The Incarnates: Icly or oocly?

Back to the original question, no, none of my characters will actively mention the incarnate mechanics or have it alter their bio/background in any way that effects RP... just like I don't consider completing one of the "end game" TFs as happening directly as they did, because exactly how many times will the secret of the Honoree be revealed? Or Recluse's mega weapon be thwarted? I will just mix it in casually, as long as it is just a bit of a boost in power, that seems fitting for the particular character.

Even then I dislike the idea that a bit of backstory suddenly should make your character "ZOMG UBAR!". I have one character who's background is that they are sort of a living channel for the power of Apollo. That is the explanation for their powers, not a RP bio "I WIN" button/blurb, it is just the reasoning behind why this particular character is just as powerful as all the other level 50 super duper spandex wearers out there. And for the canon purists out there, sure, all the characters who have unlocked the "alpha slot" will be enhanced by the Well, but not intentionally and certainly not knowingly. I mean, my big battle armored Tanker certainly didn't decide to take a hot steaming bubble bath of godliness in the Well ala Achilles, just that for whatever reason this source of cosmic energy decided to leak into him.

But none of my characters are going to go around in RP with the, "Excuse me. I am feeling particularly godly today!", mentality.

To the original Question.

Depends on the character.

For the one who currently can do all this stuff... (Condor Azul) yes the character IS aware of all the incarnate stuff, but will not follow that path (same way a teamate offered to give her powers... and she has rejected the offer, twice).

There is an explanation of why she would have the in game incarnate system, however the explanation of it is very very extensive and involve almost a dozen of other people in the server, some aware of it some not, but it is all related to the storyline of her kidnapping and changes.

When another char reach 50... depending on the char they will openly seek the path of the incarnate.

On the original question, none of my characters will be ICly doing the well of the Incarnate stuff. Yes, I've unlocked the alphas and will slot my 50s with them, just like I slotted them with Hamios back when, but just as my characters were never sticking bits of Hamidon in them, they are also not electing to be puppets of the well. I also have never RPed most of the game mechanics. I did not reach into a villain and take his cyberheart. I don't have "levels" in character; when someone else RPs it, I relent to calling it security clearance.

Quickshot is mainly technological, and quite logical. She would never see the appeal of having some unknown power that you might wind up a puppet to as a good thing.

Aliuneidis is the avatar of love. It's all he needs. Accepting power from something else would corrupt him.. which could be an interesting plot in itself, but..

Swiftwind is an android, as well as logical. She might go for something that would make her closer to human, but just for power? During the Ramiel arc, she fought both EBs simultaneously while ignoring all the Rikti swarming her. She's already pretty powerful.

Inuit Acer's powers are based in his peoples' beliefs. He's not going to shun his gods for some Well.

and so on..
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As the story is currently written, it's a horrifying tale of corruption and misuse of power, including Statesman, who comes across as a total dweeb. My characters will most likely be wincing when other characters mention ICly doing it.

Yeah... all of my characters are either the sort that would absolutely never be connected to the Well...

...or are virtual, RP Incarnates anyway, connected instead to multiversal forces of Order and Chaos.

But, really, I just have to look at it and think to myself... Would Smersh really accept power from some undefined but sentient power source, or would he just crank his old armor suit up to 11?

I work under the latter assumption.

It is possible that I might take one of my characters who is not yet 50 and play with the lore itself, but I haven't made that decision yet.

I see the incarnate system as a matter of "Do what the feck you want with it." For example, Shadowstormm will be working pretty-well directly from the Canon story associated with the arc.

However, I by no means intend for him to become a living god. That'd hollow out the character immensely and make him boring to RP. For Shadowstormm, it'll more be a case of him pushing through the boundaries of peak human ability to become something....more. Certainly not a god by any stretch, but something more than human. His shots will hit harder, he'll be hardier and a little stronger, and he'll become more accurate than a lifetime of marksmanship could ever allow.

For other characters? It'd be a tech upgrade or a new set of targeting software, some it will be simply part of the evolution of their mutation.

Either way? I for one certainly won't be making the "Duuur, I'm a god, therefore I win' claim.


That's just silly.

Are we talking about how we're explaining it now? I say go any direction you want. The precedent has already been set to explain your connection to the Well in any way you wish. Nobody's forced to integrate the Mender's TF into their own story. Who says there aren't more Excaliburs out there? The Lady might have had a trunk-full of them in a Wal-Mart parking lot. "Hey buddy, wanna inherit the kingdom?" Or how about other cultural weapons. Masamune, etc? Anything would do. Not even just weapons or ancient artifacts. It can be tech, a spell, a mutation that taps into the power. Hell, one of my characters has a suit of power-armor powered by a demon (Aeon stole MY idea, damnit!) and running on a Magickal OS. I plan his connection to be via the demon. Do whatever YOU want.

