The story takes place in the small city of Kenkōichi Japan, located in the Shikoku province of Japan. The city is famous for its renowned hospital, which focuses on medical research. Another large part of the town is the Kenkōichi International Academy, an international boarding school that treats foreign and local students to some of the best education in the country.
While nowhere near as populous as Matsuyama or Takamatsu, the city enjoys beautiful mountain views and a cool breeze from the nearby coast. It boasts a bustling shopping district, with various restaurants and niche shops, as well as beautiful shrines to visit and hiking trails along the mountainous side of town.
The story begins before the start of a new school year in 2021. Students from across the world and Japan have arrived to live at the school and spend the next year learning and socializing with one another. Then the rumors of the Yellow Plague started. The rumors state that only sinful people contract the disease, and once you become sick, you fall into a comatose slumber, never to awaken. More rumors state that the disease began in some far off hospital, but the Kenkōichi Research Hospital brought patients in to study the disease, and now it has begun to spread.
Of course, rumors spread in any small town, and it's only just that; rumors.
But then again, you have been having strange dreams about visiting an odd, Blue Room, with a strange long-nosed man talking to you...
As with any story in the Persona series, your character has been granted the ability to summon a persona, a mask that helps you face the trials of this world. Your persona is based on a mythological, legendary, or historical creature or figure, and grants you the power to fight against Shadows that threaten the world. Each character is associated with one of the 22 Major Arcana of a Tarot Deck, with some exceptions.
The cards represent the journey of one's life; beginning as the fool setting out of their journey, meeting allies, enemies, and obstacles, until finally coming to the end of their journey and obtaining their goal: The World. Due to the Persona series’ focus on the Fool being the “Wild Card,” no one character represents the Fool Arcana, but instead as a group they all are The Fool since there is no one protagonist for this story.
The other arcana being left out, Judgement(and Aeon, it’s Thoth deck equivalent) and The World are reserved for the finale of the story, as these cards represent the culmination of your journey and the final resolution of it.
Magician: The magician is personified as both the best friend and second-in-command of the groups in the Persona Series. These characters learn to rely on their comrades and to find their reason for fighting. Focus on a magical element.
Priestess: The priestess is personified as a female character, usually reserved and quiet before opening up and finding her true strength with the team. Focus on a magical element and support.
Empress: The empress usually belongs to a female with authority and wisdom, and in her personal life comes from a place of authority and elegance. The empress may appear cold but opens up to her comrades. Focus on a magical element.
Emperor: A male character who is dealing with a difficult personal issue, and needs the support of their comrades to overcome their struggles. The emperor is a character with strength and authority. Focus on physical attacks and defense.
Hierophant: Older males, usually older than the rest of the cast. The Hierophant is wise and logical but is obsessed with the past.
Lovers: Female character who is popular, cheerful, or at least socially involved. The Lovers character tends to be fighting with internal change and growth, and with the help of her comrades, can undergo personal metamorphosis. Focus on healing and a magical element.
Chariot: Driven individuals who have a personal goal they must achieve at any cost. Usually short-tempered and aggressive. Focus on physical attacks and damage.
Justice: Stoic individuals concerned with fairness. These can be small matters such as family, or societal problems. They seek the help of their comrades to seek the resolution of their belief in this justice. Focus on light magic.
Hermit: These characters hide from the public eye. They need the support of their comrades to finally open up and join the rest of the world. These characters focus on support.
Fortune: These characters attempt to fight against fate to take control of their destiny, and with the support of their comrades, can grasp their fate. Magic based.
Strength: These characters are stoic and strong of heart, and with the help of their comrades, can open up and find the meaning of their courage. Physical focused.
Hanged Man: Characters caught between two different extremes in their lives, and usually act as martyrs in their personal lives. With the help of their comrades, they can find the path to walk. Focus on healing and combat.
Death: Characters undergoing a radical change in their lives, and are many times directly associated with death (in the games). With the help of their comrades, they can finally move forward with their lives. Focus on dark magic.
Temperance: Characters caught between their lives and their hobbies/jobs. They need the help of their comrades to find true balance in their lives. Well rounded persona with no true focus.
