Aberrant: Prometheans Unbound - The NoLK Discussion Thread

[Alex Green]

Does he actually eat them though?

Just curious. ::happy

He adds their flesh to his own... "eat" is as good a word as any.

[Shade Sentinel]

Does he actually eat them though?

Just curious. ::happy

More like absorbs them from what I understand. Though it isn't my character. He may eat them in which case he is a sick man!

[Centimane]

Ah. Gothcha, Alex.

Creepy, but cool. ::ultracool

My character has the Taint Resistant Merit, so that should be interesting to see how that works in a Teragen game.

[SkyLion]

Is it a one hit kill? Do they retain self awarenss inside him? YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND QUANTUM DISTINCTIVENESS WILL BE ADDED TO THE COLLECTIVE>>>>>

Oh yeah and while Im on it...My PC is like Rogue,...a power stealer though without the vampiric part. Did your character take q-imprint also alex?

[BlueNinja]

BN...I couldnt help but notice that "Odin's" sword is a 5 dot aggravated quantum bolt....Does he throw the sword or what?

I'm guessing you've never seen Final Fantasy 7 summons then. ::biggrin Yes, basically Odin looks like he's riding Sleipnir around, and hurling his sword at people.

And sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph but Q-Construct is an almost broken power! Glad to have you on our side...

Hey, considering it's limited to once a scene, or more with cumulative penalties, it's not *that* broken.

[Shade Sentinel]

I'm guessing you've never seen Final Fantasy 7 summons then. ::biggrin Yes, basically Odin looks like he's riding Sleipnir around, and hurling his sword at people.

Hey, considering it's limited to once a scene, or more with cumulative penalties, it's not *that* broken.

Oh christ he's using the Final Fantasy 7 summons he tried to pawn on me. I summon Creature, with weapon so large he couldn't possibly un sheath it!

Honestly though, pretty burly boss.

[SkyLion]

I know...and you know I personally admit to being a power-gamer. Not a twink or whatever mind you...Im here for the ideas and the story. If it was just mindless power I wanted Id run amok on WoW or Quake.

That said, this IS aberrant and the power of a god is what its about....so you go witch yo bad self....

[BlueNinja]

The point I'm making is his powers (kill with a touch) should make at least some people squeamish about how it's accomplished. He doesn’t electrocute people or make them drop dead, he shapeshifts them so they become part of him.

In that case, I'd say that the 1 point Bad Vibe is closer to what the effects would be. Since he can (I'm pretty sure) do this to novas, as well as baselines, I think very few people are going to not be leery of him.

[archer]

Here's my character concept. Originally I jokingly called him 'Discovery Channel Boy'.

Jimmy Sinclair was a mid-level programmer in a sea of cubicle jockeys like himself, working for a large multinational corporation. Pudgy(okay, just call him fat already), with horrid acne that came of his McDonalds and Jack in the Box diet, and very few social skills. He spent the majority of his free time watching TV, specifically Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. He was fascinated with animals and their natural, though sometimes odd, abilities. Squids producing ink, badgers with their tremendous skill at digging, that weird little lizard that runs on water somehow...he loved them all with the glee reserved for children and geeks.

He erupted during an ill-conceived nature hike sponsored by his company as part of a 'Leadership and Sensitivity' seminar. After getting lost in the woods at night, he wished for a light and panicked when his skin started to glow. Terrified, he sprinted at remarkable speed deeper into the woods, screaming at the top of his lungs. Needless to say, this didn't help.

After a series of unfortunate occurrences which all related to discovering yet another new animal-type power, Jimmy finally managed to make it home. Eventually realizing his new status in the world, he tried the heroism schtick for awhile. It didn't work out too well for Jimmy. As one of the first novas to have erupted after the Galatea explosion, he was also one of the first to encounter baseline prejudice against nova-kind. It didn't help that his appearance had changed as well; aside from the new toned physique he was sporting, he'd also developed feline eyes somewhere along the way. After a beating delivered by a baseline mob, he tried sunglasses for awhile, but eventually someone would notice and the insults(or worse) would start again.

He even went to work with Utopia for awhile, doing Search and Rescue work. His incredibly keen senses allowed him to locate people through nearly any obstacle, while his newfound hardiness allowed him to adapt and thrive in any environment, allowing him to continue the search as long as needed.

