The next question, which superhero RPG? I've demo'ed a few here, including Valiant Universe: The Roleplaying Game and Superbabes, and I have access to several more, including Champions. The goal here is to have flexibility while still being quick to create a character in. Thus, the Valiant RPG. I may try to recreate the character under a different system for comparison's sake, but for now, the Valiant RPG has the flexibility and quickness I want.
Step 1 - Create a Character Theme and Character Name
I have a magical girl. Great, but magical girls cover Sailor Moon, Card Captor Sakura, Magic Knights Rayearth, RWBY, and a whole lot more. I need to narrow things down a lot. Right now, I'm thinking along the lines of Lightbringer Hannah, the Communist magical girl I played at CanGames last May. Hannah's from the wrong time, though; I want something modern, without necessarily adding political ideology from the start. But Hannah did have a weapon, a large mallet, and I want to add some elements in from RWBY. Every magical girl has a magical weapon in this setting.
Setting is also important to work out now. Most magical girls are in Tokyo, much for the same reason why most superheroes are in New York City - that's where the writers and publishers are. When the magical girls aren't in Tokyo, they're off on a different world altogether. From a GM's point of view, though, why should I limit myself to those ideas? Why not move the magical girls elsewhere. Buffy, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was first in LA then in sleepy Sunnydale. Lightbringer Hannah was in Berlin. There's enough points of interest around locally or within driving distance that a magical invasion force would be interested in, so why not local? Unruly is in Oshawa because it's close to Toronto and yet feels like a town instead of a metropolis.
Age is next. Most magical girls are girls, ranging from pre-teen to late teens. It's a way to sneak in coming-of-age stories while still delivering monsters to be defeated. That said, there are older magical girls, such as Ayaka from Phantom Quest Corp and Farah from the webcomic Shattered Starlight, allowing for a more adult approach. For now, I'll go with late teens, young enough to have other obligations that get in the way of fighting evil by moonlight but old enough to not have to rely on parents to get around.
Pulling the above together, I have location, age, and minimum requirement. No theme yet, though; most magical girls series have a theme that ties the characters together. I'll use the classic Western elements - earth, air, fire, and water, not the Periodic Table - for my so far unnamed girl. Let's get her named. Seventeen year old Charlotte Valentine has been recruited to fight against an invading evil as Elemental Guardian Atmos.
Elemental Guardian AtmosOne more thing to note. For the Character Level, I went with Super. This determines the number of powers Charlotte can have and how powerful they can be. Nasty was created as Sidekick and Ringette was created as Super, for comparison.
Vital Factors
Name: Charlotte Valentine
Title: n/a
Affiliation: Elemental Guardians
Character Level: Super
Event Points:
Tags: magical girl * air
History: to be determined
Personality: Flighty
Step 2 - Assign Stat Dice
There's four stats and four dice to assign. I'll put the d6 in Intellect; Charlotte isn't the best student, though she does try. The d8s go into Might and Action; she's good at both, but not peak human potential. The d10 thus goes into Charisma; Charlotte is well-liked and is a pleasant person to be around, even if she can't follow the conversation. For Luck, I'll choose the number 4. It might be bad luck for superstiious magical girls, but Charlotte has always liked the number.
Might: d8Step 3 - Create Powers
Intellect: d6
Charisma: d10
Action: d8
Luck: 4
Thanks to being at the Super Character Level, Charlotte has 45 points to play with to get no more than four powers during character creation. Most magical girls have maybe one or two powers, though. The game, however, is loose on what a power is. Woody, from Quantum and Woody, has Snark as a listed power. If someone wanted Snappy Patter as a power, I'd allow it.
Charlotte's first power comes from her weapon. While having the air elemental take a bow is obvious, I want to go in another direction. Thus, the Air Sabre at d10, discard lowest, for 10 points. Next, because she is a magical girl, she needs a magical attack - Gale Winds at d12, keep both, for 18 points. I'm under the number of points available at the Hero level, 30, so I'll adjust the level down. Charlotte's allowed only three powers now, but with only two points left, I'll use them to get one Event Point.
