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+--- Thread: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! (/showthread.php?tid=11505)
We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Warren Castille - 05-06-2015
I am ripping off Yunas15's thread located right here and giving it a loving sister.
WHY have you given your character the suite of powers they have to work with? In a world where we have standing armies, invasions, supernatural creatures and legends steeped in BIGGER LEGENDS what reason made you pick, specifically, to be the Deputy Policeman?
I'm looking for something a little more than "because I like it." Let's have some real meat to chew on!
(05-06-2015, 09:23 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: I ripped off thematic elements from comics I like and borrowed liberally from the Flawed Human Hero concept.
ICly, Warren's just a big guy with a practiced hand.
My threads here have been a lot of (hopefully) cerebral looks at the decisions someone makes when under duress. I wanted to explore the Good Person Do Bad Things dynamic so I gave Warren the toolkit to do good, then put him in circumstances to let him take the morally questionable out and see if he does. I wanted someone who couldn't rely on outside assistance - no spells, no tools, no gifts. Just a man, his conscience, and the consequences of his actions.
Edit: This isn't to discuss your IC history or anything, so I've removed the irrelevant part from my post. This is why you, the person at the keyboard, selected things for your character. Not how the RP shaped them!
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Melkire - 05-06-2015
(05-06-2015, 03:26 PM)Warren Castille Wrote: ...what reason made you pick, specifically, to be the Deputy Policeman?
Because no one else was visibly playing such in a competent manner at the time.
On a more serious note, I was putzing about Limsa during my MSQ grind on Osric, long before I'd conceived a backstory for him, when I saw someone wearing the Flame Private's Jerkin. That was the first time I'd ever seen that piece of gear. I wanted to wear it. I read up on it. Learned it was a Grand Company exclusive, as in I had to make my character an Immortal Flame in order to wear it. So I did just that and then threw together an outfit/costume to go with the jerkin.
Once I had my aesthetic, I went, "Oh shit, I need to justify why he's wearing this. Uh. He'd have to be an Immortal Flame. Why's he an Immortal Flame? Where'd he come from?" So I started answering all the various questions that popped into my head.
He became a career soldier to get away from his OG thuglyfe past. Okay, that's no big stretch, happens to folks IRL all the time. So where'd he come from, where was he running from? City made the most sense, you wouldn't need to run so far as the military if you were out in the boonies. Three cities, Ul'dah was the destination... maritime city of pirates has so much more potential and opportunity for scum and villainy and shady pasts than Do-Gooder Forest Village Full of Racists. So he was from Limsa. What'd he do in Limsa that was so bad? Contract assassin. Okay so if he was an assassin, his skills would then include....
From that train of thought came the knife-loving nut who got into bar brawls and street fights that gradually transitioned into a soldier trained to use his own body as the ultimate weapon. It all flowed downstream from, "hey this piece of gear looks cool, I wanna wear it".
EDIT: Damn you, Warren, my post is relevant!
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Harmonixer - 05-06-2015
I'll be using a former character of mine, who will remain nameless because of reasons and it won't matter much anyway because he's not on this game anyhow.
I was ICly hired by a guild to defend the family. The original idea I had was a 'bandit' type character that was chased out of his home by a force stronger than anyone he had overtaken and anyone else could answer to. Since he had to change lifestyle very suddenly, he grew open to the idea that something had to change. He was approached and offered a new home, a new job and an endless supply of things to partake in.
His sense of justice was skewed and found little value in coin, since he had accumulated so much of it from his lifestyle that it wouldn't grant him the pleasure he sought. Continuously putting himself in situations he hadn't encountered before forced him to adapt. It was not uncommon for him to find a new mark that would challenge him, and over the years he had picked up new talents and at least heard of new concepts. Now, with a power family to support his actions and provide work for him, he was able to indulge.
No longer did his weapons need to be second hand, he gained protective wards to add to his newer armor, he gained various trinkets of questionable morality and functionality and most importantly he learned from many experienced combatants how to improve himself. Being taught how to read, helped considerably as well.
Without these things, I wouldn't have been able to effectively play him in the universe that I was in. There were too many powerful forces at work that a simple bandit without a home could deal with. It was mostly out of necessity and general RP that he came to be. He ended up far beyond a point where simple 'protective' duties ended up being too menial (Sounds stupid, I know) but I had to place him in far more dangerous positions and tasks because of it. Eventually, I shelved the character and let him 'stay where he is' and a reminder to myself that limitations are very important and can get a little boring if they aren't present.
Edit: Goddammit, Warren.
tl;dr
I really wanted to RP with some new people, so I made a simple concept and ran with it. Little by little it built up to where it eventually ended.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - ProvaDiServo - 05-06-2015
I brought my main over from a non-RP server. Kept my head canon for the character's history as I have played her in other games. And decided this would be a New 52 esque plot for her, and related chars.
