Experiences Whats making you angry today? Rp pet peeves

[Delinquent]

Realistically, it's not even possible. Even in a fantasy world it's not possible. Dragons are vicious creatures that would not be breeding with humans, even if their biology allowed for it.

This attitude irks me a bit. You can't really make the claim that dragons are "vicious creatures that would not be breeding with humans" as if that applies to all of them when, in fact, dragons are fictional and can vary massively from one setting to another.

 

[Malozing]

Cold call/PMing me with no details on what kind of RP you want to do. Just saying that you are looking for people to RP with.

I know that you may not know I am not open to new RPs currently, but if you give no thought to your message to me, I am even less incline to respond.

 

[Tove]

Please stop with the adolescent assassin that can kill anyone at any time in more ways than their own age.

 

[LocoMetal]

Why do all of your characters have to know each other? This is a 1on1 RP. I exist here too. Feel free to add me into your story I guess.

 

[Saavedra]

I can't take characters seriously that are half-dragon or half-any other animal. Realistically, it's not even possible. Even in a fantasy world it's not possible. Dragons are vicious creatures that would not be breeding with humans, even if their biology allowed for it.

My issue with that is not that it is unrealistic or whatever, it is that more often than not, it's just a crutch to explain why a character is so special and powerful... as if having innate powers ever made anyone interesting or any character worth playing with.

Show me something your character EARNED, so it tells me something about their personality and demeanour. I don't give a turd about half-whatevers, people that get possessed by demons or psychos that lose control and kill everyone around them because a) those are not actual character traits, just fake flaws or minor inconveniences, and b) who would want to spend literally two seconds anywhere near them when the rational course of action is to put them down immediately like using a machine gun on a rabid dog.

 

[Jannah]

My issue with that is not that it is unrealistic or whatever, it is that more often than not, it's just a crutch to explain why a character is so special and powerful... as if having innate powers ever made anyone interesting or any character worth playing with.

Show me something your character EARNED, so it tells me something about their personality and demeanour. I don't give a turd about half-whatevers, people that get possessed by demons or psychos that lose control and kill everyone around them because a) those are not actual character traits, just fake flaws or minor inconveniences, and b) who would want to spend literally two seconds anywhere near them when the rational course of action is to put them down immediately like using a machine gun on a rabid dog.

This too. Oftentimes this trope is used to give characters advantages that are innate to whichever species they're mixed with while ignoring the same species' weaknesses.

 

[Saavedra]

Depends on how you define dragons. Some are sentient beings that can naturally take human form

Literally the worst kind of dragon. "I wanna play this awesome, mighty creature from mythology, but I want them to look human to bump uglies, have normal social interactions with none of the awkwardness, and bypass all the inconveniences of being a massive, fire-breathing creature, such as common architecture being too small and flammable for me".

I'd rather play with Spongebob Squarepants than with those bullcrap "dragons".

 

[Melpomene]

My issue with that is not that it is unrealistic or whatever, it is that more often than not, it's just a crutch to explain why a character is so special and powerful... as if having innate powers ever made anyone interesting or any character worth playing with.

Show me something your character EARNED, so it tells me something about their personality and demeanour. I don't give a turd about half-whatevers, people that get possessed by demons or psychos that lose control and kill everyone around them because a) those are not actual character traits, just fake flaws or minor inconveniences, and b) who would want to spend literally two seconds anywhere near them when the rational course of action is to put them down immediately like using a machine gun on a rabid dog.

Yeah I agree pretty heavily with this.

I think this applies to even the whole "chosen one" or any other aspect where a character is given something that inherently makes them special without doing anything.

Like, I actually don't have anything against it, I make princesses and royalty and differing species all the time, it is just kind of obvious when someone is just trying to make their character special without putting much thought in vs. Actually writing an interesting and dynamic character with these tropes.

Of course if all parties are having fun, who am I to ruin it by saying what I think it should be

But that is my personal preference.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Literally the worst kind of dragon. "I wanna play this awesome, mighty creature from mythology, but I want them to look human to bump uglies, have normal social interactions with none of the awkwardness, and bypass all the inconveniences of being a massive, fire-breathing creature, such as common architecture being too small and flammable for me".

I'd rather play with Spongebob Squarepants than with those bullcrap "dragons".

In fairness long dragons don’t have any kind of fire breathing abilities and are also known to have the ability to grow to the size of their water source. So they grow/shrink in accordance to their environment. As do a few other of the Asiatic breeds actually

And longs also are known for having metamorphosis life cycle. Some say they start out as fish, grown into dragons, and end with the ability to take human form.

