Character Creation

Oct 3, 2021 1:23 am
Go ahead and talk out your character concepts here. I'll allow all supplements as well if you mention what you're using first.

I've left some material in the Resources thread, please use responsibly. :)
Oct 3, 2021 1:49 am
PhoenixScientist, have a look at the core rulebook, Chapter 2 or chargen. Page 120 if you want to zoom in on a summary sheet and ignore the fluff. You can ignore the Phase 1/2 stuff for now, I'll come that when we set up everyone's backstory.

Focus on allocating points to your Attributes and the Quantum Powers first to get a rough sense of what your character can do. You should be able to buy two powers at a reasonable level. Then look at Backgrounds and Abilities. I consider Backgrounds reasonably significant, and will weave them into the main story.

For those who want to push it a little, consider that it's ok to use some Taint in order to buy more nova points (evil DM speaking).

Finally, chargen isn't set in stone. There'll definitely be a chance to make tweaks and changes throughout Session Zero once you get a feel for how your characters play out. So go ahead and approximate those stats, and we can sort it out.
Oct 3, 2021 3:05 am
I am looking at building a flying brawler/caster.

Also there are the Taint I was looking at:
[ +- ] PhysicaI Aberrations: low-level:
Fur/Feathers:
[ +- ] Quantum Aberrations: medium-level:
Vulnerability:
[ +- ] Mental Aberrations: low-level:
Flashbacks:
Other than that I have a fair amout of a character figgured out.
Last edited October 3, 2021 3:32 am
Oct 3, 2021 4:27 am
PhoenixScientist says:
I am looking at building a flying brawler/caster.

Also there are the Taint I was looking at:
[ +- ] PhysicaI Aberrations: low-level:
Fur/Feathers:
[ +- ] Quantum Aberrations: medium-level:
Vulnerability:
[ +- ] Mental Aberrations: low-level:
Flashbacks:
Other than that I have a fair amout of a character figgured out.
Nice! I may decide to dabble in some Taint myself. Not sure yet. It’s very tempting.
Oct 3, 2021 4:33 am
BedzoneII says:
Go ahead and talk out your character concepts here. I'll allow all supplements as well if you mention what you're using first.

I've left some material in the Resources thread, please use responsibly. :)
Is this game going to be a twist on the Aberrant setting, or is the setting entirely home brewed? Just wondering if the factions in the books are something we should be thinking about.
Oct 3, 2021 5:04 am
We won't be using the Aberrant setting, so no need to pore over the Utopia vs Terragen factions etc (although having both played and run it it's an enjoyable and rich setting).
So it's going to be homebrew insofar as it'll be a blatant ripoff of a DC/Marvel crossover. I imagine everyone should find the analogues famillar. I take absolutely no credit for it.

Edit: I'll be setting up the backstory in the Resources thread, under Worldbuildling, but for the avid comic book fan, here's roughly what to expect, mirror universe-wise (expect to have all the names changed):

- there's a Justice League, and a Hall of Justice
- there's a Fantastic Four, and a Baxter Building (they overlap with Vought International / Project Cadmus aka the sciencey institute)
- there's a Daily Planet / Bugle (and you might actually discover one of the reporters is a super)
- the Avengers are dead (there was a Stark Industries / AIM, aka the other sciencey institute, but they lost)
- the X-Men are dead, dispersed or underground (they're more like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants)
- but there's a Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (which overlaps with something Teen Titans like)
- there's a Crime Alley / Hell's Kitchen
- there isn't an Arkham Asylum (all the crazy criminals have been executed instead)
- the government has a SHIELD, and it's non-superpower based
- the government has a secret super-soldier / weapon X programme
- there's a Powers Registration Act, and all supers are registered
- all other supers are hunted, incarcerated, or dead
- we're not doing any interstellar / cosmic-level / multi-versal plots for now
(and I'm open to adding other classic tropes if you want to suggest them)

Some considerations for inclusion in your characters' backstory:
- no character is registered (yet)
- no one (yet) knows about your character's powers, or at least not publicly. if you like, you can use the nova event described in phase 2 of the chargen rules to explain when the powers manifest.
- think of a personal reason why your character might be somehow connected to / have a vendetta against / is trying to avoid: the main league, or the sciencey people, or the government, or is a mutant/alien etc
-
All these will give me a bunch of hooks to bring your team together.
Oct 3, 2021 10:56 am
Superman is super-powered alien. SUPER yes. MAN, no.

