Aberrant: Theomachy - Gameplay Discussion

[Blue Thunder]

This thread is for talking about the character creation process and for discussing rules changes. Bring any concerns and/or questions up here.

[Alex Green]

Question for BT: What's the starting Taint for a nova?

Baseline phase is +1, Nova phase is +3, does that total to +4?

[SkyLion]

you start at mandatory 1 then can take up to a max of 3 nore for 3 NP each...

BT...just waiting to read all those amazing backgrounds and enhancements before I can finalize my concepts...

[Blue Thunder]

Yeah you start with a max of 4. I mean, you could go higher if you wanted...but you wouldn't get any NP. Same with Aberrations.

Getting the Backgrounds ready. They're epic, you guys will love them.

[Alex Green]

OK. So baseline is taint 1+, and Nova is 1-4.

RE: Abilities:

Military Science (Intelligence): (replaces) Tactics?

Elemental Affinity (Charisma): (replaces) nothing, it's brand new.

Forging (Stamina): (replaces) Engineering?

Steamwork (Intelligence): (replaces) Science?

[SkyLion]

actually...elemental affinity was my creation.

and I think tactics should stay as is.

[SkyLion]

Question...is the physical penalty from the heavier armors subtract from dice pools an increase in difficulty?

soak machine: armor+ forcefield + armor background+ quantum armor enhancement (force field at 3 dots)

guess that's why BT has the ST veto clause in there...

[Alex Green]

Question...is the physical penalty from the heavier armors subtract from dice pools an increase in difficulty?

You probably lose megas first but that's just my guess.

soak machine: armor+ forcefield + armor background+ quantum armor enhancement (force field at 3 dots)

Force Field from that enhancement wouldn't be a lot of help. "Once per scene" doesn't imply you turn it on and it's up for the rest of the scene. It's the same reason why powermaxing Forcefield is so problematic.

[Blue Thunder]

The new Abilities don't replace anything, they branch off.

Sorry about the Armor confusion. It's supposed to be the same as the armor penalties from pg 277 in the main book. It reduces from Dexterity dice-pools (including Initiative). That way all the extra soak has an offensive draw-back. I'll edit it real quick...

I forgot about Forcefield with Quantum Armor. ST veto!

I'm surprised no one has commented on the new awesomeness of Matter Creation.

[SkyLion]

Alrighty then!

I have two fully formed characters now...now...how to choose?

1 is a sort of Elemental Being, formed of metal and lightning. As such, he is on very friendly terms with Elementals and a master of forging armor A curious explorer and a benevolent, in some ways childlike creature who delights in the natural world and helping others along the way.

2 is a Monster hunter and an expert tracker, a supremer warrior and swordsman who actively seeks out danger. His personality is as hardened as his body, and he takes his pleasure in battle, brew and women, as frequently as possible.

Both have a Pantheon rating if 1, and eschew politics, the first because he is new and ignorant of such things and the second out of a more active contempt.

Damn, they both sound so good and are so different!

I always run into this problem, when too much inspiration hits... ::brick

[Alex Green]

I'm surprised no one has commented on the new awesomeness of Matter Creation.

You mean "sanity". That alteration is long overdue and puts MC into the "useful" category. No more wondering if someone with MC starves to death out in the desert (etc).

The character I'm working on will be son of Venus... which means his father's identity is a matter of speculation. It was assumed he was half-god (his older-by-a-few-minutes non-identical twin is), no one bothered to ask the obvious question of whether his twin had the same father.

[Name] is a god of water in it's various aspects, i.e. the ocean, storms, and boats (transportation) (some followers claim he's also a god of air). He's a god of sailors and merchants (commerce). For inspiration I claim Poseidon and all his various rip offs including King Triton (Ariel's dad) (but younger). He has a powerful Trident.

I suspect he's going to be pretty new at this. He spent months, maybe years, as part of the ocean and is only just recently back and getting his cult organized.

Powers: He can throw lightning, as well as summon or dispel storms. He can *become* water, and he can be anywhere. He can order his aquatic 'subjects' around and ignore the vastness of the ocean to communicate with specific followers. As a god of water he's also a god of blood and can heal, which means he's a god of medicine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseidon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Triton

[Centimane]

Hey BT, this is in regards to your mentioned quandery about what to do with Telepathy as a power.

