Viewpoint About Powers

[SP3CT3R]

The people who frequent all of the complaint threads have probably seen me bring it up a few times, how I can't stand when roleplays restrict characters to having a single unique ability. It just drains the fun out of everything. I'm so sick of it that I'm also sick of posting about it in those threads, but it just keeps happening. It's everywhere. I'm now making an entire thread about it because posting comments is no longer good enough to hold me back from going absolutely feral over this.

I love to mess with tropes and clichés when I write. I like subverting expectations, thinking outside the box, and seeing how much I can do with a given setting. But opening up an interest check and finding that all I have to work with is one superpower for my character makes it so much more difficult to be creative. Limiting things in such a way always draws a good 90% of the fun out of any genre that it crops up in. Why is it so much to ask to play a superhero that's from outer space? Or one that uses magic? Or anything other than a normal human with a really cool gene? There are so many character archetypes that I'm missing out on because they don't fit into the "one superpower" box. I can't make a character that has an arsenal of built-in weaponry in a roleplay about escaped test subjects, for example. And fantasy has it so much worse. If the setting is devoid of magic other than one unique ability that each of the characters possesses, it hardly deserves to be called fantasy.

And then, there's the part about being limited to one superpower, which in itself is only moderately irritating after all of the above, because it just means that I can't make a flying brick or add secondary abilities that back up my character's specialty. The thing is, I enjoy making unique powers for my characters, and I'd probably find these roleplays to be a fun challenge if I weren't totally sick of them. That, and the fact that I don't get to have fun with character creation because they usually go one of two ways:

• In realistic roleplays, there's this unwritten expectation that people use classic superpowers; they usually favor the clean, hands-off kind such as telekinesis or elemental control, but more physical ones such as enhanced strength or speed show up occasionally. Regardless, I can't make a character who can do some ridiculous body horror shit without sticking out like a sore thumb.
• In the more anime-inspired roleplays, on the other hand, you'll see characters whose powers are extremely loosely interpreted and have a broad range of functions that basically let them pull off the effects of multiple common abilities, like a telekinetic who can use their telekinesis on themselves to fly, enhance their strength, and become invulnerable, as well as control the very movement of atoms in order to control energy as well. And since it's anime, I can't afford to make a character that's weaker than theirs unless I want to get trampled on.

Anyways, thanks for coming to my vent thread. I acknowledge that this is most likely a me problem, so please don't make a post just to point that out because it's a huge pet peeve of mine, but feel free to comment otherwise.

 

[Grey]

I've probably invited you to one of my RPs in the past, but as a body horror aficionado I'm doing so again.

I respect your peeve, but I can see some of those constraints being deployed well, so I'm functionally a fence-sitter.

 

[Crenando]

I acknowledge that this is most likely a me problem

My dude. This has been my thesis on lackluster superhero RPs for years, among other things.
I might reply with a big, spicy post here some time going into detail about why these are smaller symptoms of a bigger problem of genre RPs getting really homogenized, like a delicious stick of butter.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I've probably invited you to one of my RPs in the past, but as a body horror aficionado I'm doing so again.

I respect your peeve, but I can see some of those constraints being deployed well, so I'm functionally a fence-sitter.

Yeah, there is some potential to be had in roleplays like these, but I'm just super fed up with not having other options. And I'll make sure to check out your RPs next time they crop up.

My dude. This has been my thesis on lackluster superhero RPs for years, among other things.
I might reply with a big, spicy post here some time going into detail about why these are smaller symptoms of a bigger problem of genre RPs getting really homogenized, like a delicious stick of butter.

I was already aware that you agree with me on this, but since nobody else has brought it up, I assumed that we're the outliers in this scenario.

 

[Phantom Thief of Hearts]

Yeah, there is some potential to be had in roleplays like these, but I'm just super fed up with not having other options. And I'll make sure to check out your RPs next time they crop up.

I was already aware that you agree with me on this, but since nobody else has brought it up, I assumed that we're the outliers in this scenario.

Don’t think so soon as I agree... most people cite MHA as proof that you only need one power but they neglect the fact they have super human endurance and durability

 

[Delinquent]

I'd argue that particular limitation on powers aren't as common as you make them out to be.

