[All eras]Some lore questions

[Dataweaver]

Yes, it is.

[IanWatson]

Stalwarts don't necessarily become novas. Stalwarts are their own thing.

But yes, Hammersmith died in the explosion.

[Demigod Beast]

Ok! Thanks, guys!

[Mateus Luz]

My understand of Stalwarts is that they are what Novas would be if not by Mal work.
They are more stable in terms of Flux, gaining temporary transformations that vanish with rest, but far less powerful.

I made a house rule for Stalwarts using Quantum rules, and I put them as Tier 2 (TN 8) and limited to Q3, but immune to their own production of Flux (external sources still accumulate as it does for Baselines).

[Demigod Beast]

I’d use what’s in TC Adventure!, personally. I feel reinventing the wheel can be unnecessary, sometimes.

[Demigod Beast]

A TC Aether question:

1. Do any Gogs or Magogs survive into later Eras? Because the idea of Dracula meeting Otha Herzog is just too tempting to not use!

[Shepherdboi]

A TC Aether question:

1. Do any Gogs or Magogs survive into later Eras? Because the idea of Dracula meeting Otha Herzog is just too tempting to not use!

Adventure! characters do encounter the undead, some of which may be Magogs, and at least a few Magogs survive until the Nova age and pass themselves off as Novas.

Gogs would have a harder time becoming unaging since none of their Gifts have permanent effects. A super old Gog would either need to invent a Gift that makes the user younger whenever it is used, or find some other path to eternal life (ie. the fountain of youth, peaches of immortality, Olympian ambrosia, etc.).

[Demigod Beast]

Canonically? Coooool. Which ones? My dream of Otha Herzog meeting Vlad Tepes might now be possible!

EDIT: Or Antaeus running into Frankenstein’s monster!

[Shepherdboi]

Canonically? Coooool. Which ones? My dream of Otha Herzog meeting Vlad Tepes might now be possible!

No names were given.

[Demigod Beast]

Power-wise, how does a Magog stack up against a nova?

EDIT: Plus, a few more questions.

1. How many of you have homebrewed your own aliens, especially for TC Aeon?
2. Has anyone posted character write ups, if not here, then elsewhere online? Edition is irrelevant...for the most part. Era is unimportant.

[literatzi]

Power-wise, how does a Magog stack up against a nova?

EDIT: Plus, a few more questions.

1. How many of you have homebrewed your own aliens, especially for TC Aeon?
2. Has anyone posted character write ups, if not here, then elsewhere online? Edition is irrelevant...for the most part. Era is unimportant.

Other people can comment more comprehensively about Magogs, but the vibe I got was somewhere between Stalwart and Nova. A lot of their Gifts give them access to some Scale, and some Mega-Edge type effect, but they broadly lacked access to things like Nova powers. It's been a bit since I read Adventure but mechanically they felt a bit like Stalwarts+.

I'm getting ready to run an Aeon game focused on an exploratory jumpship, so I've been thinking about making new aliens but haven't gotten that far in planning yet. Focused on wrapping up my Scion game and then taking a few months off to play in games and plan for Aeon in more detail. I'll post if I make any new aliens!

wyrdhamster has a thread where he has made some antagonists using the system for making PC's for a game he is planning, and statted some of the Adventure era Storyguide Characters as starting characters.

The Storypath Nexus on drivethrurpg has a bunch of fan made stuff, usually for a couple of bucks. There are two Teambooks for Aberrant, some characters made for games at conventions, and I think a Psion strike team or something. Onyx Path also has a cheap supplement or two with pre-made characters.

[Demigod Beast]

Thank you! Time to go a’huntin’....

[wyrdhamster]

2. Has anyone posted character write ups, if not here, then elsewhere online? Edition is irrelevant...for the most part. Era is unimportant.

My NPCs write-ups:
1. Fan take on Max Mercer for 2E Adventure!, just after Hammersmith Event and his return to world ( circa 1923 ).
I use mainly TC Core and Adventure manuscript - but used a bit of Aether to fill in his life gaps, as it's just start of Adventure! era. 😎
[ I need him for my own game. Will end it in few days now. ]
2. Ferdinand 'Franz' Herz - Thule/Nazis Mesmerist villian for 2E Adventure! [ Also will end him in couple of days, as I need Franz for adventure. 😎 ]

[Shepherdboi]

Power-wise, how does a Magog stack up against a nova?

PC Novas get 150 xp at character generation while Magogs get four Gifts and three points to spread among their Facets, so Novas are meant to be much more powerful than Magogs in theory. In practice a tricked out Magog can stomp on a Nova in a very limited subset of abilities after a mere four sessions, and get even scarier after that since Facets cost 10 xp and Gifts cost 5 xp while Quantum costs 16 xp and Mega-Attributes, Mega-Edges, and Powers cost 12 xp.

A Magog with 135 xp (which is less than a Nova starts with) has maxed all three Facets and taken all seven of the Gifts that boost Scale by the appropriate Facet. That gives the Magog Scale 6 to Durability, Might (lifting strength only), leadership rolls, mental rolls, mental speed, physical speed, and Magog Gifts where Power Scale is relevant.

The biggest limits on a Magog's powers are the fact that Aether's Gift word count is split between three character types while Aberrant is dedicated entirely to Novas, and most of the really good Magog Gifts require the character to take a new deviation. The first limitation isn't too bad since you can easily invent new Gifts, and the second doesn't have to be crippling if you choose the right deviations.

[Mateus Luz]

XP is not the best measure in this case. Magogs can increase their scale much faster than Novas. Sure, Novas start better, but if you put them evolving side by side, 150 xp after you will have Magog far more powerful than a Nova.

For example, to reach scale 6 in all scales (power, might, durability, body speed, mind speed, mental and social) need the initial package and 150 xp (135 xp for the 4 facets and 15 for gifts).
A nova need many many more, mainly because they don’t increase scale as a simple thing, they increase aspects of that. Basically they need 5 dots in 6 mega attributes and 5 or 6 dots in mega edges, that total 400+ XP.

Magog power grow is too fast to compare to anything. I personally would limit it to half facet instead of full facet.