need to cheat the system... I just have REALLY always wanted this same power in real life, at Touch Range, And so that it Affects life (not to harm since I could do that with the power alone easily & w/o the extra). I wanted the ability to save lives by turning them into metal, or some other form of matter, should they be injured and need to get to the hospital. I also wanted Affect life to Ultimately allow me to develope the Healing power in time. I also felt that ALL my powers should be related to Molecular manipulation since this is what the books say, so I made all powers Dependant on MM to work, but to do this I felt that I needed MM to have the Affect life Extra do to the Other powers affecting my PC biologically.

Last powers-

3NP BodyMorph: Ice • (as per Blue Ninjas suggestion... Danka B-N) Taken cuz I fell in the Ice and the ST Knew that I'd be in a fight as per the story and ordered me to take a defencive power. -5Duration & -3MM Dependance same as Shape Shifting.

3NP Absorbtion: Energy • (Cuz i was exposed to Radiation. Power is Linked to BodyMorph-IE: If I'm in a fire and I absorb the heat that hits me on a suckessful roll, this is due to me being cold. If hit by Radiation and I successfully absorb it, it is because I am made of water and water is resistant to Radiation...etc.)

3NP Mega-Perseption: (Body Awareness-enhancement) • (Taken cuz I have funky Aberrant Eyes AND the ST needed me to be aware of Utopias sterility Drug cuz he didn't want a game to revolve around them. I took it cuz I figured I should know about the human body if i'm gonna shapeshift And or be a good doctor one day).

3NP Mega STA: (Resiliance-Enhancement) • (So when I run outta MANA/QP, I won't die everytime!)

4NP Points on Skills and stats.

FLAWS:

Aberrant Eyes:-1Flaw=Shifting Eyes (Shift in a predictable pattern when I'm about to use a power. For those using Perception + Tactics or other such abilities, a succesful roll allows them to predict my next moves by upto +3 success. -1To Social & APP Rolls)

Aberrant Eyes:-1Flaw=Odd Eyes. (-2 to social & apperance rolls when eyes are visable to others. People feel uneasy around him Even if eyes are hind should they have already seen them in the past.)

,,

No Dormancy:-1Flaw. (Can never possess this Background as the characters baseline Template wa lost during eruption-must possess at least One Aberration or visable flaw to have)

Aberrant Hair:-2Flaw= 'Glows', 'Floats in Air', 'Odd Pattern-permanent Mohawk', and 'Shifting Colors/Patterns. (Has ALL hair abberations. Hair glows 4 watts bright for every 1 point of Quantum in his Pool. Those with percetion will know when he is out of QP by this. -1 To Stealth roll for every 20 watts of light.)

Aberrant Skin:-3Flaw=Hard Monotone (putty colored) Rubbery Skin. (-3 to touch. +3 From fire Damage. -2From Electrical damage. -2 from APP & Social rolls when skin is visable, though Some people may find this Barby-Doll rubber/plastic look pleasing. Skin 'grips' clothes and tight clothes may rip when put on).

Odd Apperance:-2Flaw (Genderless, feature-less apperance save for mohawk, eyes, finger nails which are permanently black, and ears which are strange and pointed. -2 to appearance & social rolls if ears are viasble. May attract the 'wrong crowed'-character is still strait. Can not have sex nor procreate w/o the Yin-Yang Enhancement, which only lasts for a scene unless with child! Androgynous and gender is hard to establish for others. Height has been lost as a point.

Now you see my Min/Maxed game legal cheat.

AFFECT OTHERS:EXRTA

A power limited to affecting non-living/inorganic material can now affect living matter as well as per the powers normal funtions: The exceptions are that all of the players die Must be rolled as a pool (what would normaly be considered Auto-successes to rolls must now be rolled as part of the dice pool). Additionally the Nova must expened one 1Temp Will power (meaning temp WP can Not be used to modify the rolls) and opponents may make a contested WP roll to reduce or negate the Novas dice pool.

Targets/Victims may add their Quantum Rating and Node to their Willpower dice pool. Targets/Victims with Any level of permanent Taint add it in auto successes to the roll, regardless of whether they chose to or not. Needless to say, this Extra seldom affects novas and most baselines can shrug it off as well. Mostly affects lower life forms like BUGS!!!

