so uh, the title says it all basically
surprisingly, i've never really made a god character ever, the closest thing i ever got to one, was some super powerful magic cats that were looked up to lol
i always thought it would be cheating or something to do something like that; to be completely honest with you, i want to make one so i can be a part of the bandwagon, and my characters so far have been pretty interesting (well, at least thats what everyone else says, i still think my characters are hot ass)
so from the people who have already made this type of character before, any suggestions for me?
surprisingly, i've never really made a god character ever, the closest thing i ever got to one, was some super powerful magic cats that were looked up to lol
i always thought it would be cheating or something to do something like that; to be completely honest with you, i want to make one so i can be a part of the bandwagon, and my characters so far have been pretty interesting (well, at least thats what everyone else says, i still think my characters are hot ass)
so from the people who have already made this type of character before, any suggestions for me?
I only have a few characters like that and only RP with one of them... or did before I got here. I always felt like it was cheating to let him use his full powers, though, so I made him follow special rules.
More or less, I nerfed him for the sake of not overpowering other peoples' characters. But it would be nice to be able to let him cut loose and use his abilities to their fullest.
Um, so I guess my suggestion probably doesn't help much but if you ever have them in an RP where they're not allowed to be the beautiful OP beast they were designed to be, you can have them follow self-imposed rules. Like, their power is still there on tap, but they just don't use it. Out of courtesy or pride or whatever. I know for me, I have lots more fun with crazy-powerful characters when they're not allowed/able to solve problems with their awesome powers. Especially when they have to rely on others.
When they can cut loose, though, just keep in mind that they should have some sort of limitations/weaknesses. Being as powerful as they are, they might not have physical problems, but maybe they have a glaring personality flaw or strange code of morality so they balance out. Gotta at least give them the possibility to fail! Stakes are higher that way.
Or if not "fail," at least able to walk away for whatever reason.
More or less, I nerfed him for the sake of not overpowering other peoples' characters. But it would be nice to be able to let him cut loose and use his abilities to their fullest.
Um, so I guess my suggestion probably doesn't help much but if you ever have them in an RP where they're not allowed to be the beautiful OP beast they were designed to be, you can have them follow self-imposed rules. Like, their power is still there on tap, but they just don't use it. Out of courtesy or pride or whatever. I know for me, I have lots more fun with crazy-powerful characters when they're not allowed/able to solve problems with their awesome powers. Especially when they have to rely on others.
When they can cut loose, though, just keep in mind that they should have some sort of limitations/weaknesses. Being as powerful as they are, they might not have physical problems, but maybe they have a glaring personality flaw or strange code of morality so they balance out. Gotta at least give them the possibility to fail! Stakes are higher that way.
Or if not "fail," at least able to walk away for whatever reason.
eeey, thanks a bunch forta, you my bae <33
i can understand in terms of nerfing them and not have them be op af in rps, but i was like: "how should i nerf them?" and all that,
i guess i can just look up some other stuff
thanks again m9
i can understand in terms of nerfing them and not have them be op af in rps, but i was like: "how should i nerf them?" and all that,
i guess i can just look up some other stuff
thanks again m9
First, you need a good concept for who/what your god is.
A God from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, is going to look far different than a classic Olympian Greek god, which is far different than the sort of god you see in some anime, like Oh My Goddess. there's no good 'One Size Fits All'.
The God's bio needs to make those expectations clear to a potential writing partner.
My personal advice is don't be afraid to think small. Many gods tend to defined by how powerful they are and their writers spell out this massive list of crazy powers, each one of which would be world shaking on it's own.
Be the God of Coffee who works as the best damn barista in the world. Be the God of Procrastination and get to it tomorrow. Be the God of the way time seems to slow down when you're bored. Pick a concept that you've never seen any one do justice to, and rock it, even if it seems silly.
A God from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, is going to look far different than a classic Olympian Greek god, which is far different than the sort of god you see in some anime, like Oh My Goddess. there's no good 'One Size Fits All'.
The God's bio needs to make those expectations clear to a potential writing partner.
My personal advice is don't be afraid to think small. Many gods tend to defined by how powerful they are and their writers spell out this massive list of crazy powers, each one of which would be world shaking on it's own.
Be the God of Coffee who works as the best damn barista in the world. Be the God of Procrastination and get to it tomorrow. Be the God of the way time seems to slow down when you're bored. Pick a concept that you've never seen any one do justice to, and rock it, even if it seems silly.
I... love that idea of the God of 'x' where 'x' is the smallest silliness. That's great!
I struggle with OP characters, too! One of mine is not a god, but he's got a slew of magical abilities afforded his species that make him hard to commiserate with an average human. I try to balance that with his personality--his morality goes into flux and throws his arrogance under the bus when he tries to figure out how to stack up being a patron figure with being a person he can feel good about, going to sleep at night.
