On second thought, in terms of global influence, it looks Mythic, but it's far too recent a fairy tale to look like anything more than a Fable. Which means that it sort of averages out as a Legend-type?

This is basically why Karen has a Legend level. The Lotus Sutra itself would be Myth, being basically a Buddhist bible, but since it manifested the way it did I knocked it down to Legend.

Santa is probably Legend level anyway; it's hard to imagine that he has the level of influence the myths we've seen have. I mean, if freakin' Journey to the West is only a Legend, I would find it hard to argue that santa is Myth. Especially since there's no real set story to santa as much as he's just a famous character.

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This is basically why Karen has a Legend level. The Lotus Sutra itself would be Myth, being basically a Buddhist bible, but since it manifested the way it did I knocked it down to Legend.

Santa is probably Legend level anyway; it's hard to imagine that he has the level of influence the myths we've seen have. I mean, if freakin' Journey to the West is only a Legend, I would find it hard to argue that santa is Myth. Especially since there's no real set story to santa as much as he's just a famous character.

Nice take, thank you. That's a helpful perspective.

The main thing with Myths as far as I can tell is that they need to be fundamental and have pretty much worldwide influence in some way, which was where my mind went with that. Santa basically somehow already has half the equation, which is a little mind boggling to think about, considering his tale only has about 200 years under its belt.

But yeah, in terms of an actual story and the longevity of his myth's existence, there's no way if could actually fully capitalize on that fame. It's the sort of story with shaky foundations that somehow managed to get absurd amounts of influence for what it was, which is where it the whole "Legend" bit comes in, since it's definitely not weak enough to be just a Fable.

The main issue, of course, is actually just finding the right piece of literature that has the most "base" influence on the existence that is Santa Claus.

@BrokenPromise

Less mind control and more Touko Aozaki's arm chair psychology. She does genuinely want to help everyone, so mind control defeats the purpose. She's not Taylor Hebert going full Khepri on the Ministry's ass :3

As for the R-Word, I would never force myself on an unwilling player. I never would do such a thing.

<Snipped quote by The World>

Nice take, thank you. That's a helpful perspective.

The main thing with Myths as far as I can tell is that they need to be fundamental and have pretty much worldwide influence, which was where my mind went with that. Santa basically somehow already has half the equation, which is a little mind boggling to think about, considering his tale only has about 200 years under its belt.

But yeah, in terms of an actual story and the longevity of his myth's existence, there's no way if could actually fully capitalize on that fame. It's the sort of story with shaky foundations that somehow managed to get absurd amounts of influence for what it was, which is where it the whole "Legend" bit comes in, since it's definitely not weak enough to be just a Fable.

The main issue, of course, is actually just finding the right piece of literature that has the most "base" influence on the existence that is Santa Claus.

Legend is probably the most accurate way to place Santa's tale. While it might be pretty well known, it isn't established enough, especially considering that Santa was we know is a weird composite character that only took its modern shape to fulfill consumerist ideals. in the last century or so when Christmas veered off from being about religion and just became that time of the year to spend money on presents "just because".

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Legend is probably the most accurate way to place Santa's tale. While it might be pretty well known, it isn't established enough, especially considering that Santa was we know is a weird composite character that only took its modern shape to fulfill consumerist ideals. in the last century or so when Christmas veered off from being about religion and just became that time of the year to spend money on presents "just because".

Love to see some GM input, thank you. Legend it is.

Santa Claus is honestly such a weird one to define. By the requirements it has to meet, it's really weak in some areas while being absurdly strong in others.

I'm pretty settled on the secondary character being Russian, but the final decision of what Grimoire they will have still requires some thought. Currently, I've got:

Santa: Legend (The flying sleigh? attacks with coal? XD)

Red Riding Hood: Fable ("what big -blank- you have" power? the huntsman?)

Three Little Pigs: Fable (powerful breath weapon? "invincible" brick house?")

Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Fable (summons bears? I dunno)

Cinderella/Rodopis: Fable (I have no clue here; something with the shoe obviously)

The Epic of Gilgamesh: Myth? (SO many options)

The Pyramid Texts: Myth? (related mostly to death and manipulating stuff surrounding it. would be a ritual spellcaster?) (might not even count as a Grimoire, considering it's less of a story and more a spellbook)

Honestly, only reason I haven't looked more into the fables listed is that they are simply too short to draw much of a power-set out of without reaching a fair bit, even with the whole "Magical Girl" thing going for them.

@Lewascan2

Gilgamesh is a bit too powerful for me to allow freely, given it's the first story in history.

Do Goldilocks. You can ride bears and fire projectile soup that's too hot or too cold.

@Lewascan2

Gilgamesh is a bit too powerful for me to allow freely, given it's the first story in history.

Fair enough. I can't even imagine how powerful the magical girl that has it must be (assuming there's currently one out there).

@Lewascan2
Why not a modern story? If I did a second, I'd try something really out of left field, like... I dunno, some modern fiction series. Something funny would be Eragon, for example. Assuming it's okay to do modern stuff, I didn't see a ban on it when I glanced over the opening post to double check if it was.

Modern stuff is fine; I'd treat it case by case just to make sure they're not too out there or off putting in matching the RP's theme. That said, most modern stuff would probably be Fable rank.

Do Goldilocks. You can ride bears and fire projectile soup that's too hot or too cold.

Oh dear... that... may have given me ideas...
As a side note, THIS started playing in my head a moment ago...

@Lewascan2
Why not a modern story? If I did a second, I'd try something really out of left field, like... I dunno, some modern fiction series. Something funny would be Eragon, for example. Assuming it's okay to do modern stuff, I didn't see a ban on it when I glanced over the opening post to double check if it was.

Hmmm... This is a fair question. Not really sure what kind of limits there are beyond the obvious?
You really have to look at how Fable, Legend, and Myth are defined for this RP, but this is a Fable, the absolute minimum:

"The Fable rank among Magical Girls encompasses those Grimoires who possesses stories that have become exactly that among mankind. Fables and fairy tales are those that have prevailed among human psyche, usually holding morals to learn and lessons to impart upon their retelling. Despite being the weakest rank in power and magic, do not be fooled. A Magical Girl with a Fable ranked Grimoire can still prevail as a champion of light against any Pageless."

I don't think modern book series really count. Everyone knows that's "just" a story. Fables and up, as far as I can tell, possess a certain... "mysticisim" to them, a spark of a hint of being based in reality or moral values that try to impart a lesson most often. Something like Eregon is "only" trying to tell an entertaining story from the get-go, and everyone knows it.

Although, given TheWendil's input, GM-fiat willing, they do appear to be valid within reason.

@Lewascan2
All fair points, but I'd argue that something with strong enough cultural relevance would be similar to santa in that it could become a fable. The JFK assassination and other conspiracy theories like Area 51 having aliens, for example. There are plenty of books on them that could lend to the setting of "storybooks". I've got a few ideas in mind but I'm sort of saving them in case I end up wanting to app them, heh.

@Lewascan2
All fair points, but I'd argue that something with strong enough cultural relevance would be similar to santa in that it could become a fable. The JFK assassination and other conspiracy theories like Area 51 having aliens, for example. There are plenty of books on them that could lend to the setting of "storybooks". I've got a few ideas in mind but I'm sort of saving them in case I end up wanting to app them, heh.

Seems to be kinda stretching the definition of "story book" there, but sure? I mean, it's really down to the GM definition here. I'm sticking with things that are a little more certain and such.
You've also got to remember that picking anything modern basically guarantees it can't be stronger than a Fable unless it's really lucky, like Santa, which is plenty fine sure, but the limitation is there.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I desperately desire to make this the theme song for a character, but I need to find a good legend first. XD
Anyone know anything about a legend about hating the moon?
My list of character concepts continues to expand.

On the other hand, this is the most pure "no f**ks left to give" energy song I've heard in a long time, and it could honestly go well even on a character that has nothing to do with the moon

Hold up... I might be able to combine this with an Alter Goldilocks for... shenanigans...
What if the three bears were, I dunno, werewolves(werebears?) instead or something? XD
Or maybe I could go full-on lovecraftian...

