Advantages
There are a lot of different characters that can conceivably be played at Multiverse Crisis MUSH. This news file covers how we handle "Advantages", encompassing the various skills, powers, assets, etc.
- MUSH rules supersede the approved text of any +Advantages, as well as your setting's canon. Advantages may be reviewed and modified or removed as Staff deems necessary, but Advantages are never considered to set a precedent.
- All powers are created equal. Anyone can defeat anyone else in a fight using their abilities, even if one is Mario or Solid Snake and the other is Zeus or Kratos. This is NON-NEGOTIABLE, and what it means is that fights work like a round of Super Smash Brothers. Character strength is defined by Power Level, and Cthulhu isn't going to be much (if at all) stronger than Link from Legend of Zelda. As a practical concern, this means that "absolute" powers like Harry Potter's Avada Kedavra and Fate/Stay Night's Avalon aren't much more than super attacks in a fighting game.
- PCs may only be "Depowered" with consent or as a result of a relevant Disadvantage, and may not be compelled to be depowered to enter an area or participate in a plot. As a rule, we don't really want "Depowering" pursued as a plot element here.
- Weapons of Mass Destruction aren't allowed to do more than a city block or two worth of damage without explicit Admin permission. The Death Star is cheapened by frequent use, and should be the subject of a plot when it comes into play. Bear in mind that the give-and-take nature of RP should be observed especially strongly here: When the Death Star takes the field, it's usually not long for this world. So don't ask to do a horrifying amount of damage if you're not willing to endure proportionate comeuppance.
- Persistent effects, such as being turned to stone or a frog, are similar to OHKOs/Avada Kedavra. While they can serve as temporary "status effects", PCs are assumed to have sufficient resistance to break out (nearly) immediately. More severe effects, like mind control/assimilation, telepathy, etc. always requires explicit player consent to function, and explicit Admin permission is required for mind control to persist beyond one scene.
- "Information-gathering" advantages, such as magical sight, are treated much like telepathy or mind control. Explicit permission is required for them to function against another PC or their NPCs, and players may simply decline being "read".
- Big vs Small is a problem with a history here. Whatever is appropriate in your setting for taking down a tank or a giant will work on anything similar. For Superman, punching will do the trick. For Link, it's about chucking bombs at weak points. Or for Solid Snake, it's about a stinger missile launcher. Point is, rule #2 doesn't mean you can use a 9mm pistol to destroy a tank unless your character really can do that.
- Immunities and Invulnerability translate to high resistance/durability against other PCs, much like Avada Kedavra is just a powerful attack. Fire Man can ignore a forest fire, but not a Firebender. Superman can shrug off a goon's laser fire, but not Revolver Ocelot's gunfire. Flat-immunity is allowed for mind control/telepathy, persistent effects, goons, environmental hazards, etc. See notes below for etiquette on this.
- Characters who have many "minor" abilities, like Wizards, may have implicit advantages which are inferred or noted in broad strokes but not explored in-depth. However: All "Restricted" or heavily regulated abilities like Mind control, teleportation, time travel, immunities, soul-related, or anything sufficiently powerful like "Wish" or "Resurrection" must be explicitly disclosed.
- Time Travel is a restricted power. It may never be an implicit power, and will only be issued to players that Staff trusts. In summary though, Time Travel may not be used to change the past, and may not be used to define the future. Closed Time Loops only.
- A TP Advantage is a subcategory of Advantage, which can only be used with Admin permission. These tend to be unusually powerful effects, which are not reasonable for use in regular play. These require the character, not the player, to be unable to utilize the power under ordinary circumstances. This is a "hard" restriction, not a "soft" restriction. A character who COULD use a TP Advantage but WON'T isn't good enough. They must be UNABLE to. That they are unable to does not need to be known In-Character necessarily.
Notes on Big vs Small & Immunities/Resistances: While it's true that you're not allowed to stonewall somebody with, 'Nuh-uh, you can't damage me with fire!', it's also true that it's kind of a dick move to attack Fire Man with fireballs if you have other options. So for instance, while a Firebender or Pyro from X-Men would be well within their rights to fight fire with fire and expect to do well, a Wizard who could cast any number of other spells really should use something other than fireball. In short, use some common sense and be nice to people. For the sake of not driving players and ourselves nuts with loopholes and exceptions, everybody can mess everybody up with everything, especially in the combat system. But we do expect you to do some self-moderation when it comes to stuff like this.
A similar idea applies to Big vs Small, in that while Goku can just punch a Gundam to death, a lot of characters -- for instance, Solid Snake -- really wouldn't be able to do similar.
On Long-Term Characters and the accumulation of Advantages: Some people play characters for keeps, or at least for a very long time. When this happens, it's not unusual for their characters to accumulate a large number of +Advantages derived from their adventures on the MUSH. While there is a lot of room for lateral advancement, the fact of the matter is that there comes a point where it gets silly. The character becomes an over-written, bloated mess. Staff regrets its existence, players complain about it wondering why Syaoran from Cardcaptor Sakura is also a Jedi Knight, etc.
Because of this, both people who play characters in the extreme long term, and people who play EXTREMELY active characters who accumulate a lot of "stuff" should be aware that they will eventually reach a point where one of the following will PROBABLY occur:
- You'll be denied further upgrades because you already have too much Stuff.
- You'll be required to LOSE some of your currently accumulated advantages to get new Stuff.
- Or, in particularly extreme cases, you may face a Character audit in order to rectify the great big tumbleweed that your character's Advantages have become.
This can be avoided by doing your own housecleaning, or by simply not dipping your hand into too many metaphorical cookie jars. Either way, the point is that characters shouldn't usually end up being a Robot Ninja Wizard Mecha Pilot Demon Prince, and that while this sometimes happens as a result of gradual or semi-gradual advancement that is acceptable if taken by itself, it's not necessarily an acceptable end result.
