Aberrant: In the Beginning - Table Talk- In the Beginning

[Michael Peters]

Man, I'd appriciate any hints, OOC. I'm RPing a man with command experience, but my own tactical acumen is rather lacking.

[Katalyst]

Run, very fast and don't look back

[Courier]

I think I'll wait on Titan for this one.

[SkyLion]

Did you take the tactics skill? If you did perhaps a successful role might give you more info. On the other hand you have no idea what he can do and he is a tactical prodigy on top of things. On the other, other hand Big T doesn't have Q-vamp or poison or anything like that in his published stats and this is early early in his nova career so I would bet Juno's dollars to dimes that Titan has altered his capabilities. Best not to assume anything...

[Titan]

I don't care if my characters discuss strategy over the table, we all know that MP isn't actually a combat vet... Usually I use those breaks to get a Mt.Dew or order pizza, or catch my breath... shouldn't be different in PbP.

By the way, I am hiding something cool somewhere in the ItB threads. First one to find it gets a prize...

[Michael Peters]

Is it that awesome new "Title Page" you've put up in the "Read this first" thread?

[Titan]

holy crap... you are fast

5 xp for MP for hyperspeed hyperlinking...

[Michael Peters]

Boo-ya! This is the first evening in awhile I havent had to be up early in the morning, so you better belive I'm lurking on these boards like a fiend. Nothing escapes the gaze of Michael Peters!

Edit: Can I spend some of my banked experience now? Or do you prefer let us know when experience can be spent?

[Mr Fox]

Michael if you had tactics I would let you roll it, but sadly you don't.

Fang, I need your sheet so that I can judge how close you need to be.

Totentaz has erupted differently than in canon, well the motivation was the same, but the circumstances are different. What happens from this point is entirely dependent on your actions in the next few minutes, don't count on him having exactly the same powers as in canon either due to his circumstances being different.

Lastly, I'm going to be out most of the day tomorrow so I won't be able to check back and give you an update until tomorrow night at the earliest. If you guys get too antsy for me to return Titan is welcome to step in.

[Titan]

Er. This may be a good time for me to explain that I am leaving on a cruise to the Bahamas with my wife tomorrow. We are taking our laptops, and I anticipate being able to post fairly often, but maybe not as often as you guys have come to expect... no worries, we'll get stories made

[SkyLion]

You are the ST's but if it were me, and its not I wouldnt change too much of his powers. Obviosuly in this world he might never make it to the level of lethality he reaches in canon, but somebody at WW actually put alot of thought into his writeup. As written he is one of the deadliest enemeis a player could ever face. We have had long discussions on Eon about the hows and whys and his combos are pretty nasty. I guess I am saying feel free but realize he was made intentionally lethal for a reason. Invisibility, Find weakness, super speed, disorient, q leech feeding into quickness, stealth, force field, tactical genius and super strength is a whopper of a combo...

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Titan

I don't care if my characters discuss strategy over the table, we all know that MP isn't actually a combat vet...

Then let me point out that since you have a mimic and lots of novas, it'd be good for him to mimic someone before the fight so he has something prepared. Further, since you also have a Disrupter, that'd be a good choice.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: The_Fool

...somebody at WW actually put alot of thought into his writeup. As written he is one of the deadliest enemeis a player could ever face...

The problem for an ST starting at Time=0 is Totentanz is built with something like 150 nova points. He's the most expensive non-Q6+ nova around by far.

Assume he's gotten 5+ exp for every nova he's killed and that explains how he's so big and nasty. So he's able to take down novas because he's always been able to take down novas... but build him on 35 and he looks a lot less unstoppable.

1 M-Stam Adapt
1 M-Str Q-Leap
1 M-Dex Cat-Foot
1 M-Perc Bloodhound
1 Q-Leech
1 Invis
1 FF
5 Psi-Shield
That's 26 nova points. Put the rest into stats.

Maybe he'd survive to be number one, but probably not. No healing, no tactical prodigy, no ranged Q-Leech, no Q-Regen, no Quick, etc.

And the only reason I posted something like stats is because we already know they aren't right.

[SkyLion]

yeah, apparently he has some kind of q-vamp: health levels or similar...

Nice post btw Courier. I like how you broke down T to the fundamental concept.

