Introduction
"On the first day, there was..."
"On the second day, there was..."
"On the third day, there was..."
"On the fourth day, there was..."
"On the fifth day, there was..."
"On the sixth day, there was..."
"On the seventh day, there was..."
I should start by saying that this is a crossover RPG between two specific works, the video game series Persona by Atlus and the book series The Keys To The Kingdom by Garth Nix. However even if you’re unfamiliar with the both of them I still believe I should’ve provided just about enough information, both in my own words and through wiki links, for you to be easily comfortable enough with either series.
This game will probably be requiring a group (not an offical group, at least not at first) of seven to nine Persona-using high-schoolers like in the games, of whom most have had no previous contact at all with the supernatural, as well as players for a new set of seven Trustees to govern the House, and possibly even players for their Dawns, Noons and Dusks if they aren’t just made into NPCs. I’ll probably only the start the game once we’ve received two or three more Persona-users in the main group and two to three Trustees though, as I’d like for this game not to get to crowded with characters at once.
That said if you want to play someone who isn’t a Persona-user, Trustee or Superior Denizen you may if you want, just as long as we’ve still got a few characters first and this new character looks to have some importance to or involvement with the plot (though not too much that they end up Mary-Sueish). Also keep in mind there’s no set limit on how many characters you can create, however there is a set limit on how many characters can be in a certain faction so be aware of that.
Be aware though that certain links may very well contain spoilers.
They say the first thing in existence to be created was a garden. What they don’t often say after that was that this garden lies atop the very pinnacle of what, from the outside in our mortal world, appears as nothing more than a rather old-looking, elaborately yet strangely designed house. That is, appears to those who have the ability to see it.
The inside of the House, as it should properly be spelt, is in fact much larger than what appears on the outside, and is divided up into seven worlds, Domains or Demesnes as they’re more often called, which include the Lower House, where the ceiling is a steel dome lit with orange and purple lights above fields, cities and other terrain, the Middle House, a three-terraced mountain where writing flows like water along the Extremely Grand Canal, the Upper House, where House Sorcerers study their magic, the Border Sea, where things mysteriously lost in our world may be found, the Great Maze which is split into 500 tiles of varied landscape, the desolate Far Reaches which looms over the abyss known as the Void, and the aforementioned Incomparable Gardens, said to be the most beautiful place in all the universe.
Then there is the realm known as the ‘Collective Unconsciousness’, but for numerous reasons that is not typically counted among the main seven.
Whether they’re gods like Thoth or angels such as Metatron, in many world mythologies a being is often credited with the task of recording all of which happens across the expanse of history. Naturally this sounds like far too much of a task for a single person, divine or not, which in this particular case would be correct. The true purpose of the House is to record everything that happens in the Secondary Realms, the House inhabitants’ term for our world, from the lives of people to the histories of nations or entire planets and the events that have shaped them. Interfering with the past changes a record, and interfering with a record changes the past. Along these lines of the importance of writing, magic in the House is not casted by speech or gesture but by the written word, and the persons there to perform all this writing, recording and casting would be the Denizens.
The Denizens are easily the most numerous, though not the only, species in the House. They possess the ability to change their form into whatever they wish if it is within their stamina, however the most common ‘fashion’ is the human form. They are said to be far more attractive than normal humans, and the higher their rank the more attractive they are, not to mention the more physically/magically powerful, however Denizens in general lack the imagination and creativity that is one of humanity’s defining traits.
There are seven especially powerful Denizens who purpose is it to monitor each an entire Domain in the House, with the ruler of the Incomparable Gardens ruling over the rest of the House by extension. They are called the Trustees though are also known as the Morrow Days, as each of them also rule over one of the seven days of the week, which is the only time they are allowed to enter into the Secondary Realms, and each possess a Key which acts a symbol of their authority and powerful source of magic energy.
However, there is also another kind of strange energy within the House (and technically within the Secondary Realms, though it is far less known there) called Nothing. More specifically, Nothing is the strange, dark formless material that composes the Void outside creation, and while initially empty can be shaped in numerous ways to produce a near infinite range of items and can even be made into living beings called Nithlings (…for a certain degree of ‘living’). Despite the risks associated with using Nothing such as being dissolved into… well, nothing, many high-ranking Denizens would be absolutely desperate to get their hands on such a valuable material.
As if on cue, a stranger calling himself ‘Dr. Uther Garnonaliph’ has entered the House bringing with him what appears to be an endless supply of Nothing, which he seems to be all too happy to give away.
It’s not until later that the Trustees find out that this substance isn’t exactly Nothing, when the ‘Nithlings’ spawned from it seem to have no intention of following their summoners’ wishes and seek to attack directly at the records themselves, trying to change the history of the Secondary Realms without any apparent regard for the stability and order of the universe. What’s worse, House weapons designed to ward off Nithlings seem to have no effect against these creatures.
The mysterious doctor has unleashed a threat the seven Domains cannot overcome, even if they insist they can, and a force the Denizens would rather not want a thing to do with…
Taramine is a town up near the top of a mountain range, which attracts quite a few visitors due to its splendid views of the valleys below and convenient position near a major road route. Taramine is certainly no small village or country town… but to compare it to the likes of a city such as Kyoto, Nagoya or Sapporo (let alone Tokyo) would be laughable.
The town however does have one other claim to fame, being the site of Shinkoyama Gakuen, a boarding high school that takes in students from all over Japan, though naturally is perfectly equipped to function as a local school as well. A problem though is that almost all of the school’s boarding population comes from places like the big cities, and while Taramine has a fair number of things to pique the interest of a more teenaged demographic such as a cinema and a few gaming shops, there’s no outlet in town that any larger city couldn’t offer in better supply. It’s hard to escape the notion that the town feels more like the place your parents would move to after they’ve finished raising you, and therefore quite a few teenagers can end up feeling quite restless, if not end up just all out bored.
Due to this, a certain grudge has formed between the boarding students from places more ultra-modern and urbanised and the local inhabitants including Shinkoyama’s day students. Alright, to be fair this sort of ‘rivalry’ shall we call it isn’t anywhere near as bad as it once was, but elements of it still lurk beneath Taramine’s everyday cycle.
But still, apart from the excitement generated by a new magical act (“Garnonaliph The Great’s Spellbinding Fantasia”) coming into town, the claims some people have made that Taramine is a town stuck in the past with no real idea of how to progress into the future seem to ring worryingly true. What the boarders and townspeople don’t know is how precious that history is, along with the histories of the entire world, now that it could so easily vanish into thin air.
There are rumours going around Taramine that ‘dark versions of people‘s selves’ are jumping out of them during the middle of the night and roaming around town causing destruction as if in preparation for some huge event (There have also been rumours of a strange house appearing in various place all across Taramine, but nobody‘s paying attention to that). One night, a group of schoolchildren, for various reasons, decide to investigate the rumours of these ‘dark sides‘, not knowing that they are going to come face-to-face with something far greater than mere shadows in the night…
The shadows are dangerous monsters created, literally, by human minds, they are composed of a human’s repressed emotions typically seen as undesirable or negative. They are essentially what humanity is in the dark, with no social graces to maintain to facades to uphold, reducing them to little more than formless monsters appearing as a mass of darkness wearing a strange type of mask.
Due to their typically dark and blob-like appearance, it’s hardly that much of a stretch for the Denizens, who may have heard of Shadows but have never actually seen them, to confuse them for Nothing. Before the arrival of Dr. Garnonaliph Shadows weren’t able to manifest in the House as its entire structure was based on precise observation and not pure emotion, it is unknown why they are suddenly able to now.
But now they have emerged here, their goal is to rewrite as many records as they can find in order to create a closer to ‘perfect’ history for humanity so that the Shadows won’t have to endure an existence of being born from dishonesty, internal suffering and undesirable emotions. What the Shadows in their mindless fury cannot know is that by trying to do so they risk upsetting and even destroying the balance of the universe, House, Secondary Realms and all.
It’s important to make a sort of distinction between ‘general shadows’ and ‘personal shadows’. General Shadows are basically the kind described above, formed from the overall negativity and darkness present in humanity. Personal Shadows are from the hidden depths and darkness that lurk within a single person, and unlike the formless masked blobs that are general Shadows, Personal Shadows are much more humanoid in appearance, typically resembling their ‘human self’ to an exact degree, apart from obvious tip-offs such as the strange dark wisps around them and their yellow eyes.
Much more humanoid, that is, unless their originator rejects their existence right to their faces, upon which they transform into a disastrous monstrous form born from the twisting of their originator’s psyche. Defeating this monster form can calm them down, but they will only truly be overcome once their originator admits that this Shadow is ultimately a part of themselves, transforming it into a Persona to aid them. Curiously, it seems that anyone represented by the Fool, Death or World Arcana won’t have to deal with their Personal Shadow, as with the Fool Arcana the mask hasn’t been formed, with the Death Arcana the mask breaks and with the World Arcana the mask is no longer needed.
