This is a series of posts on the paradigms of various factions, giving readers an idea of where to start when creating paradigms for their characters.
The Sons of Ether are commonly thought of as mad scientists. While not wrong, this is highly simplified. Mainline Etherites believe that the key to science is passion. If you have strong enough beliefs and passions, you can do anything with science. While you can do science without passion, it will be worse and weaker than a properly passionate scientist. This is how the Etherites manage to keep up with the Technocracy despite a lack of resources. However, I say mainline. The Etherites are a 'big tent' organization, encompassing basically all scientists who don't use computers and who aren't part of the Technocracy. This means that they have to be accepting of various alternate explanations, from people who believe that electricity is sinful to people who are Technocrats in all but affiliation.
However, there is a mainline worldview among the Etherites. Mainline Etherites believe that Atlantis existed, and spread the wonders of science to the world. However, things got bogged down in mysticism, leading to the magical traditions of today. The Etherites believe that they are the heirs to the Atlantean method of science, and are thus justified in taking any grains of truth from any other tradition for their own use. The sole other commonalities between mainline Etherites are their beliefs in Space, the Hollow Earth, and Ether. They believe that space is a thing, with alien planets and whatnot. They believe that space has Ether in it, and in fact that ether can be found all around us. And they believe that the Earth is hollow, and full of dinosaurs and whatnot. Everything else is variable.
Depending on how you count, there are three or five types of Etherite. The three are Scientist, Engineer, and Adventurer. The other two are the Shadow Agency, and the Technocratic Defectors (who are not all Technocratic Defectors). Scientists have an idea of how the world works, and base almost everything they do off of that. Engineers have a way of doing things, and are willing to pick up and discard theories as it suits them. Adventurers focus on actually using the products the others create to explore, and have a focus on personal excellence. The Shadow Agency is the only one that is actually an organization, and are spies and social scientists. The Technocratic Defectors are people with mainstream views on science, who aren't as 'out there' as the other groups. Some analysts like to fold the Shadow Agency into the Adventurers, and the Technocratic Defectors into the other three, but we'll use the long-form one for now. Finally, note that the first three types can have overlap, with individuals having tendencies towards the other two, while focusing on one. (note that there are actual organizations within the Sons of Ether, but they don't really say much about paradigm. They still exist, they're just not very useful.)
Scientists have a view of the world, typically a debunked scientific theory, but often something they came up with themselves, or a theory that hasn't been proven yet, or a 'misinterpretation' of a mainstream scientific theory (usually quantum) (If you call it a misinterpretation to their face, they will probably fight you). So work out what they believe, and how it works, like you would a normal paradigm in the last post.
Doctor Hippo likes the Four Humors theory. He can adjust the humors in people's bodies with various devices, and create artificial humors for more advanced effects. The key is keeping everything balanced, and paradox effects generally come from imbalances.
Professor Quint is in love with the ether theory. He can make etheric projectors to destroy things, build spaceships, and travel to alien worlds.
Mister Quant took Quantum theory and ran with it. He made a belt that can collapse him into a quantum state when he's not being observed, and he gave himself psychic powers that work by changing how the universe works by observing it.
Engineers have a way of doing things. It might be robots, it might be cars, it might be mecha. They don't really care what theories a thing runs on, so long as it runs. Instead their paradigm is that they have a large degree of personal excellence (sometimes called the Spark of Genius) in their field that allows them to do what they do. They generally don't have many statements about how the world works, just that it does. Decide what their focus is, then work out what they can do with it.
Hot-rod has a car, which he loves. He can use it to travel through space and time, he can repair it from anything, he can add weird gizmos, and more.
Asimov likes robots. He can build a robot in a cave with a box of scraps, he can give them all sorts of cool tricks, and more.
Akagi does mecha, and does it well. She can make mecha that shoot nukes, that do weird things with molucules to become indistructible, and and that can shoot cold rays. As long as it's on a mecha, she can do it.
Adventurers don't generally make things, theories and gadgets both. Instead they use them. They also generally have a paradigm that includes 'humans can do great things,' allowing them to do magic through mundane abilities. This is generally not a codified 'thing,' but is rather being just that good. What effects they can't get through personal excellence, they get through things that other people build them. (This includes modifications like robot arms and psychic powers, though psychic powers can also fall under Scientists. If they made it themselves with their own theories, they're a scientist. If someone else did it for them, they're an Adventurer) When making an Adventurer, decide what they're good at, rather than trying to be good at everything. A good rule of thumb is that you can do science through an ability that's rated at four or above.
Anne loves aliens. This is literal. He picks up languages quickly, has a treasure trove of alien gear, and can take advantage of their psychology to make them do things.
Hudson is a man of adventure. If you want someone to fight or run from dinosaurs in the Hollow Earth, who can find awsome adventure at any turn, and who can live to tell about it, he's your man.
Rob is a cyborg. Well, really he's just a brain by now, but the docs made him pretty damn awesome. And he knows how to use his body too, and has been known to manifest gizmos that his creators are pretty sure they didn't put in.
Note that these three are relatively loose, and it's possible to fit in more than one. However, don't try to do it all, pick at most one primary and two secondary things to do.
The Shadow Agency is the intelligence and social science arm of the Etherites. They're the spies, the psychologists, and more. To make one, make either an Adventurer or a Scientist with a focus on spying (for the Adventurer) or the soft sciences (for the Scientist). Note that it's relatively rare for social scientists to use gadgets to create their effects, and they tend to rely instead on personal excellence.
Adom is a psychic, who's MO is to find a Technocrat or Nephrandi outside their base, and read their mind for all it's worth.
Jung is a psychologist, who spends a lot of time manipulating the collective unconscious for the good of the Etherites. He's gotten so good he can do it with only a few words in the right ear.
Jason is a spy, with a lot of gadgets and a lot of skill.
Technocratic Defectors are just 'normal' scientists who happen to be Etherites, politically. They tend to use relatively normal scientific theories to create their work, or at least Technocratic theories. Basically create a Technocratic paradigm. However, due to a lack of resources they often have to cut corners, using either mad science or magic for specific components, like replacing a robot's power source with an Etherite cold fusion generateor or a rune of electricity from a Hermetic. This blending is often rather unstable, and tends to focus paradox effects on the blending, when it doesn't result in flaws in the final product.
See the Technocratic write-ups for examples.
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