And there are some western folktales of dragons taking human form as well. And theoretically they would be capable of controlling their fire breathe if they have the ability to totally alter their shape.

I think my point stands. Dragons are not limited to the traditional western idea of a six limbed giant fire breathing lizard. Even those that are classified purely as animals come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, elemental affiliations, etc.

And the ones that are considered sapient beings capable of human thought/speech/shape are equally as varied.

As long as the person can back up their idea with world building I don’t see the issue

 

[Saavedra]

I think my point stands.

Your point is terrible and leads to bland roleplays and dysfunctional party mechanics.

Variety in a specific folklore creature´s representation is not an acceptable excuse to scrape the bottom of the barrel for minimum effort power play and spotlight-hogging.

I´m going to skip on how folklore and mythology are not roleplaying games, lacking any sort of teamwork necessity or interaction between independent, thinking agents.

Making your character "X race but they can adopt human form at will" is the laziest trope there is. Its only purpose is to let people play X race, without having to deal with the natural inconveniences of being X. At least "my character is half-[insert cool/powerful fantasy race]" implies some possibilities in personality and background such as how their parents got together, how they were raised, and how society views them. These ideas are often handled poorly by amateurs, but the potential is there. Meanwhile, "X but can look human" is just a shitty excuse to have your cake and eat it too. You can have the physical strength, wisdom and magic powers of a dragon, yet not be sensed as one, so you have a massive advantage over literally everyone else in the roleplay, both PCs and NPCs. No need to strategize about the fact that enemies can see you coming and plan ahead (maybe dig out the good, old giant ballistae), no need to cooperate with your fellow party members because YOU ARE A FREAKING DRAGON and outclass all of them unless they decide to play bullshit characters like yours, no need to deal with any of the implications of being an actual dragon such as causing fear with your very appearance or being unable to fit in the average house or cave, so your social life has to be handled with more nuance.

You could play an orc or an ogre or someone more human-sized and incredibly strong, but you wouldn´t have magic and probably wouldn´t be old enough to be considered wise. You could play a wizard to have powerful magic and wisdom, but then you wouldn´t have prodigious strength. You could play a half-whatever and enjoy whatever specific advantage you wanted, but then you would have to deal with the social implications of being half-"something society hates". All of these ideas are absolutely LAME because then you would have to rely on your fellow party members to lend you a hand and resort to subterfuge and wit, and only a total LOOOOOOOOSER would do that. So instead, you buy the whole package: you play a dragon (they are strong, old and wise, with terrifying magic and also one of the coolest, most famous/infamous fantasy races ever known), and pay for the extra "but can look human whenever I want" paintjob. Because only an absolute moron would make a character with weaknesses when you can create a demigod with absolutely no drawbacks. This also means you can be a condescending ass towards the other PCs because yours is far stronger, smarter, wiser and just plain more powerful than them, since the other players were too stupid to create something as spankingly awesome as your totally original idea that you absolutely came up with on your own to enrich everyone´s roleplaying experience, and not something you copied from someone else because you wanted to have a legitimate excuse to powerplay the hell out of everyone else.

I´m sure the other players greatly appreciate creating balanced characters with human interests and limitations only to be overshadowed by the guy that brought a machinegun to a sword fight. They totally don´t resent putting effort into overcoming difficult situations like having to climb a really tall wall while the dragon can just fly over it, or defeat a giant monster when the dragon can do it on its own or make the effor trivial. And they specially love the whole "hahah, you silly mortals/young races/weaklings" dialogue that crops up with these characters all the time (if you thought elves were bad... at least those you can slap silly).

Of course, this assumes the other players don´t just crumple up their sheets and work on making some other overpowered piece of crap character to have a power balance in the group, which throws out any sense of danger in their adventures.




So yeah, being able to make your character an innate god but have absolutely no drawbacks because they can shape-shift is absolutely goddamn terrible.

 

[Ayama]

Saavedra I get the impression from your post that you might be addressing this in the specific context of tabletop RPG games, where the basic premise is usually to form a party that will go on a quest and fight monsters and obstacles thrown at them by the GM, where they will have to work together and think strategically in order to achieve common group objectives. In this context, I agree that having one character grossly overpowered compared to the others is generally not desirable, but tabletop RPGs are structured not to let that happen through specific point and leveling systems built into the character-creating process.

