Magical Girls

[Michael Hopcroft]

For the benefit of the anime fans who play Hero, what do you guys think would be the most effective way to build a magical girl?

 

There are several different kinds of magical girl, as anyone who has read one of my books will know. I'm thinking of several of these types, such as the kind who transforms into a colrfully dressed warrior maiden with magical atatcks and defenses, or a thief who uses magic powers to commit her robberies, or the preteen girl who tranforms into a beautiful teenager so she can achieve fame and fortune as an idol singer.

 

How do you build any of these characters in Hero, and at what point level should you build them?

[MrThou]

Id guess that depends. DO you want a sailor moon like MG with one attack, high dodge, no skill, and a pen that allows you to transform.

 

Or something compitent

 

Id be guessing 150 for a first season SM girl

200-250 for a compitent one.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Sailor Moon as an example

 

Sailor Moon satrted out as very uncerttain about herself and her abilities. But she didn;t win because her enemies were somehow stupid -- they weren't. She won because she had willpower (although she needed encouragement and experience to discover it). Bother her power and her skill in using it grew along with her confidence -- a perfect analogy to many RPG campaigns. Even a beginning superhero might not have that much confidence in their powers or their judgement in using them.

 

By the end of the season, she was much more confident and powerful. The important thing in a magical girl story of any sort is that the character grows and develops in both personality and ability over time.

[MrThou]

I can see that, give me some slack, its been a few years

and i just cant sit down and watch the entire first season in one sitting, id die... I need to watch an ep a day, 2 if im feeling lucky

 

Only at ep 9.... RIght now shes still only winning because Luna tells her what to do

[MoonHunter]

WEll lets see

 

Mechanically, Magical girls are fairly simple. Hero ID is a natural . Add some Foci. Then add energy blasts, flight or leap, Marital Arts, Summons, and Dispell for summons that take times and 0 dcv (for the "return to negaverse you evil monster" or "back into the card"). The characters are probably 75+75. Mechanically very easy.

 

The GM will have to define very carefully what is and is not possible in their magikal girl campaign. The players will need to know what the campaign is centered around so they can build characters appropriately. Unless the GM provides extensive information to the players AND the players know the genre, the character generation aspect of the campaign will become a nightmare.

 

If you overcome that nightmare, you then encounter the next when you start playing. It is the magikal girl genre and its conventions that are fairly hard to deal with. To maintain the feel and ideals behind a magikal girl campaign, your players are going to have to be very familiar with the genre, or are going to require serious couching. Just getting some guidelines will not allow someone who does not know the genre to avoid doing things that a gamer might do that would be inappropriate for a teenage girl shohi/ magikal girl campaign. The memes and genre for magikal girls are very different than general anime conventions, which most Westerners are only passingly familiar (though more of us learn as time goes on). Magikal girl series have all the teen angst of youth soap opera, with the game centering on character development (which is what you should earn eps for) plus some very strict rules as to what powers can be used when (so defeating the bad guy is only marginally what you should get eps for).

 

Your average champions player, expecting western super hero conventions, will chaffe a little at these rules. Average anime fans, used to dealing with ESPers, Mecha, Cyborgs, Starships, Fightercraft/Mecha, and really big guns, will need some adjustment as well. So while this could be an intersting game, unless your players are very willing... I would not try it.

[MrThou]

Ive played in a MGirl in training campaign, best game ive ever played. first time i really ROLE PLAYED. I was happy on the nights we didnt fight anyways, the character is my second fav ive ever had the pleasure of RPing.

The whole group was rather familliar with the MGirl genre so it wasnt to bad. We even wrote speeches to introduce ourselves with. "I am topaz the everchanging, and i will change you from your evil ways!" LOL. Man that was a great campaign!

