I'm not sure how reading novels and being a mentor exactly classifies you as an expert ... and Wish Fulfillment isn't a bad thing so long as it improves and compels a good story. Before I go further, don't worry about me being one of "the people clamoring to get into your good books here just because they are desperate to be accepted." Besides the fact that I feel it's extremely rude to make judgements like that on people you don't even know on a public forum, my character has already been accepted ... so let's move on.
I theorize the only issue you really have with the character is the amount of power this character has. He's overpowered as hell, can do pretty much anything, and is alike to a deity (though he isn't as far as a know, but might be). I can't really agree that any part of his background is done in bad writing because it's quite a unique twist in my mind to take a tyrant able to rule a whole world would've been humbled by his opponents so much as to stop using that power right out, despite how much he can truly change the world. Of course any good story, there should never really be any one character that can snap their fingers and blow the world up ... whether this is because lacking that power or by choice.
Now my real question is, what is the difference between him playing this character and playing a deity as an NPC? ... he controls all outside elements, after all, except the ones he let's us control. That's how it is in every single role-play. So ... how is this different? Just because his focus might be on his story specifically? Because he's proclaimed him as a "PC?" Why would that matter? It's like throwing a fit when the GM brings in the God of Death as the main villain. Um ... unless it's abused, what's so wrong with that?
You can yell and cry "Mary Sue" all you want, but unless you cater specifically to a world where no greater powers exist, there will always be an NPC/PC that is far more powerful than any character you've just crafted. He could make you feel better by labeling him as an NPC, but that wouldn't really change anything, so I'm not sure what the fuss is about - unless you're admitting to judging his ability to role-play maturely before the role-play even starts?
Edit: Yes, being cautious can be easily justified by this because a terrible GM with this type of character - NPC OR PC - could ruin the entire thing before it starts. However doesn't the amount of information, story, and uniqueness of the setting not speak for the potential of his setting and characters? I see no reason not to give him a chance. *Shrug*
I myself notice a few red flags, namely the meta-information of, "my characters are guaranteed to be stronger than yours," "I don't have to mention any weaknesses," and "my characters can be defeated, but only when I decide they can."
If theses are DMPCs as opposed to NPCs, they will have to take a serious backseat to the players; essentially demoting them to NPCs regardless. I find the CS with ots extensive list of the character's many powers and whatnot to be rather masturbatory.
I've got my reservations about the character, too. There's not enough buffer between you and being absurdly overpowered because you... Sort of removed them all, for yourself, so we just have to trust you. I don't know you, GM--I can't do that yet. Only thing I can trust is the setting you laid out, which has a lot of writing and research gone into it.
Currently, I'm giving you benefit of the doubt, but if it starts turning fishy in here, I'm out.
At this point I don't think it'll be very productive to continue arguing with @71342 directly. If anyone else has similar concerns as him, but is willing to give my game and characters a chance, feel free to voice those concerns again, and I'll address them to the best of my ability.
One concern that several other people seem to have is that they think my character is simply too powerful in comparison to the rest of the setting. This is not true. The reason that the sorcerer-king decided to merge with the Dweomerheart and become a god, even though he could already destroy mountains before that, was that he knew he wasn't powerful enough to conquer the world unless he gained the extra power from deification. Without the power level of a deity, he might've been able to take out any other mage in the world at the time in a one-on-one fair fight, but he'd have absolutely no chance if they all attacked him at once, unless he became a god. And now, he's quite a bit weaker than his pre-deification self. There should exist quite a few characters, on both the Magi and Tech sides, whose powers are on the same level as him, and most of them should have far more political influence than my character due to likely being leaders of major factions instead of a nameless recluse. It is simply not true that my character could easily solve all of the world's problems with a snap of his fingers if he wanted; he isn't nearly powerful enough for that. If you want to play as one of those characters whose power level is comparable to my character's, you can discuss your ideas with me, and we'll see if we can work something out.
Secondly, as @lydyn already pointed out, there's no essential difference between a "PC" and an "NPC", especially since everyone is allowed to make as many characters as he or she wants. All characters are just characters, whose actions are, one way or another, decided by the players (counting myself as one of the players), so it's not very meaningful to arbitrarily label some of them as PCs and others as NPCs.
