If Changeling: The Lost is the game of beautiful madness, then the most popular

fangame of the New World of Darkness is a game of beauty created by madness. A game
of saying yes when sane minds say no. A game of progressing when sane minds hold
their ground. A game of Transgressing when sane minds follow their Obligation. This
is the tale of '''Genius: The Transgression'''. Created by Kyle Marquis (known as
Moochava in some parts of the internet), Genius is a game of the bright ideas of
brighter minds. They take science beyond the realm of logic, reason, ethics and
sanity. They construct fantastic devices that seem like Clarke's Third Law made
manifest, but just about any Genius worth their salt will smack you for calling
what they do magic. They're doing SCIENCE, damnit! But while the Geniuses claim
that they do science, what they do actually isn't. They create instances of events
that cannot be reproduce and/or analyzed, making it impossible to explain what just
happened and qualify as science. This is the great tragedy of Genius: while they
create miracles of science, they can never be scientists again because they are
tainted by Inspiration. Once they become Geniuses these poor individuals will
forever be mocked and scorned by their peers, unable to once again be what they set
out to be. Not that most of them care.

The driving force of Geniuses is Inspiration, which is why they are also called the
Inspired. This powers their creations and helps them create their Wonders. Nobody
really knows what Inspiration is; while there are several theories nobody's really
sure. What is known is that it can act akin to a memetic hazard: if a mortal
engages in prolonged contact with a Genius they run the risk of becoming Inspired
as well, as portrayed in the opening fiction of the book. The different
philosophies on what Inspiration is form the basis of the five Foundations of the
Peerage. The Peerage is the group that the PCs will likely be a part of, akin to
the Pentacle Order of Mage: The Awakening. They split off from Lemuria, the former
shadowy rulers of humanity. Think if the Camarilla won, but then lost. During the
first half of the 20th century the Peerage and Lemuria came to blows. The violent,
mad science kind of blows. Lemuria was trounced but spared extermination because
the Peerage feared that without Lemuria they'd become Lemuria themselves (and
destroying Lemuria is exactly what Lemuria would do in their position), plus they
kinda give a central gathering point for the mad scientists who go so mad they
think they aren't. The Foundations got their collective acts together, rebranding
themselves and teaming up to form a society of their own, the Peerage. Kinda like
real-life scientific peers, except with mad science. And there turned out to be a
LOT of peers: around 1990 it was estimated that one in a million people were
Geniuses. Once the internet hit the mainstream it was quickly discovered that there
were around a million Geniuses merely ''online'', with the most generous estimates
being that one in five thousand people are Geniuses (about 1.4 million worldwide).
And while many of them still work alone even while part of the Peerage, others have
formed Collaboratives. Their Inspiration distances themselves from the mortal
world, and while their fellow Geniuses form an echo chamber instead of true
scientific peer review it's better than working alone and going insane that way.
Then there's the issue of money: being Inspired is expensive and there is only so
much grant money and jobs in science to go around even for regular scientists.
Speaking of, about one in three Geniuses have an actual degree in science, while
another third ''claims'' that they do. Two in three (not the same as the previous,
but there's overlap) Geniuses come from the scientific, academic and educational
fields, with the rest coming from related fields (librarians, historians,
explorers, scholars and so on). One in ten is not from any of such backgrounds;
these people are laymen who tinkered and experimented with stuff until they became
Inspired. Many of the Inspired (estimates run from one in three to a full half)
don't know that they are; some are picked up by the Peerage and Lemuria in a few
years time while others Just like with real scientists there are more male than
female ones, with a small percentage being neither (this is not because of identity
politics but rather because gender stops being relevant if you're a robot, a
computer, a swarm of nanomachines or an intelligent liquid in a tube). Child
geniuses exist as well, with 1 in 7 being a minor and 1 in 50 being pre-teen.
Nobody likes their smug undergrown asses. And no, if you're any kind of
supernatural you can't become Inspired. It just won't take hold.

Inspiration is the game's power stat. As usual it determines a Genius' max stats
(6+ will allow you to take 6+ on your Attributes and Skills) and how much of the
game's mana you get and can use, which is Mania this time around. Inspiration can
only be increase by way of a Thesis, which is kind of like the Seekings to level up
your Arete in Mage: The Ascension. Except this time around it's comprehensive: you
have to do something big that proves the veracity of your take on science, and if
you succeed you get to increase your Inspiration. These missions are wide in scope:
you can destroy a powerful foe, protect people from a disaster, enact change upon
the world, obtain restitutions for wrongdoings or discover more about the world.
These goals are personal and different for every Genius. Inspiration also confers a
drawback in the form of Jabir. This imposes a penalty to conferring scientific
ideas with non-Inspired. This is the madness of the mad geniuses and only increases
the more of a genius they are: at Inspiration 1+ this is -1, at 5+ it's -2 and at
8+ it's -3. Another fun detail about Inspiration is that merely having it allows
you to ignore the penalties for unfamiliar applications of a skill. This might seem
a bit odd and useless at first... until you start to think about it. Having dots in
Firearms means that you can use anything from rayguns to laser bazookas to proton
packs without a negative modifier (as long as they are your own, because there's
rules for using the Wonders of others); Drive lets you control anything from sky
cycles to blimps and even space stations. And when you take a look at the all-
important Science skill... well, that should give you an idea. As long as it's
mundane technology, you're free to use it. Inspiration grants Mania, the power
source of the game. Mania allows you to power your Wonders; enhance (+1 to the use
of it for one turn, and it's technology if it's been worked on or modified by an
intelligent being, meaning you can get extra rolls in throwing bricks at your
enemies), understand, deconstruct and power mundane technology and finally enhance
your Mental Attributes for one turn without the limit of your Inspiration-
determined maximum. The regaining of Mania is a simple concept; you get one dot of
Mania for waking up fresh in the morning, can obtain up to six per day by engaging
in an equal amount of hours by doing Science (or half that amount by thinking about
Science instead), ranting to your prisoners about your plan (once per day, restore
Inspiration + Presence) and break things of science that oppose your flavor of
Science, but this is the most evil way to do so. A desperate Genius can also engage
in Deep Inspiration, pulling Mania out of thin air at the risk of going Unmada.
When you do you start to radiate an aura of SCIENCE called the Unmada Field, which
changes the world around you to fit your world view. This can even create a few
intelligent objects of SCIENCE who seek to keep the Genius as an Unmada at any
cost, because the moment they snap out of it these things cease to be. Oh, and the
more powerful one's Inspiration is the larger the Unmada Field is: at Inspiration 1
this is a mere building while at 3 it's several city blocks, at 5 an entire chunk
of a city and 7+ it's an entire city. Snapping out of it takes a few days and the
spending of Willpower (one point per day equal to the Genius' Inspiration) followed
by an Inspiration + Resolve roll. Succeed and you stop being Unmada, fail and you
risk Illumination.

