Aberrant: War Journal - Aberrant War, anyone?

[Heritage]

I'm just curious if anyone would be crazy enough to join another game? My tabletop Aberrant War campaign is showing signs of possible collapse, and it would be a shame to put all that hard work to waste... ::halo

The setting is Washington State in the year 2056 - martial law and rationing are making life fun for all Americans, and the Wycoff Detonation of '54 appears to have all kinds of negative side effects ::devil

If there is interest, I'll post more info soon.

p.s. Um, could some really smart person, like, correct the spelling of 'Aberrant' in the thread title? That's just gonna drive me nuts ::crazy

[Edit by Phoenix: Done.]

[ezekiel]

must...resist...do not...proceed...

I have no willpower

I'd be interested but I'm not too sure of how accessible I'll be or even if continuing the games I'm in is really feasible. I take my flight to Taipei on the 13th and your guess as to how soon I'll get connected after that is as good as mine. Anyway, I'm sure others would be interested if I can't make it...

What would character creation rules be? Is this a "build your dream abbie character" kinda game?

aarrrghhhh!

Dammit!

Well, since madcat's game dropped I'm down one game anyway, right? Ahem, I'm sure I can fit this in...Internet Cafés are supposedly dirt cheap where I'll be.. ::blush ::tongue

[malkboy]

oooh oooh oooh.. interest interest...

[Heritage]

Well, here's the thing - I set up certain character creation guidelines for the tabletop version of the campaign, but I'll have to go over them to see if they need revision for online play. The tabletop version assumed that everyone was on the same side (though secret Backing was allowed ::ninja), but as I've seen from the Prof's games that isn't as important online, so it's possible that might change.

I will say that most of the background I've come up with assumes players will be part of a group known as the Green Machine, Green Network, or most commonly just the Greens. They're a paramilitary cohabitionist group, which basically means they think baselines and novas can safely coexist, and are willing to die to defend that right. Not all Greens are novas - in fact baselines outnumber novas within the group almost three to one. There are about 1000 individuals in the Greens, and in the current climate membership in the group is considered treason.

However, after some seven years of conflict, things aren't as cut and dried as they used to be - there is increasing Teragen sympathy within the Greens, and many of the baselines are begining to wonder why they're dying to defend novas.

The feel of the game is best described (in Hollywood-speak, at least) as X2 meets Saving Private Ryan; roleplaying wise, I guess it's Aberrant meets Twilight: 2000. It's a grim, gritty world, but I'm not a slave to canon - in fact, I've made a few departures from canon already, and the players have a chance to make a difference.

For a sample of the campiagn's feel, you can check out 'Blood in the River of Fire' in the EON Fiction section, which (if I ever finish it ::blush) details a major battle in Green history.

[Bahamut810]

I am *so* in.

[phoenix]

I'd like to play, and I have an idea or two already.. Heh heh heh..

The Greens are your creation, not canon, right?

[Heritage]

The Greens are your creation, not canon, right?

Yup, completely made up by me. I have a lot of background material on the Greens, but I'll give you guys the basics.

The military aspect of the Greens is divided into three branches: the Regular Army (known as the 'Regs' or 'RA'), Special Operations (almost always refered to as the 'Cobras') and the Scouts (sometimes called the 'Black Berets', but usually just refered to as the Scouts).

RA has five subdivisions: Engineers, Infantry, Intelligence, Med Corps and Transport and Supply. I have write-ups on all these groups, which I'll probably just put up in this thread, seeing as they're not too long. I also have a timeline of events up to 2056 (close to official Aberrant and Trinity, but with some digressions), which I'm still tweaking, but is several pages long. The longest doc I have is a guide to Green slang - I've noticed that every armed conflict develops it's own language, so I've come up with a list of terms thats 7 pages long ::crazy, which I guess I'd either email to people or put up as a file somewhere here at EON.

The big thing we need to figure out is if your characters have just been recruited or if you've been in the game for a while - the main thing this effects is your Rank (based off of Backing) and access to equipment (using Requisition, borrowed from Trinity).

If you start as new recruits, you'd have no Rank or Requistion dots since you're privates who follow orders, do what your told and get the same starting equipment as everyone else. Th problem with this is (well, other than the faxct that it sucks to be a private ::sly) is that you'd all start out in Infantry, since thats where everyone begins. You can't go into the other areas until you make corporal (Rank 1), you can't apply for SO 'til your a sergeant (Rank 2), and Scouts are trained seperately from RA, and wouldn't be able to hang out together, unless your all Scouts, which might not appeal to everyone. On the other hand, starting on the 'ground floor' can be interesting as you learn the ropes and find your way in 'Greenland'.

The other option is that you all start out as lieutenants (Rank 3) as part of an Expeditionary team (known as X-Peds). X-Peds operate outside of the normal battalion hierarchy, can come from any of the branches or sub-divisions, and have a small group of people to boss around, their attached Fire Team and Support Team. They can draw upon the resources of the Network, but typically stay in the field for long periods of time and have lot more say it where they go and waht they do. The X-Ped model was specifically created to mimic a traditional 'adventuring party', but also fills a strategic need from long-range recon, sabotage and recovery missions.

