Aberrant: Aberrant (the faction) Game

[Hyper-Focus]

Well, with the death (or extended coma) of "Prometheans Unbound" I still gotta get my Abbie fix somehow so as of late I've been starting to work on the beginnings of something I've been wanting to run for a while. An "Aberrant (the Faction)" game.

Im thinking of going for a kind of noir political/spy thriller type feel. Covert ops covers alot of territory though, which I intend to exploit. From the high-octane action of the Bond and Bourne movies to the slowly unfolding political chess games of British miniseries such as "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy", "House of Cards" and "A Very British Coup".

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Before I move any further, I'd like to judge the depth of interest for this type of game, as the number of players and the variety of characters they create impacts on the structure of the game. I intend to steal a lot of great ideas from BT, including structure (branches and chapters) and the "Create-An-NPC" type thread. So have at it, and let me know what you think.

Feel free to use this thread to brainstorm ideas about characters, stories, hideouts, and anything else. The Aberrant faction has perhaps the least written about them. This provides great freedom but also creates the burden of basically creating another splat-book of history, ideology, game rules, and story-hooks.

[SkyLion]

Oh no! Not another game!!! hehe... ::tongue

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Seriously though...its about time someone wanted to tackle this faction for a game...heck white wolf practically made it their ugly stepchild!

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I would seriously chat with Phoenix and Cootus Centimanr first thoug...as of recent they will be able to tell you just how inover your head you are about to get...you know, just so you aren't surprised... ::sly ::wink

[Alex Green]

Sorry guys, I think I'm at my limit (long story).

[Blade90]

If you do intend to start the game up, and your ready to do so, send me a message. I might be interested in joining myself.

[SkyLion]

I have an interest as well, having a surplus of unused characters Ive been waiting to try out. I do want to make sure that you are sure first though...There have been a couple false starts lately (Legends! anyone?).

It would be cool if we could start with more than 30 NP too. Potts has on the strict rationing and I am playing in another game that is at the 65 point level. Somewhere in between would be nice.

Keep us posted!

~SL

[Hyper-Focus]

I had almost given up. A few more players and we'll be ready to rock.

I was thinking the same thing, Blade. I've always felt 30 Nova points only ever let me get the barebones of a theme or concept on the ground. Furthermore, the group would consist of operatives with at least SOME experience. Of course, if you wanted to play the a newly erupted nova that would be alright as well. We'll just assume you erupted with a bit more juice then everyone else.

I'm thinking 40 or 45 NP, with a variable of 1-5 handed out as awards during character creation. You'd could earn these points in a variety of ways. Detailed character backrounds and histories. Unique power themes and combinations also get my attention.

Go forth and recruit, my minions. We got two already, I want at least 4 players signed on before I begin to lay out the details.

[phoenix]

I would, at the very least, be very interested in hearing these 'details,' Hyper-Focus. ::cool

[Centimane]

A question for you HF, what sorts of characters are you looking for in this game? Are obvious bodymods and/or high taint levels largely inappropriate (as they make things difficult if one is trying to engage in Bourne-like dissappearing acts)? Are they totally fine? Is it a requirement that the players be current or former employees or associates of Utopia, or can they be from just about any walk of life we might come up with that actually makes some kind of sense?

Ok, so maybe I actually had several questions for you. Sorry. ::blush

Oh, and for the record, I am interested. But I'd like to get a better feel for what sorts of characters are appropriate (having never read the pamphlet on the Aberrant faction that WW released, I don't know what is "canonically correct") before I start coming up with concepts.

[SkyLion]

I would think the Aberrants would have a mix. Some people like Mole would be totally ingognito. Others might have fled to the faction for fear of being sent to Bahrain due to their developing taint. And everything in between.

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Edit: I think that makes for 4! Have at us with those details!

