Aberrant RPG - Joining the Ranks

[CujoLink]

Hello all,

First time posting, It looks like my gaming group will be starting this game in a couple weeks. Last Sunday we had a brief overview of what it's about and such. it looks pretty interesting and fun. I still got a week or so before my books arrive. I picked up the Core Book and the Players Guide, so yeah pretty sweet, can't wait.

So before I get them in and finish my character is there any guidelines or basic hints and junk you all generally use to create a character?

Thanks

[Alex Green]

Welcome to the forum!

Advice:

Stats & skills are cheap with nova points.

Combat is brutal.

What kind of character will you be making?

[CujoLink]

We will be playing an super villian campaign, three players and 1 story teller. My character will be a melee character focused on speed more than strength due to specialization in a Sabre.

So far we just went through the basic character creation but I have yet to spend any points on him, so far we only have one book and the story teller is borrowing it until we get our own. I ordered mine yesterday. It will still be a week or two until we have our first session.

So far though

Major - Physical (speed - stanima - strength)

Secondary - Social (want him to be alittle suave when he has to fit in with the real world)

Minor - Intelligence or what ever it is, He's not going to be the one in charge, A buddy of mine is going to be a Lex Luthor type Nova. My character will be a merc. hired by his.

[CujoLink]

Also to add some more whats a good amount of Quantum and Willpower to start out with?

[Bahamut810]

All that really depends on what you want. You want a speedster?

Make sure to pay attension to M-Dex and M-Wits. You will probably want to take the quickness enhancement a time or two (lets you take extra actions at the cost of a QP). There is also a running enhancement that will up your speed a bit.

You may want to take the Claws power as well to represent a "quantum rapier" so that you have an always ready, cant be taken away, more powerful-then-the-norm rapier, cutlass or what have you.

For a speedster, you will want Hypermovement as well. That will let you go much faster then a normal person.

Make sure that you look at the maneuvers section and read carefully on Hyperspeed strike/slam...thoes will give you a nice damage.

For Q and WP (quantum and willpower)...you start with 1 and 3 respectivley. If you want a high M-dex (which you should want for speed and strikeing purposes) you can have Q+1 dots in a mega-stat. (this is all shown in the players guide) So if you want 3 M-dex, you need 2Q. If you want 2 m-dex you need 1Q. All up to you on that. For WP, the higher the better. I try not to make anyone with lower then 5 WP (try being the active word). Read the section on WP for more on how to use it.

[Alex Green]

Misc Advice.

First of all, even if you are focused on speed you need a level of mega-strength. Otherwise there will be too many people you just can't hurt at all. Q-Leap or Crush work well with that.

Basically I normally figure out what my powers should be and then get the minimum Q for that. Since you don't have any powers in mind, the two ways to go are High Q (4 or 5) or Low Q (1).

A low Q has the advantage that you can spend background points on Willpower and Init. You can also pass as a baseline. A high Q gives you bragging rights (I'm a god) and lets you buy some crazy powers later. It's also very, very expensive.

A typical low Q character might have all attributes at 5 (costing 7 nova points), and a dot or two in all skills (costing 2 to 3).

Regen is a must have for speed characters. You will get hit and with a low soak it will hurt.

Eufiber is the cheapest soak in the game. Get lots.

[Nullifier]

In terms of making a merc type character, I would also suggest some Mega-Percep, with one of the sight enhancing extras or Blindfighting. Mega-Stamina w/Regen is a must, and Adaptability is really nice to have as well. A single dot of Forcefield is the best bang for your buck when it comes to soaking powers, although since it's maintinence with a low Q-rating it'll drain energy rather quickly.

Absorbtion(kinetic)->Strength is a good idea if you don't take too much Mega-Str by itself. That or Boost would be essential for you to do any real damage in nova-level combat 'cause soak levels tend to be pretty high. Consider that the typical combat-oriented nova has around 20 lethal soak when you start to think about the amounts of damage you want to be able to do and take. A high Wits rating is a must for a speedster; Mega-Wits w/Quickness, Multitasking, and Enhanced Initive are really helpful for that sort of thing. Bahamut's suggestion about using Claws for a Q-Sabre is spot-on, not just because it's always at your fingertips, but also because it's unbreakable so it can be used with high levels of Mega-Str.

