Powers in the Robotnik Wars Sonic RP

[Blazeymix 890]

I realize this is a bit of a controversial topic, a lot of the older members here seem to be unable to have functioning characters without powers. And no offense to anyone, but this is frustrating for me as a writer because Powers don't make a character. Personalities do. Your characters are MORE than powers, and you can add them to ANY world and adapt them as long as you keep their personalities in tact. Same brain, different world, different laws of physics and nature.

 

I do think powers are fun however and I do think they give an edge to characters and add to their personalities however I also think powers screw things up too much. In any RP topic, especially combat, powers are the main focus of posts. Not how it feels to be in a fight, not the fear, the anxiety, the thoughts and emotions behind combat, not realistic combat of any kind, just characters jumping in, throwing whatever powers they have at each other and dodging and rinse repeat. In the end the more powers characters have, the more shallow these RPs become.

 

That's neither here nor there though, the main reason why this world has no powers is the fact that the emphasis of this world is the war and both sides of it and how all the characters react, live and deal with it every day. Your characters should have to survive, should have to fight and sneak and act like they aren't completely invincible. Your characters in this world should be careful, should be aware of the dangers around them and should think and react with their minds and personalities, not their powers. SatAM and the Sonic comics had very little powers for characters. The ones that did have powers are characters mostly from the video games like Blaze, Shadow, Silver, etc. The comics and SatAM were always meant to have a more gritty and realistic tone. None of the characters could simply stampede around with ice powers and freeze any danger around them(for example), they instead had to plan out attacks, be stealthy, and use weapons and gadgets they created themselves, they had to look out for each other and fight and claw their way through the war, each victory successful through hard work, planning, luck, and skill.

 

Now all that being said, the fact is there are a few characters, very few in the comics and SatAM that did have powers. Nagus being a good example as he was a wizard who had supernatural magical powers. Sonic is another argument as he has super speed. With that in mind, and with several limitations and rules regarding it, I have come up with a way for you to include powers into this RP. However you MUST abide by the rules and limitations or not have powers at all.

 

The way I designed this system is based on the way SatAM and the early comics worked. MOST of the time all the characters did not have or use powers. Exception being Sonic's super speed. Even then he relied on the same tactics, gadgets and plans everyone else did. So basically the major rule here is you may only have ONE character per faction with powers. The rest must be normal mobians and adapted for that kind of play style.

The next rule is that these powers cannot be used at any time, any circumstance. Instead powers must be activated with the use of a Power Ring, similar to how Sonic used power rings in SatAM to run "Warp Speed". Your characters can only use any powers they have under the influence of a Power Ring. Each character has access to unique powers, and it will only be in short burts. This will encourage characters to rely not on powers but stealth, skills, survival, etc and only resorting to their powers when they absolutely have to.

The last rule is that the powers themselves cannot be extreme. They may only be simple powers and not at all OP.

 

Another problem I can see is that most of you might not think your character can use a power ring, it might look weird or just might not be viable. So to fix this issue, it will be possible and viable to have items forged from power rings. For example, your character might wear a ring or necklace or earring or any other accesory that has been melted and forged from a power ring. Both Robotnik and the Freedom Fighters will have access to this, that way both sides will be able to have powers.

 

Once a power ring acc. has been used, it must recharge for 24 hours before being used again.

 

So to summarize, you may create 1 character per faction WITH some form of powers, however to use those powers they MUST own an item forged from a power ring and they may only use the power ring once every 24 hours. The effects of the power ring are only short bursts, meaning the powers should be used sparingly instead of reliably. Your characters need to rely on their own skills, techniques, and choices to survive.

[AmaranthineAdventure 0]

I like this it's fair, and gives power usage a completely new thought process as to when is it best to use their ability, the only suggestion I can make is that when the power ring is used the owner of the ring has to place (Power Ring Recharge) at the end of their rp and both they and the narrator keeps up with the the story timeline, so when 24 hours have passed the narrator can begin or end their message with for example (AmaranthineAdventure: Power Ring charged).

The reason I suggest that both the player and the narrator keep up, is that while there may be just one per faction the narrator has a lot to keep up with so they may slip and forget to mention, but the player on the other hand will beable to keep a closer eye on it (and since it makes up a part of  who they are will be more inclined to sick be aware of the time line so when they think the 24 hours have passed they can pm the narrator and ask them about it.)

[joykill 4]

So what do you call Sonic's speed? Or tails/knuckles ability  to fly/glide? These are not powers granted by power rings. And outside of sonic, can't be enhanced my them either. 

[Blitscreet 552]

1 hour ago, joykill said:

So what do you call Sonic's speed? Or tails/knuckles ability  to fly/glide? These are not powers granted by power rings. And outside of sonic, can't be enhanced my them either. 

I think what she's trying to say is powers beyond normal means. Sonic is probably the only real base exception to this rule. As for Tails and Knuckles, their ability to fly are more like natural abilities than powers. Tails spins his tails to fly and Knuckles catches air beneath his dreadlocks to glide. Not really totally logical but still applies.

Say if you have a chameleon character, like Espio. Chameleons have a natural ability to camouflage and blend in with their surroundings. That's a natural ability, not a power.