Arcana System

The Arcana System is Velvet Room MUSH's primary coded combat system. It encompasses combat among player characters as well as versus monsters and bosses run by other players or staff.

Basics

The basic object of play in the Arcana System is to reduce one's opponents to 0 HP before being reduced to 0 HP yourself. While sometimes this will be influenced or replaced by the needs of drama and ultimately 'winning' is less important than telling an interesting story, that is how one 'wins'.

The following concepts are vital to understanding the system.

Pools

HP: Hit Points. These reflect one's health fatigue, and ability to continue fighting. While the loss of HP can reflect literal bleeding wounds, it usually doesn't. Generally taking damage in combat results in increased fatigue. This is illustrated more in Respect. They are reduced by taking damage from attacks and restored via healing. Some attacks cost HP to use.

TP: Treatment Points. These points reflect how much more healing a character can receive before healing ceases to have effect. Think of it as reserve health which is accessed via healing moves. It is primarily reduced by receiving healing. When TP reaches 0, healing has no further effect. Note that these points are never wasted--if you're only healed 50 damage from a 100-damage heal, you only lose 50 TP. Countering an attack also costs 30 TP. The purpose of this system is to allow healing as useful and effective without allowing fights to stretch indefinitely.

SP: Spirit Points. These reflect one's mental focus and energy. Most attacks cost SP to use, and rare effects can lower one's SP directly. Lower SP ICly reflects a greater difficulty focusing on using Persona abilities. SP cannot go below 0 and cannot go above one's maximum. At 0 SP, one can no longer use attacks which cost SP. SP can be restored like HP without limit otherwise.

Limit: Limit. These points reflect an overall advantage during battle, be it luck or superior positioning. Limit is spent to use higher-level attacks and perform Limit Actions, which are covered later in this page. Limit is gained primarily through using lower-tier attacks. In a typical battle, Limit starts at 0 and can be gathered up to a given cap. Limit is bounded between 0 and the cap. It is best to use limit rather than store it; there are no benefits to holding max Limit besides the opportunity to use it.

Pools such as HP, TP, SP, and Limit are all reset to their starting amounts upon using +heal/full. This is typically done before each new battle. Stats do not affect one's pools.

Stats

Characters have five 'stats' for the Arcana System, which are detailed in Character Statistics. These basic statistics affect most aspects of combat, and are set per form.

Actions and Reactions

One can take both active moves and responsive moves in the combat system. Typically, one receives one action per turn, and any number of reactions per turn. Actions are used for attacks, which are explained below. Reactions are responses to incoming attacks. Finally, there is a third type of action that can be used on one's turn, the bonus action. Granted by some effects, a bonus action allows you to take limited additional actions on your turn. (Typically, one additional Weak action per bonus action.) Note that limit can be spent but is not received for bonus actions.

Attacks

The primary action one can take in the Arcana System is to assign and enact attacks, which include both offensive moves and healing spells. Buffs and debuffs are also attacks; examples include Agi, Cleave, Tarukaja, Tarunda, and Dia. Attacks come in multiple tiers: Weak, Strong, Fierce, Severe, and Divine. An attack's components and construction are detailed in this section.

Effects

Buffs, debuffs, and ailments are all effects that can modify one's attacks, reactions, or combat status in some way. Buffs increase statistical values; debuffs decrease statistical values; ailments impose conditions on your character not directly related to your stats. The difference between buffs, debuffs, and ailments is elaborated upon in this section.

Limit Actions

Limit Actions are a way of turning the tide of a battle in one's favor. They spend the Limit resource to achieve effects that could not typically be done through attacks or reactions. Notably, some Limit Actions can be used regardless of turn order. The limit actions to which one has access vary depending on character attributes. Antagonists and bosses have a different set of Limit Actions from standard characters. Limit Actions include the following:

• Help Up - Removes one Ailment from target character (never yourself). On or off your turn. Costs 2 Limit. All.
• Shift - Grants one bonus action to target character (never yourself). On or off your turn. Costs 3 Limit. All.
• Recover - Converts Bonus Actions to Limit, at a rate of 1:1. Will clear all bonus actions. Costs 0 Limit. All.
• Exploit - Grants yourself one Bonus Action. Costs 3 Limit. All.
• Psych - Enhances this round's attacks. Costs 2 Limit. All.
• Brace - Enhances your defenses against all attacks this round. Costs 2 Limit. All
• Blood - Grants the Blood status to self, which increases Strength and Magic while decreasing Agility and Vitality. Mutually exclusive with Aegis and Favor. Costs 3 Limit. Boss
• Aegis - Grants the Aegis status to self, which increases Agility and Vitality while decreasing Strength and Magic. Mutually exclusive with Aegis and Favor. Costs 3 Limit. Boss
• Favor - Grants the Favor status to self, which increases Luck. Mutually exclusive with Blood and Aegis. Costs 3 Limit. Boss
• Salve - Removes one ailment from self. Costs 2 Limit. Boss
• Broad - Allows one to attack up to 4 targets with one attack, regardless of Area flags. Costs 3 Limit. Boss
• Reach - Allows an Area attack to reach up to 30 targets. Costs 3 Limit. Boss (Note: Please do not fight 30 people.)
• Break - Grants the Break status to self and grants 3 Limit to self. The Break status grants a Bonus Action to each target attacked while it lasts. This is meant to encourage 'all-out attacks', and is a fine way to end a last round. Costs 0 Limit. Boss

Exclusive Limit Actions

These limit actions require a passive to unlock. They are generally for Navigators and Anti-Navigators.

