Black Tokyo! Well, this is for the crew I summoned with my pervy powers.

[Chris Brady]

Alrighty, who's in again?

Premise:

"Black Tokyo, a mirror, a sideways passage to another realm, a dark one where things aren't what they seem at best, and are, at worst.  A realm where things best left unsaid walk walk the streets, stalk the people, a world apart and yet not."

That's the premise.  A Tokyo that exists parallel to the 'real' one where people sometimes slip into and end up on the missing persons sheets, often never found.

The players can be from either 'realm' at their discretion.

So sound off as to who's here, and whatever idea you may have.

[AstraKiseki]

I'm here, and I was thinking of making a 'real' girl, who is a Harem Mage, protected by three guys, named Ichigo, Nisen, and Sanro.  They are actually Dreamboys made by the girl's skill and desire for big brothers, but otherwise, they are normal guys, all overprotective of their 'little' sister.  There isn't any romantic interest... yet.  But who knows what Black Tokyo will do to their spirits?

[WyzardWhately]

I'm here.

My concept so far is a boy in his later teens, with the Mage career from d20 Modern.  I may take some feats and spells from the new book, but I'll probably stick mostly to urban arcana material.  He's been pushed around too much, pushed too far, and turned to the occult.  I'm planning on playing around with the whole power corrupts theme with him, although how seriously villainous he is will depend greatly on the other PCs and what we end up doing.  I know you mentioned Persona 3 at one point, and the idea of the PCs going to or being near a high school that transforms at midnight is pretty much super badass in my book.  Or at least it works very well with my character concept. 

I think he's from the real world, although he desires contact with the shadow world in order to gain more arcane power.  I was actually thinking he might be a foreigner - maybe he got sent to a boarding school in Japan after getting into some kind of trouble?  Some really odd background like that. 

[WyzardWhately]

Ichigo, Nisen, and Sanro

Bad form, Astra, Bad form.   

[Chris Brady]

Once I know who we have, I'll open the doors to my limit.

Until then, let 'em roll.

[WyzardWhately]

Once I know who we have, I'll open the doors to my limit.

Until then, let 'em roll.

You got any idea what level/attribute generation method we're going for?  I have some tragic time constraints in my life, and it'd be better for my if I could go ahead and do most of the number-crunching stuff now, and just make adjustments later.

[Chris Brady]

Um, go standard generation for now.  As for classes, the basic ones, and...  Make everyone 2nd level to start.

[WyzardWhately]

Um, go standard generation for now.  As for classes, the basic ones, and...  Make everyone 2nd level to start.

Ah, snap.  I get no magics.  Nonetheless, I will do my best to make my PC interesting.

[Chris Brady]

Correction, I hit the wrong number on the number pad.  Make it 5.

[Khayin]

Here!

I'm strongly considering a rage-filled bastard born of a terrible incident with something from the other side that left his mother pregnant with a strange half-breed.  She raised him as her own, but there was always something about the way she looked at him that let let him know that he wasn't normal.  He hates the things that scarred his mother and hates his alien heritage just as much.  He looks mostly human, though with some slightly odd features (sharper teeth, intense gaze, unnatural hair color, etc.), so he just tries to pass for a normal guy.  He despises rapists of all sorts and deals with them violently whenever he catches them.  What bothers him the most, though, is that he knows that when he flies into a rage, his lust is unnaturally powerful.  He often fears that if he loses control, he'll become the very monster he hates.

I can see him eventually taking the Devil Heart Hunter PrC.

[AstraKiseki]

We need to know how we are doing/rolling stats too.

[Reshki]

Ok, interested in this, but I have no idea about character.  I'm thinking something like an exchange student from America or something, but I'm willing to work with someone else if they need a sibling/partner-in-crime, whatever. 

