#magic knights

CLAMP EXHIBITION (2024)

New Merchadise: Paper Knives 🗡️

The Sword, Clow Card (Cardcaptor Sakura)

Hikaru's sword (Magic Knight Rayearth)

Umi's sword (Magic Knight Rayearth)

Fuu's sword (Magic Knight Rayearth)

Shura-tō, Ashura's sword (RG Veda)

Yama-tō, Yasha's sword (RG Veda)

Hien, Scarlet Flame, Syaoran's sword (Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle)

Sorry again if this is too obscure, take as long as you need with it and if you can't find anything that's okay too. I hope you have a nice day/night!

THEME: Magic Knights

Hello friend, so I started by looking for games where the characters were all blessed with supernatural powers, because I think if you're all supernaturally gifted, you're more likely going to get that balance you're looking for. That being said, I think I've also included a little bit of variety both in the basic recommendations as well as some add-ons at the end, so I hope that there's enough variety for something to pique your interest!

MourningStar, by devindecibel. @devindecibel

Lucifer, the former Archangel of Light, has died.

& their ever gloriously radiant body became the star which warms us.

We are the devilkith, those descended from the exiles of the Brilliant Garden & Hallowed star systems of Creation; those cursed to exalt sin.

We defend the Mourningstar, a haven for misfits, guarding the last iota of the Cosmos not conquered by the ever grasping empire of God.

Mourningstar is a “satanic” “biblepunk” dark science fantasy game about resistance, rebellion, othering, theology, individuality, misfits, colonialism, divine politics, infernal magic, & exploring the stars as swashbuckling devils. You will tell the story of a crew of Advocates, attachés to the Court of Lucifer & special agents of the Seven Prodigious Broods, the noble Archdemonic houses of devilkith in the Mourningstar System. Advocates explore the universe of Creation in their Chariot starship, defend the oppressed, skirmish with Angels & intrigue, & fight for the spirit of fierce identity.

Mourningstar is mechanically inspired by heavily narrative games, so I expect the archetypes provided to give players a strong concept to start with. One archetype is the Bastion, which is a knight whose armor is powered by demon blood, allowing them access to blood magic and access the ghosts of past knights' wisdom.

That being said, in its current stat, this is a crunchy game. Set-up is rather complex, and the game is built for campaigns, so if you're going to play this one, you should prepared for a long haul.

Thematically, Mourningstar is pretty specific; it's biblepunk, it's science fantasy, and it's rebellion. Your characters will have big grievances and bigger losses, but at the end of the day, your band of freaks is going to pull of some pretty impressive adventures. Currently the designer is working on updating the game, so you might want to keep an eye on this one!

Freelancer, by mammothbronco.

Welcome Freelancer, Freelancer takes place in a world of your choosing. A world balanced between an age of light and an age of dusk. Betwixt a time of prosperous endless summer and an unforgiving winter, a forgetting of things, a time where swords and blood rule. The makers of powerful artifacts known as relics have vanished; their knowledge disappeared within the dusk. The wealthy hide behind their walls, lusting for such an artifact, but the price is more costly than blood.

Freelancer feels very old-school fantasy, where magic is rare and difficult to wield. One thing that is very common in these old-school style games is the containment of magic in objects, rather than in innate abilities.Spells are things contained in relics, making them rather available to everyone.

There is still a distinct magic class, but the corruption of magic and the fact that you can use a relic without being a spellcaster feels like it puts folks on a slightly more equal playing field. Freelancer also feels more grounded in the typical fantasy tropes, which I think lends itself to leaning into the knight tropes that you might be interested in.

Guillotine: Crown of Blood, by Tally Owl Press.

Dive into a Gothic world that's rife with subterfuge and spellcasting alike, in this PBTA (Powered by the Apocalypse) hack that combines the dynamic, character-driven mechanics of Amour Astir with a dark, sprawling Gothic setting where the Crown reigns supreme. The Crown is a monarchical force that uses its populace for cannon fodder, magical tithing—whatever it wants. You play as a revolutionary with an axe to grind: some reason to want the King's head on the proverbial platter. You have magic, bargains, weapons, and grit at your disposal. You might even have friends and allies, if you're especially lucky. Either way, you and your players will craft a revolutionary narrative where the magic and prowess of the many can overcome the greed of the few.

