Aberrant RPG - novas for real

[harlequin]

i do honestly think a license law would be passed requiring fliers to not only have permits, but to also carry radios that would allow them to communicate with a airport control towers and it would be required that they contact the nearest tower when flying. filing an offical flight plan i can't really see, but for the sake of air traffic and the head ache that could ensue i really can't see it any other way...

i could also see minimun and maximun cruising altitudes enforced. the 100 feet over the freeway i doubt would be legal, due to rubber necking and the increased chance of vehicle accidents. on the other hand, the governments probably would not want any near plane altitudes because of the risk of collision, the flight altitude of birds was taken into account and most planes will not fly at those certain heights to avoid accident. the u.s. military actually used to (and occassionally still does) launch frozen chickens out of grenade launchers at the wind shields, jets, and props of grounded planes and helicopters to see the impact of bird collisions. and let me tell you, the damage is more than significant. they would take having people in the air ten times more seriously and would move to avoid any chance of accident.

anyways, that's my over view of the topic...

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

i do honestly think a license law would be passed requiring fliers to not only have permits, but to also carry radios that would allow them to communicate with a airport control towers and it would be required that they contact the nearest tower when flying. filing an offical flight plan i can't really see, but for the sake of air traffic and the head ache that could ensue i really can't see it any other way...

i could also see minimun and maximun cruising altitudes enforced. the 100 feet over the freeway i doubt would be legal, due to rubber necking and the increased chance of vehicle accidents.

Actually this exact issue came up during play after someone nearly crashed a jet by getting fatally sucked up the turbine.  

So I as a flyer have to keep a helmet with a signal generator and a comunicator with me if I'm going to fly.  And I can't use it too low and I can't use it too high.  So I need an altimeter as well.  And I have to kept the govenment informed of my location when I'm flying, and god help me if I do so without their approval.  And this law applies to maybe 37 people.  

Since I'm not a lawyer, I have no idea whether this kind of thing steps on my personal liberties or not.  It would be very annoying.  At the time, we were going to issue advice on what we thought of the situation.  The other five players had come up with something similar to the above.  My comment was something like this:  "Hmm.  OK.  I think that Mega-App should be licensed.  The potential for mind influancing is to great.  Ditto Mega-Chr & Mega-Manip.  These could be very dangerous to the public if used incorrectly.  I also think that the any nova using these should get the permission of everyone involved before every use and "everyone involved" includes the local government regulators."

Now, new question.  If I just ignore this law, and fly arround unlicensed, what happens to me?  You can't just impound my plane.  You could break my legs I supose, but that seems excessive.  Small (or even large) fines are probably meaningless.  Persumably eventually I get thrown into jail.  And the Teragen gains a convert.

[Breearg]

I'd say fines with continued violation resulting in imprisonment.  Also, it sounds to me that you are already just totally ignoring Human Law anyhow, so you're already a member of the Teragen.  Not to mention, that if you get into a fit over the fact that they get mad because you are using their airspace and endangering the lives of their (and international) citizens then you are kind of psycho anyhow.

Also, this law would apply to crazies who decide to tie balloons to their lawn chairs... so it applies to 38 people

-Breearg

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Not to mention, that if you get into a fit over the fact that they get mad because you are using their airspace and endangering the lives of their (and international) citizens then you are kind of psycho anyhow.

My problem with it is:

1) Bad guys jump me. (A typical scenario)

2) Rather than fight, I just fly away. (This is probably the least dangerous option to the public, q-battles being what they are.)

3) Since I didn't know I was going to fly, I didn't have the 10-15 lbs of government mandated gear with me. Nor did I schedule my jumping ahead of time. So...

4) I am now in violation of said law, even though I never went higher than 100 feet over the ground, and never entered "plane space".

[Bard]

3) Since I didn't know I was going to fly, I didn't have the 10-15 lbs of government mandated gear with me. Nor did I schedule my jumping ahead of time. So...

4) I am now in violation of said law, even though I never went higher than 100 feet over the ground, and never entered \"plane space\".

Yeah, pretty much.  Welcome to a nation ruled by fear of those more powerful than them.  I doubt the American public would voice concern over violation of the rights of 32 people within the country.

I mean, if I were the government I'd whisper and bribe the bar associations of the states that said Novas live in about representing those novas being a bad idea for their lawyers.  Might unearth a few things about said lawyers that would be better off not known.

Basically, I don't see the American government letting it's hands be tied by the Constitution when it comes to controlling superpowered beings.

