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Imagine my surprise when I noticed that, although there were a ton of reviews for the Aberrant main rules, there have been none that I can see for the first two supplements. As an avid (some would say rabid, but lets not go there) player and Storyteller of the game I thought I would remedy the situation.

In this capsule review I will cover the first supplement, which is the standard first offering of a Gamemasters (Storytellers) screen and Sourcebook. This is also a play test review, though the adventure I ended up running bore only passing resemblance to the one Mr. Blackwelder included. There is a bit of semi-spoiler information included so players beware. The fact that the Line Developer (Though it says Robert Hatch I think Mr. Blackwelder develops the line now, no offense to Mr. Hatch intended) wrote the actual book was a big plus in my mind, especially a developer who takes the time to check and occasionally post on the mailing list.

A quick word on Aberrant and Trinity, Aberrant is a prequel to the White Wolf RPG called Trinity (formerly Aeon no thanks to MTV/Viacom). Where Trinity (which is developed by Andrew Bates) is about a Psionic sci-fi setting that is in many ways super heroic in tone, Aberrant is set over a hundred years before, in the near future of 2008. It is not the World of Darkness by any means. It is a world where "Demi-gods" walk amongst us thanks to a little piece of flesh in the Brain called the M-R Node and the Power of Quantum control and it's infinite variations. Though it is in many ways a "Superhero" game, it is by no means four color Superman stuff, it is more like The Authority/Watchmen/Wild Cards/Astro City. Reality with a twist. Global conspiracies and an underlying theme called a Metaplot (in this case highlighted by the death of a popular Nova {Superhero} named Jennifer Landers or "Slider" to her adoring fans.) There are only about 6000 of these Novae at this point, the first ones erupted in 1998 in the wake of a satellite explosion (The Galatea, which spread radioactive Isotopes through the atmosphere), the game starts ten years later.

The various Factions, both established and nascent are akin to David and Goliath, if David could hurl a Tank. Project Utopia is a semi-benevolent organization that most Aberrants (Rogue Nova in most cases, numbering about forty at this early date) believe killed one of their own iconic "Team Tomorrow" agents. (Slider) The shadowy directive, Project Proteus, and the secessionist Nova group called the Teragen are but a few groups that twist and turn the Metaplot. In a world where Cancer was cured in a few years with Nova Mega-Intelligence a deep sickness called Taint grows and is fertilized by corruption and greed. This taint itself will lead to the Aberrant War and eventually to the year 2120 and the Trinity game.

So, with that out of the way, let's talk about style shall we?

The Screen is just what one would expect, Glossy, fairly sturdy, and a nice Gatefold picture of the Cover Art of the Soft-cover (unlimited) edition of the main rules. The hardback limited has the same picture, but inside. It has the standard charts and tables, Armor, Weapons, Healing etc. better than many I have seen as far as usefulness but of course never the "perfect" selection of charts. (Which is why I usually make a sub-screen of my own favorites) In my opinion any screen that has an Automobile and a Truck listed as Melee weapons gets extra points on my scorecard.

The book itself is the same, glossy cover, fairly sturdy, decent layout. It takes the rather eclectic Newsfeed approach of the main rules, which in this case works fairly well, at least to me. It will seem a little "rules light" to some of the more "lawyerly" types among us, if all catch my meaning. The art is overall slightly above average, other than a few pieces above and below the scale of my admittedly overcritical eye, they all convey the information and tone well enough. In fact the only thing that keeps it from getting a five in style is a silly one, but important to me. They didn't take the time to name the book, which is a huge Faux Pas to long time White Wolf gamers like me (well, at least some of us). All of their "Screen-books" to date have been named, it adds to the flavor and makes it easier to refer to them. So they get docked a point, missing the "Excellent" category by a hair's breadth.

Now, to the substance, first lets break the book down into its component parts:

The first 17 pages talk about the corporations of the world of 2008, and in so doing also tells more of the enormous influence that Novae as a whole have upon society as well as the changes that have come since the first (known) Eruption in 2008. From the Microsoft/Viacom called Viasoft and it's continuing strong-arm business practices and Nova recruiting schemes.(much like modern times, Bill Gates, the Sequel) to the entertainment giant/Project Utopia affiliate Novation Enterprises which exploits the staggering popularity of Novae, both "good" (Team tomorrow) and "bad." (Teragen and Aberrants) To the N! network, the most popular entertainment station in history and on into Novelty Consulting a Nova Powered consulting firm in Hong Kong. It covers the good the bad and the ugly of this diverse set with a fair amount of detail. Story Hooks abound in this section.