And just made proper nerfs as to not be OP for the realm's standards.
TL;DR
Aint nobody have time or money for name changes.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Nero - 05-06-2015
The way I have all of my characters--past, present, and future--is thus: competent and experienced enough to defeat most NPCs and mooks, not well-trained or specialized enough to defeat combat-oriented player characters. This way my character can still fight in RP if he needs to but he will also typically have an IC reason to avoid the aggrandizing cafeteria foodfight that is freeform PC vs. PC combat.
Other than that, the "powers" I assign to them are more or less completely arbitrary, usually for backstory reasons.Â
Example: I needed a reason for Nero to stay in Ul'dah for an extended period of time before returning to Limsa without being in significant danger in his backstory. Solution: have him study the basics of thaumaturgy. The thaumaturgy skill itself pretty much has zero impact on his character.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Mikh'a - 05-06-2015
Is "because it's fun" an acceptable answer?
Because if so...
Because it's fun. XD
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - cuideag - 05-06-2015
I'll stick with Jajara here because she's really the character that deviates from what might be my "norm", since Delial is a continuation from WoW.
I'm fascinated by background characters in the big fantasy epics. The merchants and the little people who might not actually get to, y'know, save princesses or deal with dragons or whatnot but might have had a hand in there somewhere logistically. Someone had to make that hero their weapon and armor, or house and feed them while they were getting psyched up to go confront the Big Bad.
Having the potential to beat somebody up is fine and well and Jajara certainly has that (and of the two? times she's actually fought somebody, she's won both times), but choosing not to and instead supporting all those weird friends of hers who do get up to horrible and terrifying antics is really fascinating to me. Jajara is absolutely an NPC in that sense and I find it to be very satisfying because it's a choice she makes as a character. She's proud of her abilities but she's even more proud of the fact that she can chose to not contribute to what she thinks of as the glorifying of reckless, wasteful behavior. Heck, her popoto boyfriend dabbles in all kinds of weird wizardly things and it terrifies her but she still stays out of the way unless she genuinely thinks he or someone else is going to get hurt. Instead, she can just support her friends and (hopefully) the realm in non-violent ways: baking terrible foods or making tools or punching rocks to supply the Guilds and Companies.
... also I was just really in love with the thought of a tiny popoto woman beating the snot out of things so many times bigger than her, and shoulder tackle only solidified my love of MONK. OOC MONK PRIDE!!!!
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Sophia_Grave - 05-06-2015
I wanted to try the Spy theme, as that is one I've never RP'd, and I personally always gravitate toward technology in fantasy settings. Considering the Empire is very technologically advanced, I was able to kill two birds with one stone by having an Empire loyal spy.Â
Thanks to that starting point, I was able to explore some tropes/avenues that I've never attempted in RP before. For example, I've never fussed much with politics before, but Sophia is very much a patriot who believes the Empire's way is the right way. Considering that the City-States aren't much better than the Empire morally, its interesting to play at that dynamic. Additionally, I've never tried making a nay-theist, but Sophia is against gods or Primals of any kind, believing humanity (or rather, the sentient races) to be above any deity.
Essentially, my choices with the character revolve around novelty and new experiences. I've been roleplaying a while, but its nice to challenge myself to write themes I'm not familiar or immediately drawn to. Luckily, she turned out to be a blast and is definitely one of my favorite characters I've ever created.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - ZacharyVolfire - 05-06-2015
for my two alt ocs i played with RNGoddess. But for any character i base on me.
First  I think about my life up til now then think about choices. Hobbies, crafts i partake in, places i been , i explored and my best achievements in fields. Then ii investigate lore see what would be possible for one person to do. Finnaly i settle it all down with a simple Skill sheet.
List of powers:
Magic
Might
Brain
Flexibility
Social
etc.
etc.
then give my self a limited number of points to work with that way either to be great at one thing and weak in another or just perfectly average. It allows allot of various stories to be made too based on said skills.
 I like playing the commander or big boss like character. I help out alot and show up to give guidance or egg people on ,but i love pulling people up and throwing them into the spot light what happens when they would be place here? This is a perfect time to reviel your key to victory! etc. etc.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Aaron - 05-06-2015
Aaron basically revolves around yin and yang. His color scheme even portrays this.
Every action has a reaction.Â
I don't delve too much into what I designed Aaron for after that as I leave that up to peoples speculation of why he acts like he does.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Maril - 05-06-2015
When I came from Rift, I'd been playing a character that was rather over-powered, because of the ascension lore and what it did to people. So I was looking for something different to keep RP refreshed and interesting.
I chose to almost go anti-sue on Nailah, giving her a regular if but slightly tragic past, and beyond making her physically strong enough to deal a good punch in a barfight, I didn't give her anything else in terms of combat-oriented power. Instead I decided to ramp up her influence, explore how she could have contacts and favors owed in various places around Eorzea. So she became the type that likely knows someone, or at least knows someone that knows someone. I also gave her some skill with surviving in the wild and the likes.
