[Aberrant] Is Cestus Pax a Superman figure?

[Penelope]

Obviously not. He has no hair and can beat most people with One Punch. He's clearly a Saitama figure.

Who? Idk who that is so I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.

I was gonna ask someone this privately but what’s Flanderization? I know it refers to a character from the Simpsons but I don’t know the show well enough to know exactly what it means. Thanks.

[glamourweaver]

I like 2e Pax better.

I kind of want to play up a middle point, make him a more flawed well intentioned person who legit wants to do good, but also cares more than he should about his fan base and pr.

[Penelope]

I kind of want to play up a middle point, make him a more flawed well intentioned person who legit wants to do good, but also cares more than he should about his fan base and pr.

I really like this interpretation.

[Mateus Luz]

Who? Idk who that is so I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.

Saitama is the One Punch Man, a Anime character that can defeat anyone with a single punch.

I was gonna ask someone this privately but what’s Flanderization? I know it refers to a character from the Simpsons but I don’t know the show well enough to know exactly what it means. Thanks.

Flanders is the ultimate good guy, a fervorous Christian that want to help everybody and always see the bright side of life. But he is also annoying as hell (or heaven...)

[Penelope]

Nvm. I looked it up.

You were defo being sarcastic 😊. Saitama is a funny character and Pax is pretty grimly serious.

[Penelope]

Saitama is the One Punch Man, a Anime character that can defeat anyone with a single punch.


Flanders is the ultimate good guy, a fervorous Christian that want to help everybody and always see the bright side of life. But he is also annoying as hell (or heaven...)

Thank you 😊

[glamourweaver]

Flanders is the ultimate good guy, a fervorous Christian that want to help everybody and always see the bright side of life. But he is also annoying as hell (or heaven...)

Flanderization as a term refers to the tendency, particularly in sitcoms, but found in other media as well, of a character who is initially relatively fleshed out turning one-note over time, usually as one particular funny element gets played to increasing extremes.

In Ned’s case the original point of the character was that he was the ideal family man contrast character from Homer, of which his faith was just one point - but over time this got played up to more and more ridiculous extremes until the character was specifically a joke about religious fundamentalism with his other traits buried.

[Penelope]

Flanderization as a term refers to the tendency, particularly in sitcoms, but found in other media as well, of a character who is initially relatively fleshed out turning one-note over time, usually as one particular funny element gets played to increasing extremes.

In Ned’s case the original point of the character was that he was the ideal family man contrast character from Homer, of which his faith was just one point - but over time this got played up to more and more ridiculous extremes until the character was specifically a joke about religious fundamentalism with his other traits buried.

Interesting. Idk that. Thank you.

[Queen Anne Country]

I feel like a good way to write Pax might be a bit like Major Havoc, from Empowered. He's an self-aggrandizing, self-promoting asshole... who still believes in going out and saving lives, and was the very first to stand up against a villain who'd depowered an entire room of heroes.

The 2e version isn't even necessarily incompatible with this, although there's more emphasis put on "yes, he really does try to be a role model and do the right thing" that I'd feel is necessary to cope with the inevitable Flanderization of any character among the fanbase. Pax isn't Superman, but he's someone who is trying to be Superman without it being a false front (like Homelander).

I appreciate that there is some Flanderization BUT I'm a little yawn about - I don't know - Homelanderization/Warren Ellisization of heroes too. I think one thing that makes The Boys so fresh for people who aren't as steeped in nerd culture as we are is that Homelander seems fresh to them. I feel like the rest of us have seen pastiches (etc) of Superman and Captain America (and Batman etc) for some time. A plain old good guy - with realistic and reasonable human flaws - is a really compelling character. Possibly even more interesting and tragic.

[Mateus Luz]

I didn’t know that. Thanks for the explanation.

[Mateus Luz]

I appreciate that there is some Flanderization BUT I'm a little yawn about - I don't know - Homelanderization/Warren Ellisization of heroes too. I think one thing that makes The Boys so fresh for people who aren't as steeped in nerd culture as we are is that Homelander seems fresh to them. I feel like the rest of us have seen pastiches (etc) of Superman and Captain America (and Batman etc) for some time. A plain old good guy - with realistic and reasonable human flaws - is a really compelling character. Possibly even more interesting and tragic.

Agree with every word. The deconstruction theme is a bit over explored by RPGs and I really prefer the more human aspect of the characters.

[LordHeru]

I'm actually so over the whole heroes can't be heroes and everything needs to be negative that the whole idea of the deconstruction theme, including in Aberrant with the transcendence element and whatnot, just annoys me to high heaven. Especially as no other power group in Trinity has a negative element to their power.

So the idea of a hero being a hero, while sometimes being a normal human level jerk, is good for me.

[Mateus Luz]

Well, as the subject was raised, the new rules for Transformations and Transcendence (mainly Chrysalis) are much better!

And you can make Transcendence much lighter, with no transformations related to it, just the distancing (or the opposite, no distancing, just transformations).

[Penelope]

I appreciate that there is some Flanderization BUT I'm a little yawn about - I don't know - Homelanderization/Warren Ellisization of heroes too. I think one thing that makes The Boys so fresh for people who aren't as steeped in nerd culture as we are is that Homelander seems fresh to them. I feel like the rest of us have seen pastiches (etc) of Superman and Captain America (and Batman etc) for some time. A plain old good guy - with realistic and reasonable human flaws - is a really compelling character. Possibly even more interesting and tragic.

I like RPGs, but I’m not steeped in nerd culture, which is probably why I got a little frustrated last night not knowing what all those words meant.

[Aliasi]

I'm actually so over the whole heroes can't be heroes and everything needs to be negative that the whole idea of the deconstruction theme, including in Aberrant with the transcendence element and whatnot, just annoys me to high heaven. Especially as no other power group in Trinity has a negative element to their power.

The current rules for it, though, are actually pretty good as a simulation of 'chasing after power above All Else tends to make you a jerk to other people'. Even a Terat doesn't *have* to increase Transcendence with the new Chrysalis rules, but they'll almost certainly acquire more transformations over time as they channel the flux away, and acquiring transformations isn't even necessarily a negative thing. Some people would pay you to have funny colored skin, glowing eyes, or the like, after all. Even Power Lock can be as much a blessing as curse - a Power Locked Quantum Agent is basically a full-time henchthing/ally, for example.

Aside from the bit you'll get by raising Quantum(and there's an argument that even a benevolently-inclined person is not going to be thinking on human terms if they can grow to the size of a Literal Mountain, or launch nuclear-strike fireballs) you'll generally only get Transcendence if you're playing it fast and loose.