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. that characters may have.
- 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. This rule has been called the "Punching Principle", as it is implicit that anything can be defeated by punching it enough.
- 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". Disadvantages such as "having an Evil Aura" are an exception to this requirement.
- Big vs Small is a problem with a history here. Whatever is appropriate to your character 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/Invulnerability translates 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, depowering, 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
Big vs Small & Immunities/Resistances: While you're not allowed to stonewall somebody with, 'You can't damage me with fire!', it's also kind of a dick move to attack Fire Man with fireballs if you have other options. So, while a Firebender or Pyro would be within their rights to fight fire with fire and expect to do fine, a Black Mage who could cast other spells really should use something other than Fire. In short, use common sense and be nice to people. For the sake of simplicity we don't allow codified "hard immunity", but we do expect you to self-moderate 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.
Aren't all interactions adjudicated by consent? If so, why are there advantages that require 'extra' consent? Some abilities are governed much more strictly than others. Possibly being subjected to telekinesis or a fireball to the face requires a lot less input from a player than possibly being mind controlled. We actually allow flat immunity to some things (like mind control) that isn't acceptable with others (like "not taking damage from X").
Mind control requires admin permission to last for more than a scene? Why? Both being captured by the enemy faction (or anyone, really) for more than a scene AND mind control require Staff and/or FacHead permission to proceed. People are stupid and turn it into an OOC drama generator 99% of the time. So, as a rule, it isn't RP that we want to see happening without an opportunity to evaluate and possibly put a stop to it.
Long-term characters and the accumulation of advantages: Some people play characters for a long time, or even indefinitely. When this happens, it's not unusual for these characters to accumulate a lot of new Advantages from their adventures on the MUSH. While there's a lot of room for lateral advancement, characters do eventually reach a point of becoming over-written and bloated. Because of this, people who play long-term/extremely active characters should be aware that they'll eventually reach a point where they will be either: A) Denied further upgrades., B) Required to LOSE some older toys to get new toys., C) In particularly extreme cases, be subject to a Character audit to rectify the great big tumbleweed their advantages have become.
This can be avoided by doing your own housecleaning, or simply not dipping your hand into too many cookie jars. Either way, the point is that characters shouldn't end up being a Robot Ninja Wizard Mecha Pilot Demon Prince, and that while this can happen as a result of very gradual advancement that is acceptable if taken by itself, it's not necessarily an acceptable end result.
