Why not? Does it actually cause issues?
Kumi is a character I have who made her money through childhood stardom and now uses the money to fund a relief charity and leave herself time to do Hero stuff.
Bodyshop is a character who's not really a hero or a Villain. Able to do the work of a plastic surgeon and more with the touch of a hand, she's made a fortune doing just that. She's mainly there for people to use if they want to change their character's appearance, but it'd be silly to say she didn't get rich off it.
Wrench Wench uses her insight into systems to play the Stock Market and make a fortune. But she builds giant robots and all other kinds of gadgets, so this one's actually a requirement.
I've got characters that are broke too, or at least have to juggle worklife and hero life. But I don't really see how having a lot of money is a problem. Billionare Superman isn't hard to imagine, he could easily have been a Billionare if he wanted to be.
In your case Fans it seems the money, adds to the characters.
That is to say, the characters have used their 'powers' to become rich.
Rather than having the money be an 'also' aspect.
My character is the last son of a doomed world, sent to Earth to bring about a better world. He has super strength, laser eyes, freezing breath, he can fly, he's invulnerable... also he's a millionaire.
What does the money actually add to the character?
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
Shay 'Azure Arrow' Bennet's father was in property, and he's now in property well. His money and contacts let him help the city with good housing, charity projects and the like, and give him the funds to help the people on the street as his superhero persona. He could still be a hero on a budget, without some of his more hi-tech arrows, but his ability to provide the homeless and the isolated with aid would be much reduced. He's kind of a nice Batman/Green Arrow type of character, hence the wealth.
Zorielle 'Zortel' Rolando is a scientist, and was a businesswoman. She built her company up riding the high-tech wave in Paragon, and shrewd investments have given her the ability to not only fund her own side projects, but the Unity Vigil as well. With portal tech giving her access to a council of herselves, she also can draw on resources from other dimensions. She was inspired in part by Tony Stark and Sylia Stingray from Bubblegum Crisis, hence the monetary background.
The rest of my characters are either affluent, well off, modest, or on a shoestring budget.
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Well it depends how he earned it, you could make it interesting.|
Originally Posted by CactusBrawler
In your case Fans it seems the money, adds to the characters.
That is to say, the characters have used their 'powers' to become rich. Rather than having the money be an 'also' aspect. My character is the last son of a doomed world, sent to Earth to bring about a better world. He has super strength, laser eyes, freezing breath, he can fly, he's invulnerable... also he's a millionaire. What does the money actually add to the character? |
Perhaps he saved a plane from crashing, only to discover the people in it are some of the major stockholders of a company with less than wholesome morals. As both a thank you and an attempt to curry favour they set him up with a generous share of the company that sees them set for life and won't take no for an answer.
Now he either has to forcibly return a gift that was seemingly given in good nature and thus the company is richer for it, or try do good with the dirty money. There's good stuff to be had in there.
Or perhaps they have a power that's not only lucrative but life saving. Perhaps their blood has amazing curative effects, or their eyes shoot beams that have rare and useful properties. They can't just offer it up for free, it'd ruin businesses genuinely trying to do good when the world questions why THEY are charging for their time.
Perhaps they just worked out that having a lot of money allows you to do a lot more good than any one man could. Sure Superman is needed to save the world, but on days it's not under threat it'd sure be nice if he could.. say.. pay to bring clean drinking water to the Third World.
If it's just there to show off it STILL serves a purpose. They're a character who likes to be wealthy and show off! Maybe they're not fiscally responsible. Maybe they're a playboy and feel entitled to the comforts money brings. Maybe they see money as something that we're all far too distracted by. There's still plenty of room to make it interesting.
People mistake Superman for a purely brawly "Always wins" character. When he's mainly about difficult moral choices when given great power. Money's a great vehicle to show this.
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Well, personally, I often like to play a character who's intentionally a bit abrasive; and not just in the "angry anti-hero" way.|
Originally Posted by CactusBrawler
Essentially why do people RP as Billionaire Superman?
