Bellfahle Magic Academy by Traveller

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posted by Traveller Original SA post

Hey, what the hell.

Bellfahle Magic Academy

Brought to you by MS Paint

So, there's this site called J-Comi that hosts out of print manga and books. It's the brainchild of Ken Akamatsu, creator of Love Hina and Negima if that tells you anything (of course it tells you something, you weeaboo~). Turns out, it also hosts a few TRPG-related downloads, like the original Ryuutama, a supplement for Golden Sky Stories, cyberpunk RPG Metal Head and this thingy right here. I wonder what's it about?


"A TRPG that anyone can play." Presumably it involves an academy, magic, and questionable proportions.

But before we dive into that:

FUCKING

MANGA

(Quick and dirty scanlations, I know. I'm not one of those fancy groups with credit pages, goddammit! Read right-to-left, as is the custom in Nihonland.)





Next: zany adventures!

Doesn't get more anime than this

posted by Traveller Original SA post

You guys just can't handle the , for shame.

Are we ever.

Bellfahle Magic Academy

Doesn't get more anime than this

On with the introduction! In A World brimming with magic, where spell casting mages can do anything (caster supremacy from the get go ) there is an academy where those children that are meant to become mages go to study. This is a TRPG ("tabletalk RPG", Japanese parlance for a pen and paper tabletop RPG) where players play the role of students of Bellfahle Magic Academy, learning magic and having ZANY ADVENTURES. There's an explanation on what TRPGs are, how the book is laid out, and the other things we'll need to play aside from the book: pen, paper, and a number of six-sided dice.

And just like that, we're thrown into a replay! Replays are cleaned up logs of actual RPG sessions. Japan really likes these, to the point that popular replays are sold independently of the games they're based on. This one is called The Disappearance of the Magic Academy , and starts with the GM explaining the setting to their new players. This world, Promacia , is a magic-rich land where magic lights go up at night and people use flying brooms instead of bicycles. Then they go to character creation, by which they mean just picking up pregens.

The gang is:

• Ein El Ralzack : Heir hto the noble Ralzack family of the Vashlan Kingdom. His family has slid into ruin, however, and he is studying to become a knight and restore its name. A hotblooded, justice loving young boy - look, he's got main character written all over him. Kind of a goof though. His specialty is the fighting arts.
  
• Remina (Remi) Crochett : daughter of a wealthy merchant family. She is half-foreigner, so she has striking silver hair and green eyes, rare among the locals. As a single daughter, her father raised her in a very sheltered way, so she doesn't quite get how the real world works. Still, she's pretty genial and easy going, and doesn't act like a shy highborn girl or anything. Her specialty is healing magics.
  
• Chris Catlan : she comes from a poor household, and wants to become a first-class mage to help her mom lead a better life. She has a grown up, sarcastic tone to her, but she's a kind girl really. She's always trying to keep Remi out of trouble and her specialty is searching and perception magic.
  
• Raius Stilton : his grandpa was a master thief notorious through the kingdom and he looked up to him, but his father wanted to keep him on the straight and narrow and had him apprenticed to a mage to keep him out of grandpa's influence. Now an Academy student, he has no real future plans other than enjoying his school life. He's knuckleheads with Ein since old times and though Ein tends to drag him into trouble, he sticks with him because the shenanigans they get up to are fun. His specialty is ???
  

Left to right: Chris, Remi, Ein and Raius.

