Writing Prompt Power System suggestion

DunnoGoodUserName

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So we all know the litrpg level up system, cultivation realms system etc right? So instead of having to level up to get stronger or pruify their qi/ki, what about getting stronger by defeating their fears/addiction etc? We could start off small like getting used to 1 specific insect then getting rid of the phobia of 1 specific insect then getting rid of fear of insects all together, or getting a little used hights etc? I mean you could use the cultivation realms/level up but getting a breakthough to the next realm/tier is to get rid of a heart demon/phobia
 

DonutEatingDoggo

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Question is what kind of world suits that kind of system? I would imagine like a modern/fantasy/paranormal world with secret organizations that deals with dark trades and exorcism related events with most fights being fought in an alternate spiritual world and maybe with the fights even manifesting in the real world if the dark magic user is strong enough. Also although levelling by solving your fears or phobias is good but you know not everyone has much phobias so I would rather opt the dark magic users to get their power from the fear generated by others by haunting them in their spiritual world while the light magic users would gain fear by solving the fear of others. Accumulated fear would then reach threshold for breakthrough?
 

DunnoGoodUserName

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it seems like to me, it would not be practical.what you are saying is, the weakest kid who is scared of everything has the potential to be the best, while the strongest kid who doesnt have phobia of ANYTHING, will be weakest.
If they don't have any phobia then they'll breeze through the levels/realms, though I'd imagine being fearless is the start, and the next step is to let the characters start forming their own beliefs, like what is their interpretations on good and evil?
Question is what kind of world suits that kind of system? I would imagine like a modern/fantasy/paranormal world with secret organizations that deals with dark trades and exorcism related events with most fights being fought in an alternate spiritual world and maybe with the fights even manifesting in the real world if the dark magic user is strong enough. Also although levelling by solving your fears or phobias is good but you know not everyone has much phobias so I would rather opt the dark magic users to get their power from the fear generated by others by haunting them in their spiritual world while the light magic users would gain fear by solving the fear of others. Accumulated fear would then reach threshold for breakthrough?
I just had this thought and wanted to write this down fast or I'll forget it, and I'd just fuse the phobias thing into heart demons for cultivation, and once the cultivator is strong enough they start forming their beliefs(or should I call it dao?) and you could start confict because of beliefs between sects.

Sorry for the rush reply, I gotta go to school in a few minutes. I'll prob come back here in a few hours*(didn't mean to type tmrw)
 
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b51015

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Look no further than “Hunter x Hunter”.
Here’s a edited copy of a comment I wrote for a fanfic on “Webnovel” and while it’s not perfect I believe nen is a good baseline for a power that’s tied to your state of mind (note: the comment explores system/stats nen and is not adjusted for this post but should at least give you a picture of what I mean) :

A System/Stats Nen

Would still have to be nen and follow the rules, including some impetus for why he got such a nen ability in the first place.
Like “A desire to measure everything in numbers and the necessary understanding of the basic calculations required for the system”

(quoted from wiki: Biscuit Krueger became capable of altering her appearance without actively training for it, instead wishing for her body to change for years, which caused the changes to manifest little by little.)


stats
  1. his attributes when he’s enhancing himself with nen (includes anything he can enhance... strength, sight, regeneration, constitution and maybe mind. Plus more)
  2. his proficiency with the 6 categories of nen

NOT his normal body, that’s trained normally (because that would be way too OP)


System
A system would obviously not have quests either, though he can be rewarded for following his own nature or wishes to a small extent, but not any outside rewards.
Exp. would be literally experience(learned wisdom) or, obviously, come from nen/blood sucking, with increasingly hard level quotas (exp. per. Level).
No idea what levels will do though? adding stats/attributes isn’t logical unless it’s levels in that specific area (levels in enhancing for example), just increasing your nen reserve sounds plain because the increase can’t be too big.


Skills
“Skills” will just make it easier to record/remember his abilities but he can still forget (or use skill-slots to limit the currently active ones) or skills can be something similar to Chrollos ability. Just make sure you nerf them if he can use them all at once, like having to kill his victims AND/OR weakening the technique or reducing it down to its main component (“the bombers” power becomes just a “time bomb” or “little flower” becomes just an explosion without protection for the user) AND/OR use skill-slots with big abilities taking multiple slots.


MY OPINIONS :

  • “Skill stealing” works best on its own or maybe with stats option(1).

  • Levels works nicely with stats option(1). Note: enhancing only, he’s on his own for the other categories.

  • Stats option(1). does the trick with a few trainable attributes (Transmuter—>lighting nen & stretchy nen = shockingly stretchy nen), (Conjurer—>nen sword & haiku effect = sword inscribed with ???) Etc...

  • “Skill memory” with skill-slots and no forgetting is also a perfectly independent power, especially if the conditions for moving “skills” to & from slots is thought out and interesting.

  • Stats option(2). (My Favourite) works best alone but it doesn’t matter if it’s attribute/stat points or levels. The “specialist” category indicates his understanding and proficiency in combining the other 5 categories = creating limitations and advantages. (“skill memory” works too, but no “skill stealing” without a limited “skill” for the specific task. Best without “skills” in my opinion).
 

Jemini

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Unfortunately, there are only 3 primary power systems, and any other power system created will be in some way based on one of those 3. Those are liteRPG, Cultivation, and Arbitrary.

I personally have developed a world with a power system based on cultivation, but instead of sitting, meditating, and purifying ki, power is gained by entering a battle trance and they can only gain power while in this trance. In other words, they have to engage in actual combat in order to gain power. The battle trance is also deepened by need, and by need I mean a gap in power between the two fighters. So, if you are taking on a threat far greater than your own power, the rate at which you gain power is much faster.
 

YuriDoggo

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Unfortunately, there are only 3 primary power systems, and any other power system created will be in some way based on one of those 3. Those are liteRPG, Cultivation, and Arbitrary.

I personally have developed a world with a power system based on cultivation, but instead of sitting, meditating, and purifying ki, power is gained by entering a battle trance and they can only gain power while in this trance. In other words, they have to engage in actual combat in order to gain power. The battle trance is also deepened by need, and by need I mean a gap in power between the two fighters. So, if you are taking on a threat far greater than your own power, the rate at which you gain power is much faster.

Bold claim without having defined those three. Not to mention Arbitrary is so damn arbitrary you can claim to fit everything underneath it.
 

Kyrian_Clawraithe

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@ jemini
What do you mean by arbitrary?
Do you mean that the author arbitrarily decides what the power of the characters are, or do you mean that the author arbitrarily decides on the system rules and dynamics?

Because that's what Cultivation and the game system were originally, they just have gained popularity. There are no limits on what a power system can be, and they don't have to fit into those 3. It'll just be a little more difficult for you top come up with another.
 
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Kyrian_Clawraithe

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My personal favorite and the one that I am currently working on in the novel I'm trying to write is where there is a base energy that doesn't do much on its own. You can't actively use it to affect the world, but you can improve your capabilities with it.

You do this by essentially making a "Magic Circuit" that can transform the energy into other more usable types of energy or to enhance your body. You start out with a spark of energy and have to build a "generator" to make more or a "transformer" to harness the energy around you, and then build "parts" to use that energy.

These parts can be anything, from circuitry that runs the energy through your muscles to make them more powerful to a energy converter that shapes the energy into the energy that we e usually think of as magic.

One of the dangers is that the energy wants to be something else. If you collect or generate to much it will start to mutate and forcibly build new parts into the system or overload your existing parts capabilities and damage/mutate them. Because this can directly impact your body or your surroundings this can easily kill you, and then the rest of your energy will erupt out of you.
 
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