"I don't have to mention any weaknesses,"
This is only because including all of the weaknesses and limitations will make the character sheet even longer. If you want to know the limitations of any particular ability of my character's, ask and I shall answer. I have a set of very strict rules in place in my setting, and no one, not even my own characters, can break these.
"my characters can be defeated, but only when I decide they can."
I'm the GM. It is always the case that my characters can only be defeated when I decide they can, regardless of how powerful they are. I've made my character powerful not to make him invincible (there exist other characters who are each nearly as powerful as him, as I said above), but because I want to explore the idea of how it's not easy to change the world for the better even if one has a lot of power at his or her disposal. Also because of personal wish fulfillment, but again, I don't think that's a bad thing if the character itself is compelling and well-written.
If theses are DMPCs as opposed to NPCs, they will have to take a serious backseat to the players; essentially demoting them to NPCs regardless.
See above for the lack of fundamental distinction between PCs and NPCs. If your concern is one of plot importance, I've already said that I will do everything in my power to make sure my characters do not ruin the conflict for the other characters. One of the symptoms of a Mary Sue is how she can warp the plot to revolve entirely around her, and that is something I specifically want to avoid. I will not turn the plot into "Evan's quest to revolutionize the world, with the player characters as his lackeys". What I intend to do with my character is to explore his personality, motivations, and psychological issues. It's a psychological journey that's intended to end with him becoming more at ease with himself, not a physical journey that ends with him having changed the world to suit his views better. The other player characters may play a part in his psychological development by interacting with him, but they're certainly not going to become extras as he takes center stage and decide the fate of the world.
I find the CS with ots extensive list of the character's many powers and whatnot to be rather masturbatory.
Yes, it's indeed masturbatory, because it's wish fulfillment. But, as I've said a few times now, I'm also trying to make a well-written character out of this. Characters should be judged on their displayed quality alone, as if the author doesn't exist. Because as far as the story itself is concerned, out-of-story elements like the author really don't exist.
I've got my reservations about the character, too. There's not enough buffer between you and being absurdly overpowered because you... Sort of removed them all, for yourself, so we just have to trust you. I don't know you, GM--I can't do that yet. Only thing I can trust is the setting you laid out, which has a lot of writing and research gone into it.
Currently, I'm giving you benefit of the doubt, but if it starts turning fishy in here, I'm out.
And this is perfectly reasonable. I'm new here, and you guys haven't seen me roleplay or host. But as long as you give me a chance, like what you're doing now, my actions should speak for themselves when you witness them.
Oh, about the half-elemental thing. If anyone is interested, I'm fully willing to explain why my character is technically classified as a half-elemental, half-dragon, and why such a thing isn't all that abnormal, relative to everything else in the setting. But I don't want to bore people with only tangentially related minutiae on how speciation (or the lack thereof) works in my setting, so I'll only go into details if anyone is actually interested in the worldbuilding.
Appearance: Johnathan is a man who looks particularly unfit to be in any sort of holy capacity. He has a strong jawline with a short black/grey beard and a rough, but not quite ruggedly handsome, face, with strong features. His eyes are a steely grey/blue, and his hair is very dark brown with some hints of grey. He wears it short, and not particularly groomed. His body is broad and muscular, and he stands about 6ft 2” tall, with lightly tanned white skin. His nose is just a little crooked, and he has a faint scar under his left eye, all in all he looks more suitable as a boxer than a priest.
His common attire is a simple home-spun brown priest robe, with the golden sword insignia of his holy order, underneath he wears tough black cargo trousers and a simple white vest.
Personality: Johnathan is a virtuous man, with a fair intellect and a decent knowledge of the world around him. However, he is also what one could call a fanatic, blinded by his faith and capable of acts of immense cruelty when shielded by the law of his order. He is honest to the point of being blunt or tactless, however he is also loyal and trustworthy. He is slow to anger, except when it is his faith which is questioned, and even then he is just as quick to forgive. He belongs whole-heartedly to the Church of Remus, which is a faith group with similarities to Christianity, with a guiding principle of condemning dangerous technology. Johnathan has vowed abstinence since joining the order ten years prior, but was straight beforehand.