Even in written form RPs (like the ones on here) that have a similar premise, GMs will place restrictions on races/powers/etc. to ensure that no huge imbalance is present in the party. So your objection on this front, while valid, shouldn't be an issue as long as the GM knows what they're doing and the game is well-structured with rules in place to prevent this sort of thing.

As to your other objection, which I believe is based on people wanting to play a powerful race without the typical drawbacks of that race, I don't think that should necessarily be an issue. If exploring the dynamics of what it would be like to be a dragon in human (or dwarven/elvish/...) society, with so much power and wisdom but, as you said, people fearing you, not being able to fit into houses etc. is something that interests you, then of course you should go for it. But that doesn't mean that people are required to do so, because perhaps they'd rather explore what it would be like to be a humanoid dragon in human society, or maybe they joined an RP where all the characters are humans with monster/fantasy attributes and powers. And even if they don't have the typical drawbacks of being a full-sized dragon, perhaps players can be more interested in exploring a character who accidentally sets things on fire or has issues with kleptomania because they can't help but be attracted to shiny things. Or maybe their exploration will simply be based or more human flaws and weaknesses, and their human will just happen to possess draconic abilities.

So I don't think it's necessarily terrible. It ultimately depends on the setting, the type of game, the other characters, and what kind of storyline and conflicts the players are interested in exploring. Heck, people can make an entire RP that's just about a bunch of humanoid dragons in a school or something, and in that context there's no reason having such a character would be overpowered or imbalanced, or prevent the players from exploring complex character issues (even if those issues aren't the ones one would typically think of when one thinks of dragons ;P ).

(Also I think it's funny that's we've been talking about humanoid dragons all this time xD )​

 

[SP3CT3R]

Your point is terrible and leads to bland roleplays and dysfunctional party mechanics.

Variety in a specific folklore creature´s representation is not an acceptable excuse to scrape the bottom of the barrel for minimum effort power play and spotlight-hogging.

I´m going to skip on how folklore and mythology are not roleplaying games, lacking any sort of teamwork necessity or interaction between independent, thinking agents.

Making your character "X race but they can adopt human form at will" is the laziest trope there is. Its only purpose is to let people play X race, without having to deal with the natural inconveniences of being X. At least "my character is half-[insert cool/powerful fantasy race]" implies some possibilities in personality and background such as how their parents got together, how they were raised, and how society views them. These ideas are often handled poorly by amateurs, but the potential is there. Meanwhile, "X but can look human" is just a shitty excuse to have your cake and eat it too. You can have the physical strength, wisdom and magic powers of a dragon, yet not be sensed as one, so you have a massive advantage over literally everyone else in the roleplay, both PCs and NPCs. No need to strategize about the fact that enemies can see you coming and plan ahead (maybe dig out the good, old giant ballistae), no need to cooperate with your fellow party members because YOU ARE A FREAKING DRAGON and outclass all of them unless they decide to play bullshit characters like yours, no need to deal with any of the implications of being an actual dragon such as causing fear with your very appearance or being unable to fit in the average house or cave, so your social life has to be handled with more nuance.

You could play an orc or an ogre or someone more human-sized and incredibly strong, but you wouldn´t have magic and probably wouldn´t be old enough to be considered wise. You could play a wizard to have powerful magic and wisdom, but then you wouldn´t have prodigious strength. You could play a half-whatever and enjoy whatever specific advantage you wanted, but then you would have to deal with the social implications of being half-"something society hates". All of these ideas are absolutely LAME because then you would have to rely on your fellow party members to lend you a hand and resort to subterfuge and wit, and only a total LOOOOOOOOSER would do that. So instead, you buy the whole package: you play a dragon (they are strong, old and wise, with terrifying magic and also one of the coolest, most famous/infamous fantasy races ever known), and pay for the extra "but can look human whenever I want" paintjob. Because only an absolute moron would make a character with weaknesses when you can create a demigod with absolutely no drawbacks. This also means you can be a condescending ass towards the other PCs because yours is far stronger, smarter, wiser and just plain more powerful than them, since the other players were too stupid to create something as spankingly awesome as your totally original idea that you absolutely came up with on your own to enrich everyone´s roleplaying experience, and not something you copied from someone else because you wanted to have a legitimate excuse to powerplay the hell out of everyone else.

