Crazy limitations you put on yourself while playing

[Myrmidon]

8 hours ago, Bentley Berkeley said:

My very human centric character invisible falcon, avoids any set bonuses over 2 parts, doesnt have more then around 60ish% dmg buffs in any of his attacks, doesnt use any super power travel powers just rocket board and pack etc. Is not an incarnate. Basically meant to be my idea of as close to a human in a world of meta human type concept. as a claw/wp scrapper he still holds his own quite well ofcourse.

I have to give you props for that one, Squishy.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Myrmidon

[Crater Kate]

My very first all-natural character, an Archery/TA Blaster, is finally creeping towards 50, and I've had a lot of fun with constraints on her. In no particular order:

 

• She's not allowed travel powers or base porter macros. She gets Ninja Run and the P2W Jet Pack to get around and that's it, which doesn't *sound* very limiting, except...
• The only cash she's allowed has been cash she's earned herself. Reward merits get converted to salvage and sold, but she does no marketeering, and certainly not funded by other characters. This means she has to be really careful with her Jet Pack time, and has ridden most of her ride on DOs and SOs. I'm finally getting wealthy enough to explore some cheap sets. Ages and ages from purples.
• Earned levels can only be cached in at what I judge to be pivotal learning moments - mostly this is the end of mission arcs. None of this "Oh this exploration badge earned me a level, off to Valkyrie I go!"  stuff.
• All the leveling she's done has been in solo missions and mission teams. If I ever get the hankering to run breezier content with her, XP gets turned off. The full natural ride 😎
• Even among the missions she does, all the content HAS to make sense for her to be able to do. She's a gal with a bow n arrow and a very very basic selection of other tools. She's not gonna be hunting a lot of AVs until she's damned well earned that kind of power.

Restrictions that I am debating, but am not sure if I have the courage to enact:

 

• One of the following: no incarnates at all, only t1 Alpha allowed and nothing else, or full access to incarnates on a very permissory, "earned" system again. I can make Alpha work as just getting better, Interface is passable as tipped arrows, Lore I guess works as radio'd in reinforcements, but only if sticking to Longbow/Vanguard. If I really squint I can make sense of Hybrid but probably not toggled, Destiny... I COULD allow her t1 Incan and write it off as a teleport beacon, but the others are too hard to make work. Judgment is completely out the window. Haven't settled on what my approach here is gonna be, but safe to say incarnates will NOT come easily to her.
• ... no orange sets or purple sets? No purple sets? ATOs, but no oranges or purples? Her road's been hard enough as it is so I don't know if I need this kind of hard rule on top of it all, and I would like some sort of endgame for her as she has been a BLAST to play (pun intended)

But yeah. It's been a lot of fun  only allowing her the power that I decide she gets.

[Sir Myshkin]

Interesting to see how a few others tackled the idea of a "Human" character by taking simplified sets (like Archery) and restricted the character in other ways (like enhancements), whereas I went the other way and restricted the Primary and Secondary as much as could be, utilized the weakest modifier AT (Defender), and stuck to the Fighting Pool as my main attacks, but did not necessarily restrict IO choice as the mass majority of what they provided came down to just enhancement value more than anything. Boxing, Kick, and Cross Punch don't really see any benefit from global recharge and the normal ilk of advanced builds so it really didn't matter to chase them down. The "tech" the character uses is all items that can be considered "stolen" or "refurbished junk" (and very little of it). He carries an assault rifle, but has no proficiency with the weapon so literally just sprays and prays (Full Auto) because he can't aim.

 

Amusingly enough he can still take down an AV so... "yay!"

 

That's been the only build I've put any kind of real hard core restrictions on. I also have no intention of ever playing the character again. 🙁

[Rejolt]

1. Get theme (I tend to stick to specific groups - Modern Hero, Shadowrunner/Cyberpunk, Occult (Werewolf, etc.).

2. Choose powers (study the info to make sure the pairing is fun for how I play)

3. Create costume

4. Create name

5. No mids build until I like the character

6. No invention origins or sets until I like the character (dropped recipes during play may be used or converted with merits earned from arcs, TFs, etc.)

7. Play the toon to the 20s at least before deciding on if I like the character (27 is my usual goal unless a level 32 power can swing the vote)

8. DFB, Hollows, turning off xp at 4 to unlock the last Atlas Park arc, Praetoria... no options are locked down but I avoid doorsitting situations.

9. P2W is completely available and money emailed to the alt. Yes, I do use the 5 dmg/rech enhancements but past 20 no renewing of Survival, Offense or Defense buffs.

10. Only purchase things like Team Teleport or Crafting Table on toons I'm already in love with.

 

Many I play with are the opposite on toons - they pick power sets, plan mids, have IOs waiting. I tend to play first and build later (this has led to 100s of toons on pages 13 and beyond that I may never get back to but at least I gave them a try).

 

So direct to OP question: Get a theme, play normally and no build planning or IOs until the late 20s at the earliest.

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Rejolt