Aberrant RPG - Aberrant Vehicles

[Captether]

Hello,

I was wondering if any of you have vehicle/gadgets devised for the use of aberrants? Not all of them have flight and/or teleportation powers, and the need for mobility is a real one. So what sorts of hypertech or at least cool looking vehicles might work?

The vehicles in Elites are a good start. But with all of the big bucks and big brains working on new gadgets, I think some neat sky-sleds and Avengers Jets are in order. I always loved the "Omni-Jet" type VTOL ships of comic book fame. Who needs real wings when a gravity generator is available?

Any Ideas?

[Ayre el KaBeer]

You might want to check out the in game sections (all three games), there are heaps of vehicles in there, I especially like the masters airship in quantum zero.

[Captether]

You might want to check out the in game sections (all three games), there are heaps of vehicles in there, I especially like the masters airship in quantum zero.

Despite the trinity gear, I dont see alot of gadgetry. And I see no quantum zero, is it in a different part of the downloads section? Nova tech is pretty much all alternate vargs and the Adventure devices have been up there for like two years. Brainwaves has some cool concepts though.

,,

I was just wondering what technological torture you fellow game masters have unleashed on those cocky pc's out there?

[BlueNinja]

Despite the trinity gear, I dont see alot of gadgetry. And I see no quantum zero, is it in a different part of the downloads section? Nova tech is pretty much all alternate vargs and the Adventure devices have been up there for like two years. Brainwaves has some cool concepts though.

,,

I was just wondering what technological torture you fellow game masters have unleashed on those cocky pc's out there?

Ayre means look in the in-character game threads for the now defunct Quantum Zero game.

The most I've done is creating a suit of powered armor for a geek nova; the soak wasn't outstanding but it did bounce bullets.

[phoenix]

::laugh You might try searching the topic for "zepellin" instead of reading the entire, 150-some page Quantum Zero in-game thread just to find out about the Masters Zepellin.

Anyway, I might recommend just stealing stuff from Trinity. Who can tell the difference between an Avenger sky-sled and a Reed Rosen by any other name? ::cool

[Captether]

::laugh You might try searching the topic for "zepellin" instead of reading the entire, 150-some page Quantum Zero in-game thread just to find out about the Masters Zepellin.

Anyway, I might recommend just stealing stuff from Trinity. Who can tell the difference between an Avenger sky-sled and a Reed Rosen by any other name? ::cool

True enough. I already plan on stealing some of the telepresence robot ideas from Asia Ascendant. After all, what self respecting supers game lacks robots?

For my campaign I was planning on introducing The Grunt super law enforcement armor below:

Grunt Super Suit

The mere presence of novas has caused many governments and corporations to explore super-related countermeasures, especially in regard to law enforcement. These endeavors have given rise to a wide array of performance enhancing armors and combat drugs.

The ‘Grunt’ resembles semi-mechanized riot gear, with a sealed helmet, and encased body and limbs. The Battlesuit has a broadband military radio with Microwave, AM and FM frequencies with secure encryption. To defend against bacteriological attack it has an air filtration system and full environmental seal. The integrated oxygen cell can provide air for one hour of full environmental protection. For ECM and radiation attacks use the Hardened Armor rating (in “[ ]” brackets) of the suit to resist. The suit grants an armor rating of (4/6 [2], 0), a +1 Strength, and +2 to Might. If the characters Strength + Might pool exceeds 10 dots in this way, treat it as Mega Str 1 with no extras. Cost: Gadget 5 dots, Backing 4, Rank 3.

The suit above is one used in special units police and military. It cant stand against a potent nova by itself, but with air support and the many and varied weapons available to law enforcement/military, this suit is a great support armor.

I am also tempted to include the combat drugs from the trinity technology setting, along with some cybernetics from AA. Cyberware will cost +1 the listed price to represent technology that is very unusual.

[Gideon]

Actually

I have used a ton of mid to high super tech in my games; automated gun-turrets, mobile hunter drones and quantum Utility belts among some things. The trick I find is to keep the capes wondering which are quantum gadgets and which are cutting-edge real tech.

Year Once has some good examples of min-tanks and air cars, though the first quantum cloning tank was a bit surreal (The crooks used it to abduct victims, first they stun or KO the target, make a clone, then return the clone, so they could get away. When the scene expired, the clone would vanish and the victim was long gone. The ring leader was a nova with memory manipulation gadget.

[Captether]

Actually

I have used a ton of mid to high super tech in my games; automated gun-turrets, mobile hunter drones and quantum Utility belts among some things. The trick I find is to keep the capes wondering which are quantum gadgets and which are cutting-edge real tech.

One of the things that I really liked from aberrant was Mite, and the possibilities related to it. Drugs and other "super soldier" programs spring to mind not unlike the Juicers from Rifts. Why would governments and corporations NOT explore mite and similar programs?

Some Possibilities:

Titan: A mite that gains the permanent benefits of Sizemorph of 1 or 2 dots but lacks the ability to gain the normal benefits of mite use. Drawbacks would be the limitations of the size, the Bulging Muscles, and Feeding Requirements (special Mite Cocktale) Aberrations, and likelyhood of a heart attack as per a standard mite.

Blur: A might that gains hypermovement at 1 or 2 dots. Rather than enhancing the mites Strength + Might pool, a Blur mights drup cocktale increases Dexterity and Athletics, with boosts over 10 dice resulting in Mega Dex 1 with no extras. Blurs gain the Feeding Requirements (special Mite Cocktale) and Sensitive Aberrations.

