Customer Reviews

Aberrant

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a huge fan of White Wolf's Storyteller books, and I was hugely excited by the release of a superhero module. There are some great aspects in this book, but some serious problems that come with that. The greatest problem is that White Wolf seems to find it necessary to become vague to the point of uselessness in every core book. Even the most fertile imaginations have trouble working out all the details commonly left out, and Aberrant does not fail to disappoint. Combined with some rather cheesy ways of introducing the background, the books intro chapter is likely to leave you saying "HUH?" In a gaming sense, this is a powergamer's dream and a storyteller's nightmare. Even the negative effects of becoming tainted aren't hugely detrimental. In short, if you want to play games by the book, then think twice before you buy this. If you don't mind some tactful editing of the storyline (I run it much as I would a World of Darkness campaign), then the systems are great to use for generating PC superheroes. However, there is a feast of literature on its way to support Aberrant. With Year One and Expose, White Wolf is feeding us more details needed to create an adequate world to surround their wonderful game mechanics. With a little imagination, a lot of work, and some of the support books, this becomes a decent module. I just hope that a second edition with better detail is released in the near future.

This game at first appears to be your standard super-hero game. That is only at first glance. The powers and the system are based on White Wolfs other games, although the powers are VERY powerful. The reaction of the world to the emergence of super powered humans who could be driven insane by their power is very realistic. It has more of a dark feel to it. The game is set in the "golden age" but the cracks are beginning to show. Few of the Novas are motivated to become super powered boy scouts, they are motivated by love, greed, selfishness, pride, power lust, fear... The same things that everyone is motivated by. This game offers you the chance to explore a world stunned by the miracles that can be performed, but also that is still very much like our own and not one trapped in the 50's of comic books.

ABERRANT has a great idea that I had hoped that someone would publish someday: a super-hero game where the characters are people with unusual powers, not excuses for posturing and doing as much collateral damage as possible. The world that White Wolf presents is interesting and detailed (although it has the typical White Wolf jabs at authority and conspiracies). My only big problem with the game is the presentation. While very readable, the background section is ultimately an exercise in frustration in trying to get hard data about the world of ABERRANT. I eagerly look forward to the forthcoming additions to this line.

ABERRANT has a great idea that I had hoped that someone would publish someday: a super-hero game where the characters are people with unusual powers, not excuses for posturing and doing as much collateral damage as possible. The world that White Wolf presents is interesting and detailed (although it has the typical White Wolf jabs at authority and conspiracies). My only big problem with the game is the presentation. While very readable, the background section is ultimately an exercise in frustration in trying to get hard data about the world of ABERRANT. I eagerly look forward to the forthcoming additions to this line.

White-Wolf has done a great job by taking what could be another tired way of looking at superheroes and turning it into believable, interesting and entertaining world. Contrary to people's assumptions Aberrant does NOT take place in the World of Darkness. No Vampires or Warewolves here! Instead you play on Earth just a few years in the future (2008). The mechanics are solid. The story is engaging, and the supplements are usefull. You won't be dissapointed.

Aberrant is set in the near future, 2008, where normal every day people "erupt" into super powered humans who have the power to change the world. Its a one in a millions chance to become the super hero of your dreams. The main reason I like Aberrant is the fact that you can change the world for either good or evil, its your decision. I've been running a game of it since it came out and I love it!

A game that presumably is supposed to be part of a series, and done White Wolf style. No supernatural beings as such, but humans with super powered abilities, and the organisations, structures, regulations and problems that surround these people as they try and live their lives.

Superheroes with a twist, in other words.

White Wolf did a beautiful job with the rules systems governing novas (mutants) in Aberrant, but unfortunately the story side is lax. While they try to draw a picture of the world now that novas walk the streets, everything comes off as being ultra vague. If I end up running it I expect to borrow from Marvel for details.

The rules though, are beautiful. It's the best system for running a "superhero" that i've seen yet. I've never had so much fun building a character before... the possiblities truely are endless.

If you're looking for a RPG that will give you a definite powertrip and place you in a world gone mad, this is for you. DM's beware though, Aberrant will require more thinking on your feet than most other RPG's because of the myriad possibilities with Quantum Powers.

This book is well written and extremely well thought out. The first half of the book has nothing to do with roleplaying but instead develops the setting, a world where one in a million people has super-powers. Because of the separation of role-playing and fictional elements, the book can be enjoyed both as a role-playing game and as science fiction.

The book presents a world with super-humans in a different manner than usual. Instead of having archetypal heroes and villains, the setting is presented in a more realistic manner with most of the Novas (the term the book uses to describe the super-humans) as being motivated by the same things normal people are; they want a good job, be famous, have fun etc. and acting upon these impuslses in realistic ways.

This book will appeal to people who are well read and will recognize he philosophies of the various organizations that are described in the book. For example the Teragen (a Nova organization devoted to the liberation of Novas from opression by non-Novas) is based partly on the works of Nietzche and the works of Ayn Rand.

The only caveat is that the setting is presented in a non narrative form, it is more in the form of interviews and newspaper clippings, This could be difficult for someone who is unfamiliar with the format to understand. But once one gets over the unfamiliar presentation, ones mind can escape from the boring world we live in to the facinating world of Abberant.

This book is well written and extremely well thought out. The first half of the book has nothing to do with roleplaying but instead develops the setting, a world where one in a million people has super-powers. Because of the separation of role-playing and fictional elements, the book can be enjoyed both as a role-playing game and as science fiction.

The book presents a world with super-humans in a different manner than usual. Instead of having archetypal heroes and villains, the setting is presented in a more realistic manner with most of the Novas (the term the book uses to describe the super-humans) as being motivated by the same things normal people are; they want a good job, be famous, have fun etc. and acting upon these impuslses in realistic ways.

This book will appeal to people who are well read and will recognize he philosophies of the various organizations that are described in the book. For example the Teragen (a Nova organization devoted to the liberation of Novas from opression by non-Novas) is based partly on the works of Nietzche and the works of Ayn Rand.

The only caveat is that the setting is presented in a non narrative form, it is more in the form of interviews and newspaper clippings, This could be difficult for someone who is unfamiliar with the format to understand. But once one gets over the unfamiliar presentation, ones mind can escape from the boring world we live in to the facinating world of Abberant.