Aberrant RPG - Aberrant Underground Campaign

[Captether]

Hello all,

Ive been knocking around the idea of a campaign set in the Trinity era, but with Aberrants, cultists, and sub-aberrant mutants as the main characters. By this I do not mean the players to create mindless monsters, but rather aberrants trying to develope and control their powers, and live their lives in a world that hates them. I see it as a great setting for a "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" type setting, complete with corrupt and mysterious corporations, mutant hunting squads of psions, and hidden power players that are some sort of super being or another (Mercer, Doyen, Whatever).

Aberrant hunting telepresence robots, taint-disease maddened sewer dwellers, alien monsters, other aberrants, and plenty of cloak and dagger stuff make for a fun fun game.

What do you guys think?

Aberrant Underground

It would be much to the horror of Earths defenders that the aberrants never completely left Earth. Some novas lacked the personal power or allies to leave earth under their own power, while others just refused to go, so they went into deep hiding.

Despite what Aeon and the media would tell you, not all aberrants are acid spewing madmen bent on killing all humans. Many just want to be left alone (unlikely), and others want to safeguard their own interests without being drawn into the Colony’s personal war on mankind. It is these sorts who are the focus of this campaign.

Enemies

The primary villains are the corporations, governments, psion orders, and of course; Aeon. These groups have used the aberrants as their cultural scapegoats to create their modern societies. The threat (real or imagined) of aberrants make their rule and protection palatable to the masses.

Such corporate and governmental entities are monolithic and mysterious to virtually everyone, with vast resources and their own parahuman masters and operatives (paramorph, eximorph, psychomorph, alien, or whatever). And with the ubertech at their disposal, an aberrant has to be careful.

Another enemy for this campaign are other aberrants, particularly the “kill all humans” sorts, these monsters are only interested in their mad goals and not interested in other views.

Character Types

Third Generation Aberrants, Human Cultists, Sub Aberrant Mutants. Of these types, the Aberrants will be the most powerful, cultist/allies the most numerous, and sub-aberrant mutants somewhere in the middle. Aberrant players whos characters are killed must continue with human or sub-abbie characters.

Third Generation Aberrant Characters Creation

Third-generation Aberrants are those who have erupted since the Aberrant War. These aberrants always have taint, and often suffer from aberrations of varying degrees. The most often encountered "true" Aberrants in the Trinity Era, third-generation Aberrants are much more common than those of the first generation.

Character Creation

Same as in Aberrant, with the following changes:

-Nova Points: 30

-Quantum/Taint: Beginning Quantum/Taint 3. Cannot purchase traits with lowered costs by buying them tainted. Taint goes up if Quantum is raised. can go all the way to 10 dots without the character being taken out of play.

-Backgrounds: Eufiber is not available. Dormancy ranks are advised.

-Equipment: Hardtech only, noetic Biotech equipment dies almost instantly in the hands of an aberrant.

New Background

Cult

The aberrant character has a group of devoted followers/worshippers who see the aberrant as a divine (or infernal) force of some kind. These followers are almost always from the lower end of the social and economic scene, but this is not always the case. The aberrant need not have intentionally amassed a cult, these folks might have been worshipping the aberrant, or even all aberrants for generations, the character has just become the primary focus of their devotion.

The number of dots spent on this background denote both the number of cultists, and their level of devotion as seen below:

Fan/Cultist Numbers

* Tiny group, 5-50 people.

** Small group, 51-300 people.

*** Moderate group, 301-500 people.

**** Large group, 500-750 people.

***** Huge group, 751-1,000 people.

Fan/Cultist Devotion

* They have put up and maintain a small shrine for you, despite your tearing it down nightly.

** They perform unwanted acts of devotion, but nothing that's illegal... so far.

*** They commit minor crimes to prove their devotion, but will blame it on “misguided members”.

**** They'll commit serious crimes to prove their devotion – and they'll try to justify them as such.

***** Their worship of you supersedes all law – they'll do anything to show their devotion to you.

[Alex Green]

How visibly inhuman is someone with Q3/T3?

[Captether]

How visibly inhuman is someone with Q3/T3?

Not too bad at first, at Q/T 3 he/she is just "odd" to baselines (+3 difficulty to all social rolls), but doesnt start to develope aberrations yet. Of course most powers will be noticeable, and those higher taint levels make it potentially easier for a psion to locate the aberrant.

