Preferred Power Poll

[MistbornAlpaca he/him]

Hey everyone. I just saw a thread on if you would rather be a full shardbearer, a mistborn, or a surgebinder. I decided to do a poll on this, so here it is. I added in the other magic systems from other books as well. Tell me if I left anything out.

Edited October 20, 2017 by MasterJack

[The Invested Beard]

As an awakened beard you can probably guess my pick.

[MistbornAlpaca he/him]

3 minutes ago, The Invested Beard said:

As an awakened beard you can probably guess my pick.

Wow, great idea, that's pretty awesome. I'm just imagining how that would work, and what you would do with that. Thanks for the laugh! 

[The Invested Beard]

Just now, MasterJack said:

Wow, great idea, that's pretty awesome. I'm just imagining how that would work, and what you would do with that. Thanks for the laugh! 

Four words: Beard controlled eating utensils.

[King Cole he/him]

I didn't pick hemalurgy because I am a bad person, those 2 things are completely unrelated.

[The Invested Beard]

Just now, King Cole said:

I didn't pick hemalurgy because I am a bad person, those 2 things are completely unrelated.

It's because you like cookies.

[MistbornAlpaca he/him]

1 minute ago, The Invested Beard said:

It's because you like cookies.

2 Words: Invested Cookies

[Faceless Mist-Wraith he/him]

Feruchemist, because it's so easy to use, and because copper minds would be a great study tool. Not to mention Bronze gives you your own personal temperature control.

Edited October 10, 2017 by Faceless Mist-Wraith

[Shqueeves he/him]

 I'd like to point out that surgebinders are usually Radiants, and most full radiants have at least a blade and can get plate as well (though we're not exactly sure how) 

[The One Who Connects he/him]

2 hours ago, Shqueeves said:

 I'd like to point out that Surgebinders are usually Radiants, and most full Radiants have at least a blade and can get plate as well (though we're not exactly sure how) 

The choice between Shardbearer and Radiant is an exploration into whether or not people want the power enough to submit themselves to limitations.

---

So onto the Poll... to quote myself from the last time we had one of these topics:

On 9/9/2017 at 7:04 PM, The One Who Connects said:

For what I would rather be, I've essentially got a three-way tie between Feruchemist, Elantrian, and Awakener. Simply put, they are the most versatile [single magic system] skill-sets in the Cosmere.

• An Elantrian can do quite literally anything with the right Aon chains(and inscribed plates make things both repeatable and quicker).
• Given enough breath, an Awakener is pretty much only limited by their own imagination.
• For Feruchemy, there is no limit to experimentation: several extra senses to work with, creative interactions between the powers, etc..

I ended up picking Elantrian, because Feruchemist wasn't an option, and Returned have the "breath per week" issue, whereas a normal Awakener wouldn't.

That's my big three, and here's my thoughts on the other choices: Shardplate is a pain as a non-Radiant, leaky spheres are a pain as a Radiant, Mistborn kinda feel a little overrated to me nowadays, I have my doubts about my success without a "Hemalurgy for Dummies," and I don't know enough about the Dakhor to say either way.

I ultimately went with Feruchemist for the capacity for experimentation, but Awakener nearly won out because of the ridiculous stealth potential.

• An Elantrian has to deal with being glowy and carrying around a bunch of metal plates.
• Feruchemists have all that metal jewelry making them stand out(and making them a target for muggers).
• An Awakener can just store most/all of their breath into parts of their normal attire and not have any aura at all.

[Djarskublar he/him]

Well, since Twinborn isn't on this list, I picked Hemalurgy since that can give me that. Plus all the others if I don't mind looking like a pincushion. As for what Twinborn, iron/iron is my favorite. They are the most mobile of any power set we know of, and have great destructive potential. I even prefer it over being a Steeldancer. Of course, since it's Hemalurgy you could just get all 4 and really be able to do crazy mobility stuff.

Also, you could potentially spike away the ability to become Elantrian, which is without question the most powerful cosmere magic. And with the power and knowledge of both, you could do many things that are simply absurd.  And while I'm at it, just grab Allomantic gold to do cognitive manipulation shenanigans.

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

Feruchemy has the perfect mix between badass and things you could need on a daily basis, so I voted that.

I'd love Surgebinding as well though.

[Scriptorian he/him]

Ah...choices...gonna have to go with Elantrian. Immortality and physical/mental boosts for free, plus object-oriented magic programming is hard to beat. 

Surgebinder was my second choice, but there is still a lot we don't know. We are only familiar with less then half of the orders and maybe half of the surges. Also I would want to be both a Truthwatcher and Windrunner (illusions + flying + two shardblades) and that may not be feasible. Get back to me once we get a Renarin PoV.

Mistborn is my third choice, because Mistborn. Also metal is probably the easiest power source to get access to. Also Mistborn.

I considered Feruchemy because it's sooo hackable, but that in turn means I can just buy medallions off another Sharder. 

Should Twinborn/Compounder (no, not Fullborn) be an option? Not sure I'd pick it, but it's still a high-tier power set. 

[MistbornAlpaca he/him]

I honestly expected Surgebinding to win, but now that I think about it...

25 minutes ago, Toaster Retribution said:

Feruchemy has the perfect mix between badass and things you could need on a daily basis, so I voted that.