Faction: Church of Remus
Biography: Johnathan was born in Hevren, one of the large and ever growing cities in Magi-controlled Earth, on the continent of Europe and in the country of Germania. He grew up without his father, who had taken ill from alcohol and died when he was very young. His older brother Isaac abandoned the family the moment he turned 18, leaving Johnathan listless and unwilling to commit fully to studying. He dropped out a few years early and took up odd jobs, until news of his mother’s death drove him to drink. The story goes that he was picked up by the mysterious founder of the Church of Remus, and thrived under his personal tutelage. This led him to swiftly rise up among the ranks and become the official leader of the chapter, while the founder headed off to create new chapters across the continent.
Skills: Johnathan would be loath to admit it, but he is actually a fairly competent fighter, after taking up illegal cage fighting for a few years. He would be considered adequate in what could basically be considered Boxing, Judo, and Krav Maga. Johnathan is a skilled Orator, after performing sermons for roughly nine years, he can control a crowd with relative ease. He has the basic skills of any adult who lives alone and looks after themselves, as well as the somewhat shifty skills of someone out of work for long periods of time. He has even lived on the streets for a short while. Johnathan is very good at sizing someone up. He also has a working knowledge of history, and could be considered a somewhat proficient tactician, this comes from his less than savoury work as part of the Church.
Abilities: Spellcaster
Evocation: The Book of Remus
Johnathan learned from the founder of the Church of Remus how to summon the book of the order, a moderately sized tome comparative to the bible. Within this book is a wide variety of spoken spells, with effects rooted in spellcasting. The necessity to summon and read from the book offsets the advantage of a wide range of powerful spells. Each spell is linked to a page of chanting, which must be channelled as the spell takes effect.
Hand of Life: The first, the Hand of Life is the closest ability linked to Remus himself, it allows one to sacrifice mana to regenerate someone’s cells or repair other forms of damage and combat disease, it is essentially a basic healing spell that works on contact.
Hand of Death: The opposite of the coin, the Hand of Death is a contact based spell which works in the opposite fashion to the Hand of Life, taking the energy from whoever the user touches and using it to either bolster the magi’s own mana reserves or healing their bodies. (Energy drain spell.)
Circle of Light: The most fundamental defensive spell in the Book, the circle of light can project a barrier of light energy around the user, up to a radius of six feet.
Waters of the Tiber: A powerful ability that allows the user to saturate an area in water, quenching flame. After a minute of chanting, one may create a wave of water more than capable of knocking a grown man off his feet. It may also be used at a lower cost to manipulate already present water, though not as effectively as a devoted water manipulator.
Feral Ferocity: An ability which takes direct effect upon the user, it causes the mage to become more feral in combat, with heightened reflexes and speed, this is a somewhat embarrassing ability to use, but highly effective in desperate situations.
Commanding Presence: When holding the Book of Remus the user exudes some of the Deity’s aura, causing those afflicted to be filled with an unexplainable respect for the priest. This is only particularly effective against weaker willed/low intelligence beings. It is a fairly easy manipulation on someone’s mind however, because everyone has the capacity to respect someone they are far less likely to question the sudden liking of the priest or the special attention they pay to his words.
Exorcism: An ability which requires a minute of reading even to take effect, this wears the target down with waves of energy, damaging electrical circuitry and reducing technology to ineffectiveness while similarly disorientating a mage. It has a particularly powerful effect against summons and possessive creatures, often forcing them to flee.
Cleansing Flame: After a few moments of chanting, holy fire emerges from the user’s free hand, with the strange effect of only burning those the user deems immoral or unholy. This means it can be used with impunity in a large crowd, and only effect the person the user wishes. The reasons for this on a scientific level probably stem from the flame being purely visual until the heat is directed on a single source. It arcs like a flamethrower, and lasts for a full minute unless one stops chanting, it is highly costly in terms of mana. It may only burn inanimate objects if the user wills it, much like people.
The Betrayed’s Paranoia: An ability which when channelled allows Johnathan to sense those around him, particularly powerful beings who would wish him harm. It only works on a radius of about 100 feet, and requires him to have the foresight to actually use it.
Remus’ Body: An ability which requires a comparatively shorter period of time to channel, and which carries over until an end clause is spoken or the user’s mana runs out, provides a passive buff to the user’s physical capabilities. This covers the user in a skin of energy, increasing his strength, agility, speed, and durability to super-human levels.