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One character I have is actually the ruler of a small country. He's brilliant, courageous, and has a deep sense of loyalty to his subjects. However, he's also arrogant, rude, and a bit elitist.
Also, the dashing playboy is just a fun role to play around with. I like my angst in severe moderation, so a lighter character is appealing to me. This obviously doesn't require a fortune, but it does fit into the archetype rather well; Batman not withstanding.
Somehow I think this might be pointed in my direction :P
I know it's not, though the discussion in the GG thread recently may have prompted it.
That said, why is Richard Huntington one of the ultra-rich, when he has frankly awesome superpowers?
The answer there is because it fit the character background. I wanted an independently wealthy, but fundamentally lonely, scientist who interacts with people because of his powers and his deceased father's moral lessons. At first glance it seems that he has everything he needs, but he has learned that he does not have the thing he wants (I'm painting this from the perspective of the original concept, not his current social situation), and the challenges he faces are as much about him confronting his loneliness and desire for companionship, friendship and love, as about him being able to blow up cars.
I needed a foil for him, which is his sister, Samantha, and I needed them to be on good terms. Since I'd already determined that Richard was independently wealthy as a result of family money, she needed to be just as wealthy. For her, though, it's almost irrelevant - while Richard uses the money he has, Sammy is flighty, frivolous, carefree, and, again in contrast to Richard, friendly and sociable.
The tragedy is that despite all of their riches, (and originally unbeknownst to Richard), Samantha is dying of radiation poisoning as a result of the accident that triggered both of their powers - the money doesn't help, because you can't buy your way out of death.
At the very core, then, the combined Richard/Samantha story is very much that money cannot buy happiness.
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise 
; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
Interesting ideas everyone.
Though Superman using his wealth to provide clean water, couldn't he just dig them himself? super hearing and X-ray vision to find clean water sources then use his other powers to make a well.
Lazy fellow.
----------------------
Next question for discussion.
"Where do you draw the line between game play mechanic and game lore?"
As an example
I consider a characters level to be an actual IC thing, a rating of competence/threat by the F.B.S.A, I do so because with in the game world they refer to it as an actual IC thing.
Note I don't believe that it is a rating of 'power' though of course raw power could earn some one a higher rating, more one of demonstrated competence and knowledge when it comes to the type of situations a hero would find themselves in. Likewise a villain wouldn't have to be a rampaging monster to have a high threat rating, doomsday devices, forbidden spells and danmgerous allies would also score a villain a high rating.
Archetypes as well, though not in the sense that you are born into a role, just that the F.B.S.A or Arachnos or whoever, came up with classifications for the way different people fight and that they tag peoples records with these files.
I don't accept the Dr Brainstorm stuff though, I thought it was silly.
Edit to add:
I believe the level rating applies to enemy groups as well. Yes a gun shot wound from a hellion, should be as dangerous as one from a Malta operative. But at the 'level' you are dealing with Malta and their cloak and dagger stuff, snipers and custom anti-you ammunition, you should be able to deal with a hellion without him getting a shot off.
After all their is a massive difference in competence between a street thug and a black ops veteran no?
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
I tend to downplay the second part of the mediport system. Transportation, fine. It can be blocked as we've seen. The instant rejuvination and up on their feet again part? That I have issues with. If taken literally, it means heroes could just zerg rush without fear of defeat taking them out of action for a while.
I ignore the whole going to trainers to get powers thing. Doesn't make sense on some characters.
Security/Threat level I tend to disagree with. It just doesn't sit right with me.
I can probably be more coherent after a cup of tea and some food.
Coming in late so...
Annette is independently wealthy due to the magic of compound interest. Why? Because I felt like it.
Jason Caine is the same, 8000 years of amassing money is bound to leave you with resources.
Louise, on the other hand, and most of my other characters, are 'comfortable' and that's all they need, so it's all they have. Louise even has to do some rather distasteful work to earn the cash she needs.
As far as level goes... throw away characters I ignore it for. The odd times I've had gods or the like turn up, they were about level 2 with awesome cosmic power, and got deleted soon after. Levelling them was stupid and pointless.
