Aberrant: Starlight Children

Premise

An Aberrant game set in the distant year of 2300, where humanity has spread across the stars and mingled with a vast interstellar community after the catastrophe of a war fought against gods of its own making: the Novas.

It was a brief golden age on Earth, with posthumans of incredible power bringing about rapid social and technological advances, ending conflicts and dazzling the world with their incredible abilities, but their conflicting ambitions and their increasing alienation from baseline humanity led them to war on eachother and the masses of Earth. Billions lost their lives, millions fled into space on generational ships or portals in space-time carved out by Nova powers, and the Earth was left to smoulder. The loss of world-wide communications and the old cloud computing networks of the time resulted in the details of the era being lost and skewed by the retelling of later generations.

You are descendants of these beings: free of the limitations and flaws of your progenitors but marked by the stigma the universe still bears against them, setting out on your own to find or make something new in the world.

Characters

Characters are built on the Great (Wo)men baseline tier and the Mean Streets nova tier. Every character has the 2nd Generation Nova augmentation, and subsequently cannot buy Tainted powers or make use of the relevant effects.

Any unusual merits or flaws granted by packages are exempt from this.

Packages

Each character chooses 1 of each package to build around. Only one of each will be selected, although multiple offers for each one are accepted.

The Escapee

You were orphaned after the war when your Nova parents were purged, and put into the care of distant friends. The development of your quantum powers was both a boon and a curse, leading to your persecution but also your eventual escape from Earth.

Whether you sell your services to the highest bidder or just try to eke an honest living is up to you- entirely so now that your destiny is finally in your own hands.

Requirements:

• The events that got you off-world.
• The name of your ship.
• Some skills relevant to the above.

Advantages:

• Cipher 1: Who?
• Lucky 5: It'll work out somehow.
• WP 9: Grit your teeth and keep running!

Disadvantages:

• Scarlet Letter 1: Can't go back to Earth for reasons.
• Debt 1: Got off of Earth somehow.
• Expect WP rolls to trust people (unless you're tricking them).

The Dormant

You grew up in one of the colonies founded by 'pure' Novas, those who hadn't gone mad with Taint, a child of two of its founding luminaries. You were a failure and an embarrassment, until it was revealed that you had been suppressing your quantum signature.

Suddenly your treatment changed, but it wasn't enough of an incentive to stay around when the bad memories stuck. You hopped on a shuttle at the first chance you got and never looked back.

Requirements:

• The names of your parents, especially the one you keep in contact with.
• A fairly 'normal' power theme.

Advantages:

• Ally 1: One of your parents still keeps in touch.
• Influence 2: Entitled to one vote on the planetary council.
• Dormancy 5: Well, that explains everything.

Disadvantages:

• Watchlisted 3: Keeping tabs just in case you go rogue or accidentally reveal the planet's location to the wrong people.
• Expect WP rolls to take initiative using your newfound strength or resisting to do so (choose one).

The Progeny

Your sire was a dark, twisted thing living between stars. Exploring a world at its behest for harvesting, you found yourself among humans for the first time and felt attachment to them rather than alienation. In the end, you abandoned your parent's desires in order to save the colony and struck out alongside them for a while, before finding a densely populated world to get lost in.

People treat you strangely because of your appearance and odd demeanor. Your progenitor does not even regard you as hostile, so much as an oddity and worth observing for a while longer- on the other hand, your siblings view you as an abomination and will hunt you relentlessly.

Requirements:

• A concept and theme for your progenitor.
• A fairly unusual appearance (Alien Space Babe Edition).

Advantages:

• Enhancements 5: Following your progenitor's thematics.
• Eufiber 5: Technically, you're /wearing/ space dad.

Disadvantages:

• Secret 4: Family problems.
• Enemy 1: At least one angry sibling.
• Expect WP rolls to not do something weird or creepy by accident.

The Superior

You were born better. Both of your parents were among the strongest Novas ever born, and you were groomed from birth to follow in their footsteps on a colony world. They died in combat holding off a limb of a nameless horror that seems to have taken root deep within the cosmos, setting you off on a quest for vengeance.

Revenge against a nameless deity floating somewhere in the faraways of deep space is a lofty goal, but you're not cowed by the years ahead of you or the strength of your enemy.

Requirements:

• A description of the hideous space thing that your parents died fighting.
• Probably good physicals.

Advantages:

• Linguistics 2: You speak four languages. (Actually three, but you know...)
• Martial Arts 5: And one of them is violence.

Disadvantages:

• Watchlisted 2: You're really not good at keeping quiet about the whole 'revenge' thing, are you?
• Expect WP rolls to resist pursuing your vengeance no matter the cost or violating your high-minded principles (choose one).

The Weapon

You were created in a laboratory using the tissues and gametes of fallen Novas, in an attempt to forge a weapon that could be used against the mad spectres that mankind's posthuman gods became. They did everything they could to socialize you to be pro-human, using a full regiment of actors and prop specialists to play the part of your supportive background community and family, pumping your body full of drugs and mind with propaganda.

And yet you don't remember how you wound up halfway across space in the middle of nowhere. Did they abandon you? Did you run away?

Requirements:

• A damaging offensive power of some kind, or a strong utility power.

Advantages:

• Quantum 2: Absolute cosmic power!
• The Supercharge extra on any power of your choice.

Disadvantages:

• Begins play with temporary Amnesia aberration.
• Secret 5: Actually a deadly Nova-killing superweapon (turns into other stuff if revealed to people).
• Expect WP rolls to resist solving problems with your powers and sparing Nova enemies in combat.

Character List

Peel: Incandenza Progeny

FBH: Sierra Rey Superior

BM: Sam Shard Escapee

Lokar: LokChar Dormant

Acatalepsy: Jan Aubren Weapon