The Trials and Tribulations of a would be Yuri Harem Goddess (Highschool DxD AU)

[SamPardi]

1999 - Uganda

"I never would have imagined a course of events that could push us to this," A tall man with red hair said. "Certainly we haven't been the best of friends, but this..."

His opponent grunted in acknowledgement. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting you to come yourself."

"Ah, and waste my cute subordinates? Sometimes, it's just a matter of having the raw power." The redhead turned slightly to look on the wasteland behind his foe without letting his enemy out of his sight. "Besides, who knows how much power you got from that feast."

The being chuckled. "If you really think I only ate the pathetic mortals, then you're really going to underestimate me."

"I was wondering where the Egyptian Pantheon were..." The man replied.

"Weaklings. Couldn't protect even one of their precious followers when it came down to it!"

For a long moment the crimson haired man was silent. Still his slight frown spoke eloquently of his opinion of the news. "Then I suppose I really shouldn't hold back."

"No. You shouldn't."

Red light illuminated the area in the color of fresh blood. A monstrously large black sphere that paradoxically glowed red struck the being and detonated in a brilliant flash of light visible for miles around.

Their battle had only begun.

---

A few months later - Japan

An old woman in a dark shawl shambled through the narrow streets of a suburb. Her skin was cracked and pale enough one might not at first notice her middle eastern descent. Dark eyes still sparkled with purpose and intelligence though as they caught on every face and individual.

Some of those that passed whispered. Wondering if she were a refugee from the recent crisis, or what she might be doing in such a normal neighborhood. She ignored them easily enough. The fact she was a refugee meant little to her, and was certainly nothing she felt ashamed of. No she had a purpose, and for her purpose she must find someone who meets her criteria. So few did. So few.

Finally she saw someone who did. A woman, young, in her prime. The subtle divination the old priestess was using revealed more than mere sight. Married, active sex life, soon coming to the peak of her fertility and showed some subtle signs of recently going off her normal birth control. Perfect.

With a burst of speed the old woman placed herself in the woman's path and approached her with all the subtlety of a bull... Or an old woman who no longer gives a shit about other's opinions. Either one really.

"I'm sorry... Can I help you?" The younger woman asks, confused.

A rickety hand withdraws within the old woman's shawl and pulls out a golden ankh large enough for its lower pillar to be held like a handle. "Here. This belongs to you now." She forced the ankh into the woman's hands, honestly not caring what happened to the artifact after it had touched the woman's hands.

Mission complete the old woman turned and bustled off, ignoring the questioning cries of the young woman. She had one last mission and not much time to complete it. Once she'd found herself relatively alone she called on the meager remains of her stamina and the power of a useful acquaintance to open a teleportation circle as far away from there as she could... She managed to land in an alleyway two prefectures over.

"Good enough," she grumped. "It'll have to be."

The woman raised a frail hand in front of her face. "It was enough..." She nodded in confirmation and then leaned back. Her eyes closed as she fell into peaceful sleep. Seconds later the tattered remnants of her soul shattered into dust leaving her body a lifeless husk.

---
The Trials and Tribulations of a would be Yuri Harem Goddess
A DxD AU Quest

2015 (Quest Present) - Japan
"Ow!" You hastily pull your face away from your vice-captain's questing fingers. You gently slap her hands away.

"Oh you big baby." Lin Satsuzaki threw her hands up in defeat and frustration. "You know President Shitori is going to bitch you out hard for showing up to your classes looking like you got into a fight."

"I did get into a fight. It's not my fault the other schools mostly enter gorillas in the tournaments. It was a club event, all official with the paperwork done and everything. She can't give me shit for that!" You shoot back.

"An official event for a club she doesn't like and clearly wants to shut down." Lin frowned at you for a long moment, but finally shook her head. "This boxing club is your baby, I can't understand why you aren't more careful to keep it."

"Because I'm sick of being careful. Why do you think I took up boxing?" You smirk. "Well, with that taken care of, I guess I can go take a shower now~"

Lins hands clamp on your shoulders freezing you in place. "Now, Captain. The girls have all agreed its safer for everyone if you just wait till they're all done. You wouldn't want any... accidents, would you?"

"Hah, ha, heh... No. No accidents. You're absolutely right," you nod in agreement while pretending that you're only imagining the dangerous gleam in her eyes.

Silence drags on for a long few seconds as you sweat under her stern glare. Finally the door to the captain's office opens and one your club members pokes their head in. "Everything okay in here?" She turns her mild gaze to you, but it only makes you sweat more. In fact you put your back up against a wall and try to look small just to be safe.

"We're fine. She's behaving herself," Lin replies.

You nod hastily in agreement. She may appear to be a mild mannered giantess, except in the chest department, but Airi Katsumori does not fool you for a second. Truly this is no girl but a monster in human flesh. Far too strong for the likes of mere mortal. But that strength waits, behind the safety of its mild mannered genius veneer for the first sign of perversion and then... it strikes.

No, you are not fooled at all.

"Well the showers are free. I was the last. Later," she gives a brief wave of goodbye and then disappears on her way.

"I say again. Total baby," Lin says with a snicker as you slide to the ground in relief.

---

"Ah! The Empress of Perversion approaches!" Aika Kiryuu greets you before class. "You look like you got your ass kicked."

"Nah, I left the ring on my feet. Can't say the same for my opponent. So bow, Queen of Perversion, for not only am I your Empress, but now also the prefecture's lightweight boxing champion!" You shoot back.

She gives you an over the top bow of an obsequious nature, "truly you are a marvel of our time, Kyou-chan!"

Vaguely you're aware of the so called 'perverted duo' wailing in the corner pleading with god to correct some oversight or other. While it was annoying when you first came out to have them constantly going on about it being some great cost to men or something like that, you eventually learned to tune them out. Frankly the opinion of a couple losers meant less than nothing to you now.