[Hikari]

I'm thinking about a character who is a normal Japanese schoolgirl by day, but has the ability to enter Dark Tokyo and take on her alternate persona of...  a Magical Girl!  Or possibly a Magical Catgirl, ala Tokyo Mew Mew.  There's probably some half-baked story about how she's the long lost orphaned daughter of some horrible Dark Tokyo dynasty*, but regardless of that fact she's grown up a pretty average girl and normally leads a pretty average life, when she's not trying to save the comely young women of her educational institution (and their suspiciously, inexplicably sexy school uniforms) from extradimensional monsters.

As far as stats go, I'm not very experienced at D20, so I'm open to suggestions.  Probably an Agile and/or Charismatic type of hero?

*For instance, she could be some sort of succubus-kin whose powers come from leading humans into indecent/illegal sorts of thoughts, whose very presence is the cause of everything around her being so bizarrely oversexed, even if she doesn't realize it.

[Reshki]

Ok, I’m thinking an American exchange student in Japan, maybe going to the same school as Hikari’s character.  She comes from a family of ghost-busters, like the characters from the Supernatural TV show.

I’m looking at a Smart Hero/Student, with skills on researching the supernatural.  She’s also got knowledge of handling firearms and is learning kendo.  She obviously didn’t bring any guns with her from the US, but she’s probably almost always got her practice bokken with her.

[Hikari]

Random brainstorming:

Her name should be Hikari, I think.  It's both a fairly standard girl's name and has a nice, if not particularly subtle, tongue-in-cheek dual meaning in this particular context.  ("Pure Light" or "Holy Light", though it's as often just seen as shorthand for "Purity".)  I don't think her alternate persona has a name, yet, because it would be interesting to see what other PCs or students take to calling her and work that out through play.

I'm thinking some Charismatic Hero simply for charming/dazzling (how else can you get people to stand still during your long, gratuitously naked dance-y henshin sequence?), then some Fast Hero for actual combat.  Probably no Fast Hero right now, though, since to start out with she's going to be a typical noob magical girl with no clue how to fight.  Hopefully an adorable talking-mascot creature will teach her the ropes someday.  High Charisma/Dexterity, obviously, probably a low mark in either Intelligence or Wisdom (I don't know if I want her to be ditzy, or naive, yet, but likely one or the other).

A student, obviously.  I'll probably focus on defensive-fighting type Feats, at least until I find some pervy stuff that interests me.

[WyzardWhately]

My concept as it currently stands is a Smart hero/Mage.  He's nigh-upon incompetent in combat, but has some decent out-of-combat skills, and access to a few low-level spells.  I think he probably gets by via careful planning and sheer cunning.  My thought was that he was going to be half-japanese (to make him even more of a social reject), who was raised in America and sent here after he got into trouble.  I can see now that might be stepping too much on other people's toes, since it looks like we have two other foreigners already.  He's been more or less a reject his whole life anyway, but having discovered a few arcane secrets he's starting to turn things around for himself. 

Is there any chance this could be like a boarding school?  A male dorm at one end of campus, a female dorm at the other end, kind of thing?  I think that would work for me.

[Chris Brady]

Sorry about that.  I need to sleep. 

Okay, attribute spread is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.  And you may move one for one from one attribute to another, but nothing higher than 18.  All I ask is that you be reasonable.

And because I can't find it saying yay or nay, I'm going to say everyone gets to add a +1 to an attribute of one's choice because everyone is over level four.

[WyzardWhately]

Sorry about that.  I need to sleep. 

Okay, attribute spread is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.  And you may move one for one from one attribute to another, but nothing higher than 18.  All I ask is that you be reasonable.

And because I can't find it saying yay or nay, I'm going to say everyone gets to add a +1 to an attribute of one's choice because everyone is over level four.

It's in the D20 Modern book under "levelling up" or whatever that section's called.  You are correct though.


EDIT:  How do you want us to figure HP?  High side of average, or what?

[Chris Brady]

Max at 1st level, average the rest, add your Con as usual.  Any fractions round up.

