Kawaii Rebirth

Game Master BastianQuinn

*passes notes with Tracy*

At work right now, and this is going to be a long post, so probably not until one or two in the morning at earliest.

I might have gone a bit over-the-top there...

Also, unrelated, I'm debating the possibility of Tracy's friend being her own child, born sometime at least five to seven years prior. Or do they need to be more our own age, BastianQuin?

I think the only suggestion I would give about friends and enemies is that they are in circumstances that expose them to other characters, but I've always managed to make interesting pc-npc-pc connections in the past, so I wouldn't sweat it too hard.

As long as no one would prefer to avoid suicide themes, I think we're okay. The plot thickens.

Ao, do you want to interject with your findings? In your role as Inquisitor, you have 'interviewed' Shuji, who you might remember as @trussed_in_me, the dude with the flamethrower who covered you in last season's climax.

What if anything did you get out of him?

Damnit, I completely spaced that.

One big update before we finish character creation and transition into Downtime.

I haven't forgotten Ao's Obligation roll. That'll be part of that big finish.

Some things to consider to finish up your characters:
You must name an NPC friend and an NPC enemy. They can be anyone we've named so far, or you can make them up. Your Enemy is someone who has it out for you. I'll bring them up when I want to make things tough for you personally. The friend is someone who would help you without question. Not because they 'owe you one' but because of a genuine friendship.

Similar to Goals or Bonds in other games, a Magical Girl is driven by their Promises. There are prompts for promises on your sheets in no particular order. Each of these promises must be to another PC. Pursuing these promises is one way you gain XP aside from making Desperate rolls. Other ways to gain XP are listed in the note on the cell called XP in the middle of your sheet.

As a team, we need to decide a few more things:
What do all transcendent folks share in common? If you stand in formation, how do we know you're a team? (last season the answer was: they're all 16-y-o girls)

What is our end-goal? Preventing calamity? Instigating paradise? What does the world look like if we do nothing and the Darkness wins? What, in terms of our team sheet is our EPIC DESTINY?

We choose, as a group, 1 team ability and 1 transcendent ability.

By your wording, Shrines are not automatic, correct? We might not have one?

It's one of the powers you can select, but you have to have a shrine 'maiden' to tend to it to get the powers. That costs one person a downtime action. So it tends to give you something potent and reliable, but also has a cost.

In my opinyan, I like 'vivid' as a transcendent cue, but that also speaks strongly of my desire to make it shades of gray v. color. :)

Yes, The Shrine ability is an optional team ability which grants an extra option for a Downtime Action that, when taken, grants the whole team an effect. There are three listed effects, but I'm open to suggestions.

I'm really feeling "Never alone" Or "redemption", in terms of crew abilities.

as for the transcendent, "Tireless" or "Hope in darkness" both seem good.

I like Imperfect, or True (we aren't choosing from a list I didn't see, are we?). I like the idea of our transcenant selves don't look perfect, because the Erohin have made our mundane forms so. Dunno if it is for anyone else, but transcending allowing us to be our real, flawed, damaged selves, still trying to be heroes, is a powerful image to me.

(we aren't choosing from a list I didn't see, are we?)

Nope, no list. After we decide how you look like a team, the followup question is how you each look different.

Redemption clears 1 stress for everyone if the chosen mission is noble, and the team gains XP if they rescue an innocent.

Never Alone allows lone senshi in danger to summon an ally. We'll decide how that works in-fiction if we pick it.

For By Starlight and Hope in Darkness, you each pick one of those three Actions to increase. You don't all have to decide on one. It's impossible to roll three or more dice on an Action without Transcending unless you choose By Starlight, which increases the maximum for those Actions.

Tireless helps you recover from Harm.

Okay, the way I was reading Never Alone, it seemed like it was automatic, which kind of screws me. If you have to 'activate' it, that works better.
I thought Hope in Darkness gave +1 to all three actions? Is that an older version?
Personally, I lean towards By Starlight or Pure Hearts for beginning Sentai (I think that is the term for super-teams) abilities. Both potentially shore up weak points for characters & that bonus Social Link die will be handy in the early game. Yes, I already admitted to being a power gamer.
Given that Transcendence is a purely hypothetical concept for Tracy at the moment, I am amenable to any of the three.

The adolescent in me is inappropriately amused by the idea that we might in fact be literally naked when ascended (On the other hand, that might screw Chessa). That would certainly expose all the imperfections & genders the Erohin & society want concealed. However, I'm not certain how comfortable everyone else are.

