Approved That's Rad!

[Rad Suit]

Hello everyone! I was searching for a magical girl forum RP (the last one I found closed down before I could join) and spotted an ad for this place. I'm currently rewatching Nanoha/A's with some friends, so it seemed like a sign that I should jump in here.

My first real anime that I recognized as anime was a VHS copy of Ranma I found in a box of tapes at an Arbor Day fair. I bought it and the "Weird Al" music video collection. My friends were big fans of Tenchi and El Hazard, and we all went to a bunch of conventions together from around 1999-2010 or so. I decided to get more serious about watching seasonals and keeping track of everything a few years ago.

I started RPing with wrestling e-feds on message boards and MU*s over Telnet. I was part of a bunch of animanga crossover type servers back in the day. I was also one of the main builders on the most popular DBZ MUD, which continued being copied long after it died, so if you played one of those you likely interacted with something I created. The website I created for it is still up, somehow, more than 20 years later. My other claim to internet fame is being credited on the Jojo wiki, which I think is very funny.

I started TTRPGs with AD&D, have created an 80's movie themed hack for PBtA, and just finished up a campaign in the Symphogear-inspired Blazing Hymn. Since 2012 I've been posting on Star Army under the name Reynolds, which I also used for 20+ years posting on the Penny Arcade forums (RIP), and now their spiritual successor.

I hope this will be the beginning of another long term message board relationship! Thanks for having me!

 

[Senkusha]

Welcome! Another Ranma and Tenchi fan? Awesome!

What was your impression of MGLN? You mentioned you're rewatching it? What are you looking for in a Magical Girl RP server? Hopefully, Prismatica can fill your desires?

 

[Rad Suit]

I think the background behind Nanoha's existence is fascinating, and the first half is super weird due to that. They didn't quite seem to know what they wanted to make, compared to everything after episode 7 or so (including sequels) seeming much more focused. Tried to rewatch it once and one group gave up before the halfway point. I had to explain some of what was going on to my current group and sorta drag them through it this time, but we should finish soon, and hopefully they're enjoying it.

I enjoyed A's a lot more, and was really digging StrikerS up to the halfway point. Hoping to get them to watch all of that in the future.

As far as RP goes, just looking for something active and consistent, really. It would be nice to have something to check in on regularly. I'll hopefully have some time tonight and tomorrow to look that over more closely.

 

[Senkusha]

I absolutely LOVED A's. Literally binge watched that on my 4" iPod Touch screen until like four in the morning.

Hopefully, we'll get a good game started here soon. I'm looking for more players to be interested, because, I've tried with only one player (me) and that didn't work out too well.

 

[Rad Suit]

I watched Nanoha and then A's in one sitting each with some friends, it was a great time. Did the same for each season of Symphogear as well.

I was reading over the game info, and I'd be happy to give it a try. I'm unfamiliar with BESM though, beyond seeing it at a ton of cons and shops, so I'd likely need a little help setting up a character. After tracking down the rules. We'd probably need at least one more player, if you're handling most of the GM role.

A friend has run a few magical girl games and might have some suggestions for other systems, if you were still looking for more options.

 

[Senkusha]

Honestly, I'm flexible on the game systems. I've even given GURPS a look too. As far as the rules for BESM, I'll make those available (if that's indeed what we settle on). The game system uses a 2d6 Roll Under mechanic, and the bulk of the game is contained within the Attributes chapter. It's a fairly open and flexible system to work with.

 

[Sailor Marin]

Welcome to the site! I've always wanted to go back and give D&D 2e a try. I play 3.5 normally, and found 4e to be way too video gamey and 5e to have some of the fun simplified out of it in comparison. (I am so over systems that allow you to get stabbed until you're dying on the ground and then sleep it off overnight directly where you fell. ;o; )

I also need to finish Nanoha

 

[Rad Suit]

Glitter Hearts is the game I was thinking of: https://gleather.itch.io/glitter-hearts

Itch has a ton of simple magical girl RPG systems though, that's also where we found Blazing Hymn: https://peachgardengames.itch.io/blazing-hymn

I've tried GURPS multiple times, but it's just too number crunchy for me. I tend to lean towards FATE and PBtA these days.

Welcome to the site! I've always wanted to go back and give D&D 2e a try. I play 3.5 normally, and found 4e to be way too video gamey and 5e to have some of the fun simplified out of it in comparison. (I am so over systems that allow you to get stabbed until you're dying on the ground and then sleep it off overnight directly where you fell. ;o

I also need to finish Nanoha

Hey there, thanks! Pre-3e is fun to read about, but I don't think I'd want to play that again. Hackmaster is a fun parody way to interact with it, though. I'd also prefer to play 3.5e forever, but games for that are a bit limited. 5e is close enough while still being somewhat easier to find people willing to play it. I only played one 4e game and would honestly like to play more, I don't think I gave it a fair shot at the time.

