Post by Alice on May 17, 2015 2:57:50 GMT
Hello, valued members. Oh, wait. I was half-asleep. Good evening, my sentient fleshbags! I hope you're all doing quite well today! You've probably come to guess that, considering where this message is, but this is another announcement to alert you all to some new things! We've got a little bit of everything in this release- classics from our predecessor, things planned but postponed, and some completely new additions. We've even got a few edits in mind, which will open up new windows of opportunity for you all! No escaping from here, though. Welcome to hell; you'll be here always.
~Veterans~
While new members won't be able to take advantage of this just yet, members who've been diligently raising their characters can make a “Veteran Persona-user”! This was a classic from our first run ,but a few things have changed to accommodate the new system and whatnot. Firstly, Veterans can only be made at a 1:1 ratio for characters that have reached Level 4 naturally. This means that until you've made a normal User (or Civilian turned User) that has reached Level 4, you cannot make a Veteran. Additionally, you can't just get one User to L4, then spew out Veterans; it's a one-for-one. One Veteran per each L4 User.
Now, you might ask, what's the point of a Veteran User? Well, there's a few nice benefits you get. First and foremost, a Veteran will start at Level 4 by default, and you'll be allotted a full 10,000 FP to invest in your skills and/or gear enhancements. However, you will not fall below Level 4 because you fail to invest the flat 10,000. That'd be silly. Additionally, you will be able to start with a Level 4 Weapon and a Level 3 Armor by default. They will not be modded, but you can always invest some of your initial 10k into them, if you so choose.
Functionally, a Veteran is a User that has been awakened for some time prior to the present and has been gaining experience naturally, whether they realize it or not. It could be someone that has awakened and become active since the plot of the board has started, or it could be someone that has had prior experience. We are perfectly fine with things branching out, and with previous “incidents” having been resolved in other locations. We simply ask that you be reasonable. No “Saviors of the World” here, please.
~Shadows~
Hey, hey, hey, it's Faaaaat Alvis! More seriously, this is another returning classic, and one that has been reworked from the ground up for utilization at Soul Paradigm. Unlike Veterans, anybody can make a Shadow, regardless of their number of characters or progress on said characters. There's a few major differences between a playable Shadow and a User, however. We'll start with functionality and purchases, then work our way around the rest of the features revolving this class.
Shadows start with 5,000 FP to invest. Shadows have only three Levels. At 10,000 invested, they can hit L2, and at 15k, L3. Shadows will match with Users in terms of natural resistances and weaknesses. This means a 1:1 or 2:2 ratio for starting resistances to starting weaknesses. Resistance growth occurs identical to a User's growth, but it occurs with each new Level. For example, Resists would become Nulls at L2, and Absorb/Repel at L3. Shadows may not have equipment, but they can have a “Default Attack” to simulate weapon use. This attack can be any attribute you desire. For damage calculation, it is effectively Minor at L1, Moderate at L2, and Major at L3. In comparison to an equally-grown User, a playable Shadow is about 1.25-1.5x their power level in terms of “HP”, “SP”, and the like. Finally, the last change in raw functionality is that a playable Shadow has a total of 10 skill slots.
Let's cover skill differences here. Because of their limited versatility with their “Default”, Weapon Master and Attack all are not as heavily restricted as they would be on Users; full Support Shadows cannot have these two skills, but Option 1 Shadows, and “Option 3” (now effectively Option 2, for Shadows) Shadows will be able to access them, no questions asked. To equalize with their lack of gear, Option 1 and 2 Shadows may have up to two passive resistance skill lines. Option 3 Shadows may have up to three passive resist lines. Finally, in terms of costs (both by-use and in-store), healing, and whatnot, all other skills are functionally the same as they would be with a User.
