Aberrant House-Rule Idea: Mega-Skills

[Mel Grimson]

So this occurred to me from the Aberrant 2.0 project with Mala. We were incorporating the idea when we ditched Mega-Attributes of nova-level skills. I always thought it made a lot of sense, clearly demarcating nova capacities as reaching into potential specific skills at extreme levels. Something just doesn't feel to see a nova scientist that can outdo a passel of expert baseline physicists have a Science of 5 just like they do. Sure there's likely mega-Intelligence, but that's not all, right?

Besides, this should help making stealth novas more easy for those who wish to play them. Let's start talking.

Mega-Skills (as borrowed from the Arete setup) [1 NP / 1 Mega-Skill dot]

Dots of Mega Skills Bonus Dice/Rerolls (Remove two dice from the bonus per reroll) Mega-Skill • Two bonus dice (or one potential reroll) Mega-Skill •• Four bonus dice (or two potential rerolls) Mega-Skill ••• Seven bonus dice (or three potential rerolls) Mega-Skill •••• Eleven bonus dice (or five potential rerolls) Mega-Skill ••••• Sixteen bonus dice (or eight potential rerolls) Mega-Skill ••••• • Twenty-two bonus dice (or eleven potential rerolls) Mega-Skill ••••• •• Twenty-nine bonus dice (or fourteen potential rerolls) Mega-Skill ••••• ••• Thirty-seven bonus dice (or eighteen potential rerolls) Mega-Skill ••••• •••• Forty-six bonus dice (or twenty-three potential rerolls) Mega-Skill ••••• ••••• Fifty-six bonus dice (or thirty-eight potential rerolls)

[SalmonMax]

I dunno man. Isn't mega-attributes enough of an advantage over baselines?

Not to mention, the number of dice becomes pretty ridiculous pretty fast. If I were inclined to let novas boost skills beyond the human level, it'd be like this:

"A nova can raise a skill above 5 dots by 1 dot per dot in the mega-attribute that pairs with that skill."

[Mech]

I agree with Max.

[Sailor OOC]

Why make it like that?

Simply have it where based on your mega-attribute level, you can raise your skill over 5 a number of dots equal to your mega attribute.

For the sake of example (and I intend to have Kamiko reach Diplomacy 5...), Kamiko has a Diplomacy of 5. Now she also has a Mega Manipulation of 5. As such, she can raise her Diplomacy to a whopping 10 dots if she so chose. Of course since this is beyond what the best in the skill (5 is classically the pinnacle of achievement for a Ability) have, it gets more and more pricey.

That 6th dot would cost 10, 7th Dot 12, 8th dot 14, 9th dot 16, then the 10th dot would be 18. All total one jump from 5 to 10 would cost 70xp overall.

Simply put, the Nova is learning things that are beyond Human understanding. Subtle things even to a Nova that are becoming more and more clear.

Of course the level of skill will also be capped by the Nova's Quantum. So under the same example, a Q6 Kamiko could only go Diplomacy 6, even with a 5 mega manipulation. But a Q8 Kamiko could reach Diplomacy 8!

Also ever thought of instead of piling dots on to a ability, why not get bonus specialties through an enhancement. These could be used to improve the number of specialties for any one skill in a attribute.

For instance, Kamiko could take "Adept Ability 2: Diplomacy" in Mega Manipulation and add two specialty "slots" to her ability.

Of course this would cost double XP for martial arts Specialties. So for instance "Adept Ability 2: Diplomacy" would only cost 10 points since enhancements are 5xp, but taking "Adept Ability 2: Naginata-jutsu" would be 20 xp!

But in the process, the player can purchase more than the normal amount of specialties for their character's abilities.

[Quantum Fire]

Honestly, Mega-Skills seems like overdoing it to me.