I thought sentai meant specifically colour coded super teams

how does never alone screw you?

also, I will come out against being literally naked... I've watched enough games get too descriptive. also the visual of it is kinda... yeah, I'm not a huge fan.

Okay, the way I was reading Never Alone, it seemed like it was automatic, which kind of screws me. If you have to 'activate' it, that works better.

None of the other benefits have that kind of disadvantage. Some have a cost, but there's a choice in that. I would rather you have the choice.

I thought Hope in Darkness gave +1 to all three actions? Is that an older version?

You're right, it's got an and in it. I misread. By Starlight is an or, but you can use that pip without transcending.

The adolescent in me is inappropriately amused by the idea that we might in fact be literally naked when ascended (On the other hand, that might screw Chessa). That would certainly expose all the imperfections & genders the Erohin & society want concealed. However, I'm not certain how comfortable everyone else are.

Nature of the forum and anonymous (possibly minor) players says we can disembowel our enemies to gratuitous detail, but we shouldn't mention nipples in any more than passing detail.

Also, your true self is not necessarily in line with your species either. It's an external expression of the personality of your inner self. There is roughly a 6% chance that neutering your aesthetic was a step in the right direction. (by which I mean you were trans* before the Erohin showed up)

Don't shy away from the possibilities here, if you all want to be dragons, stuffed animals, or office supplies, we can find a way to make it work. If you want to be any one of those things on your own, we just have to adapt that to this one consistency across the team.

It could just be monochromatic color schemes, just needs to mark you out as a team.

How does never alone screw you?

It all but completely negates Worth Saving, if it is automatic. If I can choose whether or not to activate it, it becomes useful.

I will come out against being literally naked... I've watched enough games get too descriptive. also the visual of it is kinda... yeah, I'm not a huge fan.

Good enough reason for me.

No ideas for unifying theme right now, but I'll say I like Tireless and Redemption for our abilities. Never Alone is nice to, but I think that one's better for a little later.

Hm. So no takers in 'Vivid' or CoLoUrS? :P

I think our powers should probably reflect our theme.

That leaves 'Imperfect' and 'True' as themes that we have access to. Do you guys have any opinions on those themes?

I don't dislike the idea of vivid, for the record. If everyone else is into it, I could work with it

Some things and their team themes:

Sailor Moon - individual colors, 'sailor' uniforms, planets
Steven Universe - individual colors, gemstone name, gemstone on body
D.N.Angel - angel wings
Persona - Tarot cards
RWBY - individual colours, fairy tale protagonists(?)
Power Rangers - individual colors, uniforms, animals
Ninja Turtles - individual colours, masks, weapon specialty
X-Men - X-shaped communicators, shared colours
Green Lantern - specific uniform and insignia
Puella Madoka Magica - individual coulors, lolita costumes
Kawaii Cataclysm - individoual coulours, zoudiac, 16-y-ou girls

*looks* Where's the reference for the shrine?

[Original playbooks]
Page 3, far right.

I do not personally recommend the Fox Shrine.

Aaaaaah.. I was looking at the wrong playbooks.

Is anyone interested in Fables? That wasn't my initial idea, but it stands out.

RWBY also universally uses color as a theme.

I should say that with the tone of the setting, choosing two recovery options means Stress and Harm will be harder for me to... stear. Anyone could Eclipse, and falling to Darkness will be a real and constant threat. For me to present a threat that lives up to this setting, fate will be fickle and often needlessly cruel. That is a valuable narrative, especially with the themes here, but I can't do that without a little buy-in from you folks.

The alternative is to leave recovery scarce so each Stress or Harm is a calculated, smooth movement of the overall plot. I can chip away at you to ramp up tension knowing you're not going to wipe it all away between missions.

So, do we want to trudge through soul-sapping snow, loosing allies to drawn-out struggles, or do we want to charge through a hailstorm, loosing allies suddenly and sometimes without valour?

Huh.. I tried to edit my post, but it looks like it didn't work.

One theme we can use is have the Matagama be visible on our forms while we're transformed. That way, we can somewhat individualize the themes but keep the common indicators.

I'm for Eyes as a shrine, as that's the most fitting for Ao, and with Valkyrie being the only feasible, I'm up for siding with the majority.

My vote is for Hailstorm. They're already one step out of from where they were and under examination by powers greater than them. it just makes sense to me.

