Aberrant: Infinite Earth - Axis and Allies World setting

[Heritage]

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Dynamic Name: Slither

Birthname:Claire Kinkaid

Allegiance: Allies

Nature: Rebel

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Attributes & Abilities:

Strength: 3

Brawl: 1 [4]

Might (Climb): 2 [5]

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Dexterity: 5

Athletics: 3 [8]

Legerdemain: 3 [8]

Stealth: 5 [10]

Stamina: 4

Endurance: 3 [7]

Resistance: 3 [7]

Perception: 3

Awareness: 3 [6]

Intelligence: 3

Academics (Classics): 2 [5]

Aetherlabe: 1 [4]

Bureaucracy: 1 [4]

Linguistics: 3 [6] [French, Greek, Latin]

Medicine: 1 [4]

Science (Zoology): 1 [4]

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Wits: 3

Arts: 2 [5]

Rapport: 3 [6]

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Appearance: 4

Style: 3 [7]

Manipulation: 3

Subterfuge: 2 [6]

Charisma: 4

Etiquette: 2 [6]

Perform: 3 [7]

Backgrounds

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Aetherweave: 2

Allies: 2

Backing: 1

Contacts: 2

Dormancy: 2

Resources: 3

Mega-Attributes:

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Mega-Dexterity: 2

__Catfooted

__Flexibility

__Omnidexterity

__Perfect Balance

Mega-Stamina: 2

__Durability

__Regeneration

Powers:

Body Modification (Adhesive Grip, Chromatophores): 2

Poison (Stun): 1

Willpower: 5

Quantum: 3

Quantum Pool: 40

Initiative: 10

Soak: 6 [8] Bashing/ 3 [5] Lethal

Walk: 7m

Run: 19m

Sprint: 41m

Strike: 5 Bashing

Kick: 6 Bashing

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Okay, that's pretty much all the crunch; still working on her detailed backstory!

[Dawn OOC]

Unless you forget about Wikipedia

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Then there is no hope for you.

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Also, I just realized, it may have been 1940's for Canada; I was looking at US history. I hope my fellow USers will forgive me if I doubt that Canadian women got the vote after US women.

[Heritage]

As far as the earlier discussion goes, Claire joined the Women's Voluntary Service for Civil Defense along with her mother before her transformation; afterwards, she requested transfer to Rescue Services, where she felt she could do the most good; this led to a lot of battling until she proved her worth during a night raid by entering a collapsed building no normal human could have entered and helped save a family. The government issued her a suit of aetherweave after she threatened to rescue people in the nude if she didn't get a proper set of adaptive clothing!

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So right now, she's working the Home Front, but than can easily change.

[Sonja Bahaar]

Looking at the Wiki and a government of Canada site, women got the right to vote in 1918 (following a preceding act in Britain in 1917 allowing widows and/or those with close relatives in the armed services to vote on their behalf on Federal matters), which took effect on Jan 1, 1919... except for Quebec. They got theirs in 1940.

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There were of course some amendments and changes to various parts and extent of the act in various provinces and territories in the intervening years.

[Heritage]

Link to an Osprey Publishing book that might prove useful, to me at least, on UK Home Front defense services.

[Doryoku]

Sorry that I'm not posting as June here, but I just want to get something smoothed out here, since I think I am overthinking this, yet I feel I need to.

1: My character would have the right to at least defend herself in her duties.

2: If her duty is to prevent loss of life, depending on how particular the order, I would at least think the first couple of nights June would have plenty of leeway to interpret "protect the people of London" as "See a Kraut, knock them out of the sky".

3: I am not sure how far I can go with eyeballing society, as if certain things that can be done to my character would make her unplayable.

In fact right now I am very unclear as to what I can do in order to keep belevable, yet have enough player freedom to participate in threads.

I am seriously at the point where I should re-roll as a male just to avoid all this trouble. Of course this would be a absolute last option. Although I am looking at a re-roll of June before that to make her more useable in a background role if she gets stuck there.

I'm just confused as to how much freedom I have.

[Dawn OOC]

Kami, hon... I'm going to put this simply: so long as you don't have her leading an army without having earning that right through backstory and work, no one will say no. We know this is a sexist era historically but we can leave some things out of a game, especially those things that aren't fun. If you think it would be fun for your PC to have a story about the MAN trying to PUT 'er in 'er PLACE, do it. Do what feels right.

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For my PC, Silvestru, she was fighting with the men (and other women) in the Romanian resistance. The other men in her group weren't always comfortable with the women being in the fight, but they know they need every body that they can get. They want to protect her from warfare, but they need her. Being an archer helped; they tended to treat her like a sniper.