And the game begins! It's homeroom time for Class 1-A and the teacher is nowhere in sight, so the kids are goofing in the classroom as they are wont to do. Ein is still head over heels for Remi, Chris and Raius give him a hard time about it because kids. Then the teacher arrives, Professor Clayton , and cheerfully dismisses everyone early - except for our gang. Bummer! Clayton leads them to the teacher's lounge and introduces them to one Mr. Aslem , who tells them the sad story of his bedridden daughter Sera , who can't go to school but always watches the gang walk by every day. He asks them to go pay her a visit: Chris and Raius aren't too convinced but Ein and Remi drag them along. And off they go to Aslem's fancy mansion to visit the poor girl! First Impression rolls are made (remember, this is a RPG replay so we're told all the rolls people are making) and Ein rolls well, so Sera takes a shine to him, while Remi and Raius get more normal rolls. Chris, on the other hand, rolls poorly and her player fluffs it as Chris disdaining the "poor" girl living in a much better place than the one she grew up in. Still, Sera introduces herself and the kids start talking about life at the school, the town and all those things she doesn't get to see. Before long Aslem shows up and asks Sera to excuse herself: she wants to continue chatting, but her face turns all sorts of funky colors and Aslem cuts things then and there. He apologizes to the kids outside the room, and explains that Sera has some form of congenital illness that makes even the least effort potentially deadly. Chris grumbles something about not even getting a souvenir; the GM scolds her but says they still got to have tea and cake.

The following day, the kids are going to school. They walk in front of Sera's house, and Ein performs a knightly salute for her: she waves back. They're a little late, so they pick up the pace... but suddenly their surroundings shimmer, and when they recover their senses they find everyone around them is gone, except for the four of them. Remi grumbles that everyone just warped in rather than being late, but Raius says that no one knows that kind of powerful magic. Maybe everyone's hidden? Nope, says Chris. The four get to the Academy, but there are no signs of anyone inside. The bell is ringing without anyone near it, but that's okay, it's a magic bell Raius says he'll leave a note on the desk and then go search for people in town, while Ein observes from the academy's rooftop. Chris summons a familiar, and we're told PCs in Bellfahle all have one "special item" each, like Chris' magic pigeon familiar. Remi goes to town with Raius. The GM says that Ein sees no one in town from his vantage point, but the town walls seem to be kind of blurry; Chris gets in contact with her familiar Uriel and asks it to fly to the Academy, and using its eyes she sees people in the streets and classes beginning at school, but Uriel can't find her. She figures out that's not the real Academy they're in and worse, they're late for class.


Scoobies!

Remi and Raius, meanwhile, actually spot someone in town. Raius wants to stay back and watch first, but Remi ruins the element of surprise. The figure turns around and as it turns out it's actually Sera, somehow out of her room and in her pajamas. She looks pale and about to faint, and when Raius calls out to her she passes out. Remi casts a Diagnose spell on her but fortunately it was just the strain that made her pass out, and the GM tells her Sera will recover once she has some rest. Remi easily lifts her from the ground as she's wearing a magic bracelet that doubles her strength (!) They go back to the school and the four meet and share notes. Raius shares Chris' concerns about being late for class. He figures Sera has something to do with all of this but they really won't know anything until she wakes up. And she does after they shake her up a bit! Raius asks her what she was doing in town, and she says she woke up at night, finding it hard to breathe, and that the mirror in her room started glowing with a red light. She lost consciousness, and when she woke up it was morning and there was no one home, or in town for that matter. The gang remembers there was an antique wall mirror in Sera's room next to her bed. Chris figures that they're all somehow inside the mirror world and Ein suggests finding the mirror. The Gang of Four + Sera go to her room and Chris casts Magic Sense over the mirror. Hint: it's magic! So is the space around them, actually. She follows up with some Magic Analysis and finds out that the magic in the mirror is some form of space control power. She decides she can trust Raius with this important information!