• X Soul - Grants +16 SP to the target. Can be used on self. Costs 2 Limit. Requires the Spotlight passive to use.
• Shock Noise - Inflicts a random debuff onto the target. Can be used on self. Costs 2 Limit. Requires the Jamming passive to use.
• Life Mend - Grants +50 HP to the target. Can be used on self. Costs 2 Limit. Requires the Sneak Guide passive to use.

Combat Rounds

At the end of one's turn, the combat round ticks over. At this point, various operations are performed: regenerative healing-per-turn effects happen, as do damage-per-turn effects. Rounds tick down for effects, and ailments may resolve by random chance. Your 'action count' also resets, allowing your next turn to take the appropriate amount of actions. More on this in combat flow.

Elements and Affinity

Each attack has an element, which describes the sort of damage (or healing) it does. Each character has Affinities for each element: you may be Neutral to, Resistant to, or Weak to an element. Resistance means less damage from attacks of that element, while Weakness means more damage from attacks of that element. Neutrality applies no modifier.

Elements for which characters may have Affinity include Pierce, Slash, Strike, Fire, Water, Electricity, Earth, Wind, Light, and Dark. Almighty and Recovery are additional elements, but a character cannot have affinity for either.

• Pierce: Pinpoint physical attacks; most ranged physical attacks.
• Slash: Cutting physical attacks.
• Strike: Bashing physical attacks.
• Fire: Attacks based on heat and combustion. Agi/Frei lines.
• Water: Attacks based on cold and liquid. Bufu/Aqua lines.
• Elec: Attacks based on volatile energy. Zio/Psi lines.
• Earth: Attacks based on rock, compression, or weight. Magna/Gry lines.
• Wind: Attacks based on kinetic energy. Garu/Zan lines.
• Light: Attacks based on holiness, sacred power, or exorcism. Kouha/Hama lines.
• Dark: Attacks based on curses and dark forces. Eiha/Mudo lines.
• Recovery: Healing and restorative attacks. Dia line.
• Almighty: Attacks which bypass elemental affinity. Poisma or Megido.

Forms

Typically, a character has one combat mode in Arcana System: that of their character and Persona. However, some characters can hold multiple Personas, and occasionally one might use a character bit to run a boss separately from one's own character. To shift modes, one will use +mode # where # is the number of the desired mode.

The most common way to have multiple forms is either to be a Wild Card or to have a form to reflect one's minions separately from oneself, as if for a Marked character summoning generic Demons.

Combat, Reactions, and Battle Flow

A typical battle run through the Arcana System is started with the +heal/full command for all given participants. If one is a boss, they will use +heal/boss #, where # is the amount of targets they intend to fight.

Action

From there, it proceeds in turns. On a turn, one takes an action, assigning one attack per action to the targets of one's choice. These can be healing moves, damaging attacks, or anything else on your list. One also takes one's bonus action attacks, typically Weak-tier attacks that may be assigned before or after one's main attacks. Note that bonus action attacks do not gain Limit except for that gained from Passives such as Supporter.

If the attacker has finished their actions and bonus actions, +round will be automatically engaged to progress to the end of their turn. If you want to continue the battle without engaging all of your actions, use the command +round.

This is accomplished via the +attack command. The syntax is +attack <target>=<attackname>, for example +attack bel=dia. Multiple targets are comma-separated. For example, +attack bel,leb=media.

Reaction

When attacked, a player character has the option of various reactions, each of which impact the incoming attack in some way. It is expected to react to an attack before writing one's next pose, so that durations and effects may be handled as quickly as possible.

Reactions

• +Avoid - Attempts to defend via speed and evasion. Affected by Agility. Can also be performed with +evade.
• +Block - Attempts to defend via toughness or parrying. Affected by Vitality. Can also be performed with +guard.
• +Counter - Refuses defense in order to return damage to the attacker. Affected by Agility, Vitality, and Luck. Can also be performed with +repel. Note that +counter costs 20 TP to use, unlike other Reactions, but is also more powerful.
• +Take - A final reaction which reflects 'no contest' to the attack. This is typically used for heals and buffs. If you wish to fail a roll deliberately, use the /fail switch on one of the other reactions, rather than +take. +accept is another alias for +take.

Each reaction has three possible states:

• Success - The most favorable result. Reduces the most damage, or returns the most damage in the case of Counter.
• Neutral - A moderate result. Reduces some damage, or returns some damage in the case of Counter.
• Failure - The worst result. Takes the most damage, or returns the least damage in the case of Counter.

Stats impact both one's rate of success and base damage reduction from attacks for a given reaction. Reaction modifiers are also affected by certain abilities and statuses. More on that in Passives and Effects.

You can see attacks in your queue as well as data on that attack to help you decide how to react. You do this with the commands +queue or +health. When choosing a reaction, use the number in your queue or the name or alias of your attacker to react to the topmost attack from them in your queue.

Note that some attacks are multi-hit attacks, which means that you will have multiple +queue entries against which to defend from a given attack. This is noted in the attack readout but also in +queue. You cannot act again until you have reacted to all attacks in your +queue. You can react to every attack at once if you want to use the same type of reaction against them. Do this by presenting multiple arguments in your +react string, such as +block junes junes or +block 1 2.

Further note that there is no such thing as perfect mitigation in this system; all attacks that deal damage will deal some damage.

