Trinity Storytellers Handbook The Clock Ticks On With the mysterious Venezuela Phenomenon sweeping the world, rumblings

of dissent in the FSA, and rumors of the Coalition headed for Earth, the 22nd century has never been as full of challenges and mysteries. Now, more than ever, you need to know where you stand. And Cycles Turn The Trinity Storytellers Handbook expands the options available in the Trinity Era, giving Storytellers the information theyve craved since the very beginning. Youll learn the secrets of the on Trinity, explore Aberrant society, and have a closer look at the field of noetic science. Plus meaty goods like crossover information and new psionic abilities! A must for all Trinity Storytellers! Trinity Storytellers Handbook includes: * A new multiple-step character creation system, in the style of Aberrant and Adventure! * A look at how Process 418 has begun affecting the world * Crossover information, including character creation in the Trinity Era, and mixing up each types role in the Trinity Universe * Entirely new Modes for characters to learn * A look into the secret annals of the on Trinity, from the Aberrant Era onward Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Prologue Fiction Strange Cargo Five hundred thousand kilometers from Earth, a remodeled Vulcan IV freighter orbited slowly, waiting. Amado Reyes carefully focused the directional receivers on the outside of the ship, grinning as he found radio chatter. It didnt take long to translate and decode the stream from the Earth-bound ship; they obviously thought their mission was secret enough not to need strong encryption. He looked up from the console to his captain. Thirty minutes, Jude. Then we can move to intercept and theyll have nowhere to run. We better tell Xiang and Max to ready their hybrid. I cant see this thing being unprotected, if its as good as you say it is. Judit turned to Amado with a slight smile. Well, the internal communications are down again and its your turn to get to the hangar and stop Xiang and Max wasting their time playing poker. And wake up Mona on your way back. I want our ace in the hole to be ready. Amado had joined with Judit Fangs group of belt pirates as the ultimate way to avoid a lethal overdose of FSA firepower. He had gone up the gravity well after his father died and ended up drifting the asteroid belt as a miner. A bar fight with a group of Federated States ex-pats would have ended differently had it not been for Judes intervention, and he saw a future with her crew that was more than he had. He had been with her when she first got word of this job. The was an encryption key waiting in her mailbox on Fuyoushi, and when her computer agent went looking it found information on this unscheduled flight from Venus back to Earth. Amado had read over her shoulder and though Jude was convinced he was still sure it was too good to be true. If Offworld Enterprises were slipping black market tech down the well to Earth, if someone holding an impromptu auction would make more profit than the crew would see in two years. She had decided that the crew had to try.

Outside of the bridge and crew quarters the Vulcan was a mess of gantries, hanging wires and unpredictable grav-crystals. The hangar for the single E-15 fighter was a converted section of the cargo hold right behind the quarters, so at least the Mexican didnt have to crawl through the crawlspace which was the only way to cross the hold. The hangar was in no better repair than the rest of the ship, but the bright lights the pair used to check the hybrid out after every flight dispelled the more worrying shadows. Max, a short, wiry Australian, sat at a table playing patience, a game he had never been able to master. Xiang, the big Nipponese engineer who doubled as the hybrids gunner was busy uncoupling the fuel and data lines from the fighter. [Art: A shot of the hangar in disarray, with the fighter in a pool of light. Gantries, trailing wires, and a guy playing cards nearby would be good] Amado, just the guy we were hoping to see! Max threw the cards down on the table. How much longer have we got to wait before we call this whole thing off? His accent had been carefully selected from movies and sims, and had just the right madcap tone to cause many people to discount him as insane. Twenty-five minutes, so get outside in ten. If this thing is coming, I cant see it being unaccompanied, especially with their assumptions of normalcy. They may be brave, but they sure arent stupid. Xiang nodded and stowed the last of the data lines, the cover closing with a heavy bang as Amado left. Monas quarters took him down two levels. As Amado opened the door she was facing away from him, watching a recording of some show about belt pirates. Its funny, Monas voice was distant, as if she didnt care if he listened, they always romanticize what they dont know. Take this, their view of pirate life. Dashing adventure in the wilds of space, returning to opulent surroundings and hosts of partners, a far cry from ambushing ore carriers amongst the asteroids. They dont have to hope to make enough profit on the cargo to see a meal or two, they dont see that this life is desperation. In their fictions the characters choose to do it, rather than being pushed so far theres no other option but to drift and starve to death. Yes. Its a laugh a minute. Once youre done with your impromptu social commentary, could we possibly have your presence on the bridge to cheer us all up? Just over twenty minutes until contact and Jude asked me to come wake you. She remained placid. If Judit needs me, I will be there, with or without your attitude. Amado turned and made his way back to the bridge, not caring if she followed. He saw the screens in front of Poul, their pilot, flicker to displays of the transports flight path and present location along with the gravitational topography of local space. Amado settled in and started looking through the communications from the transport. From the sound of things, theres a single support fighter, with just one guy aboard. That sounds too easy, I dont trust it. You should. Monas tone was certain as she settled into the gunners chair. They have a single fighter in support. The girl piloting it is too young to have any real experience. Judit was rubbing her eyes as Amado looked up. The wait must have been getting to her as well. Either theyre sending her out because its a milk run and they really dont think anyones going to come, or shes some kind of decoy. My moneys on the latter. Were supposed to think that the

one fighter isnt going to do anything, then a radio signal goes out and we have five fighters up our backsides from out of nowhere. Amado nodded. Theyre not talking like its a milk run. Xiang and Max are away, and the external communications are online. Oh, and ten minutes until they hit us. Poul, get ready to announce our presence. The captain donned a bulky headset, yet another relic of the old ship. Max, theres one support that we are reading. Draw it off and disable it quickly so we can be ready for anything coming at us from Luna. Only aim to cripple, though. I dont want us to become murderers all of a sudden. The Australians voice sounded almost disappointed. If you insist. We are honorable, remember? Or should I cut off a finger so you dont forget? My memory is just fine, Jude. She cut the channel without another word. Poul and Amado were making last second course corrections for their entrance, Amado moving down to the co-pilots berth after finally convincing the third-rate Agent to transfer the navigation and communication functions there as well. Mona was serene in her chair, a faint smile playing across her face which Judit couldnt help but return. A good thing the gunner was behind the pilots, she reasoned. That smile was almost too calm. Amado signaled as the ship moved forwards, and he couldnt help but see Jude turn into Judit Fang, daughter of the ruling dynasty of FangTech. Never mind that she was half-European or estranged from the dynasty, sometimes he could see her as the perfect officious Chinese pirate. Even though she was just speaking into a headset microphone her back straightened and shoulders squared. Ladies and gentleman of the unannounced transport vessel, I would like to offer you a bargain. You do not attempt to communicate with whichever associates you had hoped to offload your cargo to and instead surrender it to us, and we shall let you carry on your way. Though we are pirates, we do not wish to kill you, and thus we make this most generous offer. The transports support fighter responded by firing lasers. Fortunately, the reason for the freighters constant state of disrepair was its heavily upgraded armor and weapons, and the lasers only scorched the paint. Xiang, go! The E-15 screeched past the view afforded by the screen as Poul changed their vector swiftly. The glow of lasers, tinted red so the ships on both sides could see them, flashed past but none scored hits. Amado used a hologram of the local area to better follow what was happening and point Poul in the right direction. 330 by fifteen! Now! Monas order shocked everyone. Poul made the turn just in time. A secondary camera showed a barrage of lasers from the main transport slice through the space they had just occupied. Jude saw the indicators for both fighters spiraling in impossible maneuvers and wondered at how accurate Monas vision of the pilot had been. A burst of missiles sliced within a hair of their own fighter which was on the defensive. Mona, we need more like that. Ignore the transport for now, focus on their fighter. Whoever that girl is, shes better than anyone Ive ever seen. [Art: If we can get two larger ships and two fighters going hell-for-leather Ill be a very happy guy

E-15 fighter is p 284 in Trinity, Vulcan Mark IV is p 124 in Tech Manual, if my on-fu is correct. Cant recall if there are any visual resources. There could be a shot in the colour section of the Tech Manual, but theres nothing in the writeup of the ship itself. It is mentioned as being very customizable so make it look almost patchwork. These aint your glam TV pirates, after all. The transport should look plain, and very mundane, a cargo bay and crew section strapped to a big engine.] The freighter creaked alarmingly as it executed another turn. You want us to ignore the big lasers and hunt down a fighter? Thats bullshit. One look at his captains face told Amado to shut up while he still could. He shuddered with the ship, punching up a status display on one of his screens. More lasers, this time the dorsal cargo bay. No breach but its a matter of time. We just have to scare the fighter away. Max should see us coming and regroup. We have gone from being the cat to a very scared mouse and I want to know why. If were the mouse Mona, train our claws on their fighter. Fire warning shots at will. Half power. Give her a chance to bail. The Vulcan wasnt graceful as it forced its way towards the dueling fighters. Instead, Judith was relying on their heavy armament and a show of overwhelming force to scare the girl. She was good, but a pirates hoard of weapons was enough to make the bravest escort think twice. Max, swap. Well scare the fighter, try to draw some fire from the transport and stop it getting closer to Luna. The E-15 curled into an elegant loop past the freighter, unleashing sparkling laser bursts which missed by millimeters and stung the sides of the transport. Flakes of paint boiled silently into the night, but no damage to anything major on the ship. The Vulcan was having better luck against the fighter. Poul and Amado were playing bloodhound, giving Mona a full range to work with. The pilot could have been the most skilled in the world, but when your attacker can see where you will be five seconds into the future, Jake Danger himself would have had a very limited lifespan. The laser banks stabbed again and again, scorching the ship. Jude broadcast towards the fighter. Our gunner can keep this up all day. We are deliberately trying to keep you alive but when she gets bored I cannot stop her from accidentally focusing the beams upon your craft. Leave now and you will not be pursued. Her words were given more impact by the dorsal turret spinning elegantly to shoot three incoming missiles without missing a single pulse. A moment of indecision, and the fighter headed for Luna. Shes gone. Now its two against one. Am I the only one glad to have those odds back? Amado reviewed the latest damage. More flaking paint and some heavy dents in the engine cowlings. Were it not for their own escort theyd have been in more trouble. Definitely not. Poul, dont give them anything to hit. Mona, if you cant stop them shooting back, I am going to be very displeased. The freighter spun, accelerating back towards the transport. The two pilots muttered vectors and approach ranges between each other. Jude took time to note that the strange fighter was nowhere to be seen.

Missiles away. The Vulcan lurched down as soon as the missiles were released and rolled about its central axis to bring the ventral coilgun to bear. Three shots streaked away to punch holes in the transport. One of the rounds was rewarded with a shower of sparks and the incoming laser fire seemed much lighter. Take their power system. Leave them dead in the water. Xiang appeared to know what his captain wanted without needing to hear as his remaining missile streaked into the weakened armor over what looked to be a control conduit. The engine died as safety protocols activated. Vacuum-sealant foam blossomed out into space, indicating a pressurized area underneath. The lasers fired one last time and the returned fire ceased. Ladies and gentlemen of the unannounced transport vessel, I feel I must extend our most generous bargain once more. If you are good enough to allow us to dock and remove whatever of your cargo we require we shall leave you to make repairs and continue upon your way. If you would rather be left floating in an escape pod whilst we tow this strange vessel of yours for our own profit I suggest you take it upon yourselves to resist. We are willing to show mercy, if you are intelligent enough to recognize this. There was no audible answer. The main airlock hatch cycled, inviting visitors. Amado, you and I will go. We only have two suits, after all. Mona, get in touch with Max. If either of you note anything incoming, try to fight it off and warn us. The Vulcan rotated around as Amado struggled into the bulky pressure suit. It was made for a normal person, not a bulky Mexican, and he had to fight the buckles every step of the way. The seals tightened as the grav-plating finally failed. He flexed his neck, trying to get used to the restricted movement. When we get our profits from this job, Im going to see if anyone can get their hands on one of those biotech suits. Or at least get another suit which fits. Dont jinx the job. Judit tossed him a sonic carbine and maneuvered herself through the inner airlock door. As soon as he followed, the lock cycled and they dropped into the emptiness of space. The transport didnt try to move, didnt even close the airlock. Amado had to force the door closed then work the manual override. Inside, the transport was dark, the lights killed to save energy. Amado was the first to lose his helmet, and he tried the internal communications panel. Dead. This whole place seems too still. Note the low temperature: this is basic life support. Theres maybe one person here. We need to find the cargo hold. An uncooperative computer yielded to Judes ministrations and she led the way deeper inside. Helmets again. We dont know whats pressurized and what isnt. The transport remained quiet. Amado was forced to wonder who had fired upon them, if only to take his mind off the dark corridors. The only answer he could think of was a network of SIs, all controlled by the one person still on the ship. That worried him. A ship needed people to work, to have Agents running everything seemed unnatural. He stopped short when Jude pointed to a door. Emergency airlock into the cargo chamber. We should find everything we want through there.

Did the computers say anything about opening the hatches? No. But there should be a release inside for emergencies. Surely they cant trust the computers for anything. I hope youre right. Through the airlock, most of the containers were marked with model numbers. Black tech, ship parts that hadnt gone through a full safety examination, Judit pondered. She would have to take whatever she could get the most of in the Vulcan, and hope that the price would be good enough. Amado was over by a crate which looked to have power. You might want to see this. As she got closer, Judit was able to see what had caught his attention. It looked like a cryogenic stasis chamber, but nobody had seen those since the sleeper ships had been launched a long time ago. This one was too big for a human, and it looked off. Certainly additional regulators had been added, and yet more equipment looked to have been jury-rigged at a later date. There was only one identifying mark on the device, a nameplate. Amado peered closer, trying to make out what it said. Enkidu, it looked like. Whatever that meant. [Art: A shot of this cryostasis chamber, large and clunky. Big enough for someone seven foot tall, five foot wide. Inspired (i.e. Adventure-Era) science modifying Trinity hardtech, a small digital readout perhaps. One figure in a vac-suit for scale] Judit looked to him. We should take this. And those three containers of engine parts. Poul may need to scam us a landing point somewhere on Luna, but Im sure we can get a lot of profit from this haul in the Pit. What do you know? For the first time in our career we may be able to afford upgrades along with our repairs when we get back to the Belt. Theres a lot of yuan here. She could hear Amados grin. Lets get loaded up and get out of here. I want to be rich as soon as I can. Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Introduction A Look Inside Many things in the Trinity Era are no longer as sure as they used to be. With the Venezuelan Phenomenon, the Huang-Marr Conspiracy, Chromatic attacks and the Coalition on its way, psions and neutrals alike are left wondering whats going to happen next. As a Storyteller, whats next is up to you. This book aims not to cram some predetermined story down your throat, but give you the tools you need to tell your own stories. To help make this book as real as possible, it follows the same general format as its official companion volume, the Trinity Players Guide. [edit] Breakdown The Introduction is what youre reading now. Contained herein is the breakdown youre currently reading, as well as answers to some of the common questions Trinity players may have. Chapter One: The on Trinity is not an overview of the Trinitys public face, but rather, its hidden side. Read the history of the Trinity, find out about Babel Dossier and Project Rewrite.

Chapter Two: Noetics contains a look from a Storytellers point of view at the field of psi research, the advances made in the last twenty years, and theories about how the taint powers that Aberrants use fit in. Information on playing Proxies is even provided. Chapter Three: Aberrant Society takes a look at what Aberrants have been up to since they left Earth. The major group is, of course, composed those working for the Colony, but as the discovery of Eden shows, its hardly the only one. Chapter Four: Creating a Story offers tried-and-true advice for the Storyteller with an emphasis on creating any story you like with Trinity. The Trinity RPG does, after all, offer room for nearly any of the standard science fiction tropes which tickle your fancy. Chapter Five: The Trinity Universe takes a step back and examines the place that Trinity holds within the larger Trinity Universe setting. Options on using other super-normal beings in place of psions and other crossover details are provided. Chapter Six: Above and Beyond shakes things up a little. What would Trinity be like with daredevils as humanitys protectors instead of psions? What would ISRA be like if they were the psychokinetic order? Find answers to these questions and more. Chapter Seven: Option: Alternate Character Creation gives Storytellers powerful new tools to introduce into their games: brand-new Modes. Plus (finally!) a multi-stage character creation process in the vein of Aberrant and Adventure, finally bringing Trinity into line with the newer games in the Trinity Universe. The Appendices give all that extra little information youve been looking for. Stats for animals. A full index for every Trinity book so far. Many of you will appreciate the Story To Come section, which covers the upcoming metaplot elements in future Trinity books. Trinity Q&A Trinitys been out for seven years as of this writing, and thereve been a lot of supplements for it. Not every question has been answered, however, and not everyone knows where to find what has been answered. So we present you with the answers to some of the games common questions. Why are psions so weak in comparison to Aberrants? The psions benefactors wanted controllable shock troops against the Aberrant menace. The psions had to be strong enough to be able to fight the Aberrants with some degree of success, but at the same time not be as powerful. Powerful psions might mean the Aberrant War all over again, but with the psions aware of the benefactors existence. That said, most Aberrants that your psions will face arent necessarily the novas from Aberrant. See page XX for more information. Why are psions limited to just one Aptitude? That seems a rather artificial limitation.It is artificial. This question ties in directly with the previous one. Part of the limitation imposed was that each of the orders would only be able to use a single Aptitude. This makes them masters within their own fields of expertise, but nearly useless (noetically speaking) outside that. It also let the benefactors run the Quantakinetics as a fairly self-contained experiment. Unfortunately for them, humans ended up being even cannier than they expected. Research is

pushing the boundaries of whats possible within each Aptitude, and the Venezuelan Phenomenon appears to have enabled the triggering of some naturally-occurring psychomorphs. The limitations imposed on psions are becoming strengths. What that means for the Trinity Era remains to be seen. Who are these benefactors you keep talking about?The benefactors are a euphemism that the proxies use when referring to the entities that endowed them with their powers. During the recent invasion of Chrome-Prime, forces were exposed to the creature behind Chromatic aggression: a luminous ball, an entity composed almost entirely of psi energy. This entity and its ilk are known as the Doyen, and are the beings that triggered the proxies and taught them the secrets of creating biotech. Since the taint energies the Aberrants use interferes with psi, the very existence of the Aberrants is a threat to the Doyen. One faction of the Doyen decided to use humanity as a weapon against itself, and created the psions. Another faction thought all humanity needed to be wiped out, and sought another species to use as their troops. They picked the Chromatics. Whats this Process 418 / Venezuelan Phenomenon all about? On August 3rd, 2122, an explosion erupted from within the Venezuelan Quarantine Zone. The Zone was set up by the Nora, ostensibly due to remnant Aberrant activity and possible taintcreated viruses. In reality, the Nora had several research stations hidden here, where they worked on the nature of psi, why Aptitudes were limited as they were, and other such questions. Many of the Chitra Bhanu the Nora had captured were working in such installations. One of these installations apparently duplicated Dr. Hammersmiths work from the early 20th century. The difference this time was that due to advances in the tools used and understanding of the subquantum universe, the effect was much stronger. A wave swept through the quantum and subquantum mediums, propagating through space faster than the speed of light. Psi use becomes tricky for a while, and clairsentients have trouble viewing the past beyond August 2122. Theres a veritable explosion in the numbers of paramorphs, psiads and low-taint eximorphs. See Terra Verde and Asia Ascendant for more details. You may also want to check out page XX for more information on playing these types of characters in the Trinity Era. Whats a psychomorph? An eximorph? A paramorph? These are scientific terms used early in the days of the on Trinity. Psychomorphs are any entities capable of consciously manipulating subquantum energies (psi). Psions are the most common modern manifestations of psychomorphs, although naturallyoccurring psions, or psiads, also fall under that category. Eximorphs are entities capable of consciously manipulating what are popularly referred to as taint energies (quantum). The mutated, insane Aberrants are the most common of these, although the Upeo wa Macho have found some sane eximorphs on a distant colony world who call themselves novas. Paramorphs are a vague category. Theyre notable in that they dont fit into the other categories. Their powers are very low-key; indistinguishable, in fact, from skill or luck. The most notable modern paramorphs are Nippons artificially-created Superiors, although more and more people are showing evidence of paramorph abilities in the wake of the Venezuelan Phenomenon. Just how many psions are there? Or paramorphs, for that matter?

These numbers are based on those found in various sources, such as Asia Ascendant and Aurora Australis. Around 27 out of every 500,000 humans is Inspired, to borrow a term from Adventure. They have the genetic sequence needed to become a psychomorph, an eximorph, or a paramorph. As an example, present-day Earth (assuming a population of 6 billion) would have about 324,000 Inspired. Just a little bit less than 1 out of every 200,000 humans has the capability to become an eximorph. Most of these will quickly build up high levels of taint and become an Aberrant. However, 1 out of 20 eximorphs has a high resistance to taint and may go off to become a nova, such as those found by the Upeo wa Macho living on Eden. Present-day Earth would have 29,455 people who could theoretically erupt as novas, only 1,473 of which would be low-taint. One out of every 25,000 humans has the potential to become a paramorph. Its possible there have always been a lot of paramorphs, but the nature of their powers makes them nearly invisible to detection. Present-day Earth would have a whopping 240,000 paramorphs. One out of every 100,000 humans has the capability to become a psychomorph. About 75% of these are found by the orders and the on Trinity. Present-day Earth would have 60,000 psions, 45,000 of which were triggered. As of the start of 2122, there are 56,000 active psions, referring to those triggered in a Prometheus Chamber. This, incidentally, places the population of Trinity-Era Earth at around 7.5 billion. The distribution of active psions, in order from most to least: [PRODUCTION: INSERT TABLE HERE] Psychokinetics 25,000 Electrokinetics 10,000 Vitakinetics 10,000 Clairsentients 5,000 Telepaths 5,000 Biokinetics 1,000 Teleporters 250 Quantakinetics 25 [END TABLE] Yes, there are still quantakinetics out there. Note that the above doesnt necessarily mean that there are, for example, 10,000 psions in Orgotek: Orgotek may have more or less than that amount, due to cross-order pollination. There are simply 10,000 practicing electrokinetics. Wait... psions can be triggered by one order and join another? Yep. This is mentioned in the core book, but certainly bears repeating. You can be a clairsentient who has joined the Legions to give them a leg up by surveying the enemy remotely. You can be a vitakinetic who has joined Orgotek due to an interest in biotech. You can be a telepath who joined the Upeo wa Macho as a liaison between the clairsentients who view a destination and the teleporters who go there. The on Trinity are the organization who facilitates this horse trading, and the orders usually honor a trade as a favor. If the Legions get their hands on a latent electrokinetic, theyll usually send them to Orgotek for triggering and training before getting a fully-fledged EK back. Some orders, however, are more reticent in this cross-pollenization, the Nora and Ministry in particular. Most people sent to the Nora for BK triggering end up staying with the Nora, but its still possible for them to leave and join another order. What happens if a pregnant woman gets dunked? The orders are usually very careful about this sort of thing happening, because it could have unforeseen consequences. To date, it hasnt yet happened not to say it couldnt in your chronicle! Since the Prometheus Chambers work on a genetic level, theyd theoretically recognize a

different DNA pattern, such as that of a fetus in the womb. No ones put this to the test, however. A child whose mother was triggered in this fashion would be watched very closely by the psi orders. Hed at the very least be a latent, likely very strong in whichever Aptitude his mother was triggered for. It may, in fact, be that he must be triggered in the same chamber as his mother. If placed in another tank, he may react the same way any full psion would when dunked for a second time: get ripped apart into so much biological goo. Or, a tank may even trigger him at the same time as his mother, resulting in perhaps the youngest full psion in the world. What about the normal child of a psion? Depends. If the child was born before the parent (or parents) were triggered, then theres nothing outstanding about her, although she has likely inherited the genetic marker for psionic latency. On the other hand, if the child was born after the parent was triggered, she may either be a strong latent or even a full psiad (a naturally-occurring psion). If she has just one psion parent, or two parents with the same Aptitude, shell probably manifest that same single Aptitude, just as though she were triggered. If both parents are psions with different Aptitudes, the child may be a full psiad with access to multiple Aptitudes. As it is, the first psions were triggered 20 years ago, so any children they might have had are still fairly young. What would happen if _______ got dunked? Hoo boy. Ill tackle what I can. Qin and Chromatics are already psi-users Qin have limited telepathy, and Chromatics have Electrokinesis and limited Pyrokinesis so the same thing would probably happen to them that would happen to any psi-user who got dunked: instant, messy death. Aberrants are so antithetical to what Prometheus Chambers represent that its likely that they, and the tank, would both be destroyed. The Coalition doesnt have the genetic signature needed to exhibit psi effects, and many of their number are currently compromised by Aberrant taint. Psychs count as already having been triggered, so they probably get ripped apart. Its uncertain what would happen to a dunked paramorph. Perhaps nothing. What about my vampire? Trinity, and the other games in the Trinity Universe, arent connected to the World of Darkness at all. Sorry. Trinitys history does not include werewolves and vampires, and you will not find mages and changelings fighting the good fight on Khantze Lu Ge. On the other hand, there may be Aberrants who profess to be blood-draining vampires or vicious werewolves, although its doubtful theyll be anything like the Kindred and Garou described in the World of Darkness. If you do want to cross over the World of Darkness (or the Age of Sorrows) with the Trinity Universe, weve got some suggestions on how to do this on page XX. My Trinity core book mentions Vacuum Assault Suits, but no other books mention them. And I

keep hearing about VARGs. Whats the deal? The earlier editions of the core book used the term VAS, which was changed shortly thereafter. As of the Trinity Tech Manual, the VAS became the VARG, for Vacuum Assault and Reconnaissance Gear. Some players have decided to have both VARGs and VASes in their games: VARGs remain larger mech style machines, whereas a VAS is more of a power suit, not much bigger than the user. Thats not the official stand, but its your game! What happened to the Upeo wa Macho? The Chitra Bhanu? The Chitra Bhanu were an anomaly from the start. The Doyen, masters of psi, found out that humans could do something they couldnt: quantakinesis. For whatever reason, manipulating quantum, either directly as Aberrants do or indirectly as quantakinetics do, is a uniquely human trait. The Chitra Bhanu were allowed to exist to determine whether or not they posed a threat, and their proxy, S.K. Bhurano, was possessed by one of the Doyen. At some point, the Doyen decided that Chitra Bhanu couldnt be allowed to exist. They spilled some secrets regarding what the Chibs were up to, and used Telepathy to instill feelings of paranoia and violence in other psions. In no time at all, many of the other psi orders swept towards the Chibs headquarters in India. The Doyen posing as Bhurano ordered all her subordinates back to headquarters to welcome the incoming psions with open arms. Most of them did, some didnt. Proxy del Fuego knew something weird was up, and sent some of his top operatives in to sneak a handful Chibs out. They were given the option to work for Nora or die. Not all of the QKs returned to headquarters, either, but most people are convinced that even if all the Chibs werent destroyed, any survivors are evil, dark psions. Five years later, the Proxy Atwan of the Upeo wa Macho decided to tell the other proxies that she and her order had found the unthinkable: Aberrants who didnt display any horrible mutations, werent insane, and bore no ill will towards Earth or humanity. In fact, they seemed eager to renew ties with Earth. These Aberrants called themselves novas. Many of the other proxies grew angry, accusing the Upeo of being Aberrant collaborators. They said the Upeo were allowed too much latitude in the vastness of space, and needed to be reined in and controlled. Atwan went back home to the Upeo in disgust, saying that this sort of reaction was exactly why she left in the first place. Psi orders started massing up their forces to invade the Upeo. Aberrant collaborators on Earth noticed the secret communiqus between proxies, the armies massing up near the planets main spaceport, and concluded that Earth was about to strike the Aberrants and strike hard. So they arranged a pre-emptive strike: the Esperanza space station. The proxies panicked and demanded help from the Upeo. Atwan thought the whole thing was faked so shed ignore the armies quickly approaching her. She didnt believe for a minute that the Esperanza was actually under Aberrant attack. She took her collected teleporters and left Earth, to a second headquarters she had arranged previously, inside an asteroid in a distant star system. Seven years later, in 2121, the teleporters returned, most of them finding out for the first time the truth about the Esperanza disaster. They returned with evidence of the Edenites goodwill: the novas had destroyed a Chromatic invasion fleet headed for the Karoo Mining Facility. Now, in 2123, some few people are starting to wonder that if they had been wrong about the Upeo, perhaps they had been wrong about the Chitra Bhanu, too.

More details can be found in The Story So Far, found in the back of the soft cover Trinity core book or on the White Wolf website. I want to make a Quantakinetic. Anything I should keep in mind? You may want to use the minimum latency option used for the Upeo wa Macho in Stellar Frontiers. QK has a higher minimum latency, of course. We recommend Willpower 8 and Psi 7 are needed in order to successfully trigger for quantakinesis. More details on the Chitra Bhanu, India and quantakinesis can be found in India Underground. Divis Mal has ARMS?!? WTF!!!! Yes, yes he does. Not that theres anything wrong with that. Note from the developer So, here we go. This is the first of a series of fan-based products for the Trinity Universe by the Continuing the Continuum team. When this project was originally planned, we had just received word that we wouldnt be getting any further products, at least for Trinity. Adventure! was designed as a single product from the start, and it was pretty likely that Aberrant was in the same boat. So I decided to continue the lines myself. Weve since found out that the lines (at least the core books) are returning as d20 products, but our products are ignoring those, for now. They assume the continuity described in the Storyteller books, and pick up in the timeline where the Storyteller versions left off. However, should the d20 versions prove popular and go beyond the existing ST timeline, well follow their lead. When Trinity moved to the Arthaus imprint, the planned Trinity Storytellers Guide was essentially cancelled. Arthaus lines dont sell well as it is, and Storyteller-oriented products sell even less. While we were assured that all the material that would have been in the STG would be included in various future products, we only got two products after that: Terra Verde and Asia Ascendant, the latter of which was never actually published (but is available on Bruce Baughs website). So Ive decided to bring you the Trinity Storytellers Handbook that might have been. Its what I call unofficially official, in that its an unofficial product, but Im going to make it look as much like an official product as possible. Not just in terms of looks, either, but many of the plot elements included here point to things that were intended to happen in the official products anyhow. Were also going to leave things open for those of you who are using other fanbooks, like EONs books. For example, if were talking about quantakinesis, well direct you to their Chitra Bhanu e-book, and probably count their history of that order as official here, for all intents and purposes. However, were doing our own thing here, so plot elements introduced there may not mesh with what were doing here. Use your own judgment to mix as you will. I also want to give another shout out to everyone who brought us the original products, and the fans. I truly believe that Trinity fans are some of the best, most enthusiastic fans on the Net. Lets get this thing going! Ian Watson Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Chapter One: The on Trinity

Chapter 1: The on Trinity 15,000 words It is the most important organization in the 22nd century. In fact, it may be the most important organization of Earth's last 200 years. But the on Trinity is also the most secretive organization in the world of the 2120s, wielding influence over people in direct proportion to how little they know about it. There isn't room here to reveal all of on's secrets. But it's time to reveal enough of them that you, the Storyteller, will feel able to wield power over on, rather than the reverse. This is going to be the Storyteller version of the chapter of the same name from the TPG. The main issues I want to cover in here are Project Rewrite, the Babel Dossier, and the history of the Trinity. Be fairly general from its foundation in Adventure to the Aberrant Era. Not much more complicated than what's in the core book and the TPG already. I want some more detail on what happened after the Aberrant Era to turn the on Society into the on Trinity. The core book mentions that after the War, the Society underwent reorganization to form the on Covenant, and then at some undefined point afterwards became the Trinity. I want that covered. I want to know what happened to all the old Projects (Utopia, Pandora, Tantalus), as mentioned in the Aberrant Players Guide. I want to know why Proteus Division's using the Triton Foundation's old logo, and why Triton [he means Neptune] Division needed a brand new logo. Explain to me what happened to turn Aberrant into Trinity as far as on itself was concerned. Give us something that the Storyteller wants to use, that's too cool not to use. I don't mean "kewl," as in "the Trinity has secret access to laser-guided attack penguins from the Asteroid Belt," but "cool" as in "stuff that would be either useful or even downright necessary for most Storytellers running a Trinity game." We'll be going into more detail on the on Covenant era when we do our book(s) on the Aberrant War. That's going to build off the material you write here. No pressure. This is also where we put more of the little email interchanges between Max and Whitley. 25,000 words is a lot. If you don't feel you can fill this up, I'll move some of the wordcount over to other chapters, like Noetics or Aberrants.] I just put this in blue so its easier to see visually. Its fine if you keep it to make it easier to know what youre going for, but it really shouldnt be sent back to me in the final draft. (: talk [edit] on's History The real story of on has remained little-known for so long in large part because so much of it would never be believed. This comes off a little short. Could you pad it out a bit before getting into the first hundred years? talk [edit] The First Hundred Years On July 19, 1923, the on Society for Gentlemen convened its first meeting in the Chicago mansion of two-fisted millionaire Maxwell Anderson Mercer. Contrary to current rumors that its founders wielded the same mental powers as today's psions, only one of the original seven Society members was a psychomorph, or "mesmerist" in the terms of the day. Two were quantum-powered one, in fact, became the most feared Aberrant of all Mercer himself had powers that fit no known category, and the rest were simply phenomenally lucky.

Mercer disappeared in 1950, and on's members were left to interpret his hopes for the future as best they could. A conflict with another on founder one who'd turned against the Society gave them a reason to want to disappear from the public eye, and take all knowledge of "the Inspired" with them. Another upsurge of paranormal events, in the early 1970s, gave on cause for concern, but they managed to keep the more outrageous manifestations out of the public eye. Many were still amazed by these phenomena, or aghast at the actions of unusual individuals, but most people just treated it as the news media trying to drum up interest just as many had dismissed the weirdness of the 1920s. The most important thing that happened to on was not a result of this second wave of Inspired emanations, but of more mundane social upheavals. In 1973, in the face of the burgeoning women's liberation movement, the on Society dropped the prepositional phrase "for Gentlemen" from their name. The mass manifestation of Aberrants I know this is a very brief history of Aeon, but can you add a short bit about how the Aberrants began manifesting (the Galatea explosion, dont get into Mal at this point)? talk beginning in March of 1998 was not something on could hide. Instead, they opted to work with the "new humans" and persuade them that on's goals and their own were the same a better world. [edit] Special Projects During the era of the Aberrants, on had several special projects running, devoted to the study of these "new humans" and other extraordinary individuals and phenomena. Project Utopia attempted to harness the gifts of the "novas" (as Aberrants were then called, and as the Aberrant rulers of Eden still call themselves) This is a bit of a tangent. Its handy information, but sort of detracts from the subject at hand. The part about Edenites should be in the main text with the mention of new humans, in case readers skip the sidebars talk to further on's goals of human progress. Margaret Mercer, Max Mercers granddaughter and the head of ons Special Projects Division, supported the spinning off of Utopia into a separate, public entity, which soon led to most of the other special projects being given their independence. As more and more Aberrants turned against humanity from 2020 onward, Utopia fell into disfavor and disuse. About the only Utopia-related program still an active part of on is the Aberrant Tracking System, in Triton division. Within Project Utopia was Project Proteus, a unit of Proteus division that did what was deemed necessary to advance on's larger goals. In 2004, Project Proteus moved its headquarters (including the Babel Dossier see p.XX) to the Arabian island of Bahrain; the Dossier was among the Proteus assets extracted hours ahead of the 2046 takeover by the Aberrants of "Allah's Legion." By the time the Chinese destroyed Bahrain in 2061, all those reclaimed assets had been redistributed between Proteus' Athena section and Triton's Incursion and Surveillance division; for those that werent extracted in '46, the island's destruction was considered "cutting our losses." So did Proteus Division exist beforehand? Did Project Proteus become Proteus Division? talk Project Utopia often worked hand-in-hand with the Triton Foundation, an on-sponsored consortium of medical firms. Many of the miracle cures they produced were derived from ons studies of particularly tainted Aberrants. Elements of the Foundation are now directed by Neptunes Asset Management division, which uses them as a point of interface with the

sculapian Order. Might want to have a bit on how the Triton Foundations focus on research expanded to become a generic research and espionage mandate in Triton Division, or something. talk As a weapon against the Aberrants, on turned to another of its special creations, Project Pandora, which worked with psychomorphs, also called "psiads" or, more often, "psychs." There were more psiads in the Aberrant Era than there had been at any time since the 1940s, but they were still rarer than Aberrants. Project Pandora is noteworthy (a) (a) and (b) arent really necessary. (a) could be replaced by both and the (b) can be removed entirely. talk as one of two projects that Margaret Mercer managed to keep under her personal control, and (b) as the predecessor of ons current psychomorph studies project. A note about how Pandora was a backup in case something went wrong with Aberrants, as was the case in the Aberrant War. Maybe a mention on how they distinguished themselves then. talk Kept in reserve, in case all else failed, was Project Tantalus, devoted to study of the timebending, probability-warping individuals known formally as paramorphs. In the "Adventure Era" of the 1920s and '30s, paramorphs (known then as "daredevils") had been the dominant force of "Inspired" (posthuman) society in general and on in particular, but by the 1990s, only a handful were still around. Most Tantalus files have been undisturbed since the end of the Aberrant War, but the project may be reopened in the wake of the Venezuelan Phenomenon. on also had two Aberrant d20 mentions these two projects, but intimates that there may be more. Lets change this two to other, to leave it open for Storytellers. talk special projects that didn't deal with Inspired people at all. One was Project Argonaut, journeying into the hidden places of the world. Some of these places such as the Louisiana Dinosaur Swamp, and the Inner Earth, in the Adventure Era almost literally could not have existed without the energies of "Inspiration" (the same energies that empowered the Inspired). The 1970s saw a similar burst of Inspired locales on has files on nine separate places that match legendary descriptions of Atlantis, but none of these are still around in the 2120s. Triton's Data Analysis (Space) section still carries on much of the same work. The other was Project Cyclops, a search for non-human intelligence. The Babel Dossier contained mentions of a nonhuman race native to Earth, but that race had departed at the end of the Inspiration Age. Whenever Utopia (or another on operation) investigated reports of a particularly tainted Aberrant, Cyclops personnel came along to determine whether the subject of the investigation was originally human or not. Aspects of Cyclops survive today in Triton's Alien Species Database, studying creatures like the Qin, the Chromatics, and the zeps of Mgitu. [edit] The Downhill Slide In the early 2020s, it all started to fall apart. on's relationship with the novas had been crumbling for over a decade, though the reasons why are now locked in the Babel Dossier. As novas' numbers increased, along with their powers and aberrations, their relationship with "baseline" humanity crumbled as well. By the 2040s, everyone knew it would come to war, and probably sooner rather than later. [edit] A New Covenant Nothing on the on Covenant yet? Pity, I was really looking forward to reading this. (: talk

[edit] Rethinking History In the wake of the original OpNets destruction, on took it upon themselves to rebuild the collective memory of man. They called it "Project Rewrite," but it didn't actually involve much revision of history. All it took was emphasizing some facts, minimizing (or losing) others, and relying on the ignorance and apathy Thematic WoD-ism. Humanity is apathetic in the WoD, but in the Trinity Universe, theyre ignorant at worst. talk of the average man to keep the blanks from being filled in. Anyone who reads enough history knows about some of the good things Aberrants did for the world, such as Soguk Birlesme's perfection of hyperfusion. Joe Hologram, however, does not read much history. All he really remembers is the Aberrant War. Any good done by Aberrants, he is taught, was done despite their Mazarin-Rashoud nodes, not because of them. Any good that seemed to come from Aberrant powers actually came from on's harnessing of those powers to the purpose of human advancement. on knew that Nippon's Aberrants had not all died or departed, but agreed to keep the secret as long as Nippon in general, and the Nihonjin novas in particular, kept to themselves and didn't trouble the world. Turning the masses against a nation once more isolated would have sown unnecessary division. [edit] Trinity On July 19, 2073, the sesquicentennial of the on Society for Gentlemen, on renamed itself again, as the "on Trinity" name was extended to cover on's entire organizational structure. More to do here as well, no? Covering the period between 73 and the 2100s? talk [edit] The Structure of on Joe Hologram, seeing on from the outside, isn't particularly aware of its inner workings and doesn't usually see any need to be. If you told him he was probably interacting with Neptune or Triton division personnel, he'd nod and smile and shrug, then forget it as soon as something more obviously relevant to his existence came along. As far as he's concerned, on is just on; how it's organized is none of his business. Some people at higher levels of society corporate heads, politicians, crime bosses, even psi order managers are more aware of on's three divisions (as noted in the Trinity core rulebook and the Trinity Players Guide). At the very least, they're aware that the divisions exist and have different functions. They have, however, a rather simplified idea of those functions: Neptune division handles the paperwork, Triton division offers expert testimony and consultation, and those guys in Proteus division are on's private security force. [edit] Neptune Division This is the brain of on, making the day-to-day decisions that keep the Trinity and the world running smoothly. In theory, the on Council can overrule any decision Neptune's director makes, but in practice, they almost never actually have to Neville Archer came up through the ranks of on, and he knows what is expected of him. [edit] Trinity Administration (Carter Yun) [edit] Diplomatic Corps (Michael Demetrius) [edit] Asset Management (Fulya Ertegun) [edit] Triton Division This is on's sensory apparatus, collecting the data Neptune needs to make its decisions.