Id expect he would be smart enought to survive his opening encounters though. If it looks like he is going to be defeated he will probably go Invisible and Q-leap away...

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: The_Fool

Id expect he would be smart enought to survive his opening encounters though. If it looks like he is going to be defeated he will probably go Invisible and Q-leap away...

That's close to wishful thinking. IMHO he'll end up on the top of the heap just because *someone* has to be, and after you're on top it's easy to stay on top.

At this point in time there are a large number of matches he has *no* *hope* of winning. He doesn't have Healing, he can't regen, he's a one trick pony. Granted, sneaking up on someone and ambush attacking them is a nasty trick, but still.

[Fahrenheit]

Originally Posted By: Fahrenheit

Sascha will call Peter - how shall I do it? Post in his thread?

Since everyone has been peeing their pants because of Mr. T my quesiton got flushed... sort of.

So I kindly ask again

[Titan Omega]

I just posted up my "IC" profile for the Titan.

I wanted to point out however that the power rankings are not arbitrary and that some of you, (off the top of my head Katalyst) have highballed your abilites.

So for Katalyst, his defense is waaay too high. With just a force field and mega stamina he would have at most 6. Likewise his offesne with m str 1 would be a 3 or 4, probably 3 given his only other attack is a stun attack. Military training is a skill and doesnt do much to elevate offensive abiloites which are based on how much damage you can do.

Likewise I would peg his verstility at most at 4. Core is a combat god but is also reeeally famous with a huge marketing machine and he only has 5. Speed would be 5, maaaaybe 6 with M Dex 1 and enhanced move but note that titan is mega fast and only has a 7...

I think a few other's also highballed the numbers too.

I would also invite comment from Courier, since he is the one who extrapolated this system from the sourcebooks. He is Alex Green on the EON thread.

[Courier]

I'm reluctant to pick out anyone in particular without their invitation; Especially if they haven't had any experience it doing these ratings.

That thread details what we *think* the book used to create their ratings. It's a formalization, but IMHO more ratings is better than fewer, even if they're only up there for fun and even if they're wrong.

If we're going to be formal; Ratings go from 1 (baby) to 10 (Divis). 2 is generic human. 5 is top of the line human. 6 is super human. 7 is good for a nova. 8 is top of the line nova. 9 is normally only seen with the Q6+ group. 10 is the top of the Q6+ group (Divis).

For Strength and Intellect, with no megas just put down your dots. Mega 1 to 2 is '6'. Mega 3 to 4 is '7'. Mega 5 is '8'. Mega 6 to 7 is '9'.

Speed is easy to overestimate and *easily* gets into an apples vs. oranges comparisons. A baseline's 5 probably represents a car, so a nova with a '4' is 'inhumanly' fast right there even without any actual movement abilities.

Offense and Defense are paired, with (I think) Defense tending to block Offense. Meaning that a 6 attack should be blocked by a 6 defense. Offense is pretty straight forward (see the thread), but Defense is not since there's so many misc defenses. Combat Teleport comes to mind.

Versatility is a night mare. Everything but the kitchen sink gets thrown in and there's lots of room for disagreement. Allies, Social Skills, Taint, etc. IMHO in this day and age we'd all score pretty well here, we're pretty much the only novas around and we all have Contacts 5.

Picking on Rich for the moment with only what he's actually shown (thus using Bab's site).

Strength: 5

Obvious. If he gets Mega-1 then it goes to 6.

Intellect: 5

Ditto.

Speed: 6

He has a movement power, it’s good but not great. A couple of dots of hyper-flight (or teleport) are probably possible, if it happens then that’s a 7.

Offense: 6

…this rating can’t be less than two lower than a nova’s strength rating, and if the nova has a movement power it can’t be more than one less. Examples: With presumably 6 or 7 dots of Elemental Control: Light + Mastery (i.e. a 24[24] or 28[28] attack) Scripture has a 9. With a 42 die ranged attack, Core has an 8. With lots of Magnetic Manipulation, Skew has a 7.

Rich has only one dot in Radiation Mastery. He also has a seriously hit below the belt effect (contaminating people). His bolt isn’t mastered, he’s not likely to destroy any cities any time soon, I decided to call it a 6. If he significantly improves his EM or buys Disin, then this could upgrade to a 7.

