Crime is on the rise in the city centres of Tokyo, more seemingly random acts of criminal activity, perpetrated by what appeared to be unconnected individuals. A certain air seems to pervade over the districts... Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akasaka, Roppongi, and even Akihabara. It's suffocating, choking, yet you look around you and no one seems to notice it. Can they not see it? Can they not feel it? The yoke of oppression that insidiously curls it's fingers around their neck...?
Then you see it, an app. A black crown adorned upon an eye... The rumored app. You open it, and as you expected it just asks one single question...
"What is your desire?"
You type in your answer, surprisingly sincere yet there's a bit of frustration pent up that leads you to do so, and just like that... You feel the world around you begin to warp, you look around in panic and surprise, then return to the screen in your hand, perhaps hopeful for answers... Yet only one phrase is visible amidst the red and black of the app.
"Welcome to Black Crown, Destined Ruler"
Another Persona RP?
So welcome to Persona: Black Crown. This is a Persona RP in an original universe within the setting of Persona 5, which is a real world location, Tokyo Japan (yeah it's real can you believe it?) The RP will take place AFTER your character has answered the call of the mysterious app, Black Crown. Awakening to your unique Black Crown Persona, an Authority, and the ability to traverse the mysterious Metarealm.
While most of that is self-explanatory if you've played Persona games before, one thing must be explained. Authority.
An Authority is an ability granted by the App. It usually takes the form of the user's desires, and is usually a singular ability. For example, it can cause someone to obey one command, put someone to sleep, cause someone to go into a rage, or even wipe a small portion of someone's recent memory.
There will be themes of crime and conspiracy in this RP, and of course like any good Persona game, focus on characters and bonds as well. Being that this is Tokyo, there will be no shortage of fun things to do if you're not traversing the Metarealm. Though for those that want to, you are free to go in and out of it with no day and activity limit. You may even hang out with a fellow ally within it.
With all that being said and done, please feel free to ask questions. More will be added to this over time until it has enough players and is ready to go.
It will be indicated in the character sheet, but the theme of your Black Crown Persona is tyrants, and the self-indulgent. Figures in history who indulged in their vices.
Additional Information
Using the Black Crown App
In order to use your Authority, or enter the Metarealm, you must use the app.
When entering the Metarealm, your appearance will not change instantly. To do that, you must activate the app again and do a Kamen Rider-like transformation.
When using your Persona, you must activate the app again.
Your weapons are granted by the app also.
Your Persona flames are not blue. They are red.
IMPORTANT: There seem to be numerous Black Crown users, however not all of them have an Authority (in fact almost all of them don't).
Metarealm and Kingdoms
Full information on how Kingdoms and Domains work will be revealed through play, however below is stuff you should know.
A Kingdom is not tied to any individual like a Palace, in fact it is shared to you very early by another character that rulers of Kingdoms can change.
A Kingdom encompasses a whole district in Tokyo. The very first one we will be playing in is of course, Shibuya.
Targets and villains will be made clear through play, but once again the themes are around crime and conspiracy. Expect some of this and touching on modern ills.
The RP in General
Our main enemies other than Shadows will be other Persona users.
There is a Highschool and University for the purposes of players being easier to interact with. I suggest everyone make their character attend these in some capacity. It is of course possible for you to elect to have a character in a different school or do something else.
I would prefer a ratio of mostly Japanese nationality with a couple foreigners for this RP. Halfs can also be accepted but less sparingly.
::Combat Information:: <CODENAME HERE> Black Regalia:
Outfit:
Mask:
Authority: (Most users awaken to an Authority, this allows the user to cause things to happen in real life using the Black Crown app. The effects are unique between users)
Name: Historical Information: (the theme of your Black Crown Persona is tyrants and self indulgent figures, those who indulged in their vices, whether or not they paid for it) Affinities:
Skills: (you start with 2)
Charges: (the amount of times you can use special skills. This starts at 2) Special Skills: (you start with 2)
(NOTE: For character and Persona images, it is recommended to be roughly a size of 200 width x 500 height. This is give or take. It does not have to be exact) [table][row][cell][center]________________________________________ <IMAGE GOES HERE>[/center] Name: Age: Gender: Nationality:
Personality:
[hider=History] Fill this in with your backstory[/hider]
What Is Your Desire? (in this section, fill out what you answer the Black Crown app with)
::Combat Information:: Black Regalia: [list][*]Outfit: [*]Authority: (Most users awaken to an Authority, this allows the user to cause things to happen in real life using the Black Crown app. The effects are unique between users)[/list]
Name: Historical Information: (the theme of your Black Crown Persona is tyrants and self indulgent figures, those who indulged in their vices, whether or not they paid for it) Affinities:
Skills: (you start with 2)
Charges: (the amount of times you can use special skills. This starts at 2) Special Skills: (you start with 2) [/cell][/row][/table]
________________________________________
Name: Joker Persona 5 Age: 15 Gender: Male Nationality: Japanese
Personality: (N/A)
The whole plot of Persona 5 and Royal.
