Line #16 TabletopGame/WitchGirlsAdventures


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4	-> ''Magic is real... It is in the wind and rain. It is in stone and fire. And occasionally, in the souls of people. Lilith was the first. But women blessed by magic have since the dawn of time been a source of fear. However, despite that fear, some have sought her power for insight, knowledge, and healing. [...] Once a protector and mother of civilization, she was soon hunted by the untrusting, the ignorant, and the arrogant. And though she may think she's alone, there were always others. And together they showed the Mundanes they never were the masters of their world. They learned eventually that power comes in all shapes and sizes. So be nice. Or be a toad.''
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6	''Witch Girls Adventures'' is a [[TabletopRPG tabletop role-playing game]] published in 2009 by Channel M. While it functions as a stand alone universe, its setting and [=NPCs=] both use characters and elements from Channel M's ''Witch Girls Tales'' comic book series and Abby Soto's ''Princess Lucinda'' comic book series. The game runs on Channel M's own "Drama Diaries" system.
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8	In the game, you play a student at one of the many magic schools set up for witches around the world and go through the usual trials and tribulations that being a tween to teenage girl brings, all while trying to learn how to use your powers. Obviously, the game is designed to get young girls interested in [[TabletopRPG pen-and-paper RPGs]].
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10	It is based on an earlier comic book series from 2003-2006 which involved 2 published volumes called Witch Girls and Witch Girls Tales (later referred to as "volume 1"). They starred a separate group of girls who attended a school called Coventry. These volumes were later compiled into an anthology called "OWG! Original Witch Girls!"
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12	The new girls in the RPG attend a different school called Willow-Mistt, and are featured in a comic in the main book. They are also featured in comics in the supplements Star Creation Guide and Pirates of Buccaneer Hill. Other supplements (like all About the Voodollars and 13 Magazine) did not include comics. A comic anthology, also titled Witch Girls Tales (referred to as "volume 2" to distinguish it from the original Coventry publication) was also produced featuring them, as well as issues 0, 1 and 2 of a "Princess Lucinda" spinoff series.
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15	!! This tabletop RPG provides examples of:
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17	* AllCrimesAreEqual: The Malleus Maleficarum consider merely being a witch a crime punishable by death -- there's no distinction in their eyes between a magical princess who helps people and a witch who routinely kills mundanes for fun.
18	* AlternateUniverse: There are a couple. The ''Nemesis'' universe and Bruja (the StandardFantasySetting world), to name two.
19	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Horrors and other servants of Echidna.
20	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Vlad Dracul and Vlad Dracula are not the same person. They just seem to have not realized they were not only two different people, but father and son. A hint is that "Dracula" roughly translates to English as "Son of the Dragon", with "a" being the "Son of" part.
21	* AuthorAppeal: Transformation. The game and comics repeatedly showcase Alteration magic and Princess Lucinda.
22	* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Gilgamesh really was an epic, superhuman hero and the progenitor of a line of immortals. Vlad Dracula really was an evil vampire. H.P. Lovecraft based his stories on the Horrors. Just for starters.
23	* BlackComedy: Very much so -- Creator/PaulDini compared it to the work of Creator/CharlesAddams in an introduction he wrote to one of the original comics.}
24	* CanonWelding: Princess Lucinda started in her own separate series, and a lot of the characters from ''The Shrinking Sorceress'' have also [[CanonImmigrant immigrated]]. Essentially, the ''Witch Girls Adventures'' [[TheVerse verse]] is a puree of MANGA GRAPHIX, ''Princess Lucinda'', and ''Witch Girls Tales'', along with new OriginalGeneration characters and far more sociology and background development.
25	* CardCarryingVillain: Princess Lucinda, which is why she tends to get very upset when people point out her tendency toward NobleDemon.
26	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In one story from the second volume of ''Witch Girls Tales'', Lucinda comes to the conclusion that [[NobleDemon helping people can be rewarding and she should do it more often.]] However, the reward she's referring to is the sadistic enjoyment she gains from destroying some bullies through downright horrifying methods, then tricking the boy who needed the help first into serving her for a year, then tricking him into getting out of it by cleaning her mouse cage... by shrinking down smaller than the mice to give it a really thorough cleaning. Without removing the mice. When it's near their feeding time. Notice she's mentioned under HeroicComedicSociopath and CardCarryingVillain.
27	* CrossOver:
28	** The original run of ''Witch Girls'' featured guest appearances by characters from Malcom Harris' ''Nemesis'' {{Superhero}} setting, such as Raven Sinclair and Team Maximum. The original implication seemed to be that they were in-continuity with each other, but a ''Witch Girls Adventures'' supplement seems to {{Retcon}} them into being visitors from an AlternateUniverse.
29	** Later works indicate that all Channel M games are potentially Alternate Universes to each other, allowing for crossovers as necessary.
30	* CulturalPosturing: Quite a bit of it goes on, and is accepted. (The quote above? That's from a ''history textbook''.) Members of the Highbinders (who actually function on the party line that mundanes and otherkin are scum and witches should come out and rule the world) are the most likely to do this.
31	** The rulebook mentions often about how witches are prettier, smarter, have cooler eyes, don't get acne, are immortal, [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty have eternal youth after they hit their 20s]], and are just plain better than [[ThisLoserIsYou regular humans]]. They also always seem to be on the "winning/right" side in history. For example, the book mentions that witches were almost unanimously against African slavery. And yet, a lot of witches treat mundanes like crap and most witch communities won't allow its otherkin citizens to vote...
32	* CurseOfTheAncients: In one comic, Lillian says "that would suck" to Headmistress Mistt, who replies "I wouldn't use that exact words, (ever again in my presence)." "Suck" is a GoshDarnItToHeck swear-word in today's day and age, but even a few decades ago it was quite a bit harsher.
33	* CuteWitch: The player characters. Though the Sorceress and Insider cliques (characters who were born into and spent most of their lives in the magical world) fit the most.
34	* DeathIsCheap: Well, magical death, anyway. Restoring a mostly-intact body from magical death is only a rank 5 Healing spell (out of 10), and although restoring someone who was say, turned into a pile of ash to life isn't actually listed, it's likely not that much harder -- the amazing task of resurrecting someone from non-magical harm is Rank 7. Restoring from a ForcedTransformation is even more trivial. Thus, all the witch girls who have little experience with mundane life or have become too used to the magical world not quite realizing that killing and transforming people is kind of a big deal for ordinary humans.
35	** Averted with the Doom spell. If that's used, [[KilledOffForReal there's no resurrection]].
36	%%* DisintegratorRay: Second only to ForcedTransformation in the girls' favorite fates for petty annoyances.
37	* DisproportionateRetribution: Even good witches are guilty of this sometimes, but wicked witches downright specialize in it. Denora [=DeSade=] is guilty of such things as setting a man's car on fire and accidentally killing his entire family -- not that she cared much once she realized -- because he demanded insurance information after a minor accident, or '''conjuring giant ants to eat the theatergoers because the movie she was watching was boring.'''
38	* EldritchAbomination: The Horrors. The picture is quite [[ShoutOut blatantly Cthulhu]] and they even have a skill called "Gibbering Insanity". As they're born from her dreams, Echidna could qualify as well.
39	* ExtraStrengthMasquerade: There are witches who can clean up big Masquerade breaches by rewriting the minds of the entire mundane world, so [=PCs=] who summon Godzilla into San Francisco aren't seriously endangering the system, just annoying the powerful witches in charge of maintaining it.
40	* FallenPrincess: Lucinda, who was exiled from the realm of [[GratuitousSpanish Bruja]] after her evil monarch parents were murdered.
41	* FantasticRacism: Witches tend to consider themselves just plain ''better'' than everyone else -- especially the Highbinders mentioned above. The rulebooks do take the time to point out that this is actually a ''bad'' thing, but it honestly doesn't get as much play as it probably should.
42	* FantasyKitchenSink: Aside from witches, there's all sorts of fantasy creatures, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. Aliens also exist, for one thing.
