Rough character notes.

[dkellis]

I was told to post these rough notes here. Very rough notes, since I didn't expect to have to clean them up for other people to read. Has anime-centric slang, and whatever language I was thinking in at the time (Indonesian and Chinese, mostly; English is not my first language, even if I've gotten comfortable with it). I've tried to translate it to English, but I may have missed some.

 

The background is that I was planning to sockpuppet a game all by myself, using these characters and this story. When I asked for advice on miscellaneous rules questions, I was told that I needed a context to put all of it in. This is that context.

 

Valkyrie Rings

The source of the powers for the characters are Belmarin Valkyrie Rings, which allow the characters to henshin. In non-mahou-shoujo form, has minor powers the girls can use. Free action to henshin and back. Given by the Belmarin Council (Arius Belmarin), who instructs the girls to use them to fight crime. Tracie and Emily do it willingly, Ashley is ordered. In heroic form, Ring-specific powers disappear.

 

Power level roughly around Negi's group of Negima manga, specifically Asuna, Setsuna.

 

Tracie Aldair/Bright Blade

As Tracie, shy among strangers to the point of incapacitation. Nodoka from Negima. Very pretty, often the center of attention in a crowd, which works against her shyness. Meganekko. Smart and physically competent, keen analytical mind. Curious and inquisitive. No confidence. Comes from a very rich family, and has the Graceful Ojou-sama personality type. Also has High Society social obligations, which she can theoretically do easily, but shy so not able to hobnob well. Owns and can drive a car, international licence. Has a crush on Timothy Stanton, who's a Nice Guy Jock. Timothy has seen her around (see Center of Attention), but doesn't really notice her as anything more than a schoolmate. Cautiously optimistic, always polite. Doormat.

 

As Bright Blade, is more confident and outgoing, says whatever is on her mind. Lots of snarky remarks. Powerful enough to leave small craters in concrete, fast reactions enough to block incoming attacks with sword. Sword is called Grand Blade, very big, can do Normal, Killing, and a ranged blast. Usually busts through walls rather than go around. Grand Blade can be disarmed, but will reform in Bright Blade's hands on next action. When disarm happens, possibility of random change back into Tracie Aldair. Fast Healing. Can set Grand Blade to cause fire, ice, lightning, or magic damage, but not all at once. Will protect innocents at all costs.

 

Bright Blade has feathery wings, can fly. Cannot retract wings. Wears armour, magical, looks like Saber's.

 

Theme: Tracie is able to vent all the nasty things she wants to say as Bright Blade, but cannot as Tracie. Importance of being yourself.

 

Emily Stanton/Emerald Fire

As Emily, loud and brash and da bu fen shi chang flail around. No patience. Chloe from Touch Detective. Tsundere with plenty of tsuntsun and not much dere. Adopted sister of Timothy Stanton, loves her brother very much. Doesn't like Tracie, jealous of possible relationship between Tracie and Timothy, wants to take Tracie's Ring away for her own use, but honourable anyway. Harisen for regular tsukkomi role. Jumps to conclusions easily. Has good brain, but seldom uses it. Twintails. Stubborn. Happiest when Timothy approves of her; Timothy is clueless about all this. Actually very honest and blunt.

 

As Emerald Fire, less confident, more cautious. Snarky. Glows brightly. Still doesn't like Tracie. Prefers to hang back and check out the situation before committing. Pessimistic/cynical. Stubborn. Uses height and range in combat. Wears big power gloves called Emerald Gloves, not actually green. Powers are standard Normal Damage blast, Killing blast, sniper with zoom, and rigid capture field thing to grab and toss enemies. Like Tracie, will protect innocents at all costs. Knows how damaging powers are, reluctant to use unless necessary. Some magical protection from blows, but may change back into Emily when hit hard enough. Hitting Emerald Gloves hard enough can cause them to short out temporarily, flight and protection not affected, but attack powers cannot be used for a short while.

 

Theme: Emily has to learn to accept her powers, as well as Tracie's love for her brother. Dropping the facade of confidence.

