High School Harem Comedy (Game System, PEACH)

[Angelalex242]

Well, the Vampire archetype is MASSIVELY nerfed from what a vampire should be, unless all of their usual powers are assumed to simply be 'not applicable' for this kind of game. Then again, you'd think at least 'dominate/charm gaze would be appropriate, even if climbing walls, supernatural physicality, summoning bats and wolves, turning into bats, wolves, and mist, turning to dust in sunlight, holy water is acid, and so on are less applicable.

And the demon archetype is just flat out Morrigan from DarkStalkers. More or less. Succubus archetype, not Pit fiend or other demon lord.

[Esprit15]

Well, the Vampire archetype is MASSIVELY nerfed from what a vampire should be, unless all of their usual powers are assumed to simply be 'not applicable' for this kind of game. Then again, you'd think at least 'dominate/charm gaze would be appropriate, even if climbing walls, supernatural physicality, summoning bats and wolves, turning into bats, wolves, and mist, turning to dust in sunlight, holy water is acid, and so on are less applicable.

And the demon archetype is just flat out Morrigan from DarkStalkers. More or less. Succubus archetype, not Pit fiend or other demon lord.

Well really, a succubus or succubus-like being is the most likely demonic creature to be in this.

[BWR]

Well, the Vampire archetype is MASSIVELY nerfed from what a vampire should be, unless all of their usual powers are assumed to simply be 'not applicable' for this kind of game. Then again, you'd think at least 'dominate/charm gaze would be appropriate, even if climbing walls, supernatural physicality, summoning bats and wolves, turning into bats, wolves, and mist, turning to dust in sunlight, holy water is acid, and so on are less applicable.

I would think that the supernatural powers are handled much like money - it's something that shows up to help create a story, scene or complication, not to auto-win the game. That would hardly be fun. I mean, the Eldritch Abomination should by rights be able to just flash his/her/its/their/other's true form at all opposition and send them to the loony bin, leaving Protagonist-kun all hers, but that wouldn't be fun.

Not to mention the power of vampires variy greatly depending on which sources you read or watch.

[Amechra]

I dare say a Pit Lord would be... inappropriate for this kind of game. Though I'd laugh to see a game where everyone's second archetype was Eldritch Abomination.

But I digress.

Also, mutter mutter converting stuff to CTHULHU DARK. For that dungeon crawling... thing I talked about WAY back.

Heck, though; all it would take is a conversion of all the +s and -s (no mean feat), and the Sanity die could be a Break-Up die (which would be consistent with certain more... dramatic entries in the genre.) Beyond that, it would kinda be perfect.

Spoiler: Preliminary

Show

You get 1 Die regardless.
You get 1 Die if it lies within something one of your archetypes can reasonably do.
You get 1 Die if it is your "good" trait, and lose 1 Die if it is your "bad" trait.
You have a Break-Up die, that starts with a value of 1; if it ever hits 6, you've pissed off Protagonist-Kun enough he doesn't want anything to do with you anymore (SOB!). You can spend VPs to buy down the value, and can... take action once it hits 5.
Advantages... will take thought.

Also, Werewolf archetype. I've seen a couple... (I think. OK, I admit, I kinda want to see all the "classic" White Wolf monsters as possible archetypes, just so someone can run the cutest possible game of, say, Promethean. Yes, I've got issues. Bite me.)

[A Rainy Knight]

Well, let me put it this way. You've seen Harem shows of assorted sub-styles/flavors were they have at least one character that's massively/superhumanly strong, either to comedic effect or as a plot point, cause supernatural or super powers or aliens or something? Were they have a character set up as a sort of amazon who towers over the protagonist and most of the rest of the cast? Said character might or might not be ultra violent and/or happy go lucky or extreamly stoic?

That's kinda the type of character I was looking for that Archatype to capture. Admittidly it's not the most common one, even less so as the "winner" if there is one in a given series, but it does float around in places.

Oh! I get it now! Yeah, I know I've seen it as a joke often enough that I could see the 'ridiculously strong girl' being an archetype. Doesn't even need to be supernatural.

Really, these are all 'cute monster girls.' It's only really an 'archetype' of its own when the other girls are just normal humans, and even then you can specify what kind of monster we're talking about.

