Looking for opinions not necessarily advice in Sci-Fi/Fantasy...

[FeralSmile]

Thanks for calling me out. From Wikipedia, Bes' original form was a cat. I didn't go much further than that. My feeling is that gods will present to different worshipers as they need them to present, so one group may need Bast to be a protector and another Sekhmet a warrior. Still the same entity. Kind of like Athena being the goddess of both wisdom and war.

I get that. Bes looked kinda catlike in some early depictions but was never described as such in Egypt; he's a dwarflike man. But saying there's a Cat-type that all feline gods have in common is fine and works ok. No problem with that idea.

Cats are sneaky and often ambush predators (though they can be pursuit predators like cheetahs too, and sometimes lions). They're often crepuscular, and tend to be a bit mercurial or moody. They're better at offense then defense, and they're among the very best-evolved predators in the entire animal kingdom. Cats are evolved to hunt EVERYTHING, from lizards and snakes to birds to fishes to small mammals to insects. They have incredible balance and agility, almost always land on their feet, and are incredibly fast (though primates are faster; you can test this yourself with any cat). They groom as a way to recover composure, and they get absolutely silly around catnip. Also, their claws carry bacteria that may very well cause madness in humans.

Cats make great characters! You can absolutely make a fun cat heroine.

 

[AlexBailey]

If I could apply some physics geeking to superheros for a minute…

Having power is one thing - it’s the strength and peak performance, having energy is another thing - it has to provide the peak power but also the endurance and duration of an ability.

You can have the power to fly, but for how long? How fast? How is energy regenerated?

Old world gods were always needing tribute or specific conditions to reach their peak. Does your superhero’s power come from natural resources? Do they need to soak up energy from the sun? From the moon? Planetary alignment?

Can they get a “full charge” from seeing a full moon, or does it take time of exposure? Do they need to hunt and eat tomb rats, or the meat of specific creatures that were embalmed and buried as tributes to the deity?

Maybe your MC has some of the power and traits of the deity but is unable to wield enough energy to make use of them without some specific talisman that operates as an amplifier or capacitor.

Capacitors or batteries can store energy that is collected from low power but constant sources. Can they collect energy from the affection of cats?

Part of the story could be their quest for relics that help them connect or channel their powers.



In the book series Eragon they have an interesting take on magic. While a magician can kill someone, how they do it requires different amounts of energy, and if the magician uses too much energy they can die or harm themselves.

For example, you could use a lot of energy by making someone explode or by crushing them with a boulder, or you could use a pebble by simply making it move from one place to another - through someone’s skull. If you were in a battle, the more creative and energy efficient you are the more you can accomplish before you need to rest or replenish your energy.

 

[StillStunned]

I'd also agree with others, some sort of healing factor, but if she takes headshot, it's over. Heals quickly enough that she can take a hit, but if the bad guys unload on her...

Nine lives...

 

[Blind_Justice]

You didn't ask for advice, but I'm gonna dump some on you regardless.

Don't use godlike powers as writing shortcuts. There are dozens? hundreds? of vampire stories filled with variations on the "vampire enters the room, trains his hypnotic gaze on female protag and boom - no more need for building a worthwhile relationship, just get to the biting/sucking/fucking/melodrama" trope. That's not writing a compelling story, that's the author being lazy. Everyone knows vampires can charm through various means, but putting restrictions on the charm gaze can make things much more interesting. How close does the vampire have to be? How much eye contact until the spell takes? What about distractions? The victim's willpower? If the vampire needs, say, ten seconds of uninterrupted eye contact for the spell to work, just breezing in and glaring at the object of his desire isn't gonna cut it, he needs to put in some work to make it happen, which in turn - if written well - can make for compelling reading.

Should be easy to apply the same way of thinking to god-like powers, especially when the character in question is possessed by another entity. I've written something similar in my "Mud & Magic" series, when the young and inexperienced hero gains the help of an ancient wizard lady able to possess hiis body. That's two minds inhabiting the same vessel and they might be at odds with each other, even if the high-power entity might have convinced the host to cooperate.

"No, you can't fireball those muggers out of existence, not with all those CCTV cameras around. The cops will look for ME and ask why I'm covered in crispy mugger ash. We can't complete your master plan with me in jail. And before you ask, oh Almighty One, breaking out of a federal prison will raise the kind of attention neither of us needs right now."

Being forced into a body that's not yours might raise other complications - how much DIVINE POWER can you pour through the poor flesh sack before he evaporates? Does the "guest" in the host body have enough control over his host's limbs to make elaborate spellcasting motions? Or does the host body speak God's ancient language fluently enough that shouting old magic words even works? That's - at least for me - fertile ground for some cool story beats. Godlike does not have to equal "omnipotent".

As every player of Japanese RPGs knows - God can be killed if you grind long enough.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

My question is how far is too far before the character becomes to OP be have any conflict in their story line?

I'm working on a vampire story in a setting where vampires are incredibly powerful. They jump thirty feet as casually as I might step over a puddle. They can reach a hand out faster than your eyes can register. You can't tie one down with any rope or chain available in a hardware store. And if one of them looks at you and tells you to sit, you sit, instantly.

My vampire character is a pathetic creature who waits tables overnight at a hole-in-the-wall and lives in a storage unit. She picks up lowlifes in bars every night, the kind of men who aren't confused when they wake up weak and dizzy with no memory of the night before and fresh puncture marks on their arms.

She mistakenly assumed that this whole digitization thing was going to blow over. Then, suddenly, she found herself in a world of instant background checks, and anti-money-laundering regulations, and apps. She can't even enter orders into the point-of-sale system without being shown repeatedly exactly what to do.

Oh, and she hasn't had an orgasm with another person in about 2700 years, because she thrashes around so forcefully that it's not safe for anyone else to be in bed with her. (I was really proud of myself for thinking of that one.)

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I'm contemplating a series of stories, set in a far-flung future, featuring a space ship from Earth exploring the galaxy. The first planet they visit to make first contact, they meet the Hakeem, they are extraterrestrial lifeforms, self-aware, gynandromorphs, who can shape-shift to mimic any other life form. (Note, a Gynadromorph is a creature having female and male attributes. In the story, they can literally procreate with themselves) Their chameleon abilities allow them to impregnate any lifeforms they morph into. Their natural appearance is somewhat dinosaurish, like a two legged, two armed humanoid, with dick, balls, and a vigina. But they rarely appear in that form. Of course, it's all in the early days of thinking right now.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Sometimes, Mary, I think you truly fucked up in the head. However, that sounds like a good opening story if you can pull it off.

I'm contemplating a series of stories, set in a far-flung future, featuring a space ship from Earth exploring the galaxy. The first planet they visit to make first contact, they meet the Hakeem, they are extraterrestrial lifeforms, self-aware, gynandromorphs, who can shape-shift to mimic any other life form. (Note, a Gynadromorph is a creature having female and male attributes. In the story, they can literally procreate with themselves) Their chameleon abilities allow them to impregnate any lifeforms they morph into. Their natural appearance is somewhat dinosaurish, like a two legged, two armed humanoid, with dick, balls, and a vigina. But they rarely appear in that form. Of course, it's all in the early days of thinking right now.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Sometimes, Mary, I think you truly fucked up in the head. However, that sounds like a good opening story if you can pull it off.

Coming from you that's a compliment on both things! Fucked up and a good story. That be me!