Aberrant RPG - Post your Quantum Powers and Enh. here

[Alex Green]

Mental Illusion with a limitation then.

[SkyLion]

Seriously...the keep it simple method always prevails...and of course there is the advice in the APG to ask "What is it I am trying to do?" and seeing if there in a preexisting way to handle it. Best not to get too byzantine (I had to use that word!).

[Centimane]

Hi all, I notice that no one's posted on this thread in a looooong time, so I'm not sure how quickly anyone will notice these, but I've got some serious insomnia going on here and I had to ease the pain somehow. ::brick

So I whipped up a couple of powers just for the hell of it and decided to post them here! ::biggrin

Feel free to criticize - I'm so tired right now I'm not even sure these'll be coherent, so I'm sure they'll deserve it. But hey, I'm a glutton for punishment and I like to live on the edge! ::devil

Anyway here's the first one:

Name: Iron Will

Level: 3

Quantum Minimum: 4; must also have a Willpower score of 5 or higher.

Dice Pool: Varies

Range: self

Duration: varies

Area: none

Effect: allows a nova with this power to use his Willpower score to much greater effect.

Multiple action: yes

Description: This subtle yet versatile power adds an extra punch to its owner’s Willpower score. Her Willpower is much more potent and efficient than any normal person’s allowing her to perform feats that others would find simply impossible. One important limitation to this power, however, is that it never functions at a higher level than the owner’s current temporary Willpower score. So if a nova with this power at rank 5 has a current temporary Willpower score of 3 then only three dots of Iron Will are available to the character.

Will of Steel

Dice Pool: Quantum + Iron Will

Range: self

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

Whenever the nova spends a Willpower point or rolls Willpower (for any roll not involving this power) while this technique is active they may roll their Quantum + Iron soul. The successes achieved are added to those gained from Willpower up to their rating in this power.

Psychic Shield

Range: self

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

The nova receives two extra successes per dot on any roll to resist mental powers. If the power causes damage, like Mental Blast, then this technique also provides two extra soak per dot.

Tenacity

Dice Pool: Willpower + Iron Will

Range: Self

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

Through sheer force of will the nova pushes her pain and discomfort to the back of her mind so that she can accomplish what needs to be done. In addition to the normal quantum cost, the nova must also spend one point of temporary Willpower. She then rolls Willpower + Iron Will, for each success she may ignore 1 die penalty (from damage, being stunned, etc.) up to the number of dots she has in this power.

Never Say Die

Range: self

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

Some people just don’t know when to give up, pushing them to the brink of defeat only strengthens their resolve to win at any cost. Novas with this power take this advantage to the next level. Anytime the nova takes damage that puts her at Hurt (-1) or lower, she may spend one quantum point for each level of damage below Bruised to gain an extra point of temporary willpower (up to the limit of her permanent Willpower) on a one for one basis. These points must be spent before the Duration of this power is up or before the end of combat or the nova heals the damage (or until they’re dead, for obvious reasons). The nova must spend one quantum point for each point of temporary Willpower that is gained, but this counts as an automatic feat not as an action.

Note: Use of this power does not remove any damage sustained by the nova. Also note that this technique may not be used while the Tenacity technique (above) is in use. This is because Never Say Die relies on the pain of injury to crystallize the Nova's resolve, while Tenacity uses the nova's resolve to remove pain.

Soul Rejuvenation

Dice Pool: Willpower + Iron Will

Range: self

Area: N/A

Duration: special

This technique replaces the quantum a nova would normally gain through resting with temporary Willpower points. To do this the nova spends five quantum points, then rolls her Willpower + Iron Will to determine the degree of effectiveness that resting will have. 1 success means the nova regains a single point of Willpower per hour, 3 successes means the nova gains 2 points of Willpower per hour, while 5 or more successes grants the nova 3 points of Willpower per hour. Unless the nova is completely at rest (i.e. sleeping or in deep meditation), she gains nothing from this power. If the nova is disturbed or stops resting before the hour is up, this power fails and no Willpower points are gained. The nova regenerates no quantum points for the duration of this power. At the end of one hour, or when the nova is disturbed from her rest, this power ceases to function and the nova starts regenerating quantum as normal. If the nova wishes to continue gaining Willpower, she may simply pay the quantum cost and continue gaining Willpower at the previously rolled rate, or she may re-roll if she wishes to attempt gaining more Willpower. While a failed roll simply means that the nova gains neither Willpower nor Quantum for one hour (unpleasant), a botch means the nova will gain 1 point of temporary taint.

Extras: none

[SkyLion]

First of all, A hearty and warm welcome to the forums Cottus! ::welcome ::welcome ::welcome ::superfunny

Second, those are cool powers. It took me a moment to figure out that the Willpower one was a suite power. Its potentially unbalancing given the potency of spending willpower so I would suggest a higher Q-minimum, though Iike your self limiting clause about not being higher than temporary will. Still its preeeetty darn potent...

I also especially liked the extras for celerity. It brought a new freshness to a an old Brujah standby...Flow like water....mmmmm ::happy

Third, We need new players for our Trinity and Adventure era games. Sci-fi or Pulp anyone? They have stalled abit due to real life complications and player attrition but they are far from dead. You may even be able to talk BlueNinja into letting you join the Aberrant game since thats obviously your first bent. I know he set a cap on players but I have so far been amazed at how well thought his campaign is. Truly he is consistent and invested Storyteller. Buttering him up always helps, as do cash bribes... ::wink

[Centimane]

And here's the second:

Name: Celerity

Level: 2

Quantum Minimum: 3

Dice Pool: N/A

Range: self

Duration: varies

Area: N/A

Effect: Grants extra actions or decreases dodge difficulties.

Multiple action: N/A

Description: This power has two very straightforward uses, but only one may be in effect at a time. First, upon activation, this power grants the nova a number of extra physical actions equal to their rating in this power for that turn only. These extra actions have an increasing –2 initiative penalty just like those gained from the quickness enhancement. The second use is defensive in nature and its duration is maintenance. Upon activation the nova must designate a single target, thereafter she can dodge or parry all attacks launched against her by this target without incurring a penalty for taking multiple actions. These extra dodges only apply to the designated target; dodging any other opponents or taking any other actions (attacks, power rolls, etc.) incur multiple action penalties as normal. However the character must be aware of her intended target in the first place, and if the target moves out of the area, becomes invisible, etc. (anything that would cause the character to lose track of her target) the character immediately loses her ability to dodge the target without penalty. If the player wishes to select a new target or make use of her extra actions she must activate the power again at full cost.

Extras: Full Auto: the nova may use all of her extra action at once, with no dice penalty for each subsequent action. Flow like Water: The nova rolls Wits + Celerity, for each success she may target one additional opponent whose attacks she may dodge as stated in power description (the limit of extra targets is her rating in this power).

