Aberrant 2.0 Quantum and Mega-Attributes

Mega-Attributes

Mega-Strength

Mega-Strength now provides (due to the alteration of damage adds and how they work):

• +5d to Strength-based damage rolls (hand to hand, melee, and throwing) per dot
• 5 automatic successes to rolls involving raw physical power (lifting, throwing, jumping, etc), or 1 automatic success to any other strength-based roll (mostly attacks).
• A damage add of [2 * Mega-Strength] to Strength-based damage rolls.
• One -0 Health Level per dot (being impossibly strong and having your frame reinforced by quantum energies to lift impossible weights provides some minor durability benefits)

Mega-Stamina

Mega-Stamina now provides:

• Doubles the Nova's lifespan per dot (x2 for M-Sta 1, x4 for M-Sta 2, x8 for M-Sta 3, so on and so forth.)
• Increases the Nova's healing rates per dot as noted in the core book.
• 1 x -0, 1 x -1, 1 x -2, 1 x -4, and 1 x Incapacitated Health Level per dot.
• +1B/1L natural soak per dot.

Mega-Appearance

Mega-Appearance comes in two forms, which color the Nova's appearance in general. One makes people want to get close to you, another makes people want to keep their safe distance. Both are limited by appearance.

• Mega-Appearance (Enticing) is the default, which grants Style bonuses and is generally attractiveness of a more conventional sort. It might be sexy attractiveness, or object d'art attractiveness, or so on, but it's generally aesthetic, harmless beauty, adding +1 to Style rolls per dot.

• Mega-Appearance (Dangerous) is the predatory beauty of the tiger or another apex predator. It may still be beautiful, but it is regal and intimidating, rather than friendly and enticing. This replaces Mega-Ugliness, and grants +1 to Intimidation rolls per dot.

Mega-Attribute Clarification

Each Mega-Attribute counts as 2 dots of the relevant Attribute when calculating static values (besides for initiative, where they count for 1 dot), but grant 1 success to all rolls based on that Attribute. No Attribute-increasing ability (save Node Spark) can grant a character Mega-Attributes anymore. Mega-Attributes are after all, powers rather than physical abilities, and you can't get Mega-Strength via bulging biceps or high-end artificial musculature.

Quantum Pool

A Nova's base Quantum Pool is now calculated by: 10 + [(Quantum + Node) * 5]. A chargen Nova has minimum Quantum Pool 15, maximum 60, without buying expansions.

• As a clarification, 1 Aggravated HL sacrificed provides 2 temporary Quantum points. These Quantum points can be spent above and beyond normal Quantum expenditure for the turn-they do not count towards the Quantum/turn limit.

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 (up to their permanent Quantum score) to subtract 1 health level of damage from a single attack after soak. This is generally significantly more efficient.

Taint

Benefits

Each Dot of Permanent Taint provides the following advantages:

• Aberrations: The Nova gains beneficial body modifications (large size, acute senses, hardened skin, etc.) per dot of Permanent Taint at higher levels. This body modification must generally relate to the power/etc. the Taint was used to purchase, and generally have an interplay with the Nova's negative aberrations. At Taint 3-5, each point of Taint grants 2 XP worth of modifications, at Taint 6-8, each point grants 4 XP worth, and at Taint 9+ each point grants 8 XP worth.

• Reduced Cost: Taking a power or level of Quantum Tainted reduces its cost by 3 NP (at chargen) or half (after chargen) at the cost of 1 permanent Taint. This can give a power negative cost at chargen.

• Transhuman Ascendancy: The quantum energies coursing through the Nova mutate her body far past human limits, both for good and for ill. At Taint 4, a Nova chooses one attribute. This attribute no longer has a rating cap, and any body modifications or merits which adjust or eliminate this rating cap (such as Exceptional [Attribute] or Inhuman [Attribute]) are converted back into XP. Every two points of Taint after that removes the rating cap from an additional attribute, so a Nova at Taint 8 has 5 attributes which have no limit to their development.

Penalties

However, each Dot also has the following disadvantages:

• Social Issues: A Nova suffers +1 difficulty on all social rolls for every 2 points of permanent taint (above 2) he or she gains. This applies for all social rolls, including intimidation-the Nova is just so fearsome the opponent is driven catatonic or desperately tries to make a stand rather than telling the Nova what he or she wants. There is something fundamentally wrong with high-Taint Novas that makes social interaction difficult. This penalty is waived against 2nd Generation Novas, cancels out at a 2-1 basis against other Novas (1 point of Taint-derived social penalty a Nova possesses cancels 2 points of Taint-derived social penalty against that Nova), and finally can be reduced by Soothe or other similar Enhancements. Finally, the difficulty penalty caps at the Nova's permanent Quantum score. High-taint low Quantum Novas may be horrific monsters, but the inherent uncomfortableness of the wrong informational template doesn't exhibit itself.