Shreik: Produced from a mixture of mite and the spinal fluid of a psychic nova, the cocktale that a shreik is addicted to grants limiter psychic powers. Rather than gaining the normal benefits of mite, the character gains Intuition and Psychic Shield at 1 or 2 dots. The character gains the Mental Disorders Aberration but does not suffer from the Hormonal Imbalance Rage Aberration as a standard mite.

These kinds of Mites gain an automatic (and free) Backing of 3, Resources of 2, and Ciher of 2. All three are fitted with body armor (4/4, 0 or 7/4 [2] for the Titan), a drug harness (for easy injection), and all kinds of commando gear.

Sure, these guys are wusses compared to a combat oriented nova (1 on 1 anyways). But against human troops these guys would be a terror.

Just some thoughts.

[Captether]

Okay,

I am totally ripping this stuff off from the Mobius Circle (Mobius Circle ) Modified for Aberrant. But I thought it was just to darned interesting to pass up.

Splices — Building a Better Man

Modified humans have been altered in some significant and long-lasting way by a nova based techniques. Such a person may have been reshaped with gene therapies, implanted organs, nanotechnology, and tailored drugs. This process is not only confined to combat. Street level and high society fads have emerged in the desire to emulate nova appearance as well as more exotic transformations, both for appearances, security, and fashion. The popular Nova culture has created a vital market for these enhancements, despite attempts at outlawing them.

TOLERANCE

Modified humans have a Tolerance rating, equal to their (Stamina + Willpower)/2), rounded up. After calculating Tolerance, the character can only improve it with freebie points or experience; buying up either Stamina or Willpower with experience does not alter Tolerance. There is no theoretical limit to a modified human's tolerance, although in practice, Tolerances in excess of 12 have not been seen.

The stresses of being altered in this way can be seen on the body and mind. At Tolerance 5+ worth of implants, the modified human gains minor one aberration per point. Any attempt to further modify his body has a difficulty penalty of (Tolerance/2), rounded up. The character's healing processes may be altered by his modifications. If he has physical modifications, medicine or quantum healing is at +1 difficulty penalty for every 2 levels of modifications (round up).

Synthetic Organs

Synthetic organs have a Tolerance rating; this reflects several things, including how difficult they are to implant, how hard it is to recover from the surgery, and how much they stress the boundaries of science and belief.

A doctor must have sophisticated submicrosurgical and laser surgical equipment and high-grade medicines to successfully perform implantation of these organs. The surgery requires an Intelligence + Medicine roll, +2 difficulty, requiring 1 success +1 additional success per dot in Tolerance rating. Each surgery takes a minimum of 2 hours per dot in Tolerance. Recovery takes 1 week per dot in Tolerance rating, and the patient must roll Stamina + Endurance every week. He must succeed these rolls in order to adapt to the implanted organ. Any failure means the organ will be rejected with moderate repercussions (1 lethal damage per dot in Tolerance); a botch means that the rejection will cause severe repercussions (2 lethal damage + 1 lethal per dot in Tolerance + 1 lethal for every 1 rolled). Life magics may help a patient receive the organs and recover more quickly or with less risk; but only Life 5 may remove all risk of rejection. At the ST's discretion, diseases and infections may cause unusual effects in the artificial organs.

Note: Novas cannot benefit from these procedures. Their enhanced recuperative powers, and natural resistance of drugs that affect baselines automatically regect these implants.

Synthetic Organs: These are some of the more well-known and reliable custom-built organs that can be transplanted into a person's body.

Amped adrenals — These are extremely efficient adrenal glands which can be triggered at will to provide hyperadrenaline for several minutes at a time. Hyperadrenaline gives the user two additional Bruised health levels, +1 Resistance and Endurance, and +2 to Initiative. After using the hyperadrenaline he must make a Stamina + Endurance roll (after the benefits of the adrenaline have passed) or take 5 bashing damage immediately. This roll has +1 difficulty for every use of hyperadrenaline in the same day, and a further +1 difficulty if any of the user's stats were pushed above 5.

Cost: 3 Tolerance: 2

Armorskin — A complete replacement of one's skin, a procedure which can take weeks to finish and recovery time of at least a month. The new skin is more durable, elastic, and resistant to pressure and temperature extremes. There are two versions of armorskin; subtle and blatant. The subtle armorskin looks like human skin, although it is usually darker then the target's original coloration, and normal reactions such as sweating or blushing are far less visible, which can give it a slightly unnatural appearance. The blatant version has thick calluses over the entire surface, which generally look like dark scales. The subtle armorskin adds + bashing and lethal soak, and can be detected with a Perception + Awareness (or Rapport at +1 difficulty) roll at +1 difficulty. Blatant armorskin gives +2 bashing and +3 lethal soak, and can always be detected by the eye. Cost: 5 Tolerance: 3

Cat's Eyes — Actually combines the best aspects of several kinds of eyes, from a raptor's ability to focus at long distances to the lowlight capabilities of cats. They can have any shape one wishes. In any case, the irises can expand to an inhuman degree, and they are reflective like a cat's. Provides the ability to see in all but total darkness, to see clearly at a distance of a mile, the benefits of the Acute Sight Merit and +1 die to Perception rolls involving vision. Cost: 4 Tolerance: 2

Chameleon skin — An extensive surgery which gradually replaces one's skin with cells that contain a variety of pigments which can be expressed at will. The number of pigments and level of control over them has improved a bit, but so far only a few shades and general shapes are possible. Chameleon skin can give the individual any skin hue normally found in humanity, as well as darker greens, blues and reds. If the individual with chameleon skin so wishes, and is wearing nothing else, he can create camouflage patterns which give him +1 die to Stealth when moving slowly, +2 dice when not moving. Obviously, the individual must be nude or minimally dressed to receive this benefit. Cost: 4 Tolerance: 2

