Genius: The Trangression 2th edition?

[Firanai]

Greetings fellow chroniclers. I recently stumbled on Genius: The Trangression and it absolutelly blew my mind. I had an orgasm reading it. It's my dream game come true, I mean, a game that centers around the idea of mad scientists? Bring it on!. I haven't finished reading it but I'm loving every moment of it.
Now, after the fan meltdown, my question is as the title. Are the authors going to make a second edition? If so, is ther enay chance I could help in any way? Thank you so much for your hard work and for creating something so amazing.

[malonkey1]

There was some discussion on this before, and I had some notes on it. I'll post a link when I have access to the flash drive they're one.

[Firanai]

There was some discussion on this before, and I had some notes on it. I'll post a link when I have access to the flash drive they're one.

Thank you very much. I'm eager to see it.

[malonkey1]

Alright, these are my notes so far.

Feel free to pick them apart and tell me what you think. The idea on the Wonders costing Experience was to make them more personal to the Genius, like an actual part of them and extension of their Inspiration than just a machine that you put Mania into and get stuff out of.

[Firanai]

Hum...the thing is I haven't had the chance to play genius, so I'm a bit hesitant to give you feedback. I need to study the system a bit more before saying anything. For now I will say this, the thematic changes that you are introducing are cool, I specially like the idea of the magnus opus and I would like to discuss with you a similar idea that I have, but as player I don't like the idea of wonders costing experience. I do understand the reasoning behind it, you want to make them more special, but my personal experience both playing and directing games is that players are very conservative with their experience points, and they don't like to expend them in things that are not related to their character progression. Also I don't see wonders as things that I just use and that's it, it's what makes my genius special. My personal recomendation if you want to make the player more invested in their wonders is give them options to personalize them even more, to add something truly unique that no other wonder has, and perhaps more nasty consequences in case they lose it or is destroyed. Again, for now, I can't really give more detailed feedback or advice till I have read the manual and your document some more. When I have more time I will tell you. Keep working on it, the game is fantastic, and let's hope more people join in, the mor eperspectives the better.

[malonkey1]

...as player I don't like the idea of wonders costing experience. I do understand the reasoning behind it, you want to make them more special, but my personal experience both playing and directing games is that players are very conservative with their experience points, and they don't like to expend them in things that are not related to their character progression.

That's a valid point. The issue was more that I felt that Wonders should be considered a part of that character's development. That is, a mad scientist is determined, in part, by what he makes. Victor Frankenstein's character is built on the mad obsession he put into his Creature, as is Doctor Moreau, and even Doctor Forrester from MST3K.

...They really need to quit giving doctorates to people like these.

[Firanai]

Here's my idea. Reading genius the transgression I came up with something to simultaneously regain obligation and serve humanity. One of the things that bummed me out the most reading genius was the fact that nothing I did really mattered, and that I was not a real scientist. I like to play highly altruistic characters that try to leave their mark in the world and make it a better place. Ok, here it goes.
There's a moment in the life of a genius where he or she has to make a choice. It's very easy to get lost in the pure raw pleasure of creation. To dismiss the mundane and embark in the extraordinary, in the addictive power of mania. However, a genius remains a human, and she or he must decide just how human the are. If a genius chooses to follow his obligation to his or her fellow man then he or she can go through a process that it's equal parts sacred and painful: turning your wonder into mundane technology.
It's not an easy endeavour by any means because the genius must go against his or her very nature, against the very spark of creativity that makes him or her a genius. In this process, the genius takes one of his or her wonders, and proceeds to turn it into something that regular people can use, but there is a catch and a very steep price for this.
The catch is that the wonders power will be reduced to a fraction of what it can do. If it's a pill that can instantly repair tissue damage, then it becomes a supplement that aids in the healing process of injuries, if it's an engine that produces almost unlimited energy then it becomes a piece of tech that improves energy output in traditional generators, etc...
The price is that the genius runs a very high risk of seeing his or her level of inspiration reduced and his sanity threatened. The process drains him or her of mania and willpower, not because it's used in the process, but because it evaporates away in an effort to maintain the concentration and the mental discipline necessary to do it, and if something goes wrong there's a very good chance that the genius will see his or her permanent rating of inspiration and/or willpower permanently reduced.
The question is why? Why would the genius do such a thing? Why would he or she go through such a painful and soul draining process? Well, it's because if he or she cares and if she or he succeeds then she would have gone through a mundane technological and/or scientific breakthrough that will help humankind greatly in the long term.
The pill he or she turned into a supplement may not end all illnesses in the world, but it will help in the healing process of many life-threatening injuries and it will open new lines of investigation among mundane scientists that will help them come up with new healing processes. When the genius sees years in the future how many lives he has helped then right there is when he or she knows that it has been worth it.
It's a sacrifice, but a sacrifice that he or she does willingly, for a genius is always on the verge of madness by the power of mania, for it's only there that he or she can find the secrets of the universe that will help in the progress of humankind. The genius becomes a martyr that sacrifices his or her mind and sanity to help humanity. Because that is what real scientists do. Always seeking knowledge for the betterment of mankind, no one may ever recognise his or her effort, but she or he have very right to be alwasy proud of what they did.

