FAQ and Rules

[phantommods]

RULES AND FAQ

You never see it coming

Application and Activity Check Rules

Application Cycles begin on the first of each month at midnight EST and remain open for 1 week. All applications will be processed within 72 hours of receipt on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Reservations open one week before the next Application Cycle at midnight EST and will be processed on a first-come-first serve basis. You may not challenge an application, the first person to reserve a character will have the first chance to app them.

All applications will be given up to two revision chances should they not pass muster in the first pass. Should your application not be approved after the second revision, you will have to wait until the next application cycle to app the character.

If your application is not accepted, you cannot reserve the same character in the next cycle but you may re-apply with them should the character go unreserved.

Players may app no more than one character in an application cycle and may play no more than 5 characters total.

Activity Check is posted on the first of each month at midnight EST and must be responded to within a week of posting. Activity requirements are threads equaling at least 10 comments from your character, involving at least two other characters. The minimum amount of comments you may have for a thread to be counted is 3 from your character. A post counts as 4 comments, but you still must have threads with at least two different characters. You may use threads within a post you make as activity. Threads and posts must from the beginning of the prior month and can be used up to the present date. Threads and posts made after Activity Check have been posted may be used for the current Activity Check, but if used they will not be applicable for the next Activity Check.

Activity results are posted on the 8th of every month at midnight EST. If you do not post activity by the end of the week, your character will be ejected from the game.

If you do not have enough activity but still wish to stay in the game, you may take a Strike for the month. If you take a Strike, you cannot take a hiatus or another Strike for the next two months - you must have activity for all your active characters.

If you wish to take a hiatus, you must declare it before Reserves open for the next Application Cycle. It exempts you from the following cycle. Hiatuses longer than a single cycle must be discussed with and approved by the mods, but we typically will not allow more than two months of hiatus.

Player Expectations and Content Rules

Players with a known, recent and notable record of harassment will not be accepted into Phantom Thieves International.

All players are to be respected. We ask that you refrain from attacking, gossiping, or otherwise defaming other players at this game. Should you have an issue with another player, you may ask them to not tag you, and that player is expected to respect that wish and not discuss the matter further. You do not have to like or even play with everybody, but we do require that you treat everyone with respect.

Phantom Thieves International is a game that will address and deal with heavier topics, but we do still ask that you show consideration of your fellow players. All posts that involve explicit descriptive content of sex or violence must be placed under a cut with the appropriate warnings. Implication or discussion of heavier topics is generally fine as the game itself warns of such content, but when in doubt it is better to use a cut than not. Implication, reference, and non-explicit descriptions are generally permissible.

Explicit, graphic descriptive posts regarding sex or brutal violence involving minors is forbidden and can result in a ban for the offending player.

FAQ

What is the expected flow of the game?

The game will alternate on a monthly basis between Investigation Arcs and Palace arcs. In Investigation arcs, you will have less focused objectives and free time to run player plots and develop CR. The overarching goals will be to investigate the next target. The following month will be the Palace dive, which will serve as the major events of Phantom Thieves International. Large logs will be run where players will delve into the Palace in order to change the heart of their target. During Palace Arcs, CR development will still be possible, and the fallout from the Change of Heart will occur at the end of the month.

How long is this game expected to run?

Due to the expected flow, the game will not quite meet the standard one calendar year most Persona games run off, but the length of the game will hold to the Persona format in terms of Palace number.

Can I app a character already from Persona? How does that work?

Characters from a Persona game may be apped but will still be AU'd into the game setting. They may retain their unique signature Persona if desired, but will all use the summoning mechanics of the setting. Characters whose stories take place in fictional settings such as the town of Inaba will need to select a real world counterpart, but they may still be from Japan and even possibly following similar plots as their home games. However it should be noted that only large metropolises are able to spawn Mementos, so some Persona characters may require more AU changes than others.

In what cities does Mementos appear?

At this time, most major cities in the world have a Mementos that takes on the form of the most-common transit the city uses. At the bottom of the FAQ there is a brief but incomplete list of potential cities where Mementos is, if you wish to have a city added simply post an FAQ question about if a given city has a Mementos, if the answer is yes we will add it to the list.

How does international travel through Mementos work?

When accessing Mementos from key points, you will see paths leading into the darkness with signs denoting the name of a city. If you go down those paths, you will navigate a dark tunnel filled with shadows for about an hour before emerging on the other side within the new city. Cities are only connected to some of the closer cities to them, so you might need to make multiple jaunts to get to where you want to be. LA is currently connected to Tokyo, Toronto, New York and Mexico City. New city connections can happen without warning as new tunnels just appear in Mementos.

I want to play a character from another country operating out of LA, is there anything special I need to do?