[Hyper-Focus]

Details, Details, Details:

Character Creation: Characters will be built with 40 Nova Points, according to the rules presented in Aberrant Players Guide. There's a twist however. Everyone will get an additional 5-10 NP worth of powers/megas applied by myself. I will use these to round out your character concept and power theme. What I add to your character may not be desired or seem useful right off the bat, but your going to have to trust me on this one.

Although there are no official restrictions on Taint, keep in mind that this is a game of about two-thirds espionage and intrigue and one-third action. Placing restrictions on your ability to interact with baselines could become problematic (of course, those problems could also make for interesting role playing...its your choice).

Once we get a forum from the great and all powerful Mods we can begin posting characters. As for the title of the game, I'm leaning towards "The Social Contract", a theory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. If you study the theory and play the game, you'll see where I'm going with this. Expect more refrences to Rousseau and other political philosophers at the game continues.

Sophia Rousseau WILL be major character. Although her powers tend to be less flashy then Divis Mal, she may surpass even him in her ability to gather and control information. Of course she also has a few offensive and defensive tricks up her sleeve.

Story Elements from "A Breed Apart" will be introduced. I havn't yet decided if the rules presented theirin will be included as well.

Play will begin in a South American Aberrant safehouse. The first week or two will be a chance to introduce characters and interact without any dice-rolls. This Intro Chapter will be titled "Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Novas" (another Rousseau joke)

[Centimane]

Cool, this sounds very interesting. However, what did you mean when you said that characters will be built with 40 nova points, according to the rules presented in the Aberrant Player's Guide? Sorry if I'm being dense and missing something really obvious, but which rules in the APG are you referring to?

[phoenix]

I think he meant the Core.

[phoenix]

HF, if you'll have me, I'd be interested in playing a modified version of Carlo Giaccobbe, my character in Archer's non-active game, Spirits in Steel. I'll be sending you some information on him and why he's interested in the Aberrants.

[phoenix]

Oh, and Moderators can't give you a forum; that power is reserved for Administrators and the only active one is Jackson Creed at the moment. I'll pin the topic though.

[Shade Sentinel]

I'm interested as well. I have not been active in quite a while as two of the games I was in met their early demise. I'm in if ya'll will have me. ::unsure

[phoenix]

Welcome!

...come into my parlor... ::devil

[Shade Sentinel]

I don't know how comfortable i am with that. ::confused

[phoenix]

Oops, this isn't even my game. My previous remark is about American Revenants, not Hyper-Focus's Aberrant game. ::blush

[Shade Sentinel]

That explains quite a bit...and I'm still not comfortable with it. HAHA ::cool

[Blade90]

By the way Hyper, for when you get back, are there any character requirements? Like do we need to have at least 1 point in backing for the Aberrant faction or anything of that sort?

[SkyLion]

Yes Please! Please return soon and give us details and answer the previous questions. (Pretty Please!)

[Hyper-Focus]

Hey people. Sorry, it has been (and continues to be) a busy week. I'm not going to have the time to give you what you want until monday. Between work, my boyfriend, helping plan a wedding (not mine...at least, not until they repeal DOMA), more work, attempting to have some semblance of a social life (HA!) and even more work I just havn't had the time this week. Just posting to let you know I'm still here, still putting everything togeather.

Monday, all questions will be answered, I promise. Keep PMing me all that good shit.

[phoenix]

Yay!

[SkyLion]

Looks like Hyper-Focus has developed a li'l Attention Deficit Disorder...

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::laugh ::tongue ::wink

[Shade Sentinel]

Well the important thing is to not loose focus and keep you mind on the...Hey wanna go for a bike ride!?!?! ::tongue

[Blade90]

Hey Hyper, whats up man? We still planning on getting the game going or has things just started to get to hecktic for ya? Either way, Im sure we'd all like a little update.

[SkyLion]

I'll shoot him a PM about it...

[phoenix]

::rolleyes You guys are pushy.

[SkyLion]

That's right...and you're next! ::devil

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Seriously though he did promise us an update over a week ago so I think its okay to check in with him...

