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{{work}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"There must be something. Some purpose. Some meaning. Oh God, there must be some point to all this. I watched my friends die, watched the rockets we made fall from the sky to rot in fields in Ohio or Ukraine. What was this for?"''|'''Doctor Jonas Cliver''', Genius}}
''[http://sites.google.com/site/moochava/genius Genius: The Transgression]'' is a fan Gameline for the [[New World of Darkness]] setting created by the author/artist of webcomic ''[[The Water Phoenix King]]'', Kyle Marquis (better known on RPG.Net as Moochava), detailing the adventures of Geniuses, [[Mad Scientist
As with any tabletop RPG, ''Genius'' is defined by its characters. Each character is a mad scientist of some stripe, with a [[Splat|Catalyst]], which determines their overall archetype, and a Foundation, which determines their overall approach to mad science. Each of the five Catalysts is defined by certain emotions and mindsets, which in turn cause them to act out various mad scientist stereotypes that can be summed up in one of the stock mad scientist quotes.
'''Grimm, the Catalyst of Fury''': [[Madden Into Misanthropy|Defined by anger and a need for vengeance, justice, and/or the need to just plain]] ''[[Madden Into Misanthropy|vent.]]'' Naturally, they're the best at building [[Ray Gun|weapons]] [[Laser Blade|of]] [[Wave Motion Gun|every]] [[Precision-Guided Boomerang|kind]]. They're also prone to being irrational and generally flying off the handle. As one might expect, they tend to take a very... [[When All You Have Is a Hammer|direct]] [[Just Shoot Him|approach]] to problem-solving.
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{{quote|''[[Ignored Expert|"No, you fools, you'll doom us all!"]]''}}
'''Neid, the Catalyst of Banishment:''' Defined by jealousy and bitterness, Neids are driven by the need to "show them all!" When a developing Genius feels [[All of the Other Reindeer|rejected by his peers]], when he blames his failures on "the man" keeping him down, that's when a Neid is born. They're good at [[Mind Manipulation|mind control]] and apparently [[Winds of Destiny Change|"psychic"]] [[Mind Over Matter|powers]]--[[Weather Control Machine|the more "out there" fields of mad science]] in terms of credibility and morality, in other
{{quote|''[[They Called Me Mad|"They scoffed at my theories, they laughed at me, they called me mad... Well, who's laughing now?!"]]''}}
'''Staunen, the Catalyst of Curiosity:''' Defined by curiosity, wonder, and awe, Staunens simply ''love'' learning about the universe. [[Curiosity Is a Crapshoot|They want to know more, they NEED to know more...]][[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|even about those things that no sane person wants to think about,]] [[Go Mad
{{quote|''"[[For Science!]]!"''}}
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'''The International Union of Artifice:''' Known mainly for their Mad Engineering program. The Artificers are the [[Perpetual Poverty|poorest]] Foundation, with everyone from crazy old tinkerers to creative punk kids, and malcontents in the middle who've started [[Weird Trade Union|unionising]] to try and make things easier.
'''The Fellowship for Manifest Direction:''' Known mainly for their Mad Psychology program. The Directors are the folks who [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness|get together in dark halls]] and plot how they're going to [[Take Over the World]]. They're mostly talk, though they are the most socially capable geniuses, and often assume leadership.
'''The Center for Circumferential Navigation:''' Known mainly for their Mad Physics program. The Navigators are fearless daredevils who travel far horizons, [[They Fight Crime|fight crime]] and test the [[Super Prototype|experimental devices]]. The most recent group to join the Peers, originally [[Defector From Decadence|the underclass of Lemuria]] but they've since earned their respect.
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'''The Reformed Society of Progenitors:''' Known mainly for their Mad Biology program. The Progenitors, mostly composed of [[Evilutionary Biologist|transhumanists, monster-makers and "creative" surgeons]], are considered a bit crazy even by other Geniuses, and they're recovering from a recent bloody purge when a lot of them turned out to have gone off the deep end. [[Tempting Fate|But that totally won't happen again.]]
'''The College of Scholastic Theory:''' Known mainly for their Mad Philosophy program. The Scholastics are the oldest Foundation and the most introspective; they're more interested in figuring out the nature of Mania and other mysteries of the world. They range from librarians and archivists to [[Adventurer Archaeologist
There's also unaffiliated Rogues, Programs that act as minor Foundations (the most prominent being the Asia-based '''Ten Thousand Fans'''), and of course, Lemuria.
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Lemuria's Baramins are, by default, the antagonist faction. They haven't got the memo that yes, they're MAD, and their theories and inventions only work by [[Magic-Powered Pseudoscience|cheating reality]]. They believe that something went wrong with the human race's scientific and technological development, and they are hellbent on [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong|correcting the problem.]] Each Baramin is defined by where they think humanity went wrong and what must be done to correct the issue. [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|This doesn't always]] [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|work out so well]].
'''Atomists''' remember old promises of [[I Want My Jetpack|futuristic technology that would sweep away all the world's ills]] and they're still pissed they didn't get it. They believe that all problems are inherently solvable with technology alone; [[Morality Chip|violence]], [[Master Computer|poor governance]], and [[Matter Replicator|poverty]] only need the right invention before they're banished from Earth forever. That some of these applications are vastly unethical or flatly impossible [[The Determinator|does not seem to deter them,]] and their [[No Social Skills|utter lack of interest in the human element]] only makes matters worse.
'''Etherites''' believe in a grand unified theory of science, one that neatly explains all phenomena and anomalies. Y'know, the sorts of theories scientists had before all that confusing "relativity" and "quantum mechanics." They ignore, explain away, or destroy contradictory evidence, and tend to get [[Ax Crazy|a bit]] [[Villainous Breakdown|twitchy]] if someone argues against their theories. They're also the ones with the [[Ray Gun
'''Mechanists''' believe in a "clockwork universe", one that is ''not'' greater than the sum of its parts and can be reduced to a few simple natural laws. They also take [[You Can't Fight Fate|fatalism]] to its logical conclusion, refusing to take responsibility for their actions; it's the fault of [[Freudian Excuse|Their Upbringing]]. Or [[In the Blood|The Genetic Lottery.]] Or [[Justified Criminal|The Times.]] It's no wonder so many of them end up [[The Schizophrenia Conspiracy|schizophrenic.]]
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A work-in-progress wiki can be found [http://transgression.wikia.com/wiki/Genius:_The_Transgression_Wiki here]. It has [[Recursive Fanfiction|fan made content]] [http://transgression.wikia.com/wiki/AdditonalContent here]
----
{{tropelist}}
* [[Adult Fear]]: A lot of the horror in Genius. Themes include "no one is in charge" & "humanity must adapt to changing technology, rather than technology changing for our benefit".
** And, most importantly: "You were a dedicated scientist, [[Magic-Powered Pseudoscience|but now you are forever unable to do true research]]".
* [[A God Am I]]: Some Illuminated think of themselves this way. Given [[The Unfettered|what they]] [[Reality Warper|are]], that may not be entirely inaccurate.
* [[Inverted Trope|Everything Except]] [[
* [[All Theories Are True]]: You can use any to build [[Applied Phlebotinum|Wonders]]. [[Ancient Conspiracy|Lemuria]] believes that the trope ''[[Wrong Genre Savvy|is]]'' [[Wrong Genre Savvy|actually]] '''[[Wrong Genre Savvy|true]]'''
** Of course many Lemurians and most Peers think this trope is just a trick.
* [[Ancient Conspiracy]]: The Lemurians ''used'' to be this, but now, they're more or less a [[Vestigial Empire]].