Annette's early life story was entirely based around her need to be assessed at level 35 so she could join Vanguard and cut up Rikti. So, yes, I view level as an assessment of 'threat level' made by... well, the FBSA is as good an agency as any for it.
ETA - within reason, yes the level of villains applies. See recent fiction regarding Skulls shooting Louise.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Mechanics and lore-wise causes a few 'meh' moments for me. I think the worst case is Nightwalker.
I love the character. I really want to do him justice and, hopefully, use him in Plot in future.
But the game mechanics really get in my way there. I love the Warshades powers...except where they suck. He has no Mez protection outside Dwarf form, and that is slow nad unwieldy to use. Dwarf form itself I find rather pants for actual survival. Nova form is fine. I despise his lack of Mez protection. On a team, he can be a mosnter. Solo, he tends to be fairly so-so.
Now, I get the feeling that that divide would likely cause annoyance in RP, wether on forums or in-game, on both sides. For those who adhere rigidly to mechanics=lore and such, because Nictus 'can't do that', and myself on the flip side because what he should be able to do he can't. He'd need AV level defences, really. And oh, I can't do that in AE either, because WS power aren't an option. Fail.
Leon DeFeurard is another one. Katana/Regen with the Fire Mastery pools will serve him well enough mechanically. Really, though, it'd be more a mix of regen/super reflexes with some Fire blasts and control added in.
None of this is aimed to be a 'My Character is Bigger/Better than your character!' ; it's purely meant to represent a less rigid deisign that the game simply can't allow for balance sakes.
*shrug*
C'est la vie
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
 |
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Let's be clear about this. One of the reasons I view mechanics as a realistic limiting factor and get a little wound up that people totally ignore it is that I come from an actual roleplay background where the games have rules, not to stifle creativity, but to allow the players to have a challenge and enjoy themselves.|
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
None of this is aimed to be a 'My Character is Bigger/Better than your character!' ; it's purely meant to represent a less rigid deisign that the game simply can't allow for balance sakes.
*shrug* C'est la vie |
Take Champions (the PnP game, not the MMO). You can have utterly awesome power, but you are limited by the points you have to spend. Effectively unlimited power is available, sure, to Referee controlled villains, effectively the AVs and GMs of the world. It takes a rare kind of player to handle unlimited power without going off on a power trip and ruining it for everyone. It's an ego-trip.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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This is true. And also something I (try) to be quite careful of.|
Originally Posted by Ravenswing
Let's be clear about this. One of the reasons I view mechanics as a realistic limiting factor and get a little wound up that people totally ignore it is that I come from an actual roleplay background where the games have rules, not to stifle creativity, but to allow the players to have a challenge and enjoy themselves.
Take Champions (the PnP game, not the MMO). You can have utterly awesome power, but you are limited by the points you have to spend. Effectively unlimited power is available, sure, to Referee controlled villains, effectively the AVs and GMs of the world. It takes a rare kind of player to handle unlimited power without going off on a power trip and ruining it for everyone. It's an ego-trip. |
As an example; Alpha is by far and away my most powerful character. He's still not indestructible and certainly not unbeatable, and I've never pretended he is. He IS incredibly powerful, however, and that's using the games own scale/mechanics to prove it. He can solo x8 without breaking a sweat, especially with his Rare slot. He can curbstomp EBs and I'd wager he could probably handle AV/GMs if I were to fine-tune him a little more. He's had yars of building all his own tech from scratch, using the best components he can lay hands on and researching and scanning everything he's ever needed to go up against. He has the resources and he has the means.
He's also a little arrogant. He's primarily a villain because he doesn't consider the rules apply to him, and if anyone argues they get blasted. He's got enough devious cunning and tactical savvy to get out of some tight spots...Providing he has his team with him. Seperated from the others, Alpha is tougher than a baseline human...and that's it.
I think my point is that...well, actually I dont really know >_> Alpha I've found the balance with. Leon and Nightwalker maybe not so much. Leon has his own weaknesses (wine, women and song...) T'be honest, you can kill him with just a bit of effort...getting him to stay dead is harder.
Nightwalker I'm still rounding out and working on. He's also awkward to balance power wise on a mechanics-RP point of view...if I could trade certain things out for other things in game I happily would. But the game doesn't let me, so I have to improvise a little.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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“Why do you RP as a millionaire?”
A couple of answers on this one that I didn't see hit upon (apologies if I missed them)...
1. Evolution. I have one character that's built up a modest fortune over the years. It's been part of her development and has often served as a RP bridge to other aspects of her background (by demonstrating that she has the same finesse with money that her Father and Uncle possess). In a written story, for an actual comic book character, this trait might be superfluous. But in interactive roleplay within a persistent world, it's added a great deal as part of her arc.
2. Why not be a millionaire? I've a couple of characters for whom it wouldn't make much sense if they weren't at least comfortably wealthy, given their powers and abilities.
'Course, "millionaire" ain't what it used ta be. None of my characters are in the Bruce Wayne/Tony Stark upper echelons of wealth. But I can certainly see the appeal of that as something different to roleplay, even if it'd translate as excessive in the context of a written story.
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"Where do you draw the line between game play mechanic and game lore?"
Personally, I try to incorporate them as much as possible. There are, of course, game dynamics that simply don't, or shouldn't, translate, either because they wouldn't make any sense (repeating missions), or they're just silly (the aforementioned Dr. Brainstorm "explanation"). But I generally favor weaving game elements into the IC experience. 1. it can be creatively challenging to do so and 2. I think it contributes to immersion.
That said, I recognize that opinions very greatly on this point--everyone has their own line and comfort level--so I try to be flexible on it in open social interaction and not refer to this stuff as if it's universally recognized and adopted.
The Cape Radio: You're not super until you put on the Cape!
DJ Enigma's Puzzle Factory: Co* Parody Commercials
Why do you rp as a millionaire?
Well, Luke is my wealthy guy, but it is just his way. He loves money and things. He is a normal guy, only enhanced by his suit and weapons. He needs the cash to do it. Cash he mostly made from underwear adds and good investments, not to mention his only true super power, his gorgeous smile. He must be rich, it is just a necessity for him.
While Luke can fly or jump here or there using his nano enhanced abilities and different suits, he still loves to own the porsche or classic corvette.
"Where do you draw the line between game play mechanic and game lore?"
Pretty much where the two cannot come together. I really do not use levelling up or training in rp. "I trained today so I am better" just does not seem to cut it. Threat level doesn't cut it for me either, unless specifically used as some kind of document, but not something the character would be spouting on about.
I use game lore as much as possible. The game world was created with the lore for us to use, and much time spent giving us story lines and information. Why not use it? With that said, I have no problem with those that do not. It is simply a choice, and what one should come to terms with within their own rp circle.
I don't think any of my characters are actual millionaires, in the classic Bruce Wayne sense, or anything. Most of them are comfortably off enough to make most day to day expenses a non-issue. Why? Simply because I've lived on an extreme shoestring budget, and I don't find playing a character in that way fun. It's not fun in real life, why should I find it fun in a game?
Possibly the closest I get to a rich character is Josie, and her approach to cash is... well, unique. She's very much an easy come, easy go kind of gal. for her, money is a way of funding more robots and technology, and having fun with, not a goal to be achieved. Frankly, to create a hi tech character, there's 95% of the time going to be some source of funding/backup somewhere ("Where does he get those wonderful toys?") unless you're going with a "build a ray gun out of a salvaged toaster" approach, which could be fun to try at some stage. her income is entirely worked out and justified in game, and, to be fair, isn't small, but in terms of actual in game effects, all it really does is keep the endless supply of toys running.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
AP in terms of roleplay/game mechanics suffers from being too powerful gameplay-wise. I can solo on x6 with her with ease (not x8, unless they're lame Council Earth goons), and she's just a woman with a katana.
The obvious fudge for me is fighting Hellions at lower levels. Well, any of the powers used against a character would put 'street-level' characters in hospital/the morgue, with or without the teleport mechanism. But guns hurt, and a shot to the head will kill you.
