Aberrant: No Fate - Table Talk: No Fate

[SkyLion]

I would have to firmly state that since powers are player defined a qbolt could be physical. IN the descrip it says that you must define it as a specific type of energy OR power...including giving the example of ice which would be a physical attack (whereas a blast of cold would be an energetic effect).

I really need to get my character typed up and submitted but have been lagging behind with RL as usual.

[Mr Fox]

Sean will be a world traveler, jet setting around the globe at whim. He will have a penthouse in NY, an apartment in South Africa at the DeVeries compound, a and a flat in London with a nice view, a suite in a hotel on Ibiza, and standing arrangements at expensive hotels in major cities around the world.

Sean is a survivor by nature, but he does enjoy living the good life and would be friends with any of the rest of the group.

[Tim Wiley]

Among the goth/pseudo-vampire community, Nosferatu is looked at reverently. To some, he is proof that vampires are real. He helps feed into their delusions when he tells them that he had to bleed out his 'mortal' life. To others, he is a nova, who's desires and dreams manifested in the form he is now. What he is not, is crazy. He's just devoted to an ideal.

He travels only when he needs to, and that is through private transportation. If he has to travel publicly, he will bring an entourage of gothic novaphiles and terat wannabees. They are there to make sure that the general public doen't harass Nosferatu. For travel, he uses the name Nicholas Michaels.

[Andrew Murphy]

Callum - Scotland

Nos - New York (?)

Sean/Wraith - New York, London, S. Africa

Tom/Cherub - New York

Void - New York

Grey Goo - ?

Looks like I am the odd man out - flip side is I now have a compelling choice of a city of origin for Callum ...

[SalmonMax]

Gray Goo would be wherever the Teragen are most active, I suppose. She's very goal oriented. If the assignment is to infiltrate the Teragen, she'd be focusing on doing just that. So where do the "inner circle" of terats dwell?

[Courier]

which faction?

[SalmonMax]

...faction?

I only have the core book.

[Tim Wiley]

I am still deciding between the Casablancans, and Nova Vigilance.

[Joani]

Nova Vigilance +cough+

I would never try to influence a PCs decisions... +cough+

[SalmonMax]

What is "Nova Vigilance?"

[Tim Wiley]

Nova Vigilance is a Watchdog Teragen faction. They believe that its members should know how to defend themselves from harm. They advocate for nova freedoms, and believe in eye-for an eye. Violence is not above them, and when baselies pass certain anti-Nova laws, they have acted accordingly. They are not anti-human, like the Primacy or pro-taint like the Harvesters. Their leaders are Geryon and Epoch. They are the most visible of the Teragen groups. (after Mal and Count Orzaiz of course)

[SalmonMax]

Could I get a quick list of the factions with maybe one-sentence summaries?

[Courier]

Cult of Mal: A personality cult built around The Aposile Mal. Prototype for the other personality cults to follow, big thing is to worship Mal. Scripture is the other big mover in there, but if you join you'll be around The Aposile's massive Mega-Socials (and drugs) long enough to be brainwashed. I think they're headquartered in Europe somewhere but that might be wrong.

Casablancans: The Teragen Spies and information movers. Led by Count O, with Synapse and Mathamatician as other big movers. Headquarters in the Phoenix room and Count O's place nearbye (and Japan). Basically they're trying to hold off the war and be stealthy.

The Harvesters: Taint means we are no longer humanoid human. This is the real monsters of Teras, creatures so warped by taint that they aren't even slightly human. They research taint and concentrate (right now) on not being exposed... but various members join other factions, mostly NV. They try to convince themselves and everyone else that Taint is a good thing. They'd probably go to war with all the other factions (for being too humanoid) except this would include Mal. Central US I think.

The Primacy: Led by a guy who only likes white novas (The Confederate) and a chick who thinks novas should exterminate baselines (Shrapnel). Located in the South I think.

Then there's two more personality cults. The Pandamonium is led by a porn star chick who encourages baselines to join. They're heavy into drugs and sex and not much else.

And there's an Arabic Guy (who's name and faction name I don't recall) who's got a following of (mostly muslim) Novas in the middle East. Problem is he's also got the habit of enslaving his followers and not mega-socials. He's got undefined disease powers that apparenly work on novas (as in, he infects you and lets you know you're dead if he wants you that way).

