Aberrant: The Middle Children of History - MCoH Orientation - *START HERE!*

[MCoH Mod]

“The Middle Children of History” Orientation

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IMPORTANT NOTE: Scratch all references to Moderators. This forum is officially now sans-Mods. Please try to stick to the rules otherwise to help keep the game somewhat consistant, but yeah - no need to be PMing the former Mods with your sheets and stuff anymore.

- Jess

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Introduction -

The Middle Children of History (MCH) is a hybrid of the open posting forums and the more traditional style games run on N!Prime. Players will be able to post fictions and OpNet conversations such as the 2010, 2018, and 200X forums have; moderators will also run primarily large-scale and long term plots as representations of the major world events occurring in the game. MCH will begin in 2025 and advances each month on the first of the month to allow for fiction/plot time distortions due to the nature of posting boards. Because of the rather elusive nature of canon writing during this time period and the enjoyment of seeing a world molded by player action, MCH will hold to the canon history before start of game, but will progress naturally from there.

MCH is at its opening slated for a one year testing period to see if the format agrees with the writers of the site. At the end of the first year a discussion will be hosted on whether or not to continue the board.

Character Creation Rules -

NOTE: all characters must be submitted to the Admin Mod (Ptesan-Wi) and Story Mod (Dawn, OOC) for approval prior to entering play. Submission must include a character sheet, a creation and nova point log, and a background description.

Character sheets must be posted in the Characters board in a separate thread for each character. Backgrounds may be done in any style the player wishes but please make it coherent. The Novapedia is well established at this point and can be a good start for public character knowledge.

All characters begin with the standard baseline package 7/5/3 Attributes, 23 Abilities, 7 Backgrounds and 15 Freebie points. Players are allowed to recreations characters from other boards, but they are recreations. MCH does not use the other boards as history, as those games are still being played, but personal storylines are fine to bring over, if you wish. Also, players may choose to play Psiads, though they should keep in mind the large disparity in power between novas and Psiads. Psiads are made per the book (APG, pg. 49) though the NP count will be left as the same for nova characters to avoid excessive confusion.

High NP: 1 per player at a time, no more than 2 different High NP characters per year. Character begins with 90 NP. High powered characters are subject to moderator approval before play as they may easily play globally affecting roles in the formation of the MCH timeline.

Mid NP: 1 per player at a time, no more than 2 different Mid NP characters per year. Character begins with 60 NP.

Standard NP: 2 per player at a time, no more than 4 different Standard NP characters per year. Character begins with 30 NP.

Basic NP: 2 characters in play at a time, no more than 4 a year. Character begins with 10 NP.

As this game is starting in 2025, there is the option of playing second or third generation characters. Players may play any flavor of nova (M-R node through 3rd generation). These are the rules for 2nd and 3rd generation novas:

2nd Generation Novas: Node 3 required, cannot take Dormancy. Clades will be used from the Breed Apart fan book in the following manner: 2nd generation characters gain either the Taint Resistance merit (as Trues), or an Archetype and Chrysalis 1 (as a 2nd generation Terat) for free. 2nd generation characters may not purchase Tainted Traits at character creation, but begin with Quantum 2 for free. Trues cannot gain more than 5 Taint, Terats do not have this restriction. 2nd generation characters also do not gain Taint from high Quantum or Node. Players wishing to play second generation characters over the age of 27 need moderator approval.

3rd Generation Novas: Node 5 required, cannot take Dormancy. 3rd generation True novas gain the Taint Resistance merit or Archetype and Chrysalis 1 for free, but also accrue the 4 point version of the Child/Adolescent Flaw as such characters should be between the ages of 7 and 12. A player who desires to play a 3rd generation character older than 12 years old needs to have the character approved by a moderator with a background to explain how this occurred. Moderators are suggested to apply other Flaws as appropriate for the character instead. 3rd Generation characters begin with Quantum 3 and gain no Taint from high quantum. 3rd generation characters cannot accrue permanent Taint, though Terat 3rd generation characters may still channel temporary Taint into Chrysalis.