So, for me, RP and game mechanics are separate for the most part.
Ellie has money sure, but she's worked damned hard for it and every penny has come from that hard work! She arrived in Paragon with just a hundred or so left from her £2000 savings that she left home with 18 months before, and for the first year or so, was quite dependent on the generosity of the people she met at the statue.
She's also not "mega-rich".. She's a successful business woman, but as we saw with my recent plot, when things go wrong, she can quite quickly get stuffed up!
As for power levels, that's kind of a difficult one and we've been into quite a lot over the last few years, so I'm not gonna go in to that again...
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Since I'm far too ill this fine Saturday to use the day for anything constructive that requires more than ten minutes of concentration, here are two more questions for you all.
"Why do you play a god?"
and
"Why do you play a demon/devil?"
------
Now the first question isn't why do you play a god like character, but why to those which do so, Do you RP as an actual deity/half deity etc?
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
The first one I don't, simply
The second one...eh...Wyldy is partially demonic, now. Her powers were gained during a demonic pact that her Hellion 'friends' (she was the general tag-along) were attempting to sneakily use her as the sacrifice for. She had twigged rather sharpish (not to mention the demonette they summoned decided to spill the beans when asked) and instead made a pact for power.
The difference with her pact was that she actually fulfilled it pretty much instanty, by burning a swathe through a good chunk of the gangers in Perez that day, and providing enough souls to 1) Impress the Demon enough to make the power permanant and 2) get her locked up by MAGI until they slapped bounds and counter pacts on her and then forced her into clean-up duty.
Which of course worked as well as expected, leading to her fleeing to the Rogue Isles as soon as the bonds broke
Why do I play her? Ehh...it makes sense for how she got her powers, she's still technically human. Iunno *shrug*
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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"Why do you play a god?"
Beacuse I need the players to interact with a god as part of a plot.
Off-camera, War Crow became a god for about a microsecond before he realised what a horrible mistake he had made and gave it up forever.
I don't do god characters, or even horribly powerful ones. They bore me.
"Why do you play a demon/devil?"
I don't. They're overdone and so boring.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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I have one multi-millionaire character, who was a highly successful (read Rock Star) singer/songwriter before taking an overdose put her into the situation where she gained super-powers.| “Why do you RP as a millionaire?” |
I wanted to examine and explore the similarities and dissimilarities of the two different forms of 'stardom' and celebrity. A heroine who could deal with the limelight before she could deal with her powers, but who conversely was already going to get a hard time in the press.
In short, because I enjoyed where it took the character.
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| "Where do you draw the line between game play mechanic and game lore?" |
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| ""Why do you play a god?" |
It might be very cool to play a character who was essentially some small forgotten deity of some long-forgotten peoples, stripped of power by the lack of faith/devotional energy, and struggling to be recognized again.
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| "Why do you play a demon/devil?" |
What then would the demon make of its form? How would it change? Would it matter that the demon understood nothing of technology? Would the AI inform the demon of all the technological knowledge it might ever need and had never wanted? Lots of fun questions.
http://www.savecoh.com/
Late to the party, so sorry for the long post.
Why do you play a millionaire?
I dont. Ive never been a fan of the uber rich type characters, I prefer more earthy types, the kind that have to scrimp and save for their next bit of kit. I can see the appeal of a playboy type but I reckon Id get bored fairly quickly. Dante is certainly wealthy from the amount of time hes been alive but I feel no need to play to it. He owns an apartment in Independence Port, not a mansion.
I think the real compulsion for playing millionaires comes from the fact that were told very little about how heroes are remunerated. Are they paid by Hero Corps? Or do they volunteer to help the city in their spare time? If the latter, how do they balance it? How do they afford the exotic herbs for magic or the highly advanced tech for their devices? Being rich presents the easiest solution, it renders money (either for subsistence or equipment) a non-issue.
