Magical Girls in D&D?

[MysticSkyWhale]

Hello there, Playground. I'm looking for ideas.

My group needs a bit of a change of pace. We're a bit tired of the typical "World Catastrophe" campaigns where you start session 1 killing rats in a basement and escalate the campaign until you kill a dark god (other BBEGs are available). We've done hex crawls too, but no one in the group was particulary enthused by them apart from myself (the DM).

Although I'd love to run an epic campaign (maybe even in the Elder Scrolls setting), my players have expressed EXTREME interest in a "Magical Girls" campaign. I'm not really familiar with that genre, so I've got no idea what the heck a "Magical Girls" campaign would entail.

Lastly, my group is willing to branch out to other TTRPGs, but D&D 5e is the game of choice. I assume it isn't the best system for a "Magical Girls" campaign, so I'll listen to any silly ideas you have for a light-hearted campaign.

[Mastikator]

So basically... Sailor Moon? I think D&D 5e would work just fine for this genre, if not I totally found this actual Sailor Moon TTRPG. It actually has this "Chapter 1: The Magical Girl Genre". I think Chapter 1, 5 and Chapter 6 might be decent reading material for the DM if you're adapting D&D for it.

[LibraryOgre]

Warlock.

Seriously, the warlock would do fantastic for a magical girl campaign, even if everyone had the same patron (or, the same patron, but with mechanically unique patron gifts), and a different Pact Boon.

I even used Warlock, with a bit of Barbarian, for my She-Ra conversion.

That said, reworking the Barbarian rage to be your magical girl transformation? Also a good option.

[awa]

pathfinder has a magical girl archetype


https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/bas.../magical-child

even if you dont use pf you might just take some ideas and bolt them onto say the warlock suggested above.

[MysticSkyWhale]

So basically... Sailor Moon? I think D&D 5e would work just fine for this genre, if not I totally found this actual Sailor Moon TTRPG. It actually has this "Chapter 1: The Magical Girl Genre". I think Chapter 1, 5 and Chapter 6 might be decent reading material for the DM if you're adapting D&D for it.

Yep, that's the one they keep talking about. Thanks for sharing that book. I'll have to give it a read.

[Pauly]

One important aspect of the “magical girl” genre is that a lot of plot time is devoted to mundane problems, not problems you can solve by hitting it over the head with a magical cudgel.
School issues, boy trouble, overbearing parents, their favorite pastry shop is closing, obligations to visit the grandparents, the authorities asking them to fo too much or wanting to limit their activities.
Often plots involving the B villains involve tension between having to complete a mundane task whilst also having to fight the B villain.

[MysticSkyWhale]

One important aspect of the “magical girl” genre is that a lot of plot time is devoted to mundane problems, not problems you can solve by hitting it over the head with a magical cudgel.
School issues, boy trouble, overbearing parents, their favorite pastry shop is closing, obligations to visit the grandparents, the authorities asking them to fo too much or wanting to limit their activities.
Often plots involving the B villains involve tension between having to complete a mundane task whilst also having to fight the B villain.

That is very good to know. It's a far cry from my usual material, but it sounds doable.

[LibraryOgre]

It is perfectly valid for one of them to have a werewolf boyfriend. This may or may not be a problem that the game deals with... he may just be a werewolf.

I've observed this style of D&D as a teen librarian, but it utterly mystifies me.

[Anonymouswizard]

Mechanically most supers systems should be able to cover the combat aspects, and you could slot the whole thing into Fate quite nicely. Really the thing that's going to give the most potential issue are the genre aspects, for which the only real solution is for the GM (MysticSkyWhale, I presume) to watch as many magical girl shows as possible. This must be done in the utmost secrecy.

I would suggest something lighter on the crunchy combat, but that might just be personal preference.

Secondly it's not impossible fora magical girl show to focus on the fantastical elements, but it is unusual. Plus the only one I can immediately think of, Madoka Magica, is exploring much less comfortable things than most (and the girls' wishes are all to do with their mundane lives).

Also note that magical girl transformations are mostly instantaneous. It might look like there's all these pretty colours, a naked teenager, and clothes condensing from the aether, but they'll be in less danger than your average Kamen Rider during it, and can probably do it all between steps while running.

[Millstone85]

Seriously, the warlock would do fantastic for a magical girl campaign, even if everyone had the same patron (or, the same patron, but with mechanically unique patron gifts), and a different Pact Boon.