At any rate, I've just got one more final to go. Hopefully I'll be feeling up for some more haremy goodness once I'm done.

[Metahuman1]

Oh! I get it now! Yeah, I know I've seen it as a joke often enough that I could see the 'ridiculously strong girl' being an archetype. Doesn't even need to be supernatural.

Really, these are all 'cute monster girls.' It's only really an 'archetype' of its own when the other girls are just normal humans, and even then you can specify what kind of monster we're talking about.

At any rate, I've just got one more final to go. Hopefully I'll be feeling up for some more haremy goodness once I'm done.

Yes, ok, yes, now were on the same general page! =)

Though we might want to come up with a piffyer name for the archatype then "ridiculously/super-humanly strong girl." Something shorter that rolls off the tongue better. I don't actually want to call it amazon nessissarily, cause while they do set such characters up to be very amazonish in manners and appearance often enough, they also go for things with it like the Loli that's half his size but can tear the front door off a house if she's not careful or the normal seeming girl that can dead lift a full sized Harley like it's nothing but the rest of the time when there not actively showing off you'd never know they were any different from any other female character in this or any series.

[Esprit15]

Well, Oni-girl could work as the name, but further explanation in the description could explain that it isn't a supernatural class.

[Metahuman1]

That's a thought. Hmm, as extension, maybe this archatype get's a note that it's suitable for both regular and supernatural variant rules games?

In a normal game you get extreme and perhaps nonsensical feats of strength no problem. Crushing the baseball in your grip one handed, dead lifting the protagonist in a hug that leaves him with a bruise all around his chest for three weeks after the fact, stuff like that. Switch over to a super natural game, and now your also doing things like casually picking the front of the car up off the ground with one finger and no real effort so that you can change the tire for the group to get to the beach/hot-springs/were-ever for them, with out any of the other players or the protagonist having to get out or unpack any of there gear that's weighing down the car.


That way there's a difference and it can be used in both games instead of being regulated to one or the other, and still feel like it fits either's tone.




Ya know, the more I think about this, the more the thought occurs to me, aren't there a fair number of Harem series floating around with aliens as a major theme/element? To-Luv-Ru, The Tenchi Franchise, UFO Ultra-Maiden Valkyrie, just off the top of my head. Maybe at some point down the line that would be a variant avenue to look at?

[Mutazoia]

Ya know, the more I think about this, the more the thought occurs to me, aren't there a fair number of Harem series floating around with aliens as a major theme/element? To-Luv-Ru, The Tenchi Franchise, UFO Ultra-Maiden Valkyrie, just off the top of my head. Maybe at some point down the line that would be a variant avenue to look at?

Why do I feel like we are getting closer and closer to making Ninja High school the Role Playing Game...

[Metahuman1]

Why do I feel like we are getting closer and closer to making Ninja High school the Role Playing Game...

Isn't that just a subset of this game were everyone get's Martial Artist: Nin-jutsu archetype as a free bonus?

Seriously, Ninja's are already fairly well covered between a couple of existing archetypes. I'm actually trying to throw out ideas for things we've not touched on yet. (I grant, Aliens could just be supernatural refluffed, but that just feels lazy too me if your gonna do it at all.)

[Mutazoia]

Isn't that just a subset of this game were everyone get's Martial Artist: Nin-jutsu archetype as a free bonus?

Seriously, Ninja's are already fairly well covered between a couple of existing archetypes. I'm actually trying to throw out ideas for things we've not touched on yet. (I grant, Aliens could just be supernatural refluffed, but that just feels lazy too me if your gonna do it at all.)

Ninja High School...a Harem style comic featuring Jeremy Feeple (16) as protagonist-kun, Ichi-kun the girl his parents arranged his marriage to when they were born, Asrial the alien princess who is sent to marry Jeremy by her father in order to bring Earth into the Galactic Alliance (even though Jeremy is just a normal student with no political clout)...eventually expanding the harem to include a magical girl, a girl with super powers, Ichi's cousin and several of her girl class-mates....

[Metahuman1]

On the one hand, that's kinda awesome, on another hand, I'm forced to remember JesuOtaku's break down of the "battle vixan" genera.