43	* FlyingBroomstick: Witches use them. There are also flying carpets, flying cars, and flying Vespa scooters.
44	* ForTheEvulz: The motivation of nearly all of the villains mentioned in the rulebook. A major exception is the Malleus Maleficarum, who have a very good reason to hate witches and want to see them dead -- the "villain" part comes primarily from the fact that they don't restrict this to the ones who deserve it.
45	* {{Ghostapo}}: There was an openly-magical World War II which blew the Masquerade wide open until the war ended and some serious magic was worked to make people forget all the spell-slinging and whatnot. Practical or no, it's [[RuleOfCool bloody awesome]] and is a blatant excuse to run [[Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks magicked-up]] [[Anime/StrikeWitches World War II]] [[{{Godlike}} games]].
46	* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Witches who smoke are evil, or at least {{Noble Demon}}s. ''Always.'' They tend to favor cigarette holders, and will frequently turn someone who's annoying them into a cigarette to use.
47	* HalfHumanHybrid: Every type of otherkin has a heritage for one of these and players who take the "Half Otherkin" heritage can be one.
48	* HeroicComedicSociopath: Lucinda, when she's not an outright villain -- which is more frequent than you might think, given the astonishingly high volume of examples of her being a petty godling.
49	* InvisibilityCloak: One of items you can buy for your character.
50	* JetPack: Notable because a working jetpack can be built with purely mundane technology. (And then it can be enhanced with magic, for the Witch who wants to pile on the RaygunGothic.
51	* KidsAreCruel: Most of the major characters don't think twice about inflicting permanent {{Forced Transformation}}s and {{Body Horror}}s on mortals who slightly irritate them and other witches with whom they have petty rivalries, or even just killing them outright. Even the nicer ones (who only ''temporarily'' turn mildly annoying people into dumb animals, inanimate objects, and Things That Should Not Be) stand idly by while others do this. In the first incarnation, it was hinted that they didn't fully understand the gravity of permanent curses, with one girl reflecting on the lesson she'd taught - and not in an ironic sense - to a woman she'd ''melted''. The current characters give no real sense of this, though; they're just little bitches. And then Lucinda is [[CardCarryingVillain evil and proud of it]].
52	* KillItWithWater: The biggest downside to the Hag's Syndrome heritage in the modern day is that water makes witches with the syndrome melt -- the prejudices against its sufferers are largely a thing of the past (though they still get a social penalty), and those with it can use make-up to fix it. Unfortunately, spells to fix it automatically fail. Potions that alter one's appearance aren't forbidden though.
53	** This vulnerability is addressed several times more in the 13 Magazine supplement. Page 24 introduces "Jennie Green Teeth", a monster with Elementalism/Mentalism and green skin, but who THRIVES underwater. Her bite which paralyzes people but allows them to breathe underwater could be harmless (save for making you vulnerable to being ripped apart) but would be utterly deadly to a hag. Page 34 introduces an "Instant Minions" conjuration spell from Denora which allows human minions at a lower magic rank than normal, but they are vulnerable to instant destruction by water. Page 35 introduces the "Wychlerro" hat from Abby (Soto's witchsona, a hag herself) which protects the wearer from the wetness of non-magical rains. Page 36 features an ad for the (presumably never published) second issue of 13 Magazine which promised a "Living with Hags Syndrome" article and [[http://images.wikia.com/witchgirls/images/3/34/13magazineIssue2.jpg featured a little girl with green skin]].
54	* KnightErrant: The profession of adult Lilians; they have no fixed home, but wander the world healing and teaching {{Muggles}}, and occasionally dropping the hammer on bad ones.
55	* KnightTemplar: The Malleus Maleficarum. All of them have had tragic experiences with witches and thus know witches are capable of terrible things. So they kill every witch they can -- even if they had no intention of doing terrible things, or are young new witches who could be guided away from it. They're also specialized to be the typical witch's worst nightmare, being able to soak up magic attacks and deal loads of physical damage.
