Mahou Josei is a crack-played-straight, fast-and-loose black comedy TTRPG designed for 2-5 players. Build your own Magical Girl! Satire Late-Stage Capitalism! Go nuts! And maybe treat yo’ self once in a while. You deserve better.
This game is not necessarily safe for work or for minors. Assume Rated R for profanity and humor a little too on-the-nose. Your boss probably won’t appreciate the Kill Bill antics. If you’re not old enough to watch that film unsupervised, put this blog back where you found it, please and thanks.
While we pay homage to more traditional TTRPGs and the tropes of our favorite media, we would like to emphasize that this game is specifically designed to be more role play heavy and math light. More of the vibes of traditional TTRPGs and less of the rules.
In a not-too-distant cyberpunk dystopia future where we continue to get the bad ending every time something comes up. We all live in a “society,” y’know? Unfortunately, “mecha pilot” is still not a viable career option (yet).
...and Lore
The source of all magic is whimsy: the spark of joy and the intensity of that spark. The opposite of whimsy is apathy. There are a myriad of possible expressions of magic. Technology is one such expression. The pool of magic in the universe is vast but finite—much like RAM on a computer. With magic being expressed in a myriad of ways, there is only so much to go around; in the 1990’s, magic begins to be overallocated to technology like never before, causing distinct imbalances in the universe at large. After the Y2K crisis, that imbalance is tipped so far in one direction that other expressions of magic are practically dormant except at the smallest scale. Larger natural expressions of magic pool their allotment and bubble under the surface at designated nexus points until they burst, causing calamities. Magic has been having an increasingly bad reputation as most people only recognize magic when it looks like the kind of destructive force you’d have to write off as an “act of god” on your insurance. They do not recognize more mundane activities as additional forms of magic. Small children have more sensitivity to magic at large than the adult population.
Magical girls are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The world is well past the point where totally nuking technology is a viable option. We can only try to keep civilians out of harm’s way to preserve what’s left of natural order, and hope for the best.
The Sugar Daddy is
is a divine entity encompassing charity, which has unfortunately been commandeered to exclusivity by Avarice Greedman someone who understands neither charity nor limitations. It gives and gives and gives, but Greedman refuses to share, and in his greed, the world has fallen out of balance.
Timeline
????—The Sugar Daddy appears.
19??—Avarice Greedman founds Good Greed, Inc.
2000 – Y2K crisis averted/Magical Girl Apocalypse. Capitalistopia appears. Mascot characters go into hibernation, as there is no longer enough magic to sustain them. Millennial Magical Girls still within the blast zone lose their powers prematurely.
Unspecified interim—Intermittent flare ups of magic as nature attempts to self-correct the imbalance in the universe the only way it knows how: ultra-violence.
20??—Your character is born. Your teenaged years are totally normal.
Present Day—Your character, now likely in their 30’s, attends the Hamburger Festival and becomes a Magical Girl!
About YOU
You are a 30-some-odd-year-old schmuck just trying to get by in late-stage captialism who suddenly had the magical girl genre thrust upon you when your powers woke up one day after eating some kick ass burgers. You are not necessarily a girl, per se. You can have any gender you damn well please, or even make it up for that matter. The point is you are a victim of genre conventions.
Name
You know what you’re doing. It’s not like your Magical Girl is paying taxes. If you decide to go more the super hero route, you can pick a name for yourself in and out of magical girl conventions. Transformation sequences are optional.
Occupation
Let’s be real—even the best of us is a little burnt out by the day job. While the sky’s the limit when it comes to magic, that limitation is also built entirely upon your ability to imagine what you want to do with it. “Occupation” is the primary theme around which your magic is built. What do you do at your day job? What tools do you handle there? Do you have any skills that could be transferred to solving mysteries or beating up baddies in the name of truth, justice, and getting a damn break?
Role
While distinct from “Occupation,” this too is a theme around which your magic is built. Think of this as a looser interpretation of the character’s “Class” in a more traditional RPG. Don’t limit yourself to the traditional “bard”, “rogue”, “cleric”, etc. Grab genre by the horns and try something different, like “Overoptimistic Shōnen protagonist,” “Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon but to the left,” or “Mad scientist who forgot ethics boards were a 'thing'.”
Background
This is how you got to where you are today. What did you do to get yourself into your current day job? Do you have any dreams, goals, or axes to grind? How are you connected to the rest the group? What are your individual motivations to be part of the local Magical Girl Union?
Magic
Magic comes in three parts: Move Set, Weapon Proficiency, and Inventory. Move Set is your general abilities and spell list, which can be subject to change at any time.
Weapon Proficiency include what tools you work with that could be reimagined as weapons. This is not limited to melee combat weaponry. Improvisation does not hurt you.
Inventory constitutes any additional tools of the trade that do not fall into one of the above categories, and any items you pick up along the way.
If I ever get around to writing Character Sheet Advanced, here are the basic stats you should keep in mind. Use as few or as many as your heart desires, but above all else, be consistent.