• Taint Radiation: At high Taint levels (8+) the Nova radiates Taint radiation, which can poison baselines and give Taint to nearby Novas. With one scene of constant exposure, a Nova or baseline with permanent Taint less than half that of another Nova must roll (Stamina + Resistance) at the end of the scene, the difficulty being half the difference between the Taint levels of the two Novas (round up). Failure means a Nova takes 1 point of temporary Taint + 1 more point for every 2 points of permanent Taint a Nova has above 10, while a baseline gains 1 level of permanent Taint and the advantages and disadvantages of said.

• Aberrations: The Aberration system is used as normal for disadvantageous or inconvenient changes. These changes are merely paired with beneficial ones. Aberrations are generally actual flaws which are inconvenient, crippling, or sometimes both.

Novas gain negative Aberrations with increasing Taint as shown below:

Taint 0-2: 0 pts

Taint 3-5: 1 pt/level

Taint 6-8: 2 pts/level

Taint 9+: 4 pts/level.

Note that this is identical to the body modification gain, but not all Aberrations are physical. Some are entirely mental in nature, or Quantum-based. Novas generally have at least 25-50% (round normally) of their aberrations in mental or quantum aberrations-Taint is associated with M-R node swelling, which can cause various mental illnesses. Aberrations are treated as flaws, save the Nova gains no bonus points from choosing them. With GM approval, flaws from any Storyteller-based sourcebook may be used for Aberrations, if they make sense. The GM has final say on how much each flaw is worth as an Aberration. In general the value of a flaw as an Aberration is equal to the value of the flaw.

Merely cosmetic Aberrations which can be easily hidden are considered trivial, and are worth 0.33 points each (so you need 3 to use one Aberration point). They may be upgraded to Minor if they are so obvious and easily visible that they make it easier to spot the Nova (+1d to all rolls to spot, remember, or track the Nova) or otherwise have minor penalty effects. A Nova may not have more than 6 trivial Aberrations-so past Taint 4, a Nova's aberrations start becoming actual flaws. Similarly, a Nova may not have more Minor Aberrations than their (Permanent Taint - 1) so eventually more damaging Aberrations will be accumulated.

Temporary Taint

This section lists new and altered ways to gain or lose temporary Taint.

Temporary Aberrations

Temporary Taint may inflict temporary mental, quantum, or occasionally physical aberrations on a character. At high levels of temporary Taint (5+), a character gains another Aberration point until she lowers her temporary Taint to a value below 5 by any means (this includes gaining 10 temporary Taint and converting it into a point of permanent Taint).

Quantum Recharging

Novas can unsafely channel ambient quantum energies, recharging 3 Quantum Points instantly at the cost of 1 temporary Taint. This supplements Dying for Power: A very desperate Nova can do truly insane things by taking temporary taint.

Losing Temporary Taint

There are several methods of bleeding off temporary Taint.

• Novas may bleed off temporary Taint by -that is to say, going 1 session or 1 week of downtime without using powers at more than half strength (including Mega-Attributes) and without botching power rolls allows a character to roll (Willpower) at +1 difficulty. Each net success bleeds off a point of temporary Taint.

• A Nova may attempt to "reformat" their informational template and burn out temporary Taint. This empties the Nova's quantum pool and fills all but his last Incapacitated level with aggravated damage, but removes all temporary Taint from the Nova's temporary Taint track. Dumping temporary Taint in this fashion is always a spectacle, manifesting in a way which makes "sense" to the Nova. So a fire-wielding Nova may self-immolate, a cyberkinetic may seem to fuzz out into static, and so on.

• Taint Resistant Novas lose 1 temporary Taint every 24 hours, while 2nd Gen Novas lose all temporary Taint every 24 hours.

Power Maxing

A Power Max requires the character to pay double the cost of the power, although more Quantum can be spent (an additional amount up to the character's permanent Quantum score). The character rolls his permanent Quantum. The character gains 1 temporary taint for a failed max, and 2 if the roll botches. Successes on this roll (if any were rolled) are added to the number of additional Quantum spent and used to buy new features for the power. This is a reflexive action.

