Difference between revisions of "Starting Ranks"

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It is really helpful to remember that no matter what Master Rank a character starts at, they will have to wait the regular amount of time to increase in Master Rank as though they had begun at the very beginning of Master Rank C. That means a C+ and a C will hit B at the same time, all things being equal, and a starting C+, C, and B will all hit A at the same time. (For specifics, please see: [[Advancement]])
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The average gamewide protagonist Character Point total has surpassed 265 points.  So, characters are now allowed to start at Master Rank B without severely stringent justification, as the game has evolved to tell a different kind of story about magical girls further into their careers. (For more information on why this happened two and a half years into the MUSH, please see: [[Advancement]])
  
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In other words, there is absolutely no long-term advantage to a 'head start'; this is to encourage people to embrace the idea that starting a story from its beginning has a lot more opportunities for character development and growth, than creating an artificially experienced character in order to start with more power in the combat system.
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For previously played Feature Characters, or unplayed Features who can be assumed to have been present but in the background all this time, Master Rank B is now easy to justify.  And Original Characters who want to app as experienced and extraordinary veterans can now do so easily, as well.  Master Rank B now spans an immense range of concepts, from Sailor Moon to Homura Akemi and everyone in between; the apprentices have begun to catch up to, and surpass, their mentors.
  
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It's also useful to remember that a Rank B is not totally dominant over a Rank C; the actual difference, in combat, between a one-rank differential, is more narrow than one might think.  A Rank C can regularly beat a Rank B with either of superior luck or superior tactics.  A Rank C needs both, generally, to beat a Rank A.
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But what about players who want their characters (Feature or Original) to start at the very beginning of their careers?
  
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That being said, protagonists can be approved above C, if they can answer the following two questions in a very compelling way:  
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Here's our favored option:  
  
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1) ''What part of your concept requires your character to be in a league of power above Sailor Moon, Nanoha Takamachi and Mai Tokiha, without which your concept is unplayable?
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Although all characters now start with enough Character Points to be Master Rank B, they don't have to spend them all.  We wholeheartedly recommend spending more like 220 CP on a character's combat mode, and starting at Master Rank C.  Any initially unspent points ''do not go away,'' they're just banked until the player is ready to spend them, according to the pace of the character's on-camera growth.  In the meantime, they can also increase their Character Point maximum just like anyone else.  Finally, they can proceed to advance to Master Rank B at any time.
  
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2) ''How does this aspect of your concept bring something special to the game's cast of characters, that it wouldn't if your character started at Master Rank C?  (In other words, how does your character's exceptional starting power and experience make Battle Fantasia a better game for everyone?)
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Doing so on camera allows this advancement to be a special event, just like how it was for older characters; defeating a major enemy, overcoming a major challenge, gaining a major power-up, is too much fun to simply skip outright.  An out-of-character timeline of about six months allows for an accelerated 'first season' arc to play itself out.  The Battle Fantasia plotstaff will prioritize GMing these events on request.
  
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It is much easier to convince us to start an OC (or previously unrated FC) at C+ than B.  It may help to recognize that only a teeny tiny handful of Feature Character protagonists start at B (and none start at A!), and even they can opt to start at C+ if they prefer.  Besides enjoying advancement at a more steady rate, and the RP opportunities that arise from a longer development arc, there are tangible benefits over the long term to starting with fewer points, most notably faster improvement to one's Base Mode. (For more information, please see: [[Base Modes]]) 
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{{Quotation|For example, Nurse Angel Ririka becomes played for the first time.<br /><br />
  
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'''C''': Starting magical girl.  Highly awesome; this is the rank of Sailor Moon, Nanoha Takamachi, Utena Tenjou and Mai Tokiha.  Battle Fantasia isn't Dungeons and Dragons; characters don't start at some pitiful 'level one', they start with moondusting lovebeams, Raising Heart, the Power of Dios, and Kagutsuki.  There is no shame or weakness in starting at Rank C; it's just where you start.  180 points.  '''As of 09/26/15, Rank Cs are built on 261 points, per our [[Advancement]] Policy's second normalization of the Character Point Minimum.'''
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She is given 379 Character Points to start with, but elects to only spend 220 of them on a Master Rank C 'Nurse Angel' henshin mode.  The extra points remain banked, and that bank continues to grow as she earns more points through roleplay.  Over the next six months, her battles with her enemies, Dark Joker, are ongoing, and periodically she spends more Character Points up to the Master Rank C maximum of 264.  Eventually her plot reaches fever pitch, and there's a turning point when she loses someone she loves very much.<br /><br />
  