Magic takes front and centre here, but according to the character sheets, your intent and approach seem very important and thus I think you could use weaponry to the same level of skill, as long as you put some thought into it. PbtA games are more focused on what makes the story interesting, rather than granular details such as weapon modifiers or range bands.

The character options for this game are drenched in themes and arcs; I think that this is a kind of game where you'll be sacrificing something personal and heartbreaking in order to succeed.Because you're fighting against the Crown, I think that your characters are going to feel much less knight-like, unless you play the Shadow Cavalier or perhaps a Partisan. If you want pathos and grit, you want Guillotine: Crown of Blood.

In Extremis, by @keganexe.

In Extremis is a tabletop roleplaying game designed for 2-6 players, about fighting back the man using necromancy, that uses the LUMEN system by Spencer Campbell. Inspired by The Locked Tomb trilogy, players take on the role of exceptionally powerful witches who use their mastery of life, death, and the human condition to keep them and their own safe from other planetary invaders who want to steal their land.

As a Necromancer, you are one of a handful of hideously powerful death witches that protect the planet Hecate, the final holdout for The Coven, from the ever encroaching war of the Corvus Dominion.

In Extremis was the first game I thought of when I saw this request, mostly because I'm familiar with the source material that inspired this game. You are first and foremost a magic user, but your ability to use a weapon is so so so important. The game is also built on the Lumen system, which rewards character abilities that stack, as well as tactical play that focuses on teamwork.

If you want gritty, dark badassery and a lot of corpses, you probably want In Extremis.

Dawnfire Warriors, by matara

The worldlords, the Nowdead Gods, have fallen and the lands they once ruled with wrath and divinity have exploded into an age of unprecedented warfare. You, as a dawnwalker, are a nigh-immortal juggernaut of death clad in the gods' own armor: dawnplate. Stride into battle with your honor guard and your allies, to claim territory and seize the drops of Godhead Ichor dripping from the astral corpses of the Nowdead as they hover over the world, morbid reminders of what came before.

Now is a time of war and fire. Shod yourself in dawnplate and carve through armies to claim what is yours.

Dawnfire Warriors is a one-page, high-strategy tactical game. It requires a grid and something to use as minis, to track your moves. That being said, combat is abstracted out to losses; how exactly you defeat your enemies or what weapons you wield is completely up to the player; all that matters is how well you take out your enemies, as well as how quickly you take them out.

Every character has magical armour and dawnfire abilities, which is attached to the armour you wear.There are three different kinds of dawnwalkers; the Marshal, whose abilities centre around leadership, the Tidewall, whose abilities focus on overwhelming the enemy, and the War Wizard, who's excellent at transporting forces around the field.

If you want a game that's more about strategy than history or lore, maybe consider Dawnfire Warriors.

Our Spell is Steel, by Switchback Worlds.

Our Spell Is Steel (OSIS) is a tabletop RPG built with the Forged In The Dark system, utilising a d10 dice mechanic influenced from World of Darkness.

You play as an Imperial Mancer, a mage who serves an Empire built on magic. Your world is surrounded on all sides by the three ancient Powers: the godlike Dragons, Spirits and Fey, locked in an eternal struggle for supremacy over each other. The Mancers learned the mysteries of magic from these Powers, which is now their only means of defending humanity from the overpowering beyond.

Your group forms a team of Mancers called a Clave. Mancers are born to serve the Empire, ruled by callous and ambitious Trueblood bloodlines who would be more than happy to sacrifice Newbloods like you as fodder and bargaining chips against the Powers.

Caught in the bloody game between gods and mages, will your Clave be the one to fight back against your fate and topple the board, lighting the fires of a magical revolution? Or will you perish before your time, your soul bound into servitude to the Powers, or your own magic killing you as arcane bloom chokes your veins?

All of the characters in this game are magical, but how they use those powers varies; different disciplines give you different kinds of powers. Forged in the Dark and WoD games (inspirations for this one) both give you the ability to improve different parts of your character sheets in different directions. So you could likely make a Wizard who focuses more on building up skills that rely on weapons, or you could start as an Ironheart and then tack on some Wizard abilities as you grow.

Other Thoughts….

Brimstone and Lead Arena, by MummyLaundering is very tactical and embraces magic for all characters, but uses guns instead of traditional fantasy weapons.

Magic & Might, by The_Bellmont, treats your character's magic and might equally, but the game itself is rather simple, and doesn't have the complexity that you might be looking for.