I´m sure the other players greatly appreciate creating balanced characters with human interests and limitations only to be overshadowed by the guy that brought a machinegun to a sword fight. They totally don´t resent putting effort into overcoming difficult situations like having to climb a really tall wall while the dragon can just fly over it, or defeat a giant monster when the dragon can do it on its own or make the effor trivial. And they specially love the whole "hahah, you silly mortals/young races/weaklings" dialogue that crops up with these characters all the time (if you thought elves were bad... at least those you can slap silly).

Of course, this assumes the other players don´t just crumple up their sheets and work on making some other overpowered piece of crap character to have a power balance in the group, which throws out any sense of danger in their adventures.




So yeah, being able to make your character an innate god but have absolutely no drawbacks because they can shape-shift is absolutely goddamn terrible.

You're right and you should say it.

 

[Tove]

If you can't properly GM your own group to keep it from falling to the clutches of oblivion known as drama, you have no business telling anyone else how their group should be run.

 

[FoolsErin]

So yeah, being able to make your character an innate god but have absolutely no drawbacks because they can shape-shift is absolutely goddamn terrible.

”God” is a little much for a dragon in my opinion, though? Like yea, some settings will make them basically unkillable destruction machines that I would absolutely despise being stacked against in the less competent player/GM standards, but I’ve also seen plenty of settings where they’re more vulnerable and doesn’t require every army under the sun to ground. You’re being a little too overgeneralized here, is what I think. It’s really a matter of how your dragons work, how the shapeshifting would work, and how the rest of the setting is. Just because you’ve clearly had bad experiences with this concept doesn’t mean that it can be only such.

Whatever, your feelings on the subject are yours. I’m not going to dictate how you feel about this at all. It’s not my job, shouldn’t be anyone’s, and preferably really shouldn’t ever be.

 

[rae2nerdy]

FoolsErin yeah that was really my point. I am actually used to stories where dragons are fully sentient creatures that aren’t some kind of over powered god beast.

for instance in Temeraire series they’re basically sentient planes. Their role in society is to transport people (specially during wartime for the book plots but also just in general). Now those dragons can’t shapeshifte but they also aren’t all cookie cutter samsies. They come in wildly different sizes, with different “special abilities” etc. (ex. There is the equivalent of a small private plane dragon which can only carry one person and is faster in the air or the jumbo jet dragon which is slower but also heavily armored).

I also read another series where the dragons could take on human form and their fire was actually more used as a mating tactic. Like any females who were immune to their fire were considered their mates and would be able to produce little dragons. In that series they actually never took their animal form outside of dreams.

And of course I study a variety of dragonologies for my role plays of just plain make up stuff on my own for the plot.

It really is just building a character that fits your setting. You can make a character any combination of things as long as it is reasonably possible within the reality of the role play and you back it up with world building.

Saavedra and that is essentially where you and I are talking past each other. You are talking about creating a character that doesn’t fit in a role play. I am talking about the fact that just because something is a hybrid or a mythological being doesn’t automatically make it overpowered or unfit for a setting.

Because not all settings are equal and not all lore is the same. So it’s entirely possible to make a dragon, a hybrid, some Frankenstein monster of a character, etc. and have them fit into the world without issue.

you simply have to respect the established world building and explain why the character is whatever.

to further illustrate I am not talking about someone just making a character X because it’s cool, I am talking about the fact that lore isn’t set in stone. So just because a character is X doesn’t mean they aren’t also well written. It depends on the work the player puts in to writing them.

 

[SP3CT3R]

@Saavedra and that is essentially where you and I are talking past each other. You are talking about creating a character that doesn’t fit in a role play. I am talking about the fact that just because something is a hybrid or a mythological being doesn’t automatically make it overpowered or unfit for a setting.

Because not all settings are equal and not all lore is the same. So it’s entirely possible to make a dragon, a hybrid, some Frankenstein monster of a character, etc. and have them fit into the world without issue.

you simply have to respect the established world building and explain why the character is whatever.

to further illustrate I am not talking about someone just making a character X because it’s cool, I am talking about the fact that lore isn’t set in stone. So just because a character is X doesn’t mean they aren’t also well written. It depends on the work the player puts in to writing them.

Exceptions don't mean there's no rule. If you build your world around the idea of mythical creatures capable of taking human form, you can give them weaknesses and challenges to keep things fair.

But, in general, when people make those types of characters, they're doing it for the Rule of Cool. They want to tap into the coolness of dragons but shed it when being a dragon becomes uncool.