They have been manifesting within the House in response to any ‘normal’ human entering the place, attracted by their records now that Shadows are able to enter this realm.
A person’s other self, or rather their true self, the manifestation of one’s inner psyche gifted with magical powers that can defeat the Shadows, and the main power used by the protagonist group. Despite how glorious it may sound, a Persona is basically the same thing as a Shadow, the only real difference is that Persona are under human control.
In order to summon a Persona in the first place, a human would have to endure the mental stress associated with no less than a near-death experience, such as being confronted and rendered knocked out by a dark manifestation of your inner feelings. From there, a ‘stable’ Persona can only be brought out by the intervention of a higher being with having to endure the ‘near-death experience’ again in some way.
Personae usually take the identity of a character from world mythology, legend or history with some connection to the Persona-user in terms of personality, history, motivation and/or situation. However, technically this Persona isn’t truly that figure but rather an expression of you assuming their role.
As far as is known, it is impossible for a Denizen to manifest a Persona. Certain Denizens can be jealous of humans for this quality, others pride themselves on their ability to cast magic without the need for a Persona (even if it’s not the same sort of magic), while others are just scared of Persona-users altogether, especially considering the destruction and alteration they have caused to the world (in previous Persona games). But overall the Denizens’ opinions on Persona-users aren’t exactly favourable.
Unlike in the actual games a Persona will fight with you for an entire battle just as long as you have enough spiritual power to keep it summoned, a bit like in Persona -trinity soul- but with the Persona-user still taking a more active fighting role, synching their attacks with their Persona’s.
Often shortened to S-Links, these are the connections and eventual bonds that are created between others. When a level of understanding or familiarity is formed between you and another person, a Social Link is formed. Each possible S-Link is represented by one of the Major Arcana of the Tarot, and can progress up to ten ‘ranks’ before the Link reaches its maximum. However, keep in mind that if a Social link goes awry it could possibly end up reversed or even broken.
Social Links are important seeing as the powers of the Personae are dependant on their user’s psyche, the more links you have and the further advanced they are, the stronger and more versatile the Persona is. In gameplay terms, this translates into each ‘Rank Up’ in an S-Link equalling one point, when you have enough points you can then unlock new Persona skills and elemental affinities at the Velvet Room.
As far as is known, it is impossible to form a Social Link with a Denizen, primarily because they are not registered within the Collective Unconsciousness (which also explains their inability to manifest Shadows or Personae). This however does not stop each Trustee from being associated with one of the Major Arcana past Death.
For more information on the Major Arcana, see these links: http://www.gamefaqs.com/psp/924580-shin-megami-tensei-persona/faqs/58094 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Arcana
This is an S-Link that refers not to your connection to one or two people, but rather the main protagonist group itself altogether as you go around fighting Shadows and coming into conflict with Nithlings and the Trustees within the House. This S-Link is represented by your own Arcana, and unlike the other links it has somewhat of a different function, as it determines Persona evolution. A Rank of Five will change your Persona into its Intermediate stage, while finally at Ten it will advance into its Ultimate Stage.
Everyone can develop differently along this Arcana, trying to find their own way to fit into the group or support everyone.
Technically not really a third variety of Shadow, as they’re more like a super-advanced version of general Shadows, though still a dangerous and unique threat in their own right. Temporal Shadows are Boss enemies created by alterations to Secondary Realms history, brought forth from new emotional disturbances that have emerged from the changes in the timeline, the difficulties people face now that the past is different.
It should be noted that Temporal Shadows are not regular Bosses in that they are encountered in the main storyline, you will only have to face a Temporal Shadow if something goes incredibly wrong during the plot or you spend too many days in the ‘real world’ and not enough in the House (though if you spend too long in the House you won’t be able to advance most Social Links), basically they’re what happens if you let the Shadows get too far ahead in their meddling with history. As stated before, Temporal Shadows are incredibly dangerous and difficult to beat, and one obvious reason among others not to let the Shadows have their way.
But how can you actually tell when the Shadows are close to being able to alter history? Easily. The closer they are, the more reports and rumours you should hear around Taramine of ‘dark sides’ coming out of people and roaming the streets at night, spurred out and excited by the further progress made by the Shadows within the House. At present the Shadows are only able to appear in the Secondary Realms around Taramine as that’s where the House seems to be located.
Often referred to as the unofficial eighth (or ‘zeroth’ some would say) Domain of the House, and like the rest of the House its purpose is to record the nature of the world. However, unlike the rest of the House which serves to create a factual documentation on the events of the world, the Collective Unconsciousness is continuously being formed from all the gathered raw emotions of living beings all over creation, mainly those of humans. It is considered the breeding ground from which both Personae and Shadows spawn, and is ruled over by two ‘Trustees’ (even though they’re not really Denizens), Philemon and Nyarlathotep.
As it is concerned with an area Denizens are uncomfortable with and unsuited to, most typically tend to avoid even mentioning the place, let alone think about going there.
Two inhabitants of the Collective Unconsciousness, both of them are considered to be technically Shadows, even if Philemon is an unusual example of a positive one. Both of them are representative of the collective minds of the Secondary Realms, Philemon embodying humanity’s dreams, and Nyarlathotep all that is twisted and corrupt. Nyarlathotep in particular is said to be the most powerful Shadow of all, and the dark beings’ unquestioned leader.
Philemon’s appearance switches between that of a butterfly and a brown-haired young man wearing a mask. Like the Denizens (or at least, like the Denizens ideally) he operates on a general non-interference policy in regards to humanity, though will offer his protection and guidance to those who truly need it. Nyarlathotep on the other hand can appear as whatever he chooses and is known to frequently meddle in the affairs of humanity to further his goals, whatever they may be.
As an alternative to just fighting them off with your Persona and physical attacks, you can also attempt to try and communicate with the Shadows you face, as they are beings composed purely of emotion. It is possible that if you intrigue or stir something within the Shadows enough, they will be able to transform themselves into a new Persona-like form. This Communication with Shadows forms the basis of the Star Social Link.
However, Communication won’t work on all Shadows, particularly Bosses, and if things go awry when trying to talk with the Shadows it’s possible you may anger them and only make the situation worse. However trying to contact certain ’uncontactable’ Shadows may still result in certain bonuses, just to a lesser extent.
Communication with Denizens is possible yet limited, you won’t be able to win any battles through it but you may be able to change the tide of things and trigger certain effects. Communication with Nithlings however is a total impossibility.
Enemy Communication will be handled in a purely freeform manner, so be careful what you say.
A realm said to be located between matter and mind, dream and reality, conscious, subconscious and unconscious. Part of the Collective Unconsciousness, this is where Igor, a servant of Philemon, resides to help aid those who possess the true gift of Persona by unlocking the true power gained through Social Links.
The door to this place can be found walking along the pavement by Marika Highway or at the Front Door inside the House. It is said that anyone with enough spiritual or extrasensory energy will be able to find their way into the Velvet Room.
In this RPG attacks, whether physical or magical, have all been grouped under a specific element. For physical attacks, these elements are Slash, Strike and Pierce. For magical attacks, these elements are Fire, Ice, Wind, Lightning and Earth (using Digital Devil Saga names for that last one). For status effects, they are Nerve (physical effects), Mind (mental effects), Expel and Death (the latter two dealing percentile damage here for balance reasons, until you get up to Samsara and Die For Me!). Lastly there is the Almighty element, which none can resist but also none are weak to, and the Void Element, only usable by Trustees and Nithlings.
Appearing around Taramine from the outside to be just a weird old place composed of a whole mess of random architectural styles from all sorts of places and time periods, within in fact is contained an entire new dimension, made up of the seven demesnes of the Lower House, Middle House, Upper House, Border Sea, Great Maze, Far Reaches and the Incomparable Gardens.
Each of these seven demesnes appears to have its own unique function, though the true purpose of the House in general is to document every single thing that happens within the Secondary Realms, which would be our universe, without actually intervening in these Realms themselves.
Not every human is able to see it from the outside though, like the Velvet Room you can only do so if you possess enough spiritual or extrasensory energy (e.g. having a Persona), or if you have been within the House itself previously.
Time flows differently within the House than it does outside, time in the Secondary Realms is said to be malleable while time in the House is ever constant, meaning that within while you may set up effects based around time (see the Time Limit below) you cannot attempt to control time itself or use any spells to try and stop, rewind or speed it up. So essentially something like the Dark Hour wouldn’t be able to happen within the House.
