BZPRPG News and Discussion

[Prowl Nightwolf]

Wow, not sure how I'd feel about a black hole character... wait... I made one once named Darkmatter. He was a Transformer had a gun that generated black holes. He didn't last long, got shoved into a hole of his own creation and was destroyed.
 
Anyway, If I wanted to create an Acid or other custom element character, how would I go about doing it? Would I first have to define the element and get it approved first? I know there is a character who has Smoke as a custom element. I think that would be cool character to make but had to find out who owns it and ask first.

 

Well that pretty much ends that argument I guess. lol. Still being fairly new to the story I wanted to ask. Also I think I read most likely on the wiki that a character had two elements. Not sure if it was a staff character or not.

Anyway what say on the Acid element type for a character? Think I could try it out and see what develops?

 
I suspect the 'character' you're referring to is Aeolus and Arden, two Toa whose spirits have become trapped in the same body (Iden accident, surprise surprise), with special permission from the staff. Their elements, Fire and Water, have become 'intertwined', so to speak: they cannot use one without using the other, leading them to be referred to collectively as a 'Toa of Steam'.
 
According to canon, Acid is a power and not an element, but we (the staff) might be open to allowing it as a custom element in the BZPRPG.

 

That is a strong possibility. I remember the two elements being Fire and water though more than that eludes me.

[25K Now!]

well hub we better scrap those fusion dancers

Eh, don't worry Raz.

 

We'll just have to

[Razgriz]

now there's an idea

[Prowl Nightwolf]

now there's an idea

What idea is that? Hre are some of my ideas for custom elements.

 

Acid = Prefix: Che- For Chemical Burn occurring when living tissue is exposed to a corrosive substance such as a strong acid. Their Primary colors are Yellow and purple. Secondary colors are brown and green.

• Che-Matoran: Have a limited amount of Acidic elemental energy in the form of resistance to corrosive substances as well as secreting the substance from their bodies when threatened.
• Toa: of Acid possess the elemental power of Acid; allowing them to create control and absorb acidic substances. They can channel this power through their armor and weapons. Also they are immune to any sort of burning substance but not melting. The acidic substance they can create can exist as any state of matter, including liquids, solids, gases, mists or vapors.
• Turaga: of Acid possess small traces of Acidic elemental power. They can generate and fire limited supply of acid.

 

Poison = Prefix: Tox- For the toxicity of poison as a whole. Their Primary colors are Bright Purple and Green. Gold is a secondary color. Lesser colors are Red and Yellow.(Think poisonous animals in the wild with bright caution colors)

• Tox-Matoran: Have a limited amount of Poison elemental energy in the form of resistance to toxic substances. That also have a genetic knowledge of how to mix and create poisons from material around them.
• Toa: of Poison possess the elemental power of Poison; allowing them to create control and absorb Poisonous and Toxic substances. They can channel this power through their armor and weapons. Also they are immune to any sort of Toxins. The Poison they can create can exist as several state of matter; liquids, gases, mists or vapors.
• Turaga: of poison possess small traces of Poisonous elemental power.

 

Explosions = Prefix: Nit- For my Transformers character Nova Nitro(Nitro for short) who was known as the Explosive trigger happy seeker.

 

 

Hehe, so that is three. Sorry I don't have anything actually listed. It is actually a joke element to get away with create a Teal and Red character in homage to my favorite TF creation.

[Timageness]

I like the Acid concept Prowl, though Poison and Explosions seem a bit too close to Plantlife and Kinetics in my opinion.

But while we're currently on the subject of Toa powers, maybe modeling some after the 42 different varieties of Rahkshi wouldn't be such a bad idea.

[Nato G]

I know there is a character who has Smoke as a custom element. I think that would be cool character to make but had to find out who owns it and ask first.

 

I have a Toa of Smoke, but I've been informed that the idea has been around far longer than I have. 

 

Anyway, If I wanted to create an Acid or other custom element character, how would I go about doing it? Would I first have to define the element and get it approved first?

 

You have to ask one of the staff members (Nuju, tyler, etc.) to approve your custom-powered character. Just a word of warning, though, custom elements are kind of tricky to get approved.

 

While I'm not staff, I'm pretty confident in saying that powers as OP as Acid and Poison probably won't be allowed. 

[Keeper of Kraata]

Smoke, at least, can be viewed as an offshoot of fire and/or jungle.