As an aside, in my original game, players could also play baselines, which you can do as well, if you so desire; baseline Greens get double Bonus points (30) to reflect their increased training to stay competetive, and the fact that they don't nova powers to fall back on.

I'll go put up those branch write-ups now.

[Heritage]

The Regular Army

('RA', 'Regulars', 'Regs', 'Dregs')

The Regular Army is the largest of the three branches, and is divided into five sub-divisions: Engineers, Infantry, Intelligence, Medical Corps, and Transport and Supply. The Regs pride themselves on their flexibility - in a pinch, they can be almost as sneaky as a Scout, or pack a punch as hard as a Cobra. The Regs have the largest proportion of baselines of any of the branches, about 3 to 1, so there is often a strong desire to prove oneself next to your nova buddy or a loudmouth no-neck. Most of the Reg novas are officers, but many are specialists, especially in the Engineers, Intelligence and TS divisions.

There is a 'can-do' attitude among the Regs, who see themselves as the glue that holds the Greens together - if you need something or someone fixed, delivered or removed, call a Reg. Some baselines grumble about being stuck with the 'dirty work', but most enjoy being perceived as resourceful jacks-of-all-trades. Unfortunately the troops must often make do with meager amounts of ammo and rations - for example, Infantry are issued only three fifteen-round clips for their G1s, and are expected to procure additional clips by barter, purchase or off their fallen comrades. On the other hand, they're still expected to hump a lot of extraneous gear that they'd rather do without - 'too much and too little' is a frequent complaint.

Cobras and Scouts often use the term 'Reg' to mean any grunt in combat, but the Regs are actually extremely diverse in both attitude and function:

Engineers ('Grease Monkeys', 'Gearheads', 'Demos')

Insignia: Crossed shovel and pickax

The eighty men and women of the Green Engineers are in charge of doing three things: building things, fixing things, and blowing things up, and they appear to enjoy doing all three equally. All the Greens' underground bases were excavated by Engineers, all the

t-port stations were built by the Engineers, and the ingenious (and somewhat creepy) Path radios were devised by Engineers, so in a very real sense there wouldn't even be a Green Machine without them.

And what thanks do they get? "Hey gearhead, the coffee machine's broken - how 'bout you get off yer @ss and fix it?" Engineers and TS personnel frequently commiserate over their shared lack of status, and the two groups couldn't be any tighter.

There is some degree of specialization within the Engineers, but not enough to warrant the creation of sub-divisions. Every base, no matter how small, has at least one Engineer assigned to it, and they are expected to maintain power plants and atmospheric controls, repair weapons and communications gear, and be able to assemble or deactivate a wide variety of explosive devices. They are also expected to supervise construction programs and sabotage operations with equal facility.

Obviously, they don't have a lot of free time, but somehow most Engineers find time to indulge in dangerous side-projects and bizarre hobbies, like breeding explosive gerbils or assembling flame-throwers out of soup cans. This is another good reason to keep your resident Engineer busy.

Nova Engineers are typically unusually bright, intimate with machinery or have some control over matter or natural forces (perfect for burrowing into the earth's crust). Again, if idle hands are the Devil's playthings, than idle Engineers are just plain scary.

Infantry ('Grunts', 'Crunchies')

Insignia: Crossed rifles

With eight hundred and ninety active personnel, Infantry is by far the largest division of all the Greens, and is also almost entirely baseline, primarily because novas are encouraged to either specialize within the Regs or invited to join the Cobras or Scouts, depending on their powers. This disparity has been noticed, and there are many baseline grunts who feel they are being stuck in the front lines to fight 'their war', meaning of course the novas, who some rather unenlightened souls maintain started it. And while this last point could be the subject of considerable debate, there might be some truth to baseline claims of nova favoritism, for almost 90% of novas in the Infantry are officers, though this is still only a small portion of the Infantry command structure. The remaining novas are either staying with the Infantry to make a statement about nova-baseline equality or are desperately hoping to make it into the Cobras.

This policy of putting nova officers in charge of baseline troops is often referred to as 'Novas Over Baselines', a policy which some think is endemic to the Greens' attitude as a whole. This term has also given rise to the term 'nob' to describe a nova officer, a term that has proven so popular that it has been adopted by all branches of service, no doubt because it evokes images of the male anatomy. 'I've been nobbed' is a popular term used by baseline personnel who were passed up for promotion in favor of a nova candidate.

Infantry is divided into ten battalions; each battalion is further divided into three companies, led by a captain and his first sergeant and divided into two platoons. Each platoon has a lieutenant who, aided by a corporal, oversees two five-man squads, each led by its own sergeant. Each company has one Cobra on call, and both platoons each have a support staff consisting of a Medic, Scout and Engineer.

Intelligence ('Spooks')

Insignia: Compass rose

No one likes the spooks - no one. For starters, several of the fifty intelligence officers are ex-Directive, which to most Greens is like saying they're Satanists or baby killers. The spooks are also in frequent contact with the Blanks, the mercenary Teragen faction, which the baselines don't like because they're Teragen, and the novas don't like because they never work for free. Plus the Blanks are just plain creepy as hell - kind of like the spooks, actually.

Each Infantry company has one Intel officer, which does little to inspire confidence among the troops. The good news is that few Greens ever have to deal directly with the spooks - they tend to keep to themselves at bases and warpstations, and when they're in the field they're invisible, sometimes literally. No one outside of Intelligence really knows what their up to, and frankly no one cares.