Echoes of the Broken, by Scribbles & Dice Games, appears to be a point-buy system that centres around characters that are supernaturally powerful, and I've recommended it in the past!

Exalted 3rd Edition, by Onyx Path Publishing, has sorcery that is immensely powerful, but I don't know how much the game separates sorcery from martial abilities; all of your characters are incredibly powerful, but I don't know what magic looks like for the martial characters.

Heart: The City Beneath by Rowan, Rook & Decard, has some really fascinating player options, including the Vermissian Knight, whose armour is train-powered, and who possesses an aetheric field that both protects you and can fuel your abilities.

Julius and Zora

I just wanted to make sure to post more appreciation for Julius because he really is a great character and I don't think he gets enough attention.

He had immense respect for Zora's dad, even visiting his grave. If Zora had taken off when he bumped into Julius I believe he would have taken Zora in without question.

Despite only getting a glimpse when he was younger, Julius recognized Zora when he crashed the Royal Knights try out, even while he was wearing the mask.

I wonder if it was a mixture of Zora's appearance and his magic that helped Julius recognize him. Zara, Zora's dad, used fire magic and Zora, as we know, uses Ash magic, I think it's rather symbolic, and a cute way of tying father and son to Julius in some way because Julius doesn't care about status or power, he cares about people wanting to protect others.

Even though he doesn't go about it the right way, I believe Julius saw Zara in Zora. Zora's vendetta against Magic Knights is only against the corrupt ones and he protects people from these knights in his own way. Zara would do the same if he saw it, even if he would do it differently.

He cut Zora some slack after the Royal Knights tryout since he had impersonated not just a Magic Knight, but a Magic Knight Captain, and I think it's because, not only did he see his potential, but he also understood why Zora would behave the way he did, given his history.

He absolutely whispered in Yami's ear about Zora, which is why he ends up as a Black Bull not long after the events of the Royal Knight tryouts, and is a magic Knight in order to accept and be allowed to accept the fact he was chosen.

Julius definitely was one of the first steps to Zora being more open about the Magic Knights as a whole when it comes to his warped (for good reason) point of view about them.

Julius is just dad to all Magic Knights, even if they are older than him or the same age. He just treats everyone as his child. XD

That's all for this post! There will be more Julius appreciation to come!

OC x Canon with Zora and my new OC 🫶🏻

I'll drop their lore later :3 ( for now you only get her name and that she's 2 years older than him)

We decided that Jessie, James and Meowth should join the Bronze Dragons too

Every world has magical energy, but only a few have people who can sense/use it.

N, Yellow and Sabrina are among those people.

The BDs who weren’t born in Clover have to learn to sense/use magic themselves. Once they can, they are taken to the nearest Grimoire Tower.

Meowth doesn’t get a grimoire because he’s a pokemon and can just use Moves.

Jessie and James’ grimoires were designed by @asunamegamanmodelo

Jessie- Serpent Magic

Can create serpent-like constructs from magic that deal poison, constriction and piercing damage. Can make them look like different kinds of snakes.

She can also ride them and change their size depending on the situation. Can potentially see out of their eyes.

James- Poison Cloud Magic

(but gives numbers for happy brain)

Okay! Gonna put my timeline math into a post! Feel free to alter!

So Under the presumption that the average Wizard King term is 10 years, and a Wizard King can have multiple terms. And there has been 28 in the past 500 years. 

Lemiel was the first and he was one for a day

Princia was the 11th (died at 22)

Jester the 16th  (died at 23)

Edward the 20th (died at 66)

Conrad the 27th (stripped of power at 35)

Julius the 28th (stops being Wizard king at 44 presumably, but it’s hard to say)

Black Bulls and Golden Dawn are created when Yami is 22 and William is 20, to which Julius is Wizard King (age 37) at this point. 6 years ago. And we know he became WK 10 years ago from Spade Arc (was he 33 when he became WK?) Damn. Wait… Rill is the youngest ever captain at 19.  And Rill even states he isn’t anymore when Yuno becomes a Grand Master. 

So who was Captain prior to Rill? 

And that means Julius had to become a Captain at at least 20 years old.

Yami meets Julius as a captain at 15 (14 years ago)

The fight with Conrad had Nozell, Yami, Kaiser, Merelona, Feugolean 

Mathamatically Yami should be 19 (Charlotte just joined the magic Knights by this point)

Probably right after Morgen’s death as he isn’t in the fight

Say Julius is 33 here, Julius could have been 20 when meeting Yami which fits in the timeline better.

