To start off, it has been agreed that you can have two characters at most, and if you are playing more than one, they must be on opposing sides. So, for example, you may play with
2 Original characters
Or
An original character and a cannon character.
Or, from this point on,
2 cannon characters.
The “from this point on” disclaimer is due to the fact that, when the very idea of a bwint role play was presented again last year, only so many people applied for so many characters. Some players, therefore, ended up with more than two cannon characters.
The above rules might, of course, change once we bring in the likes of Quickstrike, Silverbolt, Rampage, Depth Charge, Dinobot the second, etc, depending on whether or not new players wish to take them on, or if the players currently participating will be the only ones available (assuming they are willing).
Blazemane and I have gone through the character biographies, and come up with the following decisions. Any character that fits within the “two characters per player rule” will be accepted, provided they are not too powerful (whether by statistics or description), or found unsuitable for reasons otherwise, such as ethical issues.
To address the specific characters that have been presented in the Character Bios 2.0 thread, we’ll go in the order in which players submitted their first character, and address each character they submitted. In this address, we will also provide the rank we found suitable. It would be completely unfair for us to assume we know everything, so if you think your rank is too low, or even, perhaps, too high, and wish for it to be changed, it is more than open to discussion, although not entirely open to change. Essentially, your rank can change, but you must present your case logically, and in accordance with the description you have provided with your character.
One thing that will often be mentioned in our assessments is that the weaknesses are not weak enough, or not even a weakness. We will likely ask for an edit on them, but be aware that part of the journey of Beast Wars was ‘bots learning to get past their weaknesses. So don’t feel that just because you’ll have some Achille’s heel now, that you’ll be stuck with it forever.
And one last note. As I said earlier, we have no intention of bashing any character, and certainly not any player who submitted a character. We are merely trying to fit these new characters into the limits of power permissible in Beast Wars, and the ethical limits permissible by the role play’s potential readers.
So, first off,
Wintersong:
Wintersong:
This character fits within the statistics limit of 45 (with a specific total of 42). Your weaknesses, though not glaring, do provide a balanced character, especially in light of the fact you did not match up to the full statistics limit. In general, this character is solid and acceptable.
Rank: 5
Snow Trix:
This character is also solid, but there were some things we wanted to make to note of. First off, your statistics are 45.5. This is very close, and easily changeable, so if you just take one of the “.5’s” off of something, or even take half a point away from a whole numbered statistic, you’ll be good to go in that regard. …Not that you can’t do math yourself, I’m just sayin’…
Snow Trix’s weakness, however, seems a bit… unweak. To say that Snow Trix is in danger of people catching her in her trickery is to merely acknowledge that there is risk involved in any sort of trickery. In this regard, Snow Trix’s weakness is actually dependent on other bots’ strengths, and since she is in less risk of getting caught in her deceptions that most other characters, her potential of getting caught is actually a strength of hers, and not a weakness. So we think she needs a different problem.
On one last technical note, this character is extremely interesting, but because we’re in the first episode, she will have to wait a while to be introduced to the show.
Rank: 6
Echo Wolf:
This character is, once again, intriguing. However, the stats are 4.5 too high (for a total of 49.5). 4.5 points need, therefore, to be taken away. We are confused, also, by what you meant his weakness to be. You said his weakness is his strength and ability to build things. This seems contradictory.
Whatever does happen to Echo Wolf, at any rate, he will still have a long time to wait since he is your third character. There is a chance for him, however, to come later when our cannon to original character ratio has changed.
Rank: 5
Starshadow:
Starshadow:
Please understand before we begin, that we are aware of how imaginative Starshadow is as a character, and that you even have a story behind her to explain all of her power. We should acknowledge to Starshadow, and a few other characters that we've found a bit too powerful, that a powerful character does not always scream of terrible things, or Mary Sue natures. In shows and movies full of ordinary heroes, it is refreshing to look up to the few who make everyone in the room cower when they walk in. This is the purpose of Jack Baeur in 24, the Terminator in the movies of the same name, Dinobot, Rampage and arguably Depth Charge, Megatron and Primal in Beast Wars, and any other characters from fictional realms who are good at what they do.
However, in keeping with the show, our standard for these characters has to be that they can provide a proper reason why they are subordinate to Megatron if they are Predacons, or subordinate to Primal if they are Maximals, other than their mere choosing. We know that if Rampage had his way, he would lead the Predacons or simply destroy all in his path. But even he has an Achilles heel- Megatron caught him at a weak moment and found something to hold over him until he died.
