Determining the Optimal Level of Overpoweredness: Is It Possible?

[Seaspecter]

I will try tho .. like someone who wants to live in without much power struggle, not like cultivation mc s...

My MC is a baby elder god that is invincible, immortal and has all of the creepy powers you'd expect the spawn of a Cthulhu like monster to have. She doesn't use her powers all that often and spend most of her time traveling around with a party of adventurers exploring the world and learning about the people that live there.
So while she doesn't struggle fighting and such she does have a hard time fitting in and often makes mistakes in social situations.

 

[Midnight-Phantom]

he can survive the nihility because he has the highest (a very high?) affinity with the Local Version Of The COSMOS

Or because he has a sufficient affinity with those pieces of OPness lurking about unearned & ungrasped (which are meshing with the rest of that cosmos via primarily his own agency while he makes himself worthy of it via digesting it at a decent rate through challenging epic events)

so kinda like acquiring the resistance theory.. but to be able to acquire the affinity .. I would then have to make it possible for people to acquire affinity not just mc, kinda like the way acquiring resistance works .. then have to define and divide the points too no? like I have to tell how affinity works ..

Okay, so I feel like you have a few conflicts and angles here already:
1. How he stands up for his values sounds like something he has to get used to?
2. How he relates to the values he's familiar with and has held vs his parent's values and the values of this world.
3. How he relates to his new parents-- what do they think of his new way of agriculture?

As @LunaSoltaer said, from a literary perspective, any amount of OPness is fine, as long as it doesn't negate the central conflict.

So I'd say he can be ridiculously OP at both agriculture and combat if the story is actually about him learning what his values are now, how to stand up for them, what having power means and how to handle it responsibly, and how to get along with people.

----

The sort of questions this brings up for me would be:
How his new way of agricultural disrupts the current economic and thus social system. Can other people replicate his style of agriculture less effectively? There's been people using wood magic to grow food, and now he's basically replacing them, either temporarily or permanently. Some people might be upset about this, he might hold back his full power so he doesn't disrupt the food economy too much, he might want to figure out how to shift people to being part of his process or new jobs for them, etc. How does he deal with this?
By destabilizing how food is made, which is one of the core pillars of society, he might also disrupt the entire society from top to bottom-- how does he deal with this?
People seeing him as a rising new power might try to align themselves with him, possibly in ways he doesn't want, maybe some people start to see him as a god or a prophesized ruler and/or want to try to emulate his stle of agriculture, and try to become his followers. Does he accept them and try to guide them, try to drive them off, or...?

Now, being OP in ways that revolutionize agriculture doesn't make any of these things easier, in fact, the more he uses his powers to be wildly OP at farming, rather, the more disruption he's causing and the more problems he has to deal with. Being OP at combat doesn't make any of these things easier, either-- people might try to kill him at first, and it'd help with him winning the fight, but winning the fight in itself wouldn't help with the discontent or the way he's clashing with current society. Unless he decides to take over the society, of course, and then he has a whole new bunch of fun problems you can throw at him.

...but that's just how I'd go about it, there's other angles you could work with that premise.

Wow, there's so much to consider, If I focus on these points, my story will gain incredible depth. I should definitely remember that.

However, there's always a chance for different scenarios to arise, right? After all, everything depends on probability. If I burden my main character with too many setbacks, it might seem unfair. Not everyone will be against them. I need to balance it out . introducing supporters and antagonists into the story.

My MC is a baby elder god that is invincible, immortal and has all of the creepy powers you'd expect the spawn of a Cthulhu like monster to have. She doesn't use her powers all that often and spend most of her time traveling around with a party of adventurers exploring the world and learning about the people that live there.
So while she doesn't struggle fighting and such she does have a hard time fitting in and often makes mistakes in social situations.

Good plot tho .. a story that is based on adventure mostly not action .. so a whole lot of places with a whole lot of scenery descriptions, some time op cookie cutting ..

 

[phaeous]

so kinda like acquiring the resistance theory.. but to be able to acquire the affinity .. I would then have to make it possible for people to acquire affinity not just mc, kinda like the way acquiring resistance works .. then have to define and divide the points too no? like I have to tell how affinity works .. .

no no no no ~ affinity is intrinsic ; coming from your unique ego
as you grow your unique ego via myriad adventure
you grow more variety at the standard o your affinity

 

[Midnight-Phantom]

no no no no ~ affinity is intrinsic ; coming from your unique ego
as you grow your unique ego via myriad adventure
you grow more variety at the standard o your affinity

Bro, you just summed up affinity in three sentences!

But you know what? It actually makes sense. There can be more to it though. Affinity can come from how you see the world as a whole. Like, if you have an affinity for the concept of death, you might accept the fact that all life eventually ends and stuff like that.

But here's the thing, being undead can also give you an affinity with the concept of death. And spending a lot of time in a place where death lingers can either give you resistance to death or strengthen your affinity for it.

So, understanding the concept as a whole can give you affinity, and resisting the materialized concept can grant you resistance.

 

[Sebas_Guzman]

Hey, I'll throw my hat in the ring and give you thoughts, working off of what others have said here, and adding my own info from experience.
My credentials: I specialize in overpowered characters and make a good amount doing so, so my theories lead to profit, which means they lead to profitable enjoyment. The following was written quickly, so please forgive typos. This is also very general. If anyone wants clarification or specific answers, just ask.