[Captether]

Some Sample Aberrants

Karg "The Destroyer"

Just give me a reason,

Karg appears to be an embodiment of anger and frustration given life, his enormous shoulders nd huge muscles are usually enough to turn the tide of battle. When in battle, karg seems reckless and lacking in any subtlety, throwing vehicles about like playthings and seeking to physically dominate his opponent.

Born Martin Dukes in the blight zone karg grew up intimate with suffering. While out hunting with his brother, the two were attacked by a band of sub-aberrants and subject to unspeakable torments. While watching his brother being murdered by the monsters the young karg erupted. Though the mutants attempted to plead for mercy, karg annihilated them, though not before his siter was mortally wounded. Now this aberrant craves revenge on everyone he could possibly blame (uncaring government/corporations, mutants, human gangs, etc).

Nature: Bravo

Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4, Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 2, Appearance 5 (shocking), Charisma 2, Manipulation 1.

Abilities: Awareness 2, Athletics 3, Might 5,Brawl 3, Drive 2, Endurance 3, Resistance 3, Intimidate 3, Subterfuge 3, Firearms 1, Savvy 2, Computer 1.

Mega Attributes: Mega Strength 4 (Thunderclap), Mega Stamina 2 (Resiliency)

Quantum Powers: Force Field 2.

Advantages: Quantum 4, Quantum Pool 28, Taint 4 (Bulging Muscles)

Backgrounds: Attunement 4, Cipher 4, Contacts 2, Dormancy 5, and Resources 2.

Merits and Flaws: Huge Size, Absent Minded, Distinguishing Characteristic (large and brutish).

Soak: 8B/4L + Force Field- [4] + Sta+FoceField x 2 soak.

Health Levels: OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, -2, Inc, Dead.

Engram

Today is your lucky day,

Born poor in the lowest levels of Olympus, Cara Thompson had a rough life. Raised in lower gravity caused Cara to become deformed from lack of medical care. She stands 6ft tall, with fine "elf-like" features (though she now dyes her hair stark white and has facial tattoos). Taint has made her androgynous in appeal and appearance, appearing as a fine boned person who could be a very feminine man or a slightly masculine woman. Engram is thoroughly hetro though, so this can be awkward...

Cara clawed her way out of the lower levels through, grift, cunning, and more than a few underhanded dealings, she found that she had a knack for getting others to do the dirty work for her, and quickly found her way up the cruel ladders of prostitution, information theft, and drug trafficking.

When a rival sought to kill her by blowing her out an airlock, she erupted, using her enhanced intellect and her powers to reopen the lock and electrocute her enemy.

Now calling herself "Engram," serves serves as an information and technical expert for her allies. She uses her powers to hack mainframes and reprogram vehicles to serve her purposes. She has also begun looking into designing her own vehicles, designed to protect her from harm.

Nature: Survivor

Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2, Appearance 3, Charisma 2, Manipulation 4, Intelligence 5, Wits 4, Perception 3

Abilities: Academics 4, Alertness 5, Athletics 5, Computer 5, Drive 5, Firearms 3, Melee 2,

Pilot 5 (Varg), Resistance 3, Subterfuge 5, Seduction 4, Technology 5, Endurance 3

Mega Attributes: Mega Intelligence 2 (Mathematic Savant), Mega Manipulation 1 (Trickster)

Quantum Powers: Cyberkinesis 3 (Alter Data, Control, Fool),

Backgrounds: Allies 2, Cipher 5, Resources 3,

Advantages: Quantum 4, Quantum Pool 28, Willpower 4, Taint 4 (Androgynous)

Merits and Flaws: Elgee, Photographic Memory

Spartan

That which does not kill us,

Dr Samuel McMahon was a man of extremes even before his eruption. When not serving as a medic

for the Federated States military, he was rock climbing, skydiving, and many other extreme sports, often going at it without proper equipment or rations, looking to go it alone and testing himself. Once while hiking through rocky badlands he found that he had overestimated his abilities and began to die from overexposure. Groping for life in a terrible storm, the doctor erupted, adapting hi to the extremes of the climate. Since then he seeks to test himself against opponents and conditions.

