Doesn't matter if it's complex. What matters is if it fits with your story.
But no, it isn't complex, if anything, it's pretty simple.
Arranging levels hierarchically is easy. The difficult part is how to implement the levels into the characters' power in the scenes. How do you show the power difference between master and saint in a fight organically without it feeling forced? How do the limitations of each level affect the characters? What competitive advantages differentiate the higher levels from the lower ones? You need to narrate the power narrative coherently.
Mak and El already addressed much of what I was going to say on those points, so I'll simply add that you should
really take what they said to heart.
- Apprentice / Novice (1–5★): The foundational stage for beginners and those with weak talents. Individuals at this level are undergoing early training and lack significant combat or magical power.
- Warrior / Knight (6–10★): The standard tier for active combatants who have achieved basic proficiency in martial arts or magic, serving as the backbone of common military forces.
- Master Tier (11–20★): A level of moderate expertise where practitioners begin to transcend normal human limits, gaining a youthful physique and a slight extension to their natural lifespan.
- Saint Tier (21–30★): Comprising only a few dozen individuals, these regional heroes possess enhanced physical resilience and significant fame, living several decades longer than the average person.
- King Tier (31–50★): The national elite, consisting of fewer than 50 individuals worldwide. They maintain their physical prime for centuries and represent the primary power of sovereign nations.
- Legend Tier (51–70★): World-class mortals who have reached the near-peak of cultivation. With only 11 known members, they are long-lived masters who have spent centuries honing their crafts.
- Mythic Tier (71–100★): The absolute pinnacle of mortal existence. These four ageless beings are extremely rare, possessing the power to rival the world's greatest threats over a 5,000-year lifespan.
- Every person gets awakened at the age of 5 or 7 and gets their star (level) cap. Each Tier gives some additional benefits
Well, bypassing the cap is also an option
To address the rest, I'll start with a simple question, and those born of it.
Why?
Why this power system at all?
What purpose does it serve for your narrative?
What roles do the characters have within it?
Why are the upper levels so limited, population wise?
Why are they even there if they are so limited?
Why even the extension to lifespan? (This would make it an increasingly boring existence, to be sure).
and
How?
as in How do the character's grow beyond their cap?
If everyone CAN grow beyond their cap, then why is there a cap to begin with?
How is the system being implemented?
Overall, to me anyway, it reads like the typical Battle-Shonen power-up based rank system, and that lends itself strictly to a singular type of narrative (One that I personally find exceedingly boring, and predictable). It's liable to fall victim to "power-creep" very quickly if you're not careful about managing that against the intended threat-level of the challenges in order to maintain a degree of relevance and narrative tension.
The alternative narrative structure that the system lends itself well to is the typical Over-Powered Protagonist featured in the usual Isekai Power-Fantasy with more than the typical layering of wish-fulfillment. This structure is also full of narrative expectations, and can relatively quickly fall victim to its narrative flaws if an author isn't careful about managing them.
What you really need to ask yourself is "
What kind of narrative do I want to tell?" because that will definitely play a part in the design of your own "power system" and will drastically impact its implementation. If you're going for either of those two narrative structures and styles, by all means use it how you have it already. It's lending itself nicely to what the readers of those narratives like to see. (Why fix what ain't broke?).
If you're trying for something different though, you may want to reconsider the system's structure, and exactly what portions of it are relevant to the narrative you want to write.
Personally, I'd suggest you keep it somewhere in this range here. It's the overall "sweet-spot" for narrative tension and impactful growth. (Yes, I also tweaked the system below with a few other suggested refinements).
- Apprentice / Novice (1–5★): The foundational stage for (civilians). Individuals at this level
are undergoing early training and lack significant combat or magical power experience.
- Warrior / Knight (6–10★): The standard tier for active combatants who have achieved basic proficiency in martial arts or magic, serving as the backbone of common military forces.
- Master Tier (11–20★): A level of
moderate expertise (and self-mastery) where practitioners begin to transcend normal human limits, gaining a youthful physique and a slight extension to their natural lifespan.
I'd also suggest you remove the whole "awakening and cap" bit, in favor of a system that rewards investment, self-mastery, and reasonable growth. Anyone can improve, with enough time, effort, dedication, and self-mastery. This makes the journey the focus, rather than the end-point.
The rest, is in your hands. Use the suggestions, or don't. It's up to you to decide what works for your narrative, and the kind of narrative you want to tell, and the target audience you have in mind.