• 1 success buys +1d to the power's dice pool or damage, up to [Quantum].
• 2 successes converts 1 dice in the power's pool into a success. For powers which have a roll to hit and another damage roll, it converts both part of the to-hit and damage roll.
• 2 successes buys any desired Extra for the power.
• 3 successes increases the power's level by 1 for all purposes, including accuracy, damage, and range.
• 5 successes allows the Nova to alter the chosen power for (Quantum) actions, turning it into a similar but related power. For example, a Nova could pay 5 successes to turn Healing into Biomanipulation, or Bioluminescence into Quantum Bolt.

Power Maxing and Taint

A character may choose to take 1 temporary taint to add an additional point to their power max pool, or 2 temporary taint to convert all dice into successes.

Extras and Enhancements

A character may support up to (Mega-Attribute * 2) Enhancements per attribute at normal cost. Every additional Enhancement purchased beyond this amount costs double (10 XP, or 2 NP). This XP is refunded when the attribute is raised.

New Enhancements

Some of these Enhancements are drastically modified variants of enhancements in the Aberrant Compendium or Fan Companion.

General

[Attribute] Paragon (Any) : This Enhancement decreases the cost of purchasing superhuman attributes for the chosen Mega-Attribute. The effective rating of the attribute for purchasing additional dots is reduced to (current value - 5), minimum 1. This only affects the cost of purchasing an attribute above human levels (i.e. above 5), and does nothing to cheapen the cost of purchasing an attribute up to 5. At Quantum 5, this Enhancement may be purchased again, reducing the effective rating to (current value - 10), minimum 1-this cost break is only gained when raising an attribute above 10. This Enhancement costs nothing and is always on.

Gifted ([Attribute]) (Any) : This Enhancement decreases the cost of purchasing the attribute which the Mega-Attribute is governed by, reducing the experience cost from (current value * 4) to (current value * 2). This Enhancement costs nothing and is always on.

[Attribute] Specialist (Any) : This Enhancement allows a Nova to reroll 10s in the mundane attribute (Strength for Mega-Strength, Dexterity for Mega-Dexterity, so on) without an applicable quality. This enhancement costs nothing and is always on.

Physical

Cog of War (M-Str): Your character's biceps are so huge they act as body armor. Novas with this Enhancement are ridiculously muscled to the point where any attack that attempts to hit their vital organs requires shooting through the equivalent of a brick wall. The Nova gains an additional (Mega-Strength + 1) -0 health levels, will constantly be accused of using steroids, and looks more than a little like an overmuscled cover-based FPS protagonist or a mitoid. Novas with this Enhancement seem to also be more likely than normal to become obsessed with chainsaws and chest high walls. This enhancement costs nothing (but your ability to fit through most doors) and is always on.

Cyclone (M-Str): Weaker foes are as insects to you. A Nova with this Enhancement may pay 1 Quantum point after a successful clinch attack which grabs ahold of a target, allowing the Nova a reflexive Crush attack on the enemy immediately after grabbing her. If this reflexive attack kills the victim, the Nova may throw the victim aside casually or make one last use of the broken corpse as an impromptu projectile (aimed via Dexterity + Athletics). This Enhancement may be repurchased once, allowing the Nova to make multiple clinch attacks and throws in one round as long as each clinch successfully kills the victim, until the Nova either fails to kill a target or makes (Mega-Strength + 1) consecutive kills. This Enhancement lasts for a single attack and costs 1 Quantum per use.

Demolition (M-Str): You are an unstoppable wrecking machine. Novas with this enhancement ignore five dots of soak for every dot of Mega-Strength. This only applies against inanimate objects. This enhancement costs 1 Quantum per attack.

Ferocity (M-Str): Novas with Ferocity find that they can put so much violence into their blows that they can shatter armor plate, walls, or even tanks. This Enhancement adds (Mega-Strength) to the armor piercing rating of any unarmed or melee attack, costs nothing, and is always active.

Fist of God (M-Str, requires Mega-Strength 6+, Quantum 6+): Novas with this Enhancement can punch so hard, you'd think you were hit by a nuclear weapon. When used, the Nova quadruples the AP rating of any unarmed or thrown attack he makes, and doubles the base damage dice. This Enhancement may be purchased one more time at Mega-Strength 8+, Quantum 8+, which lets it quadruple all damage adds to an unarmed or thrown attack, and one last time at Mega-Strength 10, Quantum 10, which allows the Nova to halve enemy soak against unarmed or thrown attacks (round down) before the attack's armor piercing is applied. This Enhancement costs 1 Quantum per attack.