[edit] Incursions and Surveillance (Barney Ziegler) [edit] Data Analysis: Earth (Jose Miguel Valdez) [edit] Data Analysis: Space (Otto Von Ohlen) [edit] Simulations and Forecasting (Randall Dellinger) [edit] Logistical Support (Celia Murtaugh) [edit] Aberrant Tracking System (Nala Mbenge) [edit] Alien Species Database (Wolf Jensen) [edit] Proteus Division This division serves as on's hands, acting on the decisions Neptune makes and on is not at all afraid to get its hands dirty. More than a private security force, Proteus is a private army and private spy service, ultimately answerable only to its director, William Renton and, through him, to the on Council. [edit] Mars (Vinus "Redeye" McKenzie) [edit] Apollo (Beth Haudin) [aerospace support] [edit] Titan ("Black" Jack Wolstren) [heavy armor] [edit] Athena (Saul Ku Lun) [espionage, counter-espionage] [The Players Guide has a lot on on's procedures from a character level. You're already covering this stuff for the PG, so expand into Storyteller-relevant stuff here. () Use this as a lead-in to the central motivating force of on: the Council. (Remember, it's not an evil organization, certainly, but the stuff you put down here should make it clear that the on Trinity is not some kind of cuddly group here to hold characters' hands. And make sure the main narrative is in Rules-speak!)] [edit] The on Council As mentioned in the Trinity Players Guide, most on Trinity personnel below Omega clearance (on Status ) know only that the Trinity is led by a council, of which the three divisions' directors (Neptune's Neville Archer, Proteus' William Renton, and Triton's Maria Pappagallos) are members. Employees at Theta clearance What on Status rating is this? talk or lower believe there to be somewhere between three and 12 other council members, and speculate wildly as to the identities of those councilors. It is not the place of this book to rehash those guesses in detail. Suffice it to say that they include a veritable laundry list of 22nd-century public figures politicians, metanat CEOs, media commentators. The proxies of the psi orders (even Saraswati K. Bhurano herself) are also believed to hold seats on the council. The Trinity Players Guide mentioned the rumor that Maxwell Anderson Mercer still runs on nearly two centuries after founding it, but there are rumors more outrageous than that. Some say that Divis Mal, still the most feared of all Aberrants, returned to Earth after the Vesta attack and took over the on Council; others even claim that Mercer and Mal are old friends who still control on together. From: Whit To: Max Date: 2122-09-03 19:40:59 Subject: On Our Side

As I see it, we can definitely count on support from Herzog and Larssen. Atwan and Cassel I'm less certain of, but still hopeful. So that's four out of the seven right there. (Seven. Weren't things easier at the start, when there were just the seven of us?) Zweidler's a good man, but I think he's too willing to turn a blind eye to what people do in his name rumor has it that he covered for some of Huang-Marr's leading lights. You might be able to get through his willful blindness, but I doubt I could. Bue Li and del Fuego are write-offs as far as I'm concerned. The late Minister is just the sort of manipulator we're fighting against, the embodiment of everything we never wanted on to become. And the last time we cut a deal with a crime lord, the price we paid was too damn high. There's an element of truth to the rumors, even the most seemingly ludicrous ones. When Mal was a human named Michael Daemon Donighal, he was a founding member of the on Society for Gentlemen and one of Max Mercer's two closest friends in the world. That, however, was long ago; the man who became Dr. Primoris is almost two centuries lost, and one of his first acts as Divis Mal was to cut his ties to on. In any case, Mal itself hasn't actually returned to Earth and isn't going to do so any time soon. Mercer hasn't been in charge of on since 1950, and his unique gifts have hindered his ability to maintain great influence on the Trinity's direction, even as they've empowered him to help guide its course in many eras. The last time he played a significant role in its activities was in the late stages of the Aberrant War. The proxies have never been Council members, though they are honored guests who can attend Council meetings if they wish to do so or are summoned before the Council. Since the return of the Upeo, this privilege has been re-extended to Bolade Atwan. From: Max To: Whit Date: 2122-09-04 00:59:13 Subject: Many Hands Criminality is a relative term, Whit. I remember a youth I rescued from the Thuggee cultists he'd been raised by, and I remember how he turned out in the end. Many's the time I'd have been lost if he hadn't been there to lend me a hand. And no, m'boy, it wasn't easier in the old days just simpler. In point of fact, there are about twenty people on the on Council. Some are former directors of the Trinity's divisions. Others are just the sort of people the lower ranks would expect to find on the Council businessmen, diplomats, generals and scientists although not necessarily the exact individuals those subordinates think would be likely to lead them. The Councilors identities are kept secret for good and sufficient reasons. If people knew who was on the on Council, theyd be continually pestering the councilors for personal favors. The councilors would be hopelessly tangled up in the desires of the organizations from which they came. This way, the Council can maintain some impartiality, vital to achieving actual progress on the betterment of humanity as a whole. If the lower ranks need to complain to someone, they can complain to the division heads, and the division heads can either handle it themselves or pass it

on to the Council. The exact roster of the on Council changes from time to time, as members die or retire and their replacements are recruited. This means that, ultimately, who serves on the Council in your chronicle should depend on your chronicle's needs. But here, as a design aid, are some typical Council members typical in that they each typify one of the main motivations of Councilors. You can blend these motives in Councilors of your own creation, but having them presented here in an undiluted form will hopefully make that easier. [edit] The Archivist Desma Sychar [is motivated by the desire for knowledge.] [edit] The Insider [A corporate shark who pays lip service to ons ideals, but considers that whats good for the metanats is good for humanity. He steers on policy in metanat-friendly directions as much as he can without arousing other Councilors suspicions.] Beautiful! Exactly the sort of character that makes the Council good, but still in need of Maxs impending overhaul. talk [edit] The Sentimental Agent Ian Liu Ngombo's great-grandfather, Ian McAusland, came to Africa with a wife and a baby daughter in the early 21st century, drawn by on's efforts to revitalize the then-dark continent using the gifts of the Aberrants. McAuslands grandson, Ewan Ngombo, was an on liaison in China in the aftermath of the Earth Strike Ultimatum, where he met Sandra Liu. [He realizes that todays on is not that of Ian McAuslands day, or even Heather McAuslands, but he still considers it much better than the alternatives.] [edit] The True Believer [Considers that anything on does is justified by virtue of it being on that does it.] Ditto! talk [edit] These are the Good Guys? Incredible as it may sound at times, yes, the on Council members are, at heart, good guys. They are genuinely dedicated to protecting, preserving and promoting the best present and future interests of the human race. As a Storyteller, you should keep this in mind at all times. However, you also need to keep in mind that their definition of "humanity's best interest" does not include humanity at large knowing the whole truth about what on has done, and is still doing, to keep them safe. In particular, it does not include general knowledge of the full scope of some of the threats on has fought over the years. That definition is also not constrained by everyday notions of morality. The Council's goal is the greatest good for the greatest number, and if that means some seemingly good people have to die untraceable deaths because of what they would do with the best of intentions, so be it. If it means some very bad people have to be allowed to live because their deaths would destabilize the world, that's also a choice on is willing to make. As well, being individuals, the members of the Council don't always agree on what exactly is in humanity's best interest, or on how to attain whatever they deem to be in that interest. Being (moreover) only human for the most part, some of them have trouble differentiating between

humanity's best interest and on's, or between either of these and their own self-interest. [edit] on's Influence Joe Hologram thinks of on as purely a charitable and social club. Conspiracy theorists think of the Trinity as a secret government, personally pulling the strings of every major organization in the world. The truth lies somewhere in between, and is at once more complex and a lot simpler than either of these notions. The secret of on's success can be summed up in one word: networking. Almost from the moment of the Societys founding, on members have been making friends in all walks of life. [] [edit] on and the Orders As mentioned in the Trinity Players Guide, on knew about the psi orders well before the Battle of Sydney Spaceport. The Council are still rankled by Solveig Larssen's decision to circumvent on's 20-year plan for easing human society's acceptance of the orders, but not so much so that theyve refused to give the orders positive publicity. The human race needs psions to fight the Aberrants, and on needs those psions to have a public image opposite to that of humanitys tainted enemy. The Trinity attributes their awareness of the orders beginnings to their extensive information network. Certainly, that network has provided them with a great deal of inside information over the years, much of it information the orders would rather not see become public knowledge. The truth, however, isnt nearly that simple. In fact, on knew about the proxies even as they were being considered to receive the Doyen's benefaction. The truth about the Doyen role is, of course, buried deep in the Babel Dossier (see p.XX). Buried alongside it is the truth about how on came to be watching those specific people. As mentioned on p.XX above, on knew that Nippon had the only sizeable population of novas still on Earth. They acted as if these Aberrants would not turn against the outside world, but planned for the possibility that they might. To this end, on was keeping an eye on all the latent psychomorphs it could find, with an eye to recruiting them as soon as possible after they underwent psychic Inspiration. This is an awesome explanation. talk The eight proxies were all being watched as part of this program, as were the dozens of other candidates the Doyen considered and tested. When eight of those psychomorphs dropped completely off ons radar, on noticed. They may also have noticed the weirdness happening to those candidates as well, as the Doyen tested people and eventually selected eight of them. talk [Plenty of folks have asked how, exactly, the on Trinity exerts influence in the 22nd century. Simply put, it's had two centuries to create an extensive information network. The Trinity is not omniscient, but it does have a good idea of what's going on in the universe (the Babel Dossier and an ever-growing intelligence network are key to this). I'll paraphrase someone else here: think of on as being a bit like the Masons a wellestablished group that's been around for a long time, and has members in lots of important places. Simply put, on gained (primarily behind-the-scenes) political power by having powerful

members. As such it doesn't have any "real" authority, but it does have plenty of influence now more than ever, given its close ties to the psi orders. If on is so self-sufficient, why does it approach the psi orders (and governments) for help? Because on operates through subtlety and influence. It knows it's more effective if it remains an enigma, so it uses others whenever it can. (This same thinking applies to using lower-ranking on cells, of course.) The orders are the best tool to date. Plus, on really isn't as hideously wealthy and brute-force powerful as people think. Fully twothirds of its members are those folks who think it's just some sort of social club or are in lowranking cells and that's the way that on likes it. If too many people know the full extent of its capabilities, the Trinity loses much of its power. Throughout all this material, make sure to provide suggestions and plot hooks to the Storyteller on how to use the on Trinity as an engaging, challenging and otherwise useful tool in her series.] [edit] The Babel Dossier When Max Mercer founded on, he didn't go around telling the world what the Society was up to, but he didn't make a serious effort to hide it, either. Anyone who could get past the security at stately Mercer Manor in Wicker Park, or at any of on's other chapterhouses, could look at the Society's files and find out what was really going on in the world. In the 1940s, Whitley Styles, Mercers kid sidekick and one of ons founders, took on the duty of supervising this storehouse of the eclectic and abstruse. He called it the Babel Dossier, in reference to Genesis 11:6: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Even after Dr. Primoris desertion, Styles promoted the policy of openness. Secrecy was one of the things on was fighting hardest against; one of the greatest obstacles to human potential was what people didnt know. And if on started hiding from the average man, he reasoned, it would be easy for them to lose sight of the distinction between the good of humanity and the good of on. That open-door policy was one of the first things that on's new guard abandoned after Mercer's disappearance in 1950. There were some things, they decided, that most people just didn't need to know, and in fact would probably sleep better at night if they didn't know. [edit] Triton Archive: Absolute Secret "If the contents of the Babel Dossier were made public again, it would be the end of on, and possibly of the world, as we know it. History books would have to be rewritten. Governments would collapse. Worst of all, the man in the street would react poorly to knowing what has been hidden from him all this time. Rather than be grateful that we spared him the knowledge, he would take his anger out on us, probably in a violent way." textfile excerpt from the "Thetis Proposal," January 1, 1999 When Margaret Mercer, the daughter of Max Mercers son Michael, took charge of ons Special Projects Division in 1998, the Babel Dossier was one of two projects she managed to keep under her personal control (the other was Project Pandora, as noted on p.XX). = World 1 vs. World 2

Maybe a snappy title? The Double-Slit Max Experiment or something? talk = We are about to reveal one of the biggest secrets of the Trinity Universe. Only one person in the Trinity Universe knows it, and as you'll see, he (a) Again, (a) and (b) not really necessary. talk has his own reasons for not revealing it and (b) doesnt know all of it himself. But once you, as a Storyteller, know it, it may forever change the way you run your Trinity chronicle. At the very least, it should help you determine what sort of chronicle you've been running all this time. [edit] Mercer's Journey In 1922, Maxwell Anderson Mercer was one of the people closest to Dr. Sir Calvin Hammersmith's Telluric Engine when Hammersmith activated it. In the ensuing explosive release of zero-point energy, Hammersmith's butler, Jackson Harley, became a psychomorphic "voodoo" master. Mercer's boon companion, Michael Donighal, began an eximorphic transformation that would lead inexorably to his departure from Earth's solar system in 2061. And Mercer himself, the prime paramorph, was launched on a voyage down the timestream. Im not sure, but I think this might be the first time within Trinity that its explained that Max Mercer can time-travel. So you may want to elaborate. talk His first stop was in 1942, where an older version of himself taught him how to use the powers over time he had been granted and informed him of his scheduled destiny to found the on Society for Gentlemen. What that Mercer did not say was why his younger self had been drawn there and then. A year after his arrival, and shortly before his departure Shortly before he departed? Are both Maxes taking part in the fight against Mal? talk , there would be another major release of "telluric energy" as on did battle with one of its own. Once he had learned all his future self could teach him, the younger Mercer journeyed onward. His next stop would be the late 1990s, around the time Aberrants first began to proliferate. In fact, he arrived on November 10, 1997 a little over four months before the burst of telluric energy that began the Aberrant Era. He remained in what was then called the "Nova Age" for about four years, then disappeared again in August of 2001. He made several return trips to that era after getting back to the 1920s; on one of these jaunts, he stopped in 2008 and tried to steer on closer to the course hed originally wanted to set for it. In any event, there arent even rumors of his being sighted after about 2022 right around the time things started really going downhill. He reappeared in the 2050s, when the war between humanity and its mad children was about to reach its peak. In fact, he was drawn to the immediate aftermath of Calvert Wycoff's 2054 selfdestruction. He helped on's efforts in that first Aberrant War, and on was glad of its founder's assistance. He left that era in September of 2061 after the Earth Strike Ultimatum had been issued and Bahrain destroyed, but before the Speech of Divis Mal and the departure of most Aberrants from Earth. [edit] Schrdinger's Max When Max attempted to proceed to the next telluric turning point, around the bicentennial of the Hammersmith Incident, something unusual happened. Just as the Venezuelan Phenomenon blocked (and still blocks) subquantum perceptions passing from one side of it to the other, it blocked Mercer's attempt to travel into the Unity Era. Since his powers over time are (apparently) not psi powers, it did not block them completely.

In some versions of the Schrdinger's Cat thought-experiment, the medium used to determine whether the cat will be spared or killed is a single photon launched at a half-silvered mirror, which it has a 50/50 chance of passing through. Some interpretations say that, until the photon's waveform is collapsed by observation, it both passes and does not pass just as the cat is at once alive and dead until the box is opened. [edit] Crisis on Infinite ons, or "But I don't want to use this!" Then don't. This isn't a mandatory element of Trinity Universe canon, and we're not authorized to call White Wolf's canon police on you anyway. (Besides, they're busy right now tracking down all the people who cross the original World of Darkness too much with the new one.) It exists as one possible way of explaining the differences in on's methodology over the course of the Trinity Universe's history whether you're running a World 1 or a World 2 campaign will affect how on interacts with the world. It might also be used to explain some discrepancies in that history. For instance, the timeline in the Trinity core rules says that a "dramatic increase in super-normal events" happened in 1970. However, the Aberrant core rules show no sign that most people in the Nova Age were even aware of those events, let alone "amazed by" or "aghast at" them as the timeline says. Obviously, however, it's not the only explanation for either of these phenomena. If it opens up more cans of teleological worms than you're comfortable with, or if it just seems like an unnecessary and irrelevant complication, ignore it by all means. When Maxwell Anderson Mercer struck Process 418, his lifestream bifurcated, like the uncollapsed waveform of a photon hitting a mirror. One version of him passed through; the other was deflected. The two histories that resulted were different in subtle but important ways. Where the future goes from here may depend on which past it came from. [edit] The Donut The Max Mercer who made it to the other side of the Process saw the Unity Era, its suffering and its splendor. He saw that, despite the dark hours of the Aberrant War, the human race had survived and, two generations later, was not merely enduring, but prevailing. on was going off-course, but he considered that he could set that right easily enough. When this Optimist Max returned to the 1920s, the on Society for Gentlemen he founded was suffused with the hope he drew from the future he'd seen. He knew that a lot of people would have to sacrifice a lot to make his dream a reality, but he was willing to sacrifice as much as they for the goal true unity for the human race. The world his vision shaped is known as World 1. Note here about how Adventure!, Trinity and (possibly) the more optimistic presentation of Aberrant d20 are World 1. talk [Note on ons methodology in this world.] [edit] The Hole The other Max hit the Venezuelan Phenomenon and bounced, but not the way a photon hits a mirror and bounces. In fact, he hit Process 418 much the same way a superball hits a sidewalk Lets say brick wall. Sidewalk makes me think boing, and its just gravity doing the work. Brick wall makes me think whack! and someone really has to whip it at the wall. talk , and bounced off it just as hard. The physical pain of being knocked back from the 2060s to the 1920s was beyond what neutrals can understand. Compared to the intellectual agony of what he thought had knocked him back, however, it was nothing. He saw humanity on the edge of destruction, but didn't see it pull back. He reached the only conclusion that seemed logical to him from what he had seen Earth had been destroyed in the Aberrant War, either by mutated

monster-gods or by desperate humans. He hadn't gotten any further into the future because, he had to assume, there was no future after 2061. The "hope" of this Mercer's on Society for Gentlemen was a hope that the worst disasters could be ameliorated, that something could be spared from the wreckage. He was willing to sacrifice nearly anything or anyone to save the world, though he still preferred to avoid the taking of life if he could find any other way. He favored unity, because only a united world could hope to rebuild fully. This Pessimist Max the Max Mercer of World 2 does not exactly approve of some of the things on has done over the years in furtherance of his goals, but he understands their actions. Note here about how Aberrant ST is World 2. Maybe a bit of elaboration how would a World 2 Trinity Era look? talk [Note on ons methodology in this world.] As things currently stand, word tells me youve got about 5,800 words, including all notes. Without notes, its probably closer to 5,500. That means youve got a shade under 10,000 to go to meet the wordcount. If you go under wordcount, thats fine, but Id prefer that margin to be as small as possible. Keep up the good work! Lots of points in here that make me go cooool! I even pasted some of the stuff from this and your other draft to Bruce, Elizabeth Brooks, and a few others. Theyre liking it. (: Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Chapter Two: Noetics 12,000-18,000 words [edit] How Psi Works * Just a little primer on what Psi is, how and why it does what it does. Complements the stuff on taint/quantum from Chapter 3. Should be no more than 5K.

[edit] How to Work Psi * The major thing that separates the protagonists of Trinity is their ability to manipulate the subquantum medium. So how do I, as a Storyteller, use Psi in a game aside from the neat powers psions have to use? What sorts of stories could I tell about Psi? How can it be used as a MacGuffin? Sections include (but are not limited to): * Troubleshooting How do I tell an effective story particularly a mystery when the characters have access to stuff like clairsentience, telepathy and teleportation (without having the answer always be noetic dampeners)? How can I avoid these pitfalls while still making characters feel useful? * Ramping Power What sort of challenges should characters face as they become more powerful noetically? The danger of essentially becoming a noetically-powered Aberrant? Increased Attunement sensitivity? What if characters are playing proxy-level characters? [edit] The Venezuelan Phenomenon

This is the story of what really happened. Note that this was originally developed by author Zach Bush, who was one of the writers on Terra Verde, and who was originally slated to write this chapter. The Nora has had many of the surviving Chibs in secret installations throughout the Venezuelan Quarantine Zone. They and their associated crews have secretly been working on a way to break the imposed barriers limiting psions to a single aptitude. The surrounding Taint of the Zone keeps the Doyen out. Part of the Pai's plan to protect Sudamrica and the world involves a series of generators placed in orbit: some of the technology that went into these generators dates back as far as 200 years, to some obscure research done by a Sir Doctor Calvin Hammersmith. The devices are dubbed "Hammersmith generators." Many of them, each more powerful and more refined than Dr. Hammersmith's original device, are placed in orbit around Earth. Theoretically, this should create a massive amount of subquantum turbulence around Earth, disrupting - or perhaps even killing any nearby Doyen, thus rendering them unable to interfere with Earth for some time. One of the larger generators is housed in one of the main research installations. In the process of the Chibs' research, they discovered something about psion genetics: Something about the triggering process makes it so Doyen may possess any psion. They cannot possess neutral humans. Any psion, however, can potentially be a Doyen in disguise. The Pai discovers this in person when one of his biokinetically-made clones visits one the main installations for an update. He knows he's safe, as are his research team, due to the surrounding Taint. But he realizes he can't trust anyone: not even himself (rather, the "selves" of his which operate outside the Quarantine Zone). He sets his plan in motion a little early, and triggers his Hammersmith generators. The result is somewhat unexpected in that it causes many psychs and low-power Aberrants to spontaneously trigger, as well as bestowing uncanny luck or skill upon many. While unexpected, it certainly works in del Fuego's favor. He orders his Chibs to destroy the installation (all of them?), so their quantakinetic signatures will register as taint to any investigators, who would probably assume an Aberrant attack. Del Fuego and his researchers are currently hiding out, pondering their next move. * Venezuelan Phenomenon In addition to telling us What Really Happened, tell me how I can use it in my game. Not just as an obstacle while my players go about their business, but as the focus of a story by itself. * The Chitra Bhanu Purge Ditto. Give a rundown of what happened and why. If we want to run an action/espionage story set in 2109, how should Psi factor into it (either from the POV of attacking psions or from the Chibs themselves)? The above two sections might actually be subsections/examples in a larger examples of stories involving psi thing. Any other related subject matter is cool. You get the general idea of the chapter. Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Chapter Three: Aberrant Society Aberrant Society Aberrants feature strongly in many Trinity stories, but players and Storytellers both have a tendency to gloss over them as "taint-maddened freaks", or dismiss them entirely. Perhaps they are too alien for one group, not alien enough for another, and a third thinks the concept of 'returning superheroes' is laughable. Like them or not Aberrants are a staple of the setting; not

just as the stereotypical default bad guy but as the tragic, twisted reflection of humanity obsessed with power. At its base, Aberrants are storytelling tools for an object lesson in absolute power. [edit] Future Fates Some players may be wondering what happens to their favorite nova NPC between the end of the detailed Aberrant setting and the time of Trinity. Apart from Divis Mal, we're leaving this up to individual Storytellers. We could detail how Caestus Pax grew disillusioned and turned on the humans who no longer idolized him and now lives on a moon somewhere with Scripture, Kikjak, and Elvis, but quite frankly thats nothing to do with Trinity. Those characters had their time in the limelight in Aberrant, and while you are certainly free to name-drop them in your own game, we need to focus on the main events of Trinity. What of Divis Mal? He spent a lot of time away from Earth thinking deep thoughts and developing his powers. He eventually created his own universe and disappeared into it, never to return. [edit] The Aberrant Condition Aberrants use taint to change the world around them. Thanks to mass-media saturation, people of the Trinity era commonly believe that taint drives the Aberrants mad. This is not the case. It is true that to manipulate taint, Aberrants develop a gland in their brains that presses on the prefrontal cortex a golf-ball sized lump of flesh called a Mazarin-Rashoud node. This node in and of itself does not necessarily lead to mental decline. In many Aberrants, their lust for more taint sees to that. Aberrants use taint radiation to affect reality on the quantum level, one step removed from the subquantum level used by psions. Taint applied to the quantum world stimulates the fundamental forces, and as an end result the world changes to match the Aberrant's whim. Taint breaks the normal laws of physics in doing so, and that takes an awful lot of raw power. As people in the Trinity Era understand it, taint is homogeneous; whether it is the power an Aberrant uses to rip holes in reality or the diseases and afflictions that such powers bring with them, though many Edenite novas like Apollo Milliken demonstrate a marked difference between the two effects. Using taint leaves an Aberrant marked both physically and mentally. Aberrants often display physical mutations, from the merely cosmetic (blue skin, three eyes) to the more useful (claws, tentacles). No matter how apparently useless these mutations, they all serve to distance the Aberrant from humanity the less human he looks, the less human he will feel. Controlling taint also warps the M-R node, putting pressure on the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that discerns right from wrong), leading to psychological damage. Again, this distances the Aberrant from the rest of humanity. Dehumanization was a factor even in the Aberrant Age, with beings such as Divis Mal starting movements that ultimately reveled in the inhumanity of the Aberrant condition. That Mal came to be a spokesperson for Aberrants worldwide is a telling sign. The dehumanization is not limited to the physical and mental changes that taint wreaks upon the Aberrant's body. The powers that taint grants also challenge the nature of being human. An Aberrant that can survive in hard vacuum and does not sleep will not see the world in the same way as a human. The majority of the effects that taint produces are external expressions of instant gratification, and often over time an Aberrant comes to rely on his unnatural abilities. This of course leads to more taint, and through that more mutations. Why then do Aberrants only demonstrate a certain few powers? Nobody in the Trinity Era is sure. Certainly, no Aberrant has spontaneously developed an ability at whim, yet the basis of their powers seems to be the ability to do anything. It might be a case of development, the Aberrant only manifesting abilities akin to those it already possesses due to similarities in the use of taint to get the result. It could be a purely subconscious block, but after over a hundred years without any evidence of one Aberrant breaking the block this is unlikely. Other theories include variations in

the node affecting how it handles taint, which is close to the developmental theory. There are teams of scientists working for both the on Trinity and several private research groups who have been unable to crack this particular mystery. Of course, not every Aberrant is warped and dehumanized through channeling taint. The numbers of these low-Taint Aberrants have escalated sharply since the Venezuelan Phenomenon, with up to 1 in 20 novas being low-Taint. Most of these novas are new to their condition; their initial jolts of power not enough to trigger mutations or psychological changes. The Aberrant can further stave off these changes by exploring her powers in a controlled fashion, not giving in to the lure of using taint as much as possible just because, but applying restraint and self-discipline. Perhaps the best examples of this attitude towards taint are the Edenite novas, as exemplified by Apollo Milliken: he destroyed a sizeable part of a Chromatic fleet, yet is not an insane, be-tentacled freak (see Stellar Frontier for more information). Though Eden is kept a secret from the majority of the world, it does provide a valuable insight into the Aberrant condition; namely that the more taint is used and pushed to its limits, the more mutating effects it has upon the wielder. In many ways, this is like exercise: up to a certain point the development is natural and healthy, but over-exertion will do more harm than good. This is in many ways one of the key issues of Aberrant Syndrome, if the taint is given the chance it will end up controlling the Aberrant as much as he controls it. Sub-Aberrants as created by the Colony have several notable differences. First and foremost, they are unable to directly control taint. Being born normal humans, they haven't the MazarinRashoud sequence necessary for controlling taint. Instead, the Colony forcibly injects humans that it captures with large quantities of taint radiation. This overloads their bodies, causing massive physical mutations. A normal Aberrant if such a thing could be said to exist gains his powers through a control over taint, guided in some way towards a certain common element between these powers. SubAberrants, on the other hand, have the same thematic concept, but once the taint-radiation from the Colony has done its mutating work there is no more "free" taint for the creature to use for its powers. Instead, this taint will warp the body of the sub-Aberrant to create the powers it possesses. An Aberrant may be able to shoot fire from his palms through taint alone, but a subAberrant would be warped to the point that one appendage was a biological flame-thrower. A side effect of the infusion of taint radiation is to cause lasting psychological damage to the subject, leaving them with an overwhelming loyalty to the Colony. The majority of Aberrants faced by psions are sub-Aberrants, made by the Colony in order to help it recapture Earth. Because their mutated forms radiate an aura of taint, they often appear no different to psions than regular Aberrants. Indeed, often the regular Aberrants are better able to hide the taint they produce, leading to all manner of trouble for the psions involved. [edit] Taint Radiation Manipulating the universe on the quantum level takes an incredible amount of energy. Without the precise manipulations made possible by access to the noetic layer, this energy dissipates as taint radiation. This radiation, capable as it is of shearing atoms from molecules and of creating matter from apparent nothingness, is not generally healthy to anything that remains in its general area. Taint is highly energetic radiation that interacts strangely with matter. The radiation affects DNA worst, making living things mutate. Plants swell and distort, crops are useless, and trees sicken and die. Healthy crops fail, grass yellows even as it grows to head-height and beyond. Trees weep from open sores in the bark. An area of taint radiation that has had time to affect the local plant life should be mistakable for nothing else. Taint is, at its core, unnatural. It is the raw power of gods turned loose onto the normal world without any form of control, and the world should

reflect that. Animals in taint-dense areas mutate too but in the biological sense. Strange growths often turn cancerous, eyes cloud over and the sense of smell tries to carry on even though the nose is a mess of sores. Teeth may elongate, limbs may wither, but whatever happens to a creature, it will not be beneficial. That's not to say that mutant beasts are entirely out of the question, but that whatever makes them that way should obviously be a bad thing. Some Aberrants may be capable of creating warped animals bred for their own purposes, but without their direction the energies warp an area's fauna almost at random. If this is ever beneficial to the creature in question is debatable. Hybrids between plant and animal are also possible, disturbing fusions that should not happen made possible by the rampaging taint in an area. [edit] Bears With Laser Eyes! Taint-mutated animals are presented as an option to Storytellers to reinforce the damage that Aberrants can do to an area just by using their powers. They should be a tragic reminder of how taint corrupts living matter it's not called taint for nothing. Some players and Storytellers will likely take this as carte blanche to break out some of the wackier mutant creatures featured in other games and claim them as an inviolate part of the setting. That's just not so. More than anything else, these rules are optional. If some Storytellers want their taint-infected fauna to come from the pages of Gamma World, that's fine. This section, however, is not an explicit endorsement of that. Taint can affect non-living matter as well. Concrete may have molecules sheared off to the point where it is as light as polystyrene. Plastic melts and warps into alien shapes. The ground may parch, moisture leeched away, or the area may flood into swampland. A desert may be blasted into a plain of glass, perfect glittering spires jutting to the sky among trees hunting for the last water. Most of these effects will be very localized with the exception of the Blight and areas of the Florida Archipelago there are no other large-scale areas suffused with taint radiation on the planet. Smaller areas are certainly possible, especially in more remote locations where sweeps for Aberrants are less frequent and the tainted can hide out for long periods. Small areas that house a couple of Aberrants for a long time that are later destroyed after a massive use of taint are the perfect locations for warped landscapes, but they can occur anywhere the background taint radiation has built up to a high enough level. [edit] Taint Diseases The effect of taint radiation on human bodies is in a special category of its own. Taint is manipulated by humans or creatures that were human and it has a special relationship with human biology. Some of the people exposed to high intensities of taint, especially in their formative years, may manifest signs of becoming Aberrants. Far more run the risk of contracting a painful disease that is nearly always fatal. Taint-based diseases run the gamut from spontaneous tumors that put the internal organs under intense pressure to wasting diseases that accelerate the victim's aging. Worse, these diseases cannot be treated by psions. The miasma of taint radiation that each disease carries is enough to throw the noetic field entirely out of line around the patient, making the fine tissue manipulation and regeneration of vitakinetic healing all but impossible. Subject: Wexler's Disease From: Choi Sun-Mi, Office of Noetic Security To: Jun Shan, on Trinity, Neptune Division Encryption: DSE Transmission type: Textfile Date: 13:21:12 12.14.2121

Agent Shan, I believe it only fair to inform you that we have completed our investigation into the recent outbreak of Wexler's Disease among the people of Xinjiang. Going by the taint-ridden sample of black sludge you managed to extract from one of the victims, we were able to piece together the spread of the disease. This lead us to an underground storage facility that was being used by a minor drug ring. There were a number of crates of strange machinery, including one full of a similar black sludge in canisters. All of these crates were labeled Metachinery. We analyzed the substance in these canisters and believe that they contain active nanotechnological agents. A sample is on its way to a secure on holding facility and the remainder will be destroyed in line with Aberrant technology protocols. Stranger are the diseases picked up after an Aberrant dies. Sometimes his particular taint signature can color the way that the disease manifests. A neutral Legionnaire may help kill a steel-skinned Aberrant only to be caught in the final explosion and, weeks later, find that the taint is slowly converting his skin into unliving steel on a molecular level. The taint from a super-strong Aberrant may inhibit myostatin production, leading to ridiculous levels of muscle growth to the point where the muscle bulk snaps bones with every exertion. Taint diseases should be both weird and scary. They are what happen when Aberrants meet normal people. Some humans get a mutant cancer. Some have their bones weaken and muscles atrophy. Some of them die as their bodies convert into disordered information. Each of them is dying a slow, lingering death as the world's best doctors psion and neutral alike look on, unable to do anything. [edit] Taint and Psi Psi and taint do not interact at all well because they operate on layers very close to each other, among the building blocks of reality. Taint manipulates the world on the quantum level, grouping together photons and gravitons and other tiny particles that just can't be broken down any further. It also works on the bonds between molecules, atoms and quarks the basic elements of physical matter. Psi interacts on an even smaller level. Down below the quark level the quantum level is the subquantum level. The subquantum (or noetic) level is concerned with the information that describes particles on the quantum level, and psi lets a psion manipulate this information, changing reality on a different level. Down that small, distance is pretty much meaningless. The problem comes with interference. Too much taint energy sends ripples through the noetic layer and a buildup of noetic flux can backlash against the taint-based quantum manipulations. Taint, even the low-level taint radiation generated by an Aberrant, makes psi use in the surrounding area problematic at best. On the other hand, concentrated psi use can negate an Aberrant's powers by denying it the taint flow that it needs. transcript of a presentation to scientists working on the Nakamura Process, December 16, 2122 I am sorry for the lack of information available prior to this meeting, even compared to other information on the Process. I believe that our discovery is pressing enough to inform you all right away. We have known for a while that there is a single genetic trigger present in both psionically-active individuals and our novas. We now know that this gene is set early in life by one of a range of protein chains produced in reaction to background levels of taint. Given different amino acids, this gene fuses itself into a certain position, allowing the subject to develop further talents only in the area that this 'switch gene' has determined. The required protein chains appear to be a natural biological reaction to both taint and noetic energies. We have isolated a third class of protein chains that could be used to activate the gene,

but given the mutation of the other chains it is likely that the state of the planet has not been conducive towards their creation for at least one hundred and fifty years. This discovery is important, as we now know that there are classes of protein chains. The swamping of the planet in quantum energies at the end of the twentieth century lead to the chains that precipitate the nova state becoming more complex and increasing the likelihood of their uptake, directly leading to the Nova Age. Likewise, with the coming of the Proxies the psiontrigger chains have grown more complex and the nova-triggers have returned to mid-range production. In order to curtail the development of both psion and nova abilities, early in the Nakamura process we introduce carefully cultured protein chains that re-set the switch gene. The process goes on to develop the gene into full activity before any outside influence can affect it. This latter part is important, as we have observed the protein chains of natural manifestations mutating when exposed to significant amounts of the energies that originally caused them to develop. While these mutations have not been recorded in activated control groups, the potential (as evidenced by the class of protein chain in the pre-activation state) can increase at any point up to activation. The strange phenomenon that currently sweeps the planet is altering more than just the noetic medium. It is altering the balance of all energies, causing people to produce trigger protein chains of all kinds, though mostly the less-advanced versions. This is, to be blunt, disturbing. If the number of advantaged individuals in the world increases, we will be unable to hide our nova scientific assets. We have no recourse but to step up screening. Every individual who possesses the trigger gene must either go through the Nakamura Process or leave the country and be placed under special observation. We are on the brink of losing everything we have worked for, and we cannot let that happen. This is a bit harder to bring out in a game without resorting to a set of opposing modifiers. There's no real pain and no mechanical effects for the interaction except as it applies to psi use. So how do you evoke the right feeling? Nearby taint alters the noetic field in imperceptible ways. Just being near a source of taint be it an Aberrant or a rock from the Blight feels subtly wrong, like an oddly-colored smell. Go with it. It's a slight feeling rather than a super-sense, but it can add color if the players start to experience odd feelings almost at random, until one or another makes the connection. Another point to consider is that each psion will have a different kind of odd feeling. One character's head may hurt in the same way as it does before a big storm, another might experience dj vu or prickling thumbs. Work with your players to determine the odd feeling each character has when something isn't entirely right. If you encourage your players to describe their characters in some detail before a game that's the perfect time to gather details like this without having it seem too suspicious. Rules for psi and taint interacting are on page 146 of the Trinity Players Guide. As that section indicates, they work best when the rules help the story. Sometimes, that's not so easy to tell. Does it help the story to have the main enemy of a group of psions with mostly low-level powers make it even harder to kill him? Maybe, if it'd be a cakewalk otherwise. But if the characters are fighting for their lives in their underwear the Aberrant doesn't need the extra help. A lot of this decision rests upon the feel of each Aberrant. If you want one to be an example of how far humans have fallen, the disruption is a good idea the creature is a reminder that the Aberrants have fallen so far that they are no longer in touch with the noetic world. Aberrants that display less signs of taint but have obvious power (like Apollo Milliken from Stellar Frontier) should likely also disrupt low-level powers. This cuts both ways, strong psions will disrupt these Aberrants when they try to use their powers. On the other hand, if every child of the Colony or raiding taintmutant were to dampen lower levels of psi then Aberrants become more alien, and significantly harder to kill.