Mania is one of my two big issues with the game. The issue is that when you build a
Wonder you have to "bind" Mania to it, reducing your maximum Mania pool. This
effectively reduces your capacity to build more Wonders and use them, severely
limiting what your character can do. On top of that, given the limited amount of
Mania you can reasonably recover per day means you only have a limited number of
uses per day from your Wonders lest you run out. While all Geniuses can build
Capacitors, which are essentially Mania batteries, you will need to build quite a
lot of them to create a hefty supply of Mania for you to keep functioning.
Especially at the lower levels this is an issue: only at Inspiration 4 do you hit
20 max Mania, and you'll be building quite the costly Wonders before that. While
this is arguably one of the core themes of Genius: The Transgression, the
bitterness of failure and unreachable dreams, having a game limit you in such a way
is rather disappointing. Geniuses also have their own Morality system: Obligation.
The Inspired can violate morality in ways no human can, and to hold this off
Geniuses hold onto their ties and duties to humanity. It's a relatively
straightforward list of violations, one that includes going without human contact
for X amount of time. For some reason surgery of any kind, including the life-
saving one, is a Transgression against Obligation 9, which is as bad as going
without human contact for a day or altering anyone for any reason or time with mad
science, and it's ''worse'' than experimenting on animals. Obligation adds another
element: if you are Obligation 7+ you are considered a Paragon. Paragons extrude an
aura of trustworthiness even if they're obviously very odd, and people believe in
the Paragon's intelligence and reject attacks on their reputation (-3 penalty for
such attempts). On the other hand, at Obligation 4 or 3 they are awkward at social
interactions, giving the Genius a -1 penalty to all Social rolls, and at Obligation
2 or 1 the penalty becomes -2. At Obligation 0 the Genius becomes Illuminated,
freeing them of all ethical restraints and seeing everyone and everything as tools
in their pursuit of SCIENCE, rendering them unplayable.

My second issue with the game is the fact that you need a massive amount of Merit
dots to get anything done. First, mad science is expensive. If you want to be able
to build a Wonder without crippling negative modifiers, you'll need at least as
many dots in the Resources Merit equal to the highest number of dots in your
Wonder. This means that if you're a starting level Genius who put all your dots in
Katastrofi because you want to build a plasma rifle you'll need at least three dots
of Resources, with a -1 penalty for every dot that you're short. You also need to
define where your money is coming from: do you have grant money or a trust fund?
Are your parents rich? Do you work in the private sector or are you self-employed?
Do you hold tenure? You need to define this, and this nets all sorts of
complications (your parents might think you're on meth while you're in reality
creating some kind of wonder-drug). Then, a mad genius will need a laboratory to
work in. But it's one of those Merits that has three sub-Merits that you can put
your dots in: you can pick Equipment to get bonuses to building Wonders (which
balances out the poverty rolls), Size (in case you want to work together with
people or want an assembly line) and Security (how tough your secret lab is to
break into: note that at 0 dots this means you don't even have mundane locks). If
you want to build large numbers of identical Wonders (like several murderbots or
the death rays to arm them with) you'll need the Assembly Line Merit (you can
produce a number of identical wonders that doubles with every dot you take, and you
only have to pay Mania for one of its kind). Then there is a Merit if you want
Beholden, aka your science sidekicks like Igor, the Minions, Oddjob or Hello Nurse.
This is another of those sub-Merit ones and you have to pay for Number (how many
you get: this requires at least one dot no matter what and you will NEED this to
use the Assembly Line Merit), Ability (extra bonuses to building Wonders if they
help you) and Prowess (how good they are at Dirty Work). This means that you'll
need a staggering amount of Merit dots to get something nice going. Of course you
can team up with your fellow Geniuses to get something better, but you are still
very limited by what you can do this way. And that's discounting all the various
other Merits available throughout the game. Again, this plays into the general
theme of Genius: The Transgression, but the issue remains the same: crippling your
players like this is simply not fun.

But now let's get to the actual fun stuff: the mad science itself. The devices
created by the Inspired mind are called Wonders, and are both fantastic and
terrible at the same time. They are a transgression upon the laws of science and
may seemingly invoke Clarke's Third Law, but they are objects of science
nonetheless. There are eight known types of Wonders, with these types being called
Axioms. By having dots in the Axioms a Genius can build Wonders of that type. It is
possible to integrate Wonders into one another (like the frigging lasers for the
frigging sharks), but they have to be built separately. and in a particular order
(first you build your deathbot's laser eyes, then you build the death bot). All
Geniuses have their own particular style of mad science, using the Axioms in
different ways. One might build robots while the other grows tigers in a lab, but
both use the Axiom of Automata. Then there are the aesthetics: one Genius' robots
might look like sleek, modernist things while another builds rough 50's movie
things and a third makes them look like Greek statues. This is purely aesthetics
and a Genius' style preferences may change over time, making it a more simple and
actually functional version of how Mage: The Ascension does it. Actually building a
Wonder is pretty simple: you calculate what the highest level of dots for the
Wonder is, factor in the various Variables (extra range, different features, extra
things it can control and so on) and then roll Inspiration + Intelligence + the
''lowest'' of the skills that govern a Wonder of that type. For example, a
Katastrofi flame gun is governed by Crafts and Science, so pick the lowest of the
two. When you have that total subtract the Wonder's rank (the level of the Axiom
that applies to this wonder) and roll the dice. If you succeed, have six hours to
spare and are building a Wonder size 0-5 you finish it in one day. If you build
larger things this will take longer, and there are ways to subtract from this as
well. And no, you can't shrink your Death Star down in order to build it faster. It
is also possible to Kitbash a wonder, cutting its construction time down by up to
three "steps", but these Wonders will fall apart in a day, hour or even after a
number of turns equal to the Genius' Inspiration. This is handy when you quickly
need to build yourself a disintegration ray when you've been captured by your
enemies and they left you with something to build with.

One successful you "bind" an amount of Mania equal to the Wonder's rank, locking it
up. Your wonder is now complete and ready to use! Do make sure to check for the
thing's Persistent Fault, which is the Wonder's crippling problem. This can be
anything from "doesn't do wood" to "dogs are unaffected", "the automata is
extremely literal", "is very inaccurate" to "the armor is very heavy". The ST can
determine the fault by rolling on the provided tables (one per Axiom or one general
table) or agree to a specific one with the player. This Fault can only be fixed by
doubling the amount of bound Mania. It is also possible to reduce the bound Mania,
including to 0, by using a Larva. This makes your Wonder powered by a forsaken
child (quote from the book) with an ingredient foraged for the express purpose of
making your Wonder, but this is always a Transgression of some kind to obtain it.
So think something like human brains, orphan eyes or one of your own fingers. A
Larva can be used only once and reduces the bound Mania by 1, and by 2 if you
failed the Transgression roll when obtaining it. A Genius can build any Wonder they
want as long as it's within their style and they have the proper Axioms for it. A
Genius starts out with three favored Axioms: one granted by their Catalyst, one
picked from one of the two from their Foundation, and one chosen by the player. Not
only are these cheaper to buy with XP they also give a bonus to the roll when
building Axioms of that type and they can be of any level, instead of being limited
to being the same level as the Genius' Inspiration. The Axioms are:

