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Aberrant: Teragen

When we look at a gaming supplement; what we are mostly looking for is definition. This may be definition in terms of game statistics, or definition in terms of game background.

The question is, what should we expect of a game supplement that deals with a movement that is in the throes of defining itself? If Teragen is anything to go by, a great deal.

The Book

The book is divided in the fashion of most of the Aberrant & Trinity lines, into an "in character" section of background and a "gamespeak" section. However, the "character" section consists of more info-dumping than usual for White Wolf in-game fiction, and mostly in more standard formats than the sometimes ugly mismatch in the Aberrant rulebook. The interior of the book is reproduced entirely in black & white. the illustration is to the usual recent White Wolf standard; a reasonable average, with occasional highs and lows with neither standing out to surprise the reader. And at least the easily recognizable characters seem to stay that way, although I'm still struggling to identify positively all the characters in the Last Supper pastiche.

Included once more in the "in character" section are the "Nova Philes" info panels with meta-stats (statistics in a format someone in the game world may give if they were making, say, a set of Nova Tradable Cards) and background info. I have a tiny problem with these. Are they supposed to be a game world thing, such as an N! network information resource, or an out of character game aid? I use to assume the former, if only because it's a cuter idea, and fit with the tone of the text and the position in the "flavour" section, but since some of these Nova Philes contain information the character portrayed has spent some time and effort to conceal, they can't be. "Consistency is the bugbear of small minds." And English game reviewers. Who said "same thing"?!

While the format of the bulk of the info dumping is both reasonable (in the form of a status report amongst the prime movers of the Teragen) and gives a fair feel for reach of the characters portrayed, it still feels a little forced. I'd like to see a transcript of a freeform of the same event to get a better feel for the cut & thrust at the heart of the movement. In fact, I may have to run one...

Which brings me to one of the strengths of the book: it gets you thinking like this a lot. Nearly every page, whether it's in the "In character" section, the "gamespeak" background section, the campaign ideas or the rules section, will give you an idea for a scene at the very least, if not a whole adventure or campaign. But I digress.

After the "in character" section (which comprises over half the book) comes an "out of character" campaign section, filling in the gaps and clarifying some points from the previous section. It also gives an overview of "what will happen" on the way to the future of Trinity, although, once more, it's stressed that each campaign is its' own creature, and the nature of events is ill defined in the official timeline. Less compelling than the previous section, it is needed to make sense of what went before, and what comes next.

"Next" being the "practical use" section, where the box of firecrackers they've been showing for the first 80% of the book gets lit, and makes a fairly impressive display. The section on using Teragen as antagonists in a campaign gets fairly short shrift, perhaps justifiably (to show just how interesting they can be requires that players talk to their enemies, even when Utopia briefings would probably include warnings not to enter into dialogue with these occasionally mind bending terrorists). The ideas for playing Teragen characters, caught in the cogs of a nascent organization of Ubermenschen who know what they are, are much more juicy and a lot more dangerous to the characters than simply being the victims of Teragen attack. If the phrase "getting on the wrong side of Divis Mal" doesn't worry you, you haven't been paying attention to the background.

The final section is the new rules which, even then, manages to give heaps of flavour to colour the rules. This is because the main new rules governing Teragen guiding the path of their taint are intimately bound up with Teragen philosophy. I had a similar feeling on reading these to the one I had when reading the Sabbat rules for vampire, only here they fit and feel more "right," more in keeping with the ethos of the group and the game.

Word of warning to GM's, though; these rules can be munchkin heaven. You'd think with the extreme nature of powers in Aberrant, Munchkin's would be happy enough, but noooo..... there's always one.

My answer? When Johnny Munchkin tries to min-max using the chrysalis rules, say that he's fundamentally misunderstood the nature of chrysalis (it happens, even to the best of terats) and all those taint points he converted to chrysalis come flooding back as... yup, a GM controlled 18 taint superbeast!

Let's see yer next character take that one on...

Summary

So, is the Teragen a political movement, a religion, a terrorist organisation, or a nova self-help contact group?

Yes.

Is Abberant: Teragen an encyclopaedia, monster manual, rules supplement or book of plots?

Sort of.

Will you need to do a fair bit of work to use it in an Aberrant campaign?

Sure.

Will you want to?

You'll have a damn hard time stopping yourself after reading it.

Is it the best of a pretty high quality line of products?

It just pips aberrants: worldwide at the post... get both.