So let’s say vaguely 10 years is a single term, if each Wizard King stuck to that then there would have been 50 Wizard Kings instead, but clearly that isn’t the case. Unless the average Wizard King goes at it for about 2 or more terms. A WK isn’t limited to a set amount of terms, but a decade is 1 term. If the average is 2 terms per WK, that is 25 Wizard Kings, for a perfect 20 years divided, but we know Lumeire, Princia, Jester, Edward, and Conrad all had short terms.  All of these are assumptions, so head canon territory

Lumiere (Age of WK, year 1)

? WK 2 for ten years (the start of a single ‘term’ (year 11)

? WK 3 eighteen years (dies as WK) (year 29)

? WK 4  seven years (Year 35)

?  WK 5 for 23 years (died in third term) (Year 58)

? WK 6 for nineteen years (year 67)

? WK 7 for for twenty years (year 87)

?  Wk 8 had a term for four years, WK for forty years, retires to the next WK who wins in the tournament ( Year 127)

? WK 9 for 22 years ( year 149)

? Wk 10 for 27 years  (year 176)

Princia (based on age of death 2 years) (year 178)

? WK 12 for 36 years (year 214)

? Terms: 33 years (year 247)

? Wk for 35 years (282 EWK)

3 Wk terms for 24 years  (303 EWK)

Jester (Three years based on age of death) (306 EWK)

Terms: 40 years (346 Ewk)

term: 32 (378 Ewk)

? Wk for 16 years (394 EWK)

Edward (harder to say, he could have become the WK at 46 and had a twenty year term, but I don’t think he was. He was also a priest, which takes 5 years, and you have to be 25 years old. So say he became a priest at 30 years old, orphanage he cared for was burned down at 40 years of age, he became a WK, average time to rise for someone talented enough to be the WK is probably around 3-5 years to be a Captain, and then after that who knows. So became WK at maybe 46-47. Died twenty years later at 66, for his beliefs, but lived a fairly long term as WK (4th  century) (414 Ewk)

Term: 15 years (429 EWK)

Term: 8 years (437 EWK)

Term: 20 years (457 EWK)

Term: 7 years (464 EWK)

Term: 15 years (479 EWK)

Term: term 13 years (492 EWk)

Conrad (term: 8 years) (500 EWK)

Was a captain, so had to be at least 20

revoked of power at 35

It seems he was WK for a good while, probably at least 5 years, so giving him a 8 year term

Julius (11 years)  (511 EWK on Judgment day) ----- SO! My guess is that Grimoire ceremonies are in spring as we know, probably the equinox, because celestial event and all that. So makes sense that when we know that magic knight exam is 6 months later on the Autumn equinox! Which September 22nd! Which is 12 days until Asta turns 16!

So Day 2: Mission with Magna and Noelle about boar hunting which spirals out of control

Day 3: Dungeon with Luck and Noelle

….

Day: 4,5,6,7,8,9, and 10  Asta was asleep for a whole 7 days, and then the magic knight meeting and the attack on Capital…. 

Day 11: Asta goes out on the mixer, saying he is 15 (and it fits because it technically is October 3rd here).

Day 12: Asta’s birthday, hanging out with Rebecca, her siblings, and also Marie. (Ironic since it's supposed to be her birthday, but Asta literally calls himself 15 the day before)... So Asta is 16 from here on, and we know that he is part of the Black Bulls for a whole year before training begins! So training begins right before he turns 17. So a timeline!

January 508 EWK

Alecdora turns 23

Gordan turns 25

February 508 EWK

Fragil turns 19

Henry turns 25

Finral turns 21

Grey turns 24

Solid turns 17

March 508 EWK

Show begins!!!

Asta and Yuno get grimoire

Rill turns 19

Recca turns 13

Dorothy turns 27

Theresa turns 64 (yeah... her birthday is gonna get confusing, I don't know what to do with her birthday ngl)

April 508 EWK

Magna turns 18

Nash turns 10

Klaus turns 18

Hamon turns 19 (this both shocks and saddens me) 

Sekke turns 16

Nacht turns 28

Kirsch turns 20

May 508 EWK

Sol turns 17

Vanessa turns 24

Late May is the dinner with Charlotte or something 

Siren turns 22 : ’(

Ichika turned 21

June 508 EWK

Charmy turns 19

Jack turns 28

Nero’s human form turns 17, but she is turning 517

Gauche turnes 19

July 508 EWK

Mereoleona turns 31

August 508 EWK

Feugoleon turns 30

Mimosa turns 15 (how does she have a grimoire???)

