Plank Sinatra

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

I think obviously everyone wants as many people to play the game as possible. Most of the sheets look great for damn sure. I think Onarax's point about character retention is an important one too. But it's pretty obvious we're dealing with a game that exploded in popularity, probably more than Inedible was expecting (I've been there) so it's hard to blame a GM for wanting to pare things down to something manageable. There are a couple of ways around this, depending on what we want for group size. A co-GM is an idea that might take some weight off Inedible's shoulders, especially if they're already considering two groups within the game.

Another possibility, if we do get pared down to 4-6 players, is to just assume that everyone else is still in the school. It is an academy, there's got to be more than half a dozen girls enrolled at a time, right? If retention becomes a problem and someone drops, all the sheets here have already been given at least a tentative thumbs up - poll who's still interested who might not have been immediately picked and then give them a chance to slide into the action.

Come to think of it, Hasta is literally on top of (or right next to) Paris. Sure, most of humanity's cities got wiped off the map and the Sanctum cities were built to house people, but it would be hilarious (and yet heartwarming) to see the City of Lights not only survive the apocalypse, but thrive (even if they changed the name for some reason).

@shadowsaint007

When I was thinking of Sanctum cities to pick for my CS, I kind of figured in my head most of them had originally been built on the backs of ruins of major cities, or repurposed from old cities that would have been able to support arcologies in the first place - places like New York City or Paris. Hell, New Vegas was able to do just fine for itself in Fallout without any magical girls. Unless you count my bae Veronica.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

Nicole

The Mundane

Name: Nicole Cognoscenti

Age: 17

Sanctum City: Hasta

Description: Nicole is a girl of average height, a slender build, and irrepressible good cheer to cram inside it. Blue-eyed and always grinning, her sharp features are framed by scarlet hair, cut fashionably to the bottom of her neck with bangs that occasionally fall into her eyes.

Hasta is one of the world's most fashionable Sanctum Cities, with all but its poorest denizens dressed beautifully in casual, flowing fashions and bright colors. Nicole is no exception, although she does her best to dress fashionably casual. Whether oversized hoodies or cropped tops, tight jeans or her school uniform's skirt, one of her only sartorial mainstays is the peach colored tassel scarf she's almost always thrown haphazardly around her neck. Sometimes she'll top her head in a cute little beret.

Nicole

Personality: A laid-back and cheerful girl who always tries her best at everything. Nicole may not be the most zealous fighter or the most charismatic presence, but she's a stabilizing force among what may otherwise be a chaotic ensemble of students. She exudes a quiet calm about most things, a playful energy often expelled through practical jokes, and a willingness to laugh at herself and others. She's grown up into a fairly privileged life and tries to keep that knowledge in the back of her mind, so it allows her some measure of empathy for other girls who may not have had it as easy as she did. It makes her a solid, unifying presence among friend groups and just a generally good time to be around.

Though she plays it close to the chest, Nicole is a deeply idealistic, romantic girl, with notions of true love and eternal good vibes that she tries not to espouse too often. She has a headful of dreams about some kind of nebulous "better life," although what that life would be like and how it would be an improvement over her own free-flowing existence is something she hasn't quite figured out.

Background: Nicole was born among the upper middle class of the beautiful, fashionable, (sort of) sunny Sanctum City of Hasta. One of the cultural capitals of the world, her childhood was cosmopolitan and largely peaceful, with a large pool of friends across all walks of life. Her parents did what they could to shelter her through much of her childhood, but they were politically active people, often taking up the causes of the downtrodden and unfortunate who were unable to share in Hasta's joys. Eventually, as she grew older, Nicole came to share their passion for altruism.

For a time, like most girls, she dreamed that she was a secret princess - some long-lost member of a Duodecim family, someone who could achieve great heights and make a difference in a scary world. Eventually, she had given up on that dream and resolved to make change in meaningful, realistic ways somehow. It was realizing her magical potential at the age of thirteen that helped give her a sense of wonder again, made her dream of stopping Voids and serving as a paragon for all the world's helpless - someone with the power to make people listen.

Having decided her dream was worth pursuing once again, in a decidedly more fantastical direction this time, Nicole applied to Nova Lux Academy with stars in her eyes, and was overjoyed to be accepted.

---

The Magic

Armgaus Name: Twinkling Scarlet Emerald

Gladius:
Vedfolnir
A blued steel sabre balanced to Nicole's hand, with a small, polished chunk of red beryl at the hilt. Its size belies the potential reach of the blade, as combined with her Elementum Nicole's slashes can seem to extend three times longer than the length of the blade would suggest.

Parma: Nicole's eyes and hair glow a brighter orange, her skin begins to twinkle slightly, and she wears an all-white ensemble of her normal beret, a midriff baring top and shorts, with thigh high boots and a holster.

