In the name of the Moon, I will right wrongs, and triumph over evil--and that means you!
...I've been stewing over this idea for a while now, but a few days ago I finally bit the bullet and got working on a Magical Girl class for 5e. For anyone not in the know, Magical Girl is a genre of superhero aimed at young girls, which usually focus on friendship, teamwork, and pulverising evildoers to a fine mist with laserbeams. [x]
I've never made a class before, though, so I'm really not confident when it comes to balancing the features and making sure everything is appropriately powered. Basically I have plenty of ideas lined up, but no numbers to go with them. Still, I thought I'd share what I have so far, and see if we could overcome this challenge through the power of friendship work together on this.
♥
Inheritors of Great Power
Mythic Guardians are disguised heroes who wield mysterious powers from other worlds, or generations past. With the aid of a magical guide, they must hone their abilities in order to fully step into their powers, and right the wrongs in the fight inherited to them. Eventually a Guardian might succeed her patron, and pass her powers on to the next worthy mortal.
Chosen by Fate
A Guardian is defined by the power she inherits from another magical being. This being might be a long dead wizard who has chosen her as heiress, an angel looking for an earthly soldier, or even a previous incarnation of the Guardian herself, passing on an ancient responsibility. Alternately, a magical girl may have sought out this unclaimed power on her own accord, or stumbled across it by chance. A Guardian’s ultimate role is not always clear from the outset, but as she grows in her powers, she steps closer and closer to her destiny. A single patron might select several guardians to inherit their power, and leave behind a magical representative to act as a guide and recruiter.
The Keystone of the class is theTransformation, in which the MG dons a magical disguise as an action, boosting their AC, HP, and (maybe) mobility for a certain time, similar to a Barbarian's Rage or a Druid's Wildshape. This transformation will last longer as she levels up and eventually she will unlock more powerful forms as she reaches mid and high tier play. I don't have any numbers set for this and would love some input in balancing it with the rest of the class features.
Archetypes (chosen at 1st level) will determine your MG's role and place on the battlefield---There's an archetype for back-of-the-group casting, armed melee, unarmed melee, Summoning, and "fey" Wild Magic, all which emphasize different types of spells.
There's also some class "Perks" that your MG gets to pick from a couple times as they level up, and this is where a lot of the customization comes in. These perks can make you more adept at certain types of spellcasting, like healing from a distance or elemental damage spells, or they can give you out-of-combat bonuses like sensing evil or communicating telepathically with your allies.
Along the level echelon there will also be a feature similar to the Hags' Shared Spellcasting, where the party can combine forces in order to cast spells of a higher level such as Dimension Door or Dispel Magic as a minute-long ritual. I might also implement things like Auras of Protection if there's room for it, to enhance the theme of love and friendship as a protective force.
Other than that, the class is feeling a bit like a WIS-based Warlock**, being a customizable caster with "inherited" magic and (probably) limited spellslots, though again I don't have any numbers set for playtesting. Ideally, by combination of spells, archetypes, features, and flavour, a player should be able to imitate their favourite Magical Girl or make their own. (see: Sailor Moon, Ojamajo Doremi, Magic Knight Rayearth, Cardcaptors, and Star V.s The Forces of Evil.)
♥
Anyways, I'm here looking for contributors. If you're any good at the numbers game and balancing out features, or if you have some genre ideas you'd like to see implemented, PM me! I have a Doc set up and would love to share it with anyone else who's interested in developing this into a real, playable class.
♥
Thanks!
**EDIT: I know there's a lot of ways to make a Sort-of-Sailor-Moon using the already-established classes, but I really want to see if it can be done as a class in itself... so as much as I appreciate your advice, please do not try to dissuade me from moving forward with this as a class. My goal isn't just to imitate Sailor Moon, but to have a much more varied class where you could reliably make any of the more popular MGS or--more importantly--make your own MG that still feels authentic to the genre! ^^
"You don't need a special class for this, just make a Variant Shmoon elf, multiclass two levels of X with 5 five levels of Y, and take the Z feat then glue a heart on for flavour."
There, I made the comment, now no one else has to.
What if you used the Sorcerer mechanic of Sorcery Points and Metamagic instead of the Eldritch Invocations? That way you could maybe start with a Fighter as a base, add the Pact Magic feature and the Sorcery Points + Metamagic. Then you could give them custom Metamagics that would allow them to affect each other’s spells for the cooperation aspect.
My question is if it feels like a warlock, why not just make it a warlock subclass. You can still get the feel of the different types of sailor scouts via a combination of pact boons and invocations and all youd really need to do is provide a mechanic for transformations and the group spellcasting in the subclass. It'd be alot less work for you is all I'm saying.
The tranformation could be as simple as a 1 min boost to AC, attack and damage rolls per short rest, maybe have it scale off your proficiency modifier so it gets better as you level up. Then have an improved tranformation later on that could give additional buffs to saving throws or something as well as an increased duration.