Martyr’s Blood: An ability which also requires the user’s blood to be shed on the page of the book, this ability allows the user to increase the power of the book of Remus for a short period. In this time three extra spells may be used.
Martyr Abilities
Sword of Remus: This ability breaks apart the Book, preventing it from being summoned for a 24 hour period. The user draws a steel longsword from the pages, imbued with the ability to either freeze or burn anything it comes within an inch of, other than the user. The user also gains the passive ability of Remus’ body while using the sword. It constantly requires mana to keep active, but is highly effective at cutting through armour or even thick plates of metal, making it a deadly weapon. (Evocation)
Shield of Remus: The book breaks apart, shielding the user with its energy for over an hour, making them unnatural durable, Remus’ Body activates at the same time. This can allow Johnathan to survive things which should by all rights kill him, though at the cost of his Book for a day. It also allows him to subsist on the energy of the book alone for a short while, removing his need to breath etc. (Spellcasting)
Blood of Remus: The most difficult ability to master, the Blood of Remus allows the user to personify the deity himself (by this I mean he assumes the form of an avatar of Remus, giving him incredible physical prowess and a few powerful elemental spells, he doesn’t actually become a god). Johnathan is not skilled enough to use this ability effectively, so from the outset he won’t be using it at all. (Shapeshifting)
Possessions: Johnathan has relatively little of what one would call Worldly Possessions, other than the mundane items people would expect any priest and mage to have. He does however wear a necklace on the outside of his monk-like robes which looks similar to the Cross, but with the point more resembling a blade.
Name: Church of Remus, Remus Faith, Remusite (someone belonging to the Church of Remus)
Side: Magi
Composition: 80% Human, 20% other assorted races on Earth (roughly representative, save that the chapters are in cities so non-urban races are disproportionately represented.
Location: The Continent of Europe, chapters in every capitol city on the continent. Namely the country of Germania, Italia, and France, with their respective capitols being Hevren (Johnathan’s chapter) Damus and Retus. There are also smaller off-shoots of the main chapters, which are often unsanctioned but still run with similar functions and belief systems.
Description: The Church Of Remus is one which as of recently simply opposes the Tech faction ideology. It condemns the use of dangerous technology and refers to past accidents to promote this. Behind this fairly popular motivation however lies the truth that it is a growing political entity which feeds off the fear of the highly ambitious and widely feared Tech faction.
Though many of the principles may be likened to Christianity, it places the root of all evil in technological development of a militaristic or dangerous kind. Citing the death of the god Remus at the hands of industry and technology, a path which leads to the death of humanity. In the new age, these sort of principles are highly contentious, and have gained serious traction. Mages flock to the Church, believing it supports their ‘god given’ abilities and enjoying the belief that they are favoured by Remus himself. The Church was founded roughly ten years prior by Romus, a powerful magi who has trained a number of powerful magi under him to serve as his Solis, or ‘Fathers of Faith’. Johnathan is one such leader.
Goals: The Church of Remus is devoted to reducing the influence of Technology in society, instead promoting the natural gift of magic. They have been thought to have directly eliminated certain groups or individuals which have used technology to harm others. They are also known to protect the people of Earth, even from their own folly in terms of magical abominations. Ultimately, they seek to preserve the ‘Gods’ earth and eliminate those who would usurp him with cold metal.
Behind this there is a more subtle and cynical move being played, where Romus, the founder of the church, is creating a small but fanatically powerful army of magi who are willing to fight at his command, particularly against the incursions of the Tech faction.
Notable Members: Johnathan Stelridge, Sion of Hevren Romus, Founder of the Church of Remus -Slot open- Faction master (Sion) of Damus -Slot open- Faction master (Sion) of Retus
If anyone is interested in joining the Magi crusade against the Tech faction let me know. (Though it is a little more subtle than that.)
Johnathan is accepted, but I do have one minor concern. Since this is still planet Earth, the continent of Hellus has to be one of Earth's pre-existing continents renamed. It's only been two hundred years, unlikely for any significant continental drift to have occurred. Unless, of course, a group of powerful mages got together and reshaped a continent, which is also unlikely, since there aren't that many of those epic-level mages around. You should clarify which continent Hellus actually is, or maybe just go back to using the regular continent name if the name change isn't too important.
