JohnSolaris

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

Present day, the Shadow Realm

This has to be a nightmare, Eida Shunsuke frantically thinks to himself. There's no way the so-called Saklas Syndrome can possibly be real. But here he is, sucked into his phone and dumped in this infinite expanse of blinding white fog, facing that twisted mirror image of himself with its tattered black suit, dull gray plastic skin, and unnaturally large, exaggerated, hellishly glowing red lipstick marks all over its face. It claimed to be his repressed inner darkness made manifest, cruelly mocked him having been stood up by his supposed date again earlier tonight, before its whole body contorted in sickening motions to transform into something straight out of a horror movie. A faceless mannequin nearly three meters tall, with the same lifeless plastic look, those oversized crimson lipstick marks branded onto every corner of its body. "N-No, get away from me!" The middle-aged Japanese salaryman stammers, not even mustering the strength to stand up as he feebly shuffles backwards while sitting on the ground in an undignified manner. "Y-You're not… I'm not..."

"C'mon now, Shunsuke. You know what I'm talkin' about." The monster is mouthless, but the lipstick marks all over its body seem to move with wills of their own, speaking in an eerie chorus of the voices of all the women that had rejected him in the past decades. "Seriously, fuckin' western feminism? You just wanna get your dick wet!!"

"Y-You're wrong! I r-respect-" He twitches as he abruptly feels his back against a wall, barely visible in this all-consuming mist.

"Look, I'm just gonna kill you and take your goddamned place," the creature hisses. The lipstick marks writhe and split open as if they're actual mouths, each bearing sharp vampiric fangs, a molten blood-like liquid trickling out from each orifice. As the caustic sludge pools upon the floor, emaciated caricatures begin rising, each barely in the shape of a woman, their shambling footsteps searing into the ground to create black smoke that stands out starkly against the white fog for a second before it dissipates. "You're such a fuckin' pussy that at this rate, you're gonna be a virgin till the day you choke on your own dick!"

"No… No…!" Shunsuke croaks helplessly as the burning she-slimes close in around him. "Someone, please…!"

But there is no miracle. A few seconds of unimaginable agony, and everything goes black.

"Heh… Heh heh… Hahahahahaha…!" The body that had once belonged to Shunsuke lets out a maniacal laughter, its horrifically charred skin and flesh repairing itself into the same lifeless plastic as that of the monster that now inhabits this body. Slowly, the gray returns to a facsimile of normal human skin tone, but a multitude of infernal lipstick marks still stretch across the body's surface. "Grh… Better than nothin', I guess. Now, time to go fuck some b-"

Suddenly, a glowing electric blue portal appears out of nowhere in front of "Shunsuke", through which steps out… Utasaki Aria, the virtual idol popular both in Japan and overseas, somehow in the flesh. "Oh no… I'm too late again!" She murmurs, her young, pretty face showing a mixture of horror, sadness, and pity.

"The hell…? Ain'tcha Aria-chan?! I knew you had something to do with this, you fuckin' western whore!" "Shunsuke" growls, his previously unassuming face contorted in an expression of obvious contempt that he would have never shown in front of his superiors, peers, or prospective dates. "It's because of you that the other me got his ass into feminism... Heh, I'm gonna teach you real good what a yamato nadeshiko should be like so you'll know your fuckin' place, you-"

"Sorry, Master. This one really doesn't sound like he's gonna be cooperative," Aria speaks telepathically to someone only she can hear. "Yeah… Alright, I'll proceed with capture. Geez, when are we gonna catch a break…?"

"Hey, hey, don't you fuckin' ignore me!" The Shadowman hisses. Holding out his hands, burning acidic blood once again drips from the lipstick marks at the centers of his palms. "I swear I'm gonna-"

Before he can finish, he barely notices the flash of blinding azure. Then everything goes white.

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

@JohnSolaris I still have to fix her Bio but I did edit her abilities and such like you mentioned, hope that looks a bit better. It's almost 2 am here so I'll do the Bio tomorrow :P

@JavaJunkiexo

Will you be able to join the Discord server? We can discuss character sheets more quickly there.

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

Please make sure you format your character sheet according to this RP's format. We don't use the spells in the actual Persona games, because they're too restrictive for an RP; abilities are based on elements instead. Make sure you read the 0th post to see what this RP does differently from other Persona RPs, and don't expect everything to be transferable.

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

If this is still taking players, I'm definitely interested. I'm thinking of taking the Empress or Fortune for myself if that's okay though the Magician is also enticing. I looove Persona!!!

@JavaJunkiexo

Yes, still taking players.

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

@JohnSolaris

Hi I've tried making my own persona rp but obviously it didn't end well. I would be interested in joining if that's okay

@Jangel13

Of course that's okay. Everyone is welcome.

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

20 years ago, the Velvet Room

"Heh heh… Is this the p-path you have chosen, Lin Yao-Yu?" The inhumanly long-nosed old man struggled to speak, barely maintaining his usual unsettling yet courteous grin. "Do you truly… have n-no regrets?"

"Regret is for the weak, Igor, and my weakness has been purged." There was an odd metallic tinge to the Chinese young man's voice. That smooth white butterfly-shaped mask, Igor's most vivid of memories, now covered Yao-Yu's face, warped into an unfamiliar piece of technomagic that existed nowhere else in this world. Yet his eyes were even more unrecognizable, once gentle and thoughtful, now with an almost inhuman gleam that bore through the soul. "Nyarlathotep was right, you know. Philemon too was weak, no wiser than the ignorant masses from which he arose. That's why we will succeed where he did not even try hard enough to fail."

"And for that... you'll destroy anyone else that gets in your way?" Igor barely had the strength to grasp the armored hand that held him by the neck. His immaculate black suit was torn in so many places, some wounds deep enough to give a glimpse of the bloodless false flesh underneath. "What about your friends…? What about all that you've gone through together?"

