I'm, uh, gonna go ahead and say I'm gonna start out as powerful as I can then. This is because in my experience 9 out of 10 RPs die before that kind of progression can actually happen and the few times it does it can also end up being a mad power dash where a character just gains ridiculous powerups for no good reason. That's another good piece of advice for both players and GMs there, I believe: planning for the long term is very good, it really is, but games rarely get to that point so focusing on the here and now is usually a much safer bet. Don't expect the game to last enough for you to do the entirety of your epic storyline or for your character to undergo a cool growth arc that feels natural and justified.