Devil: Characters who have some poor character traits (greed, pride, lust). They tend to be antisocial but committed to a cause, and need the help of their comrades to overcome their vices. Focus on dark magic.
Tower: These characters tend to be arrogant and undergo a fall from grace. They need the help of their comrades to rise to their feet once more. Focus on physical strength.
Star: These characters are usually trying to find their place in the world, but are full of hopefulness and joy. They rely on their comrades to help them find their own identity. Focus on magic and support.
Moon: These characters project their fears and faults onto others. They need the help of their comrades to accept who they are and to let go of their fear. Focus on physical strength.
Sun: Characters who find themselves in terrible situations they test their natural optimism. With the help of their comrades, they can be strong and continue to smile. Focus on magic.
The city of Kenkōichi is divided up into multiple districts which can be reached by public transportation: The Hospital District, the Shopping District, The International Academy, the Dormitories, and the Mountains.
Hospital District
The Kenkōichi Research Hospital is the largest building in the city, taking up much of the northern part of the city. The International Academy is also deeply tied with the hospital, allowing students to do internships and part-time jobs for the hospital. There is a yearly school trip in which 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-year students get to spend several days in one of the areas of the Hospital, learning about their work.
The Shopping District
The eastern shopping district of Kenkōichi is home to many small stores where you can find many interesting local foods, oddities, and strange art.
Kenkōichi International Academy
The Kenkōichi International Academy is a well-respected school in the area, boasting students from 30 different countries and Japan. 1st-year students take courses on the 3rd floor, 2nd years in the 2nd floor and 3rd years take courses on the first floor. While the school has an international student body, the school follows the Japanese school year, beginning in April and ending in March. The school also boards all students in the nearby dormitories due to the diverse student body. Girls dormitories are in the west dorm building, and boys dormitories are in the east dorm building.
Character sheets need to make sure to include pertinent information, but we do not need your life story. Also, make sure your personality matches with the Arcana you have chosen for your character; a Hermit Arcana would not be outgoing and extroverted, for instance.
Last, and something important about choosing your persona: the major themes of this RP is Health, Disease, and public fear and ignorance of health. When choosing your character's initial Persona, the theme for this RP will be "Seekers". Consider characters from myth, legend, and history who have been involved in some journey, quest, or research that deals with death, disease, knowledge, or destiny.
[center]YOUR NAME HERE
[img]Character Picture Goes Here: Let's keep it anime to keep in the Persona Theme[/img][/center] [INDENT][INDENT] [color=gray][b]Name[/b][/color] [indent]Name Goes Here [/indent] [color=gray][b]Arcana[/b][/color] [indent]Arcana Goes Here[/indent] [color=gray][b]Age[/b][/color] [indent]Please consider that the story takes place in an International High School in Japan. Most of the protagonists would be high school aged, though concessions could be made that a teacher or other school staff could manifest a Persona. [/indent] [color=gray][b]Personality Traits[/b][/color] [indent] What kind of person are you? Sarcastic? Honest? Secretive? Please consider your character’s arcana when developing their personality. [/indent] [color=gray][b]Backstory[/b][/color] [indent] A quick 1-2 paragraphs about your life and why you’ve arrived at the school. [/indent] [color=gray][b]Gear[/b][/color] [indent] What kind of combat would your character specialize in? Consider the fact that they are high school students and therefore the only physical they might have would be in sports or club activities. Also please note that guns would be impossible to acquire in Japan for high school students. [/indent] [color=gray][b]Persona[/b][/color] [indent] What is your character’s Persona? Remember, the Personas should have a common theme of “Seekers” those who sought knowledge, answers, power, etc. [/indent] [color=gray][b]Persona Abilities[/b][/color] [indent] Person’s element/speciality. Consider your arcana for this as well; a Chariot Arcana Persona will be focused more on combat skills where a Priestess Arcana will use elemental skills. [/indent]
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Respect the decisions of the GMs during the RP.
Do not power-game your persona's combat abilities. Your persona does not know Megidolaon, Ziodyne, or Marin Karin at the start of the RP. Consider this as an anime adaption; combat is not the focus as much as the characters are.
