r/whowouldwin • u/KiwiArms • Sep 07 '19
Event Character Scramble Season 12 Sign-Ups
When your submissions are all done, please fill out this form to finish signing up for Season 12. If you don't fill out the form, you won't be counted!
For those of you that are new, a small introduction: The Character Scramble strives to be /r/WhoWouldWin's premier creative writing and analysis tournament. At the beginning, everyone submits characters that meet the guidelines, then those characters are randomized and distributed evenly. From then on, each week there's a new writing prompt for everyone to follow. At the end of the week, everyone votes for who they think should advance, until we have our winner at the end. The winner at the end of the tournament gets to choose the theme, tier, and rules of the next scramble, along with a nice custom flair as their reward.
Here is the sign up for the email list. If you are interested please sign up, as this will keep you up to date with an email for every Scramble post that is made, making sure that you don't miss a thing.
We also have an official Discord channel, so be sure to stop by if you want a quick analysis of your characters, or just to say hi.
Basic Rules/Scramble Process
Signups will be from September 7 - 20. That's two weeks, you'll need it.
Each user who wishes to participant will be submitting FOUR (4) characters (three Rangers and one Megazord) that fit a set of rules that will be laid out in the submission rules below. Each character must be submitted in their own parent comment in this thread to avoid confusion. That means don’t reply to your own submission comment with another submission, make a separate comment thread for each individual submission.
Users may also submit backup characters to be added to the reserve pool. Users may submit TWO (2) backup characters (one more Ranger and one more Megazord), and must specify in the submission that the character is a backup. In the event of an out-of-tier character or a character removed in the Tribunal, the submission will be replaced by an entry from the reserve pool.
If you need to make a change, just resubmit the form with the same name and new info. We'll take whatever version is newest when building rosters. DO NOT resubmit after Tribunal, we'll take any Tribunal changes to rosters into account ourselves.
After Submissions will be the Tribunal. The Tribunal is a final community-regulated place for users to point out characters they feel are over- or under-powered, with judges and GMs around to help settle disputes. Please keep an open mind when receiving criticism; it is encouraged for you to comment on other's characters as well. Characters with issues that are not amicably resolved have the chance to be replaced in the Tribunal at the discretion of the GMs and a panel of selected judges. In these cases, replacements will come from the backup characters submitted.
If you would like to apply to be a Tribunal judge, please fill out this form.
After Tribunal, the characters are scrambled (hence the name) and rosters are formed from the random results. Rosters will be rerolled until no one has more than one character that they submitted on their roster. Participants will also have the option to "opt-out" of nsfw submissions for whatever personal reason, as well as veto ONE submission from the list. Links to a form for opt-out and veto will provided after tribunal ends and before the scrambling happens.
Participants will receive the permalink to your post if they receive your character. (That’s why it’s important to have a lot of information on the characters you submit.) They will be encouraged to reply to that comment to ask questions. If you’re on the Discord channel, there will be a channel dedicated to character questions for the remainder of the season as well.
Brackets/Pairings are seeded randomly now. You should still vote tho.
Every round, the Scenario topic will be posted, and players are expected to write about how their characters would defeat their opponents. Every week, the scenario may be different. It may change the way the fight is structured--sometimes it isn't even a straight-up fight at all!
At least one week later, the voting topic will be posted. Voting is done using Google forms, and if you’re competing you will be able to select your name to ensure that you aren’t disqualified for not voting for that round. Entrants must vote on all fights, and their votes count double. Not voting results in forfeiture. If you cannot vote due to time constraints, message me and we can work around that.
After results are posted, the brackets are updated and the next round begins.
The theme of Scramble 12 is going to be "Mighty Morphin’ Scramble Rangers", based on the 90’s TV phenomenon Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, with rounds themed on various seasons. For more information about that, check out the Hype Post.
