Aberrant RPG - Taint 10

[Jager]

What's your take on what happens when a nova achieves a taint rating of ten? I don't care about using strict game mechanics, just the role-playing aspect.

Does the character evolve into a totally new form of life?

Or..

Does the taint overwhelm the body and mind like a cancer, killing the nova?

Ideas, thoughts, suggestions, alternatives?

[NeoVid]

I would say that at Taint 10, a nova has done so much permanent damage to his own quantum/subquantum structure that he constantly generates more Taint, and can't stand being anywhere that doesn't have a high concentration of Taint. I use this explanation because it can explain a few things about Trinity-era Aberrants, like why they almost always work in large groups. Plus I can't remember anything from Trinity that'd contradict it.

[Kirby1024]

My interpretation has been that when a nova hits Taint 10, The mental change that has resulted from the use of it's powers, as well as the changes to their mind and body, have so altered them that they are no longer capable of relating to baseline society, or even novas below them.

But, this does tend to be a little odd for those non-Terats (what, 7 Abberations and you're suddenly out of touch with humanity?), but I've always thought of it as a useful thing.

As for the evolution idea, I've always thought that a Nova already was a whole new form of life...

[Jordan]

Shouldn't this depend entirely on the individual character? A Nova who considers themselves to be human and sees the aquisition of taint to be a bad thing might just turn into that "slavering monster from beyond the depths" at tain 10. Its what they're expecting to happen. A Nova who sees things differently might just become "too vast for humans to comprehend."

Finally, don't forget about Chrysalis. Perhaps it is those who loose themselves to Chrysalis that end up evolving into new species?

Any of this sound good?

[Corbin]

This is sort of off subject and I hope you guys don't mind me posting it on this thread.

On the issue of taint. I know you don't get any of the nasty side effects (like socail penalties or aberrantions until you get 4 points of perm taint, but shouldn't there be some kind of penatlty to those players that take 3 points (I mean for roleplaying purposes. I'd love to hear any ideas you guys and gals might have.

[Jager]

I think it boils down to wether taint is a good thing (evolving you into something beyond a nova) or a bad thing (kills you or makes you into a slavering monster).

The message I still interpret form Trinity is that taint isn't a good thing. The Aberrants still keep attacking mankind and seem terribly divided amongs themselves.

Alternately, it could move the subject into such an altered state that the presence of 'normal' humanity acts like an irritant, making them either move on or attack the source of their pain.

Any thoughts?

[Babylon]

That implication is heavily engraved into Trinity but it also carries the implication that to be different is dangerous. Or at least very suspicious. As well Trinity, at least tactitly, seems to grasp that there is a difference between aberrants and novas though the average Joe Hologram can't make the distinction.

On the question asked;

Taint is. That's all.

The concept can only exist if you have a baseline (no pun intended) from which to measure a deviation. Some novas are going to cripple themseleves with it and be unable to function in a meaningful way or turn their lives into a perceived hell. Others are going to become more of what they are and it will show in their bodies and minds.

Look at it this way; are you familiar with the Lost Worlds of Adventure? How is the creation of such things through the distortion of the noetic and quantum mediums any different than what novas do with Taint? And if there is only a question of scale, an individual versus a location, then is there a good and bad associated?

If that lost world is a reasonable approximation of hell with winged demons flying into the night then it's a 'bad thing', right? At least for the poor victims that get dragged into it. But if it's a reasonable approximation of Oz then it's not such an obviously bad thing is it? Granted, this is a simplistic analogy but it seems to hold true.

"But what about the way humans react to high levels of Taint?

What about it? Humans are reacting instictively to the unknown. It's a biological mechanism encoded in the DNA by millions of years worth of evolution which was designed to allow individuals to survive long enough to reproduce and pass on their genetics. This would be analogous to arguing that 'night' is bad because humans fear the dark.

An argument could be made that as baselines continue to evolve beyond mere reactionary biologicial packages,they'll be able to deal with this in a less instinctive manner. A benefit of Mercer's hoped for advancements?

[ 06-15-2002: Message edited by: Babylon ]

[Babylon]

I just realized I only answered half your question. What should happen with the characters once they reach taint ten? They're gone and beyond the control of the player either because they've lost it completely and are stark raving mad in a way that makes the average Call of Cthulhu game seem tame in comparison or because there concerns are completely incomprehensible to the players.

