Jump to content

Aberrant: Quantum Zero - QZ - game mechanics


Asbjørn

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.8k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Rank: 2

Win - Loss: 5 -8

::unsure

Um... this isn't correct: 'Rank' & 'Wins - Losses' at the start of the game are based on the Backing the character takes, they're not just made up. With 5 Wins & 8 Losses he'd have fought 13 matches, with at least 1 win per 5 losses, which would make him Rank 3, which he isn't. Draco should be listed as having fought 5 matches, all wins. These matches are all 'jobber' fights, remember - they're there to build up the character's Rank & make him a name & a contender - Novas just don't lose against jobbers. He can feel free to lose against fellow Novas once the game starts, but that's another story... ::sly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry if you got the wrong idea Cottus but I wasn't miffed. Kazuo can go with his bad self...Cottus and I were just having a discussion about the psychology behind our characters, since they seem to make good counterpoints to each other in the story.

Oh and Btw, I liked the backstory for Draco...with all our discussions of his abilities we never got around to discussing his eruption...interesting to know he is such a youngin inside that behemoth body...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, so I didn't want to wait any longer, so there'll be a 'time delay' between what The Ghost's doing in New York & what the rest of the Elites are getting up to six weeks later... hopefully it'll all catch up okay once Vinnies done with the Templars... ::unsure

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Need a nova name for Terry.

Go! Go! Go!

Edit: For those not in the know: Terry has strong power over Gravity. His eyes are now windows into space (black with stars in the background)...and any name I can think of sounds lame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Power over gravity doesn't lend itself to cool nova names... You made your bed, now sleep in it, "Gravito-man!"! ::tongue ::devil

Serious suggestions:

Captain Gravity

Graviton

Freefall

Freefall isn't bad though it lends itself more to someone a bit less austere than Terry I think. I kinda like "Atlas" but it seems to be taken by Tn2M leader who's also a gravity controller (Damn you Nova Census!). Of course, the controversy might just sell more toys...

Still thinking..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a gravity manipulator on another site who is known as "The Singularity"

I also wanted to add that with an Influence of 3, many of Arielle's teammates may have heard of her. Pre eruption she was an Olympian snowboarder (specializing in aerobatic freestyle) who was featured in certain magazines with "smart and sexy" type articles...she graduated med-school at age 18 and was recruited first by Triton and then Utopia as a nova-medical researcher. Her recruitment for Team Tommorow therefore probably made some waves though the PR department will probably want to downplay her nude-covered-in canabis cover pose and article for High Times magazine (Hey she's a snowboarder...). That was several years ago and she "cleaned up" her image since she was accepted for the US Olympic team.

Thats the background in brief, and there really should be some sort of meet the characters thread for these games (I have no idea why we don't have one yet... ::unsure ) but given her influence and notoriety I thought y'all should know for her introduction.

Oh,and Happy Independance Day to all the US citezens of the board! ::beer30 (Wheres an Uncle Sam Smiley when ya need one?!?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unsure of the range of her 'radiohead' capabilites, Carla does her best to respond to Ghost's request.

"I'm not quite sure where we are, but our boy is kinda busy right now; however, if you can read me and track a radio signal, I'm about to hum every Bon Jovi song I can think of until you show up."

Er... Can he, prof?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Er... Can he, prof?

Yes.

BTW - 'Atlas' & 'PathFinder'... am I the only one who thinks this sounds like a series of road maps... ::laugh

Thats the background in brief, and there really should be some sort of meet the characters thread for these games (I have no idea why we don't have one yet... ) but given her influence and notoriety I thought y'all should know for her introduction.

Character histroy (stuff which isn't public knowledge at least) should really only come out in-game, during play: just plastering it up somewhere robs potentially interesting in-character reactions & discoveries. I think we had a character description thread somewhere... or am I dreaming... ::unsure

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, Terry's had a really interesting progression...
Oh yeah, very much so. It's been interesting, every step has flowed logically from every other step, and yet goody-goody policeman has become an anti-law terrorist. Very well done managing him.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent posts Zeke, just one minor issue...

... 'Novation' is actually a branch of Project Utopia, & tries to strickly enforce a pro-Utopia image in all its products. In the past they produced (unlicensed) action figures & the like of 'bad guys' like Teragen members, but since the Terats have set up their own publicity machine in 'Pandaimonion' & sicked their lawyers on PU (using lawyers? They must be bad guys... ::tongue ::wink ), they don't do that any more. DeVries handle their own publicity machine (of course). Appellate Lexington is independant & (just as in Zeke's post) is there to legally register a Nova 'persona', but doesn't itself make all the T-shirts & stuff.

Considering Terry's history, I'd suggest altering references to 'Novation' to 'Pandaimonion' instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent posts Zeke, just one minor issue...