All living things have a psi template. As noted above, psi is the energy that describes the universe, containing information about every particle, every object, every person and every thought. Neutrals in Trinity possess a dot of Psi to represent this noetic template their own description on the noetic layer. Aberrants, alone out of everything in the Trinity Era, do not have this noetic template. The noetic disruption caused by so much taint flowing through an Aberrants node rips the psi template clean from the Aberrant. Sub-Aberrants also experience this noetic disruption, but as a slow wasting effect. Tainted areas and people inflicted with taint diseases also degrade, but at a much slower rate, though this is one of the reasons that taint-diseases are untreatable by noetic means. Some theoreticians suggest the area at the center of the Blight is close to breaking down entirely and becoming a state of flux as the information describing the area is entirely destroyed. An Aberrant has to possess a Mazarin-Rashoud node or be exposed to incredibly high levels of taint for this effect to manifest. Some of the earliest Aberrants, and some of those created during and after the Venezuelan Phenomenon do not have nodes indeed, they have Psi ratings (see Asia Ascendant for an example of such a nova). When the node develops, the psi template goes. In its place, the Aberrant constantly generate a low-level field of taint that keeps her molecules together and her mind attached to them. It is this field that disrupts psi powers in the presence of an Aberrant, and its strength intensifies as the Aberrant becomes more powerful, needing more energy to hold himself together. This quantum-level glue is an automatic effect of the Node, and no amount of noetic manipulation has been able to disrupt it. [edit] Quantum Quantum is the fundamental difference between Aberrants and novas. It's the term used in the Aberrant game to distinguish the controlled manipulation of quantum energy from the uncontrolled, mutating side effects. This difference isn't present in Trinity as nobody in the setting is aware of it. Nihonjin scientists may know more than anyone else about the Aberrant condition but even they do not distinguish between quantum and taint. And for good reason: they have no reason to. Quantum and taint both affect the world on the same level: why differentiate the two? For the most part this section continues using taint in the same way so as not to sound like a missing chapter of an Aberrant book. The difference does help explain novas in the Trinity setting, like those among the Eden colony and the few remaining in Nippon. They have developed their quantum abilities steadily, avoiding the buildup of taint that leads to what most of the Trinity universe thinks of as Aberrant Syndrome. When creating an Aberrant to act as a foil for your characters it can help to consider its quantum and taint as separate things. [edit] What About Daredevils? With all of this discussion of psi and quantum and taint, some players and Storytellers may be wondering what the third kind of superhuman paramorphs (the daredevils of Adventure!) manipulate. After all, they have knacks, they have an equivalent in the Trinity time in the Nihonjin Superiors (detailed in Asia Ascendant), surely they must also manipulate some kind of sciencefiction energy? We're sorry to disappoint, but there is no third energy. Eximorphs manipulate quantum and psychomorphs manipulate noetic energy. Daredevils don't work with anything. Their knacks and powers are a shorthand, a handy way to show that they really are just that good at something without giving them obscenely high scores in any number of broad skills. Daredevils and Superiors are they way they are naturally. Also, some fans of all three games may be offended at the idea of daredevils being the biological missing link with Aberrants and psions. Certainly, there is as much evidence to suggest that daredevils are nothing more than normal but highly accomplished people. If the Storytellers and players prefer, then there's no reason not to go with that idea. It doesn't alter the game to the

point where future supplements will be useless, and is just as valid as our official explanation. For some grades of Aberrant, most notably the sub-Aberrants created by the Colony and many of the taint-crazed creatures trying to take the Earth, the Taint and Quantum will be just about the same. A powerful Aberrant will have a high Taint, making it obviously an Aberrant. Most groups of psions will encounter these Aberrants, either in the solar system or on Khantze Lu Ge. Other Aberrants will be mildly tainted but possess a greater level of Quantum. This includes Aberrants who manage to pass for human in most locations, as well as novas who have not been able to control their power as well as they had liked. Despite their lack of Taint they are still deformed in some way, and likely insane. Despite that, they have power exceeding what most non-psions would attribute to them. Aberrants can also have a vast difference between their Taint and Quantum. They are apparently human (or obviously superhuman) but not twisted. Their bodies are an extension of their selfimage, and they do not radiate taint in the same way as other Aberrants. Most if not all of these Aberrants consider themselves novas who are, if not overly friendly, at least respectful of humanity as a race. The important thing to remember is that it is quantum, not taint, that disrupts psi. An Edenite may look perfect and have incredible control over his powers, but the impressions they make in the quantum world when he uses them have serious repercussions on the noetic world. They may not radiate taint as an energy field, but their power unleashed comes from the same source as the taint of all other Aberrants and its effects on psions are the same. The Doyen are creatures of pure noetic energy, condensed into the physical world. As they have a much more active link to the subquantum world they feel the disruption of quantum energy far more intensely than psions. While a psion finds it harder to manipulate noetic energy when the local area is bombarded with quantum energy, the Doyen are physically and mentally disrupted by the quantum flux they flicker in and out of existence. They are reminded that humans have the capability within them to manipulate quantum energy and that is one of the very few things that scares the Doyen as a species. Like other psionic disruption, it is actually the quantum manifestation rather than the uncontrolled taint radiation that causes this effect, though the Doyen (along with every other group in Trinity) do not believe that taint and quantum differ. [edit] Building A Better Mousetrap Every Aberrant in your chronicle should be unique and memorable. This section offers tools to help you do that, from tips on motivation and the psychology of an Aberrant to variant game mechanics for creating Aberrant characters. The last thing you want is your Aberrants to be remembered not as fearsome examples of human potential gone wrong but as a horde of faceless mutant freaks that's one of the things Aberrant cults are there for, after all. One of the first things you should do with any Aberrant in your game is work out what its function is as a character in your chronicle. While the fallen paragon angle is the most obvious, it doesn't have to be the only one. Perhaps you want to present some sympathetic novas who live among humans on a colony, only exerting their powers when pressed. Maybe you want a figurehead for a cult who has worked out a new social order that encompasses humans, psions and novas working together to save the planet but it requires bringing down both the on Trinity and the governments of the world. Every Aberrant should have an angle, and the creation process will be much smoother once you have found it. A large number of Aberrants will have taint-crazed fallen human as their angle. Indeed, for subAberrants and other minions of the Colony, that's the main hook, and that is a good thing. Despite everything said about alternate societies and the novas working with humanity there are still a

large number of Aberrants who want to take back Earth for themselves and damn the humans living there. Stereotypes exist for a reason. On the other hand, a stereotype isn't a particularly useful tool for creating a character with real depth. Dig deeper, look below the surface for the elements in the stereotype that brought it about, find the archetype and use that as a means to fill in the blanks about each Aberrant. At some point, you need to work out what powers your Aberrant has. Whatever framework you are using to create your creature try to make sure that there are is some kind of reasoning behind them. The kind of threat you want the Aberrant to be can determine its powers, or perhaps they are a projection of the Aberrant's archetypal role, whether she wants them to be or not. Or maybe they are just all effects of the mutations that have built up on his taint-wracked body. There's no right way to create power themes, as long as you can justify the majority of the powers in a way that won't leave the players scratching their heads and wondering what the hell the point of the Aberrant was. [edit] Motivation Once you've worked out the angle of your Aberrants and fleshed out some of the details you need to work out their motivation why they are doing what they do? This can be related to their angle, but doesn't need to be. The motivation should make sense to the Aberrant nobody thinks, I'm going to try to take over the Earth today. People do what they do because they believe that it is what they should, and Aberrants are no different. For example, an Aberrant may attack the Earth because his family and community drove him away when he manifested Aberrant Syndrome and his isolation in space has warped his perceptions of the planet. An Aberrant driven mad by taint is harder to understand, and therefore it's much harder to work out why he would do what he is doing. Taint-related insanities break the Aberrant away from his old methods of thinking, focusing more on what makes him different. An Aberrant capable of controlling people may see regular humans and even psions as puppets for him to control as he will whereas one with spatial manipulation powers may regard humans moving passively through three dimensions with no control over their surroundings as beneath her notice. This insanity is tied to the Aberrant's powers and mindset in some way, and working it out can give you a greater handle on why she does what she does. As a Storyteller you don't need to develop a motivation and full psychological profile for every Aberrant that features in your series. If your story has a lot of Aberrants it can quickly become a massive task, most of which will have little impact on your stories. Work on the Aberrants who are going to have the most impact, both ringleaders and manipulators behind the scenes. The Aberrants with less of an impact on your plot should logically have less time spent developing them. If the Colony sends a sub-Aberrant to kill the psions that have disrupted its latest strategy, the motivation of the sub-Aberrant isn't the major concern of your story. The Colony on the other hand (or tentacle) should be given as much detail as your plot needs to make sense, and there should be plenty of chances for the players to find some of these clues. [edit] Spelling it Out Aberrants were once human. This is their hook, their reason to be in the setting: to show just how far humanity can fall when it reaches too high, too fast. The less-warped Aberrants got to be the way they were because they kept control of the subconscious need for power, but all too many saw their power as a right. Any story featuring Aberrants as more than mystery villains should at least touch upon their human origins the crab-like thing that disrupts electromagnetic fields around it was once a human with extraordinary powers, like the psions themselves. With that said, it's all too easy to hit the players as well as the characters over the head with the burden of responsibility and the price of power. It's even worse from a player's perspective to listen to Storyteller characters soliloquizing about the price of power every time they encounter an Aberrant than it is to hunt Faceless Aberrant Monster #23. It can be very difficult to set the balance right. Aberrant autopsies should comment on the unaltered human biology that remains

 however much or little that is. A raving sub-Aberrant kidnapped from an asteroid mining colony who returns to demolish that colony may pause when he sees his family and friends or may attack them all the more viciously. An extropian nova who acts as a wellspring of technology for a colony may still keep an image of the child he left on Earth. It's the little things, the details around an Aberrant that best illuminate his lost humanity. Working in these details for each Aberrant with a significant impact on your series can add depth to their character while also illustrating their wider metaphoric role in the story. [edit] Memorable Foils Every good character should stick in your players' minds for some reason. Aberrants make this easier after all, they each should have something relatively unique that they can do, and taint has left many looking unlike anything else by the effects of taint. Unfortunately, if it were as easy as just looking different, the job of a Storyteller would be much easier. The first, and possibly most obvious piece of advice, is to avoid creating Aberrants that are similar to each other. Just as characters in a story with similar names are harder to distinguish from each other, two Aberrants who have glowing blades in place of one arm will be harder for your players to tell apart, unless the blades are a footnote to their other mutations. Likewise, insectile and crab-like features are an easy way to make Aberrants appear different, but used too often can swiftly become faceless. Without the distinction of hair color and facial description the rest of the creature's description often fades into the background. Another thing to consider is that not every Aberrant bears the same mutation for the same powers. One may have hands surrounded by crackling black energy, through which strange stars are visible, while another may more prosaically have large, razor-sharp talons. If every Aberrant that can open warp gates glows blue when doing so, you lose the element of surprise, and you run the risk of having your players use an Aberrant's description to catalog its powers. Keep your players thinking on their feet, and make sure that you describe the powers in a way that ties them to each Aberrant. With that in mind: describe the powers. Some Storytellers get into the habit of describing the appearance of an Aberrant, and then resorting to game-terms and statistics. If you want your Aberrants to be memorable, try to avoid that if nothing else to avoid confusion between Aberrants with similar powers. If one has an arm with no hand that vents plasma from the stump and another breathes flame from a fire-wreathed skull, there's an obvious difference. If one has a stump of an arm, the other a fire-wreathed skull, but both attack with the same dice pool and damage there's not that core difference. Being memorable means making an impression, after all. [edit] Defining Aberrants Powerful Aberrants don't just come about because of exposure to taint. Some of them are incredibly potent from birth. Trinity-era scientists do not differentiate between the two types simply because they do not realize the difference. There are few enough Aberrants that are sane enough to work with that the idea of letting them breed on Earth is not an idea that any have dared entertain. Fortunately, most of the Earth-bound Aberrants show no wish to procreate, and of the colony-based Aberrants it is hard to tell who was made and who was born. Among researchers, several divisions have arisen describing various forms of Aberrants. Some groups will use one definition, some will use another. Some organizations use multiple definitions when referring to a given Aberrant, to more accurately describe their origins and relative power level. [edit] Generation The first generation are the Aberrants that most people think of whenever the name comes up. A normal human, exposed to taint radiation and bathed in quantum fires that have burned since the Aberrant War develops a Mazarin-Rashoud node. Generally this classification is reserved for the Aberrants who originated during the height of the Nova Age. As such, theyre generally more rare, and at the same time, more powerful.

The first obvious signs of eruption are splitting headaches that can last for days at a time. The pressure exerted on the brain by the growing lump of proto-matter actively pushes the frontal lobes out of the way, hence the headaches and the madness. The changes to the Aberrant's brain are not temporary, and the presence of quantum radiation further alters the electrochemical signals rushing along twisted neural pathways assuming the Aberrant still has a brain twists his thoughts into what normal humans consider insanity. As well as the mental degeneration, a first generation's taint twists his body. While nowhere near the level of a sub-Aberrant, most do display some physical alterations. Some of these taintmodifications are beneficial, such as a hardened carapace or wings allowing atmospheric flight. Others serve no useful purpose, from eyes mounted on stalks to protruding bony ridges. All of them are permanent. Some are more drastic, such as the Aberrant's body being transformed into a burning skeleton or a collection of electrical impulses in a computer network. None of these changes are necessary Aberrants fly just as well without wings as with, and a carapace is just as good as a force field. These changes are physical expressions of how taint will change a human body that is barely able to control it. There are ways for first generation Aberrants to escape the fate of mutation and insanity, or at least to prolong the period before its onset. So far the Aberrants working for Nippon and the Edenites have demonstrated the broadest acceptance of this practice, but any Aberrant including many created during the Venezuelan Phenomenon can do so with or without guidance. By not using his powers to their fullest potential whenever the opportunity presents itself, the Aberrant avoids stressing the parts of his psyche that channel taint. It's a slow process, requiring a great deal of self-awareness and voluntary restraint discarding the chase for more power can be hard but taking things slowly allows the Aberrant to mature into his growing abilities without forcing them. Third-generation Aberrants are those who have erupted since the Aberrant War. Superficially the same classification as the first-generation novas, these Aberrants could never be mistaken for a nova. They do not accumulate taint over a period of time or due to misuse of their powers; once they erupt, they immediately display signs of high degrees of taint. They mutate to a high degree nearly instantly and display many varied signs of derangement. In short, while first-generation Aberrants may or may not develop Aberrant Syndrome, third-generation Aberrants almost seem to get it automatically. The most often encountered true Aberrants in the Trinity Era, thirdgeneration Aberrants are much more common than those of the first generation. Additionally, they also seem to be weaker, almost as if the rapid onset of their mutation somehow puts a cap on how powerful they can become. Second-generation Aberrants are not formed from exposure to taint. They are the children of the first generation, their bodies better able to channel the taint that has surrounded them from the moment of conception. The strange genetic material that makes up the node of a first generation is found throughout the body of a second generation Aberrant, making taint-spawned insanity much less common. Taint mutations are also less common as the distributed node prevents a great deal of taint focusing at one point and building up to dangerous levels. The second generation are much more powerful than the first. Without the limitations of taint they have no compelling reason to slow their development and instead forge ahead, growing in power until they outshine all but the greatest of the first generation. They gain powers along a theme, like other Aberrants, but are better able to understand their own abilities and develop them in ways that would seem bizarre to a normal human intelligence. In addition to their powers the second generation of Aberrants are different from humans in their perceptions of the world. Except in extreme cases, they did not grow up among humans and

many never experienced a birth as humans understand it the parents must have procreated, but with the wide variety of alterations that the first generation possess there is no telling what form that intercourse, and the following pregnancy, may have taken. Each second generation Aberrant has grown up with her powers, surrounded by other taint-fueled gods. Because of this, she doesn't think like a human would. A second generation's powers are as natural to them as breathing (if they still have to), and even those who could frame their thoughts in humancomprehensible terms find little compelling reason to do so. Kali and Yog-Death (Stellar Frontier, page 109), being the offspring of the Colony, are the highest-profile second-generation Aberrants known. The first and second generations are easier to comprehend. Their powers are secondary to their upbringing, and they still think in broadly human terms. The ability to mutate plants or create electrical charges is a later change that wasn't present during the formative years of their psyche. Taint often alters their thoughts, but in the same way that trauma alters human thoughts a good book or website on mental illness can be a great help when working out how an insane Aberrant thinks. The second generation do not have this human grounding. Though a secondgeneration Aberrant's powers expand throughout his life, he is born and raised thinking very differently from ordinary humans, or even the first generation. They should be inscrutable unless they can advance their plans by being open doing things for reasons that the players will never hope to understand but that further their own goals. If two second generation Aberrants managed to procreate, their offspring may well be some kind of fourth generation. So far, there are no known instances of fourth-generation Aberrants anywhere in the universe, and what they would be like is anyone's guess. They could be able to warp all of reality on a grand scale, or perhaps would have no more use for physical bodies, becoming the taint-based equivalent of the Doyen. The possibilities are limited only by the Storyteller's imagination. [edit] Tier Most Trinity-era researchers do not trouble themselves with trying to work out an Aberrants parentage, and this goes double for anyone who encounters a live Aberrant without expecting it. For simplicitys sake the on Trinity use a broad scale of threat level. Tier I Aberrants are otherwise referred to as Prime Threats and include Caestus Pax, the Colony, and a few others. This small grade includes the oldest and most powerful first-generation Aberrants, as well as second-generation Aberrants that are mature in their power a far faster process than the Trinity would like to believe. Third-generation Aberrants rarely, if ever, achieve this sort of power. Young second-generation Aberrants and first- and second-generations of a moderate or high power level are included in Tier II. Finally, weak recent eruptees, powerful sub-Aberrants and low-taint Aberrants when they are discovered make up Tier III. This chapter uses the Tiers to refer to all naturally-occurring Aberrants. Sub-Aberrant by their very nature must be handled differently. Where distinctions are made between the generations, each generation is noted with the relevant Tiers. [edit] Sub-Aberrants Sub-Aberrants are victims. They were not born with the potential to become Aberrants; instead, a powerful Aberrant suffused their bodies with taint that warped their body and mind. Hence, a subAberrant doesn't manipulate taint in the same way as other generations of Aberrants; rather than summoning fire from taint energies a sub-Aberrant's body must be mutated to produce a napalmlike substance. Every power a sub-Aberrant possesses must stem from a biological alteration to his body though the difference between a sub-Aberrant and a mutated Aberrant would probably only come out at autopsy. The taint injection alters a sub-Aberrant's thought processes. Though he remains as intelligent as before his sanity is shattered. A sub-Aberrant perceives the world only as it relates to his

condition, the friends who fought to stop him being dragged off are now enemies who didn't fight hard enough, a loving family becomes a painful reminder of what he once had. This doesn't mean he will attack things at random that wouldn't be rational but it does mean that he will be hostile and will make potentially complex plans to take revenge either on the people he used to know or the race that abandoned him. [edit] Who is the Colony? Lots of Aberrant players are dying to know which of the famous faces of the Nova Age turns into the Colony. While there are a lot of theories, and several have a lot of backing in the setting, for the purposes of Trinity the Colony was a nobody during the Nova Age. Perhaps it erupted after the start of the Aberrant War, perhaps it had been in hiding since the start of things. Nobody knows. Of course, if you as a Storyteller have a theory about the Colony's identity then you should certainly run with it. It gives players an extra mystery to solve and can lead to some interesting reports of life before the Aberrant War. We don't want to answer the question at this late stage because we don't want to tread on your ideas and give your players the answers in one page of one book. [edit] Statistics There are a number of systems you can use for Aberrants in your games. The default presented in Trinity is the simplest, offering statistics and powers without any real difference between a subAberrant pawn and the Colony. This section not only expands that method for creating Aberrants but also offers alternatives, including using rules from Aberrant. The rules for Aberrant creation in the Trinity rulebook are a good point to start from. However, the single template doesn't really cover the broad possibilities of Aberrants, especially given the somewhat disingenuous stats. If Apollo Milliken can devastate a third of a Chromatic war fleet without raising a sweat at Taint 7, why is it that the general Aberrant template starts at Taint 8? The answer of course is that different powers have different scales of effect. Nothing in the back of the Trinity book is nearly as powerful as Milliken's Radiant Conversion, and these descriptions are the real measure of an Aberrant's power level. With that in mind, use the Taint rating as a measure of an Aberrant's power reserves, the raw energy he has available. What he can do with that taint is a function solely of his powers. As a general guideline, the powers in Trinity are good for creating sub-Aberrants and Tier III firstgeneration Aberrants. Use the Aberrant's Taint rating to determine the effectiveness of these powers Strength + (half the Taint rating) Lethal damage for Natural Weapons, Taint rating in damage for Acid and the like. Any further powers should deal a base level of no more than ten dice of Lethal damage, and should not affect more than a hundred kilograms of mass or ten people at once. Sub-Aberrants should be mutated to the full degree of their Taint rating, but cannot possess powers that are not linked to their physical changes. In addition to the Aberrant powers in Trinity and the first few dots of most Modes, Storytellers may find inspiration for new powers in Adventure! or the low-level powers in Aberrant. [edit] The Venezuelan Phenomenon Many Aberrants have erupted because of the Venezuelan Phenomenon. Creating such Aberrants is possible with the systems in this chapter, but as many of the low-taint Aberrants are of a kind not seen since the 1920s there is a better source. A Storyteller with access to Adventure! is encouraged to create such Storyteller characters as stalwarts. These characters do not have a Taint rating, and the rules of Taint interacting with Psi do not apply to them. Optionally, Storytellers may prefer to use a stalwarts Inspiration rating in place of Taint whenever a comparison is needed.

When it comes to Tier II Aberrants, you will need more powers. Modes at a certain rating (usually 3 or 4) are a good model for many common Aberrant abilities, as are supercharged versions of the existing powers. Despite this, detail an Aberrant's signature powers separately. For a Tier II Aberrant, a power that costs Taint should be equivalent to a vehicle level attack or something that affects up to a ton of mass or one hundred people. Inspiration can come from mid-level powers in Aberrant, if the Storyteller has access to that game. The level of Taint an Aberrant has indicates how mutated an Aberrant is, one radical mutation for every two points of Taint. Mutations can include taint-related insanity, allowing a high-Taint Aberrant to pass for a human right until space begins to warp in his vicinity. Tier I Aberrants are old, dating from the Aberrant War, and very rare. The new victims of Aberrant Syndrome have not had the time to develop their powers to the degree as the survivors of the Aberrant War, though second generation Aberrants find themselves developing this level of power relatively early in their lives. At this point, the Aberrant should have a number of Modes at four or five dots, as well as signature powers that can affect more than ten tons of mass or more than one thousand people. Mutation from taint should be either extreme the Aberrant is a writhing mass of tentacles and teeth, or a sentient mass of solar plasma or non-present. An untainted Aberrant of this level does not use his powers lightly or tax his limits regularly, relying on his lower-level abilities rather than the extremes of power available to him. In addition to the systems above, this section presents a number of variant systems for Aberrants. All of them are designed to scale around the three rough grades of power mentioned above. [edit] Enhanced Attributes Many Aberrants possess Attributes above five dots. In addition to the extra dice conferred by superhuman prowess, there are additional benefits. Perhaps an Aberrant with incredible Dexterity or Wits can automatically win Initiative, or one with incredible Charisma can cause others to go along with her out of sheer force of personality. Sub-Aberrants don't get these benefits, and only Tier I Aberrants should have more than two Attributes that possess these extra benefits. [edit] Taint for Powers To add more structure to the rather freeform power framework above, limit Aberrants to one power per point of taint. In this case, a Power can be any number of powers in a single Mode or an Aberrant Power as appropriate for their power level. Attributes above 5 cost one Taint for three dots. First- and third-generation Aberrants of any Tier that have warded off the mutating effects of taint should have one less power than their Taint would suggest, but have at most one mutation, usually mental or a beneficial physical modification like functioning wings. Second generation Aberrants do not have this restriction. [edit] Quantum Assign each Aberrant a Quantum rating as well as a Taint rating. Base the number of physical mutations on the Taint rating. Taint also determines the level of Ambient Taint surrounding an Aberrant. Most Aberrants will have a Taint rating of at least 3, though low-taint Aberrants are an exception. Use Quantum to work out the damage from powers, and how many powers the Aberrant has if using the Taint for Powers rule above. Use the higher of the two to determine the Ambient Taint left in an area after an extended use of powers. Sub-Aberrants have no Quantum, basing all their powers off their Taint. Only low-taint novas and first generation Aberrants who have warded off the mutating effects of taint should have a Quantum higher than their Taint. [edit] Expanded Powers

The following powers clarify and expand upon the list of Aberrant powers given in the Trinity rulebook. These by no means make up a comprehensive list of Aberrant abilities, they are presented as a springboard for Storytellers when designing their own Aberrants, as well as to make it easier to create antagonists on the fly. The powers are separated into the same ranks as used in the rest of this section low power corresponds to sub-Aberrants and Tier III first- and third-generation Aberrants, medium power covers Tier II first-, second- and third-generation Aberrants, and high power is for Tier I Aberrants. Tier I and II Aberrants will likely have only one or two powers from their listed power level, along with Mode-equivalent powers. The majority of their powers will come from lower grades. The Aberrant powers presented in the Trinity rulebook are all low power abilities. When powers reference expending Taint assume that an Aberrant has a pool of temporary Taint equal to her Taint score. Modes that call for Psi rolls or expenditure instead require Taint rolls or expenditure instead. [edit] Optional Rule: Aggravated Damage Some of the powers detailed below do damage on a level that disrupts an objects noetic template. These powers deal a third kind of damage, called Aggravated damage. This damage is marked with an asterisk (*) alongside the normal Bashing and Lethal damage, and pushes both Bashing and Lethal along the track in the same way that Lethal pushes Bashing down. Aggravated damage is soaked with the Lethal soak rating of any armor worn. Aggravated damage cannot be healed except by psi powers. Storytellers who do not want to deal with adding another type of damage to their games should treat all Aggravated damage as unsoakable Lethal damage that does not heal. If used, it is the Storytellers decision which Modes deal Aggravated damage. [edit] Low Power * Burning: The Aberrant can surround himself with a corona of energy, razor-sharp bony spines, or some other all-over defense. The effect costs a point of Taint to manifest for a scene, but deals half the Aberrant's Taint in Lethal damage to anyone touching him. Also, any nonenergy weapon used to attack the Aberrant has its damage reduced by two. The Aberrant cannot wear armor. * Claws: Wicked talons tip the Aberrant's fingers, tentacles, or other primary manipulators. This could also be an energy field or any other rationale for the Aberrant dealing Strength Lethal damage. Every two points of Taint (rounding up) deal an additional point of damage (so an Aberrant with 7 Taint would deal Strength + 4 Lethal damage). These claws do not hinder the function of the Aberrants hands. * Enhanced Reflexes: The Aberrant's nervous system (or what passes for one) conducts signals far faster than the human equivalent. The Aberrant doubles all movement rates, and can take two independent actions each turn. The Aberrant can channel additional actions at a rate of one action per point of Taint, though each action taken in this way deals a level of unsoakable Bashing damage to the Aberrant. * Extra Limbs: This Aberrant has more than the normal four limbs. While Tentacles covers the replacement of a limb with a mass of tentacles, extra limbs come in addition to the normal human four. Every extra arm lowers the dice pool penalty for multiple physical actions by one die. An extra set of legs doubles the Aberrant's movement rates. * Growth: Stimulating cellular growth or shunting taint energies into mass allows the Aberrant to grow to terrifying proportions. Spend a point of Taint to grow up to three times normal size. Every multiplier of normal size adds +2 to the Aberrant's Strength and Stamina (and can take these above 5 dots), but adds one to dice pools to hit the Aberrant. Further uses of this power are not cumulative. * Modes: Several Aberrant powers can be represented using psionic Modes. Tier I Aberrants should not have effects above the third dot of a Mode, but do not need to worry about crossing Aptitudes between the six Aptitudes in the Trinity rulebook. Sub-Aberrants should only have

individual powers to suit their mutations. * Natural Weapon: One of the Aberrant's manipulator appendages has been grossly altered to deal incredible amounts of damage. Whether it is constantly emitting hard radiation or changed into a diamond-hard lobster claw, the limb deals damage equivalent to the Claws power, but with a vehicle-scale damage add of one half the Aberrant's Taint, rounded down. The limb cannot be used as a normal manipulator. * Sealed Systems: The Aberrant does not need to breathe and is adapted to survive in a vacuum. This provides no extra protection against attacks but renders the Aberrant immune to gas, suffocation and the effects of pressure extremes. The Aberrant also suffers no penalties for orientation when fighting in microgravity. [edit] Medium Power * Create Matter: The Aberrant can create matter from nothing, shunting quantum energy en masse into physical form. Ten kilograms of matter costs one Taint, fifty kilograms costs two Taint and a quarter ton costs three Taint. The matter must be naturally-occurring and non-radioactive, and the Aberrant can create it in any basic shape that she desires. * Duplicate: For two points of Taint the Aberrant can create a perfect duplicate of itself. One duplicate per dot of Taint that the Aberrant possesses can exist at once, though there is no limit on how long a duplicate can remain functional. Each duplicate has the same statistics as the Aberrant, but does not have the Duplicate power and shares the original Aberrant's taint pool. * Electronic Communion: Unlike technokinesis this power does not allow the Aberrant to control computer systems. Rather, the Aberrant can project her mind from her body, leaving the body capable of reacting only on instinct. The Aberrant's mind inhabits any complex electronic system, and she can control the system instinctively. When inhabiting a machine the Aberrants can survive the death of her body and transmit to other electronic systems over hard-lines or the OpNet. * Hardened: The Aberrant is exceptionally hardy, possibly through possessing multiple (or no) organs or other bodily adaptations that make it incredibly hard to kill. As a result, the Aberrant has a duplicate of each Health Level. As an added bonus, the Aberrant soaks Bashing, Lethal, and Aggravated damage with its full Stamina soak in addition to any armor. * Modes: Mode-equivalent powers bought for mid-power Aberrants may go as high as five dots in a number of Modes. When rolling or spending Taint to activate these powers, the Aberrant must pay one point less or roll one fewer success to use the Mode. Any Willpower costs are unaffected. The Aberrant can use Teleportation Modes at this level, but Quantakinesis is unavailable. * Molecular Disruption: This is a brutal demonstration of Aberrant mastery over the strong and weak nuclear forces. Roll Taint in a resisted roll against the target's Psi. Each success deals one level of Aggravated damage to the target that bypasses any armor, as its molecules are torn apart at the subatomic level. * Power Sink: Taint's connection to the quantum world allows the Aberrant to act as a power sink for a slice of the electromagnetic spectrum (or another category of energy, such as direct kinetic or sonic). Any attacks of the selected type of energy have their damage reduced by the Aberrant's Taint. Every point of energy absorbed in this way can heal one level of Bashing damage. * Shaping: By restructuring matter on the molecular level the Aberrant can reshape any amount of existing matter. A tree-branch can be formed into a club, raw materials combined into a gun, or a mountain into a vast palace. Two points of Taint allow the Aberrant to reshape up to one ton of matter. The basic elements must all be present creating a gun out of a block of ice is impossible but the reshaping process can combine them in new ways. [edit] High Power * Authority: With this power the Aberrant has incredible control over one particular substance or form of energy. This could be magnetism, plasma, kinetic energy, acid, steel, or anything else that

seems appropriate. The Aberrant can create, reshape, control, and destroy volumes of matter of up to 10 tons, or an equivalently large quantity of energy at any distance she can sense. * Bacterial Consciousness: The Aberrant is not limited to his old body, or even to a single replacement. This power allows the Aberrant to spread its consciousness to others by touch, destroying the minds of any victims as it asserts control. The minds remain linked through the threads of taint, but there is no central point to the web of consciousness that opponents can target they must destroy a significant proportion of the host bodies. The Aberrant can dominate up to one thousand people without penalty, though psions can resist the Taint roll with Psi. * Biomanipulation: Extending taint through other beings, the Aberrant can alter the biological processes of living creatures. In addition to forcing growth or atrophy and mutating the base form of a creature, this power allows an Aberrant to affect viruses and bacteria. Such a use can swiftly result in a pandemic outbreak of a tailored plague that only affects certain elements of a population only men, or those over a certain age. Psions roll Psi in a resisted action to lessen the effects of this power when it is used on them. * Modes: High power Mode-equivalent abilities have no limitations. The Aberrant can have a rating of five dots in as many non-Quantakinetic Modes as necessary. Using these Modes does not cost Taint or require a Taint roll to access the default power level. If using the Freeform Psi rules from the Trinity Players Guide the Storyteller is encouraged to allow the Aberrant to use the same system. * Omniscience: By perceiving the threads of quantum entanglement and the interplay of nuclear forces, the Aberrant extends its sensory range to unthinkable levels. The Aberrant can perceive every movement in a given city and with focus can expand this range even further. The Aberrant can project its senses to any point within one kilometer, multiplied by five kilometers per point of Taint, and is always subconsciously aware of movement and discharges of energy within that area. * Taint Injection: This ability allows an Aberrant to force its taint into the body of a normal human or other creature. Unlike Biomanipulation, this power overloads the targets body, twisting it into something else entirely. By spending two points of Taint, the Aberrant transforms the human into a sub-Aberrant, with Taint equal to the number of successes the Aberrant gets on a normal Taint roll. Any latent psionic ability or dormant Aberrant Syndrome is lost as taint rewrites the targets biology. Psions injected with taint die as the foreign energies interact with the psi wrapped in the psion's noetic template. * Terraform: A slow-acting power, with this ability the Aberrant can channel taint over time to affect the geological and climactic conditions of a whole planet. The power costs one Taint for each major change, which takes six months to fully come about. These changes can be in atmospheric composition, surface temperature, or even the size and shape of continents. Once a planet has been terraformed, the Aberrant can set events in motion that generate hurricanes or earthquakes, or disrupt the planet's magnetic field. [edit] Using Aberrant Rules Storytellers who also play Aberrant may wonder just how different novas and Aberrants are. Aberrants character creation and power systems are flexible enough to be used in both games to good effect. The following section provides rules for using Aberrant rules to create Storyteller characters for your Trinity games. Rules for creating player characters are on page XX. Note that several of the powers in Aberrant have a level of effect that some Storytellers may deem inappropriate for their games. There is nothing wrong with toning down the power mechanics or indeed keeping the two rulesets for their respective games and using the rules elsewhere in this chapter to create Aberrant Storyteller characters. [edit] Eruption Aberrants manifest their powers in times of physical or emotional stress. The form that this stress takes can color their eventual powers. One of the most common causes of eruption in the Trinity Era is proximity to a source of taint, be that a powerful Aberrant or an area of taint radiation like

the Blight. Second-generation Aberrants mature into their powers naturally, without needing an external stimulus, and sub-Aberrants are created by taint infusion. Neither kind has an eruption to speak of. [edit] Character Creation Character creation is handled much the same as in Aberrant, with the following changes. [edit] General Character Creation For baseline character creation, assign whatever Attributes and Abilities make sense as for any NPC. All kinds of Aberrant start with three free dots of Endurance and Resistance. When selecting Backgrounds, bear in mind that sub-Aberrants cannot have Attunement, Dormancy or Node; and that second generation Aberrants cannot take Dormancy as they have no baseline human form. Eufiber should only be available to old first-generation Aberrants who have kept their supply from before the Aberrant war. [edit] Nova Points The following are some suggested Nova Point ranges for the various power levels used in this chapter. Power Cap is the maximum rating for that power grade to have in a Mega-Attribute or power. Starting Taint is the number of dots of permanent Taint that the character has before spending any Nova Points. [BEGIN TABLE] Power Grade Nova Points Power Cap Starting Taint Sub-Aberrants 5-15 2 3 Tier III First/Third Generation 10-25 4 1* Tier II First/Third Generation 30-55 5 3 Tier II Second Generation 50-75 - 1 Tier I First Generation 75-150+ - 3 Tier I Second Generation 100-150+ - 2 [END TABLE] Spend Nova Points according to the chart on page 120 of Aberrant as normal. Sub-Aberrants, Tier II and III Aberrants should not be created with a Quantum of more than 5. Throughout the history of the Trinity Universe, only Divis Mal has had a Quantum score higher than 8, and creating characters on his level can have unprecedented effects on your game. Tier III first- or third-generation Aberrants can start with 0 Taint for a cost of 5 Nova Points. If this option is used, no other powers or Quantum can be bought Tainted. Sub-Aberrants must pick from the following powers: Armor, Bioluminescence, any Body Modifications, Boost, Claws, Disorient, Flight, Force Field, Immobilize, Immolate, Invisibility, Mental Blast, Poison, Quantum Bolt, Sensory Shield, Shroud, Sizemorph: Grow, Strobe, Stun Attack, Warp. Non-Body Modification powers each result in an extra dot of permanent Taint, with an associated biological alteration that produces the power. [edit] Quantum Powers and Psions Some powers work differently on psions due to their non-nova nature, and Aberrants have some extra rules for interacting with them. Disrupt functions the same as normal, but is resisted by a roll of Psi + the Mode being disrupted, as the Aberrant uses focused taint to disrupt the noetic flow around the psion. Any mental powers that are resisted with Willpower and Psychic Shield, including Empathic Manipulation, Mental Blast, Telepathy and others, are resisted with the psion's Willpower or Psi, whichever is higher.

