Welcome

Rena

One of the cornerstones of the Veritas Falsus RPG is the presence of various supernatural powers. Certain people will have powers that extend well beyond the scope of what the typical, unpowered human can accomplished. However, even though these powers may extend well into the realm of the supernatural, and have no rational scientific explanation within the scope of modern science and real world genetics and medicine, it does not mean that it is entirely devoid of reason and rationality within the Veritas Falsus realm dynamics and internal rules.

As a disclaimer, Veritas Falsus's power depends upon a very basic understanding of Biology and genetics. You do not need to have anything more than a high school level understanding of genotypes and phenotypes, but certainly if you have more knowledge, it will be appreciated.


Powers at Veritas Falsus are divided into five rough classes, X, Y, XX, XY, and Z. The first four are sex-linked. This means, your character, depending on his or her gender, will inherit a number of X or Y chromosomes from his or her parents. Not all of these chromosomes inherited will contain a sex-linked gene for powers, and not all of these genes are dominant, which means they are not necessarily expressed. Even a child with two superpowered parents is not guaranteed to have powers of their own, though the probability says that it is likely.

As a general guideline, most X powers are defensive, and most Y powers are offensive. Thus, males tend to have more aggressive and offensive power sets, while females tend to have more defensive and passive abilities. Since males, however, have both an X and Y, it's also possible for them to have both an offensive and a defensive power. However, unusual situations do occur, and it's possible for individuals to have powers that are not wholly related to their genotype. This is rare.

It's also important to understand that even if you inherit the exact same genes for a particular power as your parent, it does not guarantee that your power will be the same as their power. For a variety of reasons, the expressed power takes on its form depending upon the makeup of the individual. Thus, while powers tend to be related, or at least within the same bounds, as the inherited powers of the parents, they are not entirely the same.

Now, in the semi-unusual case that an individual inherits two powered X genes (female) or both a powered X and a powered Y (male), they may see a number of things happen. One possibility is that the user still seems to only have one power expressed. The other possibility is that the user has two powers of the chromosomal type. The third possibility is that they have one specific power of that particular type—in this case, an XX or XY type power. This power seems to supercede the individual X and Y type powers… or perhaps they are dependent upon the X and Y type powers.

Z-type powers are different.

For the most part, Z-type powers are rarer than sex-linked powers. These powers occur on other chromosomes, and have no relation to the inherited sex chromosomes of the individuals. As a result, they encompass a vastly diverse and unusual spectrum of abilities, ranging from the very mundane to the exceptionally powerful.

Z-type powers tend to be inherited more reliably than X and Y types. If the parent passes on a Z-type power, his or her offspring are more likely to express the exact same power than if he or she passed on an X or Y type power. While there is still room for individual expression, Z-type powers seem much more specific than their X or Y type counterparts. It is possible, though typically rare, for a character to have both the typical X/Y powers as well as a Z-type power. However, since these powers are not mutually exclusive, this does happen when the right combination brews.

Z-type powers are also not exclusively transferable between genders as well; it is not necessarily gender-neutral. For the most part, Z-type powers are expressed powers transferred over all chromosomes other than the X and Y chromosomes, but they may also be spawned from various other means of inheritance. For example, one may inherit a Z-type power from mtDNA, which would mean that it is solely transmitted from the mother (as that is the only mitochondrial DNA passed on). Typically, regardless of the number of other mutations, all of them blur into one Z-type expression.


In addition to inheriting powers, people have managed to give themselves powers via technology. This is usually done with an injection of a particular serum directly into the bone marrow. The operation is usually painful, and the best results usually occur when the injection is done on a younger subject, as the subject has more time to grow and adapt to the ability. Nevertheless, such an forcing usually carries substantial risk, and the subjects often die because of an adverse reaction to the injection. The younger the subject, the more likely he is to succumb to these adverse reactions.

It is also possible to inject a power into a person that already has powers, however this process is usually less reliable. Sometimes, the powered individual's body simply assimilates the serum and exhibits no additional powers. Other times, the serum does work, but not as effectively as it would on a normal human. In rare cases, the serum may work just as effectively on a naturally powered individual as it does an unpowered human. Meanwhile, the risk of adverse reaction and death to the serum is substantially lower for naturally powered people than it is for their unpowered counterparts.

Induced Powers also substantially differ from Inherited Powers in their expression.

Inherited Powers show no physical trait. From the outside, the individual looks entirely normal. In fact, even upon closer examination, the individual shows no abnormality in their physical form or function. Their physical bodies operate precisely the same as an unpowered human's. The power—either passive or mentally triggered—only manifests when the body triggers it, or when the individual mentally forces it. Otherwise, they are simply ordinary people.

Induced Powers are different. They usually accompany some physical change, no matter how subtle. This can include, for example, gills for breathing underwater, or fur, or change in the coloration of the skin, or enhanced musculature and skeletal growth. Induced Powers can mimic many of the same effects of Inherited Powers, but they generally carry some distinguishing physical change that occurs with it.

Furthermore, Induced Powers tend to be less reliable than their natural counterparts. Because the user is not predisposed towards the particular power, they usually do not have the same level of control as those who were born with it. Their power may surface during moments of extreme anger, aggression, fear, or stress, and the user may not necessarily control it properly. However, some Induced Powers, depending on the potency of the serum and its reaction with the body, can be exceptionally and rawly powerful.


You are able to submit unique power proposals to the administration when you are applying. If your power is not on the list, you can offer a new power for inclusion to the list. Also, if you can provide sufficient evidence that your power is unique to canon and established literature, you can also get a VF virtual copyright on that ability, and no one else may use that ability on Veritas Falsus.

However, the unique power still has to conform within our framework, and still needs an X, Y, XX, XY, or Z classification. It also needs to be of the proper scale and ability to fit within the Veritas Falsus world. While many restricted powers are in fact more powerful than the average power, they still have to fit within the dynamics of the world, and they cannot have properties that would unbalance the gameplay (or even tilt it too noticeably).

Furthermore, some powers are simply restricted from public use. These powers are usually hallmark or trademark powers of certain canon characters, and are intended to be rare and unusual. Some of them are especially powerful. However, do note that restricted powers tend to make a character less accessible. If a character has a restricted power, the player is expected to demonstrate a good understanding of it, and it is not a responsibility handed out lightly. Some characters may have multiple restricted powers; in this case, the expectations upon the players are raised even further.


You may notice on the canon list that certain individuals have this rare type. This type just means that it takes all of those alleles to manifest. The XXZ requires two powered X's and a Z type expression to manifest as the power that it currently takes. That also means that inheritance is a risky proposition, as it's unlikely that the same expression will come across for their offspring.

Usually, XXZ and XYZ are more powerful but more cumbersome abilities that require a number of factors to properly execute. But for the most part, when they are properly executed, they can produce some pretty impressive effects.


When picking and choosing characters, please note that the canon list is probably a little biased. For the sake of continuity, we chose to map out the bigger fish. That means that most of the big guns and game-changers of the Veritas Falsus realm are canon characters. However, since the realm includes so many people, it's impossible for us to make a canon for each of them. That said, please note that the average person does not have the same level of powers or power distribution as many of the canons.

Characters like the head families and hegemon lieutenants are supposed to be considerably more powerful than the average straggler, and that's reason for the stragger to fear them and fall in line. In actuality, a large proportion of our realm has no powers at all, and another large demographic has no more than one (1) minor ability. In total, a large majority of the survivors in the Veritas Falsus world probably does not have any more than one (1) minor power.

We ask members keep this in mind when creating original characters, as it's important to us to keep the balance and integrity of our in-character world.