Yeah, I know, cribbed it from Vampire. But it was cool in WoD, so why not in Aberrant? ::wink

Okay, now that I'm awake again I took a look at Iron Will, and I see what you mean. What can I say, I was tired! ::wacko

Anyway, I took a crack at it again, so let me know what you think. Just so you know, Iron Will is supposed to allow the owner's Willpower score an extra degree of versatility, but only for a limited time (as they're presumably spending Willpower points, thus degrading Iron Will's effectiveness). So if you think this still isn't happening, then by all means, give some more suggestions for limiting it (higher Q-min, higher Q-cost for techniques, etc.).

Oh, and I had to chop up the original post to reedit it because it was too many characters. Sorry. ::blush

[SkyLion]

So are you going to come and play with us? ::happy

[Centimane]

Here's another power I just cooked up. It's based off the power that Maverick (from X-Men) was supposed to have back in the day. Let me know what you guys think.

Name: Probability Forging

Level: 3

Quantum Minimum: 4

Dice Pool: varies

Range: self

Duration: Maintenance

Area: N/A

Effect: Gives the character a brief glimpse into the future, allowing them to perform actions with much greater confidence. Number of successes determines degree of effectiveness.

Multiple action: yes

Description: This power works similar to Pretercognition, but is much more focused and limited. By peering into the immediate future the nova gains a preternatural advantage over her opponents. There are a number of benefits to this power. First, on a successful roll of Wits + Probability Forging, the user may add the successes rolled as extra dice to any combat roll, with a duration of (Quantum) turns. However he may only add these successes to as many actions per turn as his power rating, and he may only add a number of successes equal to his power rating. Second, the nova may use this power in conjuction with basic ability rolls (but not those involving other powers). To do this, the nova rolls Quantum + Probability Forging and adds the successes achieved to a single Ability roll, or he may divide the successes up between multiple rolls. Because this power only allows a brief glimpse into the immediate future it is very difficult to maintain over an extended period of time, as the number of future variables become too great for any mind to deal with. If the nova using this power wishes to keep it activated past its initial duration, he must pay double the quantum cost and incurs a +1 difficulty to his roll. If the nova lets the power wear off, but decides he wants to reactivate it before the end of the scene in which he last used this power, he may do so without the extra quantum cost, but incurs a +2 penalty on his roll (this is because he's already muddled with the flow of events with his last power roll, and is now trying to find the right "thread" of events again).

Extras: none

Oh, hey there SkyLion, was so busy making powers up I didn't notice the new post. ::blush

Where precisely are the games being played, and who precisely would I be talking to about playing?

Oh, and thank for the offer too! ::happy

[SkyLion]

Well Cottus! You've come to the right place....the games are played here on the forums naturally. BlueNinja is THE MAN! Yes I happen to know that he is in fact male but moreover than that he is one of the more "put-together" ST I have had the privelege of playing with. He designs his games in ways that mimic the genre. Our aberrant game right now is based on episodes and really does feel like we are watching/playing the Nova version of Stargate SG-1, complete with trailers, outtakes and celebrity guest stars!

,,

Now technically he has put his foot down on that game being closed due to his max number of players, but maybe you could convince him otherwise (again, cash bribes work wonders (j/k BN). If you talked with him about his game and had a character concept he felt would really add to the show, er game, then he might bend. Im fairly new (only on my second episode cuz the first one I was in took forever...) so I don't know how firm he is but it never hurts to ask!

,,

Games that are definitly ope are his other games set in the pulp era of Adventure! and in the future of aberrant during the Trinity era. Both games have just started and both have lost 1 or more players, either due to computer failure or mysterious disappearances (Ithural WTF?!?!?). If you dig those other settings and can (on good weeks when real life doesn't slam you) try and post up at least one good one a day, then I am sure I can speak for Pheonix, Blu3Lion, and BlueNinja when I say that you will be most welcome!

,,

And for the above mentioned parties, sorry those games have lagged from my end too...RL is way hectic but will settle back down once I finish moving (mid to late Oct.) ::wacko

,,

And again Welcome Welcome Welcome! The others should be around here to welcome you as well (*ahem!*...pokes the Board)

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Oh yeah...you posted up another power too, so might want to address that. At first I thought "Wow! Thats abuse-worthy!) Until I saw that there is a limit of dots in the power for extra dice.

,,

Still, do people with M-Dex really need more successes???? Like all concepts it would need ST approval but given that the Q-Minimum is 4 Id say that giving Q-turns worth of duration is alot. Most combat in Aberrant is over within 3 rounds, so its not really a check or balance in this case. Since you defined it as only peeking a few seconds in the future I would say that you should only get the bonus for 1 round (ie the one you just snuck a peek at). Having to activate it each time will get juice intensive and thus balance out its *huge* effectivness (remember we aren't talking about adding to the dice pool...We are talking about adding successes...to every action.)

,,

Alternatly you could just take "danger sense" (intuition), luck, the optional Foresight enhancement for M-Perception found in the semi-official Brainwaves Mega-Attribute (Mentals) Sourcebook, (conveniently located for free download right here at Eon ( ::happy )), and maybe even M-Dex defined storywise as not really Dex but preternatural probability flux and you've got the same PC, possibly alot cheaper and without resorting to creating new powers and going through the ofentimes arduous process of ST scrutiny, apporval and veto...

,,

Storytellers love the KISS method (except for Prof. Potts, currently also MIA. ::tongue )

[Centimane]

Still, do people with M-Dex really need more successes???? Like all concepts it would need ST approval but given that the Q-Minimum is 4 Id say that giving Q-turns worth of duration is alot. Most combat in Aberrant is over within 3 rounds, so its not really a check or balance in this case. Since you defined it as only peeking a few seconds in the future I would say that you should only get the bonus for 1 round (ie the one you just snuck a peek at). Having to activate it each time will get juice intensive and thus balance out its *huge* effectivness (remember we aren't talking about adding to the dice pool...We are talking about adding successes...to every action.)

The thing about is, I couldn't remember exactly where I had seen this (other than Maverick, as mentioned before), but I just got back from driving to LA (ugh), and while driving I remembered. This power is pretty much a direct rip out of Exalted: The Autochthonians, except that I actually toned it down somewhat. I guess I just figured "if they can have, then so can we!", but it also occured to me that it was a bit much. Still, that's why I posted it; to see what others thought of it.

[SkyLion]

Oohhh...Autocthonians...cool! I hadn't heard about that one, since I don't follow Exalted, but Im a longtime Magelover so we all know what happens to Autocthonia...Iteration X. Actually if you follow some of the obscure ST material its revealed that Autocthonia happens to ItX. ::devil Bad Computer...

,,,,

Did you PM BN?

[Alex Green]

Cottus Centimane

Hail and well met. Welcome to the boards. ::beer30 ::welcome

RE: Iron Will Power

Lots of overlap with the IronWill merit and the power Invulnerability (BC): Willpower Resisted Effects. Having said that, both of those are over powered and I like the idea of spending quantum to maintain effects. So on the whole I think I like it.

RE: Celerity

A technique giving extra actions already exists in the (Q5) Temporal Manipulation Suite… I’m not sure if breaking that out makes it Q2. This is fairly close to being “Quick” as a low Q maintenance power. Meaning I can buy Quick or I can buy a dot in this which is by far superior in all ways. This might be workable as a Q4 L3 power...

