Aberrant RPG - Raise Dead: Nova Healing 2.0

[metaphysician]

In terms of game mechanics, how would you do a power that either:

1. Allows a nova to return from the dead?

2. Allows a nova to revive someone else from full and total death?

[Sprocket]

I don't *think* we've established a healing variant for performing resurrections of others, but we folks on the Development Team have cooked up 2 new quantum powers that cover various forms of self-resurrection. They've both been peer reviewed & critiqued extensively before being approved, so they will be appearing in the Mega-Physical e-book just as I'm posting them now.

(Item #1)

Reincarnation

Level: 3

Quantum Minimum: 5

Dice Pool: Charisma + Reincarnation

Range: Special

Area: N/A

Duration: Special

Effect: Character can reincarnate herself in a new body to avoid death; details depend on the technique used.

Multiple Actions: No

Description: For most novas, death is pretty much the same thing as it is for baselines - the end. A few novas have learned how to sidestep that insurmountable obstacle, although it's a risky process. Reincarnation allows a nova to avoid her own death by transferring her mind out of her current body and into another. The nova's power rating sets the rate at which nova's new body will become fully "operational" in terms of her nova capabilities. Whenever the Storyteller feels that the nova's circumstances are appropriate - the details will vary with the technique used - the nova can spend 3 quantum points to roll Charisma + Reincarnation. If the roll is successful, the nova can spend 1 permanent Willpower point to abandon her previous body and inhabit a new one. If the roll fails, the quantum points are wasted and the nova remains stuck in her dying body. If the roll botches, the nova dies permanently right then and there. A nova with Reincarnation will only have one of the following techniques in order to cheat death, with the technique chosen by the nova's player with the Storyteller's approval.

Central Nervous System Transplant

Range: Touch

The nova reincarnates herself by somehow physically transferring her central nervous system into the body of a living baseline human. The nova must be touching her intended new host body for the transference to work, although the Reincarnation roll will be made with a +2 difficulty penalty due to the victim's struggling and thrashing about. Steps such as sedating the host body and/or physically restraining him/her can eliminate this penalty. The benefits of this technique are that the nova will usually be able to pick and choose her new host bodies from her potential victims. In this way the nova can not only choose the gender and ethnicity of her new incarnation but can set up her new incarnation as her legal heir, allowing her to retain certain Backgrounds like Resources that would otherwise be lost. Also, the nova's new host body will gain full nova capabilities within (10 - power rating) days. The major drawback to this is the potential for tissue rejection, as inhabiting an incompatible host body will cause it to die within (12 - permanent Taint) months. Other drawbacks include the possibility of the nova being forced by circumstance to inhabit an undesirable victim in order to survive and the nova's assured death if there are no available host bodies within range at the time of the Reincarnation roll. Finally, if successful using this form of Reincarnation can and will be considered as murder of the baseline victim.

Clone Reserve

Range: (Quantum + power rating) x 1,000 kilometers

The nova has one or more "empty" clones of herself in hibernation (as per the Suspension enhancement) for her to inhabit as needed, and may keep a maximum of (power rating) cloned bodies on hand. As the cloned bodies are highly accurate duplicates of the nova's original body, there will be no real difficulty in retaining any Backgrounds that would otherwise have been lost. Also, the cloned body will have full nova capabilities upon awakening. The drawback is that the technology required for human cloning is expensive, although no life support devices will be required for the cloned bodies to remain viable. Novas using this form of Reincarnation must have the following minimum ratings: Mega-Intelligence 1, Science 5, Medicine 5 and Resources 5. Producing a cloned body is treated as creating a gadget, with 30 successes being required. It should be noted that in the early part of the Nova Age the process of cloning complete human bodies is still somewhat buggy, and subtle genetic flaws in cloned neurology are not unknown. During the production process, the Storyteller makes all the rolls in secret, and depending on the dice results can impose anywhere from 3 to 6 points of temporary mental Taint on the nova if she decides to inhabit the flawed clone. Finally, if none of the nova's cloned bodies are within range (or have been destroyed) when the nova makes her Reincarnation roll, she will die permanently.