"Oh and happy birthday." Aika grabbed a small game case out of her bag and handed it to you.

"Oh, that's sweet. Thank you. Now what's this?" Your eyes light up as you read the title. "Strawberry Shrine*Sweet, Special Edition! This is the version with the loli-gitsune! How did you get this? It isn't supposed to release until the weekend!"

"Oh, I happen to know a few people. Anyways, happy birthday. Honestly, I don't know what you see in that series. They even added the bishounen shrine assistant with a tortured past and you can't even romance him!" Aika expounded.

Your eyes flash, "cute bishounen boys are nothing before the power of Yuri, Aika! He exists only so you can prove your pure heart and intentions to the cynical world weary onee-san character! Truly the value of purifying a young woman's heart is a hundred, nay, a thousand times as worthy as wooing a mere bishounen!"

You freeze at the sound of a man clearing his voice behind you. "That's very interesting, Hyoudou-san, but if you wouldn't mind taking your seat; I'd like to start my class now."

"Ah, hai-sensei!" You try to ignore Aika's giggles as you shuffle into your seat and get out your home room materials.

For the next few hours you sit in your usual window seat, though for some reason today the sun feels more... friendly? In fact it feels so nice you're having trouble not dozing off. During a particularly boring part you just can't keep your eyes open, your eyelids are just too heavy. You assure yourself you're only closing your eyes for a moment. Just a moment. Just...

You open your eyes to an expanse of sunny field. Drifting. Floating. Gravity doesn't feel real, but you aren't really moving away from the ground either. Then it appeared before you.

[ ] [Power] A lioness, her fur darkened and stained with blood. Scars cover her form and even as she growls more blood pours from her maw. (Combat Focus. Fighting is replaced with Ki Artist. [Sun Element Ki] merit gained.)
[ ] [Power] A cow standing on a dais of corpses. Despite the macabre sight, the cow itself seems positively radiant and its stance is oddly protective of the corpses below rather than condescending. (Charisma focus. Slow Appearance gain. Ability to interact with the dead. Eventual ability to judge spirits and force them into the appropriate afterlife.)
[ ] [Power] A cat, of black fur with golden tips and adorned with a solid gold collar. It's amazing how well the cat stands out as it's actually in the center of a veritable sea of cats. Just, for some reason you know the first cat is the cat. (Luck focus. From now on cats will never really be far from you. While you won't be mobbed, they'll just kind of be there but everywhere. However these cats will intervene in times of great distress and danger, and may call in their friends if the need is truly great. While they won't simply follow orders, they can pass messages for you if it's of great importance. More may be possible if you train up your animal ken, leadership, and investigation.)
[ ] [Power] An empty throne, resplendent in gold and turquoise. You're not sure what to make of it, since the base is solid gold so there are no legs. It actually looks kind of uncomfortable. (Magic Focus. You gain 1 rank of Sun Magic proficiency an immediate dot of occult. Also once per week you can ignore any knowledge or skill limits to create a single perfect magical artifact of a rank equal or lesser to your current Sun Magic Proficiency. It does not have to be a Sun Magic Artifact.)

You only see it for a moment before the sun rises behind it and blinds you. When you blink your eyes, the glare fades to reveal your classroom where life seems to be mostly going on like normal. A big yawn forces its way out, but the teacher has his back turned so you get away with it. Soon enough you're following along like normal, only the slightest twinge of concern left for your strange experience.

---

Day 1 - Monday
Like most school days, your day is already taken up by school and your club. Only the evening and night are available. Choose two.

[ ] [Action] Training. You can always tighten up something. (3 hours)
- [ ] Specify what you want to train in. You must already have a dot in it.
[ ] [Action] Socialize.
- [ ] Aika
- [ ] Lin
- [ ] Airi
- [ ] Boxing Club Members
[ ] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[ ] [Action] Go looking for some delinquents to beat senseless.
[ ] [Action] Look something up at the school library.
- [ ] Specify what you want to look up. Can be as generic as a keyword or as specific as individual's name.
[ ] [Action] Look something up on the internet.
- [ ] Specify what you want to look up. Can be as generic as a keyword or as specific as individual's name.
[ ] [Action] Wander around town. Why not, it's generally a safe place and none of the local thugs are much danger to you anyways.

---

What you IC know about the AU:
There was some kind of nuclear fuck-up over in Uganda back in '99. Problem is it took a huge bit out of Lake Victoria and blocked off the feed into the Nile. Uganda couldn't afford to fix it so Egypt made a deal with Sudan and mobilised to conquer Uganda. Several of the central African powers saw their chance to gain huge leverage over the militarily and economically more successful Egypt.

Within a year, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had both collapsed as functioning governments and Tanzania and Kenya were seriously embattled with Egypt and several smaller actors. UN sanctions flew, but ultimately did nothing. 'Free Agents' from a host of middle eastern nations entered the region ratcheting up religious tensions in an already ethnically volatile area. It was rumored Isreal got in on the conflict on an unofficial level for the purpose of keeping Egypt in a state of economic recession.

In 2007 an armistice was reached by the major players of the war. A corporation, the Victoria-Nile Corp, was formed with the combatant nations acting as share holders with each country holding equal shares and with a board appointed by Egypt but subject to confirmation or summary dismissal by a majority vote of share holders. Lake Victoria itself and all unoccupied land for ten miles surrounding it was ceded to the corporation.

The first corporate micro-nation was formed. Deliberation is ongoing as to whether they should be granted a seat in the UN or not.

Soon the Nile began to flow again, and Egypt's fortunes were on the rise. Not that the area ever truly pacified. Terrorists of nearly every stripe are always active in the area.

