Mega-Appearance
Mega-Attributes represent the extremes of nova nature
(and thus, some would say, of human nature as well). Nowhere is this more
apparent than Mega-Appearance. It shows, in the most obvious and up-front way possible,
just how much better — and how much worse — novas can be than humans.
Typically, Mega-Appearance represents a nova who is extraordinarily handsome or beautiful. In this case
the nova should have a standard Appearance score of 3 or higher,
and 5 is not uncommon. Unlike the "Unearthly Beauty" aberration, the
good looks deriving from Mega-Appearance generally are not especially unnerving
to normal humans. They may inspire many emotions — love, lust, envy, worship,
you name it — but they usually do not give rise to the feelings of unease,
disquiet and even disgust that Unearthly Beauty does. Indeed, Mega-beautiful and
-handsome novas are among the most popularr of the "new humans," and
they are frequently featured on television, in advertising campaigns and other
media outlets.
Each dot of Mega-Appearance representing good looks
grants an additional die on all Style rolls. The character's beauty or
handsomeness is such that he is able to make even the worst clothes look good
(not fashionable, maybe, but good). Similarly, the character usually makes a
good first impression on looks alone.
In some rare instances Mega-Appearance can represent the
opposite extreme, signifying a nova whose looks are Mega-ugly, even
Mega-horrifying. In this case the nova's standard Appearance rating cannot be
higher than 1 without special Storyteller permission (perhaps a half-beautiful,
half terrifyingly ugly character could have a high Appearance and high
"ugliness" Mega-Appearance, for example). Mega-ugly characters
typically have high Taint ratings, and they often become as mentally twisted as
their bodies are physically twisted — antisocial and cruel, and all too ready
to destroy any beauty which confronts them. A Mega-ugly character is an
exception to the rule that Mega-Attributes cannot transcend their normal human
Attribute analogs; a character can have an Appearance of I
and Mega-Appearance of any level so long as it is defined as Mega-ugliness.
Mega-ugly characters do not receive bonus Style dice.
However, they receive a like amount of bonus dice to any Intimidation rolls,
• Stupendous: Miss or Mister America looks plain next to
you. You receive one extra die for all Style rolls (in addition to your
Mega-Attribute dice).
•• Amazing: A face that can launch at least
a hundred ships, if not more. You
receive two extra dice for all Style rolls.
••• Incredible: Okay, at least 500
ships. You receive three extra dice
for all Style rolls.
•••• Spectacular: Helen of
••••• Godlike: Aphrodite, Freya.
You receive five extra dice for all Style rolls.
Mega-Appearance
Enhancements
Enhancements that characters with Mega-Appearance may
purchase include:
Appearance Alteration
Don't like your looks? IF you're a nova with this
enhancement, you can do something about them.
Appearance Alteration allows a nova to make minor changes
to his or her appearance. This can be done simply on a whim, or for fun.
However, one of its main uses for novas who rely heavily on their good looks is
to make sure they live up to a particular person's or culture's idea of what is
"beautiful." Someone who is beautiful in, say,
A nova with Appearance Alteration can satisfy all of
these people. He can make minor changes or subtly remold his body to conform to
the desires of those around him. "Minor changes" include: changing
hair, eye or skin color; gaining or losing up to about 50 pounds; gaining or
losing up to about four inches of height and increasing or decreasing any
particular aspect of figure or appearance by no more than 20% or so.
System: The nova can make changes in his appearance within
the aforementioned guidelines, either consciously or unconsciously. Any changes
other than those listed require the Storyteller's permission. In no event can
the character reshape his body to grow claws, wings or eyestalks, for example.
Only outward physical appearance can change. Since this enhancement depends
upon the perceptions and tastes of those observing the character, it cannot
function as a disguise or to conceal the character's identity.
To change his appearance consciously, the nova need only
pay the one quantum point and will the changes into effect. To change
appearance to match what a particular person or group of people find desirable,
the nova must pay the quantum point and be in that person or persons' presence
for a minute or two. During that time the changes will slowly but surely take
place. The nova can draw the changes out over a period of up to a day if he
prefers, which is sometimes done to keep from frightening people who are not
used to nova powers.
A nova cannot use Appearance Alteration to make himself
resemble a specific other individual; that requires the Copycat enhancement.