Possession

Range: (Quantum + power rating) meters

The nova can reincarnate herself by "possessing" the mind of a hapless baseline, whose mind (and soul, if one believes in such) will be destroyed if the nova's possession is successful. The benefit of this is that the nova may pick and choose from her potential victims, although she may be forced to possess an undesirable victim due to circumstance in order to survive. The major drawback to this technique is that reincarnation through possession is a very slow process, and one that can be interfered with through esoteric means. Upon being possessed by the nova, the victim will suffer from the equivalent of Multiple Personality Disorder (properly known as Dissociative Identity Disorder). The possessing nova will only have access to her own non-physical Traits and nova capabilities (as per the Parasitic Possession form of the Dominate power). Once a week, the possessing nova can pit her Willpower in a resisted action against that of her victim, with the loser's effective permanent Willpower reduced by 1 point. If the victim is reduced to zero permanent Willpower in this way, his mind (and soul) are destroyed and the nova takes over his body, which will gain full nova capabilities in (10 - power rating) hours. With the Storyteller's permission, the possessing nova may manifest some of her physical Traits and nova capabilities once her victim has been reduced to 50% (rounded up) of his normal permanent Willpower. Ironically, there are ways for other people to aid the victim against the possessing nova. Telepathic combat, Inspired technology, and even appropriate religious rites (such as voudoun ceremonies or exorcism) can be used to engage the possessing nova in a resisted Willpower roll at any time. If her foes are successful, each point of effective permanent Willpower they cause her to lose will be transferred to her victim. If the possessing nova is reduced to zero permanent Willpower in this way, she will die permanently and her victim will be restored to his full permanent Willpower rating. Other drawbacks include the expected loss of most Backgrounds tied to her previous incarnation (such as Resources and Backing), unless the nova takes steps to somehow retain them. If there are no suitable victims in range for the nova to possess, she will die permanently instead of reincarnating. Finally, if successful using this form of Reincarnation can and will be considered as murder of the baseline victim.

Rebirth

Range: (Quantum + power rating) x 1,000 kilometers

The nova can reincarnate herself as the unborn child of a random pregnant baseline woman who is within range of her old body, and will be reborn as an infant within (power rating - 6) weeks, down to a minimum of 1 week. The number of successes the nova gains on her Reincarnation roll will indicate how desirable her new incarnation's parents and living situation will be in her opinion. If the nova gains five or more successes, she can even choose the gender of her new incarnation. Otherwise the Storyteller has full control over the details (such as ethnicity) of the nova's new incarnation, and can either choose them or determine them randomly. While the nova must go through physical childhood and adolescence all over again, fortunately the process will be somewhat abbreviated. For every 2 dots of Reincarnation possessed by the nova (rounded down), she will effectively gain 1 level of the Accelerated Maturation enhancement (Aberrant: A Breed Apart, pp. 49-50). The drawbacks are those usually associated with reincarnation; namely the loss of Backgrounds tied to her previous incarnation unless steps are taken in advance to retain them, and the nova's assured death if there are no suitable women within range for her to be reborn to when she makes her Reincarnation roll.

Renovation

Range: (Quantum + power rating) x 1,000 kilometers

The nova can reincarnate herself by "taking over" the body of a newly-deceased or brain-dead baseline. The choice of the new host body cannot be chosen by the nova in any way, and is under the Storyteller's control. The number of successes the nova gains on her Reincarnation roll will indicate how desirable her new incarnation's situation will be in her opinion. For example, waking up in the body of someone who is being given quality medical care is preferable to waking up on the autopsy table or in a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere. Worst-case scenarios of this kind would include waking up in the body of someone who had died from being tortured or experimented on. Once the nova wakes up in her new body, she will regain her full nova capabilities in (10 - power rating) hours. This is good, for the nova's new body could easily be in a condition of ill health and/or physical atrophy, leaving her physically helpless until full nova capabilities are regained. The drawbacks are those usually associated with reincarnation; namely the loss of Backgrounds tied to her previous incarnation unless steps are taken in advance to retain them, and the nova's assured death if there are no suitable host bodies within range for her to inhabit when she makes her Reincarnation roll.

Extras: Affects Novas (Requires Quantum 6 - If applicable, the nova's Reincarnation technique may be used on novas as well as baseline humans).

