Editing Genius The Transgression/Chapter Four:Special Rules and Systems (section)

== The Thesis ==

''"The head is a machine. Even though we did not build it, we own it and thus have the right to tinker with it."''
''-William James''

When a genius wishes to increase her Inspiration, she must engage in a thesis, an extensive analysis of everything she has thought and done. This is an exhausting and arduous process, but if the genius is successful, at the end of it both she and her wonders emerge stronger.

=== Approaches: ===

Different theses can vary enormously in scope, style, and approach. Though they are all designed to teach the genius something about Inspiration and her own abilities, they can take many forms. However, a genius' catalyst often guides the sort of theses she undergoes as her knowledge and power grow. Below are some very general guidelines for what the different catalysts focus on during a thesis.

A Grimm's thesis is the most direct. He must overcome a challenge, often a threat that infuriates him personally. This danger is a source of direct, personal anger, something visceral: a sexual predator for Grimms who suffered sexual abuse, an Ubermensch infestation for a Grimm whose first collaborative died in a Lunar Nazi assault. Grimm theses are the least connected to Inspiration and to mad science and the most connected to the genius' mundane personality. In fact, many Grimms' theses stipulate that Mania should not play a major role in their completion, or force a Grimm to rely on Skills and abilities other than wonders and mad science. In his thesis, a Grimm pushes himself, physically, mentally, and psychologically, to new limits, simmering slowly as he suffers and struggles, hoping to unleash his rage in a titanic blast that will, ideally, destroy his enemies and lead him to enlightenment. The Grimm's thesis works to channel, hone, and shape his rage, from something mindless and atavistic to the clean, precise surgical instrument of a true genius.

The Klagens are the doom-sayers of the Inspired, and their theses focus on warning or protecting people from an upcoming disaster. Cassandras find themselves struggling to stop an onrushing catastrophe. It may be a natural disaster, but often it is a disaster that people (including geniuses) have made for themselves. Klagens find themselves struggling to make people see the doom racing toward them. Some force people to change their ways―through persuasion or threats―while others ignore the voice of those they need to save and rush head-long into protecting them, whether or not they want (or need) the help. Other Klagens merely study the concept of sorrow. This can be the most abstract and least direct of theses, except perhaps those conducted by Staunens, as a Klagen wanders the halls of the sorrowing and ruined, seeks out those whose lives she destroyed―the families of enemy beholden she has killed, for example―and otherwise explores the nature and extent of sorrow, misery, and loss.

A Hoffnung's thesis is perhaps the easiest to conceptualize: every Hoffnung has an image of how the world should be, so a Hoffnung's thesis works to bring that world closer to reality. A Principality who dreams of a worldwide Libertarian paradise may work to bring down government-backed financial institutions or turn a bardo into a microcosm of his political vision. One who wants humanity to move beneath the oceans might find herself in an ideological struggle with another Hoffnung for the ear of a mundane scientific policy director at NASA. Hoffnungs work to promulgate and spread their policies, and their theses are the most likely to connect to the mundane world, though they concern themselves with far-reaching ideas and policy decisions, not individual changes. Anything that moves a Hoffnung's vision closer to reality―even symbolic victories―can serve as a thesis.

A young Neid's thesis is often simple and may resemble that of a particularly unsubtle Grimm: she seeks restitution for the wrongs done to her, either during her Breakthrough or in her Inspired career. While she rarely dwells on the suffering (real or imagined) she experienced in her earlier life, which distinguishes her from a Grimm, Neids may find themselves continually seeking out enemies to enact plans of revenge, justification, or humiliation upon. But not all Neids are so simple, and as a Wyrm grows in experience, her theses can become some of the most sophisticated and philosophical of all mad scientist's, focusing on the nature of exclusion and inclusion, the paths that acceptance and outsider-status can take, and the trajectory of isolation and abandonment. They never forget their feeling of betrayal and banishment, but they learn to study it with more objectivity than many catalysts can analyze their own archetypal natures.