[Doryoku]

Okay, was just knowing my boundaries in this pastiche. I'm good then.

[Marco Moreno]

Regarding women and the vote in Canada Federal

Women were given the right to vote federally as of 1918 May 24.

Provincial

Women were first given full voting rights in Canada, in Manitoba as of January 28, 1916.

Saskatchewan: March 14, 1916

Alberta: April 19, 1916

BC: April 5, 1917

Ontario: April 12, 1917

Nova Scotia: April 26, 1918

The Military Voters act of 1917 gave women working in the military and those serving as nurses the vote.

As of 1917 September 20, the War-Time Elections Act gave women whose

family were serving in the war the right to vote in their place.

The Act to confer the Electoral Franchise upon Women was passed in Canada as of May 24, 1918. Quebec was the last to ratify this in 1940.

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So women got the federal vote on my Birthday in 1918! WooT!

[June O'Gara]

Meh, I'm still going to smash bombers over the english channel. I'm a dick like that.

The water is cold.

Anti-exposure suits were rare and not really used in the Luftwaffe.

June hates Krauts. Period.

I just regret polluting the waters over the channel with aircraft fuel and the wrecks of planes.

Hey, I got tired of people dying in the blitz. You'll see that in her story.

[SkyLion]

Heya A&A team, I have something I would like to inquire about...

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My forthcoming character, Samson Stark Stone aka Lodestone, is a blend (inspirationally speaking) of Colossus, Magneto, and Howard Stark.

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Much like Colossus I would like the character to be able to maintain his metal form indefinitely. The only way I know how to do this in Aberrant is to give him the permanent power aberration for his bodymorph (which includes Density Increase), in this case as a medium aberration since I don't want to have 8 Taint, and then using Dormancy 5 to have a human form and a metal man form.

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However, I know that some players here think Permanent Power is cheesy, and I'm trying not to have people accuse me of twinkery (god how I despise that word).

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Accordingly, I have created a high taint version of the character that uses this, and a low taint version that does not, but has RQC on the bodymorph so at least it can be used longer.

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I am perfectly willing to go with the latter if the former is going to piss people off, but if on the other hand, the community would let me use the former without shunning, then I would greatly prefer it.

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So... I'm asking. Would taking permanent power+dormancy to simulate Colossusyness be objectionable?

[Dawn OOC]

Yes it is objectionable. Permanent is far too often used to all its benefits without its detriments. It's up to an ST to enforce the detriments, and we don't have one of those. I'd prefer powers that require ST intervention to prevent abuse be kept out of the game. There are players that are responsible with this sort of thing, but since there are players that aren't, it's fairer to just say no across the board.

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As an aside... please change the last name of the PC. It rubs me the wrong way when you say that Iron Man is an inspiration for the PC and then you use the copyrighted character's last name. There's paying homage to a comic book character, and then there's ripping things off from them wholesale. It's also cheesy as hell to name an inventor anything "Stark".

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And last, you cite three major comic book characters as inspiration, each with their own story, powers, feel, personality and traits. That feels like you're trying to cram too much into your PC. At this point, he's a metal guy, who can control metal and invents stuff (probably metal stuff). It is too much, but that is my opinion. I wanted to voice that issue before you got much further, before you got into play.

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I'm glad you shared this with us and asked opinions. It's good to see you bringing things to us that you suspect will be of concern.

[SkyLion]

Couple things:

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First, Howard Stark is not Iron Man, he was Tony Stark's father. Howard Stark was in part based on Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes was creepy though, in ways that Stark was not so I wanted to evoke that. The name amused me but names are changeable so it is no big deal.

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Edit: Name is now Stone. The double S of Samson needed a T in there to make the alliterative name work. Also, synchs up nicely with Lodestone...I have no idea why I didn't think of that before...I was having a damnable time finding a last name I liked before Stark.

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Second, I would ask that any critique of the character or theme be postponed until after I post him up. It all makes sense trust me. If you don't trust me, trust Kamiko, or Dave, who I have gone into detail with about the character, and both really liked the conceptual underpinnings of it. Don't get too hung up on the names I listed...this is not a pastiche of any of them, but an idea that draws from certain aspects of them. If you would like to chat about it in chat or over PM I am happy to do that as well.

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Going back to the question at hand:

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Ok, so Permanent the aberration is out...presumably because you say it has benefits without drawbacks.

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So...going back to the drawing table, I would like something that has the benefits without the drawbacks (meaning in this case, the ability to stay in metal form indefinitely but change back to human form at will)....how would something like that be accomplished? A new extra?

