Michael Hopcroft Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 One of the advantages of going to an anime convention (besides the fact that you will see many more cute females there than at any other sort of convention) is that there are innumerable manga titles available, including some you wouldn't have thought to look for. One of the disadvantages (besides the fact that the scantily-clad cosplay girls are not on display specifically for you) is that there is rarely enough cash to buy everything you would want. However, I did pick up one new title being translated by Tokyopop that would, with work, make an interesting RPG premise. It's a new modern-fantasy comedy called Because I'M the Goddess!, and even if you don't want to play in it you will probably find it funny, albeit occasionally in a rather naughty sort of way. The setup is that a young tough-guy finds that a scantily-clad and extremely well-endowed woman is trying, without much success, to coax a cat out of a tree. Her attempt to climb the tree fails and he ends up accidentally pulling her down by the ****. She then declar4es herself to be the Goddess Pandora, and proves it by swamping the city in a tsunami. A week later a little girl, apparently left homeless by the tsunami, encounters and is aided by the same young tough. She accidentally kisses him -- and turns back into Pandora, much to the guy's dismay. It seems that every time Pandora uses divine power, she is transformed into the powerless little girl form, and now only his kiss can change her back. So she declares him her "manservant" and enlists his unwilling aid in the quest she was sent down from heaven for, all the while behaving with an alarming combination of naivete, arrogance and just plain ditziness. It turns out her quest is to recover "Gifts", spirits which possess women (transforming them into extremely hot babes) and enslave men who are compelled to obey them. Now most men are under compulsion to obey (or at least mindless lust after) Pandora as well, but that's a side effect of her being an uber-hot Goddess babe. But she usually has to use extreme measures to exorcise the Gifts from their hostesses -- measures that frequently involve transforming the spirit of her "manservant" into something useful while his body ceases functioning for the duration. The whole setup is gleefully sexist, so naturally it is written by a woman. Anyway, I thought I would pose the question of what use this would be as a campaign seed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! . . . I like the "sexist" part . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! ... I like the "well-endowed woman" part ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! As written, it doesn't sound like much of a campaign. Only two protagonists, both of whom spend part of each adventure helpless (something players dislike). However, change the ground rules slightly to allow for a few more players and spread the powers around and it might make for a fairly good typical Anime Supers game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! There seems to be a strange trend in manga for characters that change/transform. In the more sitcom ones, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! There seems to be a strange trend in manga for characters that change/transform. In the more sitcom ones' date=' anyway.[/quote'] Well, it's not inappropriate for the culture. Many traditional Japanese monsters are shape changers, magicians in folk tales were often shape changers, and there's the whole changing from an ordinary conformist student to something extraordinary vibe. Plus, the formula has been successful, which always helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! "featuring diurse changes and tranforms" "and much hilarity did ensue" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! As written' date=' it doesn't sound like much of a campaign. Only two protagonists, both of whom spend part of each adventure helpless (something players dislike).[/quote'] That is not quite correct on both counts. They quickly are joined by a novice Buddhist monk who has some useful skills and who joins up with them after Pandora rescues him from the Gift who had enslaved him. Chibi Pandora is still capable of acting (and is much less annoying than her adult form). And Aoi not only has unexpected talents but, annoying as he finds the entire situation, is still able to do things when Pandora is using him as a "tool" (not the least of which is complain about the indignity of it all). And once the next volume introduces the family Aoi fled, things are likely to get really interesting. However, change the ground rules slightly to allow for a few more players and spread the powers around and it might make for a fairly good typical Anime Supers game. One could view Pandora as a sort of Anti-Belldandy. She is selfish attention-seeker at heart, which is complicated by the fact that her intellectual capacity is exceeded by most household appliances. In addition, she is at the same time alarmingly clingy when it comes to Aoi but,l at the same time, is much more of a ****-tease than a flirt. We could be seeing the classic couple-in-denial dynamic in play here, in which the only people who don't know that the Goddess and the "punk kid" aren't chomping at the bit to, well, you know, are the Goddess and the "punk kid" themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted September 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! Oh, and the manga artist also includes a riff on the traditional "mascot" character found kin such series. In this case, Pandora is "aided" (if you can call sarcastic comments and needling "aid") by a white cat creature who had adopted the speech patterns and mannerisms of a drag queen. Yes, a Drag Queen. Much like the one who is one of the anti-heroes of Tokyo Godfathers. That may be where she got the idea for the character, in fact -- Satoshi Kon is probably the most admired anime auteur in Japan this side of Miyazaki. And the situation is apparently much more complicated than it appears, because Aoi is about to have some of his secrets revealed in the next issue, in a way that is going to be extremely inconvenient for both him and Pandora. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! The Goddess Pandora Val Char Cost 10 STR 0 13 DEX 9 13 CON 6 10 BODY 0 9 INT -1 13 EGO 6 24 PRE 14 35 COM 13 15 PD 13 15 ED 12 4 SPD 17 8 REC 6 50 END 12 35 STUN 13 6" RUN 0 2" SWIM 0 2" LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 120 Cost Power 67 Divine Powers: Variable Power Pool (Magic Pool), 60 base + 7 control cost, (90 Active Points); Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Shapechange into Little Girl Form; -2), 1 Recoverable Charge (Specific Recovery Condition: Be Kissed by Aoi AND ONLY AOI; -1 1/4) 90 You Have Just What I Need: Major Transform 6d6 (Aoi-san into Tool of Choice, Pandora kissing the tool) 13 Worship Me, Pigs!: Mind Control 6d6 (Human Males class of minds) (30 Active Points); Limited Class Of Minds [subset of a class] (Only human males; -1/2), Conditional Power Power does not work in Common Circumstances (Does not work while Pandora is in Little Girl form; -1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (Does not Affect5 Aoi in any way whatsoever; -1/4) 7 That man is Under a Gift's Spell!: Detect the Chains Binding a Man to a Gift A Single Thing 14- (Sight Group), Inherent (+1/4) (7 Active Points) 10 Multiform (50 Character Points in the most expensive form) Powers Cost: 187 Cost Skill 3 Acrobatics 12- 3 Acting 14- 3 Oratory 14- 3 Persuasion 14- 3 Seduction 14- 4 WF: Common Martial Arts Melee Weapons, Common Melee Weapons Skills Cost: 19 Cost Perk 10 Follower (The Whitest, Sassiest, Gayest Talking Cat in the Cosmos) Perks Cost: 10 Cost Talent 10 Divine Favor (She's the GODDES,< dammit! 14 Fearless (Too Dumb to be Scared) Talents Cost: 24 Total Character Cost: 360 Pts. Disadvantage 20 Distinctive Features: The Bimbo to End All Bimbos (Not Concealable; Extreme Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses; Not Distinctive In Some Cultures) 15 Hunted: The Gifts 8- (Less Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Harshly Punish) 20 Physical Limitation: Couldn't Catch a Clue ifd You Gave Her a Glove the Size of Nagoya (All the Time, Greatly Impairing) 10 Physical Limitation: There's One Born Every Minute, and She's It (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 20 Psychological Limitation: Cannot Resist the Chance to Make Men Do Her Bidding (Very Common, Strong) 25 Social Limitation: Under Orders to Gather All the Gifts (Very Frequently, Severe) 15 Social Limitation: More Attached to Aoi Than She Dares Admit (Frequently, Major) 25 Unluck: 5d6 Disadvantage Points: 150 Base Points: 300 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! . . . 5d6 Unluck?! Good thing she is a goddess . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! . . . 5d6 Unluck?! Good thing she is a goddess . . . This reflects, among other things, the fact that Pandora tends to overdo things on a massive scale without realizing it. She will survivie her bad luck, but those in the vicinity are going to be in trouble. remember, she wiped out a city with a tsunami at one point. It also reflects that when nobody is caring for her, she's pretty helpless -- especially in little girl form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! You might include the Accidental Change disad you mentioned in the premise. Interesting. But I agree with Oddhat - PCs are notoriously reluctant to take part in anything that actively reduces their self-control; part of the whole "escape from reality" thing I expect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 5, 2006 Report Share Posted October 5, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! The Goddess Pandora Michael, Would you be interested in submitting this character (and any other anime ones you've done) to my site for hosting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted October 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! Michael, Would you be interested in submitting this character (and any other anime ones you've done) to my site for hosting? How do you want them formatted? (Keep in mind I use Hero Designer, and you don't because it isn't out for the Mac.) I'm waiting on Aoi's writeup until the release of the next volume, when we learn much more about his past and abilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! How do you want them formatted? (Keep in mind I use Hero Designer, and you don't because it isn't out for the Mac.) I'm waiting on Aoi's writeup until the release of the next volume, when we learn much more about his past and abilities. Uhm... yes it is. Hero Designer is Java-based and works fin on Mac per other people on the boards. That said, if you can output the character sheets as .rtf or .html I can use either. And send me all you've done, if you please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted October 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! THis may not be directrly relevant to the subject at hand, but it does show me something distrubing about how mainsteram American comics journalists view manga. IGN's review of Volume 1 of Because I'M the Goddess! reached the rather disturibing conclcusion that the fact that Aoi prefers the company of the child Pandora to the gorwn-up one has less to do with the fact that the child is much less obnoxious and annoying than the adult than with Aoi having a lolicon -- a socially and psychologically inappropriate sexual interest in prepibescent girls. Where the reviewer found evidence for this conclusion is the fact that Pandora must kiss Aoi and only Aoi on the lips to get "big" again. But Aoi actually dislikes her doing this, not least because it means the Bitch-Queen of the Heavens is back in business but also because like most young adults that does make him uncomfortable for the very reason it made that critic nervous. Since I have seen other things similarly misinterpreted to alarming degrees (the most notable example being the notorious "sister complex" of Card Captor Sakura's Toya Kinomoto). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Re: Because I'M the Goddess! Michael, I now have HERO Designer, send away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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