So the framework is done for the most part. Now is the time to read this and ask questions so that I can fill in any holes that may be present. For now refrain from making suggestions.


Definitions of powers and technique facets.
The following is everything that determines how a technique or ability works, the things that make a technique effective, its strengths and weaknesses. These also help determine the conditions that must be met for something to be either a success or failure.

The following must be ranked whenever a technique or ability is listed. Whether it be something passive or active, offensive or defensive, generic or original.

Frequency-How many times can this be used
Speed-How fast can it be implemented
Range-How wide the area of effect is along with potential reach from the user; this also represents accuracy and/or integrity of something over long distanes
Power-How effective it is when ideal conditions are meant  
Duration-How long the effects last

These are listed in order of relevance to both the description of an ability or technique, as well as the desired effect. Strengths are balanced by weaknesses because every attack and technique, be it offensive, defensive, or passive, functions with these facets in mind. Bleach mechanics stated in golden Bleach days (SS Arc) have been applied for consistency

This is how and why you rank facets:

Frequency- Typically frequency impacts power; the more frequent something can be used the less powerful it generally is. This represents the number of times something can be used in its most perfect and ideal form. If ranked first, this is something that can be used a countless number of times in battle. If ranked lower then an attack must be used sparingly. If ranked second it can be used between five and ten times. If ranked third, it's something that the user can only manage to use three times safely. If ranked fourth an attack can only be used two or three times.  If ranked last then it is something that can only be used once.

Speed- The amount of time it takes to prepare something for use in its most perfect form. If ranked first, it's generally because it doesn't take much time to concentrate vast amounts of spiritual energies into it; it's something that can be used effortlessly  multiple times at any given moment. If ranked second it's something that likely doesn't take much much focus and can be used once or twice at any given time. If ranked third, it's something that takes concentration and can be used only once in a post. If ranked fourth it's something that takes a lot of time; crafting its perfect form takes two posts. If ranked fifth it's because it's something that takes five posts to prepare. 

Range- In general this represents how well something holds up as the distance from the user increases. If the attack encompasses an extremely wide area it probably isn't so powerful because the majority of the area is a long way from the producer and their spiritual pressure. This also effects long range attacks that effect a smaller area after impact or travel towards a target. If ranked first this is something that could easily span a several city blocks and remain in tact. If ranked second, it's something that could span the distance of a single block. If ranked third it's something that can span several meters and remain effective. If ranked fourth it's something that can span a meter or so beyond the body of the user or their weapon. If ranked fifth then it's something that can only take effect in extremely close range through direct contact.

Power- The potency and overall effectiveness at either harming or resisting in terms of defense. This also represents how effective something is at overwhelming the spiritual pressure based defense of something. If ranked first, then under the most ideal conditions this may overwhelm someone two tiers above you. If ranked second then under the most ideal conditions it may prove successful with someone a tier higher. If ranked third then effects are likely enough to overwhelm someone of your own tier so long as the conditions are perfect. If ranked fourth or fifth it's likely negligible to those of equal tier unless perfect conditions are met in the user's favor.  

Duration- Things that cause damage over time or has some other effect that is reoccurring would need this ranked higher. A good poison, for example, would be ranked either first or second. It would probably be before or comes second to power. Things that cause immediate and non-durational damage would list this last.  Examples of abilities or techniques that are durational would be poisons, eternal flashcry, defense system adaptability, continuous healing.  If ranked first this likely means that it last well past the duration of a thread or battle and may even be permanent. If ranked second then it's something that remains present for the majority of the thread. If ranked third this may last for several post. If ranked fourth this may last for two or three posts. If ranked last its something that is over in no time at all.

Effectiveness of a technique can be manipulated and toyed with. Two people can have the exact same technique, but if they list these things in a different order the techniques will have drastically differing effects.  If we can imagine Rukia's First Dance, for example. As it exists we probably would list it Frequency, Power, Speed, Range. It's range is limited, but it can be used often and it's powerful....except against Grimmjaw   If we re-arranged that order though and make it something like Power, Range, Frequency, Speed it could be spun as something like an ice version of ennetsu jigoku.