 

[rae2nerdy]

If you build your world around the idea of mythical creatures capable of taking human form, you can give them weaknesses and challenges to keep things fair.

That is essentially my exact point. The OP was talking as if ALL mythological beings are created without weaknesses and challenges. And their mere existence was lore breaking. I was merely showing ways in which you can make a mythological being that fits into the setting and does have realistic drawbacks and flaws.

And it's essentially by creating a lore for that creature that makes it grounded in that world. Dragons for instance are not real and thus can be altered in whatever means are needed to make them fit seamlessly into the plot without overpowering everyone else. And it's not actually that difficult if you look at lore beyond just "Western six limbed beast that breaths fire."

 

[ashwynne]

I’m currently writing a roleplay in which our characters are “dragons” but they remain in human form. Stronger than the average human while in this form but not excessively so (and they’re currently at war with humanity). They also suffer from fertility issues (only producing males which is putting the population in imminent danger). In addition, transforming into their massive beast form requires giving up their sense of self which often cannot be recovered and in that mindless state they do not recognize friend from foe which often entails the other dragons themselves needed to kill them for their own safety.

Granted, this is a one on one, but my point is that with a good partner and proper character creation you can make any trope/concept balanced and workable.

As with pretty much every other problem under the RP sun, this one comes down to choosing partners well (or, in the case of a group RP, being choosy about what kind of GM you’ll commit to). If a GM is letting an overpowered dragon character with a human form for convenience be created (and said character has no drawbacks that balance against the power of that form) then they’re a bad GM and you’re very likely not going to have a good experience in general. Same for a partner who tries to pull something like that. The issue is not with the trope, the issue is with the person writing it.

 

[Tove]

I’m currently writing a roleplay in which our characters are “dragons” but they remain in human form. Stronger than the average human while in this form but not excessively so (and they’re currently at war with humanity). They also suffer from fertility issues (only producing males which is putting the population in imminent danger). In addition, transforming into their massive beast form requires giving up their sense of self which often cannot be recovered and in that mindless state they do not recognize friend from foe which often entails the other dragons themselves needed to kill them for their own safety.

I very much like this plot you and your partner have going. It sounds very interesting.

 

[ashwynne]

I very much like this plot you and your partner have going. It sounds very interesting.

Thank you! It’s sort of a romance but with hella political drama and conflicts. Because of a lack of females, the right to take a mate is hotly contested and eligible females are normally married off to royalty or the upper echelons of society. My character is a successful Warlord who cheated a prince out of a mate by calling on a debt owed to him by her father. The story unfolds from there and we have so many interesting/intense things planned as far as conflict goes!

 

[Crayons]

I can see both sides in this "Dragons: Are they OP or not?" debate. Of course, sensible people playing dragon/half dragon/shapeshifting dragon characters can make them work just fine, because good RPers can RP pretty much anything. Especially in 1x1s where there's not so much of a need to balance power, and the focus tends to be more on the story than just destroying stuff.

However I will say this one thing: I'm part of a large sandbox RP, where anyone can play whatever character they want, as long as it fits the general setting. Most characters on there are humans/humanoids with no powers or minor magical ability. Some people play dragons. The dragons are more or less exclusively played by power gamers who are somewhat lacking in the RP skills department. To the point that, if someone is playing a dragon, you can make a mental note that they probably won't be good to RP with.

 

[Saavedra]

Saavedra and that is essentially where you and I are talking past each other. You are talking about creating a character that doesn’t fit in a role play. I am talking about the fact that just because something is a hybrid or a mythological being doesn’t automatically make it overpowered or unfit for a setting.

[...]

to further illustrate I am not talking about someone just making a character X because it’s cool, I am talking about the fact that lore isn’t set in stone. So just because a character is X doesn’t mean they aren’t also well written. It depends on the work the player puts in to writing them.

That is essentially my exact point. The OP was talking as if ALL mythological beings are created without weaknesses and challenges. And their mere existence was lore breaking. I was merely showing ways in which you can make a mythological being that fits into the setting and does have realistic drawbacks and flaws.

And it's essentially by creating a lore for that creature that makes it grounded in that world. Dragons for instance are not real and thus can be altered in whatever means are needed to make them fit seamlessly into the plot without overpowering everyone else. And it's not actually that difficult if you look at lore beyond just "Western six limbed beast that breaths fire."

Someone once thought that it was fine to take a fascinating, well-developed creature from ancient folklore and alter it as needed to fit a plot which they put a lot of effort into writing. Said alterations happened to revolve almost exclusively around removing the drawbacks of the creature as established in its folklore.

