The Major Split between Wizards and Fluffy Magical Girlsext_760768August 14 2013, 02:03:37 UTC
The problem is, as you mentioned, depending on how settings are allowed/integrated the wizards would be right.
Or the wizards would see that little miss sunshine basicly gets put through an emotional woodchipper /constantly/. Take The Ronin Warriors (i cna't spell the japanese title) Basicly genderflipped elemental sailor moon.
All of them lost their families or got beaten around, learn the power they've been working and growing closer to comes from the being that they've been fighting and they're all on edge trying to find how they fit in the world while not going crazy trying to keep Bad Things from happening
Or Usagi. Sure she's Love and Heart and the poster child of Love Conquers All, but she has to deal with not only the memories and baggage of past lives to deal with (seriously the whole thing started because Beryl wanted her guy... an entire war that sterelized at least one solar system save for a single world all because of ONe Guy.) Plus depending on how long things run she's got the hwole destiny issue ticking over her head when really all she probably wants is to have a nice carefree life doing whatever.
Getting Handed power is a double edged sword and as any wizard will tell you Power binds you as often as it gives you options.
Magi might have to work and study and spend years if not centuries, but that route is relatively safe, calm, not rocking the boat. Magic Girls/People/Entities get a moon rocket to hold onto, a helmet, and Jeb Kerbmen piloting the thing with instructions to try not to fall off.
Safety, Speed of Growth, Raw Power; Pick Two.
I could probably make Dresden work in Fantasia by realizing while Usagi or Ryu or Whoever have stupid amounts of power they also are effectivly a danger and weirdness nexus that keeps them from living even the sort of 'normal' his life has. I choose Dresden because like magical girls, or at least the typical ones seen as protagonists, he's insanely young for the sort of raw power he holds, comes off with scrappy seat of the pants wins, makes the sort of friends and enemies that sane people even in the supernatural community pale at.
And in his universe it is literally acknowledged by the Spook Angel that works with God (big G) that the greatest force in the universe is Love. Do as you do out of Love and you can never fall so far that you can never find your way back.
Edit: I am not advocating folding Dresdenverse in for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I don't think I could actually play Harry Dresden the way he should be played. Plus i have two or three concepts i want to roll with as is both heroic and villainous.
Re: The Major Split between Wizards and Fluffy Magical GirlsgamergeekgirlAugust 14 2013, 02:56:03 UTC
I think most of your points are reasonable. We, too, have considered and agree with the point that most mages take the slow and relatively painless path, but don't get much power out of it; compare and contrast MGs and their rocket -- exactly! You put it quite well. Any mage on Battle Fantasia, though, is on some kind of rocket, or else on the sidelines, not a real combatant.
However, in case it's unclear: Harry Dresden and other generic mage themes are inappable on Battle Fantasia. It is a magical girl game, through and through, and while we allow OC mages through various means (Cardcaptor Sakura, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and Magical Sensei Negima all provide example frameworks for mages-within-the-genre, and OC generic mages from original themes that follow PtP are also okay), we are /not/ an urban arcana game, and the purpose of the PtP is not to facilitate bringing in non-magical-girl canons.
It's certainly possible to make most any theme work within the PtP framework, but that doesn't mean that they SHOULD be. :)
Re: The Major Split between Wizards and Fluffy Magical Girlsext_760768August 14 2013, 03:29:26 UTC
Oh I agree with you mostly because magic girl shows and similar shounin equivilants tend to gloss over the aftermath of a torrential piller of flame or a flachette storm of glass or whatever. Magic shows tend to gloss over those things along with dismemberment or other maimings outside of maybe once a season or series Major Plot Point Issues.
AS I've said in private this is not my first time dancing with the genra (even though I personally don't much like either shonen or shojo 'unique person saves the world' type cartoons. Tweak it a bit though and you get good mush fodder due to built in tropes explaining why people survive stupid amounts of punishment, bad guys leaving when reasonably you should just shoot 'em in the head, etc.
One thing I've always been tempted to do is a henshin interrupt. Mostly because I'm sure /EVERYONE/ has wondered why not just punch Usagi in the face mid-transformation. I mean do that often enough (or worse such as bomb the girl's home and so forth) and they suddenly stop being defensive and get downright Mean (and rightfully sow, it stops being honorable combat and starts turning into pragmatic dirty fighting to survive.)
Kamio I think might fight Dirty... at first. Then he'd have it drummed into his thick skull why things are the way they are. Mostly because it means being 'polite' means you don't suddenly have a rampaging plot monster show up at your front door... or in Kamio's case have your noodle van get turned into a giant food/beat/emetal youma.