Defense: 4

This is wrong, mostly because I wrote this with the idea that it didn’t include Eufiber, which doubles his soak. His base soak is 11/8, he can pump it (but again that’s unmastered), he could pretty much take a weak Strength 6 attack but much less so a strong Strength 6. His own attack would do lots of damage on himself. So a 6 seems like it’d be too much but it’s close enough that it should be a 5.

Versatility: 6

This is hardest one to evaluate and there’s lots of room for disagreement. As a general no matter what their rating PCs are usually better at this than NPCs. In this environment we benefit from the “big fish in a small bowl” syndrome.

No aberrations, good (but not nova level) social skills, money, contacts, decent in combat, only one mega, an Elemental Mastery that he really can’t use out of very special situations, some influence. If it were 2008 I’d probably call this a 5 (Core), but as I’m claiming 6 (Alejandra).

[Katalyst]

My rankings are what I feel are what his abilites are based on a 1 to 10 scale. These by no means are "offical" as none of our's are. So with that in mind, this is also a new game where our power ratings are based on what few Nova's are around at the time. So some rankings may seem high other to low, so what?

Originally Posted By: Titan Omega

I just posted up my "IC" profile for the Titan.

I wanted to point out however that the power rankings are not arbitrary and that some of you, (off the top of my head Katalyst) have highballed your abilites.

Well thanks your for your comments. Here's my thoughts on the matter.

Quote:

So for Katalyst, his defense is waaay too high. With just a force field and mega stamina he would have at most 6. Likewise his offesne with m str 1 would be a 3 or 4, probably 3 given his only other attack is a stun attack. Military training is a skill and doesnt do much to elevate offensive abiloites which are based on how much damage you can do.

Again this is based on the fact that when using his FF he can stop bullets. At worst his base soak with no sucesses would be enough to stop some small arms fire. I'd say that more than justifies a high defense rating, while not invulerable to bullets,his ff can be turned on any time as long as he has the quantum to pay for it. That's the only reason it isn't higher. As for offense he can kill a baseline with a single punch! I think that should speak for it's self. He also has some other power's that he didn't reveal and that is also factored into his offensive ranking.

Quote:

Likewise I would peg his verstility at most at 4. Core is a combat god but is also reeeally famous with a huge marketing machine and he only has 5. Speed would be 5, maaaaybe 6 with M Dex 1 and enhanced move but note that titan is mega fast and only has a 7...

I agree with right here. His skill set is geared more toward being in the military so he would focus more on these areas. Speed is based on the fact of having Meg Dex and Wits, which translate's to faster than human speed, but certainly not superspeed by any means. Remember that your Mega stat's add to your walk/run/sprint stats.

Once again thanks for the review.

[SalmonMax]

Ya know...it seems to me that since these ratings are technically "IC," which is to say, a person could look up info on our characters in the game and see them, maybe we should have the GM assign ratings based on his notion of how whoever in Aeon is putting them together would view our powers?

[Courier]

Let's pick on Titan since he invited this:

Strength: 8 (Godlike)

Intellect: 3 (A brighter than average baseline)

Speed: 7 (Capable of Godlike birts but must slow down to engage)

Offense: 7 (Can demolish tanks and smash through hardened bunkers.)

Defense: 7 (Bullet proof and hard to kill. Incredible resiliency and stamina)

Verstility: 6 (Powerful and already a global media icon.)

Strength: 8

Mega-5.

Intellect: 3

A brighter than average baseline.

Speed: 7

Flight, Hyperflight, Teleport.

Offense: 7

No guns, no q-bolt, etc. He can't do anything other than hit things. With Flight (etc) he can easily close so his Offense is Str -1 (not -2).

Verstility: 6

Very high end combat machine, very high end speed... I'd think "Core" but he functions on an International stage. Again he benefits from being one of the only novas, and he's apparently spent a fair number of background points to represent this. 6 seems pretty good.

[Courier]

,,

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

Ya know...it seems to me that since these ratings are technically "IC," which is to say, a person could look up info on our characters in the game and see them, maybe we should have the GM assign ratings based on his notion of how whoever in Aeon is putting them together would view our powers?

Problem is the ST isn't wrong but the ratings could be. To make matters worse they can be generated by different people, or even self interested ones.

For example Rich has *never* demonstrated Mega-Strength... but the ST knows if he secretly has some. The players can count my nova points and guess that he doesn't really have enough left over for Mega-Strength 3, but Ratings is more of an IC thing than a OOC thing.

