Trinity RPG - Aberrant references in Trinity

[Damanor]

This isn't entirely Trinity-related, but I thought you could probably help me out with this.

I've been dealing with Aberrant for a while, but I only recently picked up Trinity (ST), mainly as a reference for the long-term future of Aberrant, but also as a lead-in to to a Trinity campaign. What other Trinity books contain references to Aberrants or would clarify the future of the Aberrant war? ::blink

Also, how much difference is there in the background material between Adventure D20, Aberrant D20, or Trinity D20 and the ST versions of the same books? Should I bother getting them?

Thanks for your help on this; I appreciate it.

[Sprocket]

Re: Aberrant references in Trinity products-

First off, I'd see about getting the following Trinity ST items (if you can).

Trinity Core Book -softcover (contains "The Story So Far")

Trinity Field Report: Media

Trinity: Stellar Frontier (the Upeo wa Macho/Extrasolar Colonies sourcebook)

Trinity: Asia Ascendant (online version)

Trinity: America Offline (The Orgotek/Nordamerica sourcebook)

Of all the pre-D20 Trinity items, these are probably the most useful to an Aberrant Storyteller.

As for the D20 items... From what I've seen, some rewriting has been done in order to make the three Aeon D20 games fit better into a single continuity. I'm unsure as to whether that's a good thing or not. Try asking one of EON's local D20 enthusiasts.

[knave]

The trinity books are all good.

Main book and players guide at a minimum.

If you get any of the location/order books you kinda need them all. IMO the best of those are Terre Verde and Stellar Frontier. However you do need them all.

Of the adventure books I find the second series the the best. Invasion and Deception, though the first set are also very good.

The ancilliary stuff - the field reports etc are all nice but not really required. (but then if you can get them they're probably really cheap ::tongue )

D20. Avoid.

Ok - I really don't like D20, I admit that freely.

Also - trinity kicks Aberrant's large, hairy ass.

Why?

Because Trinity is a very very broad game where human action matters. Annoy any politician and you have serious problems. (In Aberrant you are more or less immune to a lot of people - just because of what you are) Trinity is about politics - not between 5 or 6 organizations, but rather between every country and every organization with money. It is about aliens and science and breaking free from the things that stop humans being humans.

[Nullifier]

It is about aliens and science and breaking free from the things that stop humans being humans.

That last bit sounds interesting, but I'm not sure quite what you're getting at. ::unsure Please explain?

[Sphere]

Yeah, but it's only in Aberrant that you're allowed to throw tanks into orbit.

Puny psions. All hail Colony! ::squid

[Ian Watson]

That last bit sounds interesting, but I'm not sure quite what you're getting at. ::unsure Please explain?

"Humans being humans" probably refers to the ultimate state of being a member of humanity. Aeon's original goal, fr'ex, was to explore the world and put a stop to anything that would interfere with the fate of humanity. Or rather, the ability for humanity to decide its own fate. They were not to be pushed or led, but perhaps gently nudged now and then.

Trinity follows in those footsteps.

[ProfPotts]

Also, how much difference is there in the background material between Adventure D20, Aberrant D20, or Trinity D20 and the ST versions of the same books?

None - the background material is a direct reprint (but in black & white, rather than the original colour) for all three games.

[Ian Watson]

None - the background material is a direct reprint (but in black & white, rather than the original colour) for all three games.

That's not strictly true... there are some slight differences. Adventure!'s pretty much identical. Aberrant makes Project Utopia seem less malevolent and covers more about the people behind Aeon and the Projects. Trinity changes a couple of things about Aberrants and includes the Upeo as playable characters... it's also set in 2121 rather than 2120.

[ProfPotts]

That's not strictly true... there are some slight differences. Adventure!'s pretty much identical. Aberrant makes Project Utopia seem less malevolent and covers more about the people behind Aeon and the Projects. Trinity changes a couple of things about Aberrants and includes the Upeo as playable characters... it's also set in 2121 rather than 2120.

Is any of that in the actual background section at the start of each book ::confused ? I could've swore they were direct re-prints, but if they aren't I'd be interested in knowing where the changes are: got any page numbers for us?

[Obsidian Shade]

The Aberrant d20 version only adds some NPC at the end as far as i remember. An this descriptions are taken out of other ST Books i think.

[Ian Watson]

Is any of that in the actual background section at the start of each book ::confused ? I could've swore they were direct re-prints, but if they aren't I'd be interested in knowing where the changes are: got any page numbers for us?

Don't have page numbers for Aberrant and Trinity because I don't have 'em.

But, fr'ex, Trinity originally had a couple of references to the "Æon Covenant," which have been removed. The timeline also includes an entry for 2121, and has removed the 1970 entry.

[Damanor]

First, I want to thank everyone for your help on this. It's given me a lot to think about.

Summing up what you've suggested, I should get:

Trinity Core Book -softcover (Which I already have, so we're on the right track) ::biggrin

Trinity Players Guide ::wacko Yeah, if I can find it.

Trinity Field Report: Media

Trinity: Stellar Frontier (Upeo wa Macho)

Trinity: Asia Ascendant (online version) Shouldn't be too hard to get. ::biggrin

Trinity: America Offline (Orgotek)

Adventures: Invasion and Deception, though the other series is good, too.

If I really go into the location books, Knave likes Terre Verde and Stellar Frontier, but recommends I get them all. (Which may be tough on a college student budget.) ::blink

As for the D20 books, there isn't enough difference in background material to warrant getting them.

Is this correct, or is there something I'm missing?

Regarding the debate about Aberrant vs Trinity, I'll see what happens when I make the transition between the two. Ought to be interesting, if my novas survive that long. Does anyone have any advice on crossovers and/or combining the two games in the Trinity era?

