SOCIAL LINK INFO + UPDATING CR CHARTS ➟ RECOLLE

[tarotcards]

SOCIAL LINKS

While Social Links are an in-game mechanic to increase the experience points a Persona may earn when fused or to unlock new Personas, they are also an essential part of the protagonist’s journey as the Fool. They allow for Souji to know how close he is with another person and to also allow him to forge meaningful bonds with others. Within Recolle, once he regains this ability, he will experience voices in his head and random flashes whenever he establishes or ranks up a Social Link, just as he does in the game. Without a Velvet Room in Recolle, however, he will not benefit from any bonuses by fusing Personas.

What this means is that a Social Link may start with any character once a bond has been made. This bond doesn't necessarily always begin during the first time the protagonist (Souji) meets with someone. It can happen even after two or three encounters, so it is dependent on the interactions between the two characters and what you, the player, determines a "bond" is!

These bonds have ranks from one to ten. One obviously meaning that the Social Link just started while ten means that they have an unbreakable bond in which they'd be friends forever. For more information on ranks, see its respective section below.

These bonds can also be reversed and broken. Both are serious and is also dependent on what the player determines a reversed or broken Social Link is. More information on these two possibilities is below.

Furthermore, every Social Link will have an Arcana associated with it. These Arcana are based off the major ones seen in tarot cards and the Social Link's Arcana is determined by the traits of the character that are shared with it. These do not necessarily have to be personality traits, but it may be a point in their life or a struggle that they are going through that is represented by that Arcana. More information can be found in its respective section.

REVERSED LINKS

A reversed Social Link can occur when the character feels hurt because of Souji's actions or words and as a result, they refuse to talk to him. Examples that could lead to a reversal could be a lack of spending time together, being insulted or having their feelings ignored/disrespected, being cheated on, etc. A Social Link doesn't immediately reverse because their feelings are hurt just once, however, but it has to be significant enough that they refuse to talk to Souji for an extended period of time. This is up to the discretion of the player on what is enough for a Social Link to reverse. Any Social Links that were reversed can be unreversed by talking and making it up to the character until they feel that they are willing to be friends with Souji again.

BROKEN LINKS

A broken Social Link can occur with or without the Social Link already being reversed. Being reversed makes it a lot easier for it to be broken, of course, but this is a very serious change and it carries severe consequences. In game, a break is so terrible that it could actually prevent Souji from creating any Personas of that broken Arcana. Of course, Souji cannot fuse any Personas within Recolle, but that is an example of how severe a broken Social Link can be. It could end the friendship/relationship between the character and Souji, and force them to start from the very beginning of the Social Link (should they ever somehow reconcile). It could also restart them back to whatever rank they were before the break, but this can only happen after repeated attempts of making it up to them and if the other character feels that they can be friends of that level again. Again, this is up to the discretion of the player to determine what is necessary to repair a broken Social Link.

RANKS

Social Link ranks are pretty straight forward. The closer the characters become with Souji and the know that he knows about them, the higher their rank becomes. For example, a Social Link at rank two would most likely move away from being just acquaintances and begin to know one another while a rank eight is where they become best friends.

These ranks and when the Social Link ranks up can be left to the player's discretion. Please keep in mind that these rank ups can be very one-sided. While the other character can put their trust in Souji and reveal to him their thoughts and feelings, resulting in a rank up, Souji doesn't necessarily have to do the same. The other character doesn't have to know any of Souji's hopes, fears, or feelings for them to go up a rank. It's about how much they trust him and their bond with him. Therefore, there could even be a rank ten Social Link in which the two characters are very close and would practically die for each other, but may not actually really know Souji's deepest thoughts and feelings (see Souji and Yu).

Of course, a character could refuse to rank up until they learn about Souji as well, but it is not mandatory. This is an IC flaw with Souji himself, as he has maxed out every Social Link at rank ten in his OU but he has never revealed his own worries or problems, only listening to the respective person of the Social Link's issues.

When a Social Link reaches rank ten, there tends to be a little memento given to Souji as proof of their undying friendship. This is not mandatory, of course (as it is a gameplay mechanic), but it is a choice that players could have.

Should anyone ever have any romantic feelings towards Souji, these tend to occur during rank eight. Within the game, rank eight is when either character can confess their feelings. It is from there whether or not the Social Link will become romantic or not.

ARCANA

Below is a chart of all the major Arcana that a character may represent. Again, these traits may not only be personality traits but also representative of a certain point of their life or a struggle that they are going through.

In addition, Arcanas can change throughout the social link. This could happen for a number of different reasons. It could occur because the character was faking their entire personality and appearance to Souji, causing his subconscious to think they're a different Arcana than they actually are, then it changing the moment he finds out the truth. It can also occur if the character dramatically changes themselves, which will likely happen in a memory loss game like Recolle. Should this happen, please use the form in the comments for updating Social Links and I will update the CR chart accordingly. If the player wants, we can also thread out this change as Souji will be very taken back about an Arcana changing as it only happens once in the OU.

Credit for the chart, descriptions, and everything below goes to doggystyle!



Number	Arcana	Upright	Reversed	Notes
0	Fool	Beginnings, innocence, spontaneity, a free spirit, potential	Naivety, foolishness, recklessness, risk-taking	disaster kids with incredible destinies (*note: only P3/4/5 protagonists may have this Arcana)
I	Magician	Power, skill, concentration, action, resourcefulness	Manipulation, poor planning, latent talents	no. no, don't do that. I SAID DON'T DO THAT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD -
II	Priestess	Intuition, Higher powers, mystery, subconscious mind	Hidden agendas, need to listen to inner voice	i know they seem calm but if you fuck with them you're dead
III	Empress	Fertility, femininity, beauty, nature, abundance	Creative block, dependence on others	classy ladies who have probably killed a man
IV	Emperor	Authority, father-figure, structure, solid foundation	Domination, excessive control, rigidity, inflexibility	they seem cool but they're all extremely eccentric
V	Hierophant	Religion, group identification, conformity, tradition, beliefs	Restriction, challenging the status quo	they're gruff but they care! honest!
VI	Lovers	Love, union, relationships, values alignment, choices	Disharmony, imbalance, misalignment of values	adorable pink-loving teenage girls who will destroy you