Sure, most roleplays these days claim that they limit people to one power, but when push comes to shove that's hardly the case. Just use one name for your entire powerset and voila, you can give your character as many powers you want.*

*Yes, I'm slightly bitter over this.

most people cite MHA as proof that you only need one power but they neglect the fact they have super human endurance and durability

To be fair, that's more suspension of disbelief than actual superpowers.

 

[CecilDMMasters]

I just do simple 1 x 1 making a story together RPs. So as long as the characters don't destroy all real chance for a plot then more than one power is fine. I don't mind characters over trained in things as long as they have to actually worry about a problem the plot thrown in. In fact looking at the different skills someone can come up with using powers can be fun.

Just don't come in with a character that literally fixes all the problems with WOW POW COOL! And don't keep dragging out powers from no where because your hyperventilating at your computer unable to function because I have a character better at something than your character.

Also problems come in when, say, my highly trained supernaturally trained monster hunter who knows a ton of lore runs into a creature the other person made up. I'll play it out with he needs to learn to deal with a creature that falls out of the realm of his knowledge and he has to learn about the creature. Because well, I'm also learning about this new creature my partner made up. But then I introduce my villain and suddenly in OOC they need to know EVERYTHING! There character must be an expert and explain the problem! How dare I make their character look stupid!

 

[SP3CT3R]

I'd argue that particular limitation on powers aren't as common as you make them out to be.

Sure, most roleplays these days claim that they limit people to one power, but when push comes to shove that's hardly the case. Just use one name for your entire powerset and voila, you can give your character as many powers you want.*

*Yes, I'm slightly bitter over this.

The Absurd Telekinesis I used as an example in the OP? That actually happened, but I would've been shot down for making a character in that same RP who could walk on walls and also talk to animals. Unless I made that character's power channeling the god of walking on walls and talking to animals or some other ridiculous ass-pull like that.

 

[Delinquent]

I would've been shot down for making a character in that same RP who could walk on walls and also talk to animals

I'm not so sure. I've seen plenty of cases where GM's fine with a character having a set of unrelated powers as long as you give the powerset a catchy name.

In fact, I'm willing to bet actual money that if you'd just name your character's powerset something like "gobellygook" most GM's would accept it without thinking twice.

 

[Crenando]

I feel like this is on-topic, but if it isn't, you can ignore it and carry on. I always thought the 'one power rule' was an extension of a larger issue the site faces.

Spoiler: Big spicy post (Potentially WIP)

Why things be the way they do
RPNation functions as a little microcosm demonstrating the idea that art is like an ecosystem. Like music, people iterate and build on ideas shared by others. That's how you get from blues to rock 'n roll, and how you get three waves of ska.
On the other hand, people generally pull from the very same pool of influences without branching out. This isn't just a superhero issue. People accidentally make big genres small, and smaller sub-genres nonexistent. Fantasy RPs are invariably based on D&D and related podcasts and very recent fantasy media, the Dice section is almost always people wanting to play D&D 5e, etc.
Most realistic/modern RPs in the western tradition mostly take their identity from stuff like Worm or Chronicle, for a sense of perceived maturity. Most anime-style superhero RPs end up taking mostly from My Hero Academia.
Influences from both of these sort of sub-genres end up forming this lob-sided world without identity. It wants to be light and anime-ish, but realistic and mature for those big boys who're too big for men in tights. They want to have their cake and eat it too, even if that just means carrying over the power rules of MHA into a world seen as being more real.

It's this sub-genre turducken. It's putting together things that work separately and expecting them to work together without having a grasp on why those things work. 'I stuck a Young Justice inside a Worm inside a My Hero Academia!'


How do we fix the problem?
The only way I see to fix it is to try to introduce ideas that seem fresh to the table. Everyone's had different experiences with the genre, and I think we should be sharing the parts of it we love. Garficcino , the Shawn to my Marty, ended up showing a friend of ours the appeal of Superman with a well-written post, for example. A pillar of the community like Grey has been pushing for interest in more socially conscious, darker, deconstructive superhero RPs and more varied settings on the site in general.

