Sheet:Madoka Kaname

Madoka Kaname's Sheet

Background

Madoka Kaname comes from a loving family of 4. The undisputed head of the household, and main breadwinner, is her mother Junko. Then there is her father, Tomohisa, who takes care of the house and the meals, making sure that Madoka always has a bento for school and looking after his youngest child during the day. Tatsuya is Madoka's younger brother, who is still a baby, who is much beloved and a little mischievous. Madoka loves everyone in her family, and sees her mother as a personal hero.

She has lived a blessed life. It's not as if she's never been sad, or that she's never had anything terrible happen to her. Life is not that kind, no matter how rich or privileged you are. However she has always had a support network for her troubles, whether it be her loving family or her close friends. When she cries, she always has a shoulder to cry on, and has never truly felt what it means to be alone. Yet, even without that experience, deep down she realizes just how badly she needs others. Maybe that's why she cares so much. Maybe that's why when others need her, she wants to be there for them. It's what she knows, and she knows it works.

She's been going to Radiant Heart Academy since elementary school, but she lives close enough to not need a dorm room. She's been going there for so long that she can't imagine ever transferring away or going somewhere else. If she's had any brush with magic in her younger years, she has remained ignorant of them, kept safely away by the magical glamours which hide that world from the mind of the unpowered.

It's only recently that things have taken a turn for the strange. Madoka has Seen Things that can't be explained via science. Terrifying monsters known as Witches haunt the dark corners of Tokyo, and they are but one flavor of the many cruel monsters who stalk the streets at night. In her brief interactions with the magical folk of Tokyo, she has quickly come to admire them, and secretly harbors a hope that she will be able to fight alongside them one day.

There's one path she could take. Kyubey tells her that she has potential. She could even be one of the strongest magical girls around if only she made a wish. But... what should she wish for? And why does Homura keep warning her not to accept Kyubey's deal? Madoka's not quite as gullible as she might seem, but the promise of being able to save others in such a way might prove too tempting. Yet, surely there's a catch, right? And if there is, would it still be an acceptable risk?

For once in her life, Madoka is adrift. She isn't sure who to turn to, and she's awakening to a world that's very much unlike anything her mother has ever seen. Worse, things are turning more hostile and scary, and the longer she waits the more worse things seem to get. Eventually either her compassion, or desperation, might force her to make a choice. So what will it be?

Personality

Madoka has all the qualities that one might expect from a typical "goodie goodie", but there's more to her than it seems. She doesn't really hide her own nature at all, being very open with her feelings and being emotionally available, but people can be prone to make unfair assumptions about such an earnest girl. Like her father, she is an unfailing sweetheart who always looks for the good in people, and would rather forgive than begrudge. Like her mother, she can be surprisingly resilient and assertive at times when others might expect her to wilt away. The combination of these two things would make for a paragon among magical girls, being both an ideal form and her own unique person. That is, if she could ever decide upon a wish.

It's this very nature which leads to her becoming a goddess and a concept in canon PMMM. She isn't just "nice". She's self-sacrificial. She isn't just "more clever than she looks", she thinks with a level of depth that might be too subtle for others to notice. More than anything else, she will never, ever, stop caring. Even her Witch, in all its monstrousness, only wants everyone to Be Happy, Forever. She's not immune to sorrow or anger. She's too sincere for that. However, she always has in her mind the ideal of a happy ending, and she will never let that go.

However, a lot of this determination is hidden from herself. She does not yet know her own strength or power. She is, at this time, adrift on a sea of self-doubt and confusion. Madoka is vulnerable, and surrounded by conflicting narratives and dark forces which wish her harm. She'll make mistakes, do the wrong thing, and occasionally throw her friend's soul off a bridge. It's not as if she doesn't mean well, but it's hard to do the right thing when you don't know the situation. She's way out of her league in a way that her family can't really help her with, and she is distressingly aware of this fact.

As those who have seen her in alternate timelines are well aware, there is something about Madoka that draws her towards being a magical girl. Sure, Kyubey wants her to make the deal blindly, without sharing all the details of the risks and consequences. However, at the end of the day, even if Madoka knew every detail of what she was getting herself into, she would still take the plunge and make that choice. She would always want to become a savior, and nothing can really change that. It's her ikigai and her bliss. She just doesn't know that about herself yet.

Madoka is lost and unsure. She doesn't really have a lot of confidence. There's nothing in particular that she's good at. She's tried her hand at drawing and other hobbies, but nothing really clicks with her. Her grades are middle-of-the-road for her class. The only thing that really seems to make her happy is doing volunteer work for hospitals and charities, but even then she can't help but feel like she could be doing more. It's this time of self-exploration that leaves her open to those who wish to mislead her for their own ends, but this is a state that can only ever be transitory. She is curious, and she will learn, even if she has to learn things the hard way.

And when she does, she will gladly take the pain of others onto herself. Personal cost doesn't matter as long as she can make the world just a little bit better. If anyone ever tells her it's wrong to have hope, she'll just tell them they're wrong, and she'll keep telling them over and over no matter how many times it takes.

