Naruzeldamaster
Sage
What are some ways I can use it, besides the typical 'oh my god, you are an A rank evil villain of the weak, how will the D rank protagonist ever win' type plot threads?
In the lore of the world, the system exists basically as a short hand version of what you can do.
For example: instead of saying: "This adventure is really good at fire magic, he can shoot dragon flames and summon meteors and shit" and other lengthily descriptions about how dangerous they are in a wanted poster, the adventurer's guild can just say "This character is an A class fire mage with devastating long range combat capabilities, lower ranks should be wary of their might range but not be discouraged to challenge them if they feel strong enough"
I should also note that there are 'stats' in this world (like you would see in a video game or a dungeons and dragons campaign) and the characters are aware of / can see these stats, but once again, the stats are literally just there as a shorthand version of their capabilities. Someone might have say 50 Strength, and fight a 99 Strength foe, surely the 99 strength foe would cream them. But if the 50 strength adventurer has like 90 in dexterity and speed, they can outwit the 99 strength foe and overcome them.
I will be using the whole 'you are x rank, why are you this strong' hubris for a couple of bad guys, but I don't want to over rely on it so I'm trying to think of ways to subvert this.
Like one of my Characters has 200 Vigor (Basically it measures how much life/energy you have, personality and otherwise) which is insanely high for her species, but outwardly? She's super lazy and seems to have zero interest in other people. When something DOES catch her interest, that's when the extrovert part of her kicks in, and she's absolutely way more energetic than the rest of her species.
I do think part of my plot is going to be driving home how nonsensical a system like this is for judging a characters strength. But other than that I'm not sure on the finer details.
In the lore of the world, the system exists basically as a short hand version of what you can do.
For example: instead of saying: "This adventure is really good at fire magic, he can shoot dragon flames and summon meteors and shit" and other lengthily descriptions about how dangerous they are in a wanted poster, the adventurer's guild can just say "This character is an A class fire mage with devastating long range combat capabilities, lower ranks should be wary of their might range but not be discouraged to challenge them if they feel strong enough"
I should also note that there are 'stats' in this world (like you would see in a video game or a dungeons and dragons campaign) and the characters are aware of / can see these stats, but once again, the stats are literally just there as a shorthand version of their capabilities. Someone might have say 50 Strength, and fight a 99 Strength foe, surely the 99 strength foe would cream them. But if the 50 strength adventurer has like 90 in dexterity and speed, they can outwit the 99 strength foe and overcome them.
I will be using the whole 'you are x rank, why are you this strong' hubris for a couple of bad guys, but I don't want to over rely on it so I'm trying to think of ways to subvert this.
Like one of my Characters has 200 Vigor (Basically it measures how much life/energy you have, personality and otherwise) which is insanely high for her species, but outwardly? She's super lazy and seems to have zero interest in other people. When something DOES catch her interest, that's when the extrovert part of her kicks in, and she's absolutely way more energetic than the rest of her species.
I do think part of my plot is going to be driving home how nonsensical a system like this is for judging a characters strength. But other than that I'm not sure on the finer details.