[Meta-Game] Jagerkin, the Zelgadis Problem, and Super's Children

[Weatherwax]

I agree completely, whswhs, but I wasn't sure if the lower-case letters were a true personal preference or mere convenience on his part. Are you an editor for SJG or for another establishment? Please bear with me; I am a newbie to these forums and don't know all of the officially-connected aliases yet.

Back to Girl Genius—I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but plan to when I catch up on my reading here. Thanks again for the link.

[gammakitten]

The Jagerkin at least would have human spawn as seen by the fact that Oggie encountered a human descended of his.

[Anaraxes]

I thought the difference between "GURPS ***" and "***: Powered by GURPS" was that the former is a pure sourcebook, while the later repeats basic rules of the system found in the core books so that it can be a one-volume standalone playable game.

[Jasonft]

The general consensus about Oggie's great whatever grandchild (who bears a striking resemblance to the author) over on the Yahoo fan site is that Oggie had children before the transformation into Jaegerkin.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/girlgenius/

We have seen Jaegerfemmes, but never have we even heard the implication that constructs (as such are called in that world) can have children. The only thing even close was a comment *way* back about two constructs named Punch and Judy (Or Adam and Lilith as they were called later) saying that they viewed the title character as their daughter on account of them not having been constructed with the ability to have offspring.

There was also a passing mention of a Spark (Mad Scientist) who had... odd tastes in his bed partners. Apparently the only heirs of the Spark in question were expected to be found in glass jars on a shelf somewhere.

For game mechanics call it a World Law. In that universe alteration or augmentation beyond a certain point automatically includes Sterility unless the disad is bought off.

As a general rule I would say that alterations can be inherited if and only if the mechanism that is the underlying root cause of the alteration is transmissible by sex. It would depend entirely on the individuals involved and would undoubtedly vary wildly from case to case - with sterility or wild mutations in the child being most likely.

For ease of use in campaigns I would have the GM decide and make it a World Law. Exceptions to this baseline would require special Advantages or Disadvantages. Allowing PCs to found entirely new sentient species is a headache most GMs would likely pass on.


But who knows? You might even end up (in your campaign) with the child of a Mutant and an Inhuman coming out as a perfectly normal and completely baseline child. Only to find out that the grandparent of said child was one of the most feared and powerful villains on that world and holding a long standing vendetta against humanity... but then things get silly.

[Michael Hopcroft]

In the case of Jagerkin, the Foglios have apparently stated that their you-know-whats remain human, and thus their offspring are human. So their Jager characteristics are not passed on to whatever children they have.

Of course, this is little help in the Slayersverse. Remember Zelgadis at the start of the thread? Almost every fan speculation I've read (and written) about his children say they'll be chimeras like him. Whether they in turn pass the traits on leads to some interesting questions about what the upper classes of the Slayers world will look like after several generations. But the anime or novels, which are the official canon (but differ substantially), say nothing about the matter because it isn't important to the stories Kanazaka wants to tell.

If asked, he might quote Rumiko Takahashi when she was asked about a similar issue in Ranma 1/2: "I don't think about these things -- and neither should you." Or he might simply find the whole question rather silly.

[Neophyte42]

This reminds me of the fourth Twilight series book that I finished yesterday.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Michael Hopcroft

So, is there a logical way to decide whether certain traits that were not part of a person's original makeup are passed on to children?

Several. If it's an infectious disease that curses you with awesome then an infected mother can easily pass it to their child. Proteus virus alters both body and genetic makeup, so you'll end up with heritable changes. So will comic-book radiation from the 60s. But your kids won't inherit surgery, or your rigorous regimen of steroids and speed. Even assuming it didn't lead to infertility. Then there's magic which can be on a person and their entire line, or just on the person.

[Koshka]

Originally Posted by Michael Hopcroft

In the case of Jagerkin, the Foglios have apparently stated that their you-know-whats remain human, and thus their offspring are human. So their Jager characteristics are not passed on to whatever children they have.

Yep, that's what I've heard as well. How many Europan females would want to breed with a Jaeger is up in the air (though there's certainly plenty of our-world females in GG fandom who would be willing ...). But should a Jaeger sire a child, that child would be human because the jaegerbrau doesn't affect gametes.

Originally Posted by Jasonft

We have seen Jaegerfemmes, but never have we even heard the implication that constructs (as such are called in that world) can have children.

I don't know if the Secret Blueprints are still canon or not, but according to them Klaus is a construct, and he managed to sire a son. Sterility might be the default for "assembled" constructs for simplicity, but a Spark who knew how should be able to make one that's fertile.

[Jasonft]

There is some continuing debate about varying types of constructs in that world. 'Drink this' versus 'It's Alive!' versus who knows what, and there are something like eight different types identified so far - but until the sourcebook comes out we have to call them all by the same name (constructs).

As for Klaus being able to have a son, that's easy. Klaus is one of if not *the* strongest Spark in Europa. He'd find a way.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Do non-gamer fans really buy game books in any significant number?

Your answer is the ever popular "it depends". I know I heard at least one gaming adaptation get treated as a particularly handy "condensed series bible", with some annoying "gamer stuff" in the margins that could be ignored.

But I doubt non-gamer star-wars fans buy the gaming supplements to find all the Star Wars background in one place. Ditto star trek - these fandoms already have similar products out (in spades!) aimed at the non-gamer market.

If nobody has made a guide or bible or whatever to the Girl Genius world, folks may buy it just because it can act as one. ESPECIALLY with Phil and Kaja being the primary authors, so there's the prospect that unexplained bits of world background might actually be expanded on in the gamebook that are never discussed fully in the comic, and might only be explained in a fragmentary fashion via the official forum.