Most Public is Count O's PR efforts and Geryon's Terrorism efforts and Mal's world wide spam efforts.

[SalmonMax]

Casablancans sounds like a good place for a spy...but also very vulnerable to exposure with all those superbrains around.

Hmm.

[Tim Wiley]

Tarik ibn'Mahmoud runs the Companions.

And, oh yeah, I will take Nova Vigilance. Nosferatu is a Monster.

[Joani]

If both of you (Nos and Gray) are going to be buddies I suggest taking the same faction... +cough+

[jameson (ST)]

I'm no doctor but that cough sounds pretty bad, you should get that looked at.

[NoFate_Void]

I have a nice jagerbomb for that cough. What do you say Joani?

[SkyLion]

*Sigh*

...

...

*sniff*

...

...

*Whimper*

...

[NoFate_Void]

ROFL

[SkyLion]

It's not funny...

[Joani]

I just added the NPC-Thread and put in your first contact (the only person you know in OC besides your recruiters and yourselves). Your first assignment after recruitment was infiltration of the factions/affiliations - that was about one year ago. You meet regularly each month for your routine exams and scans and to give a quick debriefing/report of your progress within your factions.

Phase two will be your "true" assignment - killing Targets. Team 7 is OCs label for you (similarities are pure coincedence).

Prelude/start of the first scene will be tomorrow - I can't tell the exact time, but for sure tomorrow.

[NoFate_Void]

Originally Posted By: SkyLion

It's not funny...

Well .. I was under the assumption that you wanted the jagerbomb isntead of giving it to Joani. Because "all you had to do was ask". And I put the quotes there as I just said that in a very Keanu Reeves voice.

[NoFate_Void]

Woot .. Im super excited. I can check continuously at work so post away.

However, there are still only 5 characters out of the 7 that are posted on the Characters thread. Are the other two approved and waiting for write ups or did we lose them.

[SkyLion]

I'm upset because my character got shot down...after two weeks of agonizing over the minutia.

Heres the thing...It is *really* hard to come up with original ideas in this genre...but somehow I manage to do this. I mean I have alot of characters Id like to play, don't get me wrong, but hardly any of them are suitable for a game like this.

Requirement: kill a nova on your own. We already have disintegrate, touch disintegrate and q vamp. Regular q bolt's arent going to cut it and are way pricier for the return. Likewise AP claws is taken, which is what my rejected character had as well.

Im stuck. I dont know what to do. Moreover I am very discouraged becuase this seems to happen to me alot. Im not the kind of person who is satisfied with the usual cliched archetypes...bricks blasters fliers etc. I need my characters to push the limits a bit. Combined with the fact that I have gotten very good at doing so means that I run into this problem alot: namely that I create characters who are just too good. They are so good that the ST has to nerf or nix them.

Im not happy right now. I really wanted to play in this one.

[Mr Fox]

Quote:

I run into this problem alot: namely that I create characters who are just too good. They are so good that the ST has to nerf or nix them.

Sky, I think you sum'd it up pretty well right there. ST's don't always want the characters in their games to be 'too good'. I've run games where I specifically wanted characters to not be very good to start. Of course I tend to make advancement pretty quick for my players to compensate.

Another issue is that you tend to take what are supposed to be disadvantages in the system and work them such that for your character they are advantages. Most people look at characters like that as Mary Sue's. I'm not bashing you dude, I used to be exactly the same way. I still have the tendency in fact, but I try to keep it in check. I've played in so many games that either ended after a short time or had such horribly slow advancement that I like to get in as much as I can of the things I want for the character at creation. I'd say probably 80+% of games I've played in (rather than running) have been that way. It is frustrating, but I learned a while back that if you back off a bit on pushing your concepts you get a much better reception. This is especially true in cases where the other players feel that they are trying to 'fit in' and one player is trying to 'stand out'. Not saying that is the case here, but it has been my own personal experience.

[Mr Fox]

Oh, in this particular case I think telepathy and precog are issues just because of the setting aside from the concept being Too Good.

[Tim Wiley]

Quote:

I need my characters to push the limits a bit. Combined with the fact that I have gotten very good at doing so means that I run into this problem alot: namely that I create characters who are just too good. They are so good that the ST has to nerf or nix them.

