wards & world-granted powers NEEDS EDITING

[meliorenpcs]

WARDING
In this world, there have been others before you. Some spirits are friendly and willing to guide you. Others are benign but empty, merely wishing to experience life and emotion through you since they themselves cannot. Many, however, are malicious, and they want you for a different purpose.

You are not the only one with wants and dreams strong enough to drive you. You are also not the only being that can want something to the detriment of those around you.

This is where warding comes in. A character's warding ability is not the same as their granted power.

Characters' warding abilities are governed by their level of intimacy with others. Traveling together with someone you're strongly bonded with will greatly decrease the incidence of experiencing possession or being attacked. It will also help ward malicious spirits affecting unstable areas. When characters explore, it will be a poor idea to venture off without a trusted companion or at least someone they know.

Bond through your journeys together, or risk being overtaken.

No matter how strong you are, you cannot do everything alone. This doesn't mean you can't try, though.

GRANTED POWERS
The nature of a character's submitted desire will govern the nature of their granted power. Powers are given to all characters, both naturally powered and normal/unpowered, but characters who are not bringing significant power with them will start with stronger granted abilities in Meliore.

Meliore abilities can increase over time spent in the game if applied for as a reward. Characters are granted one ability from the nature of their desire. These are some options below, but feel free to suggest something if you feel it fits.

• A wish for oneself is a desire for personal betterment. It is typically of benign origin, such as wishing for longevity or a secure group of friends, but it is possible for a wish for oneself to blur into something that can become unhealthy and slightly manipulative, such as the ability to ensnare others for one's own personal security and comfort. At its core however, the intent of this wish is not to harm others, but to better or benefit oneself through one's own strength.
  
  Wishes for oneself power sets: greater constitution, increased luck, greater charm and charisma, ensnaring others, body control of others, shapeshifting, power to defend oneself but not necessarily another



• A wish for others is characterized by selfless altruism and a desire to see prosperity and happiness in other people. While characters who hold these desires will typically feel personal gain as well, the base desire is the welfare of others more than oneself. Though these wishes may seem pure, they can stem from pathological selfless behavior. For this reason, abilities of this nature will be less effective on the user.
  
  Wishes for others power sets: Healing, wound transfer or sharing, ability to give part of one's own health to create small life for short-term summoning (controlled, defensive creatures), defensive ability geared towards others or at the cost of oneself



• A wish against others is a wish that often leads to personal gain, but at its source is intended to benefit through the misfortune of others above all. Destructive powers, inflicting despair, and leeching power all fall in this camp. A wish of this nature can be due to ruthless desire to obtain personal goals at any cost rather than simply having others suffer as a byproduct of an innocuous wish.
  
  Wishes against others power sets: misfortune, astral haunting, despair, weakness, power leeching, body manipulation, shadow manipulation, summoning (creatures perceived as aggressive or frightening, control level depends on user)
  



• A wish against oneself typically stems from deep hatred of oneself or one's background. The wish itself is not targeted at harming others, though this is typically an unfortunate side effect. While characters with wishes from this group may experience some perceived gain, its nature is painful and destructive as they punish themselves. Characters who wish they did not exist or believe that their presence is nothing but misfortune will fall here.
  
  Wishes against oneself power sets: self-destruction, blood manipulation (only the character's own blood or an intimate relationship of the same blood type), body switching, invisibility/intangibility, shadow hide, astral projection, greater personal strength when near death/heavily injured

DESIRE & POWER CONFLICTS—"but my character can fit two or more of these criteria! How do I choose?"
How you choose and how it fits your character is really the meat of your "app" and how you want to play them, as well as how you understand them. If you can make a case for your character wanting something based on their development and can place the desire you submit for them in a category, then you can take that power set.

Many powers have overlap already, but it is the intention that makes the difference. Body control for someone who wants something for themselves may, for example, be limited to moving a character's body and trapping them for tea and cookies because your character wants it. For someone who desires something against all others, body control might mean weaker long-term control but the ability to bend limbs in ways they really shouldn't bend.

If you can justify it without excessive mental gymnastics, your character can have it. If you really are between two camps and both are viable, just choose the one you like best or submit something of your own and see if it fits.

And if the desire and power don't fit, it's always possible for a desire to change just as they do in reality. You are not stuck with one set on entry.