I'll break this into sections:
OPness--observations of who came before:
One Punch Man
People have pointed out Saitama. With One Punch man, it's critical to understand where the tension point comes from. Think back to One Punch. Why is it that so many other heroes get to struggle and fail? It's because Saitama, with all the power of a physical god, can't get to where he needs to be in time. One PunchMan--it always comes down to how long it takes Saitama to get on the scene. Thats where the tension is.
What this shows you is selective OP-ness. Saitama's one weakness is what allows the rest of the series to happen.

Now, think about what the author does with Saitama's OPness? He gets to anticlimax a boss. He gets to talk to them like a normal person. This is a novel interaction. Seeing someone who dusted a bunch of others get dusted is also super rewarding.

Death March
Someone mentioned Death March, so I can talk about it, though my memory is a little hazy. Like other isekais, the main character is overpowered. WHat makes it cool? Satoo loves sight seeing. The man spent pages upon pages trying to find an ingredient. All the power in the world, and you can't find a pickle. The travesty! But that's what Satoo has to deal with.
The tension for some parts in Death March, in a way, comes from his clandestine activites, though the character did run into some hard moments that he couldn't initially overcome.

Misfit of Demon King Academy
Anos's story is a good one here. The satisfaction comes from seeing someone competent invalidating other people and their competent schemes. Really, with these style of stories, you find that you not only need 1 OP character, but many. You need to get to the point where you have "The only one that can beat this OP guy is this other OP guy" and then make it seem like no big sweat.

Isekai Farming
The tension is non-existant. It's just about seeing what OPness lets the main character build. With the OPness, one doesn't have to worry about some things and can instead focus on the gimmick of the story.


OPness and Genre
Different genres have different expectations.

OPness and Power Fantasy
Power fantasy is about winning awesomely.

Why do people desire OPness? Well, this really happens as a response to the media environment. There's an innate desire within people.
"I want to see the annoying villain get crushed"
See, we all grew up with antagonists ruining the day and making plots drag out forever. Brainwashing plots, miscommunication plots, kidnapping plots. The heroes have to put up with these and struggle solving them because their power levels are too close to the villain's, essentially. This sucks.
But here comes the OP character. We all know how a brainwashing plot can go. Why not just have the OP character come in and ruin the whole thing?
See, what happens here is that the model for conflict that a reader has--that entire model can be destroyed with one movement from the OP character. What's happening here is that depending on the set up, you can have a reader be able to map out an entire sequence, and then have it subverted by the OP character. Thats cool! So many years of suffering that type of plot and thank god. The OP character saves us from the pain.
But, there's more! What if the villain is competent, and while the OP character thwarts the first layer, they were unable to thwart the fact that the victim/rescued person was a biological bomb about to spread a plague.
Think about the possibilities! Why would an OP character check her for this otherwise dormant virus? The OP character wouldnt know! They might not have the wisdom to check!
In this kind of scenario, you have the OP character, and you actually still get to have tension by presenting a solution that seems well earned. The good thing is that the destruction of the plot archetype usually throws readers off enough that they don't guess that there's a contingency plan unless they are VERY savvy.
Anyway, these kind of plot manuevers are what you would find in something like misfit.

OPness and Slice of Life
It's all about living optimally.

This is a little hard to describe. OPness removes one struggle, so that you can struggle with daily life. It's like: "I want to struggle growing plants, not struggle to survive."
WIth slice of life stories, you're really just there to see a good person make life better for themselves or the people around them. You're there to see people praise or appreciate them, and you're there to see mundane uses of super power. You're also there to see quick results. Results are like a dopamine hit. OPness is there to get fast results. Why struggle waiting 1 month for little timmy to recover when a single use of Ultimate Restoration fixes him and gives him affinity with uber magic?


Does a character deserve OPness?
This depends on your personal value system. At its crux, people want to see the 'right' person get power, because people want there to be justice in the world, or want to correct an injustice. The injustice correcting angle is at play a lot of the time, though, because fiction is so saturated you can see other angles emerge over time. For this part, I'll do a different approach:

Guy who overwokred himself at a black company:
People say he deserves a peaceful life because he spent his whole life suffering at an explotative job.
Example series: By the grace of gods.

Programmer who is overworked:
THis one is a little funny. A lot of isekai liken magic to programming, so there's a little bit of bias in getting a programmer in. A lot of times, the programming background is there to justify why the guy is about to be effective. Otherwise, the overworked angle plays in. At this point, it's important to point out that japan's work culture is a big motivator to some of the backgrounds we see coming from japan's overpowered isekais.
Example Series: Sort of Death March

Regular Salaryman that gets stabbed/run over by a truck:
If there's not enough suffering before the death, there will be some hardship after the death to justify the OPness.

Example Series: Sort of Reincarnated as a Slime

Bullied kid at school:
He's being bullied. Of course he deserves power--is the knee jerk response. Here you see the desire to have things balanced out. If you look at classrooms transferred to another world, you'll usually see a bullied kid angle in there.

Bullied kid at school, gets even more bullied/betrayed later:
Just justifying why this guy deserves all the power. Maybe revenge gets involved.

Uber abused guy:
Torture is a real quick way to make readers think someone deserves power.