56	* KungFuProofMook:
57	** Malleus Maleficarum soldiers have implants that give them AntiMagic abilities, protecting them from magical assault and requiring creativity on the part of witch [=PCs=] to defeat.
58	** Even the more generic, less competent breed of Witch Hunters can learn the ability to Dodge Spell, making them immune to any spell whose casting roll doesn't surpass their Reflex.
59	* MageSpecies: All women, of course. The (mostly) male counterpart are Immortals, but they have a limited repertoire of spells, while being resistant to magic (except for Half Immortals, who are more vulnerable to it). They all have SuperSpeed and HealingFactor, and most also have SuperStrength and toughness.
60	* MagicAIsMagicA: ''Usually''. The magic disciplines are all well-defined, ''but'' almost every signature character has some sort of special ability unique to them, from Susan Kroft's ability to naturally send messages across the void to Lucinda's supreme power with Alteration magic.
61	* MagicWand: Most witches use wands as foci for their magic, along with gesture and incantation. However, in modern days, other foci (most commonly [[SupernaturalPhone smartphones]], but a lot of other items too) have become popular among younger witches.
62	* {{Magitek}}: The Cybermancy school revolves around this, starting with the creation and use of magical computers and cell phones. The school is popular among the younger generation, but generally looked down upon by the more traditional, self-absorbed witches such as the Highbinders.
63	* {{Masquerade}}: There is one. But the Witches World Council doesn't mind if it's broken as long as it isn't on a large scale. Witches telling {{Muggles}} about the secret is vaguely okay, {{Muggles}} who spread the secret or are security risks either get LaserGuidedAmnesia...or the [[FateWorseThanDeath usual fates]].
64	** It ''was'' broken on a large scale from about the lead-up to UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar until the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII -- which actually had an open supernatural aspect -- but Witches erased all memory and records of this. This rather upset some of the Otherkin, who felt it was about time the Masquerade came down and wanted to re-integrate with human society.
65	* MoneyForNothing: Averted and played straight! Witches with high, or even modest, levels of Conjuration can basically summon up precious materials and other valuables at will, making mortal life quite easy if they wish, though doing so is illegal because it can potentially wreck the mundane economy (and thus the Masquerade). Witches can also use Curses to hex themselves some good financial luck, causing money to make its way to them (perfectly legal in witch society). Nonetheless, there's a witch economy in place using a currency called Voodollars, since barter systems tended to degenerate into cult worship from mortals and one-upsmanship from other witches.
66	* {{Muggles}}: Called "mundanes" here. "Mortals," meanwhile, refers both to mundanes and, more strictly, to humans who have gotten involved with the supernatural without any powers of their own, such as hunters.
67	* MundaneSolution: The ''System Mastery'' podcast found that, due to balance errors in the game, by far the most effective way to defeat a witch is to sneak up on her and punch her in the head. Building a character who eschews magic in favor of physical ability results in a starting character who can punch out a dragon... and - by taking the Outsider background which allows an alternative stat to be used for casting spells, can be as good or better a witch than anyone else, too.
68	* NobleDemon: Princess Lucinda often ends up helping people or otherwise doing good, albeit in a very sadistic AntiHero fashion. Pointing this out to her will at best get you a speech on how EvenEvilHasStandards, and more likely get you turned into a frog.
69	* OrderVersusChaos: Averted. While it's established that Witches exist to bring chaos and change, while Immortals bring order and stability, they are ''not'' true enemies. They sometimes rub against each other the wrong way, but they're not foes and will work together if they have reason to -- the core book compares their relationship to bickering siblings.
70	* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Fae range from [[FairyCompanion tiny]] {{Winged Humanoid}}s to gnomes to the High Elf variety (though the term "fairy" only refers to the first kind). Many have an affinity for the arts.
71	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Most vampires are evil and conniving and only help others if it would benefit them in some way. They also tend to organize themselves into medieval style kingdoms. They have all the usual aversion to sunlight and are weak to Necromancy. They also have SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, are immortal, can reproduce normally or by biting others, and are physically numb (they cannot feel, taste, or have a heartbeat) if they don't have blood in their system. Lookswise, they range from LooksLikeOrlok to [[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Edward Cullen]] (without the sparkling) depending on their heritage. {{Dhampyr}} also exist.
