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Togath
2012-09-21, 07:28 PM
I'm currently in(or at least making a character for) a magical girl pbp game at the moment but while making the basic description/concept realized I've mostly played evil or neutral characters until now, and am worried that I might roleplay her poorly as a consequence(it's an all good aligned game, and the specific type of magical girl in this case loses some of her powers if she becomes to cruel or apathetic, or in general loses her kindness and mercy.)
So from the very start,
first; does anyone have tips for roleplaying non-evil , and kind characters,
and second, could someone look over my concept so far and tell me if she seems suitable for this sort of campaign?
((if it helps, the gm mentioned it being a semi-dark magical girl campaign, so there is a bit more leeway));

Kura is a shy, but athletic girl, and spends a lot of her time practicing kendo either at her school, or at a dojo near her home where she often spars with her grandfather, Sejiro. She also enjoys fishing, and goes on monthly fishing trips with her grandparents.
She also dislikes being in a leadership position.

Kura stands tall for her age, and wears her hair short, cut to just below her ears.

In dire situations Kura is quick to want to protect others, but often is often nervous about being the first person to head into a hazardous situation.

((I'm mostly am worried she's either to introverted, or to focused on order and succeeding on a given task through following orders or a regimen, then again, I'm not sure if those are compatible or not with a magical girl, as I haven't watched many anime or read any manga of that genre so I don't know what sorts of things would help define it or a character in it))

edit: I was also worried that I didn't put enough detail into the basic description, as I'm not very good at writing in that style, and didn't know what things to include in the description of a character in a modern setting.

Man on Fire
2012-09-21, 08:21 PM
She's okay really, introvert and focused girls are pretty okay for the genre.

One thing that is important about Magical Girls as a genre is that it's massage is "girl can be girly and still be hero", so don't shy away from having her act in manner generally considering girly. Some people are afraid that it could make their characters look weak, but don't worry -as logn as you won't forget to put emphasis on strong points of her character it won't.

As for playing good characters - which side of chaos-order maling would you put here? Lawful, Neutral or Chaotic (I assume you are playing 3.5 because your describtion of Magical Girl reminds me of homebrew class from this very forum)?

Anyway, few tips:
Lawful Good: Remember that you're more Superman than Judge Dredd, you may punish wrongdoers, but you belive in people and in second chances and can understand people's motives and siuations, concept of comassion isn't unknown to you. You like to follow law but you won't stand it being twisted for somebody's selfish needs. Good example could be main character from The Rose of Versailles who once challenged a duke for a duel. Said duke wanted to punish a child for stealing food and she reasoned that if a child steals for hunger, then only God can judge her and duke is abusing the law to decide over people's lives like he though to be a god himself. You have an ideals you belive in, but you wont stand people committing fanatical and overly zealous acts over them, especially extremists. Captain America is good example - as he once said, patriotism as ideal, without people's understanding what it stands for, is worthless.

And last thing - you don't need to be kind of Lawful Good who follows law, you may follow your own personal code. Problems start when such character is facing a choice to compromise his code and beliefs for some reason. See Spider-Man - not very lieked by the authorities, but with his own rules, out of which the most important is "with great power comes great responsibility". He has also problems with breaking those rules, even if the call is right (see Maximum Carnage). such characters belive that if bad guy will force them to do it, it will mean their code is worthless and leave them with nothing to belive in.

Chaotic Good - you don't need to rebel against everything and you don't need to see every authority as evil. You may as well work withing the system, but trying to change it from the inside or be willing to bend the rules for good of the people. You may not understand and dislike some systems and authorities, but tolerate them out of respect for people's choice to follow them. Don't make a stand just to make a stand, make a stand when you think it's right and the case is worth fighting for.

One extreme alternative is that you can play chaotic good as boderline evil - according to his creator, Type-Moon, Gilgamesh from fate/stay night and fate/zero is Chaotic Good. The guy who corrupted loyal servant of the church looking for purpose in life and who wants main character to abbandon her ideals to live hedonistic life and kill with him for fun is really chaotic good, because he just wants people to be themselves, even if it means letting darkness of their hearts overtaking them.

Neutral good - you are nice person who cares about others. it doesn't mean you are meek, honest, nice aor optimistic. You can be badass, brutal, lying and tricking people, as long as you have their good at hearts. Pip from hellsing is for me one of the best examples of what I mean:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg28/scaled.php?server=28&filename=automotivator4.jpg&res=landing

And this is said by the guy who uses pretty brutal dirty tactics to murder vampires he's fighting with and is kind of a jerk.

Togath
2012-09-21, 08:33 PM
Ok, good to know then, and aye, the game is 3.5/pf adapted to a modern setting, I think(it uses the class from theses forums you mentioned, but seems to be set in a modern setting)
I'll probably aim for neutral good for her then, possibly sliding some other way once we've started the campaign and I've had a chance to see how things play out.

Arbane
2012-09-22, 02:03 AM
Playing a non-evil character... most of us do that every single day. Plan your actions to protect and help others. Accept less gains for yourself if it means others will gain more. (You're probably not Magical Girling for the money, anyway.) Be prepared to show mercy - being betrayed will still hurt less than being cruel would.

One last bit of advice: If the GM said the words "Madoka Magica" at any point, be prepared to SUFFER. :smallbiggrin:

Kitten Champion
2012-09-22, 07:32 AM
There are a lot of magical girls over the years, but your character design is most similar to Fate Testarossa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate_Testarossa), goal oriented, introverted, and kind. She's a solid character.