Hypercompetent guy:
These ones are more interesting. While the previous are about correcting an injustice, the hypercompetent ones are essentially being rewarded for their effective work thus far. For them, it's like--well, yeah, he put in so much effort in this one area. WHY NOT give him more power as a reward. He put the time in. Merit is a stronger justifier here. A lot of times, you'll see this rationale being used to give otherwise happy programmers/gamers more power.

Anyway, this has gone on long enough.

The most important thing to remember is that MC OPness is a lot of times there to give a dopamine rush/feelings of elation. TO get that rush, you need to construct the situation properly and not make the OPness constant and never ending. A story where the character is OP at all times should only be a page long.
What lengthens a story is conflict, whether that be man against himself, man against man, or man against god/nature

 

[phaeous]

Bro, you just summed up affinity in three sentences!

But you know what? It actually makes sense. There can be more to it though. Affinity can come from how you see the world as a whole. Like, if you have an affinity for the concept of death, you might accept the fact that all life eventually ends and stuff like that.

But here's the thing, being undead can also give you an affinity with the concept of death. And spending a lot of time in a place where death lingers can either give you resistance to death or strengthen your affinity for it.

So, understanding the concept as a whole can give you affinity, and resisting the materialized concept can grant you resistance.

does being harangued by horny dicks give you an affinity for horny dick even though you're killing them? (or maybe because you're killing them you get affinity points? negative affinity points?)

being undead (born from death) means that it was worth being so borne or else you couldn't survive in a context wholly repelling you. But from then on, are you inclined to further embrace undeadism (death?) or veer away : how do your decisions about it affect your affinity? I suppose you have a latent affinity & you increase it or not depending on if that latent affinity has been fulfilled + what things you would henceforth put into your latent affinity

Hey, I'll throw my hat in the ring and give you thoughts, working off of what others have said here, and adding my own info from experience.
My credentials: I specialize in overpowered characters and make a good amount doing so, so my theories lead to profit, which means they lead to profitable enjoyment. The following was written quickly, so please forgive typos. This is also very general. If anyone wants clarification or specific answers, just ask.

I'll break this into sections:
OPness--observations of who came before:
One Punch Man
People have pointed out Saitama. With One Punch man, it's critical to understand where the tension point comes from. Think back to One Punch. Why is it that so many other heroes get to struggle and fail? It's because Saitama, with all the power of a physical god, can't get to where he needs to be in time. One PunchMan--it always comes down to how long it takes Saitama to get on the scene. Thats where the tension is.
What this shows you is selective OP-ness. Saitama's one weakness is what allows the rest of the series to happen.

Now, think about what the author does with Saitama's OPness? He gets to anticlimax a boss. He gets to talk to them like a normal person. This is a novel interaction. Seeing someone who dusted a bunch of others get dusted is also super rewarding.

Death March
Someone mentioned Death March, so I can talk about it, though my memory is a little hazy. Like other isekais, the main character is overpowered. WHat makes it cool? Satoo loves sight seeing. The man spent pages upon pages trying to find an ingredient. All the power in the world, and you can't find a pickle. The travesty! But that's what Satoo has to deal with.
The tension for some parts in Death March, in a way, comes from his clandestine activites, though the character did run into some hard moments that he couldn't initially overcome.

Misfit of Demon King Academy
Anos's story is a good one here. The satisfaction comes from seeing someone competent invalidating other people and their competent schemes. Really, with these style of stories, you find that you not only need 1 OP character, but many. You need to get to the point where you have "The only one that can beat this OP guy is this other OP guy" and then make it seem like no big sweat.

Isekai Farming
The tension is non-existant. It's just about seeing what OPness lets the main character build. With the OPness, one doesn't have to worry about some things and can instead focus on the gimmick of the story.


OPness and Genre
Different genres have different expectations.

OPness and Power Fantasy
Power fantasy is about winning awesomely.

Why do people desire OPness? Well, this really happens as a response to the media environment. There's an innate desire within people.
"I want to see the annoying villain get crushed"
See, we all grew up with antagonists ruining the day and making plots drag out forever. Brainwashing plots, miscommunication plots, kidnapping plots. The heroes have to put up with these and struggle solving them because their power levels are too close to the villain's, essentially. This sucks.
But here comes the OP character. We all know how a brainwashing plot can go. Why not just have the OP character come in and ruin the whole thing?
See, what happens here is that the model for conflict that a reader has--that entire model can be destroyed with one movement from the OP character. What's happening here is that depending on the set up, you can have a reader be able to map out an entire sequence, and then have it subverted by the OP character. Thats cool! So many years of suffering that type of plot and thank god. The OP character saves us from the pain.
But, there's more! What if the villain is competent, and while the OP character thwarts the first layer, they were unable to thwart the fact that the victim/rescued person was a biological bomb about to spread a plague.
Think about the possibilities! Why would an OP character check her for this otherwise dormant virus? The OP character wouldnt know! They might not have the wisdom to check!
In this kind of scenario, you have the OP character, and you actually still get to have tension by presenting a solution that seems well earned. The good thing is that the destruction of the plot archetype usually throws readers off enough that they don't guess that there's a contingency plan unless they are VERY savvy.
Anyway, these kind of plot manuevers are what you would find in something like misfit.

OPness and Slice of Life
It's all about living optimally.

