Game System Chargen
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Game System For purposes of non-combat shenans, everything is resolved with a single d6 roll. Your character has 5 stats (Courage, Knowledge, Expression, Understanding, Diligence), effectively representing a pool of points that you can use to boost the roll. The GM assigns a difficulty to the roll somewhere between 2 and 8. You roll the d6, spend points from you stat to boost it and hope you rolled equal to or higher than the number the GM gave you. (Ex: Yu Narukami wants to talk to his uncle Dojima about his rather serious drinking problem. There is a significant age gap to be bridged and the topic requires tact. The GM decides that this is an Expression roll with a difficulty of 5. Yu has an Expression stat of 5, so he opts to spend 3 of his 5 available points to boost the roll. Yu rolls a 4 and adds the points he spent totaling 7. He has succeeded...for now.) CharGen Chargen is a relatively simple affair. You assign points to your five stats, you pick a couple of defining personality traits, you choose an Arcana, then you decide skills for your Persona. This all takes about 6 steps: Determine starting stat spread (26 points amongst 5 stats) Pick two Traits Determine your character's Arcana and that of their 3 starting S-links Check which skills and stat bonuses you get from those Arcana Calculate Resolution (equal to your lowest stat), HP, and SP. Give your Persona a weakness and a resistance. Stats You Start with 26 points to spread amongst your 5 stats. Each has a different role in real world interactions and persona combat. Stat values can range from 1 to 10. Used to stand up to authority, put yourself in harms way, and make romantic Courage advances on others. Used to recall facts, research and study effectively, not embarrass yourself in front of Knowledge intelligentsia. Used to breach conversational barriers of age or language, sway opinions with words, Expression and otherwise talk pretty. Used to empathize with unfamiliar situations, pick up on subtle social cues, offer Understanding personal insight. Diligence Used to handle dull and repetitive tasks or tasks that require intense concentration. These stats are directly tied to your combat stats. We'll go into more detail below as to how combat works but there is a general idea if you have a certain kind of combatant in mind. Courage/Strength Affects damage dealt with physical skills. Knowledge/Magic Affects damage dealt with elemental magic. Affects initiative order and evasion. (You will be harder to hit if you have Expression/Agility 7 or higher) Understanding/Endurance Affects HP. Diligence/Special Affects SP. (i.e. mana) Once you have those figured out, look at your Endurance and Special to calculate your HP and SP. You collapse in the shadow world if you run out of these, spent to use physical skills. Equal to HP Endurance x 5. SP Spent to cast magic. Equal to Special x 5. Traits Pick two of these when you create your character. Big You deal an additional point of damage with your basic attack. Your academic excellence is unrivaled. +1 to all rolls to interact with school faculty or Booksmart perform tasks related to your studies. Charmer You get a +1 bonus to any rolls used to flirt or flatter. Chef You can prepare your own food and goddamn is it tasty. This affects items that may appear in your gear package (see below). Evoker You are capable of summoning your persona outside of the shadow world. No matter how many of your S-links are romantic entanglements, none of them really seem to mind. You gain a bonus point of exp anytime one of your S-links becomes Heartbreaker your lover. The GM is never allowed to have your S-links turn on you because you are two-timing them. Pimp to survive. You may start with fewer than the usual number of S-links. For each S-link given up, Loner increase a stat of your choice by 1. The one use items in your gear package are much more varied than usual (see Gear Prepared Packages below.) Reliable Increase the size of your action pool by 2. This one is mostly for flavor purposes. Instead of being fueled by security with oneself Reversed and the power of friendship, your Persona is fueled by rage, despair, and abusive Arcana relationships. Rename your Resolution as Trauma and re-flavor your S-links appropriately. Rich You have access to stronger gear packages. You are either a terror to behold or can just be really frightening when you want to Scary be. You get a +1 bonus to any rolls used to intimidate others. You have some manner of sixth-sense that gives you more information about shadows than usual. At