I mean if you're worried about some arbitrary power level, then sure, app some story everyone's heard a bajillion times. There's nothing wrong with it. Though you do already have a legendary magical girl, so im not sure why you're scared of making a fable.

You can also just get creative with how your magical girl's fable affects her powers. Is stripes arguably the weakest magical girl in an RP about huge groups of girls teaming up and beating on bad guys? Yea. Does she have really niche situations where she can punch way above her weight class? Absolutely. Anyway, it's just the start of the RP and Stripes managed to save someone already, so I don't think fables are automatically powerless trash tier plebs.

I mean if you're worried about some arbitrary power level, then sure, app some story everyone's heard a bajillion times. There's nothing wrong with it. Though you do already have a legendary magical girl, so im not sure why you're scared of making a fable.

You can also just get creative with how your magical girl's fable affects her powers. Is stripes arguably the weakest magical girl in an RP about huge groups of girls teaming up and beating on bad guys? Yea. Does she have really niche situations where she can punch way above her weight class? Absolutely. Anyway, it's just the start of the RP and Stripes managed to save someone already, so I don't think fables are automatically powerless trash tier plebs.

Not worried about power level, but the thematic powers themselves just aren't coming to me with these Fables. They just don't got a lot of options to draw from in general, and I like for the powers to line up with the story themes/contents instead of being "in name only" or something.
The more I look at it, the more interesting using Goldilocks becomes, so that's currently what I'm leaning for if Santa doesn't decide to pull ahead.
I just get writer's block a lot honestly (and it's decided to latch onto character creation), so the creative juices are not flowing as smoothly as I'd like currently. I'm tossing around ideas until something sticks.

Also, yeah, Fables aren't trash-tier or anything. I don't look down on those characters. Indeed, Stripes had her moments, and she will have plenty more to come, especially as she accumulates more abilities. It's a story that hopefully everyone will share the spotlight in. I'm just picky about making something interesting when it comes to a Fable that I will personally enjoy writing long-term and not get bored with or something.
I like to brainstorm and have options is all. XD

That aside, I do think I'm going to step back from character creation for a bit. After all, I already have a single good one, and the RP just started (and is fairly crowded to boot). Made some good progress for later, but I in no way need another POV to manage at this stage. XD

A Goldilocks Magical Girl who can summon bears and shoot soup sounds badass and funny at the same time. I honestly think there is a lot of potential in Fable rank, because many of the weirder fairy tales are amongst them. There is a Hungarian one about an all-devouring stomach or a rooster that kicks the ass of a Turkish Emperor for example. (Don't ask. I have no idea why either.) So while Legend or Myth is quite powerful, the sheer variety of Fables along with their off-the-wall nature makes for an interesting playstyle.

A Goldilocks Magical Girl who can summon bears and shoot soup sounds badass and funny at the same time. I honestly think there is a lot of potential in Fable rank, because many of the weirder fairy tales are amongst them. There is a Hungarian one about an all-devouring stomach or a rooster that kicks the ass of a Turkish Emperor for example. (Don't ask. I have no idea why either.) So while Legend or Myth is quite powerful, the sheer variety of Fables along with their off-the-wall nature makes for an interesting playstyle.

Not sure about the soup, but I do want to do something with the whole "Goldilocks the intruder" aspect of the story, where she broke in unseen and broke stuff. Maybe like a power that only works when nobody can see her, forcing her to sneak around?
Basically, I'll go the exact opposite direction of Camelot and make a character that has to slink in the shadows and play it careful.

<Snipped quote by Villamvihar>

Not sure about the soup, but I do want to do something with the whole "Goldilocks the intruder" aspect of the story, where she broke in unseen and broke stuff. Maybe like a power that only works when nobody can see her, forcing her to sneak around?
Basically, I'll go the exact opposite direction of Camelot and make a character that has to slink in the shadows and play it careful.

Spec Ops, Magical Girl Edition!