Nor can he use it to hide particularly grotesque aberrations unless the
Storyteller specifically permits it. For example, some forms of Aberrant Eyes
might be affected by Appearance Alteration; Vestigial Limbs could never be
hidden this way.
The power lasts for one scene.
Awe-inspiring
Many myths tell of gods and demons whose visages are too
"awful" (awe-inspiring) for mortals to gaze upon directly. A nova
with this enhancement has taken a page from that book, for his appearance, too,
inspires awe.
A nova with the Awe-Inspiring enhancement has looks that,
for whatever reason, give rise to awe, admiration and even worship. Normal
humans often have trouble dealing with him in a straightforward manner. Weak-willed
people feel more inclined to edge away nervously or be
worshipful; even stronger-willed people feel intimidated, inadequate and cowed.
It's not uncommon for an Awe-inspiring nova to be surrounded by an entourage of
fawning, adoring lackeys wherever he goes.
System: This effect works only when the people are in the
nova's presence and looking at him; when they are away from him or not looking
at him Awe-Inspiring cannot affect them. Of course, they may come to worship and
revere him anyway, even if they are not near him, but that depends upon the
individuals in question. Awe-Inspiring is not Domination; it's far weaker than that,
and it shouldn't be played that way.
For each dot the player of a nova with Awe-inspiring has
in Mega-Appearance, he receives one automatic success when making Intimidation,
Command and Interrogation rolls (in addition to the standard Mega-Attribute bonuses
for Mega-Appearance). He should get similar bonuses to any roll related to
persuading or inspiring people. This enhancement is one of many reasons why government
officials are terrified of the idea of novas becoming heavily involved in
politics or religion.
Awe-inspiring is affected negatively by Taint. For each
aberration the nova has, reduce the Awe-Inspiring automatic successes by one.
If the nova's aberrations ever exceed his dots in Mega-Appearance, his
Awe-Inspiring enhancement no longer has any effect on people. Similarly, a
character with Awe-Inspiring generally should not be Mega-ugly; that does
little to inspire worship in anyone.
This enhancement costs one quantum point to activate and
lasts for a scene. Even when it isn't actively "on," the nova is
still phenomenally captivating, and the Storyteller should keep this in mind
(servers are deferential, groupies throw themselves at the nova, etc.).
Copycat
Being yourself gets kind of boring sometimes. Why not be a famous model or actor? Or the
President? Copycat will let a nova do just that, at least as far as outward
appearance goes. After studying the subject to be imitated (either in person or
from a good photograph), the nova can make himself look like that person — even
a person of the opposite gender. However, these changes are purely cosmetic; no
changes to internal organs occur. System: Copycat allows a nova to shape
himself into an exact duplicate of another person. Making the change does not
require a roll. However, the nova must be in the presence of the person to be
duplicated, or have a high-quality visual representation of him or her to work
from.
It takes about one minute to make the changes; the nova can
cut this time in half by making an Appearance roll. Copycat costs one quantum
point to activate, and the changes last for a scene.
Copycat does not allow the character to add to or remove
anything from his physical form. He can't grow a tail, lose his Vestigial
Limbs, create a sixth finger on his left hand, change his fingerprints or
retina prints, or do anything similar.
Face of Terror
A nova with this enhancement can resemble something out
of a horror movie. His appearance becomes so terrifying that few people can
stand to spend any time with him. Instead, they run screaming in fear; if
prevented from fleeing, they may gibber in terror, faint or suffer a heart
attack.
System: Face of Terror allows a nova to assume a terrifying
appearance. This ability is most common among novas who are Mega-ugly, but it
is not restricted to them. Sometimes it is even more horrifying to see a form
of great beauty slowly warp itself into something terrifyingly hideous.
To use this power, the nova simply spends a quantum point.
If he is ordinarily ugly, the terrifying changes to his appearance may be
slight, or even nonexistent — but something about his appearance becomes not
just bad-looking, but very frightening. It's as if an aura of fear surrounds
him. If the character is normally beautiful (or at least not
ugly), the changes to his appearance will be much more extreme. They
will take place over no more than a minute, and sometimes, it happens much more
quickly than that.
In either case, the nova's appearance remains terrifying for
a scene; this time limit can be extended by spending more quantum points. While
this enhancement is in effect, the player receives three automatic successes when
making Intimidation rolls or other rolls based on fear or disgust. This bonus
includes any power or ability that allows the character to inspire those
emotions in others.
