ruronihs said
Also, I have a general distaste for teleportation and auto-regen.
I have three species with "regen" abilities. The Shesh, who can survive having their heads chopped off (they have two brains, one in their head, the other under their shoulders)... and who prefer to recover lost body parts (though they can "borrow" mass from other parts of their bodies to replace lost "parts"). The Nism, who can survive having their flesh stripped from their adamantine bones (their "Lifeforce" is contained in three Vital Stones, linked through their bones). And the 'Twill, who simply have rapid healing and the ability to regenerate limbs and other parts like a lizard can regrow a lost tail (takes time).
So, "auto-regen"... such as it is, in my case... can be played in such a way as to enhance a character. Which leads to:
ruronihs said
The latter simply removes any sense of tension, drama, or potential character development that can result from an injury.
As I said above, not always so. If anything, a character who can regenerate (whether auto or otherwise) means that their whole outlook on life and risk can be made an integral part of who they are and how they act. In all cases for my above mentioned species, injury still causes pain. Just because a character knows injury can't leave permanent "marks" on their bodies doesn't mean they
want to be injured. Though it can very well mean they'll willingly "take a bullet" for a friend/companion. Which in itself is all part of a character. Which can add to the tension and drama. If played right. Which is the rub, I would assume.
Still, I find such aspects fun to play, along with the host of other character development points that can come up in a good story. Not to mention, teleportation and auto-regen can be played for laughs. My Nism, for example: Nism not only have regen abilities, but they travel by means of what I call Threshhold... "teleportation portals" (actually, Hammerspace doorways). However, Threshhold is for World Walking, not for site-to-site on a planetary surface. So it has limits. And it is also subject to what I call "Advents". Which can lead to a Nism ending up where they didn't intend to be. Like when I joined a "tavern" RP, said tavern being near a lake. I had Treshhold open up above the lake, which meant Peet ended up taking an unexpected bath. Regen? Well, in another tavern thread, I had him make a "gallant" leap over the bar when the tavern owner he'd just been talking to had an "episode". Unfortunately, just before then, the guy tending bar had dropped a glass in response, so Peet had his whole "show" halted when he landed on broken glass, and had to sit down behind the bar to remove the shards from his foot, before his "regen" could work (silicon messes with their healing).
In other words, it can be made to develop a character.