In most cases, no. Characters from other countries who are traveling through Mementos could potentially run into issues, but Shinji is able to obtain forged paperwork for their stay in LA and has rooms in the safehouse they can use if desired. This should be accounted for in your app but is otherwise not an issue.

How does language work in the Metaverse?

If you meet someone in the Metaverse, no matter their nationality or even species in the case of the guide, you can understand them through the power of the Collective Unconsciousness. Upon returning to the human world, when that character speaks their native language you will always understand them as if they were speaking your own, and they you. Guides who take animal forms in the human world will likewise always be heard and understood by people who have met them in their true form within the Metaverse.

It is important to note however that this will not give you any kind of language proficiency outside of people you have physically met in the Metaverse. Should you end up in a country that speaks a different language, you will still be a foreigner who cannot communicate with the locals.

What level of Asset is required to learn another language?

A Minor Asset is enough to be able to speak a language well enough to get by more or less, such as for a college student of that language if they were to study abroad. If you wish to be fluent, you need an Intermediate Asset which would encompass fully immersed speakers or bilingual individuals. A Major Asset in that language would be the same as holding a Doctorate in that language or its written work, exceptionally fluent and have studied it at length.

I want to play a bilingual character from the beginning but Infiltrators and Operators don't start with an Intermediate Asset, can I still do this?

Yes you may! In the case of all characters, if it makes sense for them to have a knowledge-based Asset such as being bilingual at the start of the game, we will allow it on a case-by-case basis. If allowed, you will have to spend all Notoriety you gain on that Asset until you have properly "bought" it, after which you can gain more Notoriety as normal.

Is the plot going to be jumping between cities or will remain centralized in LA?

The core plot will happen in LA, with vignettes and flavor being added due to the actions of Phantom Thieves in other regions. If players choose to run plots making use of the international mechanics, they will find willing allies over the world (and make characters from those countries that much easier to app) that may help in the final confrontation later down the line.

What are Guides? What do they know?

Guides are beings created by Igor to aid the Phantom Thieves. They know of their existence, though their opinion of Igor is up to the individual Guide and he doesn't tend to favor any one Guide over another or treat them with any particular paternal instinct, instead preferring to let them forge their own destiny. Guides have intrinsic knowledge of the Metaverse and the rules of Stealing Hearts. Within the Metaverse they appear as anthropomorphic animal-like beings, but within the real world they appear as the animal their appearance mirrors. Typically, guides are animals associated with Trickster mythology such as Ravens, Foxes, Cats, Spiders, Coyotes, and Crows, but they do not have to be. For example, Teddie from Persona 4 and potentially Koromaru from Persona 3 would most appropriately be played as Guides, as well as Morgana from Persona 5 upon whom the Guide species is mostly based.

Can Guides have a human form?

We will allow this on a case-by-case basis if it fits with the character, such as with Teddie who begins as a bear-like Mascot and eventually gains a human form. In this case, like Teddie, if examined their physiology will be strange, possessing no bones or organs found in normal humans.

What happens if my S-Rank Link drops?

You have two options in this case. The first is to have them continue to exist as an NPC and off-screen all interactions but retain your power set as-is. The second, which can be taken at any time even if you have been to this point using option 1, is to break the link. Your Persona will remain evolved in its final form, but you will gain none of the other benefits of an S-Rank Link, although you are free to pursue another should you choose to do so.

Is there any way to share an S-Link between multiple characters?

If you have a group of characters such as a Poly group or a very close-knit military unit, you may request a shared S-Rank Link. In this case all characters in the group would achieve it at the same time but only one person could use another group member's ultimate Persona (So if Yu Narukami has an S-Rank Link with his crew of Chie, Yousuke, Rise, Kanji, Yukiko, Naoto and Teddie, Yu might have Yousuke's Persona, Yousuke might have Chie's Persona, Chie might have Yukiko's Persona, and so on).

Am I able to app an Android character like Aigis?

Unfortunately we will not be able to accept Android characters, we are trying to portray a modern setting and such technology just doesn't exist, and allowing one Android would mean potentially allowing many which is something that could dramatically alter the game's feel. That said, we would be willing to consider Guides that take the form of smaller toy robots in the real world or programs/apps such as Tiki from Tokyo Mirage Session on a case-by-case basis.

CITIES WITH MEMENTOS

Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sydney (Australia), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Toronto (Canada), Shanghai (China), Cairo (Egypt), Paris (France), Essen (Germany), Athens (Greece), Mumbai (India), Tehran (Iran), Baghdad (Iraq), Tel Aviv (Israel), Rome (Italy), Tokyo (Japan), Karachi (Pakistan), Mexico City (Mexico), Lagos (Nigeria), Manila (Philippines), St. Petersburg (Russia), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Johannesburg (South Africa), Seoul (South Korea), Barcelona (Spain), Taipei (Taiwan), Bangkok (Thailand), Istanbul (Turkey), Lima (Peru), Dubai (UAE), London (UK), Los Angeles (US), New York City (US), Ho Chi Minh city/Saigon (Vietnam)

★ NA🆅IGAT🅸ON ★

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Guide questions!