Altering it to her turning 16, because I don’t think grimoires can be collected early royalty or not

Leo turns 16 ( not 15 for the same reason as Mimosa)

September  508 EWK

Yami turned 28 (9/17/480)

Charlotte turns 27 (9/18/481)

Langris turns 20 

Asta  joins Black Bulls (9/22/492)

Yuno joins Golden Dawn

En turns 24

October 508 EWK

Asta being Fifteen during Mixer adds up as long as his birthday is the day after and turns 16

Yuno turns 16

Leibe turns 16 trapped inside Grimoire still so no cake (unless Charmy put’s some in Asta’s grimoire for no reason)

Luck turns 19 shortly after???? This works if the reason he said he was 19 in anime  (if he did) was only because he was literally a few days a way.

Marie kindapping

Nebre turns 24

Julius tuns 42

Kaiser turns 49

November 508 EWK

Noelle turns 16

Sea Temple

Everyone searching ways to cure Asta

December 508 EWK

Witch Forest

Zora turned 25

William turns 26

Marie turns 10… and minor plot hole (or headcanon hole, who knows??) !!! Her birthday was the episode she was kidnapped and ironically plot wise it lands on Asta’s birthday actually. I could spin this that Gauche lied to see her??? BC how else would that make sense?

Nozel turns 29

January 509 EWK

Alecdora turns 24

Gordan turns 26

February 509 EWK

Star Festival (tournament is announced)

Training

Fragil turns 20

Henry turns 26

Finral turns 22

Grey turns 25

Solid turns 18

March 509 EWK

The Tournment

Rill turns 20

Royal Knights Unite! 

Elf Madness

Recca turns 14

Julius is in body of a 13 year old

Dorothy turns 28 (she is revealed to be 27 during elf arc, and birthday is after, so she is now 28)!

Theresa turns 65 (yeah... this confuses me too, I don't know what to do with her birthday ngl)

April 509 EWK

Asta’s trial

Devil/curse  research begins! 

Magna turns 19

Nash turns 11

Klaus turns 19

Hamon turns 20 (this both shocks and saddens me) 

Sekke turns 17

Nacht turns 29

Kirsch turns 21

May 509 EWK

More devil research with little results 

Sol turns 18

Vanessa turns 25

Late May is the dinner with Charlotte or something 

Siren turns 23 : ’(

Ichika turned 22

June 509 EWK

Charmy turns 20

Jack turns 29

Nero’s human form turns 18, but she is turning 518

Gauche turnes 20

The Agrippa visit

Mimosa puts in application for Heart visit (It takes a month)

July 509 EWK

Mereoleona turns 32

Asta, Mimosa, Noelle, Nero, and Finral go to Heart

August 509 EWK

Feugoleon turns 31

Leo turns 17 (same reason as Mimosa)

Mimosa turns 17

September 509 EWK

Yami turns 29

Charlotte turns 28

Langris turns 21

Asta and Noelle have their little yearly reunion to the knights exam though (implied close to going to Heart)

Theresa's turns 65 1/2?

Filler arcs, but training as started

Charmy, Rill, Luck, Noelle, Finral, Leopold, Charlotte, Asta, Nero, Mimosa train in Heart with Lolopechka and the Spirit Guardians. 

En turns 25

October 509 EWK

Asta  turn 17

Yuno turns 17

Leibe turns 17

Luck turns 20

Nebre turns 25

Julius tuns 43/14

Kaiser turns 50

training

November 509 EWK

training

Noelle turns 17

December 509 EWK

Training

Zora turns 26

William turns 27

Marie turns 11

Nozel turns 30

January 510 EWK

Alecdora turns 25

Training

Gordon turns 27

February 510 EWK

movie!

Julius became Wizard King Ten years ago!

Either he is Wizard King longer because the tournament was postponed due to the drama of everything

Fragil turns 21

Henry turns 27

Finral turns 23

Gray turns 26

Solid turns 19

March 510 EWK

Spade Arc should start here actually (6 months of training ends)

Rill turns 21

Theresa turns 66