[Blade90]

Right. Im not trying to be pushy. Im just asking for a little update. Is he still planning on getting the game going but hes just been busy lately, or has he decided to drop it, what?

[Hyper-Focus]

Hey all. Real life takes up too much of my time. I apologize for my absence.

Blade 90, I'm going to rule in favor of your BodyMorph/Density Decrease linked power. As long as you must use them both at the same time, its fine.

Everyone else, PM me your characters when you get the chance. Here are a few more notes.

Base of operations will be Caracas, Venezuela. The backstory to that will involve a Venezuelan government that is distrustful of Utopia but doesn't suffer from the usual anti-nova sentiment that afflicts most nations that take a stance aganst Utopia. Their position amounts to "polite refusal". However, their population (and the lure to new novas to leave and seek their fortunes elsewhere) is such that they began to look for ways to invite useful Novas to the country. Through several intermediaries Hugo Chávez contacted the Aberrants. As it stands now they have access to a spartan but well protected bunker on the outskirts of Caracas that has been dubbed "Madriguera Zorro" or "The Foxhole". Characters with history in South America and Venezuela may choose to integrate this history into their backstory.

The game will begin almost directly after the events detailed in "Into the Arms of the Angel of Wrath" in WW:P1. Utopia is at its vulnerable but the larger anti-nova backlash that the invasion of Ukraine and the Amp Room brawl will engender hasn't yet begun.

As I said in a previous post, I'd like to start off the game with some role (not roll) playing as characters are assembled at the Foxhole. Yeah, I know the "We're all assembled for a meeting but the boss hasn't shown up yet so lets get to know each other" thing has been done before, but its the best I got right now.

I want to impress upon all of you that this is YOUR game. Wherever you choose to take it, I'll try to make it interesting. I refuse to rail-road my players into choosing any particular course of action. I encourage you to PM me ideas, story seeds, and new details about your character as play progresses.

Okay people, lets get ourselves a forum and rock and roll.

[Hyper-Focus]

By the way, I've already got an elite brawler. I want a spread of powers, so start about characters with powers suited to the other activities in the game...interrogation, investigation, infiltration.

[Hyper-Focus]

I figured you guys were waiting for more info on the type of stories you're going to be playing. I thought you might want to avoid this information at first, as you might consider it spoilers. Now it occurs to me that you probably want/need this information for character creation. Bear with me folks. Ive been a Abbie Storyteller before, just never on a PBP game.

In that vein, then....***SPOILER ALERT***

The characters will be gathered in Caracas for a meeting following the events of "Into The Arms Of The Angel Of Wrath". Sophia has decided that small scale gatherings like this will serve to set faction policy over the next few months. Proteus still has power and she is unwilling to gather the faction all in one place. Besides Mme. R and the characters there are several other NPC's dropping by the Foxhole for this meeting. Most important are Kimberly Dane, the Novox singer and Antenna.

Antenna is well known as one of Sophia's chief lieutenants. He is a walking surveillance suite with vast ability to receive and broadcast along the EM spectrum. Thus, he also serves as the Aberrants chief communication resources.

Dane is currently in the area at the forefront of a revival of Tropicalismo, a politics, philosophy and musical style that first appeared in the 70s and 80s as a response to the US backed military juntas that ruled much of South America until recently. She has been using her South American jaunt as opportunity to recruit for the Aberrants.

The story seeds I plan to offer (so far) are as follows:

1) Dane thinks the time is ripe for more recruitment, with Utopian popularity at its lowest ebb since its inception. She has recently made contact with a Colombian nova who seems like an excellent possibility, a young woman with the power to exert minute control over the immune systems of others. She stayed mostly under the radar of the cartels until she started making public use of her power to heal people of their addictions by forcing their bodies to reject their chosen intoxicants, forcing the patient to suddenly and permanently go cold turkey. Furthermore, Rumors abound that she has restored fertility to several baselines who had lost theirs working in the chemically saturated commercial flower industry. This means Proteus and others are also probably on her tail. She has recently gone underground and fallen out of contact with Dane. The characters would have to track her down, convince her of their good intentions, and then extract her from the country to the Foxhole or another safe house.

