If I had infinite time/energy, it would be fun to make a TRPG version of Lapis Relights.
I unfortunately don't, so I'll write out enough guidelines here for Storytellers to do that with
free materials available here on my website or inexpensive sourcebooks which can be
found on the internet. The systems behind it would be Unisystem, with
Dungeons and Zombies providing occupations and the Nasuverse RPG + the Magic Box
providing rules for spells and magic. The primary point of running a Lapis Relights TRPG is to
tell a magical idol girls' story, but I am sure there will be some people that don't want to do that
and would prefer to play wandering adventurers exploring the fantasy world.
As IV Klore demonstrates, there are potentially more playable critters than only humans in the world. A
Storyteller could use the base mechanics for races from D&Z and then make a custom package for beastmen
like Salsa (her werewolf package would give her increased STR and CON, Megaleap,
and Enhanced Sense [Smell]). I would also recommend giving them Cast Iron Stomach and
Resistance (Poison) because she ingested a poisonous mushroom in ep 5 of the anime but
was not harmed by it.)
There are rules for playing ghost characters in Ghosts of Albion which could be used for Garnet. Angel's rules
for half-demons could be repurposed for Emilia. My own Nasuverse rpg has rules for puppets that
you could adjust for Alpha.
Bringing in a new character into the Story of the show could be challenging, but you could always
say she is a foreign exchange student, much like Kaede from Yamato.
There are some new mechanics that will need to be added to character sheets, namely
a Rank statistic with Respect and Disgrace substatistics - defeating magical beasts and putting
on live shows would accrue points of Respect, which eventually could help you raise your
Rank (with a proper Story justification). You earn Disgrace by failing classes, failing tasks,
flunking school tests, not completing assigned duties on time, and putting on low-quality
performances (Orchestras).
At the end of a Chapter, Storytellers will tally up Respect and then deduct Disgrace. If there's more Respect
than Disgrace, things will probably be fine (the character can store the remaining Respect and eventually use
it to upgrade her Rank). If the character has more Disgrace than Respect after the math has been done, deduct
it from the total Rank points.
The Storyteller will need to establish thresholds for particular Ranks. Falling below a particular threshold can
cause Rank to drop a level (Noir to Rouge, Rouge to Lapis, and failing Lapis causes expulsion).
Outside of the school setting of Flora, the Rank system could exist in a different form for some occupations,
but for others it might not exist at all.
Joining an idol group causes the character to assume the Rank of the group. If the group has a low status,
then she inherits the low status. The only way to go is up . . . or down, assuming the group keeps
gaining points of Disgrace.
As far as the Orchestras themselves, running them will require the player characters to roll
Performance skills and set up magical illusions (sound and vision are enough). The Storyteller
would have to determine how much Mana could be harvested from an audience and
determine how it could be used to shore up magical barriers keeping out the magical beasts.
The setting itself is mostly a highly magical fantasy medieval environment - like in Slayers,
most people don't seem particularly poor and there are systems for architecture, bathing, travel and housing
that are quite advanced for the time period. Going somewhere by boat can take weeks instead of months,
and days instead of weeks. There are also airships for those who want to travel extremely quickly.
Dance Offs between different groups could mostly be
opposed successive skill checks. To have a successful performance (which they call Orchestras),
each member of the group save the Leader makes a skill check. Each successful skill check adds +1
to the Leader's roll. A failed check subtracts 1. A fumbled check subtracts 2 (the performer stumbled,
forgot her lines, etc.) After all the bonuses and penalties are determined, the Leader makes her roll
and then the Storyteller can determine how well the troupe performed. A spectacular performance would
yield lots of mana and Respect, but a middling to poor performance would yield little mana and might
even result in attaining Disgrace.
Most characters in the settings would be female (as befits a story about magical idols). Regular
turn-based combat would be in order , and enemies might have traits that they are weak against (in this
example, the magical beasts are weak against an element used by the characters). Spells might have a
musical aspect (singing, whistling, etc.) but that doesn't change them much mechanically speaking.
