Persona/Demon System Concept Proposal

Personas and Demons' differences come only in their classes' abilities; Demon Sumoners use MAG and can attack individually of their Demons who use their own individual SP, those Demons also have their innate HP and can be targeted as separate units, similar to how Kuzunoha worked in Endymion but nerfed; Persona Users function basically identically to how they've always functioned except they get a more in-depth fusion and Persona creation system, also allowing them to share their non-Initial, Prime or Ultimate Personas with other people by registering them in that person's compendium (only available through SLing, costs VC for the person whose compendium is being written on).

Personas and Demons can be both created and fused in similar ways:

Persona creation: Through Tarot Cards dropped by Demons (each Demon has either a set or random Arcana given each battle and drops a random but preset amount of Tarot Cards of that Arcana depending on their level, i.e. a Level 10 Demon might drop between 100-600 Cards while a Level 30 Demon drops between 300 and 900). Material Cards, crafted by either maxing out Personas (the person's Initial Persona gives their Prime's Material Card) and higher Tier Personas require more Material Cards. Some Event-exclusive Personas give unique Material Cards required to fuse higher-Tier Event Personas.

Demon creation: Each Demon has a set Race and Alignment (both randomized, Alignment varies between Chaotic, Neutral and Lawful) and can be negotiated with to be added to the Summoner's party. Be smart about this, make the Demons out of the preexisting template for Personas/Demons, only roll for their Race and Alignment if there even is a Summoner present in the battle, it's a tiny bit of busywork but it can all be put in the same place in the backend. Keep a supply of Demons in the backroom to just recycle over and over, these should ideally always have the same Race and Alignment. If you're using Shadows, ignore all these.

Demons can be created in the Demon Auction by fusing two or three Demons together, or by paying VC and Tarot Cards/Material Cards, similar to how Personas can be made and fused in the Velvet Room. System and template is the same for both, just that Demons get actual stats so they get stat points per rank exactly how regular PCs used to work and base stats to assign on creation.



Similarities: both Personas and Demons use Arcana/Race Charts to determine what Arcana/Race the resulting Demon is gonna be when fusing two or more into one. This chart is easily ripped from the games themselves, it's pretty much static anyway, and can be made public so people know what they're working with.

Persona/Demon Tiers range from 1-10, with higher tiers demanding more complicated combinations of Material Cards and far higher costs of Tarot Cards. Ultimate Personas start at Tier 9 but can be upgraded to Tier 10 by facing the character's Shadow and defeating it with them equipped, exactly like Persona 2.

Differences: Demons grow at a speed faster than regular PCs, since they only grow in ranks and not levels, but they also cap out much faster as an incentive to fuse them into higher tier Demons. Exceptions are the user's Initial Demon which can be continuously upgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 10 with Tarot Cards and Material Cards. The Tier 4 to 5 upgrade should ideally be as difficult to get as a Prime Persona, the Tier 8 to 9 as difficult as obtaining an Ultimate, and Tier 9 to 10 as difficult as upgrading an Ultimate.

Personas aren't separate combatants but they also rely on the usually higher stats of the PUs instead. Demons have their own stats but they not only eat the Summoner's MAG when entering combat but they also have their own HP and SP pool, which should ideally be lower than a regular PC's for balance purposes. They also eat party slots that other PCs can take up, so if a Demon Summoner gets three Demons and summons them all when they're capable of doing so, they're running solo, which has both benefits and drawbacks.

Persona Users Terminology and Explanation

Basic Personas: The Personas created by anyone who can then be replicated and fused into by anyone else if so desired. These Personas are usually original creations but can also be made from a preset list just to start, as they can be used as Demons by us too. These Personas can be copied by people into their Compendium if a Social Link partner of theirs (minimum rank around 5) allows them to copy it, and they pay a set amount of VC depending on the Persona's tier. Upon maxing, these Personas usually give generic Material Cards or, more commonly, Skill Cards of one of their skills (Dia, Agi, etc.) that replace another Persona's skills with that skill upon being used.

Initial Personas: The Personas that everyone starts with. They can be fused into other Personas just the same as Basic Personas, but they cannot be made verbatim by other players as Basic Personas. If your Initial Persona is Vulcanus with the P2 Vulcanus as its FC, nobody else can make that Vulcanus with that FC, but they could make Vulcanus with another FC, or use that FC for another Persona entirely. Upon being maxed, these Personas give one of two Material Cards required to create the User's Prime Persona.

Prime Personas: These Personas are direct upgrades to Initials and follow the exact same rules for being copied. They usually must have the exact same FC and concept as the Initial Persona they're being upgraded from, optionally with some color tweaking to their FC. Upon being maxed, these Personas give the User a Tier 2 Soul Skill Card, or something of the sort.

Ultimate Personas: These Personas require storyline buildup and are forged on the fly when they're obtained, requiring no materials besides the judgment of staff on whether the PC deserves them or not. Upon being made, the FC that's used for them is automatically locked and cannot be used for any other Personas made by anyone else, but the same myth, Hero, person, concept, etc. can still be used by other people. They also cannot be copied into someone else's compendium. They're the only kind of Persona that can be upgraded into another Tier, as it starts at Tier 9 but can become Tier 10, upgrading some of its skills and its affinities. Upon maxing, these Personas give the User a Tier 4 Soul Skill Card, or something similar.

Event Personas: Usually low-tier Personas given away through events, but can be higher tier depending on the work required to obtain them. These cannot be copied by other players into their Compendiums, but can be retrieved from their owner's compendiums if dismissed. These Personas are premade by staff and not by the members, and are thus the same for everyone; staff judges whether their concept and/or FC is to be locked or not, but the answer should usually be no unless they're very very important. Upon maxing, these Personas give exclusive items, but most often unique Material Cards required to fuse higher Tier Event Personas while their event is ongoing.

Quick Clarification of the Changes here:

PCs develop in two separate ways that are changed from how they worked in past plots:

Levels: these give only the PCs stats and, at certain milestones, upgrades to their class ability (the Persona stock, Demon stock, upgrade Last Life, Orgia Mode, etc.) and grant them Soul Skills of increasing Tiers.

Ranks: These affect only the Persona/Demon and other similar things for other classes, and unlock skills on said thing. Demons gain stats per rank as they grow individually from Summoners; Demons also give Summoners one of their skills upon maxing their Rank.


How skills are obtained:

This differs depending on your class, but the three main differences this proposal has are the following-

Persona User - You have the skills of your equipped Persona but use your own stats.

Demon Summoner - You start with 1-2 basic skills of your choice and obtain more through Demon Whisper; when you max one of your Demon's Rank at 8, they'll allow you to copy one of their skills onto your skillset, once per Demon. You can only choose to skip this once your skillset is full.

Forgotten - You equip Magatamas that change your elemental affinities but, mostly importantly, add skills to your skillset automatically upon being ranked up. If your skillset is full, you can choose to either replace one of your skills with the skill you just learned, or to forget that skill. Either way, the skill is gone from the Magatama and you move onto the next Rank.

Regular Demons: Demons that can be created by anyone, but are usually recruited through negotiating with them in battle. These Demons follow roughly the same rules as Basic Personas, though Demon Summoners can actually sell their Demons to other Summoners for VC and other materials if they want. They have individual stats from the Demon Summoner and cap out much earlier than them, with Tier 1 Demons becoming only about as strong as a level 8 or so PC, while Tier 10 Demons can reach about the same stats as a Level 80 or so PC.

Partner Demons: The first Demon that a Demon Summoner actually obtains, and the one that sticks with them for the entirety of their playthrough. Their Partner Demon cannot be fused into other Demons nor does it need to be an actual historical or mythological figure; it can be, but it can also have its own original history like it being a person fused with some other Demon that chooses to follow the Summoner. The Partner Demon grows in ranks very similar to a Persona, but gains stats the same way as a Basic Demon, albeit with a slightly higher growth rate overall. These Demons start out at Tier 1 and can be upgraded over time with materials, evolving much like the Pixie in Nocturne, and can change appearance a few times during their growth because of this. Partner Demons can have Personal Skills depending on their Tier, always gained at Rank 8 of certain respective Tiers (3, 5, 7 and 10) but can be carried over to new Tiers when upgrading, filling a slot of the Summoner's choice that it can fit into.

Event Demons: Special Demons obtained through in-game and limited time events. Usually have a slightly higher growth rate than Basic Demons but lower than Personal Demons, and can have one or more Personal Skills by default. Made by staff, same as the Event Personas. Might be a required material in fusing other Event Personas.

Fiends: Unique Demons encountered rarely while dungeon crawling, function as the Reapers but there's a window of levels where they appear to a player but can be recruited. Extremely strong and always carry a unique skill exclusive to them (e.g.: Red Capote for Matador). Always a required Material for the Fusion of the next Fiend in line. Cannot be sold to another player, but there might be other ways of obtaining it should someone miss the window to recruit one into their party.

Summoners start with 2 skills and 1 soul skill. Their partner demon is in tier 1 with only 1 skill.


Personas/Magatama
>static increase/decrease in stats
>ranking them up may increase or decrease the boost/debuff

>Initial >Prime >Ultimate (PUs)
>Tainted >Blighted >Mutated (NCs)
>Initial >Advanced (ASSW)
>Artificial >Overflow (Rogue)
>True Self >Reverse Persona (Shadow Self)
>Forgotten >Masterwork/Demi-fiend (Forgotten)

Penny:
Rogues get a slightly stronger upgraded Persona than a Prime
NCs get Blighted Personas and then Mutated Personas to sub in for Primes and Ultimates
A Rogue's Advanced Persona should be viable at endgame to compensate so around Tier 7-8 (level 60-70)