Don't forget that the conditions should also be considered when determining the potential for success. Two people can have the exact same technique and have their facets prioritized the exact same way but if they use them under different circumstances they may yield two different levels of success.  

Here, we'll continue to look at Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki as an example.

When all is said and done it would look something like this.

Shikai Name: Sode no Shirayuki
Shikai Ability: Sode no Shirayuki can freeze a target from a distance, or used in a different manner, create a path or platform of ice in midair. Sode no Shirayuki does not actually spread coldness from its blade; its actual ability is to bring the body temperature of its wielder to a temperature below freezing. As a result, anything its wielder touches freezes, the sword itself merely increasing their reach. Due to this power, Rukia is capable of momentarily "killing" her body by controlling her own Reishi, putting herself in a form of cryostasis.
Additional Weaknesses: She can only safely maintain absolute zero for four seconds before she risks serious harm to her body.  
Facets: Power, Duration, Frequency, Range, Speed

We know that her zanpakuto ability is a powerful one that often immobilizes foes the moment a successful strike is made so I listed power first. We also know that her zanpakuto's ability is a continuous one that slowly lowers her body temperature so duration was listed second. She has several ways to expand the cooling effect and has shown to use these multiple times in a battle so frequency and range could be left as is or exchanged. The cooling effect is slow and as stated it can only be safely maintained for four seconds before it becomes dangerous, thus speed is ranked last.

And done!! Please ask questions and such. Hold suggestions though. ^_^

Okay, we are changing systems and aspects of the site for simplicity and to hopefully make it more appealing to new members. Now while the suggestion is very well done I do not understand completely and I have been re-reading this multiple times to try and grasp it.

The fact I have trouble understanding it easily makes me wonder if it is simply me who doesn't understand it or other people won't too. If it is the latter then it does not target what we are aiming to do in terms of make the site more simple and easier to understand and get into.

Now for my opinion I simply like to write my power as it comes, I like to figure it out and try to make it work, I make sure to try and give it weaknesses and limitations and not make it incredibly OP but if I was to have to constantly think about writing the power and structuring the words instead of letting them flow then that is a huge hit to my muse in terms of what to do. But that's just my opinion, frankly I don't see this system as necessary and would oppose the whole purpose of it but I will leave other staff to figure it out.

[Only admins are allowed to see this link]

Again, please begin by asking questions if something is unclear.

The design is an extremely basic one, it's only the current explanations that may need to be expanded. If you don't ask questions I don't know what you don't understand about it.

The main idea behind this system is to do what was suggested last month and completely get rid of the banned powers list. This allows for powers which may seem inherently OP to be contained without making it seem as though they being severely limited. This also removes any chances of staff to be bias in review of individual powers. A person can, for example, have the ability to stop time, see the future, or even clone an opponent Szayel style, but with this system it's not unbeatable. The user/writer of the ability doesn't need to overthink every single time they use the ability, they only need to consider its strengths and weaknesses at the moment of its creation. After that they don't need to think any harder when writing than they already do (less depending on whether the current tier/AR system is kept). This system takes all of the guess work out of how you'd explain a technique or ability effect or range.

Ummm..........I honestly don't know what to say at this point. I know we want to get rid of the banned powers list, but is this the right way? Other suggestions from others? I know I personally don't really have one. Not sure if this would be best either. Seems a bit to complex for me at least.

Again, clarify on exactly what it is that is so complex.

All of these are things that are already considerred when making a power or technique. This just asks that people make a list of priorities; strengths and weaknesses which are set in concrete to assure whatever it is isn't abused and god like in every way shape and form.

This is a good initiative, I will do my best not to suggest stuff and just ask questions.