Summary

So, one acts, their opponent reacts to each attack. Then, the opponent acts, and the original attacker reacts. Battle progresses this way in turns. In large fights against a single boss, the boss acts up to once per target, and each target reacts, followed by a poseround in which everyone takes their own actions. One never acts again before one's opponent has acted.

When someone's HP reaches 0, or when a dramatic end is agreed upon by all parties, the battle is over. Note that a character does not die when reduced to 0 HP; they must merely stop the battle. This can be due to unconsciousness, needing to flee, or any number of other reactions, but consent still applies to defeated characters.

Attack/Pose Conventions

Finally, there's the matter of which attacks to use. We encourage variety in pose, especially in combat. However, Persona is a series where sometimes you just spam the same thing to win! We prefer a balance of these approaches; in general, you shouldn't re-use the same attack consecutively, but you're welcome to re-use said attack another time in the fight. While many games discourage such re-use, we're cool with it. Just remember that it's not only about winning, but about providing an interesting fight to both sides. For bosses, all repetition bets are off, becuase there's only so many attacks and a lot of opponents to go around. Similarly, if it's narratively interesting to break these rules, go for it!

Character Statistics

Stats

Each 'stat' is a numerical representation of one's relative power in a given field of combat. Their scale is between 1 and 100. The stats and their effects are as follows:

• Strength - St, this stat reflects one's physical offense. It empowers Physical attacks.
• Magic - Ma, this stat reflects one's mystical offense. It empowers Magical attacks.
• Agility- Ag, this stat reflects one's ability to move and dodge. It benefits Avoid and Counter reactions.
• Vitality - Vi, this stat reflects one's toughness and guarding abilities. It benefits Block and Counter reactions.
• Luck - Lu, this stat reflects happenstance, chance, and general favor of the divine. It primarily impacts critical rate and damage, both incoming and outgoing. It also affects debuff odds, incoming and outgoing, as well as Counter reactions.

While it can be fun to play these for IC reality, they are ultimately combat abstractions; a character who can deadlift a great amount is probably but not necessarily possessed of high mechanical Strength. For non-combat statistical generalities, see Monad System.

Stat Guidelines

Form Type	Stat Pool	Stat Minimum	Stat Maximum	Passive Points	Passive Rank	Strong/Weak Affinities	Weak/Strong/Fierce Attacks	Weapon Attacks	Signature Attacks
Standard	75	10	25	4	2	1/1	5/3/0	2	1
Veteran	75	10	25	5	3	1/1	5/3/0	2	1
Adversary	90	10	25	5	2	1/1	6/4/0	3	1
Veteran Adversary	90	10	25	6	3	1/1	6/4/0	3	1
Mythic	120	15	30	8	3	2/1	6/6/3	4	1

• Note that all of the attacks listed are additive; a standard statblock has two weak Weapon attacks and an additional Signature attack on top of their starting 5/3.
• A Standard Persona is that of a normal character in the midst of their plot. Mitsuru Kirijo and Ryuji Sakamato are both Standard characters, even though Kirijo has been at it a while.
• A Veteran Persona is that of someone who has completed at least one major, world-shaking plot in the past. They don't retain their full power outside the narrative focus they had, but they have some extra tricks still. The Persona 1 cast are Veterans.
• An Adversary Persona is an antagonist's Persona. They have a certain narrative role and have a little more power to back that up.
• A Mythic Persona meanwhile is someone at the top of their game--a powerful Persona-user well beyond the standard, either through destiny or some other means. Being Mythic is not normal, and it tends to draw the attention of powerful enemies. Tatsuya Suou is a Mythic character, as is Goro Akechi.

Meanwhile, Wild Cards and certain other characters may have more than one Persona. If a form is meant for use during an entire battle, it can be built as per the usual rules. If, however, that form is designed for switching between, such as a Wild Card's Personas, it will use the following rules:

Form Type	Stat Pool	Stat Minimum	Stat Maximum	Passive Points	Passive Rank	Strong/Weak Affinities	Weak/Strong/Fierce Attacks	Weapon Attacks	Signature Attacks
Additional (Standard)	70	10	25	3	2	1/1, 2/2, or 3/3	4/3/0	2	0
Additional (Adversary)	80	10	25	4	2	1/1, 2/2, or 3/3	4/3/0	2	0
Additional (Mythic)	110	15	30	7	3	3/2 or 2/1	3/4/1	2	0

Passives and Attacks are explained in more detail at here and here. Note that a character who foregoes a weapon can instead take two additional Weak Persona attacks.

Our current scale is between 10 and 30, with 10 being a serious weakness, 15-16 being solid, and 20 being a highly notable strength. Values above 20 are mostly for Mythic characters and Adversaries, or exist as room to grow as characters gather XP. Having a stat of even 20 at chargen is very powerful, and we encourage a more even statistical spread. Some characters are lopsided in stats, and that's fine--but it's not necessary to keep up.

Personality

Form Personalities, meanwhile, reflect ways to gain extra Limit based on a general approach to combat. These are set per-form, and include the following:

• Aggression - Issue an attack with SP/TP under 50%; use Weapon moves; use Critical or All_Out flags.
• Defense - Issue an attack with HP/TP under 50%; issue an attack while suffering a debuff or ailment; use the Masochism or Hunted flags.
• Support - Use heal/support attacks.
• Pressure - Issue an attack with HP over 80%; issue attack while buffed; use the Wild or Still flags.
• Ruin - Use Ailments or Debuffs.
• Insight - Use Navigator-flagged attacks.

