Aberrant RPG - Nova Numbers (was how much damage?)

[Twist]

The 30 pointers are the real players on the world stage, with the 45 point behomoths being like lonely titans that the 30's can bring down if the group together (as they usually do) and think it out. But, the 30 pointers are aware of the weaker mass boiling up beneath them in the form of the 15 pointers who are more tainted and less versitle and have a much harder time rising up and making a name for themselves.

Are the 15 pointers more prone to taint for physiological reasons or because they are trying to keep up with the Joneses as it were? (ie buying more tainted powers?)

By the way, shouldn't we move this to another thread?

Done

[Liam VanGilder]

From the 45/30/15 split of novas I take it that you are assuming that as N-Day recedes into the past, the force that intially caused novas to erupt is slowly weakening. This would seem to consistent with Divis Mal creating some kind of effect like a second Hammersmith incident in an attempt to create some contemporaries for himself. As time goes on the background fades, becomes less 'pure' and lower power comes with higher taint.

Interestingly this helps explain the relatively low power of Trinity era aberrants as compared to the majority of Aberrant era ones. What bothers me though is that given exposure to quantum energies is a trigger for eruption, wouldn't the growing number of novas in the world eventually counterbalance this effect and start bringing the power levels back up again?

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Quote:

Originally posted by Liam VanGilder:
...wouldn't the growing number of novas in the world eventually counterbalance this effect and start bringing the power levels back up again?

Probably not. Or rather, not unless we get a lot more novas than we will. Raw quantum appears to have almost no "staying" power, it degrades into something else almost immediately. In 2008, the only way of generating quantum is a nova (or a nuke reactor). Thus the node background lets you detect novas if they are close.

In other words, your average nova doesn't increase the background of quantum unless he is right next to you or unless you are present while he is using his powers.

...and the problem with the thread's title was that I should have called it... "questions Dr. Troll needs answered before he launches his dabiew as a starting elite"

[ 09-06-2002: Message edited by: David 'Dr. Troll' Smith ]

[Sakurako Hino]

This talk of Taint recently moves my thought drift to something important.

Taint, in of itself I now beleive is a underrunning failure on the Nova's part ot control themselves. The weaker novas, wanting to be like their bigger brothers and sisters, push themselves past what their meatbods can take and well, they pay for it. Also the weaker 15 pointers are used to a LOWER flow of Quantum, so, when they max-out and all that fun stuff the big leaguers do, they tend to pay a bigger price. But, as is the case with any bell-curve, there probably is an even WEAKER 5 point group, and an UBER-Tough 100 point monster lurking out there. Maybe two. I call those 100 point nightmare machines Omega class in a campaign I was writing up. And for good reason. If 2 ever faced eachother, the consequences would be dire for the planet.

I view taint in my worlds in a way I feel is actually in tune with Taint. Don't over reach your abilities, or you'll pay the price.

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Quote:

Originally posted by Endeavor:
...But, as is the case with any bell-curve, there probably is an even WEAKER 5 point group, and an UBER-Tough 100 point monster lurking out there. Maybe two.

I think we call them "Pax" & "Antaous"(sp).

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Endeavor:
This talk of Taint recently moves my thought drift to something important.

Taint, in of itself I now beleive is a underrunning failure on the Nova's part ot control themselves.

If that's how you want to run it, sure. But not everybody does. In Asia Ascendent, a Trinity book, it is stated that some Novas have a much higher potential for Taint than others. Some Novas are simply more likely to Taint out based on the same behavior as others. Prodigy started with Q1 and ended up with Q4, every quantum he purchased was tainted. I basically played him as if there was something kind of wrong with him when it came to upping his Quantum score. Other things he could develope fine, just not Quantum.

[T-dev]

All this discussion on taint is very interesting. I would agree that there is a side of taint that represents stress on the nova; however how does chrysalis fit into all that? I mean one only need to look at the physical aberrations to get a sense of novas, in some cases becoming non-humans. So I also think that there's the other side of taint which ties into the evolution of novas into other species. I know I'm lapsing Terat, but come on look at Leviathan & tell me how human he is. As to the power/nova point breakdown, I think like in any setting you have classes of power; one only need look at the difference between Magneto & Jubilee in Marvel to see an illustration of this. I do think that power level is reflected by how close the individual was to the two experiments both spacially & temporally. However genetics can add a wild card as time goes on. Two powerful novas will possibly have powerful kids.

[Sakurako Hino]

Quote:

Originally posted by James 'Prodigy' Meehan:
If that's how you want to run it, sure. But not everybody does. In Asia Ascendent, a Trinity book, it is stated that some Novas have a much higher potential for Taint than others. Some Novas are simply more likely to Taint out based on the same behavior as others. Prodigy started with Q1 and ended up with Q4, every quantum he purchased was tainted. I basically played him as if there was something kind of wrong with him when it came to upping his Quantum score. Other things he could develope fine, just not Quantum.

Actually I need ot correct my statement there.

After further review, I realized that it is the smaller nova who gets the shaft. I don't know if I stated this earlier, but the weaker the nova, the more their body is used to a lower energy state. So, when the kick it up a notch, they pay for it in spades. While the big-league hurts out there can dish it out, and eat it too. All because they can handle the greater load. This should be a factor in the handing out of taint, but... that's another story...
Actually, I think Taint is a fair way to controll players, and in a story sense, it enhances the sacrifice part of the Aeoniverse Trinity. Hope, Unity, Sacrifice. That's what it's all about.

