High School Girls RPG: Warriors of the Shadow Clan, 5 players wanted! light hum

[Soveliss]

Hello all!

For those who don't spend so much time on French websites, High School Girls RPG is a free French amateur tabletop role playing game where you play girls in high school (or university, it doesn't changes much of the game). It is a game based on trying to portray emotions. It also has a free sourcebook called Magical Girls, to play magical girls like in Sailor Moon, or other series. The game is pretty much very inspired by manga and anime. So I planned on launching a game of high school girls RPG with Magical Girls. So I plan on starting a game set in an home brew setting.

Setting: an unnamed generic high school and university campus, in an unnamed generic city located in the US. A few millenniums ago, demons were trying to take over the world, but clans of warriors all over the world opposed them Most clans duties were inherited in the bloodlines (with the possibility of recruiting members from outside the bloodlines), and for those who were deemed worthy by the clan spirit leader, the clan's powers manifested when demons were threatening the world. The Shadow Clan, one of those clans, was the best at information gathering and stealthy action, and found that the demon arrived through a dimensional rift, pouring into our world. They allied with each other to try to seal them away by closing the rift, and succeeded. With the demons sealed, the clan's powers went dormant, the clans were disbanded, and most of their numbers were lost. Few of their heirs are still left today. And today, the seal is weakening, and a few demons start getting through the rift, and into our world. Fortunately, a few of the clans heirs will awake in the world. In this small town, 5 heiresses of the Shadow Clan (your characters) will soon awake. They are the last heiresses of this clan, and the only hope to learn how to reseal the rift, for the knowledge was lost a long time ago, while still having to do their studies and (at least try to) get good grades.

Requirements:

Play an altruistic high schooler/university student, not one who is only trying to hurt others.
Be okay with typical high school/university shenanigans. High school/university shenanigans may include boyfriends/girlfriends and things like that, if people are okay with that, but remember Elliquiy rules. I am open to include up to light scenes with humans.
Be okay with magical girls. You don't have to do a Sailor Moon like speech every time your character fights demons, but you will play high school girls fighting demons with magical attacks and enhanced fighting prowess beyond what mere humans could do.

I'll explain the rules later, but they are mostly pretty simple: 1D10 compared to an attribute or a skill, and in opposed checks, compare the success margins. You are free to think about what kind of character you want to play in the meantime.

I hope I will interest people with this. Have a nice day!

[Silk]

I'll put my name down for now but comes down to the rule system really.

[Soveliss]

Alright, the rules are pretty simple, when checking an attribute or a skill, you roll 1D10, and compare it to the modified skill or attribute (very easy tasks are associated with a bonus to your skill, very hard ones with a penalty). You usually have to roll low.

Exception: Emotion checks. To keep them in check, you have to roll above your Emotion attribute.

Characters have 6 attributes, and 35 point to put in them (min 1, max 10):

Fitness (Fit)

Intelligence (Int)

Charisma (Cha)

Perception (Per)

Dexterity (Dex)

Emotions (Emo)

Keep in mind that more emotional girls have more troubles controlling their emotions, but magic is powered by emotions.

Then, high school girls have psychological traits. There are positive ones, negative ones, advantageous neutral and disadvantageous neutral ones. In this campaign, at least 2 positive traits must be chosen on a character, and no more than 2 negative ones. At most, 4 traits from the neutral advantageous, disadvantageous, and positive ones may be chosen.

Positive traits list: Kind, Loyal, Hard working, good ambitions, good hearted, well mannered, philanthropic, diplomat, vigilante (the one who WILL go through huge lenght to not let someone get away with injustice).

Negative traits list: Slanderous, quarrelsome, insensitive, cheap, kleptomaniac, jealous, impulsive (will react with fists first), spiteful, xenophobic, misandrist, hate toward animals, opportunist.

Neutral advantageous list: Persevering, eloquent, elegant, lucky, good mood, meticulous, zen.

Neutral disadvantageous list: bulimic, childish, anorexic, paranoid, shy, tomboy, naive, mythomaniac, phobia, excess pride, alcoholic, distracted, falls easily in love, suicidal tendencies, depressive, daydreamer, lazy, hang up, hurtful humour.

Part 1 is done. Part 2 will be about skills, par 3 about fighting and magic, part 4 about the rest (healing, sickness, school tests...).

[Jefepato]

This sounds interesting.  Does the clan thing mean the player characters are all (distantly) related, or does the "recruit members from outside the bloodlines" clause mean pretty much anything goes?  Or is this essentially a non-issue after so many years (meaning the real question is why a bunch of heiresses just happen to be awakening all at once in the same small town)?

Also, I'm not sure I follow the phrases "neutral advantageous" and "neutral disadvantageous."  Is a "neutral advantage" just something that benefits you without necessarily being morally good/bad?  Do the psychological traits have any special effects, or does it just help to categorize characters (like the high school version of an alignment system)?

If the rules say anywhere, what's an "average" attribute score?

[Soveliss]

The heiress things is OOC just an excuse to have cool powers and a reason for the PC to cooperate and bind together. IC, it's just freak luck that the last 5 shadow Clan heiresses just are in the same town... Don't worry about it, freak luck happens all the time in real life. Think the guy who send coal to Newcastle (And just before his cargo got there, coal miners went on strike) and winter gear to the Caribbeans (An expedition headed for Siberia resupplied there, and thought that his gear was better than their, and bough everything...), or the sailor who got through 3 boats sinking, no casualties, only to be rescued by a ship in which there was his dying mother who wanted to see him one last time before dying... In short, freak luck happens all the times, don't worry about it.

Neutral advantageous are small advantages, neutral disadvantageous are small disadvantages, having sometimes minor effect in game rules terms, but describing the character. Positive and Negatives are kind of an alignment system.

An average attribute is 5 AFAIK.

Did I answered your question

[Jefepato]

I think so, yeah.  The system sounds interesting -- I have a few ideas but I'll probably wait to see at least the skill system before I start writing up a character properly.

...Wait, alcoholic is a small disadvantage for a high school student?  Yikes.

[Soveliss]

I meant to say in general, but yeah, alcoholic is one of the worst in the list, next to "depressive" and "suicidal tendencies". Combine the last two (or worse, the last two + alcoholic), and I don't know how long your character will last until going for a trip at the hospital...

So the skills, you can take a number of skills equal to your Intelligence as mastered skills. Their value is equal to the associated attribute.

Unmastered skills can be used at a reduced value (from 0 to -6), although some cannot be used unmastered (these are noted by an X). During play, you can train to add a skill to the mastered list, but in that case, you merely increase it's value by 1, and then, you can progress normally. Using a mastered skill enough times can grant you an opportunity to increase it by 1, up to 10.

After this part, you gain a number of points to spend into skills depending on your high school/university student age.

15 or less: 8
16-17: 10
18: 12.

Fitness skills are:

Running (-2)
Climbing (-2)
Horse riding (-6)
Throwing/throwing sports (0)
Swimming (-3)
Jumping (0)
Team based sports (-3)
Brawl (-3)
Gliding based sports (X)
Martial arts (X)

Intelligence skills:

Persuade (-2)
Small talk (0)
Cooking (1)
Ear bashing (0)
Computer Use (-5)
Games (0)
Acting (-2)
First aid (-2)
Cheat at exams (-2)

Dexterity skills:

Tumbling (-3)
Tailoring (-2)
Drawing (-2)
Stealth (0)
Dodge (0)
Forgery (0)
Tinkering (-2)
Make up (-1)
Parry (-3)
Painting (-2)
Bike (0)
Motorbike (-2)
Artistic sports (X)

Charisma skills:

Attract attention (0)
Seduction (0)

Perception skills

Search (0)
Disguise (-1)
Photo (-1)
Video (-1)
Shooting/shooting sports (-3)

Emotion skills:

Sing/Karaoke (-1)
Dance (-2)
Party (0)
Fashion (0)
Music (X)
Manners (-1)

If you want a skill that isn't in the list, just ask, I'll try to see how hard it is, then add it to the list. Next, in part 3, fighting and magic.

[Jefepato]

Okay.  What's the practical difference between Brawl and Martial Arts (well, I guess if fighting is up next you're going to tell us then...)?  And on a related note, do I understand correctly that there's no reason to master a skill if the penalty is a 0?

(Also, what's Ear Bashing?)

Tentatively I'm thinking of making a character who's a tomboyish athlete of some kind.  Just curious, given that Emotion powers magic apparently, how hosed are you if your Emotion isn't especially high?

[deusexkristina]

From what I can tell, the system sounds pretty similar to GURPS; is that a good comparison? You said it's free; do you happen to have a link or something so we could browse the rulebook?

Either way, I'd be interested in trying it out. It sounds fun and quirky.

[Soveliss]

Anyone wants the rulebook it's here: http://kadnax.pagesperso-orange.fr/pagly4.htm (It's in French though...), and I'll homebrew a few things, so I'll have to tell those to you. Enjoy!

[Yukina]

It sounds great so far. I'll join as well.

[Soveliss]

Sorry about my lack of response, my Internet connexion died.

Brawl is more like slapping, scratching using nails, loaded handbag, and typical high school supplies used as improvised implement, that sort of things... Martial arts are efficient fighting and real melee weapon use. If you slap, scratch, bite, use an improvised weapon on someone/something, or fight untrained, you use the brawl skill. If you try to use a practical weapon (staff, knife...), or fight to injure/restrain, you use the martial art skill (brawl would have a penalty to try to restrain someone/something). Only mastered skills can progress by using them, so there is still an interest.

Ear bashing is the art of yelling louder, longer and more effectively than the person in front of you.

So, I'll start with core rules, so fighting next. Whether someone grabbed your cell phone, and you want to wrestle for it, the jerk jock or alpha cheerleader had to find just your sensitive spot before repeatedly pressing it, and you want to teach him/her a lesson, or a demon tries to drain energy from your classmates to open the rift completely, and you want to stop him,the rules are simple and are the same.