I created the following power for use with Guo Zhenglai in his iteration over on RPG-Post. It was approved, and I've been told by others there that it's passed playtesting within tabletop groups of some of the other active posters at the site. I did receive some criticism from a few folks because of the number of techniques available, but seeing as how Elemental Mastery has a total of 13 available techniques in the Core book alone (and more listed in the APG) I could never understand where those folks got that idea from.

Guo Zhenglai's profile in the MCoH Open World gaming forum has two other powers made by me as well, both of which have passed muster, and the 'Probability Forging' power in particular got a lot of positive reviews from the TT groups who tried it out (or so they told me, anyway).

Psychic Mastery

Level: 3

Quantum Minimum: 4

Dice Pool: Variable

Range: Variable

Area: Variable

Duration: Variable

Effect: Character has access to a wide variety of psychic powers and abilities, and is capable of truly fine manipulations of the minds of others.

Multiple Actions: Yes

Hallucinations:

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Psychic Mastery

Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) x 5 meters

Duration: Maintenance

The nova can create mental hallucinations that severely disorient their victims. To use it, the nova rolls Manipulation + Psychic Mastery; the target may oppose this with a Willpower roll. Each success reduces the target’s Wits or Perception by 1. Reducing Wits also reduces the target’s Initiative by 1 per dot lost, and if Wits is reduced to zero in this fashion, the victim’s mind is so overwhelmed and distracted by the hallucinations plaguing them that they can only act once every other turn. If the target’s Perception is reduced to zero, they’re effectively blind as the hallucinations they’re experiencing completely overshadow real events.

Crush the Will:

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Psychic Mastery

Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) x 10 meters

Duration: Concentration

Works as Domination, save that the nova needs two successes to equal one success on the Domination chart.

Mental Blast:

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Psychic Mastery

Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) x 5 meters

Duration: Instant

Works as Mental Blast, the power, though at a shorter range.

Psychic Shield:

Dice Pool: N/A

Range: Self

Duration: Maintenance

Psychic Shield provides two soak against mental attacks, or two automatic successes on Willpower rolls to resist mental powers. The difference between this technique is that this power is Maintenance, not Permanent, meaning that the nova must activate it in order to use it. Not only does activating it tie up one of the nova’s actions, if the attacker has some means of preventing the nova from becoming aware of their mental attack (such as with Telepathy + Surreptitious), then the nova will not have the opportunity to activate this technique in the first place. The effects of this technique are cumulative with Psychic Shield.

Lock Down the Mind:

Dice Pool: Wits + Psychic Mastery

Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) x 5 meters

Duration: Concentration

This technique works similarly to Immobilize, but with a few key differences. Firstly, it has a Duration of Concentration, not “One Scene or until destroyed” as per normal. Secondly, it is resisted by the opponent’s Wits score, not Dexterity, and breaking out of the immobilization requires a Willpower roll, not an exertion of Strength as is typically the case. Thirdly, the effective Strength, soak and number of “health levels” is equal to [Power Rating], not (Quantum + Power Rating). Should this ever range above 5, every two levels would provide a dot of effective Mega-Strength. The final difference is that the immobilization, being purely mental, is an intangible effect.

Pathos

Dice Pool: Variable (Willpower resisted)

Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) x 15 meters

Duration: Special

This effectively works just like Empathic Manipulation, save that the Pathos technique can only be used to reduce positive emotions/amplify negative emotions. So while you could use it to amplify a target’s anger into homicidal rage, you could not remove that anger (or even lower it) and replace it with happiness.

Passion

Dice Pool: Variable (Willpower resisted)

Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) x 15 meters

Duration: Special

The opposite of Pathos, Passion can only reduce negative emotions or amplify positive ones. Note: both versions allow the nova to make a Perception + Psychic Mastery roll to determine a target’s emotional state (resisted by the target’s Willpower, as per normal) just like a nova with Empathic Manipulation.

Fooling the Mind’s Eye

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Psychic Mastery

Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) x 15 meters

Duration: Concentration

Works like the Mirage power, except that two successes are required to equal one success on the “Illusion Intensity” chart.

Language of the Mind

Dice Pool: Perception + Telepathy

Range: Line of Sight

Duration: Concentration

This works identically to the “talking” function of Telepathy.