Have you ever tried to NOT push the limits in character creation? Why not create a character that is reaonably created. You can be creative with a character without milking every ounce of available power from it. What you are describing is 'Powergaming', and any ST is within their rights to reject such a character right from the start. It is not just for the game's integrity that such a character has to be nixed, but for the other players in the game.

I like you Sky, and I have enjoyed RP'ing with you. If you sent a character to me, in a game I was running, who 'pushed the limits, I would reject your character. It is not personal, it is just game integrity.

I would love to have you aboard. If you need help in brainstorming a character, let me know.

[SkyLion]

Well thats what I mean...I picked things that would make him effective without resorting to the standard (and already taken), cut through soak etc. Telepathy lets him locate targets, precog to find them at vulnerable points and teleport to reach them. I didnt want to make the classic combat type..I wanted to make the tactical type who knows better than to get into a nova fistfight. Better to blow them to hell while they are taking a dump.

Thats what I mean about "too good." In many ways my character was the ultimate assasin...only more through brains than pure firepower.

[SkyLion]

To clarify from a convo with Fox. My character isnt the be all end all...he isnt "so much better" than the other PCs. Y'all characters are awesome both in concept and execution. Its just that I am an oddball roleplayer with a penchant for twisted concepts and a zeal for effectiveness...

[SkyLion]

Originally Posted By: Nosferatu

Quote:

I need my characters to push the limits a bit. Combined with the fact that I have gotten very good at doing so means that I run into this problem alot: namely that I create characters who are just too good. They are so good that the ST has to nerf or nix them.

Have you ever tried to NOT push the limits in character creation? Why not create a character that is reasonably created. You can be creative with a character without milking every ounce of available power from it. What you are describing is 'Powergaming', and any ST is within their rights to reject such a character right from the start. It is not just for the game's integrity that such a character has to be nixed, but for the other players in the game.

I like you Sky, and I have enjoyed RP'ing with you. If you sent a character to me, in a game I was running, who 'pushed the limits, I would reject your character. It is not personal, it is just game integrity.

I would love to have you aboard. If you need help in brainstorming a character, let me know.

No I have never not tried to push the limits with chargen. To reiterate what I said above, Ive been playing so long that the typical archetypes and builds no longer appeal to me. I try and do something interesting and unique with each of my characters. Many of them arent even original, just adaptations of ideas that appealed to me from elsewhere or combinations of idea.

Also I don't think its fair to say I milked this character, or that I was unreasonable..Even Joani hasn't seen my sheet yet. ALl I did was pick two powers that *work.* And might I add that are all legal..I didn't try toinvent any rules or house rule any powers. I even offered to nerf precog on my own. Joani said it was cool at that point but then changed his mind...ack!

I dont beleive in making ineffective or weakened characters. I will always play to their strengths. This game called for ultimate blackest of the black ops assasins. There are only so many approaches to that in this game and at 30 NPs. If you need proof look at the disintegrators or agg claws, which might as well be touch disintegrate.

Nova combat is deadly...I really really thought I had found an awesome and innovative way to approach the problem presented to me. Then I feel like I get punished for my creativity.

And before someone takes that the wrong way, let me add that Im not taking it personally as such. I know you all and Joani like me and want me to play. Its just that I think so far out of the box (and indeed thats what appeals to me) that I end up being the odd man out.

[Tim Wiley]

The tactician, that I had originally planned to play, had Combat Teleport, Mental Blast (AP), and Psychic Shield. Megas were: M-Int: Tactical Prodigy and Analyze Weakness, W-Wits: Enhanced Initiative, M-Stam: Regeneration, Mega-Cha: Commanding Presence, M-Perception: Blindfighting.

He was a simple buld, but highly effective in combat

[SkyLion]

My build is also very simple. M Dex, Wits, Int, and Per. tport, Teep and precog.

[Tim Wiley]

Could you get rid of the Precog, and the permanent/uncontrolled Teep? Insead you could pick up some enhancements, and combat powers.

Have you considered a character with an AP Kinetic Discharge, With a simple pistol, you could hurt heavily armored Nova. With some M-Str, and a sword/tree/lamppost/car, you could do incredible amounts of damage.