While Apotheosis will be a setting phenomenon, there will not be the 50 to 100 NP bump to characters, nor will there be the lower xp cost advancement option. Characters that wish to run through Apotheosis storylines may either hold character creation points in check or bank experience for a large bump in power at the end of the storyline.

Strengths and Weaknesses are allowed, with the restriction that the points garnered by weaknesses for a power may only be spent on strengths. This allows customization but avoids most of the abuses of the Strength and Weaknesses systems. Anyone looking to use the Permanent Strength on a character must have the character approved by a moderator before they may play the character (or before they may add the Strength on a power to an already existing character).

Merits and Flaws are allowed in MCH, but Flaws will only award a total of 7 bonus points to any one character. Further Flaws may be taken but do not confer additional points. Flaws or Merits worth 5 or more points by themselves must be approved by a moderator.

Players that wish to have a character to begin with Taint 6 or higher must have their character approved by a moderator before they begin play.

Customer mechanics for characters will be reviewed by the Moderators on a case by case basis, as will the use of mechanics from the fan-created books (A Breed Apart, Forceful Personalities, Brainwaves, and once it is finished The New Flesh).

Character Advancement and Record Keeping:

Advancement in MCH will use experience points instead of nova points, as the cost chart for nova point expenditures does not reflect the increasing difficulty of advancing skills or expanding powers. Moderators will award characters a standard experience point award for every month that they are active (determined by the Admin Mod, but generally consisting of at least several posts/fictions/or Moderated storyline participation) of 20 experience points. These points will be awarded on the first of the month for the previous month. Also, moderators may award experience points for characters in moderated plot threads as appropriate.

Keep an XP Log on your character's Profile. You can put it directly in your profile post, or in a separate post, but it should include:

* Date of Award/Expenditure

* Item

* New Dot Total for Item (if any)

* XP Earned/Spent for Item

* New XP Total

An example log may be seen here:

Code:

XP LOG
Date       Item                                Rank  Gain/Spent  Balance
01 JUL 08  XP Earned                             -      20         20
02 JUL 08  Enhancement: Group Awareness          1      -5         15
02 JUL 08  Power: Telekinesis (L2)               2      -5         10
02 JUL 08  Background: Resources                 4      -6          4
02 JUL 08  Background: Fame (Teragen)            3      -4          0

You don't have to get all fancy and use code like that, if you want to just add a few spaces between "columns" or whatever; just so long as all the info is there in more or less that format, so that the mods have something consistant to look at and don't have to puzzle out 20 different methods.

Each month, when XP awards are made, we'll go in and edit the new award into your log. When you spend XP, edit that into your log as well (unless you have moderator approval to keep the expenditure under wraps - a rare but possible occurance).

New characters brought after the initial start up of MCH have the same starting rules as the original MCH characters, with no adjustment in starting NP’s or experience. The reward to playing one character with regularity is the advancement of that character through experience points.

The experience point cost table for advancing various character traits is as follows:

Attribute: Current Rating (CR) x4

Ability: CR x2

Background: CR x2

Mega-Attribute: CR x5

Quantum Power (Lvl 1): CR x3

Quantum Power (Lvl 2): CR x5

Quantum Power (Lvl 3): CR x7

Quantum Power (Lvl 4): CR x9

Quantum Power (Lvl 5): CR x12

Quantum Power (Lvl 6): CR x15

Willpower: Current Rating

Quantum: CR x8

Quantum Pool: 3 xp per dot

Initiative: Current Rating

New Traits:

Ability: 3

Specialty (max. 3 per Ability): 1

Background: 2

Enhancement: 5

Mega-Attribute: 6

Quantum Power (Lvl 1): 3

Quantum Power (Lvl 2): 6

Quantum Power (Lvl 3): 9

Quantum Power (Lvl 4): 12

Quantum Power (Lvl 5): 15

Quantum Power (Lvl 6): 18

For players creating characters at the very beginning of the board, there will be a one month period of moderator-run or over-sighted prologues to allow the moderators to seed the openings of the first plotline. Requests for NPC ties, powerful positions within canon organizations, or the introduction/integration of player-created powerful organizations will be handled at this time. Mostly, this gives the initial moderators time to put the wiki together, see where players seem to be most interested, and start the first plotiline off with a bang.