... 'Novation' is actually a branch of Project Utopia, & tries to strickly enforce a pro-Utopia image in all its products. In the past they produced (unlicensed) action figures & the like of 'bad guys' like Teragen members, but since the Terats have set up their own publicity machine in 'Pandaimonion' & sicked their lawyers on PU (using lawyers? They must be bad guys... ::tongue ::wink ), they don't do that any more. DeVries handle their own publicity machine (of course). Appellate Lexington is independant & (just as in Zeke's post) is there to legally register a Nova 'persona', but doesn't itself make all the T-shirts & stuff.

Considering Terry's history, I'd suggest altering references to 'Novation' to 'Pandaimonion' instead.

Thanks, I've fixed the references.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*Oh bleedin' 'ell* ohmy.gif Guy manages to stop himself from dropping to a combat crouch - his instincts just aren't screaming COMBAT IMMANENT, but he almost wishes he could *Christ onna bike... woddaya say to a bird 'ose clothes you 'alf inched! Hafter beating 'er somefing 'orrid.*

::lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was Verse's big thing. You don't need weave to make it look like different clothes.

True - I use a Style roll for that... but I also limit the maximum successes you can score to your Eufiber Background dots as well ('cos the Background represents how good you are with Eufiber, not just how good a colony you have). Since Samurai nicked his Eufiber, & has no dots in the Background, altering it is pretty tough for him (he can do so, with effort - i.e. blowing Willpower - but at one success a time it takes a lot to get it 'just right').

What can I say... you get nothing for free in this game (even if you steal it...) ::sly ::wink .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

XWF Unsuitable Powers

Okay, so this is something I perhaps should have made clearer before, but I didn't anticipate so many people trying for Clone based XWF characters & the like...

There are several powers which really aren't suited to the XWF style of doing things. First & foremost are any powers which inflict Aggravated damage - as per the XWF book, having one of these means you don't get to be in the Federation, period.

However, there are a few others which aren't really suited either - including things like Clone, Quantum Construct, & the Animation technique. Sure, these may fill the 'looks impressive' criteria, but they also blur the lines between what is the 'combatant' & what is 'outside interference'. For one thing, the marks don't have access to the Aberrant rule book - they see six or seven guys in the ring beating up one guy, then it's outside interference, cheating, & instant DQ - no matter that they saw the power 'manifest' or not. For another, such things can easily unbalance the delicately calculated fight odds: one guy with Clone could easily win each & every fight - in the 'outside world' it's a powerful ability, in the Combat Zone, where you know full well you're going up against a single individual, it's a guaranteed win. That's not fun for the marks to watch, & a total headache for the promoters to place - is Johnny Multiple, with a couple of Mega-Attributes & Clone really Silver Circle? Or, with the combined power of his little army, is he more likely to be Black Circle material? For those who follow the Elites thread, consider that OMA (One Man Army) would, technically, be a Silver Circle contender... ::blink

Tactics start to get squiffy too - if you know you're facing a Cloner, chances are you're going to try to take him out turn one, before he gets to pull his little fight-ending stunt (or, at least, during the single round 'window of opportunity' you have when he tries to summon his army). Again, chants of 'Boring!' & 'You Suck!' will start to fill the arena pretty quickly. Same thing with Quantum Construct. Animation isn't quite as powerful, but it's still in the same ball-park (if you animate one of the cars - left in the arena for combatants to hit each other with - into a friggin' autobot & have it pound your opponent instead of, or as well as, you doing it yourself, then the marks are going to see a guy using a friend to illigally help him win).

The criteria for 'putting on a good show' doesn't always just mean 'flashy' powers - as per the XWF book, Immolate may be a visually stunning power, but it's pretty sucky for the XWF. La Araña has to play it carefully using her Shroud power - sure it's combat-effective, but cloaking the Combat Zone in darkness for the entire fight (which she could do) is cheating the marks out of their show... & that's what it's all about in the end - the show: no show = no marks = no money.

Another thing to consider when it comes to XWF character powers is duration - powers like Clone or Quantum Vampire last for an entire fight... at the very least the promoters are going to take that into account & rate the character at maximum power when placing him (so a basically Silver Circle fighter with Quantum Vampire - Strength is gonna' find himself in Black Circle bouts, 'cos he can potentially have Mega-Strength 5 for the whole fight, & even 'power up' before he steps into the Zone if he wants to...). Looking at Clone again - once you have at least one Clone to fight for you, you can just step back & keep summoning them until you're out of Quantum Points (so, at least 30 Clones per fight...). Take Quantum Leech & just sit back & relax for the whole fight while your 'boys' do all the work. Sure, it's great combat tactics, but it's just not an XWF-style show. There has to be at least a pretence that this is a real sport, not a dog & pony show.