There's also a bit of a problem with the Church of Remus. The existence of the Tech side was only known to the Magi a few months ago, when the two sides made contact. And the Church existed for ten years before that, so it must've had a goal other than stopping the Tech side. You need to provide that goal before the faction can be logically consistent.
Also, a heads up to those of you who are worried that I might abuse overpowered characters. I'm going to make a second character, one almost as powerful as Evan; she has her own different reasons for being conflicted and doubtful regarding her powers. I will use this character and Evan together to explore the themes of power, altruism, and morality. The scope of their subplot should be mostly limited to themselves and the people they encounter; this will not result in the two of them trying to change the world together or anything. When the overarching plot emerges, I will make sure that my characters are limited to support roles at most, one way or another, and not steal the spotlight from the other player characters. So if any of you really find it hard to trust me to keep even one powerful character in check, you might as well leave now, because the doubt is only going to get worse. Until you actually see my characters in action, of course, but you aren't going to get that far unless you give me some trust to begin with.
I will also remind everyone again that at least a handful of those "epic-tier" characters, with power levels comparable to Evan and my upcoming second character, exist on both the Magi and Tech sides. For example, the leader of the Church of Remus is one such epic-tier character, as I've discussed with @MelonHead. You guys are all allowed to make epic-tier characters like these; you just need to discuss the idea in detail with me beforehand. Characters like these should take a back seat to the main player characters' conflicts, like Remus and my two characters, or they can be explicitly antagonistic toward some or all of the player characters. My epic-tier characters will be carefully played to not interfere with the story, so the same are expected of you if you make epic-tier characters of your own.
Ah, okay, I wasn't sure if Earth's geography had changed. That simplifies things. The Church of Remus was specifically designed to restrict all technological growth of a militaristic kind (while promoting the use of 'natural' 'god given' magic, so it would have been doing that even before the Tech faction emerged, but I'll re-clarify that as well.
I've changed the continent to Europe and the countries to roughly comparable countries, Germania, Italia and France. Would people prefer roughly similar city names as well? So far I've made up the capitols of each country, but this is all up to everyone else, I don't want to make decisions just because I'm the first person to clarify this stuff.
The Church of Remus was specifically designed to restrict all technological growth of a militaristic kind (while promoting the use of 'natural' 'god given' magic, so it would have been doing that even before the Tech faction emerged, but I'll re-clarify that as well.
So they seek to restrict magical technologies as well? Magical technologies include things like alchemy, enchanting, and golem construction. The point of magical technology is to let those with weak magic, or no magic at all, to still be able to use magical items to improve their lives. This kind of implies that the Church of Remus seeks to limit the power of magic to only the strong mages, not the weak muggles who don't have much magic naturally. Is this your intention? If yes, it would fit the theme of an ambiguously corrupt church quite well.
I've changed the continent to Europe and the countries to roughly comparable countries, Germania, Italia and France. Would people prefer roughly similar city names as well? So far I've made up the capitols of each country, but this is all up to everyone else, I don't want to make decisions just because I'm the first person to clarify this stuff.
I personally don't think each city name needs to be different, unless anyone thinks of any interesting historical events that happened in the past two centuries that justify a name change.
Also, I backpedaled. My character Evan's race is now a full cosmic elemental, because I thought about it for a bit and decided that a creature like him should be classified as a full spirit under my system. He was a half-human, half dragon when he was a mortal, then died and became a full spirit. The draconic aspects are still present in his soul, but he'd still be a full spirit, not a half spirit half mortal dragon.
No, I'm not saying that something like a half-elemental, half-dragon is too improbable or Mary Sue-ish to exist. My setting was always designed to have these kinds of hybrids as reasonably commonplace. I do think hybrid creatures like these are interesting, at least more so than your plain old orcs and dragons and such that everyone's seen a hundred times already.
In fact, I'd like it better if players on the Magi side mixed up their races a bit. I want some variety, and not have every character be just a human.
This is for the plot I'll be making with her Majesty Elenor Talrina. So this is me making the faction. It should fit ... though 200 years isn't a lot to work with, haha.
Name: The Kingdom of Alari'in.
