Alleyverse Character Discussion

[Ashbringer he/him]

Is there a point value for something like a harmonium cube / raysium knife? Those are newer and rarer (and probably vary in power based on who's holding them) but they're also pretty cool.

[Ashbringer he/him]

Er... @Thaidakar the Ghostblood, @MacThorstenson, did you two finish polishing Darien?

[MacThorstenson he/him]

44 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

Er... @Thaidakar the Ghostblood, @MacThorstenson, did you two finish polishing Darien?

Yeah, Darien should be good if thaidakar made the adjustments that I think I am here asked him too.

On 3/11/2022 at 10:46 AM, Ashbringer said:

Is there a point value for something like a harmonium cube / raysium knife? Those are newer and rarer (and probably vary in power based on who's holding them) but they're also pretty cool.

No point value yet. We don't know too much about them, but I can try to take a look at them. If you want to use them just insert them in the character sheet and I'll try to figure out if that would make them OP. 

 

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

14 hours ago, Ashbringer said:

Er... @Thaidakar the Ghostblood, @MacThorstenson, did you two finish polishing Darien?

I would make the changes but for some reason I can't find my post. it just disappeared.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

40 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

I would make the changes but for some reason I can't find my post. it just disappeared.

Should be the second post from the top on the last page of the AV characters thread, not hte AV characters discussion thread.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

7 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

Should be the second post from the top on the last page of the AV characters thread, not hte AV characters discussion thread.

mkay, found it and changed it, it should fit now.

[Ashbringer he/him]

Question: how would you allocate points for a character who would reasonably have NPC bodyguards? Because I do actually want to make a DA Department Head of PR, and I'd like them to have less powers on their own (right now I'm leaning towards Smoker + Stormlight-healing Spike) but a good score for skills + access to NPC bodyguards (probably just a randomly generated spiked Misting or Surge-user as an aide, with someone more powerful like a Dahkor or more thouroughly Spiked individual within earshot, but I'm not really attached to anything).

I suppose even a newly-appointed Department of PR Head could reasonably go through the OP character route, but I've been looking for a more skill-based character anyway.

[Voidus]

29 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

Question: how would you allocate points for a character who would reasonably have NPC bodyguards? Because I do actually want to make a DA Department Head of PR, and I'd like them to have less powers on their own (right now I'm leaning towards Smoker + Stormlight-healing Spike) but a good score for skills + access to NPC bodyguards (probably just a randomly generated spiked Misting or Surge-user as an aide, with someone more powerful like a Dahkor or more thouroughly Spiked individual within earshot, but I'm not really attached to anything).

I suppose even a newly-appointed Department of PR Head could reasonably go through the OP character route, but I've been looking for a more skill-based character anyway.

I think any department heads of the DA are kinda obligated to go through the OP character route, doesn't have to be personal power but they should be an incredibly influential individual who has the power to potentially alter the fate of the city. So I think I would prefer that we had some community input over whether or not such a character would fit in the story, have discussions around how active they'll personally be, etc.
But not something we've discussed before so if any of the other mods have differing opinions I'm certainly open to have a discussion about it.
@AonEne @MacThorstenson @I think I am here. / other mods who I don't want to tag since they haven't been as active since the reboot and I don't like unnecessary tagging.

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

I am ambivalent, think it's fine if we do this. 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Should I run Lita through the OP process?

[Voidus]

I think Lita was added by virtue of plot-requirements for this era which we've given passes to previously. But yeah if you have plans for the appointment to be more permanent then it might be a good idea, though I highly doubt you'd get any pushback for it given how established Lita is as a character and how light-handed she has been with exercising her power so far.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

38 minutes ago, Voidus said:

I think Lita was added by virtue of plot-requirements for this era which we've given passes to previously. But yeah if you have plans for the appointment to be more permanent then it might be a good idea, though I highly doubt you'd get any pushback for it given how established Lita is as a character and how light-handed she has been with exercising her power so far.

I'll work up an OP sheet so I can have it on deck depending on how things shake out this Era :]

[Ashbringer he/him]

Great, now I have "OP Character" ringing in my head and want to give them an altered nex-im / Pursuer spike... 

Edited March 22, 2022 by Ashbringer

[MacThorstenson he/him]

This turned out a lot longer then I anticipated, but having been active and playing with an OP character most era's, these are my thoughts about how I've tried to use them and how they should be used.

 

I agree that generally DA department heads are going to be extremely OP. I am personally a pretty lenient on OP characters, particularly if they relate to guilds of significant size, but I think they should generally be understood to be more like an NPC than a PC. They shouldn't be solving problems with the other characters, because the challenges we write in should be addressable by the average characters (the ones that fit in the 150 points).

