Trinity RPG - Homo Sapiens Whatsit?

[Dirk Cjelli]

In the (accursed) Aberrant PG, there is mention of 3 different kinds of human evolutionary steps...

In Trinity, these ideas get a little more developped I think.

Help me out here, I'm interested in knowing "all" of hte categories.

There are:

Novas (and sub-aberrants who have been mutated by one group or another)

Psions (people with psionic aptitude who have been genetically messed with by alien tech)

Proto-psions (people who could go in the tanks but didn't, and who develloped broader abilities)

Paramorphs (Aberrant and Adventure! age Proto-psions?)

Exomorphs (another name for novas?)

Daredevils (apparently something different from the other two)

And what the heck is Mercier himself?

Any help (and a list more coherent than my own) would be greatly appreciated)

[Bahamut810]

Daredevils are normal humans...

Mercer is an early nova

[moving_target]

there are four distinct clasifications

human (null, daseline, joe-smoe) are normal people without any type of extra abilities.

exomorphs (stalwards, novas and aberrants) use use gross manipulations of the four quantum forces- and are gennerally pretty powerful, that power tends to alter their since of self to the point that they might not function well in society anymore.

pychomorphs (mesmerists, psiads, psions, proto-psions) use the pision sub-quantum particle to manipulate other forces, while this is not as powerful as direct mainulation of quantim forces, it is a lot less stressful for the user and thus the user is less likely yo go nuts and level small planets.

and finally

paramorphs (daredevels, superiors) this is the "other" classification. this group is the least understood because most of the members are not seen as super-normal. Their abilities are some sort of subconscious manipulation of the environment, but manifest themselves as extreme luck or impressive knacks.

[Finbar]

Welcome to a lot of evolutionary weirdness...How you break it down depends on which mechanic you use...Novas and Psions/Psiads are definitely two seperate groups, but with the Inspired....

Basically, as per the Advnture Book, the evolution is:

Human----> Stalwart ---> Nova

Mesmerist ---> Psion/Psiad

Daredevil ---> Superior (sorta)

However, Stalwarts are not in the same group as Novas, nor are Mesmerists in the same group as Psions/Psiads (Novas use Quantum to power their abilities, Psions/Psiads use Psi, and the others use Inspiration). I tend to keep Stalwarts, Mesmerists, and Daredevils in the same group because they can use each other's abilities and the Dramatic Editing ability...

Side note: Whereas Donighal is definitely a nova, Mercer has only been described as Inspired (albeit type unknown).

FR

[notsoangrydave]

I would tend to separate Daredevils from Superiors.

Superiors operate on genetic mucking about, while Daredevils occur naturally.

And I would disagree with the Mercer-as-nova statement, too. If a man has only one supernatural ability, do you really think he's a nova?

[Bahamut810]

Mercer is an *early* nova...check apg p. 51. They are significantly weaker then normal Nova's. Mercer was just blessed with a good power.

In the A! CB....it says that Daredevils are normal humans. When I get home Ill pull my book out and give you a page for that. They are just have the skillz

[ProfPotts]

No - Mercer is an unspecified type of Inspired!, with a unique power that no-one else is allowed to ever get. The implications are that he is one-of-a-kind & falls into none of the PC-types.

Mal is an early Nova, & is specifically not the same as Mercer.

[madcat82]

I agree with ProfPotts, Mercer is unspecified.

Although I would personaly bet my money on Mercer being a Psion of proxy level powers.

BTW, I heard a long time ago that Novas couldnt travel through time (there powers being so focused on the here and now that that was a restriction for them). Is that true...

[Dirk Cjelli]

w/ regards to time travel:

Maybe. They publish rules for various kinds of time travel in the apg, (pg 136), but make it perfectly clear the storyteller might not allow it. Its also a level 5 power.

... kinda reminds me of the Spinal Tap movie where the musician is so thrilled that his amp goes up "to eleven"

w/ regard to what Mal actually does to set it off:

Ah... the hard question... don't know that one either. Presumably by carefully supporting specific individuals, or by quietly encouraging someone before they set off a chain reaction... but thats super vague I know.