 Powers that directly manipulate a target's quantum signature, including Aberration Transfer, Node Spark, Quantum Imprint, Quantum Leech, Quantum Vampire, Quantum Authority, Quantum Supremacy, automatically fail when used on a psion. There's no point in rolling. Using the Node background or Mega-Perception Enhancements to track the quantum signature of a psion works at +2 difficulty. A psion can destabilize the flow of quantum through an Aberrant with a focused noetic burst. Each psion can generate an effect akin to the Disrupt power, rolling Psi + highest Mode. This has no effect on sub-Aberrants and non-quantum powered beings. [edit] Aberrant Societies The material in this chapter is all well and good, but how is a Storyteller supposed to use it? Firstgeneration Aberrants don't swarm at the Earth every month, and the vast majority of powerful Aberrants have no reason to return home at all. There are more ways to introduce Aberrants into a game than to have them attack Earth. After all, if Eden was colonized by Aberrants and humans together, isn't it possible that other planets would have Aberrant inhabitants? There are plenty of reasons to have more planets inhabited by Aberrants either with humans or not and such planets can offer a wide range of themes to a game. There are a number of reasons to explore new planets. The characters may volunteer to accompany an Upeo explorer as he tracks down strange taint-signatures. The on Trinity may maintain a project that monitors for potential colony worlds. The characters may be part of a field test of an upgraded Leviathan that ends up far off course. These only scratch the surface, and all include a clue as to how the characters can get to their destination, be it via Leviathan, psionic teleportation, alien (or Aberrant) technology or something even stranger. Whatever your reason for putting your characters on a planet of Aberrants, stranding them there with no hope of return takes a lot of fun out of the situation. Crippling their spacecraft is fair enough, but if there's no way to repair it and the Aberrants on the planet below want them dead, the game quickly changes tone. If there's no hope of escape then there's a chance you'll lose your players' interest never a good idea for an ongoing game. Any of the means used to get them to the Aberrant world can be used to get them off again, though some will take more work to be believable than others. There's no reason to limit yourself to one Aberrant world. In the fine tradition of television, the characters may find themselves moving from planet to planet, trying to reach Earth or a related colony again. The Kupita (Stellar Frontier, page 62) may send a ship out with a psion team to map and initiate contact with potentially friendly Aberrant planets, or a larger on expeditionary force may take more than one group of psions aboard a Leviathan to make peace with the Aberrants or wipe them out. A game using this model has to be very careful to have each Aberrant colony be actually different from the last, to drive home just how different groups of humans and gods can be. [edit] Strange Worlds Aberrant powers can alter the ecosystem of a planet over time. Some Aberrants see nothing wrong with altering a planet to suit their needs,whether the planet is shared with humans or not. Sometimes, this can be beneficial a few Aberrants possess the power to terraform any planet within reason to an Earth-like standard, given enough time. Many do not stop there. Planets that have been Aberrant colonies since the Aberrant War will likely be twisted more and more towards their inhabitants. This could be apparently simple natural shelters with furniture all grown from bedrock, a rather more pleasant natural temperature or obviously complex weather patterns that shift with the Aberrant's moods, or rivers that flow uphill according to altered gravity. Changes to a planet do not need to be so drastic. Aberrant colonies need not be functionally

different to any other planet with a breathable atmosphere and some gravity, but the technological and social developments can vary widely. Informational nanotech may seed one world, educating every inhabitant and providing perfect recall of every event. The social structures of such a world would develop differently to an extropian world that sees the human body as an imperfect base that merits constant improvement. The social and political establishments of either world could develop in any number of ways and the presence of Aberrants make even bizarre ideas possible. Aberrant colonies are a chance to explore a wide range of science-fiction ideals that otherwise may not fit with the standard Trinity setting. While no Aberrant could create a Dyson sphere from nothing, on a planetary scale the possible changes are endless. A fascist world where the community always comes before the individual? Definitely possible. How would you like your citizens controlled? Aberrant propaganda? Mind control? Technological implants? Or is the society a rebellion against the Aberrants who initially brought people to the world, hunted as enemies of humanity? If ideas don't come to mind straight away, look at the world around you. Read the politics section of a newspaper and try to work out what the possible fallout of controversial decisions could be. Add advanced technology and super-powerful humans. You don't have to make every world into a statement about national or global politics, but they can give you a good starting point. Try to focus on the social changes and the Aberrant impact on the situation, and work out how each will affect how the planet appears to the characters. That is the most important point; you can present a group of players with a beautiful portfolio on the sociocultural structure of each planet they visit but if every world reacts in the same way to the characters then most of your work has been in vain. Social structures are hard to represent, and more than anything else your maxim should be show, don't tell. You should consider a number of points when creating new planets, though these points differ between solely-Aberrant colonies and mixed Aberrant-human worlds. This section isnt an exhaustive list, just some common points to think about. [edit] Aberrant-Only worlds Aberrants have settled worlds in groups for as long as they have dreamed of other worlds. The planets may be impossible for humans to live on, due to a lack of natural resources like food and water or oxygen. Alternatively, the world could be analogous enough to Earth to support human life, but the Aberrants wanted to get away from the problems of living among humans. The colony itself could have formed at any time; the pressures that altered the human/Aberrant social dynamics on Earth don't affect the interactions between Aberrants themselves. They do affect, however, how the Aberrants interact with any humans or psions that make their way to the world. Whether the Aberrants remember what it was like to be human, or have abandoned all of their old life and no longer have any ties with the past will shape their interactions with visitors. If they remember leaving amidst the Chinese government threatening to destroy the planet, their reaction to a Ministry expeditionary force is likely to be vastly different to that of a multilateral on group. All-Aberrant planets are not at all easy to create. Do the inhabitants get on? If so, how? If not, what rules have they agreed on to avoid destroying the planet? Have they altered the planet at all? Without the stabilizing force of humanity, it's all too easy for an Aberrant world to fall to infighting and ideological conflicts. The Aberrants are gods without worshipers, and have often developed to the point that they no longer perceive things in the same manner as humans. All too often, their fellow Aberrants do not share their specific frame of reference and vital concepts become lost in translation.

Why then do these worlds exist? Why would a group of powerful Aberrants who can barely agree on anything remain on the same planet as each other? Barring outside pressures such as the only one of the group able to open warp gates teleporting away, the main reason is that deep within their minds the Aberrants were once human, and most still have human social instincts. Being alone gives each Aberrant no insight other than her own, and without conflicting views she can go slowly mad without the influence of taint. Further than that, Aberrants can be friends and lovers despite their disagreements, and many find common points even through their altered states of perceptions. Aberrant-only worlds are more likely to be strange worlds as described above. Assuming that each Aberrant can survive there really is no limit to the properties a planet can have. NonAberrants arriving on the planet may need any of a wide range of survival equipment from environment suits for poison atmospheres to VARG-grade encounter gear for worlds with far higher gravity than Earth normal. Assuming more than two Aberrants reside on a planet, there will be some form of structure governing encounters between each. The following list includes the most likely, but is by no means conclusive. Anarchy: Rather than the entire lack of rules, the Aberrants adhere to the tenets of enlightened self-government. Each respects the others and restricts his actions to avoid affecting the others without their consent. At least, that's the idea. Aberrants can affect others without meaning to as their powers fluctuate, and there is no central order to appeal to. Rather, the affected parties must deal with their own problems, and doing so can lead to open warfare that leaves large areas blasted with taint. Dictatorship: One Aberrant, either through sheer might or possessing the means of producing necessities like food, holds authority over the others. This authority may be by consent, as the others realize that the dictator is necessary and the dictator does not abuse his position, or the dictator himself may be a tyrant and the other Aberrants struggling to overthrow whatever puts him in a position of superiority. In either case, the backing of outsiders can alter the balance of power drastically. Communal: Each Aberrant does everything he can for the good of the whole, donating creations and artifacts to the group in the manner of an old nomadic tribe. A communal group does not have to meet often, but will do so at set times to make sure that everyone gives back what they take and to share news. As everything is shared by the commune there is no outright ownership of anything, and the concept of someone having something that is not used for the benefit of the group is quite alien to this micro-society. The community runs a communal society above any individual, as opposed to the system of anarchy that is governed by each individual. Antagonistic: The Aberrants form small groups based on ties of friendship or beliefs, with each group antagonistic towards the other. This could be something as simple as a professional rivalry or as complex as any courtly intrigue. The groups will rarely break out into open conflict out of a sense of mutual preservation. Rather, each group tries to get one up on the others, by discovering something new, finding a new supply of food, or some other means of improving their lot. Besieged: The Aberrants are not alone, and are not prospering. Another group, either powerful aliens or another group of Aberrants, are holding the colonists under siege, trying to get them to evacuate the planet. For whatever reason, the Aberrants cannot leave perhaps the first one to be killed was the only one able to teleport, or they have children who would not yet survive the rigors of spaceflight. Another group of outsiders could be a big advantage to either side, and characters embroiled in such a situation would have to work out who to help, if anyone.

Example: Anthony Selas was one of the novas who fled Earth after the Chinese Ultimatum. His friends and companions left him behind, teleporting or warping to distant planets. With nowhere to go, Anthony tagged along with a group of other novas he only knew from their research. Together, the ten found an isolated planet with an atmosphere of inert gases that would allow the group to continue their experimental work. Agreeing to meet only to share results, they descended on the planet and prepared a central meeting place in addition to their individual settlements. None of the group needed to eat or breathe, and for most sleep was optional. The group didn't expect to leave the planet, and met to share results and to ensure that their experiments were not disrupting each other. Five years ago, their warper was killed. Nobody knows who did it, the death isn't an obvious match for the powers of any of the group. They are at each other's throats still, wanting to know who would kill to keep them on the planet. The fact that each Aberrant has discovered something that gives them a good reason to leave the planet does not help matters. Actual combat hasn't broken out, but each of the novas believes that one of the others is a killer and is not about to tell which one for fear of being right. The psions arrive to an atmosphere of paranoia and distrust. How they handle the situation and who they decide to trust will have a big impact on the other novas, and will probably decide the fate of the whole colony. [edit] Mixed worlds Colonies that incorporate both Aberrants and humans have a different dynamic to Aberrant-only worlds. The humans have basic needs that Aberrants don't necessarily require, like food, water and a breathable atmosphere. In turn, the presence of weaker beings can lead to a number of societies evolving based on the obvious differences in strengths between the two castes. Something to consider is when the colony was formed. Novas were exploring space throughout the early 21st century, through warp gates, teleportation, relativistic travel, and even some hypertech spacecraft produced by nova inventors that could carry human passengers. The intent of these early expeditions was for research and curiosity. Once the Aberrant War broke out, novas left the planet to escape the fighting, and many begged those who could leave to take human friends and loved ones with them. Rather than the curiosity of early nova explorers, these were refugees looking for a planet where they could live without the horrors of a war involving quantum Gods. Finally, the Ultimatum drove the remaining Aberrants off-world, and a number of humans chose to go with them rather than remaining on a world that was prepared to destroy itself. Knowing the origin of a colony planet can give you a wealth of ideas when working out the social structure and how the colony would respond to visitors, both psion and human. The presence of humans means that the atmosphere will be breathable (assuming that the Aberrants haven't altered the humans to breathe methane), and that the basic needs of human life will be available. The technology could be of any level; an Aberrant who chose to leave the planet may create wondrous nanotechnology or prefer a tribal lifestyle without modern conveniences like electricity. Humans again limit the situation, making the more extreme planetary alterations unfeasible. Socially, the role of humans and Aberrants varies widely. Aberrants are far above humans through the simple fact of their powers, and these only increase over time. This does not lend itself to happy cohabitation. The following list is intended to illustrate some of the many ways in which Aberrants and humans can exist on the same planet. Benevolent Dictatorship: The Aberrants ultimately have total control. While an Aberrant may listen to the humans, nothing mandates that she must give weight to the humans' concerns. The

Aberrants in such a case are concerned with the well-being of the whole colony, and will use their powers to ensure that it functions as smoothly as possible. The colony on Eden is a good example of this system at work. Separation: The Aberrants and humans have little interaction, living apart from each other. The Aberrants still ensure the well-being of the human population, but will not interfere in conflicts between individual humans. After several generations the humans may come to regard the Aberrants in the way that the ancient Greeks regarded their gods, with tales of the colony's founding and of the Aberrants' actions as myths and legends. Uplifted: There are a number of reasons that an Aberrant may have altered the humans of a colony. Perhaps they went in search of a singularity or had some similarly lofty goal, or the humans were committed to finding the limits of humanity. In this state, Aberrant-designed hypertechnology has blurred the line between human and Aberrant; from intelligence augmentations and biological customization to seemingly sentient AIs far more powerful than an SI or human mind, and even humans uploaded out of their biological forms. Tribal: The humans have formed into small tribes, grouped around an Aberrant who acts as a moral and political leader. It's rare for research colonies to take this path, but in a refugee colony it is all too possible. This isn't a de-evolution to a primitive level; the tribes are microcosms of the countries of Earth with Aberrants in place of both government and military and many of the problems of the real world. Providers: The Aberrants may remove themselves from the humans as with Separation above, but remain involved with the human colonists by supplying anything from advanced technology (if the colony is otherwise self-sustaining) to food, if the world is a harsh place to live. Such worlds lend to closer links between the Aberrants and humans without constant interaction and the problems that that can lead to. Oppressed: One group, probably the humans, is oppressed in some way by the other group. Aberrants may flaunt their abilities, not caring how many baselines they injure or kill in their lust for more power. Alternately, with powerful weapons or alien assistance combined with Aberrants disinterested in increasing their power the humans could find themselves oppressing the Aberrants. This would give the world a super-powered underclass who are looking for any excuse to revolt. Example: The nova known as Mercury Jones was a rising star in the late 2030s. His body converted to living plasma and gravitic anomalies on eruption, he needed a containment suit to function without destroying a large area around him. His destructive potential lead to him being highly sought-after in the Aberrant War, but nobody could find him. A pacifist, he had arranged to leave Earth with a group of friends, relatives, and others to found a colony on a habitable world far from Earth. Opening a warp gate, they left without fanfare. The world they found was a rock orbiting a dying sun, nothing like what the astronomers had promised. With his containment suit badly damaged from the warp, he sent the humans to land and tore himself free. Mercury Jones lives on, his body now a tiny star providing heat and light to the colony on the planet he orbits. He still communicates with the colonists over 1000 of them by 2121 through a form of telepathy, but he will leave any visitors for the colonists to deal with alone. The humans on the planet live a mostly agrarian lifestyle, but brought and maintain enough technology to give them an edge. Every homestead has a communications center, linking everyone on the planet, and anything that affects the colony as a whole is put to a communal vote. By and large, the populace are pacifists, nobody owning weapons aside from their farming

tools. Psions who attempt to attack Mercury simply because of the taint he gives off will draw the ire of a whole planet and even with his help reintegrating the separatist colony into the modern world will be an uphill struggle. [edit] Back Home Social interplay between Aberrants and humans doesn't start and end with undiscovered colonies. Aberrant cults exist throughout known space, humans flocking to (usually firstgeneration) Aberrants to serve them. Aberrant cults aren't named by accident; they are insular societies with members who often cut their ties to their former life in favor of the cult. Cultists put Aberrant above all others in the social order, and members expect each other to obey her every command. If the Aberrant can create sub-Aberrants or otherwise empower individual cultists, these members are elevated to a position between the normal humans and the Aberrant. Aberrant cults do not always form around one Aberrant: a group of sub-Aberrants or newlyerupted first-generation Aberrants may soon find themselves leading a cult. There is a great temptation for the Aberrants that a cult worships to be cruel. The humans volunteer to degrade themselves in front of their masters, and the urge to treat them like playthings is strong. Some cults may have Byzantine hierarchies that exist only so the Aberrants can play with the power and morality of his subjects, or all the humans may occupy a bottom rung, with the Aberrant able to destroy any of them for no good reason. Aberrants who find themselves with a cult must be careful not to get too careless, or else they will kill or cripple all of their followers. If the Aberrants in charge of a given cult will randomly start killing cultists for their own amusement, why would anyone want to join in the first place? There are a few reasons. The Aberrant will usually reward loyal followers with power within the cult, money, forbidden technology, or anything else the cultists would find useful. In addition, if anyone starts persecuting the cultist then he has a group of like-minded individuals and, in extremes, tainted mutants to seek retribution. More than that, in the 22nd century there are more reasons than ever for a human to go through life feeling unfulfilled, and the pseudo-religious trappings that many Aberrant cults use are a chance to belong to a shared secret, to belong to a group that knows something that the world does not. In turn, the Aberrant gets more than mindless adoration from the cult. It's hard for an inhuman taint-ridden creature to do many things in society, thus human attendants who can arrange transport or special equipment, or keep human authorities from detecting the Aberrant and his cult, is an obvious bonus. The Aberrant also gets a psychological boost from people willing to serve him. The world is not kind to Aberrants, and the influence of a number of humans who really don't think that he should be killed and dissected can help the Aberrant avoid ruining longterm plans in a fit of rage. Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Chapter Four: Creating a Story Chapter 4: Creating a Story [13,000 words] Trinity presents some unusual challenges to a Storyteller as can any particular series he creates, or any particular group of players she joins. Lets say you want to run a Trinity series, and you have some potentially interested players. Where are you going to set it? When? What will the characters be doing? Will you provide missions for the players characters to deal with, or will you react to their ideas for plot lines and schemes for their characters? Do the history books cover the timeline of our world, or of

Adventure! and Aberrant? Are the stories you create together going to be exciting, dramatic, funny or frightening? You have a universe of possibilities with Trinity and you can use them all, or you can focus on some salient details, and either extreme or any point along the line can produce a great game but you have to make some decisions in advance of the first session, as well as more during it and still more afterwards. [edit] Getting Started Before you begin a series, it helps to consider its format, the kinds of characters available and kids of stories that can be told within it. This can be done in consultation with your players or by yourself, depending on your circumstances. [edit] The Series Bible When creating the format for a series, with the involvement of the players, there are some essential decisions to be made: Where and when is the series set? What are the characters roles in the setting? Will it be a straightforward mission-based game, or will it revolve around the characters actions? How long is the series intended to last? How can new characters be introduced if new players join the game or original characters are removed? Once these basics have been decided upon, further detail can be added. If a game is set in a particular location, important areas and recurring NPCs can be detailed. If it involves an ongoing storyline, a timeline can be sketched out, subject to change by the players characters, and so on. [edit] Mission and Character To generalize very broadly, there are two basic categories of stories: mission-based and character-based. How many of each type you plan can determine the format of a series. Mission-based stories are very simple the characters find out about a situation and do something about it. Whether this involves investigation or combat depends on the story, but the basic structure is always external to the characters. The vast majority of pre-written roleplaying scenarios are mission-based, even for games with a heavier character focus, simply because of the differing practicalities of preparing mission- and character-based games. Many have advice on adapting them for different kinds of characters, and introducing subplots that could fit specific individuals, but most could be run with any team of characters. Character-based stories are derived from the lives and backgrounds of the players characters and the various non-player characters they associate with. They can be tied to specific factors in a persons past, details such as Backgrounds, Merits and Flaws, or drawn from previous stories concerning those involved. Pre-written roleplaying scenarios based on character do exist, but they naturally require that the players characters fit the scenario. The amount of each kind of story, and the mix of character subplots into mission stories and vice versa, reflects on the series, and should be discussed with the players beforehand. At one extreme, a game could play like the James Bond films, where every session is a new mission that has nothing to do with the last or next, and they could easily be played out of order. At the other, a series based entirely on character could be more like a weekly soap opera, where everything connects to the characters actions and reactions. Most games, of course, will fall somewhere between these two models. For one thing, continuity will generally be maintained in most games better than in the Bond films, if only because the players characters acquire experience and equipment as they progress from mission to mission.

For examples of that, look at Star Trek. The original series is made up of mission-based stories with a small number of character episodes, while Deep Space Nine more resembles a soap while still trying to feature some standalone element in most episodes, with ongoing character threads interspersed with new missions in some episodes and a fair number of sessions based entirely on characters actions. Bear in mind that the setup can evolve as the series continues. Characters lives can become significantly more detailed in play, with plotlines developing as they go along. What starts as a simple mission-based game could develop into a series all about the specific characters. Consider Star Wars: what started as the story of a farm boy helping an acquaintance with a mission became the saga of a man dealing with his unknown birthright. [edit] Involving the Players One absolute essential to every series is the players characters, and ensuring that they get involved in the story is vital. This can be as simple as ordering a squad of troops into combat, but things are rarely that simple in character-based games. A structure for missions should be in place from the beginning of a series, since the characters need a way to learn about new problems that they have to deal with. This can be quite simple, of course. A Proteus Division team has a superior officer handing them files, a starship crew has a remit to explore strange new worlds, a smuggling gang needs some cash right away... This also applies to more character-centered series, with the added complication that every character may need a different motivation for each specific storyline. While you can have the corporate president of Absolute Zero order a Legion security officer, sculapian paramedic and neutral bartender to investigate a murder, it stretches credibility. A repeated problem with character-based series is that the players become so involved in their own characters plotlines that they hardly interact with one another. While some personal or even secret storylines can add greatly to a game, too many of them can lead to a point where there is really no reason for the players to meet for a session, since their characters never do. A balance has to be struck, and this depends on the enthusiasm and patience of all players involved. While by no means essential, it helps if the players characters get along well in an informal group, so that they would be willing to call each other for help. A group with no reason to work together, or reason to work against one another, is a group that will fragment a series. Discuss secret plotlines outside of the regular session if at all possible leaving the other players while you talk outside should be a last resort used only when something must be covered immediately. Another method of involving the players is to bring them in on brainstorming for future developments and stories. Some players (often those with some experience as Storytellers) are glad to offer suggestions for plotlines involving their or other players characters. In fact, many of them are especially happy to suggest problems and dangers for the Storyteller to throw at their characters, since they thrive on drama and conflict. A series should also have some means of introducing new players and their characters. While this can be as simple as a new team member being assigned by a superior, it can be complicated in a very insular location or with a select or secretive group. Again, it depends on the circumstances of the specific game, but the players and storyteller should at least consider the potential problems of a particular series setup. [edit] Scope

One of the unique features of Trinity is its sheer scale from a vividly-imagined future Earth through the solar system and on to the other side of the galaxy. It can be intimidating to players and storytellers, as they wonder what to do, what to include or exclude. A decision should be agreed upon before any major creative work is put into a specific location. While this is not a hard-and-fast rule, mission series tend to feature a broad view of the setting and regular travel, while character series focus in more detail on specific locations. Looking at Star Trek again, the original series spanned the galaxy but never looked at any one locale in great detail, while Deep Space Nine centered on a specific location with occasional stories taking members of the main cast to other areas of the setting. A series could also follow the example of The Next Generation, somewhere between the two, with new star systems for new missions combined with episodes concerning the characters lives aboard the Enterprise. Duration is also a factor of scope. A series intended to run for an academic year should be planned differently than one meant to last for a summer, since both should ideally come to some sort of definite conclusion at the end of that period. An ongoing series needs multiple plot threads and various routes to introduce new ones, while a mini-series could revolve entirely around a single plotline. The Lord of the Rings is essentially one mission with multiple subplots all at least tangentially related to it, for example, as is the Darkness Revealed series of published adventures for Trinity. Example: Leviathan is an ongoing series set aboard the Leviathan-class jumpship Lwoen, traveling between a number of established extrasolar colonies while also exploring star systems in between, investigating stellar phenomena and dealing with crises that arise. Essentially, it is designed to have a very wide scope, as wide as Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran for seven years on television as well as films, books, comics and games. It is essentially mission-based, as the Lwoen moves from system to system and problem to problem, with space for character-based stories due to the large crew of the ship and the possibility of new arrivals in every port. The ship is the central location of the series. It is crewed by the on Trinity and the Orders, so that a diverse supporting cast of non-player characters can be found aboard. A secondary location would be the ships home port in lunar orbit, and by extension Earth. Other locations will be detailed less thoroughly the colonies on its patrol route can be visited repeatedly and should be the basis of multiple plotlines, while the settings of side trips such as vessels sending distress calls might only be visited once. The players characters are members of a Proteus Division team, assigned as troubleshooters. This means that characters from any Order, and neutrals, have a reason to work together. New characters can be introduced by transferring from other teams aboard the ship, assigned when the ship reaches its home port or another Trinity-run location, or brought in from the local populace. [edit] Begin at the Beginning: The Players The players, and their characters position in the setting, are vital to any game. Some games start with a fairly solid framework in place, and an obvious place for the main characters to fill. Others start with the players interests in the setting and build from there. Its all a question of who came up with the idea for the game. Because Trinity has such a broad setting, it is often a good idea to focus on some specific feature. If you dont discuss this with the players first, you might find that each of them has focused on a different specific feature, and they arrive with characters who live on different planets.

Example: I started out with an idea for a series set aboard a Leviathan-class jumpship, traveling between solar and extrasolar colonies, troubleshooting and exploring a Trinity variant of the classic science fiction ship series concept. Since I wanted the players characters to be a landing party, I decided early on that they would be members of a Proteus Division mission team the classic player character group for Trinity games. A variety of psions and neutral characters would therefore be available, along with a mixture of roles within the team. [edit] Talking Things Through The beginning of a game is a negotiation between all the players and the Storyteller. The amount of negotiation involved varies, of course. If a group has come together to play a game based on the Storytellers pitch for a series idea, the negotiation will largely focus on forming a cohesive team during character creation. If a group has nothing to go on beyond an agreement to play Trinity, the negotiation will cover possible series concepts and styles as well. [edit] The Contract Once a premise has been agreed upon, some groups produce a contract laying out the concepts of the series and the place of the players and their characters in it. In a game as involved as Trinity, this can be helpful for ensuring that everyone is in agreement as to the focus and limits of the game. A contract might include a paragraph outlining the central concept of the series, a paragraph concerning how the game is intended to work, and a paragraph discussing possible future developments. [BEGIN SIDEBAR] [edit] The Leviathan Contract Leviathan is a Trinity series set aboard an on Trinity-run jumpship traveling throughout colonized space. The central characters will be members of a newly-assigned Proteus Division mission team assigned to the ship to deal with problems on land. The series will have a mixture of action, intrigue, and character interaction. Not all of the characters need be skilled in combat, but everyone should have a useful skill to bring to the team. While they need not be the best of friends, the players characters should be able to work as a team, having been assigned together for this purpose. The series is intended to follow a television model, with a regular ensemble cast dealing with new situations and new populations in each adventure. The basic structure of the game is mission-based, but character-based storylines will be featured as well, particularly if they involve shipboard situations. We will have to discuss these, of course. I would also like to feature some ongoing storylines which the characters can play important roles in. Friendships, enmities, rivalries and romances will all begin, develop and end on-board. Things to consider: How does your character feel about the on Trinity? The Psion Orders? Psions? Neutrals? Their own psionic abilities, or lack thereof? Aberrants? The Qin? The Chromatics? Other aliens? Where does the character call home? Who does he or she care about there? Who could the character know on-board? Is the character involved with someone (a player or Storyteller character)? Would you like them to be at some point? [END SIDEBAR] [edit] Character Creation

Once you have a working premise agreed upon, character creation can begin. The Storyteller has to ensure that a group that will function for the purposes of the series is the result. This may seem like an unfair burden, since the players should take this into consideration as well, but not everyone does. [edit] Possible Problem Characters Look out for potential conflicts and other problems. If you know your players from previous games, you can predict and prevent some difficulties, but if not, it helps to know what to watch for. [edit] The Lone Wolf Solitary, self-sufficient characters can be attractive to many players, but can often be a source of problems in the group context of a storytelling game. They can be difficult to bring into storylines, and often go off alone, splitting the group and the Storytellers attention more frequently than is desirable. If you are running a game for a group that meets to play, the characters need a reason to come together as well as the players. So if a character looks like she might be a Lone Wolf, ask the player about it, and be prepared to offer suggestions to shift the focus onto the group. [edit] The Backstabber In one of the groups I play in, theres a standing joke that one of the players always includes Betray the party! when considering his options. The joke is only funny because he hardly ever goes through with it. While interpersonal conflict between characters can be interesting, it takes skill and discretion to ensure that it does not lead to actual conflict between the players, or derail the plot of the game. If a player has an idea for an intentionally adversarial character, talk it through with her, and see if this is a dynamic that will add to the game rather than detract from it. [edit] The Sore Thumb Most of us have seen this one at some point. A player creates a character that circumvents most if not all of the guidelines for the team, or that seems entirely at odds with the rest of the players characters even if there are no specific guidelines. This can be subtle and easily resolved in play (a rookie in an experienced Proteus team) or it could be so extreme that it could ruin the game if mishandled (an Edenic Nova in a game about neutrals causes a huge power balance, while a major difference in character ideology can make roleplaying more adversarial). While this can be interesting if handled well, it more often leads to the character going along with actions that they would avoid for the sake of the player having something to do, being marginalized as the rest of the group carries on without them, or arguing with the others in or out of character. It may a shame to have to turn down or revise character concepts which may in themselves be interesting, but not every game is the right venue for every character. It is a good idea to make the basic structure of a game fairly flexible, but it can only stretch so far. Hopefully, the player in question will see this. After all, most of us are here to have fun in a communal environment, rather than to disrupt the game and spoil everyones fun.

[edit] Steering The Game Whos flying this thing? All Storytellers have different styles, which hopefully adapt to the interests of their players. Some direct the flow of the story closely, while others sit back and let the players wander where their interests take them. Most Storytellers fall between these extremes, of course, depending on their preferences and those of their players. Any style can be problematic when the preferences of a group do not agree, however. [edit] Director

A director style of Storytelling involves a large amount of preparation on the part of the Storyteller, and the players being essentially reactive. For example, if the characters are members of a Trinity mission team sent to deal with specific issues as they arise, a director will prepare briefings, detail the problem and sketch out possible solutions. How the players react to the situation is in their hands. The most common problem with a directorial style is that it can lead to railroading the sense that the actions of the players characters do not actually matter because the story will play out as the Storyteller intends, no matter what they try. In extreme cases, any attempt to deviate from the Storytellers plan is punished. Some players are perfectly happy to go with the flow as long as their characters are able to do something useful or entertaining regularly, but most will chafe at extreme examples of railroading. A way to avoid this is to prepare several contingencies for the session, and be prepared to consider any curve balls the players might throw you. If need be, take a moment to think about it. If their idea seems viable, let it work. If not, discuss your issues fairly and allow further thought. [edit] Laissez-Faire At the other extreme, the players create the plot and the Storyteller reacts to what they want to do. While they might sometimes make suggestions and requests in advance, this normally means that the laissez-faire Storyteller has little time to prepare, and has to improvise all responses. Not everyone can do this well, let alone do it week in and week out. The main problem with a laissez-faire style is that games often drift along if the Storyteller does not respond quickly enough to the players ideas. It is best to discuss this honestly with your players. The game might also slow down if the players lack initiative in a particular session. In this case, it is a good idea to have a few story hooks of your own. Another problem is that players can usurp more than their share of the narrative control on offer, and a particular player can effectively start directing the story, regardless of the other players wishes. Here, the best thing you can do is to discuss this with the players involved. Maybe one of the players in question wants a shot at running a game himself. [edit] Navigating Between the Extremes As noted, most Storytellers and players fall between these extremes, often shifting from game to game and even subplot to subplot. Even the most directorial Storyteller should respond to an enthusiastic players concepts for character-related storylines, and the most laissez-faire Storyteller occasionally has an idea she wants to surprise her players with. Often, a Storyteller will provide prepared missions for the players to react to however they see fit, while the players provide the personal subplots that also run through the same sessions. [edit] Genre, Mood and Theme One of the key features of the Trinity Universe is the diverse selection of science fiction subgenres included in a single setting, ranging from heroic space exploration to cyberpunk thrillers by way of war stories and transhumanist speculation. Characters can be drawn from a variety of sources and milieus, working together and interacting with a unique crossover of genres. [edit] Action-Adventure Action-adventure science fiction is the default style of Trinity, and indeed of most roleplaying games. The characters are generally combat-capable, and their assorted missions often bring them into physical conflict with opposing forces. They might be explorers, investigators or soldiers, but above all they are adventurers. Their lives are dangerous and exciting. Since it is so common, it needs the least discussion. [edit] Space Opera and Space Fantasy

