You have gained interest from me.

Well in the Dragonball universe there are strong humans, but the problem with humans is that in Dragonball, power is tied directly to Ki. Mr. Satan is strong for a human but as he has never figured out how to use his own Ki to boost his own power and abilities. So few pure humans have figured out to use and control their ki and the humans that can never seem to go to the same lengths of training as other characters.

In general it does seem that humans have a harder time increasing their abilities naturally and increase in power at a much slower rate then other races but I don't think we've ever seen a human at 'full' potential, if there even is such a thing in Dragonball. So in order to keep up with other races, humans do tend to have to go to extremes to boost their own powers through genetic manipulation, modifying their own bodies to become androids or cyborgs, using mystical items to boost their training and base energy, etc. Another possibility that might be less intrusive on the body then the android or cyborg route would be injecting nanomachines into the body to boost ki production and enhance the bones and muscles.

I think the dragonballs should not be used as a way to 'unlock' or 'boost' humans but rather they should find their own way to increase their powers.

Well as you can probably tell, I'm keeping an eye on this.

I'm going to play a human whose martial arts and ki techniques make him superhuman without any necessary augmentations. He is going to be the One Punch Man (not literal One Punch Man but the concept that a normal human can be powerful) of the game.

Also, yeah, I think the first arc being about some travelling Z warrior running into others by happenstance or some unknown fate to be a good idea. It allows each of those players' characters to shine. But you may have to put a player cut-off limit during Arc 1 or we will never see the end of the arc if newbs keep popping in: "Accepting anymooo~ore?" You can expect "drop-outs" since they always happen, so maybe keeping the new and interested players on a waiting list until the arc is completed will help you keep track of prospects.

I plan on having a young martial artist who found his master over the internet and trained with his kama in his mother's basement. I don't think that giving him nanomachines or stuff like that really fits. Maybe cyborg augmentations, but only if he loses an arm or a leg first, yaknow? I'd prefer mystical items and such. Dragonball always felt more like Journey to the West + Aliens than sci-fi.

EDIT: Also I feel like the Kaioken is an interesting technique and should somehow be in this Roleplay.

Sorry if it's already been raised by now (I assume we have all been watching super) but why don't we just go as an alternate universe? Then you can make up what ever you want. Their version of humans can even be different, maybe hold some untapped dormant DNA from a mysterious ancient origin.
Could be a few different powerful races mingled with humans during their own war and only now are humans finding ways to tap into those forgotten powers.

Alternatively it could be a forgotten split timeline (like future trunks universe) but for the parallel universe (6 or 7?).
That way you get all the races you want with a completely altered and varied history and you can still have similar factions, families and even characters.

Best bit, the cannon story is still happening somewhere far away.

@Duthguy@Skull@IceHeart@Holy Soldier@Kafka Komedy@Dark Light

Dark light is onto something there with his suggestion I think, and if we go that route it even opens up future possibilities. If we were to be one of the various alternate universes we could already have a way for humans to increase their powers and have transformations all in one. As it is well known that alternate universes are quite a mix of different things all unique from the other. It would be more then plausible that in another universe that humans have maybe a different strand of DNA, one that enables them to reach even the heights of Saiyans. Another upside going for this route like Dark Light mentioned is Goku and all them with still exist in another universe, if this roleplay makes it really far we could even have some kind of universe to universe crossover, the possibilities are fairly endless. Obviously you would have to train hard to obtain these transformations but it would take out a lot of the leg work into trying to figure out a way for humans to expand their powers through external methods. A couple of you mentioned your basing your characters off character from the original story, being another universe could also be perfect for that as you already know Freiza had another version of himself in another universe so it fits perfectly.

Thoughts on this anyone?

@Sebastian I'm down with that. We'd have to decide on what the human transformation is though probably.

EDIT: If they have one, that is.

@SebastianSounds all right. I already have envisioned the transformation for my human. I rather the transformation be something that just happens in the story whenever the story gets there. Seeing as games tend to have a high turnover rate, I would like to believe that this can possibly live for a year. So maybe after 1 year of this game staying alive, and depending on where we are in the story. If the context at that time calls for it, then maybe he'll go what I call "Ascendant." :D

@Sebastian

I imagine different people going human may like to go down different transformation paths, ideas to cover this could be;

• Different heritages/bloodlines.
  Back in the day people of the north grew massive when entering combat. Those of the south islands shone like a star. Since the great peace no one has used a transformation for 100s of generations and since the mingling of tribes very few know what powers their heritage holds.
• Schools of training;
  Having exposed your mind and body to a unique chi and rigorous training regime your transformation is set by your study. It is a unique thing that few are able to achieve but many strive for.
  While extremely rare it is possible to master two different schools and own two different transformations if one can dedicate himself to and upkeep two different schools of martial arts.

I'd probably do a school of training as a human

Im just gonna drop this here and let you decide for yourselves xD

Looks like Nappa with a beard.

You should let all the players come up with their own transformations and their own methods for how to achieve it.