Shaping the Mind

Dice Pool: Perception + Telepathy

Range: Line of Sight

Duration: Concentration

This allows the nova to read a target’s mind, as well as alter existing memories, exactly like a nova with Telepathy.

Scanning

Dice Pool: Perception + Telepathy

Range: Special

Duration: Concentration

This works identically to the scanning function of Telepathy. This technique is usable in conjunction with any other technique in Psychic Mastery (excepting the Psychic Shield technique, for obvious reasons), allowing the nova to affect minds at enormous distances, once she has found them. This does require the nova to pay the activation cost, and may entail taking multiple actions in a turn, depending on circumstances.

[SkyLion]

Nice one Alex! Shade told me on chat the other night that his favorite god was Poseidon, but knowing him he won't be too dissapointed.

I can't help but notice a similarity to Paul Blue, and Rich, at least in terms of how you approach chargen, which is to say with versatility in mind...you have some of your staples here: bodymorph, animal mastery, psychic link, weather control, and healing! Knowing you, you have a decent spread of Megas including social, most at low level.

I really like how you tied in the various aspects in his areas of dominion too. The character isn't necessarily my first choice, but I have to admit I'm always a little envious of the way you can tie so many powers together and be so useful in so many situations...

You mean "sanity". That alteration is long overdue and puts MC into the "useful" category. No more wondering if someone with MC starves to death out in the desert (etc).

The character I'm working on will be son of Venus... which means his father's identity is a matter of speculation. It was assumed he was half-god (his older-by-a-few-minutes non-identical twin is), no one bothered to ask the obvious question of whether his twin had the same father.

[Name] is a god of water in it's various aspects, i.e. the ocean, storms, and boats (transportation) (some followers claim he's also a god of air). He's a god of sailors and merchants (commerce). For inspiration I claim Poseidon and all his various rip offs including King Triton (Ariel's dad) (but younger). He has a powerful Trident.

I suspect he's going to be pretty new at this. He spent months, maybe years, as part of the ocean and is only just recently back and getting his cult organized.

Powers: He can throw lightning, as well as summon or dispel storms. He can *become* water, and he can be anywhere. He can order his aquatic 'subjects' around and ignore the vastness of the ocean to communicate with specific followers. As a god of water he's also a god of blood and can heal, which means he's a god of medicine.

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[metaphysician]

Not having done any serious mechanics yet, my concept: Tiwoz, a leader of what was, at the time, a growing tribe in the north, who he forged into a growing kingdom through the concept of supplementing valor with forthrightness and honor. Dealing fairly with those who deal fairly, whether within or without, and punishing those who steal, deceive, and murder, whether their victims be within or without.

His greatest success was when the Children of the Wolf, and their king, Fenris, struck against his kingdom. He fought their initial attack off, and then ventured himself to their home, and spoke with their king. Finding out that their young had been taken by members of his kingdom, Tiwoz swore to find and return them to Fenris, or else he would give his own hands in recompense. Tiwoz successfully tracked the perpetrators, and found them to be led by a cruel sorcerer who sought to steal the gifts of the Wolf. . . and the prisoners were already slain in sacrifice, save one. Tiwoz slew the offenders, and returned the living and the dead to Fenris, where he offered forth his left hand, for he only half completed his oath. Fenris, accepting this, bit off the hand with his fangs-that-are-death. . . and then acclaimed Tiwoz' valor and honor done in the name of the Children of the Wolf. Fenris gave him a new left hand, a wolf-hand, and declared him blood brother.

And so did the Men of Iron and the Children of the Wolf come to be allies, an alliance born from the friendship of their rulers. Tiwoz taught Fenris how to walk amongst men, to understand strangers as well as one's own pack. Fenris taught Tiwoz how to move effortlessly through the wilds, how to entreat with the beasts of the wood. The two peoples grew close, and other tribes swore fealty to the Brother Kings of Men and Beasts.

And then Fenris was slain, the perpetrator mysterious. Once Fenris' heir was chosen, and the kingdoms were as secure as is possible, Tiwoz set off from them, to find his blood brother's killer, and bring justice unto him. . .

[Centimane]

Wow, Meta, that's pretty cool! I'm impressed.

[Blue Thunder]

Cottus: Cottus I love you, Psychic Mastery is awesome and I'm adding it to my list.