Every century or so the ‘wallpaper’ within the House changes, and everything take son the appearance of a new time period or location within Earth’s history. The wallpaper in each Domain exactly is the Trustees’ decision to make, but the most common fashion right at the moment is the Victorian era.
Every time someone from outside enters the House, they will end up in a different Domain depending on what day it is. During the Day of the Ruler of the Incomparable Gardens though the House shall remain locked.
For a general if not completely accurate map of the House:
The original inhabitants of the House, the ones responsible for the recording of the Secondary Realms that goes on, able to take the form of any type of life they choose to, though their default appearance is a near-human form. They differ from humans though in that they appear to be much more attractive, in fact the higher their ranking (or ‘Precedence’) within the House they more attractive they are (not to mention the more magically powerful), however they are also far less imaginative, accepting of change and creative (certain ones ending up narrow-minded and even thick-headed), often having to borrow their ideas and ‘creations’ from the Secondary Realms.
Denizens cannot die of old age (as far as they’re concerned it doesn’t exist for them), lack of food or water (in fact they only ever eat to show off) or any sort of disease (they actually consider attaching minor illnesses to themselves from the Secondary Realms to be trendy and fashionable) and can heal from any injury as they can simply grow a new form, though injury can still mildly inconvenience them. However, they can be killed by extreme heat such as from a fire, being underwater for too long a time, falling from too great a distance, weapons specifically designed to be able to kill them, being attacked by a Nithling or overexposure to Nothing, one of the Seven Keys or being attacked by a Shadow or a Persona (though it would need to be an especially powerful attack, as Denizens also have some natural resistance to Shadows from not being a part of the Collective Unconsciousness, then again it isn‘t the Denizens the Shadows are after).
Sometimes the term ‘Superior Denizen’ is used to denote those fulfilling an important function or duty in the House while not being on the level of the Trustees, this would most commonly refer to Dawns, Noons and Dusks.
Denizens have the natural ability to use magic, though for them magic is composed of words and writing them down, quite unlike with Personae and the Collective Unconsciousness, where magic is achieved through thought and spirit alone. Along those lines, Denizens are also incapable of manifesting a Persona or a Shadow, which can lead to envy or a sense of pride in regards to humans.
But, knowing full well of the events that happened in Sumaru City and Tatsumi Port Island, and having some vague idea about what went on in Inaba, the Denizens are perfectly aware that Persona can be a powerful force, even if some don’t wish to admit it.
A collection of human children introduced into the House some years before, presumably to take care of various minor jobs the Denizens could no longer afford to bother themselves with. As their name implies they were originally brought into the House by the actions of the mythical Pied Piper of Hamelin (not the same one as in the original books, if you’re familiar with Lovecraft you may know who I’m referring to here) but have since been ‘brainwashed’ by the Trustees to forget all their memories except for the basic essentials in order to prevent any of them from manifesting a Persona.
Each Piper’s Child has kept the memory of their original name, but has had their last name replaced with a new one indicating their position and role, such as ink-fillers being named after colours. Certain sections of the House are also inhabited by ‘Raised Rats’, hyper-intelligent rats also brought there by the Piper.
The respective rulers of each of the seven demesnes of the House, seven powerful Denizens who have each been granted one of the seven Keys To The Kingdom (which don‘t exactly need to look anything like Keys), allowing them dominion over not only their Domain in the House but also over their equivalent day of the week in the Secondary Realms, as the Trustees are titled from Monday to Sunday. This day also marks the only time they are actually allowed out into the Secondary Realms.
Along with their Domain and their Key the Trustees also have three servants directly beneath them, a Dawn, Noon and Dusk, each of which have control over one of the three Guard Factions positioned to a particular demesne, and each of which can only enter the secondary realms on the hour of their name. To top it all of each Trustee has an individual base of operations called a ‘Command Centre’ within their demesne bearing their title.
For some strange reason each Trustee is also represented by a particular Arcana ranging from Temperance to Judgement.
The Trustees’ alignments can vary between helpful, neutral or antagonistic, depending on what sort of character you want to create, but the majority of the Trustees in this game will likely be enemies of the Persona-users. Their reasons can vary, but the default one is based of the House’s general dislike of Personae and the Collective Unconsciousness, the Trustees believing that Philemon is behind these Persona-users and viewing their intrusion as an insult to their authority and capability.
The substance of the Void, upon which the House was built. Like the number zero, or the Fool Arcana, it is formless and empty, yet can be created into an infinite number of things, including special objects and even bizarre creatures called ‘Nithlings’. In several places such as the Great Maze and especially the Far Reaches the Void can be breached and Nothing can be obtained in large amounts. Highly valued within the House, however using Nothing isn’t without its risks, as overexposure to it can cause a Denizen to dissolve and uncontrolled Nithlings can be extremely dangerous, though thankfully most Nithlings are under the command of the Trustees.
Nothing can also be used to create luminous passages called ‘Weirdways’ that can tunnel through whole sections of the House, though it should be noted that these passages tend to be very unstable, and if they collapse the fate of anyone still within them could be disastrous.
Appearing normally as two pieces of paper, after a specific spell is written on them they can be attached to the back and transform into a set of wings used for flying. They are frequently used by Denizens for travelling around (though can be used by humans as well), and typically the higher a Denizen’s House Precedence the larger and more spectacular the wings, which may even possess special attributes of their own such as invisibility or creating powerful elemental gusts.
In contrast, the lower the House Precedence the worse in quality the wings will be, usually fairly small and smudgy and only able to fly in a single direction or just float downwards.
Set in place by the universal Architect, simply by visualising a set of stairs out of any object you come across it is possible to leap from them and travel virtually anywhere and anytime in creation. However with the Architect long gone it is now nearly impossible to control or predict where you’ll come out, and if you end up in an undesired place or time (which is highly likely) you’ll have to quickly find something that resembles stairs again to continue the chain or risk being stranded there forever, until you finally reach where you meant to go in the first place. As the Stair is highly unreliable and risky it is advised to only be used in an emergency.
The most common way to get around the House when wings can’t take you far enough and the Stair or any Weirdways are just too dangerous. Elevators vary in both size and form but tend to resemble a radiant pillar of light emerging from the top of a building when looking at them from the outside.
Once inside the elevator, you can use the Phone Service to say to the operator where you want to go. Elevators have fallen under the jurisdiction of the Upper House, while the Phone Service is under the control of the Lower House.
In reaction to Persona-users now entering into the House itself, certain Morrow Days have set up a particular enchantment over their world designed to effect any Persona-user. However since the Trustees only have limited understanding of the true human psyche, this ‘enchantment’ is still considered to be in a rather incomplete stage, but for now what it basically does is create a system that slowly begins to drain the energy of a Persona-user before finally warping them back out again into the Secondary Realms, along with having the bonus effect of only allowing any human into the House only once a day in Secondary Realms Time.
However, the actual elapse of time before any Persona-users begin to feel the grind and are then booted out isn’t set in stone, and can vary quite wildly depending on the situation. It’s not even known whether or not the ‘once-a-day’ limit may even hold.
Below are the Character Sheets for both Humans and Denizens. You don’t have to follow this character sheet exactly, just as long as your application goes over the points it addresses, feel free to fancy it up or change it around if you like, provided you don’t do anything that could make it hard to read like bolding all of it or making the text really small.
