"Persona 5 Tactica One-Shot" (Sx80) is a special one-shot sponsored and inspired by Atlus West's new game release, Persona 5 Tactica. Game Master Liam O'Brien leads players Xanthe Huynh, Jared Goldstein, Krystina Arielle, Robbie Daymond and Matthew Mercer in the world of Persona!
Synopsis[]
Pre-show[]
While this one-shot takes inspiration from elements of Persona 5 Tactica, it's their own creation and not official content from the game. The cast all introduce themselves.
Introduction[]
Welcome to Sugar and Dice and All Things Nice, the best damn tabletop RPG and board game cafe in the city. Sugar and Dice, it might not be the flashiest tabletop shop around and it certainly isn't the biggest. But the shelves are lined with well-loved, well-used games. Its lovingly painted miniatures and terrains stand on epic display. The comfy chairs and couches here offer a place to crash, get cozy and play a good game with friends, and the fresh pressed coffee and infectious confections the cafe has to offer make this local mom and pop shop pretty dang unbeatable. The vibe's immaculate. But there's actually something extra special about this little slice of TTRPG heaven. Because this shop doesn't just provide the world with good gaming, lattes, and crumb cake. Oh no, that's just by day. At night, a whole other game is afoot here. Sugar and Dice is also the secret meeting spot for a circle of rebellious youths who spend their nights dipping into the dreamscapes of twisted, double dealing adults stealing their corrupted hearts, all to make this world a better place. This city might not know of their exploits, but thanks to their nightly rebellion, this world has gotten just a little bit better, one corrupted heart at a time. Here in the everyday world, they're a handful of college kids making their way. But at night, they are the Party Crashers. Are they dream walkers? Dimension hoppers? Rebels with a metaphysical cause? Well, my friends, this is a Persona one-shot, so the answer is yes, all of the above.
Part I[]
The Party Crashers are a group of college students that meets at Sugar and Dice and All Things Nice, a small, independent board game and TTRPG cafe in the city. They all play a D&D game in the real world, and fight as their personas in the corrupted dreamscapes of another place. Ezekiel "Zeke" Peters and Van Nguyen both work in the shop; Zeke is a computer science major who runs the game, and Van is an astronomy major and an excellent barista. Patty, a young cosmetology student, newer to gaming, arrives, as does Penelope "Penny" Matthews, an extremely organized TTRPG veteran. As everyone sits down, the final member of their group, Jackson Sloan, a Japanese Studies major and student athlete, comes in from the rain a few minutes late, and they begin the session, with Zeke DM-ing.
As they roll initiative in the D&D session, the table and then the whole shop begins to vibrate as if in an earthquake, and when it stops, everything on the table is hovering mid-air. The sound of rain has stopped, the door of the shop glows amber, and a symbol of a gear with a flower in the center appears in front of it. Even for this group, which crosses to the Other Side regularly, this is strange. Zeke throws a d20 at the gear but it passes through it, and Jackson can pass his hand through the image of the gear and touch the door. He opens the door, and the party suddenly all find themselves in a world with a purple sky, with white townhouses with red roofs surrounding them. The buildings are carved with reliefs of roses, and there are flowerboxes in all the windows and lining the red street. The street is empty of all people, though there are some crates in it. Everyone finds themselves in the gear they wear on the Other Side, though usually they consciously cross over.
Zeke, known as Nexus on the Other Side, hears crashing and breaking sounds from a distance, but growing closer. A strange voice yells that "she" is getting away, and the party sees a woman with a wavy lavender bob wearing a red skirt and a black coat running from a troupe of soldiers clad all in white. She runs into one of the townhouses, and the soldiers notice the Party Crashers. A fight breaks out. Penny (Codename: Goddess), summons her Persona, Aphrodite, for her attack and deals psychic damage. Jackson (Codename: Kensei) throws a shuriken, and Nexus pulls out a pistol and shoots a soldier. The soldiers shoot back, hitting Kensei. Van (Codename: Strike) summons her Persona, Galileo, as her attack, and blinds one of the soldiers with a storm. Patty (Codename: Hudson) summons Little Miss, his persona, and attacks two soldiers with bubbles of shadow. The fight continues, with Goddess shooting arrows; Kensei attacking with his katana; Nexus summoning his persona, Umbra; Kensei taking more bullets; Strike again summoning Galileo, and Hudson summoning Little Miss again. They take down all but three soldiers in this round, though Kensei is badly injured, and realize they can hide behind the crates in the road. Kensei misses with his next attack, as he is wearing two eyepatches, but Nexus is able to finish off one of the remaining soldiers. The effect Aphrodite created after being summoned by Goddess finishes off another, but Strike misses with a Glock and hits a crate. Hudson also misses with a pistol shot and hits the same crate. Goddess uses an ability to dazzle the final soldier, and Kensei kills him with the katana.