Welcome to the forums, and good luck with your character! ::bigsmile

[Ayre el KaBeer]

As Nullifier said, swords break with mega-strength, though only if you go past one dot in it. Claws has been recommended as the blade itself, but claws has the Extra Kinetic Discharge as an option. Kinetic Discharge allows you to add your claws damage to any weapon you wield, it's not a huge amount of damage but every little bit helps. Another Extra to look at would be Armour Piercing for your claws (you'll need Kinetic discharge if you want this extra for a melee attack), in my mind the deadliest extra a mega-dex based character can take, it allows you to subtract soak from your opponent before applying damage. The only defense against Armour Piercing is the Impervious Extra for powers like Armour and Force-Field and most Nova's do not have it.

Basically for these 2 Extra's you'd be turning the level 1 power, Claws into a level 3 power, costing more to pick up and more quantum point to activate, this still allows you the benefit of Armour Piercing Claws should you lose your sword.

EDIT: Very poor spelling.

[Sphere]

Speaking from a GMs PoV...

Backgrounds are ludicrously cheap with Nova Points, so I'd advise you to stock up on these during character creation and, importantly, make good use of them.

For a mercenary character, I'd reccomend the following Backgrounds.

Backing: Either with DVNTS, or considering it's a super-villain campaign someone even less ethical. Gives you access to all of those cool and groovy hypertech weapons and toys that'll really give your character the edge. Plus, probably means you can get a sabre composed of some strange new alloy that doesn't break in the hands of the mega-strong.

Allies/Contacts: Always useful whoever you are. In your case it means you can provide the group with info from the merc underground. I.E. Your war buddy who used to provide security for the compound you're about to break into.

Node: A couple of dots here, handy for detecting stealthy Novas in the middle of a fight.

Eufibre: Whilst you do have the risk of it getting sick if you have more than one major brawl a day, it's benefits outweigh the flaws. Extra soak and quantum pool reserves. Plus get yourself a few dots of the Weave ability and you've got yourself a natty pseudo-Venom symbiote.

For a speedy combat character, I'd advise focusing on a dot apiece Mega-Dex, Mega-Wits, and Mega-Per (maybe two in Mega-Dex). That'll give you the ability to dodge/parry/block incoming objects. Plus the Initiative bonuses from M-Dex and Wits will help simulate your character moving faster than everyone else.

Power-wise: (in addition to the unholy force of those Lvl 3 AP/kinetic discharge Claws ::smiley10 ) the obvious suggestion would be a protective power of some type. Intuition would also be good for a fighter character. Perhaps also a Stamina or Health Level Leech.

[CujoLink]

Acouple quick things I've noticed while reading my books that came alot earlier than I expected, sweet.

In the players guide the power of weave is just nifty, I think I'll take that so I can weave my eufiber get-up (I'll be maxing Eufiber background and maybe the eufiber merit) into a sword and such. Now by taking the Weave power (I'm sorry I don't have my book in front of me I'm at work) with the enhancement "weaponry". I know that will raise the power by one level. If I only take weaponry thats about all I can do with weave right, unless I take the armor or tenticle? enhancment. Still a cool power cause if gives you unlimited possibilities for fighting. Also If I take just the weapon enhancement what other regular things are possibly with the power. If I can get a few examples that should put me on track to know its capabilities.

The points flaws give you are bonus points, correct?

Now another thing, the flaw uneducated, I saw would fit my character real well, due to growing up on the streets, but for the points you get, the disadvantage is unbalanced, you will easily spend more points on raising a ability or two under intelligence than the flaw gives you. I liked it alot but to bad it's not more balanced.

Id there a restriction on how many flaws you can have?

Thanks everyone

[Nullifier]

While it's true that you can make weaponry with Weave, but I wouldn't advise relying on it if I were you. The Claws power is a much better idea. There are several reasons for this. First of all, Weave rolls take time and can be botched. Second, chances are you'll get knocked out during a fight at some point, and eufiber can ordinarily be stolen rather easily. Third, a weapon made of eufiber is breakable, just like it was made of steel or some other substance, possibly even more easily than steel depending on how many dots you take in eufiber. By constrast, the Claws power can be activated without a roll, can't be stolen from you (can be Disrupted, but for some reason that's a rather rare ability), and is unbreakable. Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't take Eufiber and Weave, I'm just saying that you shouldn't rely on that combination for your weaponry. Just my 2-cents, take from it what you will. ::bigsmile

[CujoLink]

I read through the claw power acouple nights ago and to me it sounds you don't need to have actual claws on your finger tips, but instead you can have different types. I was wondering if that meant you could have a claw/spike come out of the top of your hand like Baraka or what ever his name was from Mortal Kombat. If thats the case I'll definantly go with those. I just don't want to be Cat boy.

