I'm not sure what to think of it. How will this influence the story?
Oh, I got that wrong. The chart above just serves as my guide to determine abilities for more lower-tier characters and on how to make my emperors more powerful.
- Language involves communication (Verbal-Linguistic), but I'm not sure what kind of abilities would suit it. I thought of Formulaic Magic involving spell casting, but other people I have consulted thought that abilities involving stealth and creative use of communication gadgets would better suit it.
- Social Science involves both Intrapersonal and Interpersonal intelligences. I thought of Psychic Powers and Shapeshifting.
- Math and Physics are almost inseparable, and it has the potential to yield the most powerful abilities.
- Other Natural Sciences such as Earth Science, Biology, and Chemistry may give Elemental Powers, Green Thumb, and Beastmaster abilities
- Physical Education obviously gives physical attributes.
- Health Studies are part of the Natural Sciences, but it may instead give healing and cutting abilities.
- Music Studies would most likely involve Status Buff and Standard Status Effects. This could be lumped with Social Science.
From this, I would deduce that:
- Language ~ Speed
- Social Science ~ Dexterity
- Mathematics ~ Defense
- Natural Science ~ Special
- Gym Class ~ Power
edited 13th Sep '12 4:40:39 AM by judasmartel
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Hmmm... it could actually work.
Which means Chang Shen would might as well be an Accelerator clone. Man, this sucks.
Kinda hard not to make him an Accelerator clone power-wise, given how... extensive Accelerator's ability is.
So, in short, my emperors suck. Holy shit.
Power-wise, not really. I really like Number Two and the rest are decent if somewhat typical. Character-wise, well that depends on the writing itself.
This should do it:
- Language - Long Range
- Social Science - Special Attribute
- Mathematics - Defensive Power
- Natural Science - Offensive Power
- Physical Education - Close Range
Therefore, my emperors would have:
- Number One: Math + Natural Science = Vector Field (yeah, really hard not to do this, given my revamped subject chart)
- Number Two: Language + Social Science = Spelling Field
- Number Three: (Pure) Natural Science = Weather Field
- Number Four: Math + Langauage = Gear Field (!)
- Number Five: Social Science + Language = Mental Field
- Number Six: (Pure) Social Science = Demon Field
- Number Seven: (Pure) Physical Education = Power Field
Still not sure about Math and NatSci. But obviously, one student who specializes in both becomes a truly formidable opponent.
edited 13th Sep '12 6:28:59 PM by judasmartel
You should get crazy with the names of the abilities. Just doesn't feel like a shonen without a cool-sounding word salad for attack names. 
Well, I suck at naming attacks.
Well, having them all be some type of Field is kinda dull. Just think of stuff like "Gearhead", "Wordsmith", "Geomancer", "Jurisdiction", "Repentance"...
Okay, so I'm back here again after a long time. I was really having trouble with the finer details of the plot, although I can see the general direction of my story, so I decided to do something else for the time being.
So One Piece gave me another idea: separate the subject masteries into different power categories that differ in function, selection range, and the actual powers of the abilities chosen.
One Piece had the Devil Fruits separated into 3 different types: Logia (allows user to be made of, control, and become a certain element), Paramecia (allows access to the widest range of abilities), and Zoan (can only transform into a different being, but serves as physical strength multipliers).
I do agree that the stakes are higher in OP because DFs rob the user of the ability to swim, in a world of seafaring pirates and marines. So I am currently thinking of something that could raise the stakes of my Superpower Lottery. At the moment, the abilities in my story are fueled by the users' test scores. You can't use your powers if you run out of test points, so you're just as powerless as any other human being.
Anyways, back to the power classifications, I decided that the Accel World color wheel was too restrictive, so I'm going to try the OP model and see how it goes.
- Type MP (Math and Physics) - The grand prize winners of the Superpower Lottery are those who excel in Math and Physics. As in Real Life, MP-types are rare, but there's no doubt that they have the most powerful abilities in the story. I classify the Emperor Chang Shen as a Type MP, due to his vector manipulation ability (yeah, it does remind us of a certain Accelerator, but I can assure you that this guy I have here is an honorable chap at best).
