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Magic Girls with a twist.

Posted by NotTheRedWire
NotTheRedWire
member, 29 posts
Sat 8 Aug 2015
at 05:08
  • msg #1

Magic Girls with a twist.

An odd idea for a game has sprung into my mind and I'd love to to play it, the concept below is a bit lengthy and hastily written, but I hope you'll give it a look.

I imagine it being quite dark and humorous, and I'm up for pretty much any system, though I know M&M3e, OVA, and Prowlers & Paragons (Seriously, more people need to try this inexpensive system) the best.

-----------

Have you ever wondered why villains never attack Magic Girls or Super Sentai squads while they're in their long transformation sequences?  Or why the heroes don't attack during the villain's monologue?  How about all that explaining of attacks and weaknesses?
The reason is simple:  The Accords.

After a few too many close calls with the end of the world and devastated populations, it was decided by some of the greatest villains that it was pointless to win if all they won was ash, rubble, and corpses, and so they met with the great heroes of long ago and laid down The Accords.
These rules turned the wars into something more akin to deadly chess, the aim of which was to test personal power and skill while causing as little collateral damage as possible, and over the centuries The Accord had altered and changed to the point where theatrics are almost as important (or more so in some people's eyes) as victory, with what was once deadly combat becoming more like a sport.
Everything ran smoothly for a long long time, but some people aren't content to play by the rules...

A mysterious force has appeared and has brought on war the likes of which hasn't been seen in centuries, and with SSS's and Magic Girls steeped more in the theatrics of fighting than the skills of combat they was little to stand in their way.

With humanity on the retreat they must break convention, and so a multi-national organization intends to build a team of Magic Girls and SSS's whose aim is to break the accords and fight back with deadly force.
zeone3000
member, 449 posts
Sat 8 Aug 2015
at 11:13
  • msg #2

Re: Magic Girls with a twist.

So this is what if Magical Girls and Super Sentai stop being kiddy and strudel got real? Though, you lose a little bit of the spirit of the genre if you take out somethings. The Accords explains the Willing Suspension of Disbelief you had to have. Now, through those out. No more transformation sequences which was always cool when they had to transform during battle. No more introduction, because man it does get old. It can be a Deconstruction of the genres which could really good if done well. Or reconstruction of it. Why do they always introduce themselves or yell out their attacks? Vocal recognition safety feature.
This message was last edited by a moderator, as it was against the ToU, at 09:15, Sun 16 Aug 2015.
Kingfisher
member, 25 posts
Sat 8 Aug 2015
at 17:24
  • msg #3

Re: Magic Girls with a twist.

So here's my thoughts:

  • Stylistically it'd be equal parts grime and wit, but I find excessive gore and grimdark boring.  Yes we're deconstructing, but only where it applies to the idea of majou, the rest of the tone would still be anime/pulp influenced.
  • Setting would definitely be earth, give or take a few decades into the future.  We can start in Japan, but I'd like to move it internationally as well.
  • I'd want to keep the flashy, one trick pony roots of majou intact, but see how they adapt to a more realistic setting, where they are pretty ill-suited.
  • Rather than get bogged down in numbers, I'd use a behind the scenes system.  You give me a character background/powers, I make the sheets.  Similarly, you describe your actions and I'll do the number crunching in battles and skill checks.  Probably will take pages out of M&M and GURPs for reference, but it shouldn't matter to the players.
  • Be interesting to have a representation of majou and sentai from different sub-genres, but I'd put the cutoff at high-school or older.  I might make one exception of grade/middle school, but it would have to be a competent and mature writer.


If this sounds good to you, I'd be up to run it.  Find me 3-4 interested parties and I'll make the game.  Probably open it up to 6.
localschor
member, 18 posts
Mon 10 Aug 2015
at 09:37
  • msg #4

Re: Magic Girls with a twist.

In reply to Kingfisher (msg # 3):

You should definitely look at 'Princess: the Hopeful' which is a fan made take on the Mahou Shoujo genre - de/reconstructed for the darker themes you'll find in World of Darkness. If nothing else, it has an interesting array of setting details to gather inspiration from.