The theme of this RP is about sickness, disease, and the search for curing the ills of society. Our personas take on the form of historical, mythological, and fictional seekers.
Your characters should represent your arcana in some fashion. As this is RP, creativity is the most important thing, but if I cannot tell how your character relates to their Arcana, I will ask you to change information.
Never forget that while Persona is a mature series, it does have levity. Death, tragedy, and awful events happen to the characters, but they are usually juxtaposed with moments of fun, friendship, and kindness. We are not here to be edgy but to instead be well-rounded and fleshed-out characters (unless your name is Ryuji).
Allen is an immensely kind individual who cares about people deeply. The reason he tries his best to study medical technology, and medicine is to help him when he inherits his father's place as head of his company. He truly tries his best to help people, and while he can seem preachy he genuinely believes in the goodness of the human spirit. Allen goes out of his way to stand up to bullies, and to help others out if he can. Often this is prone to him getting beaten up, or injured in some way but he refuses to let bullies have their way.
He tends to be in a flux there are times when he is very confident in himself, and his own skills but there are many times when does truly have doubt that he's doing the best he can do. Unsure about how far his actions have actually taken him in life. It is less so about a lack of courage, and more so hesitation brought about by uncertainy that he is doing the best he can. Allen is not one to get scared often however he tries to act older than he is. Due to his past, and upbringing Allen is an immensely matured individual who does his best to make friends with other people calling them Mister, or Miss or just simply being respectful of them. However he can be somewhat prone to be childish in given situations as he is still a hormonal teenager at heart. He is not quite as charismatic as he appears to be because he doesn't budge on his beliefs, he tends to get embarrassed around girls when they flirt, or tease him, and he also has issues using his hands for anything but his own practiced talents. He isn't quite able to make origami properly, and he's not good at washing dishes. Nor has he ever driven himself anywhere so he can't even drive a car himself quite yet.
When it comes down to his stubbornness he is can be quite a handful. He has spent his short life sticking both his feet in the stand and not budging. Both due to his own inner demons, and doubts clawing at him. Is he doing the right thing? Is he doing enough? What if he fails? That all being said he doesn't go out of his way to get himself killed. Allen is very intensely aware of his own surroundings at all times mostly because of his desire to have control of the situation. Once things spiral out of control Allen simply starts acting on his first instinct. His inexperience with life getting the better of him. However Allen is very VERY vindictive people who betray his trust are often prone to see him acting very suspicious, and un-trusting of them, and their motives.
Backstory
Allen is a young man born into a family of highly wealthy individuals who work for a group called 'The Evillious Conglomerate' forged out of the Great Depression they are one of the head medical manufactures of prosthetic limbs, and medicine in North America. Allen's childhood was rough having much expected of him, and his twin sister seen as only a possible replacement if something happened to him.
Though just a part of a group Allen's father is the head of that group, and Chairman of his own company. Allen himself has spent his life protecting his twin sister Lyn whom he is very protective of despite being the polar opposite of himself after certain incidents changed her. Allen's life has been fully of accidents, and mistakes making him unsure about what few achievements he does have. However he has tried to make made many friends in his attempts to live up to his own ideals. However few have ever stuck with him as he has moved from place to place.
Allen's life has had its high points, and low points full of many painful events for him. He has been forced to grow up beyond his years, and many people around his age have often look to him for guidance due to his willingness to stand up to things he found to be unfair, or rude. Allen's one figure he truly looked up to was his butler Alfred who took the place of his old one following an accident that happened to him around the age of seven. Alfred is someone who he looks up to as someone with a strong moral compass who is willing to give him the time to talk out his issues, and treat him as more than just a charge to take care of and more like a proper son. His sister Lyn shares his view but to a much lesser degree merely respecting the man who has practically taken care of them his whole life. And while he, and his sister depend on each other greatly, Allen still believes she could be much better than she thinks she is but hasn't quite been able to fully voice that to her.