In some ways an extension of action-adventure SF, space opera uses the future as a backdrop for larger-than-life heroes and villains. Its science often shades into science-fantasy, with humanoid alien races being common and psychic abilities more resembling magic. Star Trek is space opera with a lot of suspension of disbelief required for some improbable science, while Star Wars is space fantasy and really doesnt care about suspension of disbelief at all. Trinity does not, by default, stretch into space opera. It certainly can, since it contains psionic and other superhuman powers, faster-than-light travel, and aliens capable of communicating with us, but it is generally less spectacular, its characters less epic in power. Space opera or space fantasy games could borrow from Adventure! for over-the-top heroics. [edit] Superheroes Psions are superhumans, generally using their powers for the good of others. Together with neutrals using highly advanced technology, aliens, cyborgs, Edenic novas, psychomorphs and returning daredevils, mesmerists and stalwarts from Adventure!, there are a variety of ways in which one can play a superhero in the Trinity Era. Science fiction tends to examine the effects superhuman beings would have on their setting, but superhero stories set in the future can also simply use it as a colorful backdrop for action. Psions by default rank fairly low on the scale of superpowers they are capable of some amazing things, particularly if they concentrate on a particular Mode, but they lack all-round power. This can be increased with extra Bonus Points and experience, but there is still plenty of excitement to be had at lower levels. [edit] Exploration and Discovery This is an activity rather than a sub-genre, but is such a key part of much science fiction that it deserves its own heading. One of the driving forces of SF is the human desire to explore, to see whats out there. Trinity gives players a future solar system to explore, and further stars to visit. Humanity in the 2120s has achieved demonstrable psionic ability, faster-than-light travel and first contact with alien intelligence, and new vistas are just ahead. [edit] Cyberpunk The cyberpunk movement was a catchy title given to the work of a group of SF writers in the 1970s and 1980s who looked at the possibilities of the future cynically. They suggested that cybernetics would be used for fashion, that space travel would be commercialized and that artificial intelligence would become another weapon in battles between multinational corporations who would be more powerful than governments. It was a reaction to the optimism found in a large segment of science fiction, a reminder that human nature is unlikely to change significantly in the space of a few decades. Since Trinity presents a fairly optimistic view of the future, cyberpunk stories inform only part of the setting. The setting suggests that there will still be greed and corruption; that the mass media will continue to include a healthy dose of sleaze; and that there will still be haves and have-nots. The FSA, Britain and the bowels of Luna are among the areas where graft, oppression and cynicism are rife within the setting. [edit] Transhuman SF Transhuman SF is a flipside of cyberpunk, examining the ramifications of nanotechnology, biotechnology and cybernetics with a view to the positive as well as the negative. It suggests that we have a wide variety of interesting options ahead of us. This appears in the Trinity setting most notably with the Nora and in their home in Sudamrica, where bodies are changed as casually as clothes by some subcultures and smart drugs are commonplace. It allows Storytellers to explore the ramifications of advanced technology that affects the human mind and body even-

handedly. [edit] Military Science Fiction <n>Military SF is a sub-genre that focuses on scientific advances in conflict. From stories of ground troops on distant planets to sagas of starship captains in interstellar wars, the sub-genre combines SF with the war story on a variety of fields. In gaming, this is more often a backdrop for war games rather than roleplaying series for example, there is no book devoted to setting Storytelling games on Khantze Lu Ge and most information on that setting can be found in Trinity: Battleground. However, the dangerous lives of combatants, from grunts to generals, can form a solid basis for a series, or for a storyline within a series, as seen in Alien Encounter: Invasion. One notable subset of Military SF is the Mecha subgenre, where powered armor is extended to walking tanks, as seen in Trinity with VARGs. Entire roleplaying games have been written about these settings. A common concern with military games is that a strong hierarchy can limit player freedom, and making everyone a member of the same mission group can lead to similarity of characters. This may appeal to some groups, possibly as a change of pace from the more typical freebooters and rogue adventurers found in most roleplaying games, but can discourage other players. Thus, players characters in military organizations are often special forces or irregulars existing outside the normal chain of command, or mercenaries. Trinity includes a variety of groups that can fit this structure, from the Orders onward, as well as more traditional military bodies. [edit] Horror Horror is a separate genre to science fiction, but it often creeps into SF and other genres. While the horror genre has certain rules and tropes, fear-inducing effects can be found far away from it. Science fiction horror stories are marked out by their settings and the rationales behind their storylines. Science fiction horror often covers the disastrous results of scientific experiments and advancements, from Frankensteins monster to Skynet in the Terminator series. These cautionary tales are a counterpoint to the stories of scientific advancement and exploration seen elsewhere in SF. While the Trinity Universe concentrates on many neutral or positive developments of science, there is room to consider its abuses and the dangers of misuse. Without giving too much away, the Darkness Revealed trilogy concerns an experiment gone horribly wrong. Another strand of SF horror has nothing to do with experimentation, being a pure horror story that uses the trapping of SF to provide a rationale. For instance, the Alien movie series focuses on alien life forms encountered in space, even though it features a lot of the same tricks as a haunted-house story set on Earth. Atmosphere, uncertainty and a sense of danger are keys to unsettling adventures. As Howard Philips Lovecraft put it, The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. If the players know that their characters are being hunted by a mid-level Aberrant, they will be less concerned than if they suspect this is the case but have no way of being sure. Atmosphere is discussed in the section on description, and danger is covered in the section on ground rules. [edit] Drama Drama is a catchall term for stories centering on human (or humanoid) emotions, including romances and slice of life stories. These are most often found in character-based games, but can serve as subplots for adventures in a more mission-based series. Pure drama SF deals with the social ramifications of scientific advancements, first contacts, and other developments. For example, Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars trilogy examines the politics and practicalities of

colonizing another planet in great detail. The Trinity Field Report guidebooks on Psi Law and Media, as well as much of the setting information in the combination sourcebooks, reflect the concerns and possibilities that can result from the changes between now and the 2120s. It would be possible to run a pure Drama game in the Trinity Universe human life has enough diversity and variety to fill hours of television every week without the addition of speculative fiction. Look at how long-running series such as Star Trek: the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine mix together down to earth storylines with more spectacular events. A straight examination of the practical, political and social issues of an isolated extrasolar colony could make for an intriguing series. However, most games will tend to involve drama as one strand among several, combined with action-adventure, a central conflict or the thrill of exploration. [BEGIN SIDEBAR] [edit] Region, Order and Genre Trinity contains such a diversity of sub-genres because different power groups and regions within the setting reflect different styles of story and gameplay. For example, the megacities of the Federated States are the ideal backdrop for hardboiled cyberpunk and dystopian urban SF, complete with the technological Order playing a central role. Meanwhile, the Blight is a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of danger, horror and surrealism: you could export large amounts of Sword & Sorcery Studios Gamma World setting directly into the Blight zone. And thats just continental North America. Sudamrica is a post-cyberpunk transhumanist setting, Europe is severely Balkanized and a suitable home for smuggling adventures and political intrigue alike, and Khantze Lu Ge is tailor-made for military SF and body horror. Likewise, the Orders each bring specific genres to the game as well as roles in a team. The Legions are at home in military and mercenary games, Orgotek in corporate politicking as well as scientific exploration and the Ministry suggest a Thought Police akin to the antagonists of George Orwells 1984, although they are far less brutal and extreme. The sculapians fit into the small medical SF sub-genre, as well as scientific exploration and the medical officer slot in many series ensemble cast. That said, the predominant genre of each setting and Order is not set in stone. The regions are not as clearly divided as Tomorrowland and Adventureland at Disneyland. People travel, ideas are exchanged, threats move unnoticed and some concepts roll over all artificial boundaries. In its continuous run of almost thirty years, the 2000AD comic strip Judge Dredd has sometimes left the oppressive police state of Mega-City One to travel into the Blight-like Cursed Earth, other cities and planets, and even other times and realities, but Mega-City One itself has been a setting for satire, horror, warfare, knockabout comedy and personal drama as well as the more stock-intrade action thrillers and battles with SF supervillains. This one city serves as a backdrop to suit almost any kind of story its writers and artists have thought up. Khantze Lu Ge can be home to a heroic rescue team bringing civilians to safety as easily as a desperate group of neutral Legionnaires running low on ammunition as they fight a monstrous Aberrant cult. The Legions, meanwhile, include public relations agents and engineers as well as combatants, while Orgotek and the sculapians have their share of combat-trained psions and neutrals who regularly see action in a variety of fields. Consider the example of John Carpenters film The Thing, based on John W. Campbells novella Who Goes There?. A science fiction horror story, it concerns a shapeshifting organism infiltrating an isolated research facility on Earth. This could be adapted to Trinity in a variety of ways. The

most obvious would be an Aberrant striking at a Legion base on Khantze Lu Ge, but it could work equally well with a true AI possessing people through nanotechnology in an Orgotek research station orbiting Europa, or a Doyen literally possessing members of the crew of an exploration vessel like the Lwoen in an attempt to redirect it to attack a Coalition scout vessel. [END SIDEBAR] [edit] Non-Player Characters in the setting One of the central features of most settings is the NPC population. This may be a large cast of recurring characters in a series based in a fixed location, or an ever-changing gallery of new faces in a more mobile series. Firstly, look at the setting. What kind of NPCs are essential? A game without NPCs is technically possible, either with a very large cast of players and their characters to provide conflict or an isolated characters-against-nature setting, but in most games it is a useful tool to have NPCs at least available. What roles do these NPCs fill friends, enemies, rivals, contacts, obstructions, scenery? How do they fulfill their purposes? Then, look at them in relation to the players characters. How do they view them as the series begins, and how can that change as the plotlines develop? Further, consider how various NPCs view each other. While it is generally a good idea to keep NPC-to-NPC dialogue and scenes to a minimum, various characters will know of and sometimes meet each other. Their relationships should also change as the series progresses. While creating a series, organizing a roster of NPCs, and keeping it updated, can prove very helpful. Include details such as the characters position in the setting, allies and enemies, powers and resources both personal and political, and some memorable personality traits which can be demonstrated in play. Updates should occur whenever something affects them, on screen or not. An enemy who loses an eye to a team members attack will be affected, but so will a space station bartender who hears second-hand that the team helped a dockworker. In a game set in a fixed location, the roster can grow quite substantial. Setting sourcebooks such as the By Night series for Vampire: The Masquerade organize NPCs by faction and power bloc, and include relationship diagrams to track how NPCs view each other as play begins. The roster of long-term NPCs will probably be larger for a location-based series, but even a strictly mission-based game with no NPCs in the team can feature a recurring supporting cast. As an example, James Bond is assigned missions by M and equipment by Q, and pauses to flirt with Moneypenny en route. They rarely have any direct impact on the mission once he leaves MI6 headquarters, although they have been known to show up in the field and, in The World Is Not Enough, M was kidnapped. Bond also occasionally meets up with the same contact more than once, and crossed paths with his archenemy Blofeld repeatedly. [edit] NPCs in the Team, the Dread Spectres of the Redshirt, and the GMPC One option if you have a small group of players, or a notable gap in the team skill set, is to include an NPC or NPCs in the team. They come along on missions, have their own personal issues (although these should be given less screen time than those of the players characters) and allow you to take part in in-character dialog. Of course, there are dangers with this approach. One of the most notable is the GMPC. The Gamemasters Player Character is a NPC who doesnt tag along with the team he lets the team tag along with him. He is essentially a player character, not an NPC, but he has the advantage of having the games de facto God on his side. GMPCs hog the spotlight, fight better

than the fighters, come up with great plans (because, hey, they know what the clues mean) and generally can do no wrong. Players generally complain about this, and quickly, and yet it still happens. The other risk is Redshirt Syndrome, named for the anonymous security personnel in Star Trek who were there to show how dangerous the monster of the week was. Too many Storytellers include friendly NPCs, helpful party members and even characters from the players backgrounds just so that they can (a) be killed for the sake of a plot development or (b) betray the party likewise. As a result, youve probably met players who have a hard time trusting any and all NPCs. Fortunately, there are ways to encourage trust. * Dont make the PCs jealous. This is the GMPC problem in a nutshell. GMPCs take up too much screen time, are too good at too many things and, in what many players regard as a cardinal sin, step into their characters niches. While having two pilots might be useful, for example, if the players character is intended to be a hotshot pilot who does a lot of fancy flying, it had better be her behind the controls when an alien fighter chases the teams ship through an asteroid field, and not the NPC. * Dont make the NPC perfect or useless. A party NPC should be suitably capable at their role unless theyre there as a liability or comic relief, but should also have failings and flaws that serve to humanize them, even if they arent human. Use their weaknesses sparingly, because overuse can make them into running jokes. * Make friendly NPCs actually friendly. They dont have to love everyone in the party unconditionally, but they should be willing to help out, offer advice, get a round in at the bar occasionally, laugh at some of the players in-character jokes... the kinds of things we appreciate from our friends. * Make the NPCs change in relation to the players characters and the setting. Note how characters react to each other, how party members treat the NPCs around them, who knows whom and what. NPCs should develop as well as PCs. * Dont kill them or have them betray the party just for shock value. This is not to say that they can never be hurt, or never turn away from the team, but there should be good reasons for both, the betrayal should be foreshadowed (unless the NPC in question is a criminal genius or subject to sudden Doyen possession or something) and the PCs should be able to do something about it. [BEGIN SIDEBAR] [edit] Player-Defined NPCs An important subset of friendly NPCs and a smaller number of antagonistic ones are defined at least partially by the players. They appear on character sheets as Allies, Contacts and the like, and in backgrounds as friends, family and, for that matter, rivals and enemies. You should discuss how to use them with the players in question. These are bought and paid for and should be used essentially as the player intends, and so the intent has to be understood and agreed upon by both player and Storyteller. The player probably has a particular kind of NPC and relationship in mind, and this should be honored. The NPC has to fit the agreed-upon tone and style of the series, but such is the case with everything. Equally, this agreement should be honored by both sides if a player says an Ally is a friend but she treats him like a disposable bodyguard, you should definitely raise this issue with her. [END SIDEBAR] Example: Leviathan has a recurring NPC cast drawn from the ships crew. Since the team is not in charge, there must be a captain and a command crew. There may also be other survey teams,

as well as a medical staff, pilots for the attached fighters, technicians and a support crew. The roster could be rather large, so I decide to concentrate on the major supporting cast that the players will be likely to interact with regularly. The captain of the Lwoen, Demyan Kamenev, is a former Legion naval officer seconded to the Leviathan by the on Trinity. With a large crew, he tends to delegate dealing with the survey team to his executive officer. Since Captain Kamenev is going to be fairly distant, I detail the XO more thoroughly. Commander Monika Hayes is a psion herself, an electrokinetic, and a long-term Trinity member. Recently divorced with no children, she is happy to be off-world for a possibly extended period. She will assign missions and pass on intel to the team, and possibly trade sarcastic barbs with the team leader. The leader of the Locust fighter wing, Lieutenant Andre Davalos, belies the cocky young pilot stereotype, being a quiet, thoughtful man dedicated to the protection of his team. A clairsentient, he can also provide clues and story hooks through his powers if there are no clears among the players characters. A possible team NPC, Legionnaire dropship pilot Ken Maher, shuttles the team to and from planetside missions, occasionally finds himself in danger, and can provide running commentary while covering the teams position with sensors. His partner Melissa Chan, a technician in the geology lab, resents him being assigned a relatively high-threat duty. Further characters (the ships Upeo wa Macho navigator, the chief medical officer, another Proteus team) are sketched in, to be detailed more thoroughly when needed. [edit] Ground Rules The Golden Rule in the Storyteller System has always been to change what you dislike about the rules and the setting. Of course, changes should be made with the knowledge of the players, so along with an agreement on the style of the game, there should be agreement on house rules and interpretations. Consider the optional rule for Extras. Using this implies a fast-moving action game where combat may occur frequently or not, but is generally not life-threatening to the players characters. Disallowing it indicates that physical conflict will be dangerous. This could suggest a game where combat is best avoided and this can generally be achieved, or a series where fighting occurs regularly and the characters will frequently find themselves in mortal danger. Each of these possibilities influences the tone of the game being played. A session tackling raiders threatening a Blight treatment facility will seem less dangerous if the raiders are expected to be Extras, and this might encourage the players to consider combat as a first resort. [edit] Start as You Mean to Go On Having agreed on a format, designed the basic structure of the setting, reviewed the players characters and the non-player characters they will interact with one a regular basis, the time has come to decide on the events the players must deal with in the first session of the series. Think of your first session as your pilot episode you have to hook the audience right away, or youll lose them. Your players, of course, are your primary audience, and by this point you should have a reasonably good idea of what they want. You may also need to introduce some or all of the players to the basics of the system. You can try to do this during the character creation process, or you can include it in the pilot. Give the

Legionnaire a session of combat training, give the ISRAn a chance to try out her clairvoyance. Concentrate on systems that will be used frequently. A series about Legionnaires fighting on Khantze Lu Ge will probably feature the combat system more often than a game about members of the Triton Division press corps. Look at the characters you have, as well as what the players say they want to do. Allow them to interact with what engages them about the setting, and to establish what their characters are like from the outset. In fact, give them a chance to show off. If the Legionnaire has a notably high Martial Arts skill and zero-g combat abilities, give him a jujitsu fight in freefall as well as chances to shoot blasters and throw flames around. If the clairsentient detective can see around corners, give her a suspect to pursue through labyrinthine corridors. If the player of a telepathic diplomat particularly wants to explore the relationship between humanity and the Qin, include the Qinshui ambassador on an assassins hit list. Example: For Leviathan, Ive decided to commence the series with the Lwoen setting off from Luna on its maiden voyage, ahead of schedule due to a clairsentient sensing a (purposely vague) threat to one of the extrasolar colonies. This starts the series with a mystery and an immediate purpose for exploration, gives a reason for the players characters not to know each other well beforehand while allowing them to do so, and leads in to a plotline that will test all of the characters. Ideally, you should have a straightforward plotline of some kind which can be resolved, at least to some extent, by the end of the session. Unless your individual sessions are very short (or spread out through time, as in a play-by-email game) aim for a plotline that you can finish in the few hours you have. That said, be sure to introduce some elements that can be left dangling for future episodes. After the session, look at the notes you took during it, and see what happened, who did what, which players engaged with which game elements, and what the fallout should be. These are the first notes towards the second episode. [edit] Involving Psi One particular issue with adventure planning in Trinity is the involvement of noetic Aptitudes. You have to consider the characters abilities, and those of their available allies, when preparing adventures for any game, but in Trinity these often include some powers that can derail a variety of storylines. A murder mystery can be unraveled in seconds by a skilled telepath, and a clairsentient can literally look around corners for ambushes. The simplest method is to curtail the characters powers for the sake of a particular storyline the murder suspect is a telepath himself, or the entire facility is covered by an anti-psionic dampener. This is acceptable in small doses (after all, if such technology exists it will be abused) but overuse can annoy players, since they are effectively being shortchanged on their characters abilities. One way of making this less unfair is to involve it in the plotline itself. Who knew about the psionic dampeners in the lab? Compare that to the list of suspects and it becomes an important clue. A fairer method is to have the opposition consider the possibility of psionic involvement and plan against it. If you want to ambush a team of psions, you have to bet on the presence of telepaths and clairsentients even if there are actually none in the team. Rather than lying in wait yourself, send a doll with a gun and packed with explosives. If you know you will be fighting a pyrokinetic, try to lure her into a pressurized environment with harsh countermeasures in case of fire. To make sure that this is done fairly, you can provide hints. If the player or her character notices the

signs she can find another route rather than having the countermeasures start without warning. Of course, to balance all of these methods, use them sparingly. Allow the characters plenty of opportunities to use their abilities, psionic and not, without specially prepared defenses against them. Reserve these tricks for real experts. It is perfectly reasonable for a team of FSA assassins on a mission to kill a Legion commander to have anti-psionic alpha wave helmets, but not for a gang of looters riding the Blight Zone on jury-rigged motorbikes. Equally, sending psions to deal with a problem that involves psionic blocking of any kind is a measure of its rarity and importance. For example, a psychomorph cult leader who can render her followers invisible to psionic senses is a significant threat, not to be taken lightly. Another way of limiting over-reliance on psionics is to consider the ramifications of their detection. In some regions, undeclared psionic use is illegal, and there are various ways to prove it beyond eyewitness testimony. In areas with a high presence of psions, Aptitude use will be sensed and often queried. This should discourage casual psionics. [edit] Go On as You Mean to Go On Following the pilot is the first regular episode. The players characters have been introduced, the background has been sketched in, and the basic form of the game has been defined. It may look a little different than your original design, of course, but games evolve as they go, and actually playing for the first time is a major point of their evolution. Ideally, it adds to what was prepared and suggests new ideas, but sometimes it closes off options and forces new developments. How much of this happens depends on a variety of factors, some of them beyond your control such as a players mood on the night, but some foreseeable depending on your preparation. If you prepared well, discussed the intended format and agreed on it, your basic plans for the second episode should still be workable. Take stock of what happened, what didnt, what worked, what fell flat, new ideas suggested by the players and prompted by their reactions to your plans, and start preparing for your next session. Now that the characters are on the road and introductions have been made, you can introduce new elements of the setting, and base the session on the format of the series. At this point, you can more easily afford to have ongoing adventures that take multiple sessions, the beginnings of interweaving plotlines, more depth to character interactions and a general slowing of the pace. You have already provided a snapshot of the series. Now you provide the series itself. Example: Leviathan will regularly feature the ship arriving at a new destination, to explore it or for some other purpose, in the classic spaceship show format. Since the players characters do not have the run of the ship, they cannot normally point it in the direction that most interests them. This will happen sometimes, as the players have more storylines they want their characters to follow, but initially the game will work as a spaceship show while the players find their feet. For the second episode, I decided to delay the Vision storyline in favor of a format episode, in which the Lwoen finds an automated freighter adrift in the Asteroid Belt and the Proteus team investigate. The main storyline really has nothing to do with the progression of the series, but it demonstrates that the team and the crew will deal with a variety of problems and threats as a matter of course. As well as the A story about the freighter, the characters will also get to interact with, and see some of the interactions among, the Lwoen crew (the B story). [edit] Keeping Things Moving Plan and pace sessions depending on their frequency and length. Everyone should have something to do in every session, even if a major plotline focuses on only one or two of the characters, and every session should include some important event. If there is not enough time

for a complete episode, there should at least be a major break between acts. A faster pace is a good idea in a short session. Every session should be easily summed up and described, at least in retrospect. Discuss your plans with others, including your players and also other Storytellers you know. Read mailing lists and online forums as well as Storytellers talking about their plans, you can often find brainstorming topics where suggestions are offered and these can be very helpful in prompting new ideas for everyone involved. Look over the players characters and prominent Storyteller characters again. Story hooks and other background elements might suggest new ideas as the series progresses. Introduce the team of Legionnaires that the telekinetic rescue worker trained with as they head out to ChromePrime, or bring on the Ministry agents bureaucrat parents who want her to settle down in a safe diplomatic position. Also, consider how each characters storylines will affect the other characters. When introducing a crew of amoral smugglers to combat the Fuyoushi marshal, consider how they will relate to the slightly dishonest shipping merchant, and also whether they would regard the vitakinetic doctor as a danger or a valuable asset to be kidnapped. [edit] Further Adventures <n>Once you and your players have established your characters well, you can focus on more personal storylines. Of course, everyone needs something to do in the session and a reason to come to the game, but a turn in the spotlight can be a lot of fun as long as everyone gets to make an appearance. Involved and enthusiastic players will often come up with new suggestions and ideas, and these will often be ideas you would never have thought up. Not all of them can or will work with every series, but they should all be taken on board, along with those concepts and ideas that were agreed upon before the series launched. Take a look at them, and see what you can work into a forthcoming session. Likewise, you might have ideas involving a specific character that did not arise from anything the characters player actually said. In this case, it is best to check with the player in advance, since your idea might jar with his concept of the character, or might not interest her as something to play. Equally, she might approve wholeheartedly and offer suggestions. Once a few sessions have passed, you will all know how the format of the game works. So you can bend it a little, or break it entirely for an adventure or two. If you have an idea that could fit into the entire scope of the series but not the format, go for it. Example: After several missions, some of them related to the Vision storyline and all investigating new areas of the Trinity setting, I decide to run a bottle episode set entirely on board the Lwoen as it travels between stars. This in itself is nothing terribly radical. So how about a light-hearted episode in which the characters and a fellow Proteus team, engaged in a little friendly rivalry which has been established in previous episodes, wager some of their work details on some form of competition? Of course, if you continue to break the format, eventually you will lose it entirely. This may not be a bad thing, necessarily, but if the players signed on for a particular style of game and you change it into another, without their asking, they may reasonably be displeased. [edit] Shaking Things Up in the Long Term Formats can be changed occasionally in isolated storylines, but if everyone involved approves,

they can also be altered for extended periods. The change can be as simple as removing a recurring Storyteller character or adding a new one, or as complete and permanent as propelling the players characters centuries into the future. This can happen for any number of reasons. The developing plotline could require the change, the players could desire it or their characters could cause it, a players departure or arrival could affect the series setup, a new source of inspiration could influence the Storytellers plans or a new idea might strike during play. The more radical the idea, the more the players should be consulted. Surprise developments can be entertaining, but can also upset players ideas about and intentions for the game. If you plan on occasionally dropping bombshells on the players unannounced, you should probably at least mention this from the outset. This is another reason to talk with the players about their plans and preferences as the game continues you can surprise them without removing their favorite elements of the series or derailing any plans they might have had. For a particularly significant change, its often wise to have an escape clause in mind, as a way of bringing the game back to something approaching the status quo. After all, the new situation might prove unpopular. Example: After more than twenty sessions of missions, plot developments, personal storylines and a few format-breaking episodes, the Lwoen reaches Averiguas. One of the original mission parameters was to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the dispute there. Since this could easily take months to resolve, Leviathan could shift to a planet-based game for several sessions. A new recurring cast is introduced and the games focus shifts. Of course, there are plenty of escape clauses available priority missions can curtail the peace process, the political situation could change radically overnight but for the time being this is a chance to run a mini-series with a different format, while still hopefully entertaining the players. [edit] Things Shaking Up Around You Other changes will happen to a series beyond your ability to predict or influence them. Even the most skilled Storyteller cannot stop a player having to move out of town. This is another area where communication within the group is very helpful. A few days warning can make all the difference between a well-focused Storyteller bringing a particular chapter of a series to a finale and sending the players character off in style, and a distracted Storyteller wondering what to say after um... when are you going? On a smaller scale, individual sessions can be derailed, often with little or no warning, for myriad reasons. The Storyteller has a migraine, a player misses his bus and the game has to start an hour late, someone gets an important phone call at just the wrong moment, everyone is snowed in by a sudden blizzard... If the session cannot go ahead at all, apologize to everyone involved. Assuming it does, take a moment to consider the options available for running the session differently than the original plan. Its a good idea to have a second episode idea on file in case the lack of a particular player, players or other element will completely wreck the idea you had in mind. This works well if you have a single-session episode planned, or the start of a multiple-session plotline, but is less viable if you are starting from a cliffhanger. In that case, delaying the session might be the best idea, but you can also introduce a subplot. Sometimes, instead of an unexpected loss, you have an unexpected gain, such as new players who would like to join the ongoing series. They should be treated much like the players at the start of the game, with the addition of being able to talk to current players and review material such as adventure logs. Character generation takes time, especially if the new players have never played Trinity (or any roleplaying games) before, and if you cannot arrange to create a

character between sessions handing over a template (or a selection of templates) and temporarily assigning those characters to the team can be more effective. Make sure that the new players understand the rules as they are used, if they are unfamiliar with the system. This is effectively the pilot episode for this player. Afterwards, you can discuss the introduction of their own characters in the next session. [edit] Closing Time Eventually, the time will come to bring a game to a close. This more often happens by accident than design, and a game peters out in effect, a series is canceled without warning. The Storyteller or the most active players have to leave, time constraints change, or numerous small reasons build up to discourage further sessions. Its unfortunate, and it can sometimes be avoided. At the very least, a properly final storyline can be planned and run for the last few sessions. Discuss how you and your players would like the series to end, after looking back on the series as a whole. Perhaps a specific storyline will occur to you perhaps several will, and you can combine them if you have enough room. [edit] Description and Atmosphere When everyone in the game has to rely on you for descriptions of how they perceive the world, your methods are vitally important. Fortunately, you have five, and in some cases six, senses at your disposal, as well as a variety of methods you can employ. [edit] Description as Tone As you approach, you see what the sensors have picked up. Its easily fifteen feet tall, mottled a livid purple color, with a roughly humanoid abdomen and a recognizable head with round black eyes and a fanged maw. In place of legs it has a tail, lined with short legs like a caterpillars, and instead of arms it has two ropy tentacles on each side. It sees you and crawls towards you quickly. As you approach, you see what the sensors have picked up. Black eyes narrow in its head and a mouthful of fangs glitter, its torso flexes as it rears up, looming more than twice as tall as the tallest of you. The whole thing is mottled purple, like a fresh bruise. Two muscular tentacles grip the walls on each side as it pushes itself towards you, dragging a misshapen tail supported by caterpillar legs. How you describe things immediately influences the tone of the scene. A Legionnaires casual incharacter classification of an Aberrant as a class three, probably a Yogger judging by all the tentacles will provoke a different response than the out-of-character description pointing out that the thing is fifteen feet tall and a livid purple color. It puts the facts of the situation across straightforwardly and provides enough data for a mental picture. A more nervous reaction can be achieved by replacing fifteen feet tall with looming more than twice as tall as the tallest of you, emphasizing how small the characters are compared to it, and describing its coloring as like a fresh bruise connects the idea of pain to it. The facts havent changed, but the players are likely to see it rather differently. This will probably affect their immediate reaction to the threat. In less urgent scene-setting, description still affects tone. Consider a corporate space station with white walls. Refer to them as plain and the players will treat the location more neutrally than if you describe them as featureless or austere. [edit] Detail Informs, Brevity Allows Invention The more detail you put into a description, the more the players have to react to. However, there

are limits. Every added detail risks being forgotten. Include three or four salient details, and put something vital at the end or something that you want to appear vital. In the descriptions of the Aberrant above, one ends with the rather important fact that its approaching the characters, while the other ends by pointing out how. In the latter case, it could serve to draw fire towards the monsters limbs, away from the head and torso, since it leaves them freshest in the players minds. Of course, players wanting additional detail or clarification can and will ask questions. In some cases, a question suggests a character reaction and you should point that out. If the team enters a corridor and find a robotic assassin waiting for them, one of the players might ask if theres a fire extinguisher in the area. Ask whether her character is actually looking, since that would be an action. Another player reaction is to invent minor details themselves. In this case, the player announces that her character is grabbing the fire extinguisher by the door. Whether you should allow this kind of invention or not depends on the tone of the game, and should be established. Players adding details suggests a more adventurous game, where the characters stunts and tricks with the scenery and props of a scene increase the players involvement in the game. There are limits, of course. Trinitys sister game Adventure! contains rules for just such player additions, and to use their examples having a fire extinguisher conveniently located is less of a stretch than having a car turn out to be submersible when it falls into the water. Some players will use or abuse this freedom more than others, so be prepared to negotiate on any ideas which would really change the tone of the scene. It should be noted that asking and inventing imply different feelings from the player involved. If she asks about something, she is more ready to take no for an answer than if she states that it is so. In the latter case, she is probably enthusiastic about the idea, and will be more disappointed if it is disallowed. This is another case where yes, but... can be a better answer than no. [edit] Describing Psi <n>One of the unique elements of Trinity is the prevalence of psionic abilities, often among players characters, and there are a variety of ways to visualize these phenomena. What does it feel like to read minds, to see a past event, to pick up an object with a thought? And what do witnesses sense when a Mode is in use? How you answer these questions can affect the mood and style of your series. When characters have a literal, rules-defined sixth sense, it can help to describe their sensations in terms of the other five. Clairvoyance and clairaudience literally mean clear seeing and clear hearing, but do they also pick up other senses on the way the smell of gas as a psychometrist examines an explosion, for example? Likewise, a danger sense could reflect the actual sensation of someone standing too close behind you when nervous, but focused and targeted in a definable direction. How sharp are these sensations? Do clairsentients visions seem hazy or entirely real? This could be defined by the immediacy of the vision or the roll of the dice, but it could also be a story factor. For example, a vision might normally be described as washed-out colors and echoing sounds, but a particularly intense one might seem entirely real to the psion, leaving him and his player unsure as to what was reality and what was precognition. Another question is the appearance of psionic Modes as witnessed from the outside. While some are obviously flashy and others are defined as being subtle by the rules, others are open to interpretation. If pyrokinetic characters are wreathed in flame whenever using that Mode and clairsentients eyes glow as they activate their powers, this suggests a more superheroic or anime

version of Trinity. If a Psion simply appears to be looking at something in the middle distance when she empowers a Mode, that indicates a more low-key approach. Each fits a certain style of game. You can also mix and match the approaches depending on the characters involved. Perhaps a showoff Legionnaire on Khantze Lu Ge always brings up a shield of fire when going into combat in a low-key game, or an untrained psychomorph might be unable to use cryokinesis without the nearby area turning cold. Equally, a character who does not make their powers obvious in a superheroic game might indicate that she has an unusual level of control perhaps most of the Legions signal their attacks with unconscious displays of power, but the Orders assassins never do. [BEGIN SIDEBAR] [edit] Handouts, Miniatures and More One trick to influencing tone is the use of handouts. If you can show them a picture of a character or location, it can help to ground your descriptions. This may not always be helpful (for example, a horror story might work better without a depiction of the barely-glimpsed monster) and can be distracting, but it can be useful as well. As well as illustrating things the characters see, handouts can also take the role of visual data ingame. If you hand the players a satellite photo of the location they are about to enter, they can study it in depth. Handouts can also include props such as documents that the players can read in full as their characters do. This can make the setting more detailed and allow players to draw their own conclusions as to which information is significant, but can also lead to a pause in the game as everyone reads over the same sheets of paper. Beyond handouts, other props can also be used. One common form of prop is the miniature figure (as seen in Trinity: Battleground). This can be of great assistance in determining range, line of sight and other tactical features in combat, but this can often make combat more tactical and less involving, turning action scenes into short wargame scenarios. Music can also be used to create mood or set the scene. This can be distracting, however, especially when it involves a lot of juggling CDs and skipping inappropriate tracks. Music with lyrics can also distract from the Storyteller and players speaking, as well. [END SIDEBAR] [edit] Changing the World: Altering Canon, Replacing Elements and Rewiring the Setting The Trinity Universe is a huge and complex setting, incorporating our entire solar system and locations in several others and in-between, home to multiple sentient species including two variant strains of humanity, and with a timeline that stretches out for over a century before and after the present day. Its a brave Storyteller that would even consider using it all in one game, and there are parts of the setting that will not fit into every series. And, of course, you are free to alter whatever you choose. [edit] Pure Science Fiction Trinity The Trinity setting is almost one hundred and twenty years ahead of us, and has seen remarkable progress and terrible tragedy, but much of it is possible, assuming the possibility of psionic ability and sentient alien life. Some of it, however, is based on an alternate timeline where the world has already changed dramatically by the present day. This variation removes that. It retains the original premise of Trinity alone, divorcing it from both Aberrant and Adventure!. The human race

survived a century of turmoil, conflict and upheaval, harnessed psionic power, and begun to spread among the stars. The main difference is that it extrapolates from our present rather than an already-changed world. The history of the setting is the modern world, rather than the present as depicted in Aberrant, and before that our history, rather than the alternate world of Adventure!. If the Aberrants appeared at all, they did so decades later than 1998, and their effect on the world before the Aberrant War was relatively low-key. They would be the relatively dangerous Aberrants seen in Trinity rather than the far more powerful novas of Aberrant. The on Trinity develops from a medical research organization, an international crisis aid charity and an educational project brought together during the fallout of the Aberrant War or another major conflict of the mid-21st century. It could easily resemble the 22nd-century Trinity, simply lacking the storied history of its standard equivalent, or perhaps be less centrally powerful. The setting already has a number of different groups that could take its place entirely if need be. [edit] Still Further Changes The Aberrant threat could be removed entirely, replaced by more mundane forms of conflict and disaster, or for that matter by rogue psychomorphs. Technology advances relatively steadily until a major war in the mid-21st Century, and then begins to advance again until first contact provides a major advance. Since the Aberrants are significant in Trinity history but play a relatively minor role in the present, this change could be relatively straightforward. The on Trinity could also be written out, replaced by agencies of the United Nations, independent watchdogs and other oversight groups. Losing the name of the game would be the most notable effect. The Orders could be deleted as well, replaced entirely with a sudden increase in psychomorphs. The freeform psionics system would be suggested for character creation, although simply offering anyone any Mode could also work. General groupings of psions demonstrating a particular Mode or following a particular leader could still happen some or all of the leaders could even be the Proxies of the standard setting but without the Prometheus Chambers, they are far less centralized and powerful. Equally, the Orders could be increased. Perhaps the Chitra Bhanu were never destroyed, the Upeo wa Macho stayed in the system and prevented the Paris catastrophe, another Prometheus Chamber is constructed, or a schism in one of the Orders has lead the two sides to separate entirely. This can add further complexity to the setting, and drive new story ideas. Likewise, the Orders could be rearranged, spearheaded by different personalities. Imagine a combative Order of electrokinetics lead by Larssen, or Herzogs philosophical telepaths. A radical alternative could remove sentient alien contact, so that the Prometheus Chambers are a marvel of human ingenuity, and biotechnology could take a few steps backward in development. Renegade superhumans provide a continuing spaceborne threat, with different human governments and corporate bodies clashing on the borders of the solar system and the UN struggling to keep the peace. More radical still, we could remove the psions. When the Aberrants return they are beaten back by baseline human technology and ingenuity, and perhaps a little alien assistance. Characters could be generated using the neutral template, perhaps with the higher points spread of psion characters to represent more initial experience. Free attunement for biotechnology would make it central to many characters. The removal and replacement of all of these elements would leave a vanilla science fiction game with a diverse earthly culture, the beginnings of extraterrestrial colonization and extrasolar exploration, and humanity alone on the frontier. It would be a very different game, but could still

put much of the source material, such as the Earth governments and other power groups, to good use in it. [edit] Alternative Histories of the Trinity Universe Having offered ideas for shifting the Trinity setting into our own future by rewriting its history, we could go further back and change history as much as the other Trinity Universe games do, but in rather different ways. As this is a Trinity supplement, each of the following suggestions focuses on the possibility of playing psions in different time periods. [edit] First Orders In Trinity as presented, the Orders have been active in public for several years, and in secret before that. Pulling the timeline back a few decades, the players characters could be among their founding members. They work closely with the Proxies to establish networks of communication and supply, help to protect the Prometheus Chambers, establish links with other organizations, and prepare for the moment they are ready to reveal themselves to humanity until the Aberrants attack and force their hand. [edit] Psion 2008 Instead of novas manifesting in 1998, psychomorphs appear instead. Whether they develop naturally (perhaps using the freeform psi system from the Trinity Players Guide for character creation, or simply allowing a mixture of Modes) or the Orders arrive a century ahead of the canonical schedule, they are greeted much as the novas are in Aberrant, begin to change the world in remarkable ways, and make a number of enemies as they do. The resulting game could resemble the modern reaction to superhumans seen in Aberrant. [edit] Psychics For a modern psion game with an entirely different tone, psychomorphs could appear in small numbers and find that they have very good cause not to reveal their powers to the general public. Their effect on the world would be far less radical as the game takes the form of a modern conspiracy series. Scattered groups of psychics, sought by governments and conspiracies as living weapons, fighting one another as some try to use their powers responsibly while others run amok. A game about psychics on the run, trying to keep their powers secret from the world at large, could draw from White Wolfs World of Darkness setting for inspiration. Characters could be fugitives trying to stay free, conspirators attempting to harness this new force for good or ill, investigators looking for the truth behind a sudden rash of seemingly-paranormal events, or psychics trying to make a difference in a world that denies their existence. For an example, see David Cronenbergs Scanners, in which people exposed to a particular drug in their mothers wombs develop telepathy, clairvoyance and psychokinesis, an underground movement forms, and the most powerful Scanner tries to extort political power. This particular variant could also be included in the established setting with no major changes to it. A small number of psychomorphs appear at the height of the Nova Age, as a reaction to the increase in taint levels. Give them a reason to stay undercover, with a secretive group called Project Pandora helping or chasing them, and keep the novas themselves largely offstage and out of their conflicts. [edit] Mystery! Tales Of The on Society In the established setting, the first significant appearance of psychomorphs, as well as paramorphs and eximorphs, takes place in the early 20th Century, leading to an alternate history of the kind our world only saw in pulp magazines and Saturday morning serials. If we assume that only psionics exist, consider the removal of daredevils and stalwarts from Adventure!, making some of their particular knacks available to the remaining mesmerists. Changing the setting still

further, these early psions could be the result of the Orders forming almost two centuries early, operating in secret. Of course, these are just examples following the styles of Aberrant and Adventure! and one quite different idea firmly rooted in the present. This could be carried further, with an explosion of psychic activity during the 1960s or resulting from the Victorian and Edwardian Spiritualist movement, Rasputins influence on the Russian court, or psychics being hailed as living saints or accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages. The occasional appearance of psychomorphs and other superhumans before 1922 is strongly hinted at in the Trinity Universe. Equally, you can go forward, further into the future. But we leave the future in your hands. Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Chapter Five: The Trinity Universe Chapter 5: The Trinity Universe [18,000 words] So far, we've covered a number of the elements that differentiate the Trinity Universe, and the Unity Era in particular, from the world outside your window. Now it's time to step back and take a look at a bigger picture. [edit] [This chapter sort of takes a step back and looks at Trinity from the point of view of the TU as a whole. How does Trinity fit in? If you were looking at each individual game, what would you tell someone about Trinity to get them interested? Trinity is a puzzle piece. Tell me how it fits into the rest of the puzzle. And so on. This will be the main text of this chapter.] The Trinity Universe is based on three overlapping genres of 20th-century fiction, each noted for larger-than-life protagonists with superhuman abilities: science fiction (in various media), superhero comics and 1930s pulp magazines. Each of these genres, in a certain sense, includes the other two. Similarly, each Trinity Universe game emphasizes one of those genres, but includes elements of the other two. Trinity is the science fiction game, so it takes a fundamentally science-fictional view of the universe. Superhuman protagonists (such as psions, the novas of the Aberrant Era or the Inspired of the Adventure Era) are a staple of SF, and the "space-opera" genre began in pulps like those that inspired Adventure! Trinity is simply set in the era when the greatest number of trappings we've come to think of as science-fictional (space exploration, contact with aliens, technology far in advance of the present) are in place. [edit] Aspects of SF [edit] Aliens One key narrative purpose of aliens is to illuminate aspects of the human condition we usually take for granted. Some aliens do this by exaggerating a particular human trait; others, by lacking it entirely, or at least having it greatly reduced. John W. Campbell, the legendary editor of science fiction's Golden Age, challenged his authors to create aliens who were just as smart as humans, but whose intelligence operated on utterly different principles. [edit] Cyberpunk The OpNet does not work completely like the "cyberspace" of late 20th- and early 21st-century cyberpunk SF. Direct neural interfaces are still a long way away, for one thing. [edit] Dystopia