Suggested ideas off the top of my head

• A literary crossover RP in the mold of works like Planetary, League of Extraordinary Gentleman, and the Wold Newton universe
• A Golden Age superhero RP
• A proper comics-inspired X-Men RP
• Some kind of meta-narrative in the style of books like Flex Mentallo, Animal Man, and other druggy Grant Morrison books (I think that'd be a headache to pull off, though)
• A superhero RP set in a bright, shiny silver age Legion-style future instead of one that's been turned into a crater by the resident heel-turned supermanalogue or something
• Cinematic 'Wide Screen Comic'-based RPs, in the style of stuff like The Authority, where you let powers get varied and ridiculous, but keep characters semi-realistic

 

[rae2nerdy]

So I don’t know if I like explicitly say people can only one superpower. But most of the characters in my super roleplays end up having one power just coincidentally.

But I don’t focus on bam smack pow ass kicking in my superhero stories. So people don’t have that competitive need to make their character this badass.

The story usually focus on the Lois Lane’s of the world who have no power or really limited ones (ex. Find lost keys). So their Clark Kent’s might have hella powerful abilities but since the story is more about interpersonal relationships than defeating a supervillain there isn’t a need for elaborate power sets.

So I think a good portion of the issue is people tend to focus more on the bam smack pow aspect of superheroes than their characterization. Which I think what the one power rule is supposed to combat.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I'm not so sure. I've seen plenty of cases where GM's fine with a character having a set of unrelated powers as long as you give the powerset a catchy name.

In fact, I'm willing to bet actual money that if you'd just name your character's powerset something like "gobellygook" most GM's would accept it without thinking twice.

That's what I meant. The way the rule is enforced in animesque settings takes "the letter of the law" to a whole new level. If I were more spiteful, I could wreak serious havoc.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I feel like this is on-topic, but if it isn't, you can ignore it and carry on. I always thought the 'one power rule' was an extension of a larger issue the site faces.

Spoiler: Big spicy post (Potentially WIP)

Why things be the way they do
RPNation functions as a little microcosm demonstrating the idea that art is like an ecosystem. Like music, people iterate and build on ideas shared by others. That's how you get from blues to rock 'n roll, and how you get three waves of ska.
On the other hand, people generally pull from the very same pool of influences without branching out. This isn't just a superhero issue. People accidentally make big genres small, and smaller sub-genres nonexistent. Fantasy RPs are invariably based on D&D and related podcasts and very recent fantasy media, the Dice section is almost always people wanting to play D&D 5e, etc.
Most realistic/modern RPs in the western tradition mostly take their identity from stuff like Worm or Chronicle, for a sense of perceived maturity. Most anime-style superhero RPs end up taking mostly from My Hero Academia.
Influences from both of these sort of sub-genres end up forming this lob-sided world without identity. It wants to be light and anime-ish, but realistic and mature for those big boys who're too big for men in tights. They want to have their cake and eat it too, even if that just means carrying over the power rules of MHA into a world seen as being more real.

It's this sub-genre turducken. It's putting together things that work separately and expecting them to work together without having a grasp on why those things work. 'I stuck a Young Justice inside a Worm inside a My Hero Academia!'


How do we fix the problem?
The only way I see to fix it is to try to introduce ideas that seem fresh to the table. Everyone's had different experiences with the genre, and I think we should be sharing the parts of it we love. Garficcino , the Shawn to my Marty, ended up showing a friend of ours the appeal of Superman with a well-written post, for example. A pillar of the community like Grey has been pushing for interest in more socially conscious, darker, deconstructive superhero RPs and more varied settings on the site in general.

Suggested ideas off the top of my head

• A literary crossover RP in the mold of works like Planetary, League of Extraordinary Gentleman, and the Wold Newton universe
• A Golden Age superhero RP
• A proper comics-inspired X-Men RP
• Some kind of meta-narrative in the style of books like Flex Mentallo, Animal Man, and other druggy Grant Morrison books (I think that'd be a headache to pull off, though)
• A superhero RP set in a bright, shiny silver age Legion-style future instead of one that's been turned into a crater by the resident heel-turned supermanalogue or something
• Cinematic 'Wide Screen Comic'-based RPs, in the style of stuff like The Authority, where you let powers get varied and ridiculous, but keep characters semi-realistic

No, that's definitely relevant to the conversation. You basically hit the nail on the head. It seems like works that take a genre/concept and make it digestible for people who aren't already neck deep in it attract lots of fans who think they can reproduce their experience by cloning the setting instead of making a new setting with the same themes.