Claws — Hardened keratin tissue implanted either between the knuckles or at the tips of one's fingers and sometimes toes. Claws give and additional level of the Athletics Specialty: Climbing, permitting the character to have up to 4 levels of the specialty. The add +2 dice of lethal damage to melee attacks. Claws are usually made to be retractable. Cost: 4 Tolerance: 3

Electroreceptors — A radical modification that involves altering several pores, attaching new nerves and embedding ampullae in nodules near the base of the skull. It takes weeks and sometimes months for a human's brain to learn how to interpret the signals from the electroreceptors. When one does, however, they now have a true sixth sense. They can sense microchanges in the atmosphere, gauge precise temperature changes, and detect the presence of electrical and magnetic fields. With training, they can learn to read the differences between artificial and natural fields and what they mean. The effective range of the electroreceptors is only two meters, but that is more than sufficient for most uses. They can almost never be surprised at that range (gaining +4 Perception dice when resisting stealth attempts), can detect electromagnetic fields and interpret them with an Intelligence + Awareness roll, can monitor movements in a 360º radius, gain +2 initiative, and can even read simple emotions with a Perception + Awareness roll at +1 difficulty. Cost: 4 Tolerance: 3

Gills — These allow a user to breathe underwater. They do not confer unusual resistance to water pressures, cold or any other dangers of being underwater. They make it harder for a user to hold his breath, adding +1 difficulty to any attempts to do so in air or water, or to resist the effects of airborne poisons.

Cost: 3 Tolerance: 2

Hyperliver — This simply makes the user immune to most slow-acting drugs such as alcohol or ingested poisons. It adds +2 Resistance in attempts to resist any other toxins (such as inhaled or injected poisons).

Cost: 3 Tolerance: 1

Iron bones — A highly experimental process by which one's normal bones are injected with submicrobots that induce calcium compound growth within one's existing bones, as well as coating the bones with an engineered calcium crystalline structure. If the process works properly, the individual's bones become up to five times stronger than a normal human's skeleton. The individual will gain up to thirty pounds in mass, but will have +2 bashing and +1 lethal soak, +1 additional Bruised health level and +1 additional Wounded Health Level. Cost: 5 Tolerance: 4

Lightning nerves — A process similar to that for iron bones, but with an even lower chance of successful surgery. Lightning nerves are specifically designed to be more efficient and to carry electrochemical impulses more quickly and with greater responsiveness. The individual with lightning nerves gain +1 die to Perception rolls involving touch, +1 Wits, +6 Initiative, and have +1 die to any rolls dealing with reaction time or physical touch. Cost: 5 Tolerance: 5

Musk glands — Designed to function exactly like a skunk's musk glands, these create a foul-smelling liquid which can be ejected to a distance of 5 meters and strike up to a 3-meter radius. Anyone caught by the musk must roll Stamina + Resistance at +1 difficulty, or spend the next round retching. Whether they succeed or fail, the victims are at -1 Perception and -1 die to all physical actions for the next five minutes. The individual with the glands eventually becomes immune to its effects. The glands can be used 5 times before they are emptied. Cost: 3 Tolerance: 2

Nuheart — A six chambered-heart that is better able to oxygenate blood and can sustain higher heart-rates for longer periods of time, and theoretically will never suffer from faulty valves or breakdown of the heart muscle. The individual gains +1 Stamina and +1 Endurance (if this raises this pool above 10 dice, counts as Mega Stamina 1 with no enhancements). If he has superhuman Stamina or Endurance, his blood pressure may reach dangerous levels, and so any botch on an Endurance roll will cause 1 lethal damage for each 1 on the roll. An experimental procedure is meant to enhance blood vessels throughout the body, but has yet to be successful. Cost: 4 Tolerance: 3

Poison sacs — Based on poison glands in venomous snakes, the individual's own body will produce enzymes which catalyze into one of three possible poisons (chosen when the sacs are designed). The surgery can come with either fangs or talons to use in injecting them. The individual is exposed to small degrees of his own poisons at all times, and during the process of recovering from the surgery he builds up an immunity to that specific poison. Each kind of poison has 2 full-strength doses, and then each successive dose reduces the effect by -1. When the effect reaches 0, the poison sacs are depleted and require 24 hours to refill (regaining 1 effect level per 4 and a half hours).

There are three types of poison sacs that can be implanted, paralytic, necrotic, and nerve toxin. Paralytic poison will reduce target's Dexterity by 5. Target may roll Stamina + Resistance. Every success stops 1 level of Dex reduction. A target with 0 Dexterity cannot move but is aware of his surroundings and can think.

Necrotic poison breaks down cellular bonds, destroying living tissue. This causes 5 levels of lethal damage, resisted by a Stamina + Resistance roll at +1 difficulty.

Nerve toxin disrupts synaptic response in a target's neurons, and can even cause permanent damage to some nerves. Initial exposure to the toxin will cause 2 lethal damage and subtract -1 from Wits and Dexterity. Every 5 minutes without an antitoxin will cause the same effects, lasting until the target dies. Lost attribute scores are recovered at a rate of 1 per every 12 hours of medical treatment. If the toxin reduces a target's attributes to 0 Wits or Dexterity, then this attribute is reduced by -1 permanently. Repeated uses of the nerve toxin reduce the Dexterity penalty first, then Wits penalty, then damage.