(Which is another reason I wanted it, I wanna turn bugs into gems, Which is only temporary but still loads of fun).

Now to what i told him I could do game legally

I said that i could have just taken one dot in Molecular Manipulation at Full range and Full duration and converted the floor under bad guys into a: Pool Hydrochloric Acid, Symtex, Napalm, Tar, VX-Nerve Gas, or Liquid Hydrogen... And killed them that way.

As for the giant robot that I couldn't afford to get close to, I could have just caused the 300 ton ceiling to fall on them by Cutting a 1" slice in a 100 foot circle, 100 ft deep, thus crushing them and kick ars.

Or I could have just melted them into slag, cut them up into 1million peices with the reshape technique by Moling paper thin cuts into their armor!

I could have spent 6 Tainted points on QR5, and 5 points on one dot of MM, 5NP one dot of Shape Shifting (no limits on form, time, connection to other powers or success usage), and 5NP on One dot of Clone... Leaving 9NP to spend as I wished on Mega atts....

ALL THAT SAID, THIS BRINGS ME TO MY POINT

DAVE, I told my ST about how Badly I could cheat (legally) using this power and he gasped at the realization that I A)had no interset in gimpping the game and B) That he'd never realized the damage that power can do.The cheat in CLONE was that the game makers did everything they could do to Not let you cheat when you used this power. To prevent abuse they linked ALL of the clones Quantum pools & Nodes to the Nove, thus preventing them from having nodes of their own, But in doing so that same Link means that a clone can use the "Dying for Power" ability that All novas have to convert themselves into QP for the collective pool. Nova A) creates a single clone for one QP and orders it to Use the technique [bFP] converting upto 6HL into '12QP' that goes back into Nova A's pool. Still limited to the original Nova having enough QP to create the clone in the first place, and the clone being able/willing to make said sacrifice, And they the clones still drain the frak outta the novas Node & Quantum Pool, but the Power needs to let PLAYERS (and evil ST's) know that this can't be done.

Danka Dave.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Vivi OOC
As far as Psychic Shield and Invuln. go, I didn't think they were the same/redundant. I'll double check when I've got a book handy, though.
Psychic Shield gives +2 sux against mental powers. Invulnerability gives +6 soak or (if the chosen thing is mental attacks) gives +6 sux. So, for almost the same XP cost, you can go for two dots of Invuln (Mental Powers) and get +12 sux, making you utterly immune unless you botch, or three dots of Psychic Shield for +6 sux. I dislike the idea of Invulnerability (Mental Powers) when Psychic Shield exists already, and is IMO more attuned to that type of defense than a power designed for specific immunity to attacks.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Dave ST
Since some powers will be tagged as [Mental] or [Mind-Affecting] the power will retain it's ability to bestow a soak rating to defend a mind from damaging attacks.
Well, the only mental power that does damage is Mental Blast. So I suppose you could pick Invulnerability (Mental Blast) but it seems a waste of points.

Quote:
One thing that I've looked at is 'auto-successes' and pretty much done away with them at this stage in the project.

At this point any 'auto-success' at all will be a direct result of your quantum score, not anything a power provides. High Quantum PCs will pack a herder punch even with lower ranked traits just by virtue of being more adept at manipulating quantum. Instead most powers will now provide bonus dice to resistance tests that willadd to the PCs relevant pool (Willpower, Resistance, etc...).

So while it was once possible to whip out a 15+ Dice Pool with Mega-Atts against a Piddly Willpower of three the defender, with his Willpower of 3, might 15+ dice worth of defense thanks to mental defenses.
From what little you've posted here, this seems broken to me. Raw power (the base Quantum score) does not automatically equate to precision and skill (what auto-sux usually seem for).

Quote:
Quote:
Invulnerability - remove any mention of mental powers in it. That's what Psychic Shield is for, damnit.

One could argue to remove Physical Invul since that's what Armor is for. wink
They're not the same. Invulnerability is against a specific type of damage or attack - fire, bullets, electricity - while Armor is an always-on soak against everything possible. The only way to equate them is if your character has two Invulnerabilities, one for each broad category. (Which is a little twinky on its own, but since I've done it with a character, I can't criticize too much.)