A character has 3*Fit Health Points [Homebrew] Magical Girls have Fit*12 HP. In the Sailor Moon series, the Sailor Senshi can soak up quite some punishment. Besides, if you fight against demons, your average High School Girl, according to the rules, is way too squishy to survive even 1 hit, which is bond to happen eventually.[/homebrew] When a character loses less than 1/3 his/her HP, he/she is lightly wounded. Bandages usually take care of the sewounds. Between 1/3 and 2/3, the wound is severe, and a -2 penalty is applied to all rolls. These wounds need medical treatment. Beyond that, the wound is critical, and a Fit test is required to avoid passing out. A critical wound requires some time spend in the hospital. If passing out if avoided, all actions will suffer from a -4 penalty. 0 HP means coma without check, and negative HP mean death. [Homebrew] Magical Girls heal faster than normal humans.[/homebrew]

Initiative: Roll 1D10 + Dex, highest roll goes first. If two opponents roll the same, highest Dex goes first, or higher Fit if they have equal Dex. If they have equal Fit, they reroll until one of them comes on top.

A single character can usually launch a single attack each round (roughly 6 seconds), though exceptions do exist.

An attack is simply a roll under the relevant skill. The success margin is noted. If the roll fails, the attack is simply too slow or predictable to connect.

The defender can try to dodge or parry. Highest success margin wins. Equal margins are a near miss. But each subsequent attack against him/her gives him a -2 penalty to his/her defense (exceptions do exist).

A character hit by an attack, whether it deals damage or not, must make an emotion check to not suffer from mental effects, going from crying, shock at being hurt, blind rage, or anything related to panic or rage, depending on a character's personality. Reminder: Emotion checks are 1D10, and must score higher than emotion, and not lower, to succeed in keeping them in check. More emotional characters break down more easily if hit, while colder ones will take more to affect. Character with brawling and/or Martial arts training gain a bonus to their emotion checks equal to +1 if they master one of those skills, and +2 if they master the two, being more confident and more used to being hit.

The most damaging unarmed attacks are kicks, but weapons are more damaging than simple unarmed attacks. An experienced brawler can add +1 damage to a close combat hit with intent to injure. A martial artist using a weapon adds +2 damage, and doubles his her unarmed damage. [Homebrew] Someone with 9 in brawl, 6 in Martial arts, or 4 in Combat Prowess (a passive physical enhancement, see magic later) can make sure that his/her melee attacks do not kill the opponents (in game terms, that his/her attacks can not bring his/her opponent to less than 0 HP). This ability is mostly useful against mind controlled humans trying to kill you. A member of a warrior clan with 7 in combat prowess can do the same with ranged attacks. [/Homebrew]

A character with at least 7 in Martial arts can make an additional attack per round, and takes only a -1 penalty per cumulative defense in a round.

Magic:

Magic relies on Emotions. A character has Emo*4 Magic Energy Points (MEP). A character starts the gae with Emo/2 powers. A character can choose them from spheres. A power starts with a value equal to the associated attribute (depends on power) The spheres are: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Blessings, Curses, Magic Defense, Animals, Appearence (for disguise, invisibility, that sort of tings), Light, Mind, and Physical Enhancements. More powers can be learned during the game by practicing them like a skill.

Magical Combat:

Magic can be used in 4 way in combat: To enhance physical attacks, to do single target attacks, to do area attacks, and to do combination attacks.

Examples: A sword made of ice or fire, a stream of high pressure water (enough to cut through things), a fireball.

Weapons made of magic are more powerful, depending on the power value, and last 5 minutes per MEP spend in them.

Attacks: Damage with a single target attack depends on the value of the associated power. It is possible to "overcharge" an attack to deal more damage and at greater range (1 point: 15 meters without penalty, 30 meters with -1 penalty, 2 points: 30-60, 3 points: 60-120) by spending up to 3 points in it.

Area attacks: They require a level up to 5 to use correctly, and cost 8, 10 or 12 (if you overcharge them) to use. Some deal damage i a cone starting from you, some in an area you target.

Combination attacks: A combination attack is when several Magical Girls use a single target power at the same enemy to launch a powerful and accurate single blow to it. The character with the least in the power value determinate the maximum number of participants: It is equal to her value in the power.

A combination attack costs the normal cost of an attack, +1 for each character joining the attack, for everyone joining it. The attack value is equal to the average of th power values of every participant, +1 one for every participant. The target gets a penalty to it's dodge roll depending on how many magical girls joined in the attack: 1-2: -1, 3_4! -2, 5+: -3.

If the attack is successful, every character rolls her damage, then the sum is made, and doubled. The character who spend the most point in the attack rolls the dice. In case several spend the same amount, the one with the highest power value rolls. The attacks used don't need to be the same power.

A word on physical enhancements: Physical enhancements are powers like: Combat Prowess (extra physical attacks and extra defenses each round), Armored body (a damage reduction), that were originally traits, but that I converted into powers to fit the kind of character that you sometime see in magical girls anime who will melee the enemy with superior physical abilities rather than using rays and things like that...

So Jefepato, if you plan on doing the tomboy athlete, I recommend getting as much as you can from the enhancements :).

PS: Wow, that was a big wall of text!

[Silk]

Okay.  What's the practical difference between Brawl and Martial Arts (well, I guess if fighting is up next you're going to tell us then...)?  And on a related note, do I understand correctly that there's no reason to master a skill if the penalty is a 0?

(Also, what's Ear Bashing?)

Tentatively I'm thinking of making a character who's a tomboyish athlete of some kind.  Just curious, given that Emotion powers magic apparently, how hosed are you if your Emotion isn't especially high?

So the skills, you can take a number of skills equal to your Intelligence as mastered skills. Their value is equal to the associated attribute

The way I'm reading it is say you have 6 intelligence and you choose to master first aid, then your first aid skill begins at a value of 6 to which you improve from there instead of from 0 for a unmastered skill.

[Soveliss]

Without mastering First aid, with an Intelligence of 6, you would start at 4. And you can only improve mastered skills, though you can master new skills later (at a weaker degree of mastery, and improve from there). Sorry I wasn't clearer. X skills cannot be used unmastered at all.

[Jefepato]

And you can only improve mastered skills,

Oh.  Okay, that makes more sense now.

What's the deal with Charisma, by the way?  It seems like Emotions and Intelligence both have a lot of skills that might have fit under Charisma better.

[Soveliss]

According to the rulebook, Charisma seems more like appearance, beauty and natural charm. Intelligence is reasoning and ability to remember things. Beyond that, I don't know, I didn't write the rulebook, so I can't say much about design choices...

[Jefepato]

Well, no big deal.  It just seems a little weak when even persuasion doesn't fall under Charisma.

When you start with Emo/2 powers, if your Emotions is odd do you round down or up?  I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing, but I'd like to see how choosing powers vs. determining the rating/level(?) of various powers works before I settle on attributes.  It sounds like Combat Prowess is going to be pretty essential for a physical attacker if I'm reading you right!  (Is there a reason to have both Parry and Dodge skills?)

(Also, for Emotion checks, does rolling equal to the attribute succeed?)

[Silk]

I would assume so since otherwise someone with a emotion of 10 will never pass a emotion check.

[Yukina]

Current character sheet.

Stats
-Fitness (Fit): 2

-Intelligence (Int): 8

-Charisma (Cha): 3

-Perception (Per): 7

-Dexterity (Dex): 7

-Emotions (Emo): 8

Traits
-good hearted
-hard working
-kind
-meticulous
-shy
-phobia (of dog, yes even puppies)

Mastered Skills
-computer use
-games
-drawing
-stealth
-dodge
-tinkering
-manners
-search

Hp: 6 (as human) 24 (as magical girl)
MEP: 24

[Silk]

What sort of characters are people going with anyway :) I'm largely going a more "Bard" route, someone who doesn't actively get involved with the fight, but through heavy enhancement magic use  buffs the party. (of course the high magic power comes with huge emotion, so don't expect much reason it seems xD)

[deusexkristina]

I currently have few character ideas I'm working with.

The first is Val The Cheerleader.
Personality wise, she is a socialite. Probably popular, somewhat vain, often overly concerned with her looks. She may seem shallow, but she has a keen perception of social orders and is fairly good at judging people. She often comes off as aloof or elitist, but underneath she is rather insecure and just wants to fit in. Val is unerringly loyal to her friends and has a strong sense of duty. She is not a natural leader, but a good second-in-command.

Gameplay-wise she is very meat-shield-y. Based on the cheerleader idea she has high Dexterity and Fitness, with significant Charisma for Attract Attention (I'm not entirely certain how this works, but I assume I could use it like a taunt?). She would have little to no fighting skill beyond Brawl, but would be able to evade/dodge, take a lot of damage, and distract enemies.

The second is Fionna the Honor Student.
Fionna is devoted to her studies more than anything else. She is initially distrustful and always pragmatic, but very protective of those few she considers friends. If you manage to pull her away from her books and studies she has a bit of a hero complex and wont back down if provoked. She has a quick wit and sharp tongue (ear bashing ftw). She can be prone to fits of neurotic behavior and likes things very neat.

Gameplay-wise Fionna is a ranged damage dealer. She will have very high Intelligence and Perception with mid-range Emotion and nothing in the other skills. I picture her as having high skill in Shooting and First Aid. (I'll need to read more about how combat works before I really flesh this out).

I'm currently leaning more towards Val, but I'm flexible. I don't want to step on any toes or steal anyone's thunder. I'm most interested in playing a role/character that balances the team (I wasn't sure if Jefepato wanted to make his tomboy athlete tank-y or more of a melee fighter)

[Jefepato]

(I wasn't sure if Jefepato wanted to make his tomboy athlete tank-y or more of a melee fighter)

Well, "melee fighter" was the plan, although I imagine she'll be pretty decent at tanking (high Fitness for punching people = high HP, etc.).  I'm sure I won't mind if you'd like to distract the enemies though, since I'm certainly not taking Attract Attention.

[Soveliss]

So, as of now, we have 2 characters mostly done, 2 underway, we may need a 5th one... Or start without a fifth one, depending on what you want...

And to answer the question, 10 on emotion checks is a success even if you have a 10 in Emotion, it just means that if you got, say a +1 bonus on Emotion checks, you still fail on a 9. Sorry I wasn't clear on that one, usually players put between 5 and 8 in their character's emotions, so I wasn't thinking it would come up :) .

So, as for powers, blessings are things like healing and support, curses are the opposite, and you can chose your powers as long as you are logical and don't get overpowered. Example: The water powers covers ice (sending ice shards to an enemy or in an area, creating an ice sword...), fog, sending high pressure water on an opponent... If you have any question about powers, or just want more samples, just ask here, or by PM.

[Silk]

Well as long as we keep the song based for the powers like we was talking about, I will likely be keeping to the sort of powers that make sense to be transmitted in such a way, (Like a ice shard spell for example I wouldn't take, but a encouragement blessing I would)

But on that note, is there a pool of spells from the book or is it a make it up as we go as long as they fit the sphere?

[Soveliss]

Well, here is a small sample pool of powers from various spheres, but you can make up your own, as long as you don't create anything too overpowered, these are just ideas:

Elemental are pretty straightforward, even though there may be some more unusual uses for them (water ---> fog, or earth ---> dust, fire ---> smoke)

Weapons (rock, ice, fire, thunder swords...)
Single attacks (A rock spear for earth, a burst of pressure strong enough to cut, or a lightning bolt for air...)
Area attacks (fireballs for fire, shock wave for air...)

Magic defenses include things like a shield against magic, a shield against physical attacks...
Animals include summoning a wolf, calling animals to your rescue (don't laugh, a pack of dogs are a force to be reckoned with...)
Light include lasers, blinding light...
And mind includes things like affecting the minds of your opponents to manipulate their behavior.
Physical enhancements are things like a magically armored skin to protect yourself, or simply having enhanced enough reflexes to strike and dodge more often.
Blessings include things like good mood charm (perfect for fighting your bout of depression), blessing of luck (allows the target to reroll a roll during the effect), healing, and things like that.
Curses are the opposite, bad luck, nightmares, depression...

[Yukina]

I'll post my updated sheet in a sec.

[Yukina]

Mary, the shy bookworm

Stats
-Fitness (Fit): 2

-Intelligence (Int): 8

-Charisma (Cha): 3

-Perception (Per): 7

-Dexterity (Dex): 7

-Emotions (Emo): 8

Traits
-good hearted
-hard working
-kind
-meticulous
-shy
-phobia (of dog, yes even puppies)

Mastered Skills
-computer use
-games
-drawing
-stealth
-dodge
-tinkering
-manners
-search

Hp: 6 (as human) 24 (as magical girl)
MEP: 32

Powers: Physical Attack Shield, Magical Attack Shield, Feeblemind (Lowers target's intelligence), Childishness (makes target's intelligence 0, though boosts the target's charisma and emotion)

[Jefepato]

Soveliss, do we round up or down when picking Emo/2 powers?  That is, does a character with Emotions 5 have two or three powers to start?

And what attribute would be associated with the power to create a magic weapon (fire sword, lightning spear, earth mallet, whatever)?

[Soveliss]

I guess we would go with the rounding most advantageous for player characters.

And the associated attribute for a weapon, I would be tempted to say Fitness, because a fit girl can channel her stamina and strength in a weapon made from her energies. And Dexterity for ranged powers, for those intending to go the ranged way :).

[deusexkristina]

Hey, so I've been doing some character work and I've reached a point where I want some more depth to the world and setting. Soveliss suggested I ask the group if anyone had preferences/ideas. What we know is that we're in a place and time that is essentially the same as our current world, and that there is a dimensional portal of some kind in our Town; the rest is up in the air right now.

General ideas of things I'd like to hammer out:
Name of the Town
Approximate size, i.e., Small Town vs City Suburb
Environment, i.e., Coastal? Mountains? Desert?
Cultural location, i.e., North, South, West, Midwest
Name of School
Public vs Private
Co-Ed vs All Girl
Uniforms?
Other random School details
Anything about the Shadow Clan
Any other desires/ideas people have

I don't know how important this sort of thing is to other people, but I really like to have a well-established setting. If people are generally ambivalent, I'm more than happy to come up with answers myself, but I don't want to force my ideas on people since we all are going to be playing in this world.

[Silk]

Well my 2 cent on this

Name of the Town: Ambitus (Latin for border) tandem stet (Last stand in Latin) Not too worried about the name personally just thought I'd throw a few suggestions

Approximate size: Large town or small city, (Give's us room to expore but not unweildly so, also makes transport more important for those who take it, why bother having mastery in motorbike if everything is within 10-20 mins walking distance)

Environment: Coastal/Island (Not nessersarily a tourist trap but access to the sea opens up a good portion of abilities)

Cultural location: I'd prefer Eastern (Much richer demonology) but fine with any.

Name of School: First name doesn't matter too much, but the type of school (Academy if live-in or typical high school) is likely more important.

Public vs Private: Both have their own merit's leaning more towards private though

Co-Ed vs All Girl: Co-ed(Makes thing's more interesting as a bunch of hormonal schoolgirls is the main cast)

Uniforms: Japanese (A magical girl rp without Japanese uniforms is like Star wars without lightsabers, it just wouldn't feel right)

Other random School details: We can either have it as a public with people living with their families in the general area, or potentially have it as a live-in school, depending which we go with would really affect the dynamic.

Anything about the Shadow Clan If the Shadow clan in it's entirity is no longer structured for a long period of time, with demons not showing up for a long period of time, it would mean the girls would have to rely on their parents, eachother, or themselves to try and progress their powers, if it was a sort of structured order, then that exploration is lagely taken away.

Any other desires/ideas people have Ultimately not too worried about it, but I thought I would throw some suggestions around to get the ball rolling

[Jefepato]

Well, as far as I'm concerned:

Name of the town: Gratuitous Latin is always appreciated, but I don't care that much.
Approximate size: More than half a dozen stoplights, not more than 1-2 train stations.  We don't really need any major metropolitan areas here, but if the town's too small there's just no room for things to get wild.
Environment: Coastal would be fine, but I also like mountains.
Cultural location: I'd say either West if we want something coastal or somewhere in/near the Rockies if anyone besides me likes the mountainous terrain idea.
Name of school: Don't care, unless someone has a funny idea.
Public vs Private: Public.  Wider range of available character concepts that way, and I don't really see any reason to make it a private school.
Uniforms?: No.  This is set in the US (per Soveliss's initial post), so even if you really like Japanese-style school uniforms you aren't likely to see the like here.  Bizarrely detailed dress codes are always a potential risk though.
Other random school details: The cafeteria food is more or less required by the laws of fiction to be inedible.

I will probably have a tentative character outline posted this evening.

[Soveliss]

Other random school details: The cafeteria food is more or less required by the laws of fiction to be inedible.

No, you are wrong on this one, because high school cafeteria food IRL is even worse...

My personal WTF moment was when I was in high school, I get mashed potatoes (I love those...), and in it... There were more onions than potatoes... Raw ones even! And not just a one time thing, mashed potatoes were always like that!!

It says something that when they had to rebuild the refectory, and ordered frozen food for 6 month, the food quality actually improved! I am not joking!

[Jefepato]

My IRL high school's food was honestly not terrible.  Not always great, and pretty well overpriced most of the time, but it wasn't that hard to learn what was edible and have a generally okay lunch experience.

Glad I didn't go to your school, though.  Mashed potatoes are not where onions belong!

[Jefepato]

Okay, tentative sheet.  Hopefully this works out:

Kalonice (Callie) Hamilton, age 16

HP: 24 normally, 96 as magical girl
MEP: 20

Attributes:
Fitness 8
Intelligence 6
Charisma 4
Perception 4
Dexterity 8
Emotions 5

Traits: Loyal, Hard Working, Lucky, Tomboy

Mastered skills:
Swimming 9
Brawl 9
Martial Arts 9
Computer Use 7
Dodge 9
Music 10

Classes:
English 16
Social Studies 14
Foreign Language (Spanish) 16
Math 13
Physical Science 13
Life Science 13
Physical Education 18
Elective: Music 20
Elective: Computer Science 14
Elective: Art 12

Powers:
Armored Body 8
Combat Prowess 8
Weapon Creation - Spear of Light 8

Appearance: Callie is on the tall side for a girl her age, and her usually-modest style of dress does very little to hide her athletic figure.  She keeps her blond hair trimmed around chin-length, framing a pair of bright green eyes and a pretty smile.  She moves with an easy, confident grace, and tends to prefer jeans or slacks to skirts when she doesn't just wear the uniform.

Background: The Hamilton family is what passes for "old money" in Santa Puerta, which is to say that they've owned a fair amount of real estate in town for a few generations.  Callie's parents aren't exactly terrible folks, but they're a tiny bit snobbish and have certain notions about what sort of hobbies and activities are appropriate for a young lady in their family, and she's not quite measuring up.  Whether they're entirely unaware of the family's true heritage or whether they just don't like the idea is difficult to say, and it's unlikely that Callie would ever bring up the topic with them.

Callie's brother, Zachary (Zack to everyone but their parents of course), is a year older and a star player on St. Cosmas Academy's football team.  The Hamiltons seem to think this is great, but they're rather less impressed with Callie's own athletic pursuits; they consider the swim team maybe sort of acceptable, but they've spent years trying and failing to deter Callie's interest in martial arts.  Callie herself isn't quite sure why she likes it so much, since it's not like she usually goes around getting into real fights, but she insists that it's a very practical way to stay in shape.  (Zack is supportive, and privately thinks it's kind of hilarious that his little sister could probably kick his ass, but he's not much better at arguing with their parents than Callie is.)

She does have one hobby that her parents rather appreciate, although it took several years of them badgering a young Callie to try new things until she found something classy enough for her parents' tastes that she actually liked: although she still has trouble imagining herself as an artistic person, and is kind of self-conscious about her mediocre singing voice, Callie happens to have a hell of a flair for music.  She dabbles in several instruments, but she's a genuinely superb violinist.  Unfortunately, although she enjoys it quite a bit, it's not exactly her first love and she doesn't feel like she has time to actually join the St. Cosmas music club, leaving her parents (and a few faculty members) disappointed all over again.

