Black Coin alternate Specialization & Corruption system

Black Coin optional enhancement for QuantumBlack's Magical Girl CYOA

This is the first, trial version for an alternate method of generating specializations and corrupted Monster Girls (of any species you like) or Dark Magical Girls, using the same 12d20 rolls as the normal MGCYOA v1.21

v0.5 by Levinia-n-Niamh, with suggestions by anon, Anonymous_, RainMoth, and the MGCYOA IRC regulars.



Just as Puchuu begins the process of empowering you, a second small being appears. You honestly don't get much more of an impression than that it's hidden in shadows, and it is grinning a bit too wide, with teeth a bit too sharp for comfort. Puchuu squeaks a protest, but is ignored as the newcomer tosses a ninth coin at you, a Black Coin. "If you tire of obeying that miserable wretch, here. This coin will bring you power, unrestrained, as it was meant to be. The price of true power is steep... but its taste is sweet."


About Specializations: (Roll #3)

Bronze: modify your roll up or down by one
Silver: switch between any specialty in the same group
* Group A: 1 Fire, 4 Spirit, 7 Time, 10 Darkness, 13 wood, 16 Gravity
* Group B: 2 ice, 5 Reinforcement, 8 Lightning, 11 Illusion, 14 Empathic, 17 Stone
* Group C: 3 Air, 6 Psychic, 9 Sound, 12 Light, 15 Water, 18 Beast
Gold: Choose any Specialization

The weaknesses in the list below are exposed by using a Black Coin to override various safety features normally included in the magic in the name of more power to apply externally, boosting stats, adjusting reality to provide perks, etc. If you don't spend it, you can ignore them. Specializations 1-18 are otherwise the same as in the 1.21 PDF, while full descriptions are provided for the Metal and Custom specializations new to this document. A girl who is weak to a particular specialization will take extra damage from being hit by attacks using it, and/or more susceptible to status effects based on it. Weapons are assumed to be attuned to (one of) the user's specialization(s) for magical purposes and mundane weapons hardly count at all, so being weak to Metal does not necessarily mean anyone with a sword or gun is your bane.

1: Fire - weak to Water and Stone
2: Ice - weak to empathic and spirit
3: Air - weak to metal and psychic
4: Spirit - weak to illusion and air
5: Reinforcement - weak to fire and wood
6: Psychic - weak to spirit and reinforcement
7: Time - weak to lightning and light
8: Lightning - weak to stone and water
9: Sound - weak to air and empathic
10: Darkness - weak to light and beast
11: Illusion - weak to beast and darkness
12: Light - weak to darkness and gravity
13: Wood - weak to sound and fire
14: Empathic - weak to reinforcement and metal
15: Water - weak to gravity and ice
16: Gravity - weak to time and illusion
17: Stone - weak to wood and time
18: Beast - weak to psychic and sound

19: Metal
+3 VIT or LCK
Weak to ice and lightning
This specialization allows girls to shape and manipulate metal. Bullets, blades and spears may be flung, wires, chains, and sheets used to bind, lift, or grab, or massive objects raised up as cover. Skilled users can form and operate simple machines, animate statues, or purify ore and restore damaged or corroded material like new. Masters can launch blasts of ionized plasma, knock someone out by controlling their blood flow, and manipulate alloys or the crystalline structure of a part at the molecular level. Metal users are often skilled mechanics and machine operators.

20: Custom Specialization
* choose one of the existing ones, or a narrowly focused but unique spec: candy, steam, paper, bone, the zodiac, a holiday, etc.
* +2 to any one stat
* +1 to any other stat
* Black Coin Weaknesses: choose two other Specialties



Using the Black Coin:

Evil will always be waiting if your pure heart and strong will falter. The Black Coin can buy a second specialization, but may also be used for anything you could spend a Gold Coin or two Silver coins for, even if you just keep it for a while rather than using it during character creation.

When you use the Black Coin Your body floods with dark power and the Puchuu flees, cursing, as your transformation takes a sinister turn. If you spend the Black Coin for a second Specialization, your body is warped into a monstrous shape as it fills with more power than a merely human form can contain. Use the Corruption die (Roll #3.1) to find your second Specialization on the same table above, and add the bonuses from both to your stats, but you also receive the weaknesses of both. If you roll the same Specialization you already had, choose from any of the others.



About Weaknesses:

With your Specializations determined, poke around the internet for a monster girl species that seems like a good fit. Yes, you can use anything, as long as its recognizably part girl. Next, fine tune the weaknesses to match your chosen monster girl.

One specialization weakness may be discarded (if it matches a second Specialty you have, that's the one to drop,) and others can be exchanged for more character-specific flaws of roughly equal weight. The monster girl types listed in the CYOA have their flaws broken down for inspiration:

Lamia:
huge appetite
no cannibalism taboo
awkwardly large

Drider:
awkwardly large
agoraphobia
compulsion to secrecy

Vampire:
substance addiction
1/2 power during day (worth two)

Fallen Angel:
compulsive troublemaker
1/2 power at night (worth two)

Dryad:
three specialization weaknesses

Siren:
uncomfortable on land
lonely
must stay hydrated

Were:
Random rage (worth two)
vulnerable to silver even without magic

Djinn:
lack of empathy
lack of social perception
literal interpretation

Golem: (QB has said this one still needs tweaking as of v1.21)
lonely
lack of empathy
dulled sense (touch)
compulsion (regain humanity)



Other uses for the Black Coin:

If you choose to spend the Black Coin for something other than a second Specialization you become a Dark Magical Girl, with the following effects:

+1 to any three different stats

Your Specialization becomes visually twisted: stone calls only black obsidian, fire calls black flames, light casts a sickly green or purple glow, etc.

Furthermore, even normal non-magical folks can tell there’s just something off about you. But there’s nothing wrong with you! You’re sure of it. In fact, you’re sure of a lot of things now. You know everything will work out fine if they just follow your lead. So what if your magic looks a little funny? You know what has to be done.



Not using the Black Coin:

If you resist the temptation of power, you should probably still keep the coin, to prevent it from falling into the hands of someone less scrupulous - and a non-magical person would surely come to a bad end if they fell under the influence of its seductive song, like the purr of a big cat and the faint taste of dark chocolate and the electric feeling in the air just before a storm, all at once. No, no, that certainly can't be permitted. An alternative would be finding a way to destroy it, though that's likely to be difficult. Perhaps Puchuu would know something about it, but do you really want to ask him for help after doing this to you? Then again, he seemed very upset about the grinning thing showing up, so maybe it would make him just a little more friendly?

So many questions, so many paths you could take. And you're not even half way through character generation!