Like how 5e simplified the rules of Dungeons & Dragons and made it easier for people to pick up, causing the game to go from "niche nerd shit" to the new western animation episode trope basically overnight. And now it's dominating the hell out of the market, because people want to try the games with similar settings but wildly different rulesets and get disappointed, while ignoring the ones that can deliver the same experience because they don't have elves.

And now My Hero Academia managed to do this to the superhero genre, tricking everyone into thinking that they like superheroes and latching on to the specific setting detail that's been giving me so much grief when what they're actually looking for is shounen anime.

 

[Kazami42]

It's also just boring. Imagine all the people that basically say "FIRE POWA" and without training through the RP for the more logical abilities, they instead go hurdedur and now we somehow have a guy, that can set things on fire and suffocate people, somehow picking up cars.

Personally while this is problematic and hyper generic, I'd more say the lack of creativity in general is a more annoying concept. Just because one guy has the means to basically be Green Lantern, shouldn't mean that's a-okay to rip it off with something highly unlikely. At least with water, I could see someone at least violently thrashing an object around.

 

[Crenando]

What most part of the people are trying to stop when limiting the superpowers an OC can havi is the use of Mary/Gary Sues.

What does Mary Sue even mean anymore?
Bad characters? Overpowered characters? Unbelievable characters? Bland characters?
I've seen most of these in RPs with the one-power rule, just based on people misunderstanding advice like "powerful does not instantly equal interesting" as "characters with less powers are instantly more believable and well-written."
Someone's generic corner-sittin', one-power-havin' brooding teen probably isn't as interesting as Silver Surfer.

Personally while this is problematic and hyper generic, I'd more say the lack of creativity in general is a more annoying concept. Just because one guy has the means to basically be Green Lantern, shouldn't mean that's a-okay to rip it off with something highly unlikely. At least with water, I could see someone at least violently thrashing an object around.

I think how the characters act is more important than trying to be hyper-original with your powers. Someone can have the most original power in the world, but if the character is cardboard, maybe the writer needs better priorities.

 

[Kazami42]

What does Mary Sue even mean anymore?
Bad characters? Overpowered characters? Unbelievable characters? Bland characters?
I've seen most of these in RPs with the one-power rule, just based on people misunderstanding advice like "powerful does not instantly equal interesting" as "characters with less powers are instantly more believable and well-written."
Someone's generic corner-sittin', one-power-havin' brooding teen probably isn't as interesting as Silver Surfer.


I think how the characters act is more important than trying to be hyper-original with your powers. Someone can have the most original power in the world, but if the character is cardboard, maybe the writer needs better priorities.

I believe in your context, you meant personality. The interaction is contradictory or false by default if how they act is not the same as described, or if there is a form of personality adaption, just thrown about willy nilly for no reason.

Also it's not about originality or being hyper original, which is not a thing for the latter. It's about using your power or powers to fit without blatantly doing plagiarism. When I made that complaint, it was on the basis of cases where one person literally copies an ability or everything another person has, not about trying to do it similarly in a logical manner. IE ripping off Green lantern but with water, when there's far more interesting things you could do with it that is also logical for the ability. Such as using it to slow or even stop objects, combining it with say, someone with the power of lightning/electricity, etc. But no, let's make water into a minigun.

 

[Crenando]

Like many expressions that fload the internet nowadays, this one started losing his meaning. But in this context I was using it as a synonyme for "overpowered".
Characters lacking uniqueness exist in very possible setting, with every possible characteristics, including many powers of few powers or even no powers at all. I don't think that a character's powers make them unique, as a character, that it. It might make them unique inside of their universe though.
However, there is some kind of correlation between Mary/Gary Sues and characters with many powers. This because of the "the more powers you have, the more overpowered you are", type of logic, I guess. Whilst this is not always true, it is definitely common, I believe.