My character is Tyr clone of Odin. He is both super and man.

His philosophy is that all humans have identical potential to him. They just lack discipline, focus, determination, and commitment.

He maintains that psilocybin and psilocybe are here from the Goddess Eir heal humanity. And naturally Tyr leads the Cult of Asatru as he is literally their Demigod.

If you don't know who Tyr is, Tyr is the Son of Odin, God of Law, Mankind(sic The Thing), and War. He has a whole day to himself. Its even celebrated before Odin's day. Tuesday, Because Tyr is the same as Mars-Tuatha-Nuada-Vishnu-Marduk-Hanuman-Bahamut-Enki-Ningishzida, they are all the same demigod, it has always been Tyr Odinsson. Since before words existed that could name it.

It has died and reincarnated with the centuries, but in this particular instance it reincarnated in a Caucasian boy, who was raised in the most impoverished community in Florida. It has retained much of its previous incarnations memories and powers.


I think this would make him the leader of the justice league in place of Superman.
Oct 3, 2021 12:01 pm
I like the idea Jomsviking. It is very possible that the various 'gods' exist amongst men, with the Wonder Woman equivalent being a key member of the dark Justice League, second in power only to Superman/Homelander/Hyperion.

This setting would have had a way to deal with god avatars. Since Tyr's new incarnation is a young boy, would you be open to the backstory that Tyr's previous incarnation was killed somehow by one or some of the major powers (perhaps Superman or the League, or some futuro-science negated his abilties) in this setting some years ago because he was too great a threat? (Exactly the same number of years ago as the boy's age) This could become the central motivation for your character's rebirth, that he wants revenge and thinks he ought to be the most powerful superhero. Alternatively, as the Thor-equivalent in this world was killed (along with the rest of the Avengers), perhaps Tyr is motivated to do something about it.
Oct 3, 2021 1:16 pm
I should assert that equal to the sun and moon War is the God of humanity. Tyr is a solipsism. He is the consciousness we all share.

If he died in a physical form it was a gambit.

Homelander thinks he killed Tyr. But Tyr is going to let the false victory give his enemy a sense of security, that will make it so much more satisfying when Tyr blasts him into atoms with his Qi.
Oct 3, 2021 2:11 pm
PhoenixScientist says:
I am looking at building a flying brawler/caster.

Also there are the Taint I was looking at:
[ +- ] PhysicaI Aberrations: low-level:
Fur/Feathers:
[ +- ] Quantum Aberrations: medium-level:
Vulnerability:
[ +- ] Mental Aberrations: low-level:
Flashbacks:
Other than that I have a fair amout of a character figgured out.
I was also thinking of a charisma/telepathy build. If we need something other than more fighters. Don't know what others (besides having Tyr) are looking at.
Oct 3, 2021 2:51 pm
Having more than one physically capable member isn't a bad idea, Phoenix, so I don't think there'd be much character overlap between your fire guy and Jom's guy.

I think Gnome was going for a super solider, iirc, and I had an idea for a mastermind. Gnome could've moved on to a different idea by now so I'll let him chime in on that whenever he has time to post.
Oct 3, 2021 4:18 pm
I have about five ideas percolating at the moment, and I’m trying to decide on one. I’ve been wanting to try this game for a while, so I have a backlog of concepts to explore.