* [[And I Must Scream]]: Mechanists either deny free will or believe they are being controlled by an outside force. Unfortunately for them they're [[Reality Warper
** Being in the presence of a particularly potent Clockstopper is this for any of the Inspired.
* [[Animal Motifs]]: Lemuria is often described in terms of a serpent or dragon. Given the organization's origins, this shouldn't come as a surprise.
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* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: The struggle between Lemuria and the Peerage, with both sides arguably becoming [[Gray and Grey Morality|grayer]] over the years from [[Black and White Morality|opposite directions]]. Old Lemuria was an evil organization ruled by xenophobic snake-people dedicated to enslaving the human race, and the Peerage was a [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] sworn to oppose them. However, even the Peerage was not all sweetness and light; plenty of Peers fell (and still fall) into the worst stereotype of the callous, arrogant [[Mad Scientist]] primarily concerned with self-glorification and breaking the rules [[For Science!|just because they can]]. New Lemuria has somewhat more noble ideals, and a genuine desire to see humanity "set on the right track". The problem with that is that all Lemurians are totally crazy. The modern Peerage has a much more humanistic approach to mad science, but some Peers still show a worrying lack of concern for mere mortals.
** Interestingly, Grey morality was a deliberate choice for the Peerage. Partly to avoid the risk of going [[Knight Templar|too far]] and partly to keep membership open to everyone. As far as the Peerage is concerned, it's better that the morally grey end up Peers where everyone's watching out for everyone's mental health than to end up in Lemuria or isolated and begin descending into madness.
* [[Black and White Insanity]]: The Oracles' [[Gang of Hats|hat]].
* [[Black Box]]: Wonders to anyone not a Genius, and Inspiration itself. Centuries of research, and Geniuses still don't know much at all about what makes them the way they are.
* [[Blessed with Suck]]: Not as overt as the rest of the ''[[New World of Darkness|nWoD]]'', but still prevalent. Yes, Geniuses can create miraculous gadgets, but they are mad, and nothing they make is completely real. Inspiration is arguably the worst thing that could happen to a dedicated scientist.
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* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: The Illuminated are hopelessly insane, and their motives are incomprehensible. Many of them don't even remember morality ''works.''
* [[Boring but Practical]]: Prostasia, Axiom of Protection. Sounds simplistic and uninteresting? When the horrible tentacle monsters try to bite your face off, you will be glad you spent the dots here. When your malevolent rivals try to [[Mind Rape]] you, you will be glad you spent the dots here. When the feds try to hack into your [[Kill Sat]], you will be glad you spent the dots here. [[Genre Savvy|Trust us.]]
** Also subverted. Nothing prevents you from saying your Prostasia body armor uses ancient Egyptian laser beams to shoot down incoming bullets.
* [[Brown Note]]: Witnessing mad science can turn a normal person into [[The Igor|a Beholden]] or a full-fledged Genius. One of the reasons for [[The Masquerade]] is because, well, [[Perpetual Poverty|otherwise that's just more labs to feed]].
** Worth mention is that being Beholden is a lot like being a [[Vampire: The Requiem|Ghoul,]] complete with attendant psychological
* [[Bumbling Sidekick]]: A sad fact of life for some Beholden.
* [[Came Back Wrong]]: Unless you are very, very lucky, any attempt raising the dead brings them back evil and insane. If you ''really'' screw up you might get a batch of [[Promethean: The Created|Pandorans]]. On the other hand, you can deliberately attempt to bring a corpse back as a Promethean or a [[Vampire: The Requiem|vampire]].
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** [[Altum Videtur]]: If a Lemurian actually uses proper Latin, ''run''. They're either very old or very obsessive; either way, that spells trouble.
* [[Can't Have Sex Ever]]: Manes and biological Wonders can't be [[Unusual Euphemism|fiddled with]] by [[Muggles|mortals]] without risking Havoc. [[Paranoia Fuel|And some of those Manes look and act just like normal people...]]
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: Some Illuminated tend to be a bit ''fanciful'' in their self-
* [[Character Development]]: Integrated into the game in a very interesting way. In order to increase their Inspiration, a Genius must undertake a Thesis, a deeply personal analysis of their thoughts, their actions, and their character in general, combined with a personal mission that defines their goals and personality. In this way, the personality of a PC Genius develops (or is at least defined) as they increase in power.
** Also subverted, in that "more defined" often means "more streamlined" for a Genius. A high-Inspiration Genius becomes enormously powerful, but plenty fall into [[Flanderization|archetypes and rote behaviour]].
* [[City of Adventure]]: [[Seattle]], probably because <s>[[Boring but Practical|all the other big cities were claimed by the real WoD]]</s> [[Awesome Yet Practical|it's got]] [[wikipedia:Seattle#Post-war years: aircraft and software|a crapload of technological companies.]] Despite being a pretty nice place for mortals, the Inspired population of the city is rather dangerous and there're the remnants of a dangerous Bardo just beneath the surface, with Lemurians hopelessly trying to revive it.
* [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]: Inverted. A [[Science Marches On|sudden paradigm shift in the Consensus]] causes a Maniac Storm, usually enough to spawn a [[Another Dimension|Bardo]] or at least a new type of [[Anthropomorphic Personification|Mane]] or three, but straightforward belief doesn't do anything in and of itself. Sometimes the Geniuses can see them coming; the Martian Empire, for example, despite causing massive Inspired casualties in their initial invasion, was something many Geniuses had been preparing for for years, which is why we're not all speaking... whatever language it is Martians speak. This same bizarre existence-due-to-not-being-able-to-exist also means that Manes are subject to [[Gone Horribly Wrong|Havoc]] just like Wonders, and are affected in [[Critical Existence Failure|very]] [[Ax Crazy|similar]] ways.
** Also averted with how wonders work. Ultimately it doesn't matter at all if a Genius believes his own theories or not.
* [[Clock Punk]]: The Elders of the Third Law, a fellowship tracing its roots to Leonardo Da Vinci, prefer to use clockwork wonders. They tend to be [[New Technology Is Evil|pessimistic about more newfangled contraptions]], e.g. cybernetics, nanotechnology, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|steam.]]
* [[Clock Roaches]]: "Time-wasps" are mentioned in passing.
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* [[Conspiracy Theorist]]: The Inspired are very good at seeing connections. This is equally true for connections that [[You Fail Logic Forever|do not exist.]]
** Granted there are [[Conspiracy Kitchen Sink|dozens of conspiracies in the World of Darkness.]]
* [[Consummate Liar]]: Phenomenologists. Of the "Just Too Alien" sort. No matter how obviously false, a Phenomenologist genuinely believes whatever he's saying.
* [[Corrupt Cop]]: A growing problem in the [[Time Police]].
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: Villanous Directors can fall into this.
* [[Creating Life Is Awesome]]: Creating life is considered perfectly acceptable. Creating intelligent life is considered a modest Transgression more because it's socially frowned upon than because it's automatically unethical. Mad Scientists tend to do both anyway.
* [[Creating Life Is Bad]]: Very easy to do. And very easy to get a Transgression with.
