Code: PIRULUK

As if to answer Yuki's question, you see a series of cracks appear in the air above the stage. As these cracks grow and spider out, you begin to feel a sense of dread and apprehension - something is coming. Then, all at once, a part of the world shatters into dust, revealing a swirling mass of color that's painful to watch. As you shield your eyes from the raging lights, a silhouette appears from within the crack, a vaguely humanoid silhouette. It stays on the edge of the crack for a couple of seconds, but then leaps downward, landing casually and lightly in front of you, allowing you to get a better look at it. Her form-fitting body armor accentuates the fact that she is a woman, and her face is hidden by a black visor which grants you no visual on what her features might look like. The visor covers most of her face, ending at her hairline, where long, white hair tied in a single braid trails behind her, its length longer than her height. A sharp-looking knife is looped through the endmost braid. Her right hand carries a sinister-looking dagger, one that she spun lazily around her fingers. The figure walks slowly toward the five of you, its boots clinking against the ground of the stage. It would be a fearful, sinister scene were it not for the fact that the armor the figure wore was coloured a warm pink, with red streaks running across its breastplate. Still, even with the unexpected colour choice, you feel a hint of fear as it approaches. "Dodge!" A voice, a woman's voice, calls out to you, reverberating throughout the field. Moved by some kind of premonition of danger, each of you runs, rolls, jumps, or generally takes some sort of action to vacate your previously inhabited space - which turns out to be a good idea, as without her seeming to tense up or move in any way, her braid flies out without warning and strikes each of the spots you had previously been standing in, leaving a number of deep punctures along the ground in rapid succession. Without missing a beat, the braided woman pushed off the ground and swiped forward with her dagger, targeting the closest of you; in this case, Ayaka. Just before the blade hits, Ayaka finds herself pushed to the side. In her place, another newcomer - someone armored in blue body armor - receives the attack on the flat of a flamberge and slashes out, forcing the assailant to retreat. As she speaks, you recognise it as the voice which had told you to dodge. "Hm... that should have been a kill... Ah. I see. There's not enough Hype... We'll have to make do. It's been a while since I've had to fight on fumes, but..." The helmeted figure turns her head in Ayaka's direction. "I saved you, but now you have to save yourself." She took up a ready stance. "You five. Fight if you want to live. Sit still if you want to die." Combat Stats Weapons/Outfits Combat Skills Battle Information Hype: 41 Enemy Info Player Info

As Sachi continued to be entranced by Kagari and Hikari's butt-waving display, unbeknownst to her, a small part of Kagari's constituent slime fell off, hitting the floor and crawling along it, largely unnoticed. It snuck behind Sachi and, in a single, great movement, formed itself into a lithe arm and started groping Sachi's butt.

There are a few sighs from the audience stands. As the song draws to a close, a murmur of disappointment passes through the audience. In general, the audience looks unimpressed. However, at literally the last second, just before the music cuts, everything stops. The audience stops moving or talking. The lightsticks stop waving. The world loses its colour. Looking over the audience, you notice that all of them are completely still, some even frozen mid-utterance. You can't even see the telltale rise and fall of breathing. It's as if they're frozen in time. If you turn to look at backstage, you see a similar phenomenon. It seems that time has been completely frozen for everyone except the five of you.

"Private? Why?" Kagari raised an eyebrow as she continued to move her hips in a rhythmic, steady fashion. "If you're going to be a real Keijo player, you're going to need to learn to deal with stares. We deal with it on a daily basis. It's a lot of pressure, not everyone can handle it. But it's the bare minimum if you want to be a pro. This is good practice." Concluding her reasoning, Kagari started to accelerate the pace of her warmups, if only to pressure Hikari a bit into joining in.

The audience let out a sigh of relief when Yuki didn't fall flat on her face, as Ayaka had done. However, a good many of them were starting to chatter among themselves, speaking to those around them while pointing at the stage. You're quite sure you can see a few smirks of derision. The number of waving lightsticks, few though they were, start to decrease even further. There's time for maybe one more Appeal before the song ends - will you take the chance?

