IC is hereEDIT TO PUT ALL THE INFO IN THE OP!
Setting info:
Rise of the magical girls is a modern fantasy/sci-fi rpg, that, despite being originaly once about magical girls (that lasted maybe about 5 minutes, then it was derailed), mostly seems to be super-hero themed...or at least super-teenager themed. Since this game is a prequel to previous threads (with all the inconsistencies and time paradoxes this may bring with it, screw tame spice continuums and deterministic approaches), actual knowledge of the games canon is not required in the least. What *is* important:
Game is set in the 60s. First person to complain about historical inaccuracies gets shot.
Game is set in New Orleans.
Masquerade is in effect, for the very real fear of very real consequences.
In order to avoid a problem the last thread like this had, characters, at least in the beginning of the game, will have to be a bit flexible with their backstories, to avoid the "well, my character has no reason, motivation or any interest at all to actually stay around the other characters for even one more minute, kthxbai." Since most of the starting cast is pretty much already there, no reason to elaborate that part any more, just pointing it out to people who want to join at later points that I'll not hesitate to suggest backstory changes and shoot down things.
Game style:
Since in previous games rigorous number heavy rules, futile attempts at game-balance and tons and tons of complaints have led to almost genre-killing arguements, this game is put under a single, very rigorous guideline: ROLL WITH IT. Even if you think something is unfair, unbalanced or makes no sense, resist any urges to immediatly jump in the OOC and vent your anger. If something really needs adressing because you feel it makes it impossible on a long term to enjoy the game, adress me via PM, but I do not want to see a single post like that in the OOC. Even thinly veiled, cynical or sarcastic "jokes" can way too easy kick things lose. So it is best to describe this game as some sort of improv-theater. Stay in character as much as possible, and when something happens, always react in character as much as you can. And few characters actually just "ragequit", do they?
By nature of rotmg, there is no player limit, and (though I suggest you start with only one and try to stick with it), there is no character limit. And though I am technicaly the big over-GM, this games plot is, and has always been open-source. I have a plot in mind, and will run it periodicaly to mix things up or get them back on track or back in motion, but every player is not only permitted, but encouraged, to come up with their own plots, or short scenarios and scenes and ((assuming I don't somehow veto it for whatever reason I may have)) step up and take over the wheel for a while. And as a GM too, "roll with it" is mandatory. I've seen it happen time and time again, people came up with a plot, which falls apart the moment something unpredictable happens, and they give up declaring things over. But play per post is a pretty cool thing, it allows you to pause and think at any time. Need help on "damn they ended my plot before it even started"? Feel free to ask me, or heck, ask openly in the OOC, things can be figured out. A bad GM in general, but have something cool you want to happen? Ask me, maybe things can be figured out. This game lives from player engagement and colaborative world-building.
At the beginning, stats rank from 1 to 10, and offer a relatively straight up view to compare one hero to another. With no outside influence someone with a higher stat will usualy manage to do better than someone with a lower stat, simple as that.
Health:
This is an important stat, because it literaly dictates how many hits you can take before you hit the sack, and also how much the GM should take into consideration how much your wounds should penalize your actions Someone with 10 health would probably shrug off a small wound, though someone with just 2 health is likely already barely clinging onto consciousness. Particularly heavy hits should sensibly be counted as 2, or even 3 points of health loss at a time, if for example someone with no defences whatsoever gets hit entirely unprepared by some powerhouse really going for the gold here. Health takes in-game time and/or medical attention to recover, and you might not start with full health when a lot of action has been going on recently.
Stamina:
How long you can keep going, independantly from health. When doing something particularly exhausting, or simply by having done a lot with no time to catch your breath, this will decrease. Depleting your stamina on purpose is literaly what we know as "trying really hard", and, apart from clever tactics and teamwork of course, is a reliable tool to deal with people who simply have higher stats than you. More on that in task resolution. Particularly light hits or grazes might just deplete some stamina instead of health outright. This refills fully whenever you have a moment of respite, and might even recharge in combat if you somehow have the luxury of taking a breather. This also counts as a mana-bar.
