So, I got all inspired to work on Catgirl: The Storytelling Game again. I’m not really sure why, though reading D.Gray-Man probably has something to do with it.
For the setting, I played around some more with the different types of Awakened (supernaturals). In addition to the kemonomimi (catgirls and others like them), shinigami (Death Gods), and mascot girls, there are the Empowered (humans with special powers, such as sorcery, miracles, or psionics) and the Blooded (quasi-vampires, not unlike in Tsukihime). To the major types of enemies I added Dominators (humans with the power to enslave Awakened), the Syndicate (the real Men In Black, who want to create a mundane and static reality), and the Lost (corrupted and damned souls, not unlike the Hollows from Bleach).
For the rules I started off with a Storyteller system inspired variant of Fudge, but I’ve come up with some things that I think are kind of neat:
- Partially reversed death spiral. When a character is hurt, she gets -1 to intellectual/rational type actions, but +1 to instinctive, bestial actions.
- Rather than giving you a flat bonus for flashy narration, a stunt lets you use one skill or attribute in a creative way to possibly get a bonus on another.
- You can spend multiple Charm selections on the same Charm to upgrade it. You can do two upgrades, and these usually make a it more expensive to use.
- Characters have to start with a “Crisis,” some incident that puts them on the spot. (Basically a Kicker but with a more Japanese name).
The further along I go, the more I like what I’m coming up with. Although strictly speaking I could still use Opening the Dark, this is turning more and more into a game I really want to play. This really is turning into more and more of a runaway project.
Yaruki Zero Games 
I know this is a couple years old, but I’m curious if it’s coming along at all. It looks like a fun, light-hearted (if serious) take on the old White Wolf games.
If you haven’t completely trashed the idea, as you can see, OtD is still a viable system to use. I’m in the process of uploading the SRD to my own website, and I plan on using it for my own game. If you (or anyone else for that matter) want, I’ll keep a copy of the original SRD online, so that it can be used.
Anyway, keep up the work! More games are always a good thing.
Catgirl: The Storytelling Game is one of those projects I really want to finish one of these days but never quite get around to working on. It’s on my list of projects to work in, but there are four or five other games higher on the list.
I am glad that someone’s preserving OtD online–Malcolm took it offline for reasons that were strange and unclear–but after looking it over I found it wasn’t quite what I was after for the game. It’s just a bit too involved, and I wanted to do certain specific quirky things with the rules.
I figured that was the case with Catgirl, but hey, never hurts to ask, right?
I don’t know why Malcom took the game down, but reading around, it seems like he decided he didn’t like people calling the game what it is; a generic clone of the Storyteller system. That said, it’s my belief that he knew– or should have known– that releasing the game under the OGL would make it available to the public, and that he wouldn’t have sole control over it. I just want to make sure that it stays available to the public.
Anyway, best of luck on all your games!