My other is a newbie character that I haven't sussed out yet, and she's got enough abilities to classify her among gods, but like Cass mentioned she'd be a god of X, which in this case is Fire. Her abilities are offset at the moment by the fact that she's young for her species, she was only given training on how to suppress her abilities, and she's been told that surviving among humans is imperative, so she needs to look and act the part. Even if the fog o' war on her ability tree were revealed to her, I think that she would probably boggle at trying to make use of all of those suppressed traits. In the end, she might come to realize that having all that power does not fulfill some very human needs, like company and affection and a drive to self-improve... so I think that as she gets older she'd naturally pull back and put self-imposed limits on how she interacts with others unless in dire need.
Sussing out where that line is crossed, that an OP character will break their own code of conduct or ethics, can be interesting! I find that characters who don't have that boundary, or who don't suffer for using their powers (eg: I suppose demonic, 'insane' or psychopathic god-like characters) aren't nearly as fun to play, or to play against. Even Q from Star Trek, an archetype of a god who uses his powers willy-nilly as a trickster figure, suffered consequences both psychological (he snapped back; it was an episodic era, lol) or societal (from the continuum kicking him out and/or making him a pariah.)
It really boils down to what kind of genre you like. If you decide you want a character who's mad-powerful and also mad-doesn't-give-a-toot, that can work too... I imagine in that case you're just narrowing down the pool of characters that yours will jive with, as others look for ways to 1) crack the surface or 2) take them down a notch. That could be fun, too, but it takes the right player and the right scene not to be frustrating for the other player.
I struggle with OP characters, too! One of mine is not a god, but he's got a slew of magical abilities afforded his species that make him hard to commiserate with an average human. I try to balance that with his personality--his morality goes into flux and throws his arrogance under the bus when he tries to figure out how to stack up being a patron figure with being a person he can feel good about, going to sleep at night.
My other is a newbie character that I haven't sussed out yet, and she's got enough abilities to classify her among gods, but like Cass mentioned she'd be a god of X, which in this case is Fire. Her abilities are offset at the moment by the fact that she's young for her species, she was only given training on how to suppress her abilities, and she's been told that surviving among humans is imperative, so she needs to look and act the part. Even if the fog o' war on her ability tree were revealed to her, I think that she would probably boggle at trying to make use of all of those suppressed traits. In the end, she might come to realize that having all that power does not fulfill some very human needs, like company and affection and a drive to self-improve... so I think that as she gets older she'd naturally pull back and put self-imposed limits on how she interacts with others unless in dire need.
Sussing out where that line is crossed, that an OP character will break their own code of conduct or ethics, can be interesting! I find that characters who don't have that boundary, or who don't suffer for using their powers (eg: I suppose demonic, 'insane' or psychopathic god-like characters) aren't nearly as fun to play, or to play against. Even Q from Star Trek, an archetype of a god who uses his powers willy-nilly as a trickster figure, suffered consequences both psychological (he snapped back; it was an episodic era, lol) or societal (from the continuum kicking him out and/or making him a pariah.)
It really boils down to what kind of genre you like. If you decide you want a character who's mad-powerful and also mad-doesn't-give-a-toot, that can work too... I imagine in that case you're just narrowing down the pool of characters that yours will jive with, as others look for ways to 1) crack the surface or 2) take them down a notch. That could be fun, too, but it takes the right player and the right scene not to be frustrating for the other player.
hey, thanks cass and dray, real big help!
and i love the barista idea man, i died laughing at that for some odd reason. i already brainstormed a few things for my general ideas for my god character, and that's all well and fine. the whole personality thing was escaping me because i'm having some kinda writer's block right now and it's making me very, very sad. :^[
anyways, i wasn't going to go down the whole demonic route, but i certainly wanted his (spoilers) powers to be something that seemed very significant, but he doesn't use them because well, he thinks it's more of a fun time to do things the ol' fashioned way
....why do i feel like that's been done before? meh, anyway, thanks again, you guys definitely got some cogs going :^]
and i love the barista idea man, i died laughing at that for some odd reason. i already brainstormed a few things for my general ideas for my god character, and that's all well and fine. the whole personality thing was escaping me because i'm having some kinda writer's block right now and it's making me very, very sad. :^[
anyways, i wasn't going to go down the whole demonic route, but i certainly wanted his (spoilers) powers to be something that seemed very significant, but he doesn't use them because well, he thinks it's more of a fun time to do things the ol' fashioned way
....why do i feel like that's been done before? meh, anyway, thanks again, you guys definitely got some cogs going :^]
I think that if it's fun to you, don't worry if it's been done before. RP should be about recreation and creative exploration; there's no final published drafts to worry about here. :]b
There's such a delightful distinction between 'character with godlike powers' and 'character who is a god' that can be mined, too. Characters with godlike powers are hard to navigate. Characters who are actual literal gods...