'''Apokalypsi, the Axiom of Discovery'''

These are your scanners, communicators and other such devices. Wonders of
Apokalypsi can both read and transmit data from and to just about any medium.
Depending on your level you can do the following:
?: Scan the area for an object of a particular type, kind or even a particular
object containing data. This can be anything from a phone to a black ops CIA
mainframe or even a book, then display it. In the old days Geniuses built devices
specifically to cover entire areas, but with the advent of cellphones and free Wi-
Fi these old Wonders are left to rot, with all the horror that will follow this.
You can also install a remote control with Apokalypsi 1, and have a screen serve as
a flashlight.
??: Engage in more mundane scans of anything you can see: Physical scans,
biological scans, metanormal scans (P.K.E. meters), dimensional scans (search for
rifts in spacetime) and supper-science scans (for Genius-made stuff). You can also
detect if and when something has been scanned. Mechanical telepathy is also an
option to read auras ala Auspex, read the minds of people (and computers too!) and
project your own thoughts. You can also build universal translators and equip your
Wonders with night vision mode, binoculars and a directional microphone.
???: Scan a sphere for objects or creatures of a particular type and display them,
with a max diameter of "anywhere". Very handy for space scanners. It's also
possible to create "scrying" devices, allowing you to look at any angle from a
particular point.
????: At this level Wonders are able to detect and display hypotheticals and
calculate probability in order to predict the future. This is not outright telling
the future, but it can come close. It's also possible to peer into and communicate
with other dimensions, and while outdated it's possible to get a message from one
person to another through a number of contrivances that the Genius themselves won't
have to think of.
?????: Accurate telling of the truth both present and to come, as well as perfect
scanners across time and space. This is where Inspiration start to reach into being
outright magic.

'''Automata, the Axiom of Independence'''

Lab-built men and lions grown in test tubes, Automata is for when you don't want to
get your own hands dirty. At a base level the creations are rather simple, but at
higher levels they generate Automation Points. These points allow for the increase
of the Automation's Attributes and Skills, Specializations, Merits, Speed, Size and
how much Mania they can store. Automata are loyal to a certain degree, so you have
to treat them nice lest they rebel. Automata also allows for the creation of
Factories that automatically build objects of a particular type as long as it's got
resources to do so (metal for guns, wood for furniture, biological matter for
humans and so on). Normally they can create objects of only one type, but with a
variable they can make just about anything limited only by their level.
?: Create very simple devices that can process simple data. They can be the
scanners linked to a plasma turret or contain the activation protocols for the
lab's forcefield. This level also allows for the creation of cybernetic or
biological limbs, either to replace lost ones or if you want to go Doc Ock.
Factories can build mundane objects based on the Genius' Craft skill, going from
crude objects to propeller planes, 20mm cannons (which for some reason are more
difficult than said planes to make) and even cutting edge mundane technology.
Organic material can be produced as well, but this cannot create living things.
??: Create zombie-level intelligence automata. They're dumb and can perform only
the most basic of tasks. They get a number of Automation Points equal to the
Genius' Inspiration, which can only be spent on speed, size, held Mania and
physical Attributes. Factories can create flora from algae at the most basic level
(determined by the Science skill) and can go up to trees and even new types of
plants. And no, you can't create opium plants this way and enter the drug trade
because the plants are Manes (more on that later).
???: Create automata with intelligence on par with the most clever of animals. They
can act with some intelligence, can understand a few hundred words and will carry
out orders to the best of their abilities. Their Mental and Social Attributes are
capped to 3 (Intelligence is stuck at 1), Physical Attributes to the Genius' max
and they can learn Physical Skills and Merits, as well as Social Skills, again
capped at three. All can be upgraded with a number of Automation Points equal to
triple the Genius' Inspiration. At this level Automata get triple the Genius'
Inspiration in Automation Points. Factories at this level can produce animals up to
a certain size (limited to the lowest of the Genius' Medicine and Science):
starting out with invertebrates one can move up to fish and lizards, birds and
mammals, smart and large animals at max level create new animals.
????: Play God and create humans, or at least human-level intelligence automatons.
There are no limits to the automaton's stats aside from the Genius' own, and while
they have an Obligation score (up to the Genius' own, picked upon creation) they
don't have a Virtue or Vice and can only regain Willpower by aiding their creator.
These humans can be upgraded with four times the Genius' Inspiration, with the
maximum being the Inspiration-mandated maximum for the Genius creating them.
Factories can mass produce new humans, going from human infants at the lowest of
the Genius' Academics, Medicine and Science Skill to basic humans to basic humans
with the stats of a new WoD character (5/4/3 attributes, seven merit dots). Making
humans however is slow (one dot of Size per week) and can get rather expensive (one
dot of Mania per human) and they're not inherently loyal to their creator, but with
the right Axioms this can be easily fixed.
?????: Your created humans will now have souls: they get their own Obligation, a
Virtue and Vice and recover Willpower like normal. They can also gain experience,
and with 20 experience your Automaton can become a Genius in their own right.
Factories at this point can create Wonders when given the plans to build one. This
is not as effective as using an Assembly Line (all Wonders created this way count
as individual Wonders), but it's a fast alternative if you quickly want to create
disposable Wonders like bottles of super-serum.

'''Epikrato, the Axiom of Control'''

Project MKUltra: The Axiom. Most commonly known as the mind control Axiom, Epikrato
can do a lot more than that. While versatile, frequent use tends to gobble up
Mania, so do be prepared.
?: Control objects within the boundaries of that object's capabilities. You can
lock and unlock doors, but not have the lock weld itself shut. You can make a car
drive, but not fly without going off of a ramp. Combine this with Apokalypsi 1 in
order to build yourself a Sonic Screwdriver, except yours does in fact do wood.
Suck it, Gallifreyans!
??: Control forces to allow telekinesis for utility and offense or engage in meat
puppetry like you're Eric Doyle: move people around or just knock them the fuck
out.
???: Mind control for up to a scene, but self-destruction is impossible and doing
evil things is difficult. You can also go all Obfuscate and trick people into
thinking you're not there.
????: This is where shit gets whack. You can play the stock market (but vampires
will figure you out somehow), gather large groups in one place, tinker with the
outcome of an election, control the weather or even probability itself (+1 bonus or
-1 penalty to a dice pool, 1 Mania per altered point.
?????: Identity control. Full on alteration of the mind: remove people's dots in
non-physical Attributes and all skills, dots in Inspiration and similar advantages
(you can have a LOT of fun with this), turn someone into a Beholden or back, raise
someone's Morality (up to your level in Obligation) or lower it, edit entire
personalities or just wipe someone's mind. Transferring consciousnesses is also
available for just about anything except non-Genius metanormals or very strange
creations. All of these changes can also be reversed.