I like all of the character stories I have read so far, seriously. Sky, I think your first idea has the most potential. I'll post a blank character sheet soon for us to use.

[Shade Sentinel]

Alex, your idea is great and though good ole' Jupiter is my favorite of the Pantheon...he's all yours. Though in subtle protest I must create an opposite of sorts...and crosses traditional Pantheons. I used literal gods for the story but will replace them with whatever names I come up with soon. I made an obvious change to modern history, but I think its cool. Let me know if this does not work.

*****

Regarded for her wisdom and prowess and purity, Athena was worthy of attention and favor. When she would brave the field of men as a mortal she would take the forms of fair skinned beauties, never venturing long from her home as precaution. It was because of her purity and the ultimate contradiction that created, she attracted the attention of another revered figure, Set. Scheming for ages, his plan came to fruition as Athena came to the world of men to walk and experience simple pleasures inhabiting the body of a young girl. Set pounced at his chance, tricking her into drinking a elixir that rendered her unable to return to the home of the Gods. It was then that the God of Chaos brought change to perfection and took her virgin body and ravaged it. When Athena was able to recover, she escaped to her home, but the trauma was already endured.

Athena's rage new no bounds but her wisdom guided her actions. Set's prize was a child of perfection. Though built of mortal flesh, he had the spirit of Gods, with cunning and intellect of his father, and the physical supremacy that only could come from Athena's touch. When the child grew to age of 18 and knew no peer or equal, Athena came to collect from him what was taken from her...flesh. She pierced his body with her hands and removed his organs as these pieces belonged to her, leaving only his heart so that he may feel the burden of his curse. His body was horribly scarred as his visage melted away removing any trace of her presence in him. Somehow, the boy survived Athena's assault which angered her and terrified her all the same. Set was pleased, and wrapped the wounds of his offspring in white linen covering its body from head to toe. Powerful runes were placed on the wrappings to replace the strength's his mothers spirit removed while simultaneously granting him knowledge of his history and power.

He became known as "Sun-Seteh" or "Child of Set"

He has power over the sands of the earth, the storms of the skies and the strength of the Gods. His current visage inspires a sense of dread and fear in the mortal kind who look upon him. As tale of his creation spread, the mortal society of his Pantheon began to attend to their dead in a manner that would show respect to him and his father. The dead were removed of their organs, save the heart and wrapped in linen to await the afterlife. Many believe that he takes the spirit of the dead to the underworld, and those not prepared for the journey and mummified will not be allowed to leave.

((Some weather control or elemental mastery. Hopefully a few dots of pantheon as he has a widespread influence. Some solid but not overwhelming physical prowess. I have not flushed out the sheet yet))

*****Edited for television*****

So naturally after I post this, I actually read a bit more and realize that not only should I not post real god names, but that the "Gods" are long dead and that makes my story a bit different. I will have to modify this soon, but I like the story and will try to adapt a version of it.

[Blue Thunder]

That's actually a pretty sweet background...I like the image too, of a nova wrapped entirely in linen and inspiring people to prepare their dead.

[Blue Thunder]

Cottus and I were just talking about my M-Str restriction via PMs and he did bring up a lot of good points. He showed how a fraction of NP could be used to make a tank (which is not a bad thing, considering the nature of the setting) but how it would cost much more NP to get attack powers just to compete, and how they still wouldn't be doing enough to cause harm at 5 dots.

I was thinking of this then: instead of dropping M-Str damage from 5 to 3, how about all novas have 2 of every Health Level (except Dead, of course). My intention with this whole thing was to help keep people alive longer since gods aren't supposed to be too frail to harm and the soak from Quantum does help. Double Health Levels let's you take twice as much damage. The Healing power might need a boost if I go that route...

Thoughts?

[SkyLion]

The background sounds cool to me, since once you change the names, the gods you mentioned don;t really have too much in common with the mythological figures...for example Athena is Greek and was never raped by the Egyptian god Set...

Alex, your idea is great and though good ole' Jupiter is my favorite of the Pantheon...he's all yours.

::huh I thought you told me Poseidon was your fav...

Sky, I think your first idea has the most potential. I'll post a blank character sheet soon for us to use.

That's funny, BT, I was sort of leaning to the second one, since he would have more utility out of combat whereas the first is mostly a massive combat monster/brick. Still, I am not beyond being swayed...I think I will post up both of my concepts here for further feedback.

