Welcome to Gaia! ::

We exist in a world who's boundaries and limitations are defined soley by the limits of ones imagination. As enjoyable and as open a concept as this it, it leaves an open window for confict and disagreement especially where combat is concerned. To fulfill this need a system has been created, called the Trifecta Balance System. It allows a sort of steady balance to be placed on characters that are godly, n00bish, unfair, overpowered, or otherwise unacceptable. Its been used by many of the stadium folk, and maybe be useful to you too!

The system is very simple, it takes all the basic stats of a character and categorizes them into 3 basic stats. For a balanced character your character should have two of these stats raised and one lowered. Now when I say raised I mean just above normal, and in extreme circumstances, high above normal. Now what is normal? Normal is what an average human has. Normality is what the average joe pulled in off the street would do. How would he take this hit? How much damage would his punch do, how fast is he?

At first glance this may seem unfair, what if your character is not human? In creating any system of balance you require a level plane. In order to prevent any arguments or debates you need something solid as a standard, which cannot truly be debated. The human race fits perfectly as that standard. We are all human, we all know what each of us is capable of. While there are some extremes, the field remains mostly level. Transversely, anyone can debate what the strength, speed, and durability of a dragon is cannot be argued, as we lack any dragons to compare ourselves too. Secondly, whether or not your character is human, the majority of the planet he or she will exist on IC, (In Character) is. He or she will be expected to be able to exist a normal human civilization without inciting constant attacks or having law enforcement constantly following them as they toss them aside like flea's. If your character is able to fling people through walls like ants through tissue paper, or survive having a mountain dropped on his skull, would such a destruction character really be able to interact fairly with other, normal, characters? Would he be able to exist the real world? No. But we will return to that later.

Statistics
The three base stats of the Trifecta Balance System are as follows.

Attack - The power and damage of his or her attacks when used against an ordinary human. Be it physical, such as droppinng a boulder on their skull or magical, as in the cast of a firey explosive spell. Attack generally encompasses your character's ability to do damage either to others, or their surroundings. A character with high attack can usually, remove your average limb with relative ease if given the proper opportunity. Or can perhaps wield enough brute strength to flip a car onto its side. Transversely, a character with low attack, likely has problems leaving more than a nasty bruise or a placing a cut in anything more than flesh.

Defense - This is how much damage your character can take before being killed or knocked unconcious, in Final Fantasy or DnD this might be HP, and Con. If he or she takes a sword slash and will it slice his or her arm off, or just leave a cut. How brutal or serious must an injury be to slow him or her? How many attack blasts will it take to bring him or her to their knee's? This stats includes all physical, mental, magical defenses, and resistances. A character with low defense can usually be felled with a single well placed shot. Transversely, a character with high defense may walk away from a head on collision with little more than a few scratches.

Speed - This is how fast your character attacks, how fast it moves, it's ability to have create last minute defenses, its agility and its flexibility. High Speed characters can dodge attacks from several enemies while launching effective attacks in return. Low Speed characters have trouble dodging quicker than normal punches, swords, knifes, spells or anything of the sort.

Combination
While the system and its basic design is simple, this in particular is the longest step. It requires alot of thinking, planning and at times reworking of the original concept. First select the organization of your statistics.

Two High - One Low
One Very High - Two Low
All Average

Once you've selected your organization you can begin filling in the details. First comes your attack stat, pick and rate the attacks on what they would do to a completely normal human. The power of the attack, or the difficulty one would have defending it will help you decide how to balance the attack itself. Attacks that bypass defenses almost always take more time to prepare, or do far less damage. Attacks can be balanced either by increasing the time it takes to prepare the attack, or increasing the amount of damage or expenditure it takes from its user. If an attack breaks bones, but is delivered by means of relatively slow swing or toss of a projectile a single turn of preparation may be suitable. Similiarly if an attack would mearly leave a hefty bruise, it can be performed almost instantaneously. If an attack can do serious, or crippling damage it may do a proportional amount of damage to the user, perhaps breaking a limb. At no point should your attack perform any sort of instantaneous kill. And of course these guidelines really only apply to supernatural attacks or enhancements. No turns of preparation or damage need be paid for a character to grab a dagger and attempt to slice a throat.