Sparten appears as a well dressed and muscular man that seems to radiate an air of "sexy danger" and seems a mans man of the first order. He has a rugged face with close-cut black hair with just a touch of grey at the temples.

Nature: Bon Vivante

Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5, Appearance 5, Charisma 4, Manipulation 3, Intelligence 2, Perception 3, Wits 4,

Abilities: Alertness 4, Athletics 5, Brawl 5, Computer 1, Drive 2, Medicine 3, Melee 5, Might 5, Style 5,

Survival 4,

Mega Attribute: Mega Stamina 3 (Adaptation),

Quantum Powers: Absorption 5 (Kinetic),

Backgrounds: Attunement 1, Cipher 3, Dormancy 4, Contacts 1

Advantages: Quantum 3, Quantum Pool 26, Willpower 6, Taint 3

Health Levels: OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, -1, Inc, Dead.

Soak: +8/+5.

I like these guys myself. Tough and nasty, but not without a human angle. Sparten is appealing to me in-particular, the whole survivalist macho guy gone weird appeals to me.

[Captether]

Here are some more sample Aberrants...

Manhunter

Gordon Vauhn was a homicide detective in the worst sections of old Chicago arcology. His duties were to help track down the worst sorts of human scum. While pursuing a “thrill-kill” gang the young detective quickly found himself outnumbered and outgunned. After being shot repeatedly and left for dead the detective erupted, healing from his wounds and finding a terrible strength. He slaughtered the gang and continues to this day as a bounty hunter of mysterious and deadly quality.

Gordon is an angry looking man with a predatory air. His steel blue eyes stare out from a leathery, cruel face lacking any real beauty or grace. While on the hunt however, Manhunter is a killer ghost on glass, following his quarry with eerie silence and determination.

Nature: Survivor

Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 5, Appearance 1, Charisma 3, Manipulation 2, Perception 5, Intelligence 2, Wits 5.

Abilities: Athletics 5, Alertness 3, Brawl 4, Investigation 5, Streetwise 3, Drive 2, Melee 3, Firearms 4

Backgrounds: Attunement 3, Node 2, Cipher 5.

Advantages: Quantum 3, Quantum Pool 26, Taint 3.

Mega Attributes: Mega Strength 1 (Crush), Mega Dexterity 1 (Cat footed), Mega Stamina 4 (Regeneration), Mega Perception 1 (Bloodhound),

Quantum Powers: Bodyshift 2

Health Levels: OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, Inc, Dead.

Soak: +9B/+5L with armor +10B/+8L

Equipment: Ares Suresting Flechette Pistol, Field Suit

Xanadu

Born William Smith, the Aberrant Xanadu was raised in an Italian orphanage. He learned a lot of hard lessons, and became convinced that life needed to be lived for the now, and to hell with the consequences.

Erupting during an aberrant raid, the young aberrant was both horrified and delighted by his powers, shrinking to the size of an action figure but retaining his full abilities (and then some).

Xanadu stands just four inches tall, though still possessing great strength and speed. He is of mixed racial stock, seeming to be at least part asian, black, and Caucasian. He has a permanent grin and a “devil-may-care,” attitude. He lives for the thrill of the moment and is bored easily.

Nature: Thrillseeker

Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4, Appearance 4, Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Perception 4, Intelligence 4, Wits 5.

Abilities: Awareness 5, Athletics 5, Martial Arts 5, Computer 3, Endurance 5, Resistance 4, Languages 3 (Italian, English, Spanish), Stealth 5, Subterfuge 3, Investigation 3,

Backgrounds: Attunement 1, Dormancy 4, Resources 3, Node 4,

Advantages: Quantum 3, Willpower 8, Taint 5 (Permanent Sizemorph)

Mega Attributes: Mega Strength 1 (Quantum Leap), Mega Dexterity 1 (Physical Profigy), Mega Perception 1 (Electromagnetic Vision).

Quantum Powers: Sizemorph 3 (Shrink/Full Power),

Health Levels: OK, -1, -1, -2, -4, Inc, Dead.

Soak: 5B/4L.

Equipment: Reinforced Clothing (0/1), Inertial Compass, Steinhardt MI-CC Minicomp.

