Fate of the Nova Age: Gods and Gear

Gear
Gear in Fate of the Nova Age exists to provide permission for certain actions. If you have a gun, you can shoot with it. If you have a tool box you can do simple repairs on a car. That sort of thing is pretty standard. Weapons and armor require a bit of twiddling however. I would like to up the danger of weapons, and to do this I am going with a weapon and armor extra. Here is how it works. Weapons(as defined by your table) negate the physical stress track. You can only mitigate stress from weapons by using consequences. Armor allows you to utilize your stress track again against weapons. You can have armor piercing weapons which negate armor, but you cannot heavy armor that would negate that, there has to be a limit in here somewhere, and that is where I draw the line. Armor Piercing Weapons, and indeed, weapons of any kind can be restricted depending on where in the world you set your game. this would be handled by an aspect on the location which can be compelled should one of your PCs have the restricted item on their person. and that is my take on weapons and armor.

I would also like to do a version of gear rules for really special gear, but I think that is handled best by taking a personal aspect relating to the special gear and talking out with the table what that means in the context of the game. Also it could be a way for a PC who is not a Nova to gain a Nova stunt. Simply attach the aspect to the stunt, and if it gets compelled then you can't use the stunt until you get your gear up and running again. These are my current thoughts on the subject, that may change as we go along.

Team Tomorrow
Proteus Archives
Search: Team Tomorrow
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1998, March 23, 08:18 ZULU
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Satellite Galatea explodes in orbit. No known cause. Investigation is ongoing.
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1998, March 23, 11:31 ZULU
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First known modern Eximorph Eruption, Randal Portman. Saves a bus full of children on national television. Scenario one: Containment and Concealment impossible. Move to scenario two: Control and Direct the flow of information. Initiate contact with U.N., seek declaration of humanity.
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1998. June 30
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Zurich Accord signed. Novas(Homo Sapiens Novus) declared humans, with all rights and responsibilities thereof. Stage one of Control Scenario in place. Move forward on Project: Utopia. Proteus safeguards in place. 
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1998, August 13
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Utopia fully engaged. Recruitment and Propaganda are primary focus. Triton Division has asked for permission to move forward more directly. 
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1998, December 4
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Dr.s Mazarin and Rashoud announce the discovery of the source of Eximorph abilities. This M-R Node warrants further study. Moving Forward on clinics in major cities across the globe for recruitment purposes. Proteus reports over 600 known "Novas" worldwide. Will release data to press after analysts are done with it.
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1999, January 1
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Team Tomorrow initiated. Proteus 'genetic protocols' have been canceled. Potential fallout too great. Thetis assumes Directorship of Proteus after unfortunate death of previous Director.

<Transcript of conversation Between Steve Debow [Director of Marketing, Utopia] and Justin Laragione [Director, Utopia], 09/10/1998 18:47 ZULU>
Laragione: Steve, its good to see you. What can I do for you today?
Debow: You have seen my team's last report?
Laragione: To be honest, what with getting this project up and running and moving to New York, the paperwork has gotten ahead of me here. Saying that, I think I have it here-ah here it is. Was going to get to this after lunch. Is there something I should know?
Debow: I will leave you to read for yourself, but the short answer is we have a serious problem in the immediate future. Our psychologists and sociologists, not to mention [redacted], are in accord, without some form of action Novas of a certain power level and higher will begin doing whatever they please. We need a response team.
Laragione: Response team?
Debow: Yes, and soon. Before problems become endemic.
Laragione: Surely it can't be that-
Debow: Our most conservative estimates show that if only five or ten of the hundreds we know of go bad, it will set a precident. Regular police and military can't handle this sort of threat. We need to show the world that we can.
Laragione: So a police force for Novas.
Debow: It has to be more than that.
Laragione: More? More how?
Debow: We need to build three ideas with this response team. First, Nova criminals can't get away with breaking the rules. Second, The team needs to be both normal humans and Novas. We have to show that Novas are humans too. Third, we need to build a desire to do good works by having this team be photogenic and public.
Laragione: I will have to talk with [Redacted]. See if there are any candidates that will work. I think I know of-Thank you Steve, for bringing this to my attention. I agree this is a pressing issue. Get your Marketing team working on a name, slogan, the whole press package. I will set up a meeting in a week, we will formalize this plan and begin working on a solution.
<End transcript>


We have seen you. Well, everyone has seen you. After your rather public eruption you are now one of the most recognized Novas, to use the idiom, in the world. More than your public display, however, is your apparent dedication to doing the right thing. You have powers and abilities far beyond the pale. Anyone else would have become a monster, with power like that. Not you, though. Not you. you are probably wondering who I am and who I represent. I represent Project Utopia, and through them the United Nations. As to who I am? that is not important. I am here to ask you a question. Probably the most important question you will ever be asked. Do you want to save the world?