Allen is often transferred from school to school to get him use to the life of a Chairman for his company's future as he will be expected to travel often. However this time the reason he is specifically sent to his new school while his father remains in Kyoto to do business is because of the curriculum. This school has a rather interesting set of courses set around Allen's goal of helping others. Medicine in Japan is profoundly different than America. While not the best academic Allen is persistent and has learned Japanese fairly well albeit its is difficult for him to speak it fluently. What he lacks in academic skills he makes up for in hard work, and diligence and he practiced hard before arriving in Japan to at least be able to speak the language at a reasonable level. While many of his friends consider him intelligent he is not even remote able to be considered a genius. Allen's 'smart' not in an academics way as he struggles with it. It is more through consistent studying, and reading up on philosophy, and other historical figures in his spare time that he gained a rudimentary understanding of what he says, and does. So while he has made efforts to try, and educate himself he still isn't infallible, or anywhere near that of the above average students in the classroom. He also is keenly aware of his own lack of skills in the everyday to day life that others are use to. Only having learnt the bare basics of what it means to take care of himself by his concerned butler.
Allen intends to grow up to be a 'hero' though he doesn't know exactly what that means quite yet, and his primary motive is to prove that the strong don't need to stomp on the weak to move forward. To prove that he can do so he joined the international academy so that he can learn new techniques, and better his knowledge of his field so that he can become a better chairman, and perhaps even help his company by showing them new techniques they hadn't thought of quite yet. Though his dreams are lofty Allen goes to the academy with the intention of helping people with medicine.
Gear
Allen is an athlete first, and foremost while his sister is a better academic Allen has always had a talent for the art of dueling. Allen has had a talent for moving quickly, and agilely on his feet which has both helped him on track teams, and in the art of swordsmanship. Allen tends to carry around a practice sword with him on his travels however he doesn't make it a habit to take it out with him. He usually keeps it safely tucked away somewhere in his room until he goes to find a sparring partner. His practice sword which is dull while the point is sharp it has a protective cap on top. Other than that he tends to have light gear for running such as knee, and arm guards for when he's running.
Persona
Zhuge Liang The Sleeping Dragon of Shu-Han
Persona Abilities
Allen's persona Zhuge Liang has a mix of Fire, and Wind spells calling back to his famous victory over Wei at the battle of Chi-Bi where he used the winds to promote Zhou Yu's fire attack. Allen can use the wind to blast people with massive gusts of wind, and to enhance his ability to conjure fire storms around enemies. Zhuge Liang knows Agi, and Garu.
@DruSM157Any comment on Allen? I already sent you the rest of his details via pm.
Alright, I can give some initial impressions since you asked:
[*]The name: Evillious is a little on the nose. Look for other languages usage of evil to make a less "on the nose" last name. For example, "Malcio, Malumon," both use the romantic "malum" as a base (also seen in French, Italian and Spanish) for bad/evil.
[*]He's a North American, so why is he going to the school in Japan? If his family works in medicine, the connection to the Research Hospital would be good, so think about going further into that with your backstory. Is there anyone else who has influenced his life for this interest?
[*]Fencing as a sport is fine, but he shouldn't carry a practice sword anywhere but to practice. That's a good way to get in trouble, even in videogame based RP world.
[*]His Arcana is the Hierophant, which is interesting because he's fairly young. Usually, the Hierophant arcana would be an older figure. There's also a lot going on with his personality: mature and childishness is one I struggle with.
[*]I think the biggest issue with the CS is that right now it's unfocused. I'd suggest reworking the backstory and really looking at the personality to figure out how this character is.
There's still a lot of time to work on the CS, since the OOC has only been up for a few hours. Just take some time and look back over it to see what you really want to stand out about this character.
@DruSM157 I'm not sure if you're really understanding some parts I'm going for. I'll give you the name but it is a homage to the Evillious chronicles which is the vocaloid series that inspired me to make said character. If you really want I can rename him something generic or what have you.
I sent you the pm going over his details regarding my full backstory. Allen has his mother, and butler for inspiration. His sister who keeps him grounded, and he deeply hates his father. Regarding the hospital I can have his father helping overseeing its processes which is why he, and his father would be in Japan. I already stated he is often prone to travelling from one place to another due to his father dragging him along with him everywhere.
