I think that the main reason to take agree to agree is if you feel like you specifically need the guarentee it offers or to get away from previous bad experiences on the subject, so if that's not something that you're too worried about, it's probably not the right perk for you. 

nod nod 

Name: Time Enough For Love - Cost: 5 ☐
No matter how many people you want to date or be close friends with, you will somehow find the time to hang out with all of them and express your love and care. This power can only be used for relationship activities and not for anything else you might want to use the ability to be in two places at once for.

Okay woo this is wild. I'm probably taking this regardless of if it actually works like I think but wanna sketch it out.

Is it just... idk. 

That you have enough time for Relationship Activities:tm: w/ people that you srsly care about, in some fiat way that may involve things like being in multiple places at once, or alternatively something more fussily metanarrative? Without the mention of two places at once thing I figured that it'd be more just some splooshy logic that means that there's Enough Time For It:tm: in a way that does something narrative-y that bypasses traditional accounting of time? 

I guess the other question is like - 

Is it just 'close friends and dates' - or I guess people you are trying to get into those categories, or is it a bit more general? Like... the biggest thing that pops into my head is a bit of a worry that if I used something like this for getting a big network of datemates and such, that I wouldn't have enough time for like, taking adequate care of kids that aren't like, grown up enough that they can be 'friends' in the normal sense? 

Time Enough For Love is a pretty flexible power. 

It usually just defaults to making sure that you have enough time in between everything - that when you're done doing something that there's an opportunity to fill your time spending time on people you care about without missing out on what you'd get up to otherwise. How that works out depends on what makes the most sense for you! 

You might just have a schedule that's unusually fitting for the other people in your life, if the amount of time that you'd need is something that can fit in that, but usually that gets saturated pretty quickly ^^

So then you'll probably end up being able to fit implausibly large amounts of time and social interaction into your life! That effect can even give more time to spend with you to the people you care about, which is a big bonus too! 

If that starts to become too implausible, you might even end up starting to be in more then one place at once, just because that's the way that makes the most sense for you to be able to do all of those things! 

Even if you end up being in hundreds of places at once, you won't be able to do too much more then just what's important and meaningful to you as time together with those people. 

But that can still mean a lot, in terms of things outside of just making the people you care about feel loved and socially satiated! 

She's blushing terribly, isn't she? 

There's a lot of silly things that lets her do, but just... 

She wasn't expecting it to be quite that unlimited. 

Gosh that's - genuinely really bloody amazing. 

Usually when I'd see something like this, I'd assume that it'd be riddled with hidden 'game balance' restrictions but... 

The spirit's not like that, huh? 

I'm going to fuck so many hoes

She grinned bashfully, and rubbed her hands together for a moment at a half dozen half formed fantasies. 

Mhm! 

Name: I Can Fix Them - Cost: 5 ☐
Regardless of how morally despicable someone is, your love can and will reform them into a genuinely good, kind, upstanding person who regrets their evil deeds.

So... 

The literal text of this reads as kind of trash? It's obviously better then not having it for a doomed case but - 

I could read this a thousand ways and even the sort of legend of the thing is about it being this herculean impossible task that's still deep down this intense suffering thing that takes up a shitton of time? Even if it's not time that counts against anything else w/ time enough for love... 

idk, also just - we're not that-that good at unconditional unselfish love, sometimes? I worry that somethin' like this would just be kinda pointless 'cause I just wouldn't actually in practice fall for people otherwise unredeemable, or if I did, they'd be too dangerous or indiscriminately hostile to start that it just - wouldn't work, as a way to solve problems in any practical way? 

But it's still a bit tempting ^^

We're totally the kinda people that enjoy the whole - reaching out thing, and the steady comforting and all... 

It's not - exactly like that? 

If it's really important to you that it's like that, then it might be? But the scope of I Can Fix Them is a lot larger than that. It'll make it a lot easier and more the sort of thing that you can fit, into your life, and the sort of thing that wouldn't be too scarring, even if you didn't have the immunity to trauma from Iron Will. It helps with fixing trauma and mindsets that people have gotten stuck in, too. 

If you're looking for something that helps with making it more applicable... 

Maybe a drawback? 

Didn't mean to get you defensive ^^ 

Uh... 

She craned her head up a bit, and pondered for a moment. 

I don't think you've talked much about the drawback philosophy, here? 

And looking at that... 