Of course Intelligence is a vital part of the Green Machine - they take data culled from a variety of sources, assemble it into coherent form, and pass it on to the Inner Circle for evaluation. Intel agents often work closely with Scouts in the field on particularly sneaky operations, making them the closest thing to an ally that the spooks possess.

Novas in Intelligence are often scarily smart, preternaturally sneaky, or a frightening combination of the two.

Medical Corps ('Med Corps', 'Med-corpse', 'Docs', 'Medics')

Insignia: White cross

As fighting forces go, the Green Machine is not large, but their enemies are many and well equipped. If it weren't for the eighty men and women of Med Corps, the fight would have been over long ago. Perpetually low on supplies and manpower, the medics must battle exhaustion and stress while they struggle to keep men and women alive. The few nova healers in Med Corps are in especially high demand, getting little sleep and fewer breaks as they save the unsaveable time and again.

Med Corps trains troops in basic field medicine, supervises a growing number of baseline volunteer nurses, and offers a more advanced medical course for Scouts and Intelligence officers who must often work alone in hostile areas. The Corps also works closely with TS to acquire and distribute medical supplies throughout the Green network.

Each Infantry platoon has it's own field medic, with the remaining twenty senior medics based at one of the three warpstations. Most of them never leave the trauma wards, but a few are on call to be warped or ported where they're needed at a moment's notice. Medics also go on warplift missions or to sympathetic mountain towns to ease suffering and show a positive public face.

Transport and Supply ('TS', 'T&S', 'BS', 'Mules')

Insignia: Pack mule

All TS personnel are based at one of the three active warpstations (Alpha, Bravo and Delta), and these fifty Greens rarely leave their respective installations. They are given the daunting task of maintaining up-to-date records of the current location of every man and woman, every bullet and biscuit, within the Green infrastructure. In addition, they are responsible for sending these resources wherever they are needed in the shortest time possible, an almost Herculean task for which they rarely receive proper credit. All vehicles are serviced by TS mechanics, and along with the Engineers, they maintain the vital t-port network that holds the entire Green Machine together.

Many Greens outside the unit think of TS personnel as being little more than clerks and pencil pushers, but this is a serious mistake. The next time you need some extra ammo before going out into a hot LZ, remember to treat the TS clerk with the proper respect; he might slip you an extra clip or grenade, or shave a few punches of the cost. But rude behaviour or impatience can lead to sudden 'memory loss', misplaced requests or bum ammo; there's a reason that the TS symbol is a pack mule, after all. Inconsiderate grunts and Cobras are the ones who say TS stands for "Tough Sh!t", because that’s what the clerks tell them when they b!tch. And let is also be said that TS scrounger teams must frequently put their lives at risk by going out into the field in search of weapons, ammo and medical supplies, often raiding heavily-fortified Army bases to do so.

Nova specialists within their ranks include a few teleporters (necessary in case of t-port failure), high-Qs with enhanced memories or computational abilities, and the warpers, the handful of men and women who send the warp teams out into the harsh world. Warpers are the one group of TS personnel who are universally respected and treated as equals by combat troops, much like chopper pilots in other armies.

[Heritage]

Special Operations: The Cobras

('Bricks', 'Blockheads', 'No-necks')

The oldest and smallest of the branches with only seventy-five personnel, the Cobras were formed from the 'old dogs' that founded the original mercenary company back in the Teens. Over time, the unit became 'novas only', with an emphasis on fast, hard-hitting assaults utilizing enhanced strength, durability and heavy weapons. There isn't much left standing after a squad of Cobras screaming "Snake Eyes!" has passed through.

All Cobras start out in the RA Infantry, where they complete basic training with the other grunts and grudgingly rise up the ladder until they make sergeant; at that point, they can apply for transfer into one of the three SO battalions, assuming there's a vacant position. If they are approved and a spot is available, they are inducted into 'the Brotherhood of Heroes' with great ceremony, where they ritualistically shave their heads and burn their old RA uniform. This last bit annoys the Regular Army a great deal, but at this point they're not about to push it.

The standard issue weapon of the Cobras is the MG-5000; easily the most powerful machine gun designed to be carried into combat. The MG, usually referred to as the 'Bulldog', is not an easy weapon to handle: fully loaded, it weighs about 1000 kilos, it jerks about violently when fired, and the noise is deafening. Only a soldier with superhuman strength can pick one up, let alone hope to hit anything with it. Cobras consider any weapon smaller than their beloved Bulldog to be a 'popgun', and practically useless against the combined forces the Greens must face.

Cobras tend to be rather arrogant and cocky, and treat their Green baseline brothers with a mixture of amusement and disdain. They have a reputation for being loud and none too subtle, both in the field and back at base, and aren't usually known for their brains, though there are, of course, exceptions. It should also be pointed out that Cobras are almost ridiculously brave, willing to go one-on-one with tanks, gunships and tactical powersuits, and more often then not they limp away victorious. True, everyone within four counties will have heard the fight, but if they have any sense they will relocate quickly to some safer continent.