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Lastly, as I said if it is just not possible, I can just use the lower taint reduced quantum cost version.

[Dawn OOC]

Sky, you are not reading what I type. I said, too often the player ignore the drawbacks to permanent while taking full benefit of the good parts of the aberration. Since we don't have an ST to force players to take the negatives as well as the positives, I'd rather not see it at all.

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I did not say that we should not use it because the aberration only has drawbacks; stop reading into my words. That has been an issue in the past with you.

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I believe that Increased Duration is an extra that could be applied here. I forget the exact crunch, but it does make a power last longer.

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Also, you might be worrying about this too much. This is Open World. Unless you are tracking your own quantum expenditures, no one is following after you to make sure you're doing it. I've only seen people run out of quantum for story reasons. It comes back to the fact that in OW, the story is the driving force of the game, not the mechanics.

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My opinion is just that: my opinion. It's going to differ from Dave's and Kamiko's, I assure you. You are free to ignore it. And I'm going to take what you said about their approval with a grain of salt, given your communication issues in the past. So I will wait and see what you post up.

[SkyLion]

No I got that part about the ignoring the drawbacks (I had planned to circumvent them with Dormancy, but play them up when not dormed). I understood what you meant, I think, in being fair to everyone.

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I just meant that since what I want is really an advantage, and not a drawback (as Aberrations are usually supposed to be), then an extra would be better.

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I am curious about this increased duration you mention, where may I find it?

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Just want my crunch to match my fluff is all.

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Thank you for your patience while I get a sheet put together.

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Also: Could someone tell me how to make a new login? Chosen made a post saying there is an alt-registration button in the "Extras" section...which I have not been able to find...

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Or was that idea nixed and I have to make a whole new account like before?

[Vivi OOC]

It's a little different, now. Click your name in the top right of the menu, just above the search bar. Go to your profile. On the right, you will see two buttons: "Characters," and "Edit My Profile." Click "Characters." On the left, you will see two tabs: "Characters" (the default) and "Add Subaccount." Click the latter, and enter your desired name. Hope that helps.

[Dawn OOC]

Sky, being at work, I'm not sure where it is, but I remember it being a common extra. I had it on most of Sean's incarnations for his Boost because I felt that boost's duration was too short for me. I'd start in the Core book where the other extras are listed, then try the PG. I'll look too when I get home.

[Krul]

Abberant Players Guide, page 143 has the duration strength, which increases Maintenance powers to Permanent, in theory you could do this to make but I believe strengths and weaknesses are not supposed to be on the table in the general game, though I considered it a less cheesy add then permanent power, the only disadvantage of which comes from the fact you have to take taint to 8 to get it, earning a good number of aberrations in the process..

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Increased Duration in the Main Book is on page 231.. however... Reduced Quantum Cost will take Body Morph down to 1 quantum per (Quantum + Rating) turns.. so you can do it that way too, however...

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Boost has a extra that allows it's effects to last a scene, it's under boost itself.

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If you really want my advice though? Do the following..

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Minor Aberration: Aberrant Skin: Metallic - Steel

Armor

Mega-Strength

Mega-Stamina (with Resiliancy twice)

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Max out normal strength and stamina, spend as much as you like on the Mega's

For the engineering side of it, Mega-Intelligence with Engineering Prodigy will cover it

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Dormancy 5

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If you like, take Boost, Density Increase or Body Morph to increase this, allowing him to spend quantum to enhance his defensive and offense further.

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There you have your metal man, with his human form as well, it's a matter of flavor at this point...

[SkyLion]

Yeah I do believe strengths are not allowed for this world. Thanks for the page number though!

I considered doing it the metal skin way but there are reasons not to go that route also.

[Marco Moreno]

When creating characters I generally try to stick to the KISS method. I also don't want to see any permanent powers as it defeats one of the conceits of both the mechanical system (Quantum Points as a balancing mechanic) and fluff; namely, that powers eventually run out of juice.

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I was also going to suggest Krul's simple solution, but I figured that wouldn't appeal to you for whatever reason.

[Karren Gaunt]

Thirding Krul's suggestion, you wouldn't even need the aberration if you wanted to have the armor to have any reasonable cosmetic special effect you want.

[June O'Gara]

Yeah, there is a thing to be said for how a power manifests when used.

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When June flies, she gets wings of translucent light. Her armor forms over her clothes (as she has Attunement 5) and it looks like rounded and angular plate armor with a white color with blue trim.