These options grant points rather than costing them. They represent inconveniences or mitigations of existing advantages.

Not sure it inspires too much? Something that makes it - a required playstyle could be interesting? idk if that even - counts as the kind of thing that you could reasonably put in. 

I think I can do that! 

Let me see... 

Name: The Listener - Grants: +2
(Requires I Can Fix Them.)
Your friends and colleagues treat you as their therapist and confidante, sharing all of their frustrations and feelings with you, with the expectation of privacy, professionalism and unconditional empathy. 

Name: The Fixer - Grants: +2
(Requires I Can Fix Them.)
People you care about with complicated and fraught relationship with important people in their lives instinctively understand that those issues are something that you are capable of resolving, even if it would otherwise be a hopeless prospect, and find it easy to expect you to resolve their issues. 

Name: The Redeemer - Grants: +3
(Requires I Can Fix Them.)
When (and only when) an opportunity for a really great story arises, methods of dealing with an issue that do not involve reaching out with the power of love to make people wholer and kinder to themselves and/or others will be closed off for you. 

Name: (Technical) Pacifist Run - Grants: +5
You are incapable of personally resorting to violence, except for immediate, personal self-defense or as a true last resort after exhausting all other options. 

Name: Pacifist Run - Grants: +3
(Requires (Technical) Pacifist Run)
You are incapable of resorting to violence, even as a last resort or through others.

 

Ooo. 

All of those are v. good! 

Even if like, the pacifist-y ones seem to be the kinda thing that I duwanna pick up in vast majority of the kind of things that I'm picturing, largely? So many of the shiniest options in my head rn are a lot fightier. And... the first two are in fact a lil bit scary? But I'm totally mentally presuming that I'm taking The Redeemer in the standard builds, at least ^^

Mostly just mean it in a - broader game design-y sesense - can see the appeal for all of these, and they're shiny and in theme and all. 

Pls remind me to take a look at variants of this kinda thing too. The structure of some of these are the kinda thing that I'd wanna go and poke at...

I'm glad you like them! 

I'll do my best to remind you about those things! I'll write a little note in myself now, in fact... 

There! 

ty! 

Name: True Love's Kiss - Cost: 1 ☐
By kissing your true love, you can break any curse, heal any injury, and cure any illness. The same works in reverse.

This is v. cute ^^ 

Also reasonably practical too! That's p. broad, if not nesscarily a universal perfect healing power or something, and the utility in terms of getting to work better yourself is nice. Still, idk. The - scope of healing stuff that's my jam isn't nesscarily thaaat  broad?

Hard to say how much of a taker this is w/out staring at a full build or somethin'. 

Name: Planned Parenthood - Cost: 1 ☐
You can only have children if you actively and specifically want to. Your partners will understand this and not worry too much about it.

I get why someone would care about this but abortifacients exist? And solutions elsewhere too, like meds that mess w/ fertility cycles, morning after stuff and condoms or whatever. Hecc, I can probably improvise a solution to this w/ DFEW, right? Just like, copy a dearth of interfertility w/ any given thing I fuck from a squirrel or something? It's relatively cheap and presumably has a perfect protection and all that makes more exotic possibilities impossible but eh. It'dn't even be the worst if that happened, and I'd feel hypocritical taking things like that if I'm not taking like, Immunity System, iirc?

Name: Two Become One - Cost: 1 
(Requires Planned Parenthood)
When you have sex, it is always special and wonderful and beautiful. No one ever elbows anyone in the face or makes undignified noises.

Name: Bop It - Cost: 1 ☐
(Requires Two Become One)
The mysteries of another's body are an open book to you, and you always know exactly how to move and touch in order to please someone in bed.

...so prereqs ^^

The relation is pretty loose? I unno what'd make one require the other. 'm already p. invested in some perks that'd help w/ that and all but - idk the contours of negotiability, here? 

I'm presumptively taking these both, btw, so don't worry about fixin' the dependency here? 'm ok w/ spending a bit more on - sex and sexuality and all, if that - matters at all. 

I can see the problem... 

I don't think I can quite just make it work with The Fairest Of Them All? 

The connection that makes it work is about - having the experience be something that's positive and unspoiled, and one thing that often comes up is that it can't be like that, if you're risking having a child that you aren't trying to? I think the perk needs something that disconnects that case from what it's trying to do because of how it's framed to work from a prerequisite, or to be tweaked a little further away from the way it worked before? 

