Sunfest Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Greetings. Currently I'm telling an Aberrantstory in New York City, dealing with the conflict between the Church of Archangel Michael and the Followers of the Avatar. As the story unfolds, I see that I need more informations about the intercessors of the Michaelites in the city. Especially those in high social positions - who'd problems with Followers of the Avatar in the past.Do you know anything about the sympathizers of the Church, or have brought them into your game on own ideas?ByeSunfest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 See if you can find the minibook White Wolf put out a few years ago on the Michealites- It's a pretty disturbing read, but well worth the modest price. ::wink As the whole "Church of Archangel Mike" is a parody of Christian Fundamanrtalism, just think of these guys as a cross between those militia nuts and Jerry Falwell's flunkies. Not a pretty picture of humanity, any way you slice it... ::sly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunfest Posted April 2, 2003 Author Share Posted April 2, 2003 Yeah, I allready got the booklet about the Church in my bookshelf - as well as "Year One", which describes also the situation in NYC. But if you read the last mentioned, you get the impression, that there are more sympathizers in NY for the Church, then anywhere else in the US - and it seems as if they get backup from high city officials... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Green Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 NY is very liberal, so offical support is unlikely (Mike's guys are mainly a conservative/right wing thing). Offical support is more likely in the south... although even that would be unoffical. However, NY is also very densely populated. Thus although they wouldn't be very numberous, as a percentage of the population (compaired to their normal levels), in terms of raw numbers NY might be a mainstay for them.I can also see various people supporting them, just out of dislike of novas. Cops might support them just because many novas are effectively outside the law. I.e. even if novas obay the law, what are they supposed to do if they don't? Similarly, a formally high priced Doctor who is no longer high priced because PU eliminated *his* disease/disorder/etc would be a good member.Most polliticans will not be related to Mike, just because most polliticans in NY are liberal and the public, for the most part, adores novas.Many Mikes will be unemployed ("it is *their* fault) or religious fundies. Lots of them will be less educated than normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaphysician Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Am I the only one who thought the Church of Michael Archangel supp was the biggest waste of publishing resources in the Aeon line? Relatively boring fluff, combined with an absolute total lack of non-fluff. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Green Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Am I the only one who thought the Church of Michael Archangel supp was the biggest waste of publishing resources in the Aeon line? Relatively boring fluff, combined with an absolute total lack of non-fluff. . .I liked CoMA because in future years, especially in Trinity, their attitude is going to dominate. Abbies are Evil.Also we needed a villain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaphysician Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 No, I don't mean the organization. I mean the supplement dedicated to them. Doesn't really give you anything you couldn't get from the corebook, and maybe ten minutes skimming white supremacist websites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 I thought it was an interesting read, especially the journal at the end...At the same time, it sorta made me glad WW doesn't put out religious books ::blush ...FR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Re: Regional support for MichaelitesI wouldn't say that the CoMA has the support of the entire American South. According to "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You" in Aberrant: Elites, Texas is definitely hostile territory for the CoMA. With state officials seeking to hire elites "off the books" to get rid of the Michaelites there, Texas looks to be the odd man out in this situation.Re: The CoMA bookI agree that it could've been meatier, especially considering all the hoopla the CoMA made about their so-called "anti-nova gun". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueNinja Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Re: Regional support for MichaelitesI wouldn't say that the CoMA has the support of the entire American South. According to "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You" in Aberrant: Elites, Texas is definitely hostile territory for the CoMA. With state officials seeking to hire elites "off the books" to get rid of the Michaelites there, Texas looks to be the odd man out in this situation. I think its a matter of the bureaucratic leaders v. the usual non-voting public. Where Christian fundies have support, CoMA is going to have support, most of the time. And unlike the differences in our world, groups like Jerry Falwell's flunkies and Al Qaeda would find quite a bit of common ground in wanting to rid the world of novas. What I'm more surprised at is that so many of their leaders seem to be erupting themselves.Re: The CoMA bookI agree that it could've been meatier, especially considering all the hoopla the CoMA made about their so-called "anti-nova gun". My tabletop GM described it as basically a 1-gauge shotgun. One shot per round, no multiple actions, and a required Strength 4, but it dishes out 15dL, which is enough to waste a lot of novas without Invulnerability (Bullets). And since they tend to go after novas when in groups of 5-12 ... you get the picture. Get a baseline with good Firearms, a position to fire from ambush, and a called shot to the head ... that nova is going down. They also spend time looking for specific weak points when hunting a nova, which probably makes their job that much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaphysician Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Um, 15L is roughly in the range of a 20mm-30mm cannon. No way would that be manportable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Green Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 What I'm more surprised at is that so many of their leaders seem to be erupting themselves.It's the other way around. People erupt, can't deal with their powers, and join the church. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Re: Regional support for MichaelitesOh, really? ::sly I suggest you take a closer look at p. 92 of Aberrant: Elites - according to that passage I mentioned, the majority of the locals are not in favor of the CoMA, especially if Johnny Delgado is a typical example of the "nonvoting populace". Sorry, but your explanation has more holes than a slice of baby swiss cheese. ::smile Re: Michaelite "supergun"While archer21 is our resident firearms guru (AFAIK), I'd have to second metaphysician on this. What your ST suggested outdoes Trinity-era coilguns, for crying out loud! ::wacko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaphysician Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Admittedly, I think Trinity-era personal weapons are underpowered. However, barring some kind of rubber science inertial damping, there's a limit to how much oomph you can deliver with a pure kinetic weapon carried by an unassisted human. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueNinja Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Re: Regional support for MichaelitesOh, really? ::sly I suggest you take a closer look at p. 92 of Aberrant: Elites - according to that passage I mentioned, the majority of the locals are not in favor of the CoMA, especially if Johnny Delgado is a typical example of the "nonvoting populace". Sorry, but your explanation has more holes than a slice of baby swiss cheese. ::smile Neither Elites nor the CoMA splatbook are ones I've read in any detail recently, mostly I'm going off my own impressions of fundies, and the repeated encounters with CoMA we had in the tabletop game I played in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaphysician Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 He's right. As of the Aberrant era, there really isn't any place in the US where the CoMA is actually popular. They are like survivalists crossed with white supremacists, in terms of social acceptance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Thunder Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 But only as of 2008-2015. They eventually become quite popular, and their beliefs spread as novas prove themselves to be dangerous to humanity. I actually thought the Mike book was a decent read, especially at the end where its revealed The Avatar's baseline identity was as a leader of the church of Mike, and he gets killed by a Michaelite that finds out. Still, the book could have used gameplay information, stuff typed out-of-character, stuff that helped a ST include the church in a campaign.I don't consider the CoMA book to be the worst supplement. I actually expected a little more from the XWF book in terms of fighter stats and more fighter bios, instead of all the bios on the behind-the-scenes people that will likely never show up in a game. I mean, where the heck was Maxx Mauler? They mention him as being one of the best XWF champs, and he's even mentioned in Trinity's main book (meaning he became really famous) but we don't even gets a peek at him. My least fav Abby book is actually ReignOfEvil.com because the book has absolutely no connection to anything else in Aberrant, whereas all the other supplements make an attempt to be relevant to each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaphysician Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Heh, that continues a trend in Aeon: the major NPCs you actually *want* to see seldom get statted. *coughExposeAberrantcough*As for ReignofEvil.com, I kind of like it. Its limited usage, sure, but at least it actually gives you *stats* for the antagonists. . . and they are in a range a beginning level nova group could oppose them without dying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Thunder Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Damn, I forgot about Expose Aberrants. You know, the entire Aberrant setting has the players joining the Aberrant faction as the "default" way to play (and most of the Worldwide books point the players towards joining the Aberrants), yet all the entire faction gets is a tiny 24-page pamphlet that is only half about them and half about Slider's murder, and barely tells you enough about the group to play them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaphysician Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Yep. Quite a big disappointment. They gave a full sized book to the Teragen, Directive, Project Utopia, and DeVries/Elites, and yet barely anything for the Aberrants. Anybody ever heard why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyLion Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Just a rumor so maybe someone can verify but I heard that when the development team shifted, the new people took more of a liking to the Teragen than the Aberrants, ergo a different focus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Thunder Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 When was there a team shift? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyLion Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 The whole Bates/Baugh thing...Im not as informed as some here but Im guessing when the head honchos changed their were other changes. Or maybe the "Director/Producers" had different visions.Still kinda funny that the group the game is *named after* got the short end of the stick... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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