But as time went on, he got tired of it. There seemed to be a constant stream of people who needed saving. Because he worked for Utopia, often he was assigned to help salvage military or private operations that never should have been started. Deep-sea tests of new submarines that went wrong, or oil platforms being hit by hurricanes; insane research expeditions in the most inhospitable places. Finally, he left.

His senses were too keen, now, and his body had altered itself further. He needed solitude. He tried mountaintops at first, but inevitably some human would come along and ruin it. Then he tried deserts, with as much luck as the mountains. He spent a good chunk of a year deep under the sea in the Pacific, but his patience wore thin with the craft above and below; especially after someone designed a personal submarine that became the new trendy thing for people with too much money. Antarctica was next, and it was good for awhile, even built himself a small Fortress of Solitude out there as a joke. But he could only take the isolation for so long.

Even among animals, there was a need for social contact, and he had none. The animals were nice, but simple. So were, he realized, the humans. He recognized himself as different from the baselines, separate entirely. Just as they counted themselves separate from what they termed the lesser beasts. Humans were simply a different type of animal, as far as he was now concerned. And they needed his help just as the animals did...rarely, and only when justified. Murder wasn't any different than killings among other species, just a different form of self-inflicted population control.

He spent days pondering this new outlook, and came to a decision. He would rejoin the world of humanity, moving among them but apart from them, just as humans did in the wilderness. He would teach those would listen. He would explain the error of their ways. Their logic and rational thinking were helpful to them as a species, but also made them ignore their own basic survival. They starved themselves to appear a certain way, placed their lives in danger for excitement and thrill. Simple creatures really. Their 'reason', as they called it, had replaced their instinct. And they needed that instinct to survive as a species. He would teach them.

[Bahamut810]

Jack...

Jack (this is what he calls himself, but it is not his real name) was born to a poor car mechanic and a housewife (so poor they had to go fishing at night in order to keep food on the table). He was sent away to be raised by his aunt and uncle in the americas after his parents split up when he was a year old(from living in the carrabean islands). He grew up in the slums of new york. He was mostly a loner, and avoided gangs as much as possible. When he was 15, however, he got into a situation that he couldent avoid. When he was on his way home from skipping school one day he was cought up in an assult of another person. He, luckily erupted to be able to overpower the men and saved the person who tried to hang onto him for a long time thereafter.

He soon left to join Project Utopia as a T2M recruit and was sent to help restore order to a third world country. During this time he saved more then a few baseline and nova lives. During this time he developed a rivalry with a female terat who was performing gurilla war on some of the T2M in the area (which started when she set a rather large land mine that Jack set off). After a bit of cat and mouse (and sitting him down with the help of a good forcefield) she was finally able to get him to see the light of Teras. He immediatley left and spent the next little bit at the Blackburn Hotel.

After he had time to think and read the news, however, he found something he never thought of before. There were no nova births...at all. He knew that they had to do what they could to protect the next generation of Novas, the baselines who had not yet erupted.

[Centimane]

Name: James Winston

Sex: male

Archetype: Portent

James (real name Samuel) had known he would become a nova years before it actually happened. His older brother, who had erupted some eight years before James, had told him so. His brother (named Robert) was mostly a Mega-Social and Mega-Mental nova (of relatively low power, but James would swear he was the greatest nova who ever lived), but he had also erupted with the unique gift of seeing the future. Because of this he had foreseen James’ eruption but was unable to see exactly how it happened. So it is ironic, and not a little tragic, that Robert’s powers failed to warn him of his own death.

James’ and Robert’s parents had died only a week before in a car wreck, and they had gone to Texas together for the funeral. They had stayed afterwards visiting with relatives.

One night while leaving a bar they were confronted by a group of four Michaelites. Robert attempted to diffuse the situation using his charm and persuasiveness, but the Michaelites only became more upset. Robert became angry and attempted to brush by them. Next thing James knew, three of the Michaelites had weapons drawn, and his brother was on the ground with a hole in his chest. James’ head exploded in pain and after that things are a bit hazy for James, but by the time the conflict was over one Michaelite was dead and the other three were badly wounded.

