Immortality

[Manderley]

Immortal characters?

In the traditional sense.

 

[Wit]

IMO, to be avoided.

 

[Manderley]

IMO, to be avoided.

Why?

 

[Wit]

If its for driving a story forward and the character is more long-lived immortal instead of I-don't-die immortal then no worries, but people sometimes simply want it for power playing purposes. We used to have a member who had a weird fascination with making hybrids of all the long-lived species in the Star Wars universe and have character who looked 16 but were actually thousands of years old, for him it was all about making his characters more powerful. That is what I'm against.

 

[Manderley]

Ah. My idea is indeed the "doesn't age to death"-type of immortality, and not at all the "can't die" type. It would solely be for storyline and roleplaying purposes, so I hope it isn't too much of an issue.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Raif]

We used to have a member who had a weird fascination with making hybrids of all the long-lived species in the Star Wars universe and have character who looked 16 but were actually thousands of years old, for him it was all about making his characters more powerful. That is what I'm against.

Oh man, Sree and I were just talking about Zen yesterday. What a small world.

Anywho, if the character is a Force-user than their natural lifespan will already be greater than normal, at least I think canon supports that. Otherwise I've seen people - Arcturus comes to mind, specifically - use the Anzati species in a manner similar to what you seem to be referring to. Because I'm pretty sure as long as an Anzat has a steady supply of "soup" it won't ever die of old age.

 

[Manderley]

I was thinking more along the lines of one whose life was artificially lengthened, an individual who wasn't long-lived because of natural evolution or biology. And much as you mention long lives, I'm thinking more of a literally immortal character, one who cannot die from aging. Not a great lifespan, but a theoretically-infinite one, essentially a version of Tolkien's Elves.

 

[Green Ranger]

Well, without further information based on why it's important to your character or a necessary plot point, It's probably a fairly safe assumption that it won't be allowed without some good justification.

 

[Manderley]

Well, without further information based on why it's important to your character or a necessary plot point, It's probably a fairly safe assumption that it won't be allowed without some good justification.

Of course. 'Hard to justify a theoretical possibility such as this without simply stating my character's background and writing up an ad hoc profile.

 

[Bee]

Maybe only if he (or she) sparkles in the sunlight.

 

[Manderley]

Maybe only if he (or she) sparkles in the sunlight.

Damn it, how do you know about my character so accurately?

 

[Green Ranger]

Even a cliffnotes version would help or something. At the moment it's impossible to really give any feedback aside from 'you've got about a 90-95% chance of it being denied'

 

[Manderley]

Even a cliffnotes version would help or something. At the moment it's impossible to really give any feedback aside from 'you've got about a 90-95% chance of it being denied'

I myself don't particularly know much of the details about it, just that it will be for a reason. What that reason is has not yet been decided. That is to say, the specifics of it are wibbley-wobbley. I was just wondering as to the site's and the administration's viewpoints on the subject.

Speaking of such, I don't believe you've explained your own opinions on the subject, Ranger, save from stating that it's unlikely it'd be accepted. Care to elaborate?

 

[Bee]

Damn it, how do you know about my character so accurately?

I am a connoisseur of YA fiction.

In all seriousness, I had an idea to make a human replacement droid (whatever they're called, I know they're canon) that wasn't aware she was actually a droid. So technically she'd be immortal in the way you described, unable to actually die, but not sparklypants special or anything, if that makes sense? Seeing as how I can hardly keep up with two characters at the moment, I'm definitely not using the idea, nor is it all that original to start with, if you needed a workaround for the undying stuff.

 

[Manderley]

I am a connoisseur of YA fiction.

In all seriousness, I had an idea to make a human replacement droid (whatever they're called, I know they're canon) that wasn't aware she was actually a droid. So technically she'd be immortal in the way you described, unable to actually die, but not sparklypants special or anything, if that makes sense? Seeing as how I can hardly keep up with two characters at the moment, I'm definitely not using the idea, nor is it all that original to start with, if you needed a workaround for the undying stuff.

Ah, thank you, but that's not quite the path I was looking to take with my character. They will more than likely be a special little butterfly in their own right, like all my other characters, but thanks for the help regardless.

Also, YA fiction is best fiction.

 

[Green Ranger]

My opinions are actually pretty irrelevant on the matter, because I'd probably say a flat no to the idea regardless of justification - it serves no real purpose, save maybe to make a character more skilled or knowledgeable then they otherwise should be, and that's about it.

But the staff tend to prefer to look at these types of situations based on individual merits, so it could theoretically be allowed. It'll still be an uphill battle though, because unnaturally long lifespans in general are looked fairly sternly upon by all staff members. As it stands, with you admitting you haven't really developed the idea in any way, I think it's a fair assumption to say that the request would be quickly denied at this stage.

 

[Manderley]

Ah.

Also, again, not "unnaturally long": theoretically infinite.

 

[Green Ranger]

Same difference. If anything, theoretically infinite makes it even less likely.

Honestly I'd strongly recommend just dropping the idea entirely.

 

[Manderley]

Same difference. If anything, theoretically infinite makes it even less likely.

Honestly I'd strongly recommend just dropping the idea entirely.

Based upon what you've said, I'm gathering that immortality, in your (and supposedly, the staff's) eyes, is nothing but a boon.

For my character, immortality would simply be a facet of their being, and would not in any way affect their capabilities as compared to your run-of-the-mill layperson. It, if anything, would be detrimental, something that is both mentally and emotionally taxing, as explained in the TV Tropes article.

EDIT: Further evidence as to why immortality would be a negative thing in this case. (Fantastic short story, btw.)

 

[Black Noise]

Based upon what you've said, I'm gathering that immortality, in your (and supposedly, the staff's) eyes, is nothing but a boon.

For my character, immortality would simply be a facet of their being, and would not in any way affect their capabilities as compared to your run-of-the-mill layperson. It, if anything, would be detrimental, something that is both mentally and emotionally taxing, as explained in the TV Tropes article.

It really is.

While a good point to RP, that can be easily exploited as a play for power if your person is around 1,000 years of age. I.E. he/she has seen the rise and fall of Empires and, theoretically, could have wisdom as infinite as their lifespan. For me at least, wisdom, if played right, can be quite powerful. EDIT: Think of it this way, if you character was an admiral, he's been in or at least heard about thousands of battles, there's nothing he hasn't seen and, therefore, no maneuver of the enemy cannot be predicted.

That said, it sounds to me like you were thinking about elves, or Drow, something along those lines.
check these if that's what you're thinking around, next best thing.