This is a little hard to describe. OPness removes one struggle, so that you can struggle with daily life. It's like: "I want to struggle growing plants, not struggle to survive."
WIth slice of life stories, you're really just there to see a good person make life better for themselves or the people around them. You're there to see people praise or appreciate them, and you're there to see mundane uses of super power. You're also there to see quick results. Results are like a dopamine hit. OPness is there to get fast results. Why struggle waiting 1 month for little timmy to recover when a single use of Ultimate Restoration fixes him and gives him affinity with uber magic?


Does a character deserve OPness?
This depends on your personal value system. At its crux, people want to see the 'right' person get power, because people want there to be justice in the world, or want to correct an injustice. The injustice correcting angle is at play a lot of the time, though, because fiction is so saturated you can see other angles emerge over time. For this part, I'll do a different approach:

Guy who overwokred himself at a black company:
People say he deserves a peaceful life because he spent his whole life suffering at an explotative job.
Example series: By the grace of gods.

Programmer who is overworked:
THis one is a little funny. A lot of isekai liken magic to programming, so there's a little bit of bias in getting a programmer in. A lot of times, the programming background is there to justify why the guy is about to be effective. Otherwise, the overworked angle plays in. At this point, it's important to point out that japan's work culture is a big motivator to some of the backgrounds we see coming from japan's overpowered isekais.
Example Series: Sort of Death March

Regular Salaryman that gets stabbed/run over by a truck:
If there's not enough suffering before the death, there will be some hardship after the death to justify the OPness.

Example Series: Sort of Reincarnated as a Slime

Bullied kid at school:
He's being bullied. Of course he deserves power--is the knee jerk response. Here you see the desire to have things balanced out. If you look at classrooms transferred to another world, you'll usually see a bullied kid angle in there.

Bullied kid at school, gets even more bullied/betrayed later:
Just justifying why this guy deserves all the power. Maybe revenge gets involved.

Uber abused guy:
Torture is a real quick way to make readers think someone deserves power.

Hypercompetent guy:
These ones are more interesting. While the previous are about correcting an injustice, the hypercompetent ones are essentially being rewarded for their effective work thus far. For them, it's like--well, yeah, he put in so much effort in this one area. WHY NOT give him more power as a reward. He put the time in. Merit is a stronger justifier here. A lot of times, you'll see this rationale being used to give otherwise happy programmers/gamers more power.

Anyway, this has gone on long enough.

The most important thing to remember is that MC OPness is a lot of times there to give a dopamine rush/feelings of elation. TO get that rush, you need to construct the situation properly and not make the OPness constant and never ending. A story where the character is OP at all times should only be a page long.
What lengthens a story is conflict, whether that be man against himself, man against man, or man against god/nature

Ah, this is pretty interesting.

But the root o OP comes from "increasing advantages _ minimizing disadvantages"

If the scale of advantages are hugely increased but you haven't earned it yet, unless you have a higher affinity with the world itself (accelerating returns) the minimizing disadvantages part takes precedent in a dangerous way.

I have started some OP fics

Genuine I

I have slain endless enemies gloriously Stood as idol before aspiring youths Integrated magic with my swordsmanship & reached the peak The entire world reveres or fears me, but at least I have their respect. Then the prompt came: [Your world shall be baptised in the Survival Game. As the...

www.scribblehub.com

(OP from the rewardingness of past experience)

IMP

°~°

www.scribblehub.com

(OP from luck & wicked cheshire innocence)

Isů Ninja

A war, a mission, who knows, his mother was impregnated when a so-inclined Uchiha passed our mountain village. With such blood, i must be blessed, but cursed events drown luck's behest.

www.scribblehub.com

(OP from bloodline mutation from early-life tragedy + his fond memory of his mom & wishing to honor her noble joy × indomitable love for existence)

Suddenly Ou

My memories from my previous life assimilated very slowly, & when 4 years since birth my young father the emperor was eviserated

www.scribblehub.com

(OP from previous-life intellectual cultivation ÷ supreme kingdom-sized deity-built absolute control array {except for destroying key requirement-cores in the matrix -like creating overwhelming misery beyond pale})

Abuse My Yandere

A multi-physique morphing girl meets her everything, & he lights up so he can begin living

www.scribblehub.com

(OP from his popular supernatural unbelievably gorgeous the one yandere lover he has no problem letting sleep with influencial males for the curing o his own lacking amusement in a lethally boring unmotivating world otherwise)

a noble soul has reverence in itself

modern fantasy, western jianghu

www.scribblehub.com

(OP a bit from being a Nāga which is an extremely resilient race
also from overwhelming self-love = careful worshipping of her own evolution as a brilliant creature)

 

[Shard]

Wow, there's so much to consider, If I focus on these points, my story will gain incredible depth. I should definitely remember that.

However, there's always a chance for different scenarios to arise, right? After all, everything depends on probability. If I burden my main character with too many setbacks, it might seem unfair.

Always keep in mind that everything influences everything else. My favorite example is magic, it seems like it just adds something, but why would someone figure out coal boilers if they can just have a fire mage heat a water tank? Would anyone figure out generators if someone can just magic electricity straight into a cable? How does healing magic affect lifespan? How does altered lifespan influence society? If you have air mages, do you have vacuum sealed food? How about earth mages and construction?