Now, you might wonder if Shadows grow differently than Users. Yes and no. Shadows can explore much like normal Users can- even in Shadow areas! You see, Shadows are cannibals and can assimilate weaker Shadows to grow in strength. Yaaaay! They can participate in bosses, as well. However, Shadows cannot spawn bosses. Now, they do have a give-and-take relationship with Users. Shadows can fight Users, and both parties can gain FP. Users, if tying or losing, will gain 250 FP, and 500 FP if they win. Shadows will gain 500 FP if they lose or tie, and 1,000 FP if they win. Additionally, Shadows gain twice the amount of FP from Full Moon Boss participation as a User would. Seems like a lot? Maybe! Maybe. However, they are not allowed to participate in missions.
And that's that for Shadows in terms of functionality and execution. You might wonder how one is made, in-world, at this point. We're sticking mostly to Persona 4 conventions here. A person can encounter their Shadow (likely during the Dark Hour, if recently, but we'll accept other timings and whatnot, if set in earlier/different locations, for older Shadows), and, upon rejecting them, be subsequently killed and “replaced” by their Shadow. Sentient Shadows, or PC Shadows, are Shadows that have replaced their human counterpart. A Shadow, for those wondering, is essentially one's hidden side, the secrets and vices and buried inclinations that one feels guilty or ashamed of. Usually, when encountering their Shadow, one will find that these feelings- negative or not- are often twisted, enhanced, and otherwise corrupted by their Shadow, and this one primary reason for the subsequent rejection.
Now, there's a couple of things we should mention about Shadows, in closing. First, how you can play them. Shadows have their own desires and agendas. Some are simply living out their “Original's” desires, while others are just living to live. It really varies. Shadows can be hostile to Users or not, we're fine with neutral parties. However, please do not make a Shadow that is seeking to specifically help the humans as a whole. This was an issue we had in our original run, and we find it easier to nip this in the bud here. Additionally, your Users cannot become Shadows, and your Shadows cannot become Users. However, Civilians can become Shadows. Keep in mind that you will not have the 5,000 FP base investment, however. Now, here's a general note on Shadows and how they can use their abilities in the setting. Shadows do not have Personas, naturally. Instead, they can turn into a “Shadow Form”. It's shapeshifting, put simply. However, unlike Users, they cannot access this other form (or their active skills) in the normal world. They can only shapeshift and fight in the Dark Hour or in the Dark World. Finally, if a Shadow Form is scanned, the Shadow cannot be tracked by the scanner when in human form! This would be unfair and would lead to a witch hunt. However, if scanned while in human form, the Shadow would still produce the same results!
And that about wraps up our Shadows for now. A bit bulky, yes! However, I had to make sure you knew all the new features and functions with them. Forgive me, my dearest little fertilizer sacks.
~Additional Weapon Mods~
Though there's not a lot to mention here, we are adding something, so it's good to make that clear here. We'll be adding two new weapon mods with unique effects currently unavailable! These two mods are our “Life Stealer” and “Soul Stealer” mods. Both are priced at a low fee of 700 FP! Now, you might ask, what do these mods do? Well, simple! A weapon with Life Stealer will convert about 10% of the damage dealt to health for the wielder. For a weapon with Soul Stealer, the piece will convert about 10% of the damage dealt to SP for the wielder. Now, it should be obvious, but these effects will only function when the weapons are successfully used to deal damage. Try not to become a vampire~
~Option 3 Alteration~
This is referring to the third “build option” in the skill shop. Originally, Users (and now Shadows) that went this route would be limited to only one line of attacks, effectively being crippled in terms of offense, while not gaining all that much in the way of support (compared to Option 4's unrestricted access). We've considered this, and we will now be changing this and opening it up further. Option 3 may now access any number of offensive skills they desire, however, they still may not exceed Major-all. This means no Severe-tier for you all! However, this should make the option much more enticing as a “Jack-of-All-Trades” option.
