(Aberrant) Let's ask the board...

[SpectacularTentacular]

So I notice that Aberrant no longer has a Mega-Edge for resisting powered persuasion or telepathy or other mind effects. (According to the early release, it makes it's reappearance in Adventure!) In your games, will Iron Will/Indomitable also work against Mind Reading and/or Revealing Read? Or will you introduce a Mega-Edge to rectify that?

What roll do you think the nova's resistance roll should be? Composure plus what? Does Mega-Composure give Scale? Since the main Aberrant book doesn't give much guidance, let's see what homebrew rules there are.

[Mateus Luz]

Powers have a more visible standard than Mega Edges, and so I agree on a more Green Lantern/Raven standard, or even maybe the normal tk with some ripples around, like in the comics for Magneto and Jean Grey.

[Deadmanwalking]

On the topic of the Subtle tag, how would you handle Telekinesis? Would you treat the default like how a lot of comics and Pax in 1e where there is a glowing energy indicator or like in a lot of live action media where it is an invisible force but you know it is happening because the object is moving.

Yeah, the default is glowing energy. Subtle can be purchased for 'invisible' telekinesis.

[Florin]

Quantum Anima with some kind of visible manifestation would be the default. It could be a giant green hand, a purple light, or a string of steel, whatever is appropriate to the character.

[stanlemon]

On the topic of the Subtle tag, how would you handle Telekinesis? Would you treat the default like how a lot of comics and Pax in 1e where there is a glowing energy indicator or like in a lot of live action media where it is an invisible force but you know it is happening because the object is moving.

[Timecrafter]

Oh, sorry, I confused the Tag name; when I said "Innocuous" I was actually thinking about the "Subtle" Power Tag, so yeah, Quantum Sense would normally detect them all, they'd be equivalent to "Subtle 1". :-]

[Deadmanwalking]

I think that on a purely mechanical level, what makes Toughness not particularly noticeable (though actually, not technically Innocuous...Quantum Sense would still pick it up IMO, making it Subtle 1 rather than the Subtle 2 that equates to innocuous), is that it's a Mega-Edge, and the Subtle Power Tag's language seems to say that only Powers are visible by default, not Mega-Attributes or Edges (though Quantum Sense makes it clear it can pick up Mega-Attributes and thus, I'd assume, Edges as well).

So yeah, I'd personally say that, if you want to get technical, all Mega-Attributes and Edges are effectively Subtle 1, and you could modify that with Tags as normal. That requires a bit of interpretation but seems consistent with the text in regards to Mega-Attributes, the Quantum Sense Mega-Edge, and Quantum Powers. The other arguable option based on Quantum Sense is that Quantum Sense doesn't work on Mega-Edges at all, making them effectively Subtle 2, but that seems wrong to me for both thematic and mechanical reasons (you should not be able to buy all 1 dot Mega-Edges at half price just by saying 'Quantum Sense can detect them'...that's weird and exploitive).

[Timecrafter]

Yeah, I'd interpret Toughness as unnoticeable by default. The rules in general seem to support that conclusion.

Personally, I think the Storyguide should adjudicate that in his world some Quantum Powers and Mega-Edges are naturally "Innocuous", and for these you can buy the negative tag "Conspicuous (-1)" to make them "not-Innocuous".

I also agree with Deadmanwalking: it really seems that in vanilla, Toughness is one of these "default Innocuous".

[Deadmanwalking]

Yeah, I'd interpret Toughness as unnoticeable by default. The rules in general seem to support that conclusion.

[Mateus Luz]

In theory, any appearance change that would be as permanent as Toughness Mega Edge (basically permanent except for Dormancy) would be a transformation. The mega edge itself should not change the appearance of the nova at all.

[Shepherdboi]

Alternately, you could claim that Toughness - by default - prevents sunlight from penetrating the skin enough to cause subsurface scattering. This means novas with Toughness naturally look a lot like high quality CGI effects from a decade or two ago. A proper perception check would clue an observer into why the nova looks subtly weird, and warn them that the nova is more durable than normal.

This justifies smart enemies going after super tough novas with anti-tank weapons, and could lead the group to investigate what lead their enemies to choose such over the top hardware. Did some spy betray their secrets? Nope, someone with a telephoto lens took their picture, and it came out looking photoshopped. If any member of the party has Mega-Cunning, they should get one free perception check to notice the problem due to their natural enhancement to such checks.

[SpectacularTentacular]

Cool! Thanks for the responses.

Now: As far as the Toughness Mega-Edge goes, I'd tend to treat it as naturally Innocuous (as the Tag) unless the nova PC has a Transformation attached to it, or one that naturally suggests a visibly not-quite-human body. Seem right, or should the Innocuous Tag be purchased for that?

[Mateus Luz]

After re-reading Telepathy and the Mental Mega Attributes I would say that Psychibending would be resisted by Mega Composure or Mega Resolve (the higher of the two) for trying to command or at least attack the mind of the Nova, and so must be resisted with Leadership scale, while Mind Bending is more passive, you read what is coming and the most you do is try to pluck some memory hooks to see what you get, so it would be facing Mega Intellect or Mega Cunning, the higher of the 2, for the Mental Scale.

[Florin]

If you're defending against literal mind reading (such as from a psiad with Telepathy), I could see Mega-Intellect or Mega-Cunning helping — the former because the thought patterns are increasingly alien to the telepath, and the later because the telepath just can't keep up.

Or even just the penalty to form bonds from having Transcendence could be applied, since that is kind of the same thing.

[Deadmanwalking]

Likewise, I was thinking of allowing the Mastermind Mega-Edge to be effective against telepathy/mind-reading, treating them as investigative procedures against the nova. After all, wouldn't a Mastermind be prepared for anything?

I really like this, and have officially stolen it for my House Rules (alongside adding Mega-Composure to Composure to determine difficulty).