Ein is ready to break the mirror, but the GM calls for a Perception check! Dice are rolled and everyone but Remi notices that someone was watching them from outside, through the window! Raius and Chris go outside to chase the peeping tom while Remi stays behind and Ein has the bright idea of jumping through the window. Sera's room is in the second floor. His Agility check fails and we are introduced to the concept of Damage! 24 damage for Ein, to be precise. Remi is fortunately there to cast Healing Finger on him and patch him up a bit, and while she's bringing him back inside Raius and Chris chase the mysterious stranger. Agility checks are made, but they can't catch up... and Raius decides to throw a stick at the intruder's legs. It's okay, he's got a Lucky Stone! He gets an autosuccess on one ability check per day and he uses it to great effect. The fleeing man crashes to the ground and the kids catch up. However, Ein calls from behind, and strangely it's the GM that's talking for him. It is strange, since Ein is not an NPC and the real Ein is with Remi now, but since Raius and Chris don't know that the players have to play along for the moment. The GM calls for Perception checks and they make it, so the kids hear the sound of a sword being drawn... "Ein" tries to sword at them, his eyes bloodshot. The kids dodge in time and Raius uses Telekinesis to take his sword away. The GM makes an Evade roll for Fake!Ein, but blows it and he is disarmed. Raius questions him at swordpoint, and Fake!Ein only says he was this close to killing them. The kids decide to go back to Ein and Remi but not before Raius tricks Fake!Ein into taking the sword, only to knock him out at the last moment. He figured that the real Ein would fall for that after all. (Ein's player does the "someone's laughing behind my back" routine.) While they were busy with the fake, however, the mysterious man disappeared...

While Ein is totally pretending it didn't hurt that much, "Raius" returns to the room. He says he came in first and that Chris will join them soon and hey, can't you see her by the window? Perception checks are made and while Remi is busy searching for Chris, Ein feels MURDEROUS INTENT behind him. He turns around and uses his special move:


KAMEHAMEHA TO THE FACE

Helpfully provided by his special item, the Bracelet of the War God The GM asks for an Agility check to shoot in time and once Ein nails it, he rolls to hit! Also a success and "Raius" is pushed back by the blast.


Fake!Raius is still standing and Ein figures out he's a fake. Time to break out the combat rules! We don't get a full explanation of them yet, however, only that though Ein is the better fighter, the dice are not with him and he misses, while Fake!Raius nicks him a little - and with the damage he already took from the fall, he's dangerously close to getting knocked out. And bam, Fake!Raius whacks him again and he's down for the count When he's about to finish Ein off with his own sword, Remi suddenly remembers she's there and punches the fake through the wall and outside the house The real Raius and Chris return, hauling along Fake!Ein, and once Remi patches up Ein again they interrogate him. After asking them not to be so wary (he's back to his senses, honest!) he says there is a spirit that was trapped in Sera's mirror, and that it trapped humans inside it to assume their appearances in the real world. Chris checks with her familiar Uriel and yes, there is a pretty girl in the real world version of the house. Fake!Ein explains that it was because of the real Sera that the gang got stuck inside: she has the knack for magic and unconsciously she worked it to have them come to save her. The spirit felt the intruders in its world so it had the reflections try to eliminate them. He mentions the gang could easily go through the mirror and return to their world, but as for Sera, as long as the spirit is out there... The kids resolve to beat the spirit and get Sera back to the real world.

And out there, Fake!Sera is waiting for them! She's not letting them escape now that they know about the mirror world. Ein is perfectly happy with that, he wants to get in a fight. He at the spirit while Raius backs him up with magic, while Chris and Remi, uh...



FAINARU BOSSU

Their attacks seem to have no effect on the spirit, however. Raius figures out the mirror is the spirit's weak point and tells Remi to destroy it, but the spirit won't let them: the real Sera appears in front of the mirror, and they can't destroy it without harming her. She is wielding a sword and attacks anyone getting close to the mirror, while Ein is once again about to be felled by the spirit's attacks But while our hero is tanking damage like a boss, Raius uses Telekinesis again and disarms Sera, while Remina tackles her and Chris strikes at the mirror barehanded. The mirror doesn't break, though, and Ein is (again!) knocked out. The three remaining kids strike at the mirror until it starts breaking, and the spirit is suddenly scared to crap and begging them to stop. Raius gets the spirit to agree to release Sera, and heal her body to boot. It does and flees the scene! Mr. Aslem finally bursts into the room after hearing all the ruckus, but the gang explains while a brand new Sera hugs her dad The kids get Aslem to vouch for them before their teacher, who was already on the loop through Chris's familiar. The kids won't get an absent mark on their records as long as they write a report on their ZANY ADVENTURE.



