Bacon

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@IAmTheIsland Is the plan still to have Hoshi meet up with Levi? If the plan's changed over the two months, that's fine, I just need to know before I draft anything up.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

@Bacon, I presume your like means that Daniel is approved?

And should I make his father's sheet now, or can it be later, maybe even when the IC is started?

@Letter Bee

Yes, Daniel's been approved.

You can make his father's sheet now if you want, but you don't have to if you'd rather hold off until later.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

<Snipped quote by meri>
Thanks. Found the art on Pinterest. It's absurdly useful for the specific purpose of finding good face claims, especially if you keep telling it you're not interested in anything else.

<Snipped quote by Bacon>
This started out as a suggestion but I was also more or less trying to go by what you've said and just generally get a grasp on what each tier of focus entails. Some of these could maybe use some rebalancing, such as Support giving people very little reason to ever do anything but a secondary focus for healing skills and revives, and buffs/debuffs for being extremely committal for very little in return. A tertiary focus might remedy this and I'd generally prefer erring on the side of more options for players, but the details start to feel a bit nebulous. (Though I suppose minor utility and flavor are what most would be after with it) As an example, Ann's single-target only healing pales in comparison to Makoto's Mediarahan. (who herself would only qualify as a tertiary focus by our metrics since she lacks anything else)

If primary debuffing is Debilitate (Or equivalent? Still wondering about whether buff/debuff stacking is in and if I can get a debuffing passive as requested in Cliff's app) -and secondary debuffing focus is whatever you want from the base buff/debuff skills, I'd put (Ma)Sukukaja/(Ma)Sukunda under tertiary for being distinctly less useful and more a matter of flavor, or restrict tertiary to a single single-target buff. Tarunda and Rakunda are a bit stronger than their single-target buff equivalents due to their usefulness on bosses though, so it might be ideal to make them unequal.

idk. Let me know your thoughts on such.

list of skills? Please review

Primary Phys - Arm's Master + Charge + Brave Blade + Vorpal Blade + 2 of: Apt Pupil, God's Hand, Gigantomachia, Agneyastra
Secondary Phys - (Arm's Master + Brave Blade or Vorpal Blade or Apt Pupil + Myriad Slashes or Swords Dance or Megaton Raid + Heat Wave or Swift Strike) or Lucky Punch + Miracle Punch instead of everything else. Seems fitting to keep them exclusive to secondary Phys.
Free for everyone (for flavor) - Lunge, Cleave, Vajra Blast

Primary Gun - Charge + Snipe aka Gun Boost + Cripple aka Gun Amp + One-shot Kill + Riot Gun or Trigger Happy
Secondary Gun - Arm's Master + Gun Boost + Triple Down + One Shot Kill (there is simply not enough gun skills) or Gun Amp or Trigger Happy
Free for everyone - Snap

Primary Magic - Spell Master + Tier 4 single-target spell or Tier 4 aoe spell + Focus or Megidolaon + Element Boost + Element Amp + Elemental Ailment boost (if applicable)
Secondary Magic - Spell Master + Element Amp (the 50% one) + Element Boost (the 25% one) or Megido (for flavor mainly)
Free for everyone - -dyne skills

Primary Support - (Diarahan + Mediarahan + Salvation + Amrita Shower + Samarecarm) or (Diarahan + Mediarahan + Samarecarm + -karn skills) or (Diarahan + Mediarahan + Salvation + Amrita Shower + -karn skills)
Secondary Support - (Diarahan + Mediarahan + Salvation + Amrita Shower) or (Diarahan + Mediarahan + Samarecarm) or (Diarahan + Mediarahan + -karn skills) or (Amrita Shower + Samarecarm) or (Amrita Shower + -karn skills) or (Samarecarm + -karn skills)

Primary Buffing - Revolution, Heat Riser, Thermopylae
Secondary Buffing - Tarukaja + Rakukaja + Sukukaja + Matarukaja + Marakukaja + Masukukaja + Rebellion

Primary Debuffing - Debilitate
Secondary Debuffing - Tarunda + Rakunda + Sukunda + Matarunda + Marakunda + Masukunda

Primary Ailments - Whatever Ailments you want + Ailment Boost + Specific Ailment Boost
Secondary Ailments - Whatever Ailments you want

<Snipped quote>
So to clarify, would this mean you:
A: Start with Debilitate/Heat Riser
B: Start with nothing and get nothing but your secondary focus skills and generic spells until you eventually learn Debilitate/Heat Riser?

@Ryik

Fair points. But also keep in mind that establishing an in-depth faithful recreation of a Persona game's mechanics is not the objective here. If it were, I'd be asking for stats and be providing specifications on how that works. If folks want to go that deep into this than I will, but I wasn't intending on that when I opened this, and it will have to be a group decision.

For tertiary focuses: I was considering that initially, but hadn't committed to the idea. If people want to, I will allow a tertiary focus. Single-target buffs, single-target severe magic, severe phys, single kind of support magic, single-target buffs and debuffs. (Note: This isn't unilateral. If a majority of people doesn't want to complicate this further, than we won't. If you're reading this, please sound off and let me know what you think.)