~Character synopses must be a quote by the character~
Full Name: (Remember that the Japanese rarely have middle names. Also these links may be of help: http://issendai.com/rpgs/japanese-girls-names.shtml | http://issendai.com/rpgs/japanese-boys-names.shtml)
- Nicknames:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
- Schoolroom: (1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B, 3C)
- Best Classes:
- Worst Classes:
- Clubs:
Personality: (Try to focus on creating a general synopsis of how they are first, before going into more specific traits and details)
- Alignment: (On a scale of both Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic and Good-Neutral-Evil. Try to see them as just general guidelines and not strict outlines)
- Motivation:
- Relationships:
(Feeling the need to explain the Relationships section a bit more thoroughly here. First off, it does not refer necessarily to romantic relationships, even if they can be grouped there. What it refers to is how your character gets along with other people, what they may think of them or any connections to someone they may have, such as a family member. This will also include what they may think of each individual player character)
History:
Arcana: (For the Persona-using protagonist group, nothing beyond the Death Arcana. Remember that no two characters within the ‘main group’ can share the same Arcana)
- Symbolism: (Why you feel that your character is suited to this Arcana)
(Below are a character’s social stats, though again please see them as general guidelines rather than strict outlines. At the moment you are allowed to distribute 14 points among them, with at least 1 point in each category and 5 points at most, and all 14 must be used. Naturally however these stats can fluctuate during the RPG)
- Courage:
- Expression:
- Knowledge:
- Diligence:
- Understanding:
- *Combat Strengths: (Note that this and Combat Weaknesses refer to your fighting style and not your Personas)
- *Combat Weaknesses:
- *Weapon: (If it’s a gun your character better have a very good explanation behind it)
- *Element: (Slash, Strike or Pierce)
*Summoning: (Except for returning canon characters we won’t be using old methods such as card-crushing or Evokers, each Persona-user will summon their Persona in an original way. These can be a bit more elaborate than normal as a Persona fights in unison with you as long as you have the Spirit Points rather than just going away after one attack)
(A character’s Starting, Intermediate and Ultimate Personae must all be from the same source (i.e. the same mythology or region), and no two different characters can derive their Personae from the same source. The Katsura sisters are exempt from this for plot reasons)
*Starting Persona:
- *Appearance:
- *Background:
- *Symbolism:
- *Resistances:
- *Weaknesses:
- *Abilities:
*Intermediate Persona:
- *Appearance:
- *Background:
- *Symbolism:
- *Nullification:
- *Resistances:
- *Weaknesses:
- *Abilities:
*Ultimate Persona:
- *Appearance:
- *Background:
- *Symbolism:
- *Reflections:
- *Absorptions:
- *Nullifications:
- *Resistances:
- *Weaknesses:
- *Abilities:
Residence: (In the dorms for boarding students, at their home for local students. If possible try to describe the character’s dorm room or home)
Equipment: (Besides their weapon)
Miscellaneous: (Any extra information that does not fit somewhere else on this character sheet)
Character Theme: (Optional. Must be from an established work such as a video game or TV show, vocals may be allowed but aren’t recommended)
Face Claim: (If you’re using an image, please state here who it was originally of and what story they were from. Remember no two different Face Claims for a single character)
Expected Posting Frequency:
~Character synopses must be a quote by the character~
*Title: (Typically an adjective or position followed by their day of the week, examples from the original series, which you are free to look at but not to copy, include ‘Mister Monday’, ‘Grim Tuesday’, ‘Drowned Wednesday’, ‘Sir Thursday’, ‘Lady Friday’, ‘Superior Saturday’ and ‘Lord Sunday’. Also actually note that ‘Lord’ or ‘Lady’ is a generic title that can refer to any Trustee)
Aliases:
True Name:
Role: (Their task within the House)
Physical Age: (Actual Age could likely be into the billions, so will be probably too high to count)
Gender:
Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
Personality:
#Arcana: (Must be from Temperance to Judgement. Remember that no two Trustees can share the same Arcana)
- #Symbolism:
#Domain:
- #Description:
- #Key Appearance:
- #Key Abilities: (Note that all keys cancel out elemental weaknesses and grant immunity to Expel and Death)
#Command Centre:
- #Description:
Magic Abilities: (In the Trustees’ case refers to all special powers not given to them by the Key)
Relationships: (Similar to Persona-user relationships, these refer to their connections with and thoughts of associated characters such as other trustees, their subordinates, their subjects and even Philemon/Nyarlathotep)
(If you’re playing a Trustee but would like to leave your Dawn, Noon and Dusk to the creation of other players and not make them your NPCs, please ignore the section below)
#Dawn Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
#Dawn Personality:
#Dawn Abilities:
- *Guard Faction:
#Noon Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
#Noon Personality:
#Noon Abilities:
- *Guard Faction:
#Dusk Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
#Dusk Personality:
#Dusk Abilities:
- *Guard Faction:
(If you are playing a Dawn, Noon or Dusk, remember that your Appearance, Personality and Abilities are to be written at the top of this sheet where they’d normally be and not down here with all the Superior denizen information)
Character Theme: (Optional. Must be from an established work such as a video game or TV show, vocals may be allowed but aren’t recommended)
- #Command Centre Theme:
- #Boss Theme:
Face Claim: (If you’re using an image, please state here who it was originally of and what story they were from)
Expected Posting Frequency:
Sample Pictures:
While you don’t have to if you don’t want to, if you’re ever having trouble coming up with an appearance for your character feel free to use any of the pictures below (roughly split into ‘real world‘ and House). Remember that green tags indicate character names and purple tags indicate series names:
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=449018
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=187906
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=523135
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=387972
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... w&id=80296
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=203053
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=104748
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=176916
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=540216
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=548431
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=348311
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=374754
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=351223
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=451275
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=502812
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=204962
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... w&id=63353
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=330212
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=406839
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=169087
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=493892
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=391964
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... gs=scenery (For places like the Domains)
"On the second day, there was..."
"On the third day, there was..."
"On the fourth day, there was..."
"On the fifth day, there was..."
"On the sixth day, there was..."
"On the seventh day, there was..."
~ Table Of Contents ~
1. General Information
2. Story Overview
3. Persona Terminology
4. House Terminology
5. Character Sheet (Human)
6. Character Sheet (Denizen)
7. Taken Positions And Miscellaneous
8. Preliminary Rules
9. Gameplay Rules
~|~|~
~ General Information ~
I should start by saying that this is a crossover RPG between two specific works, the video game series Persona by Atlus and the book series The Keys To The Kingdom by Garth Nix. However even if you’re unfamiliar with the both of them I still believe I should’ve provided just about enough information, both in my own words and through wiki links, for you to be easily comfortable enough with either series.
This game will probably be requiring a group (not an offical group, at least not at first) of seven to nine Persona-using high-schoolers like in the games, of whom most have had no previous contact at all with the supernatural, as well as players for a new set of seven Trustees to govern the House, and possibly even players for their Dawns, Noons and Dusks if they aren’t just made into NPCs. I’ll probably only the start the game once we’ve received two or three more Persona-users in the main group and two to three Trustees though, as I’d like for this game not to get to crowded with characters at once.
That said if you want to play someone who isn’t a Persona-user, Trustee or Superior Denizen you may if you want, just as long as we’ve still got a few characters first and this new character looks to have some importance to or involvement with the plot (though not too much that they end up Mary-Sueish). Also keep in mind there’s no set limit on how many characters you can create, however there is a set limit on how many characters can be in a certain faction so be aware of that.
Be aware though that certain links may very well contain spoilers.
~|~|~
~ Story Overview ~
They say the first thing in existence to be created was a garden. What they don’t often say after that was that this garden lies atop the very pinnacle of what, from the outside in our mortal world, appears as nothing more than a rather old-looking, elaborately yet strangely designed house. That is, appears to those who have the ability to see it.
The inside of the House, as it should properly be spelt, is in fact much larger than what appears on the outside, and is divided up into seven worlds, Domains or Demesnes as they’re more often called, which include the Lower House, where the ceiling is a steel dome lit with orange and purple lights above fields, cities and other terrain, the Middle House, a three-terraced mountain where writing flows like water along the Extremely Grand Canal, the Upper House, where House Sorcerers study their magic, the Border Sea, where things mysteriously lost in our world may be found, the Great Maze which is split into 500 tiles of varied landscape, the desolate Far Reaches which looms over the abyss known as the Void, and the aforementioned Incomparable Gardens, said to be the most beautiful place in all the universe.
Then there is the realm known as the ‘Collective Unconsciousness’, but for numerous reasons that is not typically counted among the main seven.
Whether they’re gods like Thoth or angels such as Metatron, in many world mythologies a being is often credited with the task of recording all of which happens across the expanse of history. Naturally this sounds like far too much of a task for a single person, divine or not, which in this particular case would be correct. The true purpose of the House is to record everything that happens in the Secondary Realms, the House inhabitants’ term for our world, from the lives of people to the histories of nations or entire planets and the events that have shaped them. Interfering with the past changes a record, and interfering with a record changes the past. Along these lines of the importance of writing, magic in the House is not casted by speech or gesture but by the written word, and the persons there to perform all this writing, recording and casting would be the Denizens.
The Denizens are easily the most numerous, though not the only, species in the House. They possess the ability to change their form into whatever they wish if it is within their stamina, however the most common ‘fashion’ is the human form. They are said to be far more attractive than normal humans, and the higher their rank the more attractive they are, not to mention the more physically/magically powerful, however Denizens in general lack the imagination and creativity that is one of humanity’s defining traits.
There are seven especially powerful Denizens who purpose is it to monitor each an entire Domain in the House, with the ruler of the Incomparable Gardens ruling over the rest of the House by extension. They are called the Trustees though are also known as the Morrow Days, as each of them also rule over one of the seven days of the week, which is the only time they are allowed to enter into the Secondary Realms, and each possess a Key which acts a symbol of their authority and powerful source of magic energy.
