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Aberrant RPG - Nova Weight


nerdvana

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When we first got Aberrant and my wife read about the body fat content of Novas she said that couldn't be right, based on the pictures of the women.  Fat cells are what make women curvy after all (Sorry women, I am not calling you fat, just discussing this scientifically :)).

How does everyone else take those comments by Dr. Harver?

\"They actually hover between 0% and .5% more fat than the minimum needed for basic nervous system insulation\"

The nova women should all be flat chested was my wife's comment...

Serious replies only, I'm not trying to start a flame war...

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Oh, side question!

How would you handle a Nova like the Blob who is discustingly overweight (yes, as an Aberration).  Would this not be a possible aberration due to the above "Fact" about Novas, or can an aberration cause the Nova to be an exception to the rule?

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i noticed that but never worked the numbers... i figure it was another of white wolf's, "all vampires are thin, all were wolves are muscular." thing just a way to appeal to more people, but that is a funny point... at that amount of body fat, a person would almost literally look like a skeleton they would be so skinny. i remember when i was in the hospital i was down to about 3% (which is far above .5%) and i looked like hell, my body began eating at my muscle, i could barley move myself, i was groggy all the time and many other horrible side effects... *side note: i was born with all my internal oragns in the wrong places, no one noticed until it almost killed me when i was twelve*

i think some one got the numbers they wanted wrong... i'm pretty sure a person even a nova would need slightly more body fat... then again, maybe that is where taint comes from, craziness from lack of fat... it has many uses and benfits, but tends to clump in odd places...  ::bigsmile

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::crazy Wait you mislead me?  ;)

Seriously though, your comments make sense, support those of my wife and my own... no, we're not medical professionals either, but with her having been gestational diabetic three times and recently diagnosed full diabetic I figure that were pretty well trained amatures... plus web searching back when Aberrant came out for research also supports our views.

Again thanks. ::bigsmile

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True, nova metabolism does make things run like clockwork, but that's not to say that nova women can't look nice and curvy (mega-app anyone) or the fellas can't look bulked out and beefy (mega-str) or a combo of the two for either gender.

-Defender.

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Well Harle, part of it's Quantum affecting the body, and another part of it is your average person's subconcious desires at work too. Everyone wants to be the beautiful people, and the unconcious has a strong influnce on your initial "look" as a nova. This can be the height of physical perfection, or in the case of more disturbed or less stable individuals their secret fears and anxieties could manifest (which would explain aberrations to the character that the player causes buying Tainted atts or powers and having too much initial Quantum or Node).

-Defender.

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your reading it wrong

No, I'm not... What I am saying is that only .5% more is insufficient to make a typical woman's "curvy parts"... the nova women without Mega-App should all be flat chested rails as should the men who don't have Mega-App.

Or Bulging Muscles I guess also...

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  • 1 month later...

I'd say the "skinny novas" rule is only for people who have that body image as their ideal (IE: most of the western world).

I think that when people erupt, they shift themselves into an idealized representation of themselves. Still recognizable as who they are, but with some of the flaws (such as a little excess body fat or not enough muscle) smoothed out.

However, there are those individuals for whom that is not what they want to look like. For instance, if a plus-sized model who was genuinely happy with her voluptuous form was to erupt, I'd say that she would remain as curvy as ever.

Interesting note: our current feminine ideal (either aerobicized and muscular, or lithe with large bosoms) is really an aberration. For the vast majority of history, the ideal was a good deal curvier. Just look at examples such as maralyn monroe (at least 20 lbs overweight by medical charts), Venus de Milo (would never get a modeling job nowadays), and Rubens' The Three Graces (clinically obese).

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The second half of the body fat sentence in the core book is as follows:

as the quantum processed by the M-R node maximizes their bodies natural functions and minimizes the obstacles that impede those functions.

The question then becomes: "What natural function is served by breast size?"

I should also point out that women "naturally" have a higher acceptable body fat percentage than men. The fat serves more purpose than just protecting neural sheaths, but we'll have to wait for someone with more knowledge than me to offer up just what those purposes are.

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The question then becomes: \"What natural function is served by breast size?\"

Easy. Be warned, though, that I'm going to get into a grove below. I may not type as much as Chill, but it'll be something.

Our male ancestors (go with me here, folks, this is going to get a bit Darwin-ish), monkies and the like, used the posterior of the famales to determine when the girls were in estrus, and thus able to mate. The back end would swell a great deal when nubile, looking quite different from normal.

We humans, upright walking people that we are (for the most part), have a tougher time relying on that system, as womens' backsides don't grow during \"that special time.\" (We married men know to stay as far from that topic as possible.  ;) ) Instead, human female breasts have evolved to demonstrate fertility. Since humans are fecund year-round, this acts as the same advertisement that the posterior did back when we were tree-swingers.

Thus the male fascination with breasts and the general attraction of size.

I should also point out that women \"naturally\" have a higher acceptable body fat percentage than men. The fat serves more purpose than just protecting neural sheaths, but we'll have to wait for someone with more knowledge than me to offer up just what those purposes are.

I'll take a stab at this one, too.

As you mentioned, TM, the neuron sheaths are one advantage women have over men. (Again, married guys know this all too well.  :D ) The higher fat percentage is, of course, a big player in procreation. It serves as a general age verification, in that mature women look very different than young girls due to the added fat in specific areas of their bodes (hips, breasts). This way, it allows one to see immediately whether a guy looking for a wife should even invest his time.

The extra fat also acts as a bckup plan when a women gets pregnant. The energy stored therein can help the woman get through lean times without sacrificing her body or the growing child's due to lack of nutrients.

Hope that all helped.

Hm. Looks like the Vizier became the Professor for a moment.  :)

-Joseph

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