As for the shared casting, maybe have that tie to the limited number of slots you have as a warlock and that they are locked at 5 or lower. So you can cast one of your spells at a spellslot level that is higher then you currently have if your allies sacrifice a warlock spell slot to do so and for each warlock that sacrifices a slot the level goes up another slot with a max of 4 sacrifices no more then once a day. So say you cast burning hands at 1st level and 4 other warlocks use their turns to sacrifice a slot now you can cast that burning hands a 5th level as a sort of hail Mary.
Alternatively the shared casting could be just an increase on save DC and spell attack mods based on how many friendly creatures are within a range of you "giving you their energy" which would be less cumbersome but maybe less powerful.
The Transformation of magical girls feels closer to Wild Shape to me than it does to a Barbarian's rage. It should be measured in hours, or at the very least minutes, not rounds... long enough to go to a ball or negotiate with allies and villains in your alter ego without revealing your mundane identity. Just creating a Wild Shape that transforms into humanoids instead of beasts probably isn't a good fit, there's too much range in humanoids, and it wouldn't feel very magical girl-y to turn into a dwarven soldier or something. But there's nothing stopping you from pre-building some forms that the MG can choose from, similar to how the companion critters for Artificers, Wildfire Druids, the new UA Beast Master options, etc. are built to scale off of proficiency bonus? Maybe three different types of form, which are the three MG subclasses: a caster form (gets big blasty attacks), a martial form (gets strong/fast/monk-y or knight-y), or social form (gets smart, charming, able to inspire and lead allies/summon magical critters)? Give the form a base at-will ability that scales like a cantrip at class level, plus some big flashy abilities at level tiers... those flashy abilities could be built like an invocation menu, or you could just be firm and define what they are for the subclasses. Base stats in the statblock for each form, with the character's proficiency bonus adding to saves, attacks, skills, etc as normal for an animal companion. And the base girl form doesn't really get much of anything for class features, other than the ability to transform more often/longer, maybe a weaker version of their transformation's at will ability, maybe the abillity to get a familiar or speak with animals or something fluffy like that. Their class/combat effectiveness is the transformation, no need to give them much outside of it, just get easier to get into it and stay into it so everything else can be a roleplaying ribbon ability.
Hmm. Maybe something like the Wayfinder's Guide changeling's "divergent persona" - if you shift into that "persona" you get access to other abilities. The persona wasn't really limited by time - you just need, say, a phone booth to transform in.
I like the earlier idea of basing the combined powers along the lines of sorcerer metamagic, but letting the PC use it to affect another player's spell/ability instead of their own.
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In the name of the Moon, I will right wrongs, and triumph over evil--and that means you!
...I've been stewing over this idea for a while now, but a few days ago I finally bit the bullet and got working on a Magical Girl class for 5e. For anyone not in the know, Magical Girl is a genre of superhero aimed at young girls, which usually focus on friendship, teamwork, and pulverising evildoers to a fine mist with laserbeams. [x]
I've never made a class before, though, so I'm really not confident when it comes to balancing the features and making sure everything is appropriately powered. Basically I have plenty of ideas lined up, but no numbers to go with them. Still, I thought I'd share what I have so far, and see if we could
overcome this challenge through the power of friendshipwork together on this.♥
Inheritors of Great Power
Mythic Guardians are disguised heroes who wield mysterious powers from other worlds, or generations past. With the aid of a magical guide, they must hone their abilities in order to fully step into their powers, and right the wrongs in the fight inherited to them. Eventually a Guardian might succeed her patron, and pass her powers on to the next worthy mortal.
Chosen by Fate
A Guardian is defined by the power she inherits from another magical being. This being might be a long dead wizard who has chosen her as heiress, an angel looking for an earthly soldier, or even a previous incarnation of the Guardian herself, passing on an ancient responsibility. Alternately, a magical girl may have sought out this unclaimed power on her own accord, or stumbled across it by chance. A Guardian’s ultimate role is not always clear from the outset, but as she grows in her powers, she steps closer and closer to her destiny. A single patron might select several guardians to inherit their power, and leave behind a magical representative to act as a guide and recruiter.
The Keystone of the class is theTransformation, in which the MG dons a magical disguise as an action, boosting their AC, HP, and (maybe) mobility for a certain time, similar to a Barbarian's Rage or a Druid's Wildshape. This transformation will last longer as she levels up and eventually she will unlock more powerful forms as she reaches mid and high tier play. I don't have any numbers set for this and would love some input in balancing it with the rest of the class features.
Archetypes (chosen at 1st level) will determine your MG's role and place on the battlefield---There's an archetype for back-of-the-group casting, armed melee, unarmed melee, Summoning, and "fey" Wild Magic, all which emphasize different types of spells.
There's also some class "Perks" that your MG gets to pick from a couple times as they level up, and this is where a lot of the customization comes in. These perks can make you more adept at certain types of spellcasting, like healing from a distance or elemental damage spells, or they can give you out-of-combat bonuses like sensing evil or communicating telepathically with your allies.
Along the level echelon there will also be a feature similar to the Hags' Shared Spellcasting, where the party can combine forces in order to cast spells of a higher level such as Dimension Door or Dispel Magic as a minute-long ritual. I might also implement things like Auras of Protection if there's room for it, to enhance the theme of love and friendship as a protective force.
