Aberrant: Infinite Earth - Infinite Earth OOC: General Discussion

[Mr Fox]

Welcome to Infinite Earth.

This game is open to anyone who wishes to participate. Consider it to be somewhere in between an ST run game and an Open World.

The basic idea is to have a game that is uncapped and in which any story can be told no matter how out there or how epic.

In most settings there are stories that couldn't be told without compromising the shared world and impinging on the enjoyment of the other players. My goal with Infinite Earth is to provide a shared environment in which it will be possible to tell the truly epic tales without the need to constantly reset the game world. And hopefully we as players and writers will succeed in growing our abilities to do justice to our vision along the way.

What is Infinite Earth?

This is a multiverse game. There are an infinite number of Earths in parallel universes. For each decision or branching possibility a new universe is split off from the original. Example, when a coin is flipped a branch will split off and there will now be one universe in which the coin landed heads, and one in which it landed tails.

What this means to the characters is that they can do what they need to story-wise and not worry about how it will effect other players.

So how can the characters interact if they are in separate universes? Two ways, first they don't have to make any issue of the fact that they are on different worlds. They can just interact as if they are on the same Earth, but then only have things 'separate' when something happens that would mess up their the shared world.

"But then from that point on they are on different Earths right?" Yes, but there is a solution.

On every Earth is a doorway. Stepping through that door will allow a person to move from one Earth to another. In most timelines no one has realized what this door is since the closest universes are almost identical to the each other. To move from your Earth to one that is noticeably different requires quantum. Even those not possessing quantum can sense that there is something special about the ring of stones in the middle of the English countryside. Yes, Stonehenge. Not even novas who know what it can do can tell who created it or why. The stone circle was erected by prehistoric Britons, but the doorway which isn't a physical object stands between the pillars of the largest Trilithon.

A nova who concentrates while stepping through can attempt to move to an Earth that matches their intent. Without buying Crosstime travel the nova can only effect small moves to 'nearby' Earths which are very similar to the ones they originate. With CTT a nova can make moves much easier to Earths very different from their own.

"What does this mean for the game?" It means that if you write a story in which the Earth you are on is significantly altered you can move through the doorway to the Earth next door and continue interacting with the other players in the game as though it never happened for them because it didn't. Your character experienced it and went through whatever the traumatic event was, but as far as the others are concerned, it never happened.

I hope this explains things clearly enough.

I do ask that you treat the events seriously. If your Earth is devastated by an asteroid strike killing the entire human race, that should have an effect on your character. Just because you hop over to an undamaged Earth doesn't mean you didn't witness the death of 6 billion people.

[El'Jinn Uu]

I did have a suggestion that is now working out quite well in my Sunday Abby Game. Don't know how much impact this would have in a PBP but, here it is for consideration.

I have made the following rule:

•Whenever a 10 is rolled in game the player may re-roll the dice if they wish (Damage rolls of course are still excluded as always) as per the original WW rule system.

•Actually having a Quality mean that if a Player rolls a nat Ten and is fulfilling a Quality at that time, then that Ten counts as two successes unless said player wishes to chance a re-roll.

I made that small rule because everyone I ran said that they hated to see the old Nat-'10' rule go, but I didn't want players to loose total use of they're Qualities Nor alter the games dynamic (I don't like altering rules too far from what Writers intended unless it is Very needed.

[El'Jinn Uu]

This consept is also in my game now since I always thought that the HL & Pain/Injury rules always seem a little ad-hoc from game to game and the "Body Modification-Extra Health Levels" set up differs from WW game to game w/o consistancy so, I figured "Why not give it a try myself.

(This is intended to fix all three issues at once)

Pain BodyMod

Bruised -0 2NP/6EP=1HL

Hurt -1 1NP/3EP=1HL

Injured -2 1NP/3EP=2HL

Wound -3 1NP/3EP=3HL

Maimed -4 1NP/3EP=4HL

Crippled -5 1NP/3EP=5HL

Incap -6 1NP/3EP=6HL

ND -7 2NP/6EP=1HL

Dead -x NA

•ND=Near Death, for those who use the Aberrant Compendium

•Pain Penalties hold true for both Bashing damage and Lethal

•True Injury comes only from Lethal and hampers die pools regardless of

of ones ability to overcome pain, This represents damage to the

body that is too violant and can Not be mentally willed aways. It causes

physical impairment like broken bones that would make running or even

walking difficult.