They add Limit once per round for any character, on the character's attack.

Bosses and Boss Fights

Bossing

Sometimes, a player takes on the role of a Boss for other players to fight. This can reflect a single big monster, a group of enemies, or even a single character who is empowered by their cornered state. In other words, don't worry too much about whether a boss should rightly be able to handle a group of people ICly; we're based on a JRPG, and that's just part of the milieu. More importantly, here's how it's done:

• +heal/boss <number> - Number refers to the number of opponents you intend to fight.
• +heal/adjust <number> - Something went funny and someone had to leave, or someone new joined the fight? Adjust your boss value with this command.

With this command, a player can empower their character or other boss to take on a group! A boss has increased HP, SP, Limit maximum, and Action count in order to pose a challenge to more than one player. The expectation is that a boss will take their actions on their turn, attacking everyone not more than once with the same action, and in turn everyone else will react, pose, and attack the boss in turn. The boss may react to attacks in any order they choose, but the default is first-in, first-out. Bosses gain various special tools to help them provide interesting challenges.

Note that in most cases, the object of a bossfight for the boss is not to win, but to provide an interesting experience. A boss might well be able to overcome the entire group by using only their strongest and most ruthless tactics! This is usually not desirable. Accordingly, a boss need not be fought to 0 HP; when the group and/or the bossrunner agree that the fight has reached an interesting conclusion, that's good enough.

One tool to which bosses have access is the +trigger system. Sometimes, a fight may involve environmental or other narrative elements that are useful to simulate. For this purpose, the boss may designate a trigger with the +boss/trigger command. By fulfilling the requirements the boss sets forth, the players unlock a special command; this allows them to deal extra damage to the boss without having to use their own attack. The commands for this sytem are as follows:

• +boss/trigger <character>[ <character2>, etc.]=<damage value> - Designate one or more characters with the ability to deal <damage> to the target. It may be a flat value or a percentage of HP. So, 1000 points, or 10% of your max HP.
• +trigger <bossname> - Sets off the trigger, dealing damage.
• +trigger/reset - Something gone wrong, or the action didn't get taken after all? Reset your triggers with this command.

All triggers are reset upon +heal/full or +heal/boss.

In addition, note that the HP costs for boss attacks are based on the Boss HP Modifier value, rather than on their current max HP.

Buckets

Buckets refers to not literal buckets but instead is a mechanism for organizing boss fights when there are multiple bosses in the scene. Using buckets allows players to 'sign up' to fight a particular boss and for the boss to keep track of who they're targeting.

Keep in mind, using buckets doesn't mean that a player is restricted to a given target -- the key is to ask first if you would like to temporarily target someone else. Neither are you restricted to aiding people also in your bucket! Buckets are simply an organizational tool.

For bosses, characters in your bucket are starred with an asterisk in +pot and +scan.

Boss bucket commands are:

• +bucket/place # - Places a new bucket with # slots.
• +bucket/adjust # - Only works if you have a bucket. Adjusts slots to #.
• +bucket/clear - Clears your current bucket.

To check buckets for the room, use +buckets.

For non-boss players, their bucket commands are:

• +bjoin <Bossname> - Joins an extant bucket. (+bucket/join <bossname> also works.)
• +bleave <Bossname> - Leaves the relevant bucket. (+bucket/leave <bossname> also works.)

Certain effects work differently when there are Buckets. For instance, the Charm ailment deals damage to yourself normally, but might instead deal damage to a party member, as designated by non-bosses in your +bucket!

Triggers

The +trigger system is a mode by which a boss can establish narrative conditions for inflicting some damage or effect.

By establishing a trigger with the +trigger/set command, the boss hangs damage or a debuff or ailment on themselves, which they can then set off with +trigger when a player takes the narrative action required.

Commands:

• +trigger/set <Damage, Percentage, or Effect> - Set a trigger. Can be damage, a percentage of max HP, or a debuff or ailment. If multiple debuffs and/or ailments, separate with commas. Note that explosion exclusions apply.
• +trigger <Playername> - Activate the trigger on behalf of player.
• +trigger/reset - To reset all triggers on your person.

Passives

Each form has a number of Passive abilities, each of which has an impact on battles. Passives are applied per-form--each Persona has its own. Some impact the parameters of the form, while others affect statistics, actions, and reactions more directly. The same Passive cannot be stacked, but different and similar passives may.

Passives are gated by Rank. Each form may take passives up to and including a given Rank, which is noted at the end of the passive's description. For example, a form has access to four points of passives, up to rank 2: they may take 4 rank one passives, 2 rank 2 passives, or any other combination which adds up to 4 made up of 1 and 2 Rank passives.

Passives are as follows:

Defensive Passives

• Avoid <Element>: Reduces damage taken when Avoiding <Element> regardless of roll. +2 Defense.(1)
• Block <Element>: Reduces damage taken when Blocking <Element> regardless of roll. +2 Defense.(1)
• Counter <Element>: Reduces damage taken when Countering <Element> regardless of roll. +2 Attack.(1)
• <Element> Riposte: Your counters deal <Element> damage instead of the incoming attack's element. Note that only one of these passives can take effect per form.(1)
• Apt Pupil: - Increases outgoing Counter backlash damage. (1)
• Sharp Student: Decreases incoming Counter backlash damage. (1)
• Mind Shield: Decreases odds that Rage, Charm, Poison, Haze, and Bind will land by 25%. (2)
• Nerve Shield: Decreases odds that Exhaust, Panic, Sick, Blast, and Paralyze will land by 25%. (2)
• Null <Ailment>: Prevents <Ailment> from applying to the user. (2)
  • Note that Mind Shield and Nerve Shield are usually a better deal than Null Ailment, which is included for cases when a character should really be immune to just the one.
• <Element> Resist: Adds a Resistance to <Element> above and beyond one's usual selections. Cannot be applied over a Weakness. (3)
• Endure: Once per battle, withstands an attack that would KO the user with 1 HP. (3)
• Ali Dance: Reduces damage taken when Avoiding any element, regardless of roll. (4)
• Firm Stance: Reduces damage taken when Blocking any element, regardless of roll. (4)
• High Counter: Reduces damage taken when Countering any element, regardless of roll. (4)