As for Eufiber, the skills that relate to it Weave and the background eufiber, those don't just effect your original Eufiber. Lets say you lose your Eufiber, but end up punking some other nova or buying? another set of Eufiber, after the Eufiber adjusts to you you can use your powers and such just like before. Is this correct.

Thanks

[Nullifier]

Right, that's the whole point of me suggesting the Claws power. You can even have them manifest as say, a quantum-created katana blade if you wanted. They can take just about any form, really. Claws is a good power.

As for Weave, which is a skill, btw, not a power or ability, Weave can be certainly be used with any suit of eufiber you might get ahold of. ::thumbsup Except perhaps Verse's eufiber, but that's a different story entirely. ::wink ::lookaround

[ProfPotts]

Weave is an Ability, not a power (or a 'skill' for that matter - this not being WoD & all... ::tongue ::wink ) - & is meant to be pretty damn rare - so have a good rationale for your character taking that Ability ready for when your ST asks... ::sly

[CujoLink]

Weave sounds really great but if it is supposed to be really rare my character doesn't really have a good rationale to have it, actually it really won't fit into his story. How do you know if an ability is rare? or is that something you all agree on?

Well for my characters main offensive abilities I've decided to give him claws made of Quantom energy, but with a twist that I'll buy Quantum blast as well and have him able to launch the blades at people and regrow another one if needed. I like it.

[Bahamut810]

In the APG it says its very rare and few people take the time to practice with Eufiber enough to even get a single dot.

[Alex Green]

Eufibre:  Whilst you do have the risk of it getting sick if you have more than one major brawl a day, it's benefits outweigh the flaws. Extra soak and quantum pool reserves.

Since it basically mimics your powers, the "getting sick" part is mostly limited to non-combat type novas getting into combat.

[CujoLink]

I started my character last night I almost finished the human side of creation except I still have to spend my bonus pts. I got about 10 extra pts. due to flaws, but the flaws that I took went with how I was going to play my character in the first place so It's not like a huge disadvantge. I'm goin to buy three merits, Quantum Recovery, The possitive Eufiber one (don't have book with me), and Ambidextrious. For the first two I might buy 2 levels into them.

I was thinking on how to get the most more my pts. so here's what I think I'm going to do. With flaws and merits I'll have 20 bonus pts. I'll spend 14 to buy two levels of Quantum since it's only two cheaper than buying them later. Now with 6 pts left maybe a point or two in willpower and maybe some specialties. What do you all think. What are some of your basic strategies in character creation?

Now when I buy my powers with Nova pts I'll buy Q-blast with an extra making it a lvl 3 power which would cost seven right? so I'll buy it tainted for four pts, saving three. Also I'll buy Claws with an extra making it lvl two for 5 pts. I'll having 21 pts left. I'll spend 12 on Mega abilities. I'll have two check into buying flight cause that would be an option, or I'll buy another pt of quantum, and spend the rest on atts., abilities, and background. 30 pts. can dissapper real quick, maybe I'll save alittle more on another power buy buying it tainted too.

Well so far thats my plan, let me know what you all think or give me some pointers.

Thanks

[Alex Green]

I'm goin to buy three merits, Quantum Recovery, The possitive Eufiber one (don't have book with me), and Ambidextrious. For the first two I might buy 2 levels into them.

I think Ambidextrious naturally comes with Mega-Dex, but I can't supply a page number off hand. Quantum Recovery is only a good thing if you already have two dots in node. Otherwise a node of 2 is much better than QRecovery of 2. Eufiber attuned is a good thing, with or without weave.

In terms of point efficiency, you should (in order), use bonus points to buy Quantum, then Willpower. Unless you want to buy something you *can't* with nova points (like Eufiber attuned), there is little reason to get anything else.

Now when I buy my powers with Nova pts I'll buy Q-blast with an extra making it a lvl 3 power which would cost seven right?

5. Level 1=>1; Level 2=>3; Level 3=>5.

I'll spend 12 on Mega abilities.

A solid choice.

[ProfPotts]

I think Ambidextrious naturally comes with Mega-Dex, but I can't supply a page number off hand.

Yep, it does (I think, off the top o' th' ol' noggin', that it's in the combat section under 'two weapons' - but I could be wrong).