[SalmonMax]

That's my point. The GM can say, "Well, Audrey Meadows of Aeon has no idea Rich has super strength, so she doesn't count it when rating him."

Then of course, other NPC's might get in on the act once novas explode as celebrities.

[Michael Peters]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

Ya know...it seems to me that since these ratings are technically "IC," which is to say, a person could look up info on our characters in the game and see them, maybe we should have the GM assign ratings based on his notion of how whoever in Aeon is putting them together would view our powers?

Thats a good point. I was unsure about how IC those character postings were, so I put what would be 'common knowledge' about Michael and what powers you guys would know he has. The Q-Bolt he has he has done maybe once under testing conditions, mostly due to Juno's suggestion that he try to make a laser

I think a GM ruling on how much/little we can reveal would be a good thing.

[Courier]

I should mention that it's very possible he *does* have a legit Defense of 8.

35 nova points with some experience is enough to build a true soak machine, where you get to puny human Mega-Strength 2 attacks and take point blank tank shells in the face and suffer only ping damage.

On the other hand, fair is fair, if other novas expect you have a defense of 8 then they're not going to hold back with their offense of 7.

[Michael Peters]

Originally Posted By: Courier

I'm reluctant to pick out anyone in particular without their invitation; Especially if they haven't had any experience it doing these ratings.

Hey, I welcome any 'picking' because I dont have any experience doing these ratings

Pick away!

[Courier]

Quote:

I think a GM ruling on how much/little we can reveal would be a good thing.

It isn't like anyone is being forced to rate themselves.

IMHO (and I'm not the ST), Michael Peters might have had Aeon release their eval, or N! (CNN right now) could, or even the gossip types. Or he could just put one up without giving an author and let us make of it what we will.

[Mr Fox]

Very nice use of disrupt Fang... 7 successes. <the ST Grumbles about mega dice rolling an 8 and a 10.>

Do keep in mind that the big T has just erupted and is no where near the height of his power, he is also very ill, feverish and hallucinating and his skull is splitting with a massive headache.

Face him again under better circumstances and all the boot shaking might be more justified.

In any case there are dead and wounded in the room that need assistance.

Oh and I didn't say he wouldn't become the most deadly of all the Elites, just that he has at least one power that he didn't have in Canon. That could make him even more deadly.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Michael Peters

Pick away!

Love too... but first you need to post what you can do.

[Titan Omega]

Quote:

So some rankings may seem high other to low, so what?

Because as I said this isn't an arbitrary system. See Couriers excellent posts. I spent a long time conversing with someone well versed in this system to get my ratings just right. As Courier's critique shows I did pretty well.

Quote:

Again this is based on the fact that when using his FF he can stop bullets. At worst his base soak with no sucesses would be enough to stop some small arms fire. I'd say that more than justifies a high defense rating, while not invulerable to bullets,his ff can be turned on any time as long as he has the quantum to pay for it. That's the only reason it isn't higher. As for offense he can kill a baseline with a single punch! I think that should speak for it's self. He also has some other power's that he didn't reveal and that is also factored into his offensive ranking.

If you have a defense of 8 that means you can take an 8 attack. That isn't a bullet, that is a Mega Strength 5 punch and then some...

[Michael Peters]

Originally Posted By: Courier

Love too... but first you need to post what you can do.

I did! my character is in 'The 'In the Beginning' Characters' thread.

[Courier]

My bad. I'll PM you.

[Katalyst]

Originally Posted By: Titan Omega

Quote:

So some rankings may seem high other to low, so what?

Because as I said this isn't an arbitrary system. See Couriers excellent posts. I spent a long time conversing with someone well versed in this system to get my ratings just right. As Courier's critique shows I did pretty well.

Yes I believe that you did very well and the fact that you spent so much time on it shows. I'm not knocking you for that and I don't believe that you need to worry about mine either. I'm basing my against what a normal human can and cannot do, as opposed to other Nova on Nova. If something happens IC either for better or worse I'll then adjust, simple as that.

We could aruge this point back and forth for days, but there is no need for that. I'm cool with you not agreeing with mine, and I have no problem with yours.