Side: Magi
Composition: Roughly 95% elvish (75% wood elves, 10% high elves, 10% arctic elves), 5% mixed of others.
Location: In the forests of Vilriam (also known historically as Colorado)
Description: Among many kingdoms that sprung up during the new age of magic, the elves ended up gathering in the colder, mountainous regions of North America. Though perhaps other smaller towns and castles dotted the rest of the world, it seemed Alari'in was one of many central hubs for the Elven people and their new developing culture. So much so that returning to the old ways, the Elven people appointed a royal family based on a contest of strength, skill, and intelligence - worthy qualities to provide and safeguard their new home. So the family of Talrina took the throne after four months of contests and tests and have been on the throne ever since.
The Elven people value patience and perfection based on their new, longer lifespans - though not as long as those of fantasy legends because one would go mad, they can still live up to be 160 years old. The forests lend more to archery combat and ice magics more than anything, but just like anywhere else, you can find just about any type of magic or any type of fighter. It is a relatively peaceful kingdom despite the outside world being just a bit racial against their minority, but they press on as polite and friendly hosts. The only exception to this is total and complete strangers can be treated with suspicion - especially 'aliens' from the stars, seeing as they have little experience or knowledge on these new and strange creatures.
As it stands now, the young queen, her Majesty Elenor Talrina, rules over the kingdom with a sharp and bright mind as well as great skill and strength to protect her people. She only has a single brother with her parents having passed away, leaving her to fill in the legend that was the first man to claim royal blood within the kingdom. Elenor does this remarkably well though and the people are generally please with her rule.
Goals: The goal of Alari'in is a very simple goal that falls into a consistent vigilance to push towards it - peace. The kingdom of Alari'in mostly wish to be left alone to enjoy their lives and choose what they want to be and who they want to be. So this sudden presence of these 'aliens' sets them on edge, wishing only that they stay away and keep to their stars.
Notable Members Royal Family: Her Majesty Elenor Talrina, his Highness Ramas Talrina Advisor: High Advisor Heldrion Council: Council Member Jelia, Council Member Kelron, Council Member Feris, Council Member Laraina, Council Member Faeron Knight Commanders: Head Commander Istuethon, Commander Ovorthil, Commander Yalaenir, Commander Merilna, Commander Rinwen
So they seek to restrict magical technologies as well? Magical technologies include things like alchemy, enchanting, and golem construction. The point of magical technology is to let those with weak magic, or no magic at all, to still be able to use magical items to improve their lives. This kind of implies that the Church of Remus seeks to limit the power of magic to only the strong mages, not the weak muggles who don't have much magic naturally. Is this your intention? If yes, it would fit the theme of an ambiguously corrupt church quite well.
It could be perceived like this, but they promote the use of magic for means that benefit people as a whole, so though they may disapprove of a war golem they would be perfectly happy with you having a construct to carry your shopping.
They are only particularly hostile towards technology as we know it in the real world, and even then only things of a militaristic nature. Remember this is just the ideology of the Church however, in many ways its basic teachings are like Christianity, with things like 'be nice to eachother' and 'don't steal and murder stuff' and other positive messages. It could be argued that much the same as Christianity can be perceived as being hostile to homosexuality and other actions they believe 'unnatural' the Church of Remus sees military tech (and the futuristic tech of the Faction itself) in this light.
That's not to say many of the magi members haven't joined out of a sense of self importance however, as they certainly would. Magic is praised in the church as being god given, to be used to help your fellow man perhaps, but still to be individually valued.
@lydyn: There are probably at least a few subtypes of elves, e.g. high elves, wood elves, dark elves. You might want to specify which type of elf your kingdom consists of. Also, I don't think your kingdom should be the only major elven kingdom; maybe the other elven factions are made of other types of elves or something. The faction will be accepted after you make these minor changes.
@MelonHead: The one main problem with that is that modern technology pretty much died out completely in the past 200 years, due to the superiority of magic, and due to the lack of support in a post-apocalyptic world (e.g. no working phone signals or gas stations). If the Church of Remus was founded only ten years ago, it's unlikely for it to be based on hatred for something that should've died out long ago, unless their doctrine is based on making sure history doesn't repeat (e.g. not another nuclear war). And they'd also be against militaristic magical technology, and the technology that the Tech side uses. Is this good? If so, make the corresponding edits, and the faction will be accepted.
