(I feel like I use this thread too much. >w>) Anyway, not to give any spoilers but long story short; in the fictional story that I'm making the main character needs to become stronger enough to overcome an obstacle and needs to do so 'fast'... so what I had in mind is to have be in a place that's like... well... ...yeah. She trains, gets stronger, and leaves. Too make it not totally a rip off; I came up with the idea is that she can never go back there. A one time only deal, ya know? So... on a scale of 1 to 10 how 'overly convenient' is this? >w>
If your character lives inside a human created virtual reality, this is totally plausible. Same if you're writing the magic system of a pure fantasy world. Outside those realms, maybe harder to buy into. It's your world to build, and I could see this working as an element of lots of different rulesets for reality.
Yeah in this kind of setting it might work. But isn't it overkill? I mean, there must be loads of very important, as in lifesaving, things one might do in such a timechamber. And she only uses it to get stronger? This is the only point which is bothering me about it. Is there really no possibility of just making it along the conventional path? With dedication, bodily predisposition, right food? You might safe this plot device for later..
10, easily. If the MC has infinite time to prepare for the challenge, why challenge them at all? And isn't there any way for them to deal with the challenge other than raw power?
The time chamber in Dragon Ball just slows down time, and there's a limit. Basically it's turns a month into a year or something like that. Also you still age a month. It's not as over powered as it appears. Making it a one time deal makes it even less over powered. I say go with it as long as it fits the laws of your story. (Also it's possible to do this in our own world using time dilation so it's not even far fetched)
In the novel Kirith Kirin by Jim Grimsley there is a similar plot device. The MC is occasionally whisked away to a "land beyond the veil" (think The Mists of Avalon) where time runs differently. This allows for the story to give him all the knowledge and training for the sorcerer he is to become both in secret and also in a very short span of time as perceived from the timeline of the normal world. I give it 9 - 10 on the convenience scale.
Well in reality the other reason that she's doing this is that her teacher has the same power she does and she has no idea how to use it along with why she has it in the first place. It more than just a training montage. Its to teach the reader more on the power the MC has among other things. Again, not trying to reveal anything but if she can't get strong enough before leaving this place she and other people will get hurt... I know its crazy convenient but I'm over all she needs this training, in a way.
Anabolic steroids + a high calorie diet + strength training. It depends on how long she's got, of course.
It is pretty convenient, and it might seem like a bullshit cop-out even with the one-time restriction, depending on how it is portrayed. I think it's a general rule to stay away from plot devices like that when you're very late into the story, because it's going to seem cheap. If you're somewhere around the middle though, it should be okay. Is foreshadowing the existence of this time chamber totally out of the question?
