Valiant Persona

(Or: What if I made Valiant Horizon into a Persona game? Adapted/collated from a series of chosts I made.)

I'm thinking about Persona¹ a lot lately, partially because P3 Reload is out and I kind of want to play it but also it's $70 so fuck that shit. But partially it's because I realized while putting together the playlist for Valiant Horizon how well the two concepts overlaid with each other with only a little reflavoring/stretching:

• Normalish people given extraordinary power
• Powers come from discrete beings with archetypical distinctions that are intended to match with the character
• Huge emphasis on relationships and building both towards understanding that archetypical power better and being closer to the person who wields it, is associated with it, etc.

All the building blocks are there. And if that's all you need or want, you could probably just run it like that as is as long as everyone's on the same page. But this is a post for absolute sickos, not normal people. So let's see how deep this line of thought goes.

Disclaimer: I am not going to like, put this together officially immediately. For one, this concept needs me to finish the upcoming season pass! Might happen after that though, it would be a fun layout project.

Establish The Broad Tenets

The idea behind this extended thought experiment would be to create something that explicitly scaffolds around Valiant Horizon and extends it towards the end of creating something that's better at making that kind of game: the goal is not to make a new game, but to leave the mechanics of this one mostly intact and build around them. But first, we should establish what we're even doing. Valiant Horizon has a few specific callouts as to what it means by "crystal fantasy", and the nature of the setting I'm assuming: heroic souls exist in crystals, heroic crystals attach to worthy people who become heroes over time, fragmented souls exist, there's an empire and they suck. Let's dig deeper in this direction: we're not doing crystal fantasy here, so we'll need a new set of broad setting callouts to make a Persona-ish setting.

• The setting is mundane, if not modern. The vibe probably works best with a game set in like, Earth sometime in the last 30 years because it's pretty easy for people to see as "normal". But it would probably be fine in anything where characters have like, kind of regular lives before things kick off. (It would be sick to create this around like...an actual medieval village or something, for example, or workers in a factory or something.) The goal is to create contrast: if the "regular" portion is also fantastical then the other elements don't really contrast well.
• There is a dangerous realm representing hyperreality and manifested metaphorical reality that overlaps this one. In the same way that the "base" world is fairly grounded, there is a parallel, dangerous world that is ungrounded: the contrast between these two is important. The denizens of that realm are themselves unreal, exaggerated and dangerous. Entry to that realm might open and close based on resonance or connection to specific events, or be available at any time.
• In this realm, a person's archetype-bound true self may be found, for better or for worse. The true self is buried deep within, and when in great peril, it can manifest in that other realm. To accept it when it does is to know yourself better and gain a powerful ally. To deny it is to risk its wrath, often at the cost of your life. People who know themselves in this way are bound to that other realm in some way, at least enough to know how to access it when it's available.
• The two worlds are connected and in flux. Change, turmoil, or significant happenings in one will affect the other. This gives those who have come to terms with their true self the ability to greatly influence real-life events by making things happen in the other realm.
• Characters are in some kind of regimented schedule that prevents them from doing this full-time, and forces them to stay grounded. Work, school, family, etc. The only way this works is by creating a balance between the two halves of the game. If you can just hit da bricks or devote your entire life to it, it's a little less meaningful.

So this not only gives us some very good setting tenets, but provides some ideas for scaffolding going forward: namely, balancing other-realm play (very similar to base VH) vs this-realm play (more uncharted).

Arcana vs Classes, Persona vs Heroes

To reiterate, the big goal here is not to like reinvent the game from scratch so much as add context, mechanical or otherwise, that recontextualizes it. One major avenue of context in any given Persona game is the use of the Tarot Major Arcana as a symbol that has meaning in-game. And we have a very similar hook in Valiant Horizon: Classes.