[Sprocket]

And here's (Item #2)

Immortality

Level: 4

Quantum Minimum: 6

Dice Pool: Stamina + Immortality

Range: N/A

Area: N/A

Duration: Permanent

Effect: Character is immortal, to varying degrees

Multiple Actions: No

Prerequisites: the Adaptability, Regeneration & Unaging enhancements.

Description: For a nova with this power, death is often only a temporary setback. Instead of simply dying like any other nova, an Immortal nova can draw upon his reserves of quantum energy to return his body to a fully intact state and then restore it to life. After 1 hour with his "Dead" health level box filled, the Immortal nova can spend quantum points to make a Stamina + Immortality roll. If successful, the nova can begin to rebuild his body through post-mortem regeneration (which functions as per the enhancement), no matter how extreme the damage it has suffered. The nova is restored to life when he reaches the "Incapacitated" Health Level, and can heal the remainder of his damage via Regeneration and/or in the usual fashion. If the Stamina + Immortality roll fails, the nova cannot attempt another roll for 1 hour. If the nova's Quantum Pool is depleted, he cannot make the roll until he's regained enough quantum points to activate this power. A "dead" Immortal nova will recover (power rating) quantum points per hour. Novas with the Quantum Attunement enhancement will be able to notice this power buildup and may figure out that the Immortal nova is only "mostly" dead. Also, not all novas are created equal, and this is reflected in the different stages of Immortality seen below. The particular stage of Immortality that a nova with this power will have is determined by his Quantum rating.

Stage 1: When dead, the nova's remains can be handled & stored without much difficulty (standard corpse, skeleton, pile of ashes, etc.). The nova's remains cannot be destroyed with simple bashing or lethal damage, but post-mortem regeneration can be prevented indefinitely through using Inspired technology (such as quantum-dampening devices) on the nova's remains. In game terms, the dice rating of the Inspired technology's effect must equal or exceed the nova's Immortality rating for post-mortem regeneration to be prevented. However, if all of the Immortal nova's Health Levels are lost due to aggravated damage, the Immortal nova may be killed permanently.

Stage 2 (requires Quantum 7): When dead, the nova's remains are difficult and/or hazardous to store when killed (nova's corpse reduced to vapor, becomes highly toxic or radioactive, etc.). The nova's remains cannot be destroyed by even aggravated damage at this stage. However, post-mortem regeneration can still be hampered by Inspired technology whose effect dice rating equals or exceeds the nova's Immortality rating. Starting with the effect die that equals the nova's Immortality rating, each die of the Inspired technology's effect slows the time period at which regeneration takes place as per the Torpor Weakness (see below), counting effect dice as Taint.

Stage 3 (requires Quantum 8): When dead, the nova's remains are reduced to a state which is near-impossible to either handle or store (an intangible quantum pattern, burst of energy, etc). As the nova is discorporate, post-mortem regeneration can also no longer be hampered by Inspired technology. When the Immortal nova returns to life, he will awaken and his body will coalesce in a location of Storyteller's choosing.

Stage 4 (requires Quantum 9+): When "killed", the Immortal nova's physical body transforms into living quantum energy, which can be treated as if the Immortal nova had (power rating) dots of Bodymorph: Energy. The Immortal nova's quantum energy form will also have his full Health Levels and Quantum Pool. After (power rating) scenes or when his energy form is "killed" and dispersed - whichever comes first - the Immortal nova's quantum energy form will quickly vanish into the local telluric medium. While discorporate, the Immortal nova can begin to regenerate his physical form as normal, which will coalesce in a location of the nova's choosing.

However, coming back from the dead is not anything to take lightly, even for Immortal novas. Resurrecting oneself in this manner will cost the Immortal nova one permanent Willpower point at the time the Stamina + Immortality roll is made, although second generation novas can spend 12 quantum points instead. If an Immortal nova actually does want to die for some reason, not spending the Willpower point (or 12 quantum points) will be sufficient to grant him the death he desires. In addition, first generation novas who take this power must also take one of the following weaknesses. Baseline humans simply aren't designed to handle the stresses of immortality, so even those who erupt can be expected to still have some serious difficulties with the situation. The Storyteller is also encouraged to have some of an Immortal first-generation nova's aberrations tie into his Immortality in some detrimental manner.