When it comes to working with the other branches, most Cobras don't mind having to fight side-by-side with Infantry 'crunchies' from time to time, and the rest of the Reg divisions all have their uses. However, woe to the officer who meekly suggests a Cobra-Scout shared operation: these two branches could not hate each other more. Cobras see Scouts as weasely little über-p^ssies that think their sh!t don't stink, and the very idea of preferring to use pistols in the field is so beyond stupid that it boggles their minds. And Cobras are also offended by the Scouts use of dormancy to pass for baseline - this is directly counter to their belief in 'Abbie pride'. Of course, a few Cobras probably do know how to dampen their quantum, but would never admit it to their fellow bricks.

While their rivals the Scouts pride themselves on making do with less, Cobras seem to wallow in excess - there just isn't enough food, booze and ammo in the world to satisfy them. Much to the annoyance of the other two branches, they seem to have no trouble procuring as much ammunition and supplies as they want, especially 'carbo rations', five pound hunks of fortified beef and vegetable protein that the troops call 'sh!t bricks'. You need enhanced strength just to chew carbo rations, and the super-dense protein slabs have been used as thrown weapons more than once.

[Heritage]

The Scouts

('Juniors', 'Brownies', 'Cub Scouts', 'Black Berets')

The Scouts are the youngest of the three branches, and the other two are quick to remind them of their 'juvenile' status. They were originally the 'Green Watch', a training level of service for new recruits who were in charge of basic base security, but General Hackney saw their potential to be much more, and he shaped them into an elite recon/infiltration unit. One hundred and fifty strong, the Scouts are exceptional trackers and observers trained to quietly disappear into their environment, be it the backwoods or populated areas. The ratio of baselines to novas is about fifty-fifty, which is how the Scouts like it.

Unlike Cobras, Scouts never go through Infantry training; instead, they are trained in the field individually by a Master Scout. Many see themselves as inheritors of the Native American tradition of stealth and natural harmony, which can get a little irritating after a while, especially to the actual Yakima and Colville Indians who joined the Scouts. Scout combat training centers around two primary weapons: the silenced pistol and the knife, which are used to engage the enemy individually and quietly eliminate them one by one. They are also extensively trained in advanced medical and survival techniques, unarmed combat, improvised weapons and setting traps. As few Scouts are expected to be front-line combatants, they receive fairly cursory training in the use of the flechette rifle, the only assault weapon in their arsenal; having to use the fletcher is a last resort, and is seen as something of an embarrassment.

Scouts get minimal gear, but they don't grumble - 'a knife, a pistol and a good pair of boots' is one of their mottoes. The standard Scout uniform is beret, jumpsuit, greatcoat, leather boots and gloves, most commonly all black, but also available in urban gray and winter white. For extended operations in the field, Scouts use a bewildering variety of native camouflages to disappear into the surrounding terrain, and in populated areas, they are skilled at adopting local dress and customs to blend in with the crowd.

Scouts specialize in small team and solo operations, and thus are expected to act independently for long periods of time; this sort of life attracts a large number of 'lone wolf' types, which can be a problem from time to time. For instance, every Infantry platoon is assigned one Scout who is expected to take orders from an Infantry officer, which has been known to cause occasional friction, but the benefits of this system far outweigh any negatives.

Some find the Scouts to be somewhat aloof, unwilling to dirty their hands with 'grunt work', but they usually work well enough with Regular forces, especially Intelligence officers. However, the bad blood between Scouts and Cobras goes way back to a botched operation both blame the other team for, though neither side can remember the details. To a Scout, the Cobras are loud, coarse, stupid and rude, completely devoid of subtlety and gleeful wasters of precious supplies and ammunition. If the situation demands it, a temporary truce can be negotiated, but the partnership is guaranteed to be short-lived.

Scouts are all about the stealthy, and so their nova powers tend to reflect this, especially shapeshifting, invisibility or preternatural dexterity. Some of them also manifest nature-based powers, or are unusually resistant to the elements. And most importantly, all Scouts must have at least basic mastery of dormancy, the ability to withdraw their quantum energies into themselves, in order to pass for baseline if necessary.

[Heritage]

So far, Ezekiel, Malkboy, Bahamut and Phoenix have shown interest; I'm thinking of limiting the group to six players, but that's not carved in stone yet.

p.s. Thanks for the spelling change ::biggrin ::thumbsup

[Alex Green]

So standard character creation rules?

How common is taint at this time?

[Prince of Boredom]

Because I'm not in enough games already, I'll throw my name in the hat...

Got an idea for a combat medic I've been thinking about for a while, and it just happens to seem to fit...

[Nullifier]

I'm interested in playing as well. I've been itching to play an Aberrant War campaign, and I really liked your war story in the fiction section. ::bigsmile

[phoenix]

So standard character creation rules?

How common is taint at this time?

The big thing we need to figure out is if your characters have just been recruited or if you've been in the game for a while - the main thing this effects is your Rank (based off of Backing) and access to equipment (using Requisition, borrowed from Trinity).

I saw the title and assumed taint would be common enough that Sloppy Joe would look like Johnny Depp, and that we'd be playing veteran nova characters, which, Heritage, I guess I would prefer (not that I'm dead-against playing a Greenhorn - ba-dum CHA!).

Off to reread B. in the R. of F.

[Heritage]

Yikes, lots of interest! I must flee!