[paintbrushes]

Can characters be apped as guides even if they are human in 'canon'?

Were guides all created at the same time, or are there younger ones and older ones?

If the latter: Could a 'veteran' guide be apped (obviously not with any extra assets for their experience, but one who's dealt with babysitting nasty crime boys in the past)? How long has Igor been at this?

For that matter, guides and aging in a physical sense?

Re: Guide questions!

[phantommods]

1. Yes, but Guides themselves must be nonhuman at least to start

2 and 3. There is an age range among guides, they were created for different reasons. The earliest Guides showed up about 15 years ago and until recently their mission has been observing and learning about humans. That said there is no guarantee that they were completely successful at this learning, most older Guides likely think they know a lot about humans but have a lot of weird misconceptions.

4. Guides do not currently age physically and are typically in the age group of a young, healthy adult animal

[moneymoneymoney666]

So, given that I am gonna be playing a judge accomplice, just gotta ask. How is the Law gonna factor into this game, if at all? Are the police going to be after the Thieves or what?

[phantommods]

You can reasonably expect that once the Phantom Thieves phenomena is impossible to ignore, local law enforcement will be devoted to bringing them down.

[vulcanblazer]

So, for those unfamiliar with Persona 5, like myself...

How does one get pulled into a Palace or into the Metaverse itself? It was suggested that those who are wronged by society might get pulled in, but how does that work precisely? Is it unheard of from people to be pulled in unwittingly or unknowingly? And for that matter, how do people escape the Metaverse on their first visit? And do all those who end up there end up as a Persona user, or can people escape it without actually knowing what happened?

Essentially, I have no clue how the process works for first timers, though I do have an idea of how it plays out for experienced infiltrators.

[phantommods]

Usually you'll get pulled into the Metaverse one of two ways.

In the first method, your character experiences the "dream" as described in the premise and the Metaverse Nav appears on their phone. In a situation where they are confronting or discussing the individual who has wronged them, they will inadvertently activate the Nav through naming the keywords (in the actual game, Ryuji Sakamoto accidentally activates the Nav the first time by talking about Suguru Kamoshida, and saying he runs the school like it's his own castle, satisfying the requirements of Target's Name, location, and Target's distorted vision of the location).

The other method is being drawn in by following Phantom Thieves, as activating the Nav can draw in people within a close proximity. Either can be used for your backstory.

As to escaping, it is possible to leave the area through the use of the Nav and you aren't required to awaken a Persona to leave, it just requires a certain presence of mind to figure it out. In this setting, you can assume a Guide will be around if a Palace shows up to help you out. Again, there's a lot of freedom to work with this to what suits your needs/narrative.

[onaroll]

How exactly do Personas work? Is there a list of skills we pick from, or is it just ‘this one does Agi, heals, and physical strikes’? Is there a concrete mechanical basis for the things they can do or are they purely narrative?

[phantommods]

Persona will use the skills and abilities they have listed from their various games. Since we aren't using any leveling system, any skills on the Persona's list are fair game. If a Persona exists in multiple games, default to the most recent game it appeared in for the skill list.

[righthandbrand]

I have a question regarding AU backgrounds.

Is it preferred to keep things as realistic as possible or can we be vague about certain things? Religion is what I am looking at primarily. I have a vague idea of what I'd like to work with for a religious background for a character, but I also don't want to assume that certain groups exist in the world. Am I allowed to make up my own name for it, or is it better if I just remain vague and not declare a name at all?

[phantommods]

You definitely have some license to make things up if it would better fit than something pre-existing. The real-world aspect of the setting functions on its face as a kind of television prime-time drama world, so like our world but more dramaticnand intesting.

[lyrids]

Do Infiltrators' weapons of choice have to be... well, actual weapons? Or could one, say, use a microphone stand as a club?

[phantommods]

So long as it looks like it could do damage if wielded as a weapon it is fine. Microphone stand as a club is totally fine. A banana as a club, less so.

[occultured_gentleman]

Is everyone assumed to have awakened their persona and already cleared a palace before the game starts? Could some be more experienced than that? Less experienced?

Related to that, will there be any option for characters to tackle palaces connected to their background? For example, suppose a character's background includes corrupt parents, or teachers, or whatever. Could players run those palaces?

[phantommods]

Generally that is the default but it won't be required, you could even awaken your Persona at the start of the game with a player plot. And as an extension of that, yes, absolutely players can coordinate together and run their own plots. We are still determining what that system will look like but currently it is likely we will have a monthly post where people can coordinate to run personal Palace plots with each other.