The first chart bumps up the redundant -1 from both Hurt and Injured

The second chart opens up players to the idea of not being limited to buying

Bruised or Maimed HL's, with buying HLs that have higher Pain and Injury

penalties buy offering them More of those levels than before.

I put this chart out because this board will be using such highly damaging insta

kill rules and I noticed a player here on the board who created a thread about how

you can never have enough Soak to over-come damage at such high levels. This

will not fix that fact but, it should allow plaerys that ever fun option of creating that

"Die Hard'esque'" character who may not be able to completely shrugg off attacks

from machine guns,but he/she CAN live through it (Even IF they look like dog meat).

This also allows for that "Psudo-Immortal", the kind of being who appears death but

is only "Mostly-Dead", only to rise again... As soon as ALL of that damage heals.

lastly this MAY allow players in such high powered games, such as this, to survive at

least one or two normally insta-kill attacks...

Thus allowing you to play again another day (No guarantee).

[Stargaizer]

Quote:

Rolling now once again lets the player re-roll the dice

Could you explain/rephrase that sentence? I can't grasp what you're trying to say.

[El'Jinn Uu]

Thank you SG for spotting that as it seem a large part of the statement was accidentally deleted. I have altered the above so as to read:

•Whenever a 10 is rolled in game the player may re-roll the dice if they wish (Damage rolls of course are still excluded as always) as per the original WW rule system.

[Mr Fox]

I have no problem with that. I always liked the use of 10s with qualities in OWoD.

I don't foresee the rolling of dice to be that critical. When you get to the upper power levels it's really more about the story you are telling than the dice. The rules give you an understanding of what's possible and how likely it is that you will succeed in what you are doing. Honestly, if you expect me to throw challenges at a 100np nova you'll be sorely disappointed. That's hard enough to do at regular power levels.

As for the altered damage. I think I'm going to pass on that for the same reason.

[El'Jinn Uu]

Heh heh heh,

I know, it was more of a technical thinggy (Plus I thought it just sounded neat).

Side Question:

Don't know if it had been asked yet but, what are the maximum numbers of characters per player? I can't see myself doing much more than three since that would be alot of writting when I now have very limited time in my life to do so but, I just thought I'd ask.

[Terra Sonora Xia]

With regards to the mostly dead thing.. there are a few stamina enhancements that can cover such things, at least, fan designed, some of them are even fairly decently balanced.

[El'Jinn Uu]

100% Agreed 'Terra SX'.

Well, All except Robust that is, which I still like and all, but it's still in need of 'Some' kinda fix. LOL

I like all of those options being open, even though my present PC will not likely ever get to use them since he's (It's) only got one power (MC) and one Mega (Wits) and nothing that I do not forsee allowing him an excuse to have M•Sta or extra HL from them.

Still, I like the clearer option and more logically layed out Pain rules.

[Mr Fox]

Number of characters... hmm. Let's start with one per player and allow a second in a couple months perhaps once things get going. Anything beyond 2 I think should require approval since that normally means that the original characters are getting neglected. Very few people can divide their attention between multiple characters very consistently and establishing a proven track record of doing it should be the requirement of having more than 2.

[Mr Fox]

What I need before you start posting fics...

Date? (Elspeth is set in the year 2026)

How does your Earth differ from Canon? (Elspeth's Earth is a straight canon world... so far.)

Do you plan to make significant changes to canon by your characters actions, or events in your story line? (If you plan on having some significant events that alter history in your stories please let me know what you have in mind.)

I'd like to have this information to help us all keep straight where the characters stand in relation to each other. For example, Elspeth can't really interact with people who are set in 1998 since she's not born until 2011.

This is not to say that characters can't still interact, but we will have to consciously consider how to get them together.

When you start a new fic please include a header that includes the Date the Fic starts.

[Stargaizer]

Charlie Cole, do you still want to share the same world with Joe Smith?

Krul/Tera/Revelation, would you like to share the same world as Joe Smith and possibly Charlie Cole. We plan on fighting us some Terragen. We could be foes... it'd be fun... (if you want)

[Charlie Cole]

Aye. I do.