Frequently Asked Questions
Submission Rules
The tier for this season is split between your two submissions. Rangers are the weaker tier, so their tier benchmark is going to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We’re making some slight changes to the tier, though, so for the purposes of this tier ignore Buffy’s house-explosion durability feat and assume her only weapon is a bunch of wooden stakes. I’ve put together a condensed version of the respect thread here for quicker browsing of Buffy’s most relevant feats. In addition to the tier, Rangers must fit a role based on the color of their costumes: Each Ranger submission’s design must contain a clear majority of one of the following colors with no repeats among your submissions- Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Pink, Black, or White. Using a reasonable alternate costume the character actually uses is totally fine, but photoshopping/Smash palette swapping a character to fit is not.
Also, if you feel like you can make a case for a character being a certain color for reasons aside from visual, you're welcome to try. For instance, the Fourth Hokage usually wears White or Green, but his most well known title is The Yellow Flash, so you could reasonably argue he's Yellow.
Zords are much stronger than Rangers, so Zords are against a much higher tier. The Megazord tier benchmark is King Of The Monsters Godzilla, though we’re kind of playing fast and loose with those nuke feats. In addition to the tier, the Zord submission must be between 100-450 feet tall. We’ll allow a little lenience if your character is close to the top or bottom of this limit.
Now, normally the “wiggle room” in these tiers would be something along the lines of “2/10-8/10 Buffy”. However, people have brought up the way the Great Debate Tournament has ran their most recent season’s tiering, and it ain’t half bad so we’re gonna just straight up steal it this season for Scramble as well. That means the tiers will be Likely Victory to Unlikely Victory for both the Ranger and Megazord Benchmark. For how this new measurement works, read the FAQ.
The following are a bunch of extra guidelines and tips to help make your submissions the best they can be.
Characters must be in tier. This probably goes without saying, but still.
At least half of your main Ranger and Zord submissions MUST use the writing prompts to count. Backup submissions may use the non-writing prompt if you want. If you’re not competing and only submitting a backup, you need to use the writing prompt. If you’re only submitting one Zord (as in not also submitting a backup Zord), you must do the Zord writing prompt.
Characters must be researchable. In addition to "I need to find some way to check this series out, ideally online", a functional Respect Thread must also be provided to allow people to get a handle on a character's stats and abilities at a glance. It is preferable that you have one on the Respect Threads subreddit but ComicVine RT's, Character/Team of the Week posts, or any real repository of cited feats are acceptable. If your character does not have a Respect Thread of any kind, please at the minimum include a Mini-RT in the sign up post, which gives at least 5 combat-related feats that cover the character’s stats and abilities.
You cannot submit your OC's, which includes characters or versions of characters you've created, helped to create, or in any way developed. If we get the feeling you’re giving them to someone else to submit, we might ban that as well.
Characters from ongoing series remain at the exact balance level they were submitted at. What this means is that if you get Goku on your team and Goku unlocks Super Saiyan 5 Nitro Deluxe Featuring Dante From The Devil May Cry Series in the anime after the season starts, you don’t get to add that to your character. This goes for new feats, new weapons, new powers, everything.
You cannot submit a character with feats based on a previous Scramble. People won't appreciate having to read previous write ups to research them, and it opens characters up to being doctored to be submitted to certain tiers in the future.
On that note, if we as GM's feel like a submission was created or given feats by its creator specifically for the purpose of making them in tier for this Scramble, we hold the right to ban such submissions.
Don't submit controversial real life figures. Just, just don't. Don't do it. No Trump, no Kanye, none of that.
While we allow submissions from NSFW series with risque material, don’t submit characters from straight-up pornography.
We as GMs also hold the right to veto specific submissions under the “Dude, come on” reasoning, which sounds really abusable but honestly we’re just going to use it for like “disaster movie lava”, “a swarm of bees with the consciousness of Steve Buscemi” or other ridiculous shit like that. But who would ever submit those hilarious ideas?
Not exactly rules, but some suggestions:
Submit characters you'd actually like to see written. While it is hilarious that you managed to get a dude from a tinder meme through tribunals, the joke gets old immediately after and we'll still have the entire Scramble to go. If you're only submitting a character because the act of submitting them is funny, my suggestion is to try something else.
