I'd like to try to create a Persona campaign at some point. I'm thinking an alternate class version of the summoner would have the right feel. Thoughts?
You have my attention.
I like the idea. Summoner would be a pretty good base, I'd agree. Could be a headache to look after with so many critters running around. You might want to consider using the Synthesist summoner reflavored in some way (so they aren't getting seperate rounds from the Persona itself).
If you are up for the bookwork, have the PC's be NPC classes as normal, and the Personas can be the typical PC class options when active. Can also keep the normal versions relatively low level while letting the Personas gain xp faster.
/random.
My Gott!
This is something I've been trying to do as well.
What I was going to do, is that each player would choose a base class that would consist of..
Jock
Geek
Prep
Goth
Teacher Pet
etc.
Jocks got a medium base attack bonus unless they picked something like a Kendo Jock (Other jocks however tend to get a wide variety of bonuses). Most would get low skill points except for geek, who would get the highest, prep the second highest. And they would have class skills based on that class.
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I've been planning to run a game based on Persona 4 and was going to try something similar.
My plan was to allow each player to choose between the 'wildcard' Persona user like the main characters of P3 and P4 or the focused Persona using character type like the non-MC party members of P3 and P4. My plan was to have the 'focused' character use the summoner class as written, and have the 'wildcard' class use the Master Summoner Archetype, reskinning all of the monsters on the Summon Monster I-IX tables to be demons and personas from the SMT games. Most of the outsider types should be easy to change into something SMT-appropriate, since many personas are already demons, angels, and gods.
To keep the characters from going overboard and trashing the 'real' world, my game will only allow them to use the spells and summoning abilities from the Summoner class while in the other dimension, midnight hour, tv world, etc (The Amala Network in my game). The rest of the time they'll use the hp, base attack, mundane feats and skill ranks from the summoner class, but important or dangerous people in the real world will have levels of heroic non-magical classes from PF, such as Fighter and Rogue (or either of the spell-less Ranger archetypes), to make them even matches in the other dimension but much scarier in the normal world.
For any modern needs like weapon damage for guns or modern skills like computers, I was planning on using the rules from the Modern Path or if not there just use d20 modern.
I'm still in the planning stages - my Eberron game has a few months left on it as the characters approach the endgame, and I plan to have full rules written up by the time the Eberron game wraps up so we can jump straight into Persona.
As an aside, I wonder if either the Synthesist Summoner or a Infernal/Abyssal bloodline Sorc would make a good Demi-Fiend (from SMT Nocturne) type character?
I have also thought about this before a little bit, but both my GM and myself hate the Summoner class. Still, making a Summoner archetype to simulate SMT: Persona would be pretty damn cool. I'll have to think on it and see if I have any ideas to throw at you.
My only initial thought is that many of the personae have themes or elements. You could possibly create something similar to Sorcerer bloodlines for each personae where they get certain abilities at certain levels that scale as they level. Like gaining a low-powered version of Scorching Ray (Agi) at 1st level that scales in damage as you progress (to Agidyne).
You'd also have to keep in mind the action economy of summoning and casting a spell or performing an attack in this manner. I would assume that it would be a full-round action. Especially since in the games the characters don't actually move around too much in battle anyway.
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This is slightly off topic, but Persona 4: The Animation (100% faithful to the game anime adaptation of P4) is on Hulu, about halfway done and still releasing new episodes last I checked.
I bring this up because I'm using P4: The Animation to introduce one member of my gaming group to the SMT Persona universe. All of my other players have already played Persona 4, this guy's not big on Japanese video game RPGs, but encouraging him to watch a TV show in preparation for the game is going to be an easier sell methinks. Hopefully the P4 anime can help some more people sell their non-video-gaming friends on the coolness of the SMT series.
[Edited out some typos]
The way I was going to have it, the player and the persona both still get their own separate actions. Cept for the most part the player would mostly be doing utility stuff since guns don't hurt magical creatures.
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The way I was going to have it, the player and the persona both still get their own separate actions. Cept for the most part the player would mostly be doing utility stuff since guns don't hurt magical creatures.
An additional advantage is that if the PCs are high schoolers like in P3 and P4, ready access to guns is unlikely. Even if they do have guns, ready access to ammo is also a challenge. Liklier that they'll have access to unconventional melee weapons, like baseball bats. Armor's also a problem. I don't see characters getting involved in much direct combat, especially with a Summoner's base attack. Maybe the 'jock' type character who maxes out physical stats will have some melee capabilities, but I see the characters mostly helping out with spellcasting, aid another actions, and donating HPs to their Personas...
I'm also thinking about altering the spell lists somewhat, and allowing the player to choose their spellcasting ability rather than forcing every character to max out CHA.
My idea was to let players choose INT, WIS, or CHA to be their spellcasting ability score, and give them a different spell list based on ability chosen. INT casters will be attack and utility, WIS will be buffs and debuffs, and CHA will be defensive and healing spells (since Japanese RPGs tend to make the most likeable and personable characters the healers rather than the most worldly and wise).
For me it's all still in the concept/planning stages.
Yeah, cause in persona 4, the "Jock" character punched his own shadow to defeat it.
There is also the random persona user who isn't a teenager every so often too, such as persona 2, you had the detective. (though his gun sucked against the monsters, so you used his persona a bit more.)
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Yeah, most of the characters do wield weapons, but it seems like they usually grab them from the Ren Faire or the local sporting goods shop rather than a real armory, except for Naoto's gun. Not sure how that happened.
I've only played 3 and 4 so far, plus a few other SMT games such as Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga, and I'm currently playing Devil Survivor.
Actually, the Master Summoner would be *great* for a Devil Survivor tabletop.
I haven't looked at any of the 3PP stuff yet, but I'm wondering if any of the 3PP PDFs focusing on Summoners and Eidolons might be able to add variety to an all-Summoner game to keep things interesting and keep the party from feeling too similar to each other.
If you're interested in my planned storyline, wall of text below:
In my game I'm going to be combining the idea of the TV world from P4 with the Amala Network from Nocturne. The Amala Network will be offered as an ISP in the PCs' hometown and they can jump into any computer connected to the Amala Network in order to enter the computer world and solve a murder mystery, similar to P4. Their Personas will start out only working inside of the computer world but in buildings and houses that have a lot of devices hooked up to the Amala Network, monster powers and Personas will start to work in the real world as the Amala Network 'bleeds' out into the real world.
The idea is going to be that the Amala Network, like the TV world, is powered by peoples' obsessions and ideas, and the big bad wants to replace physical reality with a world powered entirely by ideas where there are no physical laws. Instead of having shadows, all people are going to have dopplegangers who are soulless perfect versions of everything that person wants to be. When a person gets Amala Network installed in their home or workplace, their doppleganger comes out to kill and replace them, which will create the murder mystery element. The PCs need to stop the big bad before the whole world is eaten up in a world of ideas that have no basis in reality anymore. Given the SMT series's penchant for multiple endings, I might write in the possibility that the PCs decide to help the big bad once they find out his plan.