- 'Frequency' and 'Speed' are strikingly similar - for example, the first dictates how many times the technique can be used in a battle and the second how many times it can be used in a post, basically. Could these somehow be prioritized and fused into a single facet of a technique?
- Reiatsu has a feature of being generated over time, constantly in midst of battle. It makes more sense for a technique to become available after a certain period of time from it's last use, than it simply being available twice in a battle, don't you think? Have you considered using cool-downs instead?
- You mostly use 'Speed' in the place of charging time, so have you considered on adding a choice of investing in the actual travel speed of a technique?
- Would 'Speed' (=charging time) have something to do with how much energy one invests in the attack, ie. how exhausting it would be for one to use it?
- How exactly 'Range' affects accuracy of an attack? You mentioned it does apply to that as well, but did not expand on this.
- How does the 'Power' fit in with the F/AR system? Maybe I missed something entirely, but this seems like a big issue to me.
- Does 'Frequency' directly influence 'Power'? If I want to have, let's say, a technique with 'Frequency' as the first and 'Power' as the second facet, then the frequency wouldn't weaken the strength of the attack, right? If 'Speed' was my third facet, I would have a technique that can overwhelm someone one tier higher than me once per post. Should there perhaps be a limitation on 'Frequency' and 'Power', like that they couldn't be placed next to each other - just a random thought really, I will leave refining this and deciding if it's worth of considering to implement to you.
- Same goes to 'Range' and 'Power'? Just maybe.
- Not a question, but I love your thoughts on the 'Duration' facet. It's out-of-the-box thinking, that I have never considered before, but which makes perfect sense with the Bleach universe mechanics.

Lastly, I have complicated feelings about this suggestion. It's good, fleshed-out idea, but some things don't click right to me, personally. I hope these questions (some of which now seem suggestions, after I double-checked this) help you in refining the idea.

-No, they wouldn't be fused into a single facet in terms of plausibility and Bleach mechanics. If we, for example, looked at Final Getsuga we know that it's fast and could pretty much be used in an instant if the user wanted, however it could only be used once. The facets that go into making a technique are being broken down into their simplest components without being overly nitpicky. If they were fused someone could pretty much spam a Final Getsuga.

-Cooldowns like Final Getsuga or something less severe would be added in an additional weaknesses section. Aside from that Speed functions as the cooldown. This is another benefit of separating the amount of times something can be used in total, and the number of times something can be used between moments. Whether they want to treat speed in this instance as a cool down, or their character's ability to channel and mold reiatsu would be determined in character and is of little importance. It should be said that how any of the facets are depicted in character are completely up to the RPer. For example, if a character has low frequency of something (say they can only use it one) they can make up some other excuse besides only having enough reiatsu to use it but once; maybe their character has a fear of using it and would only risk using it once in battle. The only thing that matters is that they are aware that it can only be used once because they chose to prioritize something else to keep a technique from being too much/OP. I'm starting to think that the thing that confused people is the strict definitions for each facet and taking them to literal. This could easily be changed or expanded on (in fact I'll probably do that this week ).

-Speed could be charging time, but it could also be the amount of time it takes for a weapon to express an ability. What's important is that it be acknowledged that something can only be used a specific number of times in a given instant. A person could choose to turn it into a matter of exhaustion after a certain number of times, or they could give a completely different excuse.

-Range is multifaceted itself. It's really just a matter of how well something holds up or retains its usefulness the further it gets from the user. This was originally stated while thinking about those who choose to use this in terms of long distance fighting(quincy) as opposed to wide scale (Mayuri poison cloud). A person can choose to use it as accuracy, aim at something, but know that this represents the technique's flawlessness over a wide range or rather the technique used to launch or disperse something as opposed to the actual thing being launched. That's what I meant by accuracy.    

