Genius: The Transgression/YMMV

Problematic tropes from the game itself:

• Complete Monster: In all the colours the human psyche can barely comprehend but more importantly the many, many more it can't. Every character the party members can interact with is either a Complete Monster, or has the potential to become one, and by potential we mean like The Virus kind of potential...
  • It's the World Of Darkness, what did you expect? The Illuminated tend to this extreme about ninety-nine times out of ten.
  • And the Nazis, of course.
  • One of the worst examples isn't even Inspired: he's a Clockstopper whose presence near a community causes a variety of unpleasant effects; its technological development rapidly degrades to the point where language-- not just spoken language, but body language-- no longer works; normal people go from being normal, to Luddite hippies, to savage cavemen, to unthinking animals incapable of any meaningful interaction with any other being before they become catatonic and die off; and the technology of eating fails or something similar where there are no survivors and no way to determine what happened. The Clockstopper in question is fully aware that it is his fault and enjoys watching the process and mocking them. His stats and powers make it near impossible to kill him or even think more complicated thoughts then blinking your eyes. Small wonder he is considered the anti-Christ by people who use orphanages as a source of "materials".
• Crazy Awesome: Any awesomeness in the setting will likely be crazy by default. That goes for events as well as characters.
• Critical Research Failure: These sorts of theories are the principles on which Wonders supposedly operate. Many Geniuses realize this is not how things actually work. Fortunately, belief in their explanatory theory isn't as important as the fact that they supply an explanatory theory and build their devices accordingly.
• Genius Bonus: Appropriately enough, there are plenty of references to be enjoyed by science and history buffs alike.
• Jerkass Woobie: A number of antagonists. Lemuria is full of Geniuses who were simply snapped up before they learned what Mania really is, and former Peers who just couldn't live with knowing they're crazy anymore.
  • Special mention goes to Seattle's Argentine St. Croix, who, extramarital affair and killing her Stalker with a Crush aside, lived a relatively blameless life prior to her Breakthrough, and never wanted anything to do with Inspiration in the first place. Oh, and one of her sons is in a coma that even mad science can't fix. The other one publicly disowned her in a fashion cruel enough to shock some of his new allies.
  • Even Clockstoppers are sort of pitiable. It's not their fault they're spite-fueled avatars of ignorance. Probably.
• Nightmare Fuel: Some Geniuses deliberately style their Wonders to be creepy looking, whether to intimidate observers or just because they like the look of it.
  • Not to mention that, being a bit odd, Staunens can get like this:

"So I spend a lot of time staring at the sky, and not looking at your face and thinking about squirrels."

• The Woobie: Three out of five Catalysts (Grimm, Neid, Klagen) are likely to involve a personal tragedy. In addition, all Catalyzations are generally traumatic; a person who becomes a Genius is a person who has been driven insane. It's probable that there are many, many Inspired Woobies.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The Cold Ones may qualify; they exist through no fault of their own, and all they want is to escape their entropic hell. Unfortunately, that would probably have disastrous effects on the rest of the timeline.
  • Dr. Keiko Takamori, a Genius aiding them, is one as well. She's been orphaned, raised by callous relatives, made into a Beholden by a Phenomenologist, seen said Phenomenologist killed, and then she catalyzed and was sucked right back into Inspired society.

Dr. Takamori: Cannot you pity [the Cold Ones]? How hungry they are? Is your empathy so limited?

Problematic tropes applying to wonders:

• Game Breaker: Any Rank 5 wonder is easily this against lesser powers. This is deliberate.
  • Apokalypsi: Omniscience, on any subject you can think to ask about.
  • Automata: You can create full characters, in bulk. It doesn't take them long to become Geniuses loyal to you.
    • Be nice to them, though.
    • Don't forget the ability to make a Wonder that functions as a Wonder-factory, which itself creates Wonder-factories. You'll have no control over them, but who cares?
  • Epikrato: Make an unlimited number of people your slaves, alter their memories so that they always loved you, and never suffer another Derangement again.
  • Exelixi: Not really a gamebreaker but you can bring back the dead. Do it fast enough and it's not even dangerous.
    • It really says something when immortality and true resurrection are considered underpowered in a New World of Darkness game.
    • Although it is difficult, all you need is a trace of well-perserved DNA. The resulting Archived Army will be cool, if not entirely stable.
  • Katastrofi: Doomsday devices; the rulebook's sample 5-dot weapon is a cannon that can demolish whole city blocks at a time, described as "some silly thing a Genius might make while trying to take over the world again".
  • Metaptropi: Permanent invisibility to the 5 mundane senses and magical detection for only 6 bound mania.
    • Invisibility to taste is probably unnecessary.
  • Prostasia: Actually not much of a gamebreaker at all.
    • But the fact that Prostasia can provide insulation against Havoc at any level makes it endlessly useful. Gotta love form-fitting force fields.
  • Skafoi: Time travel for fun and profit
    • Also, personal temporal distortion devices. It's like Celerity, except on the top of the Skill Tree instead of the bottom.
  • If you combine Assembly Line 5 with any of the above, well...God Mode
  • A theoretical Game Breaker within the setting itself is the Axiom Pankosmoi, AKA Apekrina, AKA the Needle Grail. If it's real, this Axiom could prevent Havoc, enhance Inspiration, and even generate/harvest Mania. There is no evidence that Pankosmoi actually exists, but mastering it would be tantamount to achieving godhood.
    • Word of God says it exists, but gives no details.