2) The Venezuelan government have been gracious hosts, but now is the time for the Aberrants to repay the favor. Since the collapse of the oil economy Venezuela has positioned itself on the forefront of new biotech economy. Recently someone has been disrupting these activities. By the nature of the attacks its quite obvious they are being carried out by Novas, but government investigators are at a stand still in their attempts to find out who. Top candidates include GreenWar and rival governments and corporations. The characters are to quietly make their way to a biotech farm and research facility in the mountains and provide security and (hopefully) bring the attackers down.

I'm in the middle of fleshing out a third option, involving Antenna and the Aberrant response to the problem of taint (without chrysallis you gotta handle this shit on your own). Of course, other ideas are bound to present themselves in the meantime. But I thought you might want to see the way this is going.

Did that help?

[Blade90]

Again, not to be pushy Hyper but you going to answer my latest PM? About how to send my sheet? Got it all ready to send, have for some time, but I dont know how to send it.

[Hyper-Focus]

Alright, I got characters from Phoenix and Blade90. Still working out the kinks. In the meantime, would anyone object Phoenix playing two characters. They would be a nova couple, interested in breeding, of combat elites.

Its my inclination from running table top games that I don't like characters playing two full PC's. Furthermore, while the introduction of 2 combat characters doesnt much affect Blade 90's choice of a bodymorph:Air/DensityDecrese character, it means I would pretty much have to insist that SkyLion think really hard about a MegaMentals and/or investigative ability.

But I like to observe the democratic process. Dictatorship is quicker, but more people get shot. What say you?

[phoenix]

I'm still not exactly sold on this idea myself, but I'm still toying with ways to get both Carlo and Amber involved. The problem is that they're in love, and neither one would abandon the other, especially not in a fight this important.

I could buy Amber as an Ally, which I've been allowed to roleplay in the past, except that Amber isn't an ineffectual baseline, but rather a seasoned and very powerful Elite shapeshifter. There's also the fact that bringing her in would be even more restrictive of other combat characters, which I definitely don't want to do.

One possibility that I raised to Hyper-Focus was that Amber conceives, and with 'a bun in the oven' her shapeshifting powers are severely curtailed because they could harm the fetus. All that's left are 40 NP worth of Mega-Strength and Mega-Stamina, Claws, Wings etc. - basically things that don't involve shifting her insides around too much.

Rawr. ::unsure

[SkyLion]

I dunno man..

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Just buy a high-dot ally (3 or 4 maybe) and let HF run her/him. I don't understand why you would need to run two characters, especially ones so closely conected. I have in the past wanted to play two unrelated characters in a game and been shot down, and looking back I think it was better for the story.

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Im not keen on playing the mega mental investigator...i am already playing one such character in another game already.

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Current character is more of an assasin/spy with decent H2H combat abilities.

[phoenix]

Well, it's just that Amber is my character too, and I'd rather be in control of what she does and says. This doesn't necessarily mean I'd have to 'play two characters,' she could be on the sidelines - or even out of the game - for any number of reasons. But ordinarily, she'd be backing Carlo up, even in combat, which makes things a bit harder.

*starts thinking about other potential characters*

[Blade90]

Hmm. Seems like a difficult call on my end. I certainly wouldnt want to restrict Sky from getting the character he would prefer to play, but it sounds like Phoenix isnt sure how to play his without his other character involved either. I would say if you guys can think of a good reason for Amber to be only minorly involved, that might be best. But over all I think I should just leave it up to you guys as the matter affects you more than it does me.

[SkyLion]

I can understand where you are coming from Phoenix, but consider this. Asura was/is *my* character. I concieved of and created the sheet and everything. He also was a formidable combat ally...almost too formidable. Nonetheless he was purchased as an ally and played by the ST.

Why is it that in this case you don't feel like you can surrender control of the playing?