What Is Your Desire? (N/A)
::Combat Information:: Codename: JOKER Black Regalia:
Outfit: A black Phantom Thief attire featuring a black long coat, white mask, red gloves, and leather boots.
Mask: A white mask with black eye lining.
Authority: N/A
Main Weapon: Knife Secondary Weapon: Handgun
________________________________________ THE FOOL
Name: Arsene Historical Information: The titular character of a series of novels, Arsene Lupin by Maurice Leblanc. A peerless phantom thief and master of disguise. Perhaps the founder of the Phantom Thief genre, a parallel to the mystery genre that tends to focus on the ones solving crimes, where this focuses on the one perpetrating them, particularly with a sense of style and boldness, and a gentleman, which sets them apart from regular thieves. Affinities: Dark
Skills:
Eigaon - A direct blast of dark magic. Explodes upon impact.
Dream Needle - A singular piercing attack with the ability to put targets to sleep.
Charges: 2 Special Skills:
Chains of Arsene - A powerful signature attack that strikes with sharp chains. It has a particularly deadly range, able to envelop a large group in a blast of darkness.
Thief's Pillage - A dark hand appears and strikes at targets. This skill is capable of stealing health from enemies.
Spells and Skills
Spells and Skills So as all are aware, skills and spells of all levels are available, from the weakest to the strongest, however the strength of which will affect the amount of times you may use them all at once. Weaker spells are faster and can be used in multiple combinations, or repeatedly, while strong ones are definitively powerful singular uses. As you become stronger, you will gain access to more slots.
Strong: 1 use per post
Medium: 2 uses per post
Weak: 4 uses per post
In your slots you can also gain passives that can affect things. Examples will be shown further down.
In the terms of Special Skills, they have limited uses in general per foray into the Metarealm. All special skills share the same usage count. As you become stronger, you can gain more uses, and even new special skills under special circumstances and events.
Buff Skills Buff skills will be treated as a sudden boost. For example when using Sukukaja, your speed and agility (or that of an ally) is increased until the next post. Buff skills also possess the same amount of usage as Medium spells, so you can use them once before being able to use 2 Weak skills, or 1 Medium skill.
The exception to this is Power Charge and Concentrate.
For Power Charge and Concentrate, they must be used at the end of your post, and using them will make your character vulnerable to being attacked. However, if you are still standing for your next post, your next chosen attack will become significantly more powerful.
Passive Skills Passive skills modify your current skills, and can even affect your Special Skills if they are the correct type. For example, Fire Amp could increase the power of your Special Skill if that skill is of the fire element. These skills are generally self-explanatory, so I will simply compile a list of them and what they do, as they won't do the exact same thing as they do in game.
Educational Institutions
覇根高校
Hane Highschool (Root of Rulers) Located a five minute train ride from Shibuya station, and then a ten minute walk, Hane High is considered a "high level" public school, meaning among public schools it is considered rather close to a private school. They say that when it was first built, it was planned to be, but the magnanimous Nanjo family that funded it's construction and establishment decided to make it a public school at the last minute. Hane High is known for being a leader in terms of technology education, with a wealth of computer labs and having the rare distinction of being a public school that manages to get the latest in technology. It is also an elevator school, with Kengen University being where most graduating students go for further education.
剣厳大学
Kengen University (Disciplined Blade) A prestigious university, ranking highly in education for law, sciences, technology, economics, politics, and surprisingly, specifically fine arts, performing arts, and classical music. Among those it's absolute top ranking department is law and economics. Kengen University is actually quite small, a campus comprising of mainly a large 40 floor building, a small park, and a few small administration buildings, however, being funded by the Nanjo family, it is afforded rather special privileges when it comes to technology. Most students in Hane High do wind up studying here, but it doesn't mean they can't fail to qualify, especially if they're applying for the high ranked departments.