Sizemorph (Shrink) Effects: Size of a GI Joe action figure. Gains a +6 additional dice to all stealth rolls, +6 difficulty to hit the character. Full movement.

[NFVD]

Not too bad at first, at Q/T 3 he/she is just "odd" to baselines (+3 difficulty to all social rolls), but doesnt start to develope aberrations yet. Of course most powers will be noticeable, and those higher taint levels make it potentially easier for a psion to locate the aberrant.

Erm...unless I have grossly misread the rules or you are using house rules I actually think a nova with Q3/T3 suffers no social penalties whatsoever. They only begin at T4+ and you'd only get +3 social diff at a whopping Permanent Taint of 8. A Q3/T3 nova can not be discerned from nromal baselines...unless he is shooting laser beams out of his eyes or something. ::wink

I'm curious, what are the character creation rules for the sub-aberrant mutants? And since you are using Aberrant what would be the explanation for those? In Aberrant there is no such thing as blight or taint diseases. Are you just porting the idea from Trinity?

This campaign idea sounds interesting, sort of like the future in "Days of a Future Past". In the long-run I can see PCs going against Project: Rewrite and spreading the thruth about the past to the world, trying to find Divis Mal and convice the big guy to return and eventually confronting a certain "gentleman" that likes to screw around with the timeline. ::cool

[Captether]

Erm...unless I have grossly misread the rules or you are using house rules I actually think a nova with Q3/T3 suffers no social penalties whatsoever.

I'm curious, what are the character creation rules for the sub-aberrant mutants? And since you are using Aberrant what would be the explanation for those? In Aberrant there is no such thing as blight or taint diseases. Are you just porting the idea from Trinity?

Whoops! Sorry about that. Thank you for the correction sir. ::happy

It should be noted that even Aberrants with three dots in taint have to walk carefully if they are trying to move about unnoticed when psions are about. Taint much beyont 7 will be like a flare to a Clairsentient using "The Sight" (see page 202 of Trinity).

Taint Disease

I was just going to rule that taint diseases are nova made retroviruses, and contagions born of high taint aberrations (Contagious, Radioactive, and others). Blight areas would just be places with high concentrations of these and more potent effects. Radioactivity also seems to count as "tainted" from what the rules seem to indicate (see Chernobyl for an example), and being as many novas are pretty resistant to radiation (and their arent many baselines around) makes them good areas for aberrants, mutants, and the poor and desperate.

Sub-Aberrant Mutants

Im not completely certain of these, but I am leaning towards granting 2 nova points for every dot in Taint the baseline takes. These nova points are restricted to buying Armor, Body Modifications (see additional body mods below), Claws, Sensory Shield, and bonus Attribute/Ability points. Sub-Aberrants are not taken out of play for high taint.

Sub-aberrant mutants using this template will have some definate perks, but hardly be earth shaking. I might allow uses of the Quantum Imprint power from the Teragen book to act as though the Sub-Aberrant were a nova for the uses and dangers of that power.

New Body Mods

Balancing Appendage: (1 nova/2 experience points) The character has a balancing Appendage (tail, antennae, wings, etc) that aid it greatly when moving at precarious heights. This grants a +2 bonus to all rolls for the character to keep his balance.

Giant: (3 Nova points/9 experience points) The character gains half and again his mass and height, becoming a giant. The character gains a +1 to Strength and one additional Bruised Health level. If this enhancement raises the characters strength above 5 dots, treat as Mega Strength 1 with no enhancements. Every two levels of this power grants a +1 to all opponents attempts to spot and locate the character. This modification can be bought twice.

Quadruped Movement: (2 nova/4 experience points) The character’s body is most comfortable down on all fours for faster movement. Characters have the following movement when on all fours: (walk Dex + 8ft, run Dex + 50ft, sprint [Dex X 5] + 60ft).

Space Worthy: (3 nova points/9 experience points) The character can exist safely in deep space but does not provide protection from other hazards like Adaptability does.

Widened Visual Range: (1 nova point/3 experience points) The character has extra visual sensors of some sort, these can be antennae, "eye spots", or even extra eyes or the like. Whatever their nature, these sensory organs allow the character to make Awareness rolls to detect approaching allies or enemies regardless of whether or not the character is facing in the direction of approach.

