What's Your Powerlevel?

[GloryRhodes]

In any RP community there are different kinds of players who prefer different kinds of play, and, of course, different levels of power in their characters.  Some people like playing all powerful superdudes with aether powered abilities that make them the equal of gods while others might prefer playing dark, gritty, down to earth types who might get casually shoved off of a tower or have their throats slit at their son's ill advised wedding.

 

In the interests of clarification, I'll narrow the categories down into seven distinct powerlevels.

 

1. Buff van Darkblade

You are the main character of the story, no matter who else is in it.  Wielding your unique levels of power and often holding a magical weapon of untold strength, you are untouchable in combat.  Those below you in power level don't stand a chance, and you like it that way.  You scoff at the puny mortals and wonder why anyone even plays them.  You never lose a fight unless it's scripted.

 

2. Over 9,000!

Aether is your bread and butter, and you drink of it with relish.  Maybe you were cursed with uncontrollable power, or you're the last heir to a forgotten legacy, but you brawl like a boss and cast spells at 9th level.  Up against powerful foes you get beaten and bruised, but usually come out on top.  NPCs are no threat, however, and you swat droves of them like flies.

 

3. Unrivalled Master

You're the best around, nobody's ever gonna get ya down.  You've mastered a martial art, or a sword style, or a magical style, and you're a total badass, the best at it that there's ever been at what you do.  Eorzean SpecOps teams recruit you to train them.  Yeah, you may get hurt, but you ain't got time to bleed.  NPCs are a minor nuisance, but enough of them might prove troublesome, and PCs are something to watch out for.

 

4. One of Seven Samurai

You're not just good, you're damn good.  You've been doing this for years, and there's not a a hell of a lot of people who can compare.  Whether you're fighting a mounted mountain with your trusty spear or standing with your friends to defend a village troubled by bandits, you're as good as five or ten NPCs easy.  Other PCs can prove an issue, but you're pretty sure you can hold your own, one on one.

 

4.5 Ooooorrrya!

You're a pretty tough type.  Yeah, you've seen your fair share of scuffles, and you've probably got the scars to prove it.  People who know you don't mess with you, that's for sure.  Anybody'd be lucky to have you in their gang, just as long as they don't count on you to pull through when that quiet guy you've never seen before takes offense at how you're treating that waitress...

 

5. Basement Exterminator

Maybe you're just starting out, or you're just not particularly skilled at combat, but you're a bit of a bog standard adventurer type.  Momodi asked you to take out some marmots once, and you proved your worth, though maybe with a few bite marks and a torn pair of pants to show for it.  You're not going to change the world, but you can hold your own against most NPCs, though somehow PCs tend to get the better of you in most circumstances.

 

6. Times are Tough...

You're an average type of person with no special fighting skills to speak of.  You might have gotten into a barroom brawl once or twice, and you scuffled with other kids back in the day, but you kind of fade into the background, preferring sitting around in bars talking to going out and murdering things for their loot.  You don't consider yourself boring, but for some reason all the cool kids in the shiny armor won't talk to you...

 

7. Do You Even Aether, Bro?

Fighting?  Ha!  Oh man, you remember that time you got into a fight!  You still have nightmares about it, actually...  And you still limp a bit.  Whether combat's not your forte and you prefer the political intrigue of putting your incestuous bastard lovechild on the throne, or you're just kind of a wuss, you avoid fighting whenever possible and tend to drop like a sack of potatoes when it happens, no matter who's making you hit yourself in front of all your friends.

 

 

For those interested, my characters are at Basement Exterminator and One of Seven Samurai levels.

[Chris Ganale]

Mine all hover between Seven Samurai and basement exterminator, tending more toward Seven Samurai.

[Michikyou]

;u; None

 

I art naught but a pretty housewaifu

 

Seven.

[Faye]

I came here just to try to get in an "over 9,000" joke only to find it was actually one of the tiers.

 

I'd consider Faye somewhere between 4 and 5. Probably leaning toward 5, but her usefulness is largely situational, so it varies considerably.

 

X'unmei is a 7. She has the ability to be a 5 at this point, but she's pretty much a pacifist, so it doesn't mean much.

 

Shadiyah is a 3. She's not violent and is pretty lazy, though, so she doesn't often fight. She's mostly just a character to fill the role of antagonist when needed, so she's not used for much else in terms of combat abilities.

 

Ael is a 2 masquerading as a 4. He's sort of an accident. He was an NPC/villain for a personal plotline and somehow became an actual character when I realized I enjoy him. Whoops. Don't worry, he'll be indisposed soon.

 

Kitty is a 5, maybe inching toward a 4. She's a scrapper, mostly only fights for survival when necessary.

[Edda]

I'm a Basement Exterminator that's been a bit down on his luck, so somewhere between 5 and 6...

 

I-I'm not an NPC though, we swears! We swears it on the precious.

[ProvaDiServo]

What is "Over 9000" for five hundred?

 

Handicapped to 3-5 ish

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I'd put Franz between a 3 and 4 in terms of knowledge/ability to survive. In terms of actual use in combat, he'd be a 4 or a 5.

 

A few times, he's achieved 2-like status, but that was usually followed by ending up like a 7. If push came to shove at this exact moment, in his current condition? Franz would likely be a 5-6 at best.

[Stormsrage00]

Waching the spectrum of how powerful people make their PC's have always been interesting to me! I tend to make my characters hover around 4.