Hypervelocity (M-Str): The Nova can accelerate a small projectile to up to (Mega-Strength * 3) kilometers per second via muscle power alone, giving the Nova's thrown weapons unbelievable reach and deadliness. Any projectile massing less than (Mega-Strength) kg can be thrown with this enormous velocity. All small projectiles deal lethal damage, add (Mega-Strength) to their armor penetration, are treated as bullets for dodge/block difficulties due to their immense velocities, and finally have their range increment multiplied by 5. This Enhancement costs 1 Quantum and lasts for a single attack, and only works on objects which have an actual mass of 1kg or less.

Weapons Master (M-Dex): A Nova with this enhancement is an unparalleled master of the way the the sword, the way of the gun, and the way of the thermobaric rocket launcher. This enhancement replaces any non-heavy weapon's RoF with (Mega-Dexterity * 2) if the weapon normally fires slower, doubles its Range, and allows a Nova to reload a weapon reflexively with no need for a roll. More importantly, the Nova rerolls all 10s on rolls related to weapons handling, or weapons damage. As a final benefit, all ranged weapons in the Nova's hands gain +1 accuracy and +1 damage due to better shot placement. This enhancement costs nothing and is always on.

Strider (M-Dex): A Nova with this enhancement can move on easily broken surfaces without difficulty, such as thin ice or even water. In addition, the Nova may wallrun on any surface for a brief period of time (1 combat round), allowing the Nova to climb to a height or scale gaps with a width of the Nova's sprint speed without a roll, as long as the Nova has a relatively unbroken surface to run on. This enhancement costs 1 Quantum to activate and lasts for a scene.

Blood and Tears (M-Sta): This Enhancement allows a Nova to pour his life into a goal-literally. The Nova may pay 1 aggravated health level instead of any willpower costs, up to (Mega-Stamina) times a scene. This enhancement costs nothing and is always on.

I'll Be Back (M-Sta): You've been pulverised, vaporised, pulped and dissolved, but you just won't stay dead. The nova has (mega-stamina)x5 additional Incapacitated levels. These levels may only be filled with damage capable of incapacitating the nova. The health levels of your corpse are also multiplied by (mega-stamina +1), although mundane resuscitation techniques will not work beyond the standard track, as the body is beyond the reach of medical science. This enhancement costs nothing and is always on.

Indestructible (M-Sta, requires Mega-Stamina 6+, Quantum 6+): Some Novas are nearly immune to weapons fire, laughing off even nuclear warheads without dying. This Enhancement allows a Nova to reduce all rolled damage after soak, halving the number of health levels filled with bashing, lethal, and aggravated damage as a result of hostile attacks (round final damage up). At Mega-Stamina 8, Quantum 8, the Nova may purchase this again, dividing all damage by 3 (after soak is factored in and damage is rolled, as usual), and at Mega-Stamina 10, Quantum 10 the Nova may purchase this one last time, dividing all final damage by 4. This Enhancement costs 1 quantum point to activate and lasts for a single attack.

Robust (M-Sta): Novas with this Enhancement are particularly adept at taking a terrible beating without dying, and gain an additional (Mega-Stamina + 1) -0 Health Levels. This Enhancement may be purchased up to (Mega-Stamina) times, costs nothing, and is always on.

Mental

Zoom and Enhance (M-Per): Like Poirot, you notice everything. Novas with this enhancement notice the faintest fear in someone's voice or the one grass blade out of place, and they can analyse a crime scene days after the fact. They may add (Mega-Perception) dice to any roll to notice clues or gather evidence, and ignore up to (Mega-Perception) difficulty penalties from disruption of a location they are investigating. This enhancement costs 1 Quantum and lasts for a single roll.

Achilles's Bane (M-Per): A Nova with this Enhancement can find and exploit weak points far better than any baseline can, adding (Mega-Perception) to the maximum number of successes on an attack roll that apply as extra damage. For example, a Nova with this Enhancement and Mega-Perception 3 could apply up to 8 additional successes on an attack roll as additional damage, rather than only 5. This Enhancement costs 1 Quantum to activate for an action.