* [[Creative Sterility]]: A Clockstopper is a mortal with no ''[[Empty Shell|spark.]]'' They're often aggressive and their mere presence can destroy the products of creativity and intelligence. Some of them can actually render it near impossible to ''think.'' [[You Fail Logic Forever|Do not expect a rational argument from them.]]
* [[Critical Psychoanalysis Failure]]: What can happen if a mortal tries to analyze a Genius. In the opening fiction, {{spoiler|a psychoanalyst working with a Genius actually ''becomes'' a Genius from contact with him. She later becomes an Illuminated and ends up starving to death as she tries to unravel the secret to immortality. It should be mentioned that said psychoanalyst apparently received Inspired-like thoughts before [[Refusal of the Call|pushing them away]], so she arguably had [[The Call Knows Where You Live|one foot in the door already]].}}
* [[Cryptic Background Reference]]: Tons of them.
* [[Crystal Spires and Togas]]: One of the common Aesthetics Geniuses use. Plenty of them use it ironically.
* [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]]: Professor Partridge Crown believes he's the Self-Eating Fire and that his only real enemy is the Metal Peacock God.
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* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: A possible form of Breakthrough. It won't necessarily create a Klagen, though.
* [[The Dragon]]: Name-checked in the storytelling section, which uses the term to describe the villain's "large, dangerous, entirely physical adversary that may or may not be a giant fire-breathing lizard".
* [[Dystopia]]: Tsoska, every socialist and Communist dystopian idea rolled into one grey <s> uninspiring</s> [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|doubleplusungood]] empire. Ironically, it's one of the safer Bardos to visit; if one's papers are in order and they act right, the government treats a visiting Genius like a foreign dignitary. Its capitalist counterpart, Voltt City, is mentioned in passing.
** Also the Seattle Of Tomorrow, a fascist police state governed by all seeing technology. The Atomists loved it.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: The <s> Old</s> Cold Ones that exist after the heat death of the universe, who would ''really'' like to get back into time to experience things like "energy" and "movement".
** Also an [[Epileptic Trees|in-universe theory]] about the nature of Inspiration. Especially since some of the [[The Unfettered|Illuminated]] see [[A God Am I|themselves]] as [[Eldritch Abomination
** While you are out time-traveling, watch how far into the future you go or you might bump into a trans-human Genius, whose [[Physical God|abilities,]] [[Blue and Orange Morality|behavior,]] and [[Fisher King|power within their realm]] seem [[Changeling: The Lost|disturbingly familiar]].
* [[Eldritch Location]]: Bardos, places that it has been shown don't/can't exist. You can visit them.
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* [[Evil Luddite]]: The Clockstoppers, some of them can also brainwash normal humans into acting this way.
* [[Evilutionary Biologist]]: The reason the rest of the Peerage is leery of the Progenitors. A valid concern, [[Madden Into Misanthropy|considering]] [[I Reject Your Reality|what]] [[Complete Monster|became]] of the preceding Foundation.
* [[Extra-Strength Masquerade]]: This trope isn't here because mortals can't see mad science; they can. It's here because seeing mad science [[Brown Note|often turns mortals into]] more [[Mad Scientist
** Furthermore, if a mortal isn't turned to a rival or thrall, they cannot help but cause wonders to break down or run amok merely by touching them. Especially if a real scientist gets ahold of them; nothing destroys Wonders like having someone that can understand precisely why it can't possibly work witness it.
* [[Explosive Instrumentation]]: A very likely possibility if you let a [[Muggles|mere mortal]] start fiddling with your control panels.
* [[Explosive Overclocking]]: A Genius can supercharge any piece of technology, Wonder or not, but doing so can result in heavy damage or even destroy it.
** Worth noting is that the game's definition of "technology" means you can do this with ''[[With a Herring|a stick;]]'' everything altered by a human to serve a purpose counts as "technology".
* [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]]: Implementors of Skafoi can build FTL starships.
* [[The Fatalist]]: Mechanists, who accept their triumphs, defeats and atrocities as predestined.
* [[The Fettered]]: Paragons, Geniuses with [[Karma Meter|Obligation 7+]]. The new 1.1 [[Science Hero]] merit only improves the benefits.
* [[Fictional Document]]: The Organons of the Foundations, the magazines (''Alloy Blend, Inspiration''), and [[All Psychology Is Freudian|FREUDIAC]]'s ''A Guide to the Psychology of the Exceptionally Gifted'', to name a few.
* [[Fighting From the Inside]]: Victims of Epikrato mind control can spend [[Heroic Willpower|Willpower]] to do this.
* [[Five-Man Band]]/[[Five-Bad Band]]:
** Geniuses of different catalysts can follow this dynamic in their Collaborative:
*** [[The Hero]]/[[The Big Bad]]: Hoffnung;
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** The [[Psycho Rangers|Lemurian Baramins]], on the other hand:
*** [[The Big Bad]]: Oracles;
*** [[The Dragon]]: Phenomenologists;
*** [[The Brute]]: Etherites;
*** [[The Evil Genius]]: Mechanists.
*** [[The Dark Chick]]: Atomists.
*** [[Sixth Ranger]]/[[Sixth Ranger Traitor]]: Numericals or independent Echo Doctors.
* [[Flame War]]: Popular Genius websites have a tendency to sink to this
* [[For Science!]]: Oh, so much.
** Much of the time, it's more like some sort of anti-science, largely the point of these "Geniuses".
* [[The Fundamentalist]]: Oracles and Etherites, with morality and their pet mad-scientific theories, respectively.
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* [[Gentleman and a Scholar]]: Jabir makes playing this kind of character slightly difficult, but some social skills (particularly expression) are extremely useful for a Genius to have.
* [[Good Powers, Bad People]]: [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Thulian Revanchists]] [[Mad Doctor|favor Exelixi]].
** So did the [[Mad Doctor|Demiurges]].
* [[Go Mad
* [[Gone Horribly Wrong]]: All over the place. Things can (and have) [[Gone Horribly Wrong]] in more ways than can be listed.
** A number of things have also [[Gone Horribly Right]]. Geniuses can have rather skewed values.
* [[Gratuitous German]]: The German terminology is largely correct, with only 3-4 minor mistakes and typos. ("Klage''n''" and "''Arch''weltanscha''a''ung" are supposed to be "Klage", "lament" and "'''Erz'''weltanscha'''u'''ung", "arch-world-view"; also, "Grimm" sound somewhat archaic and [[Large Ham|hammy]] to modern german speakers, unlike "Zorn".
* [[Heroic BSOD]]/[[Heroic RROD|RROD]]: Channeling too much Mania at one time or withdrawing into yourself can overload your Inspiration, transforming you into a particularly dangerous [[Reality Warper]] called an Unmada. You're still <s>sane</s> playable, but [[Power Incontinence|your Inspiration warps reality around you]] [[Insufferable Genius|to prove your worldview correct.]] These are ''mad'' scientists. Unmada reality warping doesn't shield them from moral arguments, but they still show a strong tendency towards "dangerous and unstable".
* [[Hero with Bad Publicity]]: Subverted. Paragons (Geniuses with the [[Karma Meter]] at 7 or above) naturally project an aura of friendliness and hospitality, leading to an unconscious [[Charm Person]] effect.
