QuietThinker

accepting all challengers

Schradinger said
And the characters that are resistant/immune to "mind control" would just shrug it off and kill them with ease... My main concern is that someone with that ability set wouldn't last very long. Arty's nearly immune, the overlord probably doesn't even have a normal mind to control, Thinker's character can move past any manipulation before it takes effect, and every other character has a will of iron that lets them shrug it off. In fact, almost all of my characters have some form of anti-telepathy skill or ability, just to highlight the fact that it's nearly useless in arena combat unless it's OP. Even for characters who aren't resistant or immune, it's extremely difficult to call accurate "damage" because we have no baseline to go with. With abilities that have a physical manifestation, we usually have a real world example of the damage they can do so we use that and either scale up or down.All that said, I'm certainly not against mental powers so long as they're not OP (mind control is still a no, but mental manipulation is a possibility), but unless they are OP they have very limited usefulness and a specialized character isn't going to last long.

Alright, I've been out all day, so let me argue the case against most characters being immune.

For a normal character who's only defence from mind manipulation (thats kind of what we're discussing here rather than outright OP control) is a strong will.. that doesn't mean they can shrug it off. Its only when they have some physiological defence that they can do that. No, a strong iron will actually puts them at a slight disadvantage because the don't doubt themselves. Thats because the mind manipulation makes the target rationalise for themselves the thought that the caster has implanted in their mind: a self doubter is much more likely to realise, as they do something that outright puts a particular person at an advantage or disadvantage will make themselves wonder why the hell they did that. Someone with an iron will will probably ask that same question, but think that they just made a mistake.

Now my character is the iron will type, but thats only because they go through every possible option in their head first. So if the caster was being subtle about it, he's a lot less likely to figure it out. But when he's made to do one rather out of character thing, he'll twig it within seconds because he will question himself: he has all the time in the world to do it.

So its not useless!

accepting all challengers

I don't have a problem with mind control if it's effectively being incredibly persuasive. It's weakness would be that when it gets seen through (as in the decisions they are feeding you are figured out to just put them in a better position) then it loses all effect. That doesn't mean that you can't have it used on you again, but your character will then be questioning every move that they make to try and find out if it is actually their decision to do something.

As for mindfrays.. whats the actual logic behind them? Because if it's a headache that gets worse the weaker their target is, and effectively acts like a debuff, then I'm all for that. It'd need to take quite a bit of concentration to use though: you can't use it while doing something else at the same time.

So then effectively, that kind of character would find a place to hide, and make another character their "champion", feeding them thoughts that keep them away from them and on their side, while mindfraying everyone they fight to give them the best chances.

To balance that, they'd probably have to be mediocre at actual combat?

accepting all challengers

Schradinger said
So how does he see stuff?

I would imagine that his steel helmet looks something like this.

accepting all challengers

Ah, I see. Thanks for that tidbit.

EDIT: Right, well damn, I thought I'd taken out the Mach speed part. Thats been fixed.

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Coolio. I might post then :)

And I am assuming that everyone is pretty much visible from the big tree, because thats what I'm going with.

accepting all challengers

Maybe :)

He's a pretty old character of mine, but I really don't really know what tier he's in. I put him in intermediate to be safe.

accepting all challengers

Schradinger said
True, Vordak, but normal strength is much less than maximum possible strength, given that people under the effects of adrenaline can lift cars and those being shocked or having seizures can make a mess of anything they hit in their spasms. Thinker's character would just be able to reach that maximum output at will. Though that maximum would be immensely lower than 300,000 times human strength.

Not that you would want to... it'd be... messy.

accepting all challengers

Vordak said
Well, actualy, the force exerted by muscle is a property of the muscle itself, and in no way of the nerves.

Eh, its just pseudo science. No one really feels the need to explain how vampires work!

I've just done my best :)

accepting all challengers

Derpestein said
I'd join it.MY CHAMPIONWIN FOR ME.

I'll try? He's kind of a glass cannon...

accepting all challengers

Alright, here is my character.

Wire

Name:
Wire

Age:
22

Gender:
Male

Race:
Human

Apparel:
He wears a dark grey hoodless jacket over a dark green t-shirt with black jeans and black running trainers. Most prominently he wears a steel helmet which covers his whole head, and obscures all features.

Random descriptors:
Slightly taller then average at 6,1; Caucasian; uses a voice scrambler built into his helmet.

Skills, powers and abilities:
His nerves were modified to the point where he could not suffer nerve damage, and they passed signals along at the speed of wiring. That is on average 300 000 times faster than the average human. He also later received an injection that would cause scar tissue to break down into muscle, eliminating the long term effects of stress on his muscles. He still heals at a normal human rate.

Superhuman reflexes:
He has the fastest reflexes physically possible. A few microseconds to a normal human can be the equivalent of a second to him. With a grueling first few months, he has been able to control his perception of time. He is by no means an expert, but it no longer hinders him in everyday life. All it takes a small amount of thought and concentration for time to slow for him.

Peak physical conditioning:
It takes an immense amount of control to stop simple actions from tearing his muscles. Exercising this control allows Wire to train his body

Exceeding his limits:
As his motor signals have effectively been supercharged, he may use 100% of his muscle power. This allows him to gain brief instances of superhuman strength, but will cause minor to severe tissue damage.

Immunity to nerve damage:
His nerves cannot receive permanent damage, as unlike normal nerves, they can grow back when killed.

Resistance to Telepathy:
As he can think 300 000 times faster than an average human, he can flood his head with thoughts: new thoughts are made faster than they can be read and create feedback for any telepath trying to listen in on his inner voice.

Resistance to Mind control:
If a normal person may resist mind control after a period of time, Wire may do so 300 000 times faster. However, if he has no reason to believe that he is under mind control, then he will also have no reason to resist it, just like a normal human.

Almost photographic memory:
If he chooses to, he may spend the equivalent of days committing something to memory in a matter of seconds.

Going limp:
When in combat, he can react to contact as it touches his skin. He can then make that particular part of his body limp, and lean back from the attack, minimising damage. He will still take significant damage if the force behind contact is strong enough.

Hand to hand combat master:
He can react to the slightest move at the last possible second; he can aim for weak points with almost perfect precision; but unless he is willing to cause some damage to himself, or he is using a weapon, he will only strike with the strength of a normal human.

Expert at throwing:
Sounds lame, but there's only so much you can do to entertain yourself when you are 300 000 times faster than the world. He has learned over the years how to throw all manner of objects with accuracy.

Character Tier:
Intermediate.

Character Equipment:
His primary weapons are a pair of steel gloves dampened by springs that he uses so that he doesn't turn his hands to dust upon landing a punch.

Short Character Synopsis
He was a young man, struggling with a direction to take his life in and fearing the day he turned 19. By a strange set of circumstances, he gained nerves that acted like wires, and suddenly he gained the tools to give a new purpose to his life. He saw a need, and became an anonymous bodyguard to small businesses under siege from organised crime; something of a vigilante for hire. But this job doesn't pay very well, so he is stuck using potato-tech until he can find a better place to use his talents. He was terrified of being picked apart by scientists, and so keeps his identity as hidden as he can. Ultimately though, he was found out by the people who inadvertently gave him his powers who were originally trying to cure paralysis. Seeing as their work was seemingly fruitless as they could get no funding, they looked to cure tissue scarring. Their target was every athlete that ever retired early, and they knew they were rich. It was administered to Wire, who had developed a fair deal of it by the time they made contact. As they didn't really care about treating diseases, and were much more focused on making money, they left Wire be. He left think that if they were the type of people leading the charge of medical science, the human race is not likely to survive for the next few generations.