I do not understand Upon activation the nova must designate a single target, thereafter she can dodge or parry all attacks launched against her by this target with her full, unmodified dice pools.

Does that mean the nova always gets a dodge, even if no action is available? How does this interact with particle actions from multitasking?

RE: Probability Forging

For the defensive version of this…

No need for this. If the rest of the power is a BIG power by itself, then there is no need to put everything attached to it’s theme in there. Let someone who has this power also buy Intuition.

The offensive use is as follows: on a successful roll of Wits + Probability Forging, the user may add the successes rolled as successes on every roll for the next (Quantum rating) turns.

Luck on steroids and seriously broken. Say I have 3 dots in this power. So I get three auto-succ to hit the “dodge” based character, hosing him… or I have 3 auto succ on a critical ability roll… or I can even power-max and tuck this in there. I can add this to a node-spark roll, etc. Whatever I need on demand.

The first thing to point out is Luck doesn’t add to power rolls (including Chrysalis). It mentions background checks and abilities, and in combat for offense it just adds dice.

[Centimane]

RE: Iron Will Power

Lots of overlap with the IronWill merit and the power Invulnerability (BC): Willpower Resisted Effects. Having said that, both of those are over powered and I like the idea of spending quantum to maintain effects. So on the whole I think I like it.

Thanks!

RE: Celerity

A technique giving extra actions already exists in the (Q5) Temporal Manipulation Suite… I’m not sure if breaking that out makes it Q2. This is fairly close to being “Quick” as a low Q maintenance power. Meaning I can buy Quick or I can buy a dot in this which is by far superior in all ways. This might be workable as a Q4 L3 power...

I do not understand Upon activation the nova must designate a single target, thereafter she can dodge or parry all attacks launched against her by this target with her full, unmodified dice pools.

Does that mean the nova always gets a dodge, even if no action is available? How does this interact with particle actions from multitasking?

I slightly edited this one after reading your post (upping Q-min, and modifying the line about dodging), but I still haven't upped it to a L3 power because it doesn't add any of the extra benefits that having a dot (or more) in Mega-Wits (thus having access to Quick) gives. Perhaps you can still convince me, though? ::wink

Regarding the dodging effect: you target a single target with this power, and for the Duration you may dodge however many attacks he can throw at you per turn without using up any of your normal actions. This doesn't mean you can attack that character as many times as you want, only dodge (and yes, you would always get a dodge roll, even if you have no actions left), and this has no effect on any other enemies that you might be trying to deal with (you must dodge/attack as normal where they're concerned). However, perhaps you can suggest an effective (and reasonable) way of limiting the total number of actions per turn that can be dodged?

RE: Probability Forging

For the defensive version of this…

No need for this. If the rest of the power is a BIG power by itself, then there is no need to put everything attached to it’s theme in there. Let someone who has this power also buy Intuition.

Yeah, I took that out. Thanks for the suggestion.

The offensive use is as follows: on a successful roll of Wits + Probability Forging, the user may add the successes rolled as successes on every roll for the next (Quantum rating) turns.

Luck on steroids and seriously broken. Say I have 3 dots in this power. So I get three auto-succ to hit the “dodge” based character, hosing him… or I have 3 auto succ on a critical ability roll… or I can even power-max and tuck this in there. I can add this to a node-spark roll, etc. Whatever I need on demand.

The first thing to point out is Luck doesn’t add to power rolls (including Chrysalis). It mentions background checks and abilities, and in combat for offense it just adds dice.

I also reedited the power in general so it doesn't effect power rolls (I hadn't even thought of that before you mentioned it). ::blush

See what you think of it now.

[BlueNinja]

Regarding the dodging effect: you target a single target with this power, and for the Duration you may dodge however many attacks he can throw at you per turn without using up any of your normal actions. This doesn't mean you can attack that character as many times as you want, only dodge (and yes, you would always get a dodge roll, even if you have no actions left), and this has no effect on any other enemies that you might be trying to deal with (you must dodge/attack as normal where they're concerned). However, perhaps you can suggest an effective (and reasonable) way of limiting the total number of actions per turn that can be dodged?

I'd suggest rather that for each dot in the power, you get one dodge that does not suffer any further dice penalties. IE, at two dots, you get two dodges that don't add to any dice penalties for multiple actions. Otherwise, the power has the effect of nullifying wound penalties, Immobilize, Disorient, and other suite powers that would reduce the character's dice pool. This way, if the character is already at -2 dice (for whatever reason), having 2 dots in this power lets him dodge twice at -2 dice before he starts suffering any more penalties.

Try to look unimportant - the bad guys may be short on ammunition.

That just means they'll knife you or strangle you to death first. (Or if it's a particularly vindictive Garret, blackjack you and then throw you off a roof, into a lake, or down the center of the Mechanist Angel Tower.) ::happy

[Centimane]

I'd suggest rather that for each dot in the power, you get one dodge that does not suffer any further dice penalties. IE, at two dots, you get two dodges that don't add to any dice penalties for multiple actions. Otherwise, the power has the effect of nullifying wound penalties, Immobilize, Disorient, and other suite powers that would reduce the character's dice pool. This way, if the character is already at -2 dice (for whatever reason), having 2 dots in this power lets him dodge twice at -2 dice before he starts suffering any more penalties.

I like that! As soon as I have more time I'll officially edit the original post.

That just means they'll knife you or strangle you to death first. (Or if it's a particularly vindictive Garret, blackjack you and then throw you off a roof, into a lake, or down the center of the Mechanist Angel Tower.) ::happy

Only if they can catch me! "Rememer, you don't have to outrun the bear (or vindictive Garret), just the slowest person." And anyway: "Perfect Health is just the slowest possible speed at which you can die." ::happy

[BlueNinja]

"Perfect Health is just the slowest possible speed at which you can die." ::happy

Hit Points: Anything More Than Zero Means I'm Good to Go.

[Centimane]

Hit Points: Anything More Than Zero Means I'm Good to Go.

Though at less than 3 Hit Points you'll be getting there slowly and messily (ick).

[Centimane]

Okay, so I edited the Celerity power again, but I'm still a little stuck on one part of it.

As far as the dodges go, I tend to agree that allowing essentially unlimited dodges against even a single opponent for (Maintenance) rounds is a little much.

But.

If I reduce that to "character may dodge (power rating) number of attackts against a single opponent for (Maintenance) rounds" there's really no difference at all between the two variations of the powers.

However.

If I kept the "character may dodge/parry all attacks made by a single opponent" part, but changed the duration to a single round per quantum expenditure, do you guys think that would balance it out more? Yes? No?

Other suggestions?

Again, thanks for all the input so far, your suggestions have really been quite good (not to mention helpful). ::biggrin

[SkyLion]

Okay, so I edited the Celerity power again, but I'm still a little stuck on one part of it.

As far as the dodges go, I tend to agree that allowing essentially unlimited dodges against even a single opponent for (Maintenance) rounds is a little much.

But.

If I reduce that to "character may dodge (power rating) number of attackts against a single opponent for (Maintenance) rounds" there's really no difference at all between the two variations of the powers.

However.