'''Exelixi, the Axiom of Restoration'''

Healing powers, as well as upgrades both mechanical and biological. Basic, but it
works. Another fun part of Exelixi is that for every do tin it the Genius will live
20 years longer, or a full century for all five dots.
?: Healing, curing and life support. Healing can work on either organic or
inorganic matter, and when using such a Wonder when making a normal
healing/repairing roll you get a bonus to said roll and it doesn't cost Mania. Life
support is vital on starships because it provides food, water and air.
??: Enhancing machines and living things. Upgrades can include bonuses to other
rolls, increased Attributes or faster movement, lasting one scene to prevent
munchkinnery. You can also build an exo-rig to grant increased physical Attributes
and physical Merits, forming the basis for a suit of power armor.
???: Create super serums, powerful drugs or even digital cocktails to increase the
performce of a living or unliving thing for one turn. It's a more effective form of
the two-dot version (bonus is equal to your Inspiration rather than successes on
the rolls).
????: Healing aggravated damage, regenerate or reattach lost limbs, put people into
stasis or make a grafted version of the exo-rig. These limbs are more flexible in
what they can do than their Automata cousins, but less potent.
?????: Full-on resurrection and the extension of the human life span. The simple
version of a resurrection machine has to be applied within the hour and revives the
subject relatively intact (lose one dot of Willpower, but not with an exceptional
success) as long as the subject itself is mostly intact. A more maimed or longer
dead target can be raised but it's risky; damage to Morality and their power stat
(if they have one) takes a dot of damage. Plus, the Genius suffers too: on a
success this is the loss of a ''dot'' of Willpower and Inspiration, but on an
exceptional one it's just the dot of willpower. It's possible to create an elixir
of life as well, allowing the Genius to not age for a year. But for every 20 years
lived this way this requires the binding of a point of Mania, and with every 100
years lived the roll gets a -1 modifier. So while this works, it is not sustainable
in the long run.

'''Katastrofi: the Axiom of Destruction'''

Deathrays and tesla cannons and lightsabers and plasma rifles and doom cannons, oh
my. The go-to power if you want to really ruin someone's day. Ranged weapons are
fueled by Mania, and require one point of it to charge for every dot used to build
a gun. In turn, every point of Mania grants 10 shots with the gun. Melee weapons
don't require charges. Katastrofi really lives up to the name in damage output: it
has a base damage stat of 5, meaning that if you have even a basic 2 Dexterity and
2 Firearms you're looking at 9 dice with your death ray. Death rays can be build in
any size from small pistol to man-sized rifle to increase their range. Larger
weapons require more Strength to use (up to 3 for large rifles and heavy pistols)
but have superior range, but this can be negated somewhat by having a belt-mounted
power source for a pistol or a backpack-mounted power source for a rifle (aka the
Proton Packs used by the Ghostbusters). Strangely enough, for a Size 4 weapon the
Strength required is the same regardless of a back-mounted power source, and
there's no way to alleviate the Strength 3 requirement of a Size 5 rifle. Weapons
can normally deal only one kind of damage, but with a Variable it can do just about
any.
?: Pain rays, stun guns, venomous darts and other non-lethal weapons, so it's
bashing only at this point.
??: Ray guns, death rays, super-accelerated crossbows and other lethal weapons.
They can be upgraded for free with a blast area of 5 yards, and weapons that only
deal bashing damage get the 9-again rule.
???: Plasma rifles, disintegration rays, vorpal swords, super-accelerated bullets
and other weapons that deal aggravated damage. Said disintegration rays will turn a
person and the stuff they're carrying to dust if they fill out a target's health
with aggravated damage. Weapons can be freely upgraded with a blast area of 20
yards, bashing weapons get the 8-again rule and lethal weapons get the 9-again
rule.
????: Tesla cannons, freeze rays that reach absolute 0, nukes, lightsabers and
other weapon of mass destruction. Bashing and lethal weapons are 8-again,
aggravated weapons are 9-again. Weapons can have a free blast area of up to 100
yards.
?????: The good shit. Rending space and time, orbital cannons capable of leveling
cities, weaponize the power of the sun or put a black hole on a stick and hit
people with it. All weapons are 8-again, and weapons can have a free blast area of
up to 1000 yards.

'''Metaptropi, the Axiom of Transformation'''

For when you think that Gregor Samsa was a wuss. Simple transformations at first,
but they can get fantastical and bizarre as you gain dots.
?: Changing appearance. Objects may register as different but the effect is merely
superficial, so it's useful for simple disguises and hiding things. Camouflage like
you're wearing the OctoCamo is also an option.
??: Simple and temporary transmutation, as well as altering someone's biology to
move around dots in physical attributes. You can also mass-produce valuable metals
and precious stones, but this is both difficult and requires the bind of a LOT of
Mania (want to turn a whole bunch of lead into gold? Sure, that'll be 9 successes
and 6 Mania per 5 points of Size worth of gold. Diamonds require 11 successes and
16 Mania per 5 Size of diamonds, and if you don't meet the successes it only works
for 1 scene). At this level you can combine Metaptropi with Katastrofi to create
weapons that turn things from their normal forms into other things, like pillars of
salt or turn a man's hat into acid. When combined with Automata you'll be able to
create free-standing holograms that move around and interact with people, depending
on your Automata level. Violent actions by these illusions can't cause damage, but
they can freak people out by attacking them.
???: Growing and shrinking rays. Shrink someone down far enough and you can kill
them, if they were injured to begin with. Take this to get your Duke Nukem on.
????: Shapeshifting within the laws of nature, kinda. You can turn people into
bears or dinosaurs, but also zombies or robots. But they retain their normal
mentality and supernatural weaknesses, so if you were to turn a vampire into a lawn
chair it would still burn in sunlight. These transformations last for one scene
unless you roll an exceptional success, at which it can be made permanent by
binding a whole slew of Mania to your creation. You can also build shapeshifting
Wonders at this point (a sword that's also a gun, or a watch that turns into a
robot, but bigger size differences make this more difficult to do)
?????: Irrational and otherwise fantastical transformations. Turn people into
living rock or self-contained liquids or gasses that can move around on their own.
You can also conceal yourself completely by removing your scent, sound, the light
you reflect and heat you produce and several other effects, phase through objects,
or build an object that's bigger on the inside, with up to 1000x the size as the
exterior. Yes, Metaptropi 5 lets you build yourself a TARDIS.