[yamamura]

Crystal Star

 

Player: MAEDA Mai

 

Val	Char	Cost
8	STR	-2
21	DEX	33
18	CON	16
10	BODY	0
10	INT	0
13	EGO	6
15	PRE	5
18	COM	4
15	PD	3
15	ED	1
5	SPD	19
6	REC	0
36	END	0
40	STUN	17

10" RUN82" SWIM06 1/2" LEAP5Characteristics Cost: 115

 

Cost	Power	END
7	I will be ready for the Next Battle: Healing 1 BODY (Can Heal Limbs), Reduced Endurance 0 END (+1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (30 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 6 Hours (-2 1/2), Self Only (-1/2)
5	Magic Girl Genki (Internal Fortitude): (Total: 17 Active Cost, 5 Real Cost) +7 STR (7 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), Only In Heroic Identity (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2) plus +5 EGO (10 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), Only In Heroic Identity (-1/4) (Real Cost: 3)	1
13	Star Crystal Armour: (Total: 25 Active Cost, 13 Real Cost) Armor (7 PD/7 ED) (21 Active Points); Activation Roll 13- (-3/4), IIF (-1/4) (Real Cost: 10) plus Life Support , Safe in Intense Cold, Safe in Intense Heat (4 Active Points); IIF (-1/4) (Real Cost: 3)
8	Star Crystal Flash Power-up: Transform 2d6: Regular clothes into Star Crystal Armour (Cosmetic), Improved Target Group (+1/4), Reduced Endurance 0 END (+1/2) (17 Active Points); Limited Target Clothes (-1/2), Extra Time Full Phase, Only to Activate Constant or Persistent Power (-1/4), Character May Take No Other Actions (-1/4)
34	Crystal Star Powers: Multipower, 60-point reserve, all slots: (60 Active Points); IAF Unbreakable (Focus: Star Wand; -1/2), Only In Heroic Identity (-1/4)
2u	1) Crystal Star Beam: Energy Blast 8d6 (vs. ED), STUN Only (+0), Reduced Endurance 0 END (+1/2) (60 Active Points); Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Beam (-1/4), No Knockback (-1/4), Limited Range: 50" (-1/4)
2u	2) Crystal Star dust: Energy Blast 4d6 (vs. ED), STUN Only (+0), Area Of Effect (4" radius; +1), No Normal Defense Life Support Reduce Sleep/ Force Field (+1) (60 Active Points); Extra Time Full Phase (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Requires both hands (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), No Knockback (-1/4), Limited Range: 50" (-1/4)	6
2u	3) Cyrstal Star Materia: Entangle 6d6, 6 DEF (60 Active Points); Extra Time Full Phase (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Limited Range: 50" (-1/4)	6
1u	4) Crystal Star Return: Extra-Dimensional Movement (Single Dimension), Usable As Attack (+1) (40 Active Points); Extra Time Full Phase (-1/2), Character May Take No Other Actions (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Requires both hands (-1/4), Only to Send a person/creature back to it's home dimension (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4), Concentration 1/2 DCV (-1/4) [Notes: Defense: Only vs. Subdued Creatures or willing ones]	4

Powers Cost: 74

 

Cost	Martial Arts Maneuver
	Aikido
4	1) Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort
4	2) Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +15 STR vs. Grabs
3	3) Hold: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, +10 STR for holding on
5	4) Redirect: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +3 DCV, Block, Abort
5	5) Strike: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +3 DCV, STR Strike
3	6) Throw: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +1 DCV, STR +v/5, Target Falls

Martial Arts Cost: 24

 

Cost	Skill
6	+2 with Crystal Star Powers
5	+1 with DCV
2	AK: Tokyo 11-
3	Acrobatics 13-
3	Breakfall 13-
2	KS: Shojo Manga 11-
3	Persuasion 12-
0	PS: 3rd Year Junior High Student (Evryman Skill) 11-
1	PS: Cooking 8-
3	Stealth 13-

Skills Cost: 28

 

 

Cost	Talent
3	Environmental Movement (no penalties on/in Balance)
6	Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

Talents Cost: 9

 

 

Total Character Cost: 250

 