And on another hand, I think it would be hilarious if the ending to that scenario turned out to be either 1: "Look, ladies, I really hate to have to tell you this, but I like guys, so please stop!!!!" or 2: "And as it turned out, he managed to duck all of them and go to medical school cause the crazy was way too much of a turn off. The End." or possibly 3: both.

[Angelalex242]

Eh. Only if you like downer endings, or your name is Joss Whedon. Truth is, at least one of the girls ALWAYS wins in such scenarios.

[Metahuman1]

I know, but it would be hilarious if once, just once, one of these shows would pull one or both of these as a subversion.

And it's not a downer, it's a gag. It's letting the entire series build up to a joke that throws genera norms to the winds.

That said, yeah, being a subversion and that the people here are here more cause the genera tropes amuse them, I think I'll let that go.

Anyway, so, we've got "jaw dropping/super human strength." and the idea on the plate to aliens, MAYBE ninja's. Actually, Ninja could be it's own Archatype. It's common enough. And it would in theory do a few things different from marital artist.

[BWR]

Maybe I haven't been watching the right shows but off hand I can't think of any where Protagonist-kun actually ends up with anyone. Mostly they just kind of end with everything still hanging.

[Metahuman1]

Didn't Tenchi end with the title character hooking up with either Ryoko or Ayeka? (Yeah I almost certainly spelled that last one wrong it's been a long time leave me be.)

And I seem to recall one, Maburaho, were they split the difference by ending it with the main character making like 10 duplicates of himself by quasi-accident and thus ending up both sorta still single and sorta with everyone and sorta with one of the characters 10 times cause the one character was hell bent on a traditional win.

And I hate to use it as an example cause of ages involved but I seem to recall someone telling me that when Negima ended it ended with the Vampire chick winning.

[Angelalex242]

Actually, Tenchi ends with the famous 'Tenchi Solution.'

A:Ayeka
B:Ryoko
C:Sasami
D:Mihoshi
E:Kiyone
F:Washu
G:All of the Above

And that's why it's called the Tenchi Solution. And/or 'Marry 'em all.' It is worth remembering that on Jurai, Polygamy is alive and well.

[BWR]

I should get around to watching that one.
And of course I forgot that I had just finished reading "Love Hina" a few hours before I made my post. Talk about short term memory.

[Metahuman1]

I should get around to watching that one.
And of course I forgot that I had just finished reading "Love Hina" a few hours before I made my post. Talk about short term memory.

Never got that into Love Hina, ironically. Who won that one anyway?

[BWR]

Never got that into Love Hina, ironically. Who won that one anyway?

Narusegawa. No surprise, really. What kind of annoyed me was how at one point all the other girls decided they wanted Keitaro, just to drag things out.

[Metahuman1]

*Shrug* Eh, sorta par for the course.

That said, I liked Negima better after it came to my attention that after the first few volumes it moved in a direction of spending less and less time focusing on Harem anime hijinks and more and more on shonen action anime hijinks. Though the harem anime hijinks would have been less unappealing for me if not for the ages of the characters.

[BWR]

*Shrug* Eh, sorta par for the course.

That said, I liked Negima better after it came to my attention that after the first few volumes it moved in a direction of spending less and less time focusing on Harem anime hijinks and more and more on shonen action anime hijinks. Though the harem anime hijinks would have been less unappealing for me if not for the ages of the characters.

Negima didn't do it for me. The harem angle was not served well with such a young kid as the object, and I got bored with the shonen magic-fighting thing after a few chapters and gave up on the series entirely.

[Metahuman1]

I agree that the main characters age and the age of the girls really hurt the attempts to entice, but I rather enjoyed the magic-fighting angle myself. I tend to like those kinds of shows.

Hmmm, does Fate Stay/Night and it's prequel/sequel count for this in there light novel form I wonder? Not in the actual Anime since they don't so much entertain Harem as a touch of romance and several other people having un-requetted crushes, but I think the light novels actually had a way or two to get an all the girls ending, that sorta counts doesn't it?

Or maybe I'm just imagining things because I'm still annoyed at the downer lack luster ending and at the fact that I didn't get to see Shiro in his white archer get up and I didn't get to see much of Sakura's story-line were she get's Rider as a Servant, and I didn't get to see either Saber Black Rose or Saber Lilly, or Avenger.

[steelsmiter]

So, Rainy, I've got a player that thinks Playful Blackmail would do well in the Journalist archetype, and I think Opinionated would have a good place there as well, Thoughts?

