Aberrant RPG - Help with expanding powers

[Guest]

Hi all, I've been reading this forum for quite some time but I've never posted before. I need some advice on my character now though, and I thought this would be a great place to ask for it.

Okay, basically, we have been playing in an Aberrant campaign for about 8ish months now and when I first made my character the basic story was that she was a girl who had just finished highschool and went to work in Central Africa at a school for kids who had been orphaned in the warfare going on there. One day, when she was out walking with a bunch of them they were attacked by a group of poachers/thieves and my char. erupted into a giant gorilla and killed some, scaring the others off. Naturally, with her public service streak, she joined Utopia and things have kind of gone on from there.

Stat-wise I was allowed to buy shapeshift as a level 2 power, because I can only use it to change into a gorilla and I got some mega-physicals (I assure you even though the gorilla thing sounds silly, the character really isn't). The only problem I'm having is that my storyteller is one who wants us to fit within a very specific "theme" for our powers and he seems to have decided that for me that theme is "gorilla" I have only been allowed to raise my shapeshift and get more Mega-Attributes and now that I have Shapeshift 5, MegaStr 3, Mega Dex2 and Mega Sta3, I am getting pretty sick of it.

We have done some of the canon stuff about Proteus in our campaign so far and my character is becoming less idealistic and almost kind of disillusioned about everything she's been told, but still, when I bought Mega Wits, I had to get the Multitasking enhancement instead of Lie Detector because I couldn't "justify" it within the theme for my powers.

Does anyone have any ideas what I can do to convince/deal with the storyteller (he is a good friend of mine) or how I could branch out my theme? I was thinking that "Protector" was a better theme than "gorilla" since she erupted protecting children and not animals, but I can't really think of any good powers for that.

Anyhow that's it. Thank you very much if you read this whole thing and for any advice you may have

[Hugin]

MegaPerception for sharpened senses.

Claws/Armor Piercing. Gorillas got a viscious set o' fangs on them.

Go weird. Quantum Bolt with reduced range and the area restriction for a really viscious Gorilla Roar. Disorient based on the same concept. Empathic Manipulation with the limitation to fear only to reflect the fact that you is just so damn scary.

By the way, gorillas rule!

[Jordan]

Animal mastery limited to primates, same with Domination and Telepathy.

[Winter_Heart]

The idea given before are all very good.

Here's a few

Mega withs (Lie Detector, since you want it):

Animals do not have the false convention of humanity, body language, smell, heart rate, can all give away a liar. You're a beast, use it. Especially easy to justify if you get...

Mega-apperance (face of fear):

You ever stood up to a fully grown male silver gorilla back?

Mega-Perception (Analytic Taste/Touch, Enhanced Hearing, BloodHound, EMG vision):

Animals yet again have sense that makes our look so FREAKING dull. We're sensory helpless compare to almost everything on this planet.

Animal Mastery:

Okay, it's boring, but it's possible.

Plant Mastery:

Try to extand your theme to 'master' of the jungle... that gives you lot of new possible powers (Immobilize, Transmit, Poison, etc)

How about this:

Disorient (Area Effect)(possibly based on STR, roll them like normal mega-dice, not auto successes for the love of god):

Somekind of super thunderclap... you beat your chest so loud that people's eardrum nearly shatter, making them lose their equilibrium.

Okay... they aren't that original ...

And don't think the gorilla idea is silly, I really like it.

[Sidious]

how about:

sizemorph - Growth (can you say Kong?)

Boost - Animal Rage

telekinesis - Simian higher brain development

Telepathy - Same

mind bolt - Same

Mega-int - Same

armor - She's a tough little primate

Invulnerability - pick one - Same

heck depending on your ST you could possibly get away with molecular manipulation for a Grodd type character.

[Wizard]

Or, and this will push the ST's imagination envelope a little, explain that the theme actually Fear... Fearsome... Prtector through Fear... however this little idea strikes you as appropriate. They will resist at first but explain that you've come to realize why your psyche chose the gorilla form and that your ready to start expanding on the concept.

Either that or leave Utopia, become a Terat to learn chrysalis and then rack up some serious taint to channel it into becoming the character desired.

[This message has been edited by Wizard (edited 08-22-2001).]

[Guest]

Thanks a lot to those of you that have replied, you've given me some good ideas on how to convince my surly Storyteller into letting me expand the narrow box he seems to have put me in, as well as some ways to be able to branch out my powers even if he can't be convinced!

Has anyone else had similar problems with their ST typecasting them?

Thanks again!

[This message has been edited by Gorilla Girl (edited 08-22-2001).]

[Guest]

I am the storyteller, so no problems there.

Why not alter your in character identity as well? If your calling yourself "gorilla girl" in your game, naturally your going to get pigeon holed. Try changing your moniker to "Primal" or something like that. Explain your powers as tapping in to the primal insticts all animals (including humans) have. Say that when you erupted, you took the gorilla form only because that was the animal that most closely resembled the human form. See if your ST is willing to let you slowly expand the scope of your shapeshift power. First to other primates (Orangutans, Spider Monkeys, etc.) and then finally into other animal types. If that sounds good, I have a few other ideas you could try as well.

[Guest]

LOL, Gorilla Girl is not actually my Nova name; it's Shiverback (wink wink to all you EQ players out there). So it's not all that obvious...

But, I still think your idea is pretty good and I'll bring it up with the Storyteller.

[This message has been edited by Gorilla Girl (edited 08-23-2001).]

[Winter_Heart]

Shiverback...

Aren't those wolves from the Arcanum game?

[Jager]

GG, why don't you approach your character from an evolutionary viewpoint. I know that humans didn't evolve from gorillas, but I think you could justify 'de-evolving' into a more primative form to become a terrifying, physical protector.

Now, try to get your ST to allow you to shapeshift into other 'evolved' or 'less evolved' forms and develop other thematic powers with them. Imagine becoming a hyper-evolved human, who has a puny phsyce, but mega-mentals, telepathy, TK, flight, and the like.

Just a thought.