[Titan Omega]

You are missing my point. This ranking system is based on the "Nova-philes" lsitings from the core sourece materials. You (and you are the only one) are using a scale that is incongruous with the ones that the rest of us are using. If we use a scale that is only in comparison to baselines then I should set most of my ranks at 20 or higher. The *entire point* of having a nova-philes ranking system is that it ranks novas on a nova scale, compared to baselines.

Im not trying to bust your balls on a personal level, so I hope you dont take it that way. "I'm just looking for a little consistency." (RIP George Carlin...)

[Katalyst]

I understand your point, but who said I'm using the same "Nova-philes" system as you or the others, and better yet why do I have to use said system? I'm not trying to ruin or make light of the "Nova-philes" system. I believe that I can use a different ranking system than the other players, or am I'm not allowed to do that?

If the St has a problem or if enough of the other player's have a problem with my profile then I will gladly change them.

[Katalyst]

I understand your point, but who said I'm using the same "Nova-philes" system as you or the others, and better yet why do I have to use said system? I'm not trying to ruin or make light of the "Nova-philes" system. I believe that I can use a different ranking system than the other players, or am I'm not allowed to do that?

If the St has a problem or if enough of the other player's have a problem with my profile then I will gladly change them.

[Dawn OOC]

Or you can list both. It's really not a big deal. I don't think that I'm going to list Fang's points at all (Or I'll use my own magical chart and then Katalyst and I can be unique together). People can assess her by what they know, and I'll be happy with that. We really don't need to make everyone do this, or expect that everyone has to do it the same way.

Besides, those points do sound largely subjective. Yes, there is a system, but it does seem to be based on POVs and opinions.

[Dawn OOC]

Or you can list both. It's really not a big deal. I don't think that I'm going to list Fang's points at all (Or I'll use my own magical chart and then Katalyst and I can be unique together). People can assess her by what they know, and I'll be happy with that. We really don't need to make everyone do this, or expect that everyone has to do it the same way.

Besides, those points do sound largely subjective. Yes, there is a system, but it does seem to be based on POVs and opinions.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Katalyst

...who said I'm using the same "Nova-philes" system as you or the others...

You said it. "Estimated Power Levels from Aeon observations:"... and then it uses the classic Nova-philes format, which is what the rest of us are using.

Quote:

and better yet why do I have to use said system?

You don't.

Quote:

I believe that I can use a different ranking system than the other players...

Of course you can. But if you're going to use a different system, then maybe you should, you know, use a different system.

Narrative is the easiest and most common form: "Katalyst possesses vast super human strength and is able to lift somewhat over a ton. Although his eruption has left his intellect unchanged, his reaction time is far above human..." etc.

Alternatively you could come up with your own scale... "Estimated Power Levels from USArmy's adjusted guild lines..."

Or you could leave the stats up there and change the definitions. Defense: 8 (FF capable of reducing or eliminating injury).


If you want to claim you have great defenses for a nova, that's fine. If you want to claim an "8", that's fine too. I don't even care if it's correct. You should expect people to treat you like you have an 8 but that's not my problem. It might come up, it might not, basically you're the first Elite.

But appearing to use the standard system and then claiming your "8" doesn't mean the same as everyone else's is just confusing.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Katalyst

...who said I'm using the same "Nova-philes" system as you or the others...

You said it. "Estimated Power Levels from Aeon observations:"... and then it uses the classic Nova-philes format, which is what the rest of us are using.

Quote:

and better yet why do I have to use said system?

You don't.

Quote:

I believe that I can use a different ranking system than the other players...

Of course you can. But if you're going to use a different system, then maybe you should, you know, use a different system.

Narrative is the easiest and most common form: "Katalyst possesses vast super human strength and is able to lift somewhat over a ton. Although his eruption has left his intellect unchanged, his reaction time is far above human..." etc.

Alternatively you could come up with your own scale... "Estimated Power Levels from USArmy's adjusted guild lines..."

Or you could leave the stats up there and change the definitions. Defense: 8 (FF capable of reducing or eliminating injury).


If you want to claim you have great defenses for a nova, that's fine. If you want to claim an "8", that's fine too. I don't even care if it's correct. You should expect people to treat you like you have an 8 but that's not my problem. It might come up, it might not, basically you're the first Elite.

But appearing to use the standard system and then claiming your "8" doesn't mean the same as everyone else's is just confusing.