Character Power Consistancy

Character Power Consistancy

Shady Tradesman 08 Jun 2010 08:00

According to the front page of the wiki one of the great perks to house gaming as opposed to other types of table-top gaming is the solution to the problem of absenteeism. I think this is awesome. Every other time I've done table top gaming, my play group has only been able to get together ONCE. This allows a lot of games to go on because it's easier to meet the requirements for playing a game. A friend who just played his first couple of house games last week shared a concern with me that if he doesn't show up to most house games that go on, his character will lag behind other characters in power level. It may stand to reason that if you don't play any game a lot you're going to lag behind, but in house gaming there is a possibility of having to restart characters because of death. If your character dies and you have to make a new one, will that player really be able to play with their friends whose characters haven't died yet? Will a nooblet character be able to contribute to a game with seasoned characters? Will your fellow gamers want to play with new characters to compensate you?

I know there's a limit on veteran characters playing with non-vets, and that makes sense from a game creation perspective.

I know this post might be confusing, but I'm posting it anyway with the hopes that someone out there can make sense of it and answer my questions.

Last edited on 08 Jun 2010 08:12 by Shady Tradesman Show more

Re: Character Power Consistency

Captain Lucky 13 Jun 2010 20:16

Storytellers can choose to design games that span power levels or not, so you can choose to restrict certain characters within reason, though it may not be considered polite, depending. Generally, games are either designed for anyone or Vets or Noviced AND Seasoned, but you can choose to restrict it to just Novice characters. You can also request to have games designed in such a way for your character's involvement. Most Novices are just happy to have someone more powerful looking out for them, however, not all games are cooperative, some are designed to be competitive, in which case, the Storyteller will want characters of similar power and may request such from the players.
On the flip side, when you notice your character outpacing everyone else by leaps and bounds (not just being smarter and making better use of your characters skills, or other forgetting to make use of their skills) it may be considered polite to create a secondary or tertiary or Nth-iary character to remain on a level with others.
Also, recall that you can design and run games at no risk to your character and collect a neat 10XP. You'd be surprised how it adds up…

Re: Character Power Consistancy

Bratovitch 08 Jun 2010 14:35

Novice & Seasoned can play in the same games, & a well designed Novice character can still be useful, even formidable, if played well. It happens all the time, & while the Seasoned do tend to steal the limelight, a smart Novice can quickly make up the gap. Bear in mind that some Characters can teach Powers to others, or have abilities that can enhance your abilities. Further, there are many opportunities to gain benefits outside of your Gift during a given game. Keep your eyes open & you may get ahead of the curve.

Lastly, everyone is well advised to run at least 1 "Backup" character every so often, just in case of sudden death.