Oathknights (A magical girl setting)

[Bluelantern]

Basically my own take on the magical girl genre!

The world is basically your typical Earth, or at least looked like so until the recent public revelation of magic in an event public known as “miracle light” or “miracle dawning”. It started pretty terribly as a couple dozen people around the world turned into monsters. Many died and many more were injured in the attempt of stopping the monsters, which are very hard to kill. At least until the Lady started showing up.

The Lady of Oaths.
She appears around the globe to people with the right potential to become Oathknights, often to people in danger, often prioritizing people that could fight monsters that no one would fight. She heals people in the area and often saves them from danger. The Lady then explains that she is here to offer powers so they can help others and that it’s very important to understand the difference between using this power to help versus using this power to punish. Her appearance is accompanied by light and music that won’t be seen or heard by those that would interfere with the process and is remarkably pretty (Ridiculously Obviously Good). She sometimes will talk or comfort people - especially if time is paused - but by default she will make her offer and leave. The candidate doesn’t need to decide right away, but most often they do. They are allowed a time to think of their oath. The Lady can stir where her magic takes it, but the magic has a bias towards to young women.

To properly become an Oathknight the candidate needs to pick an Oath, with common parts to all knights but with three customized elements/lines. Reciting this Oath in full will make them turn into their Oathknight form - known as “Armor” - and ameliorate wounds that the Armor has suffered, but it’s possible to just transform (minus healing) by picking an activation mechanism (a specific phrase accompanied by a movement).

A Oathknight’s powers are based on their oaths and are much stronger in Armor form, but exist in lesser forms when the individual is in their non-Armor form as well. They get stronger the more they live up to their oaths and weaker when they act against or neglect them.

Oathknight powers
Armor - a secondary form, typically humanoid and donning a stylized armor. Being in the Armored form grants full access to one’s powers. Injuries aren’t transferred between forms and while one is one form the injuries of the other form heals. The Armor form is stronger, faster and more durable than their human form.
Shield - A shield that can be invoked while in Armor form, it’s magical and grants extra protection against a specific thing.
Weapon - Can be invoked like the shield, size and shape varies per knight and also has a magical effect/attack. Some weapons have multiple forms, the Oathknight always knows how to use their weapon in whatever form.
Soul - Catch all term for more straight-up magical powers that directly relate to the oath. They are the most fickle and symbolic powers of a knight, often hard to master.
Mount - Some knights gain a mount to ride on, while in non-Armored form it will look like an innocuous animal, object or generally something easy to keep around.


The Oath (in English form)
The Oath always has two lines (the first and last) that are always the same. While the three middle lines are picked by the specific knight.
My word is binding. All hear my oath of power.
(Custom lines x3)
(Example 1: I vow to help the Earth. May I always abide to my goals.)
(Example 2: I call upon the power of my faith. May it guide me to greatness.)
(Example 3: Justice empowers me. Evil shall cower before me.)
This is an oath to bring hope. May I do my best to be worth it.


Monsters
Their appearance vary wildly and they grow stronger and change over time. Monsters are basically the living manifestation of a deception, specially a broken promise that affects someone personally and strongly. Typically monsters starts very strong, destructive and hard to kill, but evolve into more complex powers and strategies over time and seek out a goal related to whatever manifested them. They can be killed with enough force, but are more vulnerable by the attacks from an Oathknight. Another method is figuring out where they come from and resolve the relevant situation that broke the promise. Which is harder than it looks because the involved people always fail to make the connection unless confronted by an Oathknight.

[Unbitwise]

I get that it's intended as just an overall theme, but the thing where "monsters come from broken promises" and knights say "My word is binding" looks suspiciously PMMM-ish.

[pedromvilar]

there are binding oaths in PMMM? o.O

[Moriwen]

...so how possible is it to cheat on the oath part by picking something ridiculously easy, because I have characters who totally want to game the system

("I vow to fight people if and only if I fight people..." "I vow to brush my teeth every once in a while..." "I vow not to spontaneously transform into a tyrannosaurus rex...")

[Unbitwise]

pedromvilar: No, I meant that it's a small change from what has been presented to have "if you break your word you become a monster" which maps to the PMMM cycle. Nothing naturally fits PMMM "you need to hunt to survive", though.

[ErinFlight]

Interesting setting!
Are the mounts sentient? What kind of magic do they get? How young are the young women?
Also, any kind of theme for the weapons or is it pretty random?

[Bluelantern]

...so how possible is it to cheat on the oath part by picking something ridiculously easy, because I have characters who totally want to game the system

("I vow to fight people if and only if I fight people..." "I vow to brush my teeth every once in a while..." "I vow not to spontaneously transform into a tyrannosaurus rex...")

I feel that these people wouldn't be able or picked by to get powers. The Lady would explain that these Oaths would be a bad idea.
1) "I vow to fight people if and only if I fight people" - I think this phrase is meaningless enough that it wouldnt... "click" and be an acceptable part of the Oath.
2) "I vow to brush my teeth every once in a while..." - unlike the above, I think this could click, but it wouldn't make you a particularly strong knight, enjoy your minted-breath powers.
3) "I vow not to spontaneously transform into a tyrannosaurus rex..." - like above, but if anything weaker because it isn't about things you can actively do or work on.

Interesting setting!
Are the mounts sentient? What kind of magic do they get? How young are the young women?
Also, any kind of theme for the weapons or is it pretty random?

Okay, mild spoilers that I am going to add to the OP later: the mounts are "reincarnated" Oathknights, there is another version of the Oath that is less forgiving and if you can't leave up to it you become a monster. The mount thing allows them to be purified and eventually resume their normal lives, it just takes some time. The mounts powers vary but usually "fit" whatever is thematically appropriate to their Oathknights.

The young women are typically age 14-18. But anyone can become an Oathknight. I also going to correct something in the op to clarify that is the magic that has a bias, not the Lady.

Weapons tend to fit a... knightly theme + whatever specific theme that knight has. The weapons are not random, random, but there isn't really a factor better than "fit a theme". Common weapons includes: swords, lances, maces, hammers and daggers. Firearms are not impossible, just far from common.

pedromvilar: No, I meant that it's a small change from what has been presented to have "if you break your word you become a monster" which maps to the PMMM cycle. Nothing naturally fits PMMM "you need to hunt to survive", though.

I get that it's intended as just an overall theme, but the thing where "monsters come from broken promises" and knights say "My word is binding" looks suspiciously PMMM-ish.

Oh, it is sort of a reference to PMMM? The main motivation was "have monsters that the magical girls could fight" and corrupting people that broke a promise fit the aesthetic.