The courts ruled in favor of James, saying he had only acted out of self-defense, but the Church of Michael Archangel still had it out for him and swore vengeance. Over the next few weeks one more attack was made against James, and several attacks and threats were made against family members. Though his family didn’t say anything outright it was clear that they somehow held James responsible for their current troubles and expected him to fix it. Things would have almost certainly ended very messily had it not been for the timely arrival of Raoul Orzaiz, the famous Teragen nova. He convinced James of the merits of the Teragen belief system, and offered to hide him from the Michaelites and set him up with a new identity in a new place. James eagerly accepted, and is now trying to find his place within the secretive movement. But he still finds himself looking over his shoulder from time to time, wondering when the Michaelites will finally catch up to him and what he’ll do about it when they finally do.

James/Samuel has sandy-blonde hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. He is of average height and average build, and there is almost nothing to give him away as nova (aside from a naturally perfect physique). He’s rather quiet, and more than a little shy around obviously skilled or powerful (or just obvious) novas as they leave him feeling like an unimpressive baseline again. According to his own way of perceiving things, his powers are all a direct manipulation of “quantum-forces” without resorting to using more mundane effects (such as gravity or magnetic control to fly, or fire blasts for his Quantum Bolt). He almost never eats or sleeps any more, and is very dedicated to understanding his new powers and his place and purpose as a nova. He has some very conflicting emotions regarding baselines. On the one hand, he grew up in a loving family and was taught to value life. On the other hand, he’s been idolizing a nova (his brother) since he was a kid, and expecting to be one himself (because of his brother) since he was a kid. Baselines killed his brother, and his family (all baselines) just seemed to want him to go away or fix their problems once he became a nova himself. As of right now he has no vendetta against baselines, and gets along fine with them, but there is more than a little bitterness in his heart towards the baselines who’re responsible for his brother’s death, and his family for abandoning him when he needed them most. It is, however, worth mentioning that his apparently human form causes many in the Teragen to look down on and mistreat him. On the whole, James is feeling rather isolated and unsure of where precisely he belongs, but in his heart he’d rather see baselines and novas getting along and existing peacefully together than killing each other.

He's resistant enough to damage to shrug off small-arms fire with little worry, and even a 35 mm cannon isn't much of a concern. He's immensely strong and fast and, though few are aware of it, superhumanly intelligent and perceptive as well. He has Quantum Bolt (MIRV) which appears as "quantum-globes" the color of dark, lavender chrome that seem to glow from within. They appear from thin air in front of James and launch themselves at phenominal speeds at their target(s). He can also summon more diffuse "clouds" of barely visible quantum forces. By surrounding his limbs with this energy, he can tear through almost anything (Claws), and by trapping incoming projectiles in these hazes, he can easily deflect them harmlessly away (Deflect/Redirect). Lastly, by charging himself with quantum energy, he can defy the law of gravity and fly just like he always wanted to.

[Alex Green]

Is it a one hit kill? Do they retain self awarenss inside him? YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND QUANTUM DISTINCTIVENESS WILL BE ADDED TO THE COLLECTIVE>>>>>

Oh yeah and while Im on it...My PC is like Rogue,...a power stealer though without the vampiric part. Did your character take q-imprint also alex?

No Q-Imprint. Whether they are actually dead is an interesting, and grim, question and there is effidence to support both sides. For example, he became a pilot after absorbing a pilot.... and if I alter the character just a hair he'll have the quantum recovery of 3 or 4 novas, which is cooincidentally the number he's absorbed.

In that case, I'd say that the 1 point Bad Vibe is closer to what the effects would be. Since he can (I'm pretty sure) do this to novas, as well as baselines, I think very few people are going to not be leery of him.

He shifts into a different form, and people *still* are leery him? Even if they don’t know who he is?

Bad Vibe is for the socially inept or handicapped.

Minority is for when other people don't like you, not because of your own skills or because of what you have done, but because of their own issues. Dude actually has Mega-Charisma, and there are plenty of ex-elites in the Teragen.

Pretty near any combat machine (Lotus Infinite, Ricardo, or the DMD for example) can kill pretty near any nova/baseline they meet, but that ability isn’t usually held against them. If it weren’t for the little fact that people don’t like cannibals, they’d have no problems with him.

[phoenix]

Paul, does he do this on a regular basis? If it's just a weapon and not a source of nourishment, I doubt anyone on the team would even care.