My initial character idea isn’t specifically a super-soldier. I just call it the Captain America build because the character has no flashy super powers; he’s just a normal looking guy with several attributes at superhuman levels. Kind of a "stealth nova" in that he can pass for baseline fairly easily (I’d also have lots of dots in Dormancy).

I was also considering a speedster character who fights by grabbing people, running at full speed, and then coming to a sudden stop. His name would be Whiplash.

Additionally, I like the idea of a set of triplets that form a hive mind. Essentially, a single mind existing simultaneously in three bodies. I’d probably call him/them by the name Gestalt, or something similar. Based on the Stepford Cuckoos from the New X-Men.

I’ll settle on something in the next few days.
Last edited October 3, 2021 4:19 pm
Oct 3, 2021 4:58 pm
Hello, all! Glad to be here! I haven't played Aberrant in close to 8 years so I'm rusty.

I'll hopefully find a home here for a game-orphaned Banshee/Tyroc-inspired character. In addition to the sonic scream, he's charismatic and can calm/manipulate/control people with his voice.

He has eufiber so he can glide if not fully fly (couldn't afford flight at char gen), plus have extra protection. Are we using eufiber in this game? If not, I can see about shifting points into flight if possible. Like I said, it's been a while.
[ +- ] Larry 'Larynx' Nixon
Last edited October 3, 2021 7:01 pm
Oct 3, 2021 6:45 pm
I had an idea for a very obvious super, but I don't know how much hassle that would be. ..
AKA I don't whant to hide whenever we have to interact with a normie, but also would probably not have all(or any) of his powers registered.
Oct 3, 2021 9:44 pm
Oh pleeeeeeeease let the FF analogue be like Planetary's The Four!

My idea is that Larry/Larynx's vocal abilities manifested spectacularly in public, and he was taken to the Quaternary Quarter :P for 'assessment'... which just meant that not-Mr. Fantastic tried to vivisect him. Either Larynx escaped or not-MF thought Larynx's powers broken after the experimentation and they released him, giving Larynx many reasons to distrust authority (who can also be a great Justice League analogue). Maybe he managed to steal some eufiber on the way out... or maybe he was experimented on using eufiber.
Last edited October 4, 2021 4:04 am
Oct 4, 2021 7:52 am
I will certainly build my story around the concepts that you all come up with, so I have no issues whether you want to create a team of diverse powers and abilities, or whether we have half a dozen hulk-smash types.

That said, I like all three of Gnome's suggestions, although I suspect we might get more RP mileage out of either Captain A, or the cuckoos, but don't let me influence you.

Similarly, Annex's Larynx looks pretty much good to go, once we reset him to initial chargen levels. (Darn it, you pre-empted my idea of The Four!) Yes eufiber is a purchasable background (but we can call it anything we like, eg. FF's unstable molecules, Superman's non-damageable kryptonian costume, etc)

Phoenix, the tension between being an obvious super vs having taint features that stand out is an excellent hook for me to make up all sorts of scenes. If the party goes down this route, your superhero team could already be one that's constantly on the run, or trying to hide from the prying eyes of the Justice Seven from the start. Or, if they are a very obvious super, they could be talent-spotted, registered and recruited.
Oct 4, 2021 1:06 pm
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/7cabd18d-95db-4a14-9a60-269098e4157b/d95qcpf-8fb5ab61-7946-4ace-8f4f-6c8ae8f6f632.png/v1/fill/w_800,h_823,q_80,strp/dats_mai_boi_by_kasarawolf_d95qcpf-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9ODIzIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvN2NhYmQxOGQtOTVkYi00YTE0LTlhNjAtMjY5MDk4ZTQxNTdiXC9kOTVxY3BmLThmYjVhYjYxLTc5NDYtNGFjZS04ZjRmLTZjOGFlOGY2ZjYzMi5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9ODAwIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.mJSafFCYgvJ1ubZnlvBhbjfW-gwo6DfO9xtFdAdTHr8

Tarathustra did not know what it was to be, before he awoke, he was not meant to know individuality. Processed and created by a singular will, all of Zarathustra was subtly implanted with knowledge within their mutual stasis chambers.