Callie gets along pretty well at school.  Her grades aren't quite as good as her brother's, but they're still quite good all around -- her teachers generally like her and consider her a well-rounded student.  She's not really as popular as people usually expect a rich girl to be, but most of her peers consider her inoffensive at worst, and the "in crowd" tends to tolerate her if only by association with Zack.  Of course, things are about to take a turn for the weird...

If it's actually required to have major negative traits, Insensitive or Jealous are probably good picks for her.  I've got relevant backstory ideas percolating in my brain but it'd probably be easier to write down properly after we discuss the setting a bit more.

(I might also swap Computer Use out for one of the sports skills, but the -5 default penalty just seemed really harsh for a skill that most middle-class teenagers are likely to grow up with.)

[eBadger]

Still need a 5th? This looks interesting. 

Also, do they all need to be girls?  I'm fine with that, but might be fun to have a token male as well. 

[deusexkristina]

Here's a first whack at some setting stuff; feel free to disagree with any of it. I tried to incorporate a lot of traditional Magical Girl elements and expressed player preference into a somewhat novel setting while leaving room for people to play as they'd like. 

The TOWN:
   The town of Santa Puerta (Spanish: Sacred Gate) is a coastal town in northern California, very close to the northern stretches of the San Andreas faultline. It was first documented by the Spanish as part of the so called 'lost mission' of Santa Puerta, though it had been a Native American holy site for centuries prior. The mission itself was mysteriously lost but the town remains. The survivors of whatever disaster destroyed the mission were primarily Natives who, with the help of the few remaining Spaniards, rebuilt the town as a small fishing village. The town remained small for many years, subsisting primarily on income from the fishing industry. The mid 1800's saw a large influx of Asian immigrants to California as a whole and Santa Puerta was no exception. The town grew exponentially and the influence of the predominately Asian American population remains to this day.
   The culture of Santa Puerta is an odd mix of old Native American influence, immigrant Asian culture, and modern Californian culture that has drifted in from the metropolis. It is sizable for a coastal town, having approximately 3,500 residents, but also fairly isolated by its geography. The town draws most of its income from tourism.

The SCHOOL:
   St. Cosmas Academy lies a few miles outside of Santa Puerta, situated near the iconic coastal cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was originally designed and functioned as a boarding school and thus has residential facilities. While students have the option of staying in the residences, many of the locals choose to live at home and commute. About 1/3 of the student body is boarded. It was named after Japanese martyr St. Cosmas, a compromise between the primarily Asian American local population and the rich metropolitan population that wanted to board their children there. The school reflects this mix of cultures, incorporating elements from Japanese, British, and American schools.
   The Academy is no longer private, but a public charter school that retains many of the trapping of being private. The school provides uniforms to all boarded students, but wearing them is not required. While the student population is primarily local, it continues to draw students from near and far as a Liberal Arts magnet school. The Academy is based around the UK secondary school system, instructing grades 7-12 (ages 11-17) with an additional 'Sixth Form' year counting as junior college credit. All St. Cosmas students use the same campus and have the same administrators and faculty but, as per American school regulations, grades 7-9 are technically St. Cosmas Junior High and operate under different curricula and standards from the higher grades.
   The school's mascot is the dragon and its colors are red and gold.

The CLANS
   There were originally seven guardian clans, one corresponding to each of the seven primal elements: Time, Light, Spirit, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. They were known as Silence, Shadow, Specter, Swift, Smoke, Snow, and Sand. They were clustered around the First Rift in modern-day Iraq and Saudi Arabia. However, new rifts began to open in other parts of the world and the clans began to drift to the four corners of the world with only Sand Clan remaining to guard the First Rift. Each clan came to guard one of the seven major rifts, with the clans cooperating to guard any minor rifts that emerged.
   In the old days, the clans were very close-knit and had a strong, structured hierarchy. However, as humanity has grown more populous and more advanced the time between rift events has lengthened. As a result, most of this culture has been lost in the known clans. The rights, duties, and history of the clans are passed down as stories and myths; however, few pay any attention to these and, even if they did, most of them are contorted beyond recognition from the truth. When the seals begin to fail, the Inheritors of the Clans are drawn to the rifts. They are not normally conscious of the fact, but it happens nevertheless.
   Today, only three clans remain somewhat intact; Shadow, Sand, and Snow. The Swift and Specter clans dissolved when the rifts they were guarding sealed permanently after being locked inside a mountain and snuffed out by the collective will of an unprecedentedly large population. Without the energy of the rifts to bind them together, these clans scattered and became defunct. Smoke Clan was absorbed into a branch of Shadow Clan which now guards both rifts. The whereabouts of Silence Clan are unknown.

Element  Name    Rift                     Status
Time      Silence   New Guinea        Unknown
Light      Shadow  Japan                 Intact
Spirit     Specter   Nepal                 Defunct
Air         Swift      Andes Mountains Defunct
Fire       Smoke    California            Absorbed
Water    Snow      Iceland               Intact
Earth     Sand      Saudi Arabia        Intact

[eBadger]

Jax (Emily Rose Jackson)
Anarchist-Goth Bad Girl
Age: 16

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs12/i/2006/278/0/4/_Steam_punk_music__by_Ivy_Dragonlune.jpg

Stats

MEP: 12
HP: 72

Attributes & Traits:
Fitness (Fit) 6
Intelligence (Int) 7
Charisma (Cha) 8
Perception (Per) 4
Dexterity (Dex) 7
Emotions (Emo) 3

Positive Traits: Loyal, Vigilante
Neutral Advantageous: Zen, Lucky

Skills

Fitness skills are:

Running 4
Climbing 4
Horse riding 0
Throwing/throwing sports 6
Swimming 3
Jumping 6
Team based sports 3
Brawl 3
Gliding based sports (X)
Martial arts 8

Intelligence skills:

Persuade 5
Small talk 7
Cooking 6
Ear bashing 7
Computer Use 7
Games 7
Acting 5
First aid 5
Cheat at exams 5

Dexterity skills:

Tumbling 4
Tailoring 5
Drawing 5
Stealth 9
Dodge 7
Forgery 7
Tinkering 8
Make up 6
Parry 8
Painting 5
Bike 7
Motorbike 9
Artistic sports (X)

Charisma skills:

Attract attention 8
Seduction 8

Perception skills

Search 4
Disguise 3
Photo 3
Video 3
Shooting/shooting sports 1

Emotion skills:

Sing/Karaoke 2
Dance 1
Party 3
Fashion 5
Music (X)
Manners 2

Magic

Invisibility (Int) 7
Earth Shaping (Dex) 7

Courses

English 15
Social Studies 18
French 10
Math 13
Physical Science 14
Life Science 10
Physical Education 15
+
Auto Shop 18
Computer Skills 16

Appearance: Jax is average height, thin but athletic, pale caucasian with naturally black hair (currently with bright red accents), with several visible piercings.  She's quite pretty, in a suicide-girls sort of way.  She's partial to eye liner and bright lipstick.  Her hands are often smudged with grease or sport scraped knuckles, while she herself periodically features cuts or bruises. 


Typical Equipment: Platform boots, torn/decorated/missing school uniform, corset, collar, gratuitous chains, fingerless opera gloves, satchel with a tablet, headphones, notebook, pack of clove cigarettes, lighter, multitool, make up kit, and other school basics; iphone; motorcycle half-helmet; a black Victory cruiser.

Bio

Jax (don't even think about calling her "Emily") is often labelled as Trouble, and to an extent that's true; she has little use for rules, minimal tolerance for authority, and no manners to speak of.  She has dyed hair, a distressing plethora of piercings, and a penchant for clothes that get her detours straight to detention.  It's well known that you don't mess with her; she's not in fights often, and almost never for her own sake, but when she is there's going to be blood. 

On the other hand, a few teachers willing to try to understand her have found some interesting surprises.  She may not be brilliant, but behind the pretty face and leather is a quick mind with a strong interest in the social theories of Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Locke, and the practical idea of anarchy.  She opposes tyranny, not authority, and is quick to back her beliefs with action: a foolish rule might be ignored, but one that upholds personal responsibility is ironclad. 

The boys at school think she's a bit of an ice queen; despite her good looks, rather slutty appearance and periodic bouts of friendliness her refusal to date is legendary.  Her rigid mores have earned her a cult following, however: a peculiar trail of vengeance on bullies has followed her around, and more than a few geeks and losers have found themselves under her protection, although she's quick to turn down any thanks.  Jax pictures herself as a sort of vigilante justice, and will go out of her way to protect the helpless and distress the oppressive, whether that involves a swift punch in the hall, a hacked facebook account, or a bag of weed planted in their locker. 

In reality, Jax simply isn't interested in boys: she's a strict lesbian.  Despite her somewhat fumbling attempts to attract romantic attention she hasn't found anyone that seemed interested and hasn't been willing to come out, although it's due more to obliviousness than secrecy: she's confident her preferences are obvious despite frequent evidence to the contrary. 

In her private life, Jax is an experienced and capable fencer - a family tradition that her father claims has been handed down from the Crusades; an accurate if slightly misunderstood history of the shadow clan although Jax thinks it's pure make believe.  She also has a penchant for things technical: she spends a lot of time working on and racing her bike, and a knowledge of the mechanical and electronic has proven itself useful in her secret battle against bullies.

Jax's parents, Steve and Rose Jackson, are high-powered executives working for a multinational corporation.  They spend little time at home and barely know their daughter.  The family's live-in caretaker, Gloria DeSuente, provides a friendly adult presence when needed but no control whatsover.  Part of Jax's appearance and behavior is an effort to disguise the privileged trust fund kid she knows herself to be. 

Personality: Jax is a generally quiet, periodically forceful thinker, often playing the role of devil's advocate or subtle saboteur.  The mainstream is too put off by her rebellion, and the troublemakers by her upright morals, so she doesn't fit into any particular social circle - she's friendly with nearly everyone but close to no one. 


Group Role: Jax is a sneak, skilled at going places, obtaining things, and generally fixing or breaking things.  In combat she's most likely to be stabbing the bad guy in the back, taking out the source of its power, or making off with the objective while it's distracted.  In social situations, she's most likely to be talking up the underdog or taking the tough down a notch; usually in a way that escalates things. 