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Next is Defense, unlike Speed and Attack, Defense is a mostly passive statistic. Your character is "so" durable. Be sure that when deciding and designing your character you do not make him so tough he cannot be harmed. Defense does not count how much the damage effects you as long as you are able to take the damage. If your character take a sword slash through the gut and continue fighting unphased they are balanced simply due to the fact they were able to be slashed. If you severe someones spine, does it really matter whether or not they scream in pain, as long as they're paralyzed? If you remove a limb, and the character does not writhe in agony, does that really matter as much as the fact that the arm is truly removed giving you an advantage? The simple answer is no.

Defense does however take into consideration abilites and or equipment that boost ones defensive power or allow them to heal during combat. While being flesh and blood if your character almost constantly wears impenetrable armor, they are unbalanced. While being frail, if your character can easily place up a shield deflecting all techniques, spells, or weapons that strike it, they are unbalanced. If a character takes every drop of damage but simply heals it back right after they are unbalanced. If your character is able to "sense", "see" or otherwise percieve incoming attacks in order to mount constant last minute defenses, they are unbalanced.

A balanced defense should have at the very least one opening that can be taken advantage of a totally normal human. The ratio of weaknesses should be equivalent to how powerful ones defense is. Remember, even an impentrable kite shield, leaves your legs, and back open to any assault. And you as the RPer ar responsible for making the weakness known. Defense may be the most passive, but it is also the easiest to abuse. At no point should your character be immune to all physical or magical damage, or be able to completely regenerate their form. Clearly this does not apply to momentary defensive boosts. If your character hides behind a slate of concrete and is able to survive a magical attack they do not have extreme defense.

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Last is Speed, the quickest your character should ever be able to move at any time, is enough to temporarily blur their form. Vanishing from one place and just "appearing" in another is unbalanced, and wrong. This also includes traveling by means of portals or magical gateways of any sort from one location to another more than a few steps away, during battle. Also, make sure that your speed does not become and excuse to dodge everything sent after you. Even if you can dodge an attack in fairness it is good to take a hit here and there in the name of fairness and reality. Stay away from measurements like "nanoseconds" or "above the speed of sound", the type of speeds that fracture the laws of reality. Just because you are fast, does not mean that you can come to a dead stop and resist inertia. Just because you can dodge, does not mean you can see 360 degrees around yourself.

As a rule of thumb, despite how fast, agile, or dexterous your character is, he or she should be able to be struck by a completely normal human in some way without any magical enhancement.
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Races
Gaia is home to thousands of species and hybrids. Due to thousands of years of history or design a specie or race may be gifted with advancements, enhancements, or defenses that may seem throw off the Trifecta. When creating a non-human character simpy remember one rule of thumb, the system exists to allow everyone to exist in a fair roleplay environement. While most high stats on a character, be it high speed or defense, come from training or magically effects, a race, or racial bonus is simply included as a permanent "high" or "low" stat boost to a character. At no time should any race allow anyone to access any new statistic organization or tier.

Transformations
Some people have presented transformations as the breach in the the stats. This isnt so. A transformation is an excellent opportunity to switch stats, for example to take a character that has high attack and high speed, and switch it to one with high defense and high attack. Or high speed and high defense. Even in an ultimate form, balance is necessary, just because you've taken 4 turns to become several feet larger and more showy doesnt give you permission to god mod all over your opponent.


Originality
Just as there are general positive things to keep in mind when developing a character, there also negative abilities, stereotypes and cleche's to avoid in order to make your character a productive member of the RP community. Always remember to be original, unique, and creative. Characters that are appreciated and last for years are not formed in 15 minutes of thought, or on drive home. Concepts can be birthed in seconds, but actual characters take real time, planning, and forethought.

Powers, abilities, skills, and even histories are all meant as flavor for our characters not basis. We RP through skill, we RP fight through skill, no ability, technique, equipment, or piece ones bio should ever replace skill or be an excuse for a lack of it.

The Three N00b Paths
Below are three powers and styles that will immediately mark any character or player as a n00b.