Team Tomorrow are as close to superheroes as one can get in this post Eruption world. They stand for all that is right and good. At least that is what the news promos tell you. By and large, that is true. Team Tomorrow is filled with very altruistic people. They are pretty much what is advertised, save for a dark secret. Team Tomorrow is an outgrowth of Project: Utopia which is, itself, a creation of Proteus. What Proteus has planned for this team is unknown. In fact it would take quite a bit of digging to even find the connection between Team Tomorrow and Proteus.

Team Tomorrow is split into three teams: Team Tomorrow Hyperion, Team Tomorrow Themis, and Team Tomorrow Iapetus. Hyperion is the public face of Team Tomorrow. Their job is to do charity work, attend photo ops, do interviews, and help Themis deal with threats when called for. Themis are the heavy hitters of the team. Their job is to deal with the powerful Nova threats that cannot be dealt with by the local Law enforcement. Iapetus is the investigative and espionage team. Dealing with negating threats before they start and gathering intel on existing threats. The Teams fall under the oversight of the UN Security Council and take their orders directly from the Security Council appointed Director of Nova Affairs, I have not named the director here, as it should be up to the table who this person is.

Locations
Adis Ababa: Home base of the Team Tomorrow Hyperion, it sits in the center of the reinvigorated city. Project: Utopia is also centered hear. In all the world Adis Ababa is probably the most friendly to Novas.

New York: This is the major base of operations for Team Tomorrow Iapetus. They have purchased a large plot of land abutting the ocean and have constructed the large low slung building that houses the investigative division.

Mumbai: Home to Team Tomorrow Themis. Located in India so as to be close to the two largest populations of Novas in the world. Mumbai has become the hot spot for Novas in the eastern hemisphere. the booming film industry and sheer number of Novas in the area assured that. With all this activity it was thought to be a perfect location for the Enforcement arm of Team Tomorrow.

Plot Threads
New Members: Your PCs are offered spots on Team Tomorrow. This is the closest to a typical superhero game that Fate of the Nova Age gets. Basically you would play the response team dealing with threats as the come up. For examples of this see Warren Ellis' run on Storm Watch...pretty much nails it.

The Conspiracy Deepens: Their is a connection between Proteus and Team Tomorrow. Your characters investigate that. they could be friends of Jennifer "Slider" Landers or perhaps Andre Corbin. Maybe they come across some of the T2Mers doing something shady and investigate. Perhaps they run into a strange document or recording while digging into Project: Utopia.


Philosophy of Terras, and the Null Manifesto
There is a book, written by a transcendent mind, written before the Eruption Event, that dictates a post-human philosophy. Written by a man called Primus, it speaks of Novas and how they should view themselves. Those who have done serious digging into it claim that Primus was a pseudonym taken by Michael Donigal, an extraordinary man who helped found the Aeon Society. These same investigators sometimes claim that Donigal was a Nova who erupted in the twenties, the first Nova. they say he caused the Eruption Event. Before he did so he penned the Null Manifesto. However his mind was such that there are layers of meaning and symbolism hidden in every word. It is written in a language he constructed to serve his purposes. No one has yet deciphered the whole text. But at the core lies a simple message., "Novas are not human, and thus not bound by human morality or laws." No one has found any evidence of Primus or Donigal since 1998.

A powerful Nova, calling himself Divis Mal, discovered the Null Manifesto and broadcast it to the world. Since then several groups of Novas have taken up the Manifesto as their guiding light. They bicker among themselves as to the correct translation/interpretation of the document, but to the outside word they have become grouped as one whole. They are known as the Teragen, the followers of Terras.

Groups within the Teragen
The Pantheon: Founded by a man known only as The Mathematician and Count Raoul Orzaiz, the Pantheon follows the Terras by assuming each Nova is a nation and moral entity unto themselves. "Do what thou wilt, shall be the letter of the law," is something Orzaiz is found of quoting. they see themselves as the shepherds of man, and see themselves as above all petty squabbles. Each is dedicated to following Terras and trying to keep tensions down between Novas and Baselines. The Pantheon wants the Novas to take their natural role as leaders of the world, and then everyone can live in peace.

Vigilance: A war is coming. A war to end all wars. A war between Baselines and Novas. Those who strike first have the greatest chance of victory. This is the rationale of Vigilance, espoused by its leader, Geryon. He sees the disparities between Novas and Baselines and knows that such disparities eventually lead to war. He leads his band on raids of anyone and everyone he sees as trying to control or destroy Novas.

The Legacy: they believe in the evolution of self. They seek to constantly test themselves and grow in power. Lead by the Mad Prophet Scripture and his right hand man the Apothecary, they dive deeply into Quantum Taint and seek to develop ways of controlling and channeling it. They are some of the most powerful Novas on the face of the earth.