[Name] is a god of vengeance and valour. His father Torus was a god of strength and battle who ruled over a far off kingdon. He coveted the prizes of his neighbors, including their women and spent many years waging war and bloodshed. When he concquered the nearby kingdom, he took it's queen Merrowyn, a goddess of beauty and harvest as his concubine. She despised him, yet was unable to prevent him from siring several offspring from her womb, four in all. Her youngest however was born weak and frail, no doubt from her captors cruel treatment of her. She feared for her son;s life, knowing that Torus would suffer no weakness in his line.

Fleeing the palace, Merrowyn decended down to the Underworld to beseech the King of the Dead, Mortecai. The Abyssal god, normally stoic and grim, was moved by both her beauty and softness and agreed to grant her request. She would remain with him as his consort in the Underworld, and in exchange for her life he would not reap the Soul of her son should he pass. Furthermore he allowed her to dip her son in the Stygian Lake of the Dead, forbidden to mortals, and it rendered her son immune to harm, no blade nor arrow would pierce his skin. Once per year, at the time of Harvest, she would be permitted to return to the Living to see her son.

Having done all she could, Merrowyn kissed her son on his forehead and sent him back to the Middle Realm, where his father was waiting.

Torus was livid with rage of course. Because he could not kill his son, he imprisoned him in the palace dungeons where he and his brothers beat him mercilessly day in and day out. Over the years this treatment hardened the once frail child, making him the toughest and fastest of his brothers. He had fallen in love as well, with the mortal servant girl who tended him in the wake of his family's cruelty. One day, taking pity on him enough to defy her master, she freed him, begging him to take her with him. He agreed and the pair fled, but an arrow from his eldest brother took her life before they reached the shelter of the forest line.

[Name] wandered in the wilderness for many years, eventually coming to Mount Typhonus, the mountain of storms. It's craggy peak was forever wreathed in a maelstrom, for Grymphyr, god of chaos and wind was in love with the giantess Hestia who made her home there.

[Name] Sought out Hestia, known to be a mighty weaponsmith, and bargained with her for the means to exact his revenge upon his sire and ill-begotten siblings. She agreed, and in exchange for an as yet to be determined favor, forged for him the Bands of Retribution, symbols of molten brass seared into his flesh that would gather strength from the rage of his enemies. She also forged for him a vorpal sword that could never be shattered, although she promised to reveal it's true power to him only upon the repayment of his debt to her.

So armed, [Name] retrurned, after many years, the prodigal son of wrath and slew his father and his brothers, who's skulls he wears strung about his neck. After that he left, and journeyed to the lands to the west, eschewing his birthright and his kingdom for he despised the petty games of the politik.

Now he makes his way, living from the land and has made himself a name as a slayer of monsters, dragons,ogres and collosi. He is revered by warriors throughout the lands who pray to him for valour and courage in battle. He is also seen as a symbol of the weak rising up against tyrants, from both his legend and his propensity to save common folk from marauding monsters. However he has refused to lead armies or people's against other rulers...he seeks out danger and death for it's own sake and besides, should a people want to free themselves, they must suffer enough to break their own bonds. Deep underneath his hardened shell however, he remembers his love and the sacrifice she made to free him.

Image: An incredibly tall and powerfully built man with indigo blue hairless skin covered in gleaming metallic tatoos. His eyes gleam a golden orange and he has four arms as his father before him. HIs skin changed and his hair fell out from his dip into the Stygian Lake, and the aura of death still lingers about him.

Powers: Incredibly fast and tough but comparitively weak to many gods. However those who attack him quickly find their weapons turned against them and that he onbly draws greater power from their anger. He is also cunning and crafty, a master of combat and tactics and the ways of the wood. He is considered the foremost hunter and trapper in the realm and is sought out by those with monsters to slay. It is said that he does so for no payment.

[Blue Thunder]

And sorry I don't have Sanctum up yet. I've gone through different versions of it and it's starting to be a headache I'm half tempted to just write it off.

[SkyLion]

My other concept (the one BT really likes) will have to wait until I get home after visiting my next client. In the meantime, I petition that we change the name of the background Fame to Legend. Everytime I think of it I hear David Bowie singing in my head...

And put up those Fame...er Legend enhancments will ya!