* [[Historical Hero Upgrade]]: [[Leonardo da Vinci]] defeated his [[Evil Twin]], and an organization was founded in his honor.
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* [[I Hate You, Vampire Dad]]: Not unheard of. The Peerage (and Lemuria, for that matter) encourages Geniuses to take responsibility for the education of anyone who became Inspired as a result of seeing their Wonders. But not everyone wants to be a Genius, particularly if they had aspirations to an actual career in science. [[The Woobie|Argentine St. Croix]], for example, killed the man responsible for her Breakthrough almost immediately after going mad.
** Zig-zagged with {{spoiler|Doctor Ibanez.}} At first she's excited by the new ideas, and then she's afraid of letting some alien intelligence implant insane thoughts in her head. But when the time comes she says "I want this." Later her mentor reveals he {{spoiler|created her solely to betray her and use her inventions to become immortal.}} She doesn't seem that angry about this, and they have a pleasant conversation until he starves to death and {{spoiler|she cuts open his head to put his brain in a machine.}} Eventually, she {{spoiler|becomes an Illuminated and starves to death}} so arguably becoming a mad scientist was bad for her.
* [[I Want My Jetpack]]: We were promised a future of wonderful technology that would end all suffering. The Atomists are pissed off about not getting it.
** Then there's the sample city of Seattle, where the Lemurians tried to bring a Bardo based on ''The World of Tomorrow!'' into reality. It ended in rust, explosions, and tears, while the [[Muggles]] didn't notice- having too much fun at the World's Fair.
* [[Instant AI, Just Add Water]]: Non-thinking Wonders abandoned by their Genius will quickly develop a rudimentary animal intelligence. [[Stuff Blowing Up|Or explode.]]
* [[Immortality Seeker]]: Dr. Jonas Cliver
** Also, his intellectual heirs; they're looking for true immortality, not a Mania-fueled longevity, nor a Wondrous immortal body. {{spoiler|Their quest ends horribly for all of them.}}
* [[Implacable Man]]: [[Walking Techbane|Clockstoppers]] can pull a limited version of this trick with their "Natural Body" [[Functional Magic|Void.]] Wonders and conventional technology like [[Immune to Bullets|firearms]] and [[Out of the Inferno|explosives]] don't do a blasted thing at higher levels, and at its strongest, ''any'' technology attempting to influence the Clockstopper fails. This includes [[Blessed with Suck|medical technology,]] [[Achilles' Heel|which is a blasted shame,]] because even at that rank, [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|a right hook works just fine.]] [[Changeling: The Lost|And then]] [[Vampire: The Requiem|there's]] [[Werewolf: The Forsaken|the matter]] [[Mage: The Awakening|of]] [[Promethean: The Created|magic]][[Geist: The Sin Eaters|...]]
** Alternatively, there's the more uncommon method of [[Death From Above|dropping large animals on them]] such as rhinoceros and ''blue whales''.
* [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum]]: You can visit places that were once widely believed to exist, [[Science Marches On|then proved not to,]] and bring some of their technology home, including the [[War of the Worlds|Martian Empire.]] Imported super-science is explicitly equivalent to that built by a Genius.
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* [[Invisible to Normals]]: Averted. Ordinary people can see a Wonder just fine. This is a law of mad science commonly referred to as "[[The X-Files|Mulder's Lament.]]" On the other hand, everything goes to hell when they start ''touching'' it.
* [[I Reject Your Reality]]: The definition of Unmada.
** Phenomenologists reject their own reality whenever they think they'd be better off in a different one.
* [[It Can Think]]: God help you if an Orphan [[
* [[It Got Worse]]: Geniuses are mad. They can [[I Reject Your Reality|go]] [[Complete Monster|madder]].
* [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]]: All Geniuses are on the slope down to [[Mad Scientist|madness]], and becoming [[Insufferable Genius|Unmada]] takes away a significant barrier to jumping to the bottom. The five baramins of Lemuria are ''all'' Unmada. [[It Got Worse|This means trouble.]]
** A subtler aspect of this requires comparison between the Karma Meter for ''Genius'' and any other line: normally, once you hit [[Moral Event Horizon|Morality 3,]] the dice pool to avoid [[Freak-Out|degeneration]] can't get any smaller. For Geniuses, meanwhile, it most certainly ''[[It Got Worse|can.]]''
* [[Just Between You and Me]]: [[Justified Trope|Justified]]
* [[Karma Meter]]: Obligation, representing the Genius's personal connection to "normal" humanity. [[Human Resources|Treating humans as disposable or replaceable]] ([[Godwin's Law|Mengele]] [[Justified Trope|gets quoted]]) damages it, but so does [[Loners Are Freaks|anything that goes against social norms.]] Hit zero and you can kiss any restraints you had goodbye - a Genius who runs out of Obligation becomes the classic "Humans are test subjects" [[The Unfettered|Unfettered]] [[Mad Scientist]], known as an Illuminated (as in "[[Light Is Not Good|burning from the inside with the spark of genius]]"). They're one of the most prevalent antagonist blocs in the setting.
** To add to the horror, [[Complete Monster|"bottoming out"]] on Obligation is the ''least'' common way of becoming
* [[Killed to Uphold the Masquerade]]: For really serious breaches it can happen, but it's rare. Geniuses don't really care that much.
** Its almost expected that a new Genius will try to break it at least once, maybe a few more times. But it usually doesn't really do anything but make them look like an idiot, at which point they usually start turning into the wider Genius community since the other Geniuses actually know what they do is real...For looser terms of the word "Real" that is.
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{{quote|"Of course, you could always just ''build giant robots'' and then ''rob banks with them.'' [[Never Heard That One Before|It's not like]] ''[[Never Heard That One Before|that's]]'' [[Never Heard That One Before|never occurred to mad scientists in the past.]]"}}
* [[Les Collaborateurs]]: The human Geniuses who swore fealty to the Ophidian masters of Lemuria.
* [[Life Drinker]]: All "manes" (creatures created in realities produced by the excess mental energy of dis proven theories), orphans (Mad Scientist inventions that have broken loose and gone mad) and any Genius who takes it have the "Calculus Vampire" merit which allows them to drain Mania (essentially mad science/brainpower as a sort of energy), which the first two groups must feed on.
* [[Light Is Not Good]]: It's mentioned several times that the [[The Unfettered|Illumi]][[Complete Monster|nated]] have embraced the light of Inspiration.
** The Oracles tend to use a quasi-religious, New Age-y aesthetic that makes them look like benevolent philosophers and holy men. While they certainly ''believe'' they're personifying [[Light Is Good|a different trope]], the truth is [[Knight Templar|rather more sinister]].
* [[Lizard Folk]]: The Lemurians ([[The Man Behind the Man|the real ones]]) are snake people from the [[Science Marches On|now disproved]] continent of Lemuria, as well as the obligatory conspiracy theories about secret reptile overlords.
* [[Load-Bearing Boss]]: God help you if you kill a Genius [[Too Dumb to Live|in his Laboratory full of Wonders.]] Chances are good that you'll start a chain reaction of [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosions]] and [[
* [[Loners Are Freaks]]: "Actions that physically or psychologically distance the Genius from humanity" are about mid-level Transgressions; at higher Obligation, going without human contact for a ''day'' is a Transgression.