Cost: 4 Tolerance: 3

Prehensile toes — This name is misleading; the surgery alters the individual's entire foot so that it is almost as dexterous as a hand (-1 effective Dexterity with his feet). Long-distance walking or running is harder on the altered feet, adding +1 difficulty to any Endurance rolls while running.

Cost: 3 Tolerance: 2

Rabbit's ears — Not literally shaped like a rabbit's ears unless the user requests it. These are not as powerful as an actual rabbit's ears but can still register a wider range of sounds than a normal human. These do not defy the laws of physics; if a sound is blocked or miles distant, it is unlikely even the rabbit's ears will detect them. This allows the individual to hear several cycles above and below the normal range of hearing, gives the character the Acute Hearing Merit and +1 die to Perception rolls involving hearing. Loud noises can be very painful to someone with these ears (requiring Stamina + Resistance rolls to not be stunned by noises of more than 100 decibels (one success required for every ten dBs above 100).

Cost: 3 Tolerance: 1

Steel muscles — Yet another development of submicrobots replacing or modifying one's organs on a large scale. Steel muscles are actually based on the muscle fibers of animals that are very strong for their size, and involves replacement of ligaments and tendons as well. The steel muscles add twenty-five pounds in mass, but the individual with them gains +1 additional Wounded Health Level, +2 Strength and +1 Might (If Strength is raised above 5 count as dots in Mega Strength with no enhancements) . Individuals with superhuman Strength can exert enough force to injure themselves. They become capable of botching hand-to-hand or melee damage rolls, with each 1 rolled in a botch indicating one level of bashing damage they take. Botched Might or Athletics rolls produce the same result.

Cost: 5 Tolerance: 4

Shockglands — Based on an electric eel's defense mechanism. These store chemical energy produced throughout the day and can release it either through contact points or across the entire body (most users prefer contact points in the hands or feet). Shockglands cause 4 bashing damage levels (not dice) in addition to any other hand-to-hand damage. If the individual with shockglands is using a weapon made of conductive material, he adds 3 bashing damage levels to that weapon's damage. Shockglands can deliver 3 full-power shocks in a full day, with -1 damage level after that until he reaches 0 levels, in which case they are depleted for the next 12 hours. An individual with shockglands may disrupt any electronic devices in his possession. Cost: 4 Tolerance: 3

Spinnerets — Glands and ejectors that permit the individual to spin webs, just like a spider. The webs have twice the tensile strength of a normal spider web, and are typically twenty times thicker. The spinnerets can be placed almost anywhere, but are typically implanted on the wrists or abdomen. Web ropes can be fired out at a distance of up to ten meters. With less pressure, the webbing be used to create more typical spiderwebs. A webrope has an effect Strength + Might pool of 8 to determine how much weight it can hold without breaking, while other spider webs have a Strength + Might total of 5. It can be fired at an enemy with a Dex + Athletics roll. Enemies entangled in either version of the web must cause 1 damage (bashing or lethal) per total Might pool, or roll Strength + Might and accumulate 1 success per dot in the web's Might pool. The spinneret glands hold enough material to create a 100 m x 100 m web, or fire 20 webropes.

Cost: 5 Tolerance: 3

Tail — Tails are one of the most common synthetic organs. The cheaper version works like a cat or dog's tail; it can be wagged or curled, but otherwise is only cosmetic. The more expensive version is fully prehensile. The prehensile tail is slightly weaker and less dexterous than the individual's other limbs (-1 effective Strength and Dexterity in the tail). Tails are generally a meter to a meter and a half in length.

Cost: 3 (decorative), 4 (prehensile) Tolerance: 1 (decorative), 2 (prehensile)

Whale lungs — This gives the character almost four times as many alveolae in the lungs, as well as air sacs which can hold fresh air for quite some time. The combination not only hyperoxygenates the blood, but lets the individual go for long periods between breaths. He can hold his breath for (Stamina + Endurance) x 4 minutes without needing to roll. Once he needs to roll, he is at +1 die, and takes x4 as much time as a normal human between rolls. Cost: 4 Tolerance: 4

Wolf's nose — While not literally shaped like a wolf's nose (unless the patient asks for it), this does increase the number of scent receptors in both the nose and the roof of the mouth. This provides the ability to distinguish thousands more scents than a human can, the benefits of the Acute Smell Merit and +1 die to Perception rolls involving the sense of smell. An individual with the wolf's nose can track with scent, using Perception + Awareness at +1 difficulty. Cost: 3 Tolerance: 1

[BlueNinja]

On second thought, here's some of the gadgets I've created, all of them for Michal (the head NPC in Trans-D):

A blaster that looks like Mega Man's arm. Fires plasma bolts on a dice pool of (5 Dex + 4 Q-Bolt + 4 M-Dex) with the Homing extra, and does 20dL to a max of 6 damage. Can fire 15 times before needing to be recharged. (Q pool 30, five 'free' shots)

Powered armor, looks like the Advanced Power Armor from Fallout2 except in maroon and silver. Soak of 21B/17L, plus an Impervious Forcefield (5 Stam + 2 M-Stam + 2 FField). Grants the user an effective M-Str 2 / Brawl 5 and has Claws 5. Has a Q pool of 30, plus five 'free' rounds of FField activation.

Automated mox dart turret. Found hidden behind special ceiling panels throughout the SGE building. Fires 10 darts per combat round from a clip of 200. (5 double-shots per combat with +2 auto successes to hit on a 10 die pool; darts only do 5dB but are considered armor piercing to get through soak). They have armor ratings of 20/5 and need 5 levels of damage to destroy.

Psychic Shield earring, looks like a silver ear clip and grants one dot of Psychic Shield (non-stackable).