I'm personally fine if people wanted to make a council of OP characters for the Ghostblood council, or a team of DA department heads. So long as any RP done by them stays in their respective threads, I don't even think that they need community approval. That said, it needs to stay narratively isolated. I'd be fine with a scene of Voidus and the Stranger walking the streets discussing something, or getting a bite to eat. It just shouldn't impact other peoples plots. I'd be fine with a couple scenes of them blasting people to bits on other planets, or the GB council dueling each other as practice. It just needs to stay narratively isolated.

For an example of a situation thats problematic: Imagine my character Ronald is walking the streets saying he's on a mission for Voidus personally, doors will open that wouldn't otherwise be opened. Thats an issue if Voidus isn't approved. Voidus' presence is impacting the wider narrative, and so he should be approved so that everyone is aware of him and what impact he can have on the plot. If various characters are teaming up with the Stranger and feeding him information with his knowledge being the McGuffin that solves the mystery, thats an issue. He needs to be approved so people can plan around how he could impact their stories.

Basically, if you want them to have an impact on the plot, I think they need to be approved. If you want them to be a flavor character, or a catalyst for character development, I don't necessarily see a need for a whole process.

Hey Lord Voidus, if you see this know that pi = 3 = e. Also sin(x) = x.

Two quick notes:

One, I would prefer people to have at least a full Era of RPing under their belts before they try to make OP characters, for whatever reason. I love power fantasy as much, or even more, than the next guy, but its not conducive to learning how to RP or write well. Also I want people to have experience RPing so they can know not to overstep their bounds as an OP character.

Two, the subject of how to act with a guild leader character is tangential to this because while most OP characters will be guild leaders, not all guild leaders need to be approved and ironed out character. If there is gonna be an impact on the plot, and said impact is coming from the office (not the character), I don't think it necessarily needs approval. So long as it makes sense for said guild leader to be involved it I don't care. 

Like someone could totally be on a special assignment from an un-named department head to murder civilians, and come across PC's in the process. The department head doesn't necessarily need to be ironed out and approved, because its reasonable to assume that there is someone in the DA who enjoys wanton murder. So if someone in the DA gave you the OK, then write it. 

Or someone could be on a special assignment from the GB council and try to bring in a PC for questioning. Thats a reasonable decision for the council to make, so if a GB leader like sorona or TFA gave you the thumbs up to write that, then go ahead. No need to get approval for a specific council member. 

 

Hopefully this essay makes sense, I just wanted to infodump on how I had been trying to use OP character, and how they should be used going forward.

Edited March 22, 2022 by MacThorstenson

[I think I am here. he/him]

I’m a bit late to the party, but I agree with everything the Mac has said.

Edited March 22, 2022 by I think I am here.
Edit: for some reason “Mac” became “the Mac” but honestly it’s funnier that way so I’ll leave it

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Even though Lita isn’t actually OP on her own right this Era, playing a DA Dept head is definitely not as free-wheeling as playing someone who can pop in and out of the Alleys and the city, slide into places unnoticed, and generally get into trouble (read: have fun in a plot). It’s a nice exercise in role reversal but I’m not actually sure if I want to keep her as the Dept head. Or if I do, I’ll probably start from the ground up with a new character to play in all the plots with. 

[mathiau he/him]

On 22/03/2022 at 4:01 AM, Ashbringer said:

Question: how would you allocate points for a character who would reasonably have NPC bodyguards? Because I do actually want to make a DA Department Head of PR, and I'd like them to have less powers on their own (right now I'm leaning towards Smoker + Stormlight-healing Spike) but a good score for skills + access to NPC bodyguards (probably just a randomly generated spiked Misting or Surge-user as an aide, with someone more powerful like a Dahkor or more thouroughly Spiked individual within earshot, but I'm not really attached to anything).

I suppose even a newly-appointed Department of PR Head could reasonably go through the OP character route, but I've been looking for a more skill-based character anyway.

On a similar note, how do we handle dividuals? (two characters that are so often together they might as well be just one, think Thomson and Thompson)

I suppose the 120 points cap for fighting skills + investiture would be shared but how about the non-fighting skills?

[Voidus]

1 hour ago, mathiau said:

On a similar note, how do we handle dividuals? (two characters that are so often together they might as well be just one, think Thomson and Thompson)

I suppose the 120 points cap for fighting skills + investiture would be shared but how about the non-fighting skills?

I would generally suggest that people find another player to play the other half of that rather than RPing two sides of a conversation constantly.

[mathiau he/him]

On 24/03/2022 at 2:13 AM, Voidus said:

I would generally suggest that people find another player to play the other half of that rather than RPing two sides of a conversation constantly.