[Luna, the FSA, shattered Europe.] Even Eden, the "nova"-ruled colony planet, is not quite the paradise it seems; the novas are definitely on top of the social order. If the Nova Age of the early 21st century had progressed without on's intervention, 22nd-century Earth might have such a social system, with nova overlords ruling a largely acquiescent "baseline" majority. [edit] Mecha [edit] Other Worlds [edit] Psi [edit] SF Horror The other purpose of aliens is to embody the Other those aspects of the human condition, or of life in the universe, that humans would prefer to deny. They are the Monster, the Enemy; if they survive, we cannot. The most obvious example of this, in the Trinity Universe, is the Aberrants. Every human from Earth, and from most colony worlds, grew up thinking of Aberrants as the embodiment of evil. (The main exceptions are the inhabitants of Rushing Mountain, Nippon's space colony from Asia Ascendant, and the baselines of Eden.) Like the Terminator in the classic movies, Aberrants (in the popular imagination) cannot be reasoned with; they do not feel pain, or fear, or pity; and once they decide, or are told, to kill a human, they will not stop trying until that human is dead. Perhaps the worst thing about them, though, is that some of them used to be humans. [The Coalition, the Chromatic war.] [edit] Space Travel Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos tell the tale of a far-future human empire held together by technological teleportation, and of what succeeds that empire when the teleportation system is lost. We've covered the essential science-fictional trappings in Trinity terms, but science fiction isn't just about spaceships and bug-eyed monsters. It's about asking "What if?" [edit] Meta-Themes Each of the three themes of the Trinity Universe comes into play in different ways in the different games. [edit] Hope Science fiction caters to the grandest parts of human nature, the epitome of who we could be rather than who we actually are. In other words, it's all about hope. The 2120s are not a perfect time by any stretch of the imagination there are people living in Outback communities who would envy the standard of living in the real world's 2004, never mind that of the Aberrant Era. On the other hand, there are technologies in existence that we would envy just as much. [] The human race in the Unity Era doesn't have all the answers, but it does have many more of them than we do today, and is starting to ask some better questions as well. America is no longer a first-rank nation, but []. [edit] Sacrifice [edit] Unity

Many thinkers and dreamers have argued that, as the human race grows more sophisticated, we will put aside our national differences, or at least stop viewing them as reasons to kill each other. Conversely, many paranoids claim that the secret rulers of the world will eventually go public, or that those in public power will one day consolidate that power on a global scale. The question, then, is whether we will work to get the kind of world government we'd like - or will we instead have to learn to like the world government we get? [edit] The Inspired Other Character Types Psions are the default player characters in Trinity, but they're not the only option by a long shot. The core rulebook provides adequate information on playing psions and neutrals, but sometimes you want more. You want to do something different. You can do something different. With two other basic types of "Inspired" in the Trinity Universe, not to mention other psi-powered entities and variations on every theme, there's almost certainly a character choice that suits your needs. [edit] The Psychic Other Psi Users The founders of the on Society for Gentlemen referred to the earliest wielders of subquantum powers as having received psychic Inspiration. The Prometheus Effect is an artificial form of psychic Inspiration devised by the Doyen; its beneficiaries are covered adequately by the Trinity core rules. This section will concern itself with those who receive psychic Inspiration naturally. [edit] Psychs Naturally-occurring psi users are known as psychomorphs, psychs, proto-psions or psiads. They are more versatile than psions, not being bound by the Prometheus Effect's artificial limitation of a single Aptitude; on the other hand, psions are more capable in their Aptitude. As noted in the Aberrant Players Guide, psychomorphs fall into three main categories, each with two Aptitudes as primary: biological (Biokinesis and Vitakinesis), cognitive (Clairsentience and Telepathy) and energetic (Electrokinesis and Psychokinesis). Some rare psychs have Teleportation as their primary Aptitude, but it is their only one, and no psych yet has evolved to the point where they have Quantakinesis as primary Aptitude. A psych can learn powers up to three dots in any Aptitude's Modes; at 9 Psi, she can increase any Mode of her primary Aptitude(s) to four dots. [edit] Mesmerists The very earliest recipients of psychic Inspiration, in the Adventure Era of the 1920s, did not have organized Modes. They had access to a smattering of knacks, as all Inspired powers were called then. These psychic knacks often organized around a common theme, but did not come in a necessary progression as Aptitudes do. Adventure! lists a number of psychic knacks, ranked in three levels. Level one psychic knacks are either purely sensory or incapable of significant physical or mental effects on their targets. Level two knacks have definite physical or behavioral effects, while level three knacks can kill a man or permanently reconfigure his mind. It's entirely possible that 2120s mesmerists will demonstrate new psi knacks, related to Technokinesis and other phenomena that the 1920s either never imagined or understood only poorly. [edit] The Dynamic The best-known Inspired, other than psions and psychs, are eximorphs those who tap into quantum forces. In the 1920s, they were known as the "'dynamically' or 'superhumanly' Inspired." In the 1990s, they were first called novas, then Aberrants. [edit] Novas

From their mass debut in 1998 to their departure from Earth in 2061, the spotlight of the global stage belonged to the novas. In the wake of contact with Eden, and of the Venezuelan Phenomenon, theyre making a comeback. Novas are built like Aberrants, only without the more severe aberrations. The novas of Eden, in Stellar Frontier, are illustrative: they have much fewer aberrations than their Taint rating would normally indicate, and these aberrations run more to unusual skin and eye colors than to slavering masses of toothy tentacles. If you're using the Aberrant rulebook, simply build your nova as you would build one for 2008-era play. India Underground notes that the Psion Age has lost the ability to distinguish between the positive and negative aspects of quantum energy it's all "Taint" to Joe Hologram but Aberrant still makes the distinction. [edit] Taint-Buttered Monsters In the early 2020s, something happened to the majority of novas. Whether it was caused by the centennial of the Hammersmith Incident, or by the 25th anniversary of the energy release by which they were created, or was simply a natural result of the pushing of their powers, more and more novas started displaying higher and higher levels of mutation. Worse yet, most novas who erupted from that time on started their careers with a degree of mutation that used to take years of power abuse to achieve. By the time they came to be known primarily as Aberrants, most of them deserved the name. As mentioned in the introduction, it still happens to roughly 95% of the novas who have erupted since the Venezuelan Phenomenon. They start out tapping into the deeper, darker aspects of quantum energy; they have more power, but they pay for it in alienation from the human race. In terms of Aberrant statistics, the Taint-buttered monsters familiar from the Trinity core rules are built as noted on p.XX of the Aberrant rules they start with Quantum 3, but automatically have Taint equal to their Quantum. [edit] Stalwarts Some of the new quantum-users created by the Venezuelan Phenomenon have powers noticeably lesser than those of novas. Many of their powers, in fact, are merely extensions of natural human capabilities extensions it's plausible a normal human could achieve by training and effort. The very earliest recipients of dynamic Inspiration, back in the Adventure Era, were limited to such powers. Because these "dynamic knacks" (later known as quantum knacks) so often manifested as enhanced strength and stamina, their wielders were nicknamed stalwarts. Like psychic knacks, quantum knacks come in three levels. Level one quantum knacks are abilities even a neutral could theoretically achieve with the right kind of training and/or the proper genetics; the only way to tell someone using one of these knacks isn't a neutral is from the weak Taint signature of the knack. Level two knacks are obviously more than human, but are still extensions of normal human capabilities (such as strength, speed, stamina or intellect). Level three quantum knacks are blatantly superhuman abilities (the power to regrow lost limbs, for instance, or to reshape one's face to resemble another's). In Aberrant terms, level one and two quantum knacks are generally equivalent to Mega-Attribute enhancements; some level three knacks are equivalent to level one nova powers. [edit] The Heroic There is a third variety of Inspired one whose powers are so subtle that they hardly look like powers. Recipients of heroic Inspiration (sometimes called daring Inspiration) simply seem to be

phenomenally lucky in particular circumstances. [edit] Daredevils For the devil-may-care attitudes which their specialized luck encourages, those with heroic Inspiration are also known as daredevils. Their particular gifts for bending probability around themselves are known as heroic knacks (or daring knacks). Adventure! provides a nice selection of 1920s heroic knacks. As with psychic knacks, above, daring knacks may manifest in new ways in the 2120s. In the Inspiration Age, a heroic knack called Barnstormer allowed those daredevils who possessed it to do amazing things while piloting an airplane; a new form of this knack (perhaps called something like Hot Shot or Sky Pilot) might allow similar feats at the controls of a space vehicle. The other form of coincidence common to daredevils is not always obvious from inside the Trinity Universe. It is represented by the game mechanic of dramatic editing, also outlined in Adventure! Because daring knacks cost no Inspiration, they leave the daredevil with more Inspiration for dramatic editing. (Aberrants and psions may be capable, at the Storytellers option, of spending Taint or Psi, respectively, on dramatic editing.) [edit] Paramorphs In the 1920s, it wasn't entirely clear, even to Max Mercer himself, what sort of Inspiration he had received from the Hammersmith Incident. Indeed, only a handful of on's top people knew of his unique knack for temporal manipulation, and Dr. Primoris was the only one to learn of it before 1942. Some of the on scientific minds who learned of it considered Mercer the only true paramorph, putting daredevils into a separate category. Others held that his power of chronal manipulation was merely the logical development of daring knacks. The gifts of daredevils represented unconscious control over probability perpendicular time. Chronal manipulation, conversely, was a conscious control over the flow of linear time. Some Aberrant powers allow manipulation of times flow, as does the Chronowarping Mode of Teleportation. You may allow either or both of these in your campaign, or rule that Max Mercer is the only time-traveler. [edit] Superiors The "Superiors" created by Nippon's Nakamura Process are to naturally occurring daredevils what tank-produced psions are to psychs. They have much more refined gifts, but they pay for it in lost versatility. Any heroic knacks a Superior develops as a result of the Nakamura Process are the only ones he will ever have, and he is more likely to develop Ability mastery than heroic knacks. Also, Superiors are incapable of dramatic editing. [But we'll also include: Crossover With the Trinity Era as the centerpiece, tell me how to play other stuff in Trinity. Psiads and mentalists. Novas and stalwarts. Paramorphs. If rules exist, refer to them. If they don't exist, make them up. Tell me how to incorporate them, where I'd find them within the setting. And if you've got the space for it, tell me how to incorporate World of Darkness stuff, or even Age of Sorrows. And since we don't have to worry about sales figures, we can add stuff like Wraith and Changeling in there, although that's provided we've got the space. If all else fails can you say "free web supplement?"] [edit] A Universe of Darkness

[Fiction vignette to come.] In general, no Awakened entity of the World of Darkness can become a psion its cosmological role has already been assigned. Dunking it in a Prometheus Chamber kills it immediately and probably puts the Chamber out of commission at least temporarily. (Further details, and the few exceptions, will be discussed in the individual entries on the various types of Awakened beings.) Similarly, no psion can become any sort of Prodigal while still living (though he can become one of the varieties whose origin is in undeath). Mode Discipline Rank Sphere Arcanos Art Edge Hekau Lore Essence 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6+ 6 6+ 6+ [edit] Vampires [edit] Disciplines and Modes A psion or psiad who undergoes the Embrace converts his Modes to Bonus Points (or "Freebie Points" in WoD-speak). He can use these points to buy Discipline dots related to the Modes he's losing, as per the box below, or to buy Kindred-specific Backgrounds like Generation and Herd. One who draws the "Second Breath" of the Kuei-jin []. A ghouled psionic gains the standard dot of Potence while he has vitae in his system, but uses all Aptitudes at a difficulty increase equal to the number of Blood Points he's carrying, and reads as a weak source of Taint radiation to Attunement scans. If he has more Blood Points in his system than he has permanent Psi, he reads as a strong Taint source instead. Biokinesis: Clairsentience: Most Obfuscate powers can be penetrated by a sufficient level of Telesthesia, as per the above table. Electrokinesis: Psychokinesis: Quantakinesis: Telepathy: Teleportation: Vitakinesis: All Modes function normally on the Kindred except Iatrosis, which is intended to work on the living. None of that Mode's powers will heal an undead body. (Also, no Mentatis power can permanently negate a Malkavian's derangement.) Auspex: Dominate:

Obfuscate: <#>"Starting Points" for Psychically Inspired Learning New Powers Mode Western Discipline Eastern Discipline Sphere Arcanos Biokinesis Adaptation Fortitude Iron Mountain Life Psychomorphing Vicissitude Bone Shintai Life Moliate Transmogrify Protean Flesh Shintai Life Moliate Egomorphing Auspex Life or Mind Mnemosynis Clairsentience Psychometry Auspex Correspondence Lifeweb Psychonavigation Correspondence Argos or Serendipity Telesthesia Correspondence Embody Precognition Auspex Tzu Wei Time Fatalism Electrokinesis Electromanipulation Dominate Forces Puppetry Photokinesis Forces Phantasm Technokinesis Thaumaturgy () Forces Inhabit Magnetokinesis Forces Inhabit Psychokinesis Cryokinesis Thaumaturgy (Neptunes Might) Yin Prana Forces Pandemonium Pyrokinesis Thaumaturgy (Lure of Flames) Ghost-Flame Shintai Forces Outrage Telekinesis Thaumaturgy (Movement of the Mind) Jade Shintai Forces Outrage Entropokinesis Entropy or Prime Flux Quantakinesis Enhancement Celerity, Fortitude or Potence Black Wind, Internalize or Iron Mountain Life Outrage Energetics Prime Inhabit Transmutation Matter Alchemy, Flux or Pandemonium Probabilistics Malediction Tzu Wei Entropy Fatalism Telepathy Empathy Auspex or Dementation Mind Keening Mindshare Auspex Mind Castigate or Mnemosynis Psychbending Dominate Obligation Mind Castigate, Fascinate, Mnemosynis or Puppetry Mindsieve Teleportation Translocation Correspondence Argos Transmassion Correspondence Outrage Warping Correspondence Argos or Pandemonium Chronowarping Temporis Mibasham Time Pandemonium Vitakinesis Iatrosis Obeah Chi'iu Muh Life Usury Mentatis Animalism or Dementation Chi'iu Muh or Internalize Mind Castigate Algesis Valeren Kiai Entropy or Life Usury Iatrogenesis Animalism or Dementation Chi'iu Muh Mind Castigate [edit] Werewolves Dunking a Fera who has undergone his First Change kills him and damages the Prometheus Chamber. Dunking an incipient shapeshifter who hasn't undergone his First Change is unlikely, but might create a psion with the same latencies as Kinfolk of his tribe or breed (see sidebar). [edit] Give Us the Child and He Will Be Ours These three kinds of Prodigal can be dunked and turned into psions: a Fera before his First

Change, a fae before her Saining, or a Kinfolk (or Kinain) who has yet to learn any of the powers of his mystical relatives. [] In general, assume that any incipient shapechanger has biokinetic latency, whether specified or not, and that incipient Kithain are latent telepaths. Kinfolk have only those latencies specified for their tribe; if a tribe's Gifts do not indicate biokinesis, the Kin will not have that latency. Biokinesis Pooka, Terrestrial Exalted (Earth or Wood Aspect), Trolls Clairsentience Bastet (Qualmi), Sluagh, Terrestrial Exalted (Air or Earth Aspect), Uktena Electrokinesis Glass Walkers, Nockers, Terrestrial Exalted (Fire Aspect) Psychokinesis Nuwisha, Terrestrial Exalted (Fire Aspect) Telepathy Nuwisha, Terrestrial Exalted (Air or Water Aspect) Teleportation Bastet (Swara), Silent Striders Vitakinesis Children of Gaia, Gurahl, Terrestrial Exalted (Water or Wood Aspect) You will also need to rule, depending on the needs of your chronicle, as to whether psions and other Inspired are immune to the Delirium. This should be applied consistently to other forms of supernaturally-induced memory-veiling, such as Wraith: The Oblivion's Fog and Changeling: The Dreaming's Mists (at least, if you use the Restless and the Fae in your chronicle). If you opt to make them immune to some of these effects and not to others, try to come up with a good noetic justification. [edit] Gifts and Modes [edit] Mages Psions are treated as Sleepers for the purposes of vulgar effects. [] The best default assumption is that psions can never Awaken the Prometheus Effect permanently locks their Avatars into the static paradigm of psi just as the Embrace binds one's Avatar to the Curse of Caine but that psiads and mesmerists can. As is the case for sorcerers, Aptitude is not a determinant of what Spheres develop so much as a guideline. [edit] Spheres and Modes [edit] Wraiths [edit] Arcanoi and Modes [edit] Changelings [edit] Cantrips and Modes [edit] Hunters Once upon a time, immaterial beings decided to empower material agents against other beings whose very existence disgusted and threatened them. One faction of the bodiless ones decided that the enemy must be wiped out, root and branch; the other favored saving those who could be saved and destroying the rest. As you probably noticed, this could easily be a description of the two Doyen factions, the Shining Ones and the Benefactors, and their plans for humanity as carried out through their Chromatic and psion pawns. In fact, it's a description of the Messengers' attitude to the supernaturals of the World of Darkness, as expressed in the behavior of Zealous and Merciful hunters.

If one of the Imbued finds his way into the Trinity Universe, his second sight will probably read Aberrants as wrong and psions as different. [edit] Edges and Modes Defense: Deviance: Innocence: Isolation: Judgment: Martyrdom: Redemption: Vengeance: Vision: [edit] Mummies [edit] Hekau and Modes [edit] Demons A psion can become a demon's thrall, and by that means can become a demon's new host if the demon needs one (as per p.XX of the Demon: The Fallen core rules). [edit] Lores and Modes [edit] A Universe of Sorrows: Exalted Before there was a World of Darkness, there was something else. It was perhaps an age of sorrows, a time of tumult, a realm of savage adventure and epic fantasy, when heroes walked Creation and wielded the very power of the gods. It was a time when heroes who had once become monsters returned to a world that feared them as much as it needed them. It was also a time when manipulative cosmic bureaucrats had rewritten history so that hardly anybody would remember that the monsters had ever been heroes, then retreated into the shadows to pull society's strings. In other words, it was a time like the Unity Era in many ways. As is the case for their Awakened heirs, no Exalted who has already drawn the Second Breath can become a psion, and vice versa. Terrestrials who would Exalt to a particular Aspect can be dunked as if they were psi-latent, but only before their Exaltation. Those destined to become Sidereal Exalted will not be dunked fate itself keeps them away from the Prometheus Chamber. [edit] Charms and Modes: An Overview [edit] Solars [edit] Terrestrials [edit] Lunars Tattooed Lunars are as immune to Gross Manipulation (Psychomorphing 5) as they are to Charms or sorceries that would change their shape. [edit] Abyssals [edit] Sidereals

[You'll be writing character creation information for non-psions in Trinity (don't bother with the WoD races, just the natives to the TU) for use in Chapter Seven. From this point out, we're using the two-step character creation process, so just do Step Two. Talk to that chapter's author for more details. Talk to Stew about Aberrants, too.] [I did, and he's basically going to do an expanded version of the Aberrant generation rules from the core book, with the note that those who want to build them in Aberrant terms should consult the rules from that game's core book. -z] [The crossover portion of this chapter and the next chapter blend together. Try and keep them distinct.] [Once again, good work. I like what youve written, but Id love to see this filled out some more. Word says that, counting my earlier notes, youre sitting at around 4k out of the originally budgeted 18k. Im loving what youve written for the Hunters and for Exalted, and how theyre very similar to Trinity. If you can do it for all the other game lines, you will be officially declared awesome. If not, dont sweat it too much. (: Dont forget Orpheus in there.] Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Chapter Six: Above and Beyond Above and Beyond Trinity offers a great variety of scenarios to play with under a single roof; from space exploration on board a Leviathan to gritty cyberpunk action in the depths of an FSA arcology; the setting offers many elements that players and Storytellers can focus on and develop entire series around them, increasing their importance or fading them into the background. This chapter focuses on alternative scenarios you can play with using the core elements of the Trinity game. These alternative scenarios alter the published setting in one or more ways, changing some of the premises of the setting but maintaining the core elements that make Trinity the game that it is. [edit] Combat Armor Trinity Squadrons The armies of the world have been seeking for the perfect warrior for centuries, trying to build better weapons, develop better strategies and overall trying to make each individual soldier weigh more heavily into the outcome of warfare. This alternate setting focuses on VARGs, Trinity's answer to the giant robot genre. Characters are pilots of these terrifying war machines, becoming one-man armies by combining mobility, firepower and psionic prowess into one deadly whole. [edit] History The Aberrant Age dawned upon mankind, but the world governments realized early on that they would need something to keep superpowered people in check, something that would give a baseline soldier the strength to oppose a nova. The VARGs were originally designed in the early 21st century for space and underwater use, allowing a person to survive in extremely hostile environments. With a few modifications, they were given military and police applications so that, by the time when the novas began to spiral out of control, most cities had a special squadron of VARG pilots to handle crises where novas could not arrive in time. The U.S. Marine Corps were the first to deploy the first mobile armor special forces squad and subsequently descended upon rogue novas without prejudice.

The Aberrant War ruined entire swaths of land, crashed international networks and brought chaos on the world; Chinese VARG squadrons defended the global satellite networks with unprecedented success, so that an all-out assault would waste precious time the platforms could use to rain nuclear doom on Aberrant-held regions of Earth. Once the Aberrants left Earth, different governments and organizations were left with some of the most powerful conventional weapons mankind had ever developed, and the ruined state of the world forced the hand of many to use them. The FSA swarmed over Mexico and Canada with minimal losses, while Germany took the lead of the European Union now that France had no chance to present strong opposition after being turned into radioactive slag by Aberrants. China proved to be a check on FSA and European expansion, making quick deals with other Asian countries that exchanged resources for protection. The newly-united Africa only had a couple of VARG squadrons to cover the entire continent, but by operating loose guerrilla forces they managed to keep European invaders tied up in the northern countries, and attrition forced them to leave. In this chaotic state of affairs, the on Trinity began working under the radar to create a stabilizing international force. It was with Trinity resources that VARGs were developed in the first place, and they retained key technological secrets they had chosen not to divulge to the different powers. The first CATS (Combat Armor Trinity Squadrons) deployed secretly, striking anonymously at the forward bases of invading forces, but also targeting private and mercenary armies that were practically extorting weak governments into submission. The CATS had superior firepower and technology, and the vast infrastructure of on allowed them to appear anywhere and everywhere. They operated covertly, covering up their true affiliation as part of the Trinitys plans to create a phantom enemy the world could rally together to fight; the different governments did not publicize the CATSs existence when they became aware of the international unified force, as they were fighting them in dubious battlegrounds. This balance was slightly derailed with the Aberrants return in 2098. Twisted by cosmic radiation and their own tainted energies, the Aberrants returned more monstrous and powerful than before, and the CATS were morally obligated to abandon their pseudo-terrorist role to engross humanitys defense. An unprecedented but not totally surprising phenomenon began to take place during the fights with the Aberrants. VARG pilots using CATS technology began reporting increased awareness of their surroundings that went beyond their armors instruments, and in 2106, CATS squad leader Solveig Larssen began shooting fire and ice out of her VARGs hands, a totally uninstalled weapon. The on Council decided at that point to fully disclose the secrets behind VARG technology to Triton Division. The piloting interface was made by a technology derivative of the early experiments of one Dr. Hammersmith, coupled with knowledge Max Mercer had gleaned from one of his secret and mysterious expeditions. This technology had the unintended effect of triggering the latent psionic potential in VARG pilots, and even altering the genetic structure of non-latents, increasing the chances that their progeny would manifest psionic potential. The on Trinity came out in the open as the Aberrant assaults intensified, revealing the CATS as their responsibility with a carefully staged media coup. Neptune Division made quick call to all Australian media channels as it deployed its Australian CATS to defend the Sydney spaceport from an Aberrant assault. Coupling the coverage with its own footage, the Trinity broadcast to all the world the heroism and powers of the psionic VARG pilots. [edit] The State of the World Earth and its colonies are in a constant state of siege. The Aberrants have returned in various

horrid forms, and not a week passes in which the Aberrants do not attack one of humanitys outposts or even major cities. While the situation looks outright bleak, the presence of ons CATS has served to rekindle humanitys hope in its own survival. on played its cards well and absorbed the United Nations over the course of a decade, adding real punch to the international organization that was practically powerless until then. The on Trinity is the largest organization in humanitys history, and also one of its most active. The Trinitys symbol can be seen in every part of the world, from free clinics to military headquarters and orbital space stations. Under this powerful aegis, the CATS thrived and grew into an international fighting force, abiding by strict regulations that prohibit them from interfering in national conflicts, but allowing them to step in to resolve international disputes, and override local authority in case of Aberrant attacks. [edit] The Eight Divisions In the year 2122, on has identified the different psionic aptitudes triggered by the different VARG models and organized eight divisions within its forces, in addition to its three administrative divisions (Neptune, Triton and Proteus). Each division is composed of several types of personnel: VARG pilots, operations control personnel, maintenance and repair technicians, and infantry and attack vehicle support. The CATS divisions collaborate closely with personnel of the three main administrative divisions for intelligence and public relations. The eight divisions are: Ares Division: Commander Solveig Larssen leads the bravest and most daring troops in the Trinity, gathering the pilots and operatives that display psychokinetic powers. Athena Division: Rebecca Bue Lis telepathic corps work closely with Herzogs clairsentients and are amongst the best pilots in on, able to mentally meld with their VARGs. Cassandra Division: An unfortunate accident left commander Otha Herzog unable to pilot VARGs anymore, but his powerful clairsentience abilities make his division the best at intelligence tasks. Chronos Division: The smallest division in the Trinity, Chronos groups the mysterious quantakinetics, who can directly detect and counter Aberrant manifestations. All the other divisions think the Chronos people are a little crazy. Hephaeston Division: Commander Alex Cassel heads the division that groups and trains electrokinetics; its technicians are the best of all the divisions. Hermes Division: The teleporting division is one of the smallest, but also a very effective one, since its operatives can be anywhere they need to be within a moments notice. Commander Bolade Atwan is expanding the divisions role to explore beyond the Solar Systems borders. Lycaeon Division: Giuseppe del Fuego is the commander of the most fearsome division, training the biokinetics under his command into melding not their minds, but their bodies into their VARGs, actually becoming the armors. When doing this, they can control the shape of the armor in astounding ways. sculapion Division: Matthieu Zweidler was a combat medic and never intended to be the most powerful vitakinetic in Trinitys corps. He runs his division of medics as tightly as he can, but sculapion VARGs are seldom seen in forward battles except as medical support. [edit] Earth and Space The Aberrants continuous attack on Earth and its colonies has stunted expansion into extrasolar

space, but that only means that the Solar colonies are that much stronger and better developed. In addition to Artemis, the Moon has two other main cities on its face (and just under it), while Mars is being successfully colonized by both China and Brazil. The different nations in the standard setting exist, but they play their cards much closer to their chest as the on Trinity has a much stronger power base and real political power (and the weapons to enforce it). The Trinity is beginning to explore the outer reaches of the Solar system with the Hermes Division, but its goal is to find the Aberrants base of operations rather than expand humanitys colonies outwards. Because of this, the Qin, the Chromatics and the Coalition are yet to be encountered. [edit] The Characters In Combat Armor Trinity Squadrons, characters who wish to be psions must by necessity be VARG pilots as well, since its the piloting interface that triggers a latents powers. Neutral characters are also quite possible, since VARGs put psions and neutrals in roughly the same footing in terms of firepower and resistance, even if tactical considerations still favor psionic powers when applied strategically. All characters start with four free points in the Devices background to represent their VARG. Nonpilots can use those free points in other backgrounds. Biotechnology is in its infancy, with the only major device being the VARG piloting interface, but no fully biotech VARG exists yet. Aptitudes are triggered just as with a Prometheus Chamber; that is, a single Aptitude with its three Modes. Because psions depend on their VARGs for their powers, consider a characters Psi to be one point lower when operating outside his VARG. There are a few effects for the different aptitudes inside a VARG: Biokinesis: Biokinetics meld their senses and bodies to the VARGs systems. They ignore two points of Tolerance from their VARGs and consider them biotech apps. Additionally, after successfully using the Assimilation technique, they treat their armor as if it were their own body for purposes of all other biokinetic techniques. Clairsentience: All clairsentient techniques are one psi point cheaper inside a VARG as the character amplifies his senses with the armors sensors. Electrokinesis: The pilot optimizes the VARGs energy utilization, creating the same effects as those listed below for psychokinesis. Telepathy: The telepaths will is amplified when melding with the VARGs operating system; when making Psi rolls for telepathy techniques, a Willpower point yields two automatic successes instead of one. Also, all Dexterity-based rolls that have something to do with VARG operation gain one bonus dice. Psychokinesis: All damage caused by psychokinetic techniques deal one extra die of damage, while all techniques that counter damage gain an additional die or two additional points of soak. Quantakinesis: VARGs do not make quantakinetic techniques any easier; no change. Teleportation: The VARGs navigation systems aid the teleporter in her manipulation of space; all

spatial ranges and effects are 1.5 times more accurate, increasing range, distance, durations, bonuses, etc. Vitakinesis: The characters awareness of their and others bodies grant them similar benefits as biokinesis, ignoring one point of Tolerance from their VARG. Additionally, the medical databases and instruments in their armor give them one bonus die to all vitakinesis-related Psi checks. [edit] Storytelling Combat Armor Trinity Squadrons draws its inspiration from Japanese animation (anime) featuring giant robots. In this setting, psions were not born from a Prometheus Chamber provided by the Doyen, but as a side effect of the revolutionary control interface used in on-built VARGs. on itself is changed, assuming the role of the overspanning organization typical of the genre in charge of building the VARGs as well as protecting humanity from external and internal threats. Many stories can be run around this role, giving on an antagonistic position as a shady organization founded by conspiracy, or played under a benevolent light as a true protector of Earth and its colonies. While on VARGs are certainly superior thanks to its biotechnology basis, the armor produced by other governments and companies is not so far behind so that psionic powers are only a slight edge against the most advanced of VARGs, and a psion simply does not stand a chance of facing up against a VARG outside his own powered armor. There would be a few space fighter models in production and use, since the VARGs could equip similar weaponry and provide better maneuverability as research and development focus a lot of time and resources to making them the best anti-Aberrant weapons possible. Note that while the settings premise revolves around the power armors, individual stories do not need to be. As with the normal setting, characters are free to be whatever they want to be, with the VARGs being only background scenery to the plots and relationships of the characters. A tale of interplanetary warfare can focus on individual combatants or even civilians whose lives are touched by the conflict. [edit] Shades of the Mind The enforcers of law and order wage a never-ending battle against criminals and others who would upset societys balance for their own profit. The triggering of psionic potential has opened doors on both ends of this quiet war, giving law enforcement and crime weapons with which to conduct their activities in entirely new ways. Shades of the Mind takes a step back from largescale warfare and open conflict to concentrate on a more cloak-and-dagger flavor to psi powers, putting psions in a subtler role in society. [edit] History Shades of the Mind starts in an earlier timeframe than the standard Trinity setting for a simple reason: there was no Nova Age. In this setting, Divis Mal never provoked the mass eruption of novas in the early 21st century, letting normal evolution carry out the consequences of the Hammersmith aftermath in the 1920s. Humanity developed slowly without the leaps and bounds in science and technology brought upon by superhuman minds, but was nevertheless pushed forward by the few inspired people that were a cut above normal humanity without ever realizing it. However, no Aberrant War does not automatically mean an era of peace. Petty concerns and ambition do not abandon humanity, and during the decade between the 2020s and 2030s there is a series of wars as natural resources become scarcer and new technologies are not tested

enough to be put in wide-scale use. By 2032, the petty wars have died down, reshaping the world in a way similar to the standard in the Trinity setting. The space race was fueled by the need for minerals and the development of new production methods under microgravity, and the war mentality carried over as manufacturing and processing orbital factories are armed with defenses against future raiders. There is no collaboration to build a joint base city on the lunar surface, but in 2038, an international non-profit organization called the on Trinity announces a contract bid for building on the Moon. One year later, contracts are awarded with very generous funding, and private spacefaring begins in earnest, going past the orbital frontier. A Doyen wanderer stumbles upon Earth after noticing the extraplanetary activity. Its curiosity piqued by the distinctive taste of the planets subquantum signature, it stops to observe, realizing the psionic potential lying dormant within humans. He gets others of his kind interested and they pick a handful of budding latents to trigger their psionic talents. In 2042, the first psions are triggered by their Doyen benefactors, their minds expanded to research a way to do the same for the rest of humanity, for the Doyen do not wish to trigger psions en masse, but want humans to develop a way to trigger their own talents. During that time, the U.S.A. consolidates into the F.S.A. and begins exerting political pressure on its neighbors. China is now a superpower, emerging victorious from the resources war by supporting Middle East countries for access to their oil, while developing non-fossil fuel sources. Europe maintains a united front as the European Union, its internal ties growing stronger even if their natural resources are more limited than the other powers. Africa remains a splintered land, but this time the meddling superpowers include Brazil and China in addition to the FSA and Europe. Latin America takes advantage of the FSAs distraction in its own internal matters to consolidate an economic confederation capable of challenging the big markets, but without the technical resources to fully exploit its own natural resources. The on Trinity maintains its role as a public foundation that provides money for research programs and humanitarian causes, but their active interest in gifted individuals lead them to discover the patterns of psionic triggering and start funding their own research, independent of the eight original psions triggered by the Doyen. It finds and successfully recruits the clairvoyant Otha Herzog and the vitakinetic Matthieu Zweidler into its ranks, and in 2052 inaugurates Artemis base, giving the two psions a laboratory to research the subquantum phenomenon. By 2060, all the powers have some presence on the Moon and have begun to make designs on Mars, using Artemis as a starting point, just as on had intended. Herzog and Zweidler have irreconcilable differences with each other and the Trinity, and both abandon the organization to pursue their own projects, although Herzog remains a consultant for the on Council. A social revolution takes over Latin America and Africa with surprising vigor; unbeknownst to the world powers and corporations being ousted and expropriated, this revolution is being led by the continents psionic population, grown mysteriously beyond the originals triggered by the Doyen. Herzog warns the Trinity of psionic involvement, but as an apolitical body, on keeps its hands off. The revolution is hardly violent, rather consisting in a series of political and economic reversals for the existing regimes in favor of unification movements that results in the Bolivar Declaration that unites Central and South American countries (sans Brazil) in a single nation in 2063, and the Mandela Act that does likewise for Africa later in 2064. In the early 2070s, several space projects are finished and open up officially, creating a budding network of transports between mining and observation outposts and small orbital ports of call.

