Mascot-tan: the manga mascot girl RPG ^_^;

[neko ewen]

So... I'm a n00b as far as the Forge is concerned, but here goes... ^^;

I came up with this very strange idea for an RPG, which I hope I'll actually be able to convince my friends to playtest. The basic premise is that the player characters are all manga-style mascot girls, along the lines of the OS-tan girls (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS-tan). It's going to be very simple and silly, and in some ways would be an unofficial DiGi Charat RPG.

One of the main things from a mechanical standpoint is that I'm planning to have a big portion of the game be about accumulaiting points of Popularity by doing things that draw the audience's attention, and that would be the only form of character advancement. I'm thinking Popularity would let the characters use their pull to get their way in the game, but I'm not totally sure how this would work. The other question is how competitive of a game it would be, but I suspect that's mostly up to the players to determine.

The other wacky idea I had was to include a chapter called "RPG Girls" or somesuch, with stats and descriptions for mascot girls from major RPG systems, and campaign ideas for them all working at a gaming store.

Thoughts?

[anonymouse]

First, you need to answer the benchmark IGD question:

What do the characters DO?

You need to be able to envision some environment + activity the characters are participating in on a regular basis; also think about what a session around the table would look like. Answer that, and we can give all kinds of help.

[neko ewen]

First, you need to answer the benchmark IGD question:

What do the characters DO?

I'll definitely have to remember that in the future. :3

But anyway, basically the characters would be playing out everyday situations mixed with zany weirdness, slapstick, and satire. I envision the DiGi Charat anime (original, not Panyo Panyo) being the model of the quintessential Mascot-tan campaign. For those not familiar with it, in the anime the characters all work at the Gamers store in Akihabara, trying to hog the limelight, serve the customers, and fend off weirdos (and the occasional kaiju).

The main goal of the game is to be entertaining and weird, and thereby gain Popularity. The retail store as a setting (which I did once before in a Risus one-shot called "Magic Shop" BTW) isn't the only possibility, but it seems like campaigns would be set up something like sitcoms, with a general everyday situation into which wacky stuff can be inserted for each episode/session.

[anonymouse]

Well, probably won't get much response until you flesh out your game more and have specific questions to ask; "Thoughts?" tends to get a thread lost in the shuffle.

..but it's an interesting setup, so. ;)

First thing I'd do in the design is come up with two or three sets of mascots. The RPG one is a good start; the winOS ones would be good too, since the illustrations are already provided.

Mechanics would involve ways to introduce new complications, aim them at the other players, and hope they botch and lose Popularity, I'd think.

I'm not really sure what categories the mascots would have. Maybe just.. hmm.. I've been playing a lot of Sims2 lately, but maybe a list of Interests for each mascot. The higher their Interest in a subject, the better they deal with it.

Mental riffing here.. you'd come up with a guy walking in whose head was, I dunno, on fire, and my character has to deal with him. So there's some talking and dice-rolling, and my high Interests of Flowers and Rainbows don't seem to be making much headway. But then some die roll turns up the guy's secret Interest, Barbequing; I have that Interest, and even though it's not a very high/strong one, it's common ground, and I eke out a point of Popularity.

So.. what kind of stats do you think the characters would have? I'd also really strongly encourage you build the game around pre-generated characters. Maybe an expansion book (build-your-own-game kit book) for character and store/location generation.. but to start off with, center it around ones you decide on, WITH illustration (since it's such an important part of the character premise).

[neko ewen]

Thus I continue to gradually improve my Forge-Fu skills. :P Thanks a lot for your advice BTW. :3

What I had originally been planning (albeit very tenatively) was to have three or so very basic stats (along the lines of Cuteness, Smarts, and Athletics), and let each character pick some Gimmicks. Some Gimmicks would be very specific abilities like flying or special attacks (eye beams, swords, etc.), while others would be for special features that would help a character become popular (cat ears, kimono, glasses, etc, but these carry the risk of suddenly becoming unpopular or too niche). The Interests idea sounds neat, but I'll have to think about how it might be implemented some more (and ask my sister about how it works in Sims2...).

Popularity I think is the thing I most want advice/help on. I think your idea of letting players create complications to hamper the other players is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for (definitely something more than influencing dice rolls). But especially with that approach there's the matter of creating an environment of player competition, something I've never really dealt with before in an RPG (except for some Paranoia). How much is too much, and how much does the game designer actually control it anyway? Maybe the trick is to give let the players choose whether they want to work together or compete, and either approach has its drawbacks...

I'm working with my artist friends to do up designs and illustrations for the RPG Girls BTW, and those will probably be the main illustrations for the game. OTOH to me part of the point of the game would be for players to try to build an original character around the most bizarre, random items possible. The OS Girls are really appealing and accessible, but Habanero-tan also has a considerable following, and I've seen mascot girls of cigarette brands, beer and wine, Japanese coins, keyboard keys (Esc-tan is usually running away of course), and on and on. Statting the OS Girls seems an inevitability of course.

And you know, I could totally see a guy with a flaming head showing up in DiGi Charat. ;)

[greedo1379]

When I think of a Popularity stat I think of those high school girl movies with the snobby girls.  How about some way for the popular player to use Popularity to hinder the other players?  Expend Popularity to pull an elaborate prank that ends up with the victim doused in pig's blood or making out with the nerdy guy rather than the football jock.  Or whatever.

Perhaps letting a player use Popularity points for intimidation or seduction or such.

[pointyman2000]

Hi!

I'm not really a forge regular, but I figured I'd throw my 2 cents in.  Pardon if it seems long winded or anything.

From what I'm getting, Popularity is a form of experience point that the Mascots can accumulate and spend to gain more gimmicks.

Basing this on the very few anime I've seen that might fit the bill (Bottle Fairies?), I'm seeing a game flow where:

1. Bizzare Situation or Odd Question pops up.  

ex: Kaiju attack!

2. Each Mascot comes in to resolve situation in most bizzare way imaginable using whatever gimmicks they have, and weirdness they can think of the fits their character description.

ex: Tomboy: whips out a gun and blasts it to the stratosphere
      Catgirl: attempts to lure kaiju away with a dish of milk just outside the front door

3. The group votes on how much popularity each Mascot gains depending on the laughs the group has with each Mascot's antics.

4. Weirdness resolution,
ex: Kaiju goes away after seeing that they don't carry Azumanga Daioh in stock, etc.

5. Mascots spend Popularity points on more gimmicks.

note: Each Mascot may also take steps to screw up with another Mascot's attempts instead of resolving the issue.  Maybe some sort of initiative rating will help on this?  Something like:

XP-tan gains initiative over 2K-tan, both are trying to stop the Blaster Worm Kaiju.

XP-tan's player elects to wait and see what 2K-tan is up to rather than take an action.  "I shove 2K-tan towards the Blaster Worm! 'Gambatte 2K-tan!' and then I run around in circles in SD mode, panicking."

2K-tan figures something's about to go wrong, but has to act anyway.
"I uh, take out my cellphone [complete with a cellphone strap with a cute version me on it] and call Dr. Norton!"

XP-tan's player declares, "I interrupt!  2K-tan gets a busy signal, camera pans to the left, where you see XP-tan flirting on her cellphone with Dr. Norton... 'Ne, Dr. Norton, are you busy tonight?"

meh, my examples not that amusing, but I hope I got my point across.