Change of Heart: Experiencing death and the subsequent resurrection causes significant changes in the Immortal nova's psychology. Each time the nova returns to life using Immortality, he must select a new Nature. If the circumstances of the nova's previous death were stressful and/or violent, the nova will also suffer from a temporary mental disorder of the Storyteller's choosing.

Distortion: Returning to life is an feat that further divorces the nova from his origins as a mortal human. Each successful use of the Immortality power causes the nova to gain 5 points of temporary Taint.

Limited Immortality: While the Immortal nova could still conceivably live forever, he can only resurrect himself for a limited number of times. Once the Immortal nova reaches his "resurrection limit", this power is lost for good. The number of resurrections the Immortal nova has available is equal to his (Willpower + Immortality). At the Storyteller's discretion, such a former Immortal nova could instead "trade in" this power for Reincarnation (typically one of the nastier versions) at the same dot rating.

Torpor: When the nova is killed, it takes him an increased amount on time depending on his level of taint to activate his Immortality. If the nova has an intact or mostly intact corpse, it desiccates rather than rots and will resemble a natural mummy after a few years (and may even be mistaken for such).

Taint 1: 1 Hour

Taint 2: 1 Day

Taint 3: 1 Week

Taint 4: 1 Month

Taint 5: 6 Months

Taint 6: 1 Year

Taint 7: 5 Years

Taint 8: 10 Years

Taint 9: 50 years

Taint 10: 100 years

Extras: None.

Re: Resurrecting others-

Just checked the relevant document, we have *nada* in AB:TNF about a quantum power that allows a nova to bring back the dead.

[metaphysician]

Well, its something that begs a few major cosmological questions. Admittedly, even if there absolutely, positively isn't anything even vaguely resembling a soul, resurrection of others should be possible at Q10 from sheer reality warping, if nothing else.

I do tend to think reviving the entirely dead should be no less than a Level 4 power, at absolutely least. Maybe if you stick some heinous limits on it, you could get it lower.

[Sprocket]

Re: Resurrection quantum power-

I don't see why it couldn't be included in the Mega-Physical e-book, provided that whatever you hammer out meets the standards of quality we've established. Theme-wise it fits well, esp. since Reighnhell's already gotten some powers involving undeath into the book. Slipping just one more finished power into the document wouldn't be hard at all.

BTW, using this thread for development & peer review of the power would likely be your best option. The Mega-Physical project board has been a little too quiet lately. ::laugh

[metaphysician]

Well, honestly, this probably trends way into "campaign specific material." If I had do mechanics, I'd say something like. . .

Att + Power roll, difficulty based on various factors, like time since death, intactness of body, and willingness of deceased to be revived.

Level would be Five for the easy, "wave hand and the dead walk" version. Level Four version would allow for the same net result, but require notably more difficulty. For example, if either the user or a willing participant has to travel into the Land of the Dead, find the deceased' soul, and return, all while subjected to the ( mortal ) risks of the domain, that'd qualify.

[Sprocket]

::confused Land of the Dead? Um, right... ::blink

It seems you've got a mystical take on this process, which might not mesh well with the general science fiction tone of Aberrant/Trinity. If you've got a copy of Trinity Field Report: Noetic Science (available here at EON), you'll find material on the noetic template concept, which is the closest to the idea of "soul" that I've seen in the game line. The material in that ebook should give you a very accurate idea of the various parameters that would be involved in use of a Resurrection quantum power. The deceased's "willingness" would not seem to be much of a factor AFAICT from looking over my own copy of that ebook.

[metaphysician]

Well, 'the Land of the Dead' would very likely be a quasi-hallucinatory experience produced mostly out of the attempting nova's subconscious expectations. The key thing is, whatever your doing, its hard, and it has a chance of killing or otherwise mangling you in the process.

[metaphysician]

Or put more simply, when dealing with Level 4+ quantum powers, the distinction between a 'mystical' and a 'scientific' perspective mostly depends on how the nova in question views his own powers. ::cool

[SkyLion]

I agree with MP. If it looks like magic, smells like magic, feels like magic, its magic. Just because someone described the MR node and quantum physics doesnt mean thats an individuals experience. This is why so many Novas in India think themselves gods, or likewise in Kamisama budhism. Heck in RL today science and religion get along next to each other wel enough that many scientists believe in god, and many new agers look to quantum theory.