All these little changes result in a massively changed world, and in some contexts, simple modern knowledge can be OP due to understanding why something works. Likewise, if you add magic to a standard world, they can bypass huge chunks of technology at will. Consider how you would react if someone just casually walked by a car and shoved it into a magical inventory. Or a fantasy world where someone has an ATV. In many cases, a character can change the world significantly merely by being seen doing abnormal things, even if they don't directly influence any change in the society around them such as producing goods or offering services.

 

[expentio]

In my opinion, being OP from the start is bad for adventure stories. If a story contains exploration then stuff has to remain dangerous as to keep it meaningful. A hero who can just push through everything, doesn't have to fear anything, and can overcome every obstacle without knowing setbacks is difficult to root for.
Though, I wrote an OP eldritch that can just do so. It think that one works, maybe because she's so much of a timid mess that even a mundane conversation is a challenge for her. Which brings us back to providing challenges for a character.

 

[Midnight-Phantom]

Hey, I'll throw my hat in the ring and give you thoughts, working off of what others have said here, and adding my own info from experience.
My credentials: I specialize in overpowered characters and make a good amount doing so, so my theories lead to profit, which means they lead to profitable enjoyment. The following was written quickly, so please forgive typos. This is also very general. If anyone wants clarification or specific answers, just ask.

I'll break this into sections:
OPness--observations of who came before:
One Punch Man
People have pointed out Saitama. With One Punch man, it's critical to understand where the tension point comes from. Think back to One Punch. Why is it that so many other heroes get to struggle and fail? It's because Saitama, with all the power of a physical god, can't get to where he needs to be in time. One PunchMan--it always comes down to how long it takes Saitama to get on the scene. Thats where the tension is.
What this shows you is selective OP-ness. Saitama's one weakness is what allows the rest of the series to happen.

Now, think about what the author does with Saitama's OPness? He gets to anticlimax a boss. He gets to talk to them like a normal person. This is a novel interaction. Seeing someone who dusted a bunch of others get dusted is also super rewarding.

Death March
Someone mentioned Death March, so I can talk about it, though my memory is a little hazy. Like other isekais, the main character is overpowered. WHat makes it cool? Satoo loves sight seeing. The man spent pages upon pages trying to find an ingredient. All the power in the world, and you can't find a pickle. The travesty! But that's what Satoo has to deal with.
The tension for some parts in Death March, in a way, comes from his clandestine activites, though the character did run into some hard moments that he couldn't initially overcome.

Misfit of Demon King Academy
Anos's story is a good one here. The satisfaction comes from seeing someone competent invalidating other people and their competent schemes. Really, with these style of stories, you find that you not only need 1 OP character, but many. You need to get to the point where you have "The only one that can beat this OP guy is this other OP guy" and then make it seem like no big sweat.

Isekai Farming
The tension is non-existant. It's just about seeing what OPness lets the main character build. With the OPness, one doesn't have to worry about some things and can instead focus on the gimmick of the story.


OPness and Genre
Different genres have different expectations.

OPness and Power Fantasy
Power fantasy is about winning awesomely.

Why do people desire OPness? Well, this really happens as a response to the media environment. There's an innate desire within people.
"I want to see the annoying villain get crushed"
See, we all grew up with antagonists ruining the day and making plots drag out forever. Brainwashing plots, miscommunication plots, kidnapping plots. The heroes have to put up with these and struggle solving them because their power levels are too close to the villain's, essentially. This sucks.
But here comes the OP character. We all know how a brainwashing plot can go. Why not just have the OP character come in and ruin the whole thing?
See, what happens here is that the model for conflict that a reader has--that entire model can be destroyed with one movement from the OP character. What's happening here is that depending on the set up, you can have a reader be able to map out an entire sequence, and then have it subverted by the OP character. Thats cool! So many years of suffering that type of plot and thank god. The OP character saves us from the pain.
But, there's more! What if the villain is competent, and while the OP character thwarts the first layer, they were unable to thwart the fact that the victim/rescued person was a biological bomb about to spread a plague.
Think about the possibilities! Why would an OP character check her for this otherwise dormant virus? The OP character wouldnt know! They might not have the wisdom to check!
In this kind of scenario, you have the OP character, and you actually still get to have tension by presenting a solution that seems well earned. The good thing is that the destruction of the plot archetype usually throws readers off enough that they don't guess that there's a contingency plan unless they are VERY savvy.
Anyway, these kind of plot manuevers are what you would find in something like misfit.

OPness and Slice of Life
It's all about living optimally.

This is a little hard to describe. OPness removes one struggle, so that you can struggle with daily life. It's like: "I want to struggle growing plants, not struggle to survive."
WIth slice of life stories, you're really just there to see a good person make life better for themselves or the people around them. You're there to see people praise or appreciate them, and you're there to see mundane uses of super power. You're also there to see quick results. Results are like a dopamine hit. OPness is there to get fast results. Why struggle waiting 1 month for little timmy to recover when a single use of Ultimate Restoration fixes him and gives him affinity with uber magic?


Does a character deserve OPness?
This depends on your personal value system. At its crux, people want to see the 'right' person get power, because people want there to be justice in the world, or want to correct an injustice. The injustice correcting angle is at play a lot of the time, though, because fiction is so saturated you can see other angles emerge over time. For this part, I'll do a different approach:

Guy who overwokred himself at a black company:
People say he deserves a peaceful life because he spent his whole life suffering at an explotative job.
Example series: By the grace of gods.

