Heh. I like the nice little paradox you've created with his history. Very clever...
What kind of things can he shift into exactly? The latter part of the history seems to indicate that he can change into any creature that was imagined and never given form, which seems to mean that instead of animals we're all used to, he'll be changing into pretty much whatever you imagine to be most useful at the time, with any and all of the abilities/benefits you desire.
Hello Asta and Schradinger,
An arena RP, sounds like fun. The potential is promising but a solitary city tends to limit things. It has been my experience that having multiple…worlds/planes etc allow a multitude of characters to be built and the flow from a multiversal perspective tends to be more organic.
It allows a wider base of good/evil dynamics that allow a person to define their character in the manner they see fit. It also opens up the role-play potential by allowing 'atrocities' be exacted on npc worlds where character interaction provides a basis for development.
Using the Eden Era T1 system and tiers would provide anyone from another site who happens to join that is familiar with T1/tiers to craft a character and get involved. It provides a basis for character limits and an established 'written' combat system that has been around for 15 years in one form or another.
Just some thoughts
Skall
My own thoughts on the use of an infinite multiverse as a setting are somewhat divided. On the one hand, it does do everything you say and allow a vast range of characters to fit well together, but on the other it also tends to make it easier for the whole RP to lose cohesion. If all the characters are spread across multiple worlds, then they have to find ways to traverse those worlds in order to interact. If the primary location is a single city and its surrounding countryside, however, the issue of inter-dimensional transport can be relegated to backstory and used as nothing more than a plot device, since all the characters would then be interacting within the same world.
In all honesty, the city itself would mostly be a hub. The primary location for interaction, but not the only one. That's where the characters go to fight for their rewards or try and depose a tyrant or whatever their motive may be, but if an adventure can be had in another world then by all means, go have one.
I've also been contemplating the idea of pre-established factions within the city, one side fighting for the entity controlling it (evil), and the other fighting against them to restore the city to its people (good). So essentially, this city would still exist within a multiverse, and other worlds could be used if they serve a purpose for your character, their story, or the overarching plot, but the primary location would be the city itself.
Oh, and I'm unfamiliar with the Eden Era T1 system and its tiers. I'll have to do some research on that before commenting further.