And that's the end of the replay! Things we've learned: no wonder Ein is an idiot, the guy takes serious brain damage like every other day. There are fates worse than death by mirror demons, like being late for class. And the Academy is an open carry school. How do you like that for grim, Wick? At least we're done with these kids _{hahahaha fuck no}

Next: You need to defeat two more Background Demons before you can reach the Rules Continent.

Gotta cram for those midterms

posted by Traveller Original SA post

Bellfahle Magic Academy

Gotta cram for those midterms

The following chapter is divided in two sections, both written "in character" as it were. The first one has Ein and Raius reading through the Academy's guide for new students. They are welcomed by Academy headmaster Appentsera , blah blah blah congrats on passing the hard tests and joining the Academy, blah blah blah first step to being a mage, something something train your body, mind and magic, etc.

The Academy was founded "many hundred years ago" by famed scholar mage Harman , who obtained permission from the ruler of the time to build "an institution of learnings for the propagation of magick throughout the worlde." The Academy grew and gained more and more students until a hundred years ago it was moved to its present location at the royal capital and an even fancier campus was built for it.


Really fucking fancy.

In ancient times, only a small fraction of the population could wield magic, as mages kept their knowledge for themselves. As mages behaved like, well, mages (no sense of right or wrong ) and carefully hid their lore, magic was on a decline. Harman, the first modern mage, didn't care for this situation too much, which is why he came up with the idea of the Academy. Magic is something anyone can do with practice, so he figured that if the idea spread both baseless fear of magic and the conceitedness of wizards would go away. By giving mages a place where they could exchange knowledge, magic could be revitalized. Anyway, young sports, that's the pedigree of the Academy so take your studies seriously!

The Academy's curriculum covers magic (duh!), particularly its origins and means of work, but also teaches martial arts, liberal arts, sciences and many other subjects. The ideal mage does not just know magic, they are Renaissance People of sound mind and body. There are four years in the Academy, with students progressing from one to the next after a year of study and good grades. Honors students can be fast-tracked to higher years as well. Each year is further divided in classes of 36 students each, with around 5 classes per year. Each class has one assigned head teacher from their first year onwards. Lessons are from Monday to Friday, with each lesson lasting one hour. There are 30-minute recess periods between lessons and three lessons per day.

• Basic Magic : taught by Professor Clayton. Theory and practice of magic, mental exercising.
  
• Physics : taught by Professor Harts. The other force that rules the world aside from magic Mostly theoretical, also the prof seems to be a stickler.
  
• Magic Studies : taught by Professor Antram. Magic theory, not much else to say about this.
  
• Biology : taught by Professor Matock. The mysteries of life! This involves experimentation, so I guess there are magic frogs that bitch when you dissect them wrong or something.
  
• Social Studies : taught by Professor Civre. History and geography. No magic!
  
• Art : taught by Professor Sevel. Let your ~*artistic sense*~ bloom through painting, sculpture, and magic.
  
• Music : taught by Professor Bomon. Singing, instrument playing and more magic! The prof is a terrible stickler and if you don't like it you can scram.
  
• Etiquette : taught by Professor Cure. Polite speech, motherfucker! Always needed, particularly in this rude age.
  
• Home Economics : taught by Professor Pelje. From cooking to sewing, all the things you need to know to run a house. And magic to help with that.
  
• Health : taught by Professor Elishel, who also doubles as the school nurse. Teaches medicine and healing magic. Also the prof will kick you out of the nurse room if you come for a papercut or some other minor shit
  
• Divination : taught by Professor Tyurerie. Deals with perception and magic for finding things. Crystal balls and all that jazz.
  
• Martial Arts : taught by Professor Banon. No word on whether he's a Race. Teaches magic for self defense and war. "The basis of martial arts is the heart: a heart that won't lose."
  