The next couple of dozen pages cover ::Drumroll:: Religion. Normally this is a section I would not want to discuss, much less critique, but the Author does such a wonderful job on it he actually got me thinking along plot lines that I personally would normally stay well away from. (No offense meant to any religion, but the word fanaticism has some unpleasant connotations in modern society) So, we kick it off with the speech of His Holiness the Pope Benedict XVI declaring Novae to be "human" and thus under the Aegis of the Church. Then it deftly slides into information on the Baptists before plunging into one of the modern Novae embracing churches, The Unitarian Universalist Association. Our tour then continues to the Mormons, Pagans, into Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism until it stops with a generous helping of various cults that are gaining members. The cult portion in particular is important to the third portion of the book, the included "module" called Permanent Vacation.

The last half of the book (about 30 pages) covers Permanent Vacation and the Dramatis Personae within. It takes the players (who will get the best results if they are playing an actual Aberrant troupe, as opposed to the Directive, or even Project Utopia members) from the decadent Amp Room of Ibiza, to the basically anti-Nova city of Marrakesh, and on to the enforced splendor of Monte Carlo. The players are on the trail of some serious information about the death of Slider, and there are many foes who would hinder them on their journey for one reason or another.

Though I ran this Adventure it turned out amazingly different that what is indicated in the book, a good thing in my mind, but not indicative of the quality of the adventure itself in any way. The story itself is very linear, as many pre-made adventures tend to be. The surrounding will obviously need a little research, but the bookwork is minimal, my research took less than half an hour (though I usually do a lot off the cuff so mileage will vary). I found that the best thing about the three parts was the varied NPC's included, complete with statistics and motivations they were easily "twisted" to fit my altered timeline and outcome. All in all having a dozen more examples of Nova and non-Nova personalities to sprinkle into my world was the best part of the book. The actual information in my opinion was not well fleshed and is easily, along with the fairly sparse setting material, the main weakness of "Permanent Vacation." In the end, it was fun, what more can be asked?

In conclusion, The first part of the book was excellent, a little bit of fluff here and there, but overall helpful. The Adventure itself will be very useful to a semi-experienced Storyteller, a bit to much work for a beginner, and (as in my case) will at the least supply a bevy of NPC's for the Chronicle. Though the story setting provided the proper tone and feel of each area, a short bibliography in the half a page of white space on page 71 would have helped a lot. Still more than enough to give it a 4 (Meaty). Kudo's to all involved and this is a must have, the Screen itself is useful, the book as much or more so.

My .002 cents (Inflation sucks)