There is an additional statistic that will be added to MCH characters: Influence. This is being ported over in a modified form from the Mind's Eye Theater LARP rules. Characters will begin play with 5 Influence points, and may purchase Influences up to level 3. Influences allow characters to draw on resources, information, and favors from various arenas like Police, Media, and High Society. The number of an Influence is how many traits a character may spend in a month on using, hiding, or growing the influence. Characters can attack other players influences, defend themselves, hide their influences, trace influences back to other players, gather information from the influence, grow the influence (the only way to increase the trait), or affect a change in the arena using the influence. To gain an initial dot in an Influence requires either moderator approval from IC actions (allowable through fictions but encouraged through moderated play), being gifted a level by another PC that has the Influence (this does drop their own Influence level), or through an approved xp expenditure of 3 xp. Example of common influences: Academics, Business, Health, High Society, Media, Occult, Police, Politics, Street, Transportation, Underworld, Teragen, Utopia/T2M, Aberrants, The Directive. Characters may also have more specific Influences (such as the Hamoi Tong instead of Underworld); the narrowed area of influence will make each point more useful and powerful to the character but removes benefits from the more generic Influence.

There are a set number of Influences available in the game, as determined by the number of active characters in the game, so eventually there will be no more 'open' Influence levels and characters will have to lower other characters' Influence levels to raise their own. Use of Influences are messaged to all three Moderators, and the effects will be messaged back. Influences are reset and recalculated at the same time that xp is awarded.

(See first reply for expanded information on this and the Influence/Fame background.)

(See second reply for the Reduced Quantum Cost/Master chart used in this game.)

Moderator Responsibilities and Elections

Moderators will be elected by the board once a year to serve for a year. In the case of an early retirement or a referendum by the board to remove a moderator, a call will be made for a new moderator for the week after and voting held the week after that. Referendums may be called so long as at least 25% of the board backs the initial referendum post and 75% of the board votes in favor of prematurely removing the moderator from office. Normal elections will be won by simple majority. Should no candidate hold a simple majority, a run off election will be held for the top candidate (starting at the highest-voted candidate and adding candidates until their combined votes equal more than 50%). I know that sounds kind of complicated, but it really isn’t and works well.

There are three elected moderator positions: General Board Moderator, Administrative Moderator, Continuity and Storyline Moderator.

The General Board Moderator is responsible for the board as a whole, handling OOC player requests and complaints, and ensuring the other moderators are performing their assigned tasks. In OOC player disputes, the General Board Moderator has final say in arbitration. The General Board Moderator also takes up the responsibilities of any vacant moderator positions until a new vote has been called and tallied for the vacant position. The General Board Moderator would be expected to check the boards on a regular basis, as near to daily as possible, and should reply to PM’s and thread questions as frequently. The General Board Moderator does not appoint assistant positions.

The Administrative Moderator is responsible for auditing character sheets and updating character logs. The Administrative Moderator would be expected to check the boards on a regular basis, as near to daily as possible, and should reply to PM’s, character requests, and xp expenditures as frequently. The Administrative Moderator may appoint assistant moderators as necessary.

The Continuity and Storyline Moderator (C&S Moderator) is responsible for ensuring that moderator run plotlines maintain a coherent timeline and are updated through NPC’s and world events in a timely manner. The C & S Moderator is also in charge of running plotlines, maintaining and updating the wiki site for NPC’s and organizations, and appointing assistant moderators as needed to handle storyline and player needs.

The first moderator elections will be held three months after the start of the game, to allow for players on the board to get to know one another and potential moderators to decide if they wish to run. The first three months moderation will be done by myself (Malachite) and volunteers that show they have the time and dedication for it. A thread in the OOC board will be made for those to show their interest.