Quote:
Quote:
Shapeshift - specify what can be taken when you roll the dice. IMX, limiting it to physical-type stuff works well.

This power has been a complete pain in my ass. As it is at the moment it's a suite power. Every time you gain a dot in the power you may choose a new category to shift into. Humanoids, Animals, Objects/Minerals, Plants, etc... By mixing your dots you may change into anything you like. So if you have 'Animals' and 'Minerals' you could mix them together to change into a steel wolf. By mixing 'Humanoids' and 'Plants' you could shift yourself into a plant person; without vital organs anymore you convert all lethal damage to bashing, etc...
Shifting into Minerals isn't even the Shapeshifting power at all, but rather Matter Chameleon. While the two powers certainly can go together from a thematic viewpoint, they're not the same. IMO it's easier to list what you can use those successes for, with possible substitutions via GM negotiation.

Quote:
Or you may simply choose a single form your character may shift into. Since you do not need the suite abilities you gain extra successes equal to your quantum score per dot you posses in the power. So if you chose a 'Werewolf' as your form and had Shapeshift of 4 and a Quantum of 5 you'd automatically get 20 successes right out of the gate to assign to it's stats before you even rolled the dice, but you can't shapeshift into anything other than a werewolf (shifting into a wolf as well would require you to buy the power a second time, adding Shapeshift to Shapeshift forms is not permitted)
That seems incredibly, incredibly broken. I don't think it's mathematically possible to get 20 successes with less than the full dice pool, and the odds of it happening are too remote to count on.

Quote:
Temp taint bleeds away, but can now be bought away with XP.
Interesting; I'm assuming you charge more this way than via Chrysalis?

Quote:
Quote:
Gadgets - the gadget building rules in the APG suck. Re-write them for something closer to Adventure! super-science rules.

Not really in development, but I did do something like this for Fox awhile back... wonder if he still has the PM I sent him...
I did a write-up/modification of this that I have posted up on Eon's forums. The two groups I've used it with seem to like it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Invulnerability - Mental Effects would defend you against Disorient, Domination, Empathic Manipulation, Hypnosis, Immobilize (If it was mental based), Mental Blast, Mirage, Stun Attack(Mental Based again), and Telepathy. Sense it adds 6 successes for each dot, in that case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Dave ST
Not bad overall, one thing it doesn't take into account is Big vs. Small means Small can't get out of the way as fast and Big's foot or fist covers alot more area, not to mention the smaller guy is going to get hosed against area attacks and shockwaves. 2 1/2 inch Small is not going to move 12m/turn with out 'full strength'.

You see my point I think.

I haven't gotten to Shrink yet, but when I get there I'll compare notes and see what we end up with.


Huh! Yanno I thought I had included the "halve all physical based movement (ie walking running, wings bodymod) except with full power extra" in there but I apparently forgot it.

One might argue that getting hit or struck by a larger opponent would do *less* damage since the force isn;t able to be focused on such a smaller area at a certain point. Imagine punching a fly for example, and you can see how it's harder for your fist to connect with it in the air. On the ground though "splat"! although for game balance reasons I wouldn't reduce a Novas soak for being smaller, given its a quantum aka magick effect.

Same thing for shockwaves...they will fly further away but actually take less damage, and the flying further is taken into account by the knockback rules and the greatly reduced mass.

Interestingly and ridiculously enough I first learned about this kind of thing as a kid watching the Real Ghostbusters cartoon. There was an episode where the team was shrunk and they fell a great distance, landing on a car and Peter wondered why they hadn;t broken all their bones. Egon then explained that with such greatly reduced size and mass, the didn;t have enough gravity and weight to crush themselves, and that was similar to how you could drop an ant or a bettle from the equivalent of hundereds of feet and it wouldn't really hurt them.

Turns out it's actually true! Whoda thunk that a Saturday morning cartoon would have some real physics in it...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, Ghostbusters taught that to me as well.

So I looked at the rules given out so far and the Taint rules may sound kewler than the ones in the book (cuz they ARE kewler than the ones in the books) But, when combined with the desire to remove the Meta Plot as well as a majority of the reductions in powers, you'd end up with a VERY differant game world...