In recent time (past 3 months) Nailah has been studying thraumaturgy (focused on fire), which is a direct reaction to the RP that has been going on. She's been attempted killed and gotten real close to dying about 3 times so far and, I think that was enough to convince her to try and pick up some manner of self-defense. However, she's not set to become really super powerful anytime soon, I expect her to be able to fight in real fights with a decent chance of getting away from it alive in about 3 or so months time. I like to do slow progression when it comes to skills, I feel it gives some more "weight" to them in a sense than just attributing it to the past (though I do not disagree with those who do, it's just another way of doing it.)
But overall it's very different and at that very interesting for me as a roleplayer to (finally) get to experience a point of view that isn't super awesome fight-oriented like stuff. I have not been able to properly achieve this in any other game so far, and it's been something I wanted to try out for a long time.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Desu Nee - 05-06-2015
Quki is slighty generic, I'll admit, I'm not one that makes the backstory of a character build them, but actually it's actions, and events in their life shaping who they are. Regarding's Quki's magical talent, it was admiteddly a pragmatic decision, because she can't even raise an axe by herself, and a strong punch can break her bones, and sands easily flay her skin, and the concept of adventurer echoed more strong on her, specially since she lived a sheltered life and it's far too young to be a merchant, or something.
Nowadays, she's more of a scholar-by-hobby individual, and I don't think someone as frail as Quki would have survived the life of a meaningless Ul'dah refugee after the Calamity if she didn't have at least an ace on her sleeve.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Askier - 05-06-2015
Askier became Askier because I needed a character smart enough to blow shite up, have a back story that made him a tragic hero, and be powerful enough to be terrifying as a villain since he ended up as the antagonist for my very first world event where Askier tried to blow up Ul'dah for his Garlean superior.
Honestly, when I first made him he was just an illiterate woodcutter. Though that became his cover story as he gathered his bomb parts after he went full Garlean Bomb maker.
Honestly, wasn't planning on him survive the first event *shrug*
It was all Melkire and Zac Evan's fault Askier continued to exist. Rofl.
Jin'li became an evil half dead thing because, well, he's to much fun to play and i can't stop. I try to kill him off like a good boy. But Jin'li...is...so...KIND.
As for Ki, yeah he's just an asshole cause I needed a character that wasn't dead or evil. lol. I wanted someone who could basically fit with any group for rp events so I made a mercenary obsessed with coin whose morality existed simply when he was paid to have one. Has worked out pretty well. lol
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Hammersmith - 05-06-2015
So why is he old? Why is he strong?  They're  defining things. Â
Why is he old and hard to kill? Hammer's tough because of the stuff he's been through. Â He's old because he survived the things that scarred him and shaped his world.. Â It's shaped how he views things, he presses that need to survive into everyone he comes across. Â Challenges stagnant things because he either wants to see people break the mold or break themselves against it. Â Â He wears his own scars proudly. Â They're proof he survived things that were terrible, even if he brought them on himself.
Why's he strong physically? Why no magic? Why be a massive bulk of meat? Â Because it's the tool he chose to make weapons with. Â Sure, he's long since finished his own usefulness as a weapon, but he's still sharp, still dangerous, and it's always obvious that lifetime of being dangerous is still there, just under the ugly words and uglier face.
Why does he enjoy fucking with people?
He leverages his (relatively speaking) long life against other people. Â He's an old monster who's become a craftsman who makes weapons. Â He still makes them, it's his life.
Sometimes those weapons are steel.
Sometimes those weapons are people.
Sometimes they break.
Sometimes they're sharp and sleek.
Sometimes their loud and explosive, sometimes their blunt.
He's always happy when they go marching off.
He rarely worries about what comes next, much like any weapons manufacturer.
RE: We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers! - Bryn - 05-06-2015
Brynhilde's themes are redemption, and the limits of forgiveness. When I thought about what kind of character I could make from those themes, I decided that the concept I wanted to go with was that of a very flawed, yet well-meaning woman who is tormented by wrongs she committed in her past.
To that end, I didn't give her any special powers. I wanted her to be character who is in a constant state of struggle; her wars are not only external, but inside herself also. She's a woman grappling with the burden of guilt and the immense task of atonement, and I wanted her to conduct that fight purely through her own hard graft. Otherwise, her victories would be meaningless.
Secondly, I wanted Bryn to be a survivor. She fought a guerilla war for many years in the Resistance, and so is very cunning and resourceful in combat.
With these things in mind, I decided that Bryn would be an exceptionally talented swordswoman (you would be, after 34 years of training), with some limited conjury learned in a field medic capacity. She can take magitek smallarms apart and reassemble them in a flash. She knows battle strategy and has some skill in crafting explosives. That's it.