Hello all,

since my idea with the BSG-Game didn’t quite get the responses I hoped for I’ll change my proposal.

Now I’ll be offering an Aberrant game. Here some details.

Creation Rules:

Basic 30 NP creation rules by the book, Merits & Flaws also by the book. Quantum limit as by standard rules – Taint could theoretically by as high as 9, but I fear that PC wouldn’t make it for too long.

I also want you to create that same character with 40 NP and 50 NP for reasons I cannot provide, yet. It’s going to be part of the story. Please bear in mind to keep the progressions within the Theme of your character.

There are some background facts, that you have to consider when you create your character. You are all going to be part of a private company that provides you with special black ops – mostly either espionage, counter-espionage and liquidation of baseline and nova targets/threats.

Your cover-up/cipher identity is going to be with one of the known organisations – Utopia, Teragen, Directive, Elites or even Proteus. In public you will not be related to each other (out of obvious reasons), maybe even be known enemies/opponents.

The nature of your powers should be very offensive/aggressive. You should be able to kill a Nova on your own. Though this my sound like it’s going to be combat heavy – it’s not.

The game will start on the day when Mal and Pax have their epic battle near the Bahrain Facility of Proteus. Much will be kept in secret and mystery will be your constant companion. With time you’ll reveal more about the private companies goals, your own reasons for involvement and depending on your own decisions you’ll either rebel or go with it.

I hope this time for more feedback, I would love to ST this game.

Feel free to ask questions and add your own thoughts in this thread.

Count me in.
Control of Shadows and Darkness, CC specialist

Sounds intriguing.

I'm thinking perhaps molecular manipulation, with some additional powers that represent the ability to do to living flesh what MM can do to inorganic.

The Deconstructor!

His high NP version might even ask for Biomanipulation abilities.

Sounds good. I was thinking of playing a tactical specialist with Mental Blast, and Combat TP.

Lily and Ziggurat - go ahead and create your characters. I'll be giving feedback once I've had a look at it. More Background info about to come.

Well crap! I only just found out about this now. Unfortunately the characters I have that would be appropriate for this game have already been taken. One is a combat telporter precog and the other is a shadowy bodymorpher. Oh well.

Well, there are still other fields to explore - How's the saying? 6.000.000 ways to die, choose one?

Its just that those two ideas i mentioned are my current black ops style characters that I have waiting in the wings. Coming up with something totally new is alot harder and not so desireable considering I already have so many characters already made that Ive been itching to play...

Edit: which is fine of course. They beat me to concept fair and square...

Overload,

If you want, I can make another character, so that you don't. I have several ideas for characters.

I suggest you sent me your sheets via PM, just in case there are some peculiarities you want to clear in private.

Hmmm.. The idea for the game intrigues me. I kinda like my CC shadow morpher better than my tactical precog but thats up to Andrew. I dont want to step on anyones toes. Let me think about it. Thanks for the offer though Ziggy, White Rat. Even when our characters are bickering I like playing with you.. ^_^

I'd love to have you all in the game

Background Translations: This is a spy game, getting caught is a bad thing.
1) Have lots of Cipher.
2) Have lots of Tradecraft (Directive Spy skill).
3) Subtrafuge would be a very good thing as well.

Character not submitted yet:
Name: Not defined
Eruption: Japanimation has a lot to answer for.
Power theme: Mostly 'spirit' control with some wind and water thrown in.
Powers: Several Abilities (such as Meditation), Inituition, That Creepy Feeling, Psi-Shield, Flight, & Healing.
Job: Probably a PU healer although I'm open to alterations.

I'll be adding some more background infos later today, that should answer a few other questions about the setting.

Are you still playing the close combat shadow man Andrew? Joani thinks their might be a way to play both characters without too much overlap. Maybe they could even be somehow related, like brothers or twins or something. Just an idea. Or I could try to adapt my precognitive telporting tactical genius though that idea was a bit eccentric and not necessariy the best fit for this game.

Andrews character is as good as approved, but I do think that you should talk with eachother and see if your ideas can exist without too much of an overlapse. Fact is, I'd like to have you both in my game and it would be a pity if you, Sky, don't want or can't play because you don't know what kind of character to play.

I'm almost done with my next update and will provide more information here.

Andrews character is so far approved - PM follows

Ok - here some more bits and pieces.

