Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Aberrant v1.4 Rules


After another rousing adventure of Aberrant with my testing group, a number of issues and confusion came up... as well as some new content dying to come to the four front... so it's time for me to buckle down at work and go over some new issues. Here is the primary list
1. Look at all Resistance specs to powers
In the NWoD system there are three kinds of actions... Instant, Extended, and Contested.
Instant are generally an Attribute + Skill + Equipment - Modifier... A single successes is all that is needed to beat the challenge. These represent something simple like making the jump from building top to building top... or picking a simple lock.
Extended are similar, but generally require a number of successes to achieve the final goal.. such as crafting a sword could be 5 successes for a simple crude weapon up to 25-50 for masterwork... or doing research on a werewolf for weaknesses that aren't just folklore.
Contested compare successes when two people are competing in the same objective, such as a hacker and system admin fighting in cyberspace over a system... or two people running a marathon.
Combat gets sticky though... most challenges in combat have been reverted to instant actions, which tends to make things go faster without contested actions every time someone throws a punch... but some powers in combat are not well suited for simple actions... So my task is to go through and see what type of action makes the most sense. This is going to be the messiest part.
2. New Power: Body Modifications...
This power in the old aberrant system was a power bought once at a specific cost and had a permanent effect... such as gills allowing you to breath under water, wall crawling abilities, or extra arms... I have to decide if I want the "power" to simply be a merit based (by once and forget) or a level 1 power (Giving the Nova an equipment like bonus for certain situations).
3. Quantum Power Level chart
The current chart appears pretty weak with little incentive to raise it (except to shoot past 1-5 to 6 where you become able to purchase level 4 powers) I plan to raise the regeneration of temporary quantum pool for each level... I might tinker with the max temp pool... and most importantly, I'm going to take a hard look at the degeneration penalty.
Characters have a morality scale, which keeps them in line from doing horrible monstrous things... the theroy with the super heroes is the more potent they become, the more separated from humanity they are... however the degeneration penalty seems quite harsh... to get a similar effect with separation with humanity I think can fall into aberrations forced upon the nova's when they hit Level 3, 5, and 8 (out of 10).
4. Node Background Negatives... which are similar to Quantum Power Level chart... it has the same problem. To fix this, I'm tempted to add a low level derangement at level 2 or 3... and progress to the more sever derangement at 4 or 5... the thought is the Node is a lump of grey matter in the Nova's brain that allows super powers. It starts as the size of a peanut, but can grow to be the size of a softball... which puts alot of pressure on the brain in ways not necessarily healthy. So it's up for scrutiny.
5. Chrysalis... one of my players is starting to get quite tainted on purpose... the Teragen see taint and aberrations as evolution... but dangerous. Their leader has developed a process of controlled evolution called Chrysalis. Using a deep philosophy guild in their process... they acquire taint points and channel it during a hibernation/cocoon period. This can lead to new powers, changes in aberrations, and a deep set attitude change... But how will I implement it in my game... as it's got a great potential for role play... but it also serves as a potential game breaker mechanically.
So I've got my work cut out for me... There are a few more powers that are floating around in my head that a unique enough that they warrant their own page in my book... but my main focus is clearer now.
More updates to come.

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