I gave the ML an OP ability, but set 12 restrictions

[Yuin]

I just want to know how you guys usually plan superpowers or abilities. Do you usually match the ability to the character’s personality, or treat it as a plot device? If so, do you ever try to create an original superpower just for fun? Also, do you think there’s a need for restrictions?

Here’s the very OP power I gave to Laurent, but I made it way too complex:
His Calibre (ability) only takes effect three months after he writes something. So it’s not a power for foreseeing the future, but rather one that lets him influence potential events and twist them in his favor.

The Conditions and Limits:

1. The event must exist in the near future.
2. If the event never occurs, the writing becomes void.
3. Events must happen within a year.
4. What he writes must be relevant and possible to alter (meaning he can’t write something outrageous like “the world domination”).
5. The original event must still happen in some form. His writing replaces details within it, not the entire event. (So he needs insider knowledge to pull it off correctly.)
6. These events can range from large-scale wars to locating a specific person on a certain date.
7. He can also write about past events, but there are rules:
8. The world itself doesn’t go back in time, only Laurent does.
9. To rewrite a past event, he must specify the time, place, and action during moments he has already lived through.
10. But this only works from his last use of the ability, meaning he must have already “auto-saved a checkpoint” back then.
11. He rarely uses his Calibre to rewrite the past. The only time he did it was as a child, unknowingly.
12. After using the ability, his memories of the previous timeline become fuzzy or dreamlike, especially if he returns to the past.

Why I made it so complex:
- Physical Calibres have weaknesses like berserk states.
- Mental Calibres cause things like exhaustion, insanity, or cognitive decline.
- Laurent’s Calibre doesn’t fall into either category, so its difficulty lies in how it’s used.
- Since it’s so powerful bcs he can literally replace himself in time and rewrite events, it needs a lot of moving parts to balance it out.

So do you think this will work out well?? I will demonstrate the concept thru scenarios (not exposition).

 

[CharlesEBrown]

There seems to be a contradiction there - does his power ONLY work three months in the future, or can it impact any event UP TO 3 months in the future?

 

[Tsuru]

The Conditions and Limits:

1. The event must exist in the near future.
2. If the event never occurs, the writing becomes void.
3. Events must happen within a year.
4. What he writes must be relevant and possible to alter (meaning he can’t write something outrageous like “the world domination”).
5. The original event must still happen in some form. His writing replaces details within it, not the entire event. (So he needs insider knowledge to pull it off correctly.)
6. These events can range from large-scale wars to locating a specific person on a certain date.
7. He can also write about past events, but there are rules:
8. The world itself doesn’t go back in time, only Laurent does.
9. To rewrite a past event, he must specify the time, place, and action during moments he has already lived through.
10. But this only works from his last use of the ability, meaning he must have already “auto-saved a checkpoint” back then.
11. He rarely uses his Calibre to rewrite the past. The only time he did it was as a child, unknowingly.
12. After using the ability, his memories of the previous timeline become fuzzy or dreamlike, especially if he returns to the past.

I will spam everyday : Dont hit your toenail against something
+ Will not be clumsy to make something fall and break

 

[Yuin]

There seems to be a contradiction there - does his power ONLY work three months in the future, or can it impact any event UP TO 3 months in the future?

Only works if he changes an event three months before it starts. It doesn’t affect events that already happened or haven’t happened but is too far in the future. It has to be three months in advance. If the event is already in motion, he can’t change the course of it.

In the first timeline, before he regresses, it makes sense that he doesn’t know the full conditions of his Calibre. After all, he hasn’t seen the future yet. It’s only after he goes back in time and lives through those events again that his Calibre becomes useful. That’s when it really gives him control.

Since Calibre is connected to the willpower of the soul, if he strongly wishes to go back in time, it can be triggered accidentally.

If not for that, he can only change events he’s personally involved in, like a war or something, but he has to plan everything out first so the event actually exists. So yeah, it’s complicated. I don’t even know, I’m just yapping at this point.

but thanks for pointing it out and letting me brainstorm a bit

 

[blackcrowcrowd]

I just want to know how you guys usually plan superpowers or abilities. Do you usually match the ability to the character’s personality, or treat it as a plot device? If so, do you ever try to create an original superpower just for fun? Also, do you think there’s a need for restrictions?