They, Tarathustra, did not need to know much. Cocktails of magical mushrooms were injected into the brainstem, stimulating growth, enhancing awareness, directing all energies in the chamber to the Tarathustra within them.

Countless billions, identical, perfectly formed human beings, each identical to another. Growing according to the infallible logic of the Godmind. Who's purpose with these sleeping humans? Balance.

A Tarathustra knew only this balance. And how to draw upon the balance, to create, to destroy. Aeons of learning poured into their minds while the body remained in stasis. All such teachings to reinforce the connection between physical struggle, and the pursuit of perfection.

The shared consciousness carried on in such a manner until events outside the Axis of worlds dictated the need for Tarathustra to awake. Inevitably one was the perfect solution to the problem. Inevitably that one would bring balance.

Tarathustra awoke, in terrible fear, his instincts honed by thousands, perhaps millions of years in stasis. Immediately recognized he was both restrained, and deep in hot water. The green murky waters of the stasis pod were receding, bringing light which blinded his eyes. Eyes that had never before seen the light. The pain was intense, but dwarfed by the tube, catheters, and shunts being withdrawn from his physical form. The psychic scream of anguish brought about a release of The Might, as the forces of gravity and light tore apart the machine womb that had carried Tarathustra for so many aeons.

Muscles which had never before held weight collapsed under the strain. A circulatory system that had never worked in isolation too weak to keep such a powerful frame ambulatory. Tarathustra collapsed, and when the pain abated was able to focus. Seeing his face for the first time in the pool of fluids that had gushed from the destroyed stasis chamber.

Coal black irises around an even blacker pupil tasted self awareness and at once, Tarathustra looking upon his reflection knew himself. The neon pink hair, rugged angular features suggesting elven blood. Soft pink lips and alabaster flesh, these things he knew upon sight, but the voice that told him what they were he knew as The Other. Billions of his voices shared ideas amongst the collective, a collective he was no longer in contact with. All that remained was this voice, The Other, telling him that he was indeed this creature who he spied in his reflection.

His head spinning Zarathustra tried to stand, only to be overtaken by nausea. Retching he cleared his stomach of its contents, the same green fluid he had been drowning in only moments prior. His head was pounding, stomach growling, functions that had never been processed overwhelmed him. Hunger, nausea, a working inner ear such strange, wonderful, intense sensations that he couldn't help but marvel at.

The urge to urinate hit him hard, as well as to defecate. These feelings were accompanied with shame, another new emotion that he had never experienced in the collective. The urgency of which caused him to hide in a corner to relieve himself. The smell was awful, Zarathustra wondered how his body could even produce such a substance. But decided when he had finished that he rather enjoyed the process and that it was itself humorous.

A sound alerted him to the presence of others. And before he could further conceal himself, he saw metallic creations. Recognizing them immediately as they were so closely resembling the machinery around him he knew they were the caretakers of this place. The Caretakers of the collective. This was in his own voice, a sound he had never processed before - even internally. Yet knew it to be his own. He decided to call them Nurse, and the machine he had only recently destroyed The Metal Womb.

These Nurses began to collect scrap, and fluids from the vicinity and carry them out disappearing before he could stop them. The last one he did manage to get in front of, painted him with a soft blue light, then left following the others. Tarathustra followed curiosity taking the better of him. What he saw next made him wish he hadn't.

