Power and Charm {Witch/Magical Girl Planning Thread}

[Lucius Cypher]

Hey, I'm just offering suggestions. I certainly don't mind running a magically inclined (demon) farmer, but like making sausages it's a bloody job. My suggestions simply allow a sense of limitation that makes players try to act a bit more intelligently than "Let's keep throwing fireballs at it until it's not a problem" or "Let's throw a big fireball at it until it's not a problem". Cooperative play is a must, as if a problem occurs, I doubt that any of us has a spell capable of neutralizing the threat. Unless that spell is MONEY!

Anywhoozies.

So basically if we want to wield more powerful magic we have to summon a demon (which would require magic?), kill it/sacrifice (with magic?), and use it's power to cast out a spell? By the time they are ready to cast out the buffed up spell though wouldn't they've drained a lot of "magical energy" in preparation for it? Unless they harvest the magical energy so they can use it for later use? Store it in a magical item or familiar? Otherwise it would extend the battle scenes like Dragon Ball status where it takes 201938120 episodes per battle lmao. We also have to think about the pace of the RP is it fast or slow? because right now it's cooking up to be a slow paced RP with lots of writing.....not that I don't mind but just saying :3

This method certainly isn't something that one can do in the midst of an intensive action. Witches are not like Magical Girls who can just spontaneously use whatever spell their body can handle; they need to prepare ahead of time and do so efficiently. Demons are not necessary, simply the example I use. I imagine that something like a magical beast, from a talking cat to a dragon, could also serve as a familiar. Demons simply are the example since I think it's the easiest ones to find without as many moral ramification for their wholesale slaughter. as for the rituals themselves, they are magical in the sense that you're trying to harvest the magic from them. Whether or not you actually need to use a spell to kill them or just slit their throats really depends on the ritual itself.

Anyways, the strength of the effectiveness depends can vary on it's demon. A witch could extract it's raw magical energy (As say, a magical crystal) after sacrificing it, and than use that energy to bolster or fuel one of her spells. However if the demon is "Weaker" than the witch, it has diminishing returns; weaker demons can only fuel her weaker spells, and if she wants to be able to have the innate arcane energy to cast more powerful spells, she either needs a lot of demons or a really powerful one. And by a lot I mean potentially around a hundred to a thousand, depending on what you want to do. That being said, for a permanent increase in her magical ability, she'd need more... Exotic sacrifices. If we're to create some sort of conflict between Witches and Magical Girl's, I'd say Magical Girls are the best and most convenient method for a Witch to permanently increase her power.

I know the method I offered isn't exactly something one could do overnight. A weakness of a witch is that, while she has access to many more spells just as strong if not stronger than a Magical Girl, she need time and preparation to use them to the fullest. Being caught off guard puts her in a bad situation in which she'd have to rely on her wits and Familiars to get her out of. The Familiar, btw, are somewhat intended to help protect the Witch during theses surprise actions. Different rituals can be used so that way they aren't so detrimental to the witch if they're harmed or killed, though this essentially leaves them as gloried bodyguards instead of magical conduits.

 

[Marionette]

@Grimoire Yeah, but it's not necessarily that I don't like it. They're good ideas that I might wanna play, so that's why it's tough to just say "I don't like that direction." I kind of do... but I'm leery of running them right now at the same time. xD

I also really do like to work with player interests. If I can't come up with something the players will definitely enjoy and incorporate their ideas, it's not as fun to me. You're right though that if I can't get into it, then the RP won't last very long. I've got to enjoy running it at the same time.

 

[Michelle the Editor]

Gotta say I'd prefer the less dark ideas, even if they are less detailed than the systems people have been introducing. We are probably going to need to come up with some kind of magical system, and clear limits on it would be a very good thing. Still I'd honestly prefer some system that just acts as part of the setting, rather than something that creates moral dilemmas or takes control of the story away from plot and characters. That's just me, I'm not looking for something serious and dark right now.

 

[Marionette]

@Michelle the Editor I understand! That's how I feel as well. We should establish limits on magic, but they should be more... tone-neutral I guess, serving the purpose of balancing out both witches and magical girls as well as contrasting them. But I'd rather leave morality up to personality and keep the door open for a wider variety of character concepts.

I'd totally support it if ERode or Lucius Cypher (or anyone) wanted to create an RP with the darker power types discussed here, and I'd probably join it too. But I don't think I'm going to incorporate them in my game as they are. There's just too much of a chance that I'd feel burnt out if I were in the GM seat there.