'''Prostasia, the Axiom of Protection'''

Energy shields, bulletproof armor, protection from high or low pressure for ships
and suits alike: Prostasia is a simple but effective Axiom that can protect you
from just about anything, up to and including Katastrofic weapons dealing
aggravated damage. Unlike all other Axioms Prostasia does the same thing across the
various levels: it provides (Prostasia+2) levels of armor. This is a very good kind
of armor, dwarfing even the toughest armors available for normal characters. It's
also possible to instead go with ablative armor. By trading in one point of armor
you get two dots of extra health levels that all have to be whittled away first
before you can be hurt. Note that this is its own thing and not temporary health
dots like defined in the core rules. On top of protecting from pressure and vacuum,
a single dot will also render you invisible to mundane scanning techniques (but
you're still vulnerable to Apokalypsi scanners and normal visual contact). Armor
can come as a physical object but also as a forcefield, and while the two can be
stacked this is not that good because your armor rating is equal to the highest
armor +1. Several layers of ablative armor don't work, because damage received is
applied to all layers at once. Ablative and regular armor can work together, but
the effectiveness of the armor is decreased by two health levels per dot in the
armor. This means that force fields are limited to a maximum of four levels if the
force field and armor are built with the same level. You can also build all sorts
of wacky stuff using Prostaria such as super-lock, hyper-advanced servers that are
nigh impossible to hack, Wondrous tin foil hats to block out mind reading, create
enclosed bubbles to protect the user from gas attacks or advanced cages to keep
Geniuses in. Now, there's also a semi-official fan expansion of Prostasia, which
makes the Axiom work like all the other ones. This is how it works in that case:
?: You can only build personal armor. You have the "always on" suits that offer 1-
3-5-7-9 armor, increasing with every dot, or if it's activated and therefore cost
more Mania grants 2-5-8-11-14 armor. You can also build vaccines and antidotes
against mundane agents.
??: Create armor for buildings and vehicles, or construct buildings that would
otherwise defy physics (space elevators, volcano lairs etc).
???: Protection from mental, magical and transformative effects.
????: Protection from Apokalypsi and teleportation.
?????: Normally an object has a base durability, which is multiplied with the armor
provided by a Prostasia Wonder to determine its new durability. At this level said
value is then ''multiplied by ten''. To wit, a normal evil lair (size 26+) has a
base durability of 5, and Prostasia 5 grants 7 armor. Normally this would be 35
durability, but at Prostasia 5 this becomes ''350 durability''. Have fun shooting
your way through THAT one.

'''Skafoi, the Axiom of Travel'''

It's like that Finland simulator, ''My Summer Car'', except with more death rays,
tunneling devices and space travel. Skafoi is your poison for when you GOTTA GO
FAST. Having a high Dexterity and Drive is almost a requirement. Make sure to build
your Wonder large enough to fit all your stuff and Wonders, otherwise you'll be in
trouble when the molemen attack.
?: Travel by land or sea. Inspiration determines safe speed: x75 mph for land
vehicles and x50mph for water vehicles, and x10 for both if they're worn on the
body like wheels on your robot suit or propulsion on your diving suit. At this
point you can also build grappling hooks, rocket shoes and spring boots, whose
distance is Inspiration x50 feet for a Wonder that's as big as what it wants to
move; decrease by 10 feet for every size point shorter (so Inspirationx20 for
rocket boots and Inspirationx10 for a grappling gun).
??: Fly in the air, dive into the ocean or go underground. For air your safe speed
is Inspiration x100 mph when piloted (aircraft) and x10 when worn (robotic wings),
underwater is half those speeds. Mole machines are slower: Inspiration x5 yards
when piloted and Inspiration in yards for worn. Mole machines can leave tunnels,
but can also be made so that they close themselves in.
???: Go to space or dive deeper than anyone has ever gone. Inspiration x5000 mph
when close to Earth for spaceships, x500 for space-worthy suits. Deep divers go at
x1000 and x100. In space you go 1 AU per week per dot of Inspiration, or 553308
miles per hour per dot of Inspiration. Don't forget those dots in Prostasia and
Exelixi if you want to be gone for longer than a few minutes or don't want to burn
up during reentry.
????: Lightspeed! c=Inspiration^3, so hold on to your ass! Travel away from a
planet first though, not doing so might mess you up bad. And don't forget that this
is just the warp drive, not the spaceship. At least at this point artificial
gravity can be built in for free. You can also travel to other dimensions to go
pick on the denizens there, or teleport you to anywhere on Earth or even to the
moon. Just don't roll a dramatic failure when teleporting someone to the moon:
they'll end up in space and die.
?????: Knock knock. Who's there? Doo wee. Doo wee who? OOH WEE OOH. DA NA NA, NA NA
NA. That's right, you get to build a time machine and get Time Lord up in this
bitch. Actually building a time machine and traveling through time is not all that
difficult... but changing things is difficult and risky. Mainly because of the
Guardians of Forever being around, who are time cops. They're mostly cool with
minor changes as long as they don't fuck up the core timeline. Making little
changes will mess you up big time: it'll cost you points or even dots of Willpower
and Inspiration depending on what you're doing, and a vast tub of Mania to not have
your changes collapse. On top of that, you gotta buy off the time cops with ten
times the Mania you spent on your change to the timeline. They're fine with
collecting in many small installments (because time travel: they might as well pick
it all up in one afternoon), but if you refuse to pay up you get offed. This Mania
is used to fuel the time cops' efforts, meaning that the Guardians of Forever run a
massive temporal protection racket. The most commonly encountered time cop in this
corner of time is Rapata, aka Mister Shark, a massive Maori navigator and Genius
who runs the 16th to 21st centuries. And before you ask: yes, you can go kill
Hitler. But don't bother; the Guardians of Forever got sick of constantly replacing
Helmut Schenk, the original leader of Nazi Germany. Geniuses constantly offed him
and his replacements, so the time cops got sick of constantly replacing him (and
the guys who did said replacement almost always ended up killing themselves because
they literally created the next Helmut Schenk) so they stuck with that Hitler guy
and set up a cloning facility outside of Hamburg in 1921. Do drop by; the facility
tour is ''fascinating''. Oh, and before I forget: Skafoi 5 also lets you build
temporal distortion devices: with them you can slow down a target or speed yourself
to change the dice you get in your pool, increase your speed AND increase your
initiative. If you manage to roll an exceptional success you can engage in some
real bullshit: after rolling said success you can spend any amount of Mania to
increase your speed by a factor of 10, ''per point of Mania spent''. Despite this
interacting with things that are slower than you becomes increasingly difficult:
you have to spend Mania and deal with an ever-increasing durability (one point per
factor 10 on the speed) on potential enemies, and when you deal damage the effect
immediately ends. This is really useful for very long distance space travel if you
don't want to spend years traveling, but it's limited by the fact it relies on an
Exceptional Success.

Finally, there is a ninth Axiom whose existence has been speculated on by Lemuria.
Its existence is only theoretical, but it has to do with Mania, Inspiration and the
manipulation thereof. Yes, this is the equivalent of the Sphere of Prime, except
for Geniuses and even more potent. This Axiom is called Apekrina or Pankosmoi, but
it most commonly known as the Needle Grail. With this Axiom one can pluck Mania out
of thin air, avert the effects of Havoc, enhance Inspiration and do many other
marvelous things. It's kinda logical when you think about it: the Axioms allows
Geniuses to bend the laws of science, so there should be an Axiom to bend even
those rules and those of itself. Violate the laws of thermodynamics of Mania, so to
say. But it is not known if the Needle Grail even exists, and many of those who
believe it really exists and waits to be discovered tend to have gone off the deep
end a long time ago. But according to the author of the game; yes, Pankosmoi
exists. And that's all we know.