[Mel]

Acid falls under water, doesn't it?  Toa Leah used it in the fight against the Piraka's Rakshi.

 

Crystal really sort of started out as a custom power, but it seems to have gotten popular enough to become mainstreamed.

[Keeper of Kraata]

You know, I actually stumbled onto another revelation for me when it comes to my internal logic regarding elements: Earth can control rock, but not create it, if the rock is part of the earth already. It just makes so much more sense for me now.

[Constructelf]

Acid falls under water, doesn't it? Toa Leah used it in the fight against the Piraka's Rakshi.

 

Crystal really sort of started out as a custom power, but it seems to have gotten popular enough to become mainstreamed.

I thought that was Reordin using his mask to transmute Leah's water into acid.

[Nato G]

I thought that was Reordin using his mask to transmute Leah's water into acid.

 

It was, yeah. I went back and checked. 

[Geardirector]

You know, I actually stumbled onto another revelation for me when it comes to my internal logic regarding elements: Earth can control rock, but not create it, if the rock is part of the earth already. It just makes so much more sense for me now.

 

No it can't.

 

It could control it indirectly by manipulating the earth around the rock, but not control the rock itself.

 

Stone and Earth are separate elements and that's that.

Edited March 22, 2015 by The Grochi Machine

[Keeper of Kraata]

Well, I thought that would explain how Onua did... well, everything.

[Geardirector]

Keep in mind Earth's power over seismic energy, that's how they can create earthquakes and such.

[Keeper of Kraata]

Yeah, that, and thats how I was thinking he did the thing where he lifted a whole bunch of material that Tahu melted in MoL.

[Snelly]

Yeah, that, and thats how I was thinking he did the thing where he lifted a whole bunch of material that Tahu melted in MoL.

There was probably dirt in that material.

[Geardirector]

I don't think that movie interpreted their elements the same way we do here

[Eyru]

Justifying elemental powers by pointing to the BIONICLE canon is pointless because the BZPRPG is not canon. Yes, there are many similarities, simply because this game is based in the same universe, largely with the same rules. However, because this is a game, those rules can be altered or new ones added at the staff's discretion.

 

For example, in the BIONICLE canon, Toa can use Nova Blasts. Toa can't do so in the BZPRPG.

 

Another example: are all Matoran and Toa of Water female? Not here.

 

A third: the Mahiki is used all the time in the canon, but is banned in-game.

 

In the same way, you can't point at a specific example (say, Onua lifting material in MoL) and use it to justify doing the same thing in-game. The rules and the BZPRPG's personal canon trump the official one. Our rules don't explain how Onua did things in the canon: they explain how you are allowed to do things. And one such rule explains that Toa of Earth cannot control stone in any way, shape, or form. It doesn't matter if it appears to contradict canon, because it's not their job to explain canon: it's to keep the game fair and balanced.

[Keeper of Kraata]

And now you know why I stuck to the Kal elements (kinda, mostly) for my characters.

[Snelly]

Well gee it's not that hard to grasp.

[Keeper of Kraata]

Because trying to comprehend these house-rules sometimes makes my brain hurt.

[otter]

"House rules" that make the game balanced, and for all intents and purposes easier to understand than Canon - which contradicted itself a lot - are making it harder for you?

[Keeper of Kraata]

I refer you back to my 'but crystals are rocks and most rocks are crystals AUUUGH' statement earlier.

[Constructelf]

I refer you back to my 'but crystals are rocks and most rocks are crystals AUUUGH' statement earlier.

Easy solution:

 

Rocks are any minerals/mixture of minerals that can fall under an igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic categorization. If it's not cooled lava, compressed sediment, or superheated pressurized compressed sediment, it's not a rock.

 

I'm not so clear on crystals, but I don't think most "layman's" crystals (quartz, salts, etc) aren't formed like that. Maybe diamond, but isn't diamond formed from graphite? Which is not a rock?

[Krayzikk]

Yeah, that, and thats how I was thinking he did the thing where he lifted a whole bunch of material that Tahu melted in MoL.

 

Firstly, the movies have never been a reliable source for an interpretation of a power except when no other reference exists. Many of the combination tricks used there are never used in other media, and their interpretation of things like Mask powers are often flawed at best. 

