Persona Template

Anima (New Powerstat)

In place of Geist's Psyche, an Persona user (also known as an Evoker) internal power is called the Anima. Anima is the sheer strength and command of one's soul. The higher the Anima rises, however, the harder it is to shut out the voice of your Shadow, who also grows in power as you do. Having high Anima comes with a few advantages, as well as a few drawbacks. All Sin-Eaters begin with one free dot in Anima.

Advantages of High Anima

Raising one's Anima increases the amount of maximum Resonance an Evoker can possess at one time, as well as how much Resonance they can spend per turn. The chart for this is the exact same as in the Geist book. The Evoker's sheer force of personality gives him a heightened sense of presence and magnetism. At Anima 5, an Evoker gains a +1 bonus to Social dice pools used against standard mortals. At Psyche 8, this bonus becomes +2. The brimming Energy of a high-Anima Evoker wards and frightens smaller Shadows. Shades whose rank is 3 points lower than the Evoker's receive -2 to taking offensive action towards him. Shadoes whose own Anima is 5 points lower than the Evoker's flee or cower in terror.

Drawbacks of High Anima

As the Evoker's Anima strengthens, the voice of his Shadow becomes more frequent, and more chillingly inviting. At Anima 5, the Evoker will begin hearing Shadow's whispers, beckoning him to indulge in his vices. When presented an opportunity to indulge in his Vice, the Evoker must roll Wits + Composure -1. If he fails, he must comply unless he spends a point of Willpower. This penalty increases to -2 at Psyche 7 and -3 at Psyche 9. Entering a Dark Realm strengthens the voice of the Evoker's Shadow, as it demands to be released. Starting at Psyche 6, every scene the Evoker will be made to make Resolve + Composure + Psyche rolls. Dramatic Failure: The Evoker falls unconscious as his Shadow emerges immediately, given form in the Dark Realm. Failure: The Evoker is succumbing to the Shadow's influence. If enough failures are rolled equal to 11 minus the Evoker's Psyche, the Shadow emerges. Success: The Evoker manages to silence the Shadow, but its voice still echos in his soul. The next roll made to resist this effect is made a cumulative -1 penalties. Exceptional Success: As a regular success, without the addition of a penalty.

Aspects

Aspects replace Geists Key and are functionally identical. For more on Aspects, check out the page on Ruling Arcana. Evoker start with two Aspects one of which must be from their Ruling Arcana. Unlike in Geist you cannot gain additional Aspects/Keys by spending XP

Bufu (Ice/Water) replaces Tear Stained

Agi (Fire) replaces Pyre Flame

Garu (Wind) replaces Cold Wind

Zio (Electricity) replaces Industrial

Don replaces Grave dirt

Ki replaces Passion

Hama replaces Primeval

Genso replaces Phantasmal

He replaces Stigmata

Mudo replaces Stillness

Manifestations

Your Evoker begins with three dots of Manifestations, chosen however you like: one dot in three separate Manifestations, two dots in one, and one dot in another, or all three in one Manifestation. The Manifestations are detailed on pages 110-150 of Geist.

Identity

A Persona-user's grip on his identity, a gauge of his understanding of his inner self. Higher Identity represents a Persona-user who better understands his inner strengths and virtues, while lower Identity represents a Persona-user who lacks a sense of self or is otherwise disillusioned with his inner reflection. Evokers betray their Identity in one of two ways: denial of the self, and indulgement of the self. If an Evoker chooses to disbelieve in either their Persona strength of character or their Shadow's vile urges, it is an act against their Identity. By contrast, if an Evoker chooses to favor one over the other (like an Evoker who fancies himself a righteous hero through his Persona, or an Evoker who succumbs to his Shadow's wishes), it disrupts the balance of his soul. An Evoker who manages to achieve an Identity score of 10 has found true contentment of the self, and of the world around him. Upon reaching Identity 10, the Evoker embodies The World Arcana. Alternatively if Identity ever reaches 0 the shadow completely overwhelms the conscious mind and the Evoker is transformed into an abomination, a powerful & self-aware shadow wholly consumed by their darker emotions.

Sins against Identity

10 - Thoughts of self-denial, forcing unwilling change in another human

9 - Refusing to accept environmental circumstances, indulging Vice at the cost of another

8 - Refusing to accept and understand another human being

7 - Declaration and admittance of self-denial ("You're not me!")

6 - Stealing Energy from unwilling Evokers, injury to another

5 - Stealing Energy from mortals

4 - Killing a human possessed by a Gloom, willingly subjecting a mortal to a Dark Realm

3 - Destroying a Silhouette, completely depleting a mortal of his Energy

2 - Destroying another Evoker's Persona through Energy depletion

1 - Destroying one's own Shadow or Persona

Identity complements Morality rather than replacing it entirely, unless otherwise noted breachs against Morality can cause a fall in Identity.

Resonance

All things in the world are connected by some degree on a spiritual level, and the power of Persona allows one to influence the world on a purely ethereal level. Spiritual Power (also known as simply Energy or Resonance) can perhaps be attained my maintaining Soul Links, keeping friends close to your heart to keep your Energy ringing, or by manually attaining the discarded Energy of defeated Shadows. An Evoker's Energy pool is sized accordingly with his Anima, using the same scale presented in the Geist book regarding Psyche and Plasm. Mortals possess their own pool of Energy, which is only as large as their Willpower score. Energy is primarily used to power an Evoker's Aspects, but can be used for other things as well:

Energy can be spent to heal a single point of lethal damage, or 3 points of bashing damage.