I'm considering locking Mediaraihan to a primary focus, though not doing that for now. If only because we haven't seen if we're allowing tertiary focuses yet. Considering doing the same for Amrita Shower, and giving Me Patra or Energy Shower for secondary ailment removal instead.

For a primary focus in debuffing, I'll allow the chance to debuffs a random stat.

For debuff stacking, I'll leave it up to everyone to see if people want SMT buffs (buff stacking) or Personal buffs (Non-stacking, for a limited number of turns.) (Again, please sound off and let me know what you think.)

Finally, the question of Debilitate/Heat Riser and the primary focuses on buffing/debuffing. That's a really good question and I don't have time to sit and ponder that. I'll get back to you on that. For the purposes of Radcliff, I'll allow the passive you're asking for though.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

I've got questions on what is allowed based on what focus your character has, considering Persona characters tend to have more than strictly two focuses. Ann with her Tarunda, Dormina/Lullaby, Diarahan, and top-tier magic attacks come to mind, or the Jazz club that lets you slap Debilitate on anyone, for example. I'm not even sure where Dekaja/Dekunda/-karn skills come in, though they're generally not useful enough to justify their own category.

Either way I've got a character ready. Would more than one character be allowed?

Radcliff & Mermaid

Theme

Name: Radcliff "Cliff" Conary

Personality: Radcliff is a blunt and generally nonchalant person. He prefers brutal truth and practicality over idealism or having his feelings spared, and he can only sheepishly apologize when it's pointed out to him that not everyone feels the same way. In general, he is kind and polite, with a strong moral compass, but he is also a lot more reckless than most people expect, and will often walk the line when it comes to following the rules.

He's admittedly a bit promiscuous, and has a habit of viewing his relationships as transactional, though he's honest about it, and isn't opposed to romance per se, though he finds it difficult to get emotionally attached to people he doesn't know well. To that end, he has few friends, but the ones he does have he'd probably die for.

Background: Radcliff lived a relatively simple life and had equally simple hobbies: Fishing, cooking (fish), bar hopping with his friends, karaoke (though he's terrible at it) and casual hookups if he's in the mood and his two friends with benefits aren't. He's known them since elementary school, and while the time they tried to date each other had been a bit awkward considering it was after he had hooked up with both of them, he was happy for them. That being said, they eventually broke up and things returned to how they were. Alongside a few other friends, they all try to meet up and do something together once a week, if they're available. On separate occasions, both of his casual partners have dropped suspicious hints, though when he asked them about it directly, they both told him that it didn't mean anything. For better or for worse, Cliff chose to take this at face value, if only because he believes that's what he'd like for them to do if the roles were reversed.

His parents are relatively well-off, if a bit dysfunctional, so he's never had to worry about money, and he even received a boat for one of his birthdays a couple years ago, which sees quite a lot of use considering how much fishing he does. He sells some of the fish if the local stalls are manned and interested in buying them, and rents out his boat when he isn't using it for extra income, but otherwise he works at a hardware store, a job he likely won't be keeping for long. As immaculate as his customer service and de-escalation skills are, he finds it exhausting. At the least, he has this weekend to look forward to. His friends are joining him on his boat for fishing, swimming, and general partying, and the forecast for that day is... good...?

Other Information: Does it truly count as alcoholism if your tolerance is monstrous and you only drink socially?

Persona: Mermaid

Arcana: Hanged Man

Element: Ice

Affinities: Resists Ice, weak to Electric

Primary Focus: Debuffs (I would like to give him a passive skill that grants a chance to debuff random stats when hitting an enemy, to go with Mermaid's unique multi-hit skill. Else, I'd probably deprioritize and maybe replace it, depending on what is allowed)
Secondary Focus: Healing

Persona Info: Mythical Aquatic creatures with the top half of a woman and the lower half of a fish, Mermaids are sometimes regarded as omens of misfortune, associated with floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings. In some legends, they use their voices to charm men, causing them to crash their ships or to jump overboard before drowning and eating them. In others, they are portrayed as falling in love with humans, often with the reconciliation between the two worlds as a major source of conflict. In recent times, they are sometimes portrayed as symbols of hopelessness, doomed to suffer whether on land or at sea, choked out by the air of an unforgiving world or the pollution of a tainted sea, the stagnation of either captivity or an insular society and the isolation of having to leave all they know behind to survive no matter what choice they make.

@Ryik

For more than one character: I wouldn't be opposed if you're alright with keeping track of them and their abilities, relationships, etc. But I won't allow more than two per person.

For focuses: Here's the classifications I had in mind.
Phys/Gun - Aside from the obvious, the option for Charge.

Magic - Severe magic skills, if primary focus than you get your choice of Focus or Megido skills.

Support - Your choice of Healing, Ailment Removal, Revival, -karn skills. You pick three if it's a primary focus, two if it's secondary.

Buffing - Single-target and all-target buffs, Rebellion/Revolution, Dekunda, Heat Riser.

Debuffing - Single-target and all-target debuffs, Debilitate, Dekaja.