Focus

See: Chara Bearer

Style

See: Chara Bearer

Powers

(Note: this powerset has been approved as per Job 377, but the +powers sheet was never updated.)

Minidoka Chara Madoka has a lot of Guardian Chara, but they all represent the same dream: to be a magical girl. The reason why there are so many has to do with the nature of Madoka's karmic potential, all of the timeline resetting that Homura has done, and the many different versions of Madoka this has resulted in. Each Chara has a unique nature, representing some aspect that Madoka values. When Madoka uses one of her Chara, she gains more power as she acts according to their nature.

Kamiko and Gretchen Madoka has near limitless potential, enough to become a god, but her dreams are not so ambitious. All of her unused potential went into one single chara: Kamiko, the Goddess Chara. When Kamiko becomes an X-Chara, she calls herself Gretchen. Kamiko represents the Hope of Madoka's divinity, while Gretchen holds the Despair of Madoka's Witch. Gretchen is unusual among X-Chara, because she doesn't care to work with Obsidian or Easter due to her Witch-like personality.

Chara Change: Bow. Madoka's bow and magic arrows are consistent across all Chara Changes and Chara-Nari. The arrows can home in on targets, charge up into a very large arrow, or split into many smaller arrows. The exact power level of the bow can vary, but the basic idea doesn't change.

Chara Change with Kamiko: Goddess Eyes When Chara Changed with Kamiko, Madoka's eyes glow yellow. This allows her to read Witch runes, see the nature of someone's despair or curses, track Witches and X-Chara, or gain unusual insights into the world. This most strongly applies to Puella and Witch-related matters, and to a lesser extent Chara issues, but gets less reliable the further it gets from Madoka's expertise. Madoka doesn't fully control what she can or cannot know, and like many oracle powers this doesn't work on demand.

Hope Blossom: Chara-Nari with Most Minidoka Chara Since the normal Minidoka Chara represent the same dream, doing Chara-Nari with any of them results in the same henshin: Hope Blossom. This is her default canon henshin, with the main exception being the lack of a Soul Gem. She uses a bow, she shoots arrows, she fights youma and doesn't afraid of anything.

Hope Witch: Chara-Nari with Gretchen, the Witch X-Chara. Hope Witch's nature is to remove all despair from the world. She can create distorted spaces called Wake Labyrinths, and summon minions called Wake Familiars. This is not true Witch magic, but an imitation brought about by Madoka's memories of having been a Witch, so they have a slightly different name and a much different magical makeup.

Hope Witch also has an ability called Echo Touch, which is similar but opposite to a Witch's Kiss. Those afflicted have their darker feelings suppressed, and they gain resistance to mind control. It can compete directly with an actual Witch's Kiss, with variable results. When used on magical folk, it can serve as a means for telepathic communication.

Madoka works well with Gretchen when she's trying to overcome, soothe, or remove sources of grief or despair. Since Gretchen is an X-Chara, her cooperation with Madoka cannot be relied upon. Gretchen follows her own motivations, just like any other Chara.

Hope Concept: Chara-Nari with Kamiko, the Goddess Chara. Madoka's ultimate form, based upon her divine potential. As Hope Concept, she has similar powers to Hope Witch, but her powers are more centered on spreading hope instead of merely suppressing or removing despair. She can take on the burden of a Witch's despair and curses, but the results of this depends upon the nature of the Witch and various unknowable factors. Sometimes this stolen curses allow Madoka to create new types of Wake Familiars and Labyrinths.

Unable to become a Goddess in full due to circumstances unique to this universe, Madoka is still tied to her mortal self. Hope Concept can only really operate at peak power when Madoka has a specific hope or desire that requires godlike powers to achieve. This means she needs both a clear focus and a strong wish in order to fully utilize this form. Without this, Kamiko might not even answer Madoka's call to henshin.

Since Madoka doesn't care what form she takes, or what she becomes, Hope Concept has the ability to vanish from reality and become a magical presence that settles over the area. As a presence she can spread an aura of Hope over an area, distort local reality as if it were her Labyrinth, manifest multiple copies of herself or telepathically reach into the minds of Witches.

As Hope Concept, Madoka's awareness expands. She gains an instinctual understanding of complex ideas far beyond what mere mortals can perceive or comprehend. This sometimes allows her to do things or perform miracles that don't always make sense. It's unclear what she can or cannot do, and she can't always explain why something that was possible one day is impossible the next. Since mortals cannot comprehend these things, Madoka herself will usually forget them the moment she de-henshins.

Witch Redemption (Note: This is the language that was originally approved, but by this point the rules for turning back Witches works on 'Miracle Logic' meaning whether or not it's possible is by GM fiat and not a global power that Madoka can use at any time.)

This is a placeholder to note that the exact details and rules for turning Witches back into Puella Magi hasn't been decided yet. Stealing despair from a Witch might not be enough in of itself. Maybe Madoka messes with Kyubey's contract magic somehow, or maybe she messes with karmic destiny, or maybe her memories of being a Witch in past timelines allows her to discover something that will be helpful later. All I know is that this is a question best answered later, and the rules for whatever is decided upon can replace this entry at a more appropriate time.