I think the core of a real Sue comes from people being more special and important than everyone else rather than stronger, at least in terms of the actual core definition that people used about a decade ago. Powers can be a shortcut to that, but I've seen people without that distinction make characters I'd call Mary Sues.
Just having excessive connections to characters that they shouldn't know counts.

 

[Tulik]

I think every world with powers needs boundaries so not to create people who ruin the role play, but there are much better ways to monitor character creation than allowing only one power per character. If you’re going to allow powers, be they magical or whatnot, you should be ready to handle the consequences of a world with those powers. I’ve personally ran roleplays where my counterpart had plenty of power at their disposal and it was a very fun time because the world could accommodate that and they weren’t jerks about it.

 

[Idea]

After first reading this thread, I had to take some time to think. While I think you do have a point in that having only one power is limiting (and don't get me wrong, limits do breed creavitiy , but they do still take something in return), I also didn't feel there was a reason not to use that system, even with your arguments. Some time thinking about it later, and what I conclude is that this is probably because of my approach when it comes to this kinds of roleplays, in which I often either
A) Have a particular power in mind from the start
or
B) I build the character after knowing the rules, thus resulting in me not focusing on concepts that would have been left out.

So I am not usually faced with the conflict between wanting more than one power and there being that limitation. Even if I want multiple powers, I attempt to mash them together in some fashion, in order to get the desired effects. It has led to some of my favorite powers in characters I play, though it has also led to some very messy and poorly made ones in my early days. It's very much the "anime-esque" type of power you mentioned, except of course I don't make them with power level in mind, and in fact I do try to give limitations such that they end up on a more mundane spectrum. The weaknesses of a power can be just as interesting as its strengths, I find.

Now, all this aside, speaking as a GM I can say one BIG reason why to only allow one power: balancing and review. Any GMs that gives a crap about trying to at least put people in a fair power level will be seriously looking at powers and how they can be used. Personally, I always rate powers based on their potential, as I don't trust people to have a high level of self-control until I see them have it, but I know a lot of people take things more at face value, yet even those I think will at least seriously try to check whether the power is ok or not with their own metric and their own plot.
That said, powers are one of the things that holds up the approval process the most, and for rather plain reasons, they are one of the things a GM may have to most carefully consider, to veto or ask for tweaks. Players can protest, or need several tries until they get the tweaks right, or they may end up leaving, or want to rework their power from scratch. In a week-long approval process, the power alone is likely to take 5 days. Now imagine that, but you have to do it for 2, 3, 4, 5 powers? It would be a nightmare to get through.

One potential solution that comes to mind is scaling. This could be either characters evolving over time, gaining more abilities as they gain more experience or through some other means, (so the GM would only have to handle 1 power per character each time they reviewed) or players themselves gaining the priviledge of making new characters that have more powers (thus making sure they still have something to do during the approval process, and also narrowing the numbers to avoid making it an excessively long endeavor).

Anyways, those are just my two cents on the matter. Best of luck with everything, and happy RPing!

 

[SP3CT3R]

After first reading this thread, I had to take some time to think. While I think you do have a point in that having only one power is limiting (and don't get me wrong, limits do breed creavitiy , but they do still take something in return), I also didn't feel there was a reason not to use that system, even with your arguments. Some time thinking about it later, and what I conclude is that this is probably because of my approach when it comes to this kinds of roleplays, in which I often either
A) Have a particular power in mind from the start
or
B) I build the character after knowing the rules, thus resulting in me not focusing on concepts that would have been left out.

So I am not usually faced with the conflict between wanting more than one power and there being that limitation. Even if I want multiple powers, I attempt to mash them together in some fashion, in order to get the desired effects. It has led to some of my favorite powers in characters I play, though it has also led to some very messy and poorly made ones in my early days. It's very much the "anime-esque" type of power you mentioned, except of course I don't make them with power level in mind, and in fact I do try to give limitations such that they end up on a more mundane spectrum. The weaknesses of a power can be just as interesting as its strengths, I find.