 

But there is another, more immediate factor. You're talking about Onua Nuva. The Nuva have been shown time and again to have a degree of control that standard Toa simply do not, and in fact have several tricks other Toa do not. Now consider that this makes them more powerful than the Toa Mata. The Mata, here, are known as the First Toa and have been explicitly stated to be two to three times more powerful than any PC Toa walking around save the Maru. Because the Maru basically are the First Toa.

 

In other words, what a Mata, let alone a Nuva, is capable of is not necessarily what a Toa here can do.

 

I refer you back to my 'but crystals are rocks and most rocks are crystals AUUUGH' statement earlier.

 

You're thinking about molecular structure. That is not the dividing line. "Crystal" refers to what most people would call a crystal; things like quartz, obsidian, diamond, et cetera. Stone refers to what people would call a stone; a rock, a boulder, things of that nature.

 

Ignore molecular. Think about what an average person would call it in conversation. If they'd say 'crystal or gem', it'll be under a Toa of Crystal. If they would call it a rock or a stone, it's under a Po-Toa.

[Palm]

rocks are rocks, crystals are crystals "wow but that's not true, they're literally the same in real life"

 

yeah we know, but here they aren't

Edited March 22, 2015 by Palm

[otter]

Beyond that no rock in real life is a true crystal.

 

That's why the distinction is made, in real life.

 

EDIT: uggh mobile

Edited March 22, 2015 by Grochi ad Infinitum

[Keeper of Kraata]

The only time I was talking about molecular structure was that obsidian (and glass) has none; sort of like how metal was once a rock, but no longer falls under its purview. So 'crystal' is more 'gems', then. Cause, y'know, granite. Rock, looks like a rock, anyone will tell you its a rock, but it has large crystal size.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Necrocybermancer

[Mel]

You know, just possibly, writing a engaging character might be more important than the minutiae of the different between rock and crystal.

[Simulacrum]

I'm going to echo everyone else; while rocks are certainly crystalline in structure in real life, there is a clear distinction in this game. Looking to real, intelligent science as an explanation to the reason why isn't really going to help you out; the canon bonkle-verse functions that the BZPRPG still uses are about as scientific as the Golden Age of comics. Game rules exist to keep it fair, not naturalistic; being realistic when dealing with chemistry or physics in this setting is always nice, but it's not guaranteed.

[sunflower]

Beyond that no rock in real life is a true crystal.

 

That's why the distinction is made, in real life.

 

EDIT: uggh mobile

This. Even IRL crystals =/= rocks, the molecular structure is different, not to mention geological formation. I know it's rare people, but IRL does support in-game things occasionally.

[Eyru]

You know, just possibly, writing a engaging character might be more important than the minutiae of the different between rock and crystal.

 

[25K Now!]

We're very conceptual here.

[Prowl Nightwolf]

I think all this debate on what level a Toa/Turaga's elemental capabilities are in regards to their element is why I only have Matoran characters completed right now. So now that we know what stone(rock) and crystal(Gems) covers how does that work for Earth? Are we talking dark soil/clay type substances? Because that is kind of how I have been thinking it. Earth in general is minerals that are softer than Stone. So if you dig it up and are able to stub your toe or smash a hand with it, it is not earth.

 

Prowl wants an Onu-Character and may even make his first Toa be one in homage to his favorite Toa... Still would like to know what exactly that entitles.

[They]

Unsure if speaking in third person... or two people using the same account...

[Hitoshura]

Looks like 3rd person to me, but why 

[Nato G]

Am confused. 

[(Daedalus)]

I suppose you peeps haven't seen his posts around the forums? He does that--well, I don't want to say frequently, because that wouldn't be true, but he doesn't do it infrequently, if that makes any sense.

 

As for the elements... I don't know. I just don't think about them very much. I think that's partially because I'm just not very creative when it comes to writing battles (and thus I don't try to do crazy weird stuff with them), but also because I've never been in a situation in which I had to think about it.

[Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)]

I still wanna make a Toa of Mercury at some point.

[Eyru]

So now that we know what stone(rock) and crystal(Gems) covers how does that work for Earth? Are we talking dark soil/clay type substances? Because that is kind of how I have been thinking it. Earth in general is minerals that are softer than Stone. So if you dig it up and are able to stub your toe or smash a hand with it, it is not earth.

 

Imagine a garden.

 

Inside the garden there is dirt. A Toa of Earth can control that.

 

Around the garden is a little rock wall. A Toa of Stone can control that.

 

Planted in the earth are little flowers. Neither Toa can control them, but they sure are pretty.