Difference between revisions of "Support Persona"

Revision as of 01:57, 19 June 2012

Some Persona-users and Shadow-Possessed lay claim to abilities of a more supportive role than usual, revolving around the manipulation of resonance. For some, this means acute sensitivity to resonance: the ability to sense the resonance of all but a very few individuals, leading some to call them 'spotters'. For others, this means the converse: they have the ability to not only dampen but completely obscure their own resonance and the resonance of others, leading some to call them 'anti-spotters'.

These are not the only abilities of support-oriented individuals, however. People with this gift can also affect the flow of combat in subtle ways, some of which are discussed more specifically in the following information.

Whichever broad way it manifests, though, this sort of power is an all-or-nothing deal. One either has it, or they don't. This power must be applied for, either as present in the original application for the character, or as an upgrade application later in their development. See Upgrade Application for the application. As the wording so far suggests, this power is not unique to Persona-users: a Shadow-Possessed character may also possess this power.

Types

As noted above, resonance-oriented abilities can be divided into two broad categories: scanning and obfuscation. Those who focus on scanning are supremely gifted at peering at the resistances of others, perhaps leaving debilitating effects in the wake of their prying. Those who focus on obfuscation are extremely talented at hiding their own resistances and that of others, perhaps leaving protective effects as an after-effect of their shielding.

General Abilities

Resonance-oriented characters' powers stem directly from their Persona or Shadow. Thus, to make use of them they must have their Persona or Shadow activated at the very least, if not directly summoned. Actively summoning a Persona or transforming into Shadowform is necessary for any scanning-oriented abilities or for any direct obfuscation-oriented abilities. The one exception to this is the veiling of one's own resonance, which may be done freely. The effects of obfuscation, regardless of whether they are attempted inside or outside combat, linger for a while, though they will fade completely should the character be knocked unconscious.

Abilities such as Relaxing Wave and Healing Wave are also active uses of a Persona in this vein. Teleportation and telepathy, which will be covered in the RP-related abilities section, require too that the character summon their Persona or transform into their Shadowform.

The mechanism of scanning someone else's resistances or weaknesses is actually fairly simple and at least partially intuitive for the character in question. Those who don't quite know everything about the basics of scanning can soon learn with a little practice and/or tutelage. The character invokes their Persona or transforms into their Shadowform and proceeds to focus, channeling the power of their Persona or Shadow and driving their will itself into the fog of their target's resonance. From there they receive impressions about their target's elemental affinities, which may be colored by their senses ('I see flames and swirling winds', for example, with the sense of sight) or otherwise couched in a form that is easier for them to comprehend the raw information they are receiving. To perform this action takes time and concentration even for the experienced. In practical terms, this takes a round of combat. This can be performed a good distance away from combat itself, though it's dependent on the range of the particular character, which is determined by their player.

Similarly, the act of veiling one's resistances or weaknesses is also simple. Like scanning, it is fairly intuitive, and easy enough for them to pick up on the basics if they don't already know them with a little practice or instruction. As with scanning, the character summons their Persona or transforms into their Shadowform. Rather than focusing their will outwards, though, they focus it inwards--unless they are directing their cloaking powers to shield another character from view, of course. Their will shapes and solidifies their (or another's) resonance into an impenetrable wall through which no senses can pass. Of course, such an action takes time and focus, no matter how much experience with this ability a character gains. As with scanning, this equals about a round of combat while they focus and reorganize their inner self.

RP-Oriented Abilities

There are various RP-oriented abilities that characters with this power may possess, some of which are at least partially modeled in the combat system. As a general rule, regardless of bent, characters with this power may detect the presence of demons and all types of Shadows (though special considerations apply to Rumor Shadows, please see NEWS SHADOW3 for details), and are generally (but not always) talented with detecting the presence of other people's resonance... so long as a dampening effect is not in place.

There are other abilities that people with resonance-oriented powers may possess, by dint of expertise and training or just natural gift. These include such powers as the ability to visualize the local area in their mind, the ability to broadcast their words directly into other people's minds, and the ability to teleport.

Some characters are able visualize the local area in their mind, as stated above. In indoor locations, this takes the form of a mental map of the room in which they stand, plus the rooms right outside that room. They could, for example, see the hallway outside a bedroom, but not what lay behind the closed door they see in that hallway. In outdoor locations, they can see as far as a couple city blocks, and less if they're exhausted. This ability shows the character the surroundings, but not people or other living things; if the character can detect resonance or sense Shadows and demons, they can sense their presence, but they don't show up by default on the map. This ability is modeled by the combat ability Automap, and the possession of that ability is necessary for these RP benefits.

The ability to speak directly to someone else's mind is a potentially potent one. A scanning-oriented character can report the results of their scan directly to the minds of their allies, for one. It also allows them to set up a private if one-way communication network from afar. However, there are two limitations for this ability. The character and the recipients in question must be in a supernatural space, and the resonance-oriented character must either summon their Persona or transform into Shadowform to begin communicating with the other characters. It should be noted that the Dark Hour amplifies telepathic communication, while the Midnight Channel dampens (but does not eliminate) it.

Teleportation is simply that: the ability to move oneself and others from one place to another. There are two strict limitations on this ability: it cannot be attempted immediately mid-combat, and it may only be accomplished within a bounded supernatural space. This means that one must remove themselves and others from a combat situation--disengaging and pulling back a distance is sufficient--before they can summon their Persona or transform into Shadowform to make their escape from that location. As for the second limitation, it means that one must be in a supernatural space--Mikage-cho, the Dark Hour or the Midnight Channel--and they must be in an enclosed space such as a building. Any indoor location in Mikage-cho qualifies, as does the Tartarus in the Dark Hour, and just about anywhere in the Midnight Channel. This ability, and any other that revolves around the swift movement of the character and their allies to the exit of their current location (such as conjuring a door for a sudden exit from the current area) is modeled by the combat ability Escape Route, and the possession of that ability is necessary for this RP benefit.

