I'm not really sure I get all these power tiers. I can't help but look at them and think their a touch on the shallow end.
It's all really relative. Tier 1 is obviously posed to look like Gary Stue/Mary Sue and the rest works down as referential material down the line. But if we're going as far as making references, rather than rate players base on power level, maybe we should speak more along the lines of which character in comics/books/stories/anime.
Some examples using my characters:
Eric Verus bases himself on mystery/spy and some more lovecraftian-style stories. Power wise, there's something odd with how he interacts with Aether which gives him some default defenses against magic. But physically, he's just a man.
His real talent is his mind. He has a hobbyist's expertise in swordsmanship (fencing style) and is a crack shot with firearms due to his origins. All of these is due to his hand-eye coordination and analytic skill.
Hyrist Verus isn't any really odd skill wise. In fact, he's unable to attune to Soul Stones. Could be that he's yet to find one that fits him, or simply he doesn't have the talent. Unknown at this point. But he makes up for it by training with weapons. If he can wield it, he can use it. His strongest talent being swords.
Thing is, he doesn't respect his weapons that much. He has no qualms putting a sword into a position where it will break, if braking it can give him an edge in a fight somehow. But he also has an unreliable fighting drive due to his origins. This makes his 'skill/power' cap very erratic. He could take down a grandmaster or he could lose against a lucky novice, and he'd feel the same way about either one of them. He has no pride in his combat skills.
That said, he has little experience fighting beast/primals/voidsent/etc. His training in his weapons was for fighting other people. He'd avoid a fight against the wild or supernatural if he has a choice.
Lin Celistine , however, lives by her spears. She has a borderline unnatural drive to push the limits of her skills with a spear to the breaking point. She studies all styles and methods and when she runs out of methods, she studies other weapons only for the perspective of what concepts can be applied to her spear usage.
She can make the average Ishgardian Dragoon look clumsy in terms of agility, and her strength easily belies her small frame. Style wise, however, she prefers to hunt creatures rather than fight people and PTSD concerning all the lives lost at Cartneau actually makes her less effective when fighting people.Â
Magically, she can't handle even the simplest of spells without straining herself (and flat passes out when she pushes her limits). And she's just as vulnerable when it comes to magick attacking her.
These are the 'strongest' three characters I have in the group, in my consideration, out of six
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So, everyone has strong and weak points, and, in the proper circumstances or assistance, they may even be able to topple someone on that tier 1 category.
But these traits don't make the characters. Their facets of the character that are reflections results, or foreshadows of their stories.
You don't read a Superman comic because he 'might lose' against the antagonist. It's about his interpersonal stories and internal struggles as he balances his heritage and powers against his upbringing and values.
Its those factors that make characters interesting for me. Strength, skill, they just establish backgrounds for me to work from.
It's all really relative. Tier 1 is obviously posed to look like Gary Stue/Mary Sue and the rest works down as referential material down the line. But if we're going as far as making references, rather than rate players base on power level, maybe we should speak more along the lines of which character in comics/books/stories/anime.
Some examples using my characters:
Eric Verus bases himself on mystery/spy and some more lovecraftian-style stories. Power wise, there's something odd with how he interacts with Aether which gives him some default defenses against magic. But physically, he's just a man.
His real talent is his mind. He has a hobbyist's expertise in swordsmanship (fencing style) and is a crack shot with firearms due to his origins. All of these is due to his hand-eye coordination and analytic skill.
Hyrist Verus isn't any really odd skill wise. In fact, he's unable to attune to Soul Stones. Could be that he's yet to find one that fits him, or simply he doesn't have the talent. Unknown at this point. But he makes up for it by training with weapons. If he can wield it, he can use it. His strongest talent being swords.
Thing is, he doesn't respect his weapons that much. He has no qualms putting a sword into a position where it will break, if braking it can give him an edge in a fight somehow. But he also has an unreliable fighting drive due to his origins. This makes his 'skill/power' cap very erratic. He could take down a grandmaster or he could lose against a lucky novice, and he'd feel the same way about either one of them. He has no pride in his combat skills.
That said, he has little experience fighting beast/primals/voidsent/etc. His training in his weapons was for fighting other people. He'd avoid a fight against the wild or supernatural if he has a choice.
Lin Celistine , however, lives by her spears. She has a borderline unnatural drive to push the limits of her skills with a spear to the breaking point. She studies all styles and methods and when she runs out of methods, she studies other weapons only for the perspective of what concepts can be applied to her spear usage.
She can make the average Ishgardian Dragoon look clumsy in terms of agility, and her strength easily belies her small frame. Style wise, however, she prefers to hunt creatures rather than fight people and PTSD concerning all the lives lost at Cartneau actually makes her less effective when fighting people.Â
Magically, she can't handle even the simplest of spells without straining herself (and flat passes out when she pushes her limits). And she's just as vulnerable when it comes to magick attacking her.
These are the 'strongest' three characters I have in the group, in my consideration, out of six
_______________________________________
So, everyone has strong and weak points, and, in the proper circumstances or assistance, they may even be able to topple someone on that tier 1 category.
But these traits don't make the characters. Their facets of the character that are reflections results, or foreshadows of their stories.
You don't read a Superman comic because he 'might lose' against the antagonist. It's about his interpersonal stories and internal struggles as he balances his heritage and powers against his upbringing and values.
Its those factors that make characters interesting for me. Strength, skill, they just establish backgrounds for me to work from.