Its simple a matter of perspective.

[Sprocket]

Re: Mystical tone-

Agreed, but I say that it'd be best to leave that stuff to the individual player's tastes. Remember the discussion of the various forms that nova Telepathy could take (Aberrant core book p. 180)? The same reasoning would apply here AFAICT - what metaphysician is proposing (creating a Resurrection quantum power) should focus on the game mechanics involved in resurrecting dead people.

[metaphysician]

That said, an alternate way of viewing the process. . .

"Everything that exists has a telluric pattern, and everything living and aware has a much more complex telluric resonance. This resonance lingers beyond dead, due to the non-temporal nature of telluric waves. Thus, everything, and everyone, that ever was, melds together into the overall telluric background of the universe. With the right quantum powers, you can 'attune' yourself to the frequency of telluric resonance produced by living beings, find the resonance of your deceased friend, and restore it, something like loading a program onto a new computer."

"The complicated part: there's a lot of resonances out there. In order to find the specific one you want, I need to transmute you temporarily into a living, empowered telluric resonance, much like a nova might turn himself into fire or ice. So far, only direct interaction between a living telluric resonance and a deceased one provides the necessary precision and connection to identify and retrieve one."

"Oh, and be careful. You'll probably need to interact and examine many resonances before finding the one that used to be your friend. And while my studies have shown, sentient resonances only have a slight awareness of themselves or anything else, normally. . . your quantum-charged resonance can wake them up."

[Sprocket]

One other thing that might work as a limiting factor: if "resonances" are patterns of psion particles, there's a risk of disspiation after physical death if said particles don't remain bonded together. Attempting to resurrect someone whose entire noetic template has dissipated both backwards and forwards in time would be insanely difficult.

A less extreme problem would be degradation of the resonance for the same reason. It'd be like attempting to copy a computer file & winding up with missing and/or corrupted data. "Congratulations Ms. Absynthe, you've brought your boyfriend back from the dead. Too bad that his noetic template degradation means that he has no memories of his former life past the age of eight, and consequently is at the 'girls are icky' stage". ::laugh ::devil

[metaphysician]

True, and those could totally fit the role as complications for the Q6 version of the power.

[Alex Green]

Raises the whole issue of "novas get the powers that they expect to".

[Sprocket]

OK, that all seems to work. Now for the $40,000,000 question: Are you planning to try & hammer out a Resurrection quantum power?

[metaphysician]

Not really, I just figured on tossing the idea out to the board and see what happens. ::biggrin

[Sprocket]

Well, don't be counting on me to pick up this particular torch. I've got plenty on my plate to deal with as it is. ::sly Perhaps you & SkyLion could collaborate & hammer out something worthwhile for this?

[Alex Green]

OK, that all seems to work. Now for the $40,000,000 question: Are you planning to try & hammer out a Resurrection quantum power?

IC I've done this with Planck Scaling.

Sort of that... Q9? Q8? Real issue is whether or not you can restore novas.

[metaphysician]

IC I've done this with Planck Scaling.

Sort of that... Q9? Q8? Real issue is whether or not you can restore novas.

Or, conversely, whether you can restore *baselines*. If, say, your version of resurrection works by grabbing quantum signatures. . .

[BlueNinja]

In the campaign I was in, we rescued one NPC who erupted with the ability to bring people back from the dead. After the NPC had no longer become important to the party, the ST shared a little information about his take on it - Q6 power, that was essentially an outgrowth of both Healing and Animal Mastery, that added a +1 difficulty for each day the person had been dead, and required physical remains. That might still be a little harsh for some people; in discussions about Trans-D, I think Alex, Sky and I have already decided that my last ST was definately anti-high-powered novas.