Combat:

Combat in MCH is handled in two separate groupings:

1) Combat in free-post collaborative fiction stories are to be done however the authors of the story wish it to be done. All must agree to the method and stand by their decision after the results. It is highly recommended that it be done by scripting. Any disagreement resulting from conflict should be brought before the three Moderators for a ruling. That ruling is final.

2) Moderated threads that lead to combat will be at the will of the moderator, though it is advised to get the general consensus of the players involved in the thread. However, a moderator may call for rolled combat even against the consensus of the players in situations where NPC’s or probable PC character death is present. Any disagreement resulting from conflict should be brought before the three Moderators for a ruling. That ruling is final.

The Puny Human rule is also in effect for MCH, to help highlight the horror of the difference between homo sapien, and homo sapien novus.

The Various Boards:

There will be an IC Novas-only board, a Fictions board for collaborative unmoderated fictions, and a moderated board for the moderator-run plots and an OOC board. On the IC Novas-only board there will be a thread for News Posts, as well as thread for baseline questions and comments (think mostly like a guestbook for the site). The last board, Characters, will be for character sheets, backgrounds, and experience point logs.

Errata for the Novas-only board: Verification for the board can be achieved several ways – if the character has a Novapedia entry, a public identity as a nova, backing of an organization that can provide verification (such as Project Utopia, the Directive, even the Teragen) also qualifies, though some may not wish to use such references. Beyond that, getting a number of novas to vouch for them to the board moderator also works (i.e. have other characters send a PM to the General Board Moderator vouching for the character). This avoids the endless OOC (and at times, IC) questions of how a character becomes verified for the site.

The Orientation will be adjusted as specific matters arise in character creation and gameplay.

[MCoH Mod]

Okay, there seems to be a lot of confusion about the Influence background and the MET Influences I'm wanting to use in this game. Here are the rules for it now:

The Influence Background is now no longer permitted in MCoH. Instead use the Fame background from the World of Darkness White Wolf games. It's the same thing with a different name and points in the background measure how famous your character is with the general public. Thus:

Background: Fame

Fame 1 = Known in your town/city, but not much beyond that.

Fame 2 = Known in your state/province/general geographic area.

Fame 3 = Known nationally to a particular subculture such as the music industry or the goth scene.

Fame 4 = Known nationally to the general public.

Fame 5 = Known globally.

Points in Fame can garner a character things like eating at an exclusive restaurant with no reservation, getting into sold-out concerts/events, getting star-stuck fans to do minor favors for you, getting off light on minor to medium legal offenses, etc.

MET Influences:

The MET Influences I am using in this game represent actual pull and control in various arenas in the game world. Characters may have points in the generic arenas (Academics, Business, Health, High Society, Media, Occult, Police, Politics, Street, Transportation, Underworld, Teragen, Utopia/T2M, Aberrants, The Directive), or may voluntarily restrict the arena to gain greater control at lower points (such as having points in Teragen:Cassablancas, in which case you don't have pull with the other sects, but can get greater use out of your Cassablanca Influence).

The points of an Influence is how many traits a character may spend in a month on using, hiding, or growing the influence. Characters can attack other characters influences(thus lowering the attacked character's Influence), defend themselves against such attacks, hide their influences from other characters, trace influences back to other characters, gather information from the influence, grow the influence (the only way to increase the trait), or affect a change in the arena using the influence. Depending on the difficulty or level of impact on the arena an action is, it may require multiple traits to do.

To gain an initial dot in an Influence requires either moderator approval from IC actions (allowable through fictions but encouraged through moderated play), being gifted a level by another PC that has the Influence (this does drop their own Influence level), or through an approved xp expenditure of 3 xp.

Influences act like combined Contacts/Allies/Backing, but are limited to how much you can do with them in a month and are easier for other characters to interfere with. They are being added to allow for a greater amount of intrigue among players and to highten the non-combat aspects of the game.