During this, there has been an increase in strange events across the globe. Terror attacks on churches have been on the rise, as well as unexplained disappearances of locally important officials. The internet is rife with rumors of a secret war in the dark and repeated hoax movies showing people with weird laser guns and lightsabers fighting people with black wings throwing around spears of hardened light.

And that's nothing next to the mysterious fire that burned down almost ten square blocks in a town down in the Kyushu region.

What I'll confirm OOC about the setting:
While there won't be wholesale crossovers, ideas will be stolen from various series and made to fit the setting. So you might meet the human-devil hybrid that benefited from their ancient ancestor turning a contract around on a devil. Their immortality spell now only passing on their power and physical attributes to their successor rather than consuming their soul and replacing it with the devil's. (BtVS) Or one of the many organizations of mere humans and what few magicians and creatures they can con or coerce into helping them that take on the hard and often lethal job of combating the lesser supernatural threats that slip the large factions' radars. (Hellsing, FEAR)

Your Sacred Gear is Twice Critical. It isn't active yet, you need to be in a fight in which you seriously chance dying first. No amount of training or leveling it will cause it to become Boosted Gear. This isn't a transitory stage, it really is Twice Critical.

Rias Gremory isn't interested in you. With Twice Critical locked away and neither you nor it particularly powerful, you don't especially smell of dragons or even seem to have any special power. Unless the only other option is letting you die in front of her, Rias will not add you to her peerage.

Sona doesn't like you and considers you barely above a delinquent. She still might offer you a spot in her peerage though as you are on the shortlist of possible candidates. Knight and Rook are both on the table depending on how you develop your skills between now and whenever she makes up her mind whether or not to invite you to her peerage.

Don't expect to fall into the stations of canon. This is going off the rails hard and early. Certain canon events are also more or less guaranteed to play out differently. The factions are much more tense in this AU and I'm not just talking about the big three.

I'm using a homebrew variant of the Storyteller system. I'll try to explain the system in more detail in a future post.

While this is a Yuri harem, I'm willing to consider sufficiently feminine crossdressers (see: Gaspar Valdi). I am fine with lolis in the harem, but ultimately it's up for vote.

Also this quest will ultimately be a Shounen flavored quest, with heroic saves and impressing girls with your pure heart and intentions and all that. After a few turns, I may hold a vote to see if there is interest in running a parallel quest in NSFW for a Hentai flavored villainous route.

Also one last vote to nail things down. What do the players want as a difficulty level?
[ ] [Difficulty] Easy
[ ] [Difficulty] Normal
[ ] [Difficulty] Hard
[ ] [Difficulty] You Will Die (Death is inevitable, its what you accomplish beforehand that counts.)
[ ] [Difficulty] Ma'at (Let your heart weigh no more than a feather... Karma only goes negative, ergo free tickets for the GM to take a die off a roll at will, and every infraction carries more bad karma than the last.)
[ ] [Difficulty] War, War never changes... (The Second Great War is now an inevitability. No amount of good leadership, or impassioned speeches will stop it. The Underworld and Earth will be ravaged by their battles, but even Heaven can't count on being spared. You will not be able to avoid getting caught up in it.)

 

[SamPardi]

Characters

Kyou Hyoudou (you) Lin Satsumaki Airi Katsumori Aika Kiryuu

• 
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
  Name: Kyou Hyoudou
  Nature: Human(?)
  Archtype: Tomboy
  Concept: Lesbian Issei, minus bullshit tier advantages
  Demeanor: Indomitable
  
  Motivation: I want a harem of cute girls to wait on my every whim! (Lust)
  Limit: I can't stand to see a girl cry, or stand by when someone is in danger! (Kindness)
  
  
  Attributes Talents Skills Knowledges Powers/Spells/Artifacts Backgrounds/Relations/Reputations Merits/Weaknesses Virtues/Vices

  • 
    Strength: OO
    Dexterity: OOO
    Stamina: OOO
    
    Charisma: OO
    Manipulation: O
    Appearance: OOO
    
    Perception: OO
    Intelligence: OO
    Wits: OOO
    
  • 
    Acting:
    Alertness: O
    Athletics: O
    Martial Arts(Ki Assisted): O
    Dodge: O
    Empathy:
    Intimidation:
    Leadership:
    Streetwise:
    Subterfuge: O
    
  • 
    Animal Ken:
    Archery:
    Etiquette: OO
    Firearms:
    Melee: O
    Music:
    Repair:
    Security:
    Stealth: O
    Survival:
    
  • 
    Bureaucracy: O
    Computer:
    Finance:
    Investigation:
    Law:
    Linguistics: O
    Medicine:O
    Occult:
    Politics:
    Science:
    
  • 
    Artifacts
    Twice Critcal:
    
  • 
    Backgrounds
    High School Student
    Native Language (Japanese)
    Childhood Friend (Shidou Irina)
    
    Relations
    Friend - Aika Kiryuu: OO
    Friendship - Boxing Club: OOOO
    Friendship - Airi Katsumori: O
    
    Reputations
    Lesbian Pervert (Kuoh Academy): OOO
    Problem Student (Student Council): OO
    Embarrasing Captain (Female Boxing Club): OOOO
    
    
  • 
    Merits
    Noble Pervert:
    This character is very vocal about their perversion, to the detriment of their reputation. However they have an enobled view of their actions and are not remotely tempted by the darkest lusts. Add Valor to lust rolls, so long as they are not purposefully harrassing or assaulting a woman.
    
    Sun Element Ki:
    You've naturally unlocked the Ki channels in your body and can now focus your energy. At the start of a round you can choose a specialty for Ki Arts, punches, dodges, kicks, and all actions of that type are treated like a normal specialty (1 extra die on roll). The specialty ends at the end of round. Your physical attributes all gain a 'sunlight' specialty, where they are better when fighting in the light of the sun, once Ki Arts reaches three dots.
    