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'''C+''': Magical girl with some experience, but who still fights on a level not blatantly above the Cs.  Sailor Venus, Natsuki Kuga, Mikoto Minagi, Miki Kaoru.  200 points. '''''As of 09/26/15, this option has been superceded by the increase of the game's minimum Rank C CP to 261 points; C+ is thus no longer available in Chargen.  All magical girls are assumed to be starting with considerable experience; it is now normal for 'experienced' characters to be on the same level as those who started their career two OOC years ago.'''''
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At this point, she applies for Master Rank B, and her player spends all of her banked points (up to 369, the top of B) on this huge and dramatic increase in strength.  Nurse Angel massively powers up in memory of her dead friend, defeats her enemy, and joins the ranks of the more experienced magical girls with this special story, all her own, under her belt.}}
  
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'''B''': Magical girl both very experienced and unusually powerful, who are far enough into their career ''and'' personally extraordinary enough that they clearly fight in a league above the Cs.  Juri Arisugawa, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, Midori Sugiura, Homura Akemi. Besides fighting at a clearly superior level, everyone on this list is either a 'senpai' sort of character who provides guidance and mentorship to younger/newer characters, or borderline antagonists anyway (all but one are in fact both!).  The starting B list is heavily expanded by characters who begin as more clear-cut antagonists, and then change sides after the power of love and friendship has run its course; for more information, please see: [[Antagonist Starting Ranks|Antagonists]].  265 points.
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It's also useful to remember that a Rank B is not totally dominant over a Rank C; the actual difference, in combat, between a one-rank differential, is more narrow than one might think. A Rank C can regularly beat a Rank B with either of superior luck or superior tactics. A Rank C needs both, generally, to beat a Rank A.
  
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Finally, once the average gamewide protagonist Character Point total has surpassed 265 points, characters will be allowed to start at Master Rank B without severely stringent justification, as the game evolves to tell a different kind of story about magical girls further into their careers. (For more information on why that will happen eventually, please see: [[Advancement]])
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For more information, please see: [[Ranks]], [[Antagonist Starting Ranks]]
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For more information, please see: [[Ranks]]
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[[Category:Combat System]]
 
[[Category:Combat System]]

Latest revision as of 23:47, 26 September 2019

The average gamewide protagonist Character Point total has surpassed 265 points. So, characters are now allowed to start at Master Rank B without severely stringent justification, as the game has evolved to tell a different kind of story about magical girls further into their careers. (For more information on why this happened two and a half years into the MUSH, please see: Advancement)

For previously played Feature Characters, or unplayed Features who can be assumed to have been present but in the background all this time, Master Rank B is now easy to justify. And Original Characters who want to app as experienced and extraordinary veterans can now do so easily, as well. Master Rank B now spans an immense range of concepts, from Sailor Moon to Homura Akemi and everyone in between; the apprentices have begun to catch up to, and surpass, their mentors.

But what about players who want their characters (Feature or Original) to start at the very beginning of their careers?

Here's our favored option:

Although all characters now start with enough Character Points to be Master Rank B, they don't have to spend them all. We wholeheartedly recommend spending more like 220 CP on a character's combat mode, and starting at Master Rank C. Any initially unspent points do not go away, they're just banked until the player is ready to spend them, according to the pace of the character's on-camera growth. In the meantime, they can also increase their Character Point maximum just like anyone else. Finally, they can proceed to advance to Master Rank B at any time.

Doing so on camera allows this advancement to be a special event, just like how it was for older characters; defeating a major enemy, overcoming a major challenge, gaining a major power-up, is too much fun to simply skip outright. An out-of-character timeline of about six months allows for an accelerated 'first season' arc to play itself out. The Battle Fantasia plotstaff will prioritize GMing these events on request.

For example, Nurse Angel Ririka becomes played for the first time.

She is given 379 Character Points to start with, but elects to only spend 220 of them on a Master Rank C 'Nurse Angel' henshin mode. The extra points remain banked, and that bank continues to grow as she earns more points through roleplay. Over the next six months, her battles with her enemies, Dark Joker, are ongoing, and periodically she spends more Character Points up to the Master Rank C maximum of 264. Eventually her plot reaches fever pitch, and there's a turning point when she loses someone she loves very much.

At this point, she applies for Master Rank B, and her player spends all of her banked points (up to 369, the top of B) on this huge and dramatic increase in strength. Nurse Angel massively powers up in memory of her dead friend, defeats her enemy, and joins the ranks of the more experienced magical girls with this special story, all her own, under her belt.

It's also useful to remember that a Rank B is not totally dominant over a Rank C; the actual difference, in combat, between a one-rank differential, is more narrow than one might think. A Rank C can regularly beat a Rank B with either of superior luck or superior tactics. A Rank C needs both, generally, to beat a Rank A.

For more information, please see: Ranks, Antagonist Starting Ranks

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