To a certain extent, this power depends upon the psyche
of the person(s) looking at the nova. Ugliness and horror, like beauty, are
often in the eye of the beholder, so the nova's Face of Terror may look
different when he confronts, say, a group of Asians instead of Americans.
First Impression
First impressions are just as important as everyone says.
A character with a high Appearance rating is typically quite good at making
them; one with Mega-Appearance even more so. However, a nova with this
enhancement beats them both. Unless he deliberately tries to offend or annoy
someone whom he is meeting, he always makes just the right impression.
Depending upon what the person he meets is seeking, he may seem to be an
enjoyable, likable person; someone who can get the job done; a potential mate;
you name it. Whatever the other person is seeking, she will find it in the
nova.
System: When meeting someone for the first time (or
perhaps after a long time apart), the nova may spend one quantum point to
activate this enhancement. If he does so, the other person automatically gains
a good first impression of him. He may deliberately say or do something to
negate this effect, but even an accidental faux pas or unthinkingly
tactless remark will not be enough to shake the good impression he makes. That
good impression will remain with the other person until the nova does something
to ruin it (whether in the person's presence or not; bad reports about the nova
in the media, for example, may rum many uses of First
Impression) or other people convince the target of First Impression that he has
the nova all wrong. Of course, even a good first impression may not get the
nova what he wants — making a good impression on the guards at the White House doesn't
mean they'll let you in.
Furthermore, this effect also makes the nova seem like
just what the other person is looking for. )f the nova
is on a job interview, First Impression will make him seem to be perfectly
suited for the job. In a singles bar or nightclub, it will make him seem like
the perfect date, potential spouse or one-night stand (depending upon what the other
person is there for).
Mr. Nobody
In some ways, this paradoxical power is the opposite of
Mega-Appearance, since it allows a nova to make himself
look completely normal. The otherwise beautiful, handsome or ugly nova is able
to convert his features into the unobtrusive ones of Joe or Jane Average. The bright
side to this anonymity is that it becomes easy to pass for a normal human.
System: By spending a quantum point, the nova is able to
mask his Mega-Appearance. For all intents and purposes he has an Appearance
score of 2 — average. He looks just like the everyday man on the street.
Although he cannot hide the fact that he radiates quantum energy (which other
novas can often detect), to the average person he will seem like just another
average person. Alternatively, the character can simply spend a quantum point
to become completely unobtrusive ("I'm not the droid you're looking for").
However, a character with this enhancement still may have
difficulties passing for normal if he has acquired any aberrations. Mr. Nobody
masks two point of Taint, plus one extra point per dot of the character's
Mega-Appearance. Additional points of Taint still affect the nova's ability to
interact with baselines without disturbing them. Furthermore, Mr. Nobody will not hide grotesque physical aberrations such as
Vestigial Limbs or Sloughed Flesh; it will, however, cover up Unearthly Beauty.
The effects of this power last for a scene.
Seductive Looks
A nova with this enhancement has the ultimate in sex
appeal. He looks just like the man (or woman) of the target's most lustful
dreams. If the target is aroused by leggy women, for example, a female nova with
this power would seem to the target to be a bit taller and leggier than she
might really be — she'd be "just right" as far as the target is
concerned.
System: By spending a quantum point, the nova makes himself seem extremely sexy and seductive to the target.
(Note that the target need not be of the opposite gender as the nova.) The
target perceives him as having those attributes that the target finds most
desirous or arousing, and the nova's appearance subtly changes to match that
perception. The changes fade as soon as the target is no longer in the nova's
presence; activating them again requires another quantum point.
While this enhancement is active, the nova receives three
automatic successes on any roll to seduce or persuade the target. If there is any
question, it is the Storyteller's discretion as to whether the bonus applies. Players
and Storytellers should remember that this enhancement is based entirely upon
the nova's appearance. It does nothing to change his habits, attitude, or personality
— as sexy as he looks, he may still turn the target off. However, Seductive
Looks, and the bonuses it provides, can be used in conjunction with the
Seductive enhancement for Mega-Charisma. Used together, the two enhancements
make the nova both look and act like the target's ultimate sexual fantasy.
The effects of the power last for a scene.