Allen doesn't carry his sword everywhere you asked for equipment I put it there for reference. For out of school activities he keeps the pocket knife on him, usually in his back pack, for protection as he knows even self defense training only gets you so far. If its an issue to have in school I can just bring it with him on off days when school isn't an issue.
Allen is a highly mature individual. He doesn't mess around, and is very practical. However he can be childish if he's pushed into doing something he's not comfortable with. Adults also have this issue depending on what their upbringing is. For example if Allen takes someone on a date he's a good upstanding gentleman about it. If they ask for a kiss he's going to start stammering, or get nervous. He's confident in the face of danger but he's also unsettled by it. He can courageous but still feel uncomfortable.
I'm pretty sure I addressed most of the issues you have regarding my character.
Persona protagonists tend to be kind of mundane in my experience of playing through the franchise (with the exception of the third main title), so I'm trying to formulate something that follows the tone and mood for this.
I sent you the pm going over his details regarding my full backstory. Allen has his mother, and butler for inspiration. His sister who keeps him grounded, and he deeply hates his father. Regarding the hospital I can have his father helping overseeing its processes which is why he, and his father would be in Japan. I already stated he is often prone to travelling from one place to another due to his father dragging him along with him everywhere.
No.
Allen doesn't carry his sword everywhere you asked for equipment I put it there for reference. For out of school activities he keeps the pocket knife on him, usually in his back pack, for protection as he knows even self defense training only gets you so far. If its an issue to have in school I can just bring it with him on off days when school isn't an issue.
No.
Allen is a highly mature individual. He doesn't mess around, and is very practical. However he can be childish if he's pushed into doing something he's not comfortable with. Adults also have this issue depending on what their upbringing is. For example if Allen takes someone on a date he's a good upstanding gentleman about it. If they ask for a kiss he's going to start stammering, or get nervous. He's confident in the face of danger but he's also unsettled by it. He can courageous but still feel uncomfortable.
I'm pretty sure I addressed most of the issues you have regarding my character.
Characters are complex and have contradicting traits but in this case it feels like you're writings thing and adding them in for the sake of wanting him to be everything instead of letting him be organic. This roleplay is based more off of Persona 4--a bunch of ordinary high school kids getting into an adventure where the focus is character development--and this character isn't matching the tone we are looking for. Nothing in the backstory sounds like any defining moment and there is nothing that would indicate his 'goal' of being a hero. Generally speaking, the CS is unfocused and leans heavily towards a Gary Stu instead of coming off as a genuine character.
Alright how would you have me fix it then Hero? Just scrap the idea and make a whole new character? I'm asking genuinely not trying to be a smartass.
This is your character and it's someone you should be happy roleplaying; that's first and foremost. Hero and my purpose for examining what you have is to see if they would be a good fit for the themes of the RP and if they would make an interesting dynamic with the other castmembers.
So if you want my ideas on how to narrow the character's focus, let's look at good character arc ideas and build from there. First: he's a rich kid; family owns a big corporation, there's a lot there. They have ties to the medical world and maybe he's invited by the school due to the research hospital's connections. He could be interested in new medical technologies and wants to make radical new changes to his family's corporation: whatever his goal is is important. And yes, we've looked at the backstory stuff you want to keep in the dark; which is fine. I think that kind of backstory feeds well into his desires and where he may go with the ideas of medicine.
Let's also take into account this: he grew up rich. That means that he misses out on things that 99% of kids do growing up, due to his status. Ultimately there is going to be a disconnect to what he knows about life and what others know, due to that gap in privilege. That leads to interesting character dynamics, as he may feel disconnected from the other members of the group because of this. It could also be a source of comedy as he struggles to understand the more "baser" things in life that aren't as cultured as his upbringing.
Again, none of this is me telling you how to make your character. That's your decision. But these are just ideas I had in mind on how to give your character more focus with their personality and backstory.
Touka could best be described as sociable, spritely, and kind. Despite never getting over her father’s death and having to more or less find her own way due to her mother seeming to be always working, Touka doesn’t try to publicly appear demure, depressing, or pessimistic.