[Silk]

I like what you did with the suggestions deus :)

[eBadger]

Here's a first whack at some setting stuff; feel free to disagree with any of it. I tried to incorporate a lot of traditional Magical Girl elements and expressed player preference into a somewhat novel setting while leaving room for people to play as they'd like.

Very impressed with what you did!  A couple suggestions, though:

1. Larger town; 3500 is pretty tiny, and we'd have a lot more potential for shenanigans with something big enough to have at least one mall, some anonymity, stratification (rich and poor sections) and city planning (industrial district, commercial center, suburbs), and of course: a rival school.  We may also want a school large enough to have various teams, clubs, and events.  Assuming a typical 7% of the population is high school aged and full enrollment, to have a couple schools of 750 students each we'd want at least 22,000.  I'd probably double that to leave room for things to be added later.  This would be decent sized town, but well out of the top 100 largest cities in Cal (that would take about 76,000). 

2. In the US, the school would go up to age 18/12th grade.  It's fairly uncommon for secondary schools to have 7-12th grade (more typically a primary school would be k-8, followed by 9-12, for a smaller town) but not unheard of.  I'd kind of lean toward a typical high school, however, just to completely exclude pre-teens from a game with potential for sex and violence. 

Other 2-bits input:
Uniforms: uncommon in the US, but a staple of the genre and makes sense with the history of the school.  I would say a strict dress code that generally means you're in the school uniform or something pretty close to it (or getting in trouble, ala Jax). 
Co-Ed: definitely, particularly as it's a public school.  More potential shenanigans and tension. 

[deusexkristina]

1. Larger town; 3500 is pretty tiny, and we'd have a lot more potential for shenanigans with something big enough to have at least one mall, some anonymity, stratification (rich and poor sections) and city planning (industrial district, commercial center, suburbs), and of course: a rival school.  We may also want a school large enough to have various teams, clubs, and events.  Assuming a typical 7% of the population is high school aged and full enrollment, to have a couple schools of 750 students each we'd want at least 22,000.  I'd probably double that to leave room for things to be added later.  This would be decent sized town, but well out of the top 100 largest cities in Cal (that would take about 76,000). 

I admit I made a typo and forgot a '0'. I had meant to say 35000. Thanks for catching that!

2. In the US, the school would go up to age 18/12th grade.  It's fairly uncommon for secondary schools to have 7-12th grade (more typically a primary school would be k-8, followed by 9-12, for a smaller town) but not unheard of.  I'd kind of lean toward a typical high school, however, just to completely exclude pre-teens from a game with potential for sex and violence. 

I would be okay with shifting back to the basic American grade structure, i.e., making it just 9-12. I deviated for three reasons. First, the presence of younger children (the youngest there would be 11) gives us more reason to want to protect the school itself. Second, it more easily allows for the involvement of younger siblings as a plot device/motivation. Third, it increases the size and diversity of the school population and thus the possible variety of interactions.
I'm not strongly tied to the idea, but I do like it. I could see a compromise where the lower grades, 6-8, were held in a different building/set of buildings from grades 9-12 but the two shared a common recreational/dining area in the middle? I would also be okay simply cutting out the lower grades. What do other people think?

Other 2-bits input:
Uniforms: uncommon in the US, but a staple of the genre and makes sense with the history of the school.  I would say a strict dress code that generally means you're in the school uniform or something pretty close to it (or getting in trouble, ala Jax).
Co-Ed: definitely, particularly as it's a public school.  More potential shenanigans and tension.

I know uniforms are less common in the US, but I went to a US high school with uniforms so I know it's still a thing that is done. Giving students/players a choice between uniforms OR dress code seemed to be the best way to go about it. :)
And yeah, I forgot to mention it but I had assumed the school is Co-Ed.

[Silk]

Name: Niki Otonashi
Age: 17
Clan: Silence
Appearance:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

http://www.wallsonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/anime-girl-guitar-music.jpg

Personality: Niki due to circumstances in her life has become a great deal more reclusive, feeling that for the safety of others she must keep to herself, but secretly wishing she could be just like any other high school student and return to her love of singing. Because of this she tends to get jealous easily when everyone around her is indulging in the thing's they love which was cruelly taken away from her. Even her skill at acting and dancing cannot fill the void for her.

Background: Niki was one of those girl's that adored singing and to a lesser extent dancing, it was her dream to become a great singer after she graduated, spending a great deal of her spare time learning how to dance and play a variety of instrument's to compliment her blooming singing voice. Her parent's although were unsure of the stability of the music career supported her as much as any parent would for their child's dream. After all regardless of it all Niki was a bright girl who was doing pretty well in school so they couldn't see the harm as long as it stayed that way.

During her 11Th birthday Niki and her parent's flew to New Guinea as part of a holiday, as well as to visit some of the heritage of their acestors, her parent's told her that her family originated from the island, as part of a branch family that due to some kind of disagreement moved away nearly 6 genrations ago. Although throughout the generations her appearance barely resembled the natives anymore, she could feel a attachment to the area, but she couldn't understand why. On her birthday her parent's wanted to talk to her about something, but they never got the chance. They were involved in a car accident in which only Niki survived. With no other remaining family Niki had to return home, her family's substantial wealth and inheritance fell to her, she had wanted for nothing and could survive just on the interest if she had to, but as per the law she still had to go to school, and because of her age she was unable to keep their home sustained, instead with the help of several organizations she was moved to St. Cosmas Academy and had spent the years there studying, it took a year until Niki felt willing to sing again, spending the time she was not studying to be with the academy's music club where she found several friends who shared her passion for music.

Due to the success the club had, they were invited to perform at the schools festival, the group was having a great time and Niki felt that she once again belonged somewhere. But during mid performance Niki felt overcome by a strange presence, and that night became a stain on the Academy's history, Niki's voice began to resonate and echo through the festival ground, before anyone knew what was going on, a significant portion of the festival attendees began to grow aggressive and started to attack eachother, the violence was so intense that the police had to be called, to this day what caused the disturbance is unknown, but Niki knew that she did something, her song caused it, she just knew she was responsible for so many people getting hurt.

Over the next few day's Niki was absent from all her classes and left the Music club, it was rumored throughout the Academy that whatever happened that night scarred Niki to not want to sing anymore, after all, from the stage Niki and the others could all see the violence escalate, so it was no wonder so many of them were put off. But as with all rumors, it died down and life went on in the Academy, the following investigation turned up nothing. Niki's life was changed forever after that day. She became a shadow of her former self, no longer sociable or happy, she even refused to sing from that day, just out of fear that she may cause that sort of event to happen again.

Niki tried several things to fill the void that she had from no longer being able to sing caused her, be it through playing instrument's dancing or acting nothing could just fill that ache she had in her heart for her truest love. Each day just further became a chore, living for the sake of living, after all with the amount of money she had saved from her family's inheritance she would not have to work.

Even several years later people had either forgotten the girl that Niki was, or just had come to accept that the night of the festival had changed her, one by one her friends drifted away until Niki was spending the majority of her day's on her own, the only contact she had was during her acting and dance clubs. But in secret Niki had to indulge herself, only singing quietly to herself when nobody else was around, in time she felt like she could control the resonance in her voice somewhat, but she still dared not risk singing around others because she just could not tell what effect they would have.

Stats

Health:48
MEP:40
Powers: 5


Fitness (Fit) 4

Intelligence (Int)6

Charisma (Cha)5

Perception (Per)5

Dexterity (Dex)5

Emotions (Emo) 10

Traits:
Well mannered, Good hearted, Eloquent
Jealous, Shy

Fitness:
2 Running

Intelligence:
6(M) Acting
6(M) Ear Bashing
1 First aid
Charisma:

Dexterity:
5(M) Dodge
2 Make up
2 Stealth

Perception:
3 Search

Emotion:
10(M) Sing/Karaoke
10(M) Dance
10(M) Music

Powers

Hymn of restoration:(AoE or single target) While I continue to sing the hymn target gain 10(Emo) health a turn, this is reduced to 5(Emo/2) if AoE also promotes recovery of wounds.

Villains Requiem:(AoE) While channeling any enemy that deals damage to a ally takes half of the damage dealt as sonic damage

Twilight Lullaby: (Single target or AoE) Either target or all people in the area except myself (Including allies) All those effected must take a emotion check, if below 5 nothing happens, if 5+ Target suffers 2 to dexterity due to tiredness, if the check is failed the target falls asleep for d5 turns. If single target, target's emotion is reduced by 4 for the check.

Bolstering Carol: (AoE or single target) Allies affected by this spell can add 2 to a stat of their choice, and 1 to another for the duration of the song.

Berzerk Finale: (AoE only, Story mostly, not good for fights) All those within range must pass a emotion check -4 or fall into a aggressive frenzy attacking all those around them, the song lasts d5 turns after the song finishes. Those effected ignore wound penalties.

[Silk]

If anyone wants to make use of the event's of the festival night for their own stories your more than welcome :)

Also I don't think general computer use really uses checks, I think it's used for much more complicated things (Hacking and such) because really, tell me of someone born in the last 2 decades who doesn't know how to use computers that isn't aimish or from a third world country.

But were sitting at 2 complete(Me n Badger), 2 posted progress (Jefepato and Yugishogun) and Deus who hasn't posted progress but pretty much a given she'll have hers up soon with the effort she's put in. So I think things are progressing pretty well and might even be able to start soon.

[Jefepato]

Updated my post above with an image and some background stuff.

Given that note on Computer Use, I might switch a couple skills around.  Actually, I might swap Music for a different hobby skill, which is why I didn't address that much in the backstory yet; a team of five doesn't really need two musical virtuosos, especially not when it's pretty much Niki's entire thing.

(Cranking combat skills all the way to 10 struck me as a bit excessive, which is sort of why I didn't do that to start with, but I may run out of other things to put points into if I keep mastering Fitness/Dexterity skills...)

