Well, time for a random game concept that I brainstormed that I'll probably never actually run:
You wander into the bar, the familiar smog of whiskey and cigarette smoke welcoming as always. A winged cat - the bartender - greets you as always, asking if you'd like the usual. The usual? You've been here how many years now and he still asks that? Have you ever even ordered anything other than 'the usual'? Regardless, you do humor his request, if not because of your begrudging rapport, then because he could probably spike your face straight into the damn pavement if he tried.
With a few taps, the circle activates, a burst of light heralding the creation of your drink. As you nonchalantly down the glass, various conversations slip into your ears, in between the rowdy roars of laughter. Normally, you may have participated in some of those banalities. However, this was not normally.
You've seen some shit man, and this, did not stand out. Nonetheless, it's hard to ignore it when her blood still stains you and, more importantly, your brand new coat. As for how the lass died, well, it happened roughly five minutes ago, let's not reiterate and ruin your day further, shall we? She was special. Aren't they all? Special, unique, expendable. The girl that is, not the coat. You paid for that fucking coat. That shit's going to stain. Come to think of it, you probably should be at home trying to salvage it, rather than just getting drunk off your arse in the bar, but the coat's ruined either way, why should you care? What, so it gets ruined by a slightly smaller stain?
Ah screw it, maybe you could just pass it off as some weird design or something. If it's stained, it may as well get stained by the next one as well. When you get assigned your next one that is.
The premise is that you are one of those mascot critters that accompany magical girls. Ones that have the rather unfortunate tendency of bleeding everywhere as they die. Though at least most of them have the courtesy not to their blood all over you. Your job is to stop that annoyance from occurring. The dying part, that is (though you probably would like to avoid getting blood all over yourself, that tends to be more irritating). If they make enough progress in fighting, whatever it is they're meant to fight. You never really paid that much attention to their adversaries and presumably sympathetic motives, no one really does in this business, and if you're doing your job right, they won't live long enough for you to need to.
The final objective is to have your child soldier magical girl survive enough skirmishes to have developed the skills and instinct necessary for them to be independent. At which point you'll be assigned some other poor sap to deal with. To do so, you will need to provide some assistance in the form of teaching them how to fight, use their spells and whatnot along with giving them directions in combat. After all, you certainly have seen your fair share of fights (emphasis on seen) and have a (reasonably) good idea of what the previous successes did that served them well along with what previous failures did to die horribly. Additionally you can gather intel and figure out the best time to attack. As for whether or not the damn kid will actually listen to your advice, well, that's another matter.
The actual player-controlled characters won't need stats, since they won't be involved in combat, instead, players will assign spectral locations to their meatsacks magical girl.
Spectral locations basically represent a person's traits, as their name implies, they're simple spectra between two extremities. Proximity to either one grants both advantages and disadvantages, for example:
Selflessness [||||||||||]: Determines how willingly the magical girl will willingly enter combat. More selfless ones will be easier to persuade into respond to a threat but their willingness to lay down their lives for others could impact survival rates.
[||||||||||] - Martyr: The purity of her spirit is matched only by the purity of the crack a normal person would have to snort in order to display as great a detachment from the concept of self preservation as her. Well, at least they're quite cooperative so you can count on them entering combat exactly when they're needed. Just be sure to withhold information until the time is right for hostilities to commence. It's kind of like having some sort of angelic bloodhound, really, as long as you ensure that she doesn't get presented with opportunities to throw her life away.
[||||||||||] - Asshole: That ungrateful little bastard isn't listening. You've scouted out the target. You laid out the plans. It's the time to strike. But she's having none of it, too busy with something or other, you stopped paying attention to her halfway through. Like it'll matter when she's six feet under for failing to make that pre-emptive strike... Though if you do manage to convince her, or failing that, get a her involved whether she likes it or not, she will probably survive; as for the allies and civilians caught up in the mix, well, it isn't like it's your job to keep them alive.
Sequence [||||||||||]: Determines how flashy the transformation sequence is. More flashy ones will grant better effects but will take long. No, it is not a free action, so please do take that in mind before you max it out and try getting someone to use it in front of a firing squad.
[||||||||||] - Epilepsy Warning: If the damn sequence was any longer, the majority of combat would just consist of this grandiose clusterfuck of spinning, ribbon and whatthefuckery. Thankfully, it also happens to be so bright and releases so much energy it amounts to a flashbang. Perfect for disabling enemies that happen be be too close and getting the civvies to hit the deck. Plus the residual magic does give a rather welcome boost to kick off the murderparty.
[||||||||||] - Minimalistic: The sequence isn't so much bland as much as it's nonexistent. You're not even sure if it counts as one, or really, if you weren't just too hungover to contract properly at the time. It may not be impressive but it certainly does its job - an instant switch that is perfect for remaining stealthy should you wish in indulge in a bit of more covert murder. There's also the fact that if she ain't spinning around and crap ain't flying around randomly, people can't just cap her easily.
tl;dr: You are an excessively cute magical critter who probably chain-smokes and drinks themselves into a stupor when off the job; try to your child soldier alive.
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Topic: Roller's Block (RTD Brainstorming Thread) (HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY) (Derm is 5k) (Read 744348 times)