the start of battle, name an element. The GM must tell you Scanner how vulnerable each shadow is to that element. Multiple players with this trait do not stack. You are a few shades less impulsive than your typical teenager. +1 to rolls to talk Sensible people out of stupid shit. You have a special knack for a particular activity. Perhaps you are a peerless actor, maybe your abilities with a certain musical instrument are unparalleled, or perhaps Talented you can craft stunning works of visual art. +1 to any rolls in which you can implement your talent. Japan has a very destructive attitude towards mental health and therapy. Fortunately, Therapist it has you. You gain an additional point of exp when you successfully talk one of your S-links through major psychological issues. Arcana and S-links Your character has an association with of 20 potential Arcana. These correspond to the first 20 major arcana found in a typical deck of tarot cards. Additionally, decide on 3 people with whom your character has a major interpersonal relationship. These people are your character's starting S-links (social links). In the game universe, every person has a tarot arcana associated with them. As such you pick an arcana for yourself and one for each of your S-links at character creation (4 in total). Your Persona is granted the power of each of these arcana. An important note to remember is that S-links must run deeper than a superficial friendship. They have to be someone you would take a bullet for. An S-link has to be someone really near and dear to your heart and the feeling has to be mutual. One-sided crushes, master/slave friendships, and abusive family members don’t count. Apply the effects of each Arcana named in this way to your character (it is highly recommended you take at least one Arcana that grants a skill). Magician Gains Elemental Magic: Fire Priestess Gains Healing Empress Gains Elemental Magic: Ice Emperor Gains Elemental Magic: Lighting Hierophant Gains 1 additional resistance Lovers Gains Revive Chariot Gains Physical Damage Justice Gains Light Magic Hermit Gains Status Effect with a subtype of the player's choice Fortune Gains Elemental Magic: Wind Strength +1 Understanding, +1 Diligence Hanged Man +1 Diligence, +1 Knowledge Death Gains Dark Magic Temperance Gains Cure Status Devil +1 Courage, +1 Expression Tower +1 Courage, +1 Knowledge Star Gains Buff with a subtype of the player's choice Moon Gains Debuff with a subtype of the player's choice Sun +1 Expression, +1 Understanding Fool* +1 to a stat of the player's choice *If you have taken the Fool as your own arcana instead of one of your starting S-links, you are granted an additional power. Any time you forge a new S-link by spending exp (see below), you create a new Persona instead of adding the power of that arcana to your first Persona. The new Persona has 3 skills of your choice, a different resistance and weakness, and all of the benefits of your current Resolution. Resolution Your starting Resolution is equal to your lowest stat. As characters gain higher Resolution, they will be able to perform varied special actions, improve their Persona skills, and build new elemental resistances. When additional resistance is granted you can do one of 3 things, gain a new resistance, turn an existing resistance into an immunity, or turn an immunity into a reflection or absorption. Reflections deal that damage type to their caster instead of to you and absorptions heal you instead of damaging you. Resolution 1 -10 Max HP and SP 2 Max HP and SP penalties reduced to -5 3 HP and SP penalties removed, Skill Boost 4 New Special Action, Skill Boost 5 Skill Boost 6 New Resistance 7 Skill Boost, +5 Max HP and SP 8 New Special Action, Skill Boost 9 Skill Boost 10 Lose Weakness, New Resistance, +1 to all stats Special Actions Closely tied to your Resolution are special actions. Every character starts with one special action determined by their highest stat. Additional special actions of the player's choosing are granted as Resolution increases. Special actions can be used to interrupt the normal flow of combat when certain conditions are met. Special actions are activated by spending a point from your Action Pool. A character's Action Pool is equal to their current Resolution. Much like HP and SP, your Action Pool does not automatically refresh until you leave the shadow world and get some decent rest. Unlike HP and SP, there isn't a way to replenish it with items or magic, so use it wisely. Special Related Stat Effect Action If an ally knocks down an enemy in combat, you may spend a point of action pool to immediately attack any enemy.