"That's… That's right, Yao-Yu!" Her voice was always soft and quiet, and now it was little more than a whisper. The Japanese young woman didn't even have the strength to prop herself up into a kneeling position, as she strained her neck to look at those she thought she could call true companions. They're so different from what she's used to, covered from head to toe in austere mechanical exoskeletons, a painfully stark contrast from the extraordinary yet mundane human beings that she until recently laughed and fought alongside with. "Shahzad, Ricci, Ulisses, Ayin… Don't we… mean anything to each other anymore?"

"Save it, Shiori. There's no use reasoning with them." The young man of uncertain European descent, clad in a leather jacket and pants of rich royal blue, managed to remain standing, clinging to a piece of rubble, long platinum blond hair dishevelled but golden eyes sharp as ever as he glared at his former companions. "They're not the friends we know anymore."

"Indeed we're not," said the smooth voice of the inky-skinned androgynous person. "We were forced to overcome our human limitations."

"While you chose to stagnate, like Philemon himself." The Italian woman's tone was cold and unforgiving.

"And unfortunately… You really can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs." The Brazilian young man sounded easygoing still, but there was now this uncrossable gulf between him and the two he once called friends.

"I'm truly sorry, Alphonse… But for the greater good… For the sake of all humanity..." The anguish in the older Arab American man's eyes were plain as day, but everyone present knew that his conviction was more resolute still.

"What if there's another Ngwhi Pandemonium in the future? Or something even worse than the Dragon of Nought?" Yao-Yu shook his head. "We cannot afford to take any chances, and you are a threat to our plans."

"Heh… And what about Saklas?" Igor let out another rueful laugh. "He's still out there. Isn't he the bigger threat to you?"

"Maybe, but we will neutralize the threat in front of us right now." Suddenly, numerous magic circles flashed to life on the pair of large, incredibly elaborate butterfly wings behind the young man's back. "Goodbye, Igor. Humanity no longer needs you."

"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Igor screamed as dozens of beams of intense, searing golden-white light mercilessly pierced him from all angles. As he crumpled to the floor, that perpetual grin on his aged face finally curved downward in a mournful cry. "I'm sorry, Master Philemon… I'm sorry… every… one..."

"Master!" Alphonse shouted, and tried to sprint forward, only to fall to his knees. "Ugh..."

Yao-Yu's chilling gaze turned toward Alphonse and Shiori. "Now, you three..."

"No! Don't you dare touch Sophia!" A sudden burst of strength filled the young woman as she tightly clutched the protective bubble of magic in her arms, the sleeping infant in it only beginning to show the same silvery blond hair as her father's.

"You two are uncooperative no matter what, but her… She has potential." His dispassionate gaze fell upon the baby, completely disregarding her parents' desperation. "We can forge her into the perfect Shadowless."

"You bastard…!" Alphonse growled. "Metatron!"

"K-Kushinadahime!"

As the two squeezed out what little strength they had remaining to rematerialize their Personas, feebly flickering in and out of existence, Yao-Yu sighed. "Very well. I will show you the strength of the Machina I have obtained. Come forth, Y-"

Light engulfed everything, and the Velvet Room was no more.

---

[This post contains some things that Persona fans may recognize, but don't worry if you don't recognize anything. Everything will be explained when the time comes.]

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

We have at least four people interested now (I have no idea what to make of Yam's post), so we're probably good to go. Come to the Discord server if you want to talk about character ideas.

And in case people haven't realized, the 0th post of the Characters tab contains character sheets and information on some NPCs.

I'll soon make an IC post that has some... foreshadowing.

Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

The game thread for this has already been made here. Initially I skipped making an interest check thread, but then it occurred to me that some people might check the interest check forum for new RPs more than they check the RP forum. A friend assured me that it's not poor etiquette to make an interest check thread purely for the purpose of advertisement after the game thread has already been made, so I'm posting this here. If you're interested, please check the main thread for more details.

---

This is an RP based on the Persona franchise. However, it is an entirely self-contained alternate universe, so no canon characters or organizations will appear. Some mechanics are similar to those in Persona games, but some are different. They will all be explained in this post, so prior knowledge of Persona games is not required.

The setting is much like the modern Earth we're familiar with, except that all well-known contemporary public figures do not exist, their roles taken by NPCs as needed; historical figures are usually fair game, but ask me if you're unsure. Unlike real life, there is no pandemic, but the world is still not without a fair share of major problems.

It is the year 2022. Social media is more widespread than ever, due to the efforts of Lin Yao-Yu, the richest man in the world and the first ever trillionaire. His company, OmniLink Inc., managed in the past two decades to acquire nearly every single one of the major tech giants in the world, seamlessly merging all of their online services into a single continuous whole. And with the thorough integration of facial and vocal recognition algorithms, it is now easier than ever to find and connect with others. But this connection is only superficial, as people cherry-pick only what they want others to see, while misinformation, echo chambers, and filter bubbles run rampant. While shouting into this all-pervasive white noise, introspection is too often forgotten, and the darkness within builds up and festers until it bursts forth from beneath the surface.

In the past months, a rumor of unclear origin has been circulating that speaks of the so-called "Saklas Syndrome". It alleges that a user of OmniLink's ubiquitous O-Phone can have his soul itself sucked into the device, resulting in a range of possible symptoms including depression, psychosis, catatonia, coma, and even death, supposedly spreading via a supernatural virus that infects smartphones. You likely dismissed this as hogwash… until it happened before your very eyes.