However, there is also another kind of strange energy within the House (and technically within the Secondary Realms, though it is far less known there) called Nothing. More specifically, Nothing is the strange, dark formless material that composes the Void outside creation, and while initially empty can be shaped in numerous ways to produce a near infinite range of items and can even be made into living beings called Nithlings (…for a certain degree of ‘living’). Despite the risks associated with using Nothing such as being dissolved into… well, nothing, many high-ranking Denizens would be absolutely desperate to get their hands on such a valuable material.
As if on cue, a stranger calling himself ‘Dr. Uther Garnonaliph’ has entered the House bringing with him what appears to be an endless supply of Nothing, which he seems to be all too happy to give away.
It’s not until later that the Trustees find out that this substance isn’t exactly Nothing, when the ‘Nithlings’ spawned from it seem to have no intention of following their summoners’ wishes and seek to attack directly at the records themselves, trying to change the history of the Secondary Realms without any apparent regard for the stability and order of the universe. What’s worse, House weapons designed to ward off Nithlings seem to have no effect against these creatures.
The mysterious doctor has unleashed a threat the seven Domains cannot overcome, even if they insist they can, and a force the Denizens would rather not want a thing to do with…
***
Taramine is a town up near the top of a mountain range, which attracts quite a few visitors due to its splendid views of the valleys below and convenient position near a major road route. Taramine is certainly no small village or country town… but to compare it to the likes of a city such as Kyoto, Nagoya or Sapporo (let alone Tokyo) would be laughable.
The town however does have one other claim to fame, being the site of Shinkoyama Gakuen, a boarding high school that takes in students from all over Japan, though naturally is perfectly equipped to function as a local school as well. A problem though is that almost all of the school’s boarding population comes from places like the big cities, and while Taramine has a fair number of things to pique the interest of a more teenaged demographic such as a cinema and a few gaming shops, there’s no outlet in town that any larger city couldn’t offer in better supply. It’s hard to escape the notion that the town feels more like the place your parents would move to after they’ve finished raising you, and therefore quite a few teenagers can end up feeling quite restless, if not end up just all out bored.
Due to this, a certain grudge has formed between the boarding students from places more ultra-modern and urbanised and the local inhabitants including Shinkoyama’s day students. Alright, to be fair this sort of ‘rivalry’ shall we call it isn’t anywhere near as bad as it once was, but elements of it still lurk beneath Taramine’s everyday cycle.
But still, apart from the excitement generated by a new magical act (“Garnonaliph The Great’s Spellbinding Fantasia”) coming into town, the claims some people have made that Taramine is a town stuck in the past with no real idea of how to progress into the future seem to ring worryingly true. What the boarders and townspeople don’t know is how precious that history is, along with the histories of the entire world, now that it could so easily vanish into thin air.
There are rumours going around Taramine that ‘dark versions of people‘s selves’ are jumping out of them during the middle of the night and roaming around town causing destruction as if in preparation for some huge event (There have also been rumours of a strange house appearing in various place all across Taramine, but nobody‘s paying attention to that). One night, a group of schoolchildren, for various reasons, decide to investigate the rumours of these ‘dark sides‘, not knowing that they are going to come face-to-face with something far greater than mere shadows in the night…
~|~|~
~ Persona Terminology ~
Shadows
http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow (Link may contain spoilers)
The shadows are dangerous monsters created, literally, by human minds, they are composed of a human’s repressed emotions typically seen as undesirable or negative. They are essentially what humanity is in the dark, with no social graces to maintain to facades to uphold, reducing them to little more than formless monsters appearing as a mass of darkness wearing a strange type of mask.
Due to their typically dark and blob-like appearance, it’s hardly that much of a stretch for the Denizens, who may have heard of Shadows but have never actually seen them, to confuse them for Nothing. Before the arrival of Dr. Garnonaliph Shadows weren’t able to manifest in the House as its entire structure was based on precise observation and not pure emotion, it is unknown why they are suddenly able to now.
But now they have emerged here, their goal is to rewrite as many records as they can find in order to create a closer to ‘perfect’ history for humanity so that the Shadows won’t have to endure an existence of being born from dishonesty, internal suffering and undesirable emotions. What the Shadows in their mindless fury cannot know is that by trying to do so they risk upsetting and even destroying the balance of the universe, House, Secondary Realms and all.
Personal Shadows
It’s important to make a sort of distinction between ‘general shadows’ and ‘personal shadows’. General Shadows are basically the kind described above, formed from the overall negativity and darkness present in humanity. Personal Shadows are from the hidden depths and darkness that lurk within a single person, and unlike the formless masked blobs that are general Shadows, Personal Shadows are much more humanoid in appearance, typically resembling their ‘human self’ to an exact degree, apart from obvious tip-offs such as the strange dark wisps around them and their yellow eyes.
Much more humanoid, that is, unless their originator rejects their existence right to their faces, upon which they transform into a disastrous monstrous form born from the twisting of their originator’s psyche. Defeating this monster form can calm them down, but they will only truly be overcome once their originator admits that this Shadow is ultimately a part of themselves, transforming it into a Persona to aid them. Curiously, it seems that anyone represented by the Fool, Death or World Arcana won’t have to deal with their Personal Shadow, as with the Fool Arcana the mask hasn’t been formed, with the Death Arcana the mask breaks and with the World Arcana the mask is no longer needed.
They have been manifesting within the House in response to any ‘normal’ human entering the place, attracted by their records now that Shadows are able to enter this realm.
Personae
http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Persona_(concept) (Again, likely spoilers)
A person’s other self, or rather their true self, the manifestation of one’s inner psyche gifted with magical powers that can defeat the Shadows, and the main power used by the protagonist group. Despite how glorious it may sound, a Persona is basically the same thing as a Shadow, the only real difference is that Persona are under human control.
In order to summon a Persona in the first place, a human would have to endure the mental stress associated with no less than a near-death experience, such as being confronted and rendered knocked out by a dark manifestation of your inner feelings. From there, a ‘stable’ Persona can only be brought out by the intervention of a higher being with having to endure the ‘near-death experience’ again in some way.
Personae usually take the identity of a character from world mythology, legend or history with some connection to the Persona-user in terms of personality, history, motivation and/or situation. However, technically this Persona isn’t truly that figure but rather an expression of you assuming their role.
As far as is known, it is impossible for a Denizen to manifest a Persona. Certain Denizens can be jealous of humans for this quality, others pride themselves on their ability to cast magic without the need for a Persona (even if it’s not the same sort of magic), while others are just scared of Persona-users altogether, especially considering the destruction and alteration they have caused to the world (in previous Persona games). But overall the Denizens’ opinions on Persona-users aren’t exactly favourable.
Unlike in the actual games a Persona will fight with you for an entire battle just as long as you have enough spiritual power to keep it summoned, a bit like in Persona -trinity soul- but with the Persona-user still taking a more active fighting role, synching their attacks with their Persona’s.
Social Links
Often shortened to S-Links, these are the connections and eventual bonds that are created between others. When a level of understanding or familiarity is formed between you and another person, a Social Link is formed. Each possible S-Link is represented by one of the Major Arcana of the Tarot, and can progress up to ten ‘ranks’ before the Link reaches its maximum. However, keep in mind that if a Social link goes awry it could possibly end up reversed or even broken.
Social Links are important seeing as the powers of the Personae are dependant on their user’s psyche, the more links you have and the further advanced they are, the stronger and more versatile the Persona is. In gameplay terms, this translates into each ‘Rank Up’ in an S-Link equalling one point, when you have enough points you can then unlock new Persona skills and elemental affinities at the Velvet Room.
As far as is known, it is impossible to form a Social Link with a Denizen, primarily because they are not registered within the Collective Unconsciousness (which also explains their inability to manifest Shadows or Personae). This however does not stop each Trustee from being associated with one of the Major Arcana past Death.
For more information on the Major Arcana, see these links: http://www.gamefaqs.com/psp/924580-shin-megami-tensei-persona/faqs/58094 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Arcana
Team S-Link
This is an S-Link that refers not to your connection to one or two people, but rather the main protagonist group itself altogether as you go around fighting Shadows and coming into conflict with Nithlings and the Trustees within the House. This S-Link is represented by your own Arcana, and unlike the other links it has somewhat of a different function, as it determines Persona evolution. A Rank of Five will change your Persona into its Intermediate stage, while finally at Ten it will advance into its Ultimate Stage.
Everyone can develop differently along this Arcana, trying to find their own way to fit into the group or support everyone.
Temporal Shadows
Technically not really a third variety of Shadow, as they’re more like a super-advanced version of general Shadows, though still a dangerous and unique threat in their own right. Temporal Shadows are Boss enemies created by alterations to Secondary Realms history, brought forth from new emotional disturbances that have emerged from the changes in the timeline, the difficulties people face now that the past is different.