Other than that, the class is feeling a bit like a WIS-based Warlock**, being a customizable caster with "inherited" magic and (probably) limited spellslots, though again I don't have any numbers set for playtesting. Ideally, by combination of spells, archetypes, features, and flavour, a player should be able to imitate their favourite Magical Girl or make their own. (see: Sailor Moon, Ojamajo Doremi, Magic Knight Rayearth, Cardcaptors, and Star V.s The Forces of Evil.)
♥
Anyways, I'm here looking for contributors. If you're any good at the numbers game and balancing out features, or if you have some genre ideas you'd like to see implemented, PM me! I have a Doc set up and would love to share it with anyone else who's interested in developing this into a real, playable class.
♥
Thanks!
**EDIT: I know there's a lot of ways to make a Sort-of-Sailor-Moon using the already-established classes, but I really want to see if it can be done as a class in itself... so as much as I appreciate your advice, please do not try to dissuade me from moving forward with this as a class. My goal isn't just to imitate Sailor Moon, but to have a much more varied class where you could reliably make any of the more popular MGS or--more importantly--make your own MG that still feels authentic to the genre! ^^
"You don't need a special class for this, just make a Variant Shmoon elf, multiclass two levels of X with 5 five levels of Y, and take the Z feat then glue a heart on for flavour."
There, I made the comment, now no one else has to.
"The beating sound is not my sympathetic heart, but a time bomb."
♦Character art commissions♦
What if you used the Sorcerer mechanic of Sorcery Points and Metamagic instead of the Eldritch Invocations? That way you could maybe start with a Fighter as a base, add the Pact Magic feature and the Sorcery Points + Metamagic. Then you could give them custom Metamagics that would allow them to affect each other’s spells for the cooperation aspect.
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I love the idea for a magical girl class, especially for a more modern setting. Somewhere between mage and superhero.
Good luck in your endeavour!
My question is if it feels like a warlock, why not just make it a warlock subclass. You can still get the feel of the different types of sailor scouts via a combination of pact boons and invocations and all youd really need to do is provide a mechanic for transformations and the group spellcasting in the subclass. It'd be alot less work for you is all I'm saying.
The tranformation could be as simple as a 1 min boost to AC, attack and damage rolls per short rest, maybe have it scale off your proficiency modifier so it gets better as you level up. Then have an improved tranformation later on that could give additional buffs to saving throws or something as well as an increased duration.
As for the shared casting, maybe have that tie to the limited number of slots you have as a warlock and that they are locked at 5 or lower. So you can cast one of your spells at a spellslot level that is higher then you currently have if your allies sacrifice a warlock spell slot to do so and for each warlock that sacrifices a slot the level goes up another slot with a max of 4 sacrifices no more then once a day. So say you cast burning hands at 1st level and 4 other warlocks use their turns to sacrifice a slot now you can cast that burning hands a 5th level as a sort of hail Mary.
Alternatively the shared casting could be just an increase on save DC and spell attack mods based on how many friendly creatures are within a range of you "giving you their energy" which would be less cumbersome but maybe less powerful.
Just some suggestions
The Transformation of magical girls feels closer to Wild Shape to me than it does to a Barbarian's rage. It should be measured in hours, or at the very least minutes, not rounds... long enough to go to a ball or negotiate with allies and villains in your alter ego without revealing your mundane identity. Just creating a Wild Shape that transforms into humanoids instead of beasts probably isn't a good fit, there's too much range in humanoids, and it wouldn't feel very magical girl-y to turn into a dwarven soldier or something. But there's nothing stopping you from pre-building some forms that the MG can choose from, similar to how the companion critters for Artificers, Wildfire Druids, the new UA Beast Master options, etc. are built to scale off of proficiency bonus? Maybe three different types of form, which are the three MG subclasses: a caster form (gets big blasty attacks), a martial form (gets strong/fast/monk-y or knight-y), or social form (gets smart, charming, able to inspire and lead allies/summon magical critters)? Give the form a base at-will ability that scales like a cantrip at class level, plus some big flashy abilities at level tiers... those flashy abilities could be built like an invocation menu, or you could just be firm and define what they are for the subclasses. Base stats in the statblock for each form, with the character's proficiency bonus adding to saves, attacks, skills, etc as normal for an animal companion. And the base girl form doesn't really get much of anything for class features, other than the ability to transform more often/longer, maybe a weaker version of their transformation's at will ability, maybe the abillity to get a familiar or speak with animals or something fluffy like that. Their class/combat effectiveness is the transformation, no need to give them much outside of it, just get easier to get into it and stay into it so everything else can be a roleplaying ribbon ability.
That kind of thing.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Thanks! :D I'll try and keep this thread up-to-date as I progress!
"The beating sound is not my sympathetic heart, but a time bomb."
♦Character art commissions♦
Hmm. Maybe something like the Wayfinder's Guide changeling's "divergent persona" - if you shift into that "persona" you get access to other abilities. The persona wasn't really limited by time - you just need, say, a phone booth to transform in.
I like the earlier idea of basing the combined powers along the lines of sorcerer metamagic, but letting the PC use it to affect another player's spell/ability instead of their own.