Also note: Bad Vibe doesn't necessarily root from bad social skills, you can be mega-charismatic and still have it. It just is what it is - a bad vibe people get from you, that makes them not want to like you, no matter what. It's a bit like the charisma equivalent of Unearthly Beauty. That was my interpretation of the abberation, anyway..

Just on the note of baseline protection, my character is opposed to a mass holocaust of baselines because it would mean no more novas (or so he believes, anyway), and he's even started going out at night under his nova identity to fight crime and protect baselines on the street. Doesn't mean he likes most of them.

Two facts about the nova world which are extremely relevant to our faction's purpose and goals:

Utopia is methodically sterilizing almost all novas in the world, including the vast majority of Teragen members.

Novas who have successfully avoided exposure to the drug are able to have nova children.

My question is only this: do we know about these things yet?

[Bahamut810]

Alright...more info about Jack

Powers:

Jack is made of pure liquid metal. He no longer has any internal organs, not even a voice box...or a specific mouth. Being liquid metal, he can manipulate his form however he wants, including temporarily changing his aberrations, with minimal consentration. He is also nearly immune to physical damage, his body flows around any attacks that come his way (Energy damage still poses some problem to him though). He has been able to get around his lack of being able to speak recently by figureing out how to put a small part of his own metal substance into another person. Unfortunatly he lets his powers get the better of him on some occasions when his emotions run high, sometimes morphing into huge plated forms when suffeciently angered.

[phoenix]

Interesting. That sounds like a Permanent Power; are you Quantum 8+?

[Bahamut810]

Interesting. That sounds like a Permanent Power; are you Quantum 8+?

Yes and we are capped Quantum 5.

[BlueNinja]

Yes and we are capped Quantum 5.

Cheating ::wink and using the Strengths/Weaknesses on your bodymorph, or racked up the Taint high enough to make it a permanent power?

[phoenix]

I'm sorry, I meant Taint 8+, of course. My mistake, I'm very tired.. ::blush

[Bahamut810]

Cheating ::wink and using the Strengths/Weaknesses on your bodymorph, or racked up the Taint high enough to make it a permanent power?

::huh ::tongue

No. I was thinking about doing something that you would be one of the two best canadates for anyway...So I think I will pass on some stuff about my sheet to you (as well as my idea).

[Alex Green]

Paul, does he do this on a regular basis? If it's just a weapon and not a source of nourishment, I doubt anyone on the team would even care.

I think you mean "Alex". ::tongue

I don't think I'd call it "just" a weapon, but after that we basically have theme. And if the team wouldn't care, that mostly a Teragen thing. For example it's really hard to see him on T2M. For example if someone asks him how he learned French, that opens up a can of worms right there.

Also note: Bad Vibe doesn't necessarily root from bad social skills, you can be mega-charismatic and still have it. It just is what it is - a bad vibe people get from you, that makes them not want to like you, no matter what. It's a bit like the charisma equivalent of Unearthly Beauty. That was my interpretation of the abberation, anyway..

True, but besides the point.

Two facts about the nova world which are extremely relevant to our faction's purpose and goals:

Utopia is methodically sterilizing almost all novas in the world, including the vast majority of Teragen members.

Novas who have successfully avoided exposure to the drug are able to have nova children.

My question is only this: do we know about these things yet?

A good question. Here's another, who here as avoided the drugs?

I would assume Rob was exposed at DeVries, or perhaps at Ironskin's.

[phoenix]

I think you mean "Alex". ::tongue

I'M REALLY TIRED OKAY

Sorry, Alex.. ::blush

Here's another, who here as avoided the drugs?

Actually, I probably have, unless Utopia's way sneakier than I give them credit for. My character wouldn't have ever revealed his identity to Utopia or anyone like them.

[BlueNinja]

A good question. Here's another, who here as avoided the drugs?

I honestly don't know if the Nihonjin team, and whatever centers they have set up in Japan would be using the sterility-laced Mox that PU uses, so I don't know if Satoshi would be sterile or not. I'm going to assume he is unless someone corrects me.

[Centimane]

A good question. Here's another, who here as avoided the drugs?

My character hasn't had any direct contact with any nova organization other than the Teragen itself, so I'd guess James is clean.

[Blue Thunder]

Damn, 3 pages to reply to...if I leave any questions or issues unanswered, just ask them again and I'll get to them.