Regardless, I'm interested.
Furyou Miko
member, 505 posts
Sun 16 Aug 2015
at 08:53
  • msg #5

Re: Magic Girls with a twist.

*raises her hand* I'd play, if knowledge of the numbers side of the system isn't needed (I'm not familiar with the systems mentioned).
novelcoon
member, 1 post
birthdate 5 December 1992
Fri 28 Aug 2015
at 19:34
  • msg #6

Re: Magic Girls with a twist.

I also wish to play, and recommend Tokyo Heroes as another source of inspiration.
Thud
member, 11 posts
Sat 29 Aug 2015
at 01:18
  • msg #7

Re: Magic Girls with a twist.

I'm around 20 days late, but this sounds hilarious. And awesome.
u1timo
member, 2 posts
Sat 29 Aug 2015
at 07:02
  • msg #8

Magic Girls with a twist.

This sounds amazing :)
NotTheRedWire
member, 30 posts
Sat 29 Aug 2015
at 21:08
  • msg #9

Magic Girls with a twist.

Woops!  Forgot I even posted this.  (This is the problem with posting right before going to bed.)

To elaborate a little I'd say that most of what makes Magic Girl/Super Sentai stuff Magic Girl/Super Sentai stuff would stay in place, transformations still require time and flare, attacks are still flashy and overblown, weapons can be weird and sometimes impracticable (I want a battle yo-yo, dammit!), but now they aren't facing people who'll sit and wait for them to go through the motions, the team have to cover and protect each other while all the theatrics are going on, etc.

I'd want to keep it quite colourful and humorous, definitely not grimdark, though with slightly darker bits in it (GRINdark...?).
Sleeping Darkness
member, 29 posts
Once upon a time...
Sun 30 Aug 2015
at 22:30
  • msg #10

Magic Girls with a twist.

Transformations are relatively quick - though they can be flashy - but elaborate and overblown attacks, magical yo-yos that are just as effective as battleaxes and shotguns, teamwork as a running theme, Princess: the Hopeful'll do all of that for you. They're updated to Second Edition and everything, too. They can do anything from light with some gray to grimdark, so 'grindark' won't be much trouble.
novelcoon
member, 8 posts
Mon 14 Sep 2015
at 22:12
  • msg #11

Magic Girls with a twist.

So are we doing this?
Blazeofglory
member, 21 posts
Part-Time Game Master
Badass Normal
Mon 14 Sep 2015
at 23:33
  • msg #12

Magic Girls with a twist.

I'd like to offer my two cents.

I don't know an awful lot about anime or even any of the shows you're (probably) referencing. But I love the idea. It sounds like it'll be a lot of fun, I'd play it, but probably not as a protagonist per se. Let me know if this gets made.
This message was last edited by the user at 23:35, Mon 14 Sept 2015.
Blazeofglory
member, 22 posts
Part-Time Game Master
Badass Normal
Sat 19 Sep 2015
at 15:01
  • msg #13

Magic Girls with a twist.

Did ah, I kill it?
StarlitSpider
member, 17 posts
Wed 23 Sep 2015
at 04:06
  • msg #14

Magic Girls with a twist.

In reply to Blazeofglory (msg # 13):

How bad is it that I'm now tempted to reskin Urban Shadows and take its simple and intuitive but deep systems for interpersonal debt, obligation, and faction-level intrigue to handle a culture like this? One of supernatural conflicts formalized to the point that a colorful battle with a supervillain is largely flash and guile with political maneuvering happening quietly in the little nuances of the conflict.

It raises so many questions that beg for answers. When a mad genius challenges the girls to stop him from stealing a particular artifact from a particular museum in the city, what exactly is happening there? Just what is at stake- what is gained, and what is at risk? When is he allowed to make his move, what collateral damage is and is not permissible, or how are the stakes or communication changed by upping the ante for collateral damage? What is the real value of the artifact- is it a symbol recognized by the accords, that its holder takes control of a particular territory or a degree of political power? What does it mean to have that power? Is it passing through hands like a ball in a court, or is it just a red herring for outside observers, and the apparent outcome of the conflict and of the artifact's location at the end of the say pre-determined?