[A Rainy Knight]

Hello again, harem-lovers!

So, Rainy, I've got a player that thinks Playful Blackmail would do well in the Journalist archetype, and I think Opinionated would have a good place there as well, Thoughts?

I think Playful Blackmail would work wonderfully with the Journalist. And for reasons I'm about to explain, Opinionated doesn't exist anymore!

So, I'm thinking about making some bigger changes to go along with the... rather big break I took from working on this. In short, I'm not happy with the Interference system. It chews up players' advantages with all kinds of defenses that actually reduce the chance of the advantages ever being used, which is kind of boring. It seems that it could easily facilitate picking on players, and its effects are often too narrow when applied to a single character in a large cast. For these reasons and others, I'm getting rid of it altogether! (For the time being, the examples of play on the first post are outdated.)

I think there's a better way to implement the character traits I had been expressing through the Interference system, and that's what I'd like to work on sometime soon.

If I start feeling ambitious, something else I'd like to consider is implementing classes of players characters other than harem girls, who have different objectives. I'm talking about your scheming imoutos and party-crashing psycho lesbian stalkers, for instance, though I'm still not sure how to put them in without making things too complicated.

Sorry for disappearing for so long!

[BWR]

IT LIVES!
The new additions sound fun, but I wonder how they would do better as PCs rather than just NPCs. But you could have the Best Friend who constantly but vaguely tries to get Protagonist-kun together with the girl of his choice/make up his mind already (Shuu from Nisekoi springs to mind).

As a tangent, does anyone else find themselves making harem stories out of just about any non-harem media they enjoy?
My gf recently replayed FFX and found that the characters were far more enjoyable when she assigned archetypes to them interpreted everything they said and did as an attempt to win over Tidus-kun and added a bunch of extra dialogue. I've done the same with lots of other movies, tv shows and games. Heck I'm thinking of getting my gf to go along with me and try this in our D&D game - it's a bit boring and I want something apart from combat and vague clichéd D&D stories about ancient evils to spice it up. None of the other players or the DM know anything about the harem story so I just want to see their faces when two characters suddenly start acting all weird.

[steelsmiter]

Hello again, harem-lovers!



I think Playful Blackmail would work wonderfully with the Journalist. And for reasons I'm about to explain, Opinionated doesn't exist anymore!

Awesme :D.

So, I'm thinking about making some bigger changes to go along with the... rather big break I took from working on this. In short, I'm not happy with the Interference system. It chews up players' advantages with all kinds of defenses that actually reduce the chance of the advantages ever being used, which is kind of boring. It seems that it could easily facilitate picking on players, and its effects are often too narrow when applied to a single character in a large cast. For these reasons and others, I'm getting rid of it altogether! (For the time being, the examples of play on the first post are outdated.)

I think there's a better way to implement the character traits I had been expressing through the Interference system, and that's what I'd like to work on sometime soon.

If I start feeling ambitious, something else I'd like to consider is implementing classes of players characters other than harem girls, who have different objectives. I'm talking about your scheming imoutos and party-crashing psycho lesbian stalkers, for instance, though I'm still not sure how to put them in without making things too complicated.

Sorry for disappearing for so long!

I've been fiddling with an Imouto type character (Same player that was asking about Playful Blackmail) for a while now. What I basically did with various 'Subtypes' or whatever you want to call them is to cobble them out of preexisting Advantages.

[Ionbound]

Hmm...New PCs sounds awesome. I would also like to see more supernatural Archetypes, and stuff that interacts with them as well, perhaps an alternate Miko Archetype or something.

[Metahuman1]

Hmmm, As a possible alternative, maybe have the DM run NPC girls in the harem and party members use interference to keep them minimized/out of the action?

Just a thought.

[BWR]

Hmmm, As a possible alternative, maybe have the DM run NPC girls in the harem and party members use interference to keep them minimized/out of the action?

Just a thought.

That could work.

One could also take a page out of Ars Magica and allows each player a primary character (the hopeful girl) and one or more secondary characters - all the supporting cast, including scheming imouto, interfering BFFs, parents on the look-out for good matches for their children, etc.
The secondary characters could be a common pool for players to use when their main PC isn't available for the scene/story.