Things that plug in: Toaster, Dishwasher, Oven, Breadmaker, Microwave, etc.

You know I did have to do a double take when I first read that too. Sounded a little bit dirty.

Ah, then I'm going to assume Joani shot Steve down at some point.

Joani + Ulric = Omar turning the little German man into a small ball and using him for some sort of recreational pursuit.

Are you guys jealous already?

Easy there big guy, Joani might use your balls for some kind of recreational activity if you did that. Like say Raquetball, or kickball, or ....

Calm down, Ziggy. It isn't like you aren't already the idol of millions of women. Can't we just let Love live?

Those balls have an 18 soak. Let her swing away.

Not a soak value I would like to see tested, just incase some testicles go flying. Better safe than sorry.

Besides which Joani has mega-strength. Those eggs might not crack, but do you really want to feel the pain of a mega strength backed kick to the jimmys?

OK so I think I made my point. Relationships WILL change over 60+ years.

Given that Andrew doesn't have any psychic barrier and still has reservations about telepathy in general (you've noticed he rarely uses the mental "phone" if he can do otherwise) I see him creating some anti-teep technology, for himself if not for public use, that may drive a wedge between him and Cody.

I know that Andrew's growing Taint will likely be a point of contention. I'm not yet done allocating my points but I know that I will be accruing some Taint and a couple aberrations. While I'm sure that Morgan and Andrew will only become better freinds and that Andrew and Courier may stay close being that they are going to be working on various tech together but as the only guy who seems to be actively gaining taint (and aberrations) I expect Andrew will find himself very much the outsider.

Ulrich and Joani I don't have much in common with already and that will only continue to to be the case in all likelyhood.

Andrew sees Omar as a potential sparring partner, even though I never seem to be able to get into the action that doesn't stop Andrew from WANTING to be able to be in the think of things. Given his abilities he is quite capable in combat (shapeshift allows him to gain Mega stats and weapons easily enough to keep up with other novas)

I'd like to hear how you all think your PCs will interact with Andrew over the next 60+ years, here or by PM whichever you like.

By the time I'm done allocating all the points, not even Pax could crack those nuts.

I was planning to do so, but if you don't think I need to do so I can drop the dots elsewhere. If Morgan doesn't need Andrew then I can always find something else to spend the next 60 odd years working on.

Morgan would still want to have Andrew's help, he is pretty narrowly focused on medicine. He has some science, but he's not the engineer that Andrew is so anything he develops he's going to need Andrew to make it happen. Basically, Morgan is there if you don't want to take your character in the medical direction, I don't want to force you into a role you don't want.

Besides Morgan is an NPC and not a PC so if Andrew wanted to take the spotlight on developing the cures to taint and sterilization, that should really go to him rather than an NPC, but like I said, I don't want to push you to go somewhere with your character that you don't want to go.

Like I said I had planned it, given what I am looking at for taint increase I think Andrew has the motivation to look for a cure.

Andrew the man who found a cure for taint! I like the sound of that.

Ok, I will leave it to you then. Morgan will assist you but he won't delve as deeply as you. He'll have to maintain his healing abilities though, he'll need them when Omar gets kicked.

Fox - I just sent an email with my updated Sheet. Hope you like it. Everything else on the PMs between you, Ulric and me.

Sorry guys - looks like Ulric made the run +cough+ But I made it easy for him, I confess.

Just for the record, several people mentioned tentative plans for exp spending.

I've got Cody and Joani set in stone now. Can I get a final 'here's what I'm buying' from everyone when you've figured it out.
I keep a single spreadsheet that has everyone on it for convenience that I try to update, otherwise it gets to be a pain looking back through old PMs when dice need to be rolled.

Also, if anyone has any private plans for things their character is doing please PM me with that, as I am about to start on the big chapter opening update.

Thanks.

Duh. Thats why I said work it out as in with Fox. It would be a new custom extra designed to piece mental defenses. Maybe even a special QVamp that leeches Willpower...

:blinks: Are you sure about this? Have you thought this through?

I'm not sure I'd want AP on mental powers. The game is set up specifically to make it a challenge to get past someones mental defenses. AP as a mental extra could be considered game breaking. You already have the disorient power that saps will, given some time you can pretty much get through anyones defenses as it is, you just have to be there in person to do it, which provides some small challenge; that way you can't simply bypass someone's defenses from orbit.

That whole ball-busting exchange was pretty damn funny if you ask me...

I like the idea of doing a fic. I still owe a short one for hammersmith's actually and keep putting it off. Fox, you mentioned XP awards for such things. Would that count for this chapter or would we wait until the next one.

As for Cody's plans...his concept is dark telepath. Just off the top of my head I think that if others dont reach out to hi...then he is going to become ever more reclusive and withdrawn. Hididng in the shadows like Project proteus, guarding the tentative peace and looking out for the Aberrant War.

Even Lorean will feel it. Steve will definitely notice. I dont see him getting into any real relationships either, unless with another telepath. He would probably seek that out more, perhaps with other telepaths or forming a psychic league of his own. Sex seems like a pale version of full mind share.

On the other hand, he has Synergy now which means people will want to work with him. Id rather not see him retreat back into brooding again but he has a survivor nature so its hard for him to get close to people...others are going to have to reach out. hint hint.

More thoughts on that, again shooting from the hip here...