Programmer who is overworked:
THis one is a little funny. A lot of isekai liken magic to programming, so there's a little bit of bias in getting a programmer in. A lot of times, the programming background is there to justify why the guy is about to be effective. Otherwise, the overworked angle plays in. At this point, it's important to point out that japan's work culture is a big motivator to some of the backgrounds we see coming from japan's overpowered isekais.
Example Series: Sort of Death March

Regular Salaryman that gets stabbed/run over by a truck:
If there's not enough suffering before the death, there will be some hardship after the death to justify the OPness.

Example Series: Sort of Reincarnated as a Slime

Bullied kid at school:
He's being bullied. Of course he deserves power--is the knee jerk response. Here you see the desire to have things balanced out. If you look at classrooms transferred to another world, you'll usually see a bullied kid angle in there.

Bullied kid at school, gets even more bullied/betrayed later:
Just justifying why this guy deserves all the power. Maybe revenge gets involved.

Uber abused guy:
Torture is a real quick way to make readers think someone deserves power.

Hypercompetent guy:
These ones are more interesting. While the previous are about correcting an injustice, the hypercompetent ones are essentially being rewarded for their effective work thus far. For them, it's like--well, yeah, he put in so much effort in this one area. WHY NOT give him more power as a reward. He put the time in. Merit is a stronger justifier here. A lot of times, you'll see this rationale being used to give otherwise happy programmers/gamers more power.

Anyway, this has gone on long enough.

The most important thing to remember is that MC OPness is a lot of times there to give a dopamine rush/feelings of elation. TO get that rush, you need to construct the situation properly and not make the OPness constant and never ending. A story where the character is OP at all times should only be a page long.
What lengthens a story is conflict, whether that be man against himself, man against man, or man against god/nature

The whole thing as you have said come down to - In a scenario where a character is reborn and becomes OP, it can be justified if they had lived a harsh life in any form. In this sense, the concept of karma comes into play, where either the creation itself, a god, or a similar being with compassion repay their karma and reincarnate them into a new world.

Many of the stories or shows you mentioned have similar settings, which is why I mentioned them. I also have similar ideas in mind. However, I'm facing a dilemma regarding how overpowered (OP) the character should be. Should I make the character completely OP in terms of skills, traits, or other aspects? Please note that the idea I have in it the main character (MC) would be born as a normal being.

I was thinking of giving him all the skills that exist or could exist, and also some traits, but his OP nature would greatly diminish as he would be a simple mortal like any other being at birth. As he levels up or progresses through the ranks, he would gain the aforementioned powers, increase perception, and acquire the abilities that come with leveling up.

However, as a mortal with maximum proficiency in water magic, for example, he wouldn't be able to control the entire world's water concept because he wouldn't possess the power to harness the entire concept of water within a given region. It would be impossible.

However, once he reaches higher ranks such as divine or celestial, he may be able to do so. In my world, skill levels determined how efficiently and precisely a skill is executed. This means that an underleveled person wouldn't be able to defeat a celestial, for instance. But he will always be the best in said power level.

The MC is highly resourceful due to his background in our time, having access to the internet, multiple knowledge sources, advanced things, reading fantasy literature, and receiving education. This gives him a significant advantage in a world governed by mana. His perspective alone could make a huge difference compared to other people.

Additionally, I thought about there can be magical solutions to various problems in the world, such as image crystals. These crystals could store events, but they might be difficult for the average person to own. However, our MC can combine his knowledge from both lives to create a camera-like device containing many magical elements. This device would be a product of his ingenuity rather than a natural crystal.

Always keep in mind that everything influences everything else. My favorite example is magic, it seems like it just adds something, but why would someone figure out coal boilers if they can just have a fire mage heat a water tank? Would anyone figure out generators if someone can just magic electricity straight into a cable? How does healing magic affect lifespan? How does altered lifespan influence society? If you have air mages, do you have vacuum sealed food? How about earth mages and construction?

All these little changes result in a massively changed world, and in some contexts, simple modern knowledge can be OP due to understanding why something works. Likewise, if you add magic to a standard world, they can bypass huge chunks of technology at will. Consider how you would react if someone just casually walked by a car and shoved it into a magical inventory. Or a fantasy world where someone has an ATV. In many cases, a character can change the world significantly merely by being seen doing abnormal things, even if they don't directly influence any change in the society around them such as producing goods or offering services.

Valid points, I do have some thought of them but not on that much depth or that angle tho .. thanks for the nudge ..

In my opinion, being OP from the start is bad for adventure stories. If a story contains exploration then stuff has to remain dangerous as to keep it meaningful. A hero who can just push through everything, doesn't have to fear anything, and can overcome every obstacle without knowing setbacks is difficult to root for.
Though, I wrote an OP eldritch that can just do so. It think that one works, maybe because she's so much of a timid mess that even a mundane conversation is a challenge for her. Which brings us back to providing challenges for a character.

yeah, everyone is mostly saying stuff like that but he is not op from the perspective of power I was thinking of making him op in the sense of max out skills that make him the god of jack of all trades. but doesn't make him one shorting an eldritch after being born for just a couple of hours .. so I was asking if should I make him acquire his skills or just give them to him to a scenario as prologue as he acquires them as he did some stuff in the void or nithily or something like that ...