• Physical Education : taught by Professor Bles . Mages tend to be scrawny nerdy jerks so they can use some exercise. Nerds. Also covers ball games.
  
• Riding : taught by Professor Vashlan. Horses are man's best friend.
  

Sweet terrain tables!

There are also special lessons off the classroom, particularly those dealing with magic that doesn't work indoors (like weather control) or those that need access to nature like art sketching or animal observation. The Academy also hold an "outdoors school" week in August. Speaking of months, the school year begins in April and is divided in three three-month periods, September-December (after the August summer break) and January-March. There are exams halfway through the trimesters and at the end of each. The exams are both written and live, with the students demonstrating proficiency in magic before a teacher.

As for the Academy itself! It is built over a bunch of hazel trees, 30 meters above the ground. The trees are enchanted so that magic that simplifies magic working is sealed, so no magic cheating for Academy students. There's a magic teleport circle that works as the entrance and exit. There's a garden, a bell tower, a teacher's lounge (entrance forbidden for students!), rooms for the different classes including a "Strategic Research Room" for Martial Arts classes because the kids need to get their Warhams on, a flying astronomical observatory, a school store with everything from stationery to magic implements, a library with an underground section that holds books that can only be perused with the headmaster's permission, sports grounds and separate dorms for boys and girls (with running water and air conditioning!). Also there's an old wing of the school that's very deteriorated so like, don't go near there you damn kids.


Ladders are for muggles.

Students should not abuse or misuse magic. They must wear the school's official uniform and crest while in Academy grounds, and formal dress uniform for special occasions like the beginning and end of the school year and graduation. They get Saturdays and Sundays off, as well as holidays and April 10 because that's the school's anniversary. Classes begin on April 7! The guide also comes with the class schedule for our guys. No, seriously.




Mondays: Riding or Home Ec, Basic Magic, Martial Arts. (Gender segregation? Fuck this!)
Tuesdays: Medicine, Social Studies, Craft.
Wednesdays: Divination, Etiquette, Magic Studies.
Thursdays: Physics, Phys Ed, Art.
Fridays: Biology, Music, Free Study.

That bit at the end says "Free Study" has no assigned subject and thus players can use it however they see fit. Also, there's no "Craft" class on the guide (or anywhere else in the book anyway) so I dunno.

Things we've learned today: this is total escapist fantasy, only three periods and no classes on Saturday? Come on!

Next: let's ruin a date.

Grand Theft Broom: Marslan City

posted by Traveller Original SA post

Bellfahle Magic Academy

Grand Theft Broom: Marslan City

Classes are over for the day and a stammering Ein offers to show Remi around town since she's just moved in and all. Remi is happy to go with him... and Chris and Raius too, since they decided to tag along. Raius worries about leaving Ein alone Since Remi doesn't know a thing about, well, anything (she confuses the Royal Castle for "that huge house over there") and we need an excuse for exposition, it's time for some world background!


Hey, I didn't make the city.

We are in the continent of Fermia , right in the middle of the world of Promacia. (Raius is drawing up a map as he explains, it's kind of adorable really) The Vashlan Kingdom and the city of Marslan is where the Academy is located. The Queen, Her Majesty Yumi La Vashlan III is the ruler of the kingdom, and she lives in that "huge house", Castle Arwin . They say a famous architect built it! The gang makes their way through Sage's Road , a wide avenue that leads to the Academy and is named like that because of all the schools, research halls and related businesses located there. There's a number of schools for subjects like arithmetic and calligraphy, as well as other smaller magic schools. Aside from the Academy itself, the largest school in Sage's Road is Balkas School , a place of learning for ancient history whose library stocks some very rare books. Balkas himself is the city's foremost book collector, and for a fee he can grant access to his personal collection of precious ancient manuscripts.


Castle Arwin and Sage's Road.