Those are the only ones I've written out stats for; I think at some point I'm going to sit down with the A! gadget rules next to the Ab gadget rules and figure out how to apply the much simpler A! rules to Ab.

[Captether]

Excellent gadgets sir ninja! I have always been partial to mini mechs/powered armor suits and the like.

Dispite the "But I'm Iron Man" bit from The Aberrant Players Guide, I dont see why a iron man character might not be possible. I would prefer such a character to be a Baseline with a particularly potent array of devices. Especially if paramorphs (Daredevils) are around!

For my "Splice" article above, I was going to have them be a fad/experiment that is new in my setting. Everyone wants to be a nova, and a great many governments are concerned about their power. So why wouldnt there be all sorts of performance enhancing procedured out there besides Mite?

[metaphysician]

I tend to think there should be Mega-Int enhancements that make Quantum Gadgeteering easier. That would make "Iron Man" easier to do.

[Alex Green]

...I dont see why a iron man character might not be possible. I would prefer such a character to be a Baseline with a particularly potent array of devices....

Also known as "cannon foder" since if he gets killed he can be replaced. It'd work the same way "Iron Man" is supposed to in theory, he's some grunt hired by Tony S for an exciting (but brief) life.

[Blue Thunder]

That would make "Iron Man" easier to do.

The Aberrant books say multiple times that if you want to do "Iron Man" you can, but it just isn't part of the Aberrant setting and theme. If you want to play a game with powered armor, then play Trinity...

[Sprocket]

Re: synthetic organs & new nova drugs

Captether, those are the sort of things we on the Development Team were planning on including in the biotechnology portion of Aberrant: The New Flesh. I'd have to discuss it with the rest of the Team, but would you consider becoming a contributor to the project? ::smile

[metaphysician]

The Aberrant books say multiple times that if you want to do "Iron Man" you can, but it just isn't part of the Aberrant setting and theme. If you want to play a game with powered armor, then play Trinity...

The thing is, the crack super genius inventor is something that existed all the way back in Adventure, at a lower level. The main reason why quantum gadgeteering doesn't allow it is arbitrary mechanical design.

Or, to put it more clearly, I think they changed their mind alot at different points in time re: tech.

[SkyLion]

Yeah, vehicles and tech has never been white wolfs forte...

[Blue Thunder]

It has more to do with novas themselves. Aberrant is about playing a nova, and the consequences of having power and the corruption it causes. Novas still invent a lot of stuff, and so can the players. Just look at the 10 years from 1998 to 2008. But the whole mechas deal, that just isn't Aberrant. It's not the theme or the setting. Nor should it be. Aberrant isn't about tech and devices; if you want it to be, then go ahead.

Characters shouldn't build themselves up to be Iron Man because Iron Man has no place in Aberrant.

[SkyLion]

It has more to do with novas themselves. Aberrant is about playing a nova, and the consequences of having power and the corruption it causes. Novas still invent a lot of stuff, and so can the players. Just look at the 10 years from 1998 to 2008. But the whole mechas deal, that just isn't Aberrant. It's not the theme or the setting. Nor should it be. Aberrant isn't about tech and devices; if you want it to be, then go ahead.

Characters shouldn't build themselves up to be Iron Man because Iron Man has no place in Aberrant.

,,

No place in Canon...

,,

The game does suggest that you can make the setting whatever you want: "Want utopia to be truly shiny do-gooders with no conspiracy? Go ahead, its your game."

,,

Of course one of the reasons we love Aberrant is the very real and life-like portrayal of what would happen shuld people start erupting with powers in our modern world. Conspiracies would form to control that power...

,,

But anways if you wanted to build an Iron Man character I wouldn't go tech or gadget. Thats too complicated to be useful. Iron Man has always been the equal of other superheroes. In fact his is called the Invincible Iron Man for a reason (another of my favorite characters). His weakness is that underneath he is still a human and prone to alcoholism and other human weaknesses.

,,

I suggest building him as normal with the limitation only while in armor on everything. The modern Tony Stark wouldn't even have that limitation, since the extremis enhancile made him able to control the armor by thoughts and jacked him into just about every satelitte, cel phone, computer or electronic device on the planet. He can control the armor remotly or summon it from a small briefcase, levitating it onto him by manipulating repulsor fields (again with thought alone.)

,,

Oh and also he wouldn't have the Node background but I would still enforce "quantum" minimums for game balance and he would show up on quantum senses while in armor since the armor uses energy fields and has a micro-fusion power source. Dormancy wouldnt apply. At first I thought to use dormancy to simulate a baseline and armored form, but he has long been shown to control the suit remotely and even as just stark he can call and talk to you on your cell phone with his mind (while drinking a beverage even! Not subvoval...), see through spy sattelites and has enhanced mental mega-attributes, intelligence, wits etc...

[Alex Green]

I suggest building him as normal with the limitation only while in armor on everything. The modern Tony Stark wouldn't even have that limitation, since the extremis enhancile made him able to control the armor by thoughts and jacked him into just about every satelitte, cel phone, computer or electronic device on the planet. He can control the armor remotly or summon it from a small briefcase, levitating it onto him by manipulating repulsor fields (again with thought alone.)

So basically by abby standards he's a nova with the themes of armor control or something. ::sly

I have no problem with Iron Man the nova, or even Iron Man the quantum gadget. Where I have problems is with Iron Man the technology that should be, but isn't, mass produced for every member of the millitary.