Name: Hikari Kasuga Age: 18 (24th of January) Gender: Female Nationality: Japanese
Personality: 'A two-faced girl who uses her beauty and apparent gentle and amicable persona to take advantage of people and delights in leading on those who are charmed by her'...at least if you ask many of her peers. The truth is that Hikari is someone who easily defaults to being a people pleaser, someone who is likely to be overworked because she can't say no. But intentions are not always interpreted correctly, especially when they come across as 'too good to be true'.
People often talk of the winners of life’s lottery. Hikari, was, undoubtedly, one such person. Grace, beauty, brain, and…well, perhaps not athleticism, but even then, many of her peers would say that it only added to her charm, being some sort of fragile princess that needed to be protected. A ‘Princess’ indeed, considering her family was also relatively well off, a modern-day ‘Noble Lady’ if there was one. Winner of life’s lottery is an apt description of Hikari Kasuga…a privileged person, in a more colloquial term.
As many of Japan’s affluent families with old money, Hikari’s family life upbringing was quite strict, the sort of traditional upbringing that contributed to her persona as a ‘Yamato Nadeshiko’, the ideal beauty. Something that stemmed from the family’s adherence to duty and responsibility. For her parents, this manifested in various charities, CSR, and other philanthropic endeavours to ‘give back’ and ‘contribute’ to society, a modern-day ‘noblesse oblige’, so to speak. The sort of thing that—while not their primary intention—made Hikari’s family quite beloved by many people.
Rather than enrolling in the very elite school one would expect, Hikari was enrolled in Hane High, the alma mater of her Mother, who came from a more humble background. Naturally, as a young child, being isolated in school due to living in a completely different world than many of her peers, she took to her parents' example of being beloved through philanthropy and came to the conclusion, ‘If I go about doing things in a way that would be liked by most people, then I can make friends. ’ This was the start of Hikari’s tendency to be a people pleaser.
It worked at first. ‘Hikari never said no when asked to substitute for cleaning duties,’ ‘Hikari is always willing to help everyone with homework,’ ‘Hikari will always accept Class Rep position and do all the errands everyone would find a bother.’ Such was the sort of thing that the student body would say about Hikari. Throughout elementary and middle school, Hikari’s reputation for being a gentle and amicable person made her the most popular kid in school, liked by just about everyone.
It all started to change once she entered High School, however. A complicated period of life, at the cusp of adulthood, Hikari’s actions started to be seen through a different lens than childhood innocence. It started small enough, with some of the girls saying that Hikari entered the ‘Miss Hane High' competition purely from ego, as she knew no one would be able to win against her’; the truth was that she was nominated by people in her class for bragging right that their class would have the Miss Hane High, a simple interclass rivalry not uncommonly found in High School. It did not, however, change how that might be perceived by others, especially as she went on to win the competition in a landslide vote.
What started as a small grievance eventually turned into a bigger narrative at the start of her second year, when a close friend of hers since Elementary School confessed her feelings to the then-popular Student Council President, only for the third year to reply, ‘Sorry, but I like Hikari.’ Hikari, who did not know of this until the next day, accepted the invitation to join the Student Council on the same day. The next day, said friend went on a tirade in front of her entire class, accusing her of intentionally having joined the Student Council knowing how she felt about the President. It was not entirely inaccurate, if Hikari was to be honest, as she knew of her friends' feelings and had an inkling that the President fancied her from the way he approached her. Still, in the end, having been a people pleaser for so long was unable to say no to the invitation when put on the spot. Thus, all she could say when confronted in such a manner was only to apologise, an apology that was harshly rejected.
An ‘underdog’ story of a cute, yet ordinary girl, being cruelly strung along by her much popular friend, who hides her ugly inner self behind a façade of beauty. It was an attractive narrative for the rumour mill of a High School. Especially when the popular friend of the narrative was someone in a position of privilege that would naturally be envied. It was easier—and more satisfying—to cast the seemingly Miss Perfect that was almost too good to be true as some sort of villain, who looked down on people from her seat at the top of the social totem pole, rather than the more complicated truth. Hikari rejecting the Student Council President when he confessed later only made matters worse, as she was now seen as ‘seeing herself as being too good for even the most popular guy in the school’
‘Hikari thinks she’s so good, being so helpful, isn’t she just humble-bragging how much better at everything than normal people she is?’ ‘Hikari is trying too hard to be a diligent Student Council Vice-President, she just likes to show that she can stay in the Council even after harshly rejecting the President’ ‘Hikari always rejects every guy who confesses to her, she probably just strings them along and rejects them anyway to show how popular she is.’ Far from the idolised reputation she had before, her reputation was now one that was envied. Begrudgingly admired, but isolated, with snide and backhanded insults thrown constantly.