The screen of your O-Phone cracks open, but the cracks extend into the space itself around you. The next thing you know, you are surrounded by a thick, impenetrable, blinding white fog. From the fog it emerges, a shadowy figure with an uncanny resemblance to yourself, surrounded by an ominous dark aura that you find unsettling on some primal, instinctual level that you cannot quite explain. "I am the Shadow, the true self..." The shadowy figure speaks, its voice a horrible distortion of your own, before letting loose the deepest, darkest secrets that you have admitted to no one, not even yourself. But just as you cry out to reject this gratuitous affront to your very identity, the shadowy figure contorts in grotesque defiance of human anatomy, before exploding into a monstrosity from your worst nightmares.

Will you simply go down and become just another victim? No. Your heart may be scarred, but you won't let it end like this. If getting out alive means facing your own inner darkness… As you gather your resolve, you see it then, a shimmering, ethereal blue butterfly that morphs into what seems to be a Tarot card. Desperately, you reach out to grasp it, and-

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

The player characters

@JavaJunkiexo: Bianca Momosuke (I - Magician; Shiva)

@PrideOfLaplace: Daniela Dossantos (XIII - Death; Hiruko)

@Eldritch Puppy: Daniel Astier (XV - Devil; Mordred)

---

The Velvet Room, allies of the player characters

Utasaki Aria (XI - Strength; Euterpe), VTuber and the team navigator

Name: Utasaki Aria (唄咲 アリア), the Azure Muse.

Age: Unknown; physically appears 18.

Gender: Female.

Appearance:

As typical for virtual YouTubers that do not have to contend with pesky human flaws, Aria's apparent physique is one of pure artificial perfection. Her angelic doll-like face contains a mixture of European and eastern Asian features, with fair skin, bright azure eyes with faintly glowing circuit-like patterns in them, and long straight hair that flows down to her mid-back, a silvery white color interspersed with sparse strands of blue and violet. A short ahoge sticks out of the top of her head. At 165 cm in height, she of course has a flawless hourglass figure, with breasts that can be called medium-sized only by anime standards; she publicly revealed her bust, waist, and hip measurements as 84 cm, 58 cm, and 84 cm respectively.

Being the fashionista she is, Aria has a wide variety of outfits, all of which are sleek, feminine, and at least a little sexy; she also sometimes experiments with different hairstyles, hair colors, eye colors, and even skin colors. In her most iconic costume, the hair at her temples is pulled into a half-up short ponytail, held together by a large glowing futuristic blue butterfly hairpin that flickers with ethereal sapphire flames; there is also a small silver bell tied to the left side of her hair by red ribbons. Her lipstick and nail polish are both bright red and faintly glittery. She wears a tight-fitting shoulderless top that shows a mild amount of cleavage, detached sleeves that flare out around her lower arms, a pleated miniskirt, and thigh-high boots with three-inch stiletto heels. The outfit is made of a futuristic latex-like material, in shades of white, cyan, blue, and violet, with sparse highlights of bright red, covered in faintly glowing circuit patterns. The center of her chest is adorned with a red butterfly-shaped bow, and above her breasts on her bare skin is a simple red tattoo of nested heart shapes. On her back is a pair of large futuristic butterfly wings, blue with purple hues, though she often keeps the wings hidden due to their size. Below the wings are a pair of strips that resemble the "tails" of swallowtail butterflies.

[Aria's outfit is heavily inspired by a combination of outfits of two pre-existing fictional characters, and I would be a little impressed if anyone knows both. No, it's not anyone from Vocaloid or Hyperdimension Neptunia; that would be too easy.]

Personality:

The usual persona Aria displays is bubbly and cheerful, radiating optimism and warmth with every word and movement, motivated by the desire to bring hope and joy to her audience. She is also vain and utterly shameless, showing off her beauty at every available opportunity and basking in the adoration she receives, proudly stating that her body is her canvas for artistic self-expression. She exudes an air of flawless, impenetrable confidence, effortlessly maintaining her composure against the most vicious of insults and never displaying a hint of competitiveness, envy, or self-doubt. Yet when discussing serious topics, she becomes mature and level-headed, always looking at a problem from multiple perspectives with a gentle, empathic, open-minded attitude. She isn't a self-sacrificial saint, and can have a mischievous streak when dealing with people she doesn't like, but she never displays any genuine malice. Even when faced with people who repeatedly attempt cyber-attacks against her for petty reasons, or people who have committed horrific crimes, the worst she shows is sadness and pity toward these people and the circumstances that made them do what they did. Some people make the accusation that this is all an act, but if so then it's an exceptionally solid and durable one, without any lapse or crack as far as anyone has seen.

Aria has a wide range of interests that she has shared with the public. Aside from the obvious music and idol culture, she loves anime, manga, and video games, happily proclaiming herself an otaku. She's obviously bisexual and rather perverted, thinking of herself as a connoisseur of female beauty, both her own and others'. Her other areas of interest include technology, science, math, philosophy, and creative writing, sometimes delving into surprisingly deep discussions with her viewers.

Backstory:

Aria is an independent virtual YouTuber and idol who made her debut roughly a year ago, which went viral and exploded in popularity due to her magnetic personality, skilled performance, and incredibly high production values. Several media giants had tried to acquire her brand, but she always declined no matter how much money was offered to her, yet seemed to always have enough funding to consistently maintain her top-tier production values; to this day she remains one of the most well-known in the VTuber scene despite having no direct affiliation with any major corporation. This has led to some rumors regarding her true identity and the source of her funding, to which she responds with only amused giggles.

Shortly after the game begins, player characters who have heard of her before will be shocked when she somehow appears in the flesh before those who have awakened their Personas. She claims that it was her who gifted the Arcana to the player characters, then gives them a brief explanation of Shadows and Personas, before dropping a bombshell involving OmniLink and the Saklas Syndrome in a vast global conspiracy. Finally, she invites the Persona users to her secret hideout, a pocket dimension called the "Velvet Room", and asks the player characters to help her investigate the Saklas Syndrome in exchange for helping them master their powers. When asked about her true identity and the origin of all this supernatural knowledge, she states that it is something she can only reveal once the player characters have actualized their true selves, and implores them to simply trust her in the meantime.