Hokay, taint and dormancy are a big deal in this campaign, for a couple of reasons. Within the Greens, taint is sort of a politcal/philosophical debate. Cobras tend to be fairly tainted and proud of it; they usually refer to themselves as Aberrants or 'Abbies', even though officially the Greens frown on the term. As mentioned in their write-up, they tend to look down on dormancy, and see it as denial of an Abbies true nature. The Scouts, on the other hand, are not into taint, since it makes you easier to find, and dormancy is required. The Regs don't really care, as long as no one gets hurt

Aberrant Detection Electronics (ADE) are still in their infancy, but they can make life hazardous for hight-taint novas.

So is taint higher in 2056? Certainly among the older novas, but I'm not sure it's signifanctly higher among new eruptions. Basically, pick whatever taint you want - just remember there will be consequences either way.

Two more things - guidelines and starting packages. I'm going to post the ones I came up with for my tabletop game, and we'll talk about them here. I outlawed Level 5 and 6 powers for both PCs and NPCs - I know that doesn't make sense in terms of canon (*sneeze-Divis Mal-sneeze*), but here's what it comes down to. Are their novas with level 5 and 6 powers? Yes. Will you ever meet them? No.

The starting packages are what you come out with after going through basic training - all listed stats are free.

War Journal PC Creation Guidelines

I hope this doesn't seem too anal or fascistic, but there are going to be some house rules in my upcoming Aberrant campaign. I'm trying to create a somewhat grittier, more realistic feel; I know, it's superheroes and all, but it's also going to be a war campaign, and for a war to exciting and scary, the threat of real harm must exist. Other than item A, none of these is carved in stone, or at least nothing harder than pumice. So bearing this in mind, here are the basic guidelines:

A. Allegiance - All characters will be members of the Green Machine, the military arm

of the Green Movement, so they'll have one of the three branches or sub-divisions as

their Allegiance; however, if players want their characters to be double agents, a

separate secret Allegiance can be purchased as a Background. Talk to me, and we'll

see about getting you dots in Backing, Cipher and/or Identity.

B. Points - 30 Nova points for novas, 30 bonus points for baselines

C. Merits and Flaws - Unlimited Merits, up to 10 points of Flaws.

D. Restricted powers - All 5 and 6 powers from the Player's Guide - they're just way too scary. And yes, that does include NPCs.

E. Starting power caps -

1. Quantum not to exceed five dots.

2. No mega-atts to start higher than three dots.

3. No more than 4 enhancements per mega-att - this includes the freebie.

4. No powers to start higher than 3 levels

5. No limits on how many powers or mega-atts you start with.

6. No limitations on regular attributes or abilities - go nuts.

(Note: these caps are only on starting powers - characters can exceed all of these

limits with experience points.)

F. Extras and Mastery - Extras are fine from the get-go, Mastery can be bought with

experience once you reach Quantum 6+.

G. Strengths and Weaknesses - These should be fine, but we'll talk about 'em as we do

character creation.

So, end of manifesto. Believe me, after character creation, I'm a complete pussycat ::biggrin If anyone has any questions or bribes, please PM or email me at alfero@hotmail.com.

Regular Army Starting Package

No physical Attribute lower than 2

Free skills:

Brawl-2

Athletics-2

Firearms-3

Melee-2

Stealth-2

Awareness-2

Navigation-2

Medicine-1

Survival-2

Scout Starting Package

No physical Attribute lower than 2

Free skills:

Athletics-3

Firearms-2 (pistol)

Legerdemain-2

Martial Arts-3

Stealth-3

Awareness-2

Navigation-3

Medicine-2

Intrusion-2

Survival-3

Disguise-2

As far as Cobras go, they get the same as RA, plus Heavy Weapons-3 (Bulldog). Cobras also must have Mega-Strength 1 and Mega-Stamina 1, if only to survive their training.

Background info I'll put up tonight. I think I'll put the Green slang in the Fiction area, so it doesn't take up space here.

[Alex Green]

Those skill packages have 18, 21, and 28 points of skills in them. How do they relate to our 23? Are they strickly a bonus, or do we spend some/all/most of the 23 on them?

[ezekiel]

Heritage wrote:

The starting packages are what you come out with after going through basic training - all listed stats are free.

They're free...

[Haze]

I'd definitely be interested in play - the idea of the scouts is very appealing.

[Heritage]

Yup, they're free. The way I figured it, you've all survived boot camp, and from what I'm seeing interest-wise, you're probably veterans of at least 2-3 years of fighting in possibly the bloodiest war in human history - to not give you these basic training packages would be cruel and unusual punishment.

The Greens are some of the sneakiest fighters ever, combining nova powers, weird science and jerry-rigged technology with blood and sweat to fight off the most technologically advanced military in the world, Gestapo-like Directive agents, rabid religious zealots and psychotic novas who want a piece of the pie. They are, in a sense, the ultimate underdogs, fighting a battle that most people would consider insane - but they've survived the War for seven years, which is saying a lot.