Spoiler

They called it Twilight.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Someone once thought that it was fine to take a fascinating, well-developed creature from ancient folklore and alter it as needed to fit a plot which they put a lot of effort into writing. Said alterations happened to revolve almost exclusively around removing the drawbacks of the creature as established in its folklore.

Spoiler

They called it Twilight.

That’s actually not a great example because world building was the one thing Stephanie Meyer did right.

Her vampires did have drawbacks, for that matter so did her Werewolves. They might not have been the traditional drawbacks but they did exist. Bella was by far more flawless than any of the preternatural creatures and she was human.

But even still that worked for the story Stephanie Meyer was telling. The preternatural brings where exactly as powerful as they needed to be to suit their narrative.

Honestly I would say Bella and Co prove my point. Stephanie showed her work, created characters that fit her own unique universe and told the story she wanted with them.

A better example would be taking a Vampire and sticking them in a Law and Order episode. The character would be over powered compared to the humans and more importantly wouldn’t fit the realistic nature of the show

That would be using your own argument about making a character just so they could stand out and be edgy without bothering to make them fit their surroundings.

 

[Tove]

That’s actually not a great example because world building was the one thing Stephanie Meyer did right.

Her vampires did have drawbacks, for that matter so did her Werewolves. They might not have been the traditional drawbacks but they did exist. Bella was by far more flawless than any of the preternatural creatures and she was human.

But even still that worked for the story Stephanie Meyer was telling. The preternatural brings where exactly as powerful as they needed to be to suit their narrative.

Honestly I would say Bella and Co prove my point. Stephanie showed her work, created characters that fit her own unique universe and told the story she wanted with them.

A better example would be taking a Vampire and sticking them in a Law and Order episode. The character would be over powered compared to the humans and more importantly wouldn’t fit the realistic nature of the show

That would be using your own argument about making a character just so they could stand out and be edgy without bothering to make them fit their surroundings.

What exactly were the drawbacks that she made for vampires and werewolves because I for one didn't see any.
I also failed to see how great of a job she did with world building. She just created a place and stuck characters there. It's still the real world but maybe I missed something through all of that garbage-the series.

 

[FoolsErin]

Someone once thought that it was fine to take a fascinating, well-developed creature from ancient folklore and alter it as needed to fit a plot which they put a lot of effort into writing. Said alterations happened to revolve almost exclusively around removing the drawbacks of the creature as established in its folklore.

Spoiler

They called it Twilight.

One rotten apple doesn’t always spoil the batch. Just because there’s one very noteworthy bad example doesn’t immediately make all of the less noteworthy good ones completely nonexistent. Look dude, if you want to keep creatures from mythology and folklore exclusively as monstrous definitely not protagonist material with no reimagining allowed ever, you write your dragons as big scary monsters and vampires as night-stalking bloodsuckers. You do you. But please don’t shame people who genuinely try to reevaluate a classical creature through a different lens as people who merely want to have a “cooler character” than everyone else. I’m not saying that’s what you‘re doing, or that I am 100% thinking that’s what your doing, just saying that you’re coming off a little condescending all across the board. Ranting and venting is one thing, whining about how all these younger writers completely misunderstand what a dragon/vampire/whatever is SUPPOSED to be is another. Again, not making accusations, but you’re leaning a little towards the latter category with all of your additional words after that initial post.

Also, I’m not trying to say that completely dumping the drawbacks of being this or that into the ocean like garbage simply to have a character that is mostly perks, and therefore by the twisted logic of eleven year old character makers is “cooler” is not a problem. It should be stated that you should consider the consequences of specialness in all forms before stapling it onto the character. It is a valid complaint. I just think that the way you’ve worded things so far and your choice of words is coming off less “these kids are doing a stupid thing that should be called out” and more “anything that isn’t sticking to the original idea of a mythlogical creature is bad”.

I am no expert on the best way to write creatures from folktale and mythology, but as someone who has read books imagining dragons in multiple ways that didn’t feel like someone was having a pretty protagonist, I felt compelled to say something. I’m not trying to tear you down, just saying in verbose that you aren’t wording your points in the nicest way.

Edit: Kind of want to delete this reply now, honestly. Rereading through everything now makes me reel like writing this was just a spur of the moment jump to a conclusion that I didn’t really think on. I could use some sleep. And probably some more of everything, really.