The gang takes a turn from Sage's Road to Spell Road , which is packed with fortune teller's stalls and other magic shops. There's also a strong smell in the air, but the kids are used to smelling it in the school: it's --- I mean, medicinal herbs. Ein finds it all kinds of freaky but them's the breaks when you're a mage. About half of the stores sell supplies to mages from herbs and books to flying brooms, while the other half offers spellcasting and fortune telling services. You can buy bottled magic from these stores: actually, you can buy them from pretty much any general store, but these are more powerful. The fortune tellers are kind of hit or miss, but while there are not 100% safe predictions, they can get close enough to it. There's Muroll , who while young has the best or second best hit ratio in town, but she doesn't tolerate stupid questions; or Guliyu , who charges 10,000 silver per session but his reputation is such that consultations have to be booked days in advance.

At the end of the street there is a large tower belonging to the Association of Mages and Chris is in DESPAIR because Remi, as our surrogate, has no idea what that is. The Association deals with mage affairs and hands out official mage licenses to those who pass their examinations. This is so that high grade magic isn't used lightly, but by people of proper strength and disposition. They're also involved in magic research and support mages by selling them magic implements at low prices. The Academy also falls under the Association's purview, as they have an interest in the proper spread of magic throughout the world.

The kids then take a familiar turn and end in Student's Road , which has its name because it's always full of said students. There's stationery stores here, as well as restaurants, like the Goatling's Inn which is cheap but serves some really odd dishes with things that aren't really food on them, because his owner is a mage and does some haute cuisine shit with . And the odd lady at the general store gives candy when you buy something from her! Next to Student's Road is Boarding District , named for all the boarding houses there. Many students from the Academy and the Sage's Road schools live here, like about half of Ein and company's class. Finally, they reach the city square , complete with an open market. Chris teaches Remi the finer details of haggling for stuff! The guy they were buying from explains that the market is said to have everything - if nothing else, it's probably the best in the world. Near the plaza there is the Reol Theater , a very high class and formal establishment, and the Arda Church , where those who believe in God (not many!) go to worship. It's really pretty anyway. During holidays, performers come out and put up shows for everyone to watch.


Student's Road and the city square.

A bell rings three times from a clock tower, which gives its name to Clock Road . It was built by the Association and, of course, is powered by magic. Now it's Remi that drags the group there, as it is where the Crochett Company has its offices. The manager explains that many other traders have offices in this street, and that millions of silver pieces are traded here every day. There's a government office here to regulate trade, which is why the businesses have gathered around the location. The kids are rude and leave before the old guy finishes his report on quarterly profits, though.

The gang spots the Residential District , which is where they live! But that's boring so instead they show Remi around the Artisan District , where craftsmen of all types live. From shoemakers to tailors to bakers, it's all there. They gather because it's more convenient for their guilds to keep them together. The guilds do for regular folk what the Association does for mages: support, licensing and research. The Guild Halls at the center of this area are built in all sorts of styles and getting around and through them is a bit hard since they're built all over the place.

At the Shopping District they stop at a jewelry store, where Chris admires a brooch and acts all girly kawaii for a change. The owner does the designs herself and they're quite popular with the young ladies. Close to that is the Inn District , packed with inns and hotels as Marslan gets a lot of visitors with all the trade going on. There's regular inns, inns for caravans, inns for your monkeys, inns for everything. Beyond that there's the Pleasure District , where most places are closed as it's still daylight. By night, it's a lively place with bars, gambling houses and brothels. Remi doesn't need to know what a brothel is, thank you very much! Ein's face is going beet red for no reason! The largest gambling house, August Hare , has magic-assisted gambling going on, while Angel's Cheek is a high class cabaret popular with nobility and wealthy people.

Remi is about to take a turn and the gang stops her: she was about to go into the slums , the wrong side of the magic tracks. Guards don't go there. It used to be part of the Development Zone but one day it became a den of outlaws and criminals, dangerous even in broad daylight. The Development Zone itself is where poor people live, but they are of a better kind than the slums' denizens and try to help each other to survive. Chris believes them to be a better sort than the self-righteous jerks living at the Old District , and Ein takes over the explanation even though his family no longer lives there. The Old District used to be the entirety of the city, but then it grew around it. It's where the nobility has their residences: regular people don't go in here. Guards are posted at its entrances and you don't get in without a permit. These guards are knights of the White Knight Order , a specially formed guard unit. They spend their time training and patrolling, but when it comes down to blows they fight as knights. All boys want to be White Knights when they grow up!


