Unwanted transcendence

[RPL]

If I got it straight the point of Transcendence is used to cap characters that became to powerfull for the the story to deal with and at the same time provide closure to them, however I do see that maybe a player my wish to hold on to his character just for a little while, why should a player say goodbye to a character he doesn't feel is ready to leave the story yet.
So my question is, was the Secret Of The Bodhisavatta created for this purpose?

[Clay]

Bingo, got it in one.

[Ralek]

I'm going to go straight out and disagree on the point of Transcendence. Transcendence is an OPTION for players who want closure for their character's story. You need to remember that as long as you don't go Grand Master in any skill there is zero chance of character transcendence. You don't NEED a Grand Master skill in TSoY to be effective. In a very recent story-arc I went voluntarily for character transcendence. I went into the scene where I wanted to transcend with a Master skill level in the skill I was planning on using, and I also had secret of enhancement for that skill and four spare advances. As soon as the roll was called for, I upped the Skill to grand master and used pool (with secret of enhancement) until I rolled a seven sucess level. This was totally voluntary. I didn't need that skill at grand master to suceed at what I was doing, but I wanted closure for this character's story.

As far as the secret of Bodhisavatta is concerned, I find it useful for Yoda-like characters. Characters who ARE grand master at something and being grand master is part of the characters concept but their story is not yet in need of closure.

[Mike Lucas]

Ralek,
Thanks for that great example. More than being just about transcendance, your example illustrates how TSOY is so opposite of traditional games where you have to plan ahead of time to get what you want for your character's story (and usually your plans don't come true, or what you plan for is no longer what you want anyway). In TSOY you can realize on the spot "hey, THIS moment is important to me" and just start spending advances, pool points and maybe gift dice like mad.

I think Clinton said somewhere how awesome it was to hold onto some spare advances for your characters, because it gives you so much flexibility, and yours is a perfect example.

Cheers,
Mike