- Type NS (Natural Sciences) - The second best prize of the Superpower Lottery, which is reserved for those who excel in the natural sciences (Geology, Biology, Chemistry, etc.). Emperor Ayame and Edward are examples of NS-Type power users.
- Type SS (Social Sciences) - One of the three most common types of powers. They are the "Paramecia Devil Fruits" of the setting, due to the wide range of abilities it offers, since the Social Sciences covers the most aspects of Real Life (psychology, politics, economics, music and the arts, etc.). Indira, Guinevere, and Mizuki are examples of SS-type power users.
- Type VL (Verbal-Linguistic) - The second of the three most common power types, reserved for those who excel in written and oral language. It has a smaller range of abilities than SS but offers just about the same abilities it gives. The main indicator of a VL ability is that oral or written language is required to activate it, making it less practical than SS unless the power user improvises. Emperor William Robertson is an example of a VL power user. Emperor Hee-Shin Kang's ability to summon machines through programming codes resemble a VL ability, but is actually an MP ability since it deals with binary numbers.
- Type PF (Physical Fitness) - The last of the most common power types. PF-types gain increased physical strength as well as different forms of combat, usually based on their daily physical activity, making it best suitable for DanceBattlers and BareFistedMonks. Emperor Manny Barias is an example of a PF-type power user.
I like this classification system more, it fits the setting.
Any suggestions for initial opponents? They should appear during Pedro's Badass Normal phase. I plan to include Mizuki and Edward in the list, and then reveal Pedro's Anti-Magic powers just before his first battle with Chang Shen.
- Pedro vs. Mizuki would be brought about by a misunderstanding. She thought Pedro was an assassin, so she attacked him.
- During the Emperors' Cup (only the seven Emperors can fight in this Tournament Arc), Ayame suffered a Game-Breaking Injury after a difficult battle with William Robertson, so she had to sit out and possibly forfeit the championship match in favor of Chang Shen.
- So Pedro offers to fight Shen in her place, much to Class 3's concern. Ayame agrees to it, anyway, since he's so determined to avoid the forfeit. Edward would then try to stop him from doing a suicide mission, but he eventually Determinator'd his way through him. Nonetheless, I still want to invoke a Touma vs Accelerator vibe in this battle between Pedro and Chang.
edited 16th Dec '12 3:28:44 PM by judasmartel
Ideas for opponents:
- Your typical arrogant I-have-high-grades snob
- Romantic rivals for Ayame, or people who get pissed that Pedro's close to her.
- Lazy genius who hates hardworking people because "it's a waste of time"
- A battle maniac (always an easy option!)
But what would be their respective abilities? I'm thinking of an elemental-themed Girl Posse, with either a Fire or Lightning user as the Alpha Bitch leader. Kinda like the Logia to Ayame's Paramecia.
Battle maniac is good, I could give him an ability which suits Confusion Fu tactics.
edited 16th Dec '12 11:28:07 PM by judasmartel
Ah, I thought you were asking for personalities and stuff. Well... you already have the classifications. Think up abilities based on those.
edited 17th Dec '12 1:17:18 AM by fillerdude
- I'm having problems designating the story's first major villain (Chang doesn't count). As mentioned earlier, it's actually a bad idea to pit an Anti-Magic user against a mainly physical fighter, but thing is, my MC is a pretty good street fighter himself.
- He grew up fighting thugs in the streets of Tondo, one of the most dangerous in the Philippines. Prior to his arrival at Fields Medal Academy (name of the school), he built a reputation for becoming the youngest gang leader at the age of 14 since Asiong Salonga in the 1950's. He was 16 when he landed at FMA.
- His gang sure does have quite the reputation, but they're still no match for some of the badder gangs in Philippine history such as the OXO or Sigue-Sigue because they're still a bunch of kids compared to these guys.
- I'm inclined to make his first opponent at FMA a power user with a mid-tier ability but weak physical combat skills. Then he would have to fight two PF-type power users prior to the Elemental Girl Posse arc.