The way she had habituated herself to behave turned against her, as the more she presented herself to be likeable, the more she was seen as a lying two-faced woman. It was at the moment she was most desperate for a reprieve from the false accusations constantly lobbed at her that she found herself noticing a strange application on her phone. A black crown adorned upon an eye, it asked a single question…
::Combat Information:: Black Regalia:
Outfit:
Authority: Inversio Invidiae - Those who held envy for Hikari feel compulsion to act act nice to her instead, the more envious they are, the greater the compulsion.
Main Weapon: Bow and arrows Secondary Weapon: Throwing daggers
________________________________________
Name: Lucrezia Historical Information: Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519, Italy) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged several marriages for her that advanced their own political position, including to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro and Gradara, Count of Cotignola; Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglie and Prince of Salerno; and Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Long painted as a poisoner and femme fatale, her beauty is linked to accusations of incest, betrayal, and cruelty.
Affinities: Light
Skills:
Double Shot - Light Gun damage to one foe 2x
Mediarahan - A pulse of blessing that heals allies
Special Skills:
Banquet of Decadence - A wide-range attack based on the legendary Banquet of Chestnuts held by the Borgia family and Lucrezia's reputation as a poisoner. Poison enemies, and with every damage taken from the poison, allies are healed.
Arrows of Affection - Hail of arrows rained down on enemies, true to Lucrezia's reputation as a femme fatale, those struck by the arrows have a high chance to be charmed.
Oh it's good you understand how the Authority works.
Generally we'll have access to spells and skills both weak and strong.
I'll have proper guidelines later as I'm still deciding, but for now anyone else wanting to work on their characters, focus on anything but the skills.
Oh yes. I also offer drawing people's Personas and characters.
Contemplating the idea of a character who starts off a target and confronts their own shadow inside their mind palace a la Futaba/anyone from Persona 4
@Digmata real depiction of him, so yes actually. You can.
@Silver Carrot unfortunately you can't start that way. Uhh, I'm trying to keep some important details under wraps but basically the RP's version of Palaces called Kingdoms or Domains do not work the same way.
The part about confronting her own shadow however can still happen. I will not say much more than that here though. There's a reason the theme is very specific.
Oh one more thing.
I recommend having a major character flaw tied to their desire. It might go without saying but there's really people out there making characters with minor or no flaws.
EDIT: Soon I will be compiling a couple details regarding the Black Crown app, the Metarealm, and what your characters may be knowledgeable of. Please stay tuned.
Here's some more information, before I refine it to be placed in the main post. I figure some of this people should know as soon as possible.
Using the Black Crown App
In order to use your Authority, or enter the Metarealm, you must use the app.
When entering the Metarealm, your appearance will not change instantly. To do that, you must activate the app again and do a Kamen Rider-like transformation.
When using your Persona, you must activate the app again.
Your weapons are granted by the app also.
Your Persona flames are not blue. They are red.
IMPORTANT: There seem to be numerous Black Crown users, however not all of them have an Authority (in fact almost all of them don't).
Metarealm and Kingdoms
Full information on how Kingdoms and Domains work will be revealed through play, however below is stuff you should know.
A Kingdom is not tied to any individual like a Palace, in fact it is shared to you very early by another character that rulers of Kingdoms can change.
A Kingdom encompasses a whole district in Tokyo. The very first one we will be playing in is of course, Shibuya.
Targets and villains will be made clear through play, but once again the themes are around crime and conspiracy. Expect some of this and touching on modern ills.
The RP in General
Our main enemies other than Shadows will be other Persona users.
There is a Highschool and University for the purposes of players being easier to interact with. I suggest everyone make their character attend these in some capacity. It is of course possible for you to elect to have a character in a different school or do something else.
I would prefer a ratio of mostly Japanese nationality with a couple foreigners for this RP. Halfs can also be accepted but less sparingly.
Spells and Skills
Spells and Skills So as all are aware, skills and spells of all levels are available, from the weakest to the strongest, however the strength of which will affect the amount of times you may use them all at once. Weaker spells are faster and can be used in multiple combinations, or repeatedly, while strong ones are definitively powerful singular uses. As you become stronger, you will gain access to more slots.
Strong: 1 use per post
Medium: 2 uses per post
Weak: 4 uses per post
In your slots you can also gain passives that can affect things.
In the terms of Special Skills, they have limited uses in general per foray into the Metarealm. All special skills share the same usage count. As you become stronger, you can gain more uses, and even new special skills under special circumstances and events.