    Weaknesses
    Oppai
    This character when exposed to a female's breasts must make a willpower check or lose one turn to daze. Mere cleavage is a regular check, but naked breasts are made a -1 disadvantage. Physical contact also causes a -1 disadvantage. Both disadvantages can stack.
    
    Seduction by females
    When females are attempting to seduce this character, this character loses one 1 dice from their defensive rolls.
    
  • 
    Virtues
    Chastity: OO
    Temperance: O
    Charity: OOOO
    Diligence: OOO
    Patience: O
    Kindness: OOOO
    Humility: OOO
    Valor: OOOOO
    
    Vices
    Lust: OO
    Gluttony: O
    Greed: OO
    Sloth: OOO
    Wrath: OO
    Envy: OOO
    Pride: OO
    Craven: O
    
  
  
  Willpower
  OOO
  
  Karma
  O
  
  Determination (Formerly Temporary Willpower)
  
  Health
  -0 [ ]
  -1 [ ] [ ]
  -2 [ ] [ ]
  -5 [ ]
  Incapacitaded [ ]
  Dead [ ]
  
• 
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
  Name: Lin Satsumaki
  Short Description: The vice president of the girl's boxing club that Kyou founded. A good friend of Kyou's even if they don't see each other much outside of the boxing club. Is of Chinese/Canadian heritage on one side and Japanese on the other. Has often felt isolated from others due to her looks and heritage. Can be very rowdy and not afraid to act sensual, very much afraid of real intimacy though. That way lies monsters.
  Nature: Human
  Archtype: Sexy Tough Girl
  Concept:?
  Demeanor: Playful
  
  Attributes Talents Skills Knowledges Powers/Spells/Artifacts Backgrounds/Relations/Reputations Merits/Weaknesses Virtues/Vices

  • 
    Strength: OOO
    Dexterity: OOO
    Stamina: OO
    
    Charisma: OO
    Manipulation: O
    Appearance: OOOO
    
    Perception: O
    Intelligence: OO
    Wits: OO
    
  • 
    Acting:
    Alertness: O
    Athletics: O
    Fighting: O
    Dodge: O
    Empathy:
    Intimidation:
    Leadership:
    Streetwise: O
    Subterfuge:
    
  • 
    Animal Ken: O
    Archery:
    Etiquette: O
    Firearms:
    Melee: O
    Music: O
    Repair:
    Security:
    Stealth:
    Survival:
    
  • 
    Bureaucracy: O
    Computer:
    Finance:
    Investigation: O
    Law:
    Linguistics:
    Medicine:
    Occult:
    Politics:
    Science: O
    
  • 
    Powers
    
    Spells
    
    Artifacts
    
  • 
    Backgrounds
    High School Student
    Native Language (Japanese)
    Native Language (English)
    Mixed Heritage (Chinese/Canadian & Japanese)
    
    Relations
    Friendship - Boxing Club: OOO
    
    Reputations
    Violent Temper (Kuoh Academy): OOO
    Problem Student (Student Council): OO
    
    
  • 
    Merits
    Battle Maniac
    This character's spirit rises as battles draw on and become harder. So long as they are not completely overwhelmed, they are immune to social attacks during combat.
    
    Weaknesses
    
  • 
    Virtues
    Chastity: O
    Temperance: O
    Charity: OOO
    Diligence: OO
    Patience: O
    Kindness: OOO
    Humility: O
    Valor: OOOOO
    
    Vices
    Lust: OOO
    Gluttony: O
    Greed: O
    Sloth: OO
    Wrath: OOO
    Envy: O
    Pride: OOO
    Craven:
    
  
  
  Willpower
  OOOO
  
  Karma
  O
  
  Determination (Formerly Temporary Willpower)
  
  Health
  -0 [ ]
  -1 [ ] [ ]
  -2 [ ] [ ]
  -5 [ ]
  Incapacitaded [ ]
  Dead [ ]
  
• 
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
  Name: Airi Katsumori
  Short Description: A serious and studious girl, but also tall and gangly. She's also seventeen and hasn't developed better than an a-cup. While she isn't ever mistaken for a man, she does look somewhat awkward for a woman and she has something of a complex about it.
  
  She joined the boxing club for unknown reasons, but since she's obsessed with some Tamaki guy at the university you're fairly certain he has something to do with it. Honestly you really don't mind, she's amazingly strong when she tries... Even if she only really tries when she catches someone doing something perverted.
  Nature: Human
  Archtype: Serious Type A
  Concept: Smart but a real Bruiser
  Demeanor: Serious
  
  Attributes Talents Skills Knowledges Powers/Spells/Artifacts Backgrounds/Relations/Reputations Merits/Weaknesses Virtues/Vices

  • 
    Strength: OOO
    Dexterity: OO
    Stamina: OO
    
    Charisma: OO
    Manipulation: OO
    Appearance: OO
    
    Perception: OO
    Intelligence: OOOO
    Wits: OO
    
  • 
    Acting:
    Alertness: O
    Athletics: O
    Fighting: O
    Dodge: O
    Empathy:
    Intimidation:
    Leadership:
    Streetwise:
    Subterfuge:
    
  • 
    Animal Ken:
    Archery:
    Etiquette: OO
    Firearms:
    Melee:
    Music:
    Repair:
    Security:
    Stealth:
    Survival: O
    
  • 
    Bureaucracy: O
    Computer: O
    Finance:
    Investigation: O
    Law:
    Linguistics:
    Medicine: OO
    Occult:
    Politics:
    Science: OO
    
  • 
    Powers
    
    Spells
    
    Artifacts
    
  • 
    Backgrounds
    High School Student
    Native Language (Japanese)
    
    Relations
    Boxing Club: OO
    
    Reputations
    Violent Towards Perverts (Kuoh Academy): OOO
    Exemplary Student (Student Council): OOO
    
    
  • 
    Merits
    Medical Intern
    This character works as a medical intern, giving them extra knowledge of not just medicine but hospitals in general. Bureaucracy specialty in hospitals, Medical specialties in first aid and nursing.
    