Additionally, due to the power of Heat Riser and Debilitate, if you take those you can't take other options for buffing and debuffing. (falling under buff and debuff respectively). If you pick Heat Riser, I will allow you to (much later) take Thermopylae, but it will be retaining the requirement that it can only be used if you've been ambushed.

Yes, I'm aware that Persona characters typically have more than two by that standard. This is for both my sanity, and to reduce overlap between characters.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

@Bacon, D.C. is fine. Also, shouldn't un-approved CSrs be in the OOC?

Also, its customary to have the first post of the OOC be a fuller version of the Int Check, with rules and the Character Sheet Template?

@Letter Bee

My bad. First time properly doing one of these, I'll be honest, so I'm not exactly familiar with standard operating procedure. Not to say I don't have experience running other kinds of RPs, but there's a difference between DMing and Text-Based RP. I'm gonna make a 0th post with the essentials real quick.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

By the way, here's a question for y'all: Do you have a preference as to where the game starts? As I said prior, I was planning on setting it in America instead of Japan, and specifically thinking about either Washington DC or New York City (leaning towards DC). But this is subject to change if y'all would prefer I set it somewhere else.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/194964-i-am-thou-a-persona-smt-inspired-story/ooc

Here's the link for the RP.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

I AM THOU, THOU ART I.

These words are the first step in awaking the true self. The power that sleeps within the chosen few of mankind, those with the strength of will to make their mark.

Where once the Metaverse and the Real World were kept separate, machinations by entities long-since forgotten by man have sought to fuse the two so they may manifest. Usually, a special individual called a trickster would arise to take on such a threat, and save the world at cost to themselves. This time, however, the door to the Velvet Room never appeared to such a person. The entities are about to enact their plan, and the world as most know it is about to come to an end.

However, this does not have to mean the end of life, or the end of humanity. In times of crisis, those with the strength of will will rise to make their mark, to defend the people they care about, and to maybe, just maybe, save the world.

The Enigmatic Igor has a plan of his own, and works to awaken the power of the Persona into those who are capable of wielding that power, and to help them along the way whenever possible, even if that might lack in comparison to the services he can provide to a trickster.

The Velvet Room calls to you. Will you answer?

---

RULES AND GUIDELINES

Just a few ground rules, and a couple guidelines to keep in mind when making your character's background.

RULES
1) Keep it civil. In-character arguments are fine, and I have no problem with holding a conversation with someone else in the OOC. But don't be nasty to each other in the OOC. We're all (probably) adults, and I expect everyone to act like it.

2) Remember what you signed up for. This is based in Persona/SMT, and I'll try my best to keep that general tone. Things can and probably will get rather dark at some point or another. And while I'm sure we're fine with dark and adult themes, try to keep from anything overly graphic. I don't want smut or excessively gory descriptions in the IC once that starts up.

3) Rules are subject to expansion and change. While that should cover the essentials, things change. If something comes up that requires me to make an addendum to the rules, I'll inform everyone and post it here.

GUIDELINES
1) As of the start, the whole fusion of the Metaverse and Real World is yet to happen, and the party are yet to awaken their personas. Where, when, and how you awaken to your persona will be up to you. If you want to have known about the metaverse or had awakened to your persona maybe a day or two prior, talk to me.

2) For clarification, the fusion of the Metaverse and Real World is going to be more similar to Devil Survivor than the Quiphoth world or the mainline SMT games. Things are going to start off looking relatively normal, but become gradually more warped the longer the Metaverse and Real World remain fused. Figured I'd establish that now to avoid further confusion.

3) No tricksters. Everyone gets a persona, with a second and (if you so choose) third awakening. It helps the individuals of the team remain distinct, and helps me avoid the headache of trying to balance multiple people with multiple different personas.

4) If you give me backstory details that I can work with, I can and will gladly make use of them if I can. Unless you want me to, I'm not going to kill off your character's friends and family offscreen.

5) If you are ready for me to look at your CS, I'm fine with you putting it in the Character tab. But expect me to look it over once or twice before we get started, and I'll let you know if anything needs to be changed.

6) This is subject to expansion and change. As of posting this, there are other things on my mind. There might be a couple things I'm forgetting. If I need to update this, I'll make sure you're all informed about it.

CS Template:

CS

Character

Name:

Appearance: (Description, image, or both)

Personality:

Background:

Other Information:

Persona

Name:

Appearance: (Description, Image, or both)

Arcana:

Element: (Fire, Ice, Elec, Wind, Nuke, Psy, Bless, Curse)

Affinities: (One strength, one weakness)

Focus: (Phys/Gun, Magic, Healing, Buffing, Defending, etc)

Persona Info (Optional):

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

I've found him. The coolest Persona.

Hider

Blonde mullet. Pink bike. Bad ass.

@ctrlsaltdel

John Persona. The Persona to surpass the Metal Gear.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

I've got a character sheet drafted! Figure I'll wait until the OOC is up to post it. Is it alright if I have both an initial Persona and a Second Awakening Persona on there (for future reference, not to start with), or should I wait to add the second one if/when a second Awakening happens for my character?

@meri

It's up to you.

Also, I'll get the OOC up sometime tomorrow, seeing as we should have enough people to get started.