Oh, and Johnathan is accepted. You can post him under the Characters tab now.
I've given my character another Evoked magical item, a cloak that hides his power level from detection. But as a consequence of how it works, the cloak also acts as a power limiter to him, preventing him from using any power above his displayed level (probably PC-level) unless he deactivates it and thus blows his cover. It will automatically deactivate if his body suffers mortal wounds. Obviously, Evan will be extremely reluctant to take off such a power limiter for pretty much any reason. This should help a bit in making sure he doesn't overshadow the PCs or ruin the plot.
My other character, almost as strong as Evan, will also have a similar power limiter, for similar reasons.
I'm unwilling to participate in this anymore. It's growing more and more cliched, and I came here hoping for something new. Too many characters feel shoehorned in unnecessarily, and the 'power limiter' thing is the straw that breaks my back.
If you're going to play a god, play one. The backpedaling leads me to believe that you want these characters closer than they ever should be to our PCs, and insofar the only character sheet I've seen that I'd really call 'Advanced' level of play would be our GM's, and I believe that's only because of his intimacy with this project.
I want to be a part of this, I really, really do, but I can't in good conscience keep playing with rules that are getting amended to suit the GM's needs even in the natal state of this RP. No offense to any of you, either, but no character as yet in this roleplay has really wowed me enough to want to stay, either. I don't want to be the one guy who writes the hell out of his character and gets nothing out of it in return. It's an exercise in futility.
I bear zero ill will (to any of you, but this is mostly relevant to @JohnSolaris), I only wish that you would play it straight. Playing a god is fine, but do as gods do and be umpteen-times removed from reality. Now we've got incoming 'epic' level characters, and the roleplay has not even started yet. Power is a privilege, not a right.
So, yeah, that's about it. I wish you all luck, but I'm not willing to write anything for this anymore. For that, I'm sorry.
That has to be the most tactless exit I've ever seen. 'Your CS aren't good enough for me, I'm not wasting my time writing a character that's going to be so much 'better' than all of yours.' (I didn't even have to manipulate the words that much, that's literally what you're saying.)
FYI, I didn't give my character a power limiter as an excuse to have him tag along with other PCs. Whether he tags along or not will be determined by the character interactions when they happen. If the other characters don't want him in the group, he's hardly going to stalk them. And if it makes no sense for him to run into the other characters at all, I'm hardly going to force such a thing to happen.
I gave him the power limiter as further evidence that he will not use his power to simply effortlessly solve all the other characters' problems. If he runs into them at all. It makes sense for him (as someone who's afraid of his own power) to have such a limiter, so I don't see why it's a bad thing.
I also hardly changed any rules. The rules always said that player characters are limited to a certain power level, unless the player discusses his or her idea with me extensively beforehand. Anyone always could've made a powerful character if they wanted; they just needed to convince me to trust them with such power. I do think a setting like mine needs a few "top dogs", and since there's no real distinction between "PCs" and "NPCs", I don't see why letting players create these epic-tier characters would be a bad thing if they can handle the power responsibly.
The intent of this post is not to try to convince @Shotgun Bear to stay. It's to convince other people who might want to leave because of what he said. But what he said was a pretty significant blow to my confidence and motivation. If too many people leave, maybe my style of hosting and storytelling isn't right for this forum after all.
That's the second one ... well ... yeah, I'm okay with this. I wasn't aware people were so arrogant / elitist as to judge people like that. "Your character sheet didn't wow me, so it's not worth my (obviously more precious) time to even write a sentence of mine because it'll be so much better than yours." It's like 71342 and his "I'm better because I've read 13 novels this year" bullshit. xD
To be honest, fine. I don't really enjoy people like that staining my role-plays anyways. I'd much rather hang out with confidence, but humble individuals that are don't give a shit who they role-play with so long as there is a good story. I personally couldn't care less if someone writes "at a lesser level" than me... so long as it has heart.
Hmmm...there's a lot of..umm....activity...going on in this thread and hopefully when the dust settles there's a nice group left to RP with and we can see how things actually go IC. Anywho, I'm working on my character...just wanted ya'll to know I was still around ^_^