In Persona, any given character who has significance will be associated with one of the 22 Major Arcana. In tarot readings they've got a pretty fixed set of meanings, which the games kind of follow (though they've developed their own sub-language with them): a character associated with a given Arcana will usually relate to it in some way. (It also clusters kinds of demons/powers them up as you grow closer to that person but we're not doing that with relationships.)

This is useful as shit for scaffolding. In the core rules I've got 12 classes: after the season pass (coming soon!) is done, I'll have 24 classes. (To say nothing of the 6 backer classes!) That (almost, put a pin in that) matches up numerically with those 22 major arcana! And each Class has a very similar naming convention (could easily be rephrased as The ____).

Now...the easy move would be to try to line each class up with one of those arcana from the out and just write the association into the book. But that's fairly prescriptive and means that two of those classes are going to necessarily be left out (we're still putting a pin in those, mind you). I do want to use those tarot cards though...so here's an idea.

• Sift the minor arcana out of a tarot deck.
• Each player draws from the top of the deck of majors. The typical meaning behind the card should tie into their false self: how they're perceived, how they like to comport themselves, their reputation, etc. (These can be represented by a chart of leading questions to help people draw something related out. We might pick out a skillset based on this if we're going with normal VH asset-mechanics for non-Shadow-Realm stuff, I haven't quite decided yet.)
• Each player picks their class: that's the arcana of their character's true self. Maybe each of them is pre-associated with some kind of weapon (this is something I initially considered but rejected for VH, but it might make more sense here though!) For the rest of the campaign, these two arcana, a real-life one and the class, are entwined, as both are associated with that characters. Keep track of which is associated with which! You'll end up with a table (and save this table, I'm also secretly setting us up for later) like:

• You can take that pin out now. The table comes up with a Tarot Arcana to represent the broad strokes, on-its-face nature of your bond based on the premise of your game: what is the general concept, what common goal brings you together? (Don't be too bashful about this, Persona makes up new major Arcana all the time or finds obscure ones when they need one.) Tie this to a class as well: what is the closest manifestation of your common cause? - The goal is to have most of the "normal" tarot arcana assigned to a class be someone you can have a Relationship with, as per standard Valiant Horizon (sometimes in different ways than others, but that's a later problem). This one's special: it's a relationship every PC has with each other as a team, which automatically goes up as they level or as they grow stronger or something. Every time it goes up, reflect on how the mission has changed.
• The Narrator makes up another Tarot Arcana, this time representing the appearance of the threat. Tie this to a class as well: if you're not sure, pick one at random and make it make sense later as the campaign progresses. - This one is similar: it goes up over time as they level or as the threat manifests a new angle or something. Every time it goes up, reflect on how your characters' understanding of the situation has changed.
• Finish out the rest of that chart, drawing the rest of the cards and assigning them the [22 - party size - 2] remaining Classes. (I'm assuming we just loop in the 24 core+season pass classes here, but pulling in a backer or third party class shouldn't be too hard: either sub out an existing class or come up with a similarly auto-leveling force like those two we reserved, things like the student body or the city or reputation or something.)

And with that we've got ourselves something that ties strongly into that Tarot theme and helps everyone get set up.

Arcana/relationship connections

In Persona, as you get closer to friendly characters associated with an arcana, in return you get more powerful in that arcana. This is basically the same as what we do in Valiant Horizon! And we could just leave it at that, but I've got other plans.

In the currently outdated Total//Effect SRD, I outline ways to use relationships not just between friends but between opponents: any time you have reason to feel strongly about one another for better or worse, that's a Bond. We can apply that here by attaching arcana to recurring/important antagonists too! In this case, leveraging that relationship works the same way as Call for Aid in Valiant Horizon, but with a twist: instead of calling for help from your friend and the roll determining whether or not they help you, you can also use it (probably renamed!) to trick or manipulate someone into doing something you want them to do if you roll well. And it makes for an easy way for allies to betray you or enemies to join your side: relationships aren't strictly positive or negative, they just exist, so there's no real mechanical change.