The thesis of a Staunen is based on the Watcher's fascination with the world. It is often a a journey of discovery, a mixed exploration of one's self and one's object of fascination. A Staunen's thesis focuses not just on an engrossing (and perhaps dangerous) aspect of the world that is not entirely understood, but parts of the Staunen's own personality. All geniuses form connections and patterns easier than regular humans, and in his thesis, a Staunen will weave together discoveries of the inside and outside worlds in ways that would baffle most normal people, leading to a final key discovery that transforms his understanding of the Staunen's object of study, and transforms a Grigori's understanding of himself.

Not every thesis is drawn from a genius' catalyst. Theses are intensely personal and can take many forms. Some draw from the mad scientist's foundation: Artificers build new things, Directors explore interpersonal relationships, Navigators engage in exploration and conflict, Progenitors transform and evolve themselves, and Scholastics study riddles and mysteries. Some theses are drawn from much more personal experiences, unanswered questions or unresolved obsessions in a genius' own life. As a genius' Inspiration climbs, she will find herself darting from one inspiration for a thesis to the next, always finding new directions for selfimprovement.

=== Organizing a Thesis: ===

The first step toward completing a thesis is submitting it. This is not a formal process and requires no roll. Instead, the player and Storyteller must come to an agreement about what sort of activity or experience will qualify as a thesis, and what the "win" conditions are. This may be represented in-game as the genius asking his peers for advice, contacting his foundation and looking for projects in need of completion, or just kicking back and thinking about what he has learned since the last thesis.

Once a thesis goal is decided on, the genius must achieve that goal. Direct and concrete goals ("Stop Prestor John's army from devastating the bardo of True Argentine," "Use my beholden to take over Malthusian Cybernetics from the inside-out and turn it into a puppet for my ideology") are often easy to adjudicate, but more personal or abstract goals may require more consideration on the part of the Storyteller. 

The genius then sets to work. A thesis should normally take no more than a single session. It can be run alone, but that is not necessary; the Peerage encourages collaboratives to cooperate on completing a member's thesis, and geniuses can gain prestige by helping in a particularly well-crafted endeavor.

Once the genius feels satisfied with her work, she rolls Intelligence + Wits.

How thoroughly the genius achieves his goal should modify this roll. A totally botched job means that the genius cannot even roll: she will have to start again with a new thesis. An incomplete or failed job bumps the level of success down by one step. (Success becomes Failure, Failure becomes Dramatic Failure, etc.). A truly spectacular job increases the level of success by one step.

''Dramatic Failure:'' The genius botches the thesis and must start again from the beginning, or with an entirely new goal. The genius does not gain a dot of Inspiration.

''Failure:'' The genius completes the thesis, but her Inspiration is haphazard and confusing. The genius gains a dot of Inspiration. However, all the persistent faults in all of her wonders change.

''Success:'' The genius completes the thesis and does a competent job. The genius gains a dot of Inspiration upon spending experience points.

''Exceptional Success:'' The genius does an extraordinary job on her thesis, producing a work that is clever, sublime, and deeply personal. The genius gains a dot of Inspiration and refreshes her Mania to the maximum. Her wonders remain the same.

''Suggested Modifiers:'' Long and complicated thesis (+1), simple and easy-to-complete thesis (-1), results of experiments confirmed genius' expectations (+1), transformative emotional experience (+2) 

Upon gaining a new dot of Inspiration, many of the genius' wonders improve automatically once he has a few minutes with them. For example, wonders of Skafoi will typically experience an increase in Speed and Handling. No rolls are required for this improvement.

=== Using Larvae in a Thesis: ===

Larva can be added to a thesis. They do not add to the roll. Instead they provide some unique insight for the genius (and by extension, for the player) about how to proceed with the thesis. Every Larva used grants one insight. However, it must be the genius' own Larva, not one found, bought, or traded second-hand.