Pleasure District and Harbor District.

The gang splits and everyone goes home. Remi tells her dad about her trip around town, and he mentions there's one place they didn't go to: the docks. Properly known as the Harbor District, the docks are where the shipowners' offices and the warehouse where they store goods to be carried by their ships are located. It's where her dad works! He says he'll take her next time: there's people from all countries there. Maybe they will meet someone from her mother's country... and dad just made himself a little sad.

Next: Finally some goddamn rules--- IS THAT A FLOWCHART

In which fictional characters realize the falsehoods upon which their existences are built

posted by Traveller Original SA post

Bellfahle Magic Academy

In which fictional characters realize the falsehoods upon which their existences are built


Shenanigans!

On to character creation ! But first, some fourth wall breaking.


Then Chris joins in on the wall breaking and mentions that they exist because they were chosen from between their classmates. Bellfahle's primary method of character generation is actually character selection, as the idea is that players pick one of the book's pregenerated characters. Like Ein or his friends, or actually any of the 36 members of Class 1-A: they're all pregenerated already so that you can pick one up and start playing right away. Since it may be hard for players to choose a character, they can also roll for one with 2d6, or follow handy flowcharts! These are actually at the end of the book, but we'll take a look at them now.

The pregens are broadly divided into eight types:

• Independent : can do pretty much anything, but no particular strengths. Raius and Chris are this type.
  
• Knight : strong and tough, magic not so good though. Girls can be just as tough as the boys. Ein is a Knight.
  
• Magic : pretty good at the not so much at the
  
• Unsung Hero : not much in the way of flashy magic, but can hold on their own against the other types.
  
• Own Pace : chillax bro/sis. Like the Independent type, but more relaxed. Remi is this type.
  
• Quester : girls only, lives by her wits but doesn't have much in the way of flashy magic or physical strengths.
  
• Sporty : boys only, very good at physical activities, could really use magic support.
  

There's one for the boys, one for the girls.

These types are just general categories in which the pregens fall into, they're not classes or anything. They come with everything, even with a small background, with relationships with other characters the only thing up to players to figure out (so if you pick Ein you don't have to be hopelessly smitten with Remi, for instance.)

Stats are rated from 1 to 5, with 1 being very bad and 5 being very good. The stats are Perception , Appearance , Dexterity , Agility , Intelligence and Strength . The kids comment during all of this: Ein boasts of his Agility of 4, while Chris counters that he fell off a second floor and got himself knocked out twice during their adventure There is also Spirit , which measures the character's ability to endure emotional shock. It is reduced when facing scary things or taking ~*wounds to the heart*~, as well as powering magic. Going down to 0 Spirit means getting knocked out. Endurance is the physical equivalent, i.e. hit points. Spirit is restored by one point per hour of rest, while Endurance recovers at a rate of one point per day of rest but can be restored by medical care or magic as well. Charm is a measure of how likeable the character is at first glance (Ein wonders how Chris has a better Charm score than him )

Characters also have Interests , Relationships with other characters, Special Skills , Personality Traits , Spells (of course!) Belongings which also include the character's monthly allowance, and their Special Item. They also have a Battle Level which shows how experienced they're at fighting and a Magic Level that shows how used they are to magic. Battle Level starts at 0 and Magic Level starts at 1.