The corridor, if it could be called that spanned as far as his perfected eyes could see, up, down, or along its span. Untold millions of metal wombs stretched its length, spaced ten feet apart. He wondered where he was briefly, until he saw painted upon the floor (0, 0, 0). The Other told him it was the Origin, and he had been here, throughout the infinite universe, countless times before. A cold chill ran down his spine, Tarathustra peered into the nearest of the Metal Wombs and fell back in shock. Neon pink hair, angular features, black irises. The creature within the machine was not him, but it was simultaneously identical to him. In shock Tarathustra moved to the next Metal Womb, and the next, and the following. Seeing in each identical copies of himself.

In horror Tarathustra was taken aback, too far back. He fell from the walkway into the center of the corridor. Catching himself to no avail as his skin was far too slippery from the fluid he had been covered in. Tarathustra fell, though he did not feel the sensation of freefall, he could see the Metal Wombs rushing past him. It took him several hours of this to realize he was not in fact falling, but orbiting the corridor. And using his telekinetic power generated enough thrust to break his inertia and fall into a brightly lit room at the place he knew to be out of place and time entirely.

A web of yellow energy caught him before impact, saving him from being turned into a fine paste as it stole the energy of his fall. Zarathustra found himself righted, standing on his feet looking at a massive liquid crystal portal. Illuminated from within by a face. A face he recognized as his creator, a face that he knew to be The Other. He was paralyzed in fear.

Tarathustra stared at the face of his father. Or what was once a human face, now perfectly preserved upon the withering body of two enormous human men. One missing an eye, and armed with a spear. The other missing his left arm, they looked so alike they must have been father and son. Making the One Eyed Man his grandfather. Considering the face he found when he awoke he knew it to be so. The crystals they were encased in almost invisible, so perfectly transparent they only reflected as they had turned to directly "face" Tarathustra.

Hundreds, metallic and crystaline orbs mounted within silvery discs of glowing golden light were released from a metal encasing at the cap of the crystal. It looked like a crown to Tarathustra's eyes, but he could not fathom its purpose. Nor how the orbs traced down and began to form two apparitions, representations of the men within the crystals. They, stared silently at the boy.

~

"T"

Human Nomad Hedonistic Nature
Allied to himself
NP: 28
BP: 15+7
QP: 30/30
Taint: 8

MEGA ATTRIBUTES
Mega-Strength (3np+1 Taint)
Mega-Stamina (3np+1 Taint)
Mega-Dexterity (3np+1 Taint)
Mega-Perception (2np +1 Taint)

ATTRIBUTES
Strength 5 [Might 3]
Dexterity 5 [Martial Arts 4]
Stamina 5 [Endurance 4, Resistance 5]

Perception 5 [Awareness 5]
Intelligence 3 []
Wits 4 [Biz 1]

Appearance 3 []
Manipulation 1 []
Charisma 5 [Leadership 3]

(4 NP Spent for 9 Attribute points)
(1 NP Spent for Ability Dots)

Backgrounds
Mentor (5)
Attunement (1)
Eufiber (2)
Node (4)
Allies (4) He's got a cult of followers that practice different forms of occult magic, they shelter him
Connections (1) He has Houngan of Vodou who is his friend and business associate.
Resources (1) He's just starting out.
Follower (5) Sigrdrifa, his TARDIS.

Armor 3
Flight 2np+1 taint
Quantum Bolt 2

Range: (Quantum + power rating) x 15 meters | Area: NIA | Duration: lnstant | Effect: lnflicts [Quantum x 31 levels + (power rat-ing x 4) dice of bashing damage or [Quantum x 21 levels + (power rating x 4) dice of lethal damage (player’s choice).

Bulging Muscles 2(Arms and legs are unnaturally beefy for his frame. His skeletal muscles are toned and lithe in spite of this he looks like he's trained at the pinnacle of fighting though he can't be more than 13.)
Glow 1(His Tail and Pupils Glow with Golden Light, they are very hot to the touch)
Hardened Skin 2(Its dense like metal, his bones are too)
Vestigial Tail 2(Its brindle striped and wrapped around his waist like a belt, doesn't look like it moves)

T is a 12 year old boy from Miami, he wears a pair of swim trunks, and a golden fur belt. Barefoot, as his massive feet have been numbed due to decades on hot asphalt and walking through acid rain. He's quite dirty, and has various healing bruises and scabs on his torso and knuckles. He was smoking a menthol cigarette, sheltering it from the rain in a massive paw of a hand. He looked like he was made of muscle. But also quite the fool in only a pair of shorts, sporting a pair of shades that were just slightly too big for his head.