I don't know if you noticed, but I tend to like stories that ratchet up tention, and sometimes are futile and hopeless... Hailstorm

and I don't hate the idea of Fables/literary references linking us. In fact, I rather like it.

As a Persona fan, I like Tarot cards. The only issue is filling those Tarot Cards, and what characters would or would not get an Arcana. Fables is an easy extension of that, as there are tons of mediums in stories.

Magatama is interesting. I like the idea of a symbol that connects to everyone. Could be a different symbol, just something that is simple enough to be recognizable.

Shrine of Eyes just seems cool. Especially considering that an Erohin or such would develop some kind of method that would root out agents of the Darkness more easily. I think the symbol shouldn't be too easy to find, otherwise most of the surprise of someone being under the influence of the Darkness will be lost very fast. Maybe on the back?

I'd prefer the snow, as it lends itself to a certain inevitability. No one can truly keep away from an Eclipse, only deter it for some time. They can recover for short periods, but it is always a constant struggle to keep from making a descent.

I have to say, I really like the Magatama/Unifying symbol thing. I like the points made for it.

If people really want the shrine, then Eyes is definitely a nice one...though personally, I lean Valkyrie, mainly out of curiosity as to what actually happens when it takes effect.

I like me some Hailstorm. It's brutal, unpredictable, and it keeps you on edge.

The dramatic tension of having eyes as a shrine is in that you do know who the enemy is. And that can be heartbreaking, unsettling, or cruel.

Imagine knowing, with certainty, that your neighbor was doing something evil... But there was no way for you to prove it.

Or, alternately, imagine us knowing someone is innocent, but being powerless to steer the hands of fate from them.

Eyes is not something that removes problems: It's something that changes the game.

Being better at harm recovery shouldn't adjust the rate at which we're met with harm, imo. I get that it shifts tension, but if we're investing in something, it's because we're losing elsewhere. So... I'm against boosting recovery if it means we'll get murdered more often. :P

I'm not saying I'm against getting swatted like flies, but I am against spending lots of downtime actions because we're good at recovery, so now we're playing hardmode.

I would say that clocks is the thing to ratchet up tension if we choose to play unkillable heroes. :). Hit us in our Hearts, not our hearts. :P

G*% d&@n, I also love Tarrot cards... I don't know what a magatama is, but I bet I can work with it too... okay, maybe we should just say I have an idea of how to work with anything.

carrot cards

My arcana is Purple Carrot.

Magatama are things like these. They also happen to be the objects we're using to transcend in the first place.

That's what I get for updating via mobile

Magatama seem... interesting. not as compelling, to me, but I can work within it.

Hmm... I am actually super into Tarrot... spit-balling here, but...

AO- The magician (Maybe, don't have a perect read there)

Astre- The Tower, or maybe judgement

Chessa -The heirophant?

Cygnus - The Star, or the sun maybe... leaning toward star

Junpei- the hanged man, pretty confident on this one

Raven - the high priestess

Tracy- the fool

Well, if we're going this way...

Not sure for Ao, but I would have placed Hierophant there over Magician.

I don't know Astre, but I'd probably lean to Tower over Judgement simply because of what Judgement is.

Not sure where Hierophant comes from for Chessa...I'd lean Empress or Devil off what I see so far.

No calls I'd make on Cygnus or Raven.

Ohhh, Hanged Man seems all too fitting.

I'd actually go Emperor for Tracy right about now.

Sora was always High Priestess in my headcanon: Intuitive, connected, secretive.

Chessa, for me, is very much The Fool. The Hermit is an acceptable substitute. Sun and Moon are also acceptable for Chessa.

I'm not sure how you'd wind up with Devil for little kittyfriend Chessa :p

Don't look at it as me unfairly ramping up the difficulty. The idea that you have recovery options, mid-mission, will push you to more reckless action. Like if you could stock up on estus flasks in Dark Souls. It's then harder for me to predict when you do take harm, and thus harder for me to safely build tension on purpose. Hence, fate is more fickle.

Yes, shrine of eyes changes the nature of the tension in the ways Chessa mentioned.

I like Star/Tower for Cygnus/Astre, it's less obvious than twins or sun and moon.

Hanged man has some fun in it. It's going to be hard watching Junpei wear down, break into new content with reluctant hope, only to blink forward a hundred failed attempts later.

I think the Hermit fits best for Chessa, the way that they stand apart from the others and has false friends.

okay, I've started something here, so I'll explain all my reasoning (note: there are about 1000 ways various people interpret Tarrot. I'm using the meanings I learned in my occult-fascinated youth.)