But, but, but! Where's the character generation rules? Right here, after everything is explained. First, you must pick an Interest and Personality Traits. There are lists for both, in Easy to Roleplay and Hard to Roleplay favors. Beginner players should pick from the Easy to Roleplay lists; players can also roll these at random if they want. The Personality Traits come with a score that modifies the initial Charm rating: the fun thing about these is that they apply differently if the character is a boy or a girl, so for instance a Chatty (negative) boy is more annoying that a Chatty girl. One trait in particular, Lonely, is negative for boys and positive for girls; in other words, Bellfahle mechanically supports sad lonely little girls being adorable. After these are chosen, you get 18 points to assign to stats. Spirit is equal to (Intelligence x 4 + 4), Endurance is (Strength x 5 + 5) and Charm is 7 + Appearance + trait modifiers. You can pick a number of spells equal to your Intelligence, one Special Item from the item list, one Special Skill, and the character's belongings and monthly allowance which can be anything the character would probably have - within reason. Ein is ready to have ALL THE GOLDS but the book says you should probably check in with the GM first. There's a worksheet at the back of the book for character generation but you should probably just pick a pregen if you're not used to TRPGs or anything.


Bellfahle really doesn't mind if you play a gender other than your own.

Rules! The basic roll is the Action Check , which is based off the stats. Perception checks are made to search or notice things, Appearance checks are for being prettier than someone else or trying to seduce (dammit game you're in highschool don't do this ), Dexterity checks are for using or manipulating objects or sleight of hand tricks, Agility checks are those Ein fails when he tries jumping from second floors, Intelligence checks are used to know things or negotiating with people and making tests of willpower (pretty much anything where the character's head comes into play that doesn't involve reasoning or deduction - that's the player's job), and Strength checks are for anything that needs physical power or resistance. The check is first done with a roll of 2d6 + the relevant stat: the example has Remi rolling her own Intelligence check to remember a piece of triva, which the book admits it's basically screwing with the fourth wall on an Inception level but it's a special occasion But we're missing the other half of the check, and that is its difficulty . The roll needs to meet or beat that difficulty to succeed. An easy peasy check has a difficulty of 6, average is 8, and something practically impossible has a difficulty of 14. And now that Remi has the entire concept of checks explained to her, pop! she remembers the trivia. The higher the roll goes over the difficulty, the better the success is.

The Special Skill is one unique thing that separates the character from others. So for instance, Remi is good at healing: she says the teachers praise her for it , and on her character sheet her special skill is Medical Treatment, which gives +3 to Dexterity checks to provide medical aid. Special skills provide bonuses from +1 to +3 for various rolls or stats: your character could be a Prankster and get +2 to Dexterity rolls related to setting up pranks or traps, a Fashionista whose great dressing sense gives them a +1 to Charm, or a Brawler with +3 to attack rolls in an unarmed fight. Sometimes things go perfectly right and other times they blow ass: these are Criticals and Fumbles , which happen when you beat a check's difficulty and also roll sixes on both dice or roll ones on both dice (even if you would have succeeded) respectively. In another of those notes that show how the game is meant for people that have literally no idea at all of how RPGs work, we're told that it's not only the players that call for rolls, but the GM can do so as well (like Perception checks when someone is stalking you, for instance.) Contested rolls are made simply by rolling for each party and checking who got the highest result: Ein and Raius do the stereotypical RPG example arm wrestling and Ein wins. Ties are resolved depending on the nature of the contest: in a race the opponents would cross the line at the same time, but when arm wrestling they would just keep pushing and would have to roll again, and if ties are not a possibility (hide and seek, frex) the active party wins the tie. If one side fumbles, they lose instantly; if they both fumble, the one that got the lowest result loses; and criticals only count if you both roll two sixes and get a higher result than your opponent. Sometimes checks have no difficulty at all, normally when they're about just seeing how well you did at something: a roll of 6 or worse is terribad, 10 is average, and 14 is a master piece. Criticals cannot happen in these rolls, but fumbles can


Godfuckingdammit, Ein.

The tone of this section is educational as hell: after every new rule or type of check, there is a small summary detailing everything that happens at the table from the moment someone declares using that section. It's a little repetitive if you're familiar with RPGs but again, the book assumes you're not.

Next: meet and greet people, then punch them through walls