I think the most magical-girl-y build for a 5e warlock is:

• patron: The Celestial
• boon: Pact of the Tome (with shillelagh)
• invocation: Book of Ancient Secrets (with find familiar)

Now you are a staff-wielding spellcaster with a cute animal and a connection to a power of light and love.

Spoiler: And also eldritch blast.

Show

[LibraryOgre]

I think the most magical-girl-y build for a 5e warlock is:

• patron: The Celestial
• boon: Pact of the Tome (with shillelagh)
• invocation: Book of Ancient Secrets (with find familiar)

Now you are a staff-wielding spellcaster with a cute animal and a connection to a power of light and love.

I catch you. Catch you. Catch me. Catch me.

[Pauly]

That is very good to know. It's a far cry from my usual material, but it sounds doable.

The most meta “magical girl” plot I’ve (sort of) seen, involved a show I saw when I was visiting one of my friends and his girls had a “magical girl” anime on TV. I caught bits and pieces of it, but I don’t have a clue what the series was. The plot of the episode was the girls were visiting someone important tomorrow (grandparents maybe?) and they needed to buy a special cake from a famous cake shop as a present. As they’re waiting in line to be served they're called upon because a villain shows up. The villain is too strong for the cops, but not strong enough to be a real threat, they deal with the villain and go back to the shop and have to go the back of the line again. Villain B appears, rinse and repeat. Villain C appears, rinse and repeat. By the time they get back into the line and then get to the front of the line the shop closes as its sold out for the day.

“Magical girl” series tend to be 2 parts superhero to 1 part slice of life drama. Traditionally the series are aimed at 10 year old girls so the boyfriends tend to be Ken dolls, but depending on your players that’s obviously something you can adjust. What Mark Hall said about werewolf boyfriends, or generally boyfriends with tragic pasts and/or flawed powers, is very common.
Also a lot of Anime uses real locations and settings, so if you live in Japan there’s a huge number of “I’ve been there, I’ve seen that” moments, so I’d suggest setting the adventure in a place your players are familiar with.

Edit to add:
Thinking about boyfriends. Perhaps you could assign each player a crush at the start of the campaign. Each crush is secretly a powerful being with some kind of tragic backstory. EG werewolf, orphan who lost his parents at sea so he became a fathomless warlock and now regrets it, fugitive young silver dragon in human form who is getting paranoid, vampire and so on. In the course of the campaign if the magical girl can make them their boyfriend and help them deal with their tragic backstory that NPC becomes a powerful ally they can call on. However if they fail to help their crush they risk him falling to evil.

[Martin Greywolf]

I'm not really familiar with that genre, so I've got no idea what the heck a "Magical Girls" campaign would entail.

You could go down the rabbit hole and watch a bunch of MG anime, but for your own sanity and if you don't have time, you could go watch Madoka Magicka and then do what it does but make your campaign/setting less depressing.

Although I'd love to run an epic campaign (maybe even in the Elder Scrolls setting), my players have expressed EXTREME interest in a "Magical Girls" campaign.
[...]
Lastly, my group is willing to branch out to other TTRPGs, but D&D 5e is the game of choice. I assume it isn't the best system for a "Magical Girls" campaign, so I'll listen to any silly ideas you have for a light-hearted campaign.

Frankly, if you have some skill or interest in tweaking the mechanics of systems, go for FATE Core. If you learn that decently well, you can create homebrew version of any setting you care to think of in a few hours. Slapping together a Harry Potter slice-of-life variant of it took me about three hours.

A solution to transformation that you can use both in FATE and in other systems is to have two statblocks, one for human form, one for magical. Mental skills are shared, combat and magic are for magical form only - you could very well run an almost untouched DnD 5e this way, with most class abilities only available for magical forms. Not that I recommend it, if you want a classical magical girl campaign, you need a robust and deep system for social interactions.

[Mameluco]

Frankly, if you have some skill or interest in tweaking the mechanics of systems, go for FATE Core. If you learn that decently well, you can create homebrew version of any setting you care to think of in a few hours. Slapping together a Harry Potter slice-of-life variant of it took me about three hours.

A solution to transformation that you can use both in FATE and in other systems is to have two statblocks, one for human form, one for magical. Mental skills are shared, combat and magic are for magical form only - you could very well run an almost untouched DnD 5e this way, with most class abilities only available for magical forms. Not that I recommend it, if you want a classical magical girl campaign, you need a robust and deep system for social interactions.