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

Aberrant Teragen
Author: Boulle, Asheim, Souban Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Line: Aberrant Cost: $17.95 Page count: 144 ISBN: 1-56504-683-8 SKU: WW8520 Capsule Review by Pete Darby on 07/31/00. Genre tags: Modern day Superhero	Body Aberrant: Teragen When we look at a gaming supplement; what we are mostly looking for is definition. This may be definition in terms of game statistics, or definition in terms of game background. The question is, what should we expect of a game supplement that deals with a movement that is in the throes of defining itself? If Teragen is anything to go by, a great deal. The Book The book is divided in the fashion of most of the Aberrant & Trinity lines, into an "in character" section of background and a "gamespeak" section. However, the "character" section consists of more info-dumping than usual for White Wolf in-game fiction, and mostly in more standard formats than the sometimes ugly mismatch in the Aberrant rulebook. The interior of the book is reproduced entirely in black & white. the illustration is to the usual recent White Wolf standard; a reasonable average, with occasional highs and lows with neither standing out to surprise the reader. And at least the easily recognizable characters seem to stay that way, although I'm still struggling to identify positively all the characters in the Last Supper pastiche. Included once more in the "in character" section are the "Nova Philes" info panels with meta-stats (statistics in a format someone in the game world may give if they were making, say, a set of Nova Tradable Cards) and background info. I have a tiny problem with these. Are they supposed to be a game world thing, such as an N! network information resource, or an out of character game aid? I use to assume the former, if only because it's a cuter idea, and fit with the tone of the text and the position in the "flavour" section, but since some of these Nova Philes contain information the character portrayed has spent some time and effort to conceal, they can't be. "Consistency is the bugbear of small minds." And English game reviewers. Who said "same thing"?! While the format of the bulk of the info dumping is both reasonable (in the form of a status report amongst the prime movers of the Teragen) and gives a fair feel for reach of the characters portrayed, it still feels a little forced. I'd like to see a transcript of a freeform of the same event to get a better feel for the cut & thrust at the heart of the movement. In fact, I may have to run one... Which brings me to one of the strengths of the book: it gets you thinking like this a lot. Nearly every page, whether it's in the "In character" section, the "gamespeak" background section, the campaign ideas or the rules section, will give you an idea for a scene at the very least, if not a whole adventure or campaign. But I digress. After the "in character" section (which comprises over half the book) comes an "out of character" campaign section, filling in the gaps and clarifying some points from the previous section. It also gives an overview of "what will happen" on the way to the future of Trinity, although, once more, it's stressed that each campaign is its' own creature, and the nature of events is ill defined in the official timeline. Less compelling than the previous section, it is needed to make sense of what went before, and what comes next. "Next" being the "practical use" section, where the box of firecrackers they've been showing for the first 80% of the book gets lit, and makes a fairly impressive display. The section on using Teragen as antagonists in a campaign gets fairly short shrift, perhaps justifiably (to show just how interesting they can be requires that players talk to their enemies, even when Utopia briefings would probably include warnings not to enter into dialogue with these occasionally mind bending terrorists). The ideas for playing Teragen characters, caught in the cogs of a nascent organization of Ubermenschen who know what they are, are much more juicy and a lot more dangerous to the characters than simply being the victims of Teragen attack. If the phrase "getting on the wrong side of Divis Mal" doesn't worry you, you haven't been paying attention to the background. The final section is the new rules which, even then, manages to give heaps of flavour to colour the rules. This is because the main new rules governing Teragen guiding the path of their taint are intimately bound up with Teragen philosophy. I had a similar feeling on reading these to the one I had when reading the Sabbat rules for vampire, only here they fit and feel more "right," more in keeping with the ethos of the group and the game. Word of warning to GM's, though; these rules can be munchkin heaven. You'd think with the extreme nature of powers in Aberrant, Munchkin's would be happy enough, but noooo..... there's always one. My answer? When Johnny Munchkin tries to min-max using the chrysalis rules, say that he's fundamentally misunderstood the nature of chrysalis (it happens, even to the best of terats) and all those taint points he converted to chrysalis come flooding back as... yup, a GM controlled 18 taint superbeast! Let's see yer next character take that one on... Summary So, is the Teragen a political movement, a religion, a terrorist organisation, or a nova self-help contact group? Yes. Is Abberant: Teragen an encyclopaedia, monster manual, rules supplement or book of plots? Sort of. Will you need to do a fair bit of work to use it in an Aberrant campaign? Sure. Will you want to? You'll have a damn hard time stopping yourself after reading it. Is it the best of a pretty high quality line of products? It just pips aberrants: worldwide at the post... get both. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Aberrant Teragen

Aberrant: Teragen

The Book

Summary