[SkyLion]

The only real issue is that the metal form is supposed to be super dense, which the aberration way would not include. I had thought of doing it the metal skin way but then it seemed odd being metal but not dense, and then making himself more dense (a la the vision) didn't make sense.

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Still, stuff to consider...

[Mech]

armor and density increase, with metal skin

problem solved

[Marco Moreno]

Consider it this way Sky. without any active Quantum he's a dude with metal skin. Probably heavier than normal but not so heavy as to warrant a power; say 250 to 300 lb. there is nothing in the rules saying you can't decide that is how much he weighs.

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When he channels quantum he can actually transform his internal structure: Muscle, bones, internal organs, etc. into metal as well. This could be simulated by the Density Increase power. Dorming can simulate his ability to completely suppress his metal transformation powers.

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It's not exactly what you want but I think it's the closest you are reasonably going to get.

[June O'Gara]

Yeah, Armor with a Linked Density Increase is a good way to simulate it.

Or perhaps just say it is Armor, and when it is active you gain mass equal to a full suit of metal armor. It seems more flavor than mechanical IMHO.

[Marco Moreno]

Armor is an always on power IIRC

[June O'Gara]

No it can be turned off, unless you have a aberration that says otherwise.

[SkyLion]

Well linked is a strength which this world has disallowed, but I think I got it. Thanks guys!

Been working all day so haven't had time to check the book on increased duration...

[Dawn OOC]

Just looked it up. Increased Duration doubles the time a power lasts.

[SkyLion]

Oh one thing to note is that out of combat powers last for a scene, which means that so long as he isn't exerting himself he would probably be able to recover enough juice to keep himself going indefinitely.

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Hmm....Increased Duration...I feel like somebody didn't think that through at White Wolf:

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Reduced Quantum Cost raises an L2 power to L3, but uniquely drops the QP cost down to L1.

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So I have Quantum 4 and Bodymorph 1. Normal Duration in combat is Quantum+Power Dots in turns, in other words basic bodymorph would be 2 QP every 5 turns in combat.

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RQC extra means it would be 1 QP for every 5 turns... which does in fact double duration/QP ratio. For 10 turns I would pay 2 QP

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On the other hand increased duration would make it last 10 turns but cost 3 QP, making RQC the superior choice.

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Just to be clear I'm not asking for anything here or trying to upset anyone, but here we have yet another way in which the Aberrant Dev team was sleep-walking through their own product. M&M is starting to sound more appealing every day. (Though it's D20 also...I still might prefer the Hero system).

[Krul]

Oh, you want to see sleepwalking though a product.. go to Scion... though Aberrant has those points too.

[Marco Moreno]

Actually Sky, M&M 3rd Edition is so far removed from D20 it is basically a new system.

[Mary Masters]

No...

Never mention Hero System to me. NEVER.

[SkyLion]

I've had the Scion book for years but never delved too deep into the system. It seemed too focused on the premade NPC characters and a metaplot so I kind of wrote it off...what are the issues in it you think?

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Edit: Ninja'd twice over you sneaky ninjas!

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Marco: Great to know!

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Tommy...why? What is your beef with HERO system (sorry had to mention it again)? It was my first real super hero system way back in 2nd or 3rd edition. Definitely had me tweaking characters for hours with all that math...

[Mary Masters]

I hated HERO system because it took all day to build a character, and it was just so chunky. It rolled more dice than Shadowrun at times.

I'd rather do Aberrant before Hero. >_<

Hell, I'll play GURPS before Hero.

[SkyLion]

See I had thought MnM was going to be more like Hero because of PL. The great thing about HERO system was once you learned it...it was perhaps the most balanced system I've ever seen. There would be hard caps on points, disads, and attack and defense dice. Nobody would be more or less powerful than the anyone else, the GM could know exactly how tough his bad guys would be, and you could customize to create just about any concept. As for character creation, that is what I love about the Storyteller system...so simple and straightforward. It was a chore at first making Champions (HERO) characters...until I got the computer program with submenus that did all the calculating on the fly. Oh man...you guys know how much I love the game mechanics of character creation (can't help it I just like it)...that HERO generator was like crack to me...

[Mary Masters]

Anyways, we are using Aberrant for this game.

[SkyLion]

Yep! Just like to talk systems. Sorry if the topic was bothering you.

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RQC it is!

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Will still think if I want it to be metal skin...my thinking is no, because I don't want the metal to be only skin deep. All human or all metal is what I was going for, but out of combat I think duration becomes moot...

[Krul]

IN that case...

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Dispersed Organs x 2, Armor, and perhaps Invulnerability will give you what your looking for... the Dispersed Organs can be used thematically for the all metal thing.