The Metaplot, power levels, and Taint rules as they are in Aberrant, are all tied into eachother.

I explain.

•The reason why Novas were so quickly accepted by humanity was because of fine folks in The AEON Society.

•And the reason AEON acted so fast and decisively in regards to the coming of Novas, is because they knew that they existed and some peeps even knew about when they were coming and the sheer power and damage that Novas rept.

•ADDITIONALLY, the reason humans continued to think kindly of Novas (and Why Novas thought of themselve as human) was because it took YEARS before Taint crept up on everyone.

•The reason Humans failed to stop Novas was because of their level of power level being WELL past the levels found in Marvels X-men (more akin to DC universe).

•The Reason The Aberrant movment existed was to fight the Utopian Metaplot.

•And the reason the Teragen gained so much power was because of the issues (like sterility).

•And Everything revolved around an undecisive man with the power of a god, called Divis Mal.

‡ IF you remove the worst parts of the Meta plot EI: AEONs awareness of novas and need to control them, and sterility agenda, as well as a ToPowerfulForWords scatterbrained novas need for play friends... You remove the reasons for AEON to get so involved in the mutant agenda...

‡ And Mutants is what they are (not novas) if you try and declaw them with reductions in things like NO mega-atts and other such major changes. It IS the massive power that novas possess (and will possess) that keeps the humans cordial and opting fer OTHER alternatives to war... W/O that power level, humans will just end up fearing the Lower powered novas and they'd see novas as less of a threat, one that they could deal with.

And humans WOULD move to "Deal With them".

‡ ADDITIONALLY, Massively increasing the easy in getting temp taint would cause novas to be seen as freaks and Alien EACH and Everytime they botch a power roll by the public... Not just inhuman. Everytime they botch Novas Aberrate... The chance at botching is higher at lower QR ratings (like 1-3)

so NOW evertime you Botch with low dot powers, Or each and everytime you MAX roles, you will become a monster!!!

Very likely an insane monster at that.

More so, MAXXING powers is supposedta be "tempting" to novas and the Fast track to a better understanding of your powers like gaining Personal Experiance Points (PXP) for expanding That one powers nature in That direction in which it was maxxed (only doable once per session)! In the begining novas have No real reason to fear Maxxing rolls and they do so often that it becomes a fun and powerful form of Expression for many. And there in lays its Danger...

It'sa Slow boiling pot of water novas are swimming in, so the frogs aren't jumping out, they're just stewing for the coming feast.

‡ All of these things would change ALL of Mankinds views on Novas in a Very short period of time. And in a Very bad way. You ARE VERY RIGHT Dave, the game has flaws in it's system (Merits and Flaws for one), but the Maxxing & Power botch rules are not intended to gain you taint so fast for a reason.

Taint is a Creeping cancer that you don't realize is there cuz it is Quiet, one you slowly come to love untill it is to late to stop it's progress.

AND much of that Meta-plot is the prime motivator for the state of the world... A world that You CAN change IF you act now and fight it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd also like to point out that, save for three flaws in the Powers Weakness & Strength system, The 'Merit/Flaw' system is Much more broken.

Taloring powers by subtracting something Here, to give to something There, makes Much more sence with individual super powers than it does for Merits&Flaws where someone takes a 'Gimped leg' and gets 'Total Recall' in return.

The Only three Flaws in the Strengths & Weakness Power Taloring System is

A) Permanence for a mere one through three weaknesses.

B) That you need only reduce your Range or Duration by a mere 'Five' points to reduce you powers Level!

and

C) That Strength are sooo easy to buy and Weaknesses are sooo easy to buy off.

Get rid of THOSE three small things and BLAHMO... The STR & WKNS power Tailoring System works all over again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I forgot to mention why I brought up the Aberrant movement in the above post and what happens when you remove the Meta-Plot...

See, yawl have said that you'd like to remove much of the Teragens overly influential imput in Aberrant, and give Aberrants namesake (The Aberrant underground movement themselves) more of that influance.