    Weaknesses
    Insecurities
    Doubts her own looks and beauty, making her weak to social attacks involving those.
    
    Enraged by Perverts
    When catching a pervert acting in a way that could be interpreted as harassment, she can add her wrath to all combat rolls, but must subtract her wrath from all perception, alertness, and willpower rolls.
    
  • 
    Virtues
    Chastity: OOO
    Temperance: OO
    Charity: OO
    Diligence: OOOO
    Patience: OO
    Kindness: OOO
    Humility: OO
    Valor: OOO
    
    Vices
    Lust: OOO
    Gluttony: O
    Greed: O
    Sloth: O
    Wrath: OOOO
    Envy: OOO
    Pride: OOOO
    Craven: OO
    
  
  
  Willpower
  OOO
  
  Karma
  O
  
  Determination (Formerly Temporary Willpower)
  
  Health
  -0 [ ]
  -1 [ ] [ ]
  -2 [ ] [ ]
  -5 [ ]
  Incapacitaded [ ]
  Dead [ ]
  
• 
  Under Construction.
  

 

[SamPardi]

System

First, a word from the QM:

I don't have a book from the Storyteller games in front of me. This system is homebrewed to use my current understanding of it, fill in the gaps myself and wrench things into place where I don't or wouldn't have agreed with them in the first place. So if you disagree with one of my rulings or how I handled something and the first thing out of your mouth is, 'but that's not how storyteller does it' your argument is invalid.

If on the other hand your complaint is 'this makes no sense' or 'that's not consistent' now we're getting somewhere. This is the system's playtest and I fully expect certain parts to need hammering out.

On with the show.

In Brief

We aren't going to touch on everything because a lot of it is, 'just like in storyteller'. Dots mean dice, success is flat 7 and up, more successes than the DC or the opposition 'wins'. When you do something that needs dice, as the QM I'll mostly decide what needs to be rolled based on how you seem to be approaching things. So arm wrestling someone to test your strength will be a strength roll alone. Doing so to pin them in place while you social fu will be a strength+stamina+intimidation roll, strength to be able to compete, stamina to keep the fight going, and intimidation to mentally put him off his game. Doing so with the intent to lose gracefully to someone well below your level would be strength+acting+etiquette.

The system is currently balanced around mortals. 5 dice being peak human,10 being a stand out level of ability even by supernatural standards. Certain characters, but especially the actual gods of major religions, are simply centuries or even millennia of development beyond you. If Sirzechs or Indra are with you in a scene, even if you maxed out ten dice in everything, you are only alive at their whim and could as soon stop a supernova as give them a serious fight.

Temporary Willpower has been renamed Determination. It just made sense to me and keeps things a bit more clear.

Virtues, Vices, Motivations and Limits

This is probably the most changed part of the entire system. The virtues and vices are no longer special things applying here and there, they are now a full set of the 7 heavenly virtues and the 7 deadly sins with Valor added to the virtues and Craven added to the sins. All of them have their own dots maxing out at 5 for mortals, or 10 for supernatural creatures.

While some virtues and vices are in obvious competition, Diligence/Sloth for instance, it's important to understand why they are separate. For instance, when Diligence and Sloth are equal but both high it means a character who is normally a slacker or who hates getting worked up can also become an obsessive workaholic when something actually peaks their interest. Outside of that interest they remain apathetic and unmotivated.

Another good example of their separation is Issei Hyoudou himself, and by extension Kyou Hyoudou our MC. Although he is called a pervert, his character actually had relatively low Lust. A character with a high Lust vice would be drawn to the darker acts of dub-con, and compelled to take advantage of situations to sate their lusts. In reality he just got some bad advice as a kid which his Valor latched on to and thanks to his low temperance he turned a fairly normal level of teenage hormones into a challenge against the world.

For the most part, these levels just help the QM inform the character. Will their Temperance allow them to show some tact? Will they be Kind in this situation or let their Envy get the better of them? Will they be Valorous in this dealing and simply boldly lay things out up front in the interest of a fair deal, or are they more Greedy and willing to conceal information that may harm the other person in the name of getting a better deal?

Now players can choose when an action or stunt is clearly favoring one or another to add the dots of their Virtue or Vice to the die pool, if it's opposed your enemy gets to add an appropriate Vice/Virtue as well.

For Virtues, this will cause the loss of a dice from that pool. This simulates fatigue, if it falls far enough to matter it might be expressed 'I've helped everyone lately, where's the help for me? (Charity)' or 'I can't save everyone, and I'm not sure I can keep trying. Let the police handle this one. (Valor)'.

For Vices, this will cause the gain of a dice in that pool. This simulates corruption. 'I ripped off that other guy, what does it matter if I know this guy has kids at home? (Greed)' or 'I'm sick of their bullshit! No more second chances, from now on they challenge me and they die! (Wrath)'.

Now this is where Motivation and Limits come into play.

A Motivation is your character's overriding goal and reason for doing what they do. When faced with a chance to fulfill this it will become an overriding concern and you will use it's related Vice for rolls directly related to fulfilling it. Individually those rolls won't add dice, but success or failure the invocation of your Motivation in a scene will add a dice to that pool.

