Aberrant: Trans-Dimensional Explorations - Nova Philes:

[Alex Green]

Nova Philes: See also Former Nova Philes Talks

I thought I’d start off and give rules that I think are close to what the book uses. Note that there are going to be exceptions and anomalies. For example, Core has a Strength of 6, even though he has M-Str 3 which can be pumped to 5, presumably this is because his Strength changed between the time the phile was written and the Character sheet was created.

The Rules:

1) All Ratings range from 1 (low) to 10 (high).

2) Divis has the only 10 in every category.

3) If something pumps (easily and at your command) then it should be included, after all it is there when you need it. Thus even though Divis may normally only walk around with Mega-Strength 3, it pumps to 8 when he arm wrestles.

4) All ratings cover a range (well, except for the “10”). Thus Mega-Strength 6 and 7 both are “9’s” even though one is much stronger than the other.

5) A number of powers add to multiple categories. For example: Mega-Strength can add to Strength and Offense.

6) There is a lot of subjectivity to all this, and there is a lot of room for reasonable people to disagree.

Rating Levels: General (Strength and Intellect)

1: Less than baseline average. This is very rare for novas or even baselines. (1 or 0 dots)

2: Baseline average (2 dots)

3: Above baseline average (3 dots)

4: Far above baseline average (4 dots)

5: Baseline Max (5 dots)

6: Above Baseline Maximum (Mega-Stat 1 or 2)

7: Good for a Nova (Mega-Stat 3 or 4)

8: Normal Limit for Q5 Nova (Mega-Stat 5)

9: Above normal limit for Q5 (Mega-Stat 6 or 7)

10: Nova Maximum (Divis Mal)

The above table works with Strength and Intellect (Intelligence), although there is room for modification. Example: A nova with a two dot Int but who also has 5 dots in every Int skill is probably has an Intellect of 4.

The other four categories, especially Versatility, are much less defined and much more subjective.

Speed: In general, speed is a measure of how fast you are. This means reaction time and/or raw movement. Any nova with a movement power should have at least a 6.

Offense: How effective you are offensively in combat. For a quick guide, how many dice does someone do in ranged combat. As a rule of thumb, this rating can’t be more than two lower than a nova’s strength rating, and if the nova has a movement power it can’t be more than one less. Examples: With presumably 6 or 7 dots of Elemental Control: Light + Mastery (i.e. a 24[24] or 28[28] attack) Scripture has a 9. With a 42 die ranged attack, Core has a 8. With lots of Magnetic Manipulation, Skew has a 7.

Defense: Opposite of Offense. Normally this is a measure of raw soak, but lots of novas have special defenses (dodge, Density Decrease, etc). If your only defense is not getting hit, it is worth pointing out that with no effective body, Synapse has a 5. Multiple types of defenses do lend to a higher rating. With lots of soak (high 20’s to low 30’s) Core has a 7.

Versatility is a measure of how useful you are in a wide range of situations. Since the average baseline has a two, most novas have at least a three.

Example: Count Oraiz has 5’s in every stat, 6 mega-stats, great skills, and unreal connections, money, and influence. There are very few problems that he can’t fix with just a phone call. He has an 8.

Core is little more than a combat machine (although Mega-Strength does have a few other uses). But he also is a national icon and has a great deal of influence. He has a 5. (As only a combat machine, probably a 3 or 4).

Suite powers tend to give you at least a 5 in Versatility.

[Alex Green]

Paul Blue (Doctor Nature)

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Strength: 5

Intellect: 5

Speed: 6

Offense: 4

Defense: 7

Versatility 7

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Strength and Intellect are easy and obvious. Note that Paul's medical skills aren't even close to being enough to pump up his intellect.

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Speed is also easy. He has a movement power (Flight) but nothing more.

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Offense is harder. Paul's Strength -1 (because he has a movement power) puts a lower bound of 4 for that. His skill with baseline weapons is decent but not outstanding, so that's probably also a 4 (and they don't stack). Q-Leech isn't ranged or especially strong or even useful, Invisibility is more of a defense thing, Weather Manip could grant an increase, in theory even out of the box it should give a 5, but with bolt being unmastered we don't see him using it so I'm going to only count WM towards Versatility.

Conclusion: I lean towards calling this a strong 4.

Defense is going to be higher. Multiple defenses (invisibility, adaptability, decent but not great soak, flight, healing) make him extremely difficult to damage. A six seems low and a seven seems high... I'm going to call this a low 7.

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Versatility: Character was built for versatility so it's not a shock that this is going to be high. I’m going to say that he’s “Good for a nova” or a seven. Give him 6 more Mega-Stats and some more dots in his powers and it might go up.

[SkyLion]

OOOH! Fun!

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El Nagual (Esteban Del Castillo)

Strength: 8

Intellect: 4

Speed: 6

Offense: 7

Defense: 8

Versatility: 6

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...of course being that almost noone is aware of him he wouldn't have an actual public Nova-phile (when he works as a stuntman its always under a different identity) but I put it up for your amusement/speculation... ::happy

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