Oracle (M-Int, requires Mega-Intelligence 6+, Quantum 6+): A Nova with this Enhancement is so brilliant, they can calculate the future to near-perfect accuracy. A Nova with this ability may spend 3 Quantum points to reroll up to (Mega-Intelligence) failed dice on any roll, as they have seen the future and know potential points of failure or weaknesses in their plan of action. Alternatively, the Nova may spend 1 Quantum point to not take a failed action or transform a botch into a normal failure.

Indomitable (M-Wits): Novas with this Enhancement have superhuman willpower, withstanding mental stress which would crush lesser men and taking it in stride. This Enhancement adds +1 success to all willpower rolls, costs nothing, and is always on. Note that this does not alter the costs of improving willpower, nor does it give the Nova additional points of temporary willpower to spend. This Enhancement may be stacked up to (Mega-Wits) times.

Social

Xenophile (M-App): Attractiveness is based off of dozens of cues, some conscious, many subconscious, that work to create the whole of someone's appeal. Against alien life forms, compatibility is unlikely, but Novas with this enhancement can entirely bypass this, allowing them to be attractive to those they find attractive. This Enhancement allows a Nova's appearance score to apply normally and fully without penalty to sapient characters the Nova wishes to appeal to, no matter their normal race, biological incompatibilities, or sexual orientation. This Enhancement is always on and costs no quantum points.

Addictive (M-App, requires M-App 6+, Quantum 6+): The Nova's words are like opium, his very appearance as addictive as heroin. To use this Enhancement, a Nova spends 1 Quantum point and rolls Appearance against the Stamina + Resistance of an unfortunate victim. Success addicts the victim to the nova's presence, forcing her to succeed a Willpower roll, with a difficulty penalty of the nova's Mega-Appearance/2 (round up), to do anything which may endanger her ability to sate her addiction. Spending 1 Willpower point, similarly, will allow a character to overcome their addiction for a scene. The character will undergo withdrawal if kept from the Nova for more than a day, and will only be cured by being out of the Nova's influence for up to (Mega-Appearance) days. During this time, their dice pools are all halved, rounded down.

Heartstopper (M-App, requires M-App 6+, Quantum 6+): Mega-Appearance Novas are all beautiful. A Nova with this Enhancement is the most fascinatingly beautiful thing many will ever see, to the point where even a glance can be fatally distracting. The Nova spends 1 Quantum point to use this Enhancement, rolling her Appearance against the target's Willpower. Success means the victim is successfully distracted, suffering a difficulty penalty equal to the net successes rolled. The penalty fades at the rate of 1 per combat round in combat, or 1 per day outside of combat.

Altered Enhancements

Some of these Enhancements are from the three Mega-Attribute books: Brainwaves, Forceful Personalities, or The New Flesh.

Physical

• Accuracy: Accuracy adds +1 to the accuracy of all Nova powers, and increases the Nova's maximum aiming bonus by 3, to (Perception + 3), as well as adding 3 extra dice on the first turn of aiming. Accuracy may be purchased more than once to stack the improved power accuracy, but not further increase aiming ability.

• Adaptability: Adaptability renders the Nova biologically immortal and adds (Mega-Stamina) dice to any roll to resist toxins or diseases which the Nova is not immune to.

• Catfooted: replace system with: Catfooted adds 1 success to any contested Stealth roll, and all attempts to track the Nova's footprints without superhuman senses automatically fail as long as the Nova does not botch her stealth roll. This costs 1 Quantum and lasts for a scene.

• Crush: replace system with: Crush turns all unarmed (Strike/Kick/etc) damage lethal by default (a character may still choose to do bashing damage instead). In addition, a Nova with the enhancement may pay 1 Quantum to add 1 to the attack's damage add, to a maximum of the Nova's quantum/turn limit or (Mega-Strength * 3), whichever is lower. When charging Crush for additional damage, the attack may take the form of a Smackdown (Str + 6 damage) or be aimed for 1 or more turns, instead of being a normal strike.

• Durability: replace system with: A character with Durability may spend 1 Quantum to subtract 1 post-soak health level from an attack that does lethal or bashing damage (to a minimum of 1) and additionally downgrade up to (Mega-Stamina + 1) health levels inflicted from lethal to bashing. If the attack did less than or equal to (Mega-Stamina) levels of bashing damage before subtracting the Durability enhancement, the attack deals a single level of Bashing damage and the rest of the damage is taken as Stun damage. This Enhancement has no effect on Aggravated damage.

• Fast Tasks: On extended rolls which require effort and knowledge, divide the timeframe of a roll by (Mega-Dexterity). Simple tasks such as painting or gardening can be completed in one combat round (3 seconds). When Fast Tasks is active, a Nova may take advantage of their increased speeds, reloading, drawing, or changing ammunition for weapons as a reflexive action.