For this purpose, the elements selectable are Pierce, Slash, Strike, Fire, Water, Electricity, Earth, Wind, Light, and Dark. Ailments include Bind, Blast, Charm, Exhaust, Haze, Panic, Paralyze, Poison, Rage, and Sick.

Offensive Passives

• Heavy Weapon: Increases damage inflicted by the user's Weapon and Tandem attacks. (1)
• Quick Weapon: Gives an extra hit (maximum 3) to the user's Weapon and Tandem attacks. (1)
  • Note: You can take one of Heavy Weapon or Quick Weapon, but not both; they're mutually exclusive.
• Weapon Specialist: Grants the user 2 additional Weapon attacks at chargen. (1)
• Explode Boost: Increases ailment explosion damage slightly. (1)
• <Element> Boost: Increases base damage for the user's <Element> attacks. (1)
• Ailment Boost: Increases all ailment infliction odds for the user by 20%. (2)
• <Element> Amp: Increases critical rate and critical damage for the user's <Element> attacks. Also boosts outgoing Counter damage of that element. (2)

For this purpose, the elements selectable are Pierce, Slash, Strike, Fire, Water, Electricity, Earth, Wind, Light, and Dark. Recovery can be Boosted but not Amped. Ailments include Bind, Blast, Charm, Exhaust, Haze, Panic, Paralyze, Poison, Rage, and Sick.

Resource Passives

• Break Limit: Gain 1 Limit at +heal/full and +1 maximum Limit. (1) Unavailable to extra Personas, but available to bossforms.
• Comeback: Gain 1 Limit when the user is critically hit. (1) (Deprecated; replaced by Personality.)
• Mind Up:Gain 8 SP when reacting to Rage, Poison, Charm, Haze, and Bind, but the effects landing are more likely. (1)
• Momentum: Gain 1 Limit when critically hitting an opponent. (1) (Deprecated; replaced by Personality.)
• Nerve Up:Gain 8 SP when reacting to Exhaust, Sick, Panic, Blast, and Paralyze, but the effects landing are more likely. (1)
• Schadenfreude: Chance to gain 1 Limit when inflicting a debuff or ailment on an opponent. (1) (Deprecated; replaced by Personality.)
• Supporter: Chance to gain 1 Limit when using a buff or healing attack. (1) (Deprecated; replaced by Personality.)
• Team Player:Grant 8 SP and 20 HP of healing when using the Shift Limit Action. (1)
• Tough Love: Grant 8 SP and 20 HP of healing when using the Help Up Limit Action. (1)
• Invigorate 1: Gain 3 SP when completing a +round. (1)
• Regenerate 1: Gain 5 HP when completing a +round. (1)
• Invigorate 2: Gain 6 SP when completing a +round. (2)
• Regenerate 2: Gain 10 HP when completing a +round. (2)
• Invigorate 3: Gain 10 SP when completing a +round. (3)
• Regenerate 3: Gain 20 HP when completing a +round. (3)

Other Passives

• Peerless Skill: Grants the user an additional Strong Signature attack. Can be taken once per form. (1)
• Skill Card Affinity: Allows the user to equip 3 Skill Cards instead of 1. Grants +12 SP to the user's pool. (1)
• Third Eye: Allows the user to take Navigator-flag attacks. Grants +12 SP to the user's pool. Adds 2 Weak Navigator attacks to the user's attack list at chargen. (1)
• Jamming: Allows the user to take Navigator-flag attacks. Grants the Shock Noise Limit Action. Adds 2 Weak Navigator attacks to the user's attack list at chargen. (1)
• Sneak Guide: Allows the user to take Navigator-flag attacks. Grants the Life Mend Limit Action. Adds 2 Weak Navigator attacks to the user's attack list at chargen. (1)
• Spotlight: Allows the user to take Navigator-flag attacks. Grants the X Soul Limit Action. Adds 2 Weak Navigator attacks to the user's attack list at chargen. (1)
• Fast Heal: Increases the chance of recovering from ailments on +round. (2)
• Auto-Rakukaja: Starts battle with Def_Up at 3 rounds. (3)
• Auto-Rebellion: Starts battle with Crt_Up at 3 rounds. (3)
• Auto-Sukukaja: Starts battle with Spd_Up at 3 rounds. (3)
• Auto-Tarukaja: Starts battle with Atk_UP at 3 rounds. (3)

Navigator flags include Curse, Eclipse, Fortune, Regen, Strength_Scan, Support_Scan, Vigor, Weakness_Scan. Navigator Flags always go on Magical attacks. Third Eye, Jamming, Sneak Guide, and Spotlight are mutually exclusive. A full Navigator-type Persona both has one of these four passives /and/ devotes at least a third of their list at chargen to Navigator-flag attacks. Less than that indicates some special talent for Resonance but not the full abilities of a Navigator.