Examples of MET Influence interaction in the game:

1) Moderator Rumor use. At the beginning of each month the C & S moderator will send out rumors heard through PC's Influences. Depending on the type of Influence a character has, and how much Influence they have in the arean, they will receive more or less informative or secretive rumors.

Example: So someone with the Occult 1 might hear a rumor that there's been a spike in ghost hauntings in L.A. over the past month. Another character with Police 1 hears a rumor of a spike in violent crime in L.A. over the past month. If the first PC had Occult 3, then the rumor would have told them that the docks in L.A. have been a hotbed of ghostly activity during the New Moon, and that's it been 100 years now since the Red Belle caught fire coming into harbor and killed most of her crew and passengers. The PC with Police 3 would know that the crimes have mostly been arsons concentrated around the docks area and that the gangs in the area are blaming each other and escalating a turf war that's been in the works for the past few years.

2) Growth of an Influence. A character has an Influence High Society of 1, they want to move it up to a two. They spend their influence point for the month growing it and can do nothing else with the influence that month. Baselines cannot get above a 5 in a general arena as they do not have the time or personal power to do so.

0 -> 1 costs Mod approval, 3 xp, or gifted from another PC (not controlled by the same player)

1 -> 2 costs 1 Influence (takes 1 Month)

2 -> 3 costs 2 Influence (takes 1 to 2 Months)

3 -> 4 costs 3 Influence (takes 1 to 3 Months)

4 -> 5 costs 5 Influence (takes 2 to 5 Months)

5 -> 6 costs 9 Influence & Q6 (takes 2 to 9 Months)

6 -> 7 costs 17 Influence & Q7 (takes 3 to 17 Months)

7 -> 8 costs 33 Influence & Q8 (takes 5 to 33 Months)

8 -> 9 costs 65 Influence & Q9 (takes 9 to 65 Months)

9 -> 10 costs 129 Influence & Q10 (takes 14 to 129 Months)

3) Watching Influences. A PC may expend one of their Influence traits to watch that arena for others using their influences in that arena. So a character with Street Influence may spend one point of that influence in a month to watch for other PC's using Street Influences.

4) Trace Influences. After having watched an Influence arena for a month and detecting Influence use the PC may spend a point to Trace the Influence back to the character that used it. Multiple points in one arena may be spend this way to overcome Hide actions by other players.

5) Hide Influence. A character may expend a point of an Influence to hide other actions they are taking with other points in that Influence. So, if another PC is set to watching Street Influences, you may spend a point for the Street action you wish to take and an additional point to Hide that you are the one doing it. Multiple points may be spent this way to counteract Traces by other PCs.

6) Attack Influences. A PC may use points in Influence to attack another PC's Influence and strip them of Influence points in that arena. This is can only be done after the attacking PC has successfully Watched & Traced the defending PC's Influence back to them (since our character sheets are public, this avoids some of the worst meta-gaming). Attacks lower the other PC's Influence but do not automatically raise the attacker's Influences.

7) Defend Influences. A PC may spend points to defend their Influences. In a contest, ties go to the defender. If the attacker is successful, they strip the person only one Influence point per attack no matter how many more points they spent attacking than the defender spend defending.

8) Gather Information. Above and beyond the rumors that PC's get automatically, Influence points may be spent to garner information on specific questions/situations that pertain to the Influence arena. A character with Underworld Influence can spend a point to learn things like where the local mobsters are, who is in control of an area, and what plots are going on in the Underworld at the moment.

9) Influence Actions. PC's can use their influences to cause changes in the arena. A PC with Transportation Influence could reroute a trucking company to deliver goods somewhere other than where they were supposed to go, or get a shipment of goods into the country without going through customs. A character with Media Influence can cover up a story or crucify someone in the public eye.

I'm going to post up a general chart for how much actions cost generally, but in the end the c & S mod has final say. Remember, these are still restricted to the area of Influence your character has the points in.

1 pt of Influence Action = Minor alterations, starting believable rumors, affecting a town/small rural area.