If I kept the "character may dodge/parry all attacks made by a single opponent" part, but changed the duration to a single round per quantum expenditure, do you guys think that would balance it out more? Yes? No?

Other suggestions?

Again, thanks for all the input so far, your suggestions have really been quite good (not to mention helpful). ::biggrin

,,

Why do you want it to be only a single opponent? Celerity the Vampire Discipline doesn't have any such limitation. Why not just make it [successes] free dodges in the round. It keeps it defensive (since there are already powers that give extra actions...Celerity is just another word for quickness after all...) and balanced and now you can apply those penalty-free dodges to anyone around, including if it was just one person.

[Centimane]

Why do you want it to be only a single opponent? Celerity the Vampire Discipline doesn't have any such limitation. Why not just make it [successes] free dodges in the round. It keeps it defensive (since there are already powers that give extra actions...Celerity is just another word for quickness after all...) and balanced and now you can apply those penalty-free dodges to anyone around, including if it was just one person.

Well, I wanted to differentiate between the offensive and defensive variations. The idea was that with the offensive version, your character is being just that: offensive. She's moving with incredible speed whether she's attacking or defending to the point that she's just a blur. You get extra actions just like the Vampire discipline, and everyone goes home happy. ::cool But with the defensive version, I wanted it to be a highly focused way of putting the character's speed to use. Essentially, the character picks one opponent (say the least threatening, for example) out of whatever group she's facing and, for the duration of the power, she can pretty much ignore that opponent, just dodging whatever attacks they throw at her and focus on the other (presumably more powerful) opponents. The main difference between the two variations is that with the offensive version you just get extra actions that you can apply however you want, but with the defensive version you get as many dodges as you need, but against one opponent only and they are only dodges. If you want to do anything other than dodge that one targeted opponent then you start using actions as normal and you don't get the benifit of the extra actions that you could otherwise gain through the offensive use of this power (though if you had Quick you could activate that). So it's a tradeoff: the defensive version could be real useful in certain situations, but in others you'd want to stick with the extra actions, the trick would be in figuring out when to use which variation. So Celerity's more flexible than Quickness, but it doesn't come with all the added benefits of having M.Wits.

Or at least, that's the idea. ::brick ::glare ::cool

[SkyLion]

I can see your intention but, and this could just be me, it doesn't "make sense". If you are that fast and locked into one person, but someone else could just nail you??? As a serious fan of martial arts (both real and cinematic), the best are trained to be completely aware of there surroundings at all times and severl, like Ba Gua are designed to deal specifically with multiple opponents. NOW, the caveat here id that Novas can do whatever they want, and if one erupted in a group of mitoids and 1 Mega Dex Nova and his subconscious said "Make sure that one doesn't ever get a shot in..." then it could make sense. *Just for me personally*, I would never want to spend valuable nova points on it. No offense intended mind you. Its great to see you mashing up the creative juices to come up with something new. ::thumbup1

[Alex Green]

Essentially, the character picks one opponent (say the least threatening, for example) out of whatever group she's facing and, for the duration of the power, she can pretty much ignore that opponent, just dodging whatever attacks they throw at her and focus on the other (presumably more powerful) opponents.

Where you may have problems balance wise is if you do the opposite. Pick the most powerful opponent.

Extra actions, even extra actions only useable for one thing in combat, are extremely useful. That's why it's either very expensive and limited to get them (i.e. Quick gives one and costs 1q) or very difficult and limited (Temporal Manip is Q5 and only gives one per dot or succ, which ever is lesser).

If you are giving out an unlimited number of dodges, then you need to put some serious counter weight on that. A cost of one temp willpower per dodge for example.

[Centimane]

Essentially, the character picks one opponent (say the least threatening, for example) out of whatever group she's facing and, for the duration of the power, she can pretty much ignore that opponent, just dodging whatever attacks they throw at her and focus on the other (presumably more powerful) opponents.

Where you may have problems balance wise is if you do the opposite. Pick the most powerful opponent.

Extra actions, even extra actions only useable for one thing in combat, are extremely useful. That's why it's either very expensive and limited to get them (i.e. Quick gives one and costs 1q) or very difficult and limited (Temporal Manip is Q5 and only gives one per dot or succ, which ever is lesser).

If you are giving out an unlimited number of dodges, then you need to put some serious counter weight on that. A cost of one temp willpower per dodge for example.

I can see your intention but, and this could just be me, it doesn't "make sense". If you are that fast and locked into one person, but someone else could just nail you??? As a serious fan of martial arts (both real and cinematic), the best are trained to be completely aware of there surroundings at all times and severl, like Ba Gua are designed to deal specifically with multiple opponents. NOW, the caveat here id that Novas can do whatever they want, and if one erupted in a group of mitoids and 1 Mega Dex Nova and his subconscious said "Make sure that one doesn't ever get a shot in..." then it could make sense. *Just for me personally*, I would never want to spend valuable nova points on it. No offense intended mind you. Its great to see you mashing up the creative juices to come up with something new.

One says it's too limited, one says it's too powerful. *sigh* The tribulations of a would-be creator. ::brick Heh, just kidding. ::wink And thanks again for the feedback guys. Now, let's see if I can find some kind of middle ground here.

Okay, Alex, in response to your post: I agree with you to a point, but I have to disagree on one or two things as well.

Where you may have problems balance wise is if you do the opposite. Pick the most powerful opponent.

Here's why I disagree with this: all of those extra dodges your character is getting are just that - dodges. You can't counterattack and, perhaps more importantly, Celerity adds nothing to your dice pool. So if you with, say, Dex 4, M.Dex 1, Wits 3, M.Wit 1, and Celerity 2 try to use the defensive variant against an (more powerful) opponent with, say, Dex 5, M.Dex 5, Wits 4, M.Wit 3, and M.Str 2 - you're basically screwed. You may have an unlimited number of available dodge attempts against your more powerful opponent, but he's just got more dice to hit you with, and eventually, infinite number of dodges or not, he's gonna hit you, and it's gonna hurt (and this is assuming that he doesn't even have Quick). Which is why you either want to target a slower opponent you know can then ignore - thereby allowing your character to focus whatever other powers and abilities they have on the other (more dangerous) enemies - or your character uses the aggressive variant instead and puts all those extra actions to use as attacks in an attempt to put their enemies down before they put you down.

See what I mean? (and it's okay if you don't - I always allow for the possibility that I'm completely wrong - it saves embarrasment later on) ::biggrin

Now, Skylion, in response to your post: I see your point (and I'm also a huge fan of martial arts films), but if a character with this ability wanted to defend against everyone around him, then he'd use the aggressive variant of this power in combination with Multitasking which would do the job just fine. For an example of what I was thinking of with the defensive variant watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The scene where the cop, his daughter, and the patrolman all fight Jade Fox at the same time is what I'm referring to. In that scene Jade Fox basically ignores the patrolman, and even uses him against the other cop during the fight. Now maybe I should come up with some mechanic for allowing a character to not only defend against their target, but possibly even use the target's attacks against the character's enemies like Jade Fox did, but I guess I was just trying to keep things simple. Also, you'll note that the extra "Flow like Water" allows a player to target multiple opponents for dodging, which would also accomplish what you were talking about. Anyways, I hope you see what I'm getting at. This power was basically designed for speed junkies and people who don't like to worry about that scrub in the corner with M.Str 3 and no M.Dex (annoying little buggers). ::happy

So there's my two cents, plus fifty more for good measure, hope y'all enjoy. ::cool

[Alex Green]

Here's why I disagree with this: all of those extra dodges your character is getting are just that - dodges. You can't counterattack…

Bull. If I have Quick x2 and am fighting someone with Quick x2 I may have to use all three actions on defense, especially if I’m really worried about getting hit.