Re: Sterility

Generally speaking, your characters are assumed to be sterile, but anyone with Health is obviously free of that. Of course, if some of you aren't sterilized that's fine...it's just that public novas, or novas that have registered anywhere with any official organization, are likely to be sterile. Nova drugs are used by almost every nova, not just PU-related novas. And Proteus would go out of their way to sterilize novas they considered powerful, through a variety of means. But in the Teragen, I'm guessing there are more fertile novas than maybe any other group of a large size. And then there's Bounty.

By 2015, it's pretty much obvious to all Terats that something isn't right. In 2008 the secret was leaked out to the Aberrants and Orzaiz, and Bounty knew about it by then as well. Any non-poser Terat knows, and they're likely to be even more pissed at PU now. More and more novas aren't going to Rashoud Facilities.

How will this affect your faction? Even if novas can bear nova children, baselines can still erupt as novas. So not much changes.

Re: Name

How about The Shepards? Eh, did I spell that right? The name seems to fit the philosophy.

Re: Split Cells

This can work. It sounds good, actually. You guys can all still belong to this new faction, but you'd split up to accomplish different tasks. I do this in my tabletop games. It wouldn't make sense for all 9 of you to march around the world in one large group like the Brady Bunch (heh, there's a visual for you).

I like this idea. I can get more accomplished, plot-wise, and each PC can get more attention within their respective stories. And remember that not every character type is appropriate for every situation. If your faction needs to negotiate with Orzaiz and Scripture on some kind of urgent Teragen matter, you won't send your Mega-Physical socially awkward and shy tank. Likewise, if you need to help Geryon and NV take out Lotus Infinite, you don't send your Mega-Int inventor or Mega-Cha playboy into the heat of battle. With this set-up, each Chapter will have 1-3 stories going on at once. The stories may be seperate, or woven together, or anything else depending on circumstances.

Re: Chrysalis

I'm fine with the "Chrysalis as Storytelling tool" option myself. I'm still trying to tie down how to handle it gameplay-wise though. Once the character has reached the appropriate stage in his character development he enters Chrysalis, and he can spend any XP based on his Archetype. The problem is, if we don't keep track of Chrysalis points, how will he get bonus XP to spend? The character essentially would avoid the whole part where he rolls his Chrysalis. Maybe as our house rule (for purposes of a pbp game) he gets to spend "current experience + X experience" where X is whatever number we decide ahead of time would be appropriate for Chrysalis. What do you guys think?

Whew...

Is it possible to expand the "maximum character limit" of the message board? I'm likely to post a lot, and the board sometimes tells me to shorten my entries because they're too long. I have to post two or three times sometimes. Also, is there some sort of profanity censorship here? I like to think we're all grown-ups, and IC profanity is perfectly fine with me, but if EON censors stuff, that's fine with me.

When do we get a subforum, btw?

[phoenix]

It's spelled "shepherds", and actually, I think that's a really good name.

I'm not planning to do the Chrysalis thing, so it's all the same to me what the rest of you want to do. I'll trust your judgment to come up with a fair system.

Mitosis

So as I understand it, we don't want each cell to consist of a rigidly defined roster, but rather consider it a matter of some faction members are working on one mission while others are doing other things. Everyone should still know everyone else (though some better than others, of course) and switching from one to one is fine. Is that about right?

[BlueNinja]

Re: Name

How about The Shepards? Eh, did I spell that right? The name seems to fit the philosophy.

Sounds good to me. ::thumbup

Re: Chrysalis

I'm fine with the "Chrysalis as Storytelling tool" option myself. I'm still trying to tie down how to handle it gameplay-wise though. Once the character has reached the appropriate stage in his character development he enters Chrysalis, and he can spend any XP based on his Archetype. The problem is, if we don't keep track of Chrysalis points, how will he get bonus XP to spend? The character essentially would avoid the whole part where he rolls his Chrysalis. Maybe as our house rule (for purposes of a pbp game) he gets to spend "current experience + X experience" where X is whatever number we decide ahead of time would be appropriate for Chrysalis. What do you guys think?

Did you get my PM about another way to run Chrysalis? It's simpler, but it still takes IC time and a definate living out your archetype.

When do we get a subforum, btw?

I think we don't get one until the game officially starts. And then you ask Archer for it.