There are things in this thread I can work with though. I'm just trying to get to the point that I can respond to them all. xD

 

[ERode]

Welp, I can just use my own ideas in my own stories then. Don't care too much in the end about what we even do, so feel free to figure out something more tone-neutral and all. Though demon-summoning itself isn't exactly very neutral, simply due to the connotation of the term 'demon'. XD

 

[Marionette]

@Lucius Cypher No, not everybody has to be human! I'll leave it pretty open, though I will want to look over whatever species people choose.

You can definitely play a familiar! These could either be created by the witches, creatures existing within the world (or some kind of plane closely connected to it) that have made agreements with witches, or summoning from an actual other world could be possible. But if it's acceptable/normal to the witches for your orc to come to the witch world, we'd have to figure out exactly what's so "wrong" about the magical girls coming to the witch world too. Maybe it's simply that they're uninvited guests. Maybe their magic is "wrong" somehow and your character's isn't. Or maybe your character isn't actually so well-received either. We could do this multiple ways.

That brings us to a somewhat important question though: are there other realms/planes that are normally connected to the witch world? If there are, my suggestion is that Earth isn't one of them. The appearance of magical girls in the witch world should be quite abnormal. There may be others that are connected and known to the witches, however.

Regarding the demonology, hmm. If summoning is a thing, the summoning demons, among other things, might be fine. Sacrificing demons or other things might be one way to obtain power, too. I just don't think it should be the only way, nor even a particularly common way. Again, I think treading too far down that road kind of leads to witch magic being innately more evil-flavored than magical girl magic and the game being pretty dark as a whole. But might some want to sacrifice things? That is definitely a possibility. Witches can be evil, if they want to be.

With Vancian magic for witches vs. spontaneous magic for magical girls, hmm. I play 3.5/Pathfinder and while I play a lot of the memorized casters, it's not always my favorite thing. xD I also see witches as being able to do at least some spontaneous casting (even without familiars). But magical girls are definitely spontaneous, rituals are often associated with witches, and that is one way to create contrast between the two magic styles, so we could work with this.

@Michelle the Editor I like the idea of learned magic witches vs. unlearned magical girls. Witches might have some innate power. However, this is a whole world of witches. Everyone probably has some power, and it's no secret. Magic is well-understood as something potentially dangerous. It's a tool to be wielded. Someone shouldn't assume they know how to build a house just because they can pick up a hammer, right? And the real secrets of magic might only be unlocked with careful study.

Magical girls, on the other hand, usually just get their power and start using it. Bam. There's a monster! We can blast it or heal it, so let's do that! It's a recurring theme that they start off clumsy and inexperienced, and that's probably exactly how they're going to look to witches.

@ERode Again, I'd probably give it a shot if you made a game of it! It'd be a cool story too. xD I just don't wanna risk winding up in a position where I'm running a game that others are excited about and I'm not anymore.

Yeah, I'm not sure about demon summoning specifically, either. Summoning in general, perhaps.

edit: Augh, I meant to get everyone in this post, but I posted it too soon.

@Wolfsbane706 I think defining things to an extent will be helpful. It lends a sense of internal consistency. However, I don't want to make them too complex, and I'm asking for whatever character concepts people have so I can try to make sure that we can make them make sense in the world.

@Charlie's 4th Angel Any of those themes would be fine, and more. We should decide if we want magical girls to have a specific theme for everybody (whether singular or combined) or if anything goes. I'm personally fine with either.

 

[Lucius Cypher]

Oh, I don't expect his arrival to be welcomed. If anything that's why he needs to become someone's familiar; in order to stay out of trouble and not get attacked by virtue of being a rather monstrous being. Not that I expect everyone to hate him, but ya know... Demonic Orcs. Not really something you welcome in your home.

As for parallel planes, I certainly do like the idea that high-level witches could go to different worlds where the magic is the same, but the world itself isn't. At the very least it could justify where my demon came from, as his world is known as "Tiien", though the demon himself comes from Tiien's own version of the underworld known as "The Inferno".

As for Demonomancy, it's specifically known as "The Magic of Demons", so summoning demons is just one way it's used. The magic itself revolves around demons, from fusing with them to slaying them, to creating them or even redeeming them. As you may imagine, Demons are typically "bad" things. But Demonomancy can not only tap into their evil, but also be used to purify the demon and allow them to ascend. The way I think of it is like this: If you can be a Fallen Angel, than there can be Arisen Demons. Arisen Demons lose their more "Demonic" powers and weaknesses so that they're something close to being a regular old mortal being, which will allow them to work towards redemption.