72	* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: Shapeshifters come in mostly the wolf, cat, and raven varieties and all shift and become angry and lash out during the full moon. They can be born normally or turn others via a bite, and are mostly immune to Alteration magic. They can shift into a half-animal form and a regular animal form.
73	* OurWitchesAreDifferent: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Only females can be witches]]. Though they have a male counterpart in the Immortals.
74	* ParodySue: The "Mary Sue" trait mentioned above is tailor-made for playing these.
75	* PostModernMagik: A mild version with Cybermancy, which allows witches to use cellphones and computers in place of magic wands.
76	* PrincessProtagonist: The signature character is a magical princess from another world. Of course, this is [[BlackComedy darkly parodied]], as her family was overthrown because they were [[WickedWitch wicked witches]], and she's a CardCarryingVillain instead of a PrincessClassic.
77	* PsychicPowers:
78	** Mentalism grants telepathy and telekinesis, among other things. Also, Circe Woodsworth is a natural psionic.
79	** ''Actual'' psionics are available to mortals. They're far weaker than Mentalism, but are one of the little edges available to mortals who push into a world they're not supposed to be in.
80	* PuzzleBoss: Since many enemies have resistance to magic or magic of their own, the average baddie is taken out through ingenuity on the part of the players. Targeting a Malleus Maleficarum's weapon instead of himself, for instance...
81	* RaygunGothic: Among techie witches, this aesthetic competes with [[SupernaturalPhone the do-anything super-smartphone]]. Zap Guns, jetpacks and science-y techno-wands are all available to a witch who wants to look conspicuously high-tech.
82	* RetGone: Another major risk to mortals in the girls' vicinity.
83	* RougeAnglesOfSatin: There are rampant spelling errors in the rulebook, which don't impact the rules but are most definitely annoying. The opening dedication is from a schoolteacher. Irony!
84	* RoyalBrat: Lucinda. Don't like it? Have fun being a toad.
85	* RuleOfCool: Why is there an open magic World War II covered up when it would've taken way more effort to cover up than to fight it? Because it's ''bloody awesome.''
86	* SanityMeter: Mortals (and only mortals) can face Freak Out rolls when opposed to the supernatural. This is {{downplayed}} compared to most uses of the trope, particularly the Franchise/CthulhuMythos (the TropeCodifier), in that there's nothing supernatural about this, a character only [[FreakOut Freaks Out]] once each time they're exposed to something new, and it's rare (but not impossible) for someone to actually go permanently insane in any way.
87	* ScoutOut: The Hex Scouts.
88	* ScrewYouElves: The Malleus' reason for existence is to take down the pretty, perfect witches.
89	* ShoutOut: The rulebooks make references to other witch series like ''[[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Sabrina]]'' and ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''.
90	** Pretty big ones to the Literature/HarryPotter series as well, but you saw that coming, right? There's even wink-and-a-nudge rules for running Harry Potter games.
91	** The Immortals seem like a nod to ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians''. There's a [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Monsterdex]] available for quick 'n easy monster scouting. Possible allies/enemies in one adventure include [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} the Specter Breakers]], who can help vanquish [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean pirate zombies]] and [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark pirate ghosts]] (ghost pirates?). In one adventure run at cons the Tin Man shows up and intones [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} "Come with me if you want to live."]] There's a lot of pop culture shout-outs, let's say.
92	** There's even a shout-out to a ''song'': the Twenty-first Century Digital Witch heritage ([[DontExplainTheJoke the original song is Groove Coverage's 21st Century Digital Girl]]).
93	** The 13 Magazine supplement also includes obvious conversions of the cast of Scooby Doo (page 8) and Slimer (page 23) while the Ghostbusters are in Pirates of Buccaneer Hill (page 30) as the "Phantom Breakers" and page 43 has an Internal Enhancement for Celestial Cell Phones called "I Choose You!", a nod to the Pokemon series, which allows a player to store up to 3 magical pets inside their phone.
