hm... I wouldn't say this is entirely false, since I Am of the belief it's Possible to write an interesting story in an uncontested near-omnipotent context*, but I don't think that the different grades of nigh-omnipotence are interesting, except perhaps for theoretical consideration; and I also think the story itself would be difficult to write and require caveats, since all my attempts thus far could be thought of as 'the person is essentially Omnipotent, But they refuse to use that Omnipotence to solve problems directly in ways a normal human cannot conceptualize, Because Of Reasons.' which somewhat abrades away at the implicit premise of Omnipotence as an ISH 1.9+ Effect- in other words, I think it might be possible to write a story in such a context, but not usefully possible, such that doing so is substantially more difficult and grants only a limited payoff.
*From our perspective outside the story, and not just from the in-story perspective of 'It's possible because Omnipotent Man said so and he's omnipotent'.
What I mean by 'grades of near-omnipotence' is 'ways otherwise-omnipotent agents can be opposed'. A lot of settings
don't have useful granularity past infinite-in-attribute; EFB is already exceptional there.
A lot of the ISH's assumptions rely on the fact that most fictional 'near-omnipotents' have to share human-comprehensible constraints in order to be talked about by humans, and generalizing the idea that ability to defeat common constraints means being closer to omnipotence.
But you can also just have a formal and generalizable ladder projected downward from omnipotence. Give it a cool name, even. I kind of like Absolute Horizon Seal.
This will be the final major opponent of AST I. Choose as many as you like; the stronger this foe is, the better will Hunger be prepared for the Epilogue and the eons to come... if he prevails. You must choose at least one option, else won't be counted!
...Well, it looks like it's now-or-never to finish the CYOA I started ages ago! The good news is,
@vali's CYOA-building advice helped me figure out the theme implied by its' signature Weird Detail, so I've got a decent chance.
@Rihaku, can you give me an approximate guess at my deadline?
Each option with a majority of votes, or equivalent in arguments and omake power, will be chosen. At baseline the Maiden is a four-pick fight; calibrate appropriately.
I think people may not have noticed, but it's actually possible to
leave her at four-pick fight. We just have to split the vote badly enough.
We need to accept that all of our epilogue outcomes will probably be at least somewhat bittersweet. Hunger won't make it to High Cursebearer, not unless we dump a few million words, make a perfect plan and get really lucky or somebody bribes Rihaku with like 10k IRL. And since he won't make it there, he's pretty much doomed to die.
I'm not sure that's true, actually. I think his epilogue, if bittersweet, is going to be bittersweet because of his own nature. Hero, or Tyrant? Vengeance, or love? What ultimate principle drives him to fight all reality, makes his uttermost striving
worthwhile?
If he learns nothing from the Forebear's misery, we fail. If he chooses to take up his sword out of principle, but doesn't live up to the principle of love - we fail. And Dien's victims should be loved, but
so should Dien.
Act with justice, but write unconditional love into your justice. That, is what it means to be righteous.
[X] Unbidden Grace
[X] Flower of Victory