But to plan out a power, I think a Q6 min, and definately a rapidly escalating difficulty scale based on time since death. The first nova known to have this power will be mobbed by hysterical baselines who want their spouse/parent/goldfish/Elvis brought back from the dead. That alone is almost enough for me to think of permanently relegating it to NPC-dom, if I'd allow it at all. (Hmm, then again, it could almost fit well in Greek world, if I decided to throw a suped-up child of Hades in ... ::devil )

[metaphysician]

In the campaign I was in, we rescued one NPC who erupted with the ability to bring people back from the dead. After the NPC had no longer become important to the party, the ST shared a little information about his take on it - Q6 power, that was essentially an outgrowth of both Healing and Animal Mastery, that added a +1 difficulty for each day the person had been dead, and required physical remains. That might still be a little harsh for some people; in discussions about Trans-D, I think Alex, Sky and I have already decided that my last ST was definately anti-high-powered novas.

But to plan out a power, I think a Q6 min, and definately a rapidly escalating difficulty scale based on time since death. The first nova known to have this power will be mobbed by hysterical baselines who want their spouse/parent/goldfish/Elvis brought back from the dead. That alone is almost enough for me to think of permanently relegating it to NPC-dom, if I'd allow it at all. (Hmm, then again, it could almost fit well in Greek world, if I decided to throw a suped-up child of Hades in ... ::devil )

I would tend to have whoever could do this be secretive, for more or less the same reason. Well, secretive, or *bloody terrifying*.

[Sprocket]

Re: Resurrecting baselines-

This would involve "grabbing" the subject's noetic template & reconnecting it to the repaired original body or possibly a cloned duplicate. Reincarnating said subject's template into an available "soul-less but functioning" body would be the poor man's version.

Re: Resurrecting novas-

I'm ambivalent as to whether this should be harder than bringing back a baseline. A nova's quantum matrix is basically a noetic template plus additional noetic & quantum particles, so if anything it ought to be easier to "grab". But if we're seeing this power as a relative of Biomanipulation, there are a couple of precedents for novas being harder to affect.

Re: Resurrecting the rest of the zoo-

I'm inclined to say this power would work just fine on daredevils, & not at all on psions & psionic aliens (or at least make it highly difficult).

[Alex Green]

The first nova known to have this power will be mobbed by hysterical baselines who want their spouse/parent/goldfish/Elvis brought back from the dead.

IMHO *lots* of powers would be like that.

Even ignoring Temporal Manip, Weather Manip, & Elemental Mastery: Weapons grade radioactive; generic "Healing" would be pretty huge to much of the population. For that matter Mega-Chr and/or Resources 5 would do the same.

Re: Resurrecting novas

It'd be harder, maybe a lot harder, maybe even impossible. Novas have their own q-field, and this resists manipulation from other q-manipulators. Baselines are clay, use matter creation and telepathy to make one and you're close to there. Do the same with a nova and you still only have a baseline.

[Sprocket]

Re: Resurrecting novas

It'd be harder, maybe a lot harder, maybe even impossible. Novas have their own q-field, and this resists manipulation from other q-manipulators. Baselines are clay, use matter creation and telepathy to make one and you're close to there. Do the same with a nova and you still only have a baseline.

I can see that being viable/plausible only with novas who have high levels of permanent Taint, & therefore the noetic template component of their quantum matrixes have been seriously distorted/damaged.

AFAICT the possible interference of a subject nova's quantum field would only mean that a Resurrection power would need an "Affects Novas" Extra, with the caveat regarding Taint seen above being applied.

[metaphysician]

I'd be inclined to say that resurrecting a tainted nova is not harder, in the sense that its more likely to fail.

Rather, it works just as readily as normal. . . but with higher chances of side effects. Like every point of taint is +1 difficulty, and failing within that margin results in success, but gaining ( temporarily or permanently ) points of Taint equal to the margin of failure.

( temporarily if you want it to merely be a horrible post-resurrection period, permanent if you want it to *really, really* deter resurrection )

[metaphysician]

Note that, yes, this likely could mean a strongly tainted nova could go over Taint 10. I'd say this is only temporarily, but comes with all the mutations that otherwise would result, with an emphasis on severe forms of insanity and uncontrolled powers.

[Sprocket]

Having attempts to resurrect highly-tainted novas fail most of the time does sound like a more elegant solution. Taint is supposed to be a negative quality, & that would only make it more so.