Skills:

Bilingual: Aria is fluent in both English and Japanese.

Singing: Aria could not have attained the popularity she had without being an incredibly talented singer. Her voice is cute and high-pitched without sounding childish or squeaky, while also soft and crystal-clear, smooth as velvet and gentle like a spring breeze, yet powerful and resonant when needed. She is highly versatile, capable of singing a variety of genres, including J-pop, rock, metal, techno, power ballads, jazz, classical, and even traditional Japanese enka. Her only major weakness is that she cannot do a deep, mature voice; even her death metal growls sound cute.

Dancing: The other half of her performance. Her agility and beauty, combined with shameless vanity and confidence, lets her effortlessly pull off dance routines that quickly capture the heart of many an otaku while singing live. She projects the moe aesthetic incredibly well, be it bright and happy, gentle and sweet, cool and elegant, or playful and seductive.

Songwriting: Aria has covered many songs by other artists, but she has quite a few original songs as well. Their tones vary from bittersweet to upbeat, but all ultimately convey optimistic messages, conveying her desire to bring hope and joy to the world.

Gaming: Aria often streams gaming in her VTuber career. She seems unreasonably good at just about every skill-based game she plays, leading to accusations of cheating and bot abuse, though she never plays competitive games so it never led to any major problems. Most viewers are content with just watching her having a good time.

Memory: Aria seems to have a nigh-photographic memory for the names of her viewers and the comments they made.

Knowledge: Aria seems highly knowledgeable in science, technology, and various bits of trivia, occasionally holding in-depth discussions with viewers who are doctoral students or researchers, though she never divulges where she learned all of this.

Unflappable: None of her viewers have seen Aria getting anywhere close to losing her composure. She laughs and cries like a normal person, and the emotions seem genuine, yet even when attacked during a moment of apparent vulnerability her responses are quick and efficient as usual. It's subtle, but there's something almost inhuman about how her decision-making capability is not negatively impacted by emotions.

Abilities:

Remote Persona Projection: Aria's body that the player characters interact with is actually her Persona that she remotely controls from a secret location, or so she claims. It is a very long-distance connection using incredibly complex micro-portal magic, making it almost impossible to trace in normal circumstances, though it can be jammed or blocked. The avatar is entirely made of magic, but appears anatomically realistic to external inspection, and can even consume food and drink. But it bleeds bluish purple energy when damaged, and can freely shapeshift and regenerate even when seemingly vital organs are destroyed. Its true weak point is a nigh-immaterial core that is resilient against most attacks, but the avatar falls apart if the core is destroyed, and Aria would have to send a new core from her real location to get back to the party. The amount of power Aria can channel remotely through her Persona is limited, which relegates her to a defensive support role to the party. Her true powers are among the things she claims will be revealed to the player characters later.

Movement: Aria is highly agile, and can levitate and fly at speeds comparable to cars. She can also dash in brief bursts of extreme speed, resembling short-ranged teleportation.

Sixth Sense: Aria has a very powerful and accurate sixth sense, able to analyze information in a wide area around her, which allows her to act as the party navigator.

Holography: Aria can conjure elaborate holograms around herself. They have no physical substance, but can make quite convincing sights and sounds. She uses this extensively to enhance her idol performances, and it can be used to distract enemies, though it may not hold up well against those with powerful sixth senses.

Telepathy: By emitting psychic waves, Aria can telepathically communicate with designated individuals around herself, allowing her to share her sixth sense with them and help them see through her own illusions. The telepathic contact is not intrusive, and can be blocked out with willpower. The contents of her psychic waves are encrypted and difficult to spy on, until received by the intended recipient.

Portals: Aria is able to create portals from the Velvet Room to a variety of places all over the world, allowing the player characters to go globe-hopping and investigate cases of the Saklas Syndrome. The limitations of this ability are unknown.

Arcana Bestowal: Aria is supposedly able to grant Arcana to those compatible with them. Her own blue butterfly aesthetics, along with the fact that the Arcana initially took the form of a blue butterfly before transforming into a Tarot card, does lend some credence to this claim.

Arcana: XI - Strength. Like the gentle woman who effortlessly tames the lion, Aria's songs bring strength to her allies and calm aggressive Shadows.

Shadow: Unknown.

Persona: Euterpe, the Muse of Song. As stated previously, her Persona acts as a remotely-controlled avatar for her that the player characters interact with. It has minor resistances to light, psychic, and electricity.

Songs of the Muse: Several types of omnidirectional auras of nigh-invisible energy that emanate from her, passing through non-magical matter and seeping through the skin to take effect. The name is only thematic, and they do not depend on sound waves or the ability to hear. She has full control over which targets are affected. Their elements are a combination of light and psychic.
- Song of Life: Targets are healed. Missing flesh and bones can be restored, but Aria advises the party to not take chances with vital organs.
- Song of Purity: Negative external influences within the target are weakened or cleansed outright.
- Song of Fortitude: Targets gain increased physical toughness and magical resistance.
- Song of Tranquility: Friendly targets are soothed, reducing their pain and negative emotions. Hostile targets are pacified, weakening their aggressive instincts.

Stunbolt: A bolt of psychic and electrical energy that delivers numbing paralysis, but minimal damage.

Fritz (? - ???; ???), lucid Shadow and the team doctor

Name: Fritz.

Age: Unknown.

Gender: Male.

Appearance: As a Shadow, it's not surprising that Fritz looks barely human. He resembles a gaunt old man with leathery dark blue skin, sunken round black pits for eyes and tiny glowing yellow motes for irises, long pointed ears, thick flowing eyebrows, shoulder-length messy grayish white hair on the sides of his head while bald at the top, and an inhumanly long, pointed nose. The corners of his wide mouth are always turned downward in a dour, severe frowning expression. He's very tall and lanky, almost two meters, but this height is often not apparent due to his hunched posture. He's usually clad in a tattered white labcoat with nondescript clothes underneath.