On apg page 55, Mercier himself outlines three groups:

eximorphs (novas)

psychomorphs (psiads)

paramorphs (not psiads; only one documented.)

Could Mercier, the narator, be referring to himself as a paramorph?

The stuck-in-time syndrome might not be the most advantageous trait, so perhaps he's some kind of evolutionary dead end.

Project Tantalus is supposed to be studying paramorphs, but could possibly consist of only Mercier himself. Thoughts?

::ninja ::ninja

[Nullifier]

I was kinda hoping that they'd got into detail with the paramorph(s) in Adventure! Guess that never happened, that.

[metaphysician]

It did, sort of. Daredevils *are* Paramorphs. Or rather, Daredevils are to Paramorphs as Stalwarts are to Eximorphs/Novas, and Mesmerists are to Psychamorphs/Psions/Etc.

And either Mercer is unique or a nova, because no one else has the ability to overtly travel through time.

[Blue Thunder]

Bates describes Mercer as being unique. He is not nova, psiad, or daredevil...nor is he anything encountered before. Hence the "unique" title.

He also revealed that it was his intention for mesmerists to be psiads and stalwarts to be novas, and that daredevils were normal people, enhancd only for the purposes of pulp action. The differences in gameplay are more of a setting and theme issue than anything. Adventure! is pulp, so the characters' abilties reflected that pulp feel. Baugh interpretted the character concepts differently though, so after Bates left and Baugh was doing Terra Verde, he decided that the Inspired were thier own types, and that they startd appearing after the Venezuelan Phenomenon.

[metaphysician]

Bates may have said that, but the book contradicts him in at least two ways:

1. The glossary in the back, IIRC, specifically labels Daredevils as being Paramorphs

2. Donighal specifically notices the fact that certain individuals are bending the laws of probability

As for Mercer being unique, frankly, I'd throw that out. Humanity already has three inherent and independent superhuman potentialities, it doesn't need more of them when Mercer's setting role is entirely compatible with the known variants.

[Ian Watson]

The confusing comes from the differing views of the developers.

Andrew Bates' intent was for Mesmerists to be proto-Psions, Stalwarts to be early novas. Daredevils, as described in Adventure!, are just humans who have extraordinary skill or luck. There's nothing weird about them.

Paramorphs are a third group. As mentioned in the APG, there's only one known paramorph: Max Mercer. The Paramorph tag is meant specifically for Max, because his abilities are unique. No one knows exactly what he is, only that he's not a psychomorph or an eximorph, so they made up a new category for him.

Bruce Baugh's intent was for Mesmerists to be proto-Psions, Stalwarts to be early novas, and Daredevils are what will eventually be called paramorphs.

Daredevils, in this scenario, aren't just average dudes who are lucky or skilled, but possessing a certain weirdness like psions and novas, but this weirdness has not yet been explained. Perhaps the science of the 21st and early 22nd centuries is not yet advanced enough to be able to tell.

Max Mercer is as far beyond your average daredevil as Doctor Primoris is above your average stalwart (or Divis Mal to novas). I like how aberranteyes explained it: Mercer consciously manipulates linear time. Daredevils subconsciously manipulate perpendicular time, i.e. probability. Unfortunately, due to some unknown factor in a daredevil's makeup, they can't naturally progress to Mercer's power level like your average nova could theoretically become Divis Mal if given enough time.

The reason the APG says that Project Tantalus is only aware of one modern paramorph (Max) is because daredevil powers are so low-key as to be nearly indistinguishable to either nova or psion observers. Their abilities appear to be skill or luck. So they're hard to track down.

Superiors are, of course, an early (and somewhat successful) attempt to trigger a daredevil using the Nakamura Process in the same way that Prometheus Chambers trigger a latent as a full psion.

Ultimately which approach you take is up to you. Bruce developed the last couple of Trinity books (Terra Verde and Asia Ascendant), and co-developed Adventure! and Aurora Australis with Andrew. So while there's definitely support for Andrew's concept, Bruce's does, I believe, have more direct support within the material.

[metaphysician]

My main objection to Bates' viewpoint is that the extraordinary skill and luck daredevils have *is* weird. If it weren't, than skilled baselines, or other types of inspired, should be able to develop Heroic Knacks.