There was a glow to him, even more than his ruddy tan. And to say he was jacked was an understatement, the kid looked like he was a juice fiend with as large his muscles were. He carried a stick and was practicing a drill with it. All in all he wasn't out of place considering the neighborhood, except that he was the only white kid, and he was a very strange looking child. Gorilla like arms, and legs like an elephant.

Officially he was a ward to the state, and attending a school for talented and gifted youths. Only, wild as he was he preferred hunting and fishing in the Everglades to actual schoolwork. And due to his superhuman capabilities being as natural to him as breathing, and his incredible durability, hunting came easy to him. He loved Florida, delicious monsters were everywhere to be found. The young Demigod grew up eating boa constrictor-anaconda hybrid snakes that were 22ft in length on average. He barbecued a 17ft bullshark for his tenth birthday present to himself. And knew every possible preparation for alligator meat.

Naturally he monetized this, people might ask the wrong kind of questions about a grown man peddling bushmeat. But a youth? They greedily accepted his prices, honest as they were. His choice cuts catching even better prices among the stranger circles in the communities. "T" spent a lot of time with Santeria priests, and enjoyed a good business relationship when it came to more difficult to obtain hearts. He was saving his pennies for a food cart.

Academically he was able to make his marks. Being able to study faster than most children he maintained passing grades. Attending school only on days where tests were assigned. He was honest to his teachers about it, he was living in the slums and it was more important for him to make money to live out there than attend class.

Believing himself to be the God of Law, T enforces crime. He wouldn't go out of his way to help a person in distress, but if that person was distressing others he would handle the situation swiftly. Believing himself adequate to judge the actions right, or wrong. He has a code, and it is important not to be caught violating it.

Whenever possible T prefers to handle criminals as a "mere human" avoiding if at all possible using his quantum power. He also prefers to take people alive, but has no moral issue with killing and will kill when necessary. Generally speaking he likes to "play" in dangerous situations. Using dangerous criminals as free practice at the ultimate stakes.

However it impossible for T to divorce himself entirely from his super nature, his connection to TYR and All-Father allow him to understand features in his environment intuitively. It makes his reaction times significantly quicker and the ability to process his sensory input with great acuity. This combined with his elite martial arts skills makes him truly terrifying with a minimum exertion of his power. Hitting as lightly as possible to exercise his control of his body, he plays a game with his opponent trying to draw out their full power. He only goes full out on someone he knows is a threat.
[ +- ] EIR
Last edited October 14, 2021 7:52 am
Oct 4, 2021 1:25 pm
I love [to hate] The Four!
I wasn't sure if Larynx's build was baseline or had levels. Will it be easier to rebuild him or to just slice off the extras?
Last edited October 4, 2021 1:27 pm
Oct 4, 2021 2:53 pm
I'll look at those stats again Annex, it may just be tweaking some numbers.

Jomsviking, I like and appreciate the amount of detail you've put into the backstory. I haven't created the rest of the universe to affirm whether the details you've created fit perfectly into the setting (like I said I'm drawing directly from DC/Marvel/other comics' cosmology, and what you've described mght be far removed from Marvel-like versions of Asgard, but perhaps it's some kind of dark-Asgard), so let's grant that from Tarathustra's perspective, the sequence of events you've described is true and real from his subjective understanding of his world. And if our game needs to touch on those areas, we can flesh out the specifics.
Oct 4, 2021 10:57 pm
I'm open to revision. Just scratching out some thoughts.
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