Sorry if It feels I'm beating the drums a bit, but on another board on the net, I have been in a slight arguement about the dearth of the darker subject matter recently in RPGs. I really don't belive that a game should be dark, but for some subject matter, a darker and more visceral approach is needed. What makes this jive with Aberrant, Taint, and Novas, is that this is the start of a darker period in human history. It may look good, but a series of events leads to warfare between Humans and Novas. Eventually the Novas (now called aberrants) have to leave Earth. Only to caome back, in alien like form to strike back at Earth in the Trinity saga. It is interesting to see though that the Novas of that age are more of a secret in Trinity. Just how many are there really out there in the final frontier? How many seperate groups are on other planets? Many questions... Few Answers...

[Kirby1024]

You don't need to be dark with the Taint to be dark with Aberrant. The real world is dark enough, in Aberrant, I expect the shadows become a little darker, even if the light gets a little brighter...

Taint really is what you make of it. It's deliberately kept mysterious. Some consider Taint a failure on the part of the nova, others consider it a necessary evil on the road to something greater.

I tend to think of it as a neutral form of mutation. What a nova does with that mutation is purely for the nova to decide. Hide, Flaunt, Live with it, Ignore it. Taint is not a force that is deliberately pushing a nova away from the world he once knew, instead it's a manifestation of the fact that any sort of power will change a person. The acquisition of power tends to prevent a person from relating with those with less power, because he simply doesn't have those immediate concerns. Power corrupts, and Taint is a symbol of that corruption.

The Teragen see it as something that is essential, as their position tends to embrace the replacement of a person's human motivations with new motivations. Utopia, Proteus, the Directive and the Aeon Society all see it as a problem, as it's in their interests for novas to stay as human as possible. A non-human nova can't relate to the rest of humanity, and as such will have difficulty helping them or empathising with them.

And they're both right, in their own way. Embrace your destiny, or Hang on to what you can't leave behind, it's a choice that any nova must make.

[Jager]

Van Gilder, got it both times. On the power level thing, I think the process repairs itself eventually, but not until the Trinity era. As powerful as Novas and Aberrants are, they can't raise the overall quantum level. Also, I don't think most of humanity is ready, biologically, to handle quantum and sub-quantum energies. We are heading that way, and some people will get there faster thant others, but we are not there yet.

Here is how Ian (the other ST) and myself saw it:

1) The people who were the most capable of handling quantum erupted first and with the most ease. As time goes on, people who are less capable also erupt.

2) Understanding taint isn't necessary. Chrysalis allows a nova to last longer with taint, but doesn't include a scientific understanding of it. It is still a mystery.

Personally, I believe that Novas should not exist. The universe thinks the same way. Novas bend or break established physical laws by throwing lots of energy at them. Novas that 'bend' the laws effectively get by, but those that don't, get taint. They break something in reality. It is this 'break' that upsets the subconcious of baselines. That is my theory, anyway.

Twist, both are right. Not only do people expect 15 point novas to be godlike, they are less capable of handling the power. They exacerbate the process by trying harder.

T-Dev, the difference in power levels is also a great storytelling tools. It allows you to have larger numbers of novas without breaking the world.

[Sakurako Hino]

Dosen't aberrations follow the developments and paradigms of the character? Just wondering.

[Vile Bill]

Quote:

Originally posted by Endeavor:
Dosen't aberrations follow the developments and paradigms of the character? Just wondering.

Depends on the ST. If he is catering to players hopes and whims you get a lot of Aberrant Eyes, Glow, Anima Banners and the like. Stuff that shows flash but really doesn't cause much in the way of freak out among the baseline population.

If he isn't he or she may throw on the mental aberrations, food requirements and so forth. Things that can make roleplaying a character fairly challenging.

[Sakurako Hino]

I can imagine. Especially when originally, Endeavor was supposed to look like an Anime character due to the aberrations she had. I edited that out, but... Then again, If Endeavor keeps going the way she is, she might end up with the look anyway. I actually think the aberrations are... sorta cool. Especially the Anima Banner. That example of the Tarot aberration was cool. at least I could have swore that was one of the examples in one of the books...

[Liam VanGilder]

I envisage Taint as the changes that a nova;s node makes to their body that they don't have any control over. They are the Monster From the ID of Forbidden Planet.

The subconscious mind of the nova is shaping them as befits the underlying operation of their mind. The harder the nova pushes their powers the more they open the floodgates of the node. At the same as their coinscious mind uses this as quantum powers, the rest of their mind is using it in ways they are hardly even aware of.

It is the thinking mind of the nova that imposes the limits on their abilities that come after eruption. At the moment of eruption anything is theoretically possible. However, to deal with the infinite power this represents the nova must limit it somehow to bring it down to a level they can understand and deal with.

As a nova increases in power they are becoming more accustomed to the power they have and can believe that greater still might be within their reach. This explains why aberrations can make a power permanently active for no juice cost and why uncontrolled powers can be so much stronger. The 'Tainted' part of the novas mind does not know the bounds the thinking mind does. It can more readily accpet the limitless power at its disposal.

This is why Taint is a feedback loop. As a nova becomes more tainted their perceptions of the world change ever further away from the human norm, The further from 'normal' they are the stranger their inner mind will become and the more it will change them and their viewpoint.

The philosophy of Teras allows the nova to bring this process partly under their control. By doing so they can control the changes in themselves on more of a conscious level. They also tap into the power of the part of them that knows no boundaries and so can advance their evolution more than they could otherwise.