Super Nicole

Elementum: Wind

Elementum Abilities: In keeping with her elementum and her own breezy personality, Nicole has a great degree of agility and levity, often joking that she can dodge any attack thrown at her as long as she's not feeling lazy. It may not be an entirely empty boast; though not a particular powerhouse, her agility makes her a capable duelist with her sabre. She can also use her ability to make great leaps, bordering on sustained flight if she can keep her concentration - although doing so obviously limits her effectiveness in combat.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

@Inedible just for the record, what exactly are the Six that founded the NOI? Separate entity from the Duodecim, right?

The Zephyr Extinct

I R I S

"Details?"

Iris didn't like the idea of holding onto this ring for a second, but Cedar was looking a little anxious. Her heart went out to him - the last half hour had been a whirlwind, and he had taken saving Ruskali to heart maybe more than any of the recruits. But what details were a pair of brand-new Zephyrs really going to determine from something like this? And he wanted them to split up, go chase some armadillos while she tagged along with Archer - sans the ring? It was weird. Iris watched her new comrade's hand twitch; she wanted to chalk it up to nerves, but...

"You go ahead and figure out what's up with the buildings," she said amiably, standing up to her full height and rolling her shoulders and legs. She could feel herself wanting to hack up a lung, damned smoke... "I'll catch up and give this to Archer, see if she wants more help. I'd feel better if she had it on her. We'll tell her about this guy, since neither of us really wanna risk touching the poor bastard, and then we'll look at it with her together later, yeah?"

She smiled and squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. We'll be able to get some rest sooner rather than later. Just keep your chin up."

The Zephyr Extinct

Gonna do my best to have a post up for this tonight!

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

Stoked, I'll try and have a CS done in the next few days.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

This looks dope, if I have the time I'd love to be a part of it.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

_{and the lord was sorry he had made humankind//and it grieved him to his heart}

<<We just don't know what Adam and Eve look like. They didn't, either, until they ate the apple.>> Gypsy Soul had weathered re-entry with a grace as alien as her aesthetic, and skimmed above the surface with her sensors deployed. The Praxis Clock package meant that she would be doing her best flying from above the ground team, with her sensor and communications packages commanding her full attention. Besides, she had spent years with this unit back in Sol, until they were extensions of each other - so close that it often felt like one was plucked from the other's ribs. Their bond was tight enough that Gypsy could feel the obvious intent behind every message: her Orbital was scared to touch the ground.

I wonder if you could sleep with the Adam or Eve here.

<<You may eat freely of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge you shall not, for in the day you eat of it you will die.>> She was staring at the heat sources Bedwyr had shared. Chaotic, like buckshot beneath the bleached soil. Some overlapping, some dispersed. Empty apartments and full apartments next door to each other. Like a hive. <<I wonder what it was they ate here. Be advised. Those probably aren't hot springs.>>

Gypsy Soul drew her CFL-M rifle, an archangel floating above the world at long range. The masked pilot's brow was furrowed behind her metallic face, its sheen brightened by a small lick of sweat. Her aim was tracing Odysseus' singular drone, the one exploring the unsettling heat.

//Engage communication suite? Y?N?//

No.

//Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do all that is just? Y?N?//

Gypsy rolled her eyes and frowned. In her forehead, a vein throbbed. Don't you start praying on me, too.

<<Solid copy, Odysseus.>>

The Zephyr Extinct

I R I S

"Huh?"

Iris, broken out of her anxious reverie, turned over her shoulder with a jump at the mention of her name. Beneath her mask, a wan, relieved grin came to her face as she saw Cedar behind her. Even in her current kneeling position, they were almost of a height; she had no iea if that was intimidating for Cedar or not, but it made her feel happy to know that someone wasn't looming over her no matter what stage of 'parked on my ass' she was currently occupying. That comfort and relief was coming in really handy at a time like this.

"Yyyeah, actually. Kinda." She pulled one hand from her pocket and raised a closed fist up in greeting - then opened it, spinning the ring she'd discovered on the corpse in a circle on her palm. She stopped its motion long enough for Cedar to be able to give it a thorough twice-over before pocketing it again. The last thing Iris wanted was either of them to wind up with this freaky piece of crap on their finger and wind up like this poor screwball. "And then there's this."

She scooted to the right, boots making soft, wet scraping noises against the muck and soil of the alleyway. Her moving her tall, muscular frame gave Cedar a good look at what she had been examining when he arrived. The corpse's forearm was milky and wizened looking, its flabby, dead flesh growing even paler than it had when Iris reached him. It made the light scarring of a tattoo - and its shape - all the more obvious. Iris giggled to herself, a little nervously.

"Maybeee he had a bad breakup," she suggested, her voice playful despite everything. "People get tats removed after those all the time."

...yyyyeah, those breakups...wiiith the theocratic death cults. They really getcha every time.

She kept staring at the healer's forearm, and the remaining imprint of a tree.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

<Snipped quote by Hawthorne>

So, I'm going to be totally honest with you.

It was ten o'clock at night and I was powering through a huge migraine. That 100% was supposed to say "Odysseus" and I fucked up my Greek heroes for a second there. I'll fix that.

@Krayzikk

krayzikk's iliad director's cut where the wrong guy gets achilles' armor