So now that we've established that, let's talk Tarot.²

Tarot spreads as oracles

Tarot as oracle is kind of...well, duh, that's what people use tarot readings for in the first place! And in the tabletop sense too, obviously they figure hugely into solo games in particular. I'm not thinking of them as writing prompts so much as plot prompts though - and I'm not looking to make a generic generator, I'm looking to make something that ties in directly to a campaign structure for this game.

There are so many kinds of tarot spreads out there if you look around even a little! And it's clear people are making their own or customizing them for their own purposes, which is both very cool and extremely useful. As such, my goal here is to create two kinds of spreads to best serve what we're doing.

But I just have playing cards!

Obviously this assumes you have a tarot deck (or an online resource that approximates one!) that you can pull from easily. If not, you can approximate this with a normal deck of playing cards:

• Remove all jokers, kings, and queens. This leaves A-J, 44 cards.
• Use the remaining cards as equivalent to the 22 major arcana based on suit: clubs/hearts are the first 11 major arcana, spades/diamonds are the last 11 (go by number and add 11 to it).
• Whenever it matters, red (hearts/diamonds) is upright, black (spades/clubs) is inverted. If you getheart+club or diamond+spade of the same card, just ignore the second one drawn and draw again.

If you don't have either, then I don't know, figure it out. Get a pack of cards from a gas station or something. I believe in you.

5-card spreads: Arcs

Persona games typically have a structure of: there's a problem that needs to be prepared for or resolved within a month (in persona 3, specifically on the full moon!) Sometimes this involves a specific party member: in 4/5, each "problem" involves recruiting a new character.

This is a good cadence for a campaign! And what's more, setting this up is prime oracle territory - especially with that table we set up! So let's see what we can do. Doing extensive research (less than ten minutes of googling) a 5 card spread is often arranged as such:

   [5]
[2][1][3]
   [4]

with 2-1-3 and 4-1-5 being related. So let's start with that. I'm going to assume upright/inverted draws are at play here because it gives us another draw/roll axis to work with and I love that shit, but you could probably leave that up to the Narrator instead.

• The first card (1) is the "main" subject of the arc. Incorporate the "true self" associated with that card. - If it's a previously unseen arcana/class: If you draw it upright, it involves someone from your world who suddenly finds themselves drawn in to the situation: either through antagonistic meddling, investigation into the players' situation, or just happenstance. If you draw it inverted, a new antagonist or threat associated manifests in some way and the players find out in some manner. In either case, the new character/antagonist/etc is associated with that drawn class/arcana. - If it's an arcana already associated with a character, a plot point emerges related to them. If it's upright, something good from the players' perspective is happening: something good for a character you like or an opportunity to get one over on/find out more about/discover a weakness of an antagonist. If it's inverted, they're on the back foot: it's something bad for that character or a way in which that antagonist is making a move. - In either case, set some sort of clock. A month (4 "weeks"/sessions, see below) is probably about right. Characters have that much time to prepare for it in addition to whatever the fuck is happening in real life.
• The second and third ones (2-3) are two factors relevant to what's happening: if these are existing characters, tie them in somehow. Maybe they know the person for better or worse (use upright/inverted if that's a question) If they aren't existing characters, this is more thematic, or feel free to introduce another character associated with that arcana/class.
• The fourth and fifth ones (4-5) are threats: what's at stake if this main arc resolves poorly? As with before, tie in existing characters if possible: what's going to go wrong for them in particular (or right, if they're an antagonist)?
• The players can raise motions to replace any given card, swap an upright to inverted or vice versa, or to de-associate a draw/plot element with a character. This is intended to be an idea generator, not law. (It's not good to force people into the spotlight long-term if they don't want it and if the same one comes up a bunch it'd be boring or weird.)