[Shade Sentinel]

Isn't Jupiter Poseidon, or is that Neptune? It may be Neptune. Whichever it is I mean that one!

[Centimane]

My favorite concept thus far is all Sky's fault. ::tongue

He mentioned my dragon character, which I otherwise would probably not have thought of.

My concept so far:

Kalakutesh is the child of Kalakuta and Anmu. Kalakuta is known to all his faithful followers as the Great Serpent, who surrounds and protects all of creation, who ventured into the Upper Realms themselves and returned with the Sacred Mountain, for the churning of the waters of life and the creation of the Nectar of Peace and Deception. Anmu is the goddess of the primordial, chaotic waters of life, and the mother of monsters, demons, and dragons; she who came before and who remains after.

Kalakutesh is thus the child-god of Earth and Sky and Water (OOC: though not water as embodied by Rivers or Oceans, so your character is still safe, Alex). In more practical terms, his associations would include the realms of Strength, Bravery, Protection, Cunning Wisdom (especially in battle), and Primal Chaos (as embodied by destructive use of strength).

He is a very old god (about as old as BT will let me make him, anyway), and as such, he is viewed by many in the same way as the Greek Titans were viewed in relation to the Olympians (i.e. as being more of an elemental, primordial embodiment of an abstract concept or physical principle than as a god that can be related to or identified with). He is generally viewed as an embodiment of the dualistic forces of Destruction and Stability (as his father is the Serpent who Protects and Devours, and his mother is the Primordial Water - that is both chaotic, and yet which never fades or changes).

As such, his cult is small, and he does not hold a position of great importance within his pantheon (nor does actively seek one), but his fame is great and his legend long.

For centuries, Kalakutesh has served as a protector of his pantheon's realm, and much of his fame comes from his great cunning in battle. Though he is a mighty warrior, he is more feared by his enemies for his great skill as a strategist and tactician in times of war. However, when he does enter the field of battle, few can stand against him. Perhaps because of this, his most common alias is the Dragon Sage.

Image: Kalakutesh's natural form is that of a mighty dragon of colossal size, though he can take on the appearance of a human if he chooses. Even in human form however, his voice is still the resonant, earth-shaking bass of a temple-sized dragon, and his golden eyes are still those of the serpent.

Powers: Kalakutesh possesses enormous strength, speed, and endurance, and is truly a Holy Terror on the field of battle. He is also regarded as one of the great masters of wartime strategy and tactics, and his ability to gauge an enemy's plans and adjust accurately and without hesitation is legendary.

That's about all I've got for now.

[Blue Thunder]

Note: it's okay to have characters with the same portfolios. There can be multiple gods of water for instance. With 1000 novas, there's bound to be overlapping...

[SkyLion]

Actually Cottus, I was kinda hoping you would bring in one of your hot chicks...this game is becoming a sausage fest!

[BlueNinja]

I'll post the basic character background here. I should know by tomorrow whether I'll be staying in the Navy, and thus whether I'll have time or be out to sea.

Of all the new gods, the three most reclusive are said to be the three Norns, the goddesses who weave the tapestry of time, selecting the time of death for all mortals. (And, it is rumored, the new gods as well.) But even in their isolation, one of these goddesses desired some form of companionship. Skuld, the Norn of the future, took to her divinations to find for herself a companion. To her surprise, the results of her entrail reading and casting the rune-bones led her to a foggy northern coast, where a young mortal boy was practicing his spear casting. Looking at the boy, she read his future, seeing the great warrior he would become. When the boy slept, she sent him a dream, of the great deeds he would accomplish, and the goddess whose body - if not heart - he would win.

Twenty years later, she re-appeared to the man, and wrapping him in the yarn of fate, she took him to the small corner of the upper realms where the Norns weave the tapestry. In due time, she bore a pair of twins to her mortal lover. The girl she named Coraline, and knew that one day, the girl would forge the very future of the mortal realm. The boy she named Erwin, and sent him back to the mortal realm with his father, the Gryphon Rider.