As it is, Tony Stark is basically a nova (with linked nova powers like Armor, Flight, etc), a gadgeteer, a walking "radioactive accident" in that he can be used by lots of characters to buy gadget background points. He can also "train" other novas that erupt with his same theme.

[metaphysician]

You could always explain it away as "you can't mass produce stuff this good, it requires regular maintenance by a supergenius." I don't think the military would be very interested in spending millions on a suit of armor thats mean time to failure is, in practice, something under 24 hours. . .

[Alex Green]

They'd jump at the chance. Some of their missiles already cost that and last only for a few minutes.

[Alex Green]

New weapon systems cost Billions of dollars. That's how they'd evaluate this. Better still, they could go with the Ironman of 10 years ago and use stable technology. The'd lose if they fought the current state of the art Ironman, but so what?

Any sane assumptions quickly end with the US Millitary running around with ten to a hundred armored types that fight as a team.

This happens even if you assume they have to pay a Mega-Int 5 Nova 100 Million/yr, just to get off the ground. The USM simply has far more money and reasources to throw at something like this than Tony Stark ever did.

Cost of a nova: 100M

Cost of a suit: 100M per year (and it's not in use 24/7).

So for a Billion dollars they get 9 Ironmen per year, and for 10 Billion dollars they get 99 Ironmen.

[metaphysician]

From a mechanic perspective, the biggest obstacle is that everyone using the armor would be a non-nova, which IIRC, takes a good deal of extra sux to get anything to work for them.

That said, I'm not sure I have any objections to a Mega-Int genius providing the US with a few dozen suits of nova-grade powered armor. . .

[SkyLion]

Not quite Alex. In the comics Shield has way more money than the US military as they are a global organization with a far greater range of scope of powers. Tony Stark has in fact been contracted out to build the various gurdsmen armors but as you pointed out the real suit would roll them over.

,,

Tony is the wealtiest single person on the plant, with probably close to a trillion dollars if one were to add up all the subsidies of Stark Enterprises.

,,

There is also the fact that he keeps a *very* close eye on his technology. Its been stolen in the past but he always manages to regn it in...no way would anyone be able to duplicate his suit...especially since the ability to remake the extremis enhancile was lost and even the last dose he used was completely reconfigured for his purposes via his mega intellect.

,,

So, IMHO, were Iron Man to be the super tech hero he is in the comics, in aberrant, I still see him as being one of a kind.

[metaphysician]

Admittedly, the status of SHIELD is something that changes every couple of years, and pretty much everything Civil War linked should be ignored if you like things that actually make sense. . .

[SkyLion]

I know some of the details but havent read any of the civil war stuff....any good?

[metaphysician]

Oi, where to begin?

-The SHRA is unconstitutional on about five different grounds

-Event portrayed in one comic are outright contradicted in another ( as in, within this single event )

-Quite a few major characters have turned into total bastards, notably Reed Richards and Tony Stark

-Superheroes getting imprisoned in the Negative Zone, while supervillains get sweet deals from the Feds

-Speedball has turned into an emo freak whose powers are fueled by pain

-Teenagers get hunted down, with the only restriction on usage of lethal force being bad PR

-Clones, lots of clones, including a murderous Thor clone

-Oh, btw, did I mention that Tony Stark has been pushing for secret superhero manipulation of events since the Kree/Skrull War. . . and has been taking secret DNA samples since the first Avengers gathering?

-Norman Osborne as superhero team leader. . . on a team with Venom and Bullseye. . . while getting government PR support

-Nobody doing anything about the incoming Annihilation Wave

-Oh, and the real philosophical kicker:

Essentially, the claim is that Reed has predicted, with nigh absolute certainty, that absent intervention, humanity will wipe itself out trying to commit genocide against superhumanity. Either humanity will be destroyed by superhumanity in self defense or retaliation, or humanity will succeed, but destroy itself in the process, or render itself unprotected to all kinds of other hazards. The only way to avert this, is to take a number of carefully planned, incredibly ruthless and deadly, actions, in order to manipulate society to not following any of said paths.

IOW, people on Earth marvel are so psychotically envious that they would rather die than tolerate the existence of superhumanity, most especially those who dedicate their lives and powers to helping others.

[Alex Green]

Essentially, the claim is that Reed has predicted, with nigh absolute certainty, that absent intervention, humanity will wipe itself out trying to commit genocide against superhumanity. Either humanity will be destroyed by superhumanity in self defense or retaliation, or humanity will succeed, but destroy itself in the process, or render itself unprotected to all kinds of other hazards. The only way to avert this, is to take a number of carefully planned, incredibly ruthless and deadly, actions, in order to manipulate society to not following any of said paths.

Sounds a lot like the Abby war without Mal and the Teragen.

And this has been hinted at for a while (many years). We've seen probably dozens of timelines follow this path in one way or another.

IOW, people on Earth marvel are so psychotically envious that they would rather die than tolerate the existence of superhumanity, most especially those who dedicate their lives and powers to helping others.

It isn't just envy (although I'm not following the Civil War). Fear also takes a big roll.

Marvel already has...

1) Superhumans (including supervillians) controlling countries (Doom and Namor and sometimes Magneto).

2) Super types who have access to enough atomic weapons to start wars (The Leader, Read Richards, etc).

3) Super types who have infiltrated the government, sometimes even taken it over.

4) Super types who have tried to take over the world...

5) ...or destroy it.

If Marvel heroes started acting more like real people, i.e. like aberrants, we'd also see similar problems where baselines simply can not compete. I.e. the top 5 scientists in the world are all supers. Ditto the top 5 singers, entertainers, actors, engineers, artists, etc.