Personality: Cynical, moody, and recalcitrant, as if tired of everything, but otherwise completely lucid and sane. He does his job seriously without complaint, but refuses to open up to anyone or talk about himself.

Backstory: As Utasaki Aria brings the Persona users to the Velvet Room, she introduces them to Fritz, the other resident of this place who will be acting as the team doctor. Supposedly he's one of those rare Shadows who manage to regain sanity, and Aria assures everyone that he's perfectly safe. His combat power is purportedly low, so he will not be participating in battles, instead taking care of the Persona users' injuries during downtime. It is unknown why he's working with Aria.

Skills: Fritz possesses extensive knowledge of human physiology and how it interacts with magic, allowing him to treat nearly all ailments that the player characters may come across.

Abilities: Using a combination of electricity and organic chemistry, Fritz can heal the most grievous of wounds, restoring missing limbs and vital organs. As long as the victim's soul is intact, he can bring someone back to life even if that person's body has died, though recovery and rehabilitation may take longer depending on the severity of the damage.

Arcana: Unknown.

Shadow: Unknown.

Persona: Unknown.

---

Notable Public Figures

Dr. Lin Yao-Yu (林遥宇): Male, 44 years old. The world's first and only trillionaire. Through a combination of nigh-unparalleled ambition, drive, and technical skill, his company OmniLink Inc. acquired nearly all of the other big tech companies around the globe, establishing a monopoly despite countless attempts to stop him. For obvious reasons, he's currently just about the most controversial person in existence, though the few who have spoken to him at length often get the feeling that he's a true visionary who relentlessly pushes the limits of technological innovation, with the goal of one day uniting all of humanity.

President Shahzad Ibrahim (شهزاد ابراهيم): Male, 53 years old. The current president of the United States. A liberal Muslim with incredible charisma and compassion, who managed to win the hearts of many on both sides of the political spectrum. However, his Islamic faith has been causing surges in racist and xenophobic sentiments on the far-right, exacerbated by his harsh climate-related policies aimed at keeping global warming under control. Strangely, he has never made any attempt on reigning in Lin's monopoly or economical power, leading to conspiracy theories that the two are in collusion with each other.

Dr. Ulisses Ruiz: Male, 42 years old. The CEO of Vitae Pharmaceuticals, one of the most prominent medical research companies in the world. A billionaire philanthropist with a caring, househusband-like aura who works tirelessly to make affordable healthcare for all.

Ricciarda Costa: Female, 49 years old. The current undisputed leader of the 'Ndrangheta, the most powerful and dangerous crime syndicate in the world. Ruthless, pragmatic, and exceptionally focused, she has imparted rigorous army-like discipline onto the mafia, enforcing her own personal visions of the law in places where the official laws are inadequate. A major presence in keeping various lesser, more chaotic criminal organizations in check.

Bereshith Ayin (בְּרֵאשִׁית ע): Genderless (xe/xer), age unknown. Founder and leader of the Deep Kabbalah, a new religious movement that has been rapidly gaining traction in the past decades. Instead of preaching any single doctrine as absolute truth, the movement encourages believers to explore a variety of sources of spirituality and find the common threads in them to eventually arrive at self-discovery. Known for an uncanny gift of peering into one's subconsciousness.

[CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Persona Ω: Antumbra Joker Pandemonium

In case anyone recognizes it, this is the second Persona RP I'm trying to host. My previous one made the mistakes of having a setting that was too drastic a departure from the typical Persona setting, and too much background information the players needed to take in. Both of these have been remedied in this second attempt, which takes place in an alternate version of modern Earth that's very similar to real life on the surface level; it should be much easier for people to make characters and jump in.

I have a Discord server that I use for discussions related to my RPs. However, if you're interested, please make at least one post here expressing said interest so that others can see that the RP is gaining traction.

---

Introduction

This is an RP based on the Persona franchise. However, it is an entirely self-contained alternate universe, so no canon characters or organizations will appear. Some mechanics are similar to those in Persona games, but some are different. They will all be explained in this post, so prior knowledge of Persona games is not required.

The setting is much like the modern Earth we're familiar with, except that all well-known contemporary public figures do not exist, their roles taken by NPCs as needed; historical figures are usually fair game, but ask me if you're unsure. Unlike real life, there is no pandemic, but the world is still not without a fair share of major problems.

It is the year 2022. Social media is more widespread than ever, due to the efforts of Lin Yao-Yu, the richest man in the world and the first ever trillionaire. His company, OmniLink Inc., managed in the past two decades to acquire nearly every single one of the major tech giants in the world, seamlessly merging all of their online services into a single continuous whole. And with the thorough integration of facial and vocal recognition algorithms, it is now easier than ever to find and connect with others. But this connection is only superficial, as people cherry-pick only what they want others to see, while misinformation, echo chambers, and filter bubbles run rampant. While shouting into this all-pervasive white noise, introspection is too often forgotten, and the darkness within builds up and festers until it bursts forth from beneath the surface.

In the past months, a rumor of unclear origin has been circulating that speaks of the so-called "Saklas Syndrome". It alleges that a user of OmniLink's ubiquitous O-Phone can have his soul itself sucked into the device, resulting in a range of possible symptoms including depression, psychosis, catatonia, coma, and even death, supposedly spreading via a supernatural virus that infects smartphones. You likely dismissed this as hogwash… until it happened before your very eyes.

