Persona! (d20 Modern, PEACH)

[RelentlessImp]

After a disastrous failure to run a Persona game, I turned my attention to what caused my players to wander. While I'm not certain of the -exact- cause, I realized I hadn't spent nearly enough time on building the base classes for the game itself. So I sat myself down and reworked them into true base classes.

Without further ado, I present to you all the base classes of the Persona campaign. They can be looked at here - http://www.imptechpro.net/PersonaRules.odt

I would place them into table format to be viewed here, but the table code, while not necessarily difficult, is a pain in the rump to put together. Please review and critique honestly, if you please.

[kyoten]

What program do you need to read .ODT files?

[hiryuu]

OpenOffice, it's a good free program that's just as functional as Word.

Personally, I would make these into advanced classes and use a feat to give people the ability to use a persona (with some minor related abilities, like a point or two to use), and use that feat as a gateway to the advanced class. You wouldn't have to change much, just slap a prerequisite on the warrior like "Base Attack Bonus +3" or something, and so on.

[RelentlessImp]

Personally, I would make these into advanced classes and use a feat to give people the ability to use a persona (with some minor related abilities, like a point or two to use), and use that feat as a gateway to the advanced class. You wouldn't have to change much, just slap a prerequisite on the warrior like "Base Attack Bonus +3" or something, and so on.

Unfortunately, that seems to throw off the feel and flavor of the Persona world; NPCs will most definitely be using standard Modern base classes, but every playable character in the Persona games get the ability to use Persona before (or very soon after) you control them; hence, these being base classes. I'm working on Advanced Classes to go hand in hand with these (Persona Warrior into Battlemaster or Destroyer; Supporter to Healer, Thief or Assassin; Maester to Archmage, Healer or Battle Magus).

[kyoten]

Can you clarify the Warrior Persona's Damage Reduction talent? The way I read it is that at 10th level he/she would have DR6/-.

For the Persona Supporter's Adept Flanker talent IMO you should have the user spend an Action Point to extend the duration of the crippling effects beyond 1 or 2 rounds. This doesn't imply that they can't use the talent again just that the duration would be shorter unless an Action Point is spent.

Have you gotten any further in the development process?

[hiryuu]

Unfortunately, that seems to throw off the feel and flavor of the Persona world; NPCs will most definitely be using standard Modern base classes, but every playable character in the Persona games get the ability to use Persona before (or very soon after) you control them; hence, these being base classes. I'm working on Advanced Classes to go hand in hand with these (Persona Warrior into Battlemaster or Destroyer; Supporter to Healer, Thief or Assassin; Maester to Archmage, Healer or Battle Magus).

Well, yes, but you always play a little bit before getting your cool Persona powers. I know, I've played these games before, too. Sometimes you don't even get it for about an hour into the game; the idea that you might have a Persona by the time you start still lends even more credence to making the acquisition of the Persona a feat. Heck, you could make a new Occupation that grants this Persona feat as part of its bonuses.

Those kids so obviously have a couple levels of other classes they got first; just Persona 4, for example, Chie is obviously a Strong before the incident, Yosuke is Dedicated, and Yukiko is obviously some form of multiclass Charismatic/Dedicated. If you want all the PCs to have it, give it to them as a bonus feat or make it juicy and open enough everyone wants to take it (or just tell everyone they have to have the aforementioned occupation; if you're going to take this route, base the occupation off Student. It fits perfectly). This fits the d20 Modern pattern perfectly: Base Class + Feat -> Persona Advanced Class -> Persona Prestige Class.

Remember that level 4 d20 Modern characters are about on par with level 2 or so D&D characters. The disparity catches up later, but that's about how it goes. Most NPCs are going to be about level 1-3 and have Ordinary levels, not Hero levels. After all, you could tie up a 1st level Fast Hero inside an outhouse with a stick of dynamite taped to his forehead and he stands a reasonable chance of surviving completely unscathed. A level 4 Strong Hero could punch through a bank vault door in about 5 hits. A reasonably leveled martial artist can spring between two tanks almost completely unscathed and take them out with his bare hands in a few rounds.

Of course, this could all just be because I've played Modern more than I've played D&D, and the design philosophies are drastically different. Whatever you do, I support your effort.

[RelentlessImp]

Can you clarify the Warrior Persona's Damage Reduction talent? The way I read it is that at 10th level he/she would have DR6/-.

That's correct.

For the Persona Supporter's Adept Flanker talent IMO you should have the user spend an Action Point to extend the duration of the crippling effects beyond 1 or 2 rounds. This doesn't imply that they can't use the talent again just that the duration would be shorter unless an Action Point is spent.

I've left Action Points out for a purpose in the classes themselves; they're going to be playing a more integral part in the Physical/Magic/Innate skills area.

Have you gotten any further in the development process?

I've got the rough outline of the Persona Customization System worked out, but it's nowhere near ready to be put into the document alongside the classes. I've also got a base outline of converting the skills (Agi, Smash, Cleave, etc), but again, nowhere near as complete as the classes have been. I've also worked out how Melee Pool Points and Spell Points regenerate; MPP regenerate at a rate equal to Constitution modifier at the end of every encounter, plus half that per hour. Resting doubles the regeneration rate (so at every level, a good night's rest should completely restore their MPP).

Spell Points regenerate at a rate equal to Wisdom score at the end of an encounter, plus half that per hour. The Maester talent Quickened Recovery doubles the out-of-encounter rate.

Vaguely disturbing yet accurate points.

You're right, of course; but they don't seem to have any actual combat ability before game starts, and only barely after their Persona awakens. Making them into Advanced->Prestige Classes somehow feels wrong, as if disrupting the flow. I've always seen the philosophy behind heroic/regular classes (d20 modern/D&D) as that, yes, you can have a life before you take your first class level, but the first class level signifies you're ready to start your adventurer lifestyle. Which in this type of game would be the moment your Persona awakens.

Which is why, despite drawing up a class skill list for each class, I tend to let players pick their own class skills to signify their skills beyond adventuring.