Is the whole scene an earnest fight, merely a game with clear-cut rules, or an act meant to facilitate political dialogue in the form of mock violence? Is it more than one of those things at once? Does it take someone in the know to tell when it shifts from being one and becomes another?

So what are these groups really trading about? Are they all champions of communities or individual powers who are dependent upon whatever it is they're fighting over? Resources? Safety? Shards of crystallized human passions that some of the magical entities involved in this conflict need to sustain themselves, and which others can use to empower themselves or for miscellaneous effects, that are both consumed, traded, and produced in the public conflicts between the magical entities?

What does it really mean to bend or break the rules in these conflicts?

-snip-

Anyway. I'm gonna try to stop myself there and just come back in the morning to see if any of that was coherent. >.>

Edit: There actually *is* a powered by the apocalypse Supers game, and I love it, it just didn't strike the chord in my imagination the way converting a gritty urban fantasy game into Magical Girls did. :P It's called Worlds in Peril, and I love most everything about it except it's progression system.
This message was last edited by the user at 04:08, Wed 23 Sept 2015.
Ace Sorou
member, 114 posts
Thu 24 Sep 2015
at 02:51
  • msg #15

Magic Girls with a twist.

Not interested in GMing, burned out on another game, but I'm interested in playing a bystander in this game. If acceptable, let me know if you get a GM.
Blazeofglory
member, 39 posts
Part-Time Game Master
Badass Normal
Wed 7 Oct 2015
at 13:38
  • msg #16

Magic Girls with a twist.

Bump, who could GM this?
Furyou Miko
member, 506 posts
Sat 10 Oct 2015
at 23:16
  • msg #17

Magic Girls with a twist.

What he said. >>
Blazeofglory
member, 62 posts
Part-Time Game Master
Badass Normal
Wed 21 Oct 2015
at 12:57
  • msg #18

Magic Girls with a twist.

Hell, if I didn't have so many games to deal with already, I'd run this myself.

EDIT:I forgot that I know next to nothing about Magical Girl/Super Sentaiwhatveritscalled series' or their concepts or story or anything.
This message was last edited by the user at 13:04, Wed 21 Oct 2015.
Shatman
member, 32 posts
The Tenfold Spook
Sat 31 Oct 2015
at 23:37
  • msg #19

Magic Girls with a twist.

Honestly, in Precure and Sentai alike, the transformation sequences are implied to be instantaneous in-series. They're there as stock footage- which allows them to save on production, pad out the show, and in more extreme cases, shoehorn in creepy fanservice.

Though if you want to go with "logical" reasons magical girls are never attacked: http://brickme.tumblr.com/post...er-attacked-during-a

Now we are in my ballpark- my technicolor spandex ballpark. In Sentai, there's various energy constructs that form the suits: ranging from angry dinosaur ghosts to full-sized trains to magic electricity to the literal hands of God. In Pirate Sentai Gokaiger, we see a bunch of Sentai heroes decades after the fact. OhRed is still hardcore, Doggie's able to arrest the new Red Ranger for space piracy, the MagiRangers are still wizards, and the dinosaur teams still have their prehistoric killer robots. Basically? All they lost, over 10-40 years of not fighting, was the suits and fireworks, which they gave up to drive off an evil alien empire.

The shows have covered these tropes since day 1. If anything, those traditions are in place to protect the MONSTERS.

But yeah, I've wanted to do something toku and/or magical girl based for a while if people are still interested.
This message was last edited by the user at 00:31, Sun 01 Nov 2015.
Furyou Miko
member, 508 posts
Sun 1 Nov 2015
at 10:02
  • msg #20

Magic Girls with a twist.

Absolutely still interested.

Even though I like the Nanoha approach to trasformation sequences (do them once, then the rest of the time just show a second of glowing, followed by the glow shattering and their costume changing).
novelcoon
member, 13 posts
Tue 3 Nov 2015
at 04:35
  • msg #21

Magic Girls with a twist.

I'm still interested.
Shatman
member, 33 posts
The Tenfold Spook
Sat 7 Nov 2015
at 23:06
  • msg #22

Magic Girls with a twist.

I'm going to be honest, I'm a lot more familiar with Sentai than magical girls. If there's at least three or five people, I'll go ahead and whip something up.
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