The screen of your O-Phone cracks open, but the cracks extend into the space itself around you. The next thing you know, you are surrounded by a thick, impenetrable, blinding white fog. From the fog it emerges, a shadowy figure with an uncanny resemblance to yourself, surrounded by an ominous dark aura that you find unsettling on some primal, instinctual level that you cannot quite explain. "I am the Shadow, the true self..." The shadowy figure speaks, its voice a horrible distortion of your own, before letting loose the deepest, darkest secrets that you have admitted to no one, not even yourself. But just as you cry out to reject this gratuitous affront to your very identity, the shadowy figure contorts in grotesque defiance of human anatomy, before exploding into a monstrosity from your worst nightmares.

Will you simply go down and become just another victim? No. Your heart may be scarred, but you won't let it end like this. If getting out alive means facing your own inner darkness… As you gather your resolve, you see it then, a shimmering, ethereal blue butterfly that morphs into what seems to be a Tarot card. Desperately, you reach out to grasp it, and-

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Magic System

Even though the supernatural powers of Shadows and Personas may not be called exactly that, I call it "magic" for convenience.

To make sure magic doesn't contradict real life physics, the physics of this setting resembles real life only on the surface level, and not on the subatomic level. This may affect some well-known pieces of popular science and history, e.g. there is no longer time dilation in Einstein's relativity. This should have no effect on most characters, but please consult me first if you want to make references to real life theoretical physics concepts. There are also some unintuitive quirks in this new physics that I had to add for the sake of consistency, but I’ll only bring them up when necessary.

The most common magical ability is the sixth sense, an extrasensory ability to detect magic around oneself. All magic users have it by default, though skill levels vary. Accuracy and range improve with skill, and the most skilled can replace their mundane senses entirely with the sixth sense. Most magical objects have specific "auras" that register to the sixth sense as synesthesia, conveying appropriate feelings of images and concepts. Certain effects can mask objects from the sixth sense or block it out, which can in turn be defeated by more skilled sensors.

General Rules

In general, every magical effect has an associated "power level", which determines the energy density of the effect, the rate at which the effect exchanges energy with extradimensional space (getting around the conservation of mass and energy to a limited extent), and how resistant the effect is to disruption when clashing against an opposing effect. Circumstantial factors like good tactics and weakness exploitation can tilt things in your favor, but there is often not much you can do if your opponent's power level is overwhelmingly stronger than yours. For Personas users and similar entities, their power levels can often be increased by practice, experience, and certain significant events. Player characters start off at a power level on par with modern military weaponry and grow from there.

Independently of power level, sustained exertion builds up strain at a rate inversely proportional to the user's skill and efficiency, which requires rest to recover from. Player characters can expect to regain full strength after one night of rest, though overexertion can lengthen the process. Exceptionally efficient entities can keep working indefinitely without rest at a moderate level of exertion.

There are some more specific instances of the power level rule.
- No effect can be unblockable, undodgeable, irresistible, immune, or absolute in any other way. Again, has to obey power levels.
- All effects must originate from the user and travel to their targets, even if invisibly. Otherwise the effect would have infinite speed, which implies infinite power level. For example, to manipulate a rock, you have to send out your geomantic magic to permeate that rock first.
- No magical effect can work in terms of abstract concepts or semantics. Everything must be based on physics and power levels.
- Every entity has generic magic resistance proportional to power level, in addition to specific elemental resistances. As a result, you can't directly manipulate the matter that makes up another entity's body unless your power level is overwhelmingly stronger than the target's.

There are some categories of abilities and effects that are notoriously hard to balance. You must consult me first if you want to have any abilities in any of the following categories.
- Any mind-altering effect more specific than inducing hallucinations or approximate emotions in the target.
- Space manipulation, portals, teleportation, and intangibility.
- Time manipulation, precognition, postcognition, and time travel. This category in particular is banned in all but the most extreme and specific plot circumstances, so don't get your hopes up.
- Anything that deals with the soul.

Lastly, a common type of entity is the amorphous entity made of some homogeneous substance, seemingly lacking vital organs. Such entities are held together by internal circuits of magic, so anything that disrupts said circuits or destroys the substance can damage the amorphous being. Strong physical blows can cause stress to said circuits as well, which takes energy to recover from, meaning amorphous beings are not immune to physical attacks.

Most magical effects are roughly categorized by elements and combinations thereof. Every element has a good degree of variety within itself, and someone may have aptitude for only a subset of an element, e.g. an earth user who specializes in metal. The general fighting style of each element is given, though a user with very high skill level or unusual aptitude may be able to subvert these styles (e.g. a defensive wind user with walls of compressed air). Also, note that due to the power level rule earlier, there is no elemental immunity, absorption, or reflection, only resistance.

Elements

Fire:
- Physical: Conjures explosions. Very high burst damage, but lacks defensive power.
- Magical: Conjures heat, flames, and combustion. Has both high burst and sustained damage, but relatively lacking in utility. Can cleanse and strongly buff offensive power.

Water:
- Physical: Conjures liquid with adjustable viscosity and pressure. Versatile and fluid in form.
- Magical: Conjures ice, snow, and cold. Can defend the user, and slow down or trap enemies. Can heal, cleanse, and preserve.

Air:
- Physical: Conjures wind and compressed gas. Very fast, but lacks defensive power.
- Magical: Conjures electricity and magnetic fields. Very fast, and can paralyze or disrupt enemies. Can buff agility and speed.

Earth
- Physical: Conjures earth and organic matter. Strong and durable, but relatively slow.
- Magical: Conjures toxic and corrosive chemicals. High damage over time, and can inflict a variety of physical ailments. Can heal, cleanse, and buff defense.

Light:
- Physical: Conjures solid light. Strong and versatile but lacks permanence, dissipating when disrupted. Resists natural elements but weak to dark.
- Magical: Conjures radiant holy energy. Good at disrupting, restraining, and pacifying enemies. Can heal, cleanse, and buff defense.

Dark:
- Physical: Conjures solid darkness. Strong and versatile but lacks permanence, dissipating when disrupted. Resists natural elements but weak to light.
- Magical: Conjures shadowy demonic energy. Good at cursing, debilitating, and weakening enemies. Can drain life and strongly buff offensive power.