Oooh...

That's a bit awkward to fit but - 

She rolled her shoulders, and tapped at the page, trying not to let her cheeks blush too too warm. 

So -

I wanted to... pitch a perk that did something - related? I've - gotten pretty invested in - 

Sorry, I have no idea how much - background in these ideas that you have, I'm just gonna gloss it a bit and hope that covers enough for you to reach out for the right kind of thing - 

...Experiences of sex that aren't - the kind of thing that'd help make a baby, say. Stuff in text, stuff that's - about different, related emotional drives, that's connected to - feeling out weird states of relationships and social dynamics and interesting physical sensations that may or may not be too too related to genital on genital Stuff:tm: and... 

It's very important to me, but... 

It's hard, for a lot of people, and in a lot of situations, just because - there's specific things that people get out of exactly specifically Sex:tm:, and sometimes I really feel like - the stuff I do with those people, in those times, really ought to give those feelings, and that - programmed reward in the body, yeah? 

Sometimes it kinda feels like a gender thing, to be honest - like I'm - dysmorphic about not having the - parts of the body or lizard brain that would accomplish that? Goddesses know that I felt a ton of that around - not quite feeling the way that I felt I ought to feel, before I got on estrogen. in case you're not familiar, that's a (class of) hormone(s) that humans and probably a bunch of other animals have in their brain chemistry across genders, but is strongly associated with femininity and as is typical is also related to a bajillion other biological things. People take it here, when they wanna have a more girly body, 'cause more thorough options aren't - available. 

...

so yeah? 

Thoughts pls? 

Let me think....

Oh! 

I've got something! 

Name: GGG - Cost: 4 ☐
Your true love will be willing to try just about anything you suggest in bed, and if you really enjoy it, they'll really enjoy it too.

Name: Sensual Service - Cost: 1 ☐
(Requires GGG)
Worshipping you is its own reward. Serving and submitting to you is at least as pleasurable and orgasmic as selfish sex, and dominating and domineering has its own primal physical joy and pleasure when you are involved. Your true love will come to experience this even outside of their relationship with you as they grow closer to you and their sexuality. 

Name: Two Become One - Cost: 1 ☐
(Requires Love Dodecahedron)
When you have sex, it is always special and wonderful and beautiful. No one ever elbows anyone in the face or makes undignified noises.

Name: Bop It - Cost: 1 ☐
(Requires Two Become One)
The mysteries of another's body are an open book to you, and you always know exactly how to move and touch in order to please someone in bed.

This should work! Some of these were already worked out by other mes, I think. 

GGG is a different perk that is on the standard list, but I think it still sounds like something that you'd appreciate? Two Become One was a little odd, but I was able to get it to work with the logic of Love Dodecahedron. It'll lean a little more to being about why you're special and why you're worth overturning the usual rules, rather then the safety? But I think that Potent Presence should tie in with it, and make it feel safer based off of all of the ways that you'd help your partners out, too. 

I don't refactor requirements too much, and it feels a little stickier then making new, distinctive perks. The Spirit tries really hard to make the advantages that it offers as available as possible, but sometimes that's really hard to do without making it much more expensive, so the requirement is maybe a bit high, but you've already sketched out a lot of your build so! 

I hope it comes out how you were hoping. 

I'm sorry that you've had a hard time about that... It's important that you get to be the type of person you want to be, and get to express yourself in the ways that mean that much to you without that pain. 

A little wry chuckle slipped out of her lips.

'Without pain'... 

I get the angle, but she's really an innocent lil sweetie, isn't she? 

...She gives her a quick hug, and then plops her back down to do a little lightning round. 

Name: The Princess And The Dragon - Cost: 3 ☐
No matter who or what you're trying to sleep with, the logistics will all work out, somehow. Arbitrary differences in size, biology, temperature, substrate, and underlying physics can be gotten around with sufficient creativity and determination.

Nah. I think it's too feasible to do w/out, w/ most magic-y stuff? Also DFEW should cover this well enough for most practical purposes, or Sensual Service, if I wanna go for that kinda thing. 

Name: Before Your Eyes - Cost: 4 ☐
In your presence, people become willing to experiment sexually in ways they normally wouldn't. For some reason this applies especially well to boys kissing each other.