It should be noted that Temporal Shadows are not regular Bosses in that they are encountered in the main storyline, you will only have to face a Temporal Shadow if something goes incredibly wrong during the plot or you spend too many days in the ‘real world’ and not enough in the House (though if you spend too long in the House you won’t be able to advance most Social Links), basically they’re what happens if you let the Shadows get too far ahead in their meddling with history. As stated before, Temporal Shadows are incredibly dangerous and difficult to beat, and one obvious reason among others not to let the Shadows have their way.
Shadow Activity
But how can you actually tell when the Shadows are close to being able to alter history? Easily. The closer they are, the more reports and rumours you should hear around Taramine of ‘dark sides’ coming out of people and roaming the streets at night, spurred out and excited by the further progress made by the Shadows within the House. At present the Shadows are only able to appear in the Secondary Realms around Taramine as that’s where the House seems to be located.
The Collective Unconsciousness
Often referred to as the unofficial eighth (or ‘zeroth’ some would say) Domain of the House, and like the rest of the House its purpose is to record the nature of the world. However, unlike the rest of the House which serves to create a factual documentation on the events of the world, the Collective Unconsciousness is continuously being formed from all the gathered raw emotions of living beings all over creation, mainly those of humans. It is considered the breeding ground from which both Personae and Shadows spawn, and is ruled over by two ‘Trustees’ (even though they’re not really Denizens), Philemon and Nyarlathotep.
As it is concerned with an area Denizens are uncomfortable with and unsuited to, most typically tend to avoid even mentioning the place, let alone think about going there.
Philemon/Nyarlathotep
Two inhabitants of the Collective Unconsciousness, both of them are considered to be technically Shadows, even if Philemon is an unusual example of a positive one. Both of them are representative of the collective minds of the Secondary Realms, Philemon embodying humanity’s dreams, and Nyarlathotep all that is twisted and corrupt. Nyarlathotep in particular is said to be the most powerful Shadow of all, and the dark beings’ unquestioned leader.
Philemon’s appearance switches between that of a butterfly and a brown-haired young man wearing a mask. Like the Denizens (or at least, like the Denizens ideally) he operates on a general non-interference policy in regards to humanity, though will offer his protection and guidance to those who truly need it. Nyarlathotep on the other hand can appear as whatever he chooses and is known to frequently meddle in the affairs of humanity to further his goals, whatever they may be.
Enemy Communication
As an alternative to just fighting them off with your Persona and physical attacks, you can also attempt to try and communicate with the Shadows you face, as they are beings composed purely of emotion. It is possible that if you intrigue or stir something within the Shadows enough, they will be able to transform themselves into a new Persona-like form. This Communication with Shadows forms the basis of the Star Social Link.
However, Communication won’t work on all Shadows, particularly Bosses, and if things go awry when trying to talk with the Shadows it’s possible you may anger them and only make the situation worse. However trying to contact certain ’uncontactable’ Shadows may still result in certain bonuses, just to a lesser extent.
Communication with Denizens is possible yet limited, you won’t be able to win any battles through it but you may be able to change the tide of things and trigger certain effects. Communication with Nithlings however is a total impossibility.
Enemy Communication will be handled in a purely freeform manner, so be careful what you say.
Velvet Room
A realm said to be located between matter and mind, dream and reality, conscious, subconscious and unconscious. Part of the Collective Unconsciousness, this is where Igor, a servant of Philemon, resides to help aid those who possess the true gift of Persona by unlocking the true power gained through Social Links.
The door to this place can be found walking along the pavement by Marika Highway or at the Front Door inside the House. It is said that anyone with enough spiritual or extrasensory energy will be able to find their way into the Velvet Room.
Elements
In this RPG attacks, whether physical or magical, have all been grouped under a specific element. For physical attacks, these elements are Slash, Strike and Pierce. For magical attacks, these elements are Fire, Ice, Wind, Lightning and Earth (using Digital Devil Saga names for that last one). For status effects, they are Nerve (physical effects), Mind (mental effects), Expel and Death (the latter two dealing percentile damage here for balance reasons, until you get up to Samsara and Die For Me!). Lastly there is the Almighty element, which none can resist but also none are weak to, and the Void Element, only usable by Trustees and Nithlings.
~ House Terminology ~
The House
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_(Keys_to_the_Kingdom) (Contains spoilers)
Appearing around Taramine from the outside to be just a weird old place composed of a whole mess of random architectural styles from all sorts of places and time periods, within in fact is contained an entire new dimension, made up of the seven demesnes of the Lower House, Middle House, Upper House, Border Sea, Great Maze, Far Reaches and the Incomparable Gardens.
Each of these seven demesnes appears to have its own unique function, though the true purpose of the House in general is to document every single thing that happens within the Secondary Realms, which would be our universe, without actually intervening in these Realms themselves.
Not every human is able to see it from the outside though, like the Velvet Room you can only do so if you possess enough spiritual or extrasensory energy (e.g. having a Persona), or if you have been within the House itself previously.
Time flows differently within the House than it does outside, time in the Secondary Realms is said to be malleable while time in the House is ever constant, meaning that within while you may set up effects based around time (see the Time Limit below) you cannot attempt to control time itself or use any spells to try and stop, rewind or speed it up. So essentially something like the Dark Hour wouldn’t be able to happen within the House.
Every century or so the ‘wallpaper’ within the House changes, and everything take son the appearance of a new time period or location within Earth’s history. The wallpaper in each Domain exactly is the Trustees’ decision to make, but the most common fashion right at the moment is the Victorian era.
Every time someone from outside enters the House, they will end up in a different Domain depending on what day it is. During the Day of the Ruler of the Incomparable Gardens though the House shall remain locked.
For a general if not completely accurate map of the House:
Denizens
The original inhabitants of the House, the ones responsible for the recording of the Secondary Realms that goes on, able to take the form of any type of life they choose to, though their default appearance is a near-human form. They differ from humans though in that they appear to be much more attractive, in fact the higher their ranking (or ‘Precedence’) within the House they more attractive they are (not to mention the more magically powerful), however they are also far less imaginative, accepting of change and creative (certain ones ending up narrow-minded and even thick-headed), often having to borrow their ideas and ‘creations’ from the Secondary Realms.
Denizens cannot die of old age (as far as they’re concerned it doesn’t exist for them), lack of food or water (in fact they only ever eat to show off) or any sort of disease (they actually consider attaching minor illnesses to themselves from the Secondary Realms to be trendy and fashionable) and can heal from any injury as they can simply grow a new form, though injury can still mildly inconvenience them. However, they can be killed by extreme heat such as from a fire, being underwater for too long a time, falling from too great a distance, weapons specifically designed to be able to kill them, being attacked by a Nithling or overexposure to Nothing, one of the Seven Keys or being attacked by a Shadow or a Persona (though it would need to be an especially powerful attack, as Denizens also have some natural resistance to Shadows from not being a part of the Collective Unconsciousness, then again it isn‘t the Denizens the Shadows are after).
Sometimes the term ‘Superior Denizen’ is used to denote those fulfilling an important function or duty in the House while not being on the level of the Trustees, this would most commonly refer to Dawns, Noons and Dusks.
Denizens have the natural ability to use magic, though for them magic is composed of words and writing them down, quite unlike with Personae and the Collective Unconsciousness, where magic is achieved through thought and spirit alone. Along those lines, Denizens are also incapable of manifesting a Persona or a Shadow, which can lead to envy or a sense of pride in regards to humans.
But, knowing full well of the events that happened in Sumaru City and Tatsumi Port Island, and having some vague idea about what went on in Inaba, the Denizens are perfectly aware that Persona can be a powerful force, even if some don’t wish to admit it.
Piper’s Children
A collection of human children introduced into the House some years before, presumably to take care of various minor jobs the Denizens could no longer afford to bother themselves with. As their name implies they were originally brought into the House by the actions of the mythical Pied Piper of Hamelin (not the same one as in the original books, if you’re familiar with Lovecraft you may know who I’m referring to here) but have since been ‘brainwashed’ by the Trustees to forget all their memories except for the basic essentials in order to prevent any of them from manifesting a Persona.
Each Piper’s Child has kept the memory of their original name, but has had their last name replaced with a new one indicating their position and role, such as ink-fillers being named after colours. Certain sections of the House are also inhabited by ‘Raised Rats’, hyper-intelligent rats also brought there by the Piper.
Trustees
The respective rulers of each of the seven demesnes of the House, seven powerful Denizens who have each been granted one of the seven Keys To The Kingdom (which don‘t exactly need to look anything like Keys), allowing them dominion over not only their Domain in the House but also over their equivalent day of the week in the Secondary Realms, as the Trustees are titled from Monday to Sunday. This day also marks the only time they are actually allowed out into the Secondary Realms.