So long as I don't have to be blindlingly awesome or scream with the amps turned up to 27 just to get a response I think I can safely dial back the character rage on the guy. Even though I plan on putting him through the woodchipper of emotional shredding.
I like what i've seen so far. You seem willing to sit down and talk and explain instead of 'rar, this is how it is. Deal With It.' I don't react well to that sort of thing. Besides. Ask Deelel, Faruja, Ariel, or Nagetta from Final Kingdom. I can DO crazy just fine thank you very much.
Re: The Major Split between Wizards and Fluffy Magical GirlsgamergeekgirlAugust 14 2013, 04:25:08 UTC
Interrupting a henshin and thus attacking a character's Base Mode requires consent from the interrupted party; combat scenes generally begin with everyone using the transformation command before anything else happens.
Why?
Thematically, Battle Fantasia exists to ENJOY the tropes and trapping of magical girl, including the henshin. Many magical girl themes get very dark in tone (fancy henshins, cute monsters and the emotional woodchipper are in no way mutually exclusive), and though they may occasionally poke a little fun at the conventions of the genre, /they ultimately celebrate them/; the deconstruction and reconstruction in Puella Magi Madoka Magica being a recent and lovely example.
We also expect players from themes of very different tones to respect each other's needs. If some players don't want their characters' relative innocence destroyed, that is to be respected by all parties; if other players don't want their characters' problems simply lovebeamed away, that, too, should be respected. A roleplaying community is exactly that: a community. We're here to all tell fun stories together, for as many interconnected definitions of fun as we can invent.
Blowing up a magical girl's house is generally not a plot that we will approve, because it is not appropriate to our genre. While we welcome non-magical girl characters in our game, we don't welcome attempts to turn the game into something it's not. If you see the conventions of our genre as barriers to be overcome, you may be happier on another game. However, it's certainly possible and expected to explore very dark themes within the setting. Hopefully a very wide variety of stories will be told on our game.
Re: The Major Split between Wizards and Fluffy Magical Girlsext_760768August 14 2013, 04:32:51 UTC
You misunderstand me. I have lots of ideas, and it's not like i"m going to try doing without checking with everyone in scene (or staff depending on what i have in mind.) No need to spoil the cake right as it's being set out.
Right now i"m actually feeling really good about all this. Actual dialogue and discussion. It's a real load off.
Besides you kinda hit the nail on the head on Why We Mush; it's a group of people trying to tell stories thorugh collaborating with eachother playing eachother's strengths off the other to tell things in new and unexpected ways.
I just ramble... LOTS. A lot of these ideas, like tossing an eight pound chunk of c4 at somebody's home, are non-starters. Others, like Kamio's van getting youma-ized in retaliation for him intruding on things 'not his business' and or trying to bait actual Powers into showing up is one i think could work.
Re: The Major Split between Wizards and Fluffy Magical GirlsgamergeekgirlAugust 14 2013, 04:57:34 UTC
Hooray for dialogue and discussion!
I'm sure you can work with the staff, and with players of possible enemies of your character(s), to come up with compelling, fun conflict. :) I look forward to what results from it!
Or the wizards would see that little miss sunshine basicly gets put through an emotional woodchipper /constantly/. Take The Ronin Warriors (i cna't spell the japanese title) Basicly genderflipped elemental sailor moon.
All of them lost their families or got beaten around, learn the power they've been working and growing closer to comes from the being that they've been fighting and they're all on edge trying to find how they fit in the world while not going crazy trying to keep Bad Things from happening
Or Usagi. Sure she's Love and Heart and the poster child of Love Conquers All, but she has to deal with not only the memories and baggage of past lives to deal with (seriously the whole thing started because Beryl wanted her guy... an entire war that sterelized at least one solar system save for a single world all because of ONe Guy.) Plus depending on how long things run she's got the hwole destiny issue ticking over her head when really all she probably wants is to have a nice carefree life doing whatever.
Getting Handed power is a double edged sword and as any wizard will tell you Power binds you as often as it gives you options.
Magi might have to work and study and spend years if not centuries, but that route is relatively safe, calm, not rocking the boat. Magic Girls/People/Entities get a moon rocket to hold onto, a helmet, and Jeb Kerbmen piloting the thing with instructions to try not to fall off.
Safety, Speed of Growth, Raw Power; Pick Two.
