Persona: Digital Guardians (Interest Check and Brainstorming)

Discussion, RP.

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The Internet has changed everything. It's destroyed barriers between places and people, it makes many aspects of our lives easier; it is our connection to each other, and to human society as a whole. Perhaps it could even be said to define the modern age. Many millions of people use it for many purposes every day, from simple acquisition of knowledge to communicating, keeping in touch with friends, meeting new ones and building communities...

Shadows have always dwelt in the minds of people, each person carrying a multitude of unwanted feelings and thoughts, which in most cases they simply refuse to recognize in themselves at a subconscious level. Like all thoughts and feelings, they eventually fade out of the mind that made them and go elsewhere. In olden days, this would be the "Other World" that dots myth and legend as people would occasionally find themselves there...

But now, humans have themselves created a new home for the contents of their own hearts.

And it's starting to show. The Shadows that now live on the Internet have started to approach a critical mass, and people are beginning to notice the multitude of strange glitches and viruses that don't seem to be entirely natural occurrences. And people are being found in vegetative states at their computers, all higher brain functions ceasing, with no other symptoms or apparent cause for the coma. "Apathy Syndrome" has been seen before in the world, but it was once confined to some coastal city somewhere in Japan; now it's happening worldwide.

But something else is starting to happen worldwide. A few people are beginning to develop an additional sense for things happening online; they can avoid the unnatural viruses and glitches instinctively, and although they occasionally decide to see it for themselves, it never seems to affect their own browsers quite as badly. These people are also being noticed, but only by those who know how to find them. And find them they will, and recruit them. For the power of Persona is needed to save the world once more!

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Do I really need to say anything more? This has been brewing in my head for the last two years, and I've had a lot of ideas for it in that time. Social Links between players will grant additional powers despite lacking the Wild Card, for example, and there are some plot twists ahead.

So, interest and possible additional ideas to flesh out the whole thing is what I'm looking for. And I'll answer questions, if I can.

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Taken Arcana:^note Please check here if you want to know what these mean.

• 0. The Fool: BARRED FROM USE
  • 0. The Jester Joker*
    Same meaning as The Fool
    : Phillipa Whitnall, aka JokerXtreme, played by Moerin
• I. The Magician: Felicia Miren, aka Silver_Heroine, played by Ichigo Neko
• II. The High Priestess: Untaken
• III. The Empress: Untaken
• IV. The Emperor: Flint Minch, aka Flintlock, played by Lloyd Lloyderson
• V. The Hierophant: Taiga Yamada, aka =DetectiveYamada= played by fearjunkie
• VI. The Lovers: Chiaki Mabonaka, aka uatuhime, played by opnerf
• VII. The Chariot: Jacob Roth, aka tramtracks, played by Bindlestick
• VIII. Justice: Matt Adams, aka The_Supernova, played by nova 24
  • VIII. Adjustment^note Subtly different from Justice: Crowley decided that this was not the correct name for it, for Justice implied a human condition, not one of Nature... It represents balance, harmony, and justice; our adjustment to the natural world around us. Samuel Whatley, aka Clerk_Of_Cthulhu, played by Leliel
• IX. Hermit: Reserved for the GMPC
• X. The Wheel of Fortune: Baith Jones, aka Lady_Arsenic, played by maxyrama
• XI. Strength: Markis Loid, aka Azure Lloyd, played by trip
  • XI. Lust^note Different meaning from Strength: Lust is symbolic of the knowing that only through fully experiencing life can true creative potential be achieved, for only then can true focus and concentration be directed.: Untaken
• XII. Hanged Man: Rick Wilson, aka Za_Wild_Raida, played by gogojojo 33
• XIII. Death: Sigrid Östberg, aka ~Lunatic Pandora~ played by Sixth Saint
• XIV. Temperance: Eddrick Hayes, aka IronLadle, played by whizzerd
• XV. The Devil: Yanagi Midori, aka ArtistMi, plyed by Anno R
• XVI. The Tower: Ryou In-Ho, aka :GuideOfSouls:, played by PBlades
• XVII. The Star: Hiromi Tanaka, aka Cosmic*Shooter, played by Troper Roxas
• XVIII. The Moon: Alex Brooks, aka Weerd, played by Troyand Hawk
• XIX. The Sun: Nathan Nakamura, aka NateNakamura, played by Runekn
• XX. Aeon: Penelope "Bunny" Fennis, aka Hopping Madame, played by Azure
• XXI. The World: BARRED FROM USE
  • XXI. The Universe: VERY BARRED FROM USE