The way she processes things is mostly mired in repression and nostalgia. If she focuses on the good and on music she believes she can pretty much ignore anything sad or cruel. That said, she’s afraid of getting too close to people. When teasing can be misconstrued as flirting she backpedals and tries to leave a situation as fast as possible and any friendships she has is skin deep because she’s afraid of someone she’s close to leaving her. She doesn’t know if she could bear it, even through her façade. So as long as her friends don't try to be too close and try to peel away her armor she tends to think she will be fine.
Backstory
The Sawajiri Family has nothing, well, close-to-nothing.
Touka’s mother is the head of the household, and has been since the death of her husband and Touka’s father five years ago. Despite help by her mother’s younger brother, the family has struggled immensely. With her mother overworked at the local hospital as one of the nursing staff and her uncle either halfway into a bottle of Saki or chasing skirts Touka has only really had one solace. Music. A naturally gifted singer and instrumentalist, Touka started playing violin when she was very young. Her fondest memory has been the last performance she had that her father, despite being sickly and near death, had seen.
In the years since Touka has tried her best to get through life as quick as possible. She’s had the same friends group since pretty much forever and often appears as the center of attention despite not wanting to be. She’s never had a boyfriend or girlfriend. N-not that’s any of your business! She is currently attending Kenkoichi International Academy with hopes her musical talents can help her become a healthy and more financially stable adult. Maybe one day she can come to terms with her past.
Gear
The most notable thing Touka tends to have on-hand is her violin.
While being athletic enough to participate in team sports, her club activities are limited to music for the most part. Beyond her violin one could often see her with a handbag, backpack, or umbrella depending on the need. She’s a High School Student, not a shoujo protagonist.
The aspects of Touka’s Persona revolve around the spring season. Fertility, healing, song, and craft. As such Touka’s abilities would revolve around healing wards, support spells, bard-like enchantments, and the element of water for its restorative properties and of the showers that come in spring to restore the earth.
Alright I can swap over his focus on the business world, and change it so that he's more personally invested in making better medicine than he would be trying to change the overall corporation's business practices. So that would give him a more solid focus on being there for purposes than just being a transfer student because his father is carting him around. The part with his father being closely associated with the hospital tech was just a throw in the air. I wasn't trying to heavily influence the plot or what have you. I also don't have an issue with taking the pocket knife away from Allen. He's been taught to take care of himself in a basic hand to hand fight. He's no judo master, he's not a master at anything in fact he just knows how to fight passably so removing the knife is more just a formality.
For the sake of being fair and getting rid of an 'gary stu' qualities as your co-gm put it I'm willing to even reduce Allen to just spewing out his own beliefs and not making him intelligent. He can be have been pandered to simply be the heir to his company, and not much else. However I fear that would just leave him saying dumb stuff without a point like saying 'good guys are good, and bad people are bad.' I can also put in his confidence issues which I failed on my own part to put into the personality section.
For the sake of being fair and getting rid of an 'gary stu' qualities as your co-gm put it I'm willing to even reduce Allen to just spewing out his own beliefs and not making him intelligent. He can be have been pandered to simply be the heir to his company, and not much else. However I fear that would just leave him saying dumb stuff without a point like saying 'good guys are good, and bad people are bad.' I can also put in his confidence issues which I failed on my own part to put into the personality section.
A lack of intelligence doesn't necessarily equate to saying 'dumb stuff without a point'. You realize you can control what your character says, right? So you don't have to worry about that sort of thing unless you make him say things like that.
@HeroThere's a fine line between player, and character. Often in DnD you have players playing dumb characters. People they intentionally made less intelligence. They still have to make sure that role is played out properly and thus they intentionally say and do things that aren't necessarily things they say, and do themselves. If I reduce Allen's intelligence it would go from being him rejecting people because he fundamentally disagrees with what they're doing to him just being going by the mind set of 'there is no grey there is good, and there is evil'. Regardless I'm working on editing my character sheet at the moment so hopefully you'll find it better when I'm done if not I'll try editing it again.