Aberrant 2.0

Rebuilding Aberrant to deal with some of its most eregrious flaws.

Physical Rebuild

Quantum and Soak

In Aberrant as written, Novas can spend 1 Quantum (up to their permanent Quantum score) to roll 1 die and add successes to soak for 1 turn. This is an incredibly inefficient and unpredictable defensive method, which is essentially pointless for most characters.

Instead, in this system, a Nova may always pay 1 or more Quantum to roll their permanent Quantum score in response to being hit by a damaging attack. Each success reduces the damage of one attack by 1 health level-and each additional point of Quantum spent adds an additional success to this roll. This is an instinctive response and does not require the Nova to be aware of the attack, and may reduce damage down to 0 health levels. Although worse against being hit by about a dozen attacks, it's more effective against sudden horrific ones. Willpower may be spent on this roll for an additional success. This last-ditch defense is obvious, and generally manifests in a way in line with the powers and beliefs of the Nova in question. Although one can only attempt this once per attack, it may be used multiple times a turn, the only limit to doing so being the Nova's limit on quantum expenditure per turn. All Novas possess this last-ditch but relatively inefficient defensive power.

Mental Rebuild

Science (or is it SCIENCE!)

To fully clarify, there are three "types" of technical advancement in Aberrant. Conventional science, super-science, and Devices.

Conventional science is stuff that fully meshes with the laws of physics and requires no exotic ingredients, nor does it play with the nigh-magical forces that the Inspired possess. Conventional science creates things like suborbitals, advanced body armor, railguns, powersuits, the occasional robot, fusion reactors, pollution-eating microbes, genetic enhancements, the list goes on and on. Anyone, baseline or Inspired, can advance conventional science.

Super-science isn't the same thing as cutting edge science. It's research and development which requires exotic, Nova-created ingredients or perhaps uses Noetic or Quantum forces (as opposed to small-q quantum). Super-science can be duplicated by baselines with the right materials, but cannot be advanced by baselines. Super-science developments include FTL drives, Soma, Eufiber based infrastructure, hypercore rounds, and several varieties of free-floating active nanotech.

Devices are handcrafted systems which are unique to the creator and their harnessing of Quantum or Noetic forces. Devices can be created by the Inspired but cannot be duplicated (although there are Devices that are similar enough to have identical game effects) because they are personal expressions of power, rather than technical advancements per se.

Advancement

To create an advancement (either mundane or super-science) a character must have sufficient dots in the ability to make an advancement, typically 4+ in the primary ability and 3+ in at least two related abilities (so a character attempting to develop a fusion reactor needs Science[Physics] 4 and Engineering and Computers 3, for example), while his lab assistants need either 4+ in a related ability or 3+ in the primary ability (so said character could be assisted by an engineer with Engineering 4, or a physicist with Science[Physics] 3). Advancements typically are rolled for over the course of weeks or months, and best done during downtime. Each lab assistant adds +2d to this roll, up to the lower of (Charisma or [Primary Ability]) assistants.

Minor advancements (inventing the iPod, assembling already-existing technology into a new product) use 1 week as an interval for the roll, while major ones (developing sentient AI, creating a new species, curing aging, etc) require 1 month per roll interval. Typically a character must accumulate 20-100 successes although particularly bleeding-edge projects may require far more than this.

Super-science advancements require the character to be Inspired and use a roll interval of 2 months. Baseline lab assistants for super-science must have 4+ in the primary ability and 3+ in at least two related abilities, while Inspired (Nova/Psion/Paramorph) lab assistants may use the standard rules instead.

Anticipation

Oftentimes in Aberrant people will play characters smarter than they are. Far smarter, in fact. Due to this, a player may not consider an element in the story or predict a turn of events which the character, by all rights, should have been able to predict and prepare for. Modifying the Anticipation system from nWoD: Mirrors, this section covers how a Mega-Intelligent (or in certain cases, Mega-Witty or Mega-Perceptive) Nova may be able to alter a situation to their advantage.

Requirements

To be capable of using Anticipation, the character must have a relevant Mega-Mental attribute, or an Ability Mastery. A character may do this a number of times per scene equal to (1 + Highest Mega-Mental Attribute). Being able to predict a situation isn't just about raw intellect, after all. Someone superhumanly perceptive can twig onto extremely minor changes in tone or disposition which might betray future plans, while someone with superhuman thinking speed and poise can run through a half-dozen scenarios with their merely human intellect. At the ST's discretion, low average mental abilities may prevent the use of Anticipation without spending WP, or forbid it entirely. Planning is not all about perception, or thinking quickly, or thinking well. It requires all three elements.

Alternatively, characters without a relevant Mental Attribute may attempt this if their total (relevant Attribute + Ability) dice pool is above 7 and they spend 1 Willpower. They may only do this once per scene. Only the extremely skilled are going to have sufficient actual genius in the field for them to be capable of doing such feats.

Systems

During a situation where the player thinks their character could have anticipated, the character may roll a Mental Attribute and Ability combination which makes sense. Examples would be "Wits + Empathy" to plan for a social encounter or predict the actions of a hated nemesis, "Intelligence + Tactics" or "Intelligence + Security" to have a safehouse already set up when you're on the run, "Wits + Computers" to have infiltrated a virus into the security system ten minutes ago when you were at that unattended terminal, so on and so forth.

Successes on that roll translate to points which can be used to access effects. These effects must make some degree of sense. Effects include bonus dice, inflicting penalties, having equipment accessible, so on and so forth. The opponent may attempt to counter as per the rules, either canceling out anticipation successes, or using his own anticipation successes to alter your

Example Effects

• 1 success: Having a small item on hand ("I thought we might run into guys with guns, so I happened to be wearing a bulletproof vest")
• 1 success: +/- 1d on any one dice roll (yours or the opponents), cannot add more than +/-3 to any one roll ("I could see that he favored his right eye. If I made a run for it when he was only looking at me with his left, I'd have a better chance.")
• 1 success: Define a minor element of the scene ("There happens to be an abandoned building a block away which is pretty empty, we could hide there.")
• 2 successes: Having a larger item on hand ("I thought we might face that guy. Fortunately I have a RPG over here somewhere.")
• 2 successes: 1 temporary background dot (Allies, Followers, Resources/etc) for the scene
• 2 successes: reroll any one failed or botched roll for the scene.
• 3 successes: Define a major scene element ("You just happened to have stepped into a minefield." "I shut down the security five minutes ago.")
• 3 successes: Change an already taken action ("Okay, I read about the minefield and so I don't step into it, but hose the ground down with high-explosive 30mm shells instead.")

Complications

• +1-4: Desired effects are extremely unlikely ("You want me to believe that you, a law-abiding citizen, happen to have stashed a RPG and a half-dozen reloads in your car's trunk?")
• +2: Repeating the same effect again and again. Don't be boring!
• +2: Desired effect does not mesh with setting ("You're in an affluent neighborhood. An abandoned building nearby? Really?")

New Additions

Aberrant 2.0 Expansion
Aberrant 2.0 Optional Rules
Aberrant 2.0 Paramorphs