[Ian Watson]

My main objection to Bates' viewpoint is that the extraordinary skill and luck daredevils have *is* weird. If it weren't, than skilled baselines, or other types of inspired, should be able to develop Heroic Knacks.

Well, that's the thing. If you're a "skilled baseline," you're written up as a daredevil. At least, depending on just how skilled you are. The daredevil template is what you use to describe a particularly lucky or skilled baseline.

Other types of inspired pretty much make their own luck.

[metaphysician]

Ah, but thats the thing: if all it is, is ordinary skill and luck, why can't someone who's *not* a baseline have it?

After all, a superhuman can buy 5 dot attributes, 5 dot abilities, and merits. Why can't they also pick heroic knacks, if all they are is unusual high end merits?

Sure, sure, "game balance," but when internal consistency breaks down in order to achieve game balance, somebody screwed up.

[Blue Thunder]

The answer: theme

It's the reason we never saw daredevils in Trinity or Aberrant. Pulp fiction stories are full of daredevils. I'm not saying supers stories or sci-fi stories aren't either, but daredevils were made specifically for the pulp story of Adventure! Don't think of them from a gameplay POV, think of them from a story POV. Indiana Jones was a daredevil...but he was still a normal human, genetically.

I know about the Superiors from Asia Ascendant, but those were Baugh's (or someone else's) idea, made after Bates left. When I asked Bates about them he had no idea what they were. In AsAs, Nippon can detect if somene is "latent" (I guess we cold say "Inspired" here) and then make them into a Superior, which is the same as a daredevil gameplay-wise, with one or two minor differences. Nippon has no clue what a daredevil is, or that any used to exist. Daredevils were just a thematic element of the Adventure setting. Just like how mesmerists were proto-psions/psiads and stalwarts were novas (which Bates recently confirmed was his intent). They may have different rules and powers, but it's all thematic. For purposes of pulp, they were made differently, to better fit the setting.

[metaphysician]

The thing is, if daredevil-dom is something they can genetically induce in people, that seems to indicate that it is, in fact, something other than simple random luck and talent.

And the fact that its in-theme to have lots of plucky "ordinary humans" in a pulp genre game doesn't change the fact that, in this particular setting, their appearance is very strongly linked to the increase in telluric energies, something well outside the norm for simple talent and luck.

[phoenix]

Interesting debate.

The thing is, if daredevil-dom is something they can genetically induce in people, that seems to indicate that it is, in fact, something other than simple random luck and talent.

Not so much. A six on a die roll is a random occurrence, but that doesn't mean you can't artificially induce it.

[Blue Thunder]

Yes, the Superiors are basically modern-day daredevils that Nippon has triggered through a special process only they know of. But that's where we run into developer conflict. Baugh was the one that made Asia Ascendant, and from his POV, daredevils were something that could be triggered because daredevil-dom was identifiable and somewhat tangible. Bates on the other hand, who made daredevils, just intended for them to stay in Adventure!...since they'd only be in A!, there was no need to further explain them.

It's up to you to decide how they work in your campaign.

[Finbar]

Paramorphs are a third group. As mentioned in the APG, there's only one known paramorph: Max Mercer. The Paramorph tag is meant specifically for Max, because his abilities are unique. No one knows exactly what he is, only that he's not a psychomorph or an eximorph, so they made up a new category for him.

Bruce Baugh's intent was for Mesmerists to be proto-Psions, Stalwarts to be early novas, and Daredevils are what will eventually be called paramorphs.

[...]

Max Mercer is as far beyond your average daredevil as Doctor Primoris is above your average stalwart (or Divis Mal to novas). I like how aberranteyes explained it: Mercer consciously manipulates linear time. Daredevils subconsciously manipulate perpendicular time, i.e. probability. Unfortunately, due to some unknown factor in a daredevil's makeup, they can't naturally progress to Mercer's power level like your average nova could theoretically become Divis Mal if given enough time.

Two quick notes:

1) No specific paramorph is specified; it's only been assumed by fans that it was Mercer. Bear in mind that it could have been a daredevil (which are hard to find simply because they don't show up unless you know what you are looking for, and there are so few of them by 2008). Heck, it could have been Whitney or Mercer's son (which is it's own debate).