Here’s the very OP power I gave to Laurent, but I made it way too complex:
His Calibre (ability) only takes effect three months after he writes something. So it’s not a power for foreseeing the future, but rather one that lets him influence potential events and twist them in his favor.

The Conditions and Limits:

1. The event must exist in the near future.
2. If the event never occurs, the writing becomes void.
3. Events must happen within a year.
4. What he writes must be relevant and possible to alter (meaning he can’t write something outrageous like “the world domination”).
5. The original event must still happen in some form. His writing replaces details within it, not the entire event. (So he needs insider knowledge to pull it off correctly.)
6. These events can range from large-scale wars to locating a specific person on a certain date.
7. He can also write about past events, but there are rules:
8. The world itself doesn’t go back in time, only Laurent does.
9. To rewrite a past event, he must specify the time, place, and action during moments he has already lived through.
10. But this only works from his last use of the ability, meaning he must have already “auto-saved a checkpoint” back then.
11. He rarely uses his Calibre to rewrite the past. The only time he did it was as a child, unknowingly.
12. After using the ability, his memories of the previous timeline become fuzzy or dreamlike, especially if he returns to the past.

Why I made it so complex:
- Physical Calibres have weaknesses like berserk states.
- Mental Calibres cause things like exhaustion, insanity, or cognitive decline.
- Laurent’s Calibre doesn’t fall into either category, so its difficulty lies in how it’s used.
- Since it’s so powerful bcs he can literally replace himself in time and rewrite events, it needs a lot of moving parts to balance it out.

So do you think this will work out well?? I will demonstrate the concept thru scenarios (not exposition).

Damn that's long, how do you even make your readers remember them naturally?

 

[LuoirM]

Now write a detective that can speak 5 languages that tracks him down by means of television and deduction

 

[Golden_Hyde]

Do you usually match the ability to the character’s personality, or treat it as a plot device? If so, do you ever try to create an original superpower just for fun? Also, do you think there’s a need for restrictions?

I don't know if this is OP in the slightest, but I have a Bio-fission ability that splits one character into two independent characters of the same person. BUT! I gave them the key to do so, otherwise he can't do it, even if he wanted to.

I treat this as a plot device, and a reasonable one at that.

As for the original superpower, not exactly for fun. I wanted things to be more practical, at least in the fantasy zone.

And yes, there has to be a need for restrictions, otherwise you'll risk your character turning into a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, and most of the time it's less to be desired.

However, if it's for comedic purpose, then go ahead. Go nuts.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Only works if he changes an event three months before it starts. It doesn’t affect events that already happened or haven’t happened but is too far in the future. It has to be three months in advance. If the event is already in motion, he can’t change the course of it.

Feels weirdly specific unless he also has an ability to see possible futures or something.

Since Calibre is connected to the willpower of the soul, if he strongly wishes to go back in time, it can be triggered accidentally.

If not for that, he can only change events he’s personally involved in, like a war or something, but he has to plan everything out first so the event actually exists. So yeah, it’s complicated. I don’t even know, I’m just yapping at this point.

but thanks for pointing it out and letting me brainstorm a bit

It seems that maybe he should get flashes of what could happen, and can write the one he thinks would be best (and may have to change his mind later).
Can he write out his own limitations? "At this exact time, three months from today, I figure out how to get around this limitation on my Calibre."

 

[Yuin]

Damn that's long, how do you even make your readers remember them naturally?

Idk, even the author is unclear about this (it will come naturally haha)

I don't know if this is OP in the slightest, but I have a Bio-fission ability that splits one character into two independent characters of the same person. BUT! I gave them the key to do so, otherwise he can't do it, even if he wanted to.

I treat this as a plot device, and a reasonable one at that.

As for the original superpower, not exactly for fun. I wanted things to be more practical, at least in the fantasy zone.

And yes, there has to be a need for restrictions, otherwise you'll risk your character turning into a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, and most of the time it's less to be desired.

However, if it's for comedic purpose, then go ahead. Go nuts.

The Saga of Tanya the Evil is peak entertainment. I might introduce guns just to feel cool

Now write a detective that can speak 5 languages that tracks him down by means of television and deduction

Isn’t that Death Note but multilingual