Even if you don't want to IC acknowledge your alpha slot, sure, okay. However, I do believe that any time you reject anything in the game that allows you to develop your character more, it's your loss. Allow your characters out of the box you wrote them in. The writers/devs have worked extremely hard to translate as many game mechanics as possible into IC terms. Take advantage of it. Integrate!

I was quite amused when I realized the writers pre-empted all the "not connected to the Well" stories out there with the Honoree. You're not connected? Sure you aren't. Okay, yeah. No problem. I believe you. You're definitely not. Mmmhm. ^_^

I don't see some single one-size-fits-all path to power suiting my characters.

Some of them might come into contact with the Well in some way or another; it almost certainly wouldn't be the rather generic means presented in the Incarnate story arc. It would be something personally tailored to their own character that fit in with their existing story.

Some of them will simply never attain such levels of power as the Well offers. These characters were never meant to be cosmic heroes. One of them is a guy who is just a little bigger, a little stronger, a little tougher than average. He doesn't even have a costume, and hesitates to call himself a hero at all.

Still others already have such power or will find it by other means. One of my characters is already the embodiment of a force of nature. The primary limiter on her power is simply how much of it she can wield without losing her sense of self altogether. Another was contacted by an entity whose power would certainly rival the Well's... and the two might well not get along. It's doubtful the Well could do anything for these already-cosmic powers.

It's... following the game mechanics too closely inhibits the individuality of characters. In many cases, they're more interesting as they are. This isn't to say the Well doesn't have its RP uses; for some characters, it could be an interesting path to follow, and some of mine probably will have their encounters with it. But certainly not all.

Wildwind says it better than I did/could.

My Hero main is a 50 BS/WP scrapper. His excuse is being a 20 HD Warblade. Incarnate will simply equal out to his 21'st HD.

According to the arc, becoming an Incarnate for our characters consists of 'acquiring an upgradeable mystic artifact, and then taking steps to upgrade it.' Additional power is bestowed on the character by said artifact, to the extent that they upgrade it. The mystic artifact acts as a conduit for the Well's power. It's a piece of magical plumbing, and especially in the early phases really isn't much stronger than the dozens of other artifacts and gadgets the game has the majority of players pick up, interact with, and keep in their pockets throughout the content. In the form of temp powers, ehancements, inventions, salvage, base equipment, and even inspirations if you want to go that far.

It's not any bigger of a leap than playing your veteran blackwand as an IC magic stick your character's been keeping in their closet in case they ever happened to need it. And nobody thinks twice about someone doing that.

In total it doesn't really seem that incompatible with most characters in the City-verse to me, except ones who are rejecting the game's reality to replace it with their own from the outset. And if you're already ignoring the game world, I guess incarnates just mean you'll have to ignore it a little harder.

It varies vastly based on the character, all the way from "completed the arc, I'm not an incarnate" to word-for-word accepting all the lore of the arc itself.

My time-traveling Mender is following the game's lore literally. She spoke with Statesman, fought Trapdoor, the whole deal, and is now on "the slow path" collecting Incarnate Shards to become more attuned with her fledgling Incarnate abilities.

My primal "defender of Earth since its creation" elemental character is an Incarnate of Gaia similarly to how Statesman is an Incarnate of Zeus. He's been one since the moment of his creation (by Gaia herself), and will always be one. His power is constant - he's not becoming more powerful ICly as he gains Incarnate slots - he's already at the maximum level of "Incarnate-ness" one can be at.

I don't RP by level, and my Incarnates are powerful because they should be otherwise, not because "omg i am a god nao, bow b4 me." Since I don't RP-fight, conflict is rather moot, but I would never go "um, no, that power doesn't work because I'm an incarnate," and I wouldn't RP with someone who did.

To RP it or not was a fairly easy choice for me, since my main character is a Troll. I don't think anyone in their right mind would be like.. "Hey, drug addicted, mentally deficient, overly-violent gang member.. I'mma help you get some godlike power! Why? Iunno, just seemed like a good idea at the time."

Besides, I usually find it a bad idea to RP most in-game stuff EXACTLY as it happened.. It'd be odd to Roleplay killing Trapdoor with the 97th other player to go "How could you have killed him, -I- killed him", Etc..

When everyone is all-powerful no one is really a "threat". I don't bother RP'ing it.

Off topic, I for one wish there was a feeling of "risk" being a villain in the game.

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