** Also leads to [[Cybernetics Will Eat Your Soul]] and therefor (indirectly) to [[Immortality Immorality]].
** It's no accident that staying at the top of the Obligation meter requires ''more'' than normal sociability. When you're on solid ground, you can relax; when you're on the [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|Slippery Slope]], you need to keep trudging upward.
* [[MacGyvering]]: A Genius can "kitbash" a Wonder together in hours, minutes, or even ''seconds'' if they're powerful or have bought the right merit.
* [[Mad Artist]]: The Domitions mentioned in [[Word of God|Moochava's emails]] are a Mediterranean group of Inspired artists, architects, and sculptors who specialize in the as yet unrevealed Pseudo-Axioms.
* [[Mad Doctor]]: Quite a few Geniuses ([[It Never Gets Any Easier|particularly those who Catalyzed in sorrow]]) were or are medical doctors.
* [[Magic Is a Monster Magnet|Mad Science Is a Monster Magnet]]: Maniavores called Pretas are always on the lookout for their next meal, and while they can consume mundane intelligence to an extent, the best sources of energy are [[Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious|the Inspired and their Wonders]].
* [[Mad Scientist]]: You play as one.
* [[Mad Scientist Laboratory]]: Every Genius or Collaborative worth their salt has one, and they come in every style you can imagine.
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** And, as [[Word of God|Moochava himself]] illustrates: "People ask me why geniuses in Genius: The Transgression don't just go public. Because [http://tinyurl.com/yhp9crt this] is how dumb you look." If you haven't [[Insufferable Genius|completely]] [[The Unfettered|lost it,]] you'll probably have tried once or twice at most and given up to focus on more important things.
* [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body]]: Averted. Transforming a living thing has no effect on its mind; trying to turn a bloodthirsty dinosaur into a docile rabbit results in a [[Killer Rabbit|bloodthirsty rabbit.]] The exception is transformation of living things to non-living things, that results in unconsciousness on the part of the victim until they're reverted.
* [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate]]: A third of Geniuses have a legitimate degree, another third just say they do or just stick Dr, Doc or Professor in their name.
* [[Muggles]]: Termed "mere mortals" by the sourcebook.
* [[Muggles Do It Better]]: Subverted: Geniuses do it better, [[
* [[Mundane Utility]]: A creative Genius has an unbelievable potential for [[Mundane Utility]]. However, using wonders in this way is a (very, very minor) ding on the [[Karma Meter]], like in Mage.
* [[Name's the Same]]: In approximately ten-thousand years, the most brutal dictator ever known to mankind will seize control of civilization. What does this despotic mastermind call himself? [[wikipedia:Yao Ming|Yao Ming.]]
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* [[Never the Selves Shall Meet]]: It's almost universally a bad idea to interact with your past self while on a time travel jaunt. ''With that in mind...''
{{quote|"Messing about with yourself ''from a previous time travel jaunt'' is about the stupidest thing you can do without [[Noodle Implements|a death ray and a bottle of tequila.]]"}}
* [[New Tech Is Not Cheap]]: This game goes a little overboard in insisting that Geniuses be able to account for how, exactly, they pay for those wonderful toys. It stops short of having the Storyteller request an itemized budget from the players, but only just.
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: The Peerage's defeat of Lemuria and total removal of the Nine Unknown Men means that no one is in control, no one is responsible, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|no,]] [[I Want My Jetpack|you are not getting that rocket car with the robot chauffeur]] without some ''[[Rich Idiot With No Day Job|serious]]'' [[Infinite Supplies|coin.]]
** Although it's the robot chaffeur that is ''really'' expensive.
* [[Nightmare Fetishist]]: A distinct worry shared by some of the more introspective [[Cloudcuckoolander|Staunens.]] As the game manual puts it, some take delight in the modulation of screams of pain, or are fascinated by the effects of sickness and poison on the human body.
* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: OH SO MANY.
* [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup]]: [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|Larval Wonders.]] Every single one is one-of-a-kind.
* [[Not Using the Z Word]]: The Peerage averts this trope; all Peers are well aware that they're [[Mad Scientist
* [[No Transhumanism Allowed]]: Averted! High-Inspiration Geniuses can become transhuman in terms of physical and mental ability even without the use of Wonders, and self-modification often has little stigma attached to it beyond concerns about Havoc. That said, transhuman Geniuses face definite challenges when interacting with mere mortals, and their Obligation usually takes a hit as they struggle to connect to the mundane world. [[Comes Great Responsibility|A certain phrase comes to mind]].
* [[Not Wearing Tights]]: Averted, the Iridium Sentinels are unashamedly superheroes, if more Iron Man than spandex. An entire section in the part for storytellers lists superheroes as a possible campaign, by name.
* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: Lemuria's full of 'em.
* [[Older Than They Think]]: [[Invoked Trope|The sourcebook reminds us that mad science is older than]] [[Death Ray|rayguns]], [[Robot Roll Call|robots]] and [[Frankenstein]], [[Invoked Trope|with mention of mad alchemists, philosophers and inventors stretching back through history.]]
** On a related note, "Genius" as used here has a suspiciously apropos double
* [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]]/[[Open-Heart Dentistry]]: Occurs in two separate ways:
** The game mechanics encourage players to gain expertise in multiple fields.
** A Genius never suffers from using an old skill in a new context; [[Universal Driver's License|if they know how to drive a car, they can drive anything else, whether they're rolling down the highway in a Mack truck or piloting a spaceship]].
* [[One Stat to Rule Them All]]: Not coming far without Intelligence. Also, don't treat mental skills as a [[Dump Stat]] unless you are [[Too Dumb to Live]]. [[Justified Trope|It is about]] [[Mad Scientist|Mad]] ''[[Mad Scientist|Scientists]]'', [[Justified Trope|after all]].
** You can use Wits instead when kitbashing, which can sort of allow you to get by on that instead, but even if you can reduce, eliminate, or afford to ignore the inherent penalties suffered for doing so, kitbashed wonders are always temporary.
* [[Our Elves Are Better|Our Elves Are Mathematical Anomalies]]: Fractal Elves are diminutive Manes born from failed equations, and are often found in laboratories and other research facilities. They're not too bright, but most aren't truly malicious.
* [[Our Goblins Are
* [[Our Monsters Are Weird]]: Yes, yes they are. From mutant Orphans, to avatars of broken faith, to evil disembodied infectious Yetis born from the mind of a [[Crazy Awesome]] [[Mad Artist|Polish sculptor]], the Inspired world has no shortage of bizarre monsters lurking in the shadows. And if you have the right Axioms, you can make new ones yourself.
* [[Perpetual Poverty]]: Geniuses need resources to create Wonders; mad science can make money, but only with upfront investment and business acumen, and insanity is a real disadvantage in a normal job. It's reached the point where the Artificers have literally started [[Weird Trade Union|unionizing]] to provide themselves with communal workspace and accommodation.
* [[Personality Powers]]: Sorta. Geniuses get a favored "Axiom" (branch of Mad Science) based on their Catalyst, which is the thing that stained their Breakthrough: Destruction for Grimms (Rage), Transformation for Hoffnungs (Vision), Improvement for Klagens (Loss), Control for Neids (Banishment) and Discovery for Staunens (Curiosity). However, Geniuses also get two other favored Axioms, so their Catalyst doesn't totally dictate their abilities.