Val	Disadvantages
25	Dependent NPC: Friends and Family 8- (Normal; Group DNPC: x4 DNPCs; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID)
10	Distinctive Feature: Style Aikido
10	Hunted: Lord Shadow of the Gestalt Realm 8- (As Pow; Harshly Punish)
5	Physical Limitation: Clumsy (Infrequently; Slightly Impairing)
10	Psychological Limitation: Easily Distracted by Kawaii (Cute) Things (Common; Moderate)
15	Psychological Limitation: Impulsive (Common; Strong)
15	Psychological Limitation: Loyal to Friends (Common; Strong)
10	Social Limitation: Secret ID: Magic Girl (Occasionally; Major)

Disadvantage Points: 100

 

Base Points: 150

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

Background/History: “Kawaii!†shouted Mai upon seeing the 22cm tall toy otter with the pink bow around its neck. It would be a perfect addition to her collection of stuff animals. But little did Mai realize that by buying this otter, she was entering into a battle against creatures given form by the fears and hopes of humanity. For this little otter named Miki was sent from the Gestalt dimension to choose a champion to help return these creatures home.

 

Personality/Motivation: Mai is pretty normal Junior High school student who dreams of finding a boyfriend and romance. Thus being a Magic girl was the furthest thing from her mind. But upon seeing what these creatures could do once they were given form by humanity and the near absorption of one of her friend, Mai has applied her self to being the best Crystal Star she can.

 

Quote: Poor lost Denizen of Gestalt I am here to show you the way home. That is so Kawaii!

 

Notes: I did not charge her for the pet because I believe it offers more for the GM as a plot device and campaign fixture then as an ally. For those who want the pet as a follower can add the appropriate perk.

 

This is my take on magic girl using low power heroine. I would also like to say no matter what genre you are using, having characters that have no knowledge of that genre generally makes doesn’t make for good role-playing. So as with any role-playing group, you have to take in account what the players want and what you want and work it out a balance. I know 2 players who don’t like sci-fi. They don’t read it or watch it, so they don’t know the genre specific events related to it. So when they play it, they don’t get into it. With a Magic Girl campaign it’s just more likely that you will have players that don’t know the tropes of genre. And remember as long as you have players willing to learn about the genre, its time to get out those books and tapes and do a little background studying to play.

 

G

 

ps. the pic is only for inspiration and I found it somewhere on the net.

[Susano]

Re: WEll lets see

 

Originally posted by MoonHunter

The characters are probably 75+75. Mechanically very easy.

 

I disagree. Sakura-hime Sakura, the magical girl example I wrote for my anime and HERO article came in at 295 points. And I figure she's spot on for most magical girls (and might be a bit under-powered for some of the SM cast). I think your typical magical girl (of the SM, Devil Hunter Yoho, and so on type) is 150+100 points with a serious case of Only in Hero ID.

[yamamura]

I agree with Susano on this. That is unless you are designing Fancy Stage Lala in which case 75 +75 might be a tad too much. Not having create her even as a test character I can't say for sure on that one.

 

G

[Michael Hopcroft]

Magical idols

 

A magical idol singer may cost more points than you think. besides the Multiform (preteen girl to teenager), you also hace the various magical effects that the idols use to enhance their performances. Rivalry is a natrual disadvantage (there's always a rival diol determined to wreck the heroine's career), as is a variation on Limited Duration (the powers go away after a year is a common theme in magical idol shows.)

 

And there's nothing to stop you from designing a campaing in which a Magical Girl is both an idol AND an adventurer. Such a campaign could indeed be very interesting.

 

Finally, there is the variation presented by I'll Make a Habit of It, in which a popular idol singer also happens to be a poweerful martial artist who has to go to great lengths to pursue both careers,In this case, the heroine becamse an idol to pick up disciples for her family dojo, only to find that plan didn;t work. So she disguises herself as a boy to get into a tough school -- and that's when things get weird, even by anime standards.

[yamamura]

Having only seen the first DVD of Fancy Stage Lala, I was only going on the multiform plus the transform drawing into clothes. But I didn't take into account her two magical friend either. If she uses magic performance enhancements later on in the series, yes she would be more powerful and thus higher then what I expect her to be.

 

G

[Oruncrest]

Ewen Cluney's Magical World Sourcebook

 

I suggest going to the Magical World website. The site is a sourcebook about Magical Girls for the author's homebrew (and free) RPG, THRASH, although there's a translation into BESM as well (no HERO translations, though.Darn).