[Terra Sonora Xia]

Well, I would love to share realms, I very strongly like the idea, it sounds like fun, and I was hoping someone would, but I feel that I should point out the following, in the interest of fairness...

It's going to be hard for the two of you to fight Terra in some ways, as neither of your characters are all that powerful socially, and Revelation is a social powerhouse, even if much of that is focused in appearance (for now). She's no lightweight mentally either, and having Q6 to your Q5 does give her a leading edge, sense I can and will be adding Mastery to her various powers, and perhaps picking up level 4 powers, which neither of you can do until you raise your Quantum. I will also be raising her Mega-Attributes and choosing more enhancements, though I will be focusing on social ones initially.

Now, on the flip side, physically, you both have her beat, everywhere except stamina, and while she possesses enormous versatility with regards to her powers, both of you possess more depth in the powers you do have. Which means in actual combat with one, or both of you, I'll have to plan carefully in order to take advantage of her strengths and minimize her weaknesses.

I plan to go though some of the stuff in Phase One and Phase too, with a few changes here and there, especially the one involving the battle between Divis and Pax, which would be a great time for the three of us to face off, and have a major battle of our own, sense at 100NP, the three of us will be serious powerhouses all of our own in that battle.

All that said, once again, I'd love to have our characters in conflict with one another, though Terra will try to convince you to embrace the philosophy of Teras, and cast off your baseline ideals for something more benefiting a living god.

[Stargaizer]

Honestly, I wouldn't mind if our first 'encounter' were the two of you facing off trying to convince me that I should join your respective side. Charlie could've been sent by Utopia (possibly because they caught wind that Revelation would be coming), and maybe Revelation heard about one of his exhibitions, or heard that he'd created his own island, or something about him that interested her.

Who knows... and if you phrase it right/convince me, he might even side with Tera...

...maybe...

[Charlie Cole]

Sounds good, both of you. Definitely Charlie should be in the same world with both Joe and Revelation. And he can change sides, theoretically, it would just take a bit of convincing. Initially, he's going to be of a non-Teragen mindset. And perhaps he was sent to 'secure' Terra when the three end up meeting.

Unless Joe gets joined up with Utopia's 'Terat Termination Initiative' first.

[Charlie Cole]

Actually, once I'm off vacation and ready to continue full-time posting, here's my initial plan for Charlie:

1. Get a fic with Utopia/DeVries as the middleman, passing him the offer on dealing with Terat leaders/groups.

2. Geryon makes an appearance to whack another baseline leader, only this time, Charlie is there and whacks HIM. That second event could draw the interest of the Teragen and set up possible future interactions, with Terra and co.

[Charlie Cole]

Actually, Fox, I may have a little time to respond to PMs, so can we have a PM chat about the Geryon/other major Terat whacking idea?

[Stargaizer]

I'm glad to see you two posting. I would post as well, but Fox hasn't responded to my PM to approve Joe.

It seems as if everyone here is more well versed in cannon than I am... would anybody be able to come up with a good nova name for Joe?

[Charlie Cole]

Star:

1. I think you're free to post as you wish right now. If Fox had issues with your set-up, he'd have said them in the PM thread already.

2. Nova Name: at the risk of sounding cheesy....

Taekwondo

Hapkido

Akkido

Any martial arts style name...

[Stargaizer]

Yeah, I'm just not used to jumping in and starting play w/o having an 'approval' from the GM.

[Mr Fox]

Go for it SG. I've been out the last couple or three days, but you can jump right in and start posting. I'll go over your revised sheet when I get a little bit and we can discuss any thing that needs to be discussed later.

[Charlie Cole]

Fox: Both me, and I'm guessing Krul (though I may be wrong) are waiting on you for the NPC parts. How soon can you get to action on these?

[Mr Fox]

Try to get to it tonight.

[Charlie Cole]

Tanks. And I mean it. Not thanks, tanks. I figure a dozen of them set loose in the Sahara should provide the Terats with some exercise. After all, a good host like Terra should amuse her guests...

[Terra Sonora Xia]

lol, you want to send tanks out to greet Revelation.. how sweet of you to send such a lovely present.

