Neon Shadows OOC 2.0

[Mollisol]

​

(Kickers and Major NPCs quick ref)
(Prior OOC)

Post Order:

1. @Quincunx
2. @daird
3. @Cresion Breezes
4. @Calypso Major
5. @Blighted_Agent
6. @Wolfsbane706

Initial Game Text

Hey @Wolfsbane706 , @Blighted_Agent and @daird :

This is the thread for us to discuss Kickers. I've had my nose in the PDF where they came from for a while today, so here I am with more complete information about them.

The game text (Sorcerer) does a really good job of describing them, and doesn't include too much game-specific info, so I've copied a few paragraphs here:

The Kicker is an event or realization that your character has experienced just before play begins. It catalyzes him or her into action of some sort. If your character has lived for years wondering what did happen to his father that stormy night, today is the day he finds a crucial clue. If he has quietly studied sorcery under his master until this moment, today is the day of his first mission. It can be anything as long as it gets the character going. Just imagine the first scene of a movie before the title comes up: "There's this guy. And then this happens to him!"

[...]

Kickers come in several categories, and at the very least the GM should tell the players what sorts are most appropriate for the story he or she has in mind.

• Shockers: "Today began like any other until you pulled aside the shower curtain to see the skinned body of your next-door neighbor hanging from the showerhead."
• Opportunities: "You open your suitcase after picking it up at the luggage carousel to find your clothes and stuff gone, replaced by a quarter of a million dollars."
• Mysteries: "A friend on the police force tells you that the scenes of each of the brutal crimes recently perpetrated in your neighborhood have been signed with your mother's maiden name."

Kickers should not (1) present a total mystery with no personal significance; (2) dictate a character's actions (e.g. in the suitcase example above, the character could respond in many ways, ranging from keeping the money, spending it right away, or going to the police); or (3) present something he or she may react to casually.

Clearly the player and GM should discuss the Kicker carefully. Some GMs will be happy to have each player come up with something independently, whereas others will want to link each character's Kicker carefully to events in the game's back-story.

My additions to that include:

• In this RP, kickers do not need to link to the history of Henzai no Kuni, or rebellions against it. They should, however, be personally relevant to your character, and be relevant to the setting somehow.
• I'd like to stress again that the kicker should be something that you need to respond to now, although it does not dictate only one solution. It shouldn't be just a background happening you can dread and wait on.
• Kickers can be intertwined between characters!

EDIT: Most appropriate Kickers are shockers (not necessarily gruesome like the one in the example) and opportunities. Mysteries are iffy with Henzai and hackers being privy to so much information, but I will listen to pitches for them.

 

[daird]

I'm going to need some time to work on it. Good news is, I'm free Sunday afternoon.

 

[Blighted_Agent]

Thanks for the notification. Waiting for Wolf to write up on here, but we've talked a bit on PM about the Kicker I mentioned before - Mikan's family is big on arranged marriages, so my idea for it was that the proceedings for the marriage would begin (assuming that even outside of normal wedding stuff there'd be a lot of bureaucracy and such courtesy of Henzai).

Since I mentioned that they'd be big on somebody of importance/rank regarding Henzai, Wolf suggested Anna's father, who as a top-dog VR programmer brought by Henzai from Germany definitely fits the bill.

It intertwines Mikan and Anna a fair bit, is clearly shocking to the former if she one day just has her family say 'time to meet your future husband' and it turns out to be some guy 15+ years older than her; and to the latter, if after her abrupt severing of relationships with the father she one day gets an e-mail inviting her to a wedding (she'd be able to at least have Mikan's last name tickle her memory).

 

[Wolfsbane706]

Why not have an end goal of the story be having the girls activate the Shadow abilities with use of AR tech?

 

[Mollisol]

Why not have an end goal of the story be having the girls activate the Shadow abilities with use of AR tech?

AR tech?

EDIT: alternate reality, right?

 

[Wolfsbane706]

AR tech?

Augmented Reality.

 

[Mollisol]

Augmented Reality.

Oh! I see. Tell me more about how you envision it. Would this be using their powers while walking around in the virtually-augmented meat world, or something different?

 

[Wolfsbane706]

Oh! I see. Tell me more about how you envision it. Would this be using their powers while walking around in the virtually-augmented meat world, or something different?

Pretty much that, only bringing it a little more in line with traditional magical girl fare, what with being able to activate and deactivate Shadow Mode at will.

 

[Mollisol]

Pretty much that, only bringing it a little more in line with traditional magical girl fare, what with being able to activate and deactivate Shadow Mode at will.

I really like that! In fact, would it be cool to do it before end game? One of the issues I've noticed about VR-only fights is that there aren't a lot of consequences for failing, or high stakes - Umbra can datamancy-repair itself, or in a worst case be recreated, and the girls' avatars suffer damage rather than affecting anything in reality.

 

[Wolfsbane706]

Works for me, though the tech will have to be "introduced" and transformation sequences brainstormed.

SIDE: I'm also brainstorming a little "reconciliation" arc for Anna and her dad, probably running alongside the marriage arc.

 

[Mollisol]

Works for me, though the tech will have to be "introduced" and transformation sequences brainstormed.

SIDE: I'm also brainstorming a little "reconciliation" arc for Anna and her dad, probably running alongside the marriage arc.

That's fine for me!