My own character may or may not want to try to go for redemption. He wasn't always a demon, you know, he was an orc before. And he's lived long past his natural lifespan (Demons are ageless; orcs are not). Though this is more of a personal storyline that I may or may not have him pursue if others are interested in it. He's here on vacation after all.

Also HO PATHFINDER! Yeah, I basically figured that the magic system from Pathfinder would be a decent balance towards using magic, even if I personally don't like it myself. I'm more than willing to incorporate something more flexible as far as magic goes.

 

[EternalMusic]

Eeeeek~!! I missed out so much~!!!! >////< Anyone mind catching me up to speed~?

Also~
@Marionette I have to say that I don't know what Courage is.... Another Fanfic~?

 

[Marionette]

@Lucius Cypher Ahh, I see. Yeah, I think having other realms with the same magic that powerful witches could visit would be fine. It probably wouldn't be common, but it could be possible. Normally, though, I'm thinking other beings wouldn't appear in the witch world unless by contract as a familiar.

I think it's also fine for your Demonomancy to exist and function. I don't know if that would be the only type of demon (there might be other types from other realms) or magic related to them; that just depends on what others would like to explore. But I think your character is workable here.

Oh, and I missed it (sorry!), but you asked whether magic was widespread or not and mentioned the possibility of witch hunts. In the witch world, everyone is capable of magic. It is, indeed, a world full of witches. They'd probably think Earth's history with witches was horrible. :P

On Earth, magic is not widespread, and at present, magical girls are the only type of magical being there. Since I don't we're playing on Earth, I haven't felt it necessary to explore anything but the magical girls.

@ERode I missed your asking if magical girls and witches have the same roots. That is a good question! Witch world and Earth are totally distinct and ordinarily do not interact at all. Earth is unknown to the witch world and vice versa. But that doesn't mean there can't be any link between the two.

Also, magical girls are a recent phenomenon on Earth in this game. Their origin is undetermined right now; we can make it anything we want. Though we won't be playing on Earth (I don't think), we should also probably figure out what they were doing on Earth before they, ahem, poofed.

@EternalMusic Yeah, a lot did happen. xD I'm still not 100% sure that I was able to respond to everything myself. If I missed any points from anybody please throw something at me let me know again, because I'm seeing now that I already did. :v

But I think the overall consensus is that we'll combine the two ideas, one game for both witches and magical girls. Magical girls will wind up in the witch world, where some witches don't welcome them. We're trying to work out what makes them different right now.

Ahh, it's Courage the Cowardly Dog, another Cartoon Network show. I liked pretty much all the cartoon-cartoons, but Courage was my favorite.

 

[EternalMusic]

@Marionette haha no problem~ I guess it was a little bit silly of me to try and see if I can get someone to do a full explanation~

Ah~ I can see that working... Maybe the source of their powers? Something like the witches feed of negative and magical girls positivity? That is going really cliche and stereotyping to be honest...... Hmm......

oh!!! I remember that show now~ Ah~ I havent watched CN for a while ^^;;

 

[Marionette]

@EternalMusic Oh, asking for a summary is no problem! I just don't have one just yet. xD But I should go and edit some more of the certain things into the first post, at least. I'll say when I've done that.

Hmm, yeah, I'm trying to avoid too much emphasis on witches' magic being innately negative/evil. They definitely can be, but there's nothing about just being a witch that makes them that way. Everybody has the capacity to be evil (including magical girls, so you all can make antagonistic magical girls if you want, too!).

But here are some ideas that I'm leaning toward right now. Thoughts, y'all?

• Witches have a natural capacity for magic. However, magic is considered a tool that one must study. The best witches have put a lot of work into mastering their art. There are a couple possible reasons for this. Young, untrained witches may have little power, or their magic may be extremely unreliable, even potentially destructive. It may be a combination of the two, with some untrained witches having one problem and some having the other.
• Magical girls gained their power suddenly and automatically and have reasonable mastery over it when transformed. They don't have a wide range of magic as their powers are centered around a certain theme, though all are capable of certain basic abilities. We can decide what these should be, but I'm thinking stuff like stamina/speed/toughness increased beyond a normal human's, ability to super-jump or perhaps fly, etc. Think of the things that would allow a young girl to survive the kind of supernatural battles magical girls normally fight in. Beyond that, their powers relate to one specific theme. They are able to use these abilities reliably under most circumstances. They don't understand their powers very well -- they just know that they can use them.