For Skill Cards, see Equipment. For Navigator type Personas, see Navigator Personas. For buffs, see Buffs.

Note that for best results with the Auto-skills, it is important to switch to the correct form before using +heal/full.

Attacks

Attacks are the primary actions taken in the Arcana System.

There are two ways to generate attacks. One is to use the point buy system to name, develop, and design one's own attacks. The second is to take an attack from the Attack Database, which may be renamed as desired. The Attack Database is a listing of nearly 300 attacks patterned after the attacks in the games, including those such as Agi, Bufula, and Tarukaja.

Either is valid, but the Attack Database is likely to save a lot of time in attack building. The rules for building your own attacks and the explanations of an attack's components and flags follow.

In any case, every attack must have a different name from the others on a given list.

Free Attacks

Free attacks are special +attacks that may be set without regard to ordinary limits. They are a preset list, and they may be renamed to whatever one might wish within reason. They include basic attacks of each elements, an ailment remover, a heal, and an SP heal. They have no cost, but otherwise follow the same rules as other attacks.

• +view/frees
• +free/set <freename>=<chosenname>

Signature Attacks

Signature attacks are attacks which have the Signature flag--you may have a number based on your statistical tier designation, and they are designed accordingly on 10 more points than a standard attack. Only Signature attacks may have the Signature flag. In addition, this attack must be of a tier to which you have access: for most characters, this means that your Signature attack must be Weak or Strong. Unlike regular attacks, a Signature attack may be a Strong weapon attack.

Theurgy

Theurgies are a special type of attack found only on 'main' Personas and forms. They have the 'Theurgy' tag, and are built as attacks of one tier higher than is typical for the form. In other words, a standard form will have a single Fierce Theurgy attack, and a Mythic form will have a single Severe Theurgy attack.

They are meant to be used once per battle, and pay a reduced limit cost in exchange for requiring one action and one bonus action both in order to be used.

All Theurgies are offensive attacks at this time; if you don't want an offensive Theurgy, you can take a regular Strong (for most forms) or Fierce (for Mythic forms).

Power Level

An attack has a power level ranging from 0-9, which dictates its base damage value. Attack levels cost 10 points each, with a surcharge of 10 points for Almighty and Recovery attacks with PLs above 0.

Hits

An attack can issue multiple hits, up to three. This means that more than one entry is entered into the queue for a given attack. Each hit is weaker than a standard attack, but in aggregate the multiple hits are an advantage, even before considering separate critical chance and so on. Only the first hit has a chance of delivering status effects. A two-hit attack is 4 additional BP, 4 additional SP, and 0.01% extra HP; a three-hit attack is 10 additional BP, 10 additional SP, and 0.025% extra HP.

When dealing additional hits, an attack always deals additional hits if they are designated in its statistics.

Tiers

Attacks are divided into tiers. Each tier denotes the relative power of the attack when compared to others, and dictates its BP (Build Points) and Limit value. Weak attacks may be used for Bonus Actions.

Tier	Power Levels	Limit Value	BP
Weak	0 or 1-2	+2	30
Strong	0 or 3-4	+1	50
Fierce	0 or 5-6	-3	70
Severe	0 or 7-8	-4	90
Divine	0 or 9-10	-6	110

Type and Element

Each attack has a type and an elemental affinity. Types are Magical and Physical; they refer to attacks primarily using mystical forces and more direct, corporeal attacks. Elements, explained above, refer to the nature of the attack's damage.

Repeated here, elements are Pierce, Slash, Strike, Fire, Water, Electricity, Earth, Wind, Light, Dark, Recovery, and Almighty.

Recovery and Almighty attacks cannot score critical hits, but Almighty attacks have increased base damage.

Unless another rule allows it, Pierce/Slash/Strike are always Physical, while Fire/Water/Elec/Earth/Wind/Light/Dark/Recovery are always Magical.

Flags

An attack has up to five Flags, which are attributes that either modify the attack or apply an effect to the target. All attacks with effect flags affect the target, not the user, with those flags. Each flag has a cost in BP and modifies the attack's SP or HP cost. Flags of the same type (Ailment1/Ailment2) do not stack.

Cost

An attack has a cost, as all things must. Magical attacks cost SP, while Physical attacks cost HP. SP costs are static, while HP costs are fractional compared to one's max HP. These costs are modified by power level and flags. They also have Limit values, which are the Limit required to use them; Weak and Strong attacks typically generate Limit, while attacks of higher Tier expend it.

