A Few Background Notes about Master of His Domain

[Tecknophyle]

I thought I'd toss out a few notes on the background of the Master of His Domain setting, based on what's been seen thus far (so no major spoilers regarding upcoming events), and the reasons why I put them in.

First up, powers. Three characters have demonstrated them, and the one thing that's important to remember is that they have limits. Part of the conflict characters will be facing is how to find loopholes in those limits or how fuzzy the boundaries are. We've seen this in Episode 5 when Rudy found a loophole to effect Carol outside the boundaries of his personal property (and the subsequent action in Episode 6), however--although it wasn't explicitly stated--the loophole only was available because Carol (unknowingly) agreed that it existed. If she hadn't, Rudy wouldn't have been able to do anything. In Episode 1, Ravenok did imply that what was considered "his property" had to be recognized by someone else (and to be clear, someone else not under his control already). The obvious rationale for this was to prevent characters from being in God Mode all the time.

The second rule of Fight Cl...err, I mean Rudy's limits is that he can't coerce someone into being one of his slaves/servants (which he doesn't know exists, remember) by directly using his powers. So while he might be able to turn some neighbours who visit into horny Playboy Bunnies for the duration of their visit to his home, he couldn't force them into the same state as Ginny and Carol are in permanently even if they were enthusiastic sex-toys obeying all his commands while in his home: they would have to do it of their own free will. However, that's doing it of their own free will from his point of view. Ginny agreed to do it but was obviously forced by The Mysterious Alien(?) Figure That Is Mysterious because she had no choice. Carol was tricked by Ginny. Again, this is to prevent God Mode from creeping in by having Rudy simply mind-control people into being his servants.

Third limit (which hasn't shown yet, but will play a significant role) is that Rudy can't change people outside his physical property, including himself. While he can change them (as he did Carol, himself, and Ginny), his ability to do so is tied to a location, his place of power, as it were. I suppose a reasonable analogy from Metrobay would be Preston Prescott/Adonis; either can change into the other for however long they want, but can only do it with their transformation booth, so their ability to change is tied to a specific location. Again, limits. Rudy can't simply adapt to a situation when he or the others are roaming around outside his property, and it's therefore possible to beat him, even kill him as easily as you could kill anyone else, if you can catch him in that sort of situation.

Similarly, Lorenzo's power was clearly stated to only effect women. While it didn't show up specifically in Episode 4, it's further limited in only being able to effect a single person at a time, and he has to be in their presence, and they have to see him. So while near-instant mind control is a great tool, it means that he actually has to put himself at risk (his victim must know he is there) in order to use it. Without the presence of the Alphas sneaking aboard the Alonzo boat, the confrontation would have ended very differently even with him successfully controlling Mary. Episode 8 will also have a scene demonstrating that things are a little more complex regarding his control.

Orchid is also limited to one person at a time, and must be (as shown in Episode 4) be in physical contact. Again, this was because of limits. While Orchid and Lorenzo in combination are theoretically capable of controlling anyone (him any woman, her by changing men to women and then Lorenzo taking control of them), in practical terms it's easy to see their limitation. Someone who knew about them and wanted to arrange a meeting, for instance, could simply send an all-male contingent armed with firearms and ordered to shoot Orchid if she approaches anyone, or wear some kind of full-body clothing with no exposed skin, which trivially negates both their abilities. Or a woman who had to meet him could make sure she couldn't physically see him, or meet via teleconference.

Other powered characters who may show up will have similar limits. It may be physical, like some of the preceding examples, or it might be mental, or some combination, but the goal I'm reaching for is to have characters who can satisfy a power-fantasy but at the same time aren't omnipotent: ordinary people can take them down easily of they use their brains (or by dumb luck, one imagine).

So that's a brief background on the powers you'll be seeing.