Editing Genius: The Transgression (section)

==Catalysts==
It wouldn't be a New World of Darkness game without the omnipresent X/Y Axis [[splat]]s. In Genius the "racial" splat is the Catalyst, that which drove a normal scientist to become a Genius. The process of Catalyzation, the Breakthrough, is somewhere in between an [[Mage: The Awakening|Awakening]] and an [[Planeswalker|Ignition]]: a moment of brilliance followed by a lifetime of potential. The names of the Catalysts are all in German, while other terms pertaining to Geniuses are in Latin, Greek, English and more. Why? Because SCIENCE, that's why!

===Grimm, The Catalyst of Fury===
''You will pay for what you've done.''

The Grimm take to the other meaning of "mad" when practicing their mad science. Their Breakthrough is out of anger at something or someone and now seek things like revenge, justice, retribution or just a desire to fuck shit up. This makes them rather straightforward and rarely swayed by paranoia or sentimentality, for they are filled with nothing but the will to get something done. Despite this the Grimm tend to be rather irrational, wanting to have a go at whoever or whatever caused them to have their Breakthrough without any regard for what is reasonable or sane. Their favored Axiom is Katastrofi- nothing says "I am angry" like a giant death ray cannon capable of razing a city block.

===Hoffnung, The Catalyst of Vision===
''We won't have any of these problems when I RULE THE WORLD!''

The Hoffnung are men and women with a Vision. Yes, the capital-V kind. When regular thinkers and visionaries start to form their ideas they might expand their view of the world enough to have their Breakthrough. From here a Hoffnung starts to build Wonders to make their Vision a reality (no matter how insane it is), and woe to those who get in the way. This makes them supremely narcissistic, feeling that they and only they are in the right and that everyone else is wrong for not sharing their vision. Their favored Axiom is Metaptropi, which changes the world much like they want to.

===Klagen, The Catalyst of Loss===
''No, you fools, you'll doom us all!''

The gloomy Catalyst. Klagen are fully aware of the fact that they live in the World of Darkness and what that means. They have always lost at least one person to madness, obsession or some sort of accident that they blamed themselves for. They tend to be the most sensible of the Inspired, undoing the damage that was done and healing those who were hurt. But since they're still crazy they might have bizarre ways of setting right what went wrong. They are prone to bouts of depression and making the misery they carry around get the better of them. Their favored Axiom is Exelixi, with which they can heal and repair done damages.

===Neid, The Catalyst of Banishment===
''They scoffed at my theories, they laughed at me, they called me mad! Well, I'll show them! I'll show them all!'' 

That quote up there is pretty much Neid in a nutshell. Their eccentric ideas ostracized them before or during their Breakthrough, filling them with the desire to get even with whomever it was that they think wronged them. They see others as out to get them, to disprove their perfectly valid creations and mock them for it. Occasionally, they might even be right. As such the Neid want to prove their worth and the truth of their convictions, breeding a volatile mix of insecurity, resentment, and paranoia that draws them to the more "out there" forms of mad science when it comes to matters of morality. Their favored Axiom is Epikrato, which allows them to control others and ''make'' them listen.

===Staunen, The Catalyst of Curiosity===
''This is FOR SCIENCE!''

Staunen practice mad science for the sake of mad science. Think Doc Brown taken up to 11. Staunen are always hungry for ''more''. More knowledge, more data, more records and more analysis. Staunen either seep into their Breakthrough so slowly it's difficult to tell exactly when the Breakthrough took place, or they are snapped into it by being exposed to something beyond their comprehension and want to learn more. All this curiosity can lead to fixation, an obsession with things no sane person should be thinking about. Their favored Axiom is Apokalypsi, which allows them to see more and learn more than they ever could before.