Now, all this aside, speaking as a GM I can say one BIG reason why to only allow one power: balancing and review. Any GMs that gives a crap about trying to at least put people in a fair power level will be seriously looking at powers and how they can be used. Personally, I always rate powers based on their potential, as I don't trust people to have a high level of self-control until I see them have it, but I know a lot of people take things more at face value, yet even those I think will at least seriously try to check whether the power is ok or not with their own metric and their own plot.
That said, powers are one of the things that holds up the approval process the most, and for rather plain reasons, they are one of the things a GM may have to most carefully consider, to veto or ask for tweaks. Players can protest, or need several tries until they get the tweaks right, or they may end up leaving, or want to rework their power from scratch. In a week-long approval process, the power alone is likely to take 5 days. Now imagine that, but you have to do it for 2, 3, 4, 5 powers? It would be a nightmare to get through.

One potential solution that comes to mind is scaling. This could be either characters evolving over time, gaining more abilities as they gain more experience or through some other means, (so the GM would only have to handle 1 power per character each time they reviewed) or players themselves gaining the priviledge of making new characters that have more powers (thus making sure they still have something to do during the approval process, and also narrowing the numbers to avoid making it an excessively long endeavor).

Anyways, those are just my two cents on the matter. Best of luck with everything, and happy RPing!

This is a good point. I've been in some of your RPs, and it seems like you put lots of effort into character balance. And you're right, putting limitations on abilities is beneficial for keeping things fair, especially when it comes to anime-inspired roleplay that focus heavily on combat.

However, as previously stated, most of the RPs that do this usually put little to no effort into ensuring that characters are on the same playing field. They interpret the rule as straightforward as possible, allowing people to get away with all sorts of stuff as long as it's played off as one power, so it might as well not even be there. And since MHA (once again being ground zero) popularized the idea of outsmarting one's opponent rather than overpowering them, everyone makes characters that are extremely versatile in order to look cool, which ironically makes it harder to pull off. There's not much point in thinking up a creative solution when you already have everything you need to win.

I think the core of a real Sue comes from people being more special and important than everyone else rather than stronger, at least in terms of the actual core definition that people used about a decade ago. Powers can be a shortcut to that, but I've seen people without that distinction make characters I'd call Mary Sues.
Just having excessive connections to characters that they shouldn't know counts.

Honestly, I do believe that definition of "Mary/Gary Sue" is more accurate than the one I used, indeed. I fact, I do see Mary/Gary Sues just like you described.
Eitheir way, an overpowered character is a Mary/Gary Sue regardeless, I think. Nowadays Mary/Gary Sue is used for every character who is cringey, I guess.
But anyway, on the original post I was simply using the expression as a synonyme for "overpowered".

I think a good measure for "Mary Sue" is a character who is never made out to look bad, regardless of whatever scenario they're in. So while there are trends, it's usually more of a problem with the execution than the idea behind it, and the form a Mary Sue can take is often different based on the genre.

Related to the above, in shounen anime, the focus is all about characters winning regardless of the odds that are stacked against them. Someone who doesn't want to lose a fight and end up looking uncool might make a powerful character that's hard to beat, but they could also make a character with average strength who convenienty powers up whenever they're in serious danger.

But here in not-Japan, we have YA novels about darkly powerful women who win over guys who thought they were loose cannons, comics about billionare superheroes who have no powers of their own but are always three steps ahead, and rebellious teens that spout one-liners while beating up people with bad opinions. Although people only really make roleplays about the first one.

So the best way to determine if a character's a Mary Sue is to see what character traits can be used to make them look bad, and if those traits ever actually do when brought up IC. Like if a character has a bad temper, do they ever take their anger out on people who don't deserve it, or say/do things that cross the line? Does a character that's shy or anxious ever actually get held back by their fears, or conveniently overcome them every time?

 

[rae2nerdy]

I usually just use a power scale and limit the number of people at each level of power. And the highest level (the equivalent of the Supermen of the world) are open only to NPCs.

Those tend to coincidentally end up only having one power per person. But it isn’t in the level descriptions that they have to be.

 

[Crenando]

Related to the above, in shounen anime, the focus is all about characters winning regardless of the odds that are stacked against them. Someone who doesn't want to lose a fight and end up looking uncool might make a powerful character that's hard to beat, but they could also make a character with average strength who convenienty powers up whenever they're in serious danger.