2) Comparing Primoris to a stalwart is a really bad analogy, especially as it appears that Mal was never an Inspired of any type (Primoris being Mal, of course). Just an observation...

FR

[metaphysician]

As an aside, there are some probable paramorphs in the Aberrant era. Director Thetis and Mammon of the Church of Astaroth, notably. Wouldn't be surprised if the more skilled Directive agents turned out to be likewise.

[Blue Thunder]

And in Trinity, many people think that the President of The Pit (on Luna) is a daredevil, possibly the same person as "The President of the World" or whoever from Adventure!.

[metaphysician]

Can't be, the Rex Mundi wasn't a daredevil. She was a mesmerist.

[Alex Green]

As an aside, there are some probable paramorphs in the Aberrant era. Director Thetis and Mammon of the Church of Astaroth, notably. Wouldn't be surprised if the more skilled Directive agents turned out to be likewise.

I think you mean "Daredevils"... and that is a very interesting idea.

[metaphysician]

Remember, I subscribe to the "paramorphs = daredevils" explanation. So, daredevils, superiors, they are all types of paramorphs.

But yes, given they go out of their way to describe both as being excessively talented by human standards. . .

[Ian Watson]

Two quick notes:

1) No specific paramorph is specified;

It was specified to me, by Andrew Bates. The lone paramorph that Tantalus knows about is Max Mercer.

2) Comparing Primoris to a stalwart is a really bad analogy, especially as it appears that Mal was never an Inspired of any type (Primoris being Mal, of course). Just an observation...

It's just fine as an analogy given that stalwarts and novas are the same thing, just on a different scale.

And yes, Mal is obviously an Inspired, if your definition of Inspired is "any psychomorph, eximorph or paramorph." If, however, your definition is limited to Adventure!-era mesmerists, stalwarts and daredevils, then no, he was technically never a typical stalwart-level eximorph. Although he self-identified (and was identified by game text) as a stalwart, regardless.

[metaphysician]

This is why I'm always dubious of designer statements that aren't a part of the canon material itself.

[Alex Green]

Although he self-identified (and was identified by game text) as a stalwart, regardless.

Incorrectly self-identified as we understand things in 2008.

[metaphysician]

I wouldn't say it was incorrect. Novas and Stalwarts are the same type of superhuman, just different power scales. His only real mistake was not realizing he was a "mature" eximorph, a level above the other existing stalwarts.

[Gideon]

And if you look at the stats on Primoris, the effect of what he can do , is a Nova with 1 dot in each Mega-Attribute and 1 Enhancement for each. That more than anything else made me think that he was a nova, translated into Adventure Only rules.

[Finbar]

Primoris was a nova translated to A! rules...Yeesh...Primoris is not a stalwart, daredevil, mesmerist, or any kind of Inspired character you want to try to make of him. He's arguably the first nova, and in an entirely different kind of power level, even before he became Divis Mal. The only person even in his power range is Mercer, and no one (Mercer himself) is really sure what kind of character he is...

The only problem with Primoris is that he is able to escape detection as a nova, but that's not a major issue considering his mastery of Quantum (he could have noticed the liability of being able to be detected, and so just figured a way to hide his q-aura)...

FR

[Alex Green]

There's a Q6 or Q7 min "Q" power that does exactly that. And considering some of the flavor text it's unclear how good he is at hiding... but if one goes looking for Mal, one has the problem of what you do when you find him.

[Finbar]

I'm thinking something involving lace, but leather would probably be more appropriate ::blush ...

[sorry...I'll go away now...]

FR

[Blue Thunder]

Considering how Scripture looks in Worldwide: Phase 2 (the first scenario, his phone conversation with Orzaiz), I'd say Mal is pretty much up for anything. His low standards mean I just may have a chance.

[Alex Green]

Considering how Scripture looks in Worldwide: Phase 2 (the first scenario, his phone conversation with Orzaiz), I'd say Mal is pretty much up for anything. His low standards mean I just may have a chance.

You Fail: Mal incinerates you.

You suceed: Scripture incinerates you.

[Blue Thunder]

I have "Invulnerability: Angry Boyfriends" at five dots.