I could probably make Dresden work in Fantasia by realizing while Usagi or Ryu or Whoever have stupid amounts of power they also are effectivly a danger and weirdness nexus that keeps them from living even the sort of 'normal' his life has. I choose Dresden because like magical girls, or at least the typical ones seen as protagonists, he's insanely young for the sort of raw power he holds, comes off with scrappy seat of the pants wins, makes the sort of friends and enemies that sane people even in the supernatural community pale at.
And in his universe it is literally acknowledged by the Spook Angel that works with God (big G) that the greatest force in the universe is Love. Do as you do out of Love and you can never fall so far that you can never find your way back.
Edit: I am not advocating folding Dresdenverse in for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I don't think I could actually play Harry Dresden the way he should be played. Plus i have two or three concepts i want to roll with as is both heroic and villainous.
Reply
However, in case it's unclear: Harry Dresden and other generic mage themes are inappable on Battle Fantasia. It is a magical girl game, through and through, and while we allow OC mages through various means (Cardcaptor Sakura, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and Magical Sensei Negima all provide example frameworks for mages-within-the-genre, and OC generic mages from original themes that follow PtP are also okay), we are /not/ an urban arcana game, and the purpose of the PtP is not to facilitate bringing in non-magical-girl canons.
It's certainly possible to make most any theme work within the PtP framework, but that doesn't mean that they SHOULD be. :)
Reply
AS I've said in private this is not my first time dancing with the genra (even though I personally don't much like either shonen or shojo 'unique person saves the world' type cartoons. Tweak it a bit though and you get good mush fodder due to built in tropes explaining why people survive stupid amounts of punishment, bad guys leaving when reasonably you should just shoot 'em in the head, etc.
One thing I've always been tempted to do is a henshin interrupt. Mostly because I'm sure /EVERYONE/ has wondered why not just punch Usagi in the face mid-transformation. I mean do that often enough (or worse such as bomb the girl's home and so forth) and they suddenly stop being defensive and get downright Mean (and rightfully sow, it stops being honorable combat and starts turning into pragmatic dirty fighting to survive.)
Kamio I think might fight Dirty... at first. Then he'd have it drummed into his thick skull why things are the way they are. Mostly because it means being 'polite' means you don't suddenly have a rampaging plot monster show up at your front door... or in Kamio's case have your noodle van get turned into a giant food/beat/emetal youma.
So long as I don't have to be blindlingly awesome or scream with the amps turned up to 27 just to get a response I think I can safely dial back the character rage on the guy. Even though I plan on putting him through the woodchipper of emotional shredding.
I like what i've seen so far. You seem willing to sit down and talk and explain instead of 'rar, this is how it is. Deal With It.' I don't react well to that sort of thing. Besides. Ask Deelel, Faruja, Ariel, or Nagetta from Final Kingdom. I can DO crazy just fine thank you very much.
Reply
Why?
Thematically, Battle Fantasia exists to ENJOY the tropes and trapping of magical girl, including the henshin. Many magical girl themes get very dark in tone (fancy henshins, cute monsters and the emotional woodchipper are in no way mutually exclusive), and though they may occasionally poke a little fun at the conventions of the genre, /they ultimately celebrate them/; the deconstruction and reconstruction in Puella Magi Madoka Magica being a recent and lovely example.
We also expect players from themes of very different tones to respect each other's needs. If some players don't want their characters' relative innocence destroyed, that is to be respected by all parties; if other players don't want their characters' problems simply lovebeamed away, that, too, should be respected. A roleplaying community is exactly that: a community. We're here to all tell fun stories together, for as many interconnected definitions of fun as we can invent.
Blowing up a magical girl's house is generally not a plot that we will approve, because it is not appropriate to our genre. While we welcome non-magical girl characters in our game, we don't welcome attempts to turn the game into something it's not. If you see the conventions of our genre as barriers to be overcome, you may be happier on another game. However, it's certainly possible and expected to explore very dark themes within the setting. Hopefully a very wide variety of stories will be told on our game.
Reply
Right now i"m actually feeling really good about all this. Actual dialogue and discussion. It's a real load off.
Besides you kinda hit the nail on the head on Why We Mush; it's a group of people trying to tell stories thorugh collaborating with eachother playing eachother's strengths off the other to tell things in new and unexpected ways.
I just ramble... LOTS. A lot of these ideas, like tossing an eight pound chunk of c4 at somebody's home, are non-starters. Others, like Kamio's van getting youma-ized in retaliation for him intruding on things 'not his business' and or trying to bait actual Powers into showing up is one i think could work.
Reply
I'm sure you can work with the staff, and with players of possible enemies of your character(s), to come up with compelling, fun conflict. :) I look forward to what results from it!
Reply
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