 

While you might or might not care for the setting itself (Everybody's gunning after Magical Girls, including other Magical Girls) you get plenty of insight into the Magical Girl Genre; specialized (and varient) types of magical girls, where they might get their powers from, archetypes, genre conventions, and more. Even if you don't use either system, you'll be able to create an interesting Magical Girl. And you certainly can't argue with the price (free).

 

You'll also want to pick up the Magical World THRASH Rules Module, which lists the various attribures, powers, and weaknesses that a Magical Girl might have. While everything is written in THRASH terms, they're explained well enough that you can convert tham into HERO equivalents easily.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I try not to think about that setting. It rmeinds me of an roleplayer having a temper tantrum.

[yamamura]

My main problem with Blackbird's world is that it feels like, lets take cute girls in cute outfits and put them into angst ridden western comic book motif. By doing so it loses that feel of a magic girl campaign and feels more like Champions in cute battle wear. To put it another way, lets take X-men and have it written in the style of Hello Kitty. It would lose what makes X-men interesting by trying to fit into to something else.

 

G

[Susano]

I agree. It is obviously taken from the "Magical Girl Hunters" fanfics, and sounds more like writer can't stand the genre and/or doesn't "get" the idea behind the genre. Either that, or he really wanted to play the Punisher in a fuku....

 

(OTOH -- it does remind me of Kingdom Come.)

[Markdoc]

And remember: "if you can't see a glimpse of underwear, it isn't a REAL magical girl transformation!"

 

from MegaTokyo, I think....

 

cheers, Mark

[Michael Hopcroft]

Underwear?

 

Underwear? Sinc ehwen has Sailor Moon's trnaformation shown her underwear? It usually doesn't show her wearing anything at all for about ten seconds until the parts of her costume start forming around her -- and, in the last season, her wings sprout.

 

"If God had meant Sailor Moon to fly., he would have given her wings! Wait a minute -- what are those feathery things on her back?":D

[Susano]

Actually, I read the nudity is symbolic of being reborn abd of being purified, as the magical girl form is meant to be a "pure" form of the original, and being pure,can then do all sorts of amazing stunts.

[OddHat]

Originally posted by Susano

Actually, I read the nudity is symbolic of being reborn abd of being purofied, as the magical girl form is meant to be a "pure" form of the original, and being pure,can then do all sorts of amazing stunts.

 

True, that's the symbolism. OTOH, young Japanese males appreciate the flash of cartoon flesh every bit as much as decadent westerners.

[Susano]

Well... there is that.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Sailor Moon's Tranformation Symbolism

 

Originally posted by Susano

Actually, I read the nudity is symbolic of being reborn abd of being purified, as the magical girl form is meant to be a "pure" form of the original, and being pure,can then do all sorts of amazing stunts.

 

Given that Sailor Moon's element is Purity and the Soul, this is entirely apprpriate. And Usagi Tsukino is in efect "reborn" when she becomes Sailor Moon, going from clueless junior high school student to the savior of the world.

 

Remember, she regularly does thjings like purging individuals of evil influences that turn them into monsters. And she won her greatest victory not be y destorying her foe, but by purifying her spirit.

 

"She's my WHAT?" = Usagi, concerning Chibi-Usa

"Shes' my WHAT?" -- Lune, concerning Diana.

[PhantomGM2602]

My Magical Girl-- Dreamstar!

 

I've played a Magical Girl/mystic character,her name is Dreamstar and her powers come from a combination of Q'rrymm energies,magic and energies from the Dreamzone[CHAMPIONS 3-D]. That quirky combo came as a result of being in a coma for almost ten years after being hit by a stray blast of energy in a battle.

she can absorb energy and convert it to pure magic via her crystal medallion for a variety of attacks and spells.

[steriaca]

Re: My Magical Girl-- Dreamstar!

