Characters have as much power and influence as is narritively appropriate for them to have.

 

As my character's SL's tend to fall apart? I tend to have her walking with perhaps a sword, and the clothes on her back. The more connections she has? Usually the more magical toys you'll see her ending up with.

 

Just because you made a powerful dragon, shape-shifted in human form who has the power to completely wtf-pwn (crit aimed-shot from across the zone..) my character ... doesn't mean you necessarily should exercise that power or even reveal it, so that such a power can be taken seriously when it's narritively appropriate for it to be used.

 

Examples of doing it poorly:

A slave whom is chained, and dirty -- and when rejected, suddenly goes super sayian (do not know how to spell it) breaks their chains, kills an NPC guard owned by the slaver woman rejecting him and shows her how 'valuable' he is.

 

This is dumb.

 

Example of doing it Poorly:

The Demon in human form is hitting on an elf at a bar. She turns him down. He suddenly goes "full wtf-demon" form, and tries to kidnap her in the middle of an empty (or worse, full) tavern.

 

This is dumb. Why would a multi-millenium old demon give a fuck about a floosy in a bar - let alone loose their cool over her acceptance or rejection?

 

Observe the following:

Even if I don't like the results of a storyline -- say, my character gets attacked 5 on 1... people whom were sent to capture my character ... that's at least six people who's narritives are riding on this story being successful. It's usually narritively more fun to everyone to see what these six players have planned.

 

If my character murdered a player -- and their brother, or sister escaped... and went and found an established noble, or hero-- and came back with soldiers and pointed the finger? That's two people, with associated RP stories and RP links.. (including the murdered character of another player), who's RP narritives are actively collaborating.

 

Especially if this individual waited a few years -- trained in combat, gained other players as friends, had other SL's -- and when they were ready for revenge? Came looking for the drow. Even if the drow runs away -- it's narritively attractive.

 

But if my character shows up with a bunch of Player villains, and a dozen hired NPC thugs -- and someone gets frisky, and fights against impossible odds, and dies? And then his sister charges in, and starts attacking bare-handed, getting grappled by thugs-- and god-modes breaking one of their spears off and stabbing them in the neck, and starting to go kung-fu on "just NPCs" ... is this really narritively or dramatically appropriate to any story worth taking seriously?

 

She should run.

Or she should charge in and be ineffective with her bare-hands ... Monk or not to make the scene emotional. Even if realism isn't important in fantasy... authenticism is. If someone charged a group of raiders like that alone? She'd probably end up beaten down and raped by the bandits that night as she's passed around a camp-fire, and later sold into slavery.. Not miraculously kill her way through 12 armed men to lose (or win) a duel 1 on 1 with the drow against all odds.

 

My character's strength, and capabilities are based on what fills current narritives. Keep this in mind.. it's not a competition, but I'm always building narritives because I am always building RP connections. Use your own narritives derrived through RP connections with other active players against my character, and you'll be a thousand times more narritively important for guiding other player's plot-lines in the way you think they should go -- including my own.

 

It isn't about "so you think I don't deserve to have any power" ... it's more about how much right do you believe you have to steer the stories of the majority without getting to know us and our fantasies?

 

Get to know people. Get to know our characters and you'll gain power over our fantasies.

 

Very Respectfully,

   -- The Dominant Drowess