An Evoker can spend 1 point of Energy to sense the presence of Shadows, other Evokers, or other supernatural beings present in the scene. This lasts only for one scene.

A point of Energy can be spent to temporarily gain the ability to communicate with a Shadow. Since all Shadows are human to some degree, an Evoker can tune himself to their hearts, no matter how small.

How to regain Energy. Energy can be regained through several methods:

Soul Links

The easiest method to regaining Energy is through Soul Links. If an Evoker spends a scene doing meaningful interaction where some understanding between partners is made with a Soul Link partner, he receives Energy equal to their Soul Link score. This includes PCs who have Soul Links with other PCs; in order for both Evokers to gain Energy, meaningful RP must happen between the Evokers involved.

Energy Transfer

An Evoker can choose to transfer his own Energy to another person with whom he has bonded through a Soul Link. This application is not exclusive to Soul Links between two Evokers; a mortal who has had their Energy drained by a Shadow or some other dark power can have their Energy restored through a Energy Transfer.

Siphoning

Shadows destroyed in the Dark Realm relinquish any Energy they might have possessed. Some Shadows may even willingly surrender or barter with their own Energy with an Evoker if communication is made.

Rest Thy Soul

A sound sleep calms the soul, and restores a single point of Energy upon awakening.

Depletion

The least ethical method is to simply drain the Energy from another living being, like an invisible vampire. Doing so is an act against one's own Identity, as this behavior is grimly similar to the habits of Shadows themselves. This is done with an Psyche + Wits roll, subtracting the subject's Composure. If successful, the Evoker drains 1 point of Energy per success. If the target has lost all of its Energy, it becomes exhausted until Energy is restored to them. If an Evoker attempts to drain Energy from a target whose Energy pool is empty, he instead drains the target's Willpower, gaining 3 points of Energy for each 1 point of Willpower drained. If a target has lost all Willpower this way, he falls into a coma until Energy has been restored (sleeping does not restore Energy to comatose victims of Energy depletion).

Soul Links

Soul Links represent strong bonds between an Evoker and his or her mortal friends; when an Evoker chooses to Link his soul to a mortal, the two begin to feel Energy together. It's the warm, unknown feeling of comfort and security that we experience just by being near other human beings that we know. By forging a Soul Link with a mortal, a Persona user allows his soul to resonate with theirs, strengthening the souls of both members.

Forging Soul Links

Entering into a Soul Link is as much of an investment as entering into a relationship with a friend. The Evoker must be willing to open himself and bare his soul to his new partner, and in order to have his Persona resonate with his prospective partner's soul, he must spend a Willpower point during the initiation of the Link. You can't just go burning WP and forging Soul Links with just anyone willy-nilly. There has to be some connection between the Evoker and his/her partner before an S.Link can be established, and a Storyteller may oversee which relationships between PCs and NPCs are eligible for Soul Links at their discretion. Another thing to note is that an Evoker can forge a Soul Link with another Evoker. Since Evokers openly wield their souls as Personas, the transition towards the Soul Link isn't as harsh, and it only costs a down payment of 1 Energy to forge a Link. Note, however, that in order to gain Energy from spending time with another Evoker PC, there must be some significance in their relationship beyond simply working together as a party.

Invoking Soul Links

Soul Links have a second benefit. By linking your soul to another human's, you may call upon that link to lend you extra strength in a pinch. When you forge a Soul Link, you record your Soul Link partner's Arcana, even if they don't possess a Persona. You may spend a point of Energy to gain bonus dice towards Attributes related to a Soul Link partner's Arcana, which is detailed by each Arcana individually. For instance, if you had a 1-pt Soul Link with an NPC mortal whose Arcana was I. The Magician, and the Magician's S.Link attributes were Dexterity and Wits, you could spend 1 Energy as a reflexive action to gain 1 bonus die to a Dexterity or Wits-based dice pool. You can only invoke Soul Links in this way a number of times equal to a S. Link's rank, per Story, per S. Link.

Maintaining a Soul Link

A Soul Link is similar to a relationship or a friendship in which it must be maintained. The strength of a Soul Link is represented by a five-dot scale, and changes depending on the strength of the bond between both Evoker and partner. If an Evoker makes progress in understanding and accepting their partner, the Storyteller may have that Soul Link increase by one dot, as their relationship has strengthened. Similarly, if anything should happen to damage a relationship, a Storyteller is allowed to remove dots in a Soul Link at his discretion. A damaged relationship may even fall to such extremes that a Soul Link partner will disassociate himself with the Evoker, resulting in a broken Soul Link, and the loss of the Link altogether. Efforts can be made to repair the relationship, even a broken one. However, if an Evoker is successful in restoring a relationship with a partner whose Soul Link was broken previously, it will cost him another point of Willpower to forge the Soul Link again, in order to gain its benefits.

Soul Links & Charms

Everyone has a ruling Arcan even if they aren't a Persona user. When forging a Soul Link with another person a take note of their Ruling Arcana, a significant gift freely given between membes of a Soul Link is functionally similar to a charm in Geist. Significant doesn't necessarily mean something expensive, it must bear some personal value to the person giving the gift. It's possible if a particularly strong bond is forged between characters that the charm may one day become a Memorabilia (Page 209 Geist corerules)