I see, that might be hard for the character idea I had since they're supposed to each only have a half power and more importantly because I have no idea how to find someone to play one of them

[Voidus]

19 hours ago, The Sibling said:

Character sheet:

Name: Melody Karah

Physical Characteristics: Scratchy, pale brown hair reaching almost to her waist. Just above 5 ft tall. Icy blue eyes. Thin and wiry.

Investiture: Gold Ferring

Skills: Skilled acrobat, amateur with a bow. 
Equipment: Four glass daggers and a longbow. A deep brown cloak that when turned inside out becomes a lavish, navy coloured cloak. Lots of hidden pockets on every piece of clothing. Lots of dice and cards of every sort.

Weaknesses: Bad at social situations. Clumsy when nervous, and constantly fiddling with her hair. Sometimes the world is too much for her, so she randomly pulls her hood over her face and hides.

Family: A father named Tempo who works a boring desk job but spends his evenings telling stories to anyone who will listen. A mother named Lyric who is very mysterious and often leaves the family to go adventuring. Melody is a triplet, with a sister named Harmony who follows in her mother’s footsteps, and a brother named Symphony who she thinks drowned when he was eight.

Home Planet: Scadrial

Backstory: She was born to a fairly wealthy family, but after Symphony died her life felt incomplete. When her mother was preparing to leave (again) to who knows where, Melody decided to follow. She worshipped her mother. Melody hid in her mother’s trunk. She has no idea how she ended up in the alleyverse. When she emerged from the trunk, she saw her mother with another family. She felt betrayed, ran away, and got lost. Now she doesn’t know what to do.

Guild: Unaffiliated

Psyche: Fairly smart, generally aloof. Very paranoid and bad a making friends. Shy, but also weird.

Appearance: Well tanned skin with a few freckles. Prominent scar on her left elbow.

Fighting Style: Shoots from afar, pretty much domed in close contact. Fast and smart, Melody will try to do something clever, but will usually screw up and end up getting beat up.

 

Re: Guild
You are welcome to create new guilds in the Alleyverse if you would like but I would suggest having at least a certain amount of other players willing to support, otherwise we get a bunch of tiny 1-person guilds which fade out of existence if that person goes quiet.

I'd also rather not have anything too ridiculous or meta as a guild in the AV, so like obviously a signature guild does not really make sense in-world without some changes because the characters do not have a concept of signatures. Similarly, they need a certain degree of seriousness to justify people in world treating them as a serious entity. Never opposed to a little joke, which is after all kind of how the entire AV started, but the AV is by and large a pretty serious and dramatic RP these days so we don't want too much ruining the over all tone.

[I think I am here. he/him]

On 28/3/2022 at 11:42 AM, The Sibling said:

Family: A father named Tempo

You sure there’s no relation to @FatherTiempo? He hung around these parts for a while  

[The Sibling she/her]

Tempo is just for sticking with the musical theme, although it is my least favourite of all the names there.

[Ashbringer he/him]

Okay - theory time. My DA PR Department Head is coming along, slowly. Still need to work out some details.

But!

He‘s a Coppercloud. He can burn copper.

PR works to, at least partially, alter the memories of individuals using copper spikes.

 

What if my Department Head has just been gathering some of the altered memory spikes and burning them to “gain” the memories within?

[mathiau he/him]

Assuming a character owned a atiummind keyed to to a dead person (and therefore completely unusable for any of atium's interesting uses to my knowledge), would it still cost point?

On 03/04/2022 at 11:48 AM, Ashbringer said:

Okay - theory time. My DA PR Department Head is coming along, slowly. Still need to work out some details.

But!

He‘s a Coppercloud. He can burn copper.

PR works to, at least partially, alter the memories of individuals using copper spikes.

 

What if my Department Head has just been gathering some of the altered memory spikes and burning them to “gain” the memories within?

I'm not sure you can burn spikes taken from other people, same issue as with trying to burn someone else's metalmind.

[Ashbringer he/him]

17 minutes ago, mathiau said:

Assuming a character owned a atiummind keyed to to a dead person (and therefore completely unusable for any of atium's interesting uses to my knowledge), would it still cost point?

I'm not sure you can burn spikes taken from other people, same issue as with trying to burn someone else's metalmind.

I think that if he implanted the spike, he'd be able to get something, because the spike also taking a little bit of Identity. It's canon that Hemalurgists can use the stores of the Feruchemists their spikes came from.

He could also just burn them as copper, probably, and get a hint of the Hemalurgic contents. Speaking of which, an atiummind keyed to someone else is still atium and could be burned by anyone with that ability, so that may make it have points.