Ehhh. I feel like this is more or less just a - reangled clone of GGG? I like the idea of it being a little more - intimate, I guess. Oh and - while I'm at it, can I let GGG be at least like - kinda reciprocal? I'm not sure that I want it to be all the way there but - getting to enjoy their weird ideas seems fun, if I love them and trust them and - want to give them something funky and nice, even if it otherwise guarentees that I'm inta some substantive chunk of their kinks. 

Name: Fated Lovers - Cost: 3 ☐
You will meet someone who will go on to become your true love. If you enter a specific universe with a specific target in mind, you'll meet that person under favourable circumstances, and if it doesn't work out with them, this power will keep introducing you to new possibilities until you find someone who's right for you. If you're the sort of person who can have multiple true loves, you'll keep meeting new ones until you have enough.

This would be super tempting if uh. Love interest and the harem line didn't exist? As is, it's p. redundant w/ them - all it does over and above beyond general synergy shit is guarentee that I can get good first impressions but fuck it, if I can't make a good first impression, I deserve to have the lil extra complication? Like the semantics better over there anyways. 

Name: Sorry About That - Cost: 3 ☐
Your true love will be extremely forgiving. Even if you make mistakes or act thoughtlessly toward them, a simple apology will mend things between you. They may expect you to try to improve, but they'll be infinitely patient about how fast that improvement takes place.

Name: Excuse Me - Cost: 5 ☐
(Requires Sorry About That)
All your friends will be just as forgiving as your true love.

Name: Tragic Backstory - Cost: 8 ☐
(Requires Excuse Me)
Something terrible happened to you in your past. Anyone who hears about it immediately forgives you for any and all bad behaviour in the present. They will not expect you to grow or change, and will continue sympathetically excusing whatever you do indefinitely.

I. 

She lets out terse sigh, and closes her eyes, trying to cool the venom heat in her voice and the tension in her wrist. 

I understand why an ok person would take this line of perks. I know - probably, people who would take something like this, w/ some renegotiation of the premise to - resonate with their pain and what they - can, in fact, do.  I know what it's like to be  - really down bad, for sympathy and empathy and restraint and accomodation but. 

Wow do these perks really really not appeal to me at all. 

...At least in the context of the uh. 

The rest of the perks existing. 

Taking Fated Lovers can also help improve the quality of the pool of candidate lovers too, along with helping with the first impression, but it makes sense that it might not be one of your highest priorities. 

Ohhh... 

Oh ok. 

I think that - the vision of what - selecting the right world w/ isekai roulette does helps a lot with that? But still like. 

That's on the list of maybes. 

Name: Sense of Style - Cost: 4 ☐
People who are romantically interested in you will start dressing more to your taste. The more romantically compatible they are, the better they'll be able to guess exactly what to wear to catch your eye.

Name: Bonus Style Points - Cost: 3 ☐
(Requires Sense of Style)
Luck will shine on anyone trying to dress up for you. They'll get their hands on outfits they couldn't normally afford, their clothes will fit better, and in extreme cases they might even find themselves able to change shape, sex, or species—though only in ways that make them more, not less, comfortable in their own skin.

Oh that is a sexy idea. 

It's expensive tho and I feel like I've probably used up most of the room I have ^^ 

I feel like - I would probably mostly only take this in the context of like - leaning into having like... my admiration and favour be a currency, having - 'dress' be something intricately involved in power and prestige and effiacacy and culture, or - something like that, and be taking the full line. I don't really really see myself taking just the first one? It's nice but just uh. 

If I really want to, I can probably just like. Give my gfs nice outfits to wear ^^

And obviously that's not quite as good as the power of the spirit, but it's enough for me for something more - secondary? 

Onto the user story list ^^ 

Oh and... 

I shouldn't just - forget to tally up points now that I thought of doing that. 

Can we get a pt tally w/ uh... 

The big ol' package of the stuff I was counting up before I started on power of friendship, plus the love interest line, flattery, time enough for love, the bundle of stuff we figured out for the sex perks?

Sure! 

That puts you at 36 points of Yourself perks, and 27 points worth of Power of Friendship perks, leaving you with 7 more points before drawbacks. 

Good to see I still have some breathing room....

Which isn't to say there aren't a bunch of things that I passed on that could easily slot in for those last few points - captive audience and quality time come to mind, which would leave me w/ 2 more, even before like, any custom perk brainstorm session or something ^^

Still a few more left! 