[malonkey1]

I'm going to be frank. I don't like it.

Genius isn't supposed to be about men of science changing the world. Step away from Johnny Quest, and toward the Venture Brothers. The point of Genius is that they can't really fix the world. Any attempts to do so would blow up in their faces, often literally. Their intemded communist utopia becomes a crushing dictatorship, their creations turn on them, and they're lucky to keep semi-sane at the end of the day. The Inspired aren't the men of science and hope, they're the mad and tortured geniuses that have to struggle every day just to keep their brilliance from killing us all. Those that embrace their genius always become insane, often incurably so. There's a reason Nicola Tesla was named a Lemurian in the book.

Genius is not a hopeful game.

[Firanai]

I'm going to be frank. I don't like it.

Genius isn't supposed to be about men of science changing the world. Step away from Johnny Quest, and toward the Venture Brothers. The point of Genius is that they can't really fix the world. Any attempts to do so would blow up in their faces, often literally. Their intemded communist utopia becomes a crushing dictatorship, their creations turn on them, and they're lucky to keep semi-sane at the end of the day. The Inspired aren't the men of science and hope, they're the mad and tortured geniuses that have to struggle every day just to keep their brilliance from killing us all. Those that embrace their genius always become insane, often incurably so. There's a reason Nicola Tesla was named a Lemurian in the book.

Genius is not a hopeful game.

The process is not supposed to fix the world. It's about accepting that you can't fix the world. It's about understanding that true science advances through hard work and patience, not sudden inspiration. It's about the genius acknowledging that he or she cannot solve everything, that there are no fast or easy solutions. It's about descending from the fantastic to the mundane so his or her fellow humans can have a tiny piece of the fantastic and have a better life. The tragedy of the genius is understanding that he or she will never be the saviour of the world, because that is not his or her job, it's an arrogant attitude that will lead to tragedy, but that doesn't mean that he or she can't try to leave his or her mark and make the world a better place, even if in the end he or she just makes a small difference.
At least this is my point of view and how I want to play it. I understand that it's the world of darkness, but there has to be some light at the end. If there is no hope for transcendence, for bringing hope, then what is the point of being a genius? What is the point of me playing this game if no matter what it's going to end badly? All the other lines have ways of becoming better, of finding peace. It requires a lot of hard work and sacrifices but it's there. I understand that this is your game, and if you want it that way then ok. I just want you to understand that I'm not against bleakness or horror. I'm not against the genius living at the edge of madness and in constant frustration at the world. I just want to see that there is point to all that suffering, a reason for me to be a genius in the first place.

[The Kings Raven]

Genius is not a hopeful game.

I agree with everything else you said but not this.