So as I understand it, we don't want each cell to consist of a rigidly defined roster, but rather consider it a matter of some faction members are working on one mission while others are doing other things. Everyone should still know everyone else (though some better than others, of course) and switching from one to one is fine. Is that about right?

Sounds good to me.

[archer]

Is it possible to expand the "maximum character limit" of the message board? I'm likely to post a lot, and the board sometimes tells me to shorten my entries because they're too long. I have to post two or three times sometimes. Also, is there some sort of profanity censorship here? I like to think we're all grown-ups, and IC profanity is perfectly fine with me, but if EON censors stuff, that's fine with me.

When do we get a subforum, btw?

Adding the subforum is no problem, I can do that tonight. There is a very brief list of words in the profanity filter, which I prefer to keep there. And yes, though the vast majority of posters and members here are grownups, children can and probably have read these boards before. There are a total of 5 words in the filter, so it's really not that restrictive.

As for post limits, there's no character limit, but there is a size limit of 5,000 kilobytes. I'm a bit confused how you're managing 5 meg posts with just text, are you using any sort of HTML encoding or adding attachments?

[SkyLion]

Re: Name

How about The Shepards? Eh, did I spell that right? The name seems to fit the philosophy.

Yeah I thought about that one too, but it doesn't sound hardcore enough. I figured it would be a derrogatry name some of the others might call us. The Protectorate has a nice ring to it, like the primacy. Anyone has any ideas lets toss them out there til one of them grabs us...

Re: Split Cells

This can work. It sounds good, actually. You guys can all still belong to this new faction, but you'd split up to accomplish different tasks. I do this in my tabletop games. It wouldn't make sense for all 9 of you to march around the world in one large group like the Brady Bunch (heh, there's a visual for you).

I like this idea. I can get more accomplished, plot-wise, and each PC can get more attention within their respective stories. And remember that not every character type is appropriate for every situation. If your faction needs to negotiate with Orzaiz and Scripture on some kind of urgent Teragen matter, you won't send your Mega-Physical socially awkward and shy tank. Likewise, if you need to help Geryon and NV take out Lotus Infinite, you don't send your Mega-Int inventor or Mega-Cha playboy into the heat of battle. With this set-up, each Chapter will have 1-3 stories going on at once. The stories may be seperate, or woven together, or anything else depending on. circumstances

So long as everyone gets equal spotlight time. I was thinking rather than haveing them be two separate cells we do like the X-men (another large team) and have Red team and a Blue team or whatever designation and the rosters can be flexible, people go back and forth depending on the needs of the situation.

Re: Chrysalis

I'm fine with the "Chrysalis as Storytelling tool" option myself. I'm still trying to tie down how to handle it gameplay-wise though. Once the character has reached the appropriate stage in his character development he enters Chrysalis, and he can spend any XP based on his Archetype. The problem is, if we don't keep track of Chrysalis points, how will he get bonus XP to spend? The character essentially would avoid the whole part where he rolls his Chrysalis. Maybe as our house rule (for purposes of a pbp game) he gets to spend "current experience + X experience" where X is whatever number we decide ahead of time would be appropriate for Chrysalis. What do you guys think?

Well what I meant was its a storytelling device and you hand out C (either temp or perm) for the players coming to terms with their architype...So its like a supplementary xp award. However even if everyone wants a new system my PC is well suited to using the standard way off rolls and such so I might actually ask for this way for myself, with the exception of rolling to enter C....something has to be done, either less difficulty or more WP expenditure of skipping the roll altogether and just letting us trigger it anytime after 5 perm.

[phoenix]

Yeah I thought about that one too, but it doesn't sound hardcore enough. I figured it would be a derrogatry name some of the others might call us. The Protectorate has a nice ring to it, like the primacy. Anyone has any ideas lets toss them out there til one of them grabs us...

Definitely, other suggestions are welcome. I'm kinda hooked by Shepherds though, actually. I know it doesn't sound too badass at first, but hey, how menacing did "Harvesters" sound when all you had heard was the name?

It reminds me of the dog and of that scene in Pulp Fiction where Jules is explaining the meaning of his Biblical quotation - dignified, yet with hints of real inner toughness.