3-card spreads: Per-session/side problems

What's going on this week? If you have no idea, ask the cards. Draw three in a row:

[1][2][3]

• The first one relates to something that happened last session. What in particular, related to that arcana (or the associated character), reverberates here? (This is a good opportunity to recap too!)
• The second one relates to some real-world event for your characters. What is pulling at them from the mundane? Tests, bills, overtime, new boss, new teacher, spring break, summer break, etc? It can tie into the main arc or not, up to you!
• The third one relates to some other-realm event. Is something wrong there? Is there some opportunity you can pursue? Is there something there that will help with the main arc (or a red herring)?

As before, tie into characters if associated ones get drawn and use that upright/inverted as a guide to if it means a good or bad thing for them.

Inside the loop

So I'm thinking, given this loop above, that we treat a session as a "normal week" or a confrontation.

Normal Week session

In a given normal week, let's say players have 2 weeknights (or work days) and 2 weekends (or time-off days) free to do things like:

• Vibe: Add a bond to a relationship with an ally. Describe where you're hanging out and what drew you closer to them (including making up something about them, if it's an NPC, or prompting the other player to make something up if necessary). If it's another ally in the party or if someone else is already hanging out with them, you're all hanging out together, but a given person can only add one bond.
• Investigate: Add a bond to a relationship with an antagonist. Describe what you're doing to look into them and why you feel like you understand them better (including making up something about them). Spend an Asset or gain 1 Stress.
• Chores: Attend to something you can't easily ignore in real life: study for a test, work an extra shift, get car maintenance done, etc. Doing something may require several "chores" actions, gaining extra Stress, or spending an Asset. Gain 1 Stress.
• Chill: Blow off steam. Lower Stress by 1d6.
• Venture: Head into the other realm. Gain 1-3 Stress depending on what happens there (basic recon -> fight/serious recon -> fight where you got Downed/some kind of serious discovery). If the next day isn't a weekend, roll twice on stress and take the lower.

As you may have noticed, stress is a factor. At the start of each "free" day, roll a die: if it's greater than your current stress, everything's cool. If it's lower, you're burned out: describe what tilted you and pushed you over the edge in particular. Until you're back at 0 Stress, you don't gain your default per-session Determination and every "normal time" action needs a roll-over-stress to succeed (including Chill! It's hard to get your mind off of things sometimes!)

Confrontation session

The culmination of whatever arc. Maybe this HAS to happen at the end of the month (i.e. a particular thing is happening on that day or whatever), maybe it doesn't. Either way, this is the big blow-out, the big boss fight, this is where major plot shit happens.

Wrap-up

At the end of the arc, probably give everyone a level. Figure out any fallout from stuff that didn't get done. Did you fail the test? Is your car busted? And so on.

Outside the loop

So with this "loop" in mind, let's step back. What's a campaign look like? Maybe something like...

• Have players establish from the out what we know about the setting, the realm, etc. Establish like 2 facts per player about it. The Narrator makes a secret note that three of the things that have been established are false or incomplete.
• As noted, probably give everyone a level every time an arc is completed. Do a level for 2 arcs if you want to slow-roll it, or introduce more characters per arc if you want to make everything available sooner than later. You have enough pacing mechanisms to get this sorted if you want. - Every arc should add something to the group's "knowledge" of how things work. This can be mid-arc or some kind of revelation at the end. - During the confrontation at levels 3 and 6 (i.e. before getting to tiers 2/3), reveal one of the "false" pieces of information as such as part of the plot, and show what the "real" answer is. These should ratchet up the stakes in some way. If anything else depended on that information, change it appropriately! - When you get to the confrontation at level 9 or get to level 10³, reveal the last piece of information. Everyone figures out together how that's the big thing holding everything together.

And that'll mostly get us there! A few things that need filling in further, but that's the broad strokes.

Valiant Horizon is available now and the season pass, Ages of Heroism, is coming March 1st! If you're reading this in February/early March, it's part of the TTRPG Bundle for Trans Youth.