Add Celerity to this and I can attack with all three normal actions since I have an unlimited number of dodges. Better still, there is no reason at all for me to not attack since I don’t gain any dice by withholding actions, and I can spare my willpower if he wins init.

IMHO Celerity is one of the most offensive (in a combat sense) powers I have seen. All things being equal, the guy with Celerity is going to win… that’s a big problem right there. He gets to use ALL his normal actions to attack, the other guy either has to use his actions to dodge or he has to take them. If *everyone* would find insanely useful in hand to hand combat, then it’s too powerful.

and, perhaps more importantly, Celerity adds nothing to your dice pool. So if you with, say, Dex 4, M.Dex 1, Wits 3, M.Wit 1, and Celerity 2 try to use the defensive variant against an (more powerful) opponent with, say, Dex 5, M.Dex 5, Wits 4, M.Wit 3, and M.Str 2 - you're basically screwed. You may have an unlimited number of available dodge attempts against your more powerful opponent, but he's just got more dice to hit you with and eventually, infinite number of dodges or not, he's gonna hit you, and it's gonna hurt (and this is assuming that he doesn't even have Quick). Which is why you either want to target a slower opponent you know can then ignore - thereby allowing your character to focus whatever other powers and abilities they have on the other (more dangerous) enemies - or your character uses the aggressive variant instead and puts all those extra actions to use as attacks in an attempt to put their enemies down before they put you down.

OK, first of all, someone with Celerity is built around dodging, so he isn’t going to have a Dex of 4, he’s going to have 10 normal dice plus whatever Mega-Dice he has.

More importantly, in your example the other guy isn’t “more powerful”. He’s more skillful. Let’s try a different example where the other guy *is* more powerful. Using my Quick x2 example from above, if you are fighting 3 mitoids and a Mega-Strength 5 Brick who also has Quick, are you seriously telling me you aren’t going to try to “always dodge” the Brick? One hit from him and you die. One hit from the others and you take ping damage which might even regenerate.

[Centimane]

IMHO Celerity is one of the most offensive (in a combat sense) powers I have seen. All things being equal, the guy with Celerity is going to win… that’s a big problem right there. He gets to use ALL his normal actions to attack, the other guy either has to use his actions to dodge or he has to take them. If *everyone* would find insanely useful in hand to hand combat, then it’s too powerful.

Okay Alex, while I have to agree that this is an aggressive power - and it does provide an advantage is close combat - I have to say that I still don't see where the whole defensive variant thing becomes such a problem. I mentioned in the original post that I had pretty much cribbed this power from various other White Wolf books (mostly those having to do with the Vampire games), and I was being serious. I've seen variations of this power in several different, entirely "official" White Wolf books - and that includes the unlimited dodges against targeted opponents. In fact, in one book I found a technique (requiring only 3 dots in that particular discipline) that allowed unlimited dodges against all opponents. And this is an Aberrant forum we're posting in here. The game that had some rpgers upset when it was first released because it provided players with "too much power". So, like I said before, "if they can have it, then so can we!" ::sly (that's just my opinion of course ::happy )

All of that having been said however, I did ask for the input, so it'd be silly and hypocritical to ignore it now that I have it. ::wink That being the case I really did think about what you had to say, and I came up with a few alternate possibilities, though I haven't gone so far as to write up actual rules for them.

One: placing an initiative penalty (say -2 or 3) and/or adding a +1 or greater penalty on all actions while dodging, reflecting the drain on the character's concentration.

Two: the defensive variant would only be available after the character had attained a certain rank in the power (say 3 or 4 dots) reflecting their now inhuman speed, before this they would simply have to make due with the extra actions.

Three: instead of granting extra dodges against an opponent, Celerity's defensive variant would impose a +1 difficulty on the target to hit the character per dot in the power. Though in this case, I would impose the to hit penalty on all opponents rather than just one.

Four: the power works a bit like Density Control (Decrease) in that the power's effects change as the player increases in skill. So at level 1 the character might only get an extra die on all dodge rolls and a +1 diff to hit, but by the time they reach level 5 they're getting the unlimited dodges listed in my original post or something equally impressive.

Also it occurred to me that it wouldn't be out of line to place some prerequisites on having the power in the fist place, such as having a certain level in M.Dex and/or M.Wit, but that's just a thought.

Bear in mind that these are all very loose suggestions, not hard and fast rules systems that I'm posting. I just wanted to hear what you (or anyone else) thought of these alternate possibilities. If any of them (or a combination of them) seem good enough, then I could refine them and edit the result into the original post.

Once again, thanks for the prompt and well thought out responses. I'm interested to read what you've got to say about these other possibilities.

P.S. after reading your last couple of posts concerning this power, a guy could get the feeling that you're either a very defensive player yourself or that you really hate people who are defensive players. You seem to have alot of strong feelings regarding defensive strategy. Just an observation. ::tongue

[Centimane]

Here's another power for your collective consideration. Seeing as how even the official line of books shied away from dealing with the subject of Taint (except in Aberrant: Terragen, and there only generally), I didn't have a whole lot to use as a guide, but I did my best.

It's actually somewhat ironic that I would even think of a power like this, since I've always shied away from taking aberrations during character creation, and I usually avoided maxing powers except when it was some kind of desperate situation for my characters. But the idea for this power has been floating around in my head for over a year, so I guess it had to come out eventually.

Anyway, here it is:

Name: Taint Manipulation

Level: 4

Quantum Minimum: 7; must also have a Taint score of at least 4

Dice Pool: variable

Range: variable

Duration: variable

Area: variable

Effect: allows the nova control over taint in themselves and others, as well as how other novas gain taint.

Multiple action: yes

Description: This deadly power grants the nova mastery over the forces of taint and how those forces affect both themselves and those around them. With it she can inflict horrible aberrations on her enemies, warp their minds and bodies with Taint, and even temporarily remove all traces of its effects. Even more impressively, this power can transform even the most crippling aberrations into vital strengths, if only for a time. This potent power does come with a price though; any ones rolled while using this power turn into a point of temporary Taint, and botching a roll while using this power inflicts three points of temporary taint in addition to those gained from all ones rolled on the botch. Most who use this power are already well on their way to becoming taint-maddened monsters, and using this power only accelerates the process.