In terms of point efficiency, you should (in order), use bonus points to buy Quantum, then Willpower. Unless you want to buy something you *can't* with nova points (like Eufiber attuned), there is little reason to get anything else.

Two of those things you can't buy with Nova points are: specialities - not twink-power boosts or anything, but excellent means of rounding out & individualising a character; & initiative - the only good time to ever buy extra initiative is with bonus points during chargen - if you want to be really good in combat, blowing 5 to 10 bonus points on initiative is an excellent (if seldom explored) option (after all, the game's combat system is pretty lethal - he who goes first often wins the day ::wink ).

[Sphere]

Since it basically mimics your powers, the "getting sick" part is mostly limited to non-combat Novas getting into combat.

Well eufibre doesn't mimic your powers, otherwise Nova's with Armour could argue they should get even more soak from it. It just attunes itself so that it effectively becomes part of the Nova's quantum signiture allowing it to be teleported along with it's wearer and not burn off when they turn into living plasma, etc.

However, it does mention that eufibre worn by Mega-Stamina Novas will recover from it's sickness far quicker. Unless your character is on a rampage and has Quantum Vampire I would have thought one battle a day is the average for most people.

On a related subject...

The Merit Eufibre Attunement (is that it's name?) can arguably boost the soaking qualities of the suit. As it's B/L soak is based on the ammount of Quantum it can store.

One of my Players has a character whose powers are loosely based on a Venom symbiote. He brought his Weave with his Nova Points at character creation.

[Alex Green]

...eufibre doesn't mimic your powers, ... It just attunes itself so that it effectively becomes part of the Nova's quantum signiture allowing it to be teleported along with it's wearer and not burn off when they turn into living plasma, etc.

It is implied that Eufiber's attune is different that normal attune (meaning that it is attuned, but I don't think it ends there).

However, it does mention that eufibre worn by Mega-Stamina Novas will recover from it's sickness far quicker.

Exactly. It also says that if the nova is immune to disease (Invulnerability or Adaptation), apparently the eufiber is as well. The interesting thing is that attuning a person wouldn't give them immunity to disease. The implication is that if you have armor, or invulnerability, or whatever, that power also protects the eufiber.

The Merit Eufibre Attunement (is that it's name?) can arguably boost the soaking qualities of the suit. As it's B/L soak is based on the ammount of Quantum it can store.

Very true. Eufiber's soak is how much juice it has. EA increases that.

One of my Players has a character whose powers are loosely based on a Venom symbiote. He brought his Weave with his Nova Points at character creation.

Yeah, it's hard to get a trainer for this unless one of the PC's has it. And Weave is one of those skills that can't be used at all unless you have dots in it.

[CujoLink]

It looks like I'll be playing for the first time this sunday, oh hell yeah.

Well part of the time we'll get to play, where as the the beginning the ST and I will help another person finish her character.

How many players are usually in your story, We'll have three players and one ST, our regular gaming group.

Wish us luck

[Bahamut810]

However, it does mention that eufibre worn by Mega-Stamina Novas will recover from it's sickness far quicker.

Exactly. It also says that if the nova is immune to disease (Invulnerability or Adaptation), apparently the eufiber is as well. The interesting thing is that attuning a person wouldn't give them immunity to disease. The implication is that if you have armor, or invulnerability, or whatever, that power also protects the eufiber.

Thats just what makes Eufiber special, special enough to have its own background. Attunement in and of itself is a significant background (making other people/items immune to your powers so you dont burn them up when you flame on is nice). Both are significant and some of the more strait forward backgrounds.

One of my Players has a character whose powers are loosely based on a Venom symbiote. He brought his Weave with his Nova Points at character creation.

Yeah, it's hard to get a trainer for this unless one of the PC's has it. And Weave is one of those skills that can't be used at all unless you have dots in it.

I dont think its bad as long as you have reason for it at character creation (such as Verse of QZ/QZ-E fame). If you erupt with Eufuber I wouldent see why you couldent start with weave. All characters start with *some* understanding of their abilities (they can turn them on at the very least). And to be blunt...what about all the other skills that spontaniously manifest when people erupt (the Mole from Expose: Aberrants anyone?).