Translation: Time to change STs 'cuz the taint buttered monster's player is getting his day in the barrel.

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Corbin:
This is sort of off subject and I hope you guys don't mind me posting it on this thread.

On the issue of taint. I know you don't get any of the nasty side effects (like socail penalties or aberrantions until you get 4 points of perm taint, but shouldn't there be some kind of penatlty to those players that take 3 points (I mean for roleplaying purposes. I'd love to hear any ideas you guys and gals might have.

In the group I played in we had kind of a house rule. If a Nova's Quantum score + Taint Score was equal to 5 or more then baselines in their physical presence would just *know* that the Nova was a Nova unless they had some form of ability to dorm down. The 5+ concept was to get across that Novas are *different* from baselines, different on a very substantial level.

[Babylon]

That's really a very cool rule. I think I'll mention it to my troupe the next time we get together. It fits very nicely with the core books assertion that novas are somehow more vibrant than baselines and that it shows.

Babylon

[Sakurako Hino]

One thing we have to take note of, is the fact that we do know most of how a nova works in 2008, but we don't know jack about how thangs have changed for novas in the 2100's. For all we know, there may still be a few "normal" looking and acting novas who are running away from our friendly neighborhood aberrants. I don't know if it's just me, but there just have to be a few bush-league novas that hadn't pushed their nodes to the limit like some others have done. I have read the modification rules for playing a aberrant, and I know by the way things change, a few novas could... theoretically... slip under the radar, and have moderate to even low levels of taint. As for the taint 10 aberrants, they most likely represent an evolutionary "failure" and are possibly one sub-speciae of homo-sapiens novus (crazy to think huh?) but more so, those novas that found a way to evolve (through chrysalis or other means) will probably be able to leave earth before things get too hot for them during the aberrant war,

and eventually confront their bretheren. Hence the lack of coordination that the aberrants have. They're focussing on other things as they are being atacked on two fronts. Perhaps the shoe is on the other foot and the Teragen may become the heroes in the end? CAll me crazy, but it makes one hell of a story!

[NeoVid]

A lot of people overlook the fact that the Trinity rulebook says that there are still minor rehabilitated Aberrants on Earth (in the page on the Chitra Bhanu). Of course, the last thing any nova who's still got control in the Trinity era would want is to be recognized as a nova...

And the book on the Upeo tells about Eden, the planet controlled by sane novas (formerly the Protectors, I think).

Though I'm still wondering what happened to the Teragen. Chrysalis should have kept them from losing their minds, and considering Mal is still a major Aberrant leader...

[Sakurako Hino]

WHOA! Makes me want to actually BUY the Trinity books!

Looks like my theories bay be... at least partially true! But then again, I like to run things from 2008/2015 and let the players set up the outcome of the future. It's more fun that way, especially if I'm the storyteller.

Hey, Jager, could you just post a short list on which books have this sort of information?

[Jager]

Endeavor, let me work on that list for you. My Trinity collection is far from complete, so to anyone with that information, your help would be appreciated.

A note on seeing Taint 10 as an evolutionary 'break point' (i.e. your no longer a nova, your an evolved nova). Its seems funny, to a degree, that both the Utopians and the Teragen are wrong about it. Utopians fight it and the Teragen use it to help fuel their Chrysalis...unless Chrysalis is an alternate path toward evolution.

[Matt]

Endeavor, you should check out the Trinity books. But do so because they are quality books, not because of the information about Aberrants. Almost every book has some scrap of information about Aberrants, but none of them have a great deal of detail. The majority of Aberrants mentioned in Trinity are the offspring of the Colony, which shouldn't be confused with novas. If you start buying Trinity books just to use material in your Aberrant game, you will be disappointed. The 2 games use different mechanics for Aberrants, so there isn't a lot of information for actual gameplay. If you don't want your game to link with Trinity, then just ignore it and make up your own timeline.

The one book that mentions a good deal about novas is Stellar Frontiers, which details the planet Eden, home to numerous novas. But even that won't have a lot of usable info for you. Since most of the Trinity books were published before Aberrant came out, a lot of details were intentionally left vague.