 

So I guess Feruchemy makes the most sense, still, I would hate to have to have equal periods of terrible inability in certain areas for an equal period of double strength, which is why I chose Surgebinding, and Mistborn as my second choice, because they both use external power sources, they are end-positive, and I don't have to be really slow or really sick for long periods of time.

[Arinian]

Hmm... sorry but where is Forgery or Bloodsealing(and ChayShan I think)? Of course we know not much about this magic systems but not much less then about Dakhor. 

I chose Dakhor but only because there no Forgery (surely not cause Dakhor can gain invulnerability to Aons and ability to negate Aons(hmm... interesting can Dakhor monks negate powers from other magic systems? Hmm...) after sacrificing 50 Dakhor monks). Other powers preferred by me is Awakening and Bendalloy Twinborn(more time is always good ).

[Botanica she/her]

I would choose Lightweaving, both Yolish and Rosharan style! I’m particularly fond of illusory magic in the cosmere XD

[Oversleep]

Time has gone the full circle now.

Last time we had that poll the Dark Alley was born. I wonder what will happen this time...

[AbsentKeeper he/him]

Feruchemy has always been the power that appealed the most to me. It may not be the most combat oriented (discounting compounding) but it's incredibly versatile, has countless everyday uses, doesn't rely on constantly obtaining more of an expendable resource, and it has plenty of experimentation opportunities which just makes the scholar in me happy.

Plus, I'm a metalworker, so I could make some really awesome metalminds.

[Brightlord M. Alhstrom he/him]

I chose Elantrian, though I almost chose feruchemist. Elantrians are extremely OP, and the only negative is the location-dependency. People who complain about the glowing skin and stuff should remember that Raoden was able to use Aons to pass as a Dula, while being a fallen elantrian. Plus that fact that Galadon doesn't glow in the WoK interlude proves the same point, though that might be a different means.

Second would have been Feruchemist. Much the same reasons as everyone else. As things are, both of these magic systems tend to gear themselves towards scholars though, so that had an impact on my choice.

[StormingTexan he/him]

Really tough choice between Awakener and Feruchemist for me. Awaking assuming I become this with plenty of breath sounds better at first but as others said Feruchemy has really beneficial everyday use. Plus I could make it out of the grocery store with everything on my mental list for once storing it in my coppermind. If Forgery was on the list that would have made the decision harder.

[MistbornAlpaca he/him]

I can't believe I forgot Forgery, sorry everyone!

[Brightlord M. Alhstrom he/him]

Actually, Awakening would be cool, if I had enough breaths. Give me 10,000-50,000 and I'll take it. Then I'd worldhop to Sel and use Elantrian magic to turn a horde of bodies to diamond (or some other crazy hard material, leaving only the bones. Then animate them and meet Kalad's Phantoms 2.0. Conquer Sel first, then go ahead and use my monopoly of all things Sel to grow my hoard of breaths/army. Then, here I come Cosmere!

[MistbornAlpaca he/him]

16 hours ago, Lord Maelstrom said:

Actually, Awakening would be cool, if I had enough breaths. Give me 10,000-50,000 and I'll take it. Then I'd worldhop to Sel and use Elantrian magic to turn a horde of bodies to diamond (or some other crazy hard material, leaving only the bones. Then animate them and meet Kalad's Phantoms 2.0. Conquer Sel first, then go ahead and use my monopoly of all things Sel to grow my hoard of breaths/army. Then, here I come Cosmere!

The Lord Maelstrom Ruler, kind of rolls off the tongue a little... right? Nah, not really, but I'm sure you could come up with a different, and possibly a more terrifying name, good luck with that.  

[+Trellium he/him]

On 10/14/2017 at 0:03 AM, Lord Maelstrom said:

Actually, Awakening would be cool, if I had enough breaths. Give me 10,000-50,000 and I'll take it. Then I'd worldhop to Sel and use Elantrian magic to turn a horde of bodies to diamond (or some other crazy hard material, leaving only the bones. Then animate them and meet Kalad's Phantoms 2.0. Conquer Sel first, then go ahead and use my monopoly of all things Sel to grow my hoard of breaths/army. Then, here I come Cosmere!

Awesome plan! But the Dor makes getting in and out of Sel hard, plus the Selish have no breath anyway- they have more than drabs, but only those born on Nalthis are Endowed with a breath. I say take your breaths to Roshar. The trip is easier, the investiture more readily available, and they would have any awakaners new best friend: soulcasters. You can make all kinds of custom awakened objects through soulcasting. When important  light eyes die, they are soulcast into metal statues. Drag a bunch out in a highstorm and awaken an elite squad of type 4 entities with 1000 breaths equivalent of stormlight each and a command to "obey me".

[Brightlord M. Alhstrom he/him]

10 hours ago, Trellium said:

You can make all kinds of custom awakened objects through soulcasting.

Actually, that would be why I'd want Elantris. I feel like Aons are more versatile than Soulcasting, and I wouldn't need to use the Dor outside Elantris. I'd be using it to create my army, as a factory if you will. But once something has been transformed it isn't location dependent (unlike Forging). So same idea as Soulcasting, except that the Dor is free, and Stormlight (in these quantities) isn't. Also, my army wouldn't work so well on Roshar, seeing as Shardblades don't care what material you are using.

As for Elantrians not having Breaths: I'd be buying the breaths from Nalthians using my monopoly of the Selish economy. Plus, I stipulated that I start with 10-50K breaths.