* [[Phlebotinum Breakdown]]: This is the ''definition'' of Havoc. Most of the time things can be solved by [[Tim Taylor Technology|putting Mania into the malfunctioning Wonder until it shuts down,]] but if you're [[Instant AI, Just Add Water|really]] [[
* [[Placebotinum Effect]]: A possible explaination for a Genius' Wonders.
* [[Poisonous Friend]]: Unmada Manes (the Manes spawned or attracted by the fields [[Reality Warper|Unmada]] produce) can guard areas, offer advice, or act as an information network for the Unmada in question. They also have [[Dream Apocalypse|vested interest]] in making sure the Genius [[Power Born of Madness|stays crazy.]]
* [[Politically-Incorrect Villain]]: Lemuria's quaint little racial hierarchies do not endear that organization to the rest of the Inspired world.
** [[Politically
* [[Post Modernism]]: The Hermetic Order of the 28 Spheres take a distinctly postmodern approach to mad science, styling their Wonders as magic artifacts to play with concepts like [[Magic-Powered Pseudoscience]] and [[Clarke's Third Law]].
* [[Power Born of Madness]]: All over the place. Geniuses are so crazy they can <s>break</s> bend the laws of physics.
* [[Powered by a Forsaken Child]]: Larvae are components for Wonders that require moral sacrifice, such as... well, the heart of a little orphan boy; the book even uses the ''[[Venture Brothers]]'' quote.
** With the Technomancer Merit, a genius can convert any sort of metanormal energy (Glamour, Mana, Vitae) into Mania. Yes, it is possible to ''turn blood into Science.''
*** Or you can just [[Werewolf: The Forsaken|
** A subtle [[Fridge Horror]] here: the stock Ophidian Infiltrator has a larval Epikrato...egg. Ophidians are ''[[Lizard Folk|Snake People]]''. Who most certainly reproduce by oviposition. Which implies it '''was''' an ''{{smallcaps|Ophidian egg.}}'' And yes, the mind control is then ''literally'' [[Powered by a Forsaken Child]].
** [[Those Wacky Nazis]] can get extra Mania by using their [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Atrocity Halls.]]
* [[Power Nullifier]]: At its highest level the Clockstopper Void Purify the Wounded Earth automatically disables all nearby wonders.
* [[The Power of Friendship]]: Well, the power of communalism, anyway. The Foundations' Grants (special abilities) are fueled by Mania contributed by their members. It takes about one-thousand Geniuses working together to maintain a Foundation, Baramin, or independent Program.
* [[Power Perversion Potential]]: Extremely
* [[Prestige Class]]: Fellowships, research groups dedicated to studying narrow fields and that grant bonuses to wonders within that field.
* [[Professor Guinea Pig]]: Plenty of Geniuses experiment on themselves, and the Progenitors have a whole transhumanist philosophy that ''expects'' this. However, self-modification is a Transgression.
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*** It goes even deeper than that; those Geniuses who ''were'' competent scientists are painfully aware that what they do isn't, in strictest terms, "real." So while Mages get to pat themselves on the back for being oh so enlightened, the Inspired have to live with the knowledge that their perceptions are hopelessly skewed forever. Makes Illumination all the more tempting...
** It is more like ''Technocracy Guide'' {{smallcaps| with better Science!!!}}. To elaborate all the parallels:
*** Lemuria is run by a "Third Race" of [[Lizard Folk|Snake People]]. Order of Hermes, the classic wizards, almost-leaders of the Traditions and the [[Sorcerous Overlord
*** Etherites and Progenitors [[Name's the Same|are clear]].
*** Navigators and Artificers bear old names of [[Space Marines|Void Engineers]] and Iteration X respectively.
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** There's already a very poorly run consortium dedicated to changing the world "for the better" and it tends to get violent with people who attempt to do the same without its approval.
** Finally, the future timeline indicates that eventually Geniuses ''will'' find a way to make Wonders available to everyone.
* [[Ret-Gone]]: The Terminals ([[Sufficiently Advanced Alien
* [[Revenge Before Reason]]: Both Grimms and Neids tend toward this, with Grimms content to [[Disproportionate Retribution|utterly destroy]] their perceived enemies, and Neids demanding recognition for their [[Power Born of Madness|"brilliance"]].
* [[Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory]]: Time-travelers have it for their own jaunts, and by necessity the [[Time Police|Guardians of Forever]] have it no matter what.
* [[Rube Goldberg Device]]: An entirely feasible aesthetic choice.
* [[Scale of Scientific Sins]]: All except number 2 are
* [[Magic A Is Magic A|Science A is Science A]]: This is how Wonders work.
* [[Science Hero]]: Always popular with the players.
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* [[Shout-Out]]: Several of the terms (Void Engineers, Etherites, Hollow Ones, Progenitors, and so on) used are repurposed [[Mage: The Ascension|oMage]] terminology.
** The Phantom Foundation's members are commonly referred to as [[wikipedia:Carnacki|Karnackis.]] Their field teams are [[Ghostbusters]] with the [[Serial Numbers Filed Off]].
** There is a little known program in the Muslim world that according to reports either focuses on pyrotechnics or summoning [[H.P. Lovecraft|aliens from distant stars]].
** "[[Pinky and The Brain|Pinky]]: Slang term for a useless Beholden."
** There is an Aesthetic for Wonders called "[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers|Pod People]]" whose design principles seem [[Everything Is an iPod In The Future|very familiar.]]
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*** That´s [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks|how they]] '''''[["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|started]]'''''.
** One of the Sample Wonders in the appendix is the [[The Venture Brothers|Walking Eye]].
** Mars is a mixture of ''[[War of the Worlds]]'' and ''[[John Carter of Mars]]''. With [[The Greys|Greys]].
** [[Inside a Computer System|The Grid]] looks like [[Tron]]
** Hilariously, the first '[[Time Travel|future timeline]]' is basically ''[[Left Behind]]''.
*** Others have resemblance to ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Warhammer
** Are you forgetting the origin of the term "Beholden"? From a Genius known for shouting "[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force|Gentlemen... BEHOLD!]]"
** Then there's the "Multi - Tool" wonder: a mechanical manipulation and repair device, [[Doctor Who|"...resembling a large screwdriver"]]
** A well liked robot called [https://web.archive.org/web/20131023152338/http://www.stitchnbitch.org/ Stitchin' Bitch] was listed among the deceased from a recent attack on the Orphanatorium. May he rest in peace.
** The inability of Geniuses to communicate their ideas is called Jabir, in reference to the Sufi mystic and polymath Jābir ibn Hayyān, for whom the word "gibberish" might be named.
** The laws of mad science each have a formal name and a nickname. The Nicknames are all shoutouts.
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* [[The Spark of Genius]]: Inspiration.
* [[Status Quo Is God]]: The Terminals tried to enforce this trope, and [[Ret-Gone|failed to do so about as badly as it's possible to fail at anything]]. Their servants have lightened up, but still try to keep the big things stable.
* [[Steampunk]]: The latest fad among mad scientists.
{{quote|[[Crowning Moment of Funny|The Martian Empire is confused, yet pleased that they are "totally hip".]]}}
** Just as amusingly: The actual Victorian Geniuses mostly used standard contemporary aesthetics instead of brass goggles, but some went for elegant baroque styles that also reflects an stylised past that also never actually existed.