An interesting twist in the MG hack, could be using Fate Accelerated. The characters keep their approaches but (some) aspects change when they transform.

[Easy e]

Oh my goodness, this thread makes ME want to play a "Magical Girls" themed campaign!

Keep us posted on what you decide to do OP!

[VonKaiserstein]

Warlock is a great call. Essentially, you want every character to have a transformation sequence, which equates to a powered mode of limited duration. Oddly, barbarian is totally appropriate for a muscle girl (who in theory doesn't abuse their ridiculous physical stats in normal circumstances because it isn't cute) and transforms into a hulking, short skirted behemoth who tosses bad guys around like sacks of potatoes, then laments the damage to their wardrobe. Druid as well, morphing into either a full animal, or comical half animal form with wildshape works great. This is great for traditional magical girls who want to turn into cat girls, or those who are going against form, and would like to wreck up the place as a bear in a tutu, or a t-rex in a tiara.


Remember to make everyone write up ridiculously over the top names for their all of their attacks, and call them out EVERY TIME. Encourage this with advantage, and discourage boring spamming or lame attacks without flashy announcements with disadvantage.



And... unlikely as it is to happen.... cthulu magical girls would be unbelievable. 'By the power of the deathless dreamer- I judge you!' 'Be smote with the hooves of a thousand young!' Making the world a darker place, one episode at a time.

[Millstone85]

Oddly, barbarian is totally appropriate for a muscle girl (who in theory doesn't abuse their ridiculous physical stats in normal circumstances because it isn't cute) and transforms into a hulking, short skirted behemoth who tosses bad guys around like sacks of potatoes, then laments the damage to their wardrobe.

There is a series called Magical Girl Ore in which the transformation simultaneously gives them cute dresses and turns them into hulking masses of muscle. In fact, it makes them temporarily transition to the other sex, but that might be too spicy or controversial for a campaign.

And... unlikely as it is to happen.... cthulu magical girls would be unbelievable. 'By the power of the deathless dreamer- I judge you!' 'Be smote with the hooves of a thousand young!' Making the world a darker place, one episode at a time.

Eh. Eh eh eh. Ha ha ha ha!
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ Contract?

Spoiler: though the twist should be well-known by now.

Show

That was a Puella Magi Madoka Magica reference.

I actually named my warlock's familiar after that little monster Kyubey, and used this fanart as reference for his various forms. He doesn't actually transform like that in the show but he might as well.

[Pauly]

Warlock is a great call.

[Snip]

And... unlikely as it is to happen.... cthulu magical girls would be unbelievable. 'By the power of the deathless dreamer- I judge you!' 'Be smote with the hooves of a thousand young!' Making the world a darker place, one episode at a time.

They work as the rival/evil counterparts to the celestial magical girl warlocks. Great old one and Fathomless in particular seem to fit the Magical Girl genre and Cthulu.

[MysticSkyWhale]

You could go down the rabbit hole and watch a bunch of MG anime, but for your own sanity and if you don't have time, you could go watch Madoka Magicka and then do what it does but make your campaign/setting less depressing.

My sister loves Madoka Magicka. Unfortunately, I don't think basing things off that series would be a good fit for my table. Although it would be funny...

Frankly, if you have some skill or interest in tweaking the mechanics of systems, go for FATE Core. If you learn that decently well, you can create homebrew version of any setting you care to think of in a few hours. Slapping together a Harry Potter slice-of-life variant of it took me about three hours.

A solution to transformation that you can use both in FATE and in other systems is to have two statblocks, one for human form, one for magical. Mental skills are shared, combat and magic are for magical form only - you could very well run an almost untouched DnD 5e this way, with most class abilities only available for magical forms. Not that I recommend it, if you want a classical magical girl campaign, you need a robust and deep system for social interactions.

That's good to know. I'll give FATE another look.

Oh my goodness, this thread makes ME want to play a "Magical Girls" themed campaign!

Keep us posted on what you decide to do OP!

Oh boy is my group interested, so it's looking like the next campaign I run for them will be a magical girl one. I'm thinking of setting them in a small village/new world colony (high fantasy, not 1776). That way I can prepare a more manageable number of NPCs.

