Glossary of Genius: the Transgression terminology
Geniuses / The Inspired: mad scientists
Mania: generated and channeled by Geniuses to do mad science
Wonder: something created by a Genius that breaks the laws of reality
Bardo: a not-quite-real pocket dimension where some theory that's been
proved false in the real world is true - like hollow earth theory, or
intelligent life on mars, or geocentricism.
Mane: a being that follows different laws of reality and subsists on Mania.
The creations of Geniuses and residents of bardos are all manes.
Manes can be Inspired.
Catalyst: the emotional trigger that causes someone to become Inspired
Beholden: people who aren't quite Inspired but are drawn to Geniuses
and able to work with wonders and mania. Henchpeople, essentially.
Havoc: the name of the phenomenon where, when someone who's not a
Genius/mane/beholden attempts to interact with or inspect a wonder, the
wonder either breaks or goes haywire
Obligation: how ethical a Genius is; low-Obligation geniuses see people
as test subjects and have no scruples about endangering others with their
hubristic perversions of science.
Transgression: an act that risks lowering a Genius's Obligation.
Willpower: characters can spend willpower to get a bonus to any roll, and
regain willpower by exhibiting a virtue or vice chosen at character creation.
Chance die: when a roll would otherwise be zero dice, a player can still roll
one die, with a 10% chance of success and a 10% chance of
"dramatic failure", in which things just go horribly horribly wrong.