On a different note, I need a judgment call, sense I'm not sure about it. Awe-Inspiring says it's negatively affected by taint, and then that it's effects are reduced by aberrations. Technically, the Aberrations Terra has are flaws, rather then aberrations, and she doesn't have any significant taint at this point, so should it be 6 auto success or 3 auto successes?

[Charlie Cole]

If they ARE flaws, then I would judge that they manage to pass under the radar and not have an effect.

[Zaylee Zanne]

She does have Chrysalis already though, which makes her even more inhuman than an equal amount of taint. Even if she doesn't technically have any aberrations, I would still suggest penalizing her auto-successes by her social penalty.

[Charlie Cole]

On the other hand, if I'm not mistaken, the current situation seems to involve using Awe-Inspiring upon Teragen novas. In which case, it really doesn't make sense to penalize them for Chrysalis, since it's only a mark of prestige to the Terats.

[Terra Sonora Xia]

That's not a bad point, but, her social penalty only applies to baselines though, it's not because of Chrysalis, it's due to her being a 2nd gen Terat, the social penalty due to Chrysalis doesn't appear until Chrysalis 4.

[Mr Fox]

Just as a reminder, Exp is automatically awarded on the first of the month. 25 exp if you participated during the month.

It is up to you to track your xp awards. I suggest using a Code window like the one I use for Elspeth.

The game officially started in the month of July so there is an award for Aug 1st.

As a reminder, no one is allowed to raise quantum to Q7 until they've had 3 months of activity. You can only raise a skill by One dot per month.

[Justin OOC]

what about quantum pool, or body modification (extra health levels)

[Mr Fox]

I'd prefer them to go up 1 per month also unless it's done through Crysalis or Apothesis or something of the sort. By going up one per month it simulates you growing and changing over time. If you want to jump up and have a reason then I'd consider an exception, but I'd want to see it justified via fics.

[Mr Fox]

We have a couple new players that will be joining in. Welcome guys!!!

Just want everyone to know, Please post a [Character Profile]: Name thread that includes a brief description of your character and their background like you would in any game.

However, Please also include the following:

Date: Make this the basic year that your character is based in. This is important for example: Elspeth is in the year 2026 and Terra is in 2010, therefore they can't interact unless something occurs to bring them together in a common timeline.

Timeline: Give basic info on what timeline your character is in. Ie, is this a regular Canon world? What is different from canon? It would be important for people to know for instance that in your timeline, Divis Mal was killed by a coalition of T2M and Elites hired by the UN.

Please keep this up to date since things change over time as a result of fics that you participate in or due to changes occurring in the timeline. This will help both me as the Mod/ST and other players who might wish to interact with you.

Important events: Like the timeline, please make a bullet point list of important events in your character's history so that others wishing to interact with you will have a decent understanding of who your character is and what they have experienced. This is especially important since this is a multiverse game in which each character is capable of experiencing completely different histories.

Example: (Elspeth)

* Infiltrated Sierra Leone and sabotaged the Jarutu government leading to his death and Elspeth's election as Queen.

* Dealt with attempt by military to subvert her command.

* Ongoing issue with Diamond Mining Corporations.

* Ongoing issue with Project Utopia trying to sabotage her rule.

Keeping this up to date will help others who might want to interact with you to know what plots you have open and what is complete. It will also help me to assist you better.

Thanks.

[Terra Sonora Xia]

Added in Timeline, hope that's what you had in mind, Fox.

[Mr Fox]

I might be missing it, but I didn't see your timeline Terra...

EDIT: Never mind I see it. I was looking for it in your first post. Can you edit to include it there instead of on your character sheet. I think that's where most people will look since it's background info on where your character is and what they've done. Also, Please up the font size to make it a little more prominent. I'll do Elspeth's tonight to give an example of what I have in mind incase there are any questions.

Appreciate the effort though. That's helpful.

[Terra Sonora Xia]

Moved, put it on top, under spoilers, so it's easy to see.

[Mr Fox]

Nice discussion between Terra and Cole.

[Terra Sonora Xia]

Thank you, glad you liked it.

[Mr Fox]

Liked it... that sounds past tense. Hope they aren't done.