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[Dataweaver]

Trying out a different approach to the mechanics:

The business about Mind-blowing Clues and assembling them to achieve a Breakthrough is there same. What's different (and hopefully simpler) is what the Breakthrough gives you.

Instead of a Mad Science skill, you list subject matter that you gained knowledge of in your character sheet: basically, you have a list of what Breakthroughs you've achieved. They might come in multiple levels representing increased mastery of the Breakthrough, or it might be an all-or-nothing thing; I don't know yet. Either way, mastery of a Breakthrough...

[Dataweaver]

Something I'm hoping to see when and if we get Deviant's items: something to the effect of Hunter R&D (which I hope in the second edition will be based off of the Investigation rules), designed primarily for making tools but also capable of being used to create Manticores and maybe even Deviants. In addition to its utility in helping enterprising Deviants equip themselves (and driving stories as they seek out the resources needed to make whatever they're trying to make), it could also be used to show, not tell, exactly how unreliable the process is.

[Dataweaver]

Part of being agnostic is that while you can't confirm the involvement of a particular metaphysics, you can't reject it either. Take the Cainite Heresy: their Endowment is fueled by the metaphysical properties of blood. Is it fueled by the same properties that manifest as Vitae in a vampire? Maybe; maybe not. And then there's the Cheiron Group.

I don't think that Dave meant that nothing that empowers Deviants comes from any other gameline's metaphysics; only that Deviant won't explicitly tie it together, and there will always be the (additional?) factor of a cracked soul that sets...

[Dataweaver]

It's worth noting that's Hunter and Deviant share an agnosticism toward metaphysics. Yes, deviant explains things through a cracked soul; but it doesn't explain for the particulars. And I'm fine with that. It's part of the game's versatility. What I'm thinking of is the diversity in Hunter Endowments.

[Dataweaver]

I tend to agree.

[Dataweaver]

“Canonically”? For a fansplat? Does not compute.

As I hinted at before, I'm more inclined to think of Deviant as the “canonical” Mad Science gameline of the Chronicles of Darkness, with the inventors who can pull off the sorts of inventions that Deviant features without the backing of a conspiracy being a “lesser template” (if that notion has any applicability where Deviant is concerned). Much like how Geist is the Chronicles of Darkness game about post-death characters, but ghosts are a “secondary template” instead of being the central focus of the game the way they are...

[Dataweaver]

Fansplat-wise, I'm half expecting Deviant (or Clade Companion) to provide mad scientists as a secondary template.

[Dataweaver]

I have a concern about two of the Clades: the Cephalists and the Mutants. The other three Clades are described in terms of what is done to you. These two are described in terms of how you react to it. In particular, both are defined in terms of how you reject what they try to do to you: Cephalists reject it on a mental, emotional, or perhaps spiritual level, whole Mutants reject it on a physical level. Both imply that your Progenitor was going for something else than what he ended up with.

But I've seen too many stories featuring what amount to Deviants with powers of the mind or...

[Dataweaver]

You want a Princess link? Replace the human conspirators in Deviant with a race of cute but callous aliens, and you have Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

[Dataweaver]

I'm thinking of places, events, or items that were engineered or accidentally exposed to something that resulted in them having something to the effect of Variations and Scars.

[Dataweaver]

Or things, or events.

[Dataweaver]

I think there's also a lot of crossover potential with most of the gamelines in the form of Deviants who were created using elements of other cosmologies:

Coactives could be created through specially treated vitae, essence, mana, Pyros, Glamour, plasm, Pillars, or Aether.

Chimerics could be created using body parts from most of the other supernatural types (except perhaps mages and Beasts, whose “supernatures” don't have a physical component, and Unfleshed or constructed Prometheans and Demons, who would arguably result in Invasives).

Properly controlled...

[Dataweaver]

I'm seeing a lot of ideas of other games that would enrich Deviant tremendously. Mages and their Obsessions over Mysteries would form a great basis for mad scientists who create Deviants (among other things); those who want to give Deviants a happy endgame state might borrow ideas from Promethean's Pilgrimage.

I also see a lot of conceptual resonance between Changeling and Deviant (not just the thematic “someone changed you into something not entirely human, and now you're at odds with them", but also a certain similarity between Clarity and Stability (both are handled as...

[Dataweaver]

Another purpose of the Web of Pain is that it lets you connect Deviants that were created by different conspiracies....

[Dataweaver]

Frankly, I don't see this as being any different than the perception of Vampire as a game featuring an inevitable slide into a state of monstrosity....

[Dataweaver]

There's nothing saying that a Renegade can't rely on Loyalty. Just, probably not Loyalty to the Conspiracy that created it.

[Dataweaver]

…which makes me wonder what the other three will cover....

[Dataweaver]

I'll be skipping the screen (I don't do physical products these days); but the Clade Companion is a must have for me.

(I wonder if they're using the Clades as an organizing principle of sorts: this Stretch Goal opened with a line about the Cephalists; maybe further chapters will be introduced with lines about Chimerics, Invasives, Coactives, and Mutants.)

[Dataweaver]

And a stretch goal that expands Deviants beyond human stock. Cool! I have several thoughts about how else Deviant might be expanded (e.g., something like Reliquary, but built around Deviant's concepts and game systems).

[Dataweaver]

I'm sure they will be. That said, I'm expecting a “build your own conspiracy” setup, with one or two examples of what a Conspiracy might look like; and if the Chiron Group isn't mentioned, it will be easy enough to use it anyway.