There will be a prelude - most likely one for each character. The game is going to be canon UNTIL the day we start to play. From then on it can, but must'nt be canon. It depends largely on your own involvement and action and some things which simply don't make sense anymore wont happen. Somethings may turn out differently but be basically the same as canon. I prefer having my own story and let the characters have a chance at affecting the course of history themselves.

You should take into account with your background, that game will start in/on Bahrain. I'll keep in the dark why and how you are there.

If possible I'd like to have an email address of you guys/gals where I can sent some mediafiles (like music or videos) to better describe a scene. You can sent me that info via eMail or refuse to, if you don't trust me.

Ok, thats it for now. More to follow.

@Ziggy, Lily and Courier - go ahead and make your characters. I'll be giving feedback as soon as I can.

That was the plan, I suppose technically the background and the powers need not be tied together so I could change powersets but I do rather like this guy.

My character has been submitted (but not approved). He is a the archetypical vampire. Powers include: Q-Vamp (Health and Stam), Absorption (physical), and Dispersed Organs.

Ok - small update.

So far we got:

Andrew - Close Combat specialist, manipulation of shadows and darkness. Elite or Directive (not clear, yet)

Ziggurat - more or less classical Vampire - Q-Vampire (life force and Stamina, Absorbtion (physical) and Dispersed Organs. Teragen member

Courier - Several Abilities (such as Meditation), Inituition, That Creepy Feeling, Psi-Shield, Flight, & Healing. - Project Utopia.

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That leaves Lily still in the unclear. Your still welcomed, if you want to be in. I'll wait another week, before I ask Chosen to make a forum for us. Thanks so far!

Directive - I'll need to shuffle a couple of points around to buy up the requisite skills (Tradecraft and Shadowing)

Okay...I've evolved my concept a bit...

Some Molecular Manipulation, plus some touch-range Disintegrate, a whole LOT of Bodymod and we have the nova called: Gray Goo.

He's kind of like the T-1000 now, only more nanotechy. He can mess with matter at a molecular level (again, by touch), including disassembling it. He also has the usual resiliance to damage, basic form-shifting, and forming pointy things from his body going on.

I was thinking Teragen, but he could be an Elite too.

@ Lily - Both works for me Teragen or Elite. The Teragen isn't much organised so it's possible for 2 players to be involved with them without knowing much from eachother.

@ Andrew - Directive it'll be, ok.

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I forgot to mention - if anyone still wants to join in, its ok with me. I can handle appr. 6 players - currently we have 4, which is good to start with.

Be sure and buy some Cipher with your own points and not the "free" ones.

RE: Courier
Thomas doesn't have intuition any more.

Think hard about Immolate+Agg.

Well I did buy it - not sure what "free" points you are referring to though

I hope that this game is still open to character concepts. I am currently not involved in a game and the one i am is on hietus and it doesnt look like it will be picking back up. So, let me go home tonight after TKD and I'll get cracking on some dots and send the character your way.

I love character creation. I am thinking about a life draining character who has no love for base lines. Im thinking Proteus as my start.

Joe

FYI, Savar. There is already a life draining character around. But feel free to make a character and sent it vie PM to me. Maybe you'll find something different

Directive Characters have free Cipher dots which apply to everyone but the Directive.


My PC: Cherub "Thomas George"

Languages: French, Spanish

Soak: Low for this group I'm sure.

Nature: Hedonist

Background (Public): Thomas doesn't remember the details of his history, or his eruption, but he vaguely has the impression Japanination was involved. Utopia found him, trained him, and strongly discouraged his first name choice (Oversoul) leading to his current (somewhat tongue in cheek) name of "Cherub".

Thomas has a mixed relationship with Utopia. He's handsome, aberration free, and looks good in front of a camera. He enjoys training, really enjoys using his powers, and his 'big' power in their opinion (i.e. healing) is desperately needed. Like all healers Thomas is easily employable and most healers have found work in the private sector or worse, as elites. Balanced against all that is his habit of going off on his own to look for bars and loose women and his less than scientific approach to his powers. The consensus is he's simply not T2M material and if Utopia puts too many restrictions on his 'off-duty' activities he'll choose his sex life over his career and get a job in the private sector.