* [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler]]: The Nazis ([[Recycled in Space|from the Hollow Earth!]]) have their own Geniuses. They are not nice.
* [[Sufficiently Analyzed Magic|Sufficiently Analyzed Super-Science]]: Played straight and averted. Being scientists, the Geniuses have attempted to study the nature of Inspiration, Mania and Wonders to see how they all work. Being [[Mad Scientist|mad,]] they haven't managed to figure out much more than a few common themes and guidelines.
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* [[There Are No Therapists]]: [[Double Subverted]]; there are plenty of psychologists and therapists. [[The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes|They're as mad as everyone else,]] or [[Brown Note|they will be after talking to you]]. They tend to [[Manipulative Bastard|specialise in]] [[Mind Control Device|manipulation.]]
** Amusingly enough, the sourcebook ''opens with'' a therapist talking with one of the Inspired. {{spoiler|It does not end well.}}
* [[These Are The Things Man Was Not Meant To Know]]: Possible cause for a Breakthrough, especially in Staunens.▼
* [[They Called Me Mad]]: You ''are'' mad. But generally associated with the Neids.
▲* [[
* [[Those Wacky Nazis]]: When the true horrors of Nazi Germany were exposed to the world and nearly all remaining faith in their ideology crumbled, Ubermensch Nazi Manes came into existence and took over the Hollow Earth.
* [[Time Police]]: The Guardians of Forever. The Terminals recruited them before they were [[Ret-Gone|removed from the timeline.]]
* [[Time Travel]]: "...is almost always a bad idea." After that statement, there's [[Hypocritical Humor|an entire section dedicated]] to dealing with time travel and all the messes that come with it.
** [[Time Travel for Fun and Profit]]: Obviously. The Guardians tolerate a little messing around, and many Geniuses use that to their advantage.
* [[Timey-Wimey Ball]]: A deliberate example. Where to begin?
** The setting gleefully makes temporal paradoxes possible, if [[Too Dumb to Live|very unwise]].
** The [[Time Police]] are slowly losing their grip on history and their [[Corrupt Cop|own members]] despite existing at all points in time.
** [[Temporal Paradox|Temporal paradoxes]] don't affect Manes.
* [[Torches and Pitchforks]]: The [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|appropriately-named]] [[Walking Techbane|Clockstopper]] Void "Brotherhood of Righteousness."
* [[Torture Cellar]]: The [[Those Wacky Nazis|Thulian]] Grant makes ample use of these.
* [[Tortured Abomination]]: The Cold Ones.
* [[Transhuman Treachery]]: Transhuman modifications ding your [[Karma Meter]].
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** This probably explains why it's so popular on TVTropes.
* [[Two-Fisted Tales]]: The corebook encourages Storytellers to construct adventures patterned on these, if not outright lifted from them.
* [[Ubermensch]]: Nazis notwithstanding, the idea of the actual Ubermensch is a strong undercurrent of the game. The Inspired don't think like normal people, break rules and in doing so create wonders, and the Foundations' stereotypical conceptions of mere mortals sound much like the description of Nietzsche's "Last Man". Of course, the only way to keep your character playable is to ''avoid'' thinking like an Ubermensch; once Geniuses utterly reject conventional morality, they become [[Complete Monster
* [[Understatement]]: The sourcebook is full of very well-done examples.
* [[Unfazed Everyman]]: Fortunate Beholden can turn out like this. For example, Erwin Tycho's Beholden are two guys from Central District who think exploring underground ruins with a crazy [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|mad scientist cowboy]] is way cooler than fixing cars and playing X-Box.
* [[The Unfettered]]: The Illuminated, who have lost all human morality. They often fail to understand such distinctions as [[The Undead|living and dead,]] [[Cyborg|organic and inorganic,]] [[Sharing a Body|or one person and another,]] and they eagerly weld such disparate elements together in their creations.
* [[Universal Driver's License]]: An explicit ability of Geniuses.
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* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: Some Wonders have Faults that can fall into this trope. Vehicles that behave like [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|tediously legal bureaucrats]] (flight plans must be filed, lane changes must be signaled, and the proper traffic lanes must be adhered to or the vehicle stalls) steal the limelight, but [[Empathic Weapon|weapons that you literally have to convince to work for you]] and [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|robots that will switch sides at the first opportunity]] are also pretty up there.
** Geniuses themselves have one very obvious limitation: a powerful Genius can build doomsday devices, resurrection machines, or a suit of [[Powered Armour]] that reaches [[Physical God|godlike]] levels of power out of components whose total cost is ''very high'' in the long run.
*** Havoc can fall into this. [[Muggle
* [[We ARE Struggling Together!]]: A villainous example would be Lemuria itself; all Lemurians agree that human development needs careful guidance, and that Geniuses are the ones who must act as guides. That's ''all'' they agree on. The Baramins are prone to infighting, as is to be expected when a bunch of [[Insufferable Genius
* [[Weather Dissonance]]: Spotting [[Weather Control Machine|unnatural weather conditions]] is something every Genius can do.
* [[Weird Science]]: Everywhere.
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: The nastier Hoffnungs.
** Not just Hoffnungs either; even Klagens who just want to fix things can fall into this very easily...
** And all of the Lemurians, Geniuses who haven't gotten the memo that they literally cheat reality and think that something [[Gone Horribly Wrong|Went Horribly Wrong]] in the past, and they have to fix it in the present. They range the gamut from [[Complete Monster
* [[We Want Our Jerk Back|We Want Our Nefarious Madmen Back]]: After the last Invisible War, the Peerage actually allowed [[Insufferable Genius|Lemuria]] to put itself back together. Needless to say, this wasn't done out of affection so much as the fact that the Lemurians had a better handle on managing the Inspired world. Furthermore, [[La Résistance|the Peerage]] defined itself almost exclusively by ''not'' being [[The Empire|Lemuria]], and the risk of instability in the absence of a common enemy frightened the Peerage bigwigs.
* [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]]: [[Averted Trope|If it’s intelligent it's exactly the same as a human.]]
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* [[Worthless Yellow Rocks]]: Sapphires aren’t that expensive on Mars. Then again, the Martians think we fit this trope by undervaluing water. Naturally much [[Reality Ensues|trading ensues]].
** These are, of course, [[All That Glitters|imaginary sapphires]] made of Mania.
* [[You Have Failed Me...]]: [[Justified Trope|Actually an effective tactic;]] killing a few of your Beholden after a failed Dirty Work check effectively removes and prevents all penalties for the rest of the chapter and lets you intimidate the survivors to ensure more dice. A Transgression, [[Captain Obvious|naturally]].
* [[Zeerust]]: Most of Lemuria is guilty of this, but the worst offenders are the Atomists, with the Etherites at a close second.
* [[Agony Beam]]
* [[Amplifier Artifact]]
* [[Arm Cannon]]
* [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever]]/[[Humongous Mecha]]
* [[Attack of the Killer Whatever]]: With the right Axioms, you can make anything from plant women to [[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz|flying monkeys]] to [[1408|an evil room]].
* [[Automated Automobiles]]: Self-driving cars aren't to hard to build, although they won't necessarily be very good drivers. Building sapient cars is tougher though.