Basic stats
| STRENGTH |
How hard can you hit something? |
| DEXTERIY |
How flexible are you about avoiding enemy bonks? How steady are your hands when you have to aim with precision accuracy? |
| CONSTITUTION |
Assuming you got hurt, how well are you able to continue standing afterwards? |
| INTELLIGENCE |
How much knowledge have you amassed (industry specific or otherwise)? |
| WISDOM |
How well are you able to execute that knowledge? |
| CHARISMA |
How well can you gaslight/gatekeep/girl boss or mansplain/manipulate/male wife your way out of trouble? |
Other stats and why they're not included
Hit points and Armor Class: The thickness of your plot armor is entirely contingent on the DM's discretion.
Race and Alignment: build that into your character background.
Perception and Initiative: These are dice rolls performed in the moment rather than a fixed stat.
Proficiency bonus, Range: Weapons have no numbers attached so this is meaningless. Gauge by vibes.
Speed: If you want to do literal speed, or maybe an energy drink, proceed as “buffed”.
Experience points and Levels: It’s too subjective and qualitative to outline rules for. You wanna bring Saleforce metrics into your off hours? Be my guest, you fucking weirdo.
Limits on saving throws: You’re going to look death in the eye and stick your tongue out a lot. Why penalize yourself over your close calls? A death save is literally just Tuesday, bruh.
Attention DMs! Be sure to think about adding some of the following to your campaign.
Mascot character
They may look cute, but they’re your handler. Mascot characters are often region-specific tacky souvenirs that embody their locale. While they do talk to each other via the psychic memo network, that does not necessarily mean they get along, especially with conflicts of jurisdiction.
Villains
Your big bad! Generally, robber baron capitalists and “C-suite” executives—not necessarily mutually exclusive either. These people use their immense wealth of money, power, influence, and even magic toward selfish gains, which is basically more of the above. Some of these folks even have direct ties to the Sugar Daddy.
B-Villains
Your lesser baddies. This tier encompasses mid-bosses and middle managers.
Small fry
Exactly what it says on the tin. Basic bestiary enemies.
Combatant NPCs
NPCs generally do not have access to Magic without extenuating circumstance. Combatant NPCs usually make up for this lack with tech. Add mechas here.
Other NPCs
Literally everyone else.
Additional considerations
A single monster versus a gang of magical girls does not last very long. Instead of drawing the encounter out with minion hordes, consider increasing the number of dice allotted to the monster. For example, a monster with 2D20s allotted could alternate between using both dice to perform an action with advantage and using each die individually to perform two actions on its turn.
To reiterate, the point of being fast-and-loose is to minimize the math. Hit Points aren’t real. They’re based on vibes. Spell slots aren’t real. They’re based on imagination. Experience points? Fuhgeddaboudit.
Dice basics and idiosyncrasies
Dice are used sparingly. All battle actions, checks, and saving throws are determined by D20. Healing and de/buffs are determined by D12. All others (including other polyhedral dice, mood dice, story dice, or whatever other goodies you found at the game store) are all ad hoc to the player. Some example uses of idiosyncratic dice use are: D4 as a consumable item tracker and D100 or mood dice to check an audience opinion poll.
Out of Combat
Outside of combat, the DM may request you perform a skill check or a perception check. Roll a single D20 and use the following rules of thumb to gauge how successfully you perform at the task. When combat is completed, characters may heal without aid being determined by dice. DMs should scale at their discretion.
During Combat
| D20 |
For most actions |
| 1-5 |
Failure with retaliation |
| 6-10 |
Failure, no retaliation |
| 11-15 |
Moderate success |
| 16-20 |
Major success |
| D12 |
Healing, Buffs & Debufs |
1-4 |
Small effect |
| 5-8 |
Moderate effect |
| 9-12 |
Large effect |
- When combat begins, everyone involved must roll for initiative. This initiative is to determine turn order during this particular battle sequence, only. Initiative does not carry over between battles, nor is it a preset stat.
- Talking is a free action. Movement within reason is also a free action.
- Skill/perception checks, and most melee attacks require one turn. Certain spells may require one turn for set up and a second for execution. Refer to the “Move Set” section of your character sheet for more details.
- A character only has one major action per turn. The player must first declare their intended action, then roll 1D20 to determine its success.
- Hit points do not exist. The DM should use discretion when scaling the success of an action based on the outcome of the dice.
- Area of effect attacks, such as a machine gun or a self-destruct sequence, may require relevant characters to roll a saving throw to avoid splash damage, serious injury, or even KO. If the character’s saving throw is equal to or greater than the damage roll, they are safe. If the character’s saving throw is less than the damage roll, they will take damage. The lower the roll, the greater the damage. The DM should use discretion when determining if a character will suffer any injuries, loss of turn, or KO.
- If a character decides to assist another character, for example, one player steadies a canon while the other aims and fires, the character whose turn has not yet come up in the round will be skipped. They will have their next turn in the subsequent round.
- Injured characters may be asked to roll with disadvantage for the rest of the battle unless they are healed. To roll with disadvantage, roll 2D20 and use the lesser number to determine the action’s success.
- Buffed characters may roll their subsequent action with advantage. To roll with advantage, roll 2D20 and use the greater number to determine the action’s success.
- If a buffed character is specifically increasing their speed, they may perform two actions on their turn rather than using two turns.
- The severity of a heal is determined by rolling a D12 instead of a D20 and scaling success as per the rules of thumb chart above. Buff/debuff spells and items should be gauged similarly.