Festering Taint

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Taint Manipulation

Range: (Quantum + power rating) x 5 meters

Area: N/A

Duration: instant

This is quite possibly the most terrifying ability possessed by any nova. The character unleashes his own taint into the body of his target, warping their quantum signature to horrifying effect. For every use of this power the character must pay a point of temporary Willpower in addition to the normal quantum cost. However this power’s effectiveness is dependent on two things: the temporary Taint rating of the nova using this power, and the permanent Taint rating of the victim. The nova rolls Manipulation + Taint Manipulation with a difficulty penalty equal to the victim’s permanent Taint rating. If she succeeds in hitting her target, she may inflict a number of points of temporary Taint equal to her own temporary Taint. However, for each point of Taint she wishes to inflict over the first, the nova must pay an additional point of quantum, and she is limited to inflicting no more points of temporary Taint in any one attack than the victim’s permanent Taint rating. Note that any points of temporary Chrysalis the nova may possess do count towards determining how many points she may inflict on her victims, but any points of permanent Chrysalis the victim possesses also add to the difficulty penalty to affect the target (though not to the number of points that may be inflicted in a single attack). There is no way to soak this attack.

Unclean Touch

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Taint Manipulation

Range: touch

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

The nova can temporarily inflict her own tainted quantum signature onto those of her victims, forcing them to carry the burden of her aberrations for a time. This power functions identically to Aberration Transfer, save that the nova must pay two quantum points for low-level aberrations, four quantum points for medium-level aberrations, and six quantum points for high-level aberrations.

Mutable Taint

Dice Pool: Stamina + Taint Manipulation

Range: self

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

Through her control over the effects of Taint on her own system, the nova may change and adjust the type and severity of the aberrations she suffers from. This power functions identically to the power Chimeric Aberration, except that the dice pool is Stamina + Taint Manipulation, and the nova must score two successes to equal one success for the purposes of altering her aberrations.

[Centimane]

Taint Storm

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Taint Manipulation

Range: (Quantum + power rating) x 5 meters

Area: (Quantum + power rating) meters

Duration: concentration

A vile power indeed, this technique sends tainted energies out in coruscating waves that affect everyone in the target area. For the duration of this power every time a nova caught within the radius of this power’s effect botches a power roll they gain one point of temporary Taint. By spending a point of temporary Willpower and willingly taking on 1 point of temporary Taint the nova may increase the potency of this power; doing so causes all ones rolled by every nova within the power’s radius of effect to be converted to points of temporary Taint. Victims may roll their Quantum scores once per scene (assuming the power is in effect for longer than a scene) and for each success rolled they may ignore a single one rolled during that scene. When rolling Quantum for the purposes of resisting this power the character may ignore any ones rolled, but a botch on this roll inflicts a point of temporary Taint.

Masking the Demon

Dice Pool: Quantum + Taint Manipulation

Range: (Quantum + power rating) x 5 meters

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

Probably one of the most coveted powers possessed by any nova, this powerful technique allows a nova to temporarily reduce her own or others’ permanent Taint scores and any associated aberrations. To use it, the nova must first pay five quantum points (double this if the technique is unlearned, making it unavailable to novas without the Node background) and one point of temporary Willpower. She then rolls Quantum + Taint Manipulation and each success can be used to temporarily reduce the target’s permanent Taint rating. If the target wishes, she may resist with a Willpower roll, negating successes rolled by the player on a one for one basis. For every two points of Taint removed in this fashion reduce all aberrations the target possesses by one severity-type, and the difficulty penalty on social interactions by 1. These points do not actually disappear they are only masked and will reappear (along with all attendant aberrations) at the end of the duration. Additionally, using any power or mega-attribute possessed by the target at more than half strength(rounding up) is treated as a power max while this power is in effect. If the character attempts to use any of her powers at more than half strength, and botches, she gains one point of temporary Taint for each die she attempted to restore to that power. If the victim successfully resists this power on her Willpower roll, then any successes rolled by the nova using this power “feedback” into her in the form of temporary Taint (this is in addition to those gained from any ones the nova may have rolled, as stated above).

Aggravating the Demon

Dice Pool: Quantum + Taint Manipulation

Range: (Quantum + power rating) x5 meters

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

The opposite of (and far less popular than) Masking the Demon, this technique allows a nova to temporarily aggravate the effects of taint in her victim’s system, effectively increasing their taint score for the purposes of determining aberrations and social difficulties. To use it, the nova rolls Quantum + Taint Manipulation against her target’s Willpower in a resisted roll, for each net success achieved the victim’s effective Taint score is increased by one point. The victim will gain one new aberration (chosen by the Storyteller) for each new “phantom” point of Taint, and for every two points added any aberrations she already possesses will increase by one severity type and she gains a +1 difficulty penalty on all social interactions. Both the new points of Taint and the new Aberrations are only temporary and will disappear as soon as the effects of this power wear off. When this power is used by the nova on herself she may choose exactly what kinds of aberrations she gains from her increasing Taint. If the victim successfully resists this power on her Willpower roll, then any successes rolled by the player “feedback” into her in the form of temporary Taint (this is in addition to those gained from any ones the nova may have rolled, as stated above).

[Centimane]

Embracing the Demon

Dice Pool: Quantum + Taint Manipulation

Range: self

Area: N/A

Duration: Maintenance

By using this technique, the nova embraces the Taint within herself and gives it life. In doing so, she transforms her weaknesses into strengths. To do this the nova rolls Quantum + Taint Manipulation and each success rolled can be used to either “strengthen” or “transform” an existing aberration. Every aberration so affected is turned into a power or enhancement of some sort, though the nova may gain no more dots in any power than the successes rolled, her Quantum score, or her permanent Taint score, whichever is lower. Hardened Skin or Scales, for example, could be turned into dots of Armor; Unearthly Beauty becomes dots in Mega-Appearance, while Glow could become either Bioluminescence or possibly even Force Field. Contagious could become the Poison power (or even Disease Authority), while Delusions could become Mirage. Obviously the effects of this power will vary greatly, and the precise details are best discussed beforehand between the player and storyteller. Also, certain aberrations may not seem to easily translate into powers of any sort, but this is because of the limits placed on the nova by her own subconscious. If and when she can learn to accept the changes occurring within her, she can turn even these weaknesses into strengths. Or to put it differently: as soon as you can come up with a reasonable power, merit, or enhancement that might spring out of one of your aberrations, and your Storyteller approves, you’re set, but until then you’ll have to live with that pesky Allergy, Weakness, or Multiple Personality.

Extras: none

GRRRR!!! ::angry

Darn character limitation! ::brick

I'm still trying to get used to posting here, so I ended up having to chop that post up up a bit, but all three of those last posts are for the same power.

I woke up this morning and realized that I hadn't upped the Q-min or power level since I realized that the power was pretty directly comparable to Quantum Authority (had one too many ideas once I started writing...), but when I tried to edit the post I ran into the brick wall that is "limited-number-of-characters". ::glare *sigh* Oh well, life moves on, I guess. ::happy

[AnonCastillo]

I don't remember there being a resurrection ability, so here goes:

Quantum Resurrection

Level: 3

Quantum Minimum: 5

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Quantum Resurrection

Range: Touch

Duration: Permanent

Area: Single Target

Effect: Allows the nova to resurrect a single organism.