 

[Michelle the Editor]

@Marionette I like the sound of that. The witches have a much wider range but they have to learn and work for their power, while magical girls are more talented off the bat but limited in what they can do. I could see that being twisted, too; there are probably some types of learned magic that do the kinds of things brought up earlier--draining lives for power, for instance--and a magical girl might still overestimate her mastery of power and cause chaos or property damage if she's not careful.

 

[EternalMusic]

@Marionette I love that as well

Also yeah that was pure stereotyping with the powers and such~ I was just throwing it out there as something~

But going back to those ideas I think that sounds great~ Maybe the magical girls can use a lot more of the brain's power compared to average humans as well? ((Totally not thinking of Lucy here))

 

[Marionette]

I'm glad you two like it! :D I'm going to give others time to respond and offer suggestions before I finalize it, but I think it's coming together.

Maybe young witches are more likely to rely on familiars too, since their own magic is either weak or too unreliable to use advanced magic without risk. If you can find a strong familiar, you're better-protected from the dangers of the world. But a really strong witch could probably trump the familiar of an untrained witch if they wanted to, so it's not always an easy existence. For those that do prey on others, untrained witches are probably the easiest targets. Young witches have several survival strategies: sticking together (safety in numbers), seeking the guidance of kind elder witches, striking out on their own and hiding, etc.

And if magical girls have mascots (which is up to you all), in contrast to familiars, they'll be totally useless magically. Instead, they'll serve as guides for the magical girls, who suddenly have great power they don't understand. However, their knowledge will probably be limited.

@Michelle the Editor Yes, both situations are totally possible! There probably are witches who drain others' magic or life (this isn't barred), and there may be witches who just like to bully or take advantage of the inexperienced. Witches probably view magical girls as rash and walking collateral damage, which they could easily become if not careful.

@EternalMusic Yep, I understand! Everyone is welcome to throw out any idea they have. Even if it doesn't ultimately get used, it's all part of the brainstorming process. :)

Hmm, that is possible. We're still figuring out the source of everyone's power and whether the witches' and magical girls' are connected or not.

 

[EternalMusic]

I think that idea is another great idea @Marionette I really like that~ Although.... Wait nah nvm, your idea works a lot better~

well if they are connected we could do it with the mascots/familiars? I dunno...... Hmm..... Or maybe the source of their power is the same...

 

[Wolfsbane706]

*is still paying attention, but isn't actually reading anything*

 

[Marionette]

@EternalMusic If you say so, but like I said, there's nothing wrong with posting suggestions. Even if it doesn't get used, it's helpful to hear lots of ideas. :>

Yeah, it could be the same, like maybe there was one single source of magic and it somehow developed differently on Earth and in the witch world. Or, since magical girls have just appeared on Earth, maybe something from the witch world interfered with Earth. They could also come from totally different sources though. I'm open to any ideas here!

I agree, if they are connected and we give the magical girls mascots, they could be involved somehow. They're similar to familiars in a way yet almost opposite from them.

@Wolfsbane706 Haha, yeah, there's a lot to read now. I think things are starting to come together now though, and hopefully I'll either have the OP updated with what we'll definitely use, or maybe we can even get to the actual RP soon.

 

[Wolfsbane706]

Alright.

 

[EternalMusic]

Haha no I thought of it but then realised how it didn't work~ Don't worry about it~

But~ @Marionette I really like the idea of the witches tampering with Earth, maybe there is this (maybe slightly nutty) witch who has this "amazing" idea of showing other worlds how amazing magic is. Although she had pure intentions the magic stuffed up and although she wasn't able to give the magic to all of Earth a selected few girls (are we including boys?) are affected by this and become magical girls


Another idea I just thought of is that there is a magical jewel. A jewel that gets transported from planet to planet once every ten thousand years. But one day the transportation of the jewel goes faulty and it shatters into millions of little pieces attaching themselves to young girls (and boys if we have them) giving them their magical powers.

But the thing is that the jewel is normally carved into several little pieces for the young witches that are coming into witch school so that they can learn witchcraft. Thus the reason they have little mascots, but the reason that the mascots do not have magical power is that the jewel shards that entered the girls bodies is too small to do anything that extreme.


Okay threw out some ideas there ^^;;

 

[Marionette]

@EternalMusic I just say "magical girls" since it's the genre but characters' gender doesn't matter. Same for witches. :>

Those are both really interesting ideas! I like 'em. :D Maybe we could even combine them, like the witch tried to create a gem full of great magical power to bestow on Earth, but it broke and the shards entered those who would become magical girls/boys/etc. and maybe created the mascots too. Or maybe all she could do to try to fix the damage was create the mascots to help guide them.