[deusexkristina]

Name: Valerie 'Val' Eberhardt         Age: 17
HP: 27/108               MEP: 20
(72= Wounded, 36=Critical)

Attributes
FIT:9   INT:4
DEX:9  CHA:7
PER: 1 EMO:5

Skills

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Fitness: 9
   Running (-2)         7
   Climbing (-2)         7
   Horse riding (-6)      3
   Throwing (0)         9
   Swimming (-3)      6
   Jumping (0)         9
   Team based sports (-3)   6
   Brawl (-3)         6
   Gliding based sports (X)   X
   Martial arts (X)       X

Intelligence: 4
   Persuade (-2)*         4 +3 = 7
   Small talk (0)         4 +3 = 7
   Cooking (1)         5
   Ear bashing (0)      4 +2 = 6
   Computer Use (-5)      -1
   Games (0)         4
   Acting (-2)         2
   First aid (-2)         2
   Cheat at exams (-2)       2

Dexterity: 9
   Tumbling (-3)*      9
   Tailoring (-2)         7
   Drawing (-2)         7
   Stealth (0)         9
   Dodge (0)         9
   Forgery (0)         9
   Tinkering (-2)         7
   Make up (-1)         8
   Parry (-3)         6
   Painting (-2)         7
   Bike (0)         9
   Motorbike (-2)      7
   Artistic sports (X)*      9

Charisma: 7
   Attract attention (0)*      7 +2 = 9
   Seduction (0)          7

Perception: 1
   Search (0)         1
   Disguise (-1)         0
   Photo (-1)         0
   Video (-1)         0
   Shooting (-3)          -2

Emotion: 5
   Sing/Karaoke (-1)      4
   Dance (-2)         3
   Party (0)         5
   Fashion (0)         5
   Music (X)         X
   Manners (-1)          4

Mastered Skills: Attract Attention, Artistic Sport, Tumbling, Persuade

Traits
Positive: Well-Mannered, Diplomat
Negative: Spiteful, Misandrist
Neutral: Elegant, Excess Pride, Acrobatic (From Artistic Sports Mastery)

Magic:
Lightning Reflex
   Sphere: Physical Enhancement
   Attribute: DEX   Power: 9
   Description: Bonus (Power/3) to dodge and evade rolls for remainder of battle
Reflection
   Sphere: Light
   Attribute: INT   Power: 4+3=7
   Description: Creates a reflection of Val that distracts targets. Unharmed by physical or
        projectile attacks but is destroyed when attacked by any magic. Reflection's only action is to
        use Attract Attention. Takes one turn to cast.
        *Enemies can detect the illusion by rolling against INT – Spell's Power
Inspire
   Sphere: Blessing
   Attribute: CHA   Power: 7
   Description: Small heal (Power*2) with a bonus (+1) to next 2 emotion saves

Academics:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Core
English      4(-2)+8=10*
Social Studies      4+11=15
Language:German   4(+2)+9=15*
Math         4+5=9
Phys Science      4+3=7
Life Science      4+4=8
Core Elective: PE   18+1=19**
Electives
Student Government   7+8=15***
Dance             18+1=19**
   Total Points: 50/50   
*Val is a native German speaker. She gets a ½ INT bonus to German and a ½ INT penalty to English
**Base score taken from Mastered Skill (Artistic Sport and Tumbling)
***Chose to use CHA as the base stat for Government

Backstory:
Val's mother was born in Santa Puerto, but moved away when she met Val's father, who was an ambassador to a foreign nation. Val was born in and grew up in this country where she lived a life of limited luxury. Her home was constantly filled with powerful and often beautiful people, she was taught by the best private tutors, and sent to prestigious finishing schools schools with the daughters of nobility, ministers, and aristocrats. Val never did very well academically, though she excelled in finishing school; the most important lesson she learned that charm can go a long way.
Around Val's 13th birthday, her father was involved in public scandal with a number of his young interns that led to Val's parents separating. In the following divorce proceedings, Val's mother got custody but little else. Luckily, Val's mother had inherited her parents house back in Santa Puerto and decided to take Val and her sister, Sofia, back there.
   The move was a shock for Val. Not only was she leaving her friends, lifestyle, and country behind, but she was going to have to go to public school... Val knew no one when she started at St. Cosmas Academy. While technically not an exchange student, she speaks with a slight-to-moderate accent and many considered her to be one, at least initially. More due to her looks than anything else she was quickly absorbed up by the cheerleading clique where she has excelled socially. Navigating the vaugeries and complexities of public high school social circles has given her some sense of belonging in this new place.

Psychological Profile:
   Due to her father's over-valuing of social prestige and the fact that Val was often picked by her schoolmates (Sometimes due to her grades/intelligence and the fact that she can be somewhat clumsy when not focused, but mostly because Val's family had little money, at least comparatively), Val has a tendency to be very self-critical, especially of her perception by others, and does not shy away from using her assets to gain social standing; which leads many to see her as vain or manipulative.  Val doesn't have a great deal of book smarts, but she is relatively good looking and a very good at judging emotions and intentions; skills she isn't afraid to use to her advantage, causing some see her as manipulative.
   Her father's scandal was very traumatic as well, and probably a direct cause of her distrust of men and her fear of betrayal. This fear has made her tend towards aloofness, though she is prone to large emotional outbursts if pushed. For instance, Val reacts very negatively towards any sign of disloyalty or infidelity and is fiercely protective of those she cares about. 

Physical Appearance:
   Hair: Dirty blonde. Straight. Slightly past shoulder blades.
   Eyes: Blue
   Complexion: Caucasian. Sparsely freckled.
   Height: 5'6'' 
   Body Type: Fit, but not exactly skinny. She naturally tends towards a sturdier build.

More Backstory Stuff!
MYTH and LEGENEDS of the CLANS:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

The following are meant to be memories of stories my character heard from her grandmother as a little girl and, therefore, of suspect accuracy.
The ORIGIN of DEMONS
   There is an old legend my grandmother told me once. It says that long ago, before people, before the earth, before time itself, this universe was ruled by chaos embodied in viscous demons who lived only to sew more suffering and chaos amongst themselves. This was how things had been for eternity, for there was no time in those days. Then, the Gods arrived. They were from another realm, one ruled by order and creation. Some say that a demon had accidentally ripped a hole in the world, since the chaos had made it so thin, others say he intentionally sought out other realms in order that they too might be made chaotic; my Grandmother wouldn't say which she believed.
   However it happened, the two realms collided in a terrible war that lasted for ages and ages. It eventually became apparent that the demons were winning. No matter how quickly or strongly the gods built their order, the agents of chaos could tear it down faster. The gods decided that a new and drastic strategy was needed. Calling together their brightest and most inventive minds, the gods schemed to create some way to defeat the demons once and for all; for, once the demons ravaged their world, there would be nothing to stop them from destroying every other realm in creation.
   As the weapon neared completion and the gods were beginning to despair, an unexpected thing happened. A demon arrived at the gates of the God's City and demanded an audience. He claimed he wished to help the gods defeat the demons. While distrustful of demon trickery, the gods were desperate. Brought before the war council in the strongest magical chains, the demon said it had heard of the gods weapon and knew that it would not work. The god were outraged, demanding to know how the demon had learned their secret. The demon would not say. He only said the as beings of chaos the demons could not be destroyed, so long as the god remained; for every light, no matter how bright, breeds shadows.
   The gods responded that they knew this and were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to see the demons destroyed. That would be foolish, said the demon, for chaos, like darkness, cannot be destroyed, only filled. The gods despaired
   When asked why he would betray his own side, the demon replied that an ordered being wouldn't understand. Chaos has no 'side'. It is pure impulse without reason. The gods did not trust the demon, but they saw that he was right. Together the gods greatest engineers worked with the demon to construct a mighty prison, the most elaborate thing ever designed. It was prison that used the demons' own chaotic energies against them. It would be an entire world, neither wholly chaotic nor wholly ordered, the balance kept in check by living creatures of a special sort. These guardians would carry both chaos and order within them, both good and evil. They must have both to keep the universe in balance.
   When the prison was complete, the gods laid a trap. They sacrificed many of their bravest warriors and leaders to draw the demons into the prison, which was then sealed behind them from the outside. The remaining gods then left the universe, for if they remained there would be an unbalance and the whole project would fail.
   This prison was earth. And today we can still see the seams from where the gods put the planet together to keep the demons inside. But, my grandmother would warn me, the earth itself is not enough to keep the demons inside. Their chaos will eventually start to wear down the barriers and the prison will start to weaken along the seams. That is why humans have heroes, to seal up the cracks.

The BIRTH of the CLANS
   Another story my Grandmother likes to tell is about what happened after the gods left. It turns out that the demon who switched sides was not as altruistic as he claimed. Callissarii, for that was what he called himself, helped the gods seal up his brethren so that not only would he be the only demon left, but with the gods out of the dimension he would be the most powerful being in the universe. He had no desire to rule the world, just to be the most powerful being in it. For the first few millennia he left the earth mostly alone, only occasionally meddling in minor things when he got bored.
   When he began to sense the seal weakening he was worried, but he knew this was a part of the cycle. In time enough the humans would close the rift with their collective will and belief. But the chaotic energy didn't die away, in fact it got stronger. Concerned, he went down to earth and noticed that its people where not yet sufficiently powerful to re-close the rifts. What was more, there were a few small demons that had managed to squeeze through the cracks and were wrecking havoc, causing the seals to weaken even faster. What he had failed to realize is that his presence offset the balance he had created. Not only were the seams of the world eroding faster that he had anticipated, but the collective will of humans wasn't enough to keep the rifts closed.
   So, in order keep his fellow demons imprisoned, Callissarii imbued certain clans of humans—those living around the weakest of the rifts—with supernatural powers that would allow them to battle the demons. These heroes would inspire human faith and keep the rifts closed longer. Satisfied that this would be enough, he went back to the void to bask in his own supremacy.
   But his vacation was short-lived. When he grudgingly returned to earth, drawn by the renewed chaotic energy pouring out of it, he found that the beings he had chosen had become tyrannical rulers, warring over the planet with their magic. Given his presence in the universe, the chaotic power he had given the humans was too much. The rifts were weakened to the point of ripping asunder by the magical war, to weak for the demon to close them himself.
   Gathering the most powerful for the remaining magical humans, the demon sent them into the rift, into the chaotic realm beyond, to search for the remains of the heroic gods that had been sealed away with the demons. All Callissarii needed was a piece of a body, something ordered with which to bind the seals, but he was shocked when the humans returned with a survivor.
   Her name was Io and she had been a soldier under the god Fiden, who had stayed behind to bait the demons. When she learned of what had happened, she was enraged and tried to kill the treacherous Callissarii. But Callissarii persuaded her by explaining that without him to balance the universe, the demons would eventually break free. While she was scandalized by Callissarii's true motive, Io was forced to agree that resealing the demons was more important than anything. Together, the demon and the god altered the power so that would only be awakened in the presence of other demons, or chaotic demonic energy seeping through a weakening rift.
   Satisfied that things were in hand, Callissarii and Io retired to opposite sides of the universe; he to bask in his own greatness and she to keep eternal vigil on the prison.

