I know this thread is a little self-serving but I thought this might still be an interesting topic of conversation.  In my quest to write a new game, I orginally looked what if only a few people were transformed?  Now, I am considering a more expansive what if.  I know the question has been looked at from the angle of superheroes but I am examining the supernatural angle here.  

No vampires or werewolves here, but being transformed into something different.  Anyway, that is the premise of the game I am working on.

I have some thoughts here...I am trying to talk about the effects of this events in generic terms or human nature.  

Anyway, here are my initial unedited thoughts...

1.  Denial:  The first months will be filled with theories about how this happened.  Most of the theories will have some truth to them but no one will actually pinpoint the actual causes.  Some people will attempt to delude themselves into thinking it is a isolated problem or will explain it away as a new disease or whatever pet theory suits them.  They will aided by the fact that most people will still look human and they will not have any discernable weaknesses or any other odd habits.  Technically, everyone has changed but some haven't come across their "trigger point" or their first realization about their new abilities.  

For instance, if someone is only uncomfortable in cold climates and they live in the desert, then they will never know about their new weakness.  Another example might be someone who takes little damage but he or she is never attacked.  Those people will more likely fall into denial about the true condition of the world.  Time will disprove most of these theories but there will always be some that believe they are still human.  

Another point to consider is that people may never know the actual extent of the transformation or it will never be proved.  At the same time, no one will be able to sweep this away by mere rhetoric.  A few have started to take advantages of their powers while others began to help others.

2.  Anger:  As people start to realize the truth, they will blame their enemies for doing this.  Terrorists groups, certain companies, government or religion will be pointed to by different people.  This will only give them cause to strike back.  In addition, some people who deny they are transformed will attack others who show obvious changes.  Hate groups who claim to defend humanity will spring up and start their campaigns of genocide.  Some governments will fall and others will have to become more authoritarian in order to maintain order.  Resentment will push one group against another and in some cases, even father against son and mother against daughter.  

For a time, the world will seem to want to annihilate itself but it will stop short.  Perhaps they unconsciously know the truth or maybe some outside force has found a way to manage our reactions and keep us somewhat safe.  {This may not be logical but for the sake of the game...}

3. Resentment:  The transformed started to show their capabilities through defending themselves, helping others, committing crimes or they might have simply continued to live their lives as they did before the transformation.  The revolutions have stopped but individual acts of violence still wreck havoc with society.  Some have gone underground because of their appearance or their notoriety.  Society changed because everyone who has survived is now more formidable in their own way.  Very few can predict what will happen next.  For example, The little old lady might be able to kill with a single thought.  

The world was a powder keg although some of the "bang" has been reduced.  People wanted live normal lives but there is very little trust left.

4.  Uneasy Truce:  Society stepped back and reassessed itself.  Before the Transformation, technology drove change.  Now, people are the catalyst of society once again.  Machines had to be adjusted or thrown out and people had to find their place in the world again.  The desire for normalcy grew and reality revealed that trust had to be reestablished.

Transformed into what?

You say 'supernatural' then nix vampires and werewolves, you postulate a lot of shit without giving us any clues as to why these should be so, or not?

Aberrant dealt with superheroes, but you've already nixed that as well.

Leaving me with....


well....


nothing.

I only said no vamps and werewolves to expand the notion of the supernatural, so my apologies on that one.  I can see how the cause of the change might affect the discussion...So, what would the differences be if magic caused this or if aliens altered humanity's DNA or if the Earth entered into an alternative dimension among other things?

Quote from: ancientgamerSo, what would the differences be if magic caused this or if aliens altered humanity's DNA or if the Earth entered into an alternative dimension among other things?

The big difference between this and superheroes is KIDS, having kids who are empowered/weakened, what if both parents are affected - what is the dominant change.See. if you just have a few superheroes created because of an event - it's manageable - but generations of supernatural !

being 'normal' would be extraordinary in such a future. pure strain freaks

You mistake me. I could care less about the CAUSE of the change, what I can't do is guess a response to a change whose NATURE is unknown.