• Hardbody: Hardbody only affects Mega-Stamina soak, giving the Nova an aggravated soak score equal to his Mega-Stamina score normally, or twice that if the Nova also has Resiliency.

• Physical Prodigy: replace system with: +1 success to any Athletics, Performance, or other rolls based on physical prowess. This does not affect combat or dodge rolls. However, Physical Prodigy adds a bonus die to all Athletics rolls, including dodge.

• Rapid Strike: Rapid Strike adds [Mega-Dexterity] dice to any melee damage roll.

• Regeneration: A Nova with Regeneration heals (Mega-Stamina + 1) levels of bashing or lethal damage per hour and heals half that many levels of aggravated damage each day outside of combat. Regeneration allows a Nova to regrow missing limbs or organs in (30/Mega-Stamina) days. Regeneration may be purchased twice, which doubles its passive out-of-combat healing rates, allows it to function even if the character is Incapacitated, as well as allowing the character to regenerate from Aggravated damage. Aggravated damage costs 5 Quantum/health level to heal in this fashion.

• Shockwave: Shockwave deals (Strength + [Mega-Strength * 2])B damage to an area [Mega-Strength x 10]m in radius, and forces a Strength + Athletics roll at Difficulty 3 to stay upright or fall prone.

• Thunderclap: Thunderclap deals (Strength + [Mega-Strength * 2])B damage to soft targets in an area [Mega-Strength x 10]m in radius, and those in that radius must roll Stamina + Resistance, difficulty equal to the number of levels of bashing damage they have taken, or be deafened. Surgery is required to repair this damage in baselines, but Novas regain their hearing immediately after healing the bashing damage.

Social

• Awe-Inspiring/Face of Terror: replace system with: Awe-Inspiring gives +(Mega-Appearance) dice on Sway rolls where physical impressiveness is especially useful (commanding/etc), while Face of Terror does the same on rolls where raw horror may provide an advantage (for example, on torture). In especially fitting situations, a character may be able to add 1 success to the roll along with the bonus dice.

• Commanding Presence: replace system with: +(Mega-Charisma) bonus dice to rolls made to create Sway which use superior rank or social class as an element of persuasion. In especially fitting situations, a character may be able to add 1 success to the roll along with the bonus dice.

• Fade: replace system with: The Nova adds +(Mega-Appearance) bonus dice to stealth rolls made against non-autonomous electronic surveillance. The Nova's ability to effectively "photoshop" herself out of things like reflections, computer images, or whatnot have no effect on autonomous systems such as living beings or AI surveillance. This Enhancement requires 1 Quantum to activate for a scene.

• Immaculate: replace system with: The Nova gains an additional +(Mega-Appearance) dice for Style rolls to look good, and never gets dirty. Notably because they never get dirty, they gain +(Mega-Appearance) bonus dice to resist disease, in the rare event that a disease capable of overwhelming a Nova's immune system exists in the environment. This Enhancement costs nothing and is always on.

• Incognito: replace system with: The Nova subtracts -(Mega-Appearance) dice from any attempt to identify him or her by memory or descriptions created by these memories. This Enhancement requires 1 Quantum to activate for a scene.

• Inquisitor: replace system with: The Nova adds +(Mega-Manipulation) dice to any Sway roll based on Interrogation or finding the truth. This explicitly does not work for creating false confessions, despite the name of the Enhancement. This Enhancement requires 1 Quantum to activate for a scene.

• Inspiration: replace system with: Pay 1 Quantum point to give a person or group +1d to accomplish an action that you have led them towards. This dice bonus lasts until the task is completed or for (Mega-Charisma) days, whichever comes first and can apply to any roll directly related to the goal. Multiple sources of Inspiration do not stack. This Enhancement requires 1 Quantum to activate for a scene.

• Natural Agitator: replace system with: Pay 1 Quantum point to make a Sway roll via Charisma + Relevant Social Ability, creating Casual Sway, which as a difficulty of (Crowd Size + Average Wits). Size is calculated in the same way an army's force size is, in the Warfare section. The group may roll their average Willpower to resist beyond that. Success creates points of Casual Sway applicable to the entire group. Note that as Casual Sway, Natural Agitator cannot be used to get a group to do something which it isn't already inclined to do.

• Pedagogue: replace system with: +(Mega-Charisma) bonus dice to all Instruction rolls. This Enhancement requires 1 Quantum to activate for a roll.

