Editing Genius The Transgression/Chapter One: The Cosmos (section)

==Hoffnung==

'''The Catalyst of Vision'''

'''Nickname: Principalities'''

'''Traditional Planet: Jupiter'''

''We won't have these problems when I...RULE THE WORLD!''

When some far-seeing scientists reach their Breakthrough, they catch a glimpse of the world As It Could Be. Buoyed with hope of making the world a better place (for their definition of "better") they set to work, filled with frantic energy, to achieve their vision. From honorable captains of industry who work to place a fusion-powered car in every garage, to lunatics eager to replace "undesirables" with pliant robot slaves, the Hoffnungs dream of a world fundamentally changed by the fruits of their Inspiration. The tradition of the Hoffnung goes back millennia, to the glorious beings who were charged with the caretaking and 
transformation of nations and kingdoms, and who determined the course of their governance, science, and religion. They were the daimons of Greece, China's emissaries from the Celestial Bureaucracy, and the early Christians knew them as the Principalities, the guardian angels of tribes and nations.

Cities have burned and risen from the earth because of Hoffnungs. They have affected the mundane world more than any other catalyst. Psychological analysis of figures recent and long-dead reveals Hoffnung traits in some of the most influential geniuses, from the founders of the Invisible College―foes all of Lemurian oppression―to the mad vivisectionists and fantastical sociologists who encouraged the growth and spread of Nazism.

Hoffnungs see the world through the lens of history, whether they're Aristotelians or Marxists, whether they're awaiting the Machine Singularity or some kind of techno-gnostic Second Coming of Christ. To a Hoffnung, everything is in motion, and not blindly, but toward a future that they can help bring about.

===Origins:===

Geniuses of Vision often think big before their Breakthroughs. They are politicians, reformers, dreamers, and futurists, obsessed with what's coming. All hold a picture of what they want the world to be. Hoffnungs may or may not be wealthy, but most are influential in one way or another: those that aren't powerful lobbyists are passionate orators, dedicated civil servants, or just very good at arguing for their ideas on the Internet. Few come from desperate straits, as people in those environments are more interested in day-to-day survival than the transformation of the world.

A Principality is the most likely of all geniuses to receive direct, deliberate training from an existing genius. These Hoffnungs are often gifted mundane scientists in whom a genius sees the spark of future brilliance. Others might start as beholden who are trained (often brutally) to escape their master's worldview and to find their own. Many Hoffnungs, regardless of their precise origin, are heirs to some other genius' legacy. One might work to fulfill the dreams of her dead mentor, to wipe out the Ubermensch infestation of Antarctica, while another surpassed and supplanted his teacher longer ago and now works to transform the world's economy from the CEO chair of one of Europe's most powerful technology companies.

===Breakthrough:===

Passionate scions of power and privilege, often already aware of the Inspired world before they catalyze, Hoffnungs often experience the least traumatizing catalysts of all geniuses. Few speak of their old personalities being "replaced"; upon their Breakthroughs, most still seem very much the person they were, with the same ambitions and the same vision, though that vision is often purified through their contact with the light of Inspiration.

Those mortals who are not first cultivated by another genius usually experience a gradual Breakthrough as their understanding of the world broadens. They see answers that were murky before, they see solutions that they never thought possible, and at last, they see how they can change the world, through machinery or political will, and so catalyze. These Hoffnungs, especially the non-scientific among them (many preachers and advocates) can quickly destabilize after their Breakthroughs when they realize that, due to the nature of Mania, they will be unable to effect their changes as easily as they had hoped.

===Motivation:===

A Hoffnung is defined by hope for a better tomorrow―whatever they call "better," of course. Their attempts to transform the world define them. Hoffnungs are, of all geniuses, those most determined to make their wonders "work" for regular people, and they are often the most proficient at creating objects of mundane science and technology. Whether building wonders, messing around with mundane technology, or looking to "adjust" human society to make it more amenable to the genius' vision, the Principalities are always defined by what they are doing, at any given moment, to make the world they imagine into reality.