Some of the other roleplaying stuff could be handled with the usual Advantage/Flaw selections. For example,
at her academy, Tiara would have Secret (Really the 2nd Princess of Waleland), Soft-Hearted, and
Vow (Become an Outstanding Witch). For long journeys from place to place, the travel rules from
Ryuutama could be repurposed to determine how long the trip takes, what state you arrive in, what
conditions you inherit from the voyage (eating bad food gave you a stomachache, etc.)
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I'll continue to add material here when more becomes available (canon information is uploaded
to their wiki, when the game comes out and I can play it, if there's something interesting in the
anime I want to write up, etc.)
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New Material (1/23/2021)
One of the sports played at the academy is Bumpball. It is similar to dodgeball from our Earth but there
are some key differences:
1. A magical barrier is erected around the play area. The ball can not pass through the magical barrier.
If thrown with enough force, it can ricochet inside it like a pinball shot out of hell.
2. The use of magic is allowed, but it must be one type of spell. If you cast a spell during play, you
must only rely on the same spell. This is to discourage cheaters who would bring a grimoire onto
the field and turn a phys. ed. activity into a wizard's battle.
3. They do not seem to make allowances for considerable differences in athletic ability. A
beastman could fight a normal human, and the human would have to deal with it.
It is not unheard of for a player to end up with Bashing damage from the game.
4. Bumpball is played with two players on two teams squaring off against one another. If an
entire idol unit is playing, players can switch in and out as they are defeated. It's also
possible for several units to work together as one team for the purpose of playing the
sport.
5. Bumpball matches continue until a team yields or a score total is reached (in the anime
it was fifteen points) . As a suggestion for how to reward or punish players, may I suggest the
following: the winning team takes all Respect points, and the losing team
takes the most Disgrace points, with the next worst team losing fewer, and the next
worst team after that losing even fewer.
6. Normally, the only way to score points in Bumpball is to hit an opponent with the ball.
If one of the teams breaks the rules (for example, using more than one type of magic), the opposing team
may be awarded extra points to discourage cheating.
7. In the event of both teams attaining 15 points, the game goes into overtime - and the match
continues until either team attains two points. Whichever team gets two points in overtime first
is the winner.
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1/24/2021
At the academy there are special events called Summons. These are assigned based on the
director's preferences and whims. The task involved in the Summons can be disaster prevention,
providing aid to injured people, etc. survey an area, investigate a person, etc.
Doing off-campus excursions exposes PCs to the environment - they may need to pitch a tent,
go camping, deal with random encounters, etc.
Some of the board games at the campus are magical and use compulsion/suggestion-based curses
and illusions to compel players to act out punishments if they play the game and land in an unlucky
spot or trap.
Spells
Tesseract Tree Camp - Power Level 5 (Casting Time: Instantaneous) (+2), Noticeable Effect (One Tree) (+1),
Very Long Duration (One Day Per Success Level) (+2), Severe Transformation (+2)
Unusual Ingredients (Enchanted Sleeping Bag) (-1) , Caster Can't Damage the Tree (-1). 15 MP to cast.
The caster selects a tree to turn into a temporary shelter and then magically attaches an Enchanted
Sleeping Bag. When the caster unzips the bag, she can enter a magical room inside the tree.
The inside of the room is larger than the outside of the tree. Inside the room are extrusions of
the tree's inside that act as furniture (a nook for a bed, a small table, a bench, etc.) Ho matter
what the weather outside is like, the inside of the room will be comfortable, dry, and warm.
This is a handy spell for travelling in the woods. After the time is up, the Enchanted Sleeping
Bag detaches but it can be used again. This is not a good way to hide from a monster, because
any serious harm to the tree (setting it on fire, chopping it with an axe, etc.) automatically
cancels the spell and ejects anyone inside with enough force to cause 1D6 Bashing damage.
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