- I still can't decide of a reason why would the Elemental Girl Posse would bully someone like Ayame without making her look stupid. Maybe I should make somebody else the victim instead of Ayame. Any ideas?
- So I just decided to place Pedro's superpower reveal in his battle against a lightning user.
Sound like good ideas?
edited 26th Dec '12 1:14:00 AM by judasmartel
Uhhh, why a lightning user specifically?
Dunno, maybe I'm so fixated at KamiKoto?
So my opponent line-up so far is as follows:
- Arrogant mid-tier power user with poor combat skills
- Female swordsman who uses Flash Step (Ayame's female bodyguard)
- The elemental Girl Posse who really hate a mid-to-high-tier power user.
- Alchemist-type power user (he would stop the MC from basically committing suicide by fighting an Accelerator clone)
- Chang Shen (MC acts as Ayame's replacement)
I'm having difficulty writing the elemental Girl Posse arc without making bullying victim too stupid. Maybe I should replace her with a slightly lower-tier power user, instead? Or maybe I should add a blackmail or hostage situation.
What do you think?
edited 26th Dec '12 1:33:06 AM by judasmartel
I'm assuming there are not-shown random fights peppered throughout.
Gangs... gangs are good. You can play up the book dumb angle with that.
Opponent line-up looks good so far. You might want to put a recurring enemy there, maybe a potential rival.
It is quite difficult to see why someone like Ayame would let herself get bullied. No, I don't think that approach would work. Someone else, someone weaker would be better suited as the victim...
My idea is that there's a guy who gets bullied by various bad people so he has to lend them stuff and then the guy turns it around by using those lent stuff as blackmail material, forming his personal "group" which maybe lets him become a credible threat in the fights or something.
Hmm... Interesting. That kinda builds up into something like Robert Haydn or Seiji Noumi aka Dusk Taker. But that kinda turns it into a Magnificent Bastard.
I want the bullying victim to be a power user with maybe a Difficult, but Awesome power (I'm thinking Green Thumb since I'm very much inclined to make the Alpha Bitch leader of the Elemental Girl Posse a Fire user). However, she hates it at first because she thinks it's not powerful enough, and she even wishes she could get a more Awesome Yet Practical power.
The start of her arc revolves around Pedro admiring her powers, but that's because he doesn't even know what his power is. Then he protects her from her bullies, even if he knows he probably doesn't stand a chance against them, seeing that they are high-ranked students with incredibly strong Elemental Powers.
This is the arc where I would reveal the MC's Anti-Magic powers. Then, I could see Ayame also helping them out, showing the Girl Posse who is the strongest female power user in their year. I would also like to give the victim an awesome moment of her own once she finally accepts her powers.
edited 26th Dec '12 10:38:48 AM by judasmartel
Ah, that sounds good. Green Thumb is an underused power IMO.
I'm back.
After seeing Black Star vs Mifune battles, I suddenly thought of writing a rivalry between two different characters in my story where the hero character eventually sees the villain character as an obstacle s/he must surpass. These are what I cam up with:
- Ayame (#3, Elemental Mage) and/or Mizuki (Samurai) vs William (#2, English fencer)
- Edward vs Hee-jin (#4) - Alchemy vs Technology
- Pedro (Hero) vs Manny (#7) - Both are more physical fighters than power users, so this could work if I make Manny the superior fighter even without his strength augmentation powers. Much more so since Manny's powers aren't something that Pedro can cancel with Anti-Magic.
Although, I'm more inclined to pit a hero character against an Emperor to make this more effective, but among them only William is a swordsman, and he isn't even a Samurai.
Maybe Pedro vs Manny is more effective?
What do you think?
edited 20th Jun '13 2:47:51 AM by judasmartel
I'm back.
One of my classmates suggested that I make something like a Color Wheel which determines what kind of ability would each of my characters have, similar to the one in Accel World. From research, I deduced that maybe I should use the seven intelligences as basis, so my "color wheel" would look like this:
So, what do you think?