Players: 17
Arcana reserved: 0
Free Arcana: 3

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SIGNUP SHEET
Human:

• Name:
• Online Handle: (At least their most commonly used one)
• Age: (Be realistic here^note If they're younger than about 13, their personality won't be developed enough to have a Persona (there are exceptions). But they need to be computer-literate, something that becomes less likely the older they get...)
• Gender:
• Nationality: (Again, be realistic. Your character has to have Internet access.)
• Appearance (IRL):
• Personailty:
• Biography:

Persona:

• Name: (Needs to be a real life legendary/mythological figure, and represent the character in some way)
• Arcana:
• Appearance:
• Abilities: (Take two from the following: Attacking Skills: Physical, Mental (Psy), Fire (Agi), Ice (Bufu), Lightning (Zio), Water (Aqua), Wind (Garu), Earth (Magna), Light (Hama), Darkness (Mudo), or Force (Zan); Support skills: Healing (Dia, Recarm, etc.), buffing (-kaja), debuffing (-unda), or status effects.)
• Resistances & Weaknesses: (You resist your own elemental skills and are weak to their opposites. If you have an element and it's opposite, they cancel out and you are neutral across the board. Same if you don't have any elemental skills.)^note Opposites are: Fire and Ice, Water and Lightning, Earth and Wind, Light and Darkness, Physical and Mental; Force is it's own opposite.
• Skills: (Take the first tier ability of each of your abilities.)

Evolved Persona: (optional)^note This will not come into play until later. You can do this later if you want, or you can stick with your initial Persona for the whole game if you'd rather.

• Name:
• Appearance:
• New Ability: (Take one extra ability)
• Resistances and Weaknesses: (All resists, including any new ones added, become immunities.)
• Special Skill: (Make something up!)

edited 29th Apr '13 6:45:53 PM by Anura

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

Interest, as I said earlier.

...And I kinda thought "So, GIFT gone wild?" as I read that.

Interest. Can we get a signup sheet?

Uh

Um... thinking of signing up and taking the Devil Arcana.

"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."

Also interested. Think I'll go with the Star arcana.

edited 15th Apr '13 2:50:31 PM by TroperRoxas

If you're not overly familiar with the Tarot (or even if you are), this is a good enough place for an in-detail description of the Arcana that might be a good idea to have a look at. I'm reserving Hermit for myself, by the way.

I'll probably make a signup sheet tomorrow. Something to think on in the meantime: the Persona is a reflection of yourself, and who you are isn't set in stone. As such, Personas can and will evolve at times; you'll be allowed one such evolution in-game.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

Definite interest!

This is not a signature!

Tenative dibs on Fool arcana.

Ah. No Wild Cards, it reeks of Special Snowflake Syndrome to me outside of a single-player game. And since the Fool is the Arcana of the Wild Card, you'll have to take Jester*

instead.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

Um... Is The Moon taken? Although I might try something else instead anyways... Hmmm.

But yeah, interest.

Interested, and dibs on the Sun Arcana I suppose.

Since everyone is calling dibs, dibs on XX(World)

edited 15th Apr '13 3:34:38 PM by mrminun

Uh

...XX is Judgement. The World is XXI. And honestly, uh, this is just my two cents, but... I don't think The World works for a PC when they're starting out, due to what it represents. But again, just me.

edited 15th Apr '13 3:35:32 PM by Moerin

The World is definitely barred. It's just as associated with the Wild Card as The Fool, but implies mastery of that talent.