Nictitating Membranes: (2 nova points/4experience points) The character has inner “third eyelids” that provide a bonus of + (the nova’s Stamina) dice on rolls to resist eye irritants such as dust or tear gas and visual interference from things like flash grenades and optical forms of the Strobe weapons. The third eyelids don’t impede the character’s vision in any way, but they can look a bit weird to others. Their appearance is completely up to the player – different versions of this modification can be beautiful, artificial-looking, or disgusting. The nova may open or close his nictitating membranes as an automatic action and without a roll.

A group of Elgee sub-aberrant pirates with Space Worthy, Fins and nictitating menbranes (Taint 3) living in the asteroid belt comes to mind... ::happy

[Captether]

Setting Spice...

I need elements for this campaign to help set the paranoid mood of the setting. The characters have all of these nifty powers, but the world hates and fears them. Television, books, and even general conversations will all promote the "novas are evil" line. To aberrants and their followers, the Trinity era is a dystopia.

I already plan on using telepresence robots, human cyborg agents (ala Asia Ascendant meets the MIB), anti-aberrant retroviruses, quin-bred beasties and the like. But all nifty futureish paranoia inducers are of interest...

Suggestions?

For rules concerning Quantum Powers vs Psi, I will be using the following (lifted from the Trinity Storytellers Guide):

Quantum Powers and Psions

Some powers work differently on psions due to their non-nova nature, and Aberrants have some extra rules for interacting with them.

• Disrupt functions the same as normal, but is resisted by a roll of Psi + the Mode being disrupted, as the Aberrant uses focused taint (Quantum) to disrupt the noetic flow around the psion.

• Any “mental” powers that are resisted with Willpower and Psychic Shield, including Empathic Manipulation, Mental Blast, Telepathy and others, are resisted with the psion's Willpower or Psi, whichever is higher.

• Powers that directly manipulate a target's quantum signature, including Aberration Transfer, Node Spark, Quantum Imprint, Quantum Leech, Quantum Vampire, Quantum Authority, Quantum Supremacy, automatically fail when used on a psion. There's no point in rolling. Using the Node background or Mega-Perception Enhancements to track the quantum signature of a psion works at +2 difficulty.

• A psion can destabilize the flow of quantum through an Aberrant with a focused noetic burst. Each psion can generate an effect akin to the Disrupt power, rolling Psi + highest Mode. This has no effect on sub-Aberrants and non-quantum powered beings.

[NFVD]

Suggestions?

For rules concerning Quantum Powers vs Psi, I will be using the following (lifted from the Trinity Storytellers Guide):

Quantum Powers and Psions

Some powers work differently on psions due to their non-nova nature, and Aberrants have some extra rules for interacting with them.

• Disrupt functions the same as normal, but is resisted by a roll of Psi + the Mode being disrupted, as the Aberrant uses focused taint (Quantum) to disrupt the noetic flow around the psion.

• Any “mental” powers that are resisted with Willpower and Psychic Shield, including Empathic Manipulation, Mental Blast, Telepathy and others, are resisted with the psion's Willpower or Psi, whichever is higher.

• Powers that directly manipulate a target's quantum signature, including Aberration Transfer, Node Spark, Quantum Imprint, Quantum Leech, Quantum Vampire, Quantum Authority, Quantum Supremacy, automatically fail when used on a psion. There's no point in rolling. Using the Node background or Mega-Perception Enhancements to track the quantum signature of a psion works at +2 difficulty.

• A psion can destabilize the flow of quantum through an Aberrant with a focused noetic burst. Each psion can generate an effect akin to the Disrupt power, rolling Psi + highest Mode. This has no effect on sub-Aberrants and non-quantum powered beings.

If this is going to be an Aberrant game set in the future I would suggest ditching the Trinity rules altogheter and sticking to Aberrant ones as it would make things easier. If all the Psions are going to be NPCs you really don't have to get to mechanical on how things work, just describe the effects and use quantum powers to replace the effects using the ABPG as a guideline.

If you do wish to use both systems, for the items you just mentioned I would suggest the following:

Either Psions require a special specific "disruption" mode the same way novas require the Disrupt power thus making it rarer, or, allow all novas to use a focused "quantum burst" by rolling Quantum + higest power to destabilize the flow of Psi.