[Centimane]

Personally I'm okay with either the 'Shepards' or the 'Protectorate', they both evoke a good idea of what's been talked about. One thing though, the Spephards feels more "philosophical", whereas the Protectorate sounds slightly more aggressive. Don't know if everyone agrees or if it even matters, but there's my thoughts on the matter.

[Mr Fox]

I've played in a game that was split because of size. Some issues can develop:

You have to be careful to give the groups the same amount of plot love, or people in the 'less interesting' plot start to feel left out.

Some people don't post at the same rates. Sucks to be a fast poster stuck in a group with slower posters.

Been there got bored by that. (Given the rate folks have been posting so far, hopefully that won't be a problem)

It's cool to have characters going off in different directions to deal with different things, but I'd let the players decide where they wanna go. Combat monkies might get bored in a political setting, but then there won't always be combat going on.

My personal preference would be to have one big group and just have folks going off on different missions as the need arises. Being Teragen they would tend to go where they felt the calling to go rather than being assigned to teams anyway, IMHO.

As for the name, I agree that Protectorate sounds more agressive. Kinda like it.

[phoenix]

I kind of like "The Protectorate", but there's also already a major Aberrant group called the Protectors.

[Centimane]

I kind of like "The Protectorate", but there's also already a major Aberrant group called the Protectors.

Good point.

[Centimane]

I think it should come down to how we plan on actually going about the business of "protecting" or "shepharding" baselines. How do approach them (i.e. as blatant superiors or as just being different), and perhaps more importantly, how do we, as a movement, interact with other novas both within and without the larger Teragen movement.

[Blue Thunder]

I don't mean for characters to be in permanent groups split apart from each other. You guys are still one faction, and work together as one group. But sometimes stuff needs to be done all at once, or with only a handful of people, or with the appropriate people, so you split apart to cover more ground.

Example: You guys are trying to take down The Apostle. You split into three groups. One group of three focuses on gauging and swaying the opinions of other Terats against The Apostle, as well as maybe getting Cult of Mal or Kabal followers against him. Another group of four works on building up a team of allied Terats to handle and expose his Four Horsemen and Clarion's Kabal. The last group of two hunts down secrets on The Apostle's past life, daily routine, social weaknesses, future plans, contects, secret activities, etc.

You guys won't have seperate teams per se, you'll just split up each Chapter to handle different stuff. We'll assume that by the time Chapter 1 starts, everyone is aware of each other. That's why I want to run a prologue first to get to know each other. You may not know each other well, but you'll at least know each others' names and general place within the faction.

But if a few of your characters develop some kind of team-like bond, or there seems to be some gap between playing styles of players (say, a few like battling and throwing Quantum Bolts the most, and others like the Teragen factions' politicking and intrigue) then if everyone wanted to and agreed to it I wouldn't mind splitting things so players were in situations that better suited their playing style.

If we took this option, I wouldn't be against splitting duties with another ST to cover more ground. God knows I'm not a rules lawyer or metagamer; I like games of mystery, manipulation, lies, and drama. I guess we'll see...it could be like when the X-Men comic books decide to branch off a new series every now and then. And if you guys actually did decide to make teams of your own (which has it's own issues, given that you all belong to a faction within a movement and that it might tear your faction in two) this could be justified. But this sounds very far-off for now. Best to handle later, perhaps.

It's cool to have characters going off in different directions to deal with different things, but I'd let the players decide where they wanna go. Combat monkies might get bored in a political setting, but then there won't always be combat going on.

I was thinking that too. The first Chapter will probably be where we get all the kinks and problems of how we'll run things worked out, but generally I'll want to send characters into situations that are relevant to them and their playing style.

As for post limits, there's no character limit, but there is a size limit of 5,000 kilobytes. I'm a bit confused how you're managing 5 meg posts with just text, are you using any sort of HTML encoding or adding attachments?

In the Bright Continent subforum, I sometimes have to post twice or three times to get an entire entry in. I remember someone else mentioning this there, and I think somewhere else. I think the pop-up window said the limit has just over 5,000 characters or something.

Re: Name

I actually thought "Shephards" had a more aggressive sound to it, personally. It has an authoritative sound too. It makes the faction members sound like they're the ones shepherding humanity and shaping its destiny, while taking charge of their own destinies at the same time.

[BlueNinja]

Re: Name

I actually thought "Shephards" had a more aggressive sound to it, personally. It has an authoritative sound too. It makes the faction members sound like they're the ones shepherding humanity and shaping its destiny, while taking charge of their own destinies at the same time.