Several papers and news outlets, particularly in the FSA, begin to report about people with strange abilities. on begins a campaign to hush and hide the existence of psions, all the while working with Herzog to try and locate people with triggered abilities. on has begun suspecting that Herzog is willfully hiding information, and they are right, for he and the other original psions have met and decided that they will handle their own affairs without outside interference. By 2085, the existence of psions is an open secret, an urban legend that only the highest echelons of security, law and intelligence agencies know about with any certainty. Psions organize in underground groups of mutual support and training, some under tight leadership and others living under a loose alliance, lending their talents to all kinds of activities. [edit] The State of the World The world is in a precarious balance now, with commerce and resource exploitation being the cause of most conflicts, overt and covert. National powers compete with transnational organizations for financial and political power, while the lower levels of society try to make a living in this cutthroat state of affairs. Free traders and security personnel are a very popular career choice, with pirates, smugglers and hackers being a very close second. [edit] The World Powers The main economical and political powers are the FSA, Brazil, the Bolivar Confederation, the European Union, Russia, China, India and the United African Nations. Competing with them are a host of megacorporations that operate their own security forces and private armies, along with their own communications and transporting infrastructures. The on Trinity has less pull in this framework than in the original setting, pulling levers by dropping information on the right hands and cashing in favors. They have very few strike teams, and they operate under very deep cover. Many psions have joined on on their own, but they have very little information about the psionic orders, since they tend to come from the more loosely organized ones. [edit] The Psionic Orders The orders exist as in the standard setting, but they have a few differences: Orgotek: Alex Cassel founded his company to group electrokinetics together. There is no change in how it is organized, except that it has a couple of smuggling operations going on under the radar. ISRA: Rather than a pseudo-monastic order, ISRA is an information broker, much more mercenary than the philosophical school in the standard setting. The Legions: They are much smaller than normal since there is no Aberrant threat, operating as a security firm and mercenary company, working for both sides of the law. Nora: A quasi-criminal outfit operating much like the Nihonjin Yakuza. They rule the Bolivar Confederation behind the curtains, ruthlessly fending off foreign intervention and protecting their shady operations with zeal. sculapian Order: The more humanitarian of the orders, they exist as an underground affiliation of medics and healers who work within health services to subvert their overly corporate mentality. The Hive: This is the Ministry founded outside the Chinese governments wing. Like the Nora, the telepath organization is deeply underground, more like an international espionage and terrorist organization. Telepaths are free to become policemen and g-men, but if their work takes them close to a Hive operation, they are obligated to mislead investigations. And they always

know when they are confronted with Hive handiwork. The Upeo: The only change in this order is that it has no official status nor headquarters, and that it has a very high ratio of smugglers and contrabandists. Chitra Bhanu: They exist deep underground as a very small group of like-minded scientists in various Hindu corporations. [edit] Biotechnology Since there is no official psion demand for biotech, the research is in its infancy, geared more towards producing tools and weapons that can be used by the average human, although the psion leaders are already aware of the psionic element of biotech, and are pulling their influences to develop [edit] The Characters Psions do not need a Prometheus Chamber to trigger their potential, but cannot trigger on their own either. The Doyen left the psionic leaders with the ability to trigger others like them, which is a very closely-guarded secret that not even the on spies know about, and not even the ISRA brokers are willing to share. Psions in this setting are hidden from view, but there are enough rumors about their existence that special branches of security agencies have the task to confirm the rumors, when the agency does not already have a branch composed of psionic operatives. Unless belonging to Nora, the Hive or, in lesser degree, to Orgotek, psions have a very free hand in their activities. The orders are there only to trigger and train new psions, as well as to offer a network of mutual support. Without a state of overall war, small conflicts are more numerous, and psions have a lot of chances to participate, particularly as members of the criminal underworld or law enforcement, two fields that have a very high adventuring profile in the setting. [edit] Storytelling Shades of the Mind is meant to exploit the noir elements already existing in Trinity and focus a whole setting on them. Plots should be full of twists and contacts should always have an ulterior motive. Psionic powers lend themselves to pursuing a life of crime or combating crime, with psions operating as adviser-vigilantes that can work on their own or as part of a larger organization. Neutral characters also have a chance to have fun, discovering the existence of psions in their midst as they come upon unexplainable crimes or fool-proof investigators. The focus of Shades of the Mind is cloak and dagger stories, be them romping espionage adventures, the convoluted plans of a group of specialist thieves, a band of space smugglers or an anti-piracy task force. [edit] Psionic Songs Leviathans are one of the greatest assets in humanitys space exploration efforts; nevertheless, even their designers have found very surprising side effects during testing and even normal operation. The rumors amongst navigators speak that there is a budding sentience in the teleporting bioships, lurking beneath the preprogrammed psionic manifestations. This sentience will save humanity in Psionic Songs. Psionic Songs is a space exploration and transhumanist setting; the basic premise revolves around humanitys life amongst the stars, a wandering people living in Leviathans, which are now

life-forms in and of themselves, carrying humans from one corner of space to the other, caring for them and expressing their vast wills through their appointed chosen: the psions. [edit] History This setting is a direct result of the events of the main Trinity storyline, and its history deviates from the standard after the Venezuelan Phenomenon. The sudden shift in the implicate order caused by the experiment not only affected humans, but also their biotech creations. Existing psions saw their potential changed without rhyme or reason, while new ones began to trigger without the intervention of a Prometheus Chamber, even if weaker than their artificially-triggered cousins. There were a few months of confusion, but humanity did not have the luxury of anarchy, for the Coalition came calling soon after, bringing with them the might of their Aberrant masters/allies. The Second Aberrant War was bloody and destructive. Inspired humans were excellent support and even point defenders in the human armies as psions took the brunt of the assault, but the superior technology of the tainted Coalition caused great damage to Earths surface before the tides of war began to turn in humanitys favor. Before the war, Orgotek and Nora began an unprecedented collaboration campaign, and within months they began producing biotech equipment usable by neutral humans, plus a procedure that would alter existing biotech in the genetic level to lessen its tolerance requirements. The principle behind the procedure was to enable biotech to support its own psionic needs, and that required some sort of psionic awareness superior to what existing biotech possessed and came very close to the functions of natural life forms. Animist beliefs and practices exploded amongst pilots of biotech vehicles, as they carried the normal custom of referring to their craft as living beings one step further: actually believing it was true. To some extent, it was true. Next-generation biotech equipment was not yet fully sentient, but now possessed a rudimentary intelligence that could only be perceived psionically or subconsciously. The Qin provided their beleaguered allies with additional technology, but were nonetheless surprised by humans innovations to biotechnology, and copied some of Earths scientific breakthroughs. When the war abated, Earth and its colonies throughout the galaxy were in tatters, with the homeworld rendered nigh-uninhabitable by the combined forces of Coalition weapons and Aberrant powers. Colonization and exploration were humanitys only hope of survival. The Upeo wa Macho were not enough to keep the ties between human settlements, and thus there was an increased effort in building more Leviathans. A fleet of 60 Behemoths, the nextgeneration teleporting ships, was ready in little more than a year, but these ships were a very far cry from humans original designs. Created jointly with the Qin, who also desired vessels of their own to take them beyond their system. The Behemoths not only had an improved version of the human sentience innovation, but Qin technology allowed them to reproduce. Almost ten times the size of the original Leviathans, a Behemoth has one twentieth of its volume completely devoted to Qin factory beasts, which take all sort of raw materials to produce almost everything needed for a budding spacefaring society, including the ability to produce more ships, including new Behemoths. Exploration began in earnest, with humans quickly overtaking the Qin as their spirits were wilder and their needs more dire.

Three centuries later, second-generation Behemoths are fully adult and carrying a new breed of society within their corridors and halls. The Behemoths are now alive, intelligent and aware, and they have joined their psionic might to the races inhabiting their interiors. [edit] The State of the World There is no longer a single world to describe, there is not even a simple collection of worlds to define humanitys situation. Behemoths have become colony ships in their own right; they are self-sufficient and have their own internal ecologies in which humans, Qin and even Chromatics and a few Coalition phyles are just another element. Because Behemoths and their lesser cousins, the Leviathans, can jump to any point in space that a clairsentient can point to, humanity has developed into a cultural mix of nomadic and sedentary people. They are sedentary in the sense that they grow incredibly attached to their home Behemoth, but they are used to changing locations in space every few months, weeks or days. Humans do colonize and terraform planets, but they tend to be small settlements that act more like meeting points between Behemoths, marking migration routes and watering holes where the living ships can replenish their resources and energy, giving people the chance to experiment life on a planets surface, and planet dwellers to hitch a ride to other colonies or adopt the nomadic lifestyle of Behemoth citizens. Qin- and human-built Behemoths are practically the same, although the Qin have different internal arrangements due to their own physiological needs. Most Behemoths, however, sport hybrid environments that cater to both human and Qin preferences. Chromatics must adapt to this, although younger Behemoths understand the needs of these new inhabitants and have grown cavern-like sections to accommodate them. Because Coalition phyles are totally and utterly psionically neutral, Behemoths cannot connect with them and therefore cannot change to make their lives more comfortable. [edit] Life in (and of) a Behemoth Behemoths have a vast, complicated intelligence. They are powerful psions, but they are limited to specific teleportation techniques (obviously), weak clairsentience and telepathy capabilities for communications, and very focused telekinesis to produce artificial gravity and move in space. In addition to this, they can slowly change their internal structures and functions just as if they had biokinesis, but this is more a function of their own biology rather than psionic powers. Behemoths vary in size, with the smallest being around 12 kilometers long, and the largest almost 30 kilometers. Opposed to Leviathans, the size of the Behemoths Tesser takes a volume 400 meters per side and resides beneath layers of hard chitin and hardtech armor plating. The rest of the volume is devoted to living quarters, factory beasts and cargo space. A Behemoths bridge is located on the top and center front of the ship, and fits crews between 12 and 20 people, one of them inside the Tesser control chamber. Behemoths feel and understand everything that happens inside them and develop a personality that echoes the cultural idiosyncrasies of the people that live in it, giving rise to nihilistic pragmatists as well as to festive optimists. A Behemoth does not speak through a computer interface; it uses its telepathic abilities to make its wishes and suggestions known to its crew and its population. Psions understand these wishes implicitly, but neutrals can only experience them through dreams. When a Behemoth needs to speak, such as when communicating with colonial authorities, it lets its navigator speak for it. Behemoths are not possessive and have no inherent desire for dominance, leaving all governmental matters to the beings inside them. As advanced as they are, Behemoths are still biotech and require maintenance and guidance, which is why they exist symbiotically with their crew and passengers as well as with the planetary colonies.

A Behemoth acts much like a village or a highly structured tribe. People work the factory beasts and the different food-producing sub-organisms, as well as practicing hardtech crafts and sciences. There are few devoted artists in the population, but more than half the people practice one or more artistic activity, so that the wandering village is never short of entertainment. Behemoths need to feed like any other creature. They derive a lot of their needs directly from subquantum energy, but they also process minerals and ice mined from asteroids and planets. Their biomass requirements are met by processing the waste of the people and animals inside them, but once every few years they need a few tons of additional matter, which is procured from colonies in the form of meat, logging, discarded biotech equipment, additional biochemical waste, etc. When the population in a Behemoth threatens to strain its resources, the factory beasts begin devoting energy and resources into birthing a new one. The infant Behemoth emerges from the factories in two years, and begins a growth process assisted by humans from the parent Behemoth. A new crew is selected amongst young candidates (all of them volunteers), starting with a new navigator that will be responsible for imprinting with the infant ship and guiding its emotional growth, essentially becoming another parent. Once the new Behemoth is a young adult after two other years of traveling with its parent and a skeleton crew inside it, it is ready to accept a new population. Young Behemoths are the spearheads of colonial expansion, for they are enthusiastic about seeing new planets and transmit this childlike sense of wonder to their population. They often carry terraforming seeds to plant on viable planets, which older Behemoths will visit later once the process creates a sustainable environment, carrying colonists ready to start anew. [edit] Hive Vehicles The different factory beasts inside a Behemoth are able to produce smaller vehicles that combine human and Qin technologies; some producing the biotech organism while others spew out the hardtech components that human crews assemble later. In this way, a Behemoth can produce its own escort fighters and bioVARGs. The more belligerent Behemoths maintain at least four fighter wings (five fighters strong each) and three escort frigates, plus up to four security squadrons composed of six bioVARGs. [edit] The Role of Psions Most of the Prometheus Chambers were destroyed during the last Aberrant War, but by that time psions were appearing naturally thanks to the Venezuelan Phenomenon. The seed of psionic power is strong inside humanity, and life inside a powerful psionic creature like the Behemoths has sped up the triggering process. Roughly one third of a Behemoths population is actively psionic, and another third is at least psionically attuned, even if they cannot manifest any technique. This characteristic translates in a highly intuitive population who subconsciously works very well together. Awareness of the implicate order, as feeble as it is, makes people work towards the same ends in harmony, with all disputes resolved by careful mediation by the Behemoth itself. Active psions are considered chosen by the Behemoth; people respect them greatly but they do not hold any special superior hierarchy. A neutral soldier can distinguish himself with his keen intellect and grasp of tactics and displace a psion commander who can coordinate his subordinates telepathically, but has no real sense of strategy. Even then, psions are often better suited for the more delicate tasks of maintaining and navigating a Behemoth and therefore find themselves in positions of authority and responsibility more often than not. [edit] The Inspired

Acknowledged by the Behemoth but rarely by any other person, there are a few people amongst the neutral population who just seem to be born lucky. Behemoths recognize the subquantum flux around these individuals and try to manage things in order to put these inspired in a position to better serve the community. They do it by planting impressions in the more psionically sensitive people on board or even by outright telling their navigator to watch over specific people. The role of the inspired in a Behemoth depends entirely on what the living ship wants to do with such persons, but they often rise to be leaders and role models on their own. [edit] Aliens The Qin have joined the human race as enthusiastic spacefarers, although human wanderlust by far surpasses the Qins. Being a joint creation of both races, Behemoths are much more comfortable for them than for any other species. They have an instinctive affinity for their creators, not to mention an easier time attuning to them. The Chromatics have left behind their savage past and developing their own technology. Irrevocably tainted by Doyen interference, Chromatics have striven to retain their cultural identity while catching up to the more advanced races they came in contact with. Open relations started a century before the events in Psionic Songs, when Chromatics developed and built their own spaceships, using what they learned from the Doyen as well as what the humans and Qin taught them over time, but all of it with a distinctly Chromatic flavor. Chromatic ships do not have interstellar capability, but there are several Behemoths and Leviathans that offer them rides to other systems along predetermined routes, allowing the Chromatics to establish trade with human and Qin colonies as well as establishing some of their own. Chromatic enclaves inside Behemoths are uncommon, but not at all rare, but they are small and prefer to keep to themselves. As mentioned before, only young Behemoths that were born from a ship that already had Chromatic inhabitants have created within themselves areas resembling Chromatics preferred habitats. A rare minority are Coalition phyles who have abandoned their home Arks to mingle with the other races. These phyles all come from two Arks: the original that invaded Earth space and one other. They broke off the control of their Breeders and Aberrant masters and try to eke out a living within their adopted homes. Phyles perform basic hardtech maintenance and odd jobs, and they are more or less cared for by the community, but are seen more like super-intelligent pets than as real peers. Behemoths cannot connect with the phyles and are at a loss as to what to do with them, but with careful study and third-party mediation, a few Behemoths have learned to produce the different pheromones that phyles use to communicate. Those Behemoths have realized the potential overriding of the phyles wills through biochemical instincts, and are loathe to exploit it. [edit] Threats and Dangers Not all is good and peaceful in this new era of humanity; space has its own dangers, and not all of them natural. In addition to dealing with space phenomena like solar flares and toxic atmospheres, Behemoths and their population must always be wary of the two enemies of mankind: Aberrants and the Coalition. The Aberrants are now a race on their own, no longer holding any ties with humanity. Aberrants are down to their twelfth generation since they abandoned Earth and are so mutated now as to constitute their own species. The elders that birthed them are no more, either hunted down by their peers or brought down during the last Aberrant War. Aberrants control a few systems in space and open warp portals in search of new worlds, but also to launch raids against known human, Qin and Chromatic colonies. Marauding Aberrants are like dangerous fauna in the wilderness of space, and Behemoths have butted heads against them more than once.

Now that humanity and its allies have spread wider into the galaxy, they have encountered other Coalition Arks. The lifestyle of Behemoths and Arks may seem similar, but differ in the simple fact that Behemoths do not rape planets off their resources and have an ingrained respect for all life. The Coalition Arks are the pirates of this new era. Many Behemoths prefer to hold off attacks to give them time teleport their massive bodies, a process that takes several minutes. Others have taken a more belligerent stance and produce armament that their inhabitants use for defense. A small minority has adopted the role of battleships, actively seeking and destroying the menaces, producing hive vehicles and urging their citizens to train to become warriors. These battleships will often travel with more pacifist Behemoths through patches of space known to contain either of the two menaces. The last and least common danger is when two Behemoths find each other competing for the same mineral fields and planetary resources. They are not inherently territorial, but their crews are, and animosity between the two populations might escalate into small skirmishes. Behemoths try to prevent this, but they are soon swept in the emotions of their inhabitants and enter the fray in earnest. These battles end the moment either of the Behemoths is seriously hurt and emits a psionic cry of pain, which does wonders to quell the hostility of all combatants. Such fights always end with both Behemoths teleporting away in the psionic equivalent of apologetic sulking. [edit] The on Trinity The organism that guided humanity through the couple of centuries of spurious advancement no longer exists as such: it dissolved inside the human culture, forgotten as a monolithic entity but still alive as some sort of religious philosophy. The on Trinity now refers to a loose monastic order that keeps autonomous cells within each Behemoth and colony; its mission is to gather the cultural products of the new human society, keeping traditions alive, including religion. on monks may profess any of the existing human religions, with the Trinitys symbol marking them as wise men and women rather than denoting a specific set of beliefs; the on now represents the sum of human spirituality, with each monk deciding which aspect of it to express. Each on cell is responsible for their own recruiting and coordination, and every encounter between Behemoths and with planetary colonies includes a massive exchange of information and philosophical discussion between the on monks in the spirit of keeping culture alive and dynamic. There is no central authority, although one of the basic on myths refers to The Mercy, the incarnation of ons altruistic goals, who likes to take human shape to see what humans are up to during key moments of crisis. [edit] The Characters In Psionic Songs, players are free to create any kind of character they want. Psions are born naturally, using any of the rules in this book for alternate character creation methods. The alternate Psi system found in the Trinity Players Guide is encouraged as well. Other character options include neutral humans, the daredevils found in Adventure! and even Qin and Chromatics. All characters should be members of the same Behemoth or space colony, as human culture has grown slightly insular while retaining ties between settlements via the Behemoths telepathic communications network. They can perform any role inside the Behemoth: scientists, security personnel, senior crew, etc. All characters in Psionic Songs begin with one extra point of Psi, representing the heightened awareness caused by natural evolution as well as the close attunement with the Behemoths. [edit] Storytelling This setting should be played with a sense of wonder and amazement. Humanity is on its way to becoming a very different animal, single cells in a larger organism while retaining their

individuality. Even the dullest of neutrals is subconsciously aware of the connections he has with his neighbors and with his Behemoth, with psions knowing this on a more tangible level. There are many kinds of tales that can be told in this setting, with space exploration on board a young Behemoth being but one of the most exciting ones. Characters can be warriors inside a battle-ready Behemoth, hunting Coalition and Aberrant attackers, or simple people trying to figure out the universe around them while confronted with the still existing plots and complications that society is rife with. [edit] The First Frontier Humanity set its collective sight on space as the so-called final frontier, all the while ignoring the greatest and still unconquered territory in our own planet: the sea. Thanks to the technology developed for space colonization in the Trinity universe, living and working on the bottom of the oceans is no longer a pipe dream. The development of arcologies set down the foundations for underwater cities, which by 2122 have more than shown their viability. The First Frontier is a setting where underwater colonization received a large boost during the nova age and not a moment too soon, because the Aberrant War was much more violent, rendering Earths surface nigh-uninhabitable, partly by massive flooding as well as by Taint irradiation. Humanity lives in a network of underwater arcologies and is so used to this lifestyle that space colonization was no trouble at all. [edit] History In the normal setting, the Aberrant Poseidon flooded Cuba and Florida, while Wycoff tainted the central United States. In The First Frontier they were not the only ones to provoke disasters in the geological scale. The Aberrants ignored the Chinese Ultimatum and retaliated with extreme viciousness, even as nuclear bombs fell around them. Many say that the world ended at this point; millions died in that couple of days, baseline humans and Aberrants alike. Most of the people who survived on the surface were contaminated with Aberrant taint, even in the areas that were not devastated. The only pure humans were those who lived in the incipient Lunar colony and the undersea stations. The first few years after the Aberrant War were very hard for humanity, but the survivors had the need and the means to push ahead. Underwater colonies improvised with fishing and underwater farming, and there were already several mining stations in place extracting minerals as well as methane hydrate gas frozen in the depths of the ocean. There was a lull in Aberrant activity for two decades, during which humanity got back on its feet somehow. The orbital colonies repaired the satellite network as the underwater settlements souped up their communications equipment, finally establishing communications between the two poles of human civilization. The on Trinity, the only global organization to retain any sort of coherence, helped coordinate the reconstruction efforts, making sure that people were transported to the spots where their knowledge and expertise was needed the most. The Trinity spread its members across all the possible settlements so that they could collect the information about how well civilization was doing on the whole, to the point that everyone came to know that, if they wanted a status report on other settlements or needed something done, they could always go to the local Trinity representative and they would have their information within days, or the task they needed done or pointed at as to how to do it. The orbital stations monitored the conditions on the surface, informing the underwater dwellers on where survivors and salvage could be found. In the space of five years, the first transorbital transport after the War lifted up from beneath the waves to begin an intense period of resource trading. Underwater colonies expanded and became more comfortable, and many orbital colonists migrated, as gravity was the one advantage they counted with, as both were surrounded by a

very hostile environment. There were frequent expeditions to the surface that confirmed the suspicions that it could no longer support human civilization, although many spots could still support human life. When the new fledging colonies stabilized, the orbital stations began reporting increasing spikes of taint energy, and only months later the Aberrants reemerged. These were not the first Aberrants that annihilated the planet, but the result of their rampage. The new Aberrants were taint-mutated animals that brandished quantum energies by instinct, unleashing them with unprecedented savagery. There were many rumors about human Aberrants triggering spontaneously amongst the surface survivors, and this made both orbital and underwater colonies to forsake the land once and for all. The on Trinity gathered so much trust from the growing society that, in 2082, the organization became the de jure world government, as for years it had been performing such duties in a de facto capacity. Local community councils always had a Trinity representative and advisor, and it was often such an agent who instigated the forming of such councils in the first place, so it was a very little stretch to name that representative into a local governor. As it happened in the normal setting, the Doyen noticed the increased quantum activity and decided to investigate. They discovered the humans clinging to their survival and realized that their incipient technology would not be enough to support them for long. They also decided that a race that had suffered so much at the hands of quantum-wielders would be the perfect footsoldiers to contain that threat. The Doyen sought out a few unobtrusive individuals and gave them the secret of subquantum manipulation. They gave them the knowledge to grow biotechnological settlements, which are much better suited to underwater performance than hardtech, and triggered their latent psionic capabilities. After they helped these first psions recruit and trigger more of their kind and literally planted the seeds of their secret headquarters, the Doyen left once more, keeping their distance from the increasingly poisonous planet. The psions grew and strengthened their bases, using them as both haven and headquarters. They formed the Mentatis, an order that would find latents and bring them to one of their hidden enclaves for triggering and training. When the new psion was ready, she was sent back to resume her life, but carrying with herself the goal to help in the survival and progress of the human race. In 2106, on agents discovered one of the hidden biotech settlements, although it is widely assumed that it was the psions who allowed themselves to be found. The Trinity kept the existence of such bases to themselves as they met with the Mentatis leaders, who revealed the extent of psionic presence across human space. With the Trinitys assistance, the secrets of biotech began to leak the secrets of biotechnology and, in 2114, the first official psion was revealed to the public, initiating humanitys psychic era. [edit] The State of the World The two main powers of the world are the on Trinity and the Mentatis; the first governing openly and the second acting in support from the shadows. The existence of psions is now common knowledge, but the Mentatis remains a secret; for all the public knows, latents go to a government facility to train, isolated from others for safety reasons (as a telekinetic accident in a submarine later proved). The new psions are indoctrinated into loyalty to the Mentatis and the on Trinity and returned to their former lives to carry out their duties with their new psionic powers, although many of them join the Trinitys special forces, while some remain with the Mentatis. [edit] The Surface

Aberrants roam the surface in droves, and most scientists have given up in trying to classify them. Taint and nuclear fallout mutated everything they touched, and sometimes it is hard to tell if a particular Aberrant used to be an animal, a tree or a human. There are rumors that there are a few Aberrant masters, either some who retained (or gained) their intelligence when they erupted, or even original Aberrants who stayed to enjoy the results of their madness. There are a few clean areas that have been salvaged, both in cities and in the fields. The Trinity sends strongly armed patrols to secure these lands while they build fortresses and facilities appropriate to exploit the resources in such areas. This has given rise to a few mining, farming, logging and other similar outposts. The Trinity is building a network of underground lines to connect vital surface spots, with a tram line as well as a road for autonomous vehicles. These lines terminals are always underwater bases built on the continental platform, no more than a few kilometers away from the coast. The first and most valuable surface station remain the spaceport platforms, built on the surface on the deep sea. The main spaceports are Nueva Esperanza off the coast of Ecuador, Tunguska Station in the Black Sea, Skys Hope in the deep Pacific, Cunningham in the South Pacific near Australia and Cape Port near Madagascar. There are other smaller spaceports around the world, but they are mostly corporate concerns. Surface travel is more often done via flight or hovercraft, with ground vehicles used only for local transport inside a single outpost, such as for carrying cargo from a mine to the nearby refinery. [edit] Underwater All the major cities of human civilization are underwater arcologies. Ciudad de la Perla off the coast of Venezuela is one of the largest, followed by Atlantis off Gibraltar in the Atlantic ocean and Avalon in the North Atlantic. Secondary arcologies are Novo Janeiro in the South Atlantic, Ryuji in the Sea of Japan, and Teh Tieng in the South Pacific islands. The arcologies have grown to be veritable metropolises, the largest housing up to 6 million inhabitants. The underwater cities are never single buildings, but a series of domes and solid structures connected by tunnels (some of them dug from the oceans bottom) that can be sealed off in case of emergencies. There are several access bays for submarines of all sizes as well as for hybrid craft that can travel on the surface. Submarines exist for all purposes that ground vehicles used to cover on the surface: sports, civilian transport, recreation, cargo, military, etc. All submarines can cruise on the water surface normally, so the term hybrid refers to those that can also fly. The rarest and most expensive craft can work well both in underwater, atmospheric and space environments. Human diet has shifted its meat consumption to fish and crustaceans and hydroponic and algae farms are the norm. The few surface outposts offer a supply of surface vegetables and fruits and the rare meat from untainted animals. Clean air was once supplied by a combination of hardtech filters, pipelines to the surface and bottled oxygen, but with the arrival of biotech, only the smallest and poorest of stations do not have a biotech air filtering system that synthesizes breathable air from the ocean. Energy supply comes mostly from thermoelectric and tidal plants, but a couple of photosynthesis biotech facilities have begun providing additional power to major arcologies. [edit] Space The outer reach of human civilization is also alive and well. The same biotech advances that are making life easier under the water are providing an increase in the quality of life in space habitats. A ring of space stations orbit the Earth, although they are mostly factories and research stations.

Artemis Base is finished and housing a population of thousands thanks to the artificial gravity crystals, and a similar settlement is planned for Mars. These stations are overseen and governed by Trinity representatives, just as the arcologies in the planet. There is a lot of system exploration and prospecting done by Trinity and authorized private interests, but extrasolar travel through psionic teleportation is a highly confidential affair. on believes it has control of all extrasolar travel, but the Mentatis conducts its own efforts in secret, and has already found the Qin, with which they have a small but very profitable trading agreement, receiving treasures of biotech knowledge in exchange of unique organic products of Earth and a joint exploration project with human teleporters and Qin telepaths. [edit] The on Trinity Managing world government one arcology at a time, the Trinity is a unique political body that avoids the problems of monolithic governmental institutions by letting each chapter operate more or less on its own. For starters, on is not a democracy, but a meritocracy; people who want to become governors must join on and rise through the ranks, with promotions and demotions decided by committees. The on Council is the closest thing to a central body the organization has, and it dictates general policy by vote from the council members. The on Council has three representatives from each arcology, with the new addition of representatives from Artemis and three more from the collective of orbital stations. One representative is the on senator, whole the other two are democratically elected congress representatives. The on senator coordinates with the on appointed governor, who does not leave his arcology, and the civilian deputies travel back and forth to coordinate the implementation of such policy with local on staff as well as with civil unions and organizations. The on global government thus works as a loose confederacy of city-states, with each arcology being responsible of managing its own affairs and those of the outposts (both surface and underwater) under its jurisdiction. Away from political issues, handled by the Olympus Division, the on Trinity conducts its business much like in the normal setting through the Neptune, Triton and Proteus Divisions. Neptune handles the dealings with the Mentatis, although it is Proteus who sees more psions joining its ranks. [edit] The Mentatis The psions decided from early on that they would remain hidden from their neutral brethren, only to surface when they deemed it appropriate and at the pace they wanted. They allied to form a single order, even if their different origins and abilities set them apart. Each of them brought a distinctive skill set to the order, and thus the Mentatis is the Trinitys psionic mirror image, doing more with less personnel and assets thanks to their powers. The Mentatis is ruled by the proxies, the first eight psions who command the use of the Prometheus Chambers. They are the leaders of the psions that share the same aptitude, but there are no sub-orders with such a distinctive culture as in the standard setting, but are just a shard of the Mentatis whole. The proxies are the same people as in the standard setting, masters of the same psionic modes but with a few differences in origin and outlookAlex Cassel: The electrokinetic leader and owner of a small transport company when he was triggered, hes as mercenary as ever, but realizes that he needs the cooperation of the other proxies. Hes the shadowy owner of Nautilus Technology; a tech firm that is spearheading the neutral adoption of biotech. Solveig Larssen: A soldier triggered when patrolling the surface, she is the psychokinetic leader

and also the one in charge of all of the Mentatis military and security efforts. Reynaldo Constante: The biokinetic proxy had no need to change his name, as the Mentatis operates out of the public eye in the first place. He heads the Mentatis intelligence arm and is the voice against the Doyen who has pushed the psionic collective to really doubt the aims of their benefactors. Matthieu Zweidler: The fact that he is a psion is a public matter, but nobody knows that he is the vitakinetic proxy. He became the head of the International Red Cross and provides the Mentatis with a wide network of support for transportation and research. Bolade Atwan: A close collaborator of Constante in infiltration, her efforts as the teleportation proxy have slowly shifted to the more pacific aims of exploring. However, she still supports his claims about the Doyen, and is working with the Qin to discover the secrets of noetic science. Rebecca Bue Li: Along with Herzog, Bue Li is one of the unofficial leaders of the Mentatis. She is an unassuming police officer in Teh Tieng arcology, from where she taps the minds of everyone on the planet. Otha Herzog: An almost mythical personage that gives the Mentatis its philosophical backbone. He is the one member of the Mentatis that nobody has met. He communicates through Rebecca, and nobody doubts her channeling as everybody can sense his noetic presence when she does. S.K. Bhurano: A reclusive scientist who is 100% behind Constantes suspicions and works towards cracking the secret behind the psionic triggering process. [edit] The Characters In terms of rules, there are no differences to the standard setting; the change resides in the approach that characters take towards their allegiance. Since the on Trinity officially holds the reins of government, its operatives can act with full authority and not merely in an advisory fashion, while the psions must hide their true loyalty to the Mentatis while working for anybody else. The Trinity and the Mentatis offer support for their agents in different ways, affecting how Backgrounds may work. on is a public organization with recognized support, while the Mentatis operates in secret and does not even exist officially, even if psions are now accepted part of everyday life. [edit] Storytelling The First Frontier is a setting based on the theme of survival; humanity is thriving in the most hostile environments it has even encountered: deep sea and deep space, and most people are possessed by a survivor mentality that makes them into either very selfish survivalists or altruistic protectors. Given the precedent of the Aberrants, the Mentatis is very wary about revealing the whole truth about psions to the whole of humanity, and trickle the information even to their closest allies. Since humanity has become unused to wide open spaces, exploration carries an added sense of wonder if the players decide to join the exploration and contact mission, while a sense of unknown mystery and majestic threat should pervade their outings to the sea. [edit] Aberrancy Within Trinity history speaks how Aberrants rampaged in the middle of the 21st century, monsters that ravaged the planet and immersed it in chaos. Aberrant sheds light in the age of novas and the quantum taint that slowly drove them insane. Later, it was revealed that both novas and psions

had their birth early in the 20th century and that humans carry within them the possibility to trigger as a wielder of either quantum or subquantum energies, but not both. In Aberrancy Within the tables are turned and psions dominate the 21st century instead of the novas, as the Doyen preempt Divis Mal in saturating the Earth with subquantum users, so that dangerous quanta cannot manifest so freely. Humanity, even biologically, is nothing if not stubborn, and by the dawn of the 22nd century the novas are rising to survive a world dominated by psions. [edit] History The Doyen noticed a large pulse in the subquantum pattern when the Hammersmith Experiment went off, ushering the age of adventure in the 1920s. Several of them traveled to the little world to see what was going on, and discovered with both surprise and worry that the race of flesh-bound people had the great potential to be the Doyens allies, servants or their natural predators. Seeing the possibility that humans could become expert wielders of the quantum energies disruptive to the Doyens very existence, the aliens decided to meddle in human evolution. It took them the good part of a century to reach that conclusion and come up with a workable plan so that they prompted a repeat of the Hammersmith accident, but this time keyed to trigger humanitys psionic potential. In 2009, the physicist S.K. Bhurano was working on zero-point energy, inspired by dreams and sudden flashes of insight, implanted in his mind by the Doyen without him knowing. At the same time, they manipulated a young technician by the name of Alex Cassel, who was part of Bhuranos team. Cassel was made to misunderstand part of the process for the first test of the zero-point generator and, as a consequence, the experiment detonated in high orbit, triggering a massive subquantum wave that washed over the planets population. The on Trinity had seen this happen, and was alert to the appearance of extraordinary individuals and releasing what they knew about the relationship between the Bhurano and Hammersmith experiments in science journals, paving the way for the scientific acceptance of supernatural abilities. In 2012, the first psychokinetic made the news by controlling the flames around a school bus with the power of his mind. The Trinity mobilized quickly, announcing that this person manifested the next step in human evolution: homo sapiens noetia. Tests were devised, and the Trinity opened several research wings in hospitals and universities across the world to test and train triggering psions. In the space of ten years, noetic science was recognized as a valid field of research, and the psions became part and parcel of human society, much to the delight of the Doyen. Noetic astronomy coupled with the nascent field of noetic biotechnology to explore and colonize space, and by 2056 there was already a mining outpost on the moon that became a self-sufficient colony in 2067. The problem for Trinitys attempt to curb or at least monitor psions was that the tell-tale energy readings around them were much too subtle for any hardtech sensor to detect; only a psion could detect another psion. Being still human, the noetic-enabled began to exploit their powers in various ways, and the craftiest of them began to place themselves in position of authority. Psionic leadership of governments and industry created a series of clashes that started as a sort of shadow war; skirmishes in the intelligence sectors that soon escalated into sabotage and terrorism and, in 2073, into open warfare. These were called the Psionic Wars, as the soldiers leading the attacks as well as the manipulators that oversaw them were psions. They turned peoples minds against themselves, corrupted electronic media, made vital infrastructure vanish The Psionic Wars lasted until 2103 when most of the nations resources were spent, and mostly because there was a great disturbance in the subquantum universe that every psion sensed,

giving them a reason to stop and look. The first nova had erupted. [edit] The State of the World While there was no major catastrophe as there was in the Aberrant War of normal continuity, the Psionic Wars nonetheless left Earth and its colonies tired and spent, with many of once shiny infrastructure crumbling out of lack of maintenance. Psions dominate the world and use their powers and their influential positions to crush neutral humans into submission. In this world, a new brand of hero is being born: the nova, wielder of overwhelming quantum forces that disrupt the psions manipulation of the subquantum medium. Despite the short golden age of psionic progress, there was not much advancement in the worlds political structures. The world of the original Trinity setting, however, arrived earlier and for slightly different reasons. There is an FSA controlled by a council made up of psionic military and corporate leaders, the biokinetics control a wide network of legitimate and criminal cartels in South America; Europe, while not in ruins, is still in a very sorry and fragmented state where psionic barons fight over the smallest scrap of land and resources, Africa is united thanks to the teleporters control and communications network, and China is a powerhouse whose telepathic operatives make others fear their every thought. There are no psionic orders per se, but several small groups of like-minded psions that act without coordination or common purpose. The Chinese Ministry of Noetic Affairs is the only recognizable organization of psions, but it is much more government-oriented than in the normal Trinity storyline. The on Trinity could never contain the wave of psions triggering by the Bhurano effect and was ill-prepared to forestall the Psionic Wars, but is still at the forefront of reconstruction and reconciliation efforts, which gains it the resentment of many neutral and psionic politicians. In Aberrancy Within, Divis Mal went underground as the psions began manifesting, devising a way to counter the subquantum tide rightfully suspecting there was a shadowy intelligence at work behind the Bhurano effect. It took him several decades until he was able to put all the variables in place; from recognizing promising latents to making sure they were exposed to quantum energies. The result is that, amidst the chaos of the world, many people are beginning to erupt into novas. The on Trinity is helping Divis Mal, for they know that the only way to dislodge psions from their corrupt complacency is to face them against a worthy adversary. [edit] The Characters There are a few ways to play Aberrancy Within to simulate the difference between psions and novas in this scenario: Trinity Rules: Bhurano psions awaken to a particular aptitude, just as with the Prometheus Chamber even if it happens naturally; the novas can choose their modes freely, but their powers have a quantum source rather than a noetic one. Aberrant Rules: The novas are not as powerful as those of the Aberrant game. Use only 15 nova points during character creation. Psions would only have access to the Mastery powers plus the Mega-Attribute Enhancements, but they would treat Quantum requirements (converted to Psi in their case) as one dot lower. Mixed Rules: Create psions using the Trinity rules and novas using the Aberrant rules, but with the above considerations. The free-style system found in the Trinity Players Guide is recommended for use with the freely-triggering psions.

