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Spiriah
2016-10-23, 08:07 PM
So I've spent a good deal of time looking for a system to use for a Persona tabletop game, and have found a few attempts to create systems for one, but nothing really caught my eye, and I don't know GURPS well enough to make a module for it. I have, however, had quite a bit of experience with 5e, including playing a pretty well-made d20 modern conversion (http://www.icygeek.com/index.php/2015/08/06/d20-modern-for-dd-5th-edition/) (which this subclass is meant to be used in), and building a very heavily Persona-themed system for one of my own campaigns, which was partially adapted into this.

So here's the subclass (http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ryZ9tdcc1l). I think the formatting is fixed up, but let me know if it's wonky anywhere. Also I probably don't need to mention this, but if you're not familiar with the Persona series, this probably isn't going to be very interesting.

Two things I mentioned in the Author's Notes section in the subclass itself, but will elaborate on further:

Persona Users are a lot more powerful than other Advanced Classes (though I suppose the actual casters may have more out-of-combat utility), and are not meant to be used in a party alongside them unless you want some of your PCs to be upset. This shouldn't be a problem, however – if you're running a Persona campaign, having people that aren't Persona Users in the Dark Hour/Midnight Channel/Palaces/etc. doesn't make much sense.
Giving PCs vulnerabilities and HP-costing skills, as well as the higher damage numbers of this system, make it so normal PCs are a little fragile. As a result, I added in a buff to characters' HP: Instead of rolling, you take the highest result on the die automatically – so a d8 hit die would give you 8 HP/level (before adding Con mod). This is optional, and can be removed should you want your PCs to be more fragile, but be advised that doing so makes physical builds weaker.


So yeah, give it a look and tell me what you think! I've been working on statting Shadows, but balancing their HP and CRs has proven somewhat difficult, especially with higher-leveled ones, so I'll post that once I get the numbers more-or-less worked out. If anyone wants to use this, feel free to do so, and let me know how it works! I have some example builds for various characters, so if you think seeing those could help you understand the Persona creation process more clearly, drop me a PM.

Spiriah
2017-05-18, 01:58 PM
So, with Persona 5 having been released and the franchise as a whole gaining more recognition, I figured I'd bring this thread back and see if anyone has any interest or comments. Various tweaks have been made since the first version:

The HP costs of Physical skills have been evened out and lowered slightly (which makes point #2 in the original post somewhat moot, and it's no longer recommended, but still available if you want bulkier PCs).
Some spells have been adjusted. Most notably, buffs and debuffs got a rework.
Some example Persona builds have been added to the end of the document.
The explanation for how to replace old skills with new ones at new tiers has been clarified.

Again, if you want to use this, feel free to do so – just let me know!

JBPuffin
2017-05-18, 08:44 PM
I'll be honest with you - the fact that it requires one to use the 5e d20 modern...thing completely puts me off. Persona will net you some interest, but the thing it's built inside of? No way, Hosea.

Spiriah
2017-05-19, 12:24 PM
I'll be honest with you - the fact that it requires one to use the 5e d20 modern...thing completely puts me off. Persona will net you some interest, but the thing it's built inside of? No way, Hosea.

I probably should've been more clear – this doesn't need (and indeed, probably shouldn't use) the entire system in that link. What it does use is the base "(Characteristic) Hero" classes, and optionally the Backgrounds (if you can find a way to convert the funky "Wealth" system into a more sensible currency) and the equipment/weapons.

Basically, I didn't want the base classes to give any extraordinary powers/spells/etc., but didn't want to just write up a bland core class for all Persona users – I could see a system where a base class gives some features and then your subclass gives you features specific to casters or physical attackers or the like, but that's not something entirely compatible with what's currently built.

Ongakun
2019-07-03, 01:03 AM
So, with Persona 5 having been released and the franchise as a whole gaining more recognition, I figured I'd bring this thread back and see if anyone has any interest or comments. Various tweaks have been made since the first version:

The HP costs of Physical skills have been evened out and lowered slightly (which makes point #2 in the original post somewhat moot, and it's no longer recommended, but still available if you want bulkier PCs).
Some spells have been adjusted. Most notably, buffs and debuffs got a rework.
Some example Persona builds have been added to the end of the document.
The explanation for how to replace old skills with new ones at new tiers has been clarified.

Again, if you want to use this, feel free to do so – just let me know!

Hi Spiriah! This looks completely awesome, and I definitely would love to use your homebrew. I just have two questions: When previewing the pdf it looks like there was something that went wrong with the formatting for tier 6 and 7, was this on my end? Also, what do you think would be a good setup for enemies a group of PCs could fight in a Persona 5 campaign?

Thanks! -Ongakun

RexSparkman
2019-07-10, 09:43 AM
I'm glad I found this, it looks very well thought-out and put-together!

It'd probably work really well if you had your players start at level three, use the base, non-variant Human race, then use the Standard Array; 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.

I personally wouldn't allow this as, say, a Multi-Class if I added to the base D&D World. That said, for a Standalone Persona Campaign using D&D 5e mechanics? This is a true gold-mine.