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Quote:

Originally posted by NeoVid:
Though I'm still wondering what happened to the Teragen. Chrysalis should have kept them from losing their minds, and considering Mal is still a major Aberrant leader...

There are rumors that Mal removed himself by use of a level 6 power. Presumably "Universe Creation". I would guess that most of the teragen went with him.

[NeoVid]

Quote:

Originally posted by Chosen:
The majority of Aberrants mentioned in Trinity are the offspring of the Colony, which shouldn't be confused with novas.

There's information on the Colony? I've never found any. Tell me, please!

[Sakurako Hino]

Another reason to follow my own path in a campaign, and have as much fun as possible in the process!

I sort of like being able to control my own c's destiny. Or my player's. *evil Dr. Evil grin and pinkie.*

[Kane Knight]

Well, the one common grounds of agreement seems to be Taint changes you. Do you evolve, devolve, turn into a hampster? All of the above? None of the above?

As already pointed out in this thread, humanity is inherrently xenophobic in the era of Trinity. Humanity doesn't exactly score points in the Abbie era either.

When you go Nova, your body is altered in an individual way. There are some constants, but much of Nova-dom depends on the way the person's persona manifests the powers.

I think it means that even if Taint is a process of evolution, A Nova who thinks Taint will slowly drag her down in to the depths of a monstrous depravity will probably be dragged down into the depths of a monstrous depravity.

Now, one way or another, Taint affects the NOva's graps on the world of mundane humans. That could be either evolution or devolution. It's hard to understand people who are not like you, even if you grew from the same stock.

We're taught to cling to human values, though, and to see people deviate from it, even if it's a higher life form, will creep us out. Novas raised to embrace humanity may also be creeped out by things they were supposed to be against as humans, but find less undesirable as Novas.

As humans ourselves, we can't really understand what it's like to be at taint ten, anymore than we can actually predict the thought process of a Mega Intelligent Nova. Play it up as different, really. Inhuman, whether it be good or bad, because they are, one way or another, beyond human.

As far as Taint mutations, damage, and degeneration, well, we only get the Trinity perspective from Psi specialists who equate nova powers with Taint. Yet we see when it comes to Eden Novas, that even that isn't necessarily so, so we are left with no concrete evidence (As far as the books I've read, anyways) that Taint is harmful

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kane Knight:
...Yet we see when it comes to Eden Novas, that even that isn't necessarily so, so we are left with no concrete evidence (As far as the books I've read, anyways) that Taint is harmful

The Edenites don't sound like they are under the same social pressure that 2007 era novas were under to press their power. Presumably they get less taint because of that.

Their taint sounds a lot like "Nova" taint rather than "Colony" taint. That being the case, either the Edenites have a way of dealing with taint before it gets out of hand (termination, exile, something else?) or they don't. If they don't have any way to deal with the most tainted, then Eden will fall, the same way Earth will fall. It will just take longer.

I know that sounds harsh, but imgine what Apollo could and would do if he goes mad. One guy, one mistake, boom. Remember that abberations aren't just the friendly "Anima Banner" kind.

[Kane Knight]

Quote:

Originally posted by David Smith:
The Edenites don't sound like they are under the same social pressure that 2007 era novas were under to press their power. Presumably they get less taint because of that.

Their taint sounds a lot like "Nova" taint rather than "Colony" taint. That being the case, either the Edenites have a way of dealing with taint before it gets out of hand (termination, exile, something else?) or they don't. If they don't have any way to deal with the most tainted, then Eden will fall, the same way Earth will fall. It will just take longer.

I know that sounds harsh, but imgine what Apollo could and would do if he goes mad. One guy, one mistake, boom. Remember that abberations aren't just the friendly "Anima Banner" kind.

Ummmm...Time to rethink what I was trying to say, versus what I said.

My point was (Supposed to be) that They were chalking everything up to taint, which is exactly what you stated. They associated Taint and Nova Power Levels. The Edenites disprove this, as many are surpisingly low on Taint for powerful Aberrants/Novas/Whatevers.

My point then, therefore, was that if they were not correct here, associating Taint with these diseases and such may very well be faulty as well.

It has more to do with their perceptions being faulty than with whether or not the Novas are pushing themselves.

[SpartanClear]

bounty as the colony

thoughts?

i really just have trin and the tech manual so i all i get is allusions from y'all...