 

[Sebas_Guzman]

The whole thing as you have said come down to - In a scenario where a character is reborn and becomes OP, it can be justified if they had lived a harsh life in any form. In this sense, the concept of karma comes into play, where either the creation itself, a god, or a similar being with compassion repay their karma and reincarnate them into a new world.

Many of the stories or shows you mentioned have similar settings, which is why I mentioned them. I also have similar ideas in mind. However, I'm facing a dilemma regarding how overpowered (OP) the character should be. Should I make the character completely OP in terms of skills, traits, or other aspects? Please note that the idea I have in it the main character (MC) would be born as a normal being.

I was thinking of giving him all the skills that exist or could exist, and also some traits, but his OP nature would greatly diminish as he would be a simple mortal like any other being at birth. As he levels up or progresses through the ranks, he would gain the aforementioned powers, increase perception, and acquire the abilities that come with leveling up.

However, as a mortal with maximum proficiency in water magic, for example, he wouldn't be able to control the entire world's water concept because he wouldn't possess the power to harness the entire concept of water within a given region. It would be impossible.

However, once he reaches higher ranks such as divine or celestial, he may be able to do so. In my world, skill levels determined how efficiently and precisely a skill is executed. This means that an underleveled person wouldn't be able to defeat a celestial, for instance. But he will always be the best in said power level.

The MC is highly resourceful due to his background in our time, having access to the internet, multiple knowledge sources, advanced things, reading fantasy literature, and receiving education. This gives him a significant advantage in a world governed by mana. His perspective alone could make a huge difference compared to other people.

Additionally, I thought about there can be magical solutions to various problems in the world, such as image crystals. These crystals could store events, but they might be difficult for the average person to own. However, our MC can combine his knowledge from both lives to create a camera-like device containing many magical elements. This device would be a product of his ingenuity rather than a natural crystal.

Valid points, I do have some thought of them but not on that much depth or that angle tho .. thanks for the nudge ..

yeah, everyone is mostly saying stuff like that but he is not op from the perspective of power I was thinking of making him op in the sense of max out skills that make him the god of jack of all trades. but doesn't make him one shorting an eldritch after being born for just a couple of hours .. so I was asking if should I make him acquire his skills or just give them to him to a scenario as prologue as he acquires them as he did some stuff in the void or nithily or something like that ...

Okay, I will try to tackle what I can. I'm going pretty fast, so I'm not really sitting down and giving you deep thoughts. These are more like general guidelines that would work for me.
Regarding:
"
However, I'm facing a dilemma regarding how overpowered (OP) the character should be. Should I make the character completely OP in terms of skills, traits, or other aspects? Please note that the idea I have in it the main character (MC) would be born as a normal being.
I was thinking of giving him all the skills that exist or could exist, and also some traits, but his OP nature would greatly diminish as he would be a simple mortal like any other being at birth. As he levels up or progresses through the ranks, he would gain the aforementioned powers, increase perception, and acquire the abilities that come with leveling up."

So, this is a power structure that we've seen implemented in Slime, reincarnated as a spider, and Death March to a degree. In regular words, you're going from zero to hero. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this implementation. It's a profitable implementation and one that readers know the gist of. Again, do note that those three mentioned series all have a character that starts with maybe one critical power, but then they gain a crazy amount of skills to the point it's comical. That's why you know your implementation is safe and tolerated. Also, isekai stories are typically ones where the reader grows as the mc grows. Thats why it's okay to do zero to hero.

However, as a mortal with maximum proficiency in water magic, for example, he wouldn't be able to control the entire world's water concept because he wouldn't possess the power to harness the entire concept of water within a given region. It would be impossible.

However, once he reaches higher ranks such as divine or celestial, he may be able to do so. In my world, skill levels determined how efficiently and precisely a skill is executed. This means that an underleveled person wouldn't be able to defeat a celestial, for instance. But he will always be the best in said power level.

I think this is completely reasonable. Things might get shaky at divine level, since for isekais, thats the end game. Maybe switch to cultivation stories for guidance at that point. Otherwise, my general idea at deific levels is that you need to essentially show the world of deity and establish a new normal if you want to do multiple volumes at that level of power. Deific levels of power to some degree is about spectacle, and spectacle is fun when its between similarly powered characters. Milage varries depending on setting and genre of course.

The MC is highly resourceful due to his background in our time, having access to the internet, multiple knowledge sources, advanced things, reading fantasy literature, and receiving education. This gives him a significant advantage in a world governed by mana. His perspective alone could make a huge difference compared to other people

Another really common implementation. People, in general, actually like hyper competence, and dont like a lack of competence in almost anything social. See Wiseman's grandson, Choyoyu, even Jobless Reincarnation for these implementations. To some degree, people come to isekai for this exact dynamic. They want to see a modern person trivialize fantasy problems.
Conversely, throw a wrench in it by having the world not be build from protons, nuetrons, and electrons, or things like that, if you want to parody those characters.


Additionally, I thought about there can be magical solutions to various problems in the world, such as image crystals. These crystals could store events, but they might be difficult for the average person to own. However, our MC can combine his knowledge from both lives to create a camera-like device containing many magical elements. This device would be a product of his ingenuity rather than a natural crystal.

Again, this is a cool implementation, and the marrying of modern and fantasy is another big draw of isekai. This is a good element.