~New Skills~
And, surprise surprise! We've got a few new skills to offer you all. Specifically, this is a set of “Status Passives”, or skills that function based on which status effect is currently functioning on a character. There are two sets! One keeps the negative effect, but offers weighty “rewards” for the burden. The other set instead nullifies the statuses, while also granting some (typically lesser) benefit. These skills will not be restricted to specific options, nor are there any restrictions on the number you get. Naturally, though, you cannot get both skills of a single status. After all, you can't be suffering from the status effect if you nullify its natural effects, right? You'll find these skills, their costs, and their effects, below!
(2,000) Raging Tiger - When engraged, boosts weapon power by 75% instead of 50%
(2,000) Serene State - Nullifies the effects of rage, instead boosting skill
power by 20%
(2,000) Masochist - When charmed, the Charmer cannot damage you.
(2,000) Charisma - Nullifies the effects of charm and recovers the user to full
health upon successful charming
(2,000) Plaguewalker - When poisoned, all of your attacks carry a 25% chance to
spread poison on success.
(2,000) Poison Heal - Reverses the effects of poison, effectively healing you
instead of damaging you.
(2,000) Sleepwalker - When asleep, gain 50% evasion to all attacks as well as a
bonus 10% deduction in damage; both stack with buffs.
(2,000) Insomnia - Nullifies the effects of sleep and and grants the user
perfect accuracy (attacks cannot be dodged by target, as well).
(2,000) Critical Terror - When afraid, boosts critical rate by 40%
(2,000) Adrenaline Rush - Nullifies the effects of fear, instead granting Heat
Riser upon successful fear rolls.
(2,000) Swagger - When confused, boost attack power by 50%
(2,000) Thick-headed - Nullifies the effects of Confusion and grants Tarukaja
and one Power Charge upon successful Confusion rolls.
(2,000) Battle Focus - When silenced, gain an additional 25% chance of evasion
and 20% chance of critical.
(2,000) Inner Focus - Nullifies the effects of Silence, but gain one Mind
Charge, and temporarily half the cost of spells for the next three turns (stacks
with Spell Master).
(2,000) Energy Burn - When exhausted, magical offense power is boosted by 30%
(2,000) Steam Engine - Reverses the effects of exhaust, effectively restoring SP
instead of lowering it
And that about sums it up for now. Hopefully that's enough to keep you from biting us any time soon. We'll feed you more following the next Full Moon Boss! Look forward to it!
And, of course, if you're confused about something, please ask questions right belooooow here!
~Veterans~
While new members won't be able to take advantage of this just yet, members who've been diligently raising their characters can make a “Veteran Persona-user”! This was a classic from our first run ,but a few things have changed to accommodate the new system and whatnot. Firstly, Veterans can only be made at a 1:1 ratio for characters that have reached Level 4 naturally. This means that until you've made a normal User (or Civilian turned User) that has reached Level 4, you cannot make a Veteran. Additionally, you can't just get one User to L4, then spew out Veterans; it's a one-for-one. One Veteran per each L4 User.
Now, you might ask, what's the point of a Veteran User? Well, there's a few nice benefits you get. First and foremost, a Veteran will start at Level 4 by default, and you'll be allotted a full 10,000 FP to invest in your skills and/or gear enhancements. However, you will not fall below Level 4 because you fail to invest the flat 10,000. That'd be silly. Additionally, you will be able to start with a Level 4 Weapon and a Level 3 Armor by default. They will not be modded, but you can always invest some of your initial 10k into them, if you so choose.
Functionally, a Veteran is a User that has been awakened for some time prior to the present and has been gaining experience naturally, whether they realize it or not. It could be someone that has awakened and become active since the plot of the board has started, or it could be someone that has had prior experience. We are perfectly fine with things branching out, and with previous “incidents” having been resolved in other locations. We simply ask that you be reasonable. No “Saviors of the World” here, please.
~Shadows~
Hey, hey, hey, it's Faaaaat Alvis! More seriously, this is another returning classic, and one that has been reworked from the ground up for utilization at Soul Paradigm. Unlike Veterans, anybody can make a Shadow, regardless of their number of characters or progress on said characters. There's a few major differences between a playable Shadow and a User, however. We'll start with functionality and purchases, then work our way around the rest of the features revolving this class.
