The GTB was always a tournament that allowed many different types of fighters to join, either they be swordsman or mages. Because of this, we allow a broad set of things in, as long as the player balances them well to keep them fair. But because players come in not knowing what standard we want, there will most likely always be at least one tweak or so, mostly for those who use powers. These standards will be be informed to the players, but it's very important that the judges know them, too, in order to know what type of characters the GTB expects.
Humanoid Non-Powers
These types of characters are normally down to earth. They contain a humanoid shape, which means two legs, two arms, a head, and a torso just like humans (or could already be human). They have no powers. They mostly concentrate on use of normal melee or ranged weaponry to do most of their fighting. The equipment they bring in isn't magical, but all technology based.
When it comes to balancing them, mostly making sure the weapon specs are realistic. If someone enters a very large sword without the character build/ muscle to back it up, then we let the player know and ask them to revise. When it comes to worn armor, this tournament only allows a small armor coverage over the body. Any equipment beyond just normal leather can only cover two parts of the body, for example, each part counts as its own: head, arms, legs, and torso. If a player enters a knight, he can only have plate armor that covers two out of the four of those listed (when we say arms, that means both arms, so it still counts as one "part"). Once more, we check to make sure it's realistic and isn't invulnerable.
Finally, the character's body itself must be balanced. This type of balance is mainly easy. As long as they aren't over 7'5 and 500 lbs in weight, they can enter. Vice versa, we don't accept "too small characters," either. If someone tries to enter with a fairy the size of a hand, then we disallow them.
Humanoid Powers
These are what makes the GTB so special. It is both its gift and its curse. Powers allow for very interesting battles and unique attacks, but at the same time, they can get out of control if they aren't checked at the door. The best way to simplify the process of reviewing a character like this is to think in terms of a point system. In fact, this can count toward non-powered characters, too. I am going to quote my friend, Arcturus Highwind:
Quote:
So, here's my loose guide. With it, you shouldn't go wrong. Consider your basic character has... 3 Points. These points can be whatever Good Things you want your character to have.
Is your character rich, and has some old money they can dig into? That's a point.
Does your character have Connections? That's a point.
Is your character supernaturally strong/fast/smart? That's a point.
Apprentice of a Martial Art? That's a point.
Master of a Martial Art? That's going to be the whole three.
Are you getting the picture? Points covering everything that's "unusual" about your character and would help.... Having a Kitchen Knife isn't a point. Having an Ancestrial Masterwork weapon with magical powers? That's a Point (Possibly two if its a really powerful weapon, as such things are).
If most characters in the setting (Not players, NPCs) for example have a car... then having a Car isn't a point. But if instead of a car, you had your own personal helicopter (Which most people wouldn't), then that's a point.
Now... Three Points? Well golly gee whiz, that doesn't sound like much. And no, it's not. It's really designed to create something like the Apprentice characters.
As you noticed I said being a "master" would basically be your whole wad there.
So how do you get more points? Say you want to be a Master Martial Artist, and have some legendary/special weapon...
Well, that's where Drawbacks come in.
Here's the thing. Don't be a Min/Maxer. If you're going to use Drawbacks to balance out a character, make sure they're ones that can come up in an adventure without your GM really reaching for it.
For example, saying you're an... Agoraphobic (Fear of being outside), is a significant drawback (But from a GM perspective, not a good one if the RP is mostly going to be indoors/dungeons, etc, or if they're planning on having an entirely wilderness RP, as it'll either "Not matter" or be Too Crippling to your character to survive and have fun).
A good drawback can be things like "Trouble with the Law". In your past you did something stupid. Robbed an important merchant or official perhaps, killed a beloved figure, etc. So thus you're on the wrong side of the law, hunted by marshalls, bounty hunters, etc wherever you go.
That's good. Its' something that will effect play. Gives you GM more options in game. But it's not something that will Dominate the RP (Your GM could always determine you were hiding well enough, or moving enough that you won't have to deal with the Lawmen and your rep for a while, for example, if he needed to get something else done). That would be a one point drawback.
Another good one might be something like Crippling Debt. Your father was a moron. He racked up a lot of bills. When he died, you got to assume his debt. yay... So now you have people hounding you for money. Perhaps a good reason to take up an dangerous, exciting career like Mercenary work.
Again, it's another flaw that can have a roleplaying boon. Gives your character motivation. And puts it apart from the random "Bad a**" mercenaries out there.
Now, a good rule to follow, so you won't end up with some EXTREME character, with something like 10 drawbacks, and 13 "points", is to set a limit to yourself. Say, something like No more than two drawbacks, for a total of 5 good points.
That simple. In fact, I'd recomend 5 as a good number to stop at. Anymore than that, and you can end up with an unbalanced, ungodly powerful character. Not to mention having too many drawbacks really makes your character stand out like a sore thumb.
Is your character rich, and has some old money they can dig into? That's a point.
Does your character have Connections? That's a point.
Is your character supernaturally strong/fast/smart? That's a point.
Apprentice of a Martial Art? That's a point.
Master of a Martial Art? That's going to be the whole three.