[Silk]

Awesome :) Now it's just Yugi and Jefe's completion :D Also deus, it's generally best to put the powers by Soveliss, not entirely sure what's in store when it comes to the power's MEP cost's yet.

[Soveliss]

Hello!

Due to unforeseen events involving friends and family, I will have to put this game on hold for a few days, a week tops, until the situation is resolved.

I apologize about the inconvenience. I'll pop back when I'm ready for the game. My life got a bit crazy lately, so I hope you'll understand.

[Silk]

Not a problem Sol, we'll be waiting and if nothing else gives us a good chance to get things refined.

[deusexkristina]

Not a problem Sol, we'll be waiting and if nothing else gives us a good chance to get things refined.

Ditto. Take whatever time you need.

[eBadger]

No stress!  Just don't forget us once things are settled. 

In the meanwhile, maybe we can flesh out the town a bit more...I'll try to put together some locations tonight.

[Yukina]

I shall make my sheet by tomorrow

[Yukina]

Mary Mizuno, the shy and bashful bookworm
Age: 16
Appearance: Mary has a short and skinny build, standing at 4'8". She has light, smooth skin free of blemishes. She has skinny legs and arms due to a lack of muscle. Mary has short, straight brown hair, though it it still reaches the front and hides her blues to those who don't look close enough. Rims of glasses are notably peeking out from under her hair. Mary never seems to wear make-up, finding herself commonly unnoticed anyway.

Common Items: clean school uniform, blue sneakers, laptop, sketchpad, a case for her glasses, notebook, pencil case, a white moped

Background: Mary is the closest thing to a shy bookworm stereotype you'd ever meet. People fail to really notice her and the ones that do usually bully her. You'll commonly find her in the library, reading a book or drawing manga. On the Internet though, Mary has an advantage. She has popular net manga and a load of fans, unaware of their favorite mangaka's real personality. She tries to keep this a secret so other students don't exploit her for their own gain.

Stat Block

-Fitness (Fit): 2

-Intelligence (Int): 8

-Charisma (Cha): 3

-Perception (Per): 7

-Dexterity (Dex): 7

-Emotions (Emo): 8

Traits
-good hearted
-hard working
-kind
-meticulous
-shy
-phobia (of dog, yes even puppies)

Mastered Skills
-computer use
-games
-drawing
-stealth
-dodge
-tinkering
-manners
-search

Hp: 6 (as human) 24 (as magical girl)
MEP: 32

Powers: Physical Attack Shield, Magical Attack Shield, Feeblemind (Lowers target's intelligence), Childishness (makes target's intelligence 0, though boosts the target's charisma and emotion)

Classes
-English or Philosophy: 4
-History or Geography: 6
-Japanese: 8
-French: 5
-Math: 7
-Physical Science (Physics and Chemistry): 6
-Life Science (Biology and Ecology): 4
-Computer Class: 5

[deusexkristina]

Classes! Everyone's favorite part of high school. Right?

The second part of the character sheet is determining your character's academic schedule and performance. Since this part of the rulebook seems pretty clear-cut, I figured it would be something we could work on while Soveliss is away.

From the Rulebook:
Core Subjects: For the seven core subjects, the player has 40 points to distribute. The score in each subject is: (INT+Points distributed). The maximum score in any subject can not exceed 20. Therefore, each subject thus has a score between your INT (min) and 20 (max).
Electives: For each Elective taken, the student receives five additional points. For example, student who takes two electives will have 50 total points to spend on 9 subjects where a student with no electives has 40 points to spend on 7 subjects.

The Core Subjects: As seen in the Rulebook
English or Philosophy
History or Geography
Foreign Language x2
Math
Physical Science (Physics and Chemistry)
Life Science (Biology and Ecology)
Elective x3

The Core Subjects: A Proposed Minor Change
English
Social Studies
Foreign Language
Math
Physical Science
Life Science
Physical Education or Core Elective
Elective x3

Given that we're in an American school I 'Americanized' the humanities courses. Additionally, I think we should remove the second foreign language class and replace it with either Physical Education (which most American schools require) or a fourth elective. Its a really minor change, but I think it fits the setting better and allows for more creativity. I'm in favor of adding PE, since hating it is a pretty iconic part of high school, but I could just as easily choose it as my core elective without forcing it one everyone else.

Some things to consider (at least some things I've been thinking about) that don't effect the system, but do effect the story:
Which classes do we have together?
Based on the ages we've given (which I assume are our ages at the start of the school year) Callie, Jax, and Mary (who are 16) will be Sophomores/10th grade while Nikki and Val (who are 17) are Juniors/11th grade. It makes sense that, for the most part, those in the same grade will share core classes.
However: Some possibilities
Honors Classes: My high school was rather large and 'Honors Level' classes which were completely different from regular humanities.
Advanced Math Track: Some schools have the option for students to 'test out' of introductory math courses, essentially bumping them up to a higher grade.
Remedial Classes: It's possible a character failed a certain subject last year and needs to retake it at a lower level.

Just some food for thought :)

[Silk]

Looks pretty good to me, but given the cultural background of the area wouldn't Asian history/culture/school style potentially seep in, if nothing else like having an additional class/modules for more eastern classes. Or having additional language as a compulsory rather than optional, just a thought.

[Jefepato]

Admittedly I've spent my whole life in the American Midwest, but the idea of anyone taking two foreign languages in high school (even of having the option to do so) is a new one on me.  Not that most of us really learned much about the first one, anyway.

Actually...we have up to ten classes per day, including three electives?  How long is a French/St. Cosmas school day, anyway?  We might need to mark an elective off as "study hall" or something just to have time to go fight monsters.

[Yukina]

I shall update my character post in a bit.

[deusexkristina]

@Silk: My reason for wanting to abandon the second language (one foreign language is still required) is that in most cases where students learn two foreign languages (such as Japan and much of Europe) one is almost always English. There's nothing stopping someone from taking a second language as their Core Elective. I'm not going to make waves if we want to keep it as it is in the rulebook, I just thought this would allow more creativity/customization.

Any of these Eastern-themed classes could fall under the electives category. Pretty much anything can be an elective. Additionally, there is not any reason a core History class couldn't have a focus on Eastern history.

@Jefepeto: Yeah, I thought it seemed like an awful lot of classes myself. My thought was it might include slots for one class before the official school day and one after? If you wanted your character to be obsessively bookish or something. I'm only taking one additional elective (8 classes) myself.

[Yukina]

Edits are complete.

[Silk]

The thing at least in the UK is that it's not identical days every day, so you might say have English/Maths/PE one day, then have Maths/Science/History the next, then Science/IT/French the next. with upto 5 one or two hour incriment for each class in the day.

[eBadger]

10 subjects at once seems a bit crazy...although I think I would assume that the 3 "optional" ones might be a before school class/club, after school class/club, and a sport...which is a little more reasonable. 

As for classes, I like deus' changes although I'd probably only have one science class and leave the other as an elective of some sort: probably we should have it something we're all taking together. 

Speaking of being together, another option to simplify things is to adjust our ages/assume we're all in the same class.  Anyone have a particular reason for their age/class?  I just wanted to be old enough to drive, but young enough to have to deal with being an underclass, so either 10th or 11th is fine. 

Otherwise, Mary looks like she'd be a 10th in some 11th grade classes, Val looks like an 11th in some 10th classes (not dumb, but not brilliant and maybe losing some advancement due to the international thing), Niki, Jax and Callie seem on par for 11th/10th/10th. 

We should also ponder if we want other things in common.  At least three of us are very affluent, the other two not mentioned (I think)...perhaps we all live on the same block? 

I'm not seeing any obvious clubs/sports that we'd all partake in.  Nor can I see us all having after school jobs somewhere together. 

[Silk]

Well even if it's not all together, as long as the chain is there and we can work it from there.

Example, Callie has the same passion for music as Niki (Both have it mastered skill) so there is a grounds for a friendship there, just as there is way's Callie has grounds for friendship with others in the game. Niki and Mizuho would be a interesting match. Kinda a Chad and Noba xD

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oJjS6-qv9M

[deusexkristina]

Well even if it's not all together, as long as the chain is there and we can work it from there.

I agree. Even if Val (who rolls with the popular clique) and Mary (who seems very shy and bookish) have never interacted with each other before the events of the story, they WILL all be brought together by the demons and their powers. If there wasn't much of a connection before, or even a negative connection, it only makes the initial bringing-together more interesting.

That said, high school isn't that big of a place, so the odds are we have all at least seen each other before and probably interacted on some level; even if it was just "we had a class together freshman year and never talked" or "I have seen you at lunch/passed you in the hallway a lot and had such-and-such a reaction".

An exercise I used to do in acting classes was to write out a description of the most recent interaction (before the events in the script) my character had with every other character, or if I've never seen them before what my initial gut reaction is towards them (or would be). This isn't something you'd need to share, its just an exercise for getting into character, but if you get some good ideas for a relationship with a specific person it might be worth fleshing out with them in PM.

[Silk]

Sounds like a good plan actually. Also as I said if people want to make use of the event at the festival in my downtime as part of their own (if they've been in the Academy 4+ years or at least in the city) which will be the part my character is most known for, (Ultra talented singer after a shock at a festival has refused to sing since), other than that, I'm mostly known for the drama/acting/dancing and keeping to myself which given what I'm most known for is really irregular. But I'll get some recent interactions up soon to supliment.

[Soveliss]

Hello!

Okay, I'm back.