Let Mental quantum powers work exactly as described on everyone. Just because you have high quantum or psi it doesn't mean you have tremendous self-confidence, aren't lazy, gullible or easily dominated. That is what the willpower rating is for.

If you do decide that Psions can resist mental powers with Psi then allow novas to do the same with Quantum if it's greater than Willpower.

Also on willpower. Since PCs in Trinity begins the game with Willpower 5 instead of 3 I see no reasons not to allow your players to benefit from the same.

Powers that affect quantum signatures will obviously not work on anyone but novas because they are the only ones *with* quantum signatures. ::happy

On the same vein, if there are any psi powers designed to affect the noetic medium and/or noetic signatures they should automaticaly fail when used in a nova. (im shooting blanks here as im not very familiar with Trinity and dont know if these concepts actually exist)

+2 diff to detect psions sounds fine and makes sense. Just note that Psions dont have a quantum signature. A Nova would use Node to track one by detecting the "hole" in the quantum medium the same way a psion detects an aberrant as a hole in the noetic medium. I would further suggest allowing your nova players to buy a Lvl 1 detection power that works as "the sight" for the quantum medium, rolling Perception + Power with the same range as "the sight", or, increase the Node detection range to bring it in line with "the sight".

We must not forget that novas have been around for 120 years, been persecuted for 60 of those and have had to deal with super-powered humans designed to hunt them for about 2 decades. The ones that remain on earth are bound to have developed powers, techniques and tactics to help them survive. If you are feeling nice maybe come up with a couple of backgrounds or skills to give your players an edge (True History, Cell, Psi Lore, etc). Dots in Mentor would be invaluable, if you have a high enough rating it means you have a 1st-gen buddy ::happy

That reminds me, what about 2nd-gen novas in this setting? How are you dealing with them?

[Captether]

That reminds me, what about 2nd-gen novas in this setting? How are you dealing with them?

2nd generation Novas are very interesting, but I dont think I will be permitting their use as PC's for this campaign (not decided there yet). After reading the Aberrant: A Breed Apart over at Nprime I am intrigued by the subject.

Despite NPrimes way of handling 2nd generation novas (which I like, but find a bit complicated), I would probably handle them as Aberrant character creation with the following changes:

Nova Points: 20

Beginning Quantum/Taint: Quantum begins at 1, Taint at 0.

Backgrounds: No Dormancy (they are what they are), Node does not grant taint for high levels.

Powers: Cannot be purchased tainted, either at character creation or later.

Flaw: All beginning 2nd generation nova characters begin play with the Child Flaw (see below) without gaining bonus points.

Child [4pt Flaw]

The character is a pre-adolescent child (7 to 12 years of age). The social limitations the character will face will become even more onerous, as children are even more restricted in their activities than teenagers are. The character’s base Strength rating can’t be any higher than 3, and her base Stamina score can’t be any higher than 4. She is also limited to a maximum rating of 2 dots in her Intelligence-based

Abilities. Finally, the character will have the Short Flaw (Aberrant Players Guide, p.70), the cost of which has already been factored into this Flaw.

Note: Standard Aberrant characters can also take the child flaw normally if desired.

Psions

If a player really wanted to play a psion or psiad in this campaign, I would use the trinity rules, but otherwise I will use aberrant powers and storyteller spice to handle psionic powers.

A power that allows the detection of psionic powers is interesting. Perhaps a Mega Perception enhancement or something similar.

Sub Aberrant Mutants

Below are some samples of sub aberrant mutants using baseline character creation with the "Taint for Nova Points" angle added:

Razorgirl

A somewhat lupine humanoid woman covered in razor-sharp spine/blades with glowing red eyes.

Nature: Bravo

Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5, Appearance 3, Charisma 2, Manipulation 1, Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 3

Abilities: Athletics 4, Awareness 3, Computer 3, Investigation 2, Martial Arts 3, Melee 4, Might 3, Stealth 4, Streetwise 3,

Backgrounds: Allies 4 (cult), Contacts 2

Advantages: Willpower 7, Taint 5 (Aberrant Eyes, Hormonal Imbalance/Rage).

Powers: Claws 2 (Armor Piercing) (6), Spines (2), +6 Attribute Points.

Soak: 4B/3L

Health Levels: OK, -1, -1,-2, -4, Inc, Dead.