And that also sounds good. I should ask both you and @Blighted_Agent , how do you envision your characters responding to the revelation that Mikan's impending upcoming marriage is to Anna's dad? Should I be thinking up ways they could potentially interfere with the event? Basically, I'm asking so I can figure out what kinds of reactions and challenges I should be preparing.

 

[Blighted_Agent]

That's fine for me!

And that also sounds good. I should ask both you and @Blighted_Agent , how do you envision your characters responding to the revelation that Mikan's impending upcoming marriage is to Anna's dad? Should I be thinking up ways they could potentially interfere with the event? Basically, I'm asking so I can figure out what kinds of reactions and challenges I should be preparing.

We talked a little about this. @Wolfsbane706 would have to confirm but Anna's likely to not agree at all, and Mikan actually has no way to know it's Anna's dad since she introduced herself with another surname.

Mikan herself is likely to be surprised that the wheels are beginning to turn in that direction already, but she's been indoctrinated to accept it. The fact that it's a substantially older man, while it wouldn't be her first choice, is probably not on its own enough to dissuade her. What does come into play is his role as somebody high-up on the Henzai power structure, what with her role as a Shadow.

 

[Wolfsbane706]

We talked a little about this. @Wolfsbane706 would have to confirm but Anna's likely to not agree at all, and Mikan actually has no way to know it's Anna's dad since she introduced herself with another surname.

Mikan herself is likely to be surprised that the wheels are beginning to turn in that direction already, but she's been indoctrinated to accept it. The fact that it's a substantially older man, while it wouldn't be her first choice, is probably not on its own enough to dissuade her. What does come into play is his role as somebody high-up on the Henzai power structure, what with her role as a Shadow.

Actually, just a minor correction. She didn't use another surname, she just used her middle name.

 

[Mollisol]

We talked a little about this. @Wolfsbane706 would have to confirm but Anna's likely to not agree at all, and Mikan actually has no way to know it's Anna's dad since she introduced herself with another surname.

Mikan herself is likely to be surprised that the wheels are beginning to turn in that direction already, but she's been indoctrinated to accept it. The fact that it's a substantially older man, while it wouldn't be her first choice, is probably not on its own enough to dissuade her. What does come into play is his role as somebody high-up on the Henzai power structure, what with her role as a Shadow.

I'm not sure whether to say "cool, let me figure out how to impart that dissuading information to her", or to say "it's probably not a good idea if she's not initially inclined to do anything about it".

I'm gonna sleep on it, read more in that game text about kickers and what types of prep a GM should be prepared to do surrounding them, and get back to you.

 

[Wolfsbane706]

I'm not sure whether to say "cool, let me figure out how to impart that dissuading information to her", or to say "it's probably not a good idea if she's not initially inclined to do anything about it".

I'm gonna sleep on it, read more in that game text about kickers and what types of prep a GM should be prepared to do surrounding them, and get back to you.

Ping pong ding dong, what's up?

 

[Mollisol]

Ping pong ding dong, what's up?

Oh curses, I got involved in another project and forgot to reply to this.

I'm gonna say that it's a yes, if I may get the information that he's a high-ranking Henzai official into the initial post that informs her. My goal is to go "this is the shocking thing to react to", Mikan (and Anna) say, "we have to do something about this" immediately, and I become a fountain of obstacles to surmount (and when the time is right, give some compounding circumstances).

 

[Blighted_Agent]

Oh curses, I got involved in another project and forgot to reply to this.

I'm gonna say that it's a yes, if I may get the information that he's a high-ranking Henzai official into the initial post that informs her. My goal is to go "this is the shocking thing to react to", Mikan (and Anna) say, "we have to do something about this" immediately, and I become a fountain of obstacles to surmount (and when the time is right, give some compounding circumstances).

This is normal to have it made known, unless his position is something that has to be kept secret. Mikan's family would introduce him to her formally, which does involve stating who you are and what you do.

 

[daird]

Oh, crap. Completely slipped my mind.

What I was thinking was that Sakura would be badly injured in a Henzai attack, to the point of possibly suffering PTSD. Something that would hammer home to her just how much she's risking, and forcing her to go through a crisis of confidence. There isn't much she'd be attached to externally, so her conflict would have to be mostly internal.

 

[Wolfsbane706]

Oh, crap. Completely slipped my mind.

What I was thinking was that Sakura would be badly injured in a Henzai attack, to the point of possibly suffering PTSD. Something that would hammer home to her just how much she's risking, and forcing her to go through a crisis of confidence. There isn't much she'd be attached to externally, so her conflict would have to be mostly internal.

That might have to wait til after the AR arc, if there is one.

I really like that! In fact, would it be cool to do it before end game? One of the issues I've noticed about VR-only fights is that there aren't a lot of consequences for failing, or high stakes - Umbra can datamancy-repair itself, or in a worst case be recreated, and the girls' avatars suffer damage rather than affecting anything in reality.

 

[Mollisol]

Oh, crap. Completely slipped my mind.

What I was thinking was that Sakura would be badly injured in a Henzai attack, to the point of possibly suffering PTSD. Something that would hammer home to her just how much she's risking, and forcing her to go through a crisis of confidence. There isn't much she'd be attached to externally, so her conflict would have to be mostly internal.

That might have to wait til after the AR arc, if there is one.

I like this as a thing for Sakura to go through, but it would have to wait until after the Shadows' powers make it into augmented reality, so they could actually take damage outside their avatar. We can do that soon, though - I don't want to do another Henzai attack that's safely contained within VR.