I mean, what about Equality Before the Law?  The principle where the differences of certain groups are acknowledged in laws.  Like it would acknowledge that Novas have the potential to do a lot of damage with energy bolts, and so get liscences for them.  Or altered passports for Nova teleporters.  Added security in buildings to screen out potentially dangerous Novas, and the requirement that you note on pieces of identification like passports, drivers liscenes, health cards, etc.  Now, of course that would go to court as a violation of the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, but the Canadian government at least could pull the Not Withstanding Clause and nullify that part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in relation to Novas.

Um, ok.  I've rambled on enough about what I've learned from two years of Highschool law courses.  I stand ready for flames and hole poking.

[Breearg]

Yeah... it would have been the same thing if you got jumped and then jumped in a plane (or lawnchair  ::smiley10 ) to escape without a liscense.

It's a violation of the law, plain and simple.

-Breearg

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

I can just see someone going before the court after having destroyed several downtown buildings and explaining that the law didn't give him the option of dragging the fight somewhere else....

[operations]

Just be glad I'm not a Nova...

I'd have killed off half of Congress by now...

[Breearg]

Or you could have just gotten your liscense and then you would have been ok to take off.

Also, that's standard self-defense... its like if some dude jumps you and you accidentally kill some bystander.

-Breearg

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Or you could have just gotten your liscense and then you would have been ok to take off.

Also, that's standard self-defense... its like if some dude jumps you and you accidentally kill some bystander.

-Breearg

Even with a license, you very likely need such things as an altimeter, a transponder, and check ins with air traffic control.  None of those things are available with short notice.

And that assumes you are not a closet nova... and with the Church of Mike around, how many of us wouldn't be?

Put another way, we don't require a license to walk even though we have the ability to walk into traffic.  And there is a lot more ground traffic, and people who can walk, than there are flyers.  For that matter, we don't jail j-walkers.

[Breearg]

A car hits a person, that person has mostly endangered themselves.

A plane hits a person who may or may not get sucked through an engine or go through a cockpit window.  Everyone on that flight is as good as dead.

There is a slight difference.

-Breearg

[Bard]

It's amazing how much of our arguments hinge on the legalities and illegailities of flight.

I dunno.  I think, though, I'd be a whole lot more worried about the guy who can bounce tank shells off his chest and fire bolts of flaming plasma from his fists deciding that he wants a million dollars, walking into a bank, blowing a whole in the vault, and making off with it.  Then deciding that he didn't feel like going to jail and bringing the building down on everyone there.  I think that's a far more likley occurence than a Nova flying into a plane becuase, we're assuming here, that the plane is faster than the Nova flying at that altitude and that the Nova isn't going to see or hear the plane coming.

Ok, lets look at some things here:

-at 30,000 feet there is so little oxygen you'd require the Adaptability enhancement to be able to breath normall and not freeze to death (Flight already covers surviving the friction of going at several hundred or more MPH without reenacting the Hindenburg in rather wet miniature), so we've probably already cut the flier population of America in half of those who can fly at the altitude of jumbojets

-of those fliers, most if not all, have perfect eyesight and hearing and would be able to see an airplane or hear one if they were not flying into, say, stormclouds

-and of thsoe fliers, most probably are flying at between 400 and 2000 MPH

-600mph is roughly the speed of sound, which is less than what jumbo jets fly at

-thus we're probably looking at a total of maybe between 2 and 8 Novas in America who can fly at 30,000 feet and not outrun a passenger jet

So perhaps the law may say that they could not go above, say, a thousand food ceiling.  Or in cities you could do it by the highest landmark.  So in Toronto, you can fly no higher than the CN Tower, in New York the Empire State Building, etc.  This would allow people to fly away from fights without worrying about anything being illegal.  Of course flying above this ceiling would be punishable by...

..errr...

...how DO you catch someone who can fly at Mach 6 for four hours without rest?

Damn good question: how do you jail someone who can create his own personal disintigration field, or who can turn herself insubstantial, or can teleport, or cause their body to heat to temperatures in excess of ten thousand degress celsius?

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

We are using flight because it is easiest to relate too (well, sort of).

A number of problems here.

1) Current laws probably don't restrict Novas that much.

2) It is hard to think of "good" laws for Novas.  When every man is a different species (and a god) the rules tend to come down to "laws should be written for individuals".

3) It is unlikely that the general public and politicians will believe/understand this, so it is likely that bad laws will be written.  (Not that this is a new phenominon).

4) It is likely that (in the US at least) Novas will have something like a right to privacy.

5) It is also likely that Novas will get dragged into influncing the political process fairly quickly.  Since most novas are rich, many will contribute money to polliticians, which will magnify their influence.  Ditto wth the mega-social types.

6) Sounds like an issue where PCs could make a huge impact.