Problem is, if you loose some of that meta-plots strength (or remove it all) than the Aberrant movement will have never had reason to be as, unlike the teragen, They have only ever existed to Defeat the AEon/Utopian/Proteus/Triton Foundation meta plot in the first place.

No plot, No Aberrant!

As to the issues with Shape Shifting, I think that it's safe to say that Over gimping that power would be as bad a thing as leaving as is.

Or, in the words of STRONG BAD ...

First off, it doesn't really matter that Shape Shifting Does or does Not let you become Inorganic!!! Why you ask? Because ALL of the abilties (looks of course included) gained from Body Morph and Matter Chameleon can be mimicked perfectly using JUST biological powers!

Whether or not your are Actually made of metalor just look like it through and though, doesn't make much of a game mechanical differance if you BOTH have the same soak, Hardness, Strength...etc

The only differance betwixt the two is that a Bio-mimic made to 'Look like metal' and the guy who really IS metal, is that the Shape Shifter ain't gonna get stuck to a 40ton electro magnet!

Second...

If you let someone have the 'Biological Powers' of Growth or Shrink, well Both of those two powers cause you to gain Real Actual mass to your body... Which IS matter creation, which IS atmoic control! That means that your shapeshifter IS in possession of energy control powers to begin with.

IF you think about it, NO amount of 'Simple' bio-shape shifting could Ever pull off what a strictly Bioloical Shape Shifting nova could pull off... Face it, Novas can Only pull off what they do with a Matrix of energy (another, more PC, word for soul/spirits)! As such that nova IS able to separate themselves from their bodies during shape shifting and Thus allowing them to make such Massive changes to their molecular structure with-out killing themselves...

That said, they could easily become a rock, liquid, or gas with-out killing themselves!

Honestly, Yes I do NOT agree with them being able to do this kind of stuff at this level of power untill at 'Least' Quantum Six!

MASTERY!

Lets face it, you know it is broken, but not why. That fact is that ist gives you FOUR powerful extras in one, and That is why. But if you look at it, without Mastery you are gonna end up with cheap extras like (oooo) X2 Duration (or +10 more turns of staying in BodyMorph form in combat, or two whole sceens outta combat instead of one...OOOO wow)...

Put that same extra on a level 3 power and it becomes a level FOUR power with ALL of the limts and extra costs that a TRUE level Four power has minus one simple QP to the activation cost!

Now you've spent ALL of this time working on your level 3 power and given it an extra, and yet compaired to most any True level 4 power, it is weak an pathetic as sin.

A level 3 power pushed to level 4 WITH Mastery is Just making it equal to a True Level 4 ability in power! That is why Mastery exists!

It's just the you need to have Better extras is all...

Many extras just plain seem to such (Like Extra range and Duration), And considering that at QR 6+ you can have more than one extra on some powers, you SHOULD be able to build to (in theory) be able to make a power that is Nearly as comparable as a true level 4 power. This would Aslo make it about ½ as powerful as a Mastery extra. You no longer need Mastery And it is no longer an issue.

But this ONLY really works if you Improve The Increased Range & Duration to something More than... Times two.

An easy and simple fix for a Big problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I ran an Aberrant game for about 30 players (with four assistants) for about two years, and I made a lot of house rules and clarifications to help the game be more balanced and make more sense. We kept a wiki to manage all the game information, but I've also put my house rules in a .doc file that I'd be happy to share it with anyone who is interested.

My biggest rewrites were for Domination, Telepathy, Warp and Teleportation. A lot of things just don't scale consistently or rationally with successes. White Wolf is scattered with diminishing and increasing returns on xp expenditures, and I never did standardize that aspect of the game. Mutants and Masterminds 2nd ed. does an excellent job.

As the thread starter did, I also allowed enhancements without the corresponding mega attributes. I made Bioluminescense and Luck not suck so much, and I toned down Quantum Construct. I clarified what Shapeshift can do so it's less ambiguous and more balanced. I heavily adapted the Telepathy rules from the d20 system, breaking it into separate powers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the book right in front of me... it explicitly says succ is used once per turn in combat. So if you have 2 sux on your luck roll (which was rolled once per scene), then you get to spend those 2 sux once every turn.