• Persona: replace system with: The nova may overlay a completely false personality over his or her own at the cost of 3 Quantum points per scene. This personality temporarily overwrites the nova's Virtue and Vice with its own and can only be detected with a successful Rapport roll with a difficulty of +(Mega-Charisma + 3), or Telepathy roll with a difficulty of +(Mega-Charisma + 1). As a side benefit, the Nova may use this to become a better actor, gaining +(Mega-Charisma) additional dice to any acting rolls.

• Persuader: replace system with: Reduce the target's willpower by (Mega-Manipulation) when calculating the amount of Casual Sway needed to start creating Intimate Sway, minimum 1 effective Willpower. Costs no Quantum points and is always on.

• Seductive: replace system with: +(Mega-Charisma) bonus dice to rolls made to create Sway via sexual attractiveness. This Enhancement requires 1 Quantum to activate for a scene.

• Seductive Looks: replace system with: +(Mega-Appearance) dice to any Sway roll where seuxality could be an additional advantage. This Enhancement requires 1 Quantum to activate for a scene.

• Trickster: replace system with: +(Mega-Manipulation) to any roll made to create Sway that would convince a character of a fundamental untruth or otherwise deceive them. In especially fitting situations, a character may be able to add 1 success to the roll along with the bonus dice. This Enhancement requires 1 Quantum to activate for a scene.

• The Voice: replace system with: Spend 1 Quantum to make a Sway roll via Manipulation + Relevant Social Ability, creating Intimate Sway, which has a difficulty of (Opponent's Wits). The victim may roll Willpower to resist. The timeframe of this action is 1 combat turn, but this can only be applied to one target and only may apply once per scene. Sway generated by The Voice cannot have its duration extended at all-it only lasts for the instant in question.

Mental

• Body Awareness: In addition to the minor benefits gained, Body Awareness also gives anyone operating on or attempting to treat the Nova in question +(Mega-Perception) additional dice to their medicine rolls as long as the Nova has had time to advise the doctor in question (or the Nova is treating/diagnosing himself). More critically, when diagnosing or treating a Nova with Body Awareness who is capable of giving real-time advice, a doctor can reroll all failed dice in his dice pool once. Rerolled dice which come up as failures may not be rerolled.

• Discerning Mind: replace system with: +(Mega-Intelligence) dice to any roll to resist Sway. Furthermore add +(Mega-Intelligence) to the character's Willpower when determining the points of casual way necessary to create intimate sway.

• Eidetic Memory: The Nova may in effect have up to [Mega-Intelligence + 3] "phantom" dots of knowledge abilities stored in his memory, with no single "phantom" ability having a rating higher than (Mega-Intelligence/2 or 3, whichever is lower, round up) dots. These dots act as the ability in all respects, but are not actually purchased.

• Electromagnetic Vision: The Enhancement stays in effect for a scene. Adds (+Mega-Perception + 1) dice for sight rolls instead of +3d.

• Hyperenhanced Hearing: The Enhancement stays in effect for a scene. Adds (+Mega-Perception + 1) dice for hearing rolls instead of +3d.

• Inventive Genius: replace system with: +(Mega-Intelligence) dice to any roll made related to inventing or developing a new technology. Inventive Genius is always applicable for gadget construction.

• Mental Prodigy (Any): replace system with: +(Mega-Intelligence) dice to any roll made related to the field in question. Mental Prodigy: Tactics still adds +3 Initiative.

• Multitasking: replace system with: Multitasking reduces multiple action penalties by (Mega-Wits). Multitasking is a permanent Enhancement which is always on and costs no Quantum points.

• Quickness: Quickness actions may explicitly not be split into multiple actions, and moreover allow all actions, including the use of Quantum powers. A Nova may not take any more Quickness actions than he or she has Mega-Wits.

• Razor Wit: replace system with: A use of Razor Wit can add +(Mega-Wits) to the difficulty of any action related to the insult in question until the opponent succeeds. Alternatively, Razor Wit can be used as a directionless taunt, forcing an opponent to roll Willpower at a difficulty of (+Mega-Wits - 1) or else attack the Mega-Witty comedian in a fit of rage. Enemies with Hormonal Imbalance (Rage) or any similar flaws suffer from both effects automatically, and add any difficulty penalties to keep their temper in check to the difficulty of the Willpower roll. Razor Wit costs 1 Quantum point per cheap shot.