Description: Allows the nova to bring a dead comrade back to life. Costs 20 quantum to use. If the target has been dead for more than 1 hour, add +1 difficulty. Add an additional +1 difficulty for every 24 hours after that. If the target is mutilated, or if the head is damaged (especially the brain), add another +1-3 difficulty depending on the damage. If the roll exceeds the difficulty x 2, the target is brought back to life with no ill effects. If the roll is less than the difficulty, the target remains dead, and the character may not ever make another resurrection roll on that target. If the roll exceeds the difficulty but not the difficulty x 2, the target is resurrected with some side effects. For every success below the difficulty x 2, the character loses one quantum permanently, and the target gains one quantum, two taint, and rolls 2d10, losing stats based on the d10 rolls (on a 1, lose one strength, on a 2 lose one dex.... on a 9 lose 1 cha, on a 10 lose one max willpower).

[Psilord]

OK, just tossing out a late night thought here for a new suite power.

The details are open to suggestion, this being just some bare-bones stuff.

Forgive me if its a bit non-sensical, its late. ::tongue

Necromancy

This power suite deals with the location, manipulation and commication

with the dead. Suggected techniques follow:

Locate Dead:

Basic technique, this must be taken as the first choice. This allows the

nova to detect dead bodies, in general or specific. Similar to the

functioning of the Telepathy powers scanning. The more specific you

get the more difficult it gets, also I think non-human/nova bodies

should add to difficulty.

Basic Animation:

This power is similar to the animate technique of Molecular Manipulation,

only being restricted to dead bodies.

Call Spirit:

The ability to summon up the "spirit" of a dead person. What actually

happens is that the nova creates a duplicate of the dead person's memories

and personality. This "spirit" will think and act as the dead person

would, save being required to answer truthfully (strictest sense) any

questions the nova puts to it. The nova creates a visibal and auditory

apparition as part of the spirit. The spirit knows only what the dead

person knew in life.

Greater Animation:

(Requires Basic Animation & Call Spirit)

The nova can place the "spirit" in charge and inside of the animated

corpse. The spirit will control the body completely, however being

obedient to the will of the nova. The nova must continue to pay the

animation costs and can end the effect at will. The spirit can only

be placed inside its own corpse.

Summon Ghost:

(Requires Call Spirit)

This is similar to Greater Animation in all respects, save that the

spirit is placed inside a Quantum Construct.

The techniques of Greater Animation and Summon Ghost can be made

permanent at the cost of a permanent point of willpower.

[Psilord]

Umm, OK. I'm a bit more awake now so....

The "spirits" I refered to in my previous post are not to be confused with anything supernatural.

Matter and energy are fundamentally the same thing, and cannot truly be eliminated from the universe. Therefore all that can actually be lost is the pattern in which they exist for a time, like our minds and memories (not to mention bodies).

Keeping the above in mind the "spirits" called by the Necromancy power would in fact be the duplicated patterns of memory and mind of the deceased person. The power basically either (1) analyzes the predictable flows of dispersing patterns, or (2) looks back in time, to construct a the duplicate.

[Anon]

Empower

Level: 5

Quantum Minimum: 8

Dice Pool: Willpower

Range: Self

Area: N/A

Duration: Special

Effect: Empowers the effect of the next power the Nova uses

Multiple Actions: Yes

Description: The nova roles willpower, and each success doubles the effects of the next power used.

Examples:

Queball has Q-Bolt [lethal] 2, Quantum 4 and Willpower 5, giving him [Quantum (4) x 2] + [power rating (2) x 4} levels of damage, or 16 lethal. But before he shot off a bolt at his target, he rolled his Willpower (5) for Empowering the bolt and got two successes. His bolt now is 16 x 2 x 2 = 64 Lethal

Freeon has Force Field 4, Quantum 4, Stamina 3, Mega-Stamina 2 and Willpower 4. This gives him anywhere between 4 and 40 levels of soak. He rolls his willpower and gets two successes for Empower. He then rolls for his forcefield and gets 5 successes, so its soak is Quantum (4) + [2/success(5)] (10) = 14. Empowered it’s 14 x 2 x 2 = 56 soak

Extras: Extended (The Nova rolls once for the entire scene, and uses the successes on every power used during the scene)

[Alex Green]

Hey Anon, WELCOME TO THE BOARDS!!!

[Centimane]

Empower

Level: 5

Quantum Minimum: 8

Dice Pool: Willpower

Range: Self

Area: N/A

Duration: Special

Effect: Empowers the effect of the next power the Nova uses

Multiple Actions: Yes

Description: The nova roles willpower, and each success doubles the effects of the next power used.

Examples:

Queball has Q-Bolt [lethal] 2, Quantum 4 and Willpower 5, giving him [Quantum (4) x 2] + [power rating (2) x 4} levels of damage, or 16 lethal. But before he shot off a bolt at his target, he rolled his Willpower (5) for Empowering the bolt and got two successes. His bolt now is 16 x 2 x 2 = 64 Lethal

Freeon has Force Field 4, Quantum 4, Stamina 3, Mega-Stamina 2 and Willpower 4. This gives him anywhere between 4 and 40 levels of soak. He rolls his willpower and gets two successes for Empower. He then rolls for his forcefield and gets 5 successes, so its soak is Quantum (4) + [2/success(5)] (10) = 14. Empowered it’s 14 x 2 x 2 = 56 soak

Extras: Extended (The Nova rolls once for the entire scene, and uses the successes on every power used during the scene)

If you're just rolling Willpower, then what are the dots in this power for? (i.e. why would I need to have more than the first dot in this power?)

Oh yeah! Before I forget; WELCOME TO THE BOARDS!!! ::welcome

[Sprocket]

Always glad to see more new folks around here, Anon. Welcome to EON! ::welcome

BTW, we've accumulated a lot of interesting new stuff on this thread over the last few years. I see the potential for another EON fanbook (or at least a large fraction of one) if the good stuff is ever sifted out & compiled. ::cool

[metaphysician]

Taint Manipulation: Conceptually, it works fine. However, I can see a couple possible problems with your writeup:

1. As a level 4 power with Q7 minimum requirement, its effects are actually a little on the weak side. The techniques based on preexisting powers should be at least as buff as the original, if not moreso. The ranges and areas might warrant increasing, where applicable. Remember, no mastery for this power without being Divis Mal powerful.

2. At one temporary taint per 1 rolled, given its a level 4 power, that essentially means about 1 temporary taint per usage of the power, on average. With a minimum Taint of 4 to learn the power, that means its only about 60 usages of the power before the user totally self-destructs and hits Taint 10. At that point, frankly, its probably going to destroy the campaign world. Either his mutation will kill him, which will almost certainly be a taint-ridden self destruct of apocalyptic proportion, or else he's going to be a mad Q7 nova who needs to be put down. . . and will almost certainly leave everyone who stands against him horribly tainted. Unless this is desired, you'd better tone it down.