Name: Shirona Hoshino Age: 16 Gender: Female Nationality: Japanese
Personality: Shirona is a natural wallflower who prefers to observe the people around her rather than doing anything. Always keeping her thoughts private, always waiting for whatever is about to happen as her camera prepares for the upcoming action. When interacted upon, it is easy to see that she had a hard time in social situations and despite her countless observations she is still terrible at taking account emotions which would make her look callous if she’s not careful.
The secret daughter of an idol and a tabloid reporter who had a one night stand gone wrong, Shirona was raised hidden from the public eye under the care of nannies and away from the parents who saw her as nothing but an unwanted burden. This isolation had persisted through the early years of her childhood as she was home schooled in her earlier years to keep anyone from knowing her existence. In those moments of isolation, Shirona’s brilliance will shine, learning subjects beyond her level and showing moments of precociousness due to never meeting anyone around her age. And despite having the ability to acquire anything she wanted if she just simply wished to, she longed for a life outside of the walls she lived in.
Her wish would soon be fulfilled when her aunt suddenly barged in, took custody of her and showed her the outside world. It is far larger than she imagined and definitely unfamiliar.
The next thing she would learn is that despite finally walking away, she is still utterly alone in this world. Her aunt tries her best but is obligated by her job to be away for extended periods at times. She could no longer recall when was the last time she talked to her so-called parents. As for finding friends, a combination of lack of experience and her precociousness torpedoed her initial attempts not to the point of people hating her but they were definitely wary.
Which is why she resorted to photography as it gives her an excuse to look and observe at people without looking too creepy. She might not be in the picture but being the girl behind the camera is enough for her.
Despite her potential and interest, she refused to do journalism or acts that gave popularity unless it was necessary, as she is still holding onto the resentment she had from her biological parents.
What Is Your Desire? -To connect and truly understand others.
::Combat Information:: Black Regalia:
Outfit:
Authority: [Heart Sight] Cynthia can see the current emotions of the people around her as flames on their heart where larger flames shows more intense emotions. Using the app, she could easily extinguish or set ablaze the emotion she sees and even change the flames to different hues to induce other emotions.
Main Weapon: Quarterstaff Secondary Weapon: Pistol
Name: Daji Historical Information: The most favored consort of the last king of Shang Dynasty in Ancient China. Portrayed in fiction and mythology as a malevolent fox spirit. Through her charms, she managed to make the king neglect his courtly duties and follow her whims for a chance to gain her favor.
Said whims lead to acts that include but are not limited to cutting a peasant's leg to figure out how it resisted the cold, cutting the king's uncle's heart open to determine if the ancient saying of "a good man's heart has seven apertures" was true and cutting a pregnant woman's belly in the name of curiosity. She is also known for her countless acts of lavishness such as the construction of a zoo filled with rare plants and animals and construction of a 'pond of alcohol and forest of meat' where the most debaucherous displays usually happen in her name.
Daji's sadistic displays will end when the weakened Shang Dynasty was crushed by a rebellion with her being executed as one of the first orders of the subsequent king.
Affinities: Dark
Skills:
Eiha (Weak)- Deal light cursed damage on one enemy.
Sukunda (Medium)- Lowers the evasion and accuracy of one target.
Charges: 2 Special Skills:
Infernal Instrument: Bronze Toaster- Based on the punishment she personally devised during her time as a courtesan. Inflict Fire Damage to all enemies. Applies burn upon hit.
Deer Gallery- Applies the Tipsy status to all enemies upon when it hits. When used on allies, it removes other ailments as well.
Spells and Skills So as all are aware, skills and spells of all levels are available, from the weakest to the strongest, however the strength of which will affect the amount of times you may use them all at once. Weaker spells are faster and can be used in multiple combinations, or repeatedly, while strong ones are definitively powerful singular uses. As you become stronger, you will gain access to more slots.
How many skill slots and usage do we start with on the sheet?
@Randomguy It's 2 Skill slots, 2 Charges/uses of Special Skills, and 2 Special Skill slots. Basically, 2 of everything.
@Digmata No worries. I do add it will just take time to complete once I get started. If you can help it, can find a face claim for your character.
I will add that your Authority should be stronger. Instead of being able to see someone's desires, why not just straight up be able to manipulate or amplify desires and emotions?
I remember seeing that game all the way back, but no it wasn't.
I'll probably need a few more people locked in before I could make an OOC. For now I'll be working on the highschool and university, as well as introducing a major character.