1.Teleportation - Vanishing from one place and just "appearing" in another that is farther away that a few steps, for any reason what so ever is teleporting. It does not matter what method is taken or what name you place it on. Instant transmission, rifting, wind walking, shadow porting, shadow walking, shadow dancing, puddle hopping, sifting, zipping, displacing, portal hopping, dimension dispositioning, or even super fast running, are all teleportaton.

2.Regeneration - The ability to heal or recover from any attack, or refresh all the wounds one has taken immediately. Advanced healing of any sort during battle is wrong despite its cause or name. Being able to completely refresh one self, via any outside means is acceptable after a single match, or event.

3. Unbreakable Shields/Invincibility - This counts shields or force fields, barriers, magic, or anything that can take any attack and just ignore it. An "invincible shield" in an excuse to negate an attack you cant think of a defense for, when by all rights if you cant think of a defense, you should take the hit. Of course this also counts having an invincible character, but, we already discussed that. Any magical shield that can only be negated by some extremely powerful attack, or by some extremely rare weapon is wrong.

4. Immortality - Everyone does, except those that refuse to. The character that for any reason is unable to simply pass on, allowing their everlasting life to make up for their lack of skill at avoiding a potentially fatal situation.


Player Proficiency
When selecting the traits and abilities that make your character be sure to select traits and abilities that you yourself can honestly play or relate. Without that seed of experience the character will seem flat, and unrealistic, and will suffer in any social or combat RP's. Saying that your character has training will not make a bad move that you have made, any better. Your back history will not fight for your, or make your fighting any better. Its best not to give your character any excellence in any skills that you do not yourself have. The most common of these traits are listed below.

Age - As a child the majority of us saw only our toys and games. As we grew older, life presented us with challenges, experiences, and emotions we could never have understood or explained as a child. No toddler will ever understand what it truly means to fall in love, or to drive for the first time. Similary, at our normal age, can anyone truly understand what it means to be thousands on thousands of years old? Can we truly express the emotions and boundless experiences of an ancient?

Weaponry - While weapons such as scythes, katana's, and the like are visually very appealing if you yourself as a player cannot wield them, or do not at least have a base understand of how the weapon is meant to be wielded, can you actually describe your character with "A lifetime of training", wielding said weapon? Can you honestly attack your opponent with the finesse, technique and grace that the training you've prescribed requires?

Martial Skill - Growing up in a military school being trained by the best of the best will make your character one of the best. But are you one of the best?


Cleche
Many of us take our character's skills, abilities and even stories from inspiration we've recieved from our fantasy and fiction. Because of that we very often have cleche'd stories that stick to entirely too many characters. As an RPer you should strive to create something new and unique, while it takes more effort it is entirely possible. Here are a few things to avoid.

The Legend - The character that has existed for millenia, usually as a god or "legendary" being and has only recently joined mortal society.

The Saiyan - The character that exists as the only and last of a race of beings that are "unique" and exceedingly powerful for some unknown reason.

The Chosen - The character who is born under a magical sign when the stars aligned and has had fate or destiny guide their every step making them exceedingly skilled or powerful, and giving them access to several unbalancing pieces of equipment that belong only to that chosen.

The Reincarnation - The character who is born only to realize they are the reincarnation of another ancient hero or god, thusly giving them a free excuse to develop powers or ability without any roleplay, training or work, and a second lifetime to refine their "greatness".

The Avatar - The character that exists as the physical body of a god, a character, or even a notion from mythology. This character worst that any of the others smacks of unoriginality, and uses their "past" as an excuse to be skilled now.

The Split - The character that has somehow divided into good and evil sides. Be that evil side a voice in their mind, an alternate personality, a seperate yet exactly opposite entity, or otherwise.

Wise Words

-By TheMightyJello



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themightyjello

And as I part for the night, I leave you with the top three countdown of reasons as to why n00bs suck:

Number Three: By continuing to exist, they continue to prove Charles Darwin wrong.

Number Two: Every new 'sentence' that comes out of them replaces the last one at the top of the charts for stupid things people have said.

And the number one reason why n00bs suck:

Because Jesus doesn't love you.