[AstraKiseki]

Charismatic Hero here.  Kimekomi Ichigo  is on the cusp of becoming a Harem Mage, as in 'next level she is taking it.'  She is hopelessly sickly and coddled by her very handsome 'brothers' Ningyo Nisen and Ningyo Sanro.  Nisen and Sanro are creations of Ichigo's late mother, another Harem Mage herself.  She was skilled enough that she made her then-twelve-year-old daughter a pair of brothers as her last glorious work, and a way to protect her little girl.  The Ningyo twins look about their mid-twenties.  In a lot of ways, the guys are still innocents, since they were born/created four years ago to protect a girl, not fuck her.

Nisen is a perfect gentleman and something of a homemaker.  He is the one who cooks the most (though he makes his siblings clean a lot), and tends to fret over Ichigo's clothes (he screamed in horror when she first tried on the uniform).  He often invokes the name of his creator when upset or trying to keep the other two in line.  He somehow appears the oldest, especially when he and Sanro look identical (but Ichigo can tell them apart).

Sanro's personality is at ends with his appearance as a bishonen.  He rides his motorcycle to work, he is loud, somewhat obnoxious, smokes, drinks, and very good at his job as an English teacher at the school.  He has a string of relationships, but his devotion to his sister (and making her life a living hell at times, he IS her brother) is unquestionable.  Since the school is one of the best, and Ichigo so bright, Sanro was able to get his sister into the school, though she doesn't live at the school.  Sanro is unaware of the happenings at the school.

Stats
Charismatic Hero Level 5
Hit Points: 14
Age: 16
Starting occupation: Creative (Craft (visual art), Knowledge (art), Spot)
Wealth Bonus: +5

Strength 8
Dexterity 10
Consitution 8
Intelligence 16
Wisdom 14
Charisma 17


Craft (Visual Arts)       8
KNowledge (Arcane)        8
Knowledge (Art)           8
Knowledge (Life Sciences) 4
Diplomacy                 8
Gather Information        8
Read/Write Language       2 (English, Korean)
Speak Language            2 (English, Korean)
Bluff                     8
Knowledge (Pop culture)   4
Spot                      8
Listen                    4

Feats: Creative, Iron Will, Windfall, Studious
Talents: Charm, Coorindate

[Hikari]

I'm not well-acquainted with d20 Modern.  Do PCs still get a general feat every 3rd level, or just the two general starter feats and a class bonus feat every even level?  Do they still get a bonus point to an ability score every fourth level?

I'm not sure how starting equipment works out, either, but I'd honestly just prefer to throw together a 'wishlist' and let you decide what I actually start with.  I don't know most of the equipment well enough to have strong preferences, anyway.  Is that okay?

[WyzardWhately]

I'm not well-acquainted with d20 Modern.  Do PCs still get a general feat every 3rd level, or just the two general starter feats and a class bonus feat every even level?  Do they still get a bonus point to an ability score every fourth level?

I'm not sure how starting equipment works out, either, but I'd honestly just prefer to throw together a 'wishlist' and let you decide what I actually start with.  I don't know most of the equipment well enough to have strong preferences, anyway.  Is that okay?

PCs still get the feat every third level.

EQ and money generally works through a much-decried abstract Wealth system.  The wishlist may be your best option if you don't really care to mess with it, as its highly unlikely you'd be unable to get basic high school student stuff.  It's generally modern-day eq available.  If you take a profession skill at max ranks, or even get up to six ranks by third level and then leave it, you'll be doing more than fine for a high school student.

[Chris Brady]

I'm not well-acquainted with d20 Modern.  Do PCs still get a general feat every 3rd level, or just the two general starter feats and a class bonus feat every even level?  Do they still get a bonus point to an ability score every fourth level?

I'm not sure how starting equipment works out, either, but I'd honestly just prefer to throw together a 'wishlist' and let you decide what I actually start with.  I don't know most of the equipment well enough to have strong preferences, anyway.  Is that okay?

Sounds good to me!

[Hikari]

Thanks for clearing that up!  I think I'm down to one question, and that is whether the two starting feats assumes a bonus feat for being 'human' (as in, do characters of non-human races have one fewer feat)?  I'm liking the idea of playing a virgin succubus-kin; because she's never had sex, her powers have never manifested, so she has no reason to suspect she isn't a human.  Of course, once it, er, 'happens' for her, she'll also gain her alter-ego in the form of the succubus-kin's innate transformation ability.  (Henshin a-go-go!)