Where do you draw the line between game mechanic and lore
Wherever I can, I try to make them work together. As much as I love sandbox RP, we cant do that here. So whatever RP ideas I put into practice, I try to make them work within the limits of the game world. Admittedly, that means I cant blow up any tower blocks but then its only like a scriptwriter being given a limited budget, you have to recognise your limits and be creative within them. It can also stop aggressive god-modding by the GM.
There are places where this isnt possible. Anathema is a character left permanently disfigured by Dr Vahziloks organ harvest and as such, I built her with no Fitness Pool (this was before Inherent Fitness of course). Unfortunately, it made her impossible to play so I had to grudgingly accept that mechanic in order to have a playable character. Conversely, if I can find a game mechanic that fits a character perfectly, they tend to become my favourites. Third Degree Byrnes super strength and burning aura become more powerful the more angry he gets which is why the AT of Brute suits him down to the ground thanks to Fury.
Why do you play a god?
I dont. I cant think of one roleplayed god where I wasnt god-modded or abused in some way so I tend to avoid them like the plague. If any of you do play gods, Id be curious to know how you do it. I have characters who are associated with gods (one lord of the underworld, one nature incarnate and one Cthulu type) but it doesnt make them all powerful.
Also, I always find it hard to resolve gods with the environment were given. The few gods we encounter in game dont hang out in PD, chatting up the girls. Now if you were a god that had been stripped of his powers and sent to Earth to redeem himself, that I could handle but when Im being told that Ill be smited by some random god represented by a level 11 Scrapper, Im glad that the screen is between me and them so they cant hear me laughing. How on earth do they explain what happened when a level 16 Troll defeats them?
Why do you play a demon?
Ah ha! Finally a question I can answer with some experience.
I have a number of demon, or demon associated characters. The main reason I have them is because I created a hellish dimension for some RP and it became such a fertile ground for creative ideas. (Not, mind you, hell itself. Caer Infernis is just an alternative dimension where demons became the dominant species, not humans.)
I find demons useful for creating a character that is completely inhuman, someone removed from the normal morals of humanity. Sometimes I like to play that for laughs, such as with Imari, who applied for her hero license in nothing more than a loincloth, not aware of humans and their silly rules about modesty. Other times, such as with Pyralith, I want to play someone who is evil to the degree where he sees humanity as being nothing more than insects beneath his feet. The same could be done with aliens or extra-dimensional characters, but I like demons and the costume creator is kind towards that kind of thing. 
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
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Originally Posted by CactusBrawler
Since I'm far too ill this fine Saturday to use the day for anything constructive that requires more than ten minutes of concentration, here are two more questions for you all.
"Why do you play a god?" and "Why do you play a demon/devil?" ------ Now the first question isn't why do you play a god like character, but why to those which do so, Do you RP as an actual deity/half deity etc? |
"Why do you play a god?"
I had a god like character in CoH, though she was rather vastly disposed from her place of power and was little more than a weak telekinetic with a bit of a superiority complex. So it's probably not the kind of question you're asking for. Why was she a god? Did I mention the superiority complex? It was fun, especially as people could really easily burst her bubble, so she'd then have to come up with excuses.
I'd never actually play one with god like powers on Paragon Earth because... well that'd be really stupid.
"Why do you play a demon/devil?"
I've never really done this, but Without Sin is a concept that I've been working on of a Demon trying to beat their own inner demons. Prone to fits of Jealousy or Greed, they're there to struggle with it and try overcome in a bit to become... well they don't know. If they ever succeed they may find out. For me, demons are all tied into man made sin and are terrible when feared or subjugated too, but perfectly decent when approached with some kind of reasonable mindness. They're fun to explore, as they get deep into the parts of us that we kind of worry about. Greed, Jealousy, Wrath I prefer to make my demon a personification of the darker sides of people, rather than something sent out to promote the sin itself. Sure it's been done before, but what hasn't?
No lust demons though. Because let's face it, they've been done really poorly many a time and there's just no climbing out of the massive hole people have dug them by assuming Lust = Sex.
Why do you play a millionaire?