In RL, if you had people who could snap their fingers and blow up cities, and some actually did so, then I find it impossible to believe that the general population wouldn't DEMAND strict control over them.

That said, I'm not sure I have any objections to a Mega-Int genius providing the US with a few dozen suits of nova-grade powered armor. . .

That's good because 20 minutes after I wrote that down I realized it really should be an organization in one of our ongoing projects here. I.e. "The New Flesh".

[metaphysician]

Re: Civil War, the problem is that it undercuts the entire theme of superheroism. Note that this isn't just having it be *possible*, or even *likely*. Its having it be *inevitable, barring actions that themselves repudiate heroism.*

And thats, to note, *without* the same taint problems Aberrant has, *without* specific conspiracies trying to push intolerance, and *with* a history of heroes stopping all of the above threats going back to WWII. Things different from Aberrant.

( I'm ignoring the issue of mutant racism, because frankly, trying to rationalize X-comic stuff with the rest of Marvel has been impossible since the late 80s, anyway )

Basically, yeah, it is going vaguely Aberrantish. . . except with less of an excuse.

[Alex Green]

Re: Civil War, the problem is that it undercuts the entire theme of superheroism. Note that this isn't just having it be *possible*, or even *likely*. Its having it be *inevitable, barring actions that themselves repudiate heroism.*

Part of this could be Reed being scared by his numbers. But yeah, the rest is a problem.

RE: *without* the same taint problems Aberrant has

Not sure. Taint would explain a lot in the Marvel Universe, and we do sometimes see normal people react, well, normally, to people with glowing eyes and the like.

RE: *without* specific conspiracies trying to push intolerance

Other than the Red Skull, the Leader, and the fact that intolerance should almost be the default move.

RE: *with* a history of heroes stopping all of the above threats going back to WWII.

Another way of phrase that is; *With* a long history of many many threats, many of which were barely avoided, the general public finally lost it's tollerance with the mass murder of children.

RE: I'm ignoring the issue of mutant racism, because frankly, trying to rationalize X-comic stuff with the rest of Marvel has been impossible since the late 80s, anyway

Ditto. It's hard to see how they live in the same universe, and am I the only one to see the irony in the X-men not being punished or dragged into the Civil war?

RE: Basically, yeah, it is going vaguely Aberrantish. . . except with less of an excuse.

In Abby, the average citizen has had his life benificially effected by Novas. Novas control the weather, have introduced extremely nice technology, nova healers get rid of burn scars and diseased organs, novas have rid the world of disease, etc. Novas have had an surreally positive effect on the USA's GNP. New industries, new art, new fasion, new jobs, etc.

In Marvel, Supers do nothing but fight, and Heroes do nothing but barely save the day, with virtually *NO* possitive effect on the average person. Supers may level cities, but they don't start industries.

[metaphysician]

Actually, the mutants did make a brief appearance. . .

Specifically, the SHRA was apparently so worded that all mutants would have to register, even if they have no actual powers. So, Three Finger Lad the mutant has got to register, and be subject to SHIELD commands. Even though he has no more ability to threaten anybody than a normal human.

Oh, and for added laughs, one of the issue, an IC journal by Tony Stark, reveals him as a closet antimutant bigot. He thinks highly of the guy who originally built the sentinels, despite his 'flaws'. You know, genocidal antimutant racism as a flaw.

I think the main reason the X-Men are sitting out Civil War mostly is:

1. They got crapped on plenty shortly prior to Civil War

2. Most of the current team is busy in Shi'ar space seeking revenge for the slaying of Rachel Summer's entire family

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Regarding the more general issue, yeah, Marvel Earth is subjected to alot of threats. The problem is, even accepting for a second that the status quo was unacceptable, the response is incredibly counterproductive. The SHRA is almost custom designed to foster resentment among those who were previously superheroes, and drive into retirement alot of them. At the same time, it doesn't meaningfully contribute to the ability to stop domestic supervillain threats over the prior methods.

At the same time, however, it increases vulnerability to alot of the higher end threats, ranging from Dr Doom to Galactus.

The fundamental problem with anti-superhuman sentiment, is that absent the superheroes and their personally chosen actions, the world would be conquered or dead. There are, simply put, things that ordinary humanity has no ability to defend itself against. At all. So, taking actions that hinder the superheroes is counterproductive and stupid, unless you want to trade out collateral damage from superbrawls for "Ultron wipes out human life."

[Alex Green]

Oh, and for added laughs, one of the issue, an IC journal by Tony Stark, reveals him as a closet antimutant bigot. He thinks highly of the guy who originally built the sentinels, despite his 'flaws'. You know, genocidal antimutant racism as a flaw.

Does Tony admire what the sentinels do or does he admire their construction? Dude is an engineer, it’s an important difference.

For example, when soldiers study WWII, I would hope it’s possible to learn from, and perhaps admire, Hitler’s war machine’s tactics from purely a tactical point of view. Everyone was expecting another round of miserable trench warfare, but the art of war was taken to a new level. Granted, by team evil wearing the big black hats, but still. Also similarly, we study the tactics of the 9-11 crew that took down the world trade buildings. Not because we admire their ideology, but because their tactics worked.

Regarding the more general issue, yeah, Marvel Earth is subjected to alot of threats. The problem is, even accepting for a second that the status quo was unacceptable, the response is incredibly counterproductive. The SHRA is almost custom designed to foster resentment among those who were previously superheroes, and drive into retirement alot of them. At the same time, it doesn't meaningfully contribute to the ability to stop domestic supervillain threats over the prior methods.

Agreed… but I’ve lived though similar things as counterproductive.