Anyone interested in a point buying system for moves?
I can whip something up for perusal if anyone is interested.
Doesn't mean it has to be used, just good way to record and compare.

@Dark Light Personally I think a point buy system is a good idea for balancing purposes, but I can understand not everyone agreeing.

@Dark Light Could be interesting, though you'd probably still have to review everyone's skill list since a technique can be powerful without being fast, strong, or wide.

EDIT: I've changed my mind on the subject. It just doesn't offer any benefits for the restrictions it places. No point system.

Also I just remembered earth is host to a ton of anthropomorphized animals. I can totally be a Wolf-man who knows Wolf Fang Fist!

I'm not interested in being limited by a point system. Free form all the way.

I think a point system over-complicates things. We shouldn't be discussing how best we can limit/restrict everyone's creativity to a specific concept. It should be free form. Everyone should be allowed to bring whatever they want to the table. If the characters are starting out as not as strong, then that is simply how they will be played. The GM should be able to easily regulate the powers of characters as CSes are submitted. People should be interested/focused in seeing their characters develop. Thus, the story should be the main focus and it is something we all can contribute to.

I don't know where this fear of over-powered comes from. I feel even if a character had only one attack but the player was excellent at writing combat posts, then regardless his or her power level, they would still make some writers and their characters look like chumps. It's unavoidable. Therefore, as writers, everyone shouldn't be focused on limitations, point systems, trying to create some sort of idea for a race that everyone must conform to. It should just be free form with the story and the character interactions being the primary focus.

Wait, since you're not gonna put canon characters into the mix, what does that mean for Majins?

Points are fun, it's recording, scoring, comparing.
Gives the chance of mastery.
Your choices actually matter and mean something, because you are bound to restrictions and limitations. You have to be clever and choose wisely. It stops it from being a one man story.
Introduces variations and rewards the long term players.
It's good on many levels.

The only thing it limits you from doing is pulling out a new move every time the old one suddenly doesn't suit you. (Stops batmaning)

I personally love a structured game with visible and calculable results/rewards.
Everyone gets to see the characters development.
How you use the skills is still entirely up to you.
How the technique appears visually is still up to you.
How you physically fight is still up to you.

You just have a limited move set that you can choose to expand on or improve on throughout the game.



20 point example.
Shadow shroud
This defensive escape manoeuvre instantly surrounds the character in an inky dark fog that hides their movement and hinders all incoming attacks. Only lasting a short time it gives the user a small boost to their speed.

Speed * -2
Endurance * * -5
Evasion * * * -9
Duration * -2

Additional:
Instant use -6
Once a day +4

@Dark Light I do enjoy a structured game, and in the past in various role plays I used such systems to keep things in check. The unfortunate truth though and downside to this kind of system is that most role players tend to feel trapped within it. A lot of people prefer to be more free formed instead of a system that governs everything when it comes to the aspects of move sets, fights and so on. The idea is great and its sound but my biggest fear is the role play might not survive with it as most people are not willing to join a role play with complex systems (Its not complex to everyone of course but to a large majority it is). Depending on how a system is set up and used ultimately makes little difference to most, its just the fact that it exists that makes people wanna click on to the next thread. As this has garnered much interest already I feel more or less that if you feel strongly about a point system to keep the game on the up an up then I encourage you to convince the other role players of it that have already shown interest. If you can make then feel at ease with it then I will be happy to let you form a system we can use and implement. I see that the majority in this thread do not want the system, but I have no problem giving you a little time to convince them otherwise, as long it stays civilized but that goes without saying of course. Seeming this not just my opinion at this point I would rather we discuss it more maybe find something we can all agree on.

I'm interested, but I am concerned about having the kind of system that Dark Light is suggesting.

My first concern is how points are gained. In other RPs with systems similar to this it became a grind fest to get more points and killed the rp because hardly anyone would interact with each other. And if they aren't earned through training, then are they gained through participation of the story? If so, how do you judge how many points someone gets? Some characters may not even get the chance to get as much screen time as others and that's just a harsh reality.

My second concern is that that it may hold back the story of the rp. While Dragon Ball Z involves a lot of training, it is also about surpassing one's self in the heat of battle and unlocking something even greater, which would be hard to do if skills are barred behind a point system.

My third concern is that if this rp is open to people to join later far later in the rp then they will be left behind right from the start. Other characters will be far ahead by that point and it will be no fun for others to join.

My fourth concern is the Power Up system. Do you intend to have an actual stat system? If not then those are just arbitrary numbers.

Look, I understand why one would want to have a point system. In theory it should work because it should make everything balanced, but in practice I've seen it kill many promising RPs simply because the system is either too arbitrary, people don't have time to accrue points, or people are simply too greedy and want their characters to become the strongest.

If this was an MMO then this would work great, but I feel like points just do not work simply because unlike an MMO, grinding in a RP grinds it to a halt. It would simply be better to just focus on the story and let other characters have their chance to shine. It would be less of a headache.