Along with their Domain and their Key the Trustees also have three servants directly beneath them, a Dawn, Noon and Dusk, each of which have control over one of the three Guard Factions positioned to a particular demesne, and each of which can only enter the secondary realms on the hour of their name. To top it all of each Trustee has an individual base of operations called a ‘Command Centre’ within their demesne bearing their title.
For some strange reason each Trustee is also represented by a particular Arcana ranging from Temperance to Judgement.
The Trustees’ alignments can vary between helpful, neutral or antagonistic, depending on what sort of character you want to create, but the majority of the Trustees in this game will likely be enemies of the Persona-users. Their reasons can vary, but the default one is based of the House’s general dislike of Personae and the Collective Unconsciousness, the Trustees believing that Philemon is behind these Persona-users and viewing their intrusion as an insult to their authority and capability.
Nothing
The substance of the Void, upon which the House was built. Like the number zero, or the Fool Arcana, it is formless and empty, yet can be created into an infinite number of things, including special objects and even bizarre creatures called ‘Nithlings’. In several places such as the Great Maze and especially the Far Reaches the Void can be breached and Nothing can be obtained in large amounts. Highly valued within the House, however using Nothing isn’t without its risks, as overexposure to it can cause a Denizen to dissolve and uncontrolled Nithlings can be extremely dangerous, though thankfully most Nithlings are under the command of the Trustees.
Nothing can also be used to create luminous passages called ‘Weirdways’ that can tunnel through whole sections of the House, though it should be noted that these passages tend to be very unstable, and if they collapse the fate of anyone still within them could be disastrous.
Wings
Appearing normally as two pieces of paper, after a specific spell is written on them they can be attached to the back and transform into a set of wings used for flying. They are frequently used by Denizens for travelling around (though can be used by humans as well), and typically the higher a Denizen’s House Precedence the larger and more spectacular the wings, which may even possess special attributes of their own such as invisibility or creating powerful elemental gusts.
In contrast, the lower the House Precedence the worse in quality the wings will be, usually fairly small and smudgy and only able to fly in a single direction or just float downwards.
The Improbable Stair
Set in place by the universal Architect, simply by visualising a set of stairs out of any object you come across it is possible to leap from them and travel virtually anywhere and anytime in creation. However with the Architect long gone it is now nearly impossible to control or predict where you’ll come out, and if you end up in an undesired place or time (which is highly likely) you’ll have to quickly find something that resembles stairs again to continue the chain or risk being stranded there forever, until you finally reach where you meant to go in the first place. As the Stair is highly unreliable and risky it is advised to only be used in an emergency.
Elevators
The most common way to get around the House when wings can’t take you far enough and the Stair or any Weirdways are just too dangerous. Elevators vary in both size and form but tend to resemble a radiant pillar of light emerging from the top of a building when looking at them from the outside.
Once inside the elevator, you can use the Phone Service to say to the operator where you want to go. Elevators have fallen under the jurisdiction of the Upper House, while the Phone Service is under the control of the Lower House.
Time Limit
In reaction to Persona-users now entering into the House itself, certain Morrow Days have set up a particular enchantment over their world designed to effect any Persona-user. However since the Trustees only have limited understanding of the true human psyche, this ‘enchantment’ is still considered to be in a rather incomplete stage, but for now what it basically does is create a system that slowly begins to drain the energy of a Persona-user before finally warping them back out again into the Secondary Realms, along with having the bonus effect of only allowing any human into the House only once a day in Secondary Realms Time.
However, the actual elapse of time before any Persona-users begin to feel the grind and are then booted out isn’t set in stone, and can vary quite wildly depending on the situation. It’s not even known whether or not the ‘once-a-day’ limit may even hold.
~|~|~
Below are the Character Sheets for both Humans and Denizens. You don’t have to follow this character sheet exactly, just as long as your application goes over the points it addresses, feel free to fancy it up or change it around if you like, provided you don’t do anything that could make it hard to read like bolding all of it or making the text really small.
Human Sheet: (Anything marked with an asterisk means Persona-users only)
~Character synopses must be a quote by the character~
Full Name: (Remember that the Japanese rarely have middle names. Also these links may be of help: http://issendai.com/rpgs/japanese-girls-names.shtml | http://issendai.com/rpgs/japanese-boys-names.shtml)
- Nicknames:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
- Schoolroom: (1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B, 3C)
- Best Classes:
- Worst Classes:
- Clubs:
Personality: (Try to focus on creating a general synopsis of how they are first, before going into more specific traits and details)
- Alignment: (On a scale of both Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic and Good-Neutral-Evil. Try to see them as just general guidelines and not strict outlines)
- Motivation:
- Relationships:
(Feeling the need to explain the Relationships section a bit more thoroughly here. First off, it does not refer necessarily to romantic relationships, even if they can be grouped there. What it refers to is how your character gets along with other people, what they may think of them or any connections to someone they may have, such as a family member. This will also include what they may think of each individual player character)
History:
Arcana: (For the Persona-using protagonist group, nothing beyond the Death Arcana. Remember that no two characters within the ‘main group’ can share the same Arcana)
- Symbolism: (Why you feel that your character is suited to this Arcana)
(Below are a character’s social stats, though again please see them as general guidelines rather than strict outlines. At the moment you are allowed to distribute 14 points among them, with at least 1 point in each category and 5 points at most, and all 14 must be used. Naturally however these stats can fluctuate during the RPG)
- Courage:
- Expression:
- Knowledge:
- Diligence:
- Understanding:
- *Combat Strengths: (Note that this and Combat Weaknesses refer to your fighting style and not your Personas)
- *Combat Weaknesses:
- *Weapon: (If it’s a gun your character better have a very good explanation behind it)
- *Element: (Slash, Strike or Pierce)
*Summoning: (Except for returning canon characters we won’t be using old methods such as card-crushing or Evokers, each Persona-user will summon their Persona in an original way. These can be a bit more elaborate than normal as a Persona fights in unison with you as long as you have the Spirit Points rather than just going away after one attack)
(A character’s Starting, Intermediate and Ultimate Personae must all be from the same source (i.e. the same mythology or region), and no two different characters can derive their Personae from the same source. The Katsura sisters are exempt from this for plot reasons)
*Starting Persona:
- *Appearance:
- *Background:
- *Symbolism:
- *Resistances:
- *Weaknesses:
- *Abilities:
*Intermediate Persona:
- *Appearance:
- *Background:
- *Symbolism:
- *Nullification:
- *Resistances:
- *Weaknesses:
- *Abilities:
*Ultimate Persona:
- *Appearance:
- *Background:
- *Symbolism:
- *Reflections:
- *Absorptions:
- *Nullifications:
- *Resistances:
- *Weaknesses:
- *Abilities:
Residence: (In the dorms for boarding students, at their home for local students. If possible try to describe the character’s dorm room or home)
Equipment: (Besides their weapon)
Miscellaneous: (Any extra information that does not fit somewhere else on this character sheet)
Character Theme: (Optional. Must be from an established work such as a video game or TV show, vocals may be allowed but aren’t recommended)
Face Claim: (If you’re using an image, please state here who it was originally of and what story they were from. Remember no two different Face Claims for a single character)
Expected Posting Frequency:
Denizen Sheet: (Anything marked with an asterisk means Superior Denizens and Trustees only, anything marked with a # means Trustees only)
~Character synopses must be a quote by the character~
*Title: (Typically an adjective or position followed by their day of the week, examples from the original series, which you are free to look at but not to copy, include ‘Mister Monday’, ‘Grim Tuesday’, ‘Drowned Wednesday’, ‘Sir Thursday’, ‘Lady Friday’, ‘Superior Saturday’ and ‘Lord Sunday’. Also actually note that ‘Lord’ or ‘Lady’ is a generic title that can refer to any Trustee)
Aliases:
True Name:
Role: (Their task within the House)
Physical Age: (Actual Age could likely be into the billions, so will be probably too high to count)
Gender:
Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
Personality:
#Arcana: (Must be from Temperance to Judgement. Remember that no two Trustees can share the same Arcana)
- #Symbolism:
#Domain:
- #Description:
- #Key Appearance:
- #Key Abilities: (Note that all keys cancel out elemental weaknesses and grant immunity to Expel and Death)
#Command Centre:
- #Description:
Magic Abilities: (In the Trustees’ case refers to all special powers not given to them by the Key)
Relationships: (Similar to Persona-user relationships, these refer to their connections with and thoughts of associated characters such as other trustees, their subordinates, their subjects and even Philemon/Nyarlathotep)
(If you’re playing a Trustee but would like to leave your Dawn, Noon and Dusk to the creation of other players and not make them your NPCs, please ignore the section below)
#Dawn Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
#Dawn Personality:
#Dawn Abilities:
- *Guard Faction:
#Noon Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
#Noon Personality:
#Noon Abilities:
- *Guard Faction:
#Dusk Appearance: (Images welcome, on the condition that they aren’t live-action or self-drawn)
#Dusk Personality:
#Dusk Abilities:
- *Guard Faction:
(If you are playing a Dawn, Noon or Dusk, remember that your Appearance, Personality and Abilities are to be written at the top of this sheet where they’d normally be and not down here with all the Superior denizen information)
Character Theme: (Optional. Must be from an established work such as a video game or TV show, vocals may be allowed but aren’t recommended)
- #Command Centre Theme:
- #Boss Theme:
Face Claim: (If you’re using an image, please state here who it was originally of and what story they were from)
Expected Posting Frequency:
~|~|~
~ Taken Positions And Miscellaneous ~
Taken Arcana
Fool (0) - Kozue Katsura
Death (XIII) - Tsukiyo Katsura
World-Reversed (-XXI) - Dr. Uther Granonaliph
Death (XIII) - Tsukiyo Katsura
World-Reversed (-XXI) - Dr. Uther Granonaliph
Taken House Roles
Monday: Open.