2 pts. = Affects a small city or general rural area, can cover up minor illegal activity.

3 pts. = Affects medium to large cities, but not capitols, and state-sized rural areas. Start unsupported rumors.

4 pts. = Affects capitol cities and small/unimportant nations. Can cover up illegal activity that is not considered international crime.

5 pts. = Affects nations or continental rural areas. Ruin reputations of all but the most influential/famous people in the nation/area.

6 pts. = Affects major non-governmental international organizations or entire demispheres (quarter of the planet) of rural areas. Start unsupported rumors about national and international figures.

7 pts. = Affects major international governmental organizations or hemispheres of rural area.

8 pts. = Affects the entire planet without disrupting major economies/governments/cultures. Engage in activities regardless of any level of legality. Ruin the reputations of anyone on the planet.

9 pts. = Affects the entire planet and may disrupt economies/governments/cultures temporarily.

10 pts. = Affects the entire planet and may disrupt economies/governments/cultures permanently.

A general rule of thumb on specific arena influences (IE using Chinese Tongs instead of Underworld) is to consider those points one step more effective. Depending on how specific the character is (say only the Hamoi Tong), the C & S may consider them two steps more effective.

[MCoH Mod]

There's been some confusion on how Reduced Quantumn Cost is calculated, especially at Q6. Here's how it works:

Reduced Quantum Cost / Mastery Calculations Chart

Original = Original Power Level, New = New Power Level, Cost = Cost to use

Reduced Quantum Cost ("free" extra at Q6 or higher):

Original	New	Cost
1	1	0
2	2	1
3	3	1
4	4	2
5	5	2
6	6	3

Reduced Quantum Cost or Mastery (normal extra):

Original	New	Cost
1	2	0
2	3	1
3	4	2
4	5	3
5	6	3

RQC x2, or RQC & Mastery (one "free" extra at Q6 or higher):

Original	New	Cost
1	2	0
2	3	0
3	4	1
4	5	1
5	6	1

RQC x2, or RQC & Mastery (both standard extras):

Original	New	Cost
1	3	0
2	4	1
3	5	1
4	5	1

[MCoH Mod]

Extras Chart

To avoid possible confusion generated by the sidebar in the Players Guide, please use the following:

At Q1 through Q5:

A Level 1 power may have up to two Extras, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of two Extras at Level 3.

A Level 2 power may have one Extra, raising the level of the power up to Level 3.

A Level 3 power may have no Extras.

Level 4, 5 and 6 powers are not available.

At Q6:

A Level 1 power may have one "free" Extra; up to three subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of four total Extras at Level 4

A Level 2 power may have one "free" Extra; up to two subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of three total Extras at Level 4.

A Level 3 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 4.

A Level 4 power may have no Extras.

Level 5 and 6 powers are not available.

At Q7:

A Level 1 power may have up to two "free" Extras; up to three subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of five total Extras at Level 4

A Level 2 power may have one "free" Extra; up to two subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of three total Extras at Level 4.

A Level 3 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 4.

A Level 4 power may have one "free" Extra; no additional Extras may be added, and the level of the power remains Level 4.

Level 5 and 6 powers are not available.

At Q8:

A Level 1 power may have up to three "free" Extras; up to four subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of seven total Extras at Level 5

A Level 2 power may have up to two "free" Extras; up to three subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of five total Extras at Level 5.

A Level 3 power may have one "free" Extra; up to two additional Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of three total Extras at Level 5.

A Level 4 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 5.

A Level 5 power may have no Extras.

Level 6 powers are not available.

At Q9:

A Level 1 power may have up to four "free" Extras; up to four subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of eight total Extras at Level 5

A Level 2 power may have up to three "free" Extras; up to three subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of six total Extras at Level 5.

A Level 3 power may have up to two "free" Extras; up to two additional Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of four total Extras at Level 5.

A Level 4 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 5.

A Level 5 power may have one "free" Extra; no additional Extras may be added, and the level of the power remains Level 5.

Level 6 powers are not available.