'God' suggests they are worshipped, which means some code of conduct recorded or passed down somewhere. Commandments, verses, guidelines that define when a god will and will not intervene. Unless they're a deity who's been lost to the sands of time, but even that implies that they were once part of some sort of dogma.
Moreover, think of the hoops that actual real-life religions go through to justify the fact that their gods aren't down just smiting nonbelievers and doing miracles all day erry day. It's better for us to learn to do it ourselves! It's all a test to see what us mortals will do, and god will sort us out in the afterlife! They do do miracles, but nonbelievers justify them away as coincidence! and so on and so forth. There's a lot to mine there!
That or you just go out and find other gods to play against, or limit this new character to playing with people you're familiar with and feel comfortable setting certain parameters with. I've got one character with godlike powers and one who is a literal god, and neither is up on the site at the moment because it's not much fun to play them outside of set contexts where their powers don't muck things up.
'God' suggests they are worshipped, which means some code of conduct recorded or passed down somewhere. Commandments, verses, guidelines that define when a god will and will not intervene. Unless they're a deity who's been lost to the sands of time, but even that implies that they were once part of some sort of dogma.
Moreover, think of the hoops that actual real-life religions go through to justify the fact that their gods aren't down just smiting nonbelievers and doing miracles all day erry day. It's better for us to learn to do it ourselves! It's all a test to see what us mortals will do, and god will sort us out in the afterlife! They do do miracles, but nonbelievers justify them away as coincidence! and so on and so forth. There's a lot to mine there!
That or you just go out and find other gods to play against, or limit this new character to playing with people you're familiar with and feel comfortable setting certain parameters with. I've got one character with godlike powers and one who is a literal god, and neither is up on the site at the moment because it's not much fun to play them outside of set contexts where their powers don't muck things up.
I have a couple of god NPCs, they're limited in a few ways.
The Elders are in mortal vessels, which rather limits their powers as calling on their big god powers would literally incinerate their hosts. They mainly focus on being petty and bureaucratic anyway, they're a council, they spend most of their time bickering rather like the Greek gods, with mortals being the unfortunate victims of their petty point scoring.
"Fate" on the other hand is a god-like entity who has limited control over the mortal realm. She has a lot of power, but she simply can't directly influence the mortal realm. Think of it like an ant farm, you can watch, you can put in things that'll influence and manipulate the actions of the ants, but you can't control each individual ant right?
That's what Fate is like. To get stuff done she has to work on manipulating the environment or trying to communicate with people in positions of authority. She has a subtle influence over the universe that can have massive impact, like a domino effect but she has to be very careful to get what she wants done right.
She has an emisary or prophet who she directly communicates with, but this is a being of immense power who doesn't think like a mortal, she doesn't "speak" in a way that we can really comprehend. She sends visions but they're very difficult to decipher because they don't make sense to a mortal way of thinking. It's like not even two different languages, it's more like one person communicating through eyebrow twitches and aroma and another using english.
It also has the unfortunate tendency to burn out her prophet's brain after a few decades. Oops?
You can also use the whole "power of belief" thing, that a god only has massive power if they have belief to fuel it. A god of a long lost pantheon no longer has belief, so their powers will be very limited if not totally lost to them.
The Elders are in mortal vessels, which rather limits their powers as calling on their big god powers would literally incinerate their hosts. They mainly focus on being petty and bureaucratic anyway, they're a council, they spend most of their time bickering rather like the Greek gods, with mortals being the unfortunate victims of their petty point scoring.
"Fate" on the other hand is a god-like entity who has limited control over the mortal realm. She has a lot of power, but she simply can't directly influence the mortal realm. Think of it like an ant farm, you can watch, you can put in things that'll influence and manipulate the actions of the ants, but you can't control each individual ant right?
That's what Fate is like. To get stuff done she has to work on manipulating the environment or trying to communicate with people in positions of authority. She has a subtle influence over the universe that can have massive impact, like a domino effect but she has to be very careful to get what she wants done right.
She has an emisary or prophet who she directly communicates with, but this is a being of immense power who doesn't think like a mortal, she doesn't "speak" in a way that we can really comprehend. She sends visions but they're very difficult to decipher because they don't make sense to a mortal way of thinking. It's like not even two different languages, it's more like one person communicating through eyebrow twitches and aroma and another using english.
It also has the unfortunate tendency to burn out her prophet's brain after a few decades. Oops?
You can also use the whole "power of belief" thing, that a god only has massive power if they have belief to fuel it. A god of a long lost pantheon no longer has belief, so their powers will be very limited if not totally lost to them.
I haven't read through all the responses yet so IDK if this has been suggested or not, but, One possible limitation is the God isn't omnipotent/omniscient, and is only a truly unstoppable force in their specific sphere of influence. For Example, Zeus is spectacular as a storm god, but he'd probably be pretty crappy as a love god, or something along those lines. And the more specific the sphere of influence the more open they are to possibly being defeated by something outside their sphere.
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