[Courier]

Deadly in combat powers:

Agg (and we have that).

AP (ditto)

Mega-Strength 5 (which no has).

Or... if you *really* want to push the limits,... Warp.

Make a character with Warp, Seductive Looks & Seductive Actions and then convince people to step through the warp onto the Moon. Make a cheery "bedroom" with a bed, night light, & poster... on the moon.

They step through with you, and unless they have adapt they die. And get q-scan so you can tell who has adapt. The really weird part is you could even kill people with adapt if they also have dorm, just talk them into dorming first.

[Courier]

Quote:

Per. tport, Teep and precog.

Precog and Teleport are instant powers, i seriously doubt they can be made perm any more than q-bolt can. It can be made "uncontrolled", but keep in mind that this is a disadvantage. Do you really want to be doing these things 60 times a minute and what are the side effects of it?

Perm telepathy would IMHO result in a +2 diff on you for all actions other than telepathy. It's perm, but it's also still a concentration power, you just now have no choice but to concentraite. Again, this is a disadvantage, not an advantage.

IMHO the effects you are really looking for are more the sort of thing you'd find in a character with Mastery or Mastery x2.

EDIT: And it's possible I'm misinterpreting what "per" means in this context. If so sorry Ski.

[Mr Fox]

I did create a character once with permanent TP. The game died unfortunately, but it was interesting. I RP'd it as being a major pain constantly hearing unwanted thoughts. Oh, and those thoughts aren't just from those close to you, even if you go out onto a deserted island, if you are a powerful telepath, you can still hear the unwanted thoughts even if you are on the moon. Worse, the thoughts you are going to hear are going to be those which are the LOUD thoughts. Generally those caused by strong emotion, ie, rape, violence, pain, and other such unpleasant things. That's not something a person would want to be constantly exposed to with no way of shutting it out. Looking back, I'm kinda glad that game didn't go very long.

[SkyLion]

Originally Posted By: Nosferatu

Could you get rid of the Precog, and the permanent/uncontrolled Teep? Insead you could pick up some enhancements, and combat powers.

Have you considered a character with an AP Kinetic Discharge, With a simple pistol, you could hurt heavily armored Nova. With some M-Str, and a sword/tree/lamppost/car, you could do incredible amounts of damage.

Not to sound too snarky here but I have said repeatedly here that I discarded the idea of permanent/uncontrolled telepathy a long time ago. Part of the reason I am dissapointed is I wanted to work with Joani so much. He said take a way surrepititous so I did. He said it was okay to take a weakend form of precog so I did. Now he goes back and says it isn't okay when we had already reached an accord.

Oh and btw, the 40 point version did in fact have claws AP kinetic. One step ahead...

[SkyLion]

Originally Posted By: Courier

Deadly in combat powers:
Agg (and we have that).
AP (ditto)
Mega-Strength 5 (which no has).
Or... if you *really* want to push the limits,... Warp.

Make a character with Warp, Seductive Looks & Seductive Actions and then convince people to step through the warp onto the Moon. Make a cheery "bedroom" with a bed, night light, & poster... on the moon.

They step through with you, and unless they have adapt they die. And get q-scan so you can tell who has adapt. The really weird part is you could even kill people with adapt if they also have dorm, just talk them into dorming first.

Sounds like you forgot to include mirage or Holo in your description...

[SkyLion]

Originally Posted By: Courier

Quote:

Per. tport, Teep and precog.

Precog and Teleport are instant powers, i seriously doubt they can be made perm any more than q-bolt can. It can be made "uncontrolled", but keep in mind that this is a disadvantage. Do you really want to be doing these things 60 times a minute and what are the side effects of it?

Perm telepathy would IMHO result in a +2 diff on you for all actions other than telepathy. It's perm, but it's also still a concentration power, you just now have no choice but to concentraite. Again, this is a disadvantage, not an advantage.

IMHO the effects you are really looking for are more the sort of thing you'd find in a character with Mastery or Mastery x2.

EDIT: And it's possible I'm misinterpreting what "per" means in this context. If so sorry Ski.

Yeah, Per stands for Mega Perception in that line... And concetration is a duration. Permanent is a duration..I dont think you can have both...