So with all these Wonders of science that Geniuses can build, why has the world not
been fixed yet? Because of the effect known as Havoc. Remember how in Dexter's Lab
DeeDee would always fuck Dexter's shit up by touching a button she's not supposed
to? Well think that, except when facing a normal human all Wonders are absolutely
''covered'' with such buttons. Sure, you can use a lightsaber, healing ray or
plasma rifle against a human just fine, but using a Wonder, gently interacting with
it or even picking it up will cause a Havoc test. This is rolled against the
creator's Inspiration minus the Wonder's rank. A simple success will mean that the
Wonder gains an extra Fault; at six Faults the Wonder is destroyed. This is rolled
every turn that this contact continues, meaning that it'll mess your Wonders up
rapidly. So yes, your suit of armor that can stop a tactical nuke can be hugged to
bits by a normal human. When a Wonder is scientifically studied the rolls are at a
huge -3 disadvantage on these rolls. If you fail the Havoc roll, or even worse a
dramatic failure, the Wonder becomes an Orphan. These are the abominations of
science, Wonders without owners turn feral or dangerous, and are formed when their
creators either abandon them (or abuse them into leaving in the case of intelligent
Wonders) or dies. This means that yes, killing the evil genius can make his lair
collapse on your ass. When a Wonder permanently goes Orphan, it starts to mutate
and twist into something resembling a living creature through the sheer force of
Mania. They become able to move even if they have no legs or wheels (Strength +
Dexterity in speed flopping around), get Dexterity and Stamina 2, all physical
Skills at a level equal to their own rank (so plasma rifles can shoot themselves at
you), and they also get a number of mutations that are rolled for at random and
include bonuses to their stats, increased size (this means that your size 30 can
grow to size 45 after only a single roll), grow legs of wheels, become intelligent,
split into two smaller versions of itself or gain a melee attack (so an Orphan
growth ray can grow an arm to choke the fuck out of whoever killed its creator).
Orphans feed on Mania, which they can obtain via the Calculus Vampire Merit (suck
Mania out from sources that have it; all Orphans get this Merit for free). They
lose one point of Mania per day and start to break down if they are short on Mania
(Havoc rolls). Orphans can spend Mania to heal themselves, and it does not cost
Mania for an Orphan to use its function (so your orphan plasma gun can fire for
free forever). Orphans who start to run out can put themselves in stasis for the
price of one point of Mania per year, and the world holds many ruins that house
ancient and terrible Orphans. And if they start to age, Orphans can even ''breed''.
And yes, this means that you could run a game where everyone is a piece of
discarded super-science that's trying to survive, kinda like that movie 9.

But there can be a good end or Orphans as well: they can be adopted. If a kindly
Genius meets them and offers them a steady supply of Mania, you can tame an Orphan.
And by tame I mean you roll Presence + Animal Ken. If you succeed the Orphan
becomes yours and you can fix it and its mutations, but you need to bind Mania to
it as if it were a Wonder that you built. So yes, this means that you can adopt an
Orphan Automata daughter. You can start the game with one or several adopted
Orphans by buying the appropriate Merit, but this carries the usual problems. There
are also things of Inspired science known as Manes. These are unnatural things like
clones, altered humanoids or even lesser Wonders. Many of these are intelligent
beings like humans, but everything produced by the factories of Automata is a Mane
as well. Manes can be Geniuses as well, and you can even play as one. The downside
is that you're vulnerable to Havoc as if you were a Wonder yourself.

The aforementioned Beholden are an interesting case. They are the sidekicks,
assistants, understudies and bodyguards of Geniuses. Prolonged exposure to a Genius
can have a person's worldview broken down to the point where only a Genius can
provide reason and logic. This makes them utterly devoted to said Genius, and while
they retain their intelligence and creativity they lose the ability to engage in
metaphysical, philosophical, religious and ethical thinking: they still believe
things but don't know why. This does not mean that they'll go out killing if their
Genius asks them to, but they can't explain why killing is wrong. Abusing a
Beholden is a bad idea because they might turn against you or even become a Genius
in their own right with a grudge against you. A Beholden without a Genius might
start to break down due to a lack of world view and will often end up seeking out a
new Genius to serve, if only to provide them purpose. This includes abusive and
criminal Beholden, meaning that some of them can end up as quite the battered
wives. Beholden do not generate Mania, but they can hold it for their master and
use Wonders without negative effect (fueling them with the stored Mania). And yes,
you can execute your Beholden for incompetence. This reduces the number of dots in
the Beholden Number merit by one, but the dirty work like surveillance, theft,
kidnapping or even assassination will become easier.

As much as Geniuses loathe and envy the true scientific community, there's
something that they can do that is very dangerous to the Illuminated. When it is
proven that something is wrong, that a long-established theory or idea is just
utterly incorrect this is the start of a Mania Storm. The raw inspiration and
wonder of what could be and what might have been goes around the world,, Inspiring
new Geniuses and providing huge increases of Mania available for a short while.
Most of this Mania takes the form of what could have been and becomes a Bardo, a
place of dead memes. For example, when the Viking Lander made its way to Mars and
show that it was naught but a barren world of red sand, the ensuing Mania Storm
gave birth to the Martian Empire (also called Barsoom and Cydonia), which promptly
invaded Earth. But the Geniuses saw this coming and beat them back, and now the
Martians are readying themselves for a new invasion. Some of the other Bardos are
the Hollow Earth from pulp fiction where dinosaurs live alongside primitive man and
cryptids; Space Station Colossus which was created when we realized that we weren't
going to build massive O'Neill Cylinders in space; The Grid, which is 80s
cyberspace; The Crystal Spheres who were created when we proved that the Earth
orbits the sun, and are inhabited by angels and other spooky yet beautiful things;
all sorts of Nazi hidey holes where they engage in Aryan Super Science (so yes, you
might run into Stroheim here) and torture people to death to regain Mania; and
Tsoska, which was created when the socialist dream died and was replaced by
oppressive communism. Yes, Arstotzka exists and as long as your paperwork is in
order the government of Tsoska is more than willing to show off its
"accomplishments" to foreign visitors.