Playing neutrals is perfectly feasible, using the system found in both games. Characters can come from any background, and even play in a mixed party of psions and novas, playing up the unease their respective radiations cause to the other. [edit] Storytelling Aberrancy Within is a scenario about hope being born from impossible odds. The world avoided total annihilation due to exhaustion rather than a sharp and decisive measure, which means that old tensions are not gone, but merely catching their breath. Novas are the new Robin Hoods, playing the role that psions were made to play in the standard Trinity setting: saviors against other super-powered humans. Psions are not as reviled and demonized as the Aberrants were, but people are extremely disenchanted by the promised golden age that lasted only a couple of years before dissolving into anarchy, and welcome any other alternative. You can tell stories from both sides of the fence: playing a squad of psionic hunters on the lookout of the new novas, or novas hiding from the hunters and experimenting with their newfound powers. Taint will not manifest for several years as the first novas begin growing in power, but the Doyen might intervene before that, bringing the Qin or the Chromatics to Earths doorstep to help stem the rising quantum wave. As another option, players could make the elusive quantakinetics, heirs of the power of both psions and novas and the only ones with the ability to reconcile the two breeds of metahumans against the manipulations of the Doyen. [edit] Terran Empire The Doyen granted their power to individuals without much leverage in human society, with personalities that clashed with each other. This might have been a conscious effort by the Doyen to keep humanitys psions divided and manageable or a simple result of human nature. In Terran Empire the proxies turned the table on the Doyen, resisting the manipulations to annihilate the Chitra Bhanu and putting aside their petty differences to cooperate with each other. The understanding and power they attained with such collaboration led them to defy the Doyen and use humanitys quantum potential to not only drive off, but effectively hunt down and absorb the power of the Doyen, initiating a period of human dominance on Sols corner of the Milky Way. [edit] History This scenario takes the normal Trinity storyline right after the revelation of the psions in 2106. The only difference being that the proxies have understood that the benefactors are not as altruistic nor trustworthy as they would have them believe. They play along until the Doyen leave, and continue to play along after Bue Li, Del Fuego and Herzog notice that Bhurano has a rider. Events occur normally on the surface, but the proxies are secretly plotting to throw off the artificial shackles the Doyen imposed on them. When the Doyen realize that the quantakinetic experiment leads in dangerous directions and try to manipulate the proxies into eliminating the Chitra Bhanu, the psions stage their coup. Cassel had developed a device to trap the Doyen with information Del Fuego compiled himself and stole from Bhurano, and they used it to purge the Doyen from Bhuranos body and dissolve its energy form into batteries of several new bioapps. The Doyen, shocked by such insubordination, react slowly at the utter surprise of this event, which gives the proxies more than enough time to prepare for contingencies. To stage their coup, the proxies were more trusting towards the on Trinity, who also recognized the threat the Doyen represented to human sovereignty, and gave the psionic orders access to its vast networks and resources. Herzog and Bue Li coordinate their powers to help Bhurano tap into the memory of his possession by the Doyen, and thus gain an enormous amount of insight into

the reality of the triggering process. With the combined research of the now free Bhurano, Cassel, Zweidler and Del Fuego, the orders develop a new Prometheus Chamber in 2112. The Doyen are divided and debate for years about what to do with the upstart humans. They are too late to stop the teleporters from contacting the Qin and establish friendly relationships, too late to stop the creation of psion-independent teleporting ships, too late to curb the rapid expansion of humanity into space. In Earth, the proxies use their new research to break the chains that tie them to their signature aptitudes, but the process has unexpected results. The proxies not only break their limitations, but also the walls that separate their consciousness. In 2122, the proxies become a single psionic entity inhabiting eight different minds and bodies. The shock of this transformation travels down to even psionic latents. For a week, no psion can access her powers and reel from the psionic shockwaves. The Doyen panic as they too have felt the birth of something greater than them. Instead of splintering between pro and against humanity, they all decide that Earth must be stopped and preferably destroyed. Of course, this decision comes until 2128. The orders take a much more active role in human development, surpassing the on Trinitys influence and breadth, and eventually taking over governments by placing psionic agents in key positions. With a unified will, Earth expands at a much more rapid pace. The Qin are staggered by the power and ingenuity of the human race and become a satellite ally in the expanding galaxy-spanning people. The Aberrants continue to be a thorn on humanitys side, but more powerful and versatile psions train in a friendlier society and become worthy defenders of humanity, with small squads capable of taking down the average Aberrant easily. Since the teleporters never left, the Chromatics take several years for the Doyen to make teleporters out of them and, when they finally attack, the human fleets are more than prepared to deal with their threat, tracking down Chrome Prime and laying a devastating siege on the planet, routing the Doyen supporters and subjugating the Chromatics. The Coalition is met on equal terms thanks to an accelerated technical advancement, and there is no disaster to speak of. Instead, when the Coalition attacks the explorer ship, the encounter ends with a draw, but the growing Earth Space Fleet is much stronger than the Aberrants led the Coalition to believe. In the year 2189, Earth is the capital home world of the Terran Republic, spanning nearly 243 offsystem colonies in various states of development. [edit] The State of the World There is no single world to describe its state in this scenario, but several. Extrasolar expansion is giving Earth a lot of room for growth. With off-world resources to exploit and unlimited space to place people on, Earth becomes an ecological paradise, recovering from centuries of abuse. Its arcologies replace urban sprawls and most manufacturing is now performed in orbit, dutifully teleported to predetermined storage areas. Earthling becomes the term associated to one actually born on Earth, and humanitys collective name becomes Terran. Each Terran colony governs itself, but belongs to a loose district headed by a council of representatives (two to four per colony). In turn, several districts group into a colonial council, which in turn send representatives to the Terran Senate. The Senate is composed of the representatives of each colonial council and headed by a chairman elected from

retired senators, whose candidacy is decided in secret by the psionic proxies. Each district has at least one Prometheus Chamber to trigger psions. The new Chambers are better at triggering certain Aptitudes, but have the potential to trigger them all. It is half superstition that the Chambers in some districts produce more powerful wielders of certain Aptitudes, which is why many confirmed latents make a long pilgrimage to the desired Chamber. All children receive a mandatory latency test upon birth and when hitting puberty, with the positives being scheduled to take a dunk in a Prometheus Chamber when they come of age. Through this system, the overall psion population now is about 35% of all humanity. There are confirmed reports about spontaneous triggering, which the proxy collective sees with a certain amount of perverse glee, for it means the Doyen have now truly lost the battle. Natural psions are awarded the same training and position as triggered psions, and account for 5% of the overall psion population. The psionic orders have become a single organization: the Psiad, but retain their identity as divisions within the larger order. The Psiad acts like the on Trinity in the 21st century, using its vast resources to coordinate welfare programs, fund schools and institutions in the farthest colonies and maintains the Prometheus Chambers. Each order is responsible of training psions in their aptitude, and high rank in each order is only achieved by attaining mastery of all three modes within the aptitude. The on Trinity, for its part, is content to sink back into the shadows, becoming once again an organization of like-minded individuals that pool their personal resources for noble ends. Its ranks thinned rapidly once the Psiad took over some of its perceived duties, and now it only maintains small offices to support its members. Psions and neutrals are welcomed to join the Trinity and may also belong to other organizations, so that it works more as a social club with strange resources. This doesnt mean it has stopped meddling. The Trinity does try to recruit loyal members with key positions, brandishing the Hope, Sacrifice, Unity slogan to capture young (and older) idealists. The Terran Fleet has continuous skirmishes with Coalition Arks as well as with two other as-yet unidentified alien races, both of them believed to be more Doyen pawns, but so far there is no open warfare and the fleet has been able to handle every threat. Aberrants also continue to be a problem, but more akin to random wilderness threats than to a potential enemy. Eden has been found and, after a signed treaty, left alone for the most part. This is truly a golden age for humanity. [edit] The Characters Psion characters use the normal rules, but they can trigger any three modes of their choosing, not only those of a single aptitude. Their basic technique, however, depends on what the Chamber that triggered them specializes in. Teleportation and Quantakinesis no longer have such high latency requirements, and now teleporters and chibs are as frequent as any other psion. When triggered, psions tap into the vast sentience of the proxy collective, but they retain their individuality and free will. They are aware on a subconscious level that they are part of a greater psionic whole, but the fact that the proxy collective is a single subquantum entity that speaks through different minds and bodies has not occurred to anyone. Given the great variety of colonies in the Terran Republic, characters can come from any background. The outer colonies raise tougher children, while Earth produces more artistic kinds. [edit] Storytelling Terran Empire is a scenario where humanity is thriving. The menaces that plague them have not been reduced to mere annoyances yet, but a future of uncontested exploration is not so far in the

horizon. Tales of exploration are best with the characters being the crew of a scouting ship, looking for new worlds through clairsentient and technologic means, but political intrigue and high adventure are quite possible. The Doyen are still a secret from the general populace, so a team of enterprising characters could very well stumble upon the beleaguered aliens or even upon evidence of their origin. [edit] Other Scenarios The different premises and elements in Trinity lend themselves to many variations. These are a few less developed ideas that you can flesh out with your own. [edit] Hope, Sacrifice, Unity The present is all that matter in this scenario, with the past being a big blank buried by a previous World War. People refer to the current conflict as World War IV despite it being fought across several planets. Earth is splintered in several nations, with each nation holding a few solar and extrasolar colonies. War is being waged from multiple ends, mostly a series of small battles that only serve to poison any attempts at peace. The FSA, Brazil, China, Russia and Europe are the main combatants, but border wars are more than common between smaller countries. In this state of constant war, psions are the result of human experimentation with their own genome, not the result of some alien intervention. Each country has discovered how to create one kind of psion (playing up the different Aptitudes) and uses them as soldiers in their war efforts. Psions are treated differently depending on the country that spawned them; some are nothing more than valuable pawns with little to no civil rights, treated more like lab products than people. Other are exalted members of their society, leading a life of privilege once they are identified as latents and successfully triggered. The on Trinity is dismayed at the state of affairs and all its efforts to bring about peace have failed, until Max Mercer uses his uncanny abilities to find the Doyen, and uses his charm to convince them to help humanity out of the hole. The Doyen see the potential in humanity and give Mercer the secret of triggering psions without the Prometheus Chambers possessed by each nation. Armed with such an ability, the Trinity begins recruiting and triggering their own psions, who grow free of the Aptitude limitation of the Chambers. The free psions and the on Trinity become a sort of underground organization, branded as terrorists by many but as saviors by more, fighting the injustices perpetrated by the neutral and psionic armies on every side, always protecting the civilians and seeking ways to bring about the peace that has eluded humanity for decades. [edit] Faceless Minions Similar to the above scenario but with the factor of warfare removed from the equation. In Faceless Minions, the on Trinity is a shadowy organization that has discovered how to create psions thanks to its private scientific resources. The Prometheus Chambers that the Trinity owns are rented at exorbitant prizes to governments, companies and basically to anyone who can afford it, but regulate the behavior of psions all over Earth. Psions are nothing more than mercenaries, whether they are soldiers or programmers, most of them owing their psionic abilities to the patronage of a large organization that almost literally owns their souls. The other kind of psions are those of the Trinity itself, a fearsome psionic police that watches for any real or perceived abuse of psionic powers. Space exploration is limited and cities have grown into typical dystopian sprawls, with arcologies being a very new development that may have arrived too late to save the planets surface. Private concerns often take precedent over national interests, with those with the money ruling over those who do not, enforcing their predatory will via their psionic agents.

The increased subquantum activity, however, is accelerating human evolution towards psionic latency. After two generations in this state, psions are beginning to trigger on their own, without the need of the Trinitys Chambers. on knows about this and sends its agents to seek out free psions in order to either indoctrinate or terminate them. Free psions are more flexible than their Promethean counterparts, having access to different modes or even to the alternate techniques in each regional/order sourcebook, or perhaps using the free-style psi system in the Trinity Players Guide. Whatever the choice in power, the free psions are becoming aware of each other and are starting to organize in underground cells, hiding from the Trinitys hunters and making do while they find a purpose for their existence. [edit] Contact In this alternative scenario, the Aberrant War left humanity with two key technologies: artificial gravity and warp engines. Developed 30 years after the Aberrants left, humanity began blinking from one point of the solar system to the other, not yet venturing with longer distances and building a burgeoning planetary neighborhood of colonies. Near the end of the 21st century, a few nations funded longer trips based on astronomical findings, and such expeditions caused disruptions in the subquantum medium that other psionic races were able to detect and take an interest in. The Qin were quite surprised when humans warped into their system, feeling discomfort in the method they used to travel. Greeted with mild hostility, humans were nonetheless thrilled to find another intelligent race. The Qin touched the humans mind and were surprised by the potential they found within, wondering why they used crude quantum warping when within them they had the seed of psionic powers. The aliens were strong telepaths with minimal command of other psionic aptitudes, but they knew that those aptitudes existed thanks to their research, and their biotech even used them when they could not. After a few exchanges with the first explorers, the Qin decided that they would experiment with the seed they sensed in the humans, and created a new type of bioapp to offer as gifts the next time humans warped into their system. The next arrival was not one, but five ships, with a lot of diplomatic and commercial personnel as well as one military transport, just in case. The Qin were amused, but also curious about the humans hardtech, and as part of the first exchanges of gifts and communications, they gave humans the bioapp they had built for them, without deceiving them as to their purpose: to bond with a humans brain and trigger her intrinsic psionic abilities. The symbiotic bioapp was tested and perfected, and the latency test applied to a first batch of subjects. The symbiont adapted perfectly with its intended hosts, awakening their psionic potential. The Qin are true benefactors of the human race, but they only gave them a little push; they did not reveal how to increase the symbionts power nor how to create advanced biotech; they left the humans to learn that on their own. In this scenario, psions are easily identifiable by the little lump on the back of their neck, which is the symbionts entry point. There are no proxies as such, but humans desire to label and classify led them to create the seven psionic orders (the Qin could not awaken quantakinesis), and the orders leaders are not particularly more powerful than their subordinates, but have shown the greatest expertise in controlling their symbiont. [edit] Counterstrike The Doyen chose to trigger the human races psionic potential for various and enigmatic reasons, while another faction that advocated humanitys annihilation chose the Chromatics. The circumstances of each civilization when suffering the Doyens intervention were completely different, but they had very defined roles of predator and prey. In Counterstrike the roles are reversed. The Doyen recognized the potential of the Chromatics long ago and decided to experiment with them, nurturing them slowly so that they develop their own technology and psionic potential.

The other Doyen faction never agreed to meddle with a civilization so deeply, and see the Chromatic as an aberration. These Doyen noted another planet full of latents, some of which had already triggered in a limited fashion and on their own. And not only that, but they were already exploring space without any outside help. This faction also recognized the expansionist and bellicose nature of Earths people, and saw in them the perfect tool to show their brethren what was stronger, an existing civilization given the gift of psionics, or a psionic race being forced into a civilization. The Doyen contacted the proxies, but also revealed their existence to individuals that showed themselves as focal points in the implicate order, thus ensuring that their gift would create waves in the destiny of every human. Humans developed the Prometheus Chambers with the help of Doyen inspiration, and it held the highest charge for the first people dunked in each, with all other subsequent dunkings triggering at a fraction of the firsts. The Doyen then proceeded to drive humans deeper into space. Religious manipulation would not work as well as it did with the Chromatics, but the prospect of profit and territory served quite well for the immature race. In the end, humans encountered the Chromatics, and both races immediately started to depredate on each others colonies, soon escalating hostilities into open warfare. Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Chapter Seven: Option: Alternate Character Creation Option: Alternate Character Creation [edit] Multi-Step Character Creation When the Venezuelan Phenomenon swept through Earth-space, the changes it brought were more drastic than anyone first thought. Once the initial disruptions to psi abilities died down and people adapted to the new currents in the subquantum medium, many thought that it was back to business as usual. It was several months before people realized what they should have right off the bat. The Prometheus Chambers stand out like beacons in the subquantum universe. When a literal storm struck the noetic medium, the tanks could not be expected to emerge entirely unscathed. Prior to the Venezuelan Phenomenon, once a latent was dunked, one could expect the changes made to the new psion to be fairly uniform, generally speaking. The same sorts of improvements got made to everyone triggered. Now, however, while the tanks still improve everyone to the same degree, the specifics are far more variable than they had been previously. In other words, the denizens of the Trinity Era now have another character creation system to use. [edit] Reasons Why So, whats this section here for? Why do the Trinity players and Storytellers reading this require another character creation system? Well, you dont. No, really. The existing Trinity character generation system works fine. It was based on a system with six years of successful use in the original World of Darkness. However, two years after Trinity was released, its sequel, Aberrant, came out. Aberrant included a new character generation system with two steps: creation of a baseline human was the first step. Character creation could stop

right there, and players could play a normal human. However, step two was the eruption, in which players detailed the changes that happened to their baselines in order for them to become a fullfledged nova. This character creation system returned in the Trinity Universes final game, Adventure!, and even saw a version of itself appear in the WoDs Mummy: The Resurrection. Its more flexible in what it allows, and it makes it easier on the Storyteller should they want to run a prelude. So the goal of this chapter is to bring Trinity back in line with the rest of the Trinity Universe by providing a useful, flexible character creation system. A neutral human in step one, put through the Prometheus Chamber in step two to become a full psion. Of course, White Wolfs new World of Darkness takes the multiple-step character creation and streamlines it, perfecting it, making all its games wonderfully cross-compatible. But thats a chapter for another time. Trinity d20, by the way, already incorporates this system in its own way by requiring players to make a human, then apply the psychic template. So d20 readers can just skip over this section entirely. [edit] How Did You Do It? If youre interested in a little behind-the-scenes look at how I created this system, Ill let you know how I went about it. First I opened up my copies of Aberrant and Adventure!. For the most part, I used their Phase One and their point costs, except where they differed significantly with Trinity (Trinitys use of Ability Groups, for example). Where the point costs were the same between several games, I kept the value. Where they varied between Aberrant and Adventure!, I opted for the median, figuring psions are somewhere around halfway between the power level of Adventure!'s Inspired and Aberrant's novas. Incidentally, if you were to make a character with the system in the Trinity rulebook, and then made a character using this system who was as close as possible to the original system, it would cost you 19 Psion Points. Averaging out the number of Inspiration (13) and Nova Points (30) given out in character creation in Adventure! and Aberrant, respectively, gave me 21.5 Points. So the 20 I decided on, besides being a nice round number, is perfectly suited. [edit] Character Creation We assume at this point that youve read Chapter Two: Character in the Trinity rulebook, and are fairly familiar with the process of creating a character using the method described therein. Being familiar with the multi-step systems detailed in Aberrant or Adventure! wouldnt hurt, but arent strictly necessary. [edit] Phase One: Neutral [edit] Step One: Concept This step is almost entirely identical to the Step One detailed on page 165 in the Trinity rulebook. We suggest the following order: Choose Origin: As in the Trinity rulebook. Theres a section on page 98 of the Trinity Players Guide which explores Origin and helps along its development. If you have access to the TPG, its highly recommended you read this section. You may skip this step now if you like, but must complete it after your transformation. Choose Nature: As in the Trinity rulebook. Remember theres a selection of additional Nature

Archetypes on pages 99-101 of the TPG. Choose Allegiance: As in the Trinity rulebook. Aside from the Allegiances listed there, each order has its own internal divisions which may function as Allegiances. Again, the TPG has a section on Allegiances on pages 101-108. Note that Aptitude is no longer included in this section. As a neutral, your character does not (yet!) have an Aptitude. At your Storytellers discretion, however, you may still pick a preferred Aptitude if youre playing a strong latent. [edit] Step Two: Choosing Attributes This functions in the same manner as in the Trinity rulebook. The only difference is the points allotted for each of the three Attribute categories. For these values, see Step Two of the Who Needs Psi Powers? sidebar in Trinity, page 168. [edit] Whats With the Scavenger Hunt? Sorry. Really. But its for our own good. White Wolfs web policy states, among other things, that anyone using White Wolfs IP cant include full character creation rules. Obviously, thats a problem in a section dedicated to character creation. As of this writing, we know of one such project, a large one several years in the making, which was taken down for just this reason. But what we can do is tell you where to find the information you need. All of Phase One, the most important part, will simply make reference to other books. Where we can, well reference the Trinity rulebook, since if youre reading this, its a good bet you already have it. The quickreference character creation table will have handy blanks for you to fill in the relevant numbers. Wed love to do more, but we dont want the Storytellers Handbook project to be our last. Thanks for understanding, and I hope this is all as painless as possible. [edit] Step Three: Choosing Abilities This functions in the same way as Step Three on page 165 of the Trinity rulebook. Note what was said about Allegiance above for alternate Ability Groups. The Trinity Players Guide also clarifies some Abilities and offers some new ones. The new Abilities have been included for your convenience on the character sheet in the back of this book. [edit] Step Four: Backgrounds Functions identically to Step Four on page 166 of the Trinity rulebook, except only Backgrounds are selected, not Modes. The TPG elaborates on these Backgrounds, as well as providing several more. All are included on the character sheet at the back of the book. [edit] Step Five: Finishing Touches Assign Willpower and Assign Psi as detailed in Step Four of the Who Needs Psi Powers? sidebar on page 169 of the Trinity rulebook. Calculate Initiative and Movement, figured in the same fashion as detailed in Step Five on page 168 of Trinity. [edit] Step Six: Bonus Points

Calculated as per the chart on page 168 of Trinity, except Aptitude Modes and Auxiliary Modes arent allowed to be purchased at this point. Players can still purchase Psi if they like, although if they spend all their bonus points on Psi, theyll have a very high Psi rating for a neutral. [edit] Phase Two: Psion Now you have a pretty good idea of what your character was like before she became a psion. You can use that character as a neutral in any game, or use her while running a prelude before applying Phase Two. You may even use this character as a base for applying a different Phase Two, as seen in other chapters of this book. However, in this Phase Two, your character becomes triggered as a psion. [edit] Step One: The Triggering The most important moment of a psions life is his triggering in the Prometheus Chamber. Its a literal rebirth, an awakening to one aspect of the vast realm of the Noetic Totality. The character awakens to whichever Aptitude is assigned to the Prometheus Chamber in which he is dunked. The chamber doesnt just allow the nascent psion to use noetic abilities, however, it also fine-tunes his genetic structure, making him stronger, faster, better. Choose Origin, if you skipped it in Phase One. See the Phase One notes for more on Origins. Choose Aptitude, based on those presented on page 194 of the Trinity rulebook. Depending on when in the timeline your game is set, your Storyteller may want to include teleportation as an option. [edit] Step Two: Psion Points This is the step in which the Prometheus Chamber does its work. Psi and psi abilities are opened up to the character. Most players will want to select ranks in the Modes related to their Aptitude. Some will also want to select an Auxiliary Mode or two, although keep in mind that you can never exceed a single dot in each Auxiliary Mode. Players may also buy up additional trait dots all over their sheet. Players have 20 Psion Points to assign. For the point costs, see the Psion Point table on page XX of this book. [edit] Step Three: Finishing Touches If Dexterity or Wits have changed, recalculate Initiative and Movement, and record your Skill Totals in the boxes provided. Calculate soak based on Stamina. Run through the Spark of Life section on page 168 of the Trinity rulebook. Congratulations, youre done! [edit] Character Creation Table This covers the character creation process in short form; refer to the appropriate sections for details. Available points are listed where possible. Key: Tr: Trinity rulebook, TPG: Trinity Players Guide, TSH: Trinity Storytellers Handbook [edit] Phase One: Neutral Step One: Concept

Choose Origin (Tr 163), Nature (Tr 177) and Allegiance (Tr 179) Step Two: Select Attributes (Tr 180) Prioritize the three areas: Physical, Mental and Social Choose primary Attributes (__ points) Choose secondary Attributes (__ points) Choose tertiary Attributes (__ points) Step Three: Select Abilities (Tr 182) Choose Ability Group (based on Allegiance) (___ points) Choose other desired Abilities (___ points) Step Four: Select Backgrounds Choose Backgrounds (Tr 186) (__ points) Step Five: Finishing Touches Record initial Willpower (__), Psi (__), Initiative (______________ + ___________), Movement (walk __m, run ____+ ___m, sprint [_____ x __] + ___m) Step Six: Spend Bonus Points Spend Bonus Points (___ points) [BEGIN BOX] [edit] Bonus Points Trait Cost per dot Attributes __ Abilities __ Specialties (max. three per Ability) __ Backgrounds __ Willpower __ Initiative __ [END BOX] [edit] Phase Two: Psion

Step One: The Triggering Choose Origin (Tr 163) and Aptitude (Tr 194) Step Two: Psion Points Spend 30 Psion Points on Aptitude Modes; Auxiliary Modes; Psi; or extra Attributes, Abilities and Backgrounds. Psi may not be increased higher than 8 at this point. Step Three: Phase Two Finishing Touches Record changes to Skill Totals (if any), changes to Initiative and movement (if any), bashing and lethal soak. [BEGIN BOX] [edit] Psion Points Trait Psion Points Psi 3 Aptitude Modes 3 Auxiliary Modes (max. one dot each) 5 2 Attribute dots 1 5 Ability dots 1 3 Background dots 1 Willpower 1 [END BOX] Storytellers should be aware that although all characters created with this system will balance out in the long run, its possible to get obscenely high Psi ratings or big handfuls of Modes. Such characters wont have much in the way of additional Backgrounds or Attributes, of course. Accordingly, some Storytellers may wish to place a cap on some traits at certain stages of character creation. Preventing players from purchasing more than a Psi of 2 during the first phase is a good idea, as is capping Psi at 5 or 8 during Phase Two. Aptitudes may be limited to three dots in each Mode, or perhaps even three dots overall. Its your game, and thus your choice. [edit] Extended Modes In 2102, the Doyen imbued eight individuals with the ability to manipulate the subquantum medium. Although each was locked into being able to access only a small portion of the Noetic Totality, these proxies were unrivaled masters of their particular Aptitudes. In the twenty years since this event, the proxies and their respective orders have had a lot of time to do research into the nature of psi and their condition. Some have done so in an effort to break

(or at least bend) the boundaries between the Aptitudes. Some have done so as a side effect of other research, or in an effort to fully explore the slice of the noetic pie that theyve been dealt. Perhaps some even came about purely unintentionally as the next evolution of noetics in the wake of the Venezuelan Phenomenon. As a result, by 2123 each order has actually created an additional Mode. Not all of these are public knowledge, of course, and most are heavily restricted. But they exist nonetheless. Theyre not yet at the point where theyre widely available, and certainly no alternate Modes for these powers have yet been developed (although they may appear in future books). Storytellers can use these powers as a surprise to spring on players: Hey, that guys obviously a psion, but whats that power that hes using? It could also be used as a reward. With duty above and beyond the call, an order may reward the character with access to secret new powers. [edit] Biokinesis [edit] Egomorphing Transform into inanimate objects Level One: Sleep of the Dead. The discovery of this power was practically accidental and very nearly ignored in the Norcas research. Though the scientists didnt realize it at the time, they had stumbled onto the Rosetta Stone of Egomorphing. The Sleep of the Dead isolates the core mind of the psion and sustains it by generating an absolutely minimal bioelectrical charge. Most importantly, this charge and the resulting ego pattern are then dissipated throughout the body. In effect, the psion appears to be dead and all but the most advanced bio-scanning equipment can prove otherwise. The experience is likened to a deep, dreamless sleep. System: Spend a point and roll psi. The number of successes is then applied against any check to determine whether or not the psion is dead. For example, if the psion rolls three successes, any attempt to scan him for life signs will be at a +3 difficulty. This is equally applicable to any form of scanning, psionic, technological, or otherwise. d20: Spend a point? And roll psi? Success chart dealie=negatives to scans. Badoosh! Level Two: Inanimate Fusion. Once the psion has mastered dissipating their ego, they are ready to apply the same principle to their physical template as well. At this level, the psion learns to meld their body into an inanimate object of equal or greater size, simultaneously dispersing their ego and body within it while using a subtle bioelectric field to maintain their sentience. The psions perceptions remain the same, but they can sense from any surface of the object they are fused to. System: As level 1botching is messy. Very messy. d20: Blah blah blah Level Three: Natures Pocket. The reverse of Inanimate Fusion, this technique allows the psion to incorporate a small, inanimate object into their bodies by dispersing its mass and using a bioelectric charge to sustain the objects template. At this level, the psion can only absorb one object at a time, regardless of size, however, the object will be neigh undetectable. System: Spend a point, roll psi. Success are applied against attempts to locate the object. d20: Blah blah blah

Level Four: Mimicry. The psion alters their form into a perfect replica of an inanimate object. The object must be of equal mass as the psion. The transformation occurs at the subquantum level and incorporates all of the skills of the previous Egomorphing powers simultaneously. As a result, maintaining this state is taxing and achieving it in the first place is very difficult. System: Spend a point, roll psi. Each success is applied against detection attempts. Also, the number of success determines the duration of the transformation (5 rds/success ?) d20: Blah blah blah Level Five: Thaumaturgy. Applies any egomorphing power to another living subject. System: Resisted roll: psi + noetics (?). d20: Blah blah blah [edit] Clairsentience [edit] Precognition This Mode, designed to peer into the infinite stream of possibility that is the future, has actually been in use within ISRA for some time, although predominantly by the Old Man or the Mashriqi. Although it popped up periodically among the members of the order, it was never really considered that useful. Particularly as Otha Herzogs Vision Process 418 inched closer. Now, of course, ISRAs on the other side of the noetic wall. Psychometry is nearly useless when looking beyond last summers Venezuelan Phenomenon. While the past is certainly important, what the order needs to do now is look forward, to the future. Accordingly, this Mode is becoming highly sought-after. No ones certain if this trend will continue or if psychometry will return to the forefront once sufficient time has elapsed from Process 418. Level One: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Two: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Three: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Four: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah

Level Five: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah [edit] Electrokinesis [edit] Magnetokinesis Many people often overlook the fact that an electrokinetics control over the electromagnetic spectrum must, necessarily, include magnetism. Orgotek itself wasnt much involved in related research, except as a side effect of their application of electromanipulation. Except for one enterprising engineer, whose [annual special project contest], based on magnetism, impressed everyone up to the prexy. This engineer is currently director in charge of Tekne Groups latest division, Polaris. Polaris employees focus on practical applications for magnetism, and even Cassel has to admit that magnetics fits nicely within his view of orgone. Its not a big or even very well-developed Mode, but its catching on throughout Orgotek as the latest fad. Rumor has it that Polaris is planning to strike off on their own, but Cassel is, for now, uncertain if hes willing to let them go just yet. Magnetokinesis: listen in/hijack transmissions, remote control, radiation shielding, special sight options in other parts of the spectrum... Level One: Current Sight. See magnetic currents. Whee! System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Two: Local EMP. Awwwits so cute. Wait, whats wrong with my computer? System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Three: Magnetic Shield. Magneto! Bubble or wall! You foolish X-men cannot hurt me! BWAAAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHA! System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Four: Signal Jack. Got your signal! HAHA! I am the human wiretap! System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Five: EMP. BABOOM! No electronics for you, sucka! Good enough roll: No electric activity on ANY kind for you, sucka! (OW, my brains!)

System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah [edit] Psychokinesis [edit] Entropokinesis Although technically referred to as senikinesis, the manipulation of bonds, most Legionnaires have been calling this mode entropokinesis, the manipulation of entropy. Psychokinesis, particularly cryo- and pyro-kinesis, concern the speeding up or slowing down of molecules. Entropokinesis involves the strengthening or weakening of atomic bonds, rendering something aged and fragile or amazingly strong and resilient. Its been in development for a while as a defensive Mode imagine a suit of armor as light as cotton, because it is cotton but its devastating effects as an offensive Mode were quickly realized. <Al-X> Entropokinesis and Precognition look like they could have a steady power curve, like Mage spheres. Level One: Template Defense. The psion reinforces his genetic template by actively circling his atomic bonds with psion particles, in effect, creating a psychic armor against physical attacks. Instead of resisting direct traumas, such as laser blasts or bludgeoning, this power defends against genetic diseases, taint related intrusions, and environmental damage. System: Spend a psi point and roll psi. For each success, the psion adds a dot of soak against attempts to damage him at a genetic or atomic level. This kind of damage includes radiation, taint exposure, or psi powers that alter the physical structure of the psion (storytellers discretion). Against powers that either work or dont, the soak can be used as a resistance roll instead (eg: Vitakinetics aggravation power dealie) d20: Increases the DC of powers affecting the psion and adds a bonus to Fortitude saves against radiation, taint, genetic disease, etc. equal to the number of success (?). Level Two: Strengthen Template. Sound familiar? It should, but instead of affecting the psion, the psion can bolster the defense of a target or other object. System: Same as above for living targets. As well as the soak, inanimate targets gain extra damage levels equal to the number of successes. Note that the defense bonus applies only to damage being done to the OBJECT and will not prevent attacks that circumvent it (eg: a strengthened t-shirt will block radiation targeting the chest, stomach, or back, but not other parts of the body). If the target qualifies as a full suit of armor (is self enclosed and continuous), the soak bonus is cumulative with Template Defense. d20: Same as level one when applied to other living targets. Inanimate objects gain damage reduction equal to success (?) in addition to the improved save and raised DC. If used on a suitable armor (one that provides adequate protection against the damage source), the bonuses to fortitude stack. Level Three: Steel Skin. Hang on, hang on. Inanimate objects get extra damage levels? Whats up with that? I want that too! Well, Im getting to that greedy pants. Relax. System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah

Level Four: Decay. So wait. I can strengthen bonds between atoms? Why cant I break em down yet? Its level four already! Well, now you can. So there. System: Weakens physical materialsreduces soak/success (psi roll, spend point) d20: Blah blah blah Level Five: Gradually melting stuff is kewl and all, but I want to make big firey explosions! Cmon, give me some kick! Okay wiseass, howsabout the NUCLEAR PUNCH! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM! System: Exactly as it sounds. Without protection, the psion will be consumed too. A blast with the psions body as the epicenter is created (10 radius/success). Requires a successful unarmed melee attack of any kind. Damage is considered lethal. Add permanent psi to normal damage dice. d20: Blah blah blah [edit] Quantakinesis [edit] Probabilistics 21st-century noetic scientists known as parapsychologists had been making progress examining several types of psychic phenomena. Although their work was far cruder than modern techniques, they often worked on something unusually and almost entirely unmentioned in modern noetic theory: what they called micro-PK. Micro-PK was originally thought to be just a different kind of psychokinesis, but it was eventually determined to be an entirely different discipline. Although the method was the unconscious manipulation of particles on the atomic level, micro-PK could best be described as the conscious manipulation of probability. It seemed nearly everyone possessed it to some degree, although some more than others. It may have been the first research into the phenomena today known collectively as paramorphs. Although remaining quantakinetics are few and far between, they have been busy. Often, theyre just trying to keep themselves out of harms way, and being able to manipulate probabilities is definitely an advantage in such a situation. Probabilistics is, however, a much more flexible Mode than just that. This was a Mode which was highly crude and poorly developed, but the Venezuelan Phenomenon appears to have advanced its capacity by leaps and bounds until it was a full Mode. <Al-X> Hmm... Probabilistics sounds like you could tack on a few of Adventure knacks and make them a little more general, like Navigational Hazard Level One: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Two: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah

d20: Blah blah blah Level Three: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Four: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Five: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah [edit] Telepathy [edit] Mindsieve An extrapolation of the Ministrys crowd control techniques, Mindsieve functions as a sort of poor mans clairsentience. It sifts the memories of multiple people in order to reconstruct a past event. Where it differs from clairsentience is its reliance on the memories. Peoples recollections are colored by their own expectations and emotions, which likewise colors the recreation of events the telepath witnesses. This is both a strength and a weakness: while a clear would be aware of all the facts of the circumstance, the telepath may be aware of the motives and emotions behind them. Level One: System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Two: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Three: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Four: Blah blah blah

System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Five: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah [edit] Teleportation [edit] Chronoportation This Mode was initially discovered by accident during the Upeos exile from Earth-space. Not having access to many clairsentients, the teleporters had to rely on their own astronomical observations to locate appropriate systems. And once seen in enough detail, can be teleported to. Their first target was a planet some five light-years from their base of operations in the [insert] system. So, since the limited speed of light meant that their observations were of the planet as it existed five years ago, thats the planet they saw. When one of the scouts one of the first handful of Upeo teleported, initially everything was as scans had indicated. However, he quickly discovered that he had actually teleported to his destination five years in the past. He set up a signaling beacon and returned home to the same point at which he had left. He pointed his colleagues attention to the planet and the signaling beacon which had just become visible. The Mode has expanded since then, but has largely remained a secret until the Upeos return. Some of the teleporters who knew the Mode have split off to join the Star-Crossed, and have started spreading it around. Atwan has had almost no choice but to allow others to learn it. Level One: System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Two: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Three: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Four: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah

d20: Blah blah blah Level Five: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah [edit] Vitakinesis [edit] Iatrogenesis Individual docs call this by different names necrosis, psychalgesis and the like but the official name is iatrogenesis. The iatro prefix comes from the Greek iatros, meaning physician, and the -genic suffix, meaning induced by, is derived from the International Scientific Vocabulary. Combined, of course, they become iatrogenic, meaning physician-induced. An iatrogenic disease is obviously, then, disease which is caused by a physician. A more convoluted explanation than most, but its the one Dr. Zweidler favors. Just like algesis is the flip side of iatrosis, iatrogenesis is the flipside of mentasis. It causes mental anguish. While psychological ailments are largely the domain of the Ministry and telepathy, iatrogenesis deals more with actual physical ailments of the brain. Strokes, tumors, chemical imbalances, and the like. Level One: System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Two: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Three: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Four: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah Level Five: Blah blah blah System: Blah blah blah d20: Blah blah blah

Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Appendix I: Animals - A list of stats for most animals a team would commonly encounter. Maybe 20 or so altogether. Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Appendix II: Aptitude Chart - An easy-reference chart or two compiling together all the Aptitudes/Modes/powers from the core book, the Players Guide, the various Order books, EON's India Underground, and this book. Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Appendix III: The Story To Come - This is a "The Story So Far"-style chapter which details my plans for what's coming up in the Trinity timeline, as based upon my conversations with various developers and authors, as well as my own thoughts. * 2124 o Mercer and friends clean house in Aeon. * Negotiations with Eden. * 2125 o Coaliton attacks. Rebuffed by a united humanity (loyal aberrants, Eden's novas, all psions, etc.). Coalition Mother ship possibly destroyed by nuclear devices teleported inside by certain teleporters/warpers. * Colony defeated. * Quantakinetics, building their numbers in secret, return. * Humanity engages the Doyen. * First Contact with the Zepplin race (see Upeo book) leads to new discoveries. Trinity Storytellers Handbook/Index - A page list index of every single published book thus far, plus this one. We'll leave out other fan books for now.