Editing Genius: The Transgression (section)

===Obligation===
With great Wonders comes great responsibility. Most Geniuses are aware of their strained link to society, so they focus on that which ties them: their Obligation. Whether this is to improve, protect, heal or punish them is irrelevant: the Obligation is there. Obligation does not allow for rationalization along the lines of "the [[greater good]]": if you violate the standards of normal humanity then you violate your Obligation. Geniuses start at Obligation 7 (as is the rough standard), but it can be bought down to 5 in exchange for 5[[XP]] per decreased point.

With Obligation 8 or higher the Genius is seen as a Paragon. This means that they are seen as a trustworthy authority by mortals and gains +1 on all Social checks when acting from this authority, and efforts to tarnish the Paragon's reputation is met with a -3 penalty. Meanwhile, the less Obligation a Genius has the more stunted their social skills are. At 3 or 4 Obligation they get a -1 penalty to all Social checks and -2 at 1 or 2 Obligation. If a Genius' Obligation hits 0 they become Illuminated and as per WoD tradition are no longer playable. Illuminated do not get the decreased rolls on Social checks, but they are next to incapable of meaningful communication anyway.

Notably, this system has ''some'' congruity to normal human morality, but it is not a perfect 1:1 reflection.  Instead, it is a measure of how the Genius interacts with the world, and how they have held onto themselves vs. letting their Inspiration change them.  For instance, transhumanism or attempts to "improve" oneself, like transforming oneself into a robot dragon or hooking up one's brain to a computer, are fairly serious Obligation transgressions, even if done in a way that doesn't cause others harm, simply because it means deliberately doing something to remove oneself from normal humanity or a human perspective.

{|class=wikitable
|-
| align=center | '''Obligation''' || align=center | '''Transgression'''
|-
| '''10''' ||  Allowing one's wonder to risk Havoc. Using wonders to accomplish a task when it could have been accomplished just as well with mundane science or skill. Experimenting on animals. (Roll five dice)
|-
| '''9''' || Allowing one's wonder to turn temporarily orphan. Altering oneself or another person with mad science, even temporarily (not including healing). Going a day without human contact. Minor selfish acts. Performing surgery. (Roll five dice)
|-
| '''8''' ||  Injury to another (accidental or otherwise). Failing to help a victimized innocent in need. Triggering an unmada check in oneself. Emotional manipulation. Grave-robbing, dissection, or making zombies. Allowing one's wonder to turn permanently orphan. (Roll four dice)
|-
| '''7''' ||  Petty theft (shoplifting). Allowing an innocent to die or be seriously injured without making effort to save the person. Making a person beholden. Mind control. Experimenting on willing human subjects (including oneself) where there is some possibility of harm. Unintentional mass property damage brought about by Inspiration. (Roll four dice)
|-
| '''6''' ||  Grand theft (burglary). Kidnapping. "Editing" to gather Mania. Going a week without human contact. Creating an intelligent machine (Automata 4+). Body swapping. (Roll three dice)
|-
| '''5''' ||  Killing an intelligent being. Intentional, mass property damage (arson, most doom cannons). Experimenting on willing human subjects (including oneself) where there is a serious possibility of death or harm. Programming permanent psychological limitations into an intelligent being. (Roll three dice)
|-
| '''4''' ||  Impassioned serious crime (manslaughter). Sadistic mind control (of the "forcing two friends to fight for your amusement" variety or similar acts of cruelty.) Permanently and significantly altering your physical form (adding two more arms, etc.) (Roll two dice)
|-
| '''3''' ||  Going a month without human contact. Planned serious crime (murder). Slavery. Experimenting on unwilling human subjects where there is a serious possibility of death or harm. Permanently and entirely altering your physical form (uploading yourself into a computer or becoming a giant caterpillar). (Roll two dice)
|-
| '''2''' ||  Bringing the dead back to life. Rape or sexual mind control. Serial murder. Spreading massive plague and devastation. (Roll one die)
|-
| '''1''' ||  Mass murder. Hideous experiments on unwilling human subjects. Scientific torture. Genocide. (Roll one die.)
|}