Mongo

Classic huge, stupid brute. All covered in warty chitin, this monster is all about crushing enemies.

Nature: Follower

Attributes: Strength 5/Mega Strength 1 (no enhancements), Dexterity 2, Stamina 4, Appearance 2, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 3

Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 5, Brawl 5, Computer 1, Investigation 2, Melee 3, Might 5, Stealth 2, Streetwise 3,

Backgrounds: Allies 3 (cult), Contacts 3

Advantages: Willpower 5, Taint 6 (Sheer Hideousness, Radioactive).

Powers: Giant lvl 1 (3), Extra Health Levels (+1 Bruised, +2 Maimed) (2), Armor 3 (9),

Soak: 10B/8L

Health Levels: OK, OK, OK, -1, -1,-1, -1, -2, -4, Inc, Dead.

Man-Squid

Looks like a chthuloid monster covered in writhing tentacles, no longer has discernable human anatomy. Used in large numbers on raids.

Nature: Survivor

Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4, Appearance 4 (grotesque), Charisma 2, Manipulation 1, Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 3

Abilities: Athletics 4, Awareness 3, Brawl 4, Intimidation 4, Might 3, Stealth 5, Streetwise 3, Survival 3,

Backgrounds: Allies 4 (cult), Contacts 2

Advantages: Willpower 3, Taint 6 (Sheer Hideousness, Tentacles).

Powers: Adhesive Grip (2), Widened Visual Range (1), 4 Extra Limbs (4), Slimy Skin (2), Space Worthy (3).

Health Levels: OK, -1, -1,-2, -4, Inc, Dead.

[NFVD]

2nd generation Novas are very interesting, but I dont think I will be permitting their use as PC's for this campaign (not decided there yet). After reading the Aberrant: A Breed Apart over at Nprime I am intrigued by the subject.

Despite NPrimes way of handling 2nd generation novas (which I like, but find a bit complicated), I would probably handle them as Aberrant character creation with the following changes:

Nova Points: 20

Beginning Quantum/Taint: Quantum begins at 1, Taint at 0.

Backgrounds: No Dormancy (they are what they are), Node does not grant taint for high levels.

Powers: Cannot be purchased tainted, either at character creation or later.

Flaw: All beginning 2nd generation nova characters begin play with the Child Flaw (see below) without gaining bonus points.

Yes, this is sort of the way I would handle it myself if 2nd-gen nova children would crop up in my campaign. I would say an adult 2nd-gen (there's bound to be a couple running around in the 2120's) would abide by these creation rules without the child flaw and a total of 50-60 nova points to spend.

Would your 2nd-gens also be Taint-resistant using the APG "very low taint" permutation as A Breed Apart recomends?

[Captether]

Yes, this is sort of the way I would handle it myself if 2nd-gen nova children would crop up in my campaign. I would say an adult 2nd-gen (there's bound to be a couple running around in the 2120's) would abide by these creation rules without the child flaw and a total of 50-60 nova points to spend.

Would your 2nd-gens also be Taint-resistant using the APG "very low taint" permutation as A Breed Apart recomends?

Characters are free to purchase such Merits or Mega Intelligent enhancements if they wish, I see no reason to give them such for free. 2nd gens can be complete freaks if desired by the player, but it will have to be through the course of play and power overuse.

As for Psion Characters...

Psions in Aberrant Underground

Psions are effectively castrated Novas, altered to grant them accaess to psionic energy rather than quanta. This keeps them from growing too far beyond the reach of human countermeasures, and shields them from the dangerous effects of taint.

All psions are created by being "dunked" in devices called Prometheus Chambers, whereby they are attuned to the subquantum medium known as psi. Individual psionic orders have powers associated with their respective specialties. Below is the character creation process in this campaign:

Psion Character Creation

As per Aberrant character creation (pg 120 Aberrant) with the following changes:

Abilities: No bonus dots in Endurance or Resistance.

Backgrounds: Cannot buy Dormancy, Eufiber or Node. Attunement is available, but is not to be confused with the psionic ability by the same name in the Trinity sourcebook (pg 191-192) instread functioning as in Aberrant (pg 139-140).

Quantum: Replace with Psi 1 The character has a Psi pool of 10 plus (Psi x 2). Recharging psi pool is the same as recharging an Aberrants Quantum pool.

