Character Creation: Aberrant

Not a title that tells you much, but I think it's pretty cool nonetheless.

The Game: Aberrant
The publisher: White Wolf
Degree of familiarity: Some. I've played it a couple of times, I ran it in Atlanta. It's what I like to call the larval Exalted system - about halfway between OWoD and Exalted
Books Required: Just the Aberrant core, but I have the Players Guide if I feel I need it.

Our first phase, just like Adventure!, is the human one.

Step One: Concept. Looking over the list, I like Nobody (not coincidentally, I started reading The Graveyard Book last week). My character's name is Victor Ford, but no one has called him by name (except maybe at the DMV) in a long time. He worked as an archivist, record keeper and general paper-pusher at a government agency, and the events of 1/1/2000 kept him employed (in this game, the Y2K problem really was a problem). The world thinks that the novas of Project: Utopia got them through it unscathed, but guys like Vic, willing to sit in a dark room and sort papers so that records could be properly archived again, sure did their part.

Vic is a taciturn and maudlin guy. It's not that he's depressed or even sad, he's just slow to move and speak, and he doesn't smile much. He's tenacious and helpful, but not cheerful, and it annoys him that folks seem to want the latter more than the former. For his Nature, I think I'll take Bureaucrat. Vic wants to follow the rules. It's the only way he ever felt safe.

Allegiance, I'll work for Project: Utopia. They follow the rules, they're making the world a better place. Vic is too boring-looking to go all glamorous and work for Team Tomorrow, but his skills make him useful for the organization.

Step Two: Attributes. The old 7/5/3 split, noting that if any Attribute goes to 4 or better, I need a quality for it. I know I want Vic to be perceptive as heck, probably pretty strong, but weak in social graces. That shakes out to Physical primary, then Mental, then Social.

Physical: I throw three into Stamina and two into the others, and pick the "Tenacious" quality for Stamina.
Mental: Three dots into Perception and one into the others, with the "Incisive" quality.
Social: Even across the board.

Step Three: Abilities. Nothing higher than 3 just now. No categories, just 23 points. I put three into Stealth, Bureaucracy, Awareness and Investigation; two into Academics, Computer and Rapport; one into Might, Legerdemain, Engineering, Arts and Biz. On we go.

Step Four: Backgrounds. Seven points to throw around. I think Attunement is always a good idea; 2 dots. I know I want Cipher 5, so I'll just do that now and buy any other Backgrounds I want in phase 2.

Step Five: Finishing Touches. Willpower 3 as a base, Quantum 1, and the other stuff might change in phase 2, so I'll leave it alone. 15 bonus points...hmm. Backgrounds are cheap, so I'll start there. I'll take Backing (Project: Utopia) at two dots - Vic's not very important, and certainly not public. I'll dump 5 into Dormancy; if Vic doesn't want you to know he's a nova, you won't. And as I recall, Node is a good idea, so I'll put 2 dots there.

Six more points. Damn. I'll buy Willpower up by 3, and that's phase 1 done.

Phase Two: NOVA!

Step One: Eruption. Vic got laid off from his job in 2001, after new technology made paper-shuffling even more obsolete than it had been. Walking home, bitter, he started thinking about the bastard responsible, whoever that might have been. His head started to pound...and a short time later, Vic was outside the door of a mid-level bureaucrat who felt Vic's job was expendable. Vic never confronted him. He was too terrified by the fact that he had just sought the guy out, almost reflexively. Ever pragmatic, he started searching for someone who could help, and wound up hooked up with Project: Utopia.

Step Two: Nova Points. Clearly Vic's a bloodhound. Let's see. I get 30 nova points to kick around. I'll first put a few points into Attributes and Skills. 2 into Attributes jacks my Dexterity Intelligence to 3 and Strength and Wits to 4, my Perception and Stamina to 5. For Abilities, I buy Brawl 4, Athletics 2, Stealth 5 (from 3), Intrusion 1, Streetwise 3, Interrogation 4, Awareness 5, Investigation 5, Intimidation 1, Subterfuge 3. That's 4 Nova Points, 6 spent altogether.

Now, I'll buy Mega-Perception. I think since this is Vic's forte, I'll put it to 3 dots (9 Nova Points, 16 altogether). I'll take the Quantum Attunement enhancement, since Vic's job for Utopia is tracking novas. And I'll spend 3 more for a dot of Mega-Wits, and take Enhanced Initiative. I'll also take a dot of Mega-Strength, with the Enhancement Crush. If Vic grabs you, you're hurtin'. 19 points spent, 11 to go.

I'll spend 5 to bump Quantum to 2, and now with my remaining 6 points, I'll have a look at powers. I spend 1 to buy Intuition; I don't think I need it at a level higher than 1, given my Mega-Perception. And then I'll take Quantum Leech, a level 2 power. I like the notion that Vic can drain off other nova's energies - helps calm them down if they're newly Erupted, or take the wind out of their sails if they're hostile. But it doesn't hurt them.

Ha. I'll take that power as Tainted. That halves the cost, but gives me one dot of Taint per dots purchased. I shall purchase 3 dots tainted, and then a fourth without Taint. That puts me at 0 Nova Points, dunnit?

Step Three: Finishing Touches. My Quantum pool is 24. I need qualities for my remaining Attributes above 3, so I add those in by pen, since there's nowhere to do it on the pdf. Also, I decide Vic doesn't have a nova "code name", at least not yet. If asked, he might say that's because no one told him he needed one, but the truth is that people generally don't use his name. In a world where novas are growing more numerous, Vic is somehow growing more anonymous (which I'd totally play with in a series with this guy).