Following from the above, if you're strapped for ideas and decide to just throw a character in to fill one of your slots, it's recommended that you nab one of the many backups we're likely to have instead. Whoever put them in will no doubt be grateful at least. Alternatively, here's a community created suggestions doc with potentially in-tier characters you can pull from.
Sometimes people like different things, and that's okay. Don't hate on a submission just because you personally don't like the character or the series. And on the other end, you don't have to withdraw a submission just because someone else doesn't like them.
Modifications to a character are allowed, but please try and keep them reasonable. In particular, avoid submissions with left-field changes like "[x out of tier character] with the super soldier serum/a symbiote/an iron man armor/etc."
While duplicates aren't explicitly banned, like, come on man. We all love Peter Parker but we don't need 5 of him in one scramble. Check to see if someone has submitted a character before you toss them in, they might just give you an extra submission.
Listen to feedback. You don't have to follow it per say, but if a lot of people are saying the same thing at least humor the idea that they have a point.
Submission Form
To submit a character for scrambling, fill out the form in a comment below this thread, and include either the writing or non-writing prompt below it. The form has changed since last Scramble so be sure to actually read it.
Name: What's their name, brah?
Role: Ranger or Zord? Remember, this changes the tier your character has to meet.
Series: The name and any specifications of the series your character comes from.
Bio: Give us a quick summary of your character. Who are they? What can they do? Where are they from? What are they like? This doesn’t need to be a novel, but a good paragraph of info would be appreciated.
Color/Size: What color is your Ranger, or what size is your Zord? Refer to the Submission Rules for the color options and remember, you can’t repeat colors amongst your main submissions.
[OPTIONAL] Motif: For flavor when the character actually becomes a Ranger in round 0! What's their theme? Like how the original Red Ranger was a Tyrannosaurus, or how the Samurai Rangers have a kanji for a visor-- basically, what's their helmet look like?
Research: Link your RT or RT-substitute here, as well as any other links that you think could help a person understand your character quickly.
Justification: Briefly outline why you think your character is in tier, and where in the tier they fall (Unlikely victory, Draw, or Likely victory- see the FAQ for what these mean). If you’re doing the non-writing prompt for this character then it already covers some of this, but to help expedite the Tribunal process, at least give a sentence or two.
Motivation: No wishes this time! If your submission is going to be a Power Ranger... why? They're going to be fighting a threat to the world. Are they doing it out of a sense of heroism? Hope of a repayment? Ulterior motives? Let us know. Zords mau or may not need this dependig on what they are.
Major Changes: Check the FAQ for what to put here. Remember, you only get one!
Minor Changes: Check the FAQ for what to put here. You get as many of these as you need, but don’t go overboard.
You're free to format it however you want or add extra sections of information that you deem relevant to a character's research or flavor, but you may not redact or rename any of the sections listed above.
Writing Prompts
At least half of your main Ranger and Zord submissions MUST use these writing prompts. Backup submissions may use the non-writing prompt if you want. If you’re not competing and only submitting a backup, you need to use the writing prompt. If you’re only submitting one Zord (as in not also submitting a backup Zord), you must do the Zord writing prompt.
Ranger Writing Prompt
Your character is doing… whatever it is they do in their time off, when suddenly-- Gasp! A bunch of weird clay men burst onto the scene and start grabbin’ up on your submission! They’re not much stronger than the average joe, tho, and thus easily defeated. But can your character defeat the leader of the mad mob… Buffy Summers. She’s got a whole ‘being mind-controlled’ vibe goin and is ranting about how your character won’t be able to stop her and her master or something. Specifics don’t matter. She comes at you and is intent on whooping your character’s butt. Can they stop her?
If they do, they find themselves being warped away in a colored light, to parts to be revealed in Round 0!
Megazord Writing Prompt
Your robot, kaiju, whatever, is minding its own business, doing whatever it is they do, when suddenly… HARK! A flash of lightning and a huge cloud of smoke, from which emerges the mighty Godzilla! He’s being mind-controlled, he wants to whoop your submission’s ass. You know the drill. Your goal is to incap him, the battlefield is some nondescript island.
Upon victory, your submission gets warped away, just like the Rangers...