So spend your 23 points wisely, because you're going to need every last one ::devil

So here's how Backgrounds work - you can buy dots in anything but Rank. That has to be earned. If you're all starting out as veterans, you all start with:

Rank 3 (basically the same as Backing)

Requisition 2

Command-3

Tactics-2

Yes, this is in addition to the other skill package freebies. Am I insane? Probably. As I said before in my oddly patriotic paragraph above, these guys have to be wiley - they're like the IRA meets the Basques on crack. They've constructed a series of underground bunkers throughout the Cascade Mountains, linked by teleport stations, while armed men and robotic tanks scour the surface trying to find them. They have to be this tough.

A note on Resources. The Greens basically live 'off-the-grid' - they have their own economy based on crude punchcards that represent monthly wages, with bonus cards given out for exemplary service. If you have dots in Resources, this is money on the 'outside', and you better have dots in Cipher, Cyberkinesis or strong underworld connections if you want to access it safely without The Man tracking you down!

Here's who we've got so far:

Ezekiel

Malkboy

Bahamut

Phoenix

Alex Green

Nullifier

levinwurth

If all of you do end up joining, I'm considering the game full, for now - we shall see what the future holds.

Basically I'm going to put a lot of stuff up in the Character section of the Fiction Database - if this is not cool with anyone (especially our wonderful, loving administrators ::halo), I'll take it down, move it or something.

Clearly, based on this level of detail, I'm not a well man ::crazy - I just hope it's worth it in the long run. I had given some thought to writing up the Greens and/or this entire setting (which I call 'War Journal') as an e-book, especially since the earlier Aberrant: War! project seems to be deceased. What do you guys think?

[ezekiel]

Cool glossary Heritage! ::thumbsup

It's actually giving me a much better idea of what to expect from the gaming environment/world

Btw, are the Teragen a kinda Devries-ish entity in your timeline? You mentioned terrorist mercenaries and the glossary says Greens can expect help from Blanks for a price...

[Heritage]

Cool glossary Heritage! ::thumbsup 

It's actually giving me a much better idea of what to expect from the gaming environment/world

Me glad you like! It sounds like it did what it was intended to do, which is flesh out the world a bit and spark ideas. No one is expected to remember all that garbage - it's just for fun and flavor.

Btw, are the Teragen a kinda Devries-ish entity in your timeline? You mentioned terrorist mercenaries and the glossary says Greens can expect help from Blanks for a price...

The answer to that is very complicated - I just sent a very long PM to someone explaining my take on the Teragen in 2056. I should do a basic write-up and post it soon.

Basically the Teragen is very fractious, split along religious, militant and political lines. The Blanks are basically the current incarnation of the Casablancas - after Count Orzaiz's death, the Casablancas and Pandemonium merged, and are currently led by Synapse and Narcosis, who has become pure information in the OpNet. Aided by a powerful but addled Mathematician, the Blanks swim in the OpNet, obtaining information that they trade with other Teragen factions and non-Teragen nova groups. For the Greens, they are a great source of government and military intel, but the cost is usually quite high - typically highly-sensitive information or the use of Green personnel for any number of possible missions.

I'm going to put up the near-final version of my timeline up to 2056 in the Fiction Database, which should answer even more questions.

[Heritage]

Here's another fun bit:

The Cult of Alejandra

In 2056, few people remember that at one time, Alejandra Maria Magdalena Carranza was merely an extremely talented and popular performer; in the war years, she is always a symbol of one kind or another. To the faithful, she is seen as the herald of a new Golden Age, an incarnate angel who will end all the bloodshed and heal the world's wounds with but a softly spoken word. To the fanatics, she is a bloody redeemer whose righteous anger will shatter mountains and bring the mighty low. To those in power, she's a lethal siren who shall bring whole nations under her sway. But for whatever reason, just about everyone is looking for Alejandra.

For the Greens, the quest for Alejandra is far more pragmatic - long ago, General Chimera and Alejandra were on friendly terms, and the General hopes to bring her into the Green camp to inspire her warriors and draw more to the Green and White. Alejandra was always known to be a woman of peace, and Chimera definitely does want peace; she just wants to make sure that Greens come out on top, not as rulers of the world, but as key players in the world's rebuilding.

So where is Alejandra? It's a matter of public record that she retired from public life twenty years ago to take a firmer hand in running her charitable foundation. At that time she was still recording, and her music became increasingly personal and spiritual. After the inadvertent destruction of Mexico City by Feathered Serpent in 2043, she made her last recording, Navidad, which was never publicly released, though numerous unfinished versions made it onto the OpNet, where they have been exchanged and discussed ever since. Alejandra had intended to finish out her contract with New River Records with a simple Christmas album, but after the '43 quake, the project took on a far darker tone, a mournful requiem to the dead wrapped in songs that celebrated family and new life. New River canceled all plans to release Navidad after several members of the focus group had to be hospitalized for suicidal depression; to this day, it is not an album that one should listen to alone.

In many ways the cult of Alejandra really begins with this last unreleased album; true, there had been many obsessive fans before who had analyzed even her most innocuous songs like "The Sound of My Heart" and "Testing Testing", but with the arrival of Navidad suddenly everyone was looking for deeper meanings. Shortly after recording this final album, Alejandra simply disappeared, along with her entourage, leaving her Cancun estate dark and shuttered. A near riot began in town when word got out, and crazed fans rushed the compound gates, looting it and starting a fire that gutted the structure and spread to several nearby homes.