How Common Are These Abilities And Who Gets What?

The respective commonality of the above RP-oriented abilities and whether a character possesses them or not, or possesses another (guidelines for this will be explained below) is up to their player. A character may easily possess many talents outside their combat-oriented abilities, or they may possess none. RP-oriented abilities, outside of the ability to completely block resonance detection, are not locked to particular types alone. It is possible, for example, for a scanning-oriented character to have no talent detecting the ambient resonances of other people.

Other RP-Oriented Abilities

Characters are not limited to the abilities described above. They may develop an RP-oriented ability that reflects their particular flavor as a resonance-focused character, provided they follow a few guidelines. These will be listed below. Having an ability like this is optional, and not required.

• Only one custom RP-ability is generally found per character. Unlike other RP-oriented abilities, as explained above, it is much rarer for a character to manifest many unique abilities, as this is meant to exemplify their particular 'flavor' as a resonance-focused character.
• They are limited to affecting resonance in some way or detecting some very specific thing.
• They cannot create any direct effect upon another character. You cannot, for example, develop a way to hurt others through manipulating their resonance, or passively boost damage. Neither is is possible to probe into another character's mind and read their thoughts.
• As usual, consent applies in the development and use of these abilities.

The best way to think about this sort of ability is to consider what passive bonuses he or she might lend to their allies. What is their particular slant as a resonance-oriented character?

Here are some suggestions of abilities that represent this type of power well:

• An awareness of useful items ('treasure') even a room away.
• The ability to enhance (in terms of flavor only) another resonance-oriented character's base detection senses.
• The ability to boost the resonance strength of any other character.
• The ability to generate particularly irritating resonance.
• The awareness of environmental hazards in an immediate area, such as pitfalls for example.

Spotter Equipment

People with these abilities who are members of certain organizations, specifically SEES, NWO, and D4, may be able to receive mechanical equipment to slightly enhance their resonance-detection or their resonance-obfuscation abilities. It must be stressed that this is purely for flavor and RP purposes and /does not/ provide any mechanical benefit. A scanning-oriented character using these devices still cannot pierce the veil of an obfuscation-oriented character.

Combat-Oriented Abilities

While some powers cannot be modeled well for combat purposes, others can, or have additional combat effects or considerations that are represented by their inclusion on a resonance-oriented character's +sheet. This section will discuss these powers.

Rather than the standard selection of skills (see the statmachine in the statting room for details!), resonance-oriented characters have one high group or two standard groups, and six discretionary abilities. Of these, three must be resonance-specific abilities, which will be explained in depth below.

Abilities for a resonance-oriented Persona or Shadow can be broken down into three tiers. The first and second tier contain the skills specific to either scanning Spotter types or Obfuscation spotter types, and a person may only select skills from one type or the other. The third are free for anyone who possesses this power, and may be selected by either scanners or obfuscators.

The first tier include the basic abilities: Total Eclipse and Full Analysis. One of these is required, and will instruct which of the second-tier groups the character has access.

Full Analysis reveals both weaknesses and resistances (if they are not being veiled from sight) of a particular target, and has a low-odds chance of delivering penalties to defense (Rakunda), attack power (Tarunda) or agility (Sukunda).

Total Eclipse obscures both weaknesses and resists of its target, and has a low-odds chance of delivering bonuses to defense (Rakukaja), attack power (Tarukaja) or agility (Sukukaja).

The second tier includes four abilities, which are divided between obfuscation and scanning. At least one of these is required. They are mutually exclusive; if you are playing someone with Full Analysis, for example, they may not have access to Mind Haze or Weakness Jam. You may take both of the ones that you have access to if you wish.

The scanning-related abilities are Third Eye and Weakness Scan.

Third Eye reveals resistances only, and has a moderate-odds chance of delivering a penalty to agility (Sukunda) and a low-odds chance of a penalty to attack power (Tarunda).
Weakness Scan reveals weaknesses only, and has a moderate-odds chance of delivering a penalty to agility (Sukunda) and a low-odds chance of a penalty to defense (Rakunda).

The obfuscation-related abilities are Mind Haze and Weakness Jam.

Mind Haze blocks resistance scans only, and has a moderate-odds chance of delivering a bonus to agility (Sukukaja) and a low-odds chance of a bonus to attack power (Tarukaja).
Weakness Jam blocks weakness scans only, and has a moderate-odds chance of delivering a bonus to agility (Sukukaja) and a low-odds chance of a bonus to defense (Rakukaja).

The third tier consists of the abilities that may be taken by either of the resonance-oriented groups. These are Relaxing Wave, Healing Wave, Automap and Escape Route.

Relaxing Wave regenerates a small amount of SP to an area for a few rounds. It also has a low-odds chance of clearing Mind ailments (Patra).
Healing Wave restores a small amount of HP to an area. It also has a low-odds chance of clearing Nerve ailments (Nervundi).
Automap is a passive ability. It prevents your accuracy from being lowered. It also allows for the mental map ability, as explained in RP-oriented abilities.
Escape Route has no coded effect, but its use in RP allows for the user and their allies to return to the entrance of a location via teleportation, as explained under RP-oriented abilities.