Coraline grew up to be a lithe, willowy girl, her pale countenance framed by her mother's jet black hair. Eyes of molten silver judge the world around her, reducing things to numbers and equations. When she reached her age of womanhood, Skuld saw her apprenticed to Hephaestus, the greatest of the craftsmen of the new gods, and she learned her trade well. As her mastery project, she forged a great clockwork warrior, pulling the metals for it from the very stones. With the grudging acceptance of the forger, she returned to her mother and aunts, studying the tapestry wordlessly for seventy days and seventy nights. Her study complete, she left the upper realms, prepared to start the forging of her new destiny, starting with a visit to her father, the legendary Gryphon Rider, warrior of the foggy north.

((That help the sausage fest, Sky? ::biggrin ))

[SkyLion]

And then they were 6...

[SkyLion]

And here is my other idear...

[Name] is the elemental offspring of Hestia the giantess Hestia and her lover Grymphyr. Hestia, smith of the gods is a source of order, while Grymphyr is an elemental creature of chaos and storms. It was this polarity of passion that lead them to create their only child.

Hestia forged his body from the iron heart of the mountain, and his father breathed life into him with lightning and thunder. He was born fully formed and thus did not "grow up." He was "born" with full faculties and comprehension. He did however remain under the tutelage of his parents atop the battered crags of Mt. Typhonus for 20 years and a day, assisting with the forges and befriending the elementals that resides there. Fire-born to fuel the forges, great Gales of the sky and the Spirits of the Mountain itself.

Upon the completion of his "apprenticeship" his parents announced that he was to venture out in the world and discover his place upon Gaia. He was given a gift from each parent. From his mother, a mighty spear said to be a bane of the gods. From his father, the binding of an elemental so he would not undertake his quests alone.

[Name is relatively new in the mortal kingdoms. Most will mistake him for an elemental rather than a nova and they aren;t far from the truth. His only goal in life right now is to explore the realms.

Image: A 16 foot tall, massive iron man, with eyes of blue-violet light that also spills from his mouth. His only accoutrements are his gigantic spear and a pterugus or skirt made from from solid strips of bronze.

Powers: A being if electrified Iron, [name] is effectively a living electromagnet. In addition to formidable strength and nigh invulnerabilty, [name] has powers of electricity and lightning as well as power over metal. He can levitate himself and fly and

needs no food, air, or water to survive.

***

And that's all I have for now. Two pretty solid godlings. After reading everyone else idea I only have one two-part reservaton. ONe is that both builds don't really do all that much (power wise) outside of combat applicatioon, and Cottus took my giant combat creature idea and effectively upstaged it. In other words, we have our super-heavy hitters now (Which is good that Shade and BN are going for more cerebral types). The first idea does have the whole ranger/tracker aspect skillwise and can make an effective scout as well as a warrior. The elemental character has recious few skills and biggest non-combat aspect is the Elemental Affinity. If I go with the second idea though I thought of him maybe befriending some kind of nova inventor archimedes type who could find all kinds of useful applications for a giant walking electromagnet.

In any case, as usual, I am flip flopping between which one I like best so any feedback from players or ST, is appreciated...Please PM me though to discuss more in private. Thanks.

[SkyLion]

Cottus and I were just talking about my M-Str restriction via PMs and he did bring up a lot of good points. He showed how a fraction of NP could be used to make a tank (which is not a bad thing, considering the nature of the setting) but how it would cost much more NP to get attack powers just to compete, and how they still wouldn't be doing enough to cause harm at 5 dots.

I was thinking of this then: instead of dropping M-Str damage from 5 to 3, how about all novas have 2 of every Health Level (except Dead, of course). My intention with this whole thing was to help keep people alive longer since gods aren't supposed to be too frail to harm and the soak from Quantum does help. Double Health Levels let's you take twice as much damage. The Healing power might need a boost if I go that route...

Thoughts?

If you double health levels, will you also double the bonus health levels from powers like growth, bodymod and mega stamina?

[BlueNinja]

I was thinking of this then: instead of dropping M-Str damage from 5 to 3, how about all novas have 2 of every Health Level (except Dead, of course). My intention with this whole thing was to help keep people alive longer since gods aren't supposed to be too frail to harm and the soak from Quantum does help. Double Health Levels let's you take twice as much damage. The Healing power might need a boost if I go that route...

May I suggest that instead of doubling all health levels, instead give everyone 1 extra each of Maimed, Crippled, and Incapacitated, and everyone has "dead" health levels equal to their total Stamina (from which they can Regen/Heal normally, or at 2x cost, or something).