Name: Popular - Cost: 3 ☐
Wherever you go, you develop a reputation fast. The sort of people who you'd like to have as fans tend to hear about you and be impressed. You may not make an impression on mainstream society at large, but you'll develop a following among the people who best resonate with your style.

Name: Famous - Cost: 3 ☐
(Requires Popular.)
Wherever you go, people really take to you. You're the subject of constant gossip and most people have heard of you before you meet them. People you've never met will get crushes on you.

These are - moderately blushy tempting? Mostly more to me-y spec uses, rather then a bit wider. Honestly though... I feel like Potent Presence should prob. be enough for this purpose? And yeah, the appearance-y stuff we took a buncha pains to get earlier. 

Name: Undiplomatic Immunity - Cost: 6 ☐
You are above the law. Any crimes you commit will be overlooked by the authorities. Note that, if you do enough crime that you start looking more like an invading army, local governments will still feel free to declare war.

This... 

Gosh. 

Like obviously it's a really powerful perk, and really useful and shit? It's not like there's not a bajillion things that I could do w/ this that could be p. awesome, it's just that it's expensive and is another one of those perks that encourages a play pattern that I duwanna go into? Want to - actually work with people and the places that I end up in, not just - brush off the whole idea of that sort of thing and be invincible for it 'til I'm suddenly just Not:tm:. 

It's still a maybe. 

Name: Friends In Low Places - Cost: 3 ☐
You make friends easily among the lowest echelons of society, the underdogs and underworlders. Moving and acting in these circles is intuitive and natural for you.

Name: Friends In High Places - Cost: 3 ☐
You make friends easily at the highest echelons of society, among the rich and powerful. Moving and acting in these circles is intuitive and natural for you.

Name: Friends in Strange Places - Cost: 3 ☐
You make friends easily in small isolated communities, among those who may be scorned by mainstream society for their differences or may just be so obscure that mainstream society mostly hasn't heard of them. Moving and acting in these circles is intuitive and natural for you.

These are all basically the same perk, for the same basic niche of adapting well but doesn't really - draw me in? I could see this being part of a dedicated user story, just because it really helps w/ premise realization, but abstractly, it's not that-that appealing in a way that makes me think it's gonna be competitive w/ other options. 

Honestly, the thing that it most makes me think is that there should probably be some sort of - pay off for the symettry - like, idk, an exhaustive subsets of society clause, or a capstone that requires all of them, or some shit like that ^^ 

But that's besides the point. 

That's the full listy! 

Beyond the drawbacks, and all. 

Feels good to - be that bit closer to gettin' this all. 

I think the point of the symmetry is just to reinforce that you can belong more or less anywhere! I don't think it's nesscarily fully complete, but it'll help build foundational skills that should help even in odd situations that might not count for any of these! 

Plus, having something that you only need to explain once can be helpful, too. 

yep yep 

Drawbacks

These options grant points rather than costing them. They represent inconveniences or mitigations of existing advantages.

Name: Decorative - Grants: +1 ☐
You are unfailingly cute and pretty and feminine at all times, in all circumstances. You cannot wear insufficiently pretty clothes. You cannot make insufficiently pretty noises. You cannot ugly cry.

Name: Beauty Is A Curse - Grants: +1 ☐
"(Requires A Thousand Ships) No, you don't understand. Beauty IS a curse. People will NOT stop bringing it up. Everyone you meet just has to point out how pretty you are. This will never stop happening. Even the most tactful people find it slipping out subtly, as remarks about the luster of your hair or the depth of your eyes."

Name: Plain Jane - Grants: +2 ☐
No matter what you look like, nor how many times people tell you you're beautiful, when you look in the mirror all you see is imperfections. You will never be fully satisfied with your appearance on an instinctive level.

Name: Style of Sisyphus - Grants: +1 ☐
Anytime you settle on a personal style that works well for you, soon afterward you'll encounter inspiration for another style that you like even better. You might end up cycling between different fashions, or trying to incporporate them all into a single outfit (and then finding another inspiration and having to start all over again).

Name: There's Another One - Grants: +3 ☐
You are not the only vessel of the Spirit. You might meet someone else with similar powers to yours; you might even meet more than one. Your susceptibility to one another's powers will be governed by the narrative.

Name: Incomplete - Grants: +5 ☐
About half of people you encounter will be immune to all effects listed under Power of Friendship, and about half of those who remain will see reduced effects. You can do nothing to change this.