The lavender-haired woman emerges from the townhouse when all the soldiers are gone, and asks the group who they are. They tell her they're the Party Crashers. She introduces herself as Erina, and explains that this town was happy until Lady Marie and her Legionnaires, of which these soldiers were an example, invaded a few weeks ago and began imprisoning people. Erina is trying to head up the resistance, and she believes Marie's forces have taken over the city center, trapping citizens in their homes. She cannot get through the blockade on her own, and asks for help from the Party Crashers. Kensei quickly swears a blood oath, though the rest of the group is more hesitant. Erina runs off to try to find others of the resistance and Little Miss heals Kensei. The party enters one of the townhouses to regroup and rest up before confronting more Legionnaires. There is a meal left in the house which Goddess judges to be a week or two old, no more. Everyone eventually goes to the roof where they can see a mass of green towards the town center. Hudson thinks this is a massive rosebush, which fits with what they know of Lady Marie's aesthetic. The group discusses next steps, whether Erina is trustworthy, and whether they should traverse the sewers. Ultimately they try to take the rooftops as far as they can, and are able to see the Legionnaires marching down the streets towards the center.
Past the crates that they destroyed, they come upon a wall of green vines. After some discussion they decide to set it on fire, and Kensei summons his persona, Ōtakemaru, to do so. Goddess summons Aphrodite to make a distraction and sings a song. Bells begin to ring, and through the gap in the burning wall of vines, they see a statue of a woman, covered in vines and flowers.
Break[]
- Persona 5 Tactica Launch Trailer.
- In-game screenshots of Persona 5 Tactica.
Part II[]
With the wall of vines on fire, the party notices the sound of a large number of Legionnaires on the other side. They try the doors of the nearby townhouses, and with Kensei leading, are able to get into one and see two Legionnaires, one similar to the others they have fought and one much larger. Hudson stealths past and notices at least 30 Legionnaires, and the rest of the Party Crashers begin to follow soon after. They are quickly noticed, and one of the Legionnaires fires and misses. Strike begins to run towards the Legionnaires so she can use her abilities at close range. Hudson summons Little Miss and attacks from behind with globes of shadow. Nexus is struck by a bullet, but uses an ability to heal up and summons Umbra, attacking the Legionnaire who shot him. Goddess, who had also been stealthy, summons Aphrodite and attacks with Giant Slice, dealing necrotic damage. Kensei summons his persona and burns the massive Legionnaire. Galileo, summoned by Strike, misses with a bolt of electricity. The fight continues, and eventually, Little Miss destroys the monstrous Legionnaire with her shadow powers.
With those two dispatched, the Party Crashers survey the city center, which still has about 30-40 Legionnaires fighting the fire. They can also see the plant-covered statue. They realize they cannot get to the center directly from the rooftops, and instead drop into an abandoned art gallery and exit out into the street. Even more Legionnaires have arrived to fight the fire, and they can see the greenery writhing on the statue. They are able to hear both a person cackling, and the voice of Erina telling the unseen cackler to get the vines off her. The party runs towards the noise and they are able to see Erina, being swarmed by and thrown about by writhing vines, enclosing her into one of the many crates. The cackling person is revealed to be a green-faced man with a large pompadour, wearing a white suit with a single rose on his lapel, the bottom half of his body lost in the swarm of vines and plants. He threatens the Party Crashers, telling them they will never spoil Lady Marie's perfect day and introducing himself as Zee Florist. With a flurry of flower puns, he attacks the party, who enter the boss battle.
Little Miss makes a successful attack but Galileo misses. Zee Florist successfully slashes at and grapples Nexus with a vine, and is then attacked by Ōtakemaru's thunder powers, which push him away and make the vine around Nexus go slack. In response, Zee Florist uses his powers to frighten the group; everyone but Strike becomes terrified of him. Umbra still lands an attack. Zee Florist is unaffected by the spell cast by Aphrodite, and Little Miss heals Nexus. Strike misses with her gun. Zee misses Hudson with a vine strike, but is able to stab him with gardening shears. Kensei summons Ōtakemaru, who blasts a large line of fire, hitting Zee Florist and a number of vines as well. Zee heals somewhat from the burn, but is still damaged. Nexus summons Umbra and deals necrotic damage, and Goddess scores a critical hit with one of her heart-shaped arrows before inspiring Hudson. Hudson summons Little Miss again and two of the globes of shadow hit, one critically. Strike summons Galileo yet again, hitting with the bolts of electricity, and Zee is defeated. He melts into the vines as he dies, and the greenery on the statue begins to melt away. Erina breaks out of the crate in which she had been trapped, and thanks the Party Crashers for saving her. She then asks them if they are up for taking on the real threat, Lady Marie. They tell her they are, and she welcomes them into the rebellion.
Featured characters[]
Player characters[]
- Jackson Sloan
- Patty
- Penelope "Penny" Matthews
- Van Nguyen
- Ezekiel "Zeke" Peters
Non-player characters[]
- Zee Florist
- Lady Marie (mentioned only)
- Erina
Quotations[]
Trivia[]
- Robbie Daymond, Xanthe Huynh, and Matthew Mercer appear in Persona 5 Tactica as Akechi, Haru, and Yusuke respectively. Liam O'Brien appeared as Akihiko in the original Persona 3 and its spinoffs, including its Persona 4 crossovers.
References[]
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