Flag Listing

Attack Modifiers

• Ailment1: Boosts ailment chances for this attack slightly. 4 BP, 0 SP, 0.5% HP.
• Ailment2: Boosts ailment chances for this attack more. 10 BP, 0 SP, 0 HP.
• Ailment3: Boosts ailment chances for this attack significantly. 20 BP, -2 SP, -0.5% HP.
• All_Out1: Boosts critical damage for this attack slightly. 4 BP, 1 SP, 0.4% HP.
• All_Out2: Boosts critical damage for this attack more. 6 BP, 2 SP, 0.6% HP.
• All_Out3: Boosts critical damage for this attack significantly. 10 BP, 4 SP, 1% HP.
• Anti_Avoid: This attack deals much more damage against Avoid reactions, and reduces Counter backlash. 10 BP, 4 SP, 1% HP.
• Anti_Block: This attack deals much more damage against Block reactions and reduces Counter backlash. 10 BP, 4 SP, 1% HP.
• Area: This attack can target up to 4 characters. 10 BP, 8 SP, .15% HP. Area attacks deal additional damage inversely commensurate with number of targets. There is no surcharge for targets on area attacks.
• Boost: This attack is made with a +2 bonus to the attacker's Strength, Magic, and Luck. 2 BP, 1 SP, 0.2% HP.
• Critical1: This attack's critical hit chance is increased. 4 BP, 1 SP, 0.4% HP.
• Critical2: This attack's critical hit chance is increased further. 6 BP, 2 SP, 0.6% HP.
• Critical3: This attack's critical hit chance is increased significantly. 10 BP, 4 SP, 1% HP.
• Hinder: This attack is made with a -2 penalty to the defender's Vitality, Agility, and Luck. 2 BP, 1 SP, 0.2% HP.
• Hunted: This attack deals more damage if the user has a Debuff. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.4% HP.
• Item: This attack reflects an external source of damage from the user, typically an item that casts a spell or inflicts environmental damage. Offensive stats do not apply to the damage of this attack. 10 BP, - HP, - SP. +1 Limit cost.
  • Item attacks are always Weak attacks, unless specifically allowed such as by Signature attacks.
• Masochism: This attack deals more damage if the user has an Ailment. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.4% HP.
• Mystic: - This attack grants 1 extra Limit. 10 BP, 8 SP, 1% HP.
• Sadism: This attack deals more damage if the target has an Ailment. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.4% HP.
• Seeker: This attack deals more damage if the target has one or more debuffs. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.4% HP.
• Signature: This attack gains more BP, but costs 1 more Limit. -10 BP, -4 SP, -1% HP. Only valid for designated Signature attacks. Cannot be used on ordinary attacks.
• Still: This attack deals more damage scaling with spent SP. Kicks in at 75% SP. 10 BP, 2 SP, 0.6% HP.
• Tandem: This attack reflects the user and their Persona attacking at the same time. It allows the benefits of Weapon attack and passives. Tandem attacks may be Physical or Magical, regardless of element. Tandem attacks use the better of Magic or Strength regardless of type, though they defend as normal for an attack of their type. 6 BP, 3 SP, 0.6% HP.
• Weapon: This attack reflects a user's weapon without active Persona use. Gains the benefit of Weapon attack and passives and costs 0 HP or SP. Weapon attacks are always physical. 6 BP, - HP, - SP. +1 Limit cost.
  • Incompatibility: Weapon attacks may not have debuffs, such as Atk_Dn or Slash_Break, but may have Ailments such as Sick or Paralyze.
  • Tier: Except for Signature attacks, Weapon attacks must always be Weak attacks unless specifically allowed as Strong.
• Wild: This attack deals more damage scaling with how much damage the user has taken. Kicks in at 75% hp. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.4% HP.

Buffs

Each of these flags grants a buff to the target for 3 rounds. Only Magical attacks may have these flags.

• Atk_Up: Attacks deal more damage. 20 BP, 12 SP.
• Crt_Up: Attacks' critical rate and critical damage are increased. 20 BP, 12 SP.
• Def_Up: Block and Counter reactions reduce damage more. 20 BP, 12 SP.
• Spd_Up: Avoid and Counter reactions reduce damage more. 20 BP, 12 SP.
• <Element>_Wall: Affinity changes as follows: Weakness becomes Neutral, Neutral becomes Resist. Resist is unchanged. Can apply to Recovery attacks as a debuff. Almighty Wall is not allowed. 30 BP, 12 SP, 0.015% hp (For Recovery Wall).
• Reflect_Magi: Boosts the Counter reaction against Magical attacks significantly in damage reduction and backlash. 40 BP, 16 SP.
• Reflect_Phys: Boosts the Counter reaction against Physical attacks significantly in damage reduction and backlash. 40 BP, 16 SP.
• Regen: Restore some HP each round. Navigator-only. 20 BP, 8 SP.
• Vigor: Restore some SP each round. Boosts ailment resistance slightly. Navigator-only. 20 BP, 8 SP.
• Eclipse: Turns one weakness hit into a Resisted hit. Navigator-only. 10 BP, 5 SP.

Debuffs

Each of these flags inflicts a debuff on the target for 3 rounds. Weapon attacks may not have these flags.

• Atk_Dn: Attacks deal less damage. 20 BP, 12 SP, 1% HP.
• Crt_Dn: Attacks' critical rate and critical damage are decreased. 20 BP, 12 SP, 1% HP.
• Def_Dn: Block and Counter reactions reduce damage less. 20 BP, 12 SP, 1% HP.
• Spd_Dn: Avoid and Counter reactions reduce damage less. 20 BP, 12 SP, 1% HP.
• <Element>_Break : Affinity changes as follows: Resist becomes Neutral, Neutral becomes Weak. Weak is unchanged. Can apply to Recovery attacks as a buff. Almighty Break is not allowed. 30 BP, 12 SP, 15% HP.

Ailments

Each of these flags inflicts an ailment on the target for a variable number of rounds. Bind, Blast, Haze, and Paralyze last 2 rounds; the others last 5 rounds by default. However, Ailments have a chance of expiring each +round they are on the target.