Homura Akemi's Powers

(Note: There is no job for this but there was a Discord DM with Mochi where it was decided it was okay for Madoka-player to use Homura as an NPC, as Homura had been unapped for a very long time. I'm listing Homura's +powers here.)

	Homura has three significant powers, aside all those generally granted to Puella Magi. The first is the ability to freeze time. The second is the ability to reset time back to to a week before she started school at Radiant Heart Academy and first met Madoka Kaname. The third is the ability to store seemingly limitless items within her shield.

All three powers are based off of her shield, which has the true nature of being an hourglass. When she turns the shield sideways its sand stops flowing, and time stops. Anything she touches or that is touching her may act as normal, but everything else is frozen in time. This effect is somewhat nebulous, as bullets fired from guns she shoots travel a short way before slowing and stopping. The timestop does take some time to initiate, but she's grown extremely good at hiding and obfuscating the rotation of her shield to the point that people tend to assume she has teleportation powers when they first see her disappearing and reappearing mid combat.

In canon she loses the ability to use her timestop after one month has elapsed, as the hourglass runs out of sand. This is effectively unworkable in a MUSH setting that doesn't predicate itself on repeated one-month timeloops, and so has been removed.

The Reset power is almost entirely moot in a MUSH setting once in play, but is extremely important for Homura to believe she has access to (Or not), as everything she does is generally predicated on the idea that even if she fails, as long as she doesn't die she still has another chance. Believing she's run out of chances, or that further timeloops have either no hope of saving Madoka, or worse actively harm her, can lead to her falling to Despair as the futility of her entire mission crashes down upon her.

There are two possible uses for Homura's Reset to actually come into play on the MUSH. The first is that in the event of Madoka's permanent and irrevocable Death, that Homura Resets for herself and simply vanishes from the timeline of the game. The second is that in the event of an RP calamity that backs the staff, players, or story of the game into a corner that nobody wants to be in, Homura's Reset could be invoked by staff to retcon events in an ICly consistent manner. Notably, ICly this would probably need to be done in conjunction with another potent form of magic, such as Usagi wishing on the Ginzuishou or Homura and Pluto combining their powers, in order to be anything other than a full reset back to the start of the game, but it isn't impossible to think such a thing could happen.

The ability to store items within her shield is limited to man-portable items, with rocket launchers and mortar systems being in the upper size limit of what Homura tends to carry. That said, she seems to carry an awful lot of them, and she's capable of retrieving exactly the item she wants by reaching into her shield and pulling it out. As noted in her background she's amassed an incredible arsenal of weapons and tools. Given her ability to freeze time, steal whatever she wants and leave without leaving a trace it's safe to say that anything and everything the JSDF has access to, Homura can get if she really wants it.

	Those are Homura's hard magical powers, but that can hardly be considered the extent of her abilities. I didn't address this much in her background for the sake of brevity (lol, right?), but Homura has amassed an extreme amount of knowledge and experience for a girl her age. Despite being physically 14 years old she has 12 years of combat experience. She's extremely physically fit with abnormally high strength, agility and especially endurance. Due to her lack of innate offensive options she's become a weapons expert in numerous firearms and explosives, knowing how to use and disarm them. Any special operations team on the planet would kill to have someone with her skills and knowledge. Despite staying in 8th grade she has a college level education with an even greater degree of knowledge in the field of applied chemistry.

Homura rarely makes simple mistakes that might cause her to lose her footing, or fail to make a magically boosted jump and fail to land where she wishes; she's been doing this for far too long to make rookie mistakes. She has a very keen tactical mind that's been trained extensively through trial and error. She does have clear weaknesses despite this. The first is that for all her experience she tends to underestimate others, and this can lead to her being surprised and overpowered. She knows how potent her powerset is, and rarely uses the full extent of it when not fighting Dark Energy wielding jerks. The other weakness she has is being grappled, or bound. This is doubly effective, as not only does she have a difficult time escaping, but any binds attached to her keep their full effectiveness in her timestop, and anyone grappling her or also touching the binds are equally unaffected, meaning stopping time has no ability to help her escape from those situations.

	Homura's powerset is extremely conducive to long term survival as a Puella Magi. All of her powers are defensive in nature, and all of her magic is effectively self-targeting. Her shield freezes time, but allowing her to move during frozen time is a single target effect on herself. Her Reset is an ability that sends herself alone back in time, and a magical storage space is just that. All of these powers are extremely magic efficient, which means she is generally able to save up a lot of spare Grief Seeds.

Using her shield as an actual shield to negate powerful attacks does use up a fair amount of magic, which is why she prefers to evade and avoid attacks instead whenever possible. Strictly speaking, she has no native magical attacks. She's gotten very, very good at compensating for that by using firearms and explosives, but there are times when that can become an insurmountable disadvantage, such as when trying to fight Walpurgisnacht.

Her very high to extreme magical efficiency almost entirely comes from her lack of attack options. She isn't constantly summoning new weapons to attack with, or powering her attacks up by pumping extra magic into them. It's both a powerful long-term advantage, and a powerful disadvantage mostly made up for by ingenuity and the theft of literally millions of dollars worth of military assets.