Slade AKA Timothy Whisenhunt

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Aberrant Storytellers Screen (and Sourcebook)
Author: Kraig Blackwelder Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Line: Aberrant Cost: $14.95 Page count: 72 Screen ISBN: 1-56504-627-7 SKU: WW8501 Capsule Review by Timothy Whisenhunt on 09/15/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Espionage Conspiracy Superhero	Imagine my surprise when I noticed that, although there were a ton of reviews for the Aberrant main rules, there have been none that I can see for the first two supplements. As an avid (some would say rabid, but lets not go there) player and Storyteller of the game I thought I would remedy the situation. In this capsule review I will cover the first supplement, which is the standard first offering of a Gamemasters (Storytellers) screen and Sourcebook. This is also a play test review, though the adventure I ended up running bore only passing resemblance to the one Mr. Blackwelder included. There is a bit of semi-spoiler information included so players beware. The fact that the Line Developer (Though it says Robert Hatch I think Mr. Blackwelder develops the line now, no offense to Mr. Hatch intended) wrote the actual book was a big plus in my mind, especially a developer who takes the time to check and occasionally post on the mailing list. A quick word on Aberrant and Trinity, Aberrant is a prequel to the White Wolf RPG called Trinity (formerly Aeon no thanks to MTV/Viacom). Where Trinity (which is developed by Andrew Bates) is about a Psionic sci-fi setting that is in many ways super heroic in tone, Aberrant is set over a hundred years before, in the near future of 2008. It is not the World of Darkness by any means. It is a world where "Demi-gods" walk amongst us thanks to a little piece of flesh in the Brain called the M-R Node and the Power of Quantum control and it's infinite variations. Though it is in many ways a "Superhero" game, it is by no means four color Superman stuff, it is more like The Authority/Watchmen/Wild Cards/Astro City. Reality with a twist. Global conspiracies and an underlying theme called a Metaplot (in this case highlighted by the death of a popular Nova {Superhero} named Jennifer Landers or "Slider" to her adoring fans.) There are only about 6000 of these Novae at this point, the first ones erupted in 1998 in the wake of a satellite explosion (The Galatea, which spread radioactive Isotopes through the atmosphere), the game starts ten years later. The various Factions, both established and nascent are akin to David and Goliath, if David could hurl a Tank. Project Utopia is a semi-benevolent organization that most Aberrants (Rogue Nova in most cases, numbering about forty at this early date) believe killed one of their own iconic "Team Tomorrow" agents. (Slider) The shadowy directive, Project Proteus, and the secessionist Nova group called the Teragen are but a few groups that twist and turn the Metaplot. In a world where Cancer was cured in a few years with Nova Mega-Intelligence a deep sickness called Taint grows and is fertilized by corruption and greed. This taint itself will lead to the Aberrant War and eventually to the year 2120 and the Trinity game. So, with that out of the way, let's talk about style shall we? The Screen is just what one would expect, Glossy, fairly sturdy, and a nice Gatefold picture of the Cover Art of the Soft-cover (unlimited) edition of the main rules. The hardback limited has the same picture, but inside. It has the standard charts and tables, Armor, Weapons, Healing etc. better than many I have seen as far as usefulness but of course never the "perfect" selection of charts. (Which is why I usually make a sub-screen of my own favorites) In my opinion any screen that has an Automobile and a Truck listed as Melee weapons gets extra points on my scorecard. The book itself is the same, glossy cover, fairly sturdy, decent layout. It takes the rather eclectic Newsfeed approach of the main rules, which in this case works fairly well, at least to me. It will seem a little "rules light" to some of the more "lawyerly" types among us, if all catch my meaning. The art is overall slightly above average, other than a few pieces above and below the scale of my admittedly overcritical eye, they all convey the information and tone well enough. In fact the only thing that keeps it from getting a five in style is a silly one, but important to me. They didn't take the time to name the book, which is a huge Faux Pas to long time White Wolf gamers like me (well, at least some of us). All of their "Screen-books" to date have been named, it adds to the flavor and makes it easier to refer to them. So they get docked a point, missing the "Excellent" category by a hair's breadth. Now, to the substance, first lets break the book down into its component parts: The first 17 pages talk about the corporations of the world of 2008, and in so doing also tells more of the enormous influence that Novae as a whole have upon society as well as the changes that have come since the first (known) Eruption in 2008. From the Microsoft/Viacom called Viasoft and it's continuing strong-arm business practices and Nova recruiting schemes.(much like modern times, Bill Gates, the Sequel) to the entertainment giant/Project Utopia affiliate Novation Enterprises which exploits the staggering popularity of Novae, both "good" (Team tomorrow) and "bad." (Teragen and Aberrants) To the N! network, the most popular entertainment station in history and on into Novelty Consulting a Nova Powered consulting firm in Hong Kong. It covers the good the bad and the ugly of this diverse set with a fair amount of detail. Story Hooks abound in this section. The next couple of dozen pages cover ::Drumroll:: Religion. Normally this is a section I would not want to discuss, much less critique, but the Author does such a wonderful job on it he actually got me thinking along plot lines that I personally would normally stay well away from. (No offense meant to any religion, but the word fanaticism has some unpleasant connotations in modern society) So, we kick it off with the speech of His Holiness the Pope Benedict XVI declaring Novae to be "human" and thus under the Aegis of the Church. Then it deftly slides into information on the Baptists before plunging into one of the modern Novae embracing churches, The Unitarian Universalist Association. Our tour then continues to the Mormons, Pagans, into Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism until it stops with a generous helping of various cults that are gaining members. The cult portion in particular is important to the third portion of the book, the included "module" called Permanent Vacation. The last half of the book (about 30 pages) covers Permanent Vacation and the Dramatis Personae within. It takes the players (who will get the best results if they are playing an actual Aberrant troupe, as opposed to the Directive, or even Project Utopia members) from the decadent Amp Room of Ibiza, to the basically anti-Nova city of Marrakesh, and on to the enforced splendor of Monte Carlo. The players are on the trail of some serious information about the death of Slider, and there are many foes who would hinder them on their journey for one reason or another. Though I ran this Adventure it turned out amazingly different that what is indicated in the book, a good thing in my mind, but not indicative of the quality of the adventure itself in any way. The story itself is very linear, as many pre-made adventures tend to be. The surrounding will obviously need a little research, but the bookwork is minimal, my research took less than half an hour (though I usually do a lot off the cuff so mileage will vary). I found that the best thing about the three parts was the varied NPC's included, complete with statistics and motivations they were easily "twisted" to fit my altered timeline and outcome. All in all having a dozen more examples of Nova and non-Nova personalities to sprinkle into my world was the best part of the book. The actual information in my opinion was not well fleshed and is easily, along with the fairly sparse setting material, the main weakness of "Permanent Vacation." In the end, it was fun, what more can be asked? In conclusion, The first part of the book was excellent, a little bit of fluff here and there, but overall helpful. The Adventure itself will be very useful to a semi-experienced Storyteller, a bit to much work for a beginner, and (as in my case) will at the least supply a bevy of NPC's for the Chronicle. Though the story setting provided the proper tone and feel of each area, a short bibliography in the half a page of white space on page 71 would have helped a lot. Still more than enough to give it a 4 (Meaty). Kudo's to all involved and this is a must have, the Screen itself is useful, the book as much or more so. My .002 cents (Inflation sucks) Slade AKA Timothy Whisenhunt Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Aberrant Storytellers Screen (and Sourcebook)