Now she is known to the devout as La Madonna de la Voce, the "Mother of the Voice" - many followers have taken to having the initials 'MDLV' tattooed on their right arm or over their hearts. Her ruined estate in Cancun is a place of pilgrimage, the whitewashed outside walls covered with colorful paintings detailing key moments from her life. No one dares to enter the compound itself, which is structurally unsound and rumored to be haunted, possibly by La Madonna herself. There are numerous shrines around the walls, where offerings are made and candles and incense kept burning.

No one is currently sure if Alejandra is alive or dead; some feel she has retreated from Earth, going to heaven or the stars, while others say she wanders the world as a restless spirit, visiting blessings on those who know her and recognize her. And many feel she is waiting to be reborn in a new earthly vessel; every year, another self-declared 'avatar' appears, and worshipers flock to her, hoping to receive her healing touch. Some of these are sadly deluded novas, while others are ruthless impostors hoping to recruit a legion of gullible followers for a more sinister purpose.

[Heritage]

Timeline is up, as well as two more unfinished tales, 'Healer' and 'Rubble Rat'.

It's 5:10 am in Chicagoland, and I am going to bed ::sleep

[Prince of Boredom]

Here's who we've got so far:

Ezekiel

Malkboy

Bahamut

Phoenix

Alex Green

Nullifier

levinwurth

uhm, so does this mean I got in too late...?

[ProfPotts]

I'm interested too (as always!) - I'll sit on the sub's bench with Prince of Boredom for now I guess... ::wink

Actually - PoB & me could just be the loyal opposition - we'll be the mega-Tainted Novas with collosal power who want to eat all the baselines in the world. Bwahahahahahah!!! ::squid ::laugh ::wink

[Heritage]

uhm, so does this mean I got in too late...?

Whoops, you were supposed to be on that list - mea culpa!

I'm interested too (as always!) - I'll sit on the sub's bench with Prince of Boredom for now I guess...

Dear Lord, not Potts, too! Will the nightmare never end? ::tongue

I've only received two actual submissions so far, so here's what I'll do:

1. First come, first served on submissions.

2. It doesn't have to be a full character write-up at this point. A PM that just says 'Me am Chicken-Man!' is enough to guarantee you a spot. Or just write 'Chicken-Man' on a 3 by 5 card and mail it to:

Heritage

c/o The Filthy Bum Behind the Dumpster at Arby's

USA, Earth

3. Lots of folks seem to like the Scouts. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but there are excellent job opportunites in all branches of service! For instance, Intel officers get to buy any of the skills from the Directive book, including Thought Discipline - nifty! And a warper from Transport and Supply makes a great Christmas gift ::xmas

4. Dum dum dum.... What, oh, there is no number 4. Except, um, type neatly. And double, no, triple-spaced. And none of that Commie Euro A4 paper, either!

::2ar15 God Bless America! ::withbeer

[phoenix]

A PM that just says 'Me am Chicken-Man!' is enough to guarantee you a spot. Or just write 'Chicken-Man' on a 3 by 5 card and mail it to:

::laugh ROFL

That idea is better than my character. Can I play Chicken-Man instead? ::smokin

[Bahamut810]

Guys...I have the greatest Idea...

More later after im done!

((EDIT))

How much damage does a bulldog do anyway?

[Alex Green]

Well, Heritage's box is full, so I'll try to sign up here.

[ProfPotts]

If I get in I'm aiming to play a Cobra (there's no restrictions on that, right? ::confused ) - if you're gonna' do the 'war' thing, you might as well take the stereotypes all the way!

::2ar15 ::chowyunfat ::m60 ::getsome ::ohcrap ::smokin ::chillbeer

Well, Heritage's box is full, so I'll try to sign up here.

Arrgghh! You're right. I've tried sending him my character via e-mail (although my luck in the whole e-mail department usually sucks... ::rolleyes ) instead.

Here's hoping my fifty-foot tall Cobra will be stomping around the battlezone soon... ::nervous ::wink

[Bahamut810]

Ha! I beat you to it then! I sent mine snail mail.

(I hope that dirty bum gets it to you...)

[Bahamut810]

Bah!! He needs to clean that sucker out...I have Frenchie to send over!

[Heritage]

Yee-ha! Sorry about the PM fullness - you should be able to send stuff now.

Here's who we've got confimed so far:

Ezekiel

Bahamut

Phoenix

Alex Green

levinwurth

Prince of Boredom

Of people who've expressed interest, I haven't received anything from Malkboy or Nullifier yet, so here's what I'll do. I'm going to start the game with the six people I've got stuff from - if it looks like it's sane to bring in more folks, we can add some more later. I've got to digest the various submissions and get my sh!t together, so it's probably going to be a day or two before I'm ready to make my intro post. I've also got some more stuff to put up, and a few decisions to make.

As of right now, I think we have four Cobras, which is neither good nor bad, but merely terrifying ::crazy There's also one Medic, and possibly a Scout. Sneaky you guys are not! Actually, a few of you are sneaky, and there's nothing more frightening than a stealth tank ::ninja ::m60

How much damage does a bulldog do anyway?

The Bulldog is your basic ultra-machine gun from the Elites book - I think it does something ungodly like 11d10 Lethal, with a bracketed minimum. In a convention game, the Cobra opened fire on a walled Blue town, and bascially shot though it - to be fair, it was a pretty crappy town, with walls made of aluminum siding and scap metal, but the effect was still pretty impressive.