Darius Kane
2012-09-22, 09:33 AM
Is there a difference between a Magical Girl and a female wizard/caster? would it be even possible to make a distinct Magical Girl in a classical D&D setting like Greyhawk or FR? Or would she just be another spellcaster?
When I think Magical Girl I think transformation. I read that Synthesist from PF can make a great transforming Magical Girl.

Mastikator
2012-09-22, 09:45 AM
Typical good traits that tend to lead to more goodness:
Having empathy for the good and the wicked
Love
Showing mercy to those who've betrayed you
Self-sacrifice, even for those who've done evil
Giving second (and third) chances
Having respect for others

Overzealousness in these traits tend to be self-destructive but rarely leads to becoming evil

Typical good traits that tend to lead to becoming evil:
Desire to smite evil
Sacrificing the smaller good for the greater good
Not forgiving
More interested in smiting than redemption

Overzealousness in these traits tends to make you evil


If you're gonna make a good character that is gonna stay good, stay close to the first list and avoid the second list.

Togath
2012-09-22, 10:33 AM
Thank you all for the extra replies, I'll take them into consideration as well(the main reason I needed help with playing a good aligned character was that it's a switch from the lawful evil oni/thiefling who wants to free a town from devils, so he can control it himself, or the true neutral somewhat larcenous druid mercenary I'm playing in other campaigns at the moment).
edit: also, what is madoka?, I watched episode 1 of the anime once but it was rather odd, but I haven't gotten around to watching more of the series.

Man on Fire
2012-09-22, 12:42 PM
edit: also, what is madoka?, I watched episode 1 of the anime once but it was rather odd, but I haven't gotten around to watching more of the series.

Watch next two episodes, you'll understand.


Typical good traits that tend to lead to more goodness:
(...)
Love

There ae notable exceptions for that one

"And Penny will see the evil me,
not a joke, not a dork, not a failure.
And she may cry but the tears will dry,
when I'll handle her keys to her shiny, new Australia"

For one example.

jseah
2012-09-22, 01:05 PM
Potentially useful thread:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236214

Also:

if it helps, the gm mentioned it being a semi-dark magical girl campaign, so there is a bit more leeway
Mention Madoka Magica to the GM and if it gets a response along the lines of "I've watched that"... well... um...

My advice then is to build as defensive a character as possible, and have as many escape buttons as possible. And a touch of the pragmatic anti-hero really cannot hurt. Although don't go so far as to lose abilities.

And if it looks bad, RUN. Like hell is after you, because it bloody well is.
Some measure of cowardice will go a long way to justifying a rout even if it leads to innocents being massacred. Besides, it makes for a more interesting character, a girl who tries to help and wants to protect but has too much fear to overcome.

You're still fruited anyway.

Togath
2012-09-22, 03:54 PM
I'm not sure if the gm is planning something like that or not yet, though my character did incidentally end up a fairly defensive build(focused on reach, high hp and attacks of opportunity, along with debuffing enemies), so even if the gm is I should be able to survive.
I know the first gm had been planning something like that, but then he vanished and we found a new person to gm, though the new one hasn't mentioned much about the setting yet.

AuraTwilight
2012-09-22, 06:02 PM
Are you playing Magical Burst? If so, react as if the GM said "Madoka Magica."

Arbane
2012-09-22, 06:08 PM
edit: also, what is madoka?, I watched episode 1 of the anime once but it was rather odd, but I haven't gotten around to watching more of the series.


It's a magical girl anime... in the same sense that Evangelion is a Giant Super Robot anime. :smallbiggrin:

(As was said, watch through Episode 3, and you'll understand. It's an excellent series, possibly the best of the last year or so.)


Is there a difference between a Magical Girl and a female wizard/caster? would it be even possible to make a distinct Magical Girl in a classical D&D setting like Greyhawk or FR? Or would she just be another spellcaster?

Magical Girl magic tends not to resemble D&D spellcasting much. Although it occurs to me that a Warlock's powers could make a decent MG. Or possibly a Pathfinder Magus, if you wanted to play Magic Knight Rayearth...

jamieth
2012-09-26, 03:46 AM
OK, to give this thread a bit more substance, here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218981) is the class we're talking about; specifically, the game will use the Pathfinder version. And, come to think of it, Mgs do use a mechanic somewhat similar to both Warlocks (but evoking their powers, rather then invoking them - possibly to avoid stacking shenanigans...) and Magi (but applying Illuminations instead of spells to their attacks. They also have their Costumes, which, I believe, are kinda like Incarnum - it is a pool of points that you distribute between differen effects, and can change in your downtime.

Shadow Viper
2012-09-26, 04:23 AM
"And Penny will see the evil me,
not a joke, not a dork, not a failure.
And she may cry but the tears will dry,
when I'll handle her keys to her shiny, new Australia"

For one example.

Source of quote please?

Mono Vertigo
2012-09-26, 04:53 AM
Source of quote please?

Not the OP, but it's from Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Not actually a blog, but a sort of hilariously tragic musical comedy. It's a tale of superheroes, supervillains, and incompetence, and it has Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion in it.

Hopeless
2012-09-26, 04:55 AM
Like this? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysenC4HJcGM)

Knaight
2012-09-27, 01:50 AM
A bit of practical advice, from a source a bit closer:
First, get a good grip on Ketta as a character, who she was, what she would do, etc.
Second, go as far from Ketta as possible once you understand what it is you're fleeing.

Shadow Viper
2012-09-27, 04:11 AM
Not the OP, but it's from Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Not actually a blog, but a sort of hilariously tragic musical comedy. It's a tale of superheroes, supervillains, and incompetence, and it has Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion in it.

Thank you for the info