Broken vs Workable

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UniOmni
Most rpg experts/stans know what the term "broken" means.
Its like when you have a character, and either through means of level up, or sidequest or whatever, gains an ability that pretty much breaks the game.

An example would be "wrench". From SD3, its an attack, that when it lands, it halves the overall stats of the boss.
This is far from the best example, but it should suffice. In essence, its an ability, or flaw that takes all real challenge from the game.

What characters can you think of may fall under the broken label?? And what qualifies them to that label, in your opinion??

I have 5 of the most obvious choices.

Silver Surfer - His PC has shown to be able to do pretty much anything he sets his mind to. The fact that he loses to anybody, Thanos especially, galls me greatly. He could possibly go back in time, and destroy Thanos at birth, and rid the universe of a great evil.

Superman - Speedblitz, Super genius, you know the deal. The fact that he can do so many things, but won't because the plot demands so, is a testament to how broken a character he is. Same reason why PC had to end. Broken characters all over the place.

Flash - Where do i begin?! He exists as a paradox.....Meaning, he can go back in time, to when he wasn't even born, yet would still be fine. Crazy!!!!
When i think about what he can do, and yet won't for plots sake, it is enought to make me wanna scream.

Thor - The fact that he has two moves that 75% of the time, solidify a win, and yet won't, screams of his need for repair. Time slow and Godblast. If he ever used them in conjunction together, him vs Superman would be Thor 10/10. He seriously needs fixing.

GL-...................WTF?! His ring can do any darn thing!!! I still to this day, don't know why John Stewart never went back in time to prevent the destruction of the planet that plagued him so. GL rings exist outside of time!! Why the heck don't they go back and right all the wrongs committed?! Broken nearly beyond repair....

Those are my five......If you disagree with their broken status, explain why LOGICALLY and put up your candidates.

Mindship
I'm not an RPGr, so I'm not familiar with game terminology. However, the candidates you've picked are, IMO, classics for PIS and CIS (perhaps Dr. Strange would be another).

When a character can pretty much do anything, and occasionally does display an ability which "breaks the game" but mostly displays lesser powers, this raises serious story-quality issues later on--or even prior to the game-breaking event. "How come So-n-so never did That before; or, Why doesn't he/she just do That again?" It's what happens when you have too-powerful a character; it is a real challenge to repeatedly and consistently write believable stories. Not that it can't be done, but more often than not PIS/CIS rears its head.

One explanation I've offered is that some powers are more difficult to deploy than others, requiring more time and/or concentration, making their deployment tactically unwise in the midst of a battle. But this can only go so far.

grey fox
Originally posted by UniOmni

GL-...................WTF?! His ring can do any darn thing!!! I still to this day, don't know why John Stewart never went back in time to prevent the destruction of the planet that plagued him so. GL rings exist outside of time!! Why the heck don't they go back and right all the wrongs committed?! Broken nearly beyond repair....


Time travel with a GL ring is incredibly difficult from what i hear. Hal was drained from just pausing time momentarily.

UniOmni
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