Name: Green With Envy - Grants: +6 ☐
People are so eager to be your friend that they become bitter and vindictive when denied the opportunity. You can tear apart long-established friend groups if you aren't careful to give everyone equal attention, and sometimes even then. This effect is particularly harsh around people you're dating.

Name: You Ruin Them - Grants: +3 ☐
Once someone has dated, slept with, or even shared a deep and longing glance across a room with you, their heart is never fully satisfied with anyone else. Other relationships pale in comparison to what they could have, or imagine they could have, with you.

Name: Jilted Lovers - Grants: +4 ☐
When you break up with someone, they become monomaniacally obsessed with getting back together. If you take Realism, this will absolutely escalate to violent stalking.

Name: The Crazy Train - Grants: +6 ☐
Powers that you should be able to control directly or influence by your mood and preferences (like Dragon Fairy Elf Witch, Emerald Orbs, or What's In A Name) instead answer only to the narrative, which is still using your aesthetics but might not necessarily have your best interests in mind. Combines... interestingly... with Realism.

Name: They'll Know - Grants: +8 ☐
This drawback lifts the veil that discourages people from realizing how your powers affect the world around them and their own minds. Warning: this knowledge can cause a lot of trouble.

Name: Realism - Grants: +20 ☐
Give up your metanarrative protection. Although your individually selected powers still work as described, the invisible synergies that protect you from, say, gaining violent stalkers through Mysterious Allure or being genuinely traumatized by your Tragic Backstory are removed. Additionally, though effects like I Can Fix Them still operate, they may take considerably more effort, care, thought, and narrative investment on your part.

I don't think I'm going to do an item by item for the drawbacks? 

A lot of these I'm p. happy w/ throwing out as just - getting rid of too much of the value of the stuff I'd otherwise want. 

The ones that pop out most obviously as being takeable are like... There's another one, maybe Beauty is a curse? like, I'm chill w/ such a thing coming up evefn a lot a lot, honestly ^^

I don't think I super want to - taint the more organic stuff w/ it, tho, and it's just one point. 

Hell, even something like jilted lovers could work? There's a looooot of latitude that you can get w/ partner quality and ability to deal w/ problem people while staying in a relationship w/ someone so... 

I could see it, though honestly I'd probably want to dial it back a bit before - feeling comfortable actually actually taking it?

We'll have to see! 

The other more obvious thing that came to mind was - other challenge stuff, like The Redeemer? Or just - generally a drawback that makes power accumulation less quick or something such that - the plots still more happen, yeah? These powers are great and amazing and I wanna be able to make full use of them, but I don't want that to just - make me skip past all of the interesting things in the middle, I guess? 

Name: Steady as She Goes - Grants: +2
(Requires Anything You Can Do.)
Your power growth is dictated by the narrative. Sudden bursts of power are much less likely to dramatically change the course of the story without important plot and relationship developments, and augmentations and improvements you gain may slumber or seal themselves until a more appropriate time in the story of your life. 

Name: Dramatic Damsel - Grants: +3
(Requires Anything You Can Do.)
When (and only when) an opportunity for a really great story arises, powers that ordinarily protect you from things like getting hurt, being drugged, or losing fights will slip just enough to facilitate someone getting the better of you. The power may reassert itself right away for a dramatic escape, or keep a loophole open or a handicap in place long enough to make your escape more difficult and elaborate. (Combining this with Realism is not recommended.)

These are the ones that the most come to mind! Steady as She Goes should help make the overall pacing more fit what your ideal story looks like, even if you might normally race past that and Dramatic Damsel helps you not avoid plots just by being too competent or too careful. 

Ooo these really are neat ^^

Both of these seem like they are really there for the best life-ing experience, especially since... 

I think the phrasing of Steady As She Goes implies that it doesn't like - stop you from getting value from power gaining perks, just that there's a certain, idk, ultimate manage-y thing out there somewhere that does something? 

Just not super sure how the phrase that, tbh. 

Steady As She Goes doesn't nesscarily make it less rewarding to work to gain powers, yes! 

The most important function of it means that you won't typically find yourself trivializing the obstacles in front of you, just because you optimized hard enough on your build or accumulated a bunch of advantages, but if working at getting more abilities is important to you, it definitely won't stop that from being a real part of your story with real stakes. It doesn't nesscarily even make you much less likely to 'win', but it can still do a lot to influence the pace and character of your story more indirectly.