Single-minded in her purpose, Kagari ignored the rest of their allies in the Ballroom, dragging Hikari by the hand. She had a mission to teach this young lady the fine art of Keijo, and while they had been interrupted previously by the angel's request, this was a prime opportunity to resume their training. She turned to Hikari. "Well then, we can begin with warmups. 100 counts of hip-8s. I'll do them with you. Let's go!" Without waiting for a response, Kagari launched into a series of absurdly quick hip-figure-eights. She wasn't expecting a human to keep up with her, of course. This was her own warmup. 1600 counts of Hip-8s. At her regular speed, she should be able to finish at roughly the same time as her aspiring protege.

Prei readied her lance again, swinging it to the side after having rushed and impaled the smaller creature. She set her sights on the remaining opponent, then dashed off towards it. Basic Attack on Kracko

Yuki's Appeal attempt ended in failure!

A wave of laughter is heard from the audience, courtesy of Ayaka's cute mistake. A number of people pulled out their phones once they saw her spinning out of control, snapping a (flashless, of course) photo of the face-fallen Ayaka. All throughout the audience, a number of guests stand up and leave with looks of clear disappointment on their faces.

The song goes into a brief intermission of pure instrumentation; perfect timing for performing an appeal. A quick glance at the audience reveals that while there are a few waving lightsticks and generally smiles all round shows that the excitement just... isn't really there.

The curtains stand before you, drawn. You hear incessant chattering from the other side, indicative of the mass of people waiting to listen to your first performance as a group. This is your start line, your launchpad. Do well here, and your career launches into a stellar (literally) start. Do badly, and it all comes crashing down before you even started. This is the do or die moment for you, as well as the four girls who stand at your side. There's just one tiny problem: you're all strangers. You were told nothing. You were given no warning. You know the song and dance, at the very least - it's the same you were told to sing for the audition - but most of you have never met each other before today. And now you're supposed to go out there and perform. This session has apparently been marketed as "The First Live of the Next-Generation Miracle!" - advertisements had been sent out all over Earth, though somehow none of you had read anything about it, presumably due to being too worried about the audition. It's perfectly normal. You should perhaps have suspected something when you were told to arrive in your idol outfits, but even if you had, it would have been too late to prepare anything, lest you miss the chance of your lifetime. So this is that chance. A chance to make your first big splash. There's still a couple minutes left till the curtains open. Reviewing your audition, you recall that you're supposed to perform the song Bon Bon Voyage. You go over the song in your head, recalling the unique dances each of you did for the audition. Then time's up. The curtains open. The stage is yours. Audience Count: 10,000 Bond Benefits: None Stage Type: Cute Song Type: Cute ((Instructions: Write up your performances. EZ. Once everyone has a performance post in stating their emotional state + Thoughts + How they're dancing, I'll cue you in for Appeals, then y'all can decide who does each Appeal in which order. For this performance, there is no Center.))

Prei prepares to fire [Unerring Judgment of the Dragon Maiden: <<Myriad Execution>>] Damage = STR + 2SYN +2*(Total Damage Taken) Current Damage: 10 + 10 + (2)*2 = 24 Will fire at the end of this round.

Auditions have ended! Here are the lucky Five, along with the abilities I've decided to grant them! For those of you listed here, please add the abilities listed to your sheet. ----------------------------------------------------------- Yuri Akiyama (Twinwolf) Ability: [Sibling Bond] - Yuri and Yuki's Bond starts at 30 and can never fall below this number. Any time an event would occur that would cause a drop below this number, they each receive one Strain point instead. When they hit 3 Strain points, their Bond is damaged and broken, and cannot be fixed without a special event. Yuki Akiyama (Pyon) Ability: [Sibling Bond] - Yuri and Yuki's Bond starts at 30 and can never fall below this number. Any time an event would occur that would cause a drop below this number, they each receive one Strain point instead. When they hit 3 Strain points, their Bond is damaged and broken, and cannot be fixed without a special event. Lucinda Wada (DragonRage) Ability: [Soul of Rock] - Lucinda gets a +10 bonus to Impact when performing a Cool-type song, but a -10 when performing any other song. Yoshida Ayaka (Adamance Ascendant) Ability: [Nerves] - If Ayaka's Appeal is the first or the last of the performance, it gets +1 Complexity - higher chance to fail, but also higher bonus if she passes. Azusa Kumon (ElfCollaborator) Ability: [Bancho] - If Azusa is the Center, she gets a +10 bonus to Impact, but her intimidating aura makes it harder for teammates to pull off Appeals (Additional 1 point needed for pass) ------------------------------------------------------- Now then, the IC will go up this weekend, so look forward to it. Brush up on your descriptive skills and idolling, because we're going to launch into a concert right off the bat.

Prei Continues Charging [Unerring Judgment of the Dragon Maiden: <<Myriad Execution>>] Current Damage: 10 + 10 + (0)*2 = 20 Turns left before firing: 1

There are still regional variations, but mostly everyone's about the same. It's like the differing prefectures in modern-day Japan, just spread out over a wider area. Idols have universal appeal, yes, because idols are the heart and soul of the human race. It is nothing but the love of idols that unites humanity as a single entity. If idols were to vanish from the world, why, humanity as a species would fracture and collapse! Most parents of children aged 12-16 don't want them watching concerts by raunchy, obscene and rebellious. And these kids usually don't have the cash to pay for their own tickets.

Japan didn't colonise anyone, everyone left the planet. There was nobody to colonise. There was no culture to interact with. It was empty land. If she's raunchy and non-wholesome, then no agency would take her on. The target audience age range for idols is 12 - 27 of both sexes, and a raunchy idol would eliminate access to about a quarter of that revenue. Going against the grain is fine, but this agency is looking to recruit for a group targeted at a mass, mainstream audience.

FIrst off, if you'll read the setting, all Earthlings are Japanese now. Texas doesn't exist. Secondly, "On stage she's prone to wear something that borders on the obscene, such as a midriff blouse over a super-short skirt, fishnets and high-heeled black boots." Is too raunchy. Idols are wholesome performers, not raunchy performers. The Sexy-Type should be done in a high-brow, tasteful fashion. Watch the reference video for an example. Your clothes should accentuate your figure and accent your feminine charm, but trying to show off as much skin as possible isn't the way to go.

>Double Spoilers Not sure if Touhou reference...

Added some reference videos to explain what appeals and idol types are.

There were originally more slots but I cut down to 5 so as to make the load manageable for myself. Also because the system is experimental, so I'm not confident in doing a large-scale RP. As time goes by and I get more comfortable I may open up more slots, but idk. We'll see.

B-but I'm a Kawaii Anti-Viral AI Virtual Idol! See? <<<--------

More Things Brands Dresses are an idol's best friend, and the best dresses come from the best designers. Here are the brands that currently exist, by category: Cute: Sweets Fantasy (Fluffy-Cute), Crown Smile (Princess-Cute) Cool: Fashion Next (Techno-Cool), Glass Chord (Rocker-Cool), Crescent Victoria (Elegant/Gothic-Cool) Pop: 7th Style (Casual-Pop), Rainbow Corner (Quirky-Pop) Sexy: Rosette Masquerade (Elegant-Sexy), Orient Dream (Exotic-Sexy) Throughout the game, you will each need to find a way to get your own Dresses. Dresses come in 4 rarities: Normal, Rare, Premium, Star Premium and Unique. Higher rarity dresses naturally grant better bonuses and Premium or higher dresses may even have special effects! Of course, higher rarity dresses are harder to get, you'll have to find some way to win over the designer of the respective brand if you want one of their Premium/Star Prem/Unique dresses. All starter dresses have Normal rarity. Brands and Battle Skills Every 3 stat points gained, characters will learn a new skill at the conclusion of their next Live/Mini-Live. Characters can also choose to defer the decision, which will cause it to resurface at their next Live/Mini-Live instead. The skill learned will depend on the brand of the dress they are wearing when they go through with the upgrade. Additionally, some higher-rarity dresses will allow for characters to attain unique battle skills in their respective trees. The brands and what skills they unlock are as follows: Sweets Fantasy: Healing Crown Smile: Damage Mitigation Fashion Next: Speed Offense Crescent Victoria: Magical Damage Glass Chord: Physical Damage 7th Style: Stat buffs Rainbow Corner: Non-Stat buffs Rosette Masquerade: Status Ailments Orient Dream: Stat debuffs Bonds - the Power of Friendship! The life of an idol isn't easy. But with your friends' help, it might just be easier! Bonds are your connections with your fellow idols. A higher Bond value between you and another idol means you two are closer. Bond is a hidden value, that I'll keep track of; but you'll want to track changes, too, because it's going to be important! When you perform a Live, your Bonds with other people grant several benefits (these are still WIP, I might add more, but I won't take any away): So how do you build Bonds? Simple: do things together! Taking on jobs together builds Bond. Hanging out together builds Bond. Rehearsing together builds Bond. Helping each other out with something builds Bond. Even just performing as a group builds Bond. You can get Bond for doing literally nothing special. But you can also lose Bonds. How? If you exclude an idol from a group activity. Say Idol A goes catch a movie with Idol B on their Off day. But Idol C also has an Off day! Unfortunately, nobody invited Idol C, so she decides to go watch a movie on her own. Alone. With only popcorn for company. While exiting the theatre, she spots Idol A and B laughing together - but they didn't invite her! Hurt, she drowns her sorrow in ice cream. -30 Bond. Just an example, but events like these will drop Bond. If a pair of Idols lose too much Bond in a short amount of time (secret number), their Bond is frozen, and won't go up anymore until they each take an action to resolve their differences. Sounds bad, right? But there's a silver lining! Sometimes, the best friendships are forged after a misunderstanding. Additionally, participating in a Difference-Resolution event might just net you something special... might. Depends on my mood, really. Fear the GM. Lore Tidbits Stella Kiseki, the legendary Idol The Universe now is at peace - the human race, scattered across the stars, operates under a single Federation government, with each colony having a representative in the Universal Senate, and each seat granted equal voting power. There is no proper Executive, and all colonies are bound by the Miracle Accords of 2655 to respect the Senate's authority. Trade and interplanetary travel is flourishing, and intergalactic benefits systems ensure that while people are living in varying levels of comfort, none are wanting for food or shelter. But it wasn't always this way. Just a short 5 years before the Miracle Accords, in 2650, the Universe seemed to be on the verge of a terrible war. Colonies snapped at each others' throats, some began to display imperialist desires, small disputes and disagreements erupted across the Galaxy. People felt unsafe. People felt unsure. It seemed like the biggest war humanity had ever known - one fought across space - was about to occur. And in the midst of this chaos, a single name started to make the rounds: the name of an idol, one who travelled around the planets and hosted free concerts, inviting all to attend. Nobody knew much about Stella Kiseki, except that she was Japanese, and had therefore come from Earth. But even the Earth authorities didn't know much about her - Stella Kiseki was only a stage name, nobody knew her real name. But they didn't need to know about her past, or to even understand the language she sang in, to move the hearts of all who heard her song. Idols at that time were a strictly Japanese phenomenon, and Stella's actions were what caused a resurgence in the universal love for idols - wherever she went and sang, people were touched by her voice and feelings, and without fail, each colony she visited avowed peace. For five long years, she toured the colonies, making sure to visit every colony. She had no manager, producer, or agent - she handled the logistics and planning of every performance on her own. As her song - and consequently her fame - spread across the colonies, more and more of the colonies' leaders began to vie for peace, in a miraculous reversal of the high-tension situation they had experienced to that point. In September of 2655, the leaders of all the human colonies convened to establish a binding covenant - what would become known as the Miracle Accords. In honor of the woman who made this possible, the location of the convention was decided to be Earth. Additionally, in these Accords, it was decided that the official language of humanity should be Japanese, again in honor of Stella's efforts. These Accords established a set of rules for all the colonies of humanity, solidifying humanity into a single, unitary Federation. It was a historic occasion, watched by billions across the cosmos. For the first time, humanity stood as one - and what united them was their love for idols. In particular, for a single idol. It was thus unfortunate that the woman who made it all possible was never able to see the fruits of her labour. En route to Earth for a big concert intended to commemorate the signing of the Accords, Stella Kiseki vanished. It happened the same day as the signing. Her ship simply disappeared. Nobody knew what happened to it, nobody knew where she had disappeared to. She was never seen or heard for again. And so it was that her appearance and sudden disappearance quickly became the stuff of legend - she had appeared when humanity was in its greatest hour of need, and disappeared when this need had passed. Truly, as her name Kiseki meant, she was a miracle. Her legend inspired legions of young girls to become idols, starting an idol boom which has lasted to this current day, never fading, never waning. It is said that she lies sleeping, awaiting a day when humanity is in an hour of dire need again, whereupon she shall rouse from her slumber and lead her fellow idols in securing a brighter path for humanity's future.

Would you like to become an idol? Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/mRAmzQf Background As some of you may or may not remember, around three years ago I started an Idol RP that fell flat. I've spent the time to look over it and refine it, and this is the result. You'll notice I skipped the Interest Check, that's because 1) I already know there's a modicum of interest and 2) Interest Checks are intended to check on forum response before starting to properly flesh out an idea - This idea is already reasonably fleshed out, so w/e. Explaining the Title The Setting The System Right, time to get down to the mechanics. These mechanics are HEAVILY inspired by Aikatsu. Deal with it. The game will be split into 2 phases per live. The Prep phase, and the Concert Phase. Do note that I'm still experimenting around with this system, so it is liable to change. Prep Phase In this phase, players perform their preparations for the next concert. This phase will occupy a time period of 2-3 weeks IRL (depending on availability). Within this time, players can take up to 2 actions per week from a list (that will be disclosed at the start of each Prep Phase) These actions include, but are not limited to: Rehearsing, Searching for work, taking on jobs, doing research about your next concert venue, having happy idol bonding moments etc. Not all actions will be available in every prep phase, but this phase will have a large impact on the way your performances turn out. Additionally, in this phase, players will select, by democratic vote, the idol in the group they think should be the center for the upcoming live. Concert Phase In this phase, players will write posts describing their concerts and performances. This part is heavily player-directed, and the GM(me) will be solely responsible for scoring the performances, indicating audience response, and prompting Appeals (we'll get to that in a bit). Scoring Appeals Combat Yes there's combat. No I'm not going to tell you how it works, other than that it's stat-based and uses hidden stats related to your character sheet. Also your performance scores will drastically affect battle outcomes. Character Sheet And that's all! I know it seems like a lot to take in. That's because it is. I've put in quite a lot of work into this system, and I think it distributes the burden evenly among players and hosts. The burden of writing the posts lies on the players, while the burden of keeping track of stats/numbers falls on a GM. Anyway, that's all for now. There are a few more intricacies in the system, but this is pretty much all you need to build a character. Let me know if you have any questions~ References Okay so it has been brought to my attention that not everyone knows what I'm talking about when I say "Appeals", or "Idol Type". So here are a few references for you to look at. 1:35 to 4:07 of this video shows a range of Appeals that increase in complexity/score This video is an example of a Cool-type Idol in a Cool-type Dress performing a Cool-type song. There's also an appeal. This is an example of a Pop-type Idol in a Pop-type Dress performing a Pop-type song. There's also an appeal. This is a Cute-type Idol, wearing a Cute-type Dress and performing a Cute-type song Sexy-type Idol wearing a Sexy-type Dress and performing a Sexy-type Song

Serene glanced toward the distance and sought out the enemy commander. Finding the thunder mage, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Moves to K9.

Kagari performs Hip Gatling on the Shoggoth Wrengler. DEX/2 (5) hits of 1d3 + DEX (10) damage.