Shadows start with 5,000 FP to invest. Shadows have only three Levels. At 10,000 invested, they can hit L2, and at 15k, L3. Shadows will match with Users in terms of natural resistances and weaknesses. This means a 1:1 or 2:2 ratio for starting resistances to starting weaknesses. Resistance growth occurs identical to a User's growth, but it occurs with each new Level. For example, Resists would become Nulls at L2, and Absorb/Repel at L3. Shadows may not have equipment, but they can have a “Default Attack” to simulate weapon use. This attack can be any attribute you desire. For damage calculation, it is effectively Minor at L1, Moderate at L2, and Major at L3. In comparison to an equally-grown User, a playable Shadow is about 1.25-1.5x their power level in terms of “HP”, “SP”, and the like. Finally, the last change in raw functionality is that a playable Shadow has a total of 10 skill slots.
Let's cover skill differences here. Because of their limited versatility with their “Default”, Weapon Master and Attack all are not as heavily restricted as they would be on Users; full Support Shadows cannot have these two skills, but Option 1 Shadows, and “Option 3” (now effectively Option 2, for Shadows) Shadows will be able to access them, no questions asked. To equalize with their lack of gear, Option 1 and 2 Shadows may have up to two passive resistance skill lines. Option 3 Shadows may have up to three passive resist lines. Finally, in terms of costs (both by-use and in-store), healing, and whatnot, all other skills are functionally the same as they would be with a User.
Now, you might wonder if Shadows grow differently than Users. Yes and no. Shadows can explore much like normal Users can- even in Shadow areas! You see, Shadows are cannibals and can assimilate weaker Shadows to grow in strength. Yaaaay! They can participate in bosses, as well. However, Shadows cannot spawn bosses. Now, they do have a give-and-take relationship with Users. Shadows can fight Users, and both parties can gain FP. Users, if tying or losing, will gain 250 FP, and 500 FP if they win. Shadows will gain 500 FP if they lose or tie, and 1,000 FP if they win. Additionally, Shadows gain twice the amount of FP from Full Moon Boss participation as a User would. Seems like a lot? Maybe! Maybe. However, they are not allowed to participate in missions.
And that's that for Shadows in terms of functionality and execution. You might wonder how one is made, in-world, at this point. We're sticking mostly to Persona 4 conventions here. A person can encounter their Shadow (likely during the Dark Hour, if recently, but we'll accept other timings and whatnot, if set in earlier/different locations, for older Shadows), and, upon rejecting them, be subsequently killed and “replaced” by their Shadow. Sentient Shadows, or PC Shadows, are Shadows that have replaced their human counterpart. A Shadow, for those wondering, is essentially one's hidden side, the secrets and vices and buried inclinations that one feels guilty or ashamed of. Usually, when encountering their Shadow, one will find that these feelings- negative or not- are often twisted, enhanced, and otherwise corrupted by their Shadow, and this one primary reason for the subsequent rejection.
Now, there's a couple of things we should mention about Shadows, in closing. First, how you can play them. Shadows have their own desires and agendas. Some are simply living out their “Original's” desires, while others are just living to live. It really varies. Shadows can be hostile to Users or not, we're fine with neutral parties. However, please do not make a Shadow that is seeking to specifically help the humans as a whole. This was an issue we had in our original run, and we find it easier to nip this in the bud here. Additionally, your Users cannot become Shadows, and your Shadows cannot become Users. However, Civilians can become Shadows. Keep in mind that you will not have the 5,000 FP base investment, however. Now, here's a general note on Shadows and how they can use their abilities in the setting. Shadows do not have Personas, naturally. Instead, they can turn into a “Shadow Form”. It's shapeshifting, put simply. However, unlike Users, they cannot access this other form (or their active skills) in the normal world. They can only shapeshift and fight in the Dark Hour or in the Dark World. Finally, if a Shadow Form is scanned, the Shadow cannot be tracked by the scanner when in human form! This would be unfair and would lead to a witch hunt. However, if scanned while in human form, the Shadow would still produce the same results!