Because of this, there are some things we want to address with Starshadow's character.
First off, you say her speed in beast mode is 7, making her stats 46 when in beast mode, and 45 when in battle mode. However, since we have a 45 statistic limit, exceeding it even part of the time doesn’t work. We ask that you keep her speed at 6 in both modes.
The shortest leopards (being the actual species from which the panther is born- it is just affected by melanism) grow to be two feet tall, and the tallest grow up to be 3 feet and 9 inches. A 6 foot 1 inch black panther is unrealistically tall. However, many beast warriors stand on their hind legs in battle mode, and their length then becomes their battle mode height. Therefore, Starshadow’s battle mode height of 7 feet is not actually too far off since leopards can grow to lengths of 6 and a half feet. So, go ahead and keep the robot mode height, but if you will, please change the beast mode height.
We want to stress the following thing strongly. You note in your abilities that Starshadow has the seducing powers of succubus. This creates two problems. One, since you noted that this makes Starshadow have absolutely no problem fighting males, you are controlling other characters without their consent. Two, that ability makes the center of its effectiveness, well, seduction- lust, essentially. That isn’t suitable for this role play. Ultimately, this is a user friendly forum, and I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only one uncomfortable with posts, and abilities, of that nature. Another thing I want to mention in the user friendly category is that, combined with the succubus idea, and the fact Starshadow’s beast mode has a demon’s tail, she is being shaped into a rather… demonic seeming figure. Being a Christian (both Blaze and myself), we would personally have a problem having a demon-like figure running around, and especially, interacting in the role play with it. We're not sure where others' tolerance levels lie on this, but besides the ethical implications involved with the demon’s tail, it ought to be remembered that this is Beast Wars- the forms are created directly off of animals, not spirits.
This would also call into question the vampire wings that Starshadow has. Perhaps if they were referenced, instead, as bat wings (somewhat similar it seems to us), Starshadow would be able to keep them. But this would have to be at the discretion of other users too, because fuzors don’t come until season 2. If everyone else is fine with it, then we don’t see why bat wings, even on a black panther, should become too much of a problem.
Now for her power. The general rule for weapons was set at a 3 limit. Now physical weapons have, likely, some leeway, because how can you claim someone can't have claws just because they have guns? However, even on a munitions-based scale, Starshadow far exceeds the 3 weapon limit.
Munitions:
Spartan Laser Rifle
Twin sub-machine guns (this could be considered two weapons, but... on the other hand, they're both the same idea, and need to be combined for their fullest potential, so...)
Mouth can shoot a plasma beam
Wings can shoot laser rain (extremely powerful weapon)
Fang Bombs
Total: 5
We would ask, in light of the fact that you have given Starshadow a “7” in the firepower category (not weak, but not entirely insufferable to her enemies), and because of the weapons limit, that you reduce these to three. In particular, we are wary of the laser rain, which could, especially in combination with Starshadow's banshee scream, become an anti-army capability.
Non-munitions weapons:
Bladed spiked tail whip
Stabbing wings (their ability to be used as a shield seems inconsistent with Starshadow's endureance statistic of “5”.)
Dual Claws (Iconic weapons, and not too much seems amiss with them by themselves, but the corrosive acid you speak of makes her hand to hand prowess nearly unmatchable.. It seems the enemy has to avoid being touched. In short, scratch the acid and we'll be very happy.)
These weapons, aren't too terribly over-powerful, but especially in combination with the munitions weapons, makes her a force to be reckoned with on a scale that doesn't seem fair.
Miscellaneous equipment:
Lilith Cycle:
We would contend, at least personally, that a vehicle is unnecessary for a creature enabled with flight, and especially unnecessary for a transformer.
Banshee Scream:
In G1, it is seen that Soundwave has audio disruptor waves, so this isn't exactly unheard of. It just seems like... one more thing that makes Starshadow quasi-unstoppable.
Abilities:
The night vision and extended sight seem fair to ask of a cat beast warrior, so that makes sense
Weakness:
Starshadow's weakness does not seem to debilitating. A lot of warriors can fall to pressure. Perhaps she is exceptionally prone to pressure based failure (although, that seems inconsistent with her warrior background)? However, having disagreements with her leaders does present some interesting potential problems (it was one Cheetor's weaknesses). However, the last note, that she can make wrong decisions seems to be more of a fact of life than something that follows her personality around. Perhaps, this too, you meant for her to have an excessive potential for?