-Power would basically replace the current tier damage chart while also expanding into passive things. This considers intentional design as opposed to overall power which is a current weakness of the system. It assumes that just because someone is higher tier, they are better in everything related to reiatsu. In terms of the current system someone two tiers higher than someone who specializes in something despite being lower can always best someone  based purely on spiritual pressure. This is like saying that because Renji has more spiritual pressure than Momo, he is automatically better at kido than she is because of her spiritual pressure  (or lack their of). Power makes it so that a person must intentionally use their spiritual pressure to do something as opposed to spiritual pressure being the answer to every challenge. Yes, we know that in Bleach spiritual pressure determines a lot, but we know that how you use that spiritual pressure determines just as much. This should replace a good deal of the current system but keep the basic idea the same to work in unison with it.

-Good point, however, the existence of Range and Duration also play a part.  It really puts strategy against strategy. If their opponent is built the same way, or even worse, built as a long range version of a power house...well Further still by choosing to focus on those facets there's the real possibility of someone or something outlasting them despite their power and frequency. This can be done, but this system always assures that their are weaknesses for every strength.
Frequency doesn't literally represent power, but the description is meant to plant the idea and give hints as to how characters should be built. The description is meant to encourage self implemented checks and balances: If its super strong it probably wouldn't be used that often, if it's super weak I can probably spam it and use it as a way to create openings for something that is super strong but I have limited usage.

When everything is cleared up I think a sort of beta test be used to see what actually doesn't work outside of presented theories.

Okay, so throwing in my honest opinion, after giving feedback and seeing no one else is left to ask questions (I assume this is the case, as no one has posted). I like many aspects of the idea, but there is also some aspects, which I don't - you've pointed out flaws in the tier-focused effect system, while it should be so, that someone two tiers weaker should NOT be absolutely powerless against their opponent (not saying that the difference in power still leaves them greatly disadvantaged). In my opinion, the fluid nature and versatility of the idea (which is not a negative thing by default, and I see the perspective of creativity and freedom from which it was born) leaves it susceptible to unexpected, unwanted results, such as abuse.

I, personally, would prefer this as a more solid system, instead of a system allowing free power customization - I wouldn't leave the possibility of customization out, but I'd like to set clear rules and restrictions on it, and generally make it more solid. An example of such rule could be, that one could possess only one technique with the power facet on the top. A possibility for solidifying the system would be making solid "technique types" - for example, a long-range type, that would have less power, but high frequency, and a moderate-range type, that was hazardous to opponents stronger than oneself, but would require charging time and a cooldown. Moreover, these could be simply established as requirements for a technique description, that we could restrict by guiding the power creation process - ie. establishing, that power, frequency, speed and range must be in balance, and then explaining what is appropriate and what not.

However, if others disagree with my opinion, I would be open to giving it a try at least, and who knows, maybe it works better than a solid system. If that is the case, here's a few things, that would make the system simpler, and which I would see as the critical changes:

- Frequency should encompass of how many times it can be used in a post and it's cooldown (this works, so why should we throw it away).
- Speed should be the travel speed of a technique's effect, considering that physical speed is an attribute of our system as well.
- Power should represent defense and offense attribute as it does.
- Range should represent distance, area of effect and accuracy as it does.
- Duration should represent the time, that the technique can be maintained for, if applicable.
- Charge* should represent the time, that is required for the technique to charge, if applicable.

*Charge should be added, as it has been traditionally an important aspect of techniques in Bleach Story, and because it's easier if it's separate from Frequency and/or Speed facet. Along with Duration, it is not necessarily applicable to every technique. For it not to change the effect system you built on the facets, Frequency should be dropped and/or included in Charge, if it needs to be included.

That's all.

Now is just the time for questions. Attempting to make additions to something that isn't 100% understood is a mistake. Especially when I've seen it work flawlessly. If questions are asked to clarify anything you're confused about it it can be demystified without making the actual mechanics more complicated.


This is a fairly small group, even though this is the majority of "active" people. I should have presented this to a larger pool so that more questions could be asked and more clarity could be gained prior to a beta test to make sure everything about it is understood.