At Q10:

A Level 1 power may have up to five "free" Extras; up to five subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of ten total Extras at Level 6

A Level 2 power may have up to four "free" Extras; up to four subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of eight total Extras at Level 6.

A Level 3 power may have up to three "free" Extras; up to three additional Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of six total Extras at Level 6.

A Level 4 power may have up to two "free" Extras; up to two additional Extras may be added, up to a maximum of four total Extras at Level 6.

A Level 5 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 6.

A Level 6 power may have no Extras.

"Free" Extras do not raise the level of a power; they do however cost an amount of NP or XP equivalent to that which would purchase a single dot of the power. Exception: Mastery. Each level of Mastery always raises the power's effective level by 1, even if the nova's Quantum score allows regular Extras without level change.

Note that Extras count as levels of a power for purpose of buying techniques – that is, someone with three levels of a power and two Extras can buy a total of five techniques.

Gaining Extras with Experience: A character may "upgrade" her powers by purchasing an Extra later in the game. The cost of doing so is equal to the total difference between the experience point costs of all the dots without the Extra and the cost of all the dots with the Extra, calculated as if the character had used experience points to purchase the power "from the ground up". A character may halve this cost by taking a point of permanent Taint at the time the Extra is purchased. Extras that don't raise the power to a new level cost the same as a single dot of the power at its current level: one nova point or three experience points for Level 1, three nova points or five experience points for Level 2, etc.

[MCoH Mod]

Extras Chart

To avoid possible confusion generated by the sidebar in the Players Guide, please use the following:

At Q1 through Q5:

A Level 1 power may have up to two Extras, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of two Extras at Level 3.

A Level 2 power may have one Extra, raising the level of the power up to Level 3.

A Level 3 power may have no Extras.

Level 4, 5 and 6 powers are not available.

At Q6:

A Level 1 power may have one "free" Extra; up to three subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of four total Extras at Level 4

A Level 2 power may have one "free" Extra; up to two subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of three total Extras at Level 4.

A Level 3 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 4.

A Level 4 power may have no Extras.

Level 5 and 6 powers are not available.

At Q7:

A Level 1 power may have up to two "free" Extras; up to three subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of five total Extras at Level 4

A Level 2 power may have one "free" Extra; up to two subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of three total Extras at Level 4.

A Level 3 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 4.

A Level 4 power may have one "free" Extra; no additional Extras may be added, and the level of the power remains Level 4.

Level 5 and 6 powers are not available.

At Q8:

A Level 1 power may have up to three "free" Extras; up to four subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of seven total Extras at Level 5

A Level 2 power may have up to two "free" Extras; up to three subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of five total Extras at Level 5.

A Level 3 power may have one "free" Extra; up to two additional Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of three total Extras at Level 5.

A Level 4 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 5.

A Level 5 power may have no Extras.

Level 6 powers are not available.

At Q9:

A Level 1 power may have up to four "free" Extras; up to four subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of eight total Extras at Level 5

A Level 2 power may have up to three "free" Extras; up to three subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of six total Extras at Level 5.

A Level 3 power may have up to two "free" Extras; up to two additional Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of four total Extras at Level 5.

A Level 4 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 5.

A Level 5 power may have one "free" Extra; no additional Extras may be added, and the level of the power remains Level 5.

Level 6 powers are not available.

At Q10:

A Level 1 power may have up to five "free" Extras; up to five subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of ten total Extras at Level 6

A Level 2 power may have up to four "free" Extras; up to four subsequent Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of eight total Extras at Level 6.

A Level 3 power may have up to three "free" Extras; up to three additional Extras may be added, each of which raise the level of the power, up to a maximum of six total Extras at Level 6.

A Level 4 power may have up to two "free" Extras; up to two additional Extras may be added, up to a maximum of four total Extras at Level 6.

A Level 5 power may have one "free" Extra; one additional Extra may be added, raising the level of the power with two total Extras to Level 6.

A Level 6 power may have no Extras.