There are other unsuitable powers too - such as a character with permanent Density Control - Decrease at 5 dots, or a guy built around Sizemorph - Shrinking... Again, while these examples are 'flashy' enough, they're just not power sets which will make for good fights & good shows for the marks. The aim here in chargen isn't to create the most powerful character, or the one most likely to win every fight - it's to create a character who'll put on that show the marks want to see.

Another point which has cropped up - using weapons (apart from what's provided in the ring) is instant DQ: that, naturally, includes using Weave or Matter Creation or similar to make weapons. (Draco's 'protean scales' ability is based on the Eufiber / Weave rules, but isn't actual Eufiber, & to be honest considering his Mega-Strength & Black Circle status I decided to allow it as a 'power' anyway... a couple of extra dice aren't going to make any real difference in that case - it's mostly for the effect). Characters who want to use powers like Claws to 'summon' weapons should think carefully about the special effects too - if your Claws are, say, a summoned sword made out of flames then all well & good - everyone can see that's a power; if that same power is described as summoning a real katana, then it's going to look like a case for DQ as far as the marks can tell... & that's what it'll be.

So, when designing a character take into account the rules of the XWF (few though they are): no Aggravated damage, no 'foreign objects', no 'outside interference' - & try to imagine if any of the powers you're looking at buying would be seen as breaking those rules by the guys in the stands - i.e. the ones who don't know the difference between a Mitoid jobber & a real Nova... i.e. the fans...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if we need another OOC thread for this? Telling a new person that the XWF rules are on page XYZ (using a certain format) of this thread is going to be pretty awkward (although not as awkward as telling him to read the entire thing).

yeah, I've been thinking that all the QZ sub games should have their own OOC threads...Technically the same verse but can be confusing sometimes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah, I've been thinking that all the QZ sub games should have their own OOC threads...Technically the same verse but can be confusing sometimes...

Btw, Jigsaw doesn't have mega-app or anything, he's just a handsome (normal standards) German-Italian...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought of this after I sent my reply to you Potts, but you alluded to it in your post, so I will ask here. I was going to ask if, since I had put so much effort into my character (and it came together in such an overall cool way) if you might allow my character as is to compete in the red circle, where powers are more diverse and exotic. Given his lack of other powers and the 'flash' of that one, I thought it might be more acceptable. He *would* be under powered in terms of soak and damage potential at least until I got some xp, so he would take more of a pounding and his clones would be more in danger. Also, his ability to bum rush and double/triple etc. up on his foes is less of an issue against people like Raja Ravana who can just 'port away and hose him with a fireball.

I guess what I am trying to say is I really don't want to start from scratch so if there is any way we could work together to make it happen that would be awesome. Red Circle?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is half-inched and inched mean? Its the one piece of slang so far I haven't been able to decipher...

The 'rhyming-slang' they use in the game is, as the name implies, based off of words that rhyme with the word whose meaning the speaker wants to convey. So 'half-inch' is, as Zeke said, I have (half) pinched (inch). All of the slang terms so far have been based off of this scheme. Although my understanding is that some of the words in the Cockney rhyming tongue are arrived at through association rather than phonetic rhyming. Don't really know that, though.

I guess what I am trying to say is I really don't want to start from scratch so if there is any way we could work together to make it happen that would be awesome. Red Circle?
I have to admit, I'd hate to see Mob Rulz get DQ-ed. Mostly because of the cool name. ::biggrin

Best of luck with that Sky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess what I am trying to say is I really don't want to start from scratch so if there is any way we could work together to make it happen that would be awesome. Red Circle?

To be honest I think that the fact that Prof just wrote a big@ss post about not wanting Clone, Q-Construct or Animation powers is a pretty clear indication of his desires. He didn't name any players and bothered to name non-clone powers. I don't think that appealing to the masses to guilt the storyteller into accepting something he isn't comfortable with is the way to go. Everyone puts in a lot of effort into their characters and a lot of them get some of their ideas shot down. That means its bite the bullet time and back to the drawing board...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sky, I understand your desire to keep the character you worked so hard on, and I thought your post to Prof was politely written. I personally disagree with the fact that you posted publicly about trying to keep your character concept even after Prof's post, but I understand why you may have felt that his public post deserved a public response. I would've have kept it in PM, or just dropped it, but that's me. (No offense.)

I am well aware that I am no longer Admin on this site. I'm posting this only to try to settle things down before this turns into a flame-fest and sours the whole thread.

Edit: I see that Skylion has removed his responding post to Zeke, and I think it was pretty cool of him to let this drop. Thank you Sky.

Now: "Can't we all just get along?" ::biggrin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...