And that about wraps up our Shadows for now. A bit bulky, yes! However, I had to make sure you knew all the new features and functions with them. Forgive me, my dearest little fertilizer sacks.
~Additional Weapon Mods~
Though there's not a lot to mention here, we are adding something, so it's good to make that clear here. We'll be adding two new weapon mods with unique effects currently unavailable! These two mods are our “Life Stealer” and “Soul Stealer” mods. Both are priced at a low fee of 700 FP! Now, you might ask, what do these mods do? Well, simple! A weapon with Life Stealer will convert about 10% of the damage dealt to health for the wielder. For a weapon with Soul Stealer, the piece will convert about 10% of the damage dealt to SP for the wielder. Now, it should be obvious, but these effects will only function when the weapons are successfully used to deal damage. Try not to become a vampire~
~Option 3 Alteration~
This is referring to the third “build option” in the skill shop. Originally, Users (and now Shadows) that went this route would be limited to only one line of attacks, effectively being crippled in terms of offense, while not gaining all that much in the way of support (compared to Option 4's unrestricted access). We've considered this, and we will now be changing this and opening it up further. Option 3 may now access any number of offensive skills they desire, however, they still may not exceed Major-all. This means no Severe-tier for you all! However, this should make the option much more enticing as a “Jack-of-All-Trades” option.
~New Skills~
And, surprise surprise! We've got a few new skills to offer you all. Specifically, this is a set of “Status Passives”, or skills that function based on which status effect is currently functioning on a character. There are two sets! One keeps the negative effect, but offers weighty “rewards” for the burden. The other set instead nullifies the statuses, while also granting some (typically lesser) benefit. These skills will not be restricted to specific options, nor are there any restrictions on the number you get. Naturally, though, you cannot get both skills of a single status. After all, you can't be suffering from the status effect if you nullify its natural effects, right? You'll find these skills, their costs, and their effects, below!
(2,000) Raging Tiger - When engraged, boosts weapon power by 75% instead of 50%
(2,000) Serene State - Nullifies the effects of rage, instead boosting skill
power by 20%
(2,000) Masochist - When charmed, the Charmer cannot damage you.
(2,000) Charisma - Nullifies the effects of charm and recovers the user to full
health upon successful charming
(2,000) Plaguewalker - When poisoned, all of your attacks carry a 25% chance to
spread poison on success.
(2,000) Poison Heal - Reverses the effects of poison, effectively healing you
instead of damaging you.
(2,000) Sleepwalker - When asleep, gain 50% evasion to all attacks as well as a
bonus 10% deduction in damage; both stack with buffs.
(2,000) Insomnia - Nullifies the effects of sleep and and grants the user
perfect accuracy (attacks cannot be dodged by target, as well).
(2,000) Critical Terror - When afraid, boosts critical rate by 40%
(2,000) Adrenaline Rush - Nullifies the effects of fear, instead granting Heat
Riser upon successful fear rolls.
(2,000) Swagger - When confused, boost attack power by 50%
(2,000) Thick-headed - Nullifies the effects of Confusion and grants Tarukaja
and one Power Charge upon successful Confusion rolls.
(2,000) Battle Focus - When silenced, gain an additional 25% chance of evasion
and 20% chance of critical.
(2,000) Inner Focus - Nullifies the effects of Silence, but gain one Mind
Charge, and temporarily half the cost of spells for the next three turns (stacks
with Spell Master).
(2,000) Energy Burn - When exhausted, magical offense power is boosted by 30%
(2,000) Steam Engine - Reverses the effects of exhaust, effectively restoring SP
instead of lowering it
And that about sums it up for now. Hopefully that's enough to keep you from biting us any time soon. We'll feed you more following the next Full Moon Boss! Look forward to it!
And, of course, if you're confused about something, please ask questions right belooooow here!