[Centimane]

If you double health levels, will you also double the bonus health levels from powers like growth, bodymod and mega stamina?

Actually, I already brought this up with when BT first asked me about this, and I specifically recommended that they not do that. Too much room for things to become ridiculous .

Also, BN's suggestion is a pretty good one, I think (although, is that just regular stamina, or does that include megas too?).

[BlueNinja]

By "total Stamina" I meant Stamina + Mega Stamina.

[Alex Green]

May I suggest that instead of doubling all health levels, instead give everyone 1 extra each of Maimed, Crippled, and Incapacitated, and everyone has "dead" health levels equal to their total Stamina (from which they can Regen/Heal normally, or at 2x cost, or something).

Not bad... although we might want multiple "Incapacitated" levels and not "dead" ones.

RE: Toning down M-Str

Another alternative is for every dot of M-Str to grant 3 auto sux and 2 normal dice. That allows for M-Str to cut through soak but also makes it less deadly on the lower soak types.

EDIT: Something to think about... the following skills are now a lot more useful.

Survival

Ride

Archery

[Alex Green]

Hey if I buy a mega for a Champion, does that come with a free Enhancement or do I buy that separately?

and if the later, does an enhancement require a mega?

[SkyLion]

The next thing we really need to figure out, collectively, is how we are going to become a group or meet or what have you, namely figuring out some more details of our domain and pantheon, and specifically if we want to be members of the same pantheon or if it would be more interesting to come together from far off, So far it sounds like the latter. MPs character comes from a far off land as does Draygos, Magnarok, and Shade and BN's concepts. Kalakutesh (I like that name alot) is more like the aloof dragon on the mountain than a real pantheon member. Even Alex character is a newcomer on the scene, having been at sea for many years...

Sounds like we could have a "gathering of heroes" so to speak. Perhaps we should all be more or less orphans and ronin and wanderers and come together in a new micro-pantheon that will shake things up.

[Alex Green]

MPs character comes from a far off land as does Draygos, Magnarok, and Shade and BN's concepts. Kalakutesh (I like that name alot) is more like the aloof dragon on the mountain than a real pantheon member. Even Alex character is a newcomer on the scene, having been at sea for many years...

I.e. none of us seriously invested nova points into backgrounds to build an established character.

The pantheons are at war. If we're in different groups, that's a bad thing. Nor do I see why any of our existing concepts *have* to be in different pantheons.

Most pantheons have a fate god(dess), most have a "love" goddess, nature spirits, etc.... and this background text is mostly for the cult members anyway.

[Centimane]

I have'nt submitted anything to BT yet, but the characters I have worked on (mostly the dragon) have been designed to fit within the 'local' pantheon, and I get the feeling that BN's character has been designed with that in mind too.

So Ithink it's ok if a few folks are from elsewhere at the start of the story.

[BlueNinja]

My character's background is variable somewhat. Admittedly, Coraline's half-based in Norse myths, but it's not like they have a monopoly on crazy old ladies who determine the future. ::biggrin

[metaphysician]

Actually, in my case, I *was* thinking of investing in backgrounds. . . but also debating whether or not to explode my old country more thoroughly than strictly necessary, thus making the issue moot.

Anyway, as per concept, it is kind of important for him to be an outsider wanderer. However, he's also plenty compatible with the idea of "meeting up with other gods of good character in the name of an appropriate task." He seeks the Slayer of Fenris ( who I am direly tempted to name 'Woten' *cough* ), he seeks to temper his understanding of justice, and really, if there are people suffering from injustice, he's not going to turn a blind eye.

That said, I had two rules-related question:

1. I am pondering trying to build a geas-laying power. Longer duration than Dominate ( preferably ranging into indefinite ), but with greater limitations on usage. Notably, it has to be layed upon a willing ( acquiescing ) subject, has to have an escape condition proportionate to the command, stuff like that. Any chance this could be worked out somehow, or should I just skip the idea for other stuff?

2. As hinted above, I am pondering taking notable backgrounds to represent a kingdom he ruled. . . but a kingdom from which he is in voluntary exile, and which is notably far away from the main campaign zone. Should I just buy those backgrounds applicable in his current state? Should I bite the bullet and buy them all? Should I buy them all, and then take a flaw representing the lack of ready access ( maybe 1 flaw point per 3 background dots inaccessible )?