 

It gives my characters just enough power for me to weave a fantastical story while keeping their abilities within a realm where life can still give them plenty of challenges.

[Verad]

Top tier. Obviously.

[Maril]

Nailah is at times are tough, slowly approaching basement exterminator. I got tired of playing over 9000 characters in Rift whilst getting away with it (Ascended supersoldier woo..)

 

Thala'to is at do you even aether.  He doesn't like fighting and will still whine you an earful about the one single small scar he has on his arm from the last time he was in a fight.

[Melkire]

4. One of Seven Samurai, please.

[Branson Thorne]

There needs to be another option between 4/5 as far as description goes. You have 4 who is an elit badass as good as 10 npcs, then you have 5 which can't hardely handle marmots. So between 4/5.

[Makyn Loneseeker]

Mak, in terms of combat ability, is between 4 and 5.

 

Let's not discuss anything else, though. >w>

[Nebbs]

Nebula is just this trainee witch you know. (basement exterminator, but never underestimate her)

 

Anzu is master/seven-samurai, that has fallen and passes themself off and (basement exterminator or lower), often found as an odd job man fixing things.

[Coatleque]

A solid 4.

[111]

Evangeline is a 5, but she goes up one level for every episode/commercial break she charges up in. Also if she removes her special weighted clothes, or takes off her glasses in order to release her true power.

 

R'elend is a 4.

[Hammersmith]

I choose option 3.5: Roger Muraugh: Too old for this shit/John Wick: You killed my dog.  

 

Retired and not as powerful, waiting for an excuse to turn back "on" and twist someone's head off and play ball with it.

[allgivenover]

Where would a talented non-combat conjurer working as a Hearer of no real importance fit?

[Chris Ganale]

Where would a talented non-combat conjurer working as a Hearer of no real importance fit?

 

Combat level 7, skill (healer) level 4-ish?

[Zyrusticae]

See, I've always thought of T'rahnu as the type of person who can, with a bit of help and the right motivation, solo an entire castrum (note: the plan involves stealing a magitek walker or three)... so I guess somewhere between #2 and 3? Now, getting her to actually attempt that is a bit of a challenge...

 

Her own estimation of her abilities is actually considerably below what she is fully capable of. As such, she retreats from situations where she would actually come out on top just to be safe. Even if she can do it, with lots of planning and some minor assistance, she'd just as well not try in the first place because, seriously, it sounds like suicide, and it very well could be if things don't go her way.

 

To answer an assertion made in the locked thread (rather rudely, but hey, I don't like leaving things hanging like that), my issue with RP-PvP with a character like this is the obvious fact that having someone at a much lower level - say, around #4 or 5 - beat her up... just doesn't make a lot of sense most of the time. It's like (Fate Stay/Night reference) a regular mage beating up a Heroic Servant. That takes extraordinary circumstances and at least some luck, as well as the element of surprise, and how often does that happen?

 

This isn't RL, after all, and the differences between those who have the power and those who don't are enormous, far greater than even the already-wide gulfs you see today between practitioners of martial arts and regular Joes. Even David vs Goliath doesn't accurately describe the kind of chasm we're seeing here. You can reference RL combat all you like, but no RL person can leap fifty yalms into the air, immediately change direction and rocket down into their target while simultaneously surviving the fall and taking no damage themselves. Or wield an enormous axe made entirely out of heavy metal and swing it with enough force to send a man flying 20 yalms behind them.

 

So, you know, don't take it personally if I'd rather not gimp my OP character to accommodate characters at a lower power level. If I can't find an out, in the form of my character simply not taking the fight seriously or having motivation to throw it entirely, I just won't participate. And that's most of the time, really. I have a specific vision in mind for my character so I'm not going to sacrifice that for the sake of others. Just not how I play.

 

Fortunately, 99% of RP involves no physical violence whatsoever, so it really never comes up anyways. That's a good thing, isn't it?

[Aaron]

Between 4 and 5

[Anzio]

4. One of Seven Samurai, please.

 

Anzio falls into this category as well as an experienced Flame.

 

Pascal on the other hand is about a Basement Exterminator.

[Val]

Val is a 4.

 

Cyrus is a 6.

 

Vallois is a 5.

 

Melfice is a 3, but only under certain circumstances, and as I've stated multiple times before, he's only there for plots that need a boss or people that need assistance with certain matters. I rarely ever, if at all, take him out in public.

[Darien Cadell]

#4, but rarely makes use of it?

 

I generally assume that player characters are "adventurers" and thus if not on the WoL's level, then are at least capable of standing next to him and contributing to any given task/fight he might undertake (he referring to Derplander).

 

It's up to the players to show me their characters are not the "adventurers" I've assumed them to be, which is all lovely and good, but simply not my starting point. I assume PCs are between 3 and 4.

 

If they go up from there, I eyebrow raise, but perhaps they have plot reasons to be uberpowerful, and they have a kryptonite somewhere, so I give benefit of the doubt and play along (until given reason otherwise).

 

If they go down from there, I assume stylistic choice on the part of the player and respond accordingly and with respect.

[Pastry Army]

I'm on the odd end of the spectrum where ive been playing weaker  characters for so long i wanted someone stronk and tough. So mistalv is between 2-3 depending on her day and mood. Or if she feels like holding ba ck at all or not.