Once Inspired, a Hoffnung often works to understand the underpinnings of Mania and how it relates to human interaction, in a desperate quest to escape the fetters of Havoc. This process can be dangerous―both physically, since Havoc is not to be trifled with, and psychologically, since it can lead to believing that one's wonders should work―but it also makes Hoffnungs some of the foremost experts on Havoc, and gives them a firm grasp of the principles behind it, and how to avoid it.

===Collaboration:===

Many geniuses think Hoffnungs join collaboratives so they can get other people to work on their projects. This isn't entirely fair, but there is some truth in it. Hoffnungs rarely cooperate with their fellows, with the exception of "multigenerational" Hoffnung clans created by a long line of genius-cultivators, and even those groups are prone to self-destruction―not to mention being weird and intellectually incestuous. Instead, Hoffnungs seek out other geniuses whose values and dreams don't differ too much from their own, or who lack the sort of ambition that defines a Hoffnung. In these groups, a Principality can feel at home, working on her grand projects while not stepping on anyone else's vision.

A collaborative with a Hoffnung always has an excellent source of new plans. Geniuses can benefit materially and scientifically by following in a Hoffnung's wake. A Hoffnung's ambitions can get her (and the rest of the collaborative) into trouble, but it can also offer a group direction, energy, and ambition.

===Favored Axiom:===
Metaptropi, the Axiom of Transformation. Principalities are masters of changing the physical world, bending it to conform to what they want to see.

===Derangement:===
Narcissism. Even the kindest Hoffnung, deep down, believes that he is entirely right and correct, making him dangerous to those who cross him.

===Training:===
Hoffnungs want to change the world, but they can take almost any approach to doing so. Their polemics make Expression a common and useful skill. Those that want to change human behavior are adept at interpersonal interaction, with high Social Attributes along with good scores in Socialize, Persuasion, and Politics. Hoffnungs who want their wonders (or something close) in every home focus on high Crafts or Computer scores and Social Merits like Allies, Fame, and Status. Those Hoffnungs who trace their lineage back to older members of their catalyst often benefit from inheriting a Laboratory, and may still have a Mentor.

Not all Hoffnungs are benevolent dreamers: those that want to twist the world into conformity with their deranged imaginings emphasize Manipulation, Intimidation, and clandestine skills like Larceny and Subterfuge. Many monstrous visionaries―and a few extropic idealists―are experts in Medicine. The more aggressive masterminds often keep groups of beholden on retainer to intimidate and silence enemies.

Not many Hoffnungs are physically oriented, though some prefer to change the world one ass-kicking at a time. These crusaders rarely possess the sadism of Grimms―though their clinical precision may offer little comfort to their victims―but they learn many of the same Skills: Investigation and Intimidation to learn what they need, Drive to cover ground, Larceny and Stealth to get in unnoticed, Brawl to teach someone a lesson, and Firearms and Weaponry, to make someone into a lesson.

===Concepts:===
Cold fusion researcher, deranged medical eugenicist, acolyte of the Singularity, guerrilla 
revolutionary, post-Y-chromosome feminist, ruler of a hidden Utopia, (virtual) town planner, cybernetic-replacement addict, guy who's really excited about fluoride in the drinking water.

''You've seen it on the billboards and the trash-strewn alleys, amidst the halls of the powerful and in the tenements of the desperate: the Change. It's coming, and soon everything will be different. Our world will transform itself―in fire, if necessary, in blood, certainly―and be reborn, fresh and new, to gaze out on the universe with innocent and wondering eyes. And I am the herald of that Change. So forgive me if I cannot hear your words or your screams. They are too small. Do you hear the mayflies screaming tonight? Neither do I.''

===Stereotypes:===
Grimm: Punching the broken computer does not fix the broken computer. Repairing the broken computer fixes the broken computer.

Klagen: It doesn't do to feel sorry over this death or that atrocity; you must feel sorrow over the entire structure that allows such horrors to unfold.

Neid: There's a reason that everyone thinks you're crazy. It's because you haven't yet shown them how right you are.

Staunen: Stop staring slack-jawed and get to work; Utopia isn't going to achieve itself.