This is obsession. If you follow your goal with single mindedness, it obviously becomes a vice. That vice bleeds over into everything you do, and becomes a stronger and stronger part of your character.

Your Limit on the other hand is a situation that you, personally, find utterly intolerable and forces you into action. In this case you add the associated virtue to all rolls directly related to relieving the limit, and again only lose one dice from that virtue at the end of the scene.

Again, this is emotional exhaustion, as if invoked back to back you can be quickly worn down.

Willpower can be spent to add or remove points from virtues and vices, but only to return it to base levels. Only consistent decisions by the player base can, at QM's discretion, cause permanent changes in virtues and vices. Lost willpower can only be regained through multiple resting actions.

There is a second reason all this is important. While you won't know them without high mutual relationship or investigation, NPCs have Motivations and Limits too. You can push them into situations that activate their motivations or limits and max out the related Virtue/Vice. At which point they'll be vulnerable to social attacks aimed to change their Motivations or Limits. Essentially you can force the kind of mental break that Xenovia went through in canon by finding out about God's demise.

This isn't always a hostile action. Like news of God's demise, sometimes people need to face hard truths or their heart is in the right place but they aren't helping as much as they think. Using this method you can force that confrontation and insinuate yourself into their mental reconstruction to make sure it's healthy and puts them on the right course.

However, be aware, you are just as vulnerable to this kind of attack as anyone.

Magic

I'm borrowing the excellent magic system from Alexander's quest, with permission. I'll update this with a link to that quest and the description of his system at some point in the future.

[Under Construction]

 

[Mark Rubio]

[X] Plan Ready for Armageddon

[X] [Power] A lioness, her fur darkened and stained with blood. Scars cover her form and even as she growls more blood pours from her maw. (Combat Focus. Fighting is replaced with Ki Artist. [Sun Element Ki] merit gained.)
[X] [Action] Training. You can always tighten up something. (3 hours)
-[X] Melee x2
[X] [Difficulty] War, War never changes... (The Second Great War is now an inevitability. No amount of good leadership, or impassioned speeches will stop it. The Underworld and Earth will be ravaged by their battles, but even Heaven can't count on being spared. You will not be able to avoid getting caught up in it.)

Lets get this off the rails as soon as possible and have the setting be an exp rich battleground. And while Twice Critical may not be the Boosted Gear, it double all stats and can be very valuable.

Also there wasn't a character sheet so I just assumed we have a boxing or combat skill to train.

 

[murklins]

This is the easiest power vote I have ever made. Nothing can beat cats everywhere.

[x] [Power] A cat, of black fur with golden tips and adorned with a solid gold collar. It's amazing how well the cat stands out as it's actually in the center of a veritable sea of cats. Just, for some reason you know the first cat is the cat. (Luck focus. From now on cats will never really be far from you. While you won't be mobbed, they'll just kind of be there but everywhere. However these cats will intervene in times of great distress and danger, and may call in their friends if the need is truly great. While they won't simply follow orders, they can pass messages for you if it's of great importance. More may be possible if you train up your animal ken, leadership, and investigation.)
[x] [Action] Socialize.
- [x] Aika
[x] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[x] [Difficulty] Normal

 

[UrsaTempest]

Ugh. Damn.

I want cats. Because. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats. Cats.

...

[x] [Power] A cat, of black fur with golden tips and adorned with a solid gold collar. It's amazing how well the cat stands out as it's actually in the center of a veritable sea of cats. Just, for some reason you know the first cat is the cat. (Luck focus. From now on cats will never really be far from you. While you won't be mobbed, they'll just kind of be there but everywhere. However these cats will intervene in times of great distress and danger, and may call in their friends if the need is truly great. While they won't simply follow orders, they can pass messages for you if it's of great importance. More may be possible if you train up your animal ken, leadership, and investigation.)
[x] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[x] [Difficulty] Normal

 

[Alexander]

[X] [Power] A lioness, her fur darkened and stained with blood. Scars cover her form and even as she growls more blood pours from her maw. (Combat Focus. Fighting is replaced with Ki Artist. [Sun Element Ki] merit gained.)
[X] [Action] Socialize.
- [X] Airi
[X] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[X] [Difficulty] Hard


"War, War never changes..." is tempting...but honestly, I want to take things slowly.

 

[Ct613hulu]

[X] [Power] A lioness, her fur darkened and stained with blood. Scars cover her form and even as she growls more blood pours from her maw. (Combat Focus. Fighting is replaced with Ki Artist. [Sun Element Ki] merit gained.)
[X] [Action] Socialize.
- [X] Airi
[X] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[X] [Difficulty] Normal

 

[SCO]

[x] [Power] A lioness, her fur darkened and stained with blood. Scars cover her form and even as she growls more blood pours from her maw. (Combat Focus. Fighting is replaced with Ki Artist. [Sun Element Ki] merit gained.)
[x] [Action] Socialize.
- [x] Boxing Club Members
[x] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[x] [Difficulty] Ma'at (Let your heart weigh no more than a feather... Karma only goes negative, ergo free tickets for the GM to take a die off a roll at will, and every infraction carries more bad karma than the last.)

 

[SemiAnarchist]

[x] [Power] A cat, of black fur with golden tips and adorned with a solid gold collar. It's amazing how well the cat stands out as it's actually in the center of a veritable sea of cats. Just, for some reason you know the first cat is the cat. (Luck focus. From now on cats will never really be far from you. While you won't be mobbed, they'll just kind of be there but everywhere. However these cats will intervene in times of great distress and danger, and may call in their friends if the need is truly great. While they won't simply follow orders, they can pass messages for you if it's of great importance. More may be possible if you train up your animal ken, leadership, and investigation.)
[x] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[X] [Action] Socialize.
- [X] Aika
[x] [Difficulty] Normal

Voting cats, because Koneko and Kuroka's reactions should be priceless.