I like the idea of weave and eufiber a lot. The only thing about Weave and Eufiber is that its only a smidge away from being a lvl 1 power (or several lvl 1 powers as it may be). I do suggest reading the small section on Weave in the APG if any of you havent already (And I know most of you have ::wink ). It will give you a good idea what all Verse (and Damien) can do for only 2 NP, 15 BP, or 5 baground points and 4 BP and 3 Skill points. *Very* good for the cost *if* you have sufficent reason to have it.

[Sphere]

Perhaps attune was the wrong word to use, I do realise that eufibre is a leetle bit different to the actual background of Attunement ::wink . You can certainly prevent your clothes getting diseased with a couple of the M-Sta enhancements. Which is probably the way to go if you're a badass combat monster.

Good luck Cujolink. Raise hell, make us proud, and don't let the monkeys steal your whipsword. ::thumbsup

Let us know how you get on.

[ProfPotts]

Of course, the downside to Eufiber is that you're coating yourself in something squeezed from some other guy's skin... ::crazy

[knave]

It's so much worse than dead cow. ::blink

Also, how much easier to accept would it be if the Eufibre came with a picture of some gorgeous babe in a skimpy bikini reclining on a sun lounger and sipping a daiquiri? ::tongue

[ProfPotts]

It's so much worse than dead cow.

Yeah - it's closer to live cow skin with the gooey bits still damp... ::nervous

[Alex Green]

Of course, the downside to Eufiber is that you're coating yourself in something squeezed from some other guy's skin... ::crazy

Actually No, that was just an analogy.

We don't know how he does it. He might just snap his fingers and create it out of thin air, or it might be his hair.

[knave]

Armpit hair? ::blink ...

[Bahamut810]

Hard to say. The descriptions of it say "secreted". Hair is usually 'grown'. It might be a sort of sweat for him. I wonder if they will cover that in a future (d20) suppliment. Better then not knowing, eh?

[ProfPotts]

The picture & text in the Directive book actually suggest that the eufiber still attatched to the guy's body is sort of like fibrous body-hair. Still, it's not really the most pleasant of thoughts - especially considering the guy can still control the stuff attatched to him &, quite possibly, all the other 'living' stuff out there as well...

::cough:: Colony? ::cough::

Besides - please note the ::crazy smiley & read all comments in light of the humour they were typed with... ::rolleyes ::tongue ::wink

[Ayre el KaBeer]

Armpit hair?  ::blink ...

You're not making it easy for me, mate. ::crazy

[knave]

You're not making it easy for me, mate.

Yeah... just don't keep thinking in that direction...

Once you start down the dark path... ::tongue

[Sphere]

I like the fact that the Directive have Buendida on their radar as a "potential threat". Them thar black-helicopter-types do get a bit antsy around eufibre don't they? ::smile

As to his (ahem) "colonial" aspects ::wink Ya think they've got eufreeze in the future? One squirt could knock the entire aberrant invasion off course ::biggrin

[CujoLink]

We played out first session of Aberrant on sunday after finishing our characters. It was a fun experience. I enjoyed the extra storytelling and such, it's a nice change of pace from doing basic dungeon crawling.

I reread this topic and noticed you keep mentioning that eufiber gives you extra soak. Currently I have 9 bashing and 4 lethal from 5 stamina, 2 mega stamina, and resiliant. Now I also have 5 pts. in the eufiber background and 2 pts. in the eufiber aff. merit. Would I have even more soak? I looked over the eufiber stuff brielfly, but didn't have much time due to homework and such.

I guess thats something for me to check on when I get home from work and school.

[Nullifier]

With 5 dots of the Eufiber background and a 2 point Eufiber Attuned merit, with the suit charged to a full 7qps, you have an extra 7B/7L soak for a total of 16B/11L soak and one extra bruised HL. That's not too bad, for a speedster. ::lookaround

[CujoLink]

So with every point of quantum in eufiber you get one point in bashing and lethal soak, wow that rocks. Now how many quantum points in eufiber do you need for the extra level of bruised damage, or are you counting the extra one you get from mega stamina?

Thanks

He's actually become the groups tank, whereas one member is for ranged attack and alittle bit close combat and the other is total support with temporal powers and warps. My character has claws, Q-bolt, and hypermovement.

[Ayre el KaBeer]

That really depends on if you're using that eufibre as an outfit or as a weapon as was mentioned earlier in this thread.

[Nullifier]

Yeah, when attuned and worn, Eufiber grants 1B/1L soak for each point of quantum stored in it. The extra HL is from Mega-Stamina 2. ::bigsmile