[Aberrant] Is Cestus Pax a Superman figure?

[LordHeru]

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.

If I ignore the whole not a fan of Taint or Transcendence or Corruption or Flux at all and take the rules as is, yeah, I actually don't really mind how its written in the updated book. Between the way they changed how Transcendence is described and the way that Flux is gained and how Chrysalis is lost I was like "oh, nifty, cool."

I am probably going to have it so Quantum in Flux is lost per time unit (day or week) naturally and a single point of Transcendence is naturally burned in Quantum time units (be it week or month) but that is something that would work on top of the rules rather than gutting them.

So yeah, while I am not a fan in concept the way they implemented that element of the game is actually quite good and even fun, so I am grateful about that.

I actually have an idea about powered edges that would raise how much Flux can be earned before it turns to Transcendence and would also raise the Quantum minimum before auto-Transcendence is gained. But this is just ideas in my head.

The point is that I would like to be able to play superman like characters (or iron man or whatnot) that doesn't have to worry about suddenly going mad.

[Lady Gray]

I really adore the way Transcendence works hoenstly, even as someone who also finds the deconstruction of superheroes tiresome. I think what I like about it the most is that it's not inevitable, which makes it tie into the theme of Sacrifice really well. A nova has to actively choose to push their powers to the limit regularly before they start to increase their Transcendence, and even then there's a fair amount of leeway with building Transcendence before things start to really get negative, doubly so now that transformations are more disconnected. So you're in a position where a nova can either sacrifice their human perspective in pursuit of more power, or sacrifice the full breadth of their potential to keep that human perspective. And especially now that RAW don't make Transcendence 10 nova's overtly hostile monsters, neither option has to truly be bad. It's just a matter of making your choice and accepting that you can't have everything.

[Mateus Luz]

The idea of Transformations (aberrations on 1e) was not part of the deconstruction per se, but part of the super hero genre since the 60s or so, with X-men and their negative mutations, or even before with some characters having weird appearances, like sharp teeth or fiery hair (honestly I don't know when most of the characters were invented). So, it’s almost impossible to build the complete cast of superheroes with out rules for their transformations.

Transcendence was a much better term (not just for the giggling) as it is “neutral”, no devilish, no corruption, not destructive at all, actually it’s even a bit positive, “I am Transcendent” is very egotistical (bizarre, but not negative). Breaking the transformations from the transcendence made it even better, to the point I almost would make the increase in Transcendence cause only the extra difficulty to interact with non transcendent people, with no extra transformations.

Also, if you have a scene of hanging out with your friends every once in a while, you can just spend the bounds to get rid of flux with no need of “powering down” for a week. It makes that scenes of the heroes hanging out in the beach or having fun in the club more than just fan service.

Anyway, the point here is, new Aberrant is pretty much non deconstructive, except for the little tendency of loosing themselves to power if push it hard too often with no fun (between you and me, it would make you a real life psychopath even without quantum powers).

[Penelope]

The idea of Transformations (aberrations on 1e) was not part of the deconstruction per se, but part of the super hero genre since the 60s or so, with X-men and their negative mutations, or even before with some characters having weird appearances, like sharp teeth or fiery hair (honestly I don't know when most of the characters were invented). So, it’s almost impossible to build the complete cast of superheroes with out rules for their transformations.

Transcendence was a much better term (not just for the giggling) as it is “neutral”, no devilish, no corruption, not destructive at all, actually it’s even a bit positive, “I am Transcendent” is very egotistical (bizarre, but not negative). Breaking the transformations from the transcendence made it even better, to the point I almost would make the increase in Transcendence cause only the extra difficulty to interact with non transcendent people, with no extra transformations.

Also, if you have a scene of hanging out with your friends every once in a while, you can just spend the bounds to get rid of flux with no need of “powering down” for a week. It makes that scenes of the heroes hanging out in the beach or having fun in the club more than just fan service.

Anyway, the point here is, new Aberrant is pretty much non deconstructive, except for the little tendency of loosing themselves to power if push it hard too often with no fun (between you and me, it would make you a real life psychopath even without quantum powers).

Totally agree with your second to last paragraph.

[Queen Anne Country]

I do like Transcendence as a concept too - the White Wolf/Onyx Path games are great at tragic flaw esp Exalted IMHO - but what I really love about it is that it seems like it has to be fairly intentional. Becoming a monster is probably worth it to survive certain death but probably not for a show of power - or a gamer who likes playing Grand Theft Aberrant.