 

Ashley Welles/Shield Maiden

As Ashley, doesn't care about anything. Yuki Nagato but more so, darker. Loner, weird. Heterochromia. Lives alone. Used to be bullied. Financial support from Belmarin Council, ordering her to join up with Tracie and Emily. Has considerable innate magical talent, but never bothered to develop until obtained Ring. Nobody can get close to her, ignores most attempts at conversation or socialization. Speaks only when necessary. Reads a lot, all genres. Takes a lot to make her care. Creepy laugh, morbid. Psychologically messed up, withdrawn, depressive, silent. Seldom noticed. Can use Ring for telepathy. Magical senses can detect dark aura, even without Ring. Always tells truth, doesn't bother to clear up misunderstandings.

 

As Shield Maiden, specializes in debuffing enemy and buffing allies. Little to no direct damage. Healer, able to give extra protection to teammates. Serious ToHit debuff. Shield Maiden boosting Bright Blade is scary powerful. Dark aura still there. Dresses like gothloli version of typical bright magical girl. Lots of bright sparklies. Still doesn't care about much, but will go out of her way to help teammates. Will not kill, but doesn't care as much about protection of innocents. Uses a cheerful-looking wand with star on top for debuffs and buffs, cannot use without it. Can change back to Ashley due to shock if any of the other two changes back. Can hover in place, but moves via teleportation. Able to teleport teammates with her, must touch them. Cannot teleport unwilling.

 

Theme: Ashley opens her heart to others. Friendship. Closing wounds.

 

Uberplot

Five Belmarin Valkyrie Rings, each "finding" its owner, giving them instant power without much sacrifice. Rings can be stolen and used by another, tapi provided they already have a Ring of their own; stolen Ring boosts power. Tracie finds one, Emily finds one, Ashley is personally given one. Two more are also found by others, who defect to The White Tower. The White Tower is much less powerful than the Belmarin Council, and is mostly a sort of freedom fighter/rebel group. The two Dark Magical Girls are given orders to capture the three Belmarin Valkyries.

 

Truth is that Arius Belmarin is actually one person/demigod with different masks, who wants to come to this dimension to solve the world's problems his/her/its way. Arius Belmarin is sealed off, so must use key: key gains power whenever Valkyrie Ring is used in the cause of good, what the user believes is good. Complicated ritual (risky, dangerous) can cut off power flow, so White Tower wants to capture Valkyries to neutralize Rings.

 

Theme: power without sacrifice, responsibility. Trust. Hubris.

[clsage]

Re: Rough character notes.

 

When I asked for advice on miscellaneous rules questions, I was told that I needed a context to put all of it in. This is that context.

 

Valkyrie Rings

The source of the powers for the characters are Belmarin Valkyrie Rings, which allow the characters to henshin. In non-mahou-shoujo form, has minor powers the girls can use. Free action to henshin and back. Given by the Belmarin Council (Arius Belmarin), who instructs the girls to use them to fight crime. Tracie and Emily do it willingly, Ashley is ordered. In heroic form, Ring-specific powers disappear.

 

Hmmmm...Well, just a first take has me thinking that the rings are a SFX of the Only In Hero ID power limitation, going by the statement I've put into bold type above. But since they can be stolen and used that also implies that they would be a Focus....tricky.....

 

Okay...Try this:

 

Valkyrie Ring: Obvious Inaccessible Focus (Universal) -1/2

 

or

 

Valkyrie Ring: Inobvious Inaccessible Focus (Universal) -1/4

 

depending, of course, on how much the powers appear to arise from the ring.

 

I'd probably then give any powers that were not ring dependent the OIHID disad to keep what I believe to be the "magic girl team" flavor you might be looking for.....

 

My $.02US. Your mileage may vary.....

 

EDIT: Oh...While it's absolutely not required for using the Hero system, IF you can afford it you might want to consider investing in Hero Designer. It's a Java based program available thru the Hero Games Store here online and it tends to be a great asset when it comes to number crunching and tweaking disads, etc....I still use my rule-sets (both hardcopy and PDF) but having the HD program on hand in your toolbag can speed character generation quite a bit...Just my humble opinion and again, your mileage may vary.

 

-Carl-