Are you getting the picture? Points covering everything that's "unusual" about your character and would help.... Having a Kitchen Knife isn't a point. Having an Ancestrial Masterwork weapon with magical powers? That's a Point (Possibly two if its a really powerful weapon, as such things are).
If most characters in the setting (Not players, NPCs) for example have a car... then having a Car isn't a point. But if instead of a car, you had your own personal helicopter (Which most people wouldn't), then that's a point.
Now... Three Points? Well golly gee whiz, that doesn't sound like much. And no, it's not. It's really designed to create something like the Apprentice characters.
As you noticed I said being a "master" would basically be your whole wad there.
So how do you get more points? Say you want to be a Master Martial Artist, and have some legendary/special weapon...
Well, that's where Drawbacks come in.
Here's the thing. Don't be a Min/Maxer. If you're going to use Drawbacks to balance out a character, make sure they're ones that can come up in an adventure without your GM really reaching for it.
For example, saying you're an... Agoraphobic (Fear of being outside), is a significant drawback (But from a GM perspective, not a good one if the RP is mostly going to be indoors/dungeons, etc, or if they're planning on having an entirely wilderness RP, as it'll either "Not matter" or be Too Crippling to your character to survive and have fun).
A good drawback can be things like "Trouble with the Law". In your past you did something stupid. Robbed an important merchant or official perhaps, killed a beloved figure, etc. So thus you're on the wrong side of the law, hunted by marshalls, bounty hunters, etc wherever you go.
That's good. Its' something that will effect play. Gives you GM more options in game. But it's not something that will Dominate the RP (Your GM could always determine you were hiding well enough, or moving enough that you won't have to deal with the Lawmen and your rep for a while, for example, if he needed to get something else done). That would be a one point drawback.
Another good one might be something like Crippling Debt. Your father was a moron. He racked up a lot of bills. When he died, you got to assume his debt. yay... So now you have people hounding you for money. Perhaps a good reason to take up an dangerous, exciting career like Mercenary work.
Again, it's another flaw that can have a roleplaying boon. Gives your character motivation. And puts it apart from the random "Bad a**" mercenaries out there.
Now, a good rule to follow, so you won't end up with some EXTREME character, with something like 10 drawbacks, and 13 "points", is to set a limit to yourself. Say, something like No more than two drawbacks, for a total of 5 good points.
That simple. In fact, I'd recomend 5 as a good number to stop at. Anymore than that, and you can end up with an unbalanced, ungodly powerful character. Not to mention having too many drawbacks really makes your character stand out like a sore thumb.
In fact, I recommend for those who will have trouble reviewing profiles go here to get a good read of what makes a balanced character. Consider it a guideline and just put into perspective that this is a fighting tournament that allows a little bit more in than his view on a balanced environment.
Character Creation Thread
So what kind of characters are the standard here?
In the end, we balance on an average of what the usual fighter will be coming into the GTB. The GTB has fights that take place in an arena with a size between forty feet diameters to twenty. Most of the time, we try to keep it small enough to keep the fight compact and avoid kiting strategies. Kiting strategies are still there. They just take more innovation on a fighter part in utilizing that, normally by some kind of space control instead, much like outboxers do in boxing. The average fighter is normally a melee-orientated fighter with some kind of power at his disposal, whether weapon based or by calling on some innnate power within them. Think Street Fighter. Ryu in this game is a karate-based martial artist, but can use his inner hodou (spirit energy) to fire projectiles made of the energy or perform higher feats of physical prowess by pumping it through his body, such as a vertical rising uppercut. The more powerful than this that a character goes, the stricter the review will be on them to make sure they keep everything close to this standard.
That brings me to...
Versatility vs. Specialization
I cannot explain how many times characters have entered with mastery over all the elements or being able to use all martial arts and weapons. Or a character with both of those traits at once. That is the hallmark of a badly balanced character, at least for GTB. A character that focuses on a broad set of unrelated things will be weaker in each, whereas a character that focuses on a specific set of capabilities will have more power at their hands.
When it comes to elements, this is easy. Your character can choose to dabble in multiple powers of the elements, or choose one to focus on their attention on. This way, someone who is a user of fire can have access to stronger tier fire powers, whereas someone who wants to use fire and water won't be able to reach that power, but will have the increased versatility to react to more situations readily.
When thinking about powers, you must also consider the character's body and other significant capabilities. What happens if someone is a bodybuilder, who can summon fire, and knows kung fu? Then they are already on the grounds for being unbalanced. One of those traits, if not two, need to be reduced in potency. They character's build, the character's power, or the character's technical martial art skill. Some sort of balance needs to happen from that or else he'll be able to fight against both physical and magical opponents a lot easier than others who have to take some drawbacks to make their character realistic and fair. There is nothing wrong with a technically skilled muscled fighter who has access to magic of some form, but his powers should only be there to supplement his melee capabilities, not overshadow them.
In Conclusion
When looking at a profile, in general, pretend like you have access to this character and think up various scenarios with using them in a normal fight. Take note of what you probably could do that would be heavily in your favor without any sort of consequence against the average melee, powered fighter.