[Anonymouswizard]

You could go down the rabbit hole and watch a bunch of MG anime, but for your own sanity and if you don't have time, you could go watch Madoka Magicka and then do what it does but make your campaign/setting less depressing.

I think Madoka Magica is one of those series that benefits from a bit of pre-existing experience with the genre. It rather brutally deconstructs the wish fulfillment elements, as well as the idea that the girls will be working together (although it makes a significant change to get them in conflict).

There is a series called Magical Girl Ore in which the transformation simultaneously gives them cute dresses and turns them into hulking masses of muscle. In fact, it makes them temporarily transition to the other sex, but that might be too spicy or controversial for a campaign.

That sounds amazing and like one of the most uncontroversial things I can think of. More of this sort of thing please!

[Millstone85]

That sounds amazing and like one of the most uncontroversial things I can think of. More of this sort of thing please!

Well, IIRC, the reasoning was that women are smarter and men are stronger, so the ultimate warrior would be a female mind in a male body. Or something like that.

[Anonymouswizard]

Well, IIRC, the reasoning was that women are smarter and men are stronger, so the ultimate warrior would be a female mind in a male body. Or something like that.

Tbh I just like messing with gender, although I understand that not everybody is. It's why I like Final Fantasy protagonists so much

[Millstone85]

Tbh I just like messing with gender, although I understand that not everybody is. It's why I like Final Fantasy protagonists so much

Then, on the topic of playing with genders, and genres, I think a magical-girl campaign could easily have the PCs work against or alongside a sentai squad (Yes, I just said "squad squad"). You know, the thing the Western world translated into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

For your enjoyment, a dark magical girl transforming alongside her forbidden love, so they can take a couple photo while pretending to be cosplayers (warning, her costume is basically lingerie): https://youtu.be/O-jgyANjnGE

Edit: His part of the sequence is kinda short there, but it usually goes like this: https://youtu.be/U6SBguRvrng

[LibraryOgre]

Remember to make everyone write up ridiculously over the top names for their all of their attacks, and call them out EVERY TIME. Encourage this with advantage, and discourage boring spamming or lame attacks without flashy announcements with disadvantage.

They should also know their blood type.

[MysticSkyWhale]

They should also know their blood type.

Lmao! Is that actually a thing? I thought that level of detail was a joke.

[LibraryOgre]

Lmao! Is that actually a thing? I thought that level of detail was a joke.

From what I understand, blood type in Japan is/was sort of like astrology.

It was a weird detail to me, too.

[Telonius]

I know the focus is on D&D 5E, but if you are willing to branch out: "Masks: The New Generation" from Magpie Games seems like it could be a very good system to model it. It runs on Powered by the Apocalypse (so just d6's, no d20's). Superhero-specific, but the archetypes could work with Magical Girls pretty well. Rules-lite, focused more on character and emotional state rather than combat simulation.

[MysticSkyWhale]

I know the focus is on D&D 5E, but if you are willing to branch out: "Masks: The New Generation" from Magpie Games seems like it could be a very good system to model it. It runs on Powered by the Apocalypse (so just d6's, no d20's). Superhero-specific, but the archetypes could work with Magical Girls pretty well. Rules-lite, focused more on character and emotional state rather than combat simulation.

Ooh, I love magpie's stuff. I'll give it a look.

[Anonymouswizard]

Then, on the topic of playing with genders, and genres, I think a magical-girl campaign could easily have the PCs work against or alongside a sentai squad (Yes, I just said "squad squad"). You know, the thing the Western world translated into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Tbh considering the 'magical girl' archetype covers characters like Cutie Honey I'm not really sure they're that separate from Sentai (or Kamen Riders).

[KB [The Hero]]

So as someone already mentioned in the story, one of the big things in the magical girl genre is their transformation sequence. Magical Girls are normal, everyday young woman who use a magical trinket to transform into empowered warriors. And there are so many different types of magical girls out there too. Some wave magical wands, some straight up punch their problems away, some swing massive swords.

I know that many people are suggesting warlock for the class but I think that maybe a fun and interesting thing to do would be to have your players have an "NPC" character sheet with normal, low stat blocks and an actual DnD Character sheet with class features and magical abilities and whatnot.

The NPC character sheet would represent their normal, everyday selves and the other character sheet would represent their transformed state.

This would let you put your players into precarious situations where they need to transform [switch out their character sheet] but are unable to because a crowd of civilians is watching them or they don't have their magical trinket on hand for some reason.