If your submission requires a pilot, you can use their normal pilot from canon OR Vin Diesel’s character from fast and the furious. I dunno his name.
Prompt Rules (Both Prompts):
Evil Never Triumphs: Real heroes always save the day! For the purposes of Scramble, your story should always showcase your team winning. If you do analysis and determine your team could only possibly win by the slimmest of margins, tell us about it in your analysis and then show us the one-in-a-million chance it would take to secure victory.
OH LAWD HE COMIN’: Neither Godzilla nor Buffy will be able to be talked down. They’re going for the kill, and if you want to survive, let alone win, you have to take them out.
I have my own army of Putties!: Don’t like Buffy? No problem. Don’t like Godzilla? You son of a b- ...I mean, n-no problem. You can swap either Buffy or Godzilla out in your story for another character if you want. Note that this is purely a flavor change and the character you replace them with must still be more or less in tier. Whoever you swap out Buffy with is still going to have Buffy’s stats and weapons, so if you want to fight a Punisher with different stats and a bunch of wooden stakes or Gamera with Godzilla’s stats and atomic breath,
I'll kill yougo for it. Likewise, the mooks can be whatever you want so long as they don’t make an impact on the fight between your character and Buffy. But they have to be ridiculous.I Will Now Resume Command!: If your Megazord submission is piloted by someone, you can swap out the pilot for whoever you want to fulfill the same general purpose until they get a ranger team to pilot your submission later.
Non-Writing Prompt
Analysis VS Buffy/Godzilla: This is where you go deeper into how your character fares against the benchmark. How their abilities match the tier's, how their stats counteract each other, specific instances that are likely to happen in a fight between them, etc. Since this is serving as a replacement for a narrative, you need to be able to communicate how your character fights in this section, whether they rush in headlong or approach tactically and exploit weaknesses, and what that means for them fighting other characters.
Biggest Strength/Weakness: Discuss the best thing your character brings to the table in a fight (a tactical mind, unorthodox abilities, good stats, etc.), and then what detriments or drawbacks they might have (a specific stat that's lower than the others, lack of ranged options, inability to work with others, etc.)
Character In Setting/With Team: A spot to analyse the flavor of your submission. How does your character deal with other submissions? How does your character deal with the setting? How does your character deal with just being in a Scramble? Are they good at working on any kind of team, or will they just be a pain in the ass the whole way?
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u/Ultim8_Lifeform Sep 08 '19 edited Sep 26 '19
Ben 10 (Transformed into Way Big)
♫
Role: Zord
Series: Ben 10
Where can I watch the source material?
Ben 10, Ben 10 Alien Force S1, Ben 10 Alien Force S2, Ben 10 Ultimate Alien.
Bio: Benjamin Tennyson was a regular ten year old boy (besides the fact that his Grandpa was part of the space police, but ignore that for now) with a sense of heroism when he discovered the Omnitrix. The Omnitrix is a device that copies the DNA of alien species and allows the user to transform into that species. This turned him into the self proclaimed superhero known as Ben 10. While he would add countless aliens to his collection over the years, at the beginning he only had 10. One of these was a behemoth that Ben called Way Big. Way Big is a To’Kustar that stands over 100 feet tall. If the fight got rough, this was one of Ben’s last resorts.
Size: 150 Feet
Research: Respect Way Big!
Justification: Draw - Way Big is no stranger to fighting things that are bigger than him, and he is also extremely fast and agile for his size. However Godzilla is no slouch and his Atomic Breath could be a problem for him. If Ben is going to win this he’s going to need to win it fast, as a prolonged battle would certainly favor Godzilla.
Motivation: Ben’s famous catch phrase sums up his motivation perfectly. “It’s Hero time!” Ben’s been protecting Earth from alien threats for years, this is right up his alley.
Major Changes: None
Minor Changes: For simplicity’s sake, we will only be using base Way Big, so no Ultimate Way Big. He will also be able to transform from his human form to Way Big and vice-versa, but the rest of his transformations will be locked. Remove Cosmic Ray ability and any feat of him sending people to space.