So like... to say that she falls to pressure easily, clashes with her leaders, and makes hot headed (or inexperienced, or forgetful, etc.) mistakes a lot of the time- that all would seem like a good weakness. It would be interesting, too, to see how you would write those moments out in the role play.
But, after all, maybe you have an entirely new idea.
Rank: We want to see what potential Starshadow has if she gets toned down a bit before we give her a specific rank... if that makes sense.
Blazemane
Steelclaw:
Right-o. First off, I must stress that Blazemane was extremely morale and took no part in the judging of his own O.C.
Excellent character. Congrats, you made the 45 stat bill, Blazemane. He's unique in the sense that I've never seen a Maximal go bad, and I'm interested to see how he fares in the war, being as he's in a little deep. A Maximal within Predacon ranks. Poor Steelclaw.
Rank: 7
Skyfire:
Skyfire:
This character seems well constructed. Her stats do, however, total 46, so she needs to lose 1 point. Skyfire’s weakness is reminiscent of Cheetor’s. Skyfire might have to wait a bit before she grows out of her weakness of course, since learning to fight doesn’t happen overnight. On a side note, if Dinobot agrees to take you under his battle trainer’s wing, you might have to watch out for an angry Venatrix (the character- not the player). Just warning you.
Rank: 5
Xzuk:
Xzuk:
The character, as its own entity, works quite nicely. Good stats, understandable weakness, and the like. Just be mindful of the fact that Xzuk will have to change to original mode in order to come into the story at any time in the near future. Even in original mode though, he’ll have to wait a few episodes.
Rank: 6
xCubicZirconia:
Autumn:
By the time Autumn was submitted it was decided that we’d have no more feline beast modes. You will have to have her be something else. Other than that, good character. Also, be aware that we have enough O.C’s in the first episode, so Autumn too, will have to wait a while.
Rank: 4
Venatrix:
Valkyrie:
In terms of ranged combat, Valkyrie does function at the level of most beast warriors, and her weakness further insure that. We are, however, wary of Valkyrie’s power on a few different levels.
To start off, Valkyrie’s bio mentions that aside from diving, Valkyrie is faster in flight than Airazor. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. However, it is inconsistent with “6” given to Valkyrie’s speed statistic. We suggest either increasing the speed to either 9 or even 10, or else define Valkyrie with a flying speed equitable to 6.
Our main concern is how immensely intelligent Valkyrie is. Of course, there is nothing wrong with anyone being intelligent. However, Valkyrie’s spark does not seem to have had a previous owner (although that is not out of the question), and was found by archeologists in a containment unit. It was integrated by scientists into a body which can’t even keep up with the very knowledge, calculating capacity and general intelligence of its owner’s spark. She enjoys watching young ‘bots fool around. When she went online, she quickly was considered smarter than those working on her.
The next part is what we especially have trouble with. Again, any ‘bot should be able to logically answer why they are not the leaders of their sides instead of the actual leaders. Yet, Valkyrie worked her way up the ranks of Cybertron exploration to land on the Axalon’s maiden voyage, long before Primal. Furthermore, Rhinox and Primal see her as a teacher. Maybe that means just of the others, and not of themselves. Either way, if these two facts are considered together, why exactly does Primal command the Axalon? After all, if she was on the Axalon before him, doesn’t that, at least beurocratically, assure her a greater rank?
We wouldn’t claim you don’t have a reason in mind- we’d just want to hear what it is, provided it isn’t that she merely chose it to be that way.
In addition to this extreme intelligence, she is a master of an ancient hand to hand combat style. Again, nothing is inherently wrong with this, but in combination with her unmatched intellectual prowess and extreme speed, Valkyrie seems too formidable.
Rank: 8
Venatrix:
Extremely skilled, but Venatrix does have a “10” in the skill category, so that’s the point. We will admit that a person who has a history as a partner with Ravage seems perhaps… frightening, but if, after all, she can never defeat Dinobot, maybe that’s an indication of his prowess more than hers.
Anyways, Venatrix’s weakness has been discussed before, so just make sure it gets updated.
Rank: 7
And on one last note, attention Night-Hunter: Saber has been present in the role play, but never had an official application sent it. Same goes for Razorclaw with Blaze. Please submit applications soon.[/b]
Almost forgotten, do I need to cancel out that banshee scream? 
so be prepared to make edits to his rank Blazemane. Be prepared.