Vampire: Blood drinking, hate the sun, probably never age or die naturally

Werewolf: Regularly turns into a bloodthirsty beastman, probalby eats people

Superheroes: Gain stuporpowers, probaby have folks taht can fly, others that bounce bullets, unlikely that any two people gain the same exact powers.

Ancient gamers changes: No fucking clue, but apparently people don't like it. I got some vague notion that they won't even KNOW they've changed. Well: Peachy. They don't react then.

Not exactly helpful, but its all I can give you.  Tell me WHAT changes about them and I'll tell ya how they react. Right now? I'd say they gain superpowers, only you've denied that so I got nuthin'.

Sean,

That would be one thing to consider, whether the change was a one time thing and all children would be born normal or if all future generations were different.  If you look at the first option in the long term, it would be a mere "blip" on the evolutionary radar.  It might serve as a signal for changes in the future or merely become legend over thousands of years.  

If you look at the second option, then you might see societal changes as well as biological and psychological.  I mean, some people will not be able to hide who they are due to looking different or having really bizarre survival needs.  Plus, humanity would think differently.  (In gametalk, they would have their old personality competing with their new desires.)  As a result, one might see more bipolarism and other mental disorders rise exponentially.  I thought the ungluing of certain social mores and a shift in psychology would create a lot of social problems, at least in the short and medium term...Certainly, there would be questions like Should people even think of themselves as still being human?  Is there an essential element to all sentient beings which is special or are people the sum of their biological parts?  Having 'throwbacks' raises these questions and more, INHO.   And at this point, I haven't even addressed the powers/weakness angle part of this yet.

{This part is for Spike -- I think once the confusion is cleared, I know this conversation can continue forward and you'll be able to help me out based on reading some of your other threads.  Again, I know its my fault on the above.  For the record, if I could edit my initial post at this point I would but since I can't...I have a feeling that the addition of new abilities and weakness figure a lot into this.  Again, thanks for your comments so far.}

Mebbee I need to reread this later tonight when I'm not at work. Work makes me sleepy and easily confused.  Like I tried to say in the last post: It looks a lot like a 'newly emergent superpowers' setting, like wildcards or Aberrant, with the focus, in this case, being on 'how does society respond to everyone gettting powered up'.

This reminds me of Changeling: the Lost, not a bad game.  They really seem to want to play up the parts about being different, because of your character's being kidnapped by supernatural beings and taken to their home dimension (where you get abused, changed physically, & eventually free yourself--well, some do).  Good stuff.  Lots of ideas for character creation.  Though afraid of these beings coming to take them back, they do look human to most mortals.

I had, at one point, the OWoD version of that book.  NWoD sounds different than that then in terms of premise.  If I had to do a quick comparsion, it sounds like it would be a variant of the entry for magic and other dimension thrown in together in terms of theme.

What is humanity changing into?  That's really unclear from the thread so far.

Ok, not vampires, not werewolves, but what then?

I don't need to know why the change happened, but this thread doesn't tell us what the change actually is?

If Spike and I lived in this setting, what's just happened to us?  What have we changed into?

Good questions, Balbinus.  First, I want to state I wanted to stay away from Vamps and Werewolves because of comparsions to WoD.  

As far as humanity's transformation:  I will take the two of you as examples.

Spike:  Looks human, can act human (bonuses to fool people on first two abilities), never ages but he has to eat human flesh in order to live, is uncomfortable in warm climates and moves slow (a sort of living zombie)

Balbinus:  looks human but has runic markings like tattoos but are actually birthmark which has his true name spelled out and those who see them and know can enslave him to their will, has a spiritual guardian (spectral hound) and can influence people's emotions.

Those are some of the mildest forms of the transformation.  Others could look like horror creatures or worse.  Also, I keep the alien/human nature out.  For example, Spike might say he has to cope with his need to eat flesh while Balbinus might have to fight to keep from using his power for evil.  

So, I hope that helps to answer some of the questions up to this point.

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread.  I decided to include different options for the amount of people transformed in order to offer more possibilities.