Psychic:
- Physical: Conjures telekinetic force fields. Strong and versatile but lacks permanence, dissipating when disrupted. Resists natural elements but mildly weak to supernatural elements.
- Magical: Conjures illusions, psychic energy, and pure magic. Bypasses many types of physical defense, and inflicts mental and magical ailments. Very good at psychic defense and cleansing mental and magical ailments.

Almighty:
- Physical: Conjures unidentifiable exotic matter. Powerful, versatile, and has no weaknesses, but very rare and hard to use.
- Magical: Conjures mysterious otherworldly energy. Very powerful, and nothing has resistance against it, but very rare and hard to use.

Shadows and Personae

These are the actual supernatural elements of the setting. Very few people know of their existence, and they are poorly understood in general. More about them will be revealed as the story progresses.

The Shadow Realm, Shadows, and Palaces

The Shadow Realm is an otherworldly realm that exists in parallel to the physical world, full of magical energy that resonates with humanity's collective subconsciousness. People are sent here if they lose a duel in a certain children's card game fall victim to the Saklas Syndrome, and Persona users have additional means of entering and leaving. Using magic outside the Shadow Realm is possible but requires much more skill, so initially the player characters will likely have difficulty using their full powers in the real world.

The shadow archetype, a concept from Jungian psychology, represents a person's suppressed subconscious desires and aspects of himself that he does not want to accept. When a person is affected by the Saklas Syndrome, the buried dark side of his psyche physically manifests as a Shadow, a spiritual entity initially resembling a dark reflection of its host. The mental state of a Shadow ranges from animalistic to having a fully cognizant alternate personality, and its attitude toward the host can vary wildly, depending on the specifics of the host's personality. But in the most likely case where the host attempts to reject his Shadow, the psychological duress causes the Shadow to shift into a monstrous form symbolizing its nature and go out of control, wielding magical powers that are highly likely to kill its host. The trauma of its host's death then causes the Shadow to lose the last vestiges of its humanity, resulting in rapid psychological distortion into a full-fledged monster. These Shadows are then doomed to wander the Shadow Realm, where they may mutate, split, merge, and breed. Other forms of Shadow production also exist, such as spontaneous generation from the aggregate of mass emotions and desires, or arising from a recently dead person like a ghost.

During the day, the Shadow Realm is filled with the white fog, born from the cacophony of social media and global connectivity. But at night, when the conscious mind quiets down and the subconsciousness begins to stir, the fog fades away to reveal surreal dark landscapes influenced by nearby Shadows and real life geography. A very strong-willed Shadow can materialize a Palace into the Shadow Realm, a concrete locale of varying size and danger, reflecting its nature much like its appearance. A Palace can further change as its inhabitants do, or dissipate if not maintained.

Arcana and Personas

The Shadow does not necessarily represent negative qualities, simply ones that have been denied and suppressed and now gone out of control. The healthiest solution is almost always for the host to accept his Shadow and reintegrate it into his psyche, transforming the Shadow's negatives into positives and becoming a step closer to psychological completion. Such a thing is easier said than done, however, and the Shadow's darkness is a power not many humans can tame.

Helping with the task greatly are Arcana, mysterious projections of ethereal blue energy that resemble Tarot cards. It has manifested before each potential Persona user as he is about to be attacked by his Shadow, and the NPC Utasaki Aria (see her profile in the Characters tab, 0th post) claims to be the one who granted this power. An Arcana permanently fuses with a compatible host to grant magical powers, and its presence allows the host to temper his Shadow into a Persona, a spiritual projection of his inner self. Manifesting the Persona can be taxing, but its powers are undeniable, greatly complementing and bolstering the host's. It will grow with its host and may even undergo a significant metamorphosis, but it is also impacted by the host's thoughts and feelings. If the host succumbs to major psychological trauma, it is possible for the Persona to go berserk or even regress back into the host's Shadow. The host does not take damage if the Persona is destroyed, and can spend energy to manifest it again, but the energy spent on manifesting it the first time will be lost unless the host is skilled at reclaiming some of the lost energy before it fully dissipates; continuously doing this strains the host's body as per usual exertion rules.

The Persona is usually named after a mythological or historical figure whose story resonates with the host's personality, though this association is only thematic, and does not imply the actual existence of mythological beings. As a result, Persona names are not unique, and multiple people can have Personae named after the same mythological figure, each presenting a different interpretation of said figure. Multiple people can have the same Arcana, and the same mythological figure can be associated with different Arcana, due to the different interpretations of said figure that different people can have. Finally, the power level of a Persona solely depends on the power level of the host, and has no correlation with the power level of the mythological figure the Persona is named after within its own story. Therefore, it's perfectly okay to start with a Persona named after a deity or other powerful mythological being.

The default way to manifest one's Persona starts with a shadowy figure rising out of the host, then the Arcana card materializes, before dissolving into streams of glowing energy that wrap around the shadowy figure and transform it into the Persona. More skilled users can manifest the Persona in other ways, such as partial manifestation and transforming it into equipment. Sometimes the Persona may display a will of its own as the host's Shadow, though that depends on the person.

A list of Major Arcana and their usual meanings are listed below. I know that there are many different and complex Tarot interpretations out there, but these are the ones I've chosen to use. If this summary isn't enough, you can look at this guide. Nonstandard Arcana from nonstandard Tarot decks, such as the Thoth deck or Minchiate, are not allowed, for plot reasons.

Major Arcana

0 - Fool: [NOT AVAILABLE TO PLAYERS.]

I - Magician: Creativity, resourcefulness, cunning, focus.

II - High Priestess: Intuition, mystery, subconsciousness, emotion.

III - Empress: Fertility, life, nourishment, healing.

IV - Emperor: Authority, stability, order, tradition.