• Bind: Decreases outgoing Magic damage and increases incoming Avoid damage. 6 BP, 0 SP 0 HP.
• Blast: Decreases outgoing Magic damage and increases incoming Block damage. 6 BP, 0 SP 0 HP.
• Charm: Damage on +attack to self or +bucket party, 1/round. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.5% HP.
• Exhaust: Damage on +attack to self for Tandem or Weapon attacks, 1/round. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.5% HP.
• Haze: Decreases outgoing Physical damage and increases incoming Block damage. 6 BP, 0 SP 0 HP.
• Panic: Damage on +attack to self for Tandem or Persona attacks, 1/round. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.5% HP.
• Paralyze: Decreases outgoing Physical damage and increases incoming Avoid damage. 6 BP, 0 SP 0 HP.
• Poison: Damage on +round to HP. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.5% HP.
• Rage: Weapon attack up; all defenses down. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.5% HP.
• Sick: Damage on +round to SP. Reduces ailment resistance slightly. 10 BP, 4 SP, 0.5% HP.

Additionally, certain Ailment pairs cancel one another out for an explosion of damage commensurate with the number of ailment pairs cancelled. The pairs are as follows: Charm/Panic, Exhaust/Rage, Poison/Sick, Blast/Paralyze, and Bind/Haze. When this happens, the new ailment remains, but the previous ailment that was on the target is removed.

• Incompatibility - These pairs are accordingly unavailable to have on the same attack.

Status Removers

These flags remove status on the target according to type. They are always on Magical attacks, except for Ruin which may be on Physical attacks.

• Nervundi: Removes some ailments (Exhaust, Panic, Sick, Blast, and Paralyze) without explosions. 30 BP, 6 SP.
• Patra: Removes some ailments (Rage, Charm, Poison, Haze, and Bind) without explosions. 30 BP, 6 SP.
• Renew: Removes debuffs. 30 BP, 10 SP.
• Ruin: Removes buffs. 30 BP, 10 SP, 1% HP.

Miscellaneous Flags

• Curse: Inflicts a random debuff on the target. Navigator-only. 20 BP, 10 SP.
• Efficient: This attack costs fewer SP or HP. 10 BP, -6 SP, -0.75% HP.
• Fortune: Grants a random buff to the target. Navigator-only. 20 BP, 10 SP.
• SP_Heal1: Restores a small amount of SP to the target. 20 BP, 8 SP.
• Strength_Scan: Announces the target's Resist affinities to the room. Navigator-only. 10 BP, 4 SP.
• Support_Scan: Announces the target's Passives to the room. Navigator-only. 10 BP, 4 SP.
• Weakness_Scan: Announces the target's Weak affinities to the room. Navigator-only. 20 BP, 8 SP.
  • All Scan abilities are incompatible with the Area flag.

Equipment

Equipment is a system unto itself within Arcana, for more on this: see Equipment.

Command Glossary

• +attack <target>=<attackname> - Directs an attack at opponent(s). Targets are separated by commas. The same target cannot be targeted multiple times per +attack.
• +react (+avoid|+block|+counter|+take) <name or number> - Reacts to an attack. Note that if you have more attacks in your +queue when finished, the system will give you a message stating as much. Can take multiple arguments if you want to use the same reaction against multiple incoming attacks.
• *+health - Shows a basic screen of combat information relevant to a fight.
• *+queue - Shows the attacks in your queue.
• *+heal/full - Resets your status and pools, initializing you for combat.
• *+cancel <target> and +cancel/area <targets> - Cancels an attack on <target>. Use +cancel/area with a list of targets for an area attack to ensure your resources are recalculated appropriately.
• *+trigger/set <damage> OR <percentage> OR <debuff> - Sets up a 'boss trigger' that allows a character to deal <damage> to you as a boss during the fight for a narrative or environmental reason.
• *+trigger/reset - Resets all triggers on you and your targets.
• *+trigger <playername> - Triggers damage from a player's narrative actions as a boss.
• *+limit <action>[=<target>] - Performs a limit actions.
• *+round - Concludes one's combat round. Automatic when out of actions and bonus actions.
• *+stats [#] - Shows full data on one's combat statistics, excepting attacks. An optional argument indicates a specific form.
• *+attacks [#] - Shows full data on one's attacks. An optional argument indicates a specific form.
• +inventory will show you your currently-equipped items.
• +weapons - Shows a list of available weaponry.
• +weapon/equip or +equip/weapon <name>=<desired name> - Selects a weapon from the database and gives it a desired name. Does not take ansi.
• +weapon/clear - Clears your current weapon in favor of the Default value.
• +armors - Shows a list of available armors.
• +armor/equip or +equip/armor <name>=<desired name> - Selects an armor from the database and gives it a desired name. Does not take ansi.
• +armors/clear - Clears your current armor in favor of the Default value.
• +cards - Shows a list of available Skill Cards for your character. This list can be expanded piecemeal or with category unlocks.
• +card/equip <Card> - Equips a Card to your current form. This adds the attack to that form's attack list.
• +card/unequip <Card> - Unequips a Card from your current form. This removes the attack from that form's attack list.
• +cards/clear - Clears all cards from your current form's list. This will remove all card attacks from your current form.
• +view/frees
• +free/set <freename>=<chosenname>
• +frees/clear - Clears all freeattacks on a form.
• +heal/full - Fully heals and readies for combat.
• +heal/boss <X> - Fully heals and readies for combat as a boss for X opponents.
• +heal/adjust <X> - Adjusts boss health for a different number of combatants.
• +help cheatsheet - Displays some useful combat system data for easy reference.
• +explain - Displays a longform list of passives and current effects on your character, with descriptions.

See Also...

• Equipment
• Attack Database