Powers Air Sabre d8 (discard lowest)Step 4 - Assign Armour
Gale Winds d12 (keep both)
Armour is determined by averaging the die types of Might and Action then adding ten. What the armour is depends on the character. One NPC in the /Valiant/ book has armour described as Tax Evasion. With Charlotte, she gets 18 points of armour defined as Air Currents. Since I'm dealing with this line already, I'll check how much Health Charlotte has. With her d8 in Might, she needs to mark off one tick on the top row.
Armour HealthO O O O O O OStep 5 - Select Weapons
O O O O X O O O X: -1 to Might
O O O O X O O X: -1 to Might & Action
O O O O X X Staggered
O O X Knocked Out
(Air Currents)
Characters can start with two weapons. With Charlotte, the decision is easy enough; the weapons are her powers. The damage will be the power die. For the Air Sabre, the only range it can be used is close; it's a sword meant for stabbing, not throwing. The Gale Winds, though, can be used at range and are harder to use up close.
Weapons Damage RangeStep 6 - Select Equipment
Close Near Far
Air Sabre Pwr Die OK -- --
Gale Winds Pwr Die -2 OK OK
This is more for gear that defines Charlotte than anything else. Naturally, as a magical girl, she has a transformation device, a magical doo-dad that lets her become Elemental Guardian Atmos, which appears as a brooch in the form of a sabre among the clouds. Elemental Guardian Geos might have a brooch of a warhammer in front of a mountain, so there is a theme happening there. Charlotte also has a smartphone, because how else does she stay in touch with her friends when she's not with them. Finally, she managed to earn enough at odd jobs to get herself a motorscooter. It gets her around and is in her favourite colour, lavender.
Equipment Magical transformation broochStep 7 - Create Cues and Action Cues
Smartphone
Lavender motorscooter
Since this is a test of whether the system works for magical girls, I'll skip over this part. I will accept suggestions below, though.
Step 8 - Create Dispositions
Since this is a test of whether the system works for magical girls, I'll skip over this part. I will accept suggestions below, though.
Step 9 - Final Tweaking
I'm going to drop the last two points of armour, but that's all the tweaking that needs done.
Elemental Guardian Atmos
Vital Factors
Name: Charlotte Valentine
Title: n/a
Affiliation: Elemental Guardians
Character Level: Hero
Event Points: 1
Tags: magical girl * air
History: To be determined
Personality: Flighty
Might: d8
Intellect: d6
Charisma: d10
Action: d8
Luck: 4
Powers
Air Sabre d8 (discard lowest)
Gale Winds d12 (keep both)
Cues
Suggestions welcome
Action Cues
Suggestions welcome
Disposition
Suggestions welcome
Armour Health
O O O O O O O
O O O O X O O O X: -1 to Might
O O O O X O O X: -1 to Might & Action
O O O O X X Staggered
X Knocked Out
(Air
Currents)
Weapons Damage Range
Close Near Far
Air Sabre Pwr Die OK -- --
Gale Winds Pwr Die -2 OK OK
Equipment
Magical transformation brooch
Smartphone
Lavender motorscooter
One magical girl. Most of the time creating her was spent in getting the setting worked out so that Charlotte had a ground to build on. The powers were easy enough, but I wound up stepping the Character Level back. Note that there's nothing for the transformation from regular girl to magical girl. It's not really a power, at least in anime. The girls don't fundamentally change except for having access to their magical abilities. Not to mention, not every magical girl transforms. Sakura from Card Captor Sakura just has a magical wand that she uses when she fights evil. Using the Valiant RPG, I'm willing to let things like no one recognizing a transformed magical girl be part of the setting - no power needed, and it takes a brief moment before a fight starts for the magical girl to transform. It depends on the type of story the GM and players want to tell. For the most part, most magical girls are more worried about being late for school than they are about being recognized while fighting monsters.
The Valiant RPG can handle magical girls. But, as a GM, I'll need to work out the setting far more before a character can be created. It's good to know the system won't fight the players.
Comments are welcome below.
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