I now put up some more stuff!

Ranks in the Greens

Regular Army

Rank 0 --- Private (PVT)

Rank * --- Corporal/Specialist ¹ (CPL/SPEC)

Rank ** --- Sergeant (SGT)

Rank ** --- First Sergeant ² (1ST SGT)

Rank *** --- Sergeant Major ² (SGT MAJ)

Rank *** --- Lieutenant ³ (LT)

Rank **** --- Captain (CAPT)

Rank ***** --- Major (MAJ)

Scouts

Rank 0 --- Scout, First Grade (SFG)

Rank * --- Scout, Second Grade (S2G)

Rank ** --- Scout, Third Grade (S3G)

Rank *** --- Master Scout (MS)

Rank **** --- Scout Captain (S-CAP)

Rank ***** --- Scout Major (S-MAJ)

Cobras

No Rank below ***

Rank *** --- Sergeant, Special Operations (SSO)

Rank **** --- Team Leader (TL)

Rank ***** --- Commander (COM)

Inner Circle (same in all branches)

Rank ****** --- Colonel (COL)

Rank ******* --- General (GEN)

¹ This designation used in Engineers, Med Corps and Transport and Supply.

² These ranks are administrative (non-combatant) positions.

³ No personnel in Intelligence below this rank.

(And never call a sergeant 'sir', because they work for a living!)

Resolution 4287 (2049)

of 23 March 2049

The Security Council,

Expressing its continuing concern with the grave situation throughout the world,

Emphasizing the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State can live in security,

Emphasizing further that aberrant novas pose a real and continuing threat to both the human populations and governmental bodies of all Member States,

1. Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace throughout the world which should include the application of the following principles:

(i) Detainment and registration of all aberrant novas within the borders of all Member States, by whatever means necessary;

(ii) Respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force;

2. Affirms further the necessity

(a) For guaranteeing freedom of thought and freedom of action in all Member States;

( For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem in Sub-Saharan Africa;

(c ) For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every Member State, through whatever measures deemed necessary, including the establishment of further Aberrant Conflict Zones;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to designate a Special Representative to establish and maintain contacts with all Member States in order to promote agreement and assist efforts to achieve a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the provisions and principles in this resolution;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the progress of the efforts of the Special Representative as soon as possible.

Adopted unanimously at the 8463rd meeting.

This will be probably be the last stuff I'm going to put up for a while, though I might PM individual players stuff. I don't want to overload you guys with too much stuff. The last things I'd put up here or in the Fiction Datbase would be a brief history of the Greens (easily the most useful), a short piece on the Teragen in 2056, a guide to forms of identification under martial law, and a T&S price list from Warpstation Bravo.

Otherwise, after confirming characters with our starting players, we'll be ready to begin!

The game thread will be called 'War Journal', and I'll set up a proper WJ OOC thread as well.

[Alex Green]

What stat is "Requisition" connected to?

[Heritage]

What stat is "Requisition" connected to?

I borrowed it from Trinity Storytellers Guide, I think - it's a Background that lets you order stuff in what ever organization your in. In my game, it's how tight you are with Transport and Supply.

BTW, this will be the last post I'll do here - please put all other questions in the War Journal OOC thread.

Cheers, all ::withbeer

[Alex Green]

I don't see it posted anywhere, so I'll repost it from PMs. When I made Vlad I wanted to make him an Engineer, but there was no such package available, so this is what H and I worked out.

The Engineer Package:

The engineer package is 24 dots and requires the nova in question to have either an Int of 5 or Mega-Int. As these are army engineers, they must also have all physical stats at 3+ (or have Megas).

Drive 2; Demolitions 2; Engineering 3; Firearms 2; Might 2; Artillery 2; Heavy Weapons 2; Gunnery 2; Navigation 2; Tactics 1; Survival 1; Athletics 1; Awareness 1; Brawl or Martial Arts 1

This is heavy on weapon abilities because in abby “Firearms” covers not only how to use them, but how to build, maintain, and repair them. Drive covers everything from driving tanks to repairing cars. Might covers digging holes with shovels. Many of these skills will be cross linked with Intelligence when repairing/breaking things.

[Heritage]

I don't see it posted anywhere, so I'll repost it from PMs. When I made Vlad I wanted to make him an Engineer, but there was no such package available, so this is what H and I worked out.

The Engineer Package:

The engineer package is 24 dots and requires the nova in question to have either an Int of 5 or Mega-Int. As these are army engineers, they must also have all physical stats at 3+ (or have Megas).

Drive 2; Demolitions 2; Engineering 3; Firearms 2; Might 2; Artillery 2; Heavy Weapons 2; Gunnery 2; Navigation 2; Tactics 1; Survival 1; Athletics 1; Awareness 1; Brawl or Martial Arts 1

This is heavy on weapon abilities because in abby “Firearms” covers not only how to use them, but how to build, maintain, and repair them. Drive covers everything from driving tanks to repairing cars. Might covers digging holes with shovels. Many of these skills will be cross linked with Intelligence when repairing/breaking things.

I'm going to repost this in the Goodies thread, along with the other packages so we can have it all centrized, since this is pretty much a dead thread replaced by the OOC one.