Strength:
Pretty self-explanatory. It does not only make you hit harder, but particularly powerful attacks are all the more difficult to defend against. What good is some martial arts jumping around when the enemy simply overpowers you? The straight path is sometimes the shortest, and by no means the dumbest.
Skill:
Your hand to eye coordination. How aware you are of what is going on, and how well you can coordinate elaborate actions.
Speed:
How fast you move, again pretty self-explanatory. Who cares how strong an enemy is, if he is too slow to land a blow? Who cares if the enemy is an enemy skilled enough to dodge a bullet, if you shoot him a dozen times in rapid succession?
Willpower:
The primary stat regarding the use of various magical abilities.
Task resolution:
And here is the kicker - all of those stats can be used offensively AND defensively. Just like you can use your strength to land nearly unstoppable punches, you can use it as toughness to simply take an incoming attack head on. For skillful or speedy fighters the interpretation is even more straight forward.
BUT.
I strongly advice against going "neat, now I just need to put up one stat really high and have covered all bases." Just like a powergamer might want to take advantage of having an overwhelmingly single-focused set, a clever GM will easily recognise that indeed, there is NO fixed ruleset on how those stats have to be matched and compared in a battle. You might be the most skilled character on earth. All the GM has to do is put an AoE attack against you that *can'* be evaded or redirected, and all of a sudden you will be sad you didn't invest more in strength to be able to resist the blast - and take all the more damage for it. Likewise, especialy at high gaps between stats, the GM may decide to just look at the entirety of your set. So your attacks are incredibly strong and precise? But maybe you are still not fast enough to land them? Or they are very fast and very precise? But the enemy can just shrug them off because you are too weak?
The game is supposed to be mostly based around common sense and roleplay, and the stats are numbers that the GM is supposed to take as guidelines for comparison on just how that might go, alongside many other factors like, numerical advantage, how much stamina and health you are missing, and all the other details of the ongoing battle.
Note that Willpower does not *necessarily* has to be used for magical attacks. A skillfully aimed laser, even if much smaller and weaker than a huge laser that needs a lot of concentration to form can be much more devastating at the right time, and no matter how strong your focus, it may help you against someone reading your mind, but not a magical fire burning your ass.
Exhaustion:
If a player choses to exhaust himself on purpose, he may add 1d6 (or something? Open to suggestions) to the stat the GM finds the most relevant in the situation. Or several, for several points of exhaustion. Sometimes a GM may decide to force exhaustion on you on a defensive action, if he choses that doing so would have made sense, for example if exhausting yourself to dodge an incoming attack would have actually let you dodge, at least partialy, an incoming perhaps very dangerous attack that otherwise you couldn't have just dodged without breaking a proper sweat.
Spotlight points:
This very rare resource is awarded to players who did something particularly awesome, creative, dramatic, emotional or sad (love me some good tear-jerkers). Nobody starts with this resource, and it is only awarded if some other player (that is not me), nominates another player for it, at least one more player agrees, and of course I agree with it (because unwarranted sense of self-importance), or just a majority of other players agree (because who am I to argue? Power to the people!).
This resource can be used to put a spotlight on a certain character, and for the duration of..whatever makes sense really, makes them awesome. They will kick-ass, drama and action will follow them along their soundtracl blazing through the universe, as the current scene becomes theirs. They may change into incredible super-forms that were never seen before, and may never be seen again, and may or may not gain permanent perks from that event. After using this, they will be very unlikely to ever gain a second point of this, so use this with utmost care, and if possible, the utmost sense of dramatic timing.
And...that's it.
It's really that simple.
Guidelined freeform. In a game where people have vastly different magical powers, this is the only sensible way, unless you want a 50+ page rulebook, and want every single turn of action to last 4-5 days irl because of sheer grind.
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race:
Description: (pictures welcome)
Backstory:
Ability:
Stats: ((you have 35 points to spend, amount is up to vote in case people want more (less is optional)))
Health :
Stamina :
Strength :
Skill :
Speed :
Willpower:
Perks: (if any. this is basicaly the "there is something special about the character" slot)
Inventory: (if any)
Author
Topic: Rise of the magical girls 4 - OOC : The pre-game *NOW WITH INFO* (Read 76427 times)