According to Thomas, his powers "let him control his oversoul", a phrase that makes the Project's PR department cringe. Eruption fuzzed out his memories and mind, even for himself. He's very difficult to mentally contact (he'd claim his soul can't be touched). He can also "transform into his over soul", i.e. become an unidentified energy type which can fly. Transformed he looks something like either a ghost or perhaps angel, science's best guess is it's some flavor of light. Thomas can also heal with a touch (by manipulation of other people's souls). He also notices when ever anyone else notices him (don't ask). As one might expect, PR has ordered him to not to discuss his religion or the exact mechanics of his powers. His exact identity before eruption is a mystery, it's strongly suspected eruption changed his finger prints and other identifying characteristics.

Appearance: A very good looking male nova of mixed race and average size, Thomas has brown hair and eyes and is apparently in his early 20's. He has a very innocent looking face.

Okay, I didnt read the posts to carefully. I got excited about possibly getting to play. So, the question I have for you is this, will you allow telekinis as a Elemental Mastery? Its always been a gray area that storytellers tend to go one way or the other?

I am thinking of making a Pheonix like character. Elemental Mastery(Tainted: Effect Anima Banner), Telepathy, Empathic Manipulation

Hello Savar - thats the first time I hear about TK being used like an EM-Power. I wont be allowing it as EM in my game, sorry.

Your concept so far sounds ok - just send me your Sheet and we can discuss details over PMs.

Actualy you may want to look into a thread over at Eon that touches on that very subject. Just like other powers the special effect is up to the player. So your bodymorph could be into wood, or gas or even exotic things like velociraptors. Likewise an elemental animas and q-bolts can be energy, earth, blood, electricity or even simple force.

I suspect the misunderstanding may be a language one. Perhaps Joani is confused to think you are somehow making the tk *power* an anima or mastery. I think what Savar (and Ive had the idea too) is to just buy EM mastery, and it being defined as force. It is still mechanically the same: you buy techniques like bubble, propel, crush, lethal blast etc...


Hope that helps.

I wasn't aware of this and I would expect that being the only PC infiltrating the directive this may be unfair to the rest of you. Either way it would be up to Joani to decide on its application.

@Sky - I understand the idea behind it, but I strongly believe, if TK was meant to be used like "force" or similar to an EM-Power, then they would've included it right there as an example. There are TK-rules specifically stated which work very different to how EM works.

As the other examples of BM-Wood, Gas or even a specific animal (like a very restrictive Shapeshifter), those are closer to the actual mechanics within the powers description. The same goes for the unusual EM applications (like blood, i. e.)

TK is its own power and I'll be handling it that way. Blame me :p

@ Andrew

You get the Cipher dots for free, like Courier said. Sorry that I didn't point that out specifically. Do you need more help with Directive Background? I got the sourcebook and can give you some more inside info.

@all PCs - You are all going to get some basic background knowledge and info necessary for you to get started. This will include a prelude for every one of you, which will be closer to a fiction than actual playing. Its important for me to handle it that way to ensure that you all are in the same boat and know why.

I should be ok - I own the book I just haven't read it much. I'll go through it tonight an reallocate the backgrounds and such accordingly.

As for the rest, as a member of the Directive you presumably need to attempt to fit in with them. That means no Taint=8 novas without Dorm since they don't allow tainted novas in their club. They also protect their members, thus free dots of cipher (although to function you need to buy your own given their views on double agents). They also provide access to new skills, give free influence, etc.

Alternatively if we don't want to drag out and use the Directive build/book, and since this is unlikely to be a Directive game, we could just dismiss most of these things with a hand wave and use the Main book instead. As you pointed out, it's Joani's call.

hoo-boy - didn't know about the taint restriction either - Directive may not be the best course for my PC after all - I have T4 at the moment

Again I'll read up today and see what I can do. E-books are a nice thing

The Directive is IMHO one of the hardest groups to infiltrate because they're built to infiltrate other groups. However it could be done.

You infiltrate them as a baseline, then you erupt into a nova, you have taint but you also have enough dorm to cover it. Presto.

RE: Elemental Mastery
Jean has other ways to get that power. EM: Air, Fire, or just Force (aka Green Lantern).

thanks for pointing out the green lantern connection Courier. Thats a strong case right there. Although in Green Laterns case it isn't "Force" Its Oan Energy that happens to be able to form force fields.

A lot of what GL does would be Q-Construct, some would be Forcefield, and some would be EM:Solid Green Energy. He's an expensive character with a wide theme.