"Free" Extras do not raise the level of a power; they do however cost an amount of NP or XP equivalent to that which would purchase a single dot of the power. Exception: Mastery. Each level of Mastery always raises the power's effective level by 1, even if the nova's Quantum score allows regular Extras without level change.

Note that Extras count as levels of a power for purpose of buying techniques – that is, someone with three levels of a power and two Extras can buy a total of five techniques.

Gaining Extras with Experience: A character may "upgrade" her powers by purchasing an Extra later in the game. The cost of doing so is equal to the total difference between the experience point costs of all the dots without the Extra and the cost of all the dots with the Extra, calculated as if the character had used experience points to purchase the power "from the ground up". A character may halve this cost by taking a point of permanent Taint at the time the Extra is purchased. Extras that don't raise the power to a new level cost the same as a single dot of the power at its current level: one nova point or three experience points for Level 1, three nova points or five experience points for Level 2, etc.

[MCoH Mod]

OTHER RULINGS

XP Expenditures

* No more than one dot in any given trait may be purchased in a single month. The exception to this is the aforementioned Apotheosis for 2ndGen and 3rdGen characters (which happens only one in the nova's lifetime, so use it well), or Chrysalis for Terat characters (of any generation).

* Pre-approvals are not needed for spending your XP on standard book stuff within the standard parameters laid out in the MCoH Orientation; however, said purchases are subject to Mod review. Purchases for anything that isn't book-standard or is listed in the Orientation as an approval item need to be run by the Mods first.

* Influence is a special case; after the initial allotment, only the first dot in any given Influence may be purchased with XP. Further increases in Influence are gain by devoting Influence dots to growing said Influence (as explained in the MCoH Orientation).

* Dots purchased may be kept hidden, with moderator approval, for purposes of "sudden advancement" in a storyline.

Multiple Instances of an Enhancement

* Instances of an Enhancement are limited to the dots in the governing Mega-Attribute. (i.e., with Mega-Wits 3, one could have no more than three instances of Quickness.)

* No more than one instance of an Enhancement may be purchased during any single month (outside of things like Apotheosis and Chrysalis).

MCoH Rulings on Specific Items

* Merged Extra: The damage cap for successes applies to each nova's pool, rather than to the joint result. Example: in the case of two novas Q-bolting via Merged and each with 6 successes, 10 successes would be added to the damage.

* Telekinesis: An object may be moved via this power at a rate of (33 x power rating) kilometers per hour out of combat.

[MCoH Mod]

OTHER RULINGS

XP Expenditures

* No more than one dot in any given trait may be purchased in a single month. The exception to this is the aforementioned Apotheosis for 2ndGen and 3rdGen characters (which happens only one in the nova's lifetime, so use it well), or Chrysalis for Terat characters (of any generation).

* Pre-approvals are not needed for spending your XP on standard book stuff within the standard parameters laid out in the MCoH Orientation; however, said purchases are subject to Mod review. Purchases for anything that isn't book-standard or is listed in the Orientation as an approval item need to be run by the Mods first.

* Influence is a special case; after the initial allotment, only the first dot in any given Influence may be purchased with XP. Further increases in Influence are gain by devoting Influence dots to growing said Influence (as explained in the MCoH Orientation).

* Dots purchased may be kept hidden, with moderator approval, for purposes of "sudden advancement" in a storyline.

Multiple Instances of an Enhancement

* Instances of an Enhancement are limited to the dots in the governing Mega-Attribute. (i.e., with Mega-Wits 3, one could have no more than three instances of Quickness.)

* No more than one instance of an Enhancement may be purchased during any single month (outside of things like Apotheosis and Chrysalis).

MCoH Rulings on Specific Items

* Merged Extra: The damage cap for successes applies to each nova's pool, rather than to the joint result. Example: in the case of two novas Q-bolting via Merged and each with 6 successes, 10 successes would be added to the damage.

* Telekinesis: An object may be moved via this power at a rate of (33 x power rating) kilometers per hour out of combat.