Edit: *Cough* Added Socialize with Aika

 

[SamPardi]

SemiAnarchist
You can choose two actions for the night.

 

[Drak4806]

[X] [Power] A lioness, her fur darkened and stained with blood. Scars cover her form and even as she growls more blood pours from her maw. (Combat Focus. Fighting is replaced with Ki Artist. [Sun Element Ki] merit gained.)
[X] [Action] Socialize.
- [X] Airi
[X] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[X] [Difficulty] Normal

 

[SamPardi]

Closing it for new votes, but just noticed UrsaTempest and murklins didn't get in a second action vote. If you two edit your votes in the next couple hours I'll go ahead and count them.

 

[UrsaTempest]

[x] [Power] A cat, of black fur with golden tips and adorned with a solid gold collar. It's amazing how well the cat stands out as it's actually in the center of a veritable sea of cats. Just, for some reason you know the first cat is the cat. (Luck focus. From now on cats will never really be far from you. While you won't be mobbed, they'll just kind of be there but everywhere. However these cats will intervene in times of great distress and danger, and may call in their friends if the need is truly great. While they won't simply follow orders, they can pass messages for you if it's of great importance. More may be possible if you train up your animal ken, leadership, and investigation.)
[x] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[X] [Action] Socialize.
- [X] Aika
[x] [Difficulty] Normal

 

[Dutchman]

[X] Plan Pharaoh of Perversion
[X] [Power] An empty throne, resplendent in gold and turquoise. You're not sure what to make of it, since the base is solid gold so there are no legs. It actually looks kind of uncomfortable. (Magic Focus. You gain 1 rank of Sun Magic proficiency an immediate dot of occult. Also once per week you can ignore any knowledge or skill limits to create a single perfect magical artifact of a rank equal or lesser to your current Sun Magic Proficiency. It does not have to be a Sun Magic Artifact.)
[X] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[X] [Action] Look something up at the school library.
- [x] the weird gold thing that the old hag gave to you, looks like a cross but with a hole on the top arm.
[x] [Difficulty] War, War never changes... (The Second Great War is now an inevitability. No amount of good leadership, or impassioned speeches will stop it. The Underworld and Earth will be ravaged by their battles, but even Heaven can't count on being spared. You will not be able to avoid getting caught up in it.)
I am assuming that the old lady gave the ankh to kyou since it is not explicitly stated

 

[BlackThief12]

Holy sweet mother.

This is Exalted Heroic Mortal Edition!

[x] [Power] A cat, of black fur with golden tips and adorned with a solid gold collar. It's amazing how well the cat stands out as it's actually in the center of a veritable sea of cats. Just, for some reason you know the first cat is the cat. (Luck focus. From now on cats will never really be far from you. While you won't be mobbed, they'll just kind of be there but everywhere. However these cats will intervene in times of great distress and danger, and may call in their friends if the need is truly great. While they won't simply follow orders, they can pass messages for you if it's of great importance. More may be possible if you train up your animal ken, leadership, and investigation.)
[x] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
[X] [Action] Socialize.
- [X] Aika
[x] [Difficulty] Normal

Also, Male!Rias? Or Lord Gremory?

 

[SamPardi]

Spoiler: Winning Votes

[x] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.
No. of Votes: 7

[x] [Action] Socialize.
- [x] Aika
No. of Votes: 3

[X] [Action] Socialize.
- [X] Airi
No. of Votes: 3

[x] [Difficulty] Normal
No. of Votes: 5

Due to the tie on who to socialize with, you'll meet both of them together rather than one of them alone.

[x] [Action] Play your new Eroge. It is your birthday after all.

You all but sprint home after a relatively short club meeting. There hadn't been a lot of training going on anyways, as you'd mostly been reviewing the clubs performance at the tournament. A good way to take the stress off without losing focus, you thought.

"Mom, I'm home! I'll be in my room!" You shout as you power through the door, nearly trip yourself in your rush to get your shoes off and then race down the hall to your room.

"Take it slow in the house! Really..." Your mom shakes her head in exasperation. The grin you shoot her only earns you a dry look.

Your room is a fairly typical western style setup, a regular bed under the window and a bookshelf full of anime, manga, and eroge across from it. A shelf above your computer has a figurine diorama of the Gundam "Alex" facing off against a red Gelgoog with Zaku II parts scattered about their feet. A few inches away a purple haired woman in a military uniform and cape locks swords with a red head in a scarlet flight suit.

A rhythmic tapping of impatient fingers keeps time as your computer slowly awakens. As soon as it's responsive you grab Aika's present from your bag and slide the disc into the player. Once its installing in the background you deign to check your e-mail and a few of the fanfics you regularly follow... And one that you now unfollow. Ugh. Orihime/Ulquorria is kind of disturbing but at least understandable. Aizen? Buulllllshit. Too bad too, good Tatsuki centered fics are sooo rare.

Thankfully the install completes and you can cleanse your palette with a bit of professionally crafted Yuri goodness.

(Roll for unlocking special path: Perception+Int. (5, 7, 9, 6) 2 Successes. Difficulty 1. Pass.)

A while in you notice a few flags and choices that seem odd for the usual paths. More than willing to go on an adventure you start to feel them out. A couple just lead to bad ends, but you know you're getting closer when the bad ends start to feature strange elements like Youkai Samurai Spirits. Finally you navigate the path just right and wind up falling through a secret door at the shrine and into what seems like a small garden. There you meet the rumored loli add-on character, crying and obviously lonely from her limited dialogue.