Initially I didn't. I have one millionaire in the shape of Eric, but he only came into money fairly late into his twenty-some years. Even that only happened because of Big Lunk's inf giveaway comp a few years back. I reasoned that 50 million inf (back when this was still a lot of inf) could translate into an equivalent numerical sum, so just ran with it. Eric landed in Paragon broke, homeless, and jobless. He found two jobs, a flat, and was comfortable doing the heroics as and when he got time. He's never splurged his windfall, barely managing to spend even a few hundred thousand dollars before a massive investment last year. He's still sitting on eight or nine million, but simply doesn't know exactly what to do with it.
Another of my chars became wealthy through a life of crime over in the Rogues. She's recently lost her sanity and just doesn't remember much of her previous life, rendering her wealth irrelevant. A third char is wealthy, but not ridiculously so, due to having lived for over three hundred years. That, and vampires generally are rich.
Where do you draw the line between mechanic and lore?
For the most part I try and blur the line between mechanic and lore where possible, but to me the imagination must be permitted as free a rein as possible without going into silly areas like punching Zeus out cold or other such daftness.
I see mechanics as a means to an end, not the end in themselves. Having for example a tricked-out build with all the fancy set bonuses doesn't really create in my mind the extent and limit of a character's ability. It's just numbers, and being good at addition doesn't automatically make one a good storyteller.
There are times when I've had to ignore the mechanics in order to tell a decent story, but I've had to do the same when GMing pencil and paper games, so I don't feel it's too much of a crime as long as it's not done often, nor to excess. I think if something is impossible to fudge either with a temp, or a creative explanation of an in-game mechanic, and that what you want to do with your story needs the fudge to progress plot, then it's fine to go for lore over mechanics.
Why do you play a god?
I haven't. I don't like seeing people play them as they're almost always done so laughably it's impossible to RP around them. There's just no empathising with a char who walks the pantheonic bridge to use the toilet, or could according to their "story" dissolve the sun. This ties in somewhat with my views on lore/mechanics. If your char, in-game, cannot defeat Statesman, Recluse, and their relevant cohorts all at once with but a thought, then they cannot in roleplay. It's that simple. And I have very strong words with people who attempt a god-mode on any of my chars.
Why do you play a demon/devil?
I have one demon, a succubus (and I can almost hear people rolling their eyes, but hear me out), whose main and obvious shtick is tricking foolish and weak-willed mortals into handing over their immortal souls for a relatively trivial thing, like a couple of hours of passion or some magic trinket they've been lusting for. In one case, my demon talked a human woman out of her soul in exchange for a simple massage.
For me the fun wasn't the kink, it was in the bargaining for which most demons and devils are known for. I wanted to see how much or little people's chars were willing to give up in exchange for whatever they believed they most wanted. In most cases it proved to be very quite a lot. I mean, what's more valuable to a sentient living being than its very soul? And how often is that soul taken for granted until it's gone for good?
The very best fun I had was when my demon was trying to persuade another player's char, who was suffering from acute radiation poisoning and had terminal cancer, into giving her his soul. In exchange, she would cure his diseases and render his body mended. The choice between eternal damnation in a perfect and healthy body, or living a few short months more in a doomed, broken husk, but keeping his soul and chance for spiritual redemption was one he agonised over for an entire hour, enduring temptation and promise after temptation and promise. Ultimately, the man chose to decline the offer and died six months later.
That, I think, is why I play a demon. The battle, not the victory, is what it's all about.
Good questions CB.
To start off discussion on why people do things, Id like to ask.
Why do you RP as a millionaire?
Obviously for some characters it fits the trope, youve got your reclusive billionaire who dresses up as an animal and kicks crime in the face all night long, lets call that type the Wruce Bayne archetype.
For others it is needed to explain their powers, you know the type, incredibly expensive gear, perhaps even a robot suit that allows them to kick even bigger crime in the face, well call these the Sony Ttark archetype.
But for those who arent playing a archetype, why do you play a millionaire?
Particularly those who play characters who wouldnt actually need the money to do things, who needs a private jet when you can fly fast enough to break orbit should you wish it?
Essentially why do people RP as Billionaire Superman?
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.