I'm making a list of which ones are taken before bed.

edited 15th Apr '13 3:38:16 PM by Anura

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

Yeah, I agree. Also, what even is Aether? All I can find is that it's a tarot deck.

edited 15th Apr '13 3:38:16 PM by TroperRoxas

Okay, that's done. I even included the Crowley cards, since Atlus seems to like that guy. They have for a while, too; he was a boss in Shin Megami Tensei II.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

Ok, I'm going to choose the lovers, the end.

Uh

Well, my interest is piqued. I think I'll go ahead and snag The Chariot.

"You have more than enough potential. So tell me what is the one wish that would make your soul gem shine." -Mitt Romney, probably

Interest. Considering The Magician unless anyone has a better suggestion XD

Come at me Romance curse!

Color me intrigued...and pass me that Hierophant card.

Signup sheet placed up. I'll do my own later.

For reference, I'm taking the obligatory "scanning" Persona. It just makes it a bit easier to GM if I have the Mission Control guy.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

(reads character sheet)

...dammit, I wanted my character to be a computer illiterate detective.

Well, the whole point is going inside the internet to fight Shadows. You won't be able to be found if you don't go online at least sometimes. He doesn't have to be good with computers, just able to use them.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

I'll need to finish this later, once I find an image and think up what to put in the bio. And maybe an evolved Persona, if I can.

• Name: Hiromi Tanaka
• Online Handle: Cosmic*Shooter
• Age: 17
• Gender: Female
• Nationality: Japan
• Appearance (IRL): She's just remembering this one ending to a romance story she read, I guess.
• Personality: A sweet-natured and helpful girl, with a habit of trying to help others that she sees as needing help, regardless of how much that help is wanted or necessary.
  Hiromi also believes that, as long as you believe things will improve, they will eventually. Though even she herself wavers in this mindset, due to circumstances at home. Nevertheless, she always puts on a happy face for others.
• Biography: For most of her life, she lived under the roof of a mother who took every opportunity to declare that Hiromi had no chance of a happy life, doomed to live as an unwanted house-wife at best. Her father had died when she was still an infant.
  When Hiromi was twelve, her mother also passed away, and she was sent to live with relatives elsewhere. While better parents than her mother had been, they seemed rather uninterested in her. So Hiromi spent some time watching various tv shows, practically latching onto the message that things always get better, which she still holds onto today.

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• Name: Elpis
• Arcana: Star
• Appearance: Finding something to use was pretty hard
• Skills: Ice, Light
• Resistances & Weaknesses:
  • Resist: Bufu, Hama
  • Weak: Agi, Mudo
• Skills: Bufu, Hama

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• Name: Pistis
• Appearance: ...Maybe minus the horns?◊
• New Skill: Dia
• Resistances and Weaknesses: Immune to Ice and Light, still weak to Fire and Dark.
• Special Skill: Shining Ice - Heavy Ice damage with a slight Hama effect.

edited 18th Apr '13 12:36:48 PM by TroperRoxas

• Name: Sigrid Östberg

• Online Handle: ~Lunatic Pandora~

• Age: 22

• Gender: Female

• Nationality: German

• Appearance (IRL): A woman of average height with hair down to her shoulders that she dyed white. Prefers to wear a combination of a suit jacket, tank top and jeans with fingerless gloves.

• Personality: Used to be a very lonely teen, until she found a boyfriend while she attended college who managed to break her out of her shell.

• Biography: Grew up in the residential district of Hamburg to relatively remote parents who were often away on business trips. She spent increasing amounts of time on the computer as she grew older to counteract her loneliness.

• Additional Note: Her favorite song is Conturbatio by Yuki Kajiura. Badmouth it at your peril...

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Persona

• Name: Alice

• Arcana: Death

• Appearance: Alice◊

• Skills: Mudo, Zio

Resistances & Weaknesses:

• Resists: Zio, Mudo

• Weak to: Hama, Aqua

• Skills: Zio, Mudo

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Evolved Persona

• Name: Alice

• Appearance: Alice

• New Skill: Psy

Resistances and Weaknesses:

• Immunities: Zio, Mudo, Psy

• Weaknesses: Hama, Aqua, Phy

• Special Skill: Die For Me!

edited 21st Apr '13 10:17:43 AM by SixthSaint