[fifth_wheel]

What are the general guidelines when designing our characters' personal Personas? How many skills should they have, at what power level, how many do they start off knowing, etc.

[phantommods]

The general guidelines are pretty loose, you should be able to reasonably mimic your canon combat style but in terms of power you shouldn't be throwing out your best attacks before you have some S-rank confidants under your belt.

[megacurious]

Is it possible for us to copy some portions of our previous apps to our PT apps? Because I can rewrite them if it doesn't.

[phantommods]

Let's be honest if you copied an old app we'd never know because we're not that dedicated to digging.

So, yes, please use your old apps if you have them, we want applications to be as painless as possible.

[bunny_suit]

Would I be able to say that D.va is studying abroad, or would she have to have lived there for a longer period of time?

Also, as far as her Persona, would I be allowed to use her Meka as her Persona? I know in the game there's a ship, ufo, and, motorcycle persona, so I wasn't sure if a mech would fall into the same category or not.

[phantommods]

D.Va absolutely can be studying abroad, no problems at all with that backstory.

Yes you may use her Meka as a Persona, you might want to give it some kind of name to differentiate its base and S rank evolution.

[megacurious]

Okay, I've just managed to continue working on my app (I had to before the app period is done), but is it possible I can choose any kind of Persona based on Pokemon?

Because in his canon, Sycamore's only Pokemon in the games are the Kanto starter's final forms in post-canon and Xerneas is the legendary Pokemon mascot of Pokemon X, which I am going to be his game origin, which I planned the latter to be the inspiration of a final form or something...

[phantommods]

Yes that is fine. Most Persona are based on mythological beings of great power after all.

[kotoritori]

Are there any restrictions in place on guessing Palace keywords (such as one guess per player, only one guess per day, etc)?

[phantommods]

Currently there are none but if we see a pattern of the same characters guessing successfully early in the month we may ask the players to back off a bit and give others a chance.

Players are also encouraged to make their own discussion posts and work together, especially as the keywords become more difficult as the game progresses.

[cybermaskara]

So I'm planning to bring my new OC for the next app period, but regarding Personas (again) and that he is Filipino-American, is it possible for his Initial and Final Persona to be original and based on Filipino legends or other picaresque literature?

[phantommods]

Allowed and encouraged!

[cybermaskara]

Me again. Is it possible for a Phantom Thief to enter the Mementos for training while waiting for the operation to begin?

Also, IC-wise, how long will they travel from one city to another through the Mementos?

[phantommods]

Yes it is, city travel takes about an hour per city.

[lyrids]

Should group logs be counted towards Confidants?

[phantommods]

Yes they should!

[kickchicken]

Some guide questions.

-Does the wronged by society part apply to guides?
- How much history do guides need, seeing as their made by Igor?

-I was thinking of having Firo's normal world form be a cockatoo. Would she still be able to say simple things to normal people? I was going to have it as anything complex sounds like random squawking, but I thought I'd better check.
- Is there a size limit? Firo's real form is roughly 10 foot tall, I was going to base her Metaverse appearance on that. Would I have to change it to match Teddie and Morganna?

[phantommods]

-Guides are exempt from having been wronged
-Not all that much, especially in the case of a younger guide.
-Yes, they would be able to do anything a normal Cockatoo can do so they could vocalize in any way a normal Cockatoo could.
-We would accept 10 feet, there's no hard and fast rules but going much larger than that might get dicey.

[dotes]

A few questions

+ How would the Metaverse app apply to someone who either lost/damaged their phone and got a new device? Would it transfer over mysteriously over night?
+ Could the Metaverse app appear on tablet devices? If so, I was wondering if it would be alright for May to substitute one over a regular phone by using her Notority to get a Minor Asset. Basically without making proper phone calls, she can still message other Thieves along with general note keeping for investigating reasons

[phantommods]

-It would appear on a new device. The major requirement is possession of a device that that person considers their own.
-Yes, the Nav could appear on a tablet and May could use said tablet for most of her Phantom Thief dealings.

[princessofsociallinks]

Heyy, I'm considering sending over this nerd as a Guide and I have a few questions.

- Having a (real, live) pony around is the most appropriate for Twilight, but it also stretches credulity a bit. Would it be possible for her to appear in the physical world as a plush toy from a series that's Legally Distinct From her canon instead?
- Failing the above, is there a place where her presence makes sense? She can just hoof it to LA from that city's Mementos, as I understand it.

[phantommods]

Apologies for the delay I thought I had gotten this one.

1. Yes if desired you may do a plush toy.

2. It isn't uncommon for some livestock to show up in the suburbs. The safe house has a large enough yard to stable her should it come to it.

Basically feel free to pick whichever option works best for your concept.