I think this trope mostly applies to main characters and villains. Characters with cult followings that people like in battle shonen manga and anime tend to lose and eventually get pushed to the side over time, but people sometimes have more appreciation for them than the main character. People are all about Yamcha and Rock Lee, for example, because they have this actual underdog quality that most protagonists in the genre only try to give off the illusion of.

 

[CecilDMMasters]

I think this trope mostly applies to main characters and villains. Characters with cult followings that people like in battle shonen manga and anime tend to lose and eventually get pushed to the side over time, but people sometimes have more appreciation for them than the main character. People are all about Yamcha and Rock Lee, for example, because they have this actual underdog quality that most protagonists in the genre only try to give off the illusion of.

Yeah, don't you just so love the over the top high powered character that just can't have anything bad stick to the but the player tries to make you believe they are the lovable relatable underdog LOL

 

[Idea]

This is a good point. I've been in some of your RPs, and it seems like you put lots of effort into character balance. And you're right, putting limitations on abilities is beneficial for keeping things fair, especially when it comes to anime-inspired roleplay that focus heavily on combat.

However, as previously stated, most of the RPs that do this usually put little to no effort into ensuring that characters are on the same playing field. They interpret the rule as straightforward as possible, allowing people to get away with all sorts of stuff as long as it's played off as one power, so it might as well not even be there. And since MHA (once again being ground zero) popularized the idea of outsmarting one's opponent rather than overpowering them, everyone makes characters that are extremely versatile in order to look cool, which ironically makes it harder to pull off. There's not much point in thinking up a creative solution when you already have everything you need to win.

I needed to think about it for a bit, but yeah, I think I agree. While I think my main point previously still stands- regardless of whether you think the GMs are being fair or putting due effort in, it is much easier to review only 1 power over several- ultimately yeah, for many RPs there isn't really a point to characters being restricted to one power, depending on how laissaez-faire the GM is.

Now, personally, I support the idea of a power being able to have multiple uses, when they can legitimately be tied together as applications rather than new powers entirely. It's a vague and hard line, and like many things regarding superpowers the more one looks into it, the more astronomically the variables that have to be watched grow, but nonetheless I think it is a reasonable line to set.

I think a big part of the issue with what you're complaining about in that second paragraph can be attributed to the way powers are designed, and specifically, how power design interacts with the competitive aspect of any power-centered roleplay, and in my honest opinion not nearly enough with the cooperative side. A lot of the time, players want to do everything, to always shine, they are of course aware that their character is supposed to have flaws and weaknesses, but they frame those flaws and weaknesses like those often seen outside of the medium: Flaws that are rare, require others to exploit them specifically or the player themselves to have a degree of self-control that just isn't realistic. Many players want to game the system, and many more feel justified in getting more and more power because they feel like they'll be outcompeted and made irrelevant. GMs also have the blame in many of these cases, where a GM may encourage 'usefulness' in characters or when they use a plot that doesn't give individual focus to the player characters, thus making it so that only those which can succeed and contribute to that plot are able to make themselves relevant.

This extends beyond powers as well, into things like intelligence and planning. Relative not individual or group success is the most emphasized, as players get more attention brought to them and their work by being 'better' than by being 'good' a lot of the time. Thus you get people who seem to predict someone's exact thoughts and backstory with hunches and minor facial expressions to go by.

People tend to forget that a lot of the best scenes, power show offs and so on are the result of long periods of clever build up, of strategically positioned characters and plot elements interacting and reacting in the right way, of possibly months of planning exactly how something would go down on the part of writers. Even discovery writers tend to make use of being able to revise what they wrote earlier, before anything hits the shelves, or any show airs etc... Stories in media are written with a level of control and finesse that can only really be mimicked by either sheer luck or players actively seeking to properly cooperate in those scenes for the best way for everyone to have the limelight and get to show off their character's awesomeness.

Sorry about the tangent, started writing about it and wanted to finish the thought.

Long and short of it is, I think there is perhaps a bigger underlying issue which might tangentially deal with yours too, that being the mentality with which powers are approached in RP.

 

[cherrylipstick]

As long as the character isn't overpowered, I think it's fine.