Out of combat it's ST's choice what time frame should be used, but again once per turn is mentioned as being reasonable (although clearly it depends on what you're doing).

Since a hand of poker takes more than a combat turn (i.e. more than 3 seconds), then presumably the appropriate time interval would be "one hand" if that's what you were using it on.

Of course the ST might want to make you roll gamboling once per scene rather than once per hand. Where splitting sux is appropriate is when you're doing multiple things at the same time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

don't have the book in front of me so I can't verify but I was always under the impression that you roll once per scene and divide up the successes across the entire scene. I could go with it either way however. Just remember that when luck goes against you it goes very badly and you'd have the same issue in reverse. If it's spent once per turn then you are facing -x successes per turn on everything you do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The successes from Luck to not 'refresh' after they've been distributed. It says you may divide them up (which implies spending them) 'within a given turn'. Once you've spent them, they are gone for the scene.

Nowhere does it say the Luck Pool refreshes in each given turn.

Where luck really gets broken is when people try to turn it into a maintenance power and add an Attribute + Power + Mega-Attribute roll to the pool and try to claim all those successes (which translates into auto-successes on skill rolls, attack rolls, defense rolls, resistance rolls, etc) for as long as the power is maintained and call it 'Level 2'. wink

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The key issue is how often and over what interval of time do you need to divide your successes.

(Core: page 206) "Once per scene, a character may ask to roll his Luck... each success achieved influences the outcome of other events."

"Combat: When the character is in combat, the player may divide the successes he gets for Luck in a given turn between his attack and his defense. Successes added to an attack grant one die per success to make the attack and determine its effects. Successes added to defense provide one success (not one die) to all dodge, parry or block rolls (or similar rolls to avoid other effects, such as Willpower rolls to counteract Domination).

Abilities: Each Luck success adds one success (not one die) to any use of Abilities out of combat. If a character makes two or more Ability checks during the same time frame (turn, minute, or whatever else the Story-teller decides is appropriate), he must divide his Luck successes among the different rolls.

Or in other words, in combat the internal of time to determine if you need to divide sux is turns, out of combat it's ST's choice. And note that if the internal of time is not "the scene" then it does refresh.

This is less useful than it first appears. Rolling dice to get sux that convert into rolled dice is very inefficient. If I have to choose between 5 luck and 5 NP spent on attributes, then hands down I want the later. This also holds true for skills, 5 NP can be 5 luck or it can be 30 skill points (and abilities are often hand waved, i.e. 5 dots in medicine implies a certain level of competency). Further the book talks about abilities and backgrounds, it doesn't talk about power rolls much less power max rolls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And besides being inefficient at converting NP or XP into successes, despite the value of its versatility, Luck carries a relatively high chance of botching, which has consequences. I house-ruled that the Luck die pool is Quantum+Luck, instead of just Luck, to reduce the chance of botching and increase the chance of a reasonable return on the NP/XP investment. I may have tinkered with it more if any of my players had it as a power.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a link to the house rules I made: Ouchfest's House Rules.

I think the most interesting are in the Powers section: Domination, Telepathy, TK, Teleport, and Warp. The enhancements section specifically lists those that I allow from Forceful Personalities and the N! forums, since I found some to be too strong or redundant.

I've never liked the high amount of variability in Aberrant. There is hardly any variability in comics and stories; super beings can lift consistent amounts, cause consistent damage, consistently turn invisible, consistently jump 3 miles, etc... I was working on options for taking powers that work consistently at what would be the median performance if the powers were variable. I also allowed a form of power maxing that would provide an automatic success in exchange for temporary taint, with no rolls.

The dice/successes system is just so bizarre. Did you know you're more likely to botch with two dice than with one? Here are some helpful tables I made. The third lets you determine successes by rolling only 2d10 (percentile). Regular dice and megadice have to be rolled separately, but the table is good for up to 15 dice because some powers give you more regular dice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Originally Posted By: Adrian Moss
I once toyed with a way to make temporary taint "Tasty". Each point bought you an extra success on any quantum roll up to your quantum score(even ones for Mega-Attributes). It can also be used for extra soak. It doesn't seem like a lot at first, but wait til you are in combat, or competeing with, another nova who is willing to push a little harder and win. Are you willing to push that hard? How badly do you want to win? After all, its only a little bit of taint.