Genius is a game about accepting impotence. It's made almost explicit in the way the Peerage hammers home to it's members that they should give up on grand plans. Karl Marx is an example of the Genius who tries to save the world; but the iconic example of a Genius who Gets It would be The Doctor.

A Genius can't build a perfect society, but being a tourist across all time and space, meeting poeple, helping them in little ways, they can do that. Once you accept that you can't build utopia you're freed from the responsibility to try and can focus on doing some little thing right. Your own life, that one person you think is special and sane. That's a very hopeful message, it's one that's very appropriate to our time*, and rather Buddhist now that I think about it.

* I serously think that Genius is the best WoD game at saying something about life.

[Firanai]

I agree with everything else you said but not this.

Genius is a game about accepting impotence. It's made almost explicit in the way the Peerage hammers home to it's members that they should give up on grand plans. Karl Marx is an example of the Genius who tries to save the world; but the iconic example of a Genius who Gets It would be The Doctor.

A Genius can't build a perfect society, but being a tourist across all time and space, meeting poeple, helping them in little ways, they can do that. Once you accept that you can't build utopia you're freed from the responsibility to try and can focus on doing some little thing right. Your own life, that one person you think is special and sane. That's a very hopeful message, it's one that's very appropriate to our time*, and rather Buddhist now that I think about it.

* I serously think that Genius is the best game at saying something about life in the WoD.

I agree with you, and I think is the right view. A genius is not there to fix the world, but that shouldn't mean that he or she couldn't help making things a little better, like every other person does everyday all around the world. A genius becomes wise when he or she realizes that a better tomorrow is in the hands of everyone, and not just one person. His connection with the extraordinary is there to inspire people with his vision, not to impose the vision on them.

[Firanai]

Can I ask you what was the inspiration and reasoning behind the paradigms and their exclusivity with the wonders? I think is an original idea but I'm not 100% convinced that it may work.

[GibberingEloquence]

I know that failure is one of the central themes in Genius, but perhaps it's possible to give more agency to the PCs over their chance of success with a re-phrasing. Instead of messing up and then feeling like your Inspiration doesn't matter, you can say it's a game about trial and error. After all, the scientific method can be described as trial + error + methodology.

Geniuses don't suddenly forget all they knew about science because of their Breakthroughs. They approach science with an "anything goes" mindset. This is discussed in this video about Rick Sanchez from Rick And Morty, who could be interpreted as a Neid with low Obligation.

I believe Genius would benefit from a tone shift towards "you CAN get important things done, but don't expect things to go 100% the way you want". Just as the Initial Compromise questions in Demon reinforce the mindset of a spy, Genius could have its own starter questions. Besides the expected "what was your biggest mistake?" they would also have to answer "what do you most want to do right?"

I have read multiple times that Genius has too much overlap with COD and OWOD Mage, especially the latter. The isolation for knowing truths people will not or cannot accept, among other themes. I don't believe it's feasible to remove this overlapping theme from Genius, but it needs to be explored distinctly.

I, for one, would use the following comparison: if the Awakened are like Plato gesturing towards the Forms, the Inspired are like Aristotle gesturing toward the Empirical. I am no expert in philosophy, so take that as you will.

[malonkey1]

Can I ask you what was the inspiration and reasoning behind the paradigms and their exclusivity with the wonders? I think is an original idea but I'm not 100% convinced that it may work.

The idea is that a Genius can make just about any Wonder that any others can, but their specific world view makes them better at specific Wonders that align with it, at the cost of making it basically impossible to work with somebody who believes in something directly opposed.

[GibberingEloquence]

The idea is that a Genius can make just about any Wonder that any others can, but their specific world view makes them better at specific Wonders that align with it, at the cost of making it basically impossible to work with somebody who believes in something directly opposed.

Isn't that an Unmada problem? Geniuses are stubborn, sure, but their worldviews can adapt. Any clashing aesthetics and beliefs could be handled with the Universalist Merit or something like it.