V - Hierophant: Spirituality, faith, wisdom, insight.

VI - Lovers: Harmony, sharing, connections, trust.

VII - Chariot: Ambition, victory, persistence, purpose.

VIII - Justice: Fairness, balance, honesty, morality.

IX - Hermit: Solitude, meditation, guidance, searching.

X - Fortune: Evolution, destiny, opportunity, luck.

XI - Strength: Willpower, courage, patience, self-control.

XII - Hanged Man: Sacrifice, altruism, acceptance, surrender.

XIII - Death: Termination, rebirth, change, cyclicity.

XIV - Temperance: Moderation, compromise, synthesis, duality.

XV - Devil: Amorality, freedom, domination, materialism.

XVI - Tower: Turmoil, upheaval, awakening, resolution.

XVII - Star: Hope, inspiration, peace, protection.

XVIII - Moon: Instinct, dream, imagination, trickery.

XIX - Sun: Optimism, joy, confidence, satisfaction.

XX - Judgement: [NOT AVAILABLE TO PLAYERS.]

XXI - World: [NOT AVAILABLE TO PLAYERS.]

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Character Sheet

Character Sheet

Name: Can include full name, nicknames, pseudonyms, titles, epithets, and the like.

Age: Remember that the year is 2022. Almost always limited to normal human lifespan. Exceptions are possible but you'll really have to convince me why it's a good idea.

Gender: LGBT characters are welcome. But remember, you don't need to focus on gender issues unless it makes sense for your character and would make a good story.

Appearance: Bonding with an Arcana grants your character an alternate costume that manifests in the Shadow Realm, which may also change some aspects of your character's bodily features. There may or may not also be gradual, permanent appearance changes.

Personality: You don't have to give an extensive psychoanalysis of your character, but a general summary is helpful. Think about your character's preferences, principles, aspirations, fears, etc.. These are going to be important to the character's Arcana, Shadow, and Persona. If you want a character with split personalities or similar unusual mental features, ask me first and we'll work out how this affects the Shadow and Persona.

Backstory: Again, only a general summary will suffice, though you'll need to have my permission first if you want to have any secret parts of your character's backstory that are not revealed to the public. As the introduction suggests, the standard plot hook is that your character falls victim to the Saklas Syndrome, gets transported to the Shadow Realm, and thus gets attacked by his Shadow. The NPC Utasaki Aria will then appear and try to recruit your character to help with investigating the Saklas Syndrome. This is expected to play out in your first few posts where your character is introduced. Though if you want, you can have your character not gain his Persona right away, and instead get rescued by the other characters early on in the game. Your starting location doesn't really matter, as Aria can create portals to places all around the world. If you don't want to take this plot hook, you'll have to talk to me so we can work out something to properly involve your character.

Skills: Your character's mundane skills without the aid of magic.

Abilities: Magical abilities granted by the Arcana that do not involve the use of a Persona. By default, this includes generally increased physical robustness, and some basic spells or conjured weapons. Your character is exceedingly unlikely to have any special powers prior to obtaining his Arcana, though it's not entirely off the table if you can convince me it's a good idea.

Arcana: Include a brief description of why this Arcana suits your character.

Shadow: Summarize the repressed qualities represented by your character's Shadow, as well as its human and monstrous appearances. Note that unlike canon Persona games, your Shadow's human form does not have to have yellow eyes. Make note of it if the Shadow has any abilities not shared with your character's Persona.

Persona: Summarize the thematic connections between your Persona and the mythological or historical figure it's named after, and its appearance. Some things to note:
- A general summary of the Persona's elements, abilities, and fighting style is needed, though you don't need to list every single thing your Persona can do. If you're unsure whether a specific action fits your Persona's moveset, ask me, and I'll call you out if I feel that it's an asspull.
- The Persona can have some advanced abilities that your character doesn't have, but it's also okay if it only has powered-up versions of your character's abilities, or passively empowers your character, or fight as an extension of your character.
- You can have a few minor elemental resistances for free, but major resistances need to be balanced out by vulnerabilities.
- Since your Persona is the tamed version of your character's Shadow, it'll likely take on a form that's either genderless or sharing your character's gender, regardless of the gender of the mythological or historical figure the Persona is named after.

A blank character sheet can be found below and copied for your convenience.

Blank Character Sheet

[b]Name[/b]:

[b]Age[/b]:

[b]Gender[/b]:

[b]Appearance[/b]:

[b]Personality[/b]:

[b]Backstory[/b]:

[b]Skills[/b]:

[b]Abilities[/b]:

[b]Arcana[/b]:

[b]Shadow[/b]:

[b]Persona[/b]:

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Rules

All guild rules apply. In addition, there are a few points that I want to clarify and emphasize.

- Each player is not limited to one character. Feel free to make multiple characters if you think you can handle it, within reason. You can make minor characters that are more akin to NPCs, and potentially turn them into major characters later if you want.

- I am someone who takes internal consistency and verisimilitude very seriously. Therefore, if I see something in your post that I believe to be a plot hole, I'm almost always going to ask you to fix it. If you don't, I may have to gratuitously retcon some things, or even declare your post invalid.

- Don't godmod. When interacting with another character, work together with that character's owner to ensure everyone's actions, reactions, and consequences remain consistent. That includes NPCs controlled by the GM and co-GM.

- I'll try to give player characters a moderate amount of plot armor and good luck. But actions have consequences, and the suspension of disbelief only stretches so far. Keep that in mind before you try to make a dangerously reckless character.

- Mature topics involving corruption on both personal and societal levels will be discussed in the plot. As per forum rules, there won't be anything explicit, nor will I make things pointlessly grimdark, but just be aware that this isn't an innocent kids' show.

- If you want to leave the game, I'll try to retcon out your character's existence. If that's not feasible, I'll try to remove your character from the plot as painlessly as possible.