 

Originally posted by PhantomGM6101

I've played a Magical Girl/mystic character,her name is Dreamstar and her powers come from a combination of Q'rrymm energies,magic and energies from the Dreamzone[CHAMPIONS 3-D]. That quirky combo came as a result of being in a coma for almost ten years after being hit by a stray blast of energy in a battle.

she can absorb energy and convert it to pure magic via her crystal medallion for a variety of attacks and spells.

 

Nice. I played an otaku who somehow saved a dragon named Yuri, and was giving the powers of a magical girl. Funny thing, his normal ID is a guy, and his superhero ID is a girl. I remember nameing her Lady Heat.

 

One of theas days, I am going to have to recreate him/her.

[UltraRob]

1st Season Magical Girl Template

 

Having actually run Magical Girl campaigns, very successfuly I might add, I thought I might add in my own 2 cents.

 

While I didn't use HERO for my campaigns, I have given it a little thought and this is what I came up with: A normal Magical Girl as of the first episode of her series is actually an extremely simple character, she has a single magical power and instant change and that is pretty much it. Occasionally she might have some boosted stats and is usually pretty good at dodging, and she often knows instinctively a few martial arts maneuvers.

 

Part of the reason for this, which people often tend to forget over here is that Magical Girls are meant to function in teams, not alone. They are not powerful enough to usually handle an enemy alone (to start) and need the whole team to wear the usually single foe down enough to actually face them. (Which, I might add, is a nice change of flavor from most very individualistic Western gaming styles of play.) Teamwork is the rule of the day, and single magical girls are not really meant to be able to handle more than thugs or low-powered villians on their own. This is part of the Japanese cultural ethos, and it also traces it's origins back to the Sentai (Power Rangers) Genre from which the Sailor Moon type magical girl derived. (As an additional note, the following can be used to make male Sentai-type heros too if you wish...Giant Robots can be added to taste...)

 

In any case, here's my take on what happen when a middle school girl meets a cutie fuzzy piece of marketing from Dimension X!

 

1st Episode Magical Girl Package

 

75 base points, 75 pts in Disads.

 

Powers:

 

1) Instant Change. Required: Full Phase Activation, Suggested: Incantations and Gestures. (Should total out to 2 or 3 pts.)

 

2) 30 MAX Active Points of ONE Power of the player's choice, usually Energy Blast, Flash, Darkness, Force Wall. (required) Minimum -1 worth of limitations, usually Gestures, Incantations, requires EGO Roll (to represent insecurity or fear), extra time, Extra END, or OAF. Also requires "Only in Hero ID". (Should end up being 10-15 read points.)

 

3) Three 8-pt Combat Levels, Required: Only in Hero ID. (End up being around 6pts each, for total of 18pts)

 

4) Mind Link with teammates, only to sense when teammates are in Danger (-1). (Never Only in HERO ID (Should be 5pts.)

 

5) 3 Martial Arts Maneuvers, Only in Hero ID. (Assuming they're 4pts each, then they become 3 each for 9pt total.)

 

Total: 44-50pts (which leaves at least 100 pts to play with)

 

Suggested Disads:

 

Normal Characteristic Maxima (20pts, optional), Secret ID (15pts), Hunted by Villian Gang (More powerful, 11<: 20pts).

 

So the Disads alone pay for the Package.

 

We end up with a Magical Girl (or Boy) who can put up a good fight, knows when their teammates are in trouble, and can dodge like heck while whipping off their special attack on occasion. This is in addition to being a competant 100pt Normal character with reasonable stats and skills.

 

Looks about right to me.

 

As they progress, they can turn the 30pt single power into a multipower and add extra slots, which seems appropriate as they tend to only use 1 power at a time at full level.

 

Another suggested idea is to let them buy powers as a group, with each paying a fraction of the cost, and everyone being required to make use of that power. (Usually while holding hands.) This encourages the team effect, and can occasionally produce cool mega-attack powers, or be used for a movement power like Teleport, or a kind of Healing or Defensive power.

A nice 75pt power with -2 worth of Disads and split 5 ways is just 5pts a piece!

 

UltraRob

[Chris Goodwin]

I'd go with OIHID instead of Instant Change. Instant Change only changes clothes.