Of course, it also means she's going to have trouble on hallowed ground, which is kind of odd for a magical girl, but she is a hentai magical girl, I suppose...

[WyzardWhately]

Here's my character.  I may make slight adjustments before the game starts.

Matt Tatami is, to put it lightly, a weird kid.  He was raised in America, often spending summers with his even weirder paternal grandfather.  As he grew up, he became more of a loner and more rejected by regular high school society.  He turned to the occult, secretly exploring the mouldering books in his grandfather's library.  As of yet, not even his parents suspect that he's been an occult practitioner since he was 14. Magic appeals to him, even more than computers used to.  It's a secret and intellectual discipline, practiced in private, that can be turned into temporal power with a little effort.  It's everything computer hacking used to be for him, turned up to eleven.  Of course, there are downsides.  His occult studies have exposed him to the shadow world, that part of the cosmos only visible to some.  It's dangerous, there, and Matt's no warrior.

Still, there was a showdown between him and a teacher who was doing something to the other members of his class.  Matt was afraid he might be next.  So, he marshalled what magic he's managed to learn and confronted the suddenly fanged and red-eyed Mr. Martin.  That night culminated in Matt beating him to death with a baseball bat.

Nobody would have believed his tale, but there was enough extenuating circumstances that he could create a reasonable doubt of self-defense.  Also, after Mr. Martin's body disappeared from the morgue ("Stolen," but leaving a trail of bloody footprints), everybody just wanted rid of Matt and to sweep the whole matter under the rug.  His mother, in a fit of national pride, said that only a Japanese boarding school would do to get her son on the straight and narrow.  He's managed to move into a private room in the dorm without too many questions being asked about his stuff, and he's kept his spellbook and bank accounts pretty much concealed. 

So here he is.

Name:  Matt Tatami
Level 5 (Smart 3, Mage 2)
Occupation: Student (Research, Arcane Lore, Computer Use)
Age 16
Half-Japanese
Reputation: +2
Wealth: +17

Str 8 -1
Dex 10
Con 14 +2
Int 17 +3
Wis 14 +2
Cha 10

AP: 8
HP: 32
Attack: +2 (Melee +1, Ranged +2)
AC: 12
F: +3
R: +1
W: +7


Feats:
Simple Weapons
Focused (+2 Balance/Concentration)
Iron Will
Arcane Skills
Spellslinger

Talents:
Savant: Arcane Lore (+3)
Exploit Weakness

Skills:
Concentration: +8 (+2)
Spellcraft +8
Computer Use +8 (+1)
Craft: Chemical +8
Craft: Electronic +6
Decipher Script +7
Investigate +7
Knowledges:
•   Arcane Lore +8 (+1) (+3)
Repair +7
Research +7 (+1)
Search +6
Speak Language 3 [English, Latin, Sumerian]
Read/Write Language 3 [English, Latin, Sumerian]
Profession:  Programmer +6

EQ:
Spellbook
Messenger Bag (Spell component pocket)
School Supplies –books, notebook, laptop (upgraded +1, broadband)
Really badass cell phone
Honda Silverwing

Elsewhere:
Flash drive hidden in his mattress with backup spellbook
Encrypted file in an off-site server also containing a backup spellbook
Metal Baton under bed (+1 Attack, 1d6-1, 19-20x2)
Deluxe Evidence Kit
Deluxe Electronic Kit
Chemical Kit
Rope, handcuffs, etc.
Extensive Personal Library

Spells:

0-Level (5)
Daze X
Light X
Mage Hand X
Prestidigitation X
Message
Read Magic
Magic ID X
Mending
Alarm

1st-Level (4)
Change Self X
Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Sleep X
Obscuring Mist X
Comprehend Languages
Degauss X
Magic Weapon
Shield


NOTE:  Chris, it turns out that the Black Tokyo adds Charm Person back in, but it's 2nd level.  So, soon enough.