Thanks to deusexkristina to have handled the classes part of the system while I was away (Now, all that's left is converting the x/20 system into the American grade system. But the class score can be left about 20 since it's used in calculations and dice roll, with a side-note indicating the "average" test result, should be pretty straightforward to convert since a % based system is used for grading.!), and to everyone to have handled a lots of details.

I've read the sheets, everything seems to be in order apart from class ranks (as a side note, if you take a skill as a class (Computer Science or Music for instance), you use twice the skill value instead of th usual system). We're almost ready.

The experience system is pretty simple. When you have enough time, you can roll an Int check to try to master a new skill (reducing the penalty by 1) or power (getting it at a value equal to the difference between your Int and the die roll (Min 1)). When a mastered power or skill is used, you make a mark near it. Three marks, and you roll 1D10. If it's higher than your current skill or power, increase it by 1. Whether it worked or not, erase the marks.

Any questions, last minute modifications or anything like that? If everyone is ready by then, we'll start Monday.

[deusexkristina]

Welcome back Soveliss!

Thanks for the clarification on the grading system, I was actually wondering about that last night.

I don't have any questions, I'm ready to go!

[Silk]

Welcome back :) and I have one question. How does the MEP system work with the spells or are you going to decide the cost when it comes to it?

[Jefepato]

I'm a little busy due to family stuff today, but I hope to update Callie's backstory a bit and finish adding class ranks by tonight.

Intelligence is starting to sound like the most important attribute, although I guess fighting evil is more important than being valedictorian anyway.

I've read the sheets, everything seems to be in order apart from class ranks (as a side note, if you take a skill as a class (Computer Science or Music for instance), you use twice the skill value instead of th usual system).

Does this mean that if you you already have a class as a mastered skill, you possibly don't need to spend class points on that class (and can save those 5 points for other classes instead)?  It certainly gives characters like Callie an incentive to take Music and PE.

[Soveliss]

For attacks, it's something like 1/2/3 points for single target attacks (Dealing damage scaling with the power score), 8/10/12 for area attacks, and combination attacks are single target attacks made by several magical girls, costing an additional cost.

For others, there is not much that is actually statted, so assume it's roughly 1 MEP (or more for really good support powers) for X amount of time, duration or area scaling with the power's value.

I'll make a rough estimate later, but this is a basis.

You are right on the class as a skill, and Intelligence is very good for your typical high-schooler (because more intelligent people do better in classes, usually (unless you pit an intelligent complete slacker against an average workaholic...)), and allows for a more diversified array of skills.

[eBadger]

What's the starting value of our magical abilities?  Our emo?

I'll sort out my classes and such later tonight :)

[deusexkristina]

What's the starting value of our magical abilities?  Our emo?

A Magic Ability has a base Power equal to the associated attribute. In the Rulebook, a lot linked to INT or EMO but it's really whatever makes sense. For example, the defensive magic has three spells: Physical Armor is linked to PHY, Force Field (magic armor) is linked to INT, and Magnetic Shield (projectile armor) is linked to DEX.

[Jefepato]

Okay, sheet updated with classes and such (hopefully it meets with approval).  I guess I'll need to ask what the cost/effects are of Callie's two physical enhancement powers, and also what the cost and parameters would be of a power to create a melee weapon, but if I understand the basics at all she should be pretty well set up to do some damage.

[eBadger]

My character sheet should be finished!

Some of the promised locales:

The Garage:

Image

A large mid-century repair shop, when this building was renovated to become a restaurant and club care was taken to retain its old flavor.  The interior is liberally decorated with antique automotive signs, parts, pictures, equipment and the like, giving it a unique charm.  There are several sections, including the main restaurant, a sectioned off bar area, pool hall, and 8 bowling lanes.  The under-21 access, late hours of operation, and large private booths make this a favorite hangout for students. 


Santa Puerta High School:

Image

Originally the only public high school in Santa Puerta, SPHS remains the largest in town.  Recently updated facilities emphasize a modern look of glass and steel, and include amenities such as a sports field, large gym and olympic sized pool.  In a controversial decision, part of the bordering city cemetery was annexed for the gymnasium; records and probing indicate it was never used for burials, but distress at the potential disrespect remains - which the student body has embraced in the form of a flurry of fabricated ghost stories. 

St. Cosmas and SPHS are bitter rivals; any sports meeting is a major event, often accompanied by taunts, pranks and sometimes fights. 

SPHS' mascot is the Knight; their colors are blue and white. 


Westridge Mall

Image

Although several strip malls and shopping complexes are scattered throughout Santa Puerta, Westridge Mall is by far the most impressive: it's The Mall.  It features several famous department stores, a large food court, 13-screen theatre and countless small boutiques.  Although fairly upscale, the mall is located in the commercial district and sees its share of crime and disruption.  Security is heavy following a gang related shooting in the parking lot after hours. 


City Hall

Image

Unlike many other landmarks in Santa Puerta, which seem eager to modernize, City Hall is an older building originally built to house nearly all city functions.  Since its creation, however, much of the bureacracy has moved off site but the Hall retains the offices of the Mayor and nearly every notable official. 

[deusexkristina]

I Love it!

SPHS is an awesome idea! Having a rival school in town adds a lot to the atmosphere. I like the ultra-modern look to clash with the more old-fashioned feel of St. Cosmas (and having the Knight as the mascot was a good touch!)

The other locations are really good too. I know already Val is going to be spending a lot of time at Westridge.

[Soveliss]

Is everyone ready? I'm starting to write the introduction in the small group sub-forum, I'll post it when I'll be satisfied with it.

[Jefepato]

I'd like to figure out more details about how Callie's powers will work, but I should be ready to start in the meantime if my sheet is acceptable.

[eBadger]

I'm ready!

[Yukina]

Is everyone ready? I'm starting to write the introduction in the small group sub-forum, I'll post it when I'll be satisfied with it.

I'm ready :)

[Silk]

Lets do it :) and its up it seems.

[eBadger]

It is up!  yay! 

No worries about the delay, I was having a lot of trouble with the site for most of the day, too. 

One comment - is this occurring at Santa Puerta High School (our rivals), or St. Cosmas (our school)?

[deusexkristina]

One comment - is this occurring at Santa Puerta High School (our rivals), or St. Cosmas (our school)?

Yeah, I noticed that myself. I'm sure i will be fixed in short order.

[Silk]

Wonder who'll be having first post :3

[Yukina]

Could someone give me a link?

[Silk]

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=174003.0

[Yukina]

Thank you :)

[eBadger]

Responded with the assumption it's our school; if I'm wrong, ignore it, but if it's happening across town then there's little that I'm gonna do. 

Edit: Great starts!  Also, just so I'm clear, I'm assuming that at this point Jax has no real knowledge of the clan/history/etc (although her father may know more about the family traditions than just fencing) but she has already discovered her ability to do some...odd tricks. 

[Silk]

Given the nature of Niki's history, chances are I'll be shadowing for the first engagement or otherwise be the first one attacked that needs to be rescued, a little later down the line confronting one of the girls about what the hell happened. (Since all Niki know's is that if she's not insanely careful when singing, strange stuff happens.

[eBadger]

Shadowing sounds dull - join us, even if you aren't using your powers yet!  and who knows, maybe the stress of the situation inspires some nervous/unconscious singing, with more fortuitous results.  Gotta come out sometime, right?

[Silk]

It will be dull initially, but considering to everyone else it's a gift but to Niki it's a curse, as well as being shy and otherwise paranoid about it all as well as having 0 knowledge of the clans or alike, just joining like it's an every day occurence seemed a bit odd if there isn't any resistance initially in using her power.

[eBadger]

Oh, in using her powers, sure - just making sure you aren't sidelining yourself completely!

[eBadger]

FYI, I'll be gone all weekend

[Silk]

My laptop is information repairs so posting from my blackberry atm won't be posting much for a week or 2

[eBadger]

Soveliss, you still around?  Still haven't had a confirmation of the school name...and gonna need to know what happens when we dial out soon. 

Yugi, for reference in-game: sickle cell anemia takes two recessive genes; having just one, however, provides significantly increased resistance to malaria.  One of the quirks of genetics :)

[Yukina]

Soveliss, you still around?  Still haven't had a confirmation of the school name...and gonna need to know what happens when we dial out soon. 

Yugi, for reference in-game: sickle cell anemia takes two recessive genes; having just one, however, provides significantly increased resistance to malaria.  One of the quirks of genetics :)

Thank you for a nice refresher of something I haven't learned about since middle school :)

[Jefepato]

Phew, that sure took me long enough.

Soveliss posted in A&As a couple days ago.  Hopefully he's doing all right, but I guess we may be waiting a bit longer.

[Jefepato]

Question: does the Emotion check bonus for mastering Brawl or Martial Arts apply only to Emotion checks for being hit in combat, or does it work for any Emotion check (e.g. a check to deal appropriately with the presence of a freaky monster)?

[Soveliss]

Well, if you are an experienced brawler or martial artist, it means you are used to take punches and various hits, and as such will control yourself more if you get hit, but a demon dog with large bony spikes is a whole different kind of freaky... So my best guess is no. Then again, maybe I missed something about martial arts since my personal experience with them has been mostly Krav Maga, which emphasizes survival by whatever means necessary... I don't really think a martial art can bring you a better mastery over your emotion beyond the "I can take a punch, no big deal" side of it, but maybe that's my limited experience.

[Silk]

Well as someone who did some martial arts, part of the training is to limit the pain when you get hit through muscle memory actions (such as slapping the floor with your hand after being thrown so the worst of the sensation is there) it's just generally being used to being hit in any sense of the word, someone who does martial arts just deals with pain better than someone who isn't used to getting hurt often. of course theres a limit to that, if a spine goes through your stomach, no amount of martial arts training can prepare you for that.

[Jefepato]

I knew putting points in Emotion would be a terrible idea.  Who needs magic anyway?

(Well, it doesn't really matter.  I don't think punching a spiky monster would help much just yet, even if that were a particularly sane first reaction.)

[Silk]

Well I got the highest emo in the group, thankfully my role in combat should rarely put me in a position to be attacked,.

[eBadger]

Meh, I didn't put points in Emo and still managed to flub it :) all good.