So, overall, you have a lot of the elements of profitable isekai. Back to your only dilemna. How OP to make it.
You want to go from zero to hero. Study the isekais that did it and how. You'll see that for spider and slime, they balance the MC out by having tough existences that pop up on the way to supremacy. Remember, as long as you have reasonable conflict, your MC isn't actually overpowered. He's just strong against everything that isnt his current obstacle. In other words, there's a scale. For every new realm of power, there is a gatekeeper on the way to the next realm. Also, feel free to add other avenues of problems. Like social problems, or hobby problems, or logisitical problems.

Having all the skills isnt a problem. The person using them is.
You have to make sure the OP character isnt stupid. People hate when someone has power and doesn't use it to their liking. So, pretty much if this was D&D, this character needs to have super high wisdom and charisma. He needs to be a Social genius. That's the only place he "NEEDS" to be "OP" in.
(Casual readers don't dislike occassional stupidity though)

 

[Midnight-Phantom]

Okay, I will try to tackle what I can. I'm going pretty fast, so I'm not really sitting down and giving you deep thoughts. These are more like general guidelines that would work for me.
Regarding:
"
However, I'm facing a dilemma regarding how overpowered (OP) the character should be. Should I make the character completely OP in terms of skills, traits, or other aspects? Please note that the idea I have in it the main character (MC) would be born as a normal being.
I was thinking of giving him all the skills that exist or could exist, and also some traits, but his OP nature would greatly diminish as he would be a simple mortal like any other being at birth. As he levels up or progresses through the ranks, he would gain the aforementioned powers, increase perception, and acquire the abilities that come with leveling up."

So, this is a power structure that we've seen implemented in Slime, reincarnated as a spider, and Death March to a degree. In regular words, you're going from zero to hero. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this implementation. It's a profitable implementation and one that readers know the gist of. Again, do note that those three mentioned series all have a character that starts with maybe one critical power, but then they gain a crazy amount of skills to the point it's comical. That's why you know your implementation is safe and tolerated. Also, isekai stories are typically ones where the reader grows as the mc grows. Thats why it's okay to do zero to hero.

However, as a mortal with maximum proficiency in water magic, for example, he wouldn't be able to control the entire world's water concept because he wouldn't possess the power to harness the entire concept of water within a given region. It would be impossible.

However, once he reaches higher ranks such as divine or celestial, he may be able to do so. In my world, skill levels determined how efficiently and precisely a skill is executed. This means that an underleveled person wouldn't be able to defeat a celestial, for instance. But he will always be the best in said power level.

I think this is completely reasonable. Things might get shaky at divine level, since for isekais, thats the end game. Maybe switch to cultivation stories for guidance at that point. Otherwise, my general idea at deific levels is that you need to essentially show the world of deity and establish a new normal if you want to do multiple volumes at that level of power. Deific levels of power to some degree is about spectacle, and spectacle is fun when its between similarly powered characters. Milage varries depending on setting and genre of course.

The MC is highly resourceful due to his background in our time, having access to the internet, multiple knowledge sources, advanced things, reading fantasy literature, and receiving education. This gives him a significant advantage in a world governed by mana. His perspective alone could make a huge difference compared to other people

Another really common implementation. People, in general, actually like hyper competence, and dont like a lack of competence in almost anything social. See Wiseman's grandson, Choyoyu, even Jobless Reincarnation for these implementations. To some degree, people come to isekai for this exact dynamic. They want to see a modern person trivialize fantasy problems.
Conversely, throw a wrench in it by having the world not be build from protons, nuetrons, and electrons, or things like that, if you want to parody those characters.


Additionally, I thought about there can be magical solutions to various problems in the world, such as image crystals. These crystals could store events, but they might be difficult for the average person to own. However, our MC can combine his knowledge from both lives to create a camera-like device containing many magical elements. This device would be a product of his ingenuity rather than a natural crystal.

Again, this is a cool implementation, and the marrying of modern and fantasy is another big draw of isekai. This is a good element.


So, overall, you have a lot of the elements of profitable isekai. Back to your only dilemna. How OP to make it.
You want to go from zero to hero. Study the isekais that did it and how. You'll see that for spider and slime, they balance the MC out by having tough existences that pop up on the way to supremacy. Remember, as long as you have reasonable conflict, your MC isn't actually overpowered. He's just strong against everything that isnt his current obstacle. In other words, there's a scale. For every new realm of power, there is a gatekeeper on the way to the next realm. Also, feel free to add other avenues of problems. Like social problems, or hobby problems, or logisitical problems.

Having all the skills isnt a problem. The person using them is.
You have to make sure the OP character isnt stupid. People hate when someone has power and doesn't use it to their liking. So, pretty much if this was D&D, this character needs to have super high wisdom and charisma. He needs to be a Social genius. That's the only place he "NEEDS" to be "OP" in.
(Casual readers don't dislike occassional stupidity though)

Thanks for the detailed reasoning ... this will really help me... I will try to incorporate those things you have pointed out... much appreciated your effort to point things out with this much detail again...

 

[Sebas_Guzman]

Thanks for the detailed reasoning ... this will really help me... I will try to incorporate those things you have pointed out... much appreciated your effort to point things out with this much detail again...

No problem, fellow isekai fan. Specific problems need specific answers, and this happened to be a topic I could give thoughts on.

Wish you all the best.