94	** The ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' gang are mentioned directly in the Mortals book, though their belief that their dog can talk is mentioned as a sign of insanity rather than the truth.
95	* SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome: Encouraged. Several Heritages allow you to play halfbreeds, meditative Eastern-style witches, and TheChosenOne. The [=NPCs=], meanwhile, are even weirder, and all of them have at least one special signature ability. (Star characters are much more limited; the Signature Spell rules just give a discount on your favorite trick.)
96	* SteamPunk: There's a subtype of the Techie that specializes in steampunk tech. However, Victorian technology defies modern science ''and'' normal magic, and can only be used by steampunkers.
97	* SupernaturalPhone: The Celestial Cell is a magical cellphone. Also, [[PostModernMagik many younger witches use cellphones as their magic wands]].
98	* TamerAndChaster: The company that publishes the ''Witch Girls'' franchise, [[http://www.myspace.com/mangagraphix MANGA GRAPHIX]], is credited with running ''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20010411183322/www.geocities.com/gotiger_1999/Sorc1.html The Shrinking Sorceress]]'', a now dead Geocities site and e-zine dedicated to "tasteful" art and stories centered around the fetish of people being transformed into animals and inanimate objects by sorceresses. (Note the copyright at the bottom of the page.) [[http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Malcolm/Harris Malcolm Harris]], the author of ''Witch Girls'' and the owner of Channel M, lists himself as a writer for MANGA GRAPHIX in his resume. Several characters, including Denora [=DeSade=], Claudia, and Ebony, as well as the concept of witch girls (in those words) make an appearance in both mediums. It's become a source of OldShame for the creator it seems, since pointing it out on the internet often results in the creator and his friends jumping into the discussion and denying the connection.
99	* TokenEvilTeammate: Lucinda for the current cast of ''Witch Girls Tales.''
100	* TotallyRadical: Mostly avoided, but the above mentioned pop culture shout-outs can reach this level if you want to go overboard. And you know you do!
101	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: The note on Evil Smoking isn't just for the adult witches.
102	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The dark side of the Lilians. The Lilians believe that witches must lift humanity out of their ignorance, providing magical aid and education to the {{Muggles}}, but some Lilians are willing to take a more active role, such as [[ForcedTransformation toading]] corrupt politicians. This is called out as a bad thing; among other things, it endangers the {{Masquerade}}, though some of these Lilians really don't care.
103	* WhatMeasureIsANonSuper: Humans and even other magic beasties get hit with this stick hard.
104	* WhiteMagic: "Healing" is something of a misnomer. Not only does it heal injury, and even repair damaged objects, but it also allows for a "pure light" that can [[TurnUndead destroy undead and shadow creatures]].
105	* WickedWitch: Hag's Syndrome makes a witch look about as close to the part as the series' {{Cute Witch}}es and {{Hot Witch}}es can, with red eyes, green skin and hair, and [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz a tendency to melt in water]]. It's essentially a congenital disorder, though, and has nothing to do with the witch's morality. Good witches can have it, and truly wicked witches can look perfectly normal.
106	** Witches who like to lord it over mortals and weaker witches are openly called wicked witches, and many embrace the term.
107	* WizardingSchool: The game is designed to revolve around these.
108	* WouldHurtAChild: Most witches have no problem with killing even infant warlocks for no reason other than warlocks being able to use magic like witches and absorb the power of witches.
109	* YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord: Lillian Tamako's grandmother revealed to her at age 7 that she is descended from a long line of (long thought to be extinct) Japanese witches called "The Maho" and that she is the first one in centuries. A lot of {{anime}} fans can tell you that "maho" or "mahou" is just the Japanese word for "magic".
110	** Presumably (hopefully) not to be confused with the ''[[TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings other]]'' version of [[BlackMagic maho]]...
111	** The proper term would be "mahou-tsukai," "magic user."
112	** Given the various spelling errors in the rest of the book it may well be that the term intended to be used was Majo which would translate to witch (魔女)
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Context TabletopGame / WitchGirlsAdventures