Omar might see Cody as a kind of General..skilled in combat as well as tactics and the bigger picture. Not that our world needs genrals anymore, though Cody is certainly aware of the greater threats still ou there.

Ulric and Joani might want him to be a godparent or something, but maybe Steve would be the more personal choice. Or maybe both.

Im not really sure actually...Cody has been active and around, but his interactions with almost everyone have been sparse. he just isnt much of a people person...or rather he knows too much about human nature. Thats what happens when you have a Charisma of 2 and A Manip of 5 Mega 4.

Help me out here folks...

Disorient doesnt sap willpower. It takes willpower temp points to shrug it off but it doesnt reduce the willpower dice to resist things (unless you house rule that Fox). The point is that there is AP to counter people with super high physical defenses. Mental powers should have a similar function to get past psychic "Bricks"

Regarding game balance...this extra would be very rare and its expensive. Also it makes mental invulnerability shine, since like Physical invulnerability it is not reduced by agg or AP attacks...

Sorry man, Andrew definately has a bit of an issue with people in his head, luckily nobody has had to scan him in game yet. He's also got a bit of an inferiority complex there, he know that he's the one most likely to have problems dealing with opposing telepaths and that chafes.

since like Physical invulnerability it is not reduced by agg or AP attacks...

Physical Invulnerability is reduced by AP attacks.

The point is that there is AP to counter people with super high physical defenses. Mental powers should have a similar function to get past psychic "Bricks"

Huge physical defenses can be applied against basically any attack. Physical attacks are extremely common, litterally everyone has them. Mental defenses can only be used against mental attacks, and those are extremely rare. Since the defense isn't going to come up much, if at all, it should be better or there's no point in having it. Psychic bricks need to worry about Omar pulling their head off.

RE: Cody & Andrew going dark
Steve is definately going to try to stay close to both of them, the more so if they start going down that path.

This raises the issue of what Enhancement I should get for Mega-Chr. None of them have really called out to me, but perhaps Sooth?

my bad...I was thinking of the impervious extra

also soothe is good. The reason Cody is going to research AP mental blast is because he had such a damn hard time dealing with Caroline. Hes a Nova...he will look into it. And why be so worried about a PC? Im on your side right?

The difference is that there are no real psychic bricks the way there are physical ones. Invuln: Mental is extremely rare, not something I have every NPC running around with. For a PC they would have to have very strong justification for taking it. That being said the most you are generally going to run in to is someone with PS 5 and a will of 10. Even then with a perfect roll they can only muster 10 successes plus 10 auto successes from the shield. Compared to a top notch mentalist who has 10 dice plus 5 mega, they aren't going to stand a chance. Besides, you have lots more quantum to spend on attempts to break into someones mind than even the strongest person has temporary will points to resist. AP would bypass the shields leaving someone with only their regular will roll to resist a potential of 10+5m dice. To me that would unbalance things and make a Telepath with AP too powerful. Besides, do you really want to be facing someone else with AP on their mental abilities? What if Caroline had had AP? Could you have stopped her? Lorean's shield wouldn't have prevented her communicating with the outside world.

Lorean (both versions) will also try to keep Andrew nad Cody from becoming too isolated. If they don't cooperate, she will teleport them planetside into a dance club and force them out onto the dance floor and make them enjoy themselves! You don't want a mega-intelligent Ship/woman combo playing matchmaker do you?

Short of another shapshifter I doubt Andrew will ever find a "match". Cody said that normal sex pales to "mental sex" (paraphrasing), likewise normal sex would pale be comparison to shapeshifters being intimate, its the opposite extreme but still you get the idea.

That said Andrew will be more than a little self conscious about his taint and his aberrations. Speaking of which, what kinds of taint problems are we going to see in the next 65 years?

Because in every game I've been in, everything is balanced. If you have it, they have it, or will have it.

Almost every telepath runs across the "Too Big Defenses" thing at some point and time. They would then look into ways of getting around it. Some would then teach it to others Telepaths and so the knowledge would grow.

One day soon, a telepath we run across has your AP attack. We suffer for letting something like this in the game.

Ulric is not planning to change all that much. He's not packing on anymore taint, and in a way will feel for those who do collect taint and become more removed from the Society they have created.

I'll include mention of the taint situation in the chapter opener.
Man that's going to be a beast to write.

You guys are really keeping me hopping today. (that's not a bad thing)

Oh, and for the record, I'm really not a rules lawyer. I know the system pretty well, but there will always be things I don't remember or never thought of. I am lucky enough to usually have at least one or two people in the games I run to keep me straight on the rules. Usually works out pretty well, I focus on story and let the detail oriented folks pop up when I miss something.

Compared to a top notch mentalist who has 10 dice plus 5 mega, they aren't going to stand a chance.

10 Willpoewr + 5 P-Shield averages 14 succ.

The standard deviation on this will be pretty small since most of it is auto-succ.

10 dice mental attack + 5 Mega-Dice averages 8.5 succ.

Now, granted, that's *average*. When you start throwing around 5 mega-dice you raise the possibility of getting 20 succ without being too outragious. It won't happen every time but it can happen.

Fox, I'll try and get you my updated sheet tomorrow, I've a couple of suggestions for Aberrations but I welcome your input and advice.

Re: Taint, right now Andrew is looking to be at 5 or 6 when we resume, how is that going to compare for this timeline? I know that in a normal world that would be on the high end of average for somebody with his experience and number of NPs. Just wondering how it will compare to this world so I can think about my fiction.