But the most powerful and influential of Bardos is Lemuria, the lost land. In the
19th century a zoologist named Philip Sclater pointed out that lemur fossils were
found on Madagascar and in India, but not on mainland Africa or the Middle-East. He
therefore theorized that there was once a great land bridge connecting the places,
a landmass he named Lemuria. A LOT of people liked this idea and attached
themselves to it and gave it all sorts of meaning. So when advances in plate
tectonics reached the point where this was disproven in the early-to-mid 20th
century the ensuing Mania Storm made Lemuria a Bardo. But because of all the weight
behind it Lemuria was different, more potent and fully inhabited by an advanced
race of serpent-people calling themselves the Third Race. They were powerful beyond
comparison and started to dabble in Inspired science, including time travel. This
was not liked by the Terminals, a race of hyper-intellects existing at the end of
time. The downside to this is that even the most minute of change to the timeline
will cause you to cease to exist. So the Terminals and their servants, the
Guardians of Forever, tried to destroy the Third Race. And failed. The snakes flung
themselves back in time and set up a new past, one in which they controlled the
intellectual growth of the human race. The oldest of Inspired, who catalyzed before
the second World War, sometimes remember a world that was but now is not. The very
earliest Geniuses who arose in the Fertile Crescent, the Indus Valley, China and
Egypt were brought before the Third Race and made to swear fealty. As time passed
the Third Race lost its ability to breed and more and more of its members died to
violence and accident. In the end only nine remained, who abandoned their bodies to
live as pure intellect in unfeeling artificial bodies. These entities became known
as the Nine Unknown Men, and the Secret Masters who ruled Lemuria in their place
answered only to them. The ultimate purpose of this was to fulfill the Race
History, a development program that would one day return the island of Lemuria and
reunite the Nine Unknown Men with their kin. As the world population grew and
travel became faster, more and more Geniuses slipped through the cracks and began
to organize. This got to a head during the industrial revolution, when the Peerage
began to form and band together against the Lemurians. This conflict lasted several
centuries of varying levels of hot and cold, and as it raged on the human Geniuses
that served the Nine Unknown Men began to waver and wonder in what world they would
live once the Third Race returned. and it all came to a head on August 5th 1957.
Lemuria burst into existence and launched its invasion of Earth, testing its full
might against that of the Peerage... and were found wanting. Lemuria burned. Tens
of thousands of Geniuses died. The machines of Lemuria were destroyed, the snakes
were slaughtered and the residences of the Nine Unknown Men were found. Machines
were wrecked, brain tapes were shredded, cloning facilities were bombed, mirror
universe doubles pulled in and annihilated, tulpas were unmade... and the Nine
Unknown Men were dead. Lemuria was in ruins. All the survivors were scarred.
Lemurian Geniuses were imprisoned or executed. Humanity was finally free.

Humanity was also supremely ''fucked''. Now that nobody was in charge, humanity was
now fucking around to see what kind of stuff it could invent. Some of the surviving
Lemurians and even quite a few members of the Peerage started to wonder. Maybe
Lemuria did have a point, but it had to be remade, rebuilt from the ground up. The
systems Lemuria had used to remain in charge were still there, they just had to be
used again. After all, someone has to make sure that the normal humans don't
accidentally create black holes or rip a hole in a Bardo, right? So Lemuria was
restored, prisoners were released and the whole thing was rebooted. The last great
super-computer of the Secret Masters was unused because nobody could figure out how
to use the thing, so the instructions it displayed were followed by the bureaucracy
of the Lemurians. The orders are seemingly random, yet they are followed to the
best of their ability. The Peerage doesn't trust Lemuria at all, but they are
useful: if you jump the right hoops you can gain access to nice funds or special
equipment, but the risk is that you're awoken at night by a man with tiger heads
for hands trying to eat your face with said tiger hands. Nobody is in charge.

Aside from the Lemurians, Martians, the Guardians of Forever and the inhabitants of
the various Bardos there are a lot more things that will want you dead. The most
dreadful of these are the Clockstoppers, who are more or less creatures of anti-
Inspiration. They generate Acedia (Latin for a concept that's like spiritual ennui)
and have powers called Voids, which are potent effects that turn mobs against
Geniuses, steal away their Wonders, drain all Mania in the area, become immune to
Wonders and even all technological weapons (up to and including picking up a rock
and throwing it: you'll have to fight a Clockstopper with your ''teeth'') or shut
down technology and reduce advanced materials to a more basic kind: weaken the
foundation of a skyscraper to the point it's as tough as wood; it retain its
integrity until you punch them to bits and the building collapses. You do NOT fuck
with the Clockstoppers. Other enemies are the supernatural and divine creatures
that were disproven by science (including an analogy of the TRUE FUCKMOTHERING FAE)
known as the Fallen (no relation to Demon: The Fallen), creatures and people
accidentally pulled into this timeline or who were shunted out of theirs when it
collapsed, huge brains powered by quantum fluctuations, moth people, yetis and
more.

But after all of this there is still more to talk about: the X/Y axis upon which
the characters exist! Geniuses all have a Catalyst and a Foundation. The Catalyst
is the reason why a person Catalyzed into a Genius. All Catalysts have a favored
Axiom and a particular Derangement that is a manifestation of their flavor of
madness. The Catalysts are:

- Grimm, the Catalyst of Fury. You're angry, out for revenge or justice, and you
will succeed no matter what. Despite being ALWAYS ANGRY ALL THE TIME they offer
direct solutions to difficult problems and won't let anything get in their way.
Quite a few of them take up vigilantism; Batman is sort of a low-key Grimm. Their
favored Axiom is Katastrofi, often meaning that a thing that a Grimm builds is also
a gun. Their Derangement is irrational anger.
- Hoffnung, the Catalyst of Vision. The world has problems, but it won't have these
problems when you rule the world! Powered by hope and ambition they plan ahead and
seek to convince others of their right. A fine example would be Doctor Steel. Their
favored Axiom is Metaptropi, changing the world to their image. Their Derangement
is narcissism.
- Klagen, the Catalyst of Loss. For those of you who have experienced loss.jpg, and
don't want anyone else (or just themselves) to ever feel like this again and often
provide the voice of reason within a collaborative of Geniuses. Mr Freeze is a
quintessential Klagen. Their favored Axiom is Exelixi, to heal the pain and
alleviate the suffering. Their Derangement is all-consuming depression.
- Neid, the Catalyst of Banishment. They called you mad, but you'll show them,
you'll show them all! Made into a laughing stock for some reason, the Neid seek to
get even with those who mocked them. Pretty much every mad scientist who ever
uttered that phrase is a Neid. Their favored Axiom is Epikrato, because if they
won't listen you'll ''make'' them listen! Their Derangement is paranoia.
- Staunen, the Catalyst of Curiosity. For science! Some individuals just seek to
figure out how the world works and want to keep learning and learning, even the
Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. Kinda like Doc Brown: he makes a deal with Libyan
terrorists to obtain the plutonium for his time machine. Their favorite Axiom is
Apokalypsi, the Axiom used to scan Things Man Was Not Meant To Scan. Their
Derangement is fixation and obsession.

There are rumors about other Catalysts, like a form of enlightenment that was
popular in China back in the day and the Catalyst of Enthusiasm that is all but
unheard of. Then there are the Foundations, groups of like-minded Inspired who
strife towards a common goal. Membership includes a subscription of one point of
Mania bound to the Foundation, which in turn grants a particular bonus unique to
the Foundation: the Grant. These five Foundations form the Peerage, and while they
often bicker or outright fight they'll band together to face grave threats to the
world. Or if they want to go to Venus or something. Foundations all have two
favored Axioms, one of which can be picked as a particular Genius' favored Axiom.
You can't pick the same Axiom twice, but the one that you don't pick can be picked
as normal for your third favored Axiom. The Foundations are:

- The International Union of Artifice. The Artificers are the Mad Engineers,
building wondrous things. Before the final battle with Lemuria the Artificers were
mostly poor but humble builders, but after the battle and the Foundation was
reshaped there was a massive influx of a wide medley of political and ethnic
viewpoints that made the new Artificers desperate for money and respect. They can
build like motherfuckers, reducing the time to build or fiddle with a Wonder by one
step (to a minimum of one day) as their Grant. Their favored Axioms are Automata
and Prostasia, making them natural robot makers and material engineers.
- The Fellowship for Manifest Direction. The Directors are the Mad Psychologists,
who control the world from the shadows. Or at least they try to. The Directors
always act with purpose, and the goal is ''more''. More power, prestige, control,
safety, money: they want it all and more. They are the most likely to engage with
normal humans, and they do so with the aid of their Wonders. Their Grant allows
them to increase their social Attributes in the same way all Geniuses can increase
their mental Attributes, and when doing so a Director does not suffer from
penalties from low Obligation or Jabir. Their favored Axioms are Automata and
Epikrato, allowing them to build and control servants.
- The Center for Circumferential Navigation. The Navigators are the Mad Physicists,
the test pilots and daredevils. Formerly the underclass of Lemuria, they broke free
and established themselves as a powerful group. The Navigators are mostly made up
of those races deemed to be the "middle races" by Lemuria, like most people living
from Turkey to Japan. They are the military arm of the Peerage, but only the older
members really observe the ranks that all Navigators officially have. The younger
generation just wants to build flying motorcycles and mecha suits and so on. Their
Grant allows them to boost their physical Attributes with Mania like all other
Geniuses can boost their mental Attributes. Their favored Axioms are Katastrofi and
Skafoi, which paired with their Grant makes the Navigators the de facto combat
splat.
- The Reformed Society of Progenitors. The Progenitors are the Mad Biologists, most
of whom were purged after Lemuria suffered the same fate. From the ashes of the
Foundation rose a new generation of transhumanists who think nothing of
experimenting on themselves to transcend their limitations. Because they are used
to building very small things, allowing them to create size 1 or lower Wonders with
a lesser penalty. They also add their Dexterity as a bonus when fiddling with their
Wonders. Their favored Axioms are Automata and Exelixi, always building living
Wonders and often improving them with internal Wonders.
- The College of Scholastic Theory. The Scholastics are the Mad Philosophers, who
ask a simple question: ''Why?'' They want to figure out how everything works and
frequently clash in scientific debates. When they don't engage in scholastic
dickmeasuring they go outside and go Indiana Jones to find more knowledge. They
also have a better grasp on the nature of Inspiration and building Wonders, which
means that their Grant allows them to be presented by two Flaws for their Wonders
by the Storyteller, and they are allowed to choose. They also immediately know what
the Fault of the Wonder is. Their favored Axioms are Apokalypsi and Metaptropi,
allowing them to discover and change things.
- There are also the Rogues, who don't align with any particular Foundation. They
don't get a Grant, but they don't have to bind Mania to it and they get to pick
from any two favored Axioms. This does mean that they don't have the protection,
resources and peers from a Foundation on their side.

Then there are the optional Fellowships. A Genius with the right outlook and skills
can opt to join a Fellowship for additional benefits. They all get the bonuses from
the Syllabus, a five-point track that makes Wonders easier to build, cheaper to use
and needs no bound Mania or have Fault. In turn, a Fellowship requires some degree
of bound Mania. The various Fellowships are:

- The Elders of the Third Law. They think that Da Vinci was hot shit and make all
their Wonders look like the master himself would have built them. They are
clockwork wonders, and the Elders frown upon anything more fancy than basic
gunpowder.
- The Hermetic Order of the 28 Spheres. A bunch of powergamers who want to see just
how far they can stretch how Inspiration, Mania and the theories of Wonders can
work. Their Wonders find basis in Hindu mysticism and other eastern occult stuff.
- The Phantom Foundation. They're the Ghostbusters, simple as that.
- The Perfect Vision Institute. They work to internalize all sorts of Wonders to
make themselves super-powered. Tis makes even a seemingly unarmed member of the
Institute more dangerous than they appear.
- The Iridium Sentinels. Mad scientist superheroes. Often build suits of powered
armor, which is a problem when fist-fighting normal human criminals who can break
your suit by punching it a half-dozen times.
- The Malcom T. Washington Fellowship. Exclusively for African-American and
African-Canadian entomologists. They are surprisingly popular because as long as
you're black and into bugs you're just about guaranteed entry.
- The Nine Vertex Devils Club. Because there is overlap between mad scientists and
motorcycle enthusiasts.
- The Resurrection Consortium. They are trying to figure out how to best bring
someone back from the dead without messing them up beyond repair.

Finally, there are also the Lemurian Baramins, the counterparts of the Foundations
of the Peerage. You can't be a member of both a Baramin and a Foundation, and being
part of both a Baramin and a Fellowship is rare (but not impossible as long as
you're not too crazy). The Baramins are:

- The Atomists. Think a mix between Vault-Tec and the Technocracy, who believe that
we're only a few inventions short of utopia. But they seek utopia for the sake of
utopia, and don't care for the people living in it. Their favored Axioms are
Apokalypsi and Automata.
- The Etherites. They believe that there is a single unifying theory of everything,
and once they figure that out everything will fall in place. Think the Sons of
Ether, except even bigger assholes. Their favored Axioms are Katastrofi and Skafoi.
- The Mechanists. They believe that there are simple laws to the universe and
everyone is bound to them, and everything they do is because of these laws and is
therefore not their fault. This makes them huge douchebags. Their favored Axioms
are Automata and Prostasia.
- The Oracles. The oldest of the Baramins, they dress like a bunch of wizards and
believe that magic is simply hyper-advanced science. Because of their moral
fundamentalism and outdated philosophies they are hard to deal with. The nominal
leaders of Lemuria. Their favored Axioms are Exelixi and Metaptropi.
- The Phenomenologists. These guys think that they are playing Mage: The Ascension
and try to inject all sorts of postmodern bullshit into the scientific consensus to
make their memes real. Their favored Axioms are Apokalypsi and Epikrato.
- The Dharmists. Now extinct, these guys tried to impose their will upon the world
and were in direct cahoots with the Secret Masters. But now they're dead. Their
favored Axioms were Epikrato and Metaptropi.
- The Numericals. Internet oldfags who have been trying to keep the normies from
ruining the internet since September 1993. They still have to decide on favored
Axioms, but will likely include Apokalypsi and maybe Automata to create automated
programs on the Internet.

And that's Genius: The Transgression. A wondrous game that has some flaws yet a
unique premise and fun crunch if you can work around the issues. Because of its
limited production values the book itself is nothing special: there's a front cover
but for the rest it's nothing but almost 500 pages of WORDS WORDS WORDS. There
could have been more editing and some proofreading, but it works for its purpose.
The people over at the official Onyx Path forum are working on a second edition of
the game for Chronicles of Darkness, but it's just a bunch of people shouting ideas
and try to change things for the sake of change while others try to document
everything and work in all the ideas and improvements. It's a mess where nobody is
in charge and nothing gets done. Just like how it should be with Genius: The
Transgression. Since this is a free fangame it can be download for free over at the
official website:

https://sites.google.com/site/moochava/genius

Tune in next time for something that's not a game line on its own: instead it's one
of the "blue books" for core World of Darkness. A game of sin and emotion, of
madness and resistance. We descend into hell and enter the '''Inferno'''.