[Quantum Promise]

I remember reading about the idea behind the founding og he Amp Room in the Aberrant corebook. The owner was outlining the psysiological and social aspects of Novas that cause them to gravitate towards one another. If we are only talking about the 250-some Novas residing in the U.S., its a not a large demographic by any stretch of the imagination, and certainly smaller considering the powers said Novas employ. Its very plausible that sizeable factions of American Novas would begin forming, and its equally plausible that the American goverment would have more to worry about at that point than Near-sighted Novas  getting sucked into a jet engine.

Really now, we are actually entertaining the notion that a bunch of evolutionary throwbacks (i.e.: Us) could make laws that have any chance of being enforced, in regards to Novas. No offense, but IM not going to be the guy telling the living Hyper-Sonic Artillery Shell (the guy from WW2,forget his name) that he is in violation of the Queens airspace....

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Zulu-Tango?  I did the math on him and found that his attack is a 20[20] area.  I suspect that WW didn't do the math there since you usually only see attacks like that from the Q6+ bunch.

[Breearg]

Well, I was basing my argument in a world which such a thing can be enforced by a body such as the Directive.

-Breearg

[InterFaze]

well, if Novas be real, maybe we could not be here now

[Quantum Promise]

Once again please?

[7hertz]

I think the advent of Novas for real would utterly shatter the world in many ways. For a start, if a large proportion of them were in 'hostile' countries, the global military state would change alarmingly - with the balance of power shifting.

Also  "well-intentioned" but naive Novas could start an apocalypse -" I'm going to get rid of all nuclear weapons".

The media would have a joygasmic frenzy.

Religions would be challenged.

Charismatic Novas could start cults and religions of their own.

Sales of comic books would soar.

In effect it would be the greatest event of all time in human history...

Pretty scary stuff.

[harlequin]

 ::thumbs-up  

[Bayne Antioc]

Really now, we are actually entertaining the notion that a bunch of evolutionary throwbacks (i.e.: Us) could make laws that have any chance of being enforced, in regards to Novas.

Even if I was a Nova, I'd be loathe to try and tangle with the government. Most Novas aren't immune to a bullet in the night. And even if you had the boom-kew Quantum powers to wipe out lots of people, you'd eventually run out of juice. It's hard to fight a war of attrition on your lonesome.

[Sprocket]

Is there any literature (aside from comics and RPGs) that has really explored this situation? I've read through the Wild Cards shared anthology, and wasn't very impressed. Aside from that, the only recently-published book I've heard of that tackles this question in a realistic manner is Jumper by Steven Gould. (And that book did impress me! ::wink )

[Xeno]

There may be only 250 home-grown in the US, but imagine how many there would be within twenty years.

It is well-established Novas:

1) Are have crazy vitality.

2) Nova’s have insane sex drives. ::devilangel

3) Nova’s have Power, whether it be social, political, wealth, or simply destructive.

3) Nova’s with low taint (ie, baseline’s don’t catch fire while touching) are insanely attractive to baselines. Those with Mega-Social of any sort will be able to sleep with any baseline they meet, and even those who don’t will be quite popular regardless. Kissinger was popular with the ladies, and having seen him in person I can assure you that he would not have been so without the power he wielded. Combine One, Two, and Three, and as long as a Nova has reproductive body parts, it WILL have a lot of sex.

2) I haven’t found too many references to Novas who avoid the facilities and therefore had children, but I do recall in one spot that one member of the Teragen had already had a few children, and that Anna DeVries and a number of the other Elites were mentioned as having children on the way. In the real world, no Nova’s would be sterilized.

Put quite simply, Nova’s really ought to be reproducing like crazy. And even if they don’t have super-high fertility rates, it doesn’t change the fact that many male Novas would be able to go at it quite a few times a night. Any male Nova with Mega-Stamina should be able to knock at least one person up per night on average. ::devil

So, it seems likely to me that even if humanity did go to war against the Novas, by that time there would be far too many spread around.

And for those nations with more diabolical motives, what is to stop them from breeding Novas? The Nazi’s sterilized those they didn’t want to have more of, but if Nova’s are the new nuke, I’d very much want many of them in my country. Breed ‘em, and indoctrinate their children. Of course, what are the chances one of those children will develop Mega-Int 2, Mega-Manip 2, and Mega-Cha 2? The minute one does, they will break free of the indoctrinization. ::sneaky2

In my ST’s upcoming game (http://eononline.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1851), everyone in the world is a Nova a hundred years later. It makes sense to me; Nova’s can reproduce faster, and all baselines would want Nova children, even WITH taint rampant. People are just that arrogant. ::cheesy

So, yeah, long run-on post in summary, at some point the world would wake up and realize it has a Nova problem, get scared, and then capitulate and just try to ensure that they jump in on the fun. Would leave us baseline males a bit out in the cold, but, hey, that’s the way things work when your competitors are just that darn competitive. ::smiley4

~Xeno

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