Post by Whoniverse Roleplay on Aug 3, 2012 12:04:36 GMT -5
This was originally titled "So You Want To Be A Psychic?", but then we realized that just about anything that could be said about psychic powers could be applied to advanced technology or exotic alien abilities as well. So, we'll address it all here.
Everybody likes "kewl powerz (tm)". They're fun. They're nifty. They let you do things that you could never do in real life. And heck, Time Lords pretty much start out with a set of "kewl powerz (tm)": perception of and mild control over the flow of time, amagic wandsonic screwdriver, a time machine, mild psychic powers... oh, and they're smarter than you and they regenerate. It's all pretty neat.
Originally, this article was going to be all about guidelines, and rules, and what you can and can't do, and it was going to be utterly tedious. But then, it struck us: there's no need for that. Because Doctor Who isn't about "kewl powerz (tm)". It's about characters. "Kewl powerz (tm)", whether psychic abilities or advanced technology or "I'm an alien now stop asking stupid questions", do exactly one thing: help keep the plot from bogging down.
So, here's our general requirement for "kewl powerz (tm)": if your character is nothing more than a "kewl powerz (tm)" delivery system, your character is boring. Boring characters are no fun, and nobody will want to play with them.
If all there is to your character is the "kewl powerz (tm)", you're boring.
If your "kewl powerz (tm)" are a hammer to everything else's nail, you're boring.
If you've spent three weeks fine-tuning your "kewl powerz (tm)", and you've written two sentences on your personality, you're boring.
If your "kewl powerz (tm)" are a crutch to avoid doing interesting things, you're boring.
It doesn't matter if your "kewl powerz (tm)" are the ability to psionically transmute carbon-12 into carbon-14, or if it's the Death Star. If your character is just a "kewl powerz (tm)" with legs, with no other development, you're character is boring and nobody will want to play with you.
Please. Don't make us tell you you're boring.
Everybody likes "kewl powerz (tm)". They're fun. They're nifty. They let you do things that you could never do in real life. And heck, Time Lords pretty much start out with a set of "kewl powerz (tm)": perception of and mild control over the flow of time, a
Originally, this article was going to be all about guidelines, and rules, and what you can and can't do, and it was going to be utterly tedious. But then, it struck us: there's no need for that. Because Doctor Who isn't about "kewl powerz (tm)". It's about characters. "Kewl powerz (tm)", whether psychic abilities or advanced technology or "I'm an alien now stop asking stupid questions", do exactly one thing: help keep the plot from bogging down.
- The Doctor needs to dump a whole lot of information on someone in a hurry? Telepathy.
- The Master needs to torment the Doctor? Laser screwdriver.
- A Dalek needs to be bulletproof? Dalekanium casing and force fields.
- The plot needs to turn a whole city into gasmask wearing zombies? Nanites!
So, here's our general requirement for "kewl powerz (tm)": if your character is nothing more than a "kewl powerz (tm)" delivery system, your character is boring. Boring characters are no fun, and nobody will want to play with them.
If all there is to your character is the "kewl powerz (tm)", you're boring.
If your "kewl powerz (tm)" are a hammer to everything else's nail, you're boring.
If you've spent three weeks fine-tuning your "kewl powerz (tm)", and you've written two sentences on your personality, you're boring.
If your "kewl powerz (tm)" are a crutch to avoid doing interesting things, you're boring.
It doesn't matter if your "kewl powerz (tm)" are the ability to psionically transmute carbon-12 into carbon-14, or if it's the Death Star. If your character is just a "kewl powerz (tm)" with legs, with no other development, you're character is boring and nobody will want to play with you.
Please. Don't make us tell you you're boring.