From there you absolutely devour the story despite any poor choice now being almost always fatal. It's a beautiful tale of girls from different worlds, natural enemies even, unwilling to break the peace of the shrine and thus slowly coming to learn of each other. K-chan is, despite her youth making her practically an infant in supernatural terms, being pushed to become a leader equal to her legendary mother. Unable to cope with the stress she started coming to the shrine to hide from her minders and collect her thoughts. The protagonist is fearful and not a little spiteful of supernatural creatures due to some retconned 'lost memories'.

After a time the two grow closer. The story builds towards the climax. Eventually the kitsune shows the protagonist how to get into the Yokai kingdom from the shrine in the hopes of showing the girl she's crushing on her home. However tragedy immediately strikes in the form of a coup, and Kunou is captured. You lean in towards the screen as you prepare your character for the battle of a life time, storming a castle full of yokai, but you have to. K-chan must be saved!

*Piririri-riri. Piririri-riri.*

You jump almost a foot out of your chair in surprise from your phone going off. A growl escapes you as you grab it and check the caller ID. Aika? This better be important.

"Hello? Aika?" You answer the phone.

"Oh, Kyou! Thank god. Katsumori-san is in your club right?" She asks.

"Yes...?" You reply uncertainly.

"Then you need to get down to the Southern Park. She looks like she's hurt, but she's glaring away anyone who tries to get close." Aika tells you.

One of your club members? Hurt? It certainly wasn't from club activities. Suddenly concerned you save your game and surge to your feet. "Keep an eye on her. I'll be there as soon as I can."

(You've gained a Merit.
Secret (Shrine Entrance)
There was something oddly specific about the secret shrine entrance to the supernatural world in the game Strawberry Shrine*Sweet that makes it stick out in your mind.)

---

[x] [Action] Socialize.
- [x] Aika
- [x] Airi

(Roll to see if you're in time: Athletics+Dexterity+Stamina. (9, 6, 2, 7, 5, 1, 7) 3 Successes, Difficulty 3. Pass.)

As you enter the park you first notice Airi resting on a bench on the apex of the park's grassy knoll. Secondly you notice Aika leaning against a tree a few yards away, looking concerned. The third thing you notice a group of bleach haired boys cockily approaching your club member. It doesn't take you more than a moment to grab Aika and drag her over to Airi's bench while you glare the boys down. Whether they get the message or just chicken out when they don't have numbers on their side, the boys veer off and just keep walking.

"Captain," Airi acknowledges you but doesn't really look at you. Giving her a quick once over you realize that while her eyes are only puffy and bloodshot from crying, her lip is very much split from blunt trauma to the mouth. She hasn't bothered to care for the wound either.

"Airi, we-"

"Captain," she cuts you off and stares at you with a sudden passion in her eyes, "fight me!"

You're caught off guard, but it's clear something serious is going on here. You:

[ ] Tell her hell no, and get that lip treated. It could get infected like this and then where would she be.
[ ] Agree. She obviously needs to work through something.
[ ] Agree to a match tomorrow with proper equipment and etiquette in the club room. Right now she needs to get that wound taken care of.
[ ] Get Aika to distract her from her immediate goal, and then try to talk her into a more rational state of mind together.

(You may write in stunts for these options. But unlike an Exalt you can't force little things to go your way, so be prepared for the chance of things going off script or in unintended directions.)


(A/N: God that took too long to write. I'm really rusty on my writing speed. =(
BlackThief12 and Dutchman that vote was already closed, but please feel free to participate in this one!)

 

[Dutchman]

[x] Agree. She obviously needs to work through something.

 

[BlackThief12]

.... We're about to fight a Bayonetta expy.

We're fucked.

[X] Get Aika to distract her from her immediate goal, and then try to talk her into a more rational state of mind together.

 

[Drak4806]

[X] Agree. She obviously needs to work through something.

 

[SpaceJelly]

.... We're about to fight a Bayonetta expy.

We're fucked.

Click to shrink...

Quickly! Find a Dante Expy!

 

[SamPardi]

.... We're about to fight a Bayonetta expy.

We're fucked.

Click to shrink...

Don't get too caught up in the character portraits. While Airi is based on another character, its not Bayonetta. She just happens to have a similar body type, lanky, too tall, and kind of awkward since she's still a teenager.

 

[UrsaTempest]

[X] Agree to a match tomorrow with proper equipment and etiquette in the club room. Right now she needs to get that wound taken care of.

Priorities.

 

[SemiAnarchist]

[X] Agree to a match tomorrow with proper equipment and etiquette in the club room. Right now she needs to get that wound taken care of.

 

[shaderic]

[X] Agree to a match tomorrow with proper equipment and etiquette in the club room. Right now she needs to get that wound taken care of.

 

[Smuthunter]

[X] Agree to a match tomorrow with proper equipment and etiquette in the club room. Right now she needs to get that wound taken care of.
- [X] If she protests, pull rank on her. As club captain you can't be brawling with your club members. If word got out that could put the club's existence in jeopardy.

 

[Noctum]

[X] Agree to a match tomorrow with proper equipment and etiquette in the club room. Right now she needs to get that wound taken care of.
- [X] If she protests, pull rank on her. As club captain you can't be brawling with your club members. If word got out that could put the club's existence in jeopardy.

 

[SamPardi]

A couple more hours left on the vote.

 

[SpaceJelly]

[X] Agree to a match tomorrow with proper equipment and etiquette in the club room. Right now she needs to get that wound taken care of.
- [X] If she protests, pull rank on her. As club captain you can't be brawling with your club members. If word got out that could put the club's existence in jeopardy.

 

[BlackThief12]

[X] Agree to a match tomorrow with proper equipment and etiquette in the club room. Right now she needs to get that wound taken care of.
- [X] If she protests, pull rank on her. As club captain you can't be brawling with your club members. If word got out that could put the club's existence in jeopardy.

I like this one better.