World of Sci-ness: initial ideas for a World of Darkness sci-fi hack

So, White Wolf games. It seems like they can mostly be summed up quite generically:

1. You are a(n) [entity]...
2. ...embodying a particular archetype of [entity]...
3. ...living amongst humans in a gothic, urban version of our world...
4. ...as part of a secret subculture of [entities]...
   1. ...divided into bickering factions...
   2. ...with its own unique laws and secrets...
   ...who...
   1. ...explores the nature of humanity and [entity]hood...
   2. ...tussles with moral and philosophical quandaries...
   3. ...and goes around doing missions for people because they kind of want you to I guess.

You know what they don't have yet? Aliens. Let's make aliens.

It seems, from my reading of White Wolf, that you basically need "archetypes" (some games more tenuous than others), factions with some kind of goal or philosophy, and supernatural powers.

Setting

But wait! I hear you cry. Aliens won't be compatible with World of Darkness and its supernatural setting.

That's okay. We can have an urban sci-fi setting instead. I will tentatively entitle it Beneath the Dark Skies.

The world is not what you think. Beneath skyscrapers’ leering gargoyles, factories belching smoke and streets packed with the human throng lurk things we are not meant to see. Creatures dwell in the shadows and hidden places. They watch you, stalk you and prey upon your body and soul. The life you lead is a lie. Your darkest fears aren’t make-believe. They’re real. And now that you have glimpsed this world of darkness what lies beneath the dark skies, there's nowhere to hide.

Convenient, that.

Reality is deeper than humanity believes. We send probes and signals into the reaches of space, seeking intelligence that has already found us. Scientists work to hone technology that has already escaped them. We cling to notions of Here and Now, while the echoes of Not and Later ripple all around.

Beneath the Dark Skies presents a clumsy hack of The World of Darkness for sci-fi gaming. It includes five core splats that sort of look a bit like genre archetypes if you don't look too closely:

• Visitant - You are an extraterrestrial, embodying a particular archetype of extraterrestrial living amongst humans in a gothic, urban version of our world (as part of a secret subculture of extraterrestrials divided into bickering factions with its own unique laws and secrets) who explores the nature of humanity and alienness, tussles with moral and philosophical quandaries and goes around doing missions for people because they kind of want you to I guess.
• Automaton - You are an artificial intelligence, embodying a particular archetype of artificial intelligence, living amongst humans in a gothic, urban version of our world (as part of a secret subculture of artificial intelligences divided into bickering factions with its own unique laws and secrets) who explores the nature of humanity and natural-versus-artificial, tussles with moral and philosophical quandaries and goes around doing missions for people because they kind of want you to I guess.
• Ascended - You are a human enhanced by super-science, embodying a particular archetype of superhuman, living amongst humans in a gothic, urban version of our world (as part of a secret subculture of superhumans divided into bickering factions with its own unique laws and secrets) who explores the nature of humanity and superiority, tussles with moral and philosophical quandaries and goes around doing missions for people because they kind of want you to I guess.
• Drifted - You are a future-dweller cut adrift in time, embodying a particular archetype of time traveller, living amongst humans in a gothic, urban version of our world (as part of a secret subculture of time travellers divided into bickering factions with its own unique laws and secrets) who explores the nature of humanity and time, tussles with moral and philosophical quandaries and goes around doing missions for people because they kind of want you to I guess.
• Paradox - You are a relic of a timeline that doesn’t exist, embodying a particular archetype of alternate self, living amongst humans in a gothic, urban version of our world (as part of a secret subculture of alternate-universe survivors divided into bickering factions with its own unique laws and secrets) who explores the nature of humanity and reality, tussles with moral and philosophical quandaries and goes around doing missions for people because they kind of want you to I guess.

Other stuff

The degree of woobly stuff in a setting is an important consideration. World of Darkness features mythological entities with supernatural powers, humans with psychic (in the Victorian sense) abilities, and yar'actual wizards. So, what about Beneath the Dark Skies?

Science fiction covers a wide range, from the hardest of hard science to fantasy in space. Some stories feature magic by any other name, lightly skinned with pseudoscience. Some grant amazing abilities that you can sort of explain with very advanced and speculative physics if you don't look too closely. Some devise mental powers (the other 'psychic') to permit hypnotism, telepathy, and in some cases anything from pyromancy to illusions to walking through walls. And of course, sufficiently advanced technology covers a multitude of magics.

I think the setting is crying out for a low-wooble baseline. WoD has the wooble covered pretty thoroughly. Also, introducing the generic supernatural will only tend to make a scientific flavour harder to maintain. We'd need to consider how each type of splat interacts with the wooble - can robots have psychic powers? That doesn't mean we can't have cool stuff, but I think it wants to be carefully assigned a veneer of scientific plausibility. This means special abilities will tend to revolve more around physical interaction, senses, and the laws of nature, and less around messing with people's heads or summoning spirits.

• Visitant - possessed of alien anatomy and the technology of a starfaring species, you can expect mostly biology-based abilities, augmented by implanted technology.
• Automaton - a mechanical body with an inhuman mind, your abilities revolve around the capabilities of your shell, and your interactions with human technology.
• Ascended - the most varied of the splats, you have a variety of options, including telepathic capabilities and manipulation of physical laws.
• Drifted - a prisoner of broken time, your exposure to temporal energies gives you access to foretellings, and limited ability to manipulate time. You may also have technological or biological capabilities native to your birthtime.
• Paradox - as a metaphysical anomaly, you learn to manipulate the universe around you, twisting reality and possibility.

Well, that's the broad intention anyway... the idea is that even the Ascended will be built more along the lines of Captain America, the Flash or Spiderman than Storm or Dr. Strange. And of course, any of them may have technological abilities - I left that out because it's universal, although I'm thinking here specifically of implanted and biological stuff. I don't necessarily want lots of portable tech floating around. It should be intrinsic to the characters, otherwise it's resources rather than abilities.

More to follow as and when I write it.