Editing Genius The Transgression/Chapter Two: Character Creation (section)

===Step Five: Add Genius Template===
When a genius experiences her Breakthrough, she is redefined as a creature of Inspiration and Mania. While still human, she is also something more, and gains powers and suffers drawbacks unique to her new condition.

Note that templates cannot overlap. Geniuses will not experience the First Change and become a werewolf, nor Awaken as a Mage. Attempts to Embrace a genius result in a dead genius. If taken to Faerie she will not become a Changeling (if she survives the experience). Her corpse, if turned into a Promethean, is just that: a new Promethean.

====Attribute Bonus:====
A genius receives an additional dot to one Mental Attribute, representing the increase in mental capacity granted by the Breakthrough. Meticulous, thoughtful, theoretical mad scientists often gain a bonus to Intelligence, while creative, artistic, intuitive ones can gain a bonus to Wits, and determined, practical, and stubborn geniuses usually receive a bonus to Resolve. Select whichever Attribute seems most appropriate.

A genius' Mental Attributes are still limited by her Inspiration.

====Foundations:====
When a genius first experiences his Breakthrough, he flails about, struggling to find his center while figuring out exactly what has happened to him. Provided he makes the transition smoothly and does not become a Lemurian, echo doctor, or one of the Illuminated, he may gravitate toward one of the five foundations that dictate a genius' approach to his work.

Each foundation offers favored Axioms, natural areas of specialty for all members of that foundation, as well as a grant, a unique talent that all geniuses in that foundation have mastered. But more than that, a foundation offers a shared approach to mad science that breaks across boundaries of culture and mundane philosophy, giving the genius a community within the community of peers, a group that shares a common approach, style, and terminology.

Examine the five foundations and decide which one best fits your character. If none seems to apply, your genius may instead be a rogue: she has either never encountered the foundations until recently, or wants to join none of them. Rogues are welcome to join most Peer collaboratives, but they are often viewed with suspicion and disdain.

====Catalysts:====
The foundation is a considered choice, based on how the genius approaches mad science. The catalyst is more internal and more visceral, an emotional stamp that remains with the genius forever and echoes the feelings that drove her to catalyze. Sorrow, obsession, jealousy...some strong feeling guides a genius and governs her behavior and Obligation.

All Inspired belong to a catalyst, whether they know it or not and whether or not they can articulate a philosophy behind their Inspiration. Members of the same catalyst do not form "communities" around their shared feeling; these divisions are more personal. Still, they impact the genius deeply, swaying how she learns Axioms and helping to define how she approaches her Obligation to humanity.

A genius' catalyst determines one of her favored Axioms, as well as her first Derangement. Should the genius receive a Derangement as a result of Obligation loss or almost any other reason, the first Derangement received is always based on her catalyst. Subsequent Derangements are determined normally.

====Inspiration:====
The Inspiration Trait measures how brightly the genius' inner light glows. As a genius' understanding increases, so does Inspiration, which is a prospect as terrifying as it is magnificent. On the one hand, greater Inspiration means more wonders and more powerful wonders, as well as a greater understanding of exactly what a genius is and what she is doing. On the other hand, the blinding light of Inspiration can devour a weak-willed genius, hollowing her out and taking up residence in her brain.

A new genius possess one dot of Inspiration for free. Geniuses who have flirted previously with mad science may begin the chronicle with two or three dots of Inspiration. Additional Inspiration dots cost three Merit points per dot, so your genius may spend three Merit dots to begin with Inspiration 2 or six Merit dots to begin begin with Inspiration 3.

====Axioms:====

A genius builds wonders based on Axioms, which are the branches of mad science. Each Axiom covers a general effect or approach―Katastrofi covers all instruments of destruction, for example―and each is ranked from one to five dots, with higher ranks granting more and greater effects. Geniuses must purchase dots from an Axiom in order, from the first dot to the fifth. However, a genius can often build many different types of wonders with each dot in an Axiom. Just one dot in Prostasia, the Axiom of Protection, for example, allows a genius to build an armored suit, a deflector screen, a protective ward against robots, or a forcefield cage to 
hold enemies.

A genius' catalyst gives her one favored Axiom. Her foundation offers two possibilities, of which she may choose one as another favored Axiom. The final favored Axiom can be anything; it is up to the genius to decide, but once chosen, it cannot be changed.

A rogue receives one favored Axiom from her catalyst and two other favored Axioms of her choice. These also cannot be changed.

A favored Axiom costs fewer experience points to increase. Further, a genius receives a +1 bonus to all attempts to build a wonder from one of her favored Axioms. Finally, a genius can buy her favored Axiom up to any level. Non-favored Axioms can be no higher than the genius' Inspiration.

A beginning genius has three dots worth of Axioms. All dots must be from one of her three favored Axioms.

====Axiom Ranks:====
Within the Peerage, the "dot" ranks in Axioms are sometimes given names:

●: Student

●●: Scholar

●●●: Doctor

●●●●: Implementor

●●●●●: Master

These terms vary by region, foundation, and sometimes even by Axiom (Implementors of Apokalypsi are usually referred to as "Professors of Apokalypsi," for example), but the five divisions of talent are generally recognized across the Peerage.

Geniuses refer to wonders made with different ranks of Axioms as a wonder's class, mark, or grade: a class-4 matter relocator, a mark-III death ray, a grade-2 scanner. Different collaboratives use different terms.