- Monday's Dawn: Open.
- Monday's Noon: Open.
- Monday's Dusk: Open.
Tuesday: Open.
- Tuesday's Dawn: Open.
- Tuesday's Noon: Open
- Tuesday's Dusk: Open.
Wednesday: Open.
- Wednesday's Dawn: Open.
- Wednesday's Noon: Open.
- Wednesday's Dusk: Open.
Thursday: Open.
- Thursday's Dawn: Open.
- Thursday's Noon: Open.
- Thursday's Dusk: Open.
Friday: Open.
- Friday's Dawn: Open.
- Friday's Noon: Open.
- Friday's Dusk: Open.
Saturday: Open.
- Saturday's Dawn: Open.
- Saturday's Noon: Open.
- Saturday's Dusk: Open.
Sunday: Open.
- Sunday's Dawn: Open.
- Sunday's Noon: Open.
- Sunday's Dusk: Open.
- Monday's Dawn: Open.
- Monday's Noon: Open.
- Monday's Dusk: Open.
Tuesday: Open.
- Tuesday's Dawn: Open.
- Tuesday's Noon: Open
- Tuesday's Dusk: Open.
Wednesday: Open.
- Wednesday's Dawn: Open.
- Wednesday's Noon: Open.
- Wednesday's Dusk: Open.
Thursday: Open.
- Thursday's Dawn: Open.
- Thursday's Noon: Open.
- Thursday's Dusk: Open.
Friday: Open.
- Friday's Dawn: Open.
- Friday's Noon: Open.
- Friday's Dusk: Open.
Saturday: Open.
- Saturday's Dawn: Open.
- Saturday's Noon: Open.
- Saturday's Dusk: Open.
Sunday: Open.
- Sunday's Dawn: Open.
- Sunday's Noon: Open.
- Sunday's Dusk: Open.
Face Claim List:
* Dr. Uther Granonaliph ~ Genderswapped Byakuren Hijiri from Touhou.
- Architect Secundus ~ Male Protagonist from Fate/Extra.
- Architect Primus ~ Irisviel von Einzbern from Fate/Zero.
* Tsukiyo Katsura ~ Sakuya Izayoi from Touhou.
- Rohe ~ Rin Satsuki from Touhou.
- Uenuku ~ Rakka from Haibane Renmei.
- Saturday Origin ~ Caster from Fate/Stay Night.
* Kozue Katsura ~ Yuu Inagawa from Comic Party!
- Maui ~ Kuja from Final Fantasy IX.
- Arohirohi ~ Alice Carroll from Aria.
- Sunday Origin ~ Genderswapped Izaya Orihara from Durarara!!
- Architect Secundus ~ Male Protagonist from Fate/Extra.
- Architect Primus ~ Irisviel von Einzbern from Fate/Zero.
* Tsukiyo Katsura ~ Sakuya Izayoi from Touhou.
- Rohe ~ Rin Satsuki from Touhou.
- Uenuku ~ Rakka from Haibane Renmei.
- Saturday Origin ~ Caster from Fate/Stay Night.
* Kozue Katsura ~ Yuu Inagawa from Comic Party!
- Maui ~ Kuja from Final Fantasy IX.
- Arohirohi ~ Alice Carroll from Aria.
- Sunday Origin ~ Genderswapped Izaya Orihara from Durarara!!
Sample Pictures:
While you don’t have to if you don’t want to, if you’re ever having trouble coming up with an appearance for your character feel free to use any of the pictures below (roughly split into ‘real world‘ and House). Remember that green tags indicate character names and purple tags indicate series names:
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=449018
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=187906
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=523135
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=387972
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... w&id=80296
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=203053
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=104748
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=176916
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=540216
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=548431
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=348311
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=374754
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=351223
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=451275
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=502812
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=204962
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... w&id=63353
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=330212
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=406839
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=169087
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=493892
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... &id=391964
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=pos ... gs=scenery (For places like the Domains)
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Arcs are bundles of posts from any location, allowing you to easily capture sub-plots which might be spread out across multiple locations.
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By creating Collectibles, you can reward your players with unique items that accentuate their character sheets.
Once an Item has been created, it can be spawned in the IC using /spawn Item Name (case-sensitive, as usual) — this can be followed with /take Item Name to retrieve the item into the current character's inventory.
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Give your Universe life by adding a Mob, which are auto-replenishing NPCs your players can interact with. Useful for some quick hack-and-slash fun!
Mobs can be automated spawns, like rats and bats, or full-on NPCs complete with conversation menus. Use them to enhance your player experience!
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Locations where Mobs and Items might appear.
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Use your INK to craft new artifacts in The Rule of the Universe. Once created, Items cannot be changed, but they can be bought and sold in the marketplace.
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Kozue Katsura
"I could never imagine being here, with Tsukiyo-neesan and everyone and..."
Tsukiyo Katsura
"This will probably be my last chance, for any of this. Let's all go out a high note!"
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Kozue Katsura
"I could never imagine being here, with Tsukiyo-neesan and everyone and..."
Tsukiyo Katsura
"This will probably be my last chance, for any of this. Let's all go out a high note!"
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Tsukiyo Katsura
"This will probably be my last chance, for any of this. Let's all go out a high note!"
Kozue Katsura
"I could never imagine being here, with Tsukiyo-neesan and everyone and..."
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Taramine ↪ Secondary Realms - Friday Owner: RolePlayGateway
The Fifth Day ~ Thread for any event taking place on a Friday.
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Taramine ↪ Secondary Realms - Saturday Owner: RolePlayGateway
The Sixth Day ~ Thread for any event taking place on a Saturday.
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Taramine ↪ Secondary Realms - Sunday Owner: RolePlayGateway
The Seventh Day ~ Thread for any event taking place on a Saturday.
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The Fourth Day ~ Thread for any event taking place on a Thursday.
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Taramine ↪ Secondary Realms - Wednesday Owner: RolePlayGateway
The Third Day ~ Thread for any event taking place on a Wednesay.
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Taramine ↪ Secondary Realms - Monday Owner: RolePlayGateway
The First Day ~ Thread for any even taking place on a Monday.
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Taramine ↪ Secondary Realms - Tuesday Owner: RolePlayGateway
The Second Day ~ Thread for any event taking place on a Tuesday.
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The Rule of the Universe ~ Persona/KttK
by RomanesqueMarionette on Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:10 am
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- Last post by Azure Limit
on Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:55 pm
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The Rule of the Universe ~ Persona/KttK
Most recent OOC posts in The Rule of the Universe
Re: [OOC] The Rule of the Universe ~ Persona/KttK
Are you F***ing kidding me! An Arther Pendragon RP!!! Sign me up, I want to be Leaf! if I can't be Leaf can I be one of the parts of the will? lol, I know those characters may not be in the RP but this got me too excited. I followed Garth Nix's works since the second grade, the veil novels, shade's children. He's my favorite author. Keys To The Kingdom was my absolute favorite series. I'll have a charri sheet up as soon as i'm done reading all the introduction. Kick ass. kick Ass. kick ASS!!!!
Re: [OOC] The Rule of the Universe ~ Persona/KttK
Seems interesting. I will have a character sheet up later today.
[OOC] The Rule of the Universe ~ Persona/KttK
This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "The Rule of the Universe ~ Persona/KttK"
You may edit this first post as you see fit.
You may edit this first post as you see fit.