Taint: Psions cannot have taint by any means.

Quantum Resistance: Because psions uses Psi rather than quantum, she is naturally resistant to offensive quantum powers. Whenever a quantum power is used against a psion, she may add her Psi score to her soak. Otherwise quantum powers affect a psion normally.

Non-Detection: A psion does not register on any form of quantum detector (Aberrant p. 143). Only a psion can detect another psi user.

Nova Points: 12 to be spent as a nova, with the limitations listed below.

Mega Attributes: No mega attributes can be purchased by psions.

Quantum/Psionic Powers: All psions have access to the powers listed below (by level):

Level 1 Powers: Hypnotism, Intuition, Psychic Link, Psychic Shield, Sensory Shield.

Level 2 Powers: Animal/Plant Control, Bio-Mastery, Body Shift, Disorient, Disrupt, Domination, Empathic Manipulation, ESP, Force Field, Holo, Immobilize, Mental Blast, Mirage, Poison, Premonition, Strobe, Stub Attack, Telekinesis, Teleport

Level 3 Powers: Cyberkinesis, Elemental Anima (Cold, Fire, Light, Electricity), Elemental Mastery (Cold, Fire, Light, Electricity), Pretercognition, Shapeshift, Spatial Manipulation.

Aberrant Hunter Psions

The most successful aberrant hunter psions are ones with Disrupt, and powers that help them see into the future and/or communicate telepathically. As you can see, these guys are sissies compared to aberrants, and at great risk from sub-aberrants. Their strength lies in their numbers, use of technology, and their abilities to disrupt the use of quantum powers.

Psionic Orders

I think I will handle this primarily as the sorts of powers these groups prefer, rather than the powers they “only” have access to. Power costs alone will keep too much min-maxing in check.

Aesculapians: Psion healers and doctors. Abilities to reflect this and appropriate powers.

ISRA: Sensory-oriented powers, predicting the future, and sensing danger.

The Legions: Fire, Ice, and Telekinesis, anything to do with offensive power.

The Ministry: The domains of the mind and inner person.

Norca: Shapeshifters, and biotech specialists. Terraforming, espionage, and

Powers: Bodyshift, Sensory Shield, Shapeshift, affecting ecosystems.

Orgotek: Technologists, and biotech designers. Electricity and light specialists.

Upeo Wa Macho: Teleporters and Space Exploration. Teleport and Spatial Manipulation are greatly preferred, with Teleport a must (with the Area, or Increased Range enhancements being a favorite).

[Captether]

Bioapps, Formatting, and Cybernetics

Using the Psions in Aberrant Underground above, some thoughts on Bioapps and their relationship to psions are required. It should be noted that Aberrants with the right skills are more than capable of creating living servitors, machines, vehicles and war-beasts through biotechnology.

Bioapps (Human-made)

Alien biotechnology created from the templates given to the proxies by the Doyen, these devices automattically count as "attuned" to a psion who is handling (riding, wearing, etc) them. Aberrants cannot be formatted to bioapps, and all such devices/creatures will begin to die within a week of contact with an aberrant.

Quin Bioapps

The quins biotech is very different from that of Earth design. Quin biotech is more like creatures than machines, often having the ability to fend for themselves to one extent or another. Quin biotech will work with and for an aberrant, but will be disloyal and interested in getting away from the aberrant. These seems more like a dogs discomfort around certain people rather than actual damage. Quin biotech that can will "bite" aberrant who handle them as well.

Cybernetics (see Asia Ascentant)

With the vast potential in Meta Intelligence, and Resources that an Aberrant might posess cybernetic implants. However, most of the benefits derived from cyberware can easily be outpaced by relatively low-cost Mega Attributes, Enhancements, and/or Quantum Powers. Still, the Computer Implant and/or Implant Radios might interest Mega-Intelligent characters, and all sorts of cyberware might interest Sub-Aberrant Mutants. Both Aberrants, Sub-Aberrants and Cultists must purchase cyberware at +1 cost due to restrictions.

Shapechanging or Bodymorphing Aberrants with cyberware must be mindful of having appropriate Attunement levels, lest they destroy the implant and cause non-soakable Lethal damage to themselves.