• Node Resistance (was originally Taint Resistance): Node Resistance now reduces the mental disorders gained from high Node by 1 per level of Mega-Intelligence, rather than reducing the Taint gained from Node by that amount.

• Unfazeable: replace system with: +(Mega-Wits) dice to any roll to resist Sway. Furthermore add +(Mega-Wits) to the character's Willpower when determining the points of casual way necessary to create intimate sway.

New Powers

Arsenal (L2 Power)

Duration: Instant

Range: Self

Quantum Minimum: 2

Dice Pool: Wits + Arsenal

This power allows a Nova to store certain types of items in an alternate dimension for retrieval on demand. Upon purchase, the type of item stored in an arsenal has to be chosen, such as "ranged weapons" (covers all sorts of firearms, heavy weapons, etc), "explosives" (rockets, grenades, their launchers, and so on), "tools" (various toolkits and medical/engineering equipment), "melee weapons" (blades, clubs, etc.), and so on. Only items of this type can be placed in an Arsenal. Under no circumstances can an Arsenal store unwilling objects or living beings, and while inside the Arsenal the effects of aging and whatnot are stopped.

Arsenal allows the storage of (Wits + [Arsenal*2]) different individual items in this pocket dimension, as long as each has an individual mass less than or equal to (Wits + Arsenal + Quantum) * 5 kilograms. These items may be retrieved as an unrolled action. To attune an object to a Nova's Arsenal requires approximately ten minutes of familiarization with the object and its use, and under no circumstances can a Nova commit a weapon or device he or she believes to be immediately dangerous to his or her Arsenal. A Nova can attune and commit a railgun or a block of C4, for example, but a nuclear bomb with 30 minutes on the timer cannot be added to her Arsenal.

If a Nova loses this power by any means (Disrupt or Dormancy being the most common), the weapons in this pocket dimension reappear in normal space, scattered unpredictably in a 10 meter radius around the Nova.

Extras:

Versatile: A Versatile Arsenal may store two types of item in them, such as "guns and grenades", "tools and guns", "tools and food", or so on.

Oversize: A nova with this extra may store oversized items. Oversize items take up (Mass/Maximum Arsenal Mass) slots in a Nova's Arsenal, rounded up.

Bottomless Reserves: A nova with this extra may store ammunition in their Arsenal for weapons which require it. Muscle-powered or placed weapons and tools that tend to be expended in use (such as throwing stars, grenades, explosives, antibiotics) are counted as ammunition, but self-contained systems that happen to be expendable do not.

Reflexive: As normal, but particularly useful here.

Explosive Ordinance Disposal: A Nova may now commit immediately dangerous objects to his Arsenal, such as containers full of acid about to crack, nuclear bombs with live fuses, a bundle of dynamite with a lit fuse, or so on. These items can only be stored for up to (Arsenal) days and then are involuntarily expelled from the dimensional pocket, so it's a delaying method rather than a cure.

Radiant Conversion (L5 power)

Duration: Concentration (Quantum + Power Rating rounds to charge)

Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) * 100 kilometers

Quantum Minimum: 8

Dice Pool: Wits + Radiant Conversion

This power allows a Nova to convert a small percentage of a discrete object into electromagnetic energy at 100% efficiency, creating the rough equivalent of a very large nuclear weapon. When activated, the character rolls (Wits + Radiant Conversion), adding a number of automatic successes equal to Quantum, and charges the power for (Quantum + Power Rating) rounds, during which the character must concentrate on charging this power and may take no other action. Losing concentration at this point causes the Nova to take (Wits + Power Rating + Quantum) unsoakable levels of aggravated damage due to channeling so much energy. In the event that damage must be rolled, this power deals ([Quantum + Power Rating] * 50) lethal and aggravated damage with [(Quantum + Power Rating) * 50] in lethal and aggrvated damage adds per success. This bomb is assumed to have an Explosive rating of 5. The object at the center doubles all post-soak damage from this power use. Note that although the character is immune to being converted, the character is not immune to the effects of the now-converted matter.

In general, it's best off to treat this power as annihilating everything in a very large radius, creating a molten crater with a radius and depth (in kilometers) equal to the number of successes rolled, and causing horrific secondary effects on everything within 5 to 10 or more kilometers per success on the activation roll, such as widespread destruction of buildings, severe burns, and the other horrors of nuclear war. Given the ability to achieve a truly apocalyptic yield with sufficient successes, Radiant Conversion when used on a planet may even have long-lasting ecological effects.