In college, a student claimed she was raped by a stranger in her dorm room. Later we found out she was lying. However the administration sprang into action and replaced our good security system (where in theory someone could steal or find a dorm key and get into a dorm) with a system that was much, much worse (in practice anyone who looked like a student could get into any dorm without a key).

Politicians are placed under enormous pressure to “do something”, so they do.

IMHO the problem with the SHRA is it goes too far. It forces where it should simply strongly encourage. In an ideal world, all heroes would be working with the government… and the law was written for that ideal instead of allowing for individual choices.

The fundamental problem with anti-superhuman sentiment, is that absent the superheroes and their personally chosen actions, the world would be conquered or dead. There are, simply put, things that ordinary humanity has no ability to defend itself against. At all. So, taking actions that hinder the superheroes is counterproductive and stupid, unless you want to trade out collateral damage from superbrawls for "Ultron wipes out human life."

And who created Ultron? Henry Pym? So if he’d been working for Shield under supervision, Ultron version 1 would have been dismantled and there never would have been a version 2.

The problem with your argument is the act doesn’t outlaw super-dom. It simply tries to regulate it, and incorporate it into normal law enforcement. It’s trying to change vigilantes into cops. Again, in theory, this is a good thing. In practice exceptions would sometimes need to be made.

[metaphysician]

The problem is, according to Reed, the only reason even the SHRA is coming about is intentional manipulation of events. Sans that manipulation, what would have happened would be even more destructive and less useful: some variant of anti-superhuman genocide. And given the SHRA in its current form is supposed to be the *most* mild thing that Reed could come up with to avert events. . .

( yes, this all relies on Reed's predictions actually being correct, but if they aren't, than it just means this whole thing was unnecessary from the getgo )

And yeah, realistically speaking, sanctioning wouldn't be a bad thing. In fact, it'd be a positive good. Problem is, nobody seems to have even slightly suggested a sane sanction system.

And yeah, Ultron is Pym's fault. Galactus, OTOH, is not, and the only things thats stopped him as major league superhuman intervention. There's also bad actors such as Dr Doom, for whom the fact that they are human and Earth-resident doesn't change the fact that registration would mean zip to them. In fact, the SHRA falls into that classic trap, of inflicting vastly greater effect on the law-abiding than the law-ignoring, that so many regulations do. . .

( though really, any government that'd put Norman Osborne in charge of a superhero team, not really trustworthy. . . )

[Alex Green]

...any government that'd put Norman Osborne in charge of a superhero team, not really trustworthy...

I never followed him in comics, but as I recall most of the crap he's pulled has been non-public. Worse, he has or had all kinds of connections to the military & business, etc. If true then on paper he may appear to have a track record, owner of a big business, a fair number of important people saying he's all right.

And even that thing with Gwen has been re-conned to be at least in part to be a lover's spat, and for a while spiderman was being blamed for her death. So while Spiderman and the readers know he's really evil, I'm not sure anyone else really has the evidence.

[metaphysician]

That has changed, recently. He ended up going public. AFAIK, SHIELD at least now knows almost all the crap he's been pulling for years, or at least all the stuff he did as the Green Goblin.

[SkyLion]

I never followed him in comics, but as I recall most of the crap he's pulled has been non-public. Worse, he has or had all kinds of connections to the military & business, etc. If true then on paper he may appear to have a track record, owner of a big business, a fair number of important people saying he's all right.

And even that thing with Gwen has been re-conned to be at least in part to be a lover's spat, and for a while spiderman was being blamed for her death. So while Spiderman and the readers know he's really evil, I'm not sure anyone else really has the evidence.

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Except that the public has always known about and been frightened of the green goblin...as the goblin he flies around the city on a glider and has been known to throw incendiary pumpkin bombs (ie: agg to baselines) at innocents.

,,

...And hes not leading the team as Norman...he is actually in the green goblin costume...not to mention known murderers venom, bullseye etc. etc....

[Alex Green]

Except that the public has always known about and been frightened of the green goblin...as the goblin he flies around the city on a glider and has been known to throw incendiary pumpkin bombs (ie: agg to baselines) at innocents.,,

...And hes not leading the team as Norman...he is actually in the green goblin costume...not to mention known murderers venom, bullseye etc. etc....

Looks like Marvel has a government funded super villain team. BTW this doesn’t have to be a bad think, witness the Suicide Squad and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

RE: The Green Goblin

As far as the general public is concerned, a number of people have worn that costume, in theory this could be one more. Sort of like Iron Man.

[SkyLion]

Looks like Marvel has a government funded super villain team. BTW this doesn't have to be a bad think, witness the Suicide Squad and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

RE: The Green Goblin

As far as the general public is concerned, a number of people have worn that costume, in theory this could be one more. Sort of like Iron Man.

,,

yep..they are an all villain government funded "superhero" team.

,,

Re: Goblins....actually no. The public has never to my knowledge known of the secret ID(s) of the Goblins. As far as they know its always just been the goblin. There have been various goblins, IE they know that the Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin are separate supervillanis but not that the Green Goblin has been 2 people...

[Alex Green]

They are run by the government, but are they a hero team made up of villains or simply a villain team?

I always like that about the Suicide Squad. Not only is it made up of villains but it’s an outright villain team as well.

Sort of like Weapon-X from the Exiles if you follow them. The Exiles get missions where they have to save the planet, Weapon-X gets missions like "start a war" or "kill all the survivors". I liked how they were assigned to "help" the villain version of Tony Stark. Specifically they were supposed to help him fail, although neither he nor they realized that their heavy handed efforts would totally prevent even the possibility of success.