3. I know this seems to contradict 1, but the techniques may be too powerful in some ways. Alot of them inflict temporary taint, which is at least as hard to recover as aggravated damage IMO, and can easily cause levels of permanent taint, which is impossible to recovery. Admittedly, it is a Level 4 power, but none of the other level 4 powers allow you to do permanent, irreversible damage to another nova.

[Centimane]

First off; thanks for the input! I really appreciate it!

And now, down to business.

1. As a level 4 power with Q7 minimum requirement, its effects are actually a little on the weak side. The techniques based on preexisting powers should be at least as buff as the original, if not moreso. The ranges and areas might warrant increasing, where applicable. Remember, no mastery for this power without being Divis Mal powerful.

Well I should probably say right off that I originally intended this to be a level 3 power, which is why so many of the ranges are still equal to what you'd expect in an E.Mastery suite, but then I realized that it was looking more and more like the antithesis of Quantum Authority. So I upped the level and Q.min, but it seems I missed the ranges, areas, and durations entirely. Sorry. ::blush So, regarding the ranges and areas, we could either just stick with the Q.Authority power as a comparison and say that the range is (Q+power rating) kilometers and those powers with an area work at (Q+power rating)x100 meters, or we could use E.Authority whose distances vary but will generally look something like range=(Q+pr)x100 meters, area=(Q+pr)x50 meters. Either option works fine for me. Regarding Unclean Touch and Mutable Taint, both of which are based off of Aberration Transfer and Chimeric Aberration respectively, we can fix those very easily by just saying that they work exactly as listed in the Teragen handbook. If you have any suggestions on good, balanced ways to buff them up let me know.

2. At one temporary taint per 1 rolled, given its a level 4 power, that essentially means about 1 temporary taint per usage of the power, on average. With a minimum Taint of 4 to learn the power, that means its only about 60 usages of the power before the user totally self-destructs and hits Taint 10. At that point, frankly, its probably going to destroy the campaign world. Either his mutation will kill him, which will almost certainly be a taint-ridden self destruct of apocalyptic proportion, or else he's going to be a mad Q7 nova who needs to be put down. . . and will almost certainly leave everyone who stands against him horribly tainted. Unless this is desired, you'd better tone it down.

Yeah, I see your point. I was doing my best to base this power off of things in the official books, but unfortunately WW never seemed to want to deal too closely with Taint so there wasn't much to go off of. But in the Teragen book there's the power Node Spark which inflicts 1 temporary taint per 1 rolled, and that's where I got the idea. But if that's too much, then we could just say that failing a power roll (not botching, just failing) inflicts a point of Temporary Taint, and botching a power roll inflicts between 3 and 5 points or temporary taint (or possibly more).

3. I know this seems to contradict 1, but the techniques may be too powerful in some ways. Alot of them inflict temporary taint, which is at least as hard to recover as aggravated damage IMO, and can easily cause levels of permanent taint, which is impossible to recovery. Admittedly, it is a Level 4 power, but none of the other level 4 powers allow you to do permanent, irreversible damage to another nova.

Hmm, well technically neither Festering Taint or Taint Storm are doing permanent damage either since the temporary taint can (potentially) be bled off by the victims with no permanent side effects. That said, I can see your point. What if we upped the Q.min for those techniques to 8? There's certainly lots of permanent and irreversable effects happening up at that level of power, right?

Anyway, let me know what you guys think of all this, I want to round these out so that (more or less) everyone is satisfied with their balance.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions, I had wanted to put some kind of damaging, blast-like technique in there somewhere, but couldn't think of a good way to get it to work. My thinking was using an attack that would develop and severely aggravate something like the Allergic Reaction aberration, thus causing damage, or even that just set off a severe Vulnerability that the attacking nova could use to their advantage. If anyone has any ideas for this, their suggestions are more than welcome.

[metaphysician]

Using Elemental Authority as a model seems fine.

As for "permanent damage," the thing is, any time you hit 10 temporary taint, it becomes permanent. So, Festering Taint has some potential nastiness to it, depending on how tainted the target already is. More importantly, it takes at a minimum of a month to bleed off even a single point of temporary taint, the nova has to operate at reduced power the whole time, its not a guaranteed process, and its harder the more points of temp taint they have. This is considerably harder to recover from than Agg, albeit less immediately injurious.

[Psilord]

I was looking over the Iron Will power proposed by Cottus Centimane. I liked some of the thoughts behind it, but not others, so I'd like to propose a modified approach to enhanced willpower. Instead of a power I suggest treating enhanced willpower like an attribute, more specifically a mega-attribute.

Mega-Willpower

This ability can only be purchaced up to a maximum of the nova's permanent normal willpower, and also may not exceed his quantum score. Mega-Willpower may always only be purchaced with the ST's permission.

Example: JoeNova has Willpower 6 and Quantum 2. He may not purchace Mega-Willpower beyond 2.

The benefits of mega-willpower are as follows:

* The nova automatically regains temporary willpower each morning equal to his mega-willpower dots in addition to the one dot naturally regained. In situations where the night of rest was too fitful (my ST does this sometimes) due to nightmares or what-have-you, then the nova still regains temporary willpower equal to 1/2 his mega-willpower dots (minimum 1 point of willpower restored).

* When resisting instinctual responses, mega-willpower will automatically allow the nova to resist for (mega-willpower) turns before having to spend temporary willpower, allowing some action to be taken as appropriate.

* Mega-Willpoer dots may be rolled as additional dice when making a willpower roll (as normal mega dice can), or used to reduce the difficuty of such a roll. They may also be divided up between the two effects.

* When performing an action, or achieving a special success, that would normally allow the recovery of temporary willpower the nova may roll mega-willpower dice (only with the ST's permission). Each success achieved on this roll granting an additional point of recovery.

* When affected by a mental power and allowed to roll willpower to reduce/negate the effect, mega-willpower will increase the effect of each point of temporary willpower spent by (mega-willpower/2, minimum of +1).

Example: JoeNova has been Dominated and rolls willpower to resist a command from his controller, he succeeds and spends a point of willpower. Since Joe has mega-willpower 2 the effects of his spent willpower point is doubled [(mega-willpower 2)/2 = 1], reducing the Domination controll by two successes.

[Anon]

Thank you all for all the welcome's ::smile .

If you're just rolling Willpower, then what are the dots in this power for? (i.e. why would I need to have more than the first dot in this power?)

That's a good point. So I guess the dice pool should be changed to Empower. Or if you want the chance for some stupendous amounts of power make it Will + Empower, or maybe even more powerful if you use the Mega-Willpower mentioned above or base it off of a regular attribute instead of Will, like Stamina.

[Centimane]

As for "permanent damage," the thing is, any time you hit 10 temporary taint, it becomes permanent. So, Festering Taint has some potential nastiness to it, depending on how tainted the target already is.

Yeah, I know. I was just being fececious. ::sly Although, as I wrote the power it should (hopefully) become increasingly difficult to inflict temporary taint on a target, depending on how much permanent Taint they have (i.e. if they already have a permanent Taint of 9, then the diff. on the power roll is +9). Seriously though, what do you guys think of upping the Q.min for that technique (and Taint Storm) to 8? It seems to me that, at that level, it's not quite as over the top.