Highly recommend finishing Nanoha and A's at least!

 

[Senkusha]

I've got Glitter Hearts in my library. Maybe it's time to dust it off and give it a try.

 

[Sailor Marin]

Yeaaah. That's the trouble with 5e. Lots of people willing to play it, but I just wind up bored by the actual mechanics. xD Gave it a try but ultimately realized the RP just isn't enough on its own.

 

[Rad Suit]

Friend got back to me, some of her other suggestions were...

Magical Fury: https://nekoewen.itch.io/magical-fury
Angel Project: https://nekoewen.itch.io/angel-project
Ribbons (for Masks): https://worstgirleva.itch.io/ribbons-a-new-era
Princess Wing (English translation): https://www.scribd.com/document/781168483/Princess-Wing-EN-2-8

Yeaaah. That's the trouble with 5e. Lots of people willing to play it, but I just wind up bored by the actual mechanics. xD Gave it a try but ultimately realized the RP just isn't enough on its own.

I haven't had a chance to do a game/campaign with people looking for the mechanical crunch of 3.5e, so 5e has been 'good enough' for most people. Plenty of times I've helped others get their narratively fun characters powered up mechanically to keep up with a module, for example.

 

[Senkusha]

Magical Fury (and Magical Burst) was one of the first alternative games I stumbled upon. I loved reading the intro to Magical Fury. I believe it uses a similar system to Maid (d66). The other three, I'll be looking at tomorrow.

 

[Rad Suit]

Neither of us could remember what specific Magical Fury spinoff we used, I think Magical Burst was even mentioned, so it might've very well been that one. If Magical X was the one with an emphasis on shifting between ranges/zones in combat, then that's probably it. I thought the character creation and general rules were great, but paying attention to ranges is a bit difficult in a PBP format, so that might not work.

The Princess Wing designs seem a bit Nanoha-ish at first glance, with some Galaxy Fräulein Yuna in there, but not sure how well the actual rules would fit.

I remember making a bunch of Maid characters on one MU* back in the day, but never actually played a game. I think I was inspired by He Is My Master at the time.

 

[Senkusha]

I believe the succession of games is Magical Fury was first, then Magical Burst was a "second edition", which added more rules and content, and opened up the Magical Girl genre to more possibilities. There's also a version 5.0 of Magical Burst, but I think it may have been abandoned. Skimming the two documents I have, Magical Burst appears to be more fleshed out, and I found this in Magical Burst:






Although, looking at the rules, it looks pretty easy to create a custom magical girl using the random roll tables.

---

Then, I'm looking at this:


Apparently, this is sort of like a mini-card game, sort of like Magic The Gathering, but not nearly as comprehensive. It looks really interesting, and I may find a copy, but I'll have to translate it by hand from Japanese. With it primarily functioning using cards for mechanics though, I'm not sure how suitable it would be for PbP.

---

Angel Project uses PBtA, and if we're going that route, why not just use Glitter Hearts or Girl By Moonlight, although this specific setting may give some additional guidance for a Nanoha setting?

And Ribbons, uses Masks, which I currently know nothing about beyond that it appears to be a Superhero genre game. To be honest, there's not much difference between Magical Girls and Super Heroes.

---

However, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a blending of the typical Magical Girl genre with the Mecha genre... being that the mecha is more about the Intelligent Magical Devices and the costumes that the girls wear. Whichever system we choose, should be able to handle this set of options/flavors.

 

[Rad Suit]

Yeah that first one seems like what I remember. And she did mention that Princess Wing used cards in some way. Masks is another PBtA game, so it's pretty easy to digest. And I've definitely made some Kamen Rider-esque characters in regular Masks, so magical girls wouldn't be that difficult to fit in.

I just thought I'd blast out a bunch of options and see if anything fit better. Ultimately it's up to you, and whoever else you can convince to play along. I'm open to almost anything (I think I've given GURPS enough chances and it's just not for me).

 

[Sailor Marin]

I haven't had a chance to do a game/campaign with people looking for the mechanical crunch of 3.5e, so 5e has been 'good enough' for most people. Plenty of times I've helped others get their narratively fun characters powered up mechanically to keep up with a module, for example.

I had the luck of being introduced with 3.5 in a low homebrew environment that allowed me to actually master looking stuff up and creating the characters I want >w< I play almost every day.

 

[cpvr]

Welcome to the community! @Rad Suit

 

[Rad Suit]

Welcome to the community! @Rad Suit

Thanks!

Finished original Nanoha earlier tonight, last few episodes were a great time. Excited to get everyone started on A's next week!

 

[Senkusha]

Be warned. A's is VERY addictive. It's literally Nanoha NEXT LEVEL awesome. (And I just adore the OP theme too).