You also get taint for raising your Quantum and buying things tainted.

I didn't find a good way to deal with Chrysalis though. Maybe doing nothing with it is fine, as Chrys is its own poison.
I'd thought that I'd posted my like for the "Taint tastes Great (and is less filling)" Idea, but it seems I never did. Just wanted to mention what an Excellant and Much needed idea this was of his. This concept fits So increadibly well into the contexts of the Aberrant Trinity Universe's mythos that it just Salivates awesomeness.

It is ideas like this one that give me good reason to keep coming back to the boards. I will personally be adding "this idea", as well as the "Mega-Will power" and the "Mega-Atts may be used to reduce target numbers" (Thank you Titan and his 'Aberrant In the Begining' post for this idea)" to my games.

From THIS thread I have found out about the many 'little' things in Aberrant that need small tweekings to then so as to make game play run smoother (like Healing and applying the "Reduced Cost" extra to it).

Thank you again Dave
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To Ouchfest.

I read your above post and the linked posts the day you put it/them up, but I Had issues with some of the restrictiveness of you power rewrites so I desided against saying anything at the time as I did Not wish to be dismissive or sound like a basher of ideas...

That said, it has been nagging at me in regards to some of your ideas.

One of which is your take on Shapeshifting.

You defined it as being a strictly biologically/cellularly based form of shapechangeing and as such would not be able to do much of anything short of very limited (humanoid and some animal) forms of shape changes, so much so that you'ed restricted it to not even being able to use the Regeneration power!

Yet based on the powers description in its' fluff text, it makes No such claims, and in fact goes Well beyond the simple level of changes you'd suggested (a level of change equal to a mere LVL 2 power as you'd written it) and the power Actually decribes Shape Shifting as being "one of the most versatial powers in the book" and that you are able to "turn yourself into various animals, pieces of furniture, or just about any thing you can think of!!!"

These statements flat out mean that this power is, in fact, TRUE Shapechanging and is on par-with and in-line with other Level '3' powers in the book, and further is that it is in No way a biological power... Although as the books say, you can "choose to play it that way". However...

No form of Biological life known, single or multi-celled, not even Cuttlefish or Octipus (with it's "Liquid Muscle Tissue") can perform This degree of form shifting! And as the power describes "The nova uses HIS (I'm sick of being called a girl all of the time out of White Wolfs sexist PC policys)Quantum energies to reshpae HIS body" this implies that the nova is using a Much more Energy based power, one using an energy matrix (aka "spirit") more so than cells to get the job done.

In otherwords all this power is is a limited version of 'Molecular manipulation' with a range of "Self Only", one allowing "No Permanent Changes", "Maintainance Only", and with the "Affects Life"-self only Extra!

It is All just you manipulating your bodies mass, atoms, Molecules, cells, and over-all bodily matter while having your conscience directing it all. With a good enough roll You have No Real need for a brain, nor organs, nor food, nor air to breath and based of how well you roll, nor any form of biological matter to be present at all... You can shape shift into a ROCK (down to the Mimicked atomic structure) if you like...

You just need to have enough successes to pull it all off!

This power, therefore, would allow you the ablility to mimic Many other powers present in the book just by its' nature. It's truely intended to be powerful in the right/wrong hands! This ain't 'yo mommas old school weak ars old school rpg' shapeshifting... This is more like 'FASERIP level smack you in the face ABERRANT/Trinity bad-ars' shape changing. Therefore abilities such as Regeneration are Very much in line with this powers perviews.

THIS power can NOT however match "Matter Chameleon" in matter mimicry ability as That power requires almost No rolls and all dots simulating other powers (based on the mimicked matter) are allowed to be Higher than Just the power rating, are allowed across the board, and are generally over all greater in shear versitilty!!! Plus you can add the Longevity extra if you are smart enough to know how.

FYI-As it turns out, as per the fluff text, "You may have NO more dots placed in a simulated power than you have dots placed in Shapeshifting."

Meaning my request to have this rule placed into the power was Null-and-Void as it already existed in the book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...