RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

K'nahli · **03-05-2015, 03:22 PM**

(03-05-2015, 12:47 PM)Hyrist Wrote: This question may have been Rhetorical, but the true answer is reliant on the character.

The tension for the 'overpowered' character comes from the lingering question of whether or not this powerful character, while being powerful, be able to defend others from harm while doing it.

I'm going to use Lin again as an example. She may be able to deftly kill multiple enemies on her own, but much of her tactics require her to be highly mobile or have personal space to do so, as she's a Dragoon. That does not lend itself to protecting others very well, and she's suffered the consequences of that before.

There's the risk of harming someone inadvertently when swinging wide with her spear, or over focusing on one opponent when the others focus on a 'weak link'. For Lin, that's a major trauma point because she's lost people that way so there's a matter of whether or not she even has to focus to behave with the same efficiency she does solo. So the tension in that confrontation remains.

I'd imagine situations could be made to maintain that situation for many of the characters. A mage may be able to handle perhaps a single small group of enemies with a Sleep or Bind spell, but some of the more destructive forces are liable for Friendly fire issues in RP.

A skilled tank, such as a Paladin or Warrior, however, may be able to fend off multiple enemies, (using flash as a great opener) as is their design, but finishing opponents deftly would take a secondary objective than protecting others.

So even with powerful characters, the base premises can still keep situations intense in those circumstances. Again, it's all in the execution which, honestly, comes with expierence and care.Â

Most of the arguments here against power characters fall more in line with characters that lack depth, and honestly, that applies on the whole spectrum. A shallow character is a boring and often frustrating character to play with.

That's certainly a good point in perhaps most cases ^^Â However, I still don't think it erases the problem entirely. I mean, imagine if you were playing an immoral character who cared little for harming innocents and somehow wound up in that situation with people he/she didn't know. Would they really not solve the situation(by their standards) right away in order to break character and look out for people they couldn't care less about?

(That's a lot of ifs and buts of course, but I just mean that they're the things that would always be at the back in my mind were I to find myself in a similar setup).

What it really comes down to for me is... to keep it simple, let's say everyone involved is a melee combatant. What if X was really good and taking on several opponents at once whereas Y and Z could just about manage one or two at a time. Doesn't it somehow feel like Y and Zs contribution is heavily mitigated if they spend the best part of the scene dealing with 4-5 enemies between them while Z needs at least 10+ to do justice to his skill level?

(03-05-2015, 01:25 PM)FreelanceWizard Wrote:
(03-05-2015, 11:56 AM)K Wrote: Stay true to his character and clean them all out swiftly and easily? Or downplay his character so that it doesn't eliminate the sense of tension/the scene in general for the others - in which case it just stops being a character's trait and more of a "I am OP when I can get away with it" card?

Do what's best for the story, is what I'd say. If you subscribe to the "everyone at the same tier has the same level of power" superhero comics logic, then if the story says that small group of Amalj'aa are a real threat, then they are. It's up to the player to decide how best to achieve that, whether it's by external circumstance ("they're wearing corrupted crystals -- my spells can't affect them"), internal conflict ("I was abused by Amalj'aa -- I just can't do this"), or pure bad luck ("I tripped and fell, losing my staff"). A key part of playing a powerful character in situations with less powerful characters is that you have to share the spotlight by only asserting the level of power necessary for the story in which you find yourself. That's one of the characteristics that separates a well-played powerful character from the "super-power wish fulfillment solves every problem" nightmare that everyone's seen far too many times.

With that said, it can often be difficult to combine the stories of powerful characters with those that aren't powerful. The Avengers just aren't operating on the same level as the Runaways, for instance, and putting them into the same story requires the narrative chicanery outlined above to ensure that the Avengers just don't resolve the issue themselves. This is another reason why cross-FC or world-spanning plots tend to have issues -- with legitimately varying takes on the average power level of characters in the setting, it's almost impossible to write a plot that lets everyone participate in the manner they feel is appropriate for their character. You don't have these sorts of issues in "hangout RP" or events like the Grindstone where the dice specify the narrative and part of the RP challenge is making that work.

I may be somewhat cynical in this regard through experience, though.

....having said what I have above, this is a pretty reasonable and easy workaround for just about anything, haha. I guess the best solutions are often the most simple! ^^

Thank you both for your replies ~

Poll: Which Character do you relate to most? You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
Adventurer 1	4.76%	2	4.76%
Adventurer 2	23.81%	10	23.81%
The Voidsent Potato	42.86%	18	42.86%
The Courier	28.57%	12	28.57%
Total		42 vote(s)	100%

Overpowered or underpowered characters?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes