Sparkle Heart Magic Force Go

Pitch: It’s been years since the Mystical Guardians of the Sparkle Heart received their call to arms. Seemingly ordinary college students transformed to battle the Eidolons, otherworldly monsters of eerie beauty and vicious intent. Thanks to the Mystical Guardians, the gate was sealed—just in time for finals! The PCs parted ways after graduation, and the Sparkle Heart became a distant memory. Years later, they’re going to have to remember their power and their friendship to confront a new threat.

Hook: Each of the PCs has their own encounter with a magical threat, years after their last call to arms. This time, their opponents aren’t mindless demons, they’re people. You can’t just “Glitter Blade Annihilation Attack” people, can you? Can you even rekindle that magic at all after so long apart?

Setup Questions

As a group, answer the following questions to develop your shared world:

What was most terrifying about the Eidolons you encountered years ago?

Detached parts**stay alive, beauty entrances mundane people, reflections of yourselves, right behind you when you least expect it, invisible to mundane people, predatory cunning

When you were attacked recently, what did each of the attackers have in common?

They knew everything about our time at school, they carried our old swords, they wore Eidolon masks, they seemed familiar but unplaceable, they mirrored our movements, they moved like our closest comrades

You left a conspicuous glittering heart symbol at the site of the gate, but everyone else acts as if it’s always been there. Where was the mystical gate that you sealed to keep out the Eidolons?

Labyrinth beneath the university, natural bridge between mountaintops, treacherous tidal cave, within an enigmatic ring displayed at the museum in the city

How long has it been since you parted ways?

A few years, a decade, decades, no one can quite remember how long ago or why

Custom Rule: Reforging Bonds

The magic of the Sparkle Heart beats stronger when the PCs care for one another. Bond is a measure of the care that links the PCs to the group. Every PC has a separate Bond track, which starts at 0 Bond after the time they spent apart. Bond tracks reset to 0 each session until the PCs rebuild their trust.

Track Bond in a central place accessible to all players. Whenever a PC spends a String on another PC in a way that helps them, each PC involved marks 1 Bond. This might mean Influencing with a String to give them +1 to a roll or to tempt them to do some self-care. It might mean spending a String for the +3 when giving Emotional Support. It’s the recipient’s call whether using a String counts as helpful.

Custom Rule: Rebuilding Trust

If a PC has Trust, Bond resets to their Trust value instead of 0 at the start of each session. You can ignore this rule if playing a single-session game.

A character’s Trust can increase as a result of a String Advance or by accumulating Bond, and can decrease whenever the player chooses.

When a PC earns a String Advance by accumulating four Strings on another PC, resolve it as normal. In addition, if the PC shares the insight they gain about the other person in an empathetic way, that person gains a point of Trust.

Additionally, each PC can increase Trust by 1 once per session if their Bond is at least 4 greater than their Trust. So a PC with 0 Trust can increase it if they’re at 4 Bond.

Custom Move

Obliterate Eidolon

An Eidolon can be temporarily banished by inflicting Conditions, but only the combined power of the Mystical Guardians can bring a lasting end to these creatures.

When you confront an Eidolon as a team, each PC says the name of their signature magic attack. Then, the PC with the lowest Bond rolls. If tied, whoever feels least integrated into the team rolls. Roll +Bond and subtract the number of unmarked Conditions the Eidolon has:

10+: Working in harmony, you obliterate the Eidolon and the GM will tell you what clue or useful object it leaves behind.

7–9: A disagreement, jealousy, or other disruption means you are almost devoured before the magic obliterates the Eidolon at the last possible moment. Describe it.

6-: The GM is encouraged to make a move that turns your magic against you.

Custom Relationships

Select playbooks and create characters as usual, except use the following relationship prompts. Then assign each other zero, one, or two Strings as normal.

**Beast:**Who went exploring with you the most back then? Who will be most surprised by how you’ve changed?

**Chosen:**What relationship from back then did you break off to pursue your Destiny? Who is going to be most disappointed in you?

Devoted: You managed to stay in close touch with one comrade; who? You wish you’d paid more attention to one of your comrades back then; who?

**Infamous:**Who was with you during your lowest moment back then? Who thinks this new menace must be your fault somehow?

Nature Witch: If you had listened to one of your friends, you would have started experimenting in life a lot sooner; who? You try to emulate your memory of one of your friends from back then; who?

Scoundrel: Back then, you kissed someone you shouldn’t have. Who was most upset? Which of the others did you reach out to at a low moment, shortly before the recent attacks?

Seeker: Who tried the hardest to get you to grow past your Commandments back then? Which Commandment do you wish you had violated back then? With whom?

Spooky Witch: Who helped cover for you when you kept a tiny Eidolon pet? Who always seems interested in your theories about magic, even after years apart?

Trickster: For years, you’ve regretted not sharing a secret with one of your comrades; who, and why do you hesitate now that you have the chance? Who was your greatest confidante back then, and why have you tried to distance yourself from them?

Questions for the Players

GM: After your players select their playbooks, ask the following questions in order. If the listed playbook isn’t in play, ask the question of someone else.

Players: When answering, describe how your PC’s presentation has changed.

Devoted: You reached out to the others after you were attacked, to call for this reunion. What time and place did you pick? Does it have sentimental significance?

Spooky Witch: Your adversary didn’t attack immediately. When they extended their hand, why did you reject them?

Trickster: Who or what taught the Mystical Guardians to use your powers? Why do you distrust them?

Seeker: Which of your beliefs have helped you cope with the trauma of being forced into battle back then, if any?

Beast: Why did you leave school before graduating?

Infamous: What about your adversary was eerily reminiscent of your past misdeeds?

Chosen: Why are your other obligations incompatible with becoming a Mystical Guardian again?

Scoundrel: What’s the most foolish thing you’ve done while chasing the thrill you felt back then, and why does it still haunt you?

Nature Witch: Why do you feel like a brand-new person compared to back then?

GM Section: Contains Spoilers

This scenario forces together a group of PCs who used to be close, but have drifted apart. There may be obvious explanations for why they parted ways, or it might be something to discover during play.

Back then, the Guardians were focused on defeating the Eidolons, finding the portal that let them enter the world, and sealing them out. They didn’t necessarily learn the truth about what lay on the other side of the portal or the nature of the Sparkle Heart; these are mysteries to explore during play.

Whatever the truth is, start off by exploring the PCs’ relationships. Throw the characters into shared danger and see how well they’re able to work together despite their time apart. On down beats, emphasize how an opponent slips through a gap in their team’s defenses, or how a new problem surprises them because they’re distracted or not working as a team. Introduce complications arising from the ways they’ve changed, as well.

Early on, introduce key NPCs who will help drive the PCs’ emotional conflict, and put a face on their adversary to be a recurring villain.

It’s also a good idea to have some temptations to offer to lure the PCs to the side of their adversary, to try to break their unity and loyalty, especially early on when it is most shaky.

The adversary is connected somehow to the Eidolons and might even use them as weapons and minions. Remember that conflict inThirsty Sword**Lesbians is character-focused, and make sure that the main opponents are people. If the Eidolons really aren’t intelligent, then they won’t be as satisfying to center in a conflict, so use them as tools of the true adversary or as threats that might require PCs toDefy Disasterto protect one another or NPCs.

This scenario includes two timer mechanisms if you’re playing a campaign of multiple sessions: the progress of the PCs’ Trust and the countdown to the adversary’s plan coming to fruition. The countdown may force the PCs to seek out their most dangerous foes before they’re ready, or risk catastrophe.

Ultimately, the PCs should learn enough about their adversary that they can make a call about whether they’re going to try to obliterate them like all those Eidolons back then or connect with them as people.

You have a decision to make if the PCs try to useObliterate Eidolonon their new adversaries. What’s the moral of the story? Have their adversaries shown a capacity to grow? Are they lashing out in pain? Then a punitive, destructive response might not be productive. It might fuel their pain and strengthen their agenda. It might let them turn that destructive power against the PCs and destroy something they care about or make themStagger.

At the other end of the spectrum, the adversary might be irredeemable. Maybe they were hurt, but it doesn’t excuse their escalation, and they won’t accept any remedy other than total, final victory. Or maybe their agenda was always to take and take from the human world. In these cases, standing in unity to oppose them can be a positive climactic moment. You can use an up beat onObliterate Eidolonto heighten this heroic moment and perhaps leave a clue of any plot elements not discovered during play. A mixed beat might mean that it only takes effect after a significant delay, and leads to a few more tense story beats. A down beat shouldn’t end the climactic battle; make the PCs take Conditions orStagger as the adversary pushes back with their own power, then continue as with the mixed beat. If the PCs can keep up the pressure, they’ll win, but they’re up against something more powerful than ever before.

Potential Adversaries

You can use either of these options or both at once:

The Lost was once the final member of the team, but has been almost entirely erased from this timeline. They have Bond and Trust scores of -1, but don’t reveal this until the PCs try to use Bond in their presence and discover that their connection to the Sparkle Heart is unbalanced when the Lost is near. (The PC with the lowest Bond still makes the roll, but the modifier is the Lost’s Bond of -1 instead of theirs.)

Did they sacrifice themself back then?

Were they left behind?

Did they betray the team?

Are they working with the Eidolons or for their own purposes?

The Idols are the latest evolution of the Eidolons, shaped by the battles back then and made in the image of the Mystical Guardians. They gain power from lesser Eidolons by devouring them (perhaps as part of the bonus GM move you make when they suffer Conditions). They can only imagine the power they would obtain by devouring their counterparts, the Guardians.

Were the Eidolons always intelligent and it’s only recognized now that they’re human-shaped?

What do they feel towards their counterparts? Fascination? Hatred?

Can they learn to work as a team, the way the Guardians did back then?

Potential Countdown

What is the adversary after and how are they going to get it? Use a short countdown of five or so steps and control the pace of the countdown by deciding how often you’re going to use GM moves to progress it instead of doing something in the moment. For a sense of inevitability, simply have it advance on its own at the beginning of each session.

Countdown

Consume What Makes People Special

5. Everyone except the PCs chooses to wear grey clothing from now on. If a PC marks Hopeless, their clothes turn grey.

6. It becomes difficult to get the attention of NPCs. If a PC is Hopeless, they can no longer shout or do the equivalent in other modes of communication.

7. Silence falls as NPCs stop conversing for pleasure and stop playing music.

8. The PCs sense distress from the Sparkle Heart; the adversary is near and is trying to reopen the gate.

9. The adversary gets their claws into the Sparkle Heart. One more down beat, and it will become the Heart of Stone.

Adventure Ideas

The Second Gate: **The PCs detect an old-style Eidolon preying on people near one of the potential gate locations from the setup questions (which are, incidentally, all excellent places for a sword fight). The victims might be comatose, changed, or missing, but the mundane characters around them are oddly oblivious to the change. One of the PCs’ adversaries is gathering power to open a new gate and unleash a new wave of Eidolons. Will the PCs prioritize restoring what has been taken from the victims, or preventing a new wave of attack? Will the adversary learn an important secret about how the Guardians sealed the first gate?

Sleeper Agent: **One of the PCs’ mundane friends is subverted by the adversary and reveals the PCs’ secret rivalries and hurt feelings. The adversary hatches a plot to drive a wedge between the PCs and ambush some of them while they’re not together to call upon the Sparkle Heart. They might even believe that they can recruit one of the Guardians to their side. What can they offer that the other PCs can’t?