AO: I... actually don't have a very good read on AO yet. He's a returning character, I think, and so Everyone else already knew them, and introductions were brief and confusing. but looking over his(?) sheet, he seemed to be going for capable. and the magician is (Power, skill, concentration, action) when uright.

Astre: Yeah, the Tower. between the stuff with Junpei and sudden change/revelation seem to describe him fairly well.

Chessa: I also REALLY don't get Chessa... I'm pretty sure she's one of the Yokai. given that she is a part of the panopticon setup we have, I thought (Religion, group identification, tradition, beliefs) might match her well (frankly, the suggestions for her otherwise are making me doubt myself a little... also, Who's Sora...)

Cygnus: The star, (Hope, spirituality, renewal, serenity), the medic, the understanding one of the pair. also, it's right next to the Tower (at least in my deck), and I find that cte... and it's not The overs, another big +.

Junpei: the hanged man seems very appropriate for someone who travels time to save a friend, literally dozens of times. (suspension, restriction) seem very fun, but god help us when he gets reversed.

Raven: Quiet, mysterious, the stranger... The High Preistess (Intuition, higher powers, mystery, subconscious) seem very apt for him... though The moon might also work (Illusion, fear, anxiety, insecurity, subconscious)

Tracy: the third character I have't gotten to poke yet. I put fool more as a placeholder than anything (Which is amusing in it's own right). but The Fool is the archetype from which her playbook is drawn, so It was an educated guess

This is good because the person associated with the magatama also delt tarot...

I need to reserve the Strength Arcana for... reasons.

Chessa is a Cheshire Cat (nekomata) that was created by Sora near the end of Season one. Sora was my player character in that setting. Tenshi, in her infinite Brilliance, assigned Chessa as Soras watchdog. So, yeah, she's a Yokai.

One of the main themes I'm playing up with her, is that like all of you, she's not suited for her job. And a small part of me hopes that Tenshi (Brilliance) did that on purpose for the chafing. She's very good at being aloof and mischievous, she's very bad at being bossy and towing the line.

Hermit is probably a better fit than fool, only because Fool seems inherent to unlikely hero. :P

End of the work week seems to run long these last few weeks. I will post Saturday when I have energy.

I'm visiting my brother this coming week. Not sure yet what my availability will be during travel, but I should be able to keep up with updates.

I hear interest in Tireless, which seasons the magic of magatama with notes of healing and fortification. This should free up some downtime which would otherwise be spent in recovery, and allow you to shed Harm mid-mission.

The alternative is Hope in Darkness, which fills your Transcendant forms with grace, mercy, and compassion, equipping you for missions that focus on recovering Innocents from the Darkness.

...

For mundane abilities, There has been much talk about the Shrine of Eyes. This means holders of magatama know, on sight, who is loyal to the Darkness when time is spent maintaining the shrine.

Redemption is also popular. In combination with Tireless, you can push back against the darkness with some security as stress and harm are managed. It's a good starting ability because it gives you extra XP when you save Innocents.

By Starlight let's you each pick an extra ability point, which may mean some of you can start off rolling two dice in some cases.

Never alone is useful so long as you expect to be working separately. It allows you to summon another PC when you are alone.

Pure of Heart gives everyone extra Resistance against heartbreak and despair, and makes it easier to stock up on Social Links, used to help allies.

...

Mundane Ability Poll

One more round of votes...
The last poll is still open.

Transcendant and Shrine selection

Obligation: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8
(playbook pdf is coming up blank for me. If I'm supposed to roll 1d6, I'll just use the first die)

Sorry about that. With one point in each resistance (grey column) Ao's Obligation can come from any of the three threats. In any case, 6 minus 4 means 2 stress.

BastianQuinn, I interpreted your initial description of them to indicate that the Erohin are actually on average shorter than your average adult human? Not by a great deal, but likely in the five & a quarter range? Is that accurate, or was I reading something that wasn't there?

Yes, they are teens. All shorter than most if not all of you.

You are now the Tireless Keepers of the Shrine of Eyes.

On each of your sheets, under Promises, there are prompts. Something like "a protective promise". Here, you'll list promises made to other PCs. By acting out these promises, you'll gain XP.

Under Friends and Enemies you list NPCs. For now, pick or describe one NPC who you can count on, and one NPC who has it out for you.

How bad an idea is it to choose an Erohin as an enemy?

Depends on if it's yours.