Yeah, but just think of all the sheep jokes we'll have to put up with if we have sex with baselines! ::ohmy ::huh

[Centimane]

Unless we're planning on being a very organized (read: heirarchical) faction, I think I like "Shepards" best.

And "Zookeepers" would probably be a good derogatory name.

[phoenix]

Okay, not to be a grammar Nazi, but if we don't spell this right the Harvesters really will laugh at us. So: S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D-S. ::unsure

[phoenix]

The McCalls were from a good part of New York City, which borders some not-so-good parts of New York City. When their only son John was in high school, he once happened on a young woman about to be raped. Despite his relative youth, he was naturally athletic, and decided to step in. The rapist hit him so hard he was knocked back ten feet into a wall (noticing too late that the attacker was too muscular not to be taking Mite). Forgetting about his victim for a few seconds, he took a few steps towards John, who was sure he was about to be killed. He was rescued by the former victim, who had erupted and developed fire-based powers in the great stress of the moment. The would-be-rapist was incinerated from behind. Rescuer and rescuee parted ways awkwardly, neither one certain as to which was which.

John was a good writer and enjoyed reading. He had done well in school and had a promising college career ahead of him, but the experience of nearly saving someone’s life enthralled him. He was part of the world of the streets now and would never fully withdraw from it. He started learning martial arts at his school’s club and applied for membership in the Guardian Angels, but was rejected. So he just started taking long walks down dangerous territory at night – eventually he began varying his patterns, wearing a mask and nondescript clothing for protection and intimidation. At around 2, he would return to his dormitory, study for a bit, sleep a few hours and attend classes in the morning.

He had no idea, then, that he was a nascent nova, but with those habits it was only a matter of time until he made the discovery. It happened the second time he caught a criminal in the act; this time a mugger, beating up an older man who had apparently resisted. John football-tackled the mugger, who wrestled with him for several minutes before successfully pushing him away long enough to draw a gun. He fired immediately, aiming point-blank at John’s skull, and John’s node erupted, morphing his entire body into an ethereal, shadowy substance. He returned to flesh before the bullet impacted the brick wall behind him, and executed the mugger on the spot without even thinking consciously about the action.

John decided to use his powers to become a legitimate superhero, but he didn’t want to deal with the publicity and obscenely high pay of working as an official Municipal Defender. Besides, New York already had the Gothic Knight by that time (John would meet him a year hence – the two did not get along, and John only escaped when the Knight made the mistake of conjuring night to enhance his own powers, not knowing it would only allow his opponent a clean escape). So John contacted DeVries and, on the condition of complete anonymity, performed a single mission. He used the paycheck to buy a top-flight Eufibre suit from Superimpose, donated the rest to charity anonymously, and designed a passable outfit for a masked Nova hero to replace the ski mask and leather jacket he had been wearing around. Taking advantage of the fact that he apparently had no further need for sleep, John started fighting crime at night on city streets back in New York as King Cobra, using the daytime to finish his degree.

He followed through his entire college career this way, but more and more, novahood made John feel less at home in baseline society. Seeing crime committed day after day filled John with disgust for baseline humanity. Some of them were worth protecting, and perfectly enjoyable company – but many were filthy and violent, and John knew that what happened on the street was far from the worst crime in the city. He stopped fighting crime for several years, and had established himself as a high school English teacher before eventually deciding to approach the Teragen.

John, as King Cobra, started hanging out in the Blackburn and made fast friends with several of the Harvesters, but eventually began to lose touch with those Terats who saw humans only as their prey and playthings. He began to make inroads with other like-minded Terats, informally becoming part of a new splinter group among the Teragen who sought to protect humankind in the same way that humans protected the lesser animals. John began to take his daytime teaching job more seriously as he learned to see the high school students as potential equals, evolutionary children on their way to nova adulthood.

Very recently, the nighttime New York streets have even seen the return of a dark, masked nova vigilante who fights crime with truly rare intensity and mercilessness.

[Centimane]

Okay, not to be a grammar Nazi, but if we don't spell this right the Harvesters really will laugh at us. So: S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D-S. ::unsure

Hey, you're not the only one who's tired, ya know! ::tongue ::biggrin