Opinion on my character idea and ways I can edit it to be more social friendly

[Amp Up]

I am making a speedster she's going to have the ability to run so fast she stretches the code of reality.

 

1. Is this breaking the fourth wall too much?

 

2. Would it work better if she ran so fast she escaped a simulation and went to primal earth?

 

3. How will this pair up against other speedsters? I don't want to marry sue, just speedster from a more unique pov than lol speed force.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Domo arigato

[SquirrelWizard]

Forgive me if this is disjointed, kinda tired.

So mucking about with the underlying code of reality is likely to have unforeseen, far reaching, potentially catastrophic results on reality. Your character may have discovered this the hard way, and suffered for it. Could even be the reason they are in the Primal Universe. Imagine if you shifted one variable on a whim and you end up in Paragon City with a hazy recollection of where you were prior and unable to return because you crashed that reality so hard it got deleted; Not that you have to go that route.

 

It seems like your concept is leaning into what I call predictive super reflexes. Basically, by perceiving the code of reality, and being able to interpret it, you gain preternatural insight of nearby threats bordering on prescience. There can be complications. Things too far away might have too many variables to account for. Trying to predict things too far into the future is too hard because your actions ultimately change the values of the variables you are trying to read.

The second part to the equation is how does your have the speed to process or react to what they see. Speed force is kind of a nebulous thing that can be slapped on a person to explain why they can move stupidly fast, but you aren't limited to that. If whatever allowed the character to perceive the code of reality didn't grant your character super speed, then perhaps the character sought some form of super speed to be able to comprehend the code. What did they do to achieve that? Did it earn them any enemies?

[Amp Up]

2 hours ago, SquirrelWizard said:

Forgive me if this is disjointed, kinda tired.

So mucking about with the underlying code of reality is likely to have unforeseen, far reaching, potentially catastrophic results on reality. Your character may have discovered this the hard way, and suffered for it. Could even be the reason they are in the Primal Universe. Imagine if you shifted one variable on a whim and you end up in Paragon City with a hazy recollection of where you were prior and unable to return because you crashed that reality so hard it got deleted; Not that you have to go that route.

 

It seems like your concept is leaning into what I call predictive super reflexes. Basically, by perceiving the code of reality, and being able to interpret it, you gain preternatural insight of nearby threats bordering on prescience. There can be complications. Things too far away might have too many variables to account for. Trying to predict things too far into the future is too hard because your actions ultimately change the values of the variables you are trying to read.

The second part to the equation is how does your have the speed to process or react to what they see. Speed force is kind of a nebulous thing that can be slapped on a person to explain why they can move stupidly fast, but you aren't limited to that. If whatever allowed the character to perceive the code of reality didn't grant your character super speed, then perhaps the character sought some form of super speed to be able to comprehend the code. What did they do to achieve that? Did it earn them any enemies?

 

Taking inspiration from Animatrix she could have been a track runner who ended up achieving a zen like state while running allowing her to break free from the chains of reality for temporary amounts of time. This could have earned her enemies that protect realities from being bent or broken. Something like the Menders but deeper.

[SquirrelWizard]

I haven't seen the Animatrix, but there are multiple dimensions in CoH, with some being more deviations than others. Your character could have developed their powers and, in the process of doing so, hopped dimensions. Just remember that what might have held true in your character's original dimension, might not hold true in the Primal dimension.

 

Here is an example. My character Hawtdog is from a rather silly dimension, and it colors her experiences and expectations. She firmly believes she was sent into the past by her Leader to prevent humanity from being backstabbed by Catgirls and, ultimately, enslaved by aliens. In reality she was shunted from one dimension to another where the event she was supposed to prevent has never and never will occur. Most of the historical information she knows (which, admittedly, isn't much) is worthless. Her understanding of certain things, like magic, comes off as flawed. She's just a little special so she doesn't let this bother her, or at least doesn't dwell upon it.
 

So the questions I guess you'd need to answer are.

• How did your character get their powers?
• What was the event that caused your character to hop dimensions?
• Is there someone chasing them? If so, Who are they? Why are they after them? How is your character going to elude them?
• Is returning to their home dimension something your character wants to do?

If you want to have an organization from their home dimension popping up here is a suggestion, keep them largely limited to their home dimension. They send operatives out to other dimensions to do very specific missions (like recapture a wayward speedster), but they dont have any major bases in other dimensions because of their potential discovery by other groups who are aware of the multi-dimensional nature of the multiverse could cause all sorts of problems for them.

Edited July 5 by SquirrelWizard

[jkwak]

my two cents,

There are a lot of people who don't like it if a characters entire gimmick is 4th Wall breaks in RP,

a short mention of a game mechanic or a character winking at there or someone else's player from now and then is fine...

The idea that the character comes from a simulation (or Fictional MMO) existing within the world of CoH might work better. you could still play with the 4th Wall, the character could suspect that it still goes a layer up, cause it happend befor, and that they just need to go even faster to go to our world but they are not actually aware of the 4th Wall. 

 

Heck you could make the enemy of the character then be the Studio or publisher of the game the character came from.  

[Living_Hellfire]

Make her approachable. Make her friendly and kind. She doesn't have to be relatable, but she has to be someone that a person can approach and talk to. The other stuff doesn't matter much. The powers, the background, that is generally all revealed in time, but none of that can happen if people aren't interested in your character.

My advice is this - Focus more on who your character is and less on what your character can do.

[ZeeHero]

Well if rick and morty is to be believed you escape a simulation by overloading it with stupid things it can't handle. 

And yes the characters personality and traits themselves (including flaws, very important) are more important than their abilities.

 

[The Witchfire]

Interesting idea.  With my old speedster, I went the 'Reverse Flash' route and had her absorb kinetic energy.  As has been pointed out, the powers and origin are less important for RP than just being approachable and likeable as a character.  I agree with the don't abuse the fourth wall thing also.  Even Deadpool gets obnoxious after a while, lol.  Beyond that, do what feels right.

 

Let me briefly tell you what I'm doing with my character Witchfire, who is also a reaiity hopper.  She's a Wiccan who comes from our world and got recruited by her goddess to dimension hop and help alternate realities.  Paragon will be her second.  She's played COH, but that's only given her a basic understanding of the factions & marquee characters; only a bit morr knowledge than the average person on Primal Earth.  When asked about "we're all just a story or game", she replies that imagination is a gateway to seeing other worlds and nobody is any less real. 🙂

Edited yesterday at 12:26 AM by The Witchfire