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Aberrant RPG - Nova Age Maladies


Halfman

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I am running an Aberrant campaign and one of the wealthy Mega-Socials has set up a clinic to treat unusual and unprecedented maladies of the nova age. A new Mega-Int character is playing a specialist consultant at the clinic.

What I need are ideas for the kinds of medical conditions that even 'House' would struggle to diagnose and treat. Examples that I have used thus far:

1 - A man whose arm had been partially phased into a brick wall,

2 - A man who had been mutated by a biomanipulator (see Gabriel Melchior from WW Phase I),

3 - A woman who had been exposed to radiation from a nova that saved her using his unusual radiation powers.

Any other creative suggestions?

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Bang on, Solstice. As a Storyteller / GM, I'm looking to create problems. Solutions - whether they exist or not - are for the PCs to work with.

However, the majority of nova powers result in mundane effects: broken bones, burns etc. These can be treated by ordinary hospitals. Yet in a world of flying angels, 60ft porn stars, time-warping cops and mega-intelligent surgeons, what can't regular hospitals handle?

From the sourcebooks, things like the Hunter-Killer nanobots that kill you from the inside, but which could possibly be treated by a Cyberkinetic or EMP? Or the Kiroshi virus that tells your immune system to turn on you?

And you can be sure there are psych-wards for people that have had too much exposure to mega-socials.

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You can always take a page from Trinity and have quantum diseases (Taint Sickness in trinity). These defy all normal medicine and are usuallty wasting type sicknesses.

And while Q-bolt will cause burns or broken limbs what can be done when your left side was hit for 4 aggrivated damage from a disintigrate attack? What about plasma attacks that fuse the targets clothing & armor to thier burned bodies?

Lets not forget the creative abuse that one can heap on an enemy with telepathy.

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Hmmmm.

-I would imagine that 'Rampant Synesthesia' or a variant of it from Brainwaves would provide many interesting problems.

-The nova cyberkinetic who has part of his psyche or senses trapped in a computer.

-A nova with photosynthetic skin who begins to change color. (like the leaves in fall). His chlorophyll is changing to anthocyanin...but why?

-A nova teleporter who all of a sudden teleports things to him and not the other way around.

-A nova with Matter Creation who's creations are covered in a thick film of mucous...or everything is suddenly made of a particular substance...like marshmallows. "I created a handgun, to use against my enemy...and he ate it". Obviously there are a million issues with this power.

-Someone who has Disrupt, but all they can 'disrupt' now, is their own powers.

-Disimmunize in effect against your own powers.

-A mega App nova who suffers from extreme narcisism... They can't pull themselves away from the mirror to eat or save their own life.

I will get back with more.

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Thanks for that, Divine. Some good ideas there.

Just to say that I am also interested in conditions that baselines might have developed because of novas (directly or indirectly). Nothing fuels a Michaelite rampage like the chance to blame something on a nova.

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  • 1 month later...

if you dorm down, what if you sleep-walk in nova form?

baseline whos around a specific nova a lot, starts to develop one of their abberations,

what if a baseline starts killing eufiber on contact?

what if a new disease gives all the symptoms of growing a node, without actualy growing a node? maybe even quasi-powers for a day or two. long enough for a baseline to take the utopia cocktail.

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Taint in all it's glory.

Mental disorders not related to taint.

1) Loss of control of powers.

I fire my q-bolt whenever I'm startled.

I'm phobic of cats and fire my q-bolt at them reflexivly.

Everyone I meet falls in love with me.

Speaking of which, read "Dear Abby" on this forum somewhere for dozens of these sorts of things.

You should also read the entire merits/flaws section for ideas.

Physical Conditions induced by telepathy (i.e. a telepath messed with a baselines brain so she's burned by the color purple.)

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-A very common one: A baseline who is convined he's a nova. He dies jumping off a building.

-A woman who's foetus is being affected by the aberration Taint Bleed from a nova who come into her place of business.

-A new STD comes on the scene. They find out it's caused by a nova with a variant of poison/disease. Only the sexual organs secrete the poison, and once a person is infected, they can spread it to other people.

-People are coming forth saying that they have an increased intellect for 24 hours, just by being in close proximity to a certain nova. The problem is, that after those 24 hours are up, they are left illiterate morons. To regain their intellect, they have to hang out with this nova again. How do you cure these people, and is the nova doing it on purpose?

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Originally Posted By: Courier
Nova with Mega-Chr 5 (or Mega-App 5) "creates" followers (slave? groupies?) where ever he goes.


Like that kid on the 4400 ...

What about a nova with an area effect life leech that cannot be turned off...

A nova who secretes a dye which cannot be removed by any known means (more of an annoyance but still)

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I personally like the issues where nova powers are actually working the way they're supposed to without any "problems".

M-App 5 (Awe) means someone is throwing around 15[5]+5mD dice on style roll. That's 15.5 succ, but 20 isn't out of line on occassion. Is that addicting? And note I suggest using a lesser version of this, so rather than a football stadium full of people you just have a handful.

All of the Mega-Socials twist people. Make them believe things, make them interested in things, make them do things.

A Trickster talked someone into selling their car "because it was red", and now the poor baseline doesn't like red cars?

A mega-ugly nova gives people nightmares.

Various people generate fanatics. About religion, about sex, about buying red cars...

A nova is 25 and looks like he's 15 because he doesn't age.

A baseline looks like he's 15 because at the age of 75 he paid a nova millions to unage him. Said nova got +3 succ more than he wanted.

A baseline used a nova healer and now every time she has sex she gets pregnant. She's 46 and past metapause.

A baseline took a point of Agg damage.

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A baseline has been the victim of Aberration Transfer? Worse, its something like "Anima" Banner, so everyone thinks he's a nova.

Or, Unearthly Beauty?

Or, Energy Emissions, so they fry everything around them?

A nova with Uncontrolled Chimeric Aberration, so that his/her aberrations keep changing for all kinds of horrific/amusing conditions.

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What about a nova who manipulates chance (entropy or luck) who goes gambling in Vegas? Depending on the game he may not be the only one to win.

A nova with mega stamina does not take this into account while making love to a baseline... the stress of keeping up with the nova kills their partner

Mega-strength and a firm handshake = class action lawsuit

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