[VictorHFrost KSC]

Crosssovers are tricky, but I've done a few that turned out quite well so I'll throw in my two cents.

The first thing you'll need is a good working understanding of what rules exist and how they apply to your st method. If you can't find a copy of the tpg I'd recommend you have somebody at least send you a copy of the rules set for psi and taint interaction (though the entire book is worth it, aside from the core the single most useful resourse for me as an st). I know there are pdfs of the thing floating about and since it's been discontinued its going to be about the only place to find such info without paying an arm and a leg.

The whole how they apply is important as well. How does mega str work with regards to vehicles? In Trinity terms what is taint and is it the same as quantum? Do psions get the psiad extra soak vs abby attacks? That sort of thing isn't directly covered anywhere but has to be worked out for a game to progress.

***As a note, generally I run games where the mega str gives one die of extra damage per level when dealing with vehicles, therefore a ms lvl 3 punch would have a str+2(standard punch)+3(mstr level) damage pool against a vehicle (before soak). I also run it where tiant interference is based on quantum score and not taint and give the psions the soak that psiads get. It tends to even things out a bit between the groups so that aberrants get appreciable bang for their buck but are not unstoppable (they are still hella scary at times, so be sure to monitor your players). Oh and the doubled psi pool option is a nice idea as well. I suggest toying with it a little.***

Something else to remember is that Aberrants, no mater how cute and fuzzy are not well liked in the 22nd century. Player have to be careful of their actions if they want to be part of the world and one wrong move will literally land you in front of most countries's military. That said, people individually aren't all that reactionary, and its reasonable for characters, both pc and npc alike to accept an abby given the right situation.

Really aside from system issues, of which there are a few (thank god I never had to directly deal with agg damage) the rest is just knowing the story that's there already and the one you want to tell alongside it. I promise you crossovers can work, and are quite rewarding at that, they just take a little more planning and a little more care.

Victor

[Grizzly]

Just stumbled across this ::smiley5 . Damanor, somewhere in this Forum has someone mentioned that the Trinity layers guide is available as E-book now. So I suggest you should try to get it in this way, it´s worth it. Bye! ::thumbsup

Found it!

You can get the Trinity Players Guide is available as an e-boook at drivethroughrpg.com for $11.88.

Have fun.

[Sphere]

Speaking about the TPG, I seem to recall a review (message thread?/fragment of old potato?) that said it revealed a bit more about Colony's plans and also mentioned Devis Mal (who I understand zapped off into his own universe). Is that the case? If so what does it say?

Also the Colony? Are there any pictures of it?

In the game I currently run (Aberrant) the Players have been tangling with a time-altering, and extraordinarily Tainted Nova who claims to be the "daughter of the Colony". When one of them scanned her telepathically they got this image (which is my own personal take on Trinity's Big Bad).

You see an alien solar system. Your mind flies past dead worlds and an extinguished sun. Off in the distance is a hole in the stars. A massive blackness. As your mind approaches you begin to make out spires and spines, cities and eyes. It is as large as a moon and it's children live within it and on it. It broadcasts it's message on a frequency only those with a Node can hear. Join or die. It's children launch from it's surface in massive swarms of twisted flesh. Join or die. It's name is Colony, and it hates everything that is not it.

Which gave my Players a bit of a fright. After that they talked about risking starting war with T2M in order to lay their hands on some nukes. Bless em. Gun-happy little maniacs. ::rolleyes

[knave]

That last bit sounds interesting, but I'm not sure quite what you're getting at. ::unsure Please explain?

Adventure! is about exactly that. Big adventures - rescuing the world from the clutches of evil. It is about finding things out and being a hero for humanity. Standing up and doing deeds of derring do.

Aberrant is mostly about what it's like to be not human. How do you survive being this different? How much does power go to your head. How little do the little people mean? Even if you do take heed of them, why are you doing it?

Trinity is about knowing that you have a place in humanity and realising that the whole is worth something. About realising that humans should be allowed to continue unmolested without custodianship by those who feel they know better. The heroes need to take their stand, but they also need to to learn to stand back.

As for the colony. I've mentioned this a few times before, but anyway:

In my game:

The Colony is a Quantum Microbe Telepathic Virus that came about due to the sterilization of Novas. Basically one or more Nova physiologies found a different way to 'procreate' and now The Colony lives in the 'In Between'. Many Novas are part Colony and many humans are too, but none of them are 'The Colony'. Subaberrants are Humans who have been infected... they're fine for a while - slowly deteriorating into subaberrant state 'battle forms'.

In my campaign the Colony has invaded the Coalition ark to use the progenitor technology to transfer its infection vector from physical to Psi - since the Psi touches every living thing.

It hasn't succeeded yet, but, as one player said last time we gamed... "Guys, are you getting the impression that we're losing here?" ::tongue

[Sphere]

Cool idea. I take it it's going to be "game over" if Colony goes noetic. Seeing as distance means nothing when you're mucking about on the subquantum (if what I know about Upeo 'porters is correct). The whole stinking universe would get infected.

If I were them I'd go and play Crowbar Cricket with that black hole at the centre of the Coalition arc.

I'm looking forward to doing a bit of a Trinity cross-over with my Aberrant game. Especially since my Players call themselves The Coalition.

I can just see them, a bunch of filthy abbies, turning up in the middle of the FSA with a smile on their faces saying "Not to worry, we're the Coalition." Only to get real confused when the orbital bombardment happens.

[knave]

Cool idea. I take it it's going to be "game over" if Colony goes noetic

Pretty much.

If I were them I'd go and play Crowbar Cricket with that black hole at the centre of the Coalition arc.

They've tried twice so far. The first time bought them two years worth of putting the Ark off course. The second time the Colony was ready for them and they only just escaped...

Third time... we will have to see. ::tongue