* [[Awesome but Impractical]]: What happens when you something or have bad luck with your flaw. For instance, you could make a [[Doomsday Device]] that could blow up a city... but it would have to be the size of the chrystler building, take a century to build, has the internal
** Unless you give it some Prostasia.
* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: Most wonders are like this (if you can work around their disadvantages), but since Axioms are sorted by their effects rather than how they actually work, you can take this to ridiculous extremes:
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** Any of the Gamebreakers listed in YMMV.
* [[Bag of Holding]]
* [[Bifurcated Weapon]]: Yes, Integrated Wonders let you attach a sword to your sword.
** [[Morph Weapon]]: Metaptropi 4 lets your sword turn ''into'' a sword.
*** [[Swiss Army Weapon]]: Or you could attach a smartphone, a forcefield generator, a cure for leukemia and a corkscrew to your sword.
* [[Big Creepy-Crawlies]]: The Malcolm T. Washington Fellowship, a Fellowship that accepts only Geniuses of African-American or African-Canadian heritage are specialists in this field. This might seem like a rather narrow charge, but it turns out that there are a lot of very smart, slightly crazy black people who really ''really'' want to work with giant bugs, especially when there's grant money involved.
* [[Big Freaking Gun]]
* [[Bio Augmentation]]: The Progenitors are big on this.
* [[Blade Below the Shoulder]]
* [[Brown Note]]: You can make just about any variation you want, from music that causes love to a vat grown [[Eldritch Abomination]] that [[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)|causes madness on sight.]]
* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: You can build voice-activated weapons and bio-augmentations, but that's rather impractical.
** [[Words Can Break My Bones]]: Have to leave your raygun at the door? No problem. When negotiations break down, you'll be [[Incredibly Lame Pun|armed with your tongue]]!
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** [[Cool Starship]]: Needs at least one dot each in two unrelated Axioms [[Required Secondary Powers|for the purposes of life support and radiation shielding]]
* [[Cool Sword]]
** [[
* [[Cool Train]] ([[Zeerust|Rather rare]])
* [[Cyber Cyclops]]
* [[Deflector Shields]]
* [[Do-Anything Robot]]: You can build Size 0 Wonders, or [[Telescoping Robot|Collapsible]] Wonders that shrink to Size 0. You can build Integral Wonders inside a robot. With infinite resources you could [[Hammerspace|cram an infinite amount of junk]] into your robot.
* [[Doomsday Device]]: You can build low-level doomsday devices at Katastrofi 5. You can't destroy Earth, but you can devastate a city.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: It won't be able to [[Cosmic Horror Story|devour the Earth,]] but any Automaton can look the part, and with Epikrato and Katastrofi you can make it cause widespread madness and destruction.
* [[Emotion Bomb]]
** [[Hate Plague]].
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* [[EMP]]
* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: It's actually a little tricky to cause this. You'd need [[More Dakka|an awful lot of doomcannons]], to start with, and some way to get past the [[Time Police]]. So, if you're feeling [[Complete Monster|ambitious]] enough to tackle a project like this, it's probably best to gather [[Nebulous Evil Organization|a cabal of like-minded individuals]] and [[Brainwashed and Crazy|brainwash]] the [[Gosh Darn It to Heck|heck]] out of 'em; can't have any [[Heel Face Turn|second thoughts]] now, can we? The odds are against you here, [[Hypocritical Humor|but never say die, eh?]]
* [[Everything Sensor]]: Much harder to build than dedicated sensors.
* [[Expy]]: Clones, robot duplicates; you know you want to.
* [[Goggles Do Something Unusual]]: A handy hands-free alternative to regular scanners.
* [[Grappling Hook Pistol]]
* [[Healing Potion]]
* [[Hybrid Monster]]: There's a process called "Grafting" that explicitly allows you to do this.
* [[If My Calculations Are Correct]]: And they probably are.
** At least until a mere mortal [[Glamour Failure|sees them]], anyway.
* [[Immortality]]: As of version 1.1, mastery of Exelixi and the proper Syllabus allow you to live for almost 2000 years. Get extremely lucky and you can live forever.
** And there's always the robotic god-body plan which has no time limit.
* [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]]: Imagine prostasia armor with the concealed variable.
* [[Invisibility Cloak]]: Either actual invisibility or a [[Somebody Else's Problem|mind trick.]]
* [[Jet Pack]]: Or jet boots. Or Icarus wings. Or you could just turn yourself into something that flies.
* [[Kill Sat]]: There's a modification called "Orbital" made ''specifically'' for kill sats or any other extremely long range artillery.
** Though there's nothing but Size restrictions stopping you from attaching it to a [[
** Nothing but utterly [[Egregious]] Mania cost stops you putting a wide area ''[[Inverted Trope|healing ray]]'' in orbit, either.
* [[Laser Blade]]
* [[Little People]]/
* [[Love Potion]]/[[Love Is in the Air]]: Messing with someone's emotions is a minor Transgression. Taking sexual advantage of them afterwards is a ''huge'' one, on par with mundane rape.
* [[Master Computer]]: You can build one very good AI and let it remote-control your other robots so they all benefit from its superior mental and social skills. At least one Bardo was run by a computer.
** And at least one Bardo ''is'' a computer network.
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** [[Mind Control Device]]
** [[Tongue-Tied|Tongue-Tier]]
* [[Opposite
* [[Organic Technology]]
* [[Petting Zoo People]]
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** [[Lizard Folk]]
** [[Pig Man]]
**
* [[Phlebotinum Bomb]]: Weapons can be built to only affect specific targets. You could make a rust ray, a [[Ghostbusters|ghost gun,]] [[Power Perversion Potential|anti]]-[[The Nudifier|clothing]] [[Mahou Sensei Negima|lasers...]]
* [[Powered Armor]]: Mania-intensive; a full-featured basic suit requires:
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* [[Robot Me]]: With enough Axioms and integral Wonders, you could make a reasonable facsimile of many of the other inhabitants of the ''[[New World of Darkness]]''...
** This can be a very useful reskin option for lazy Storytellers.
* [[Robot Buddy]]: This can actually happen ''accidentally''
* [[Scaramanga Special]]: The "Concealed" Variable can be used in this capacity.
* [[Screw Yourself]]: Although most ways of doing it are either [[Moral Event Horizon|major Transgressions]] or just [[Too Dumb to Live|really, really stupid]].
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* [[Stock Super Powers]]: Wonders can be used to replicate ''a lot'' of these.
* [[Super-Powered Evil Side]]
* [[Super Serum]]: Only temporary.
** [[Psycho Serum]]
* [[Suspended Animation]]
** [[Human Popsicle]]
** [[People Jars]]
* [[Swiss Army Appendage]]
* [[That's No Moon]]: one of the available sizes. It'll take you years even with an army of Beholden, but you ''can'' build something of this scale.
* [[Time Travel|Time Machines]]
* [[Travel Cool]]: The definition of Skafoi.
* [[Transforming Mecha]]
* [[Transformation Ray]]: Anything into anything else.
* [[Transformation Trinket]]
* [[Translator Microbes]]: Universal Translators can be made with Apokalypsi.
* [[Upgrade Artifact]]
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Horror Tabletop Games]]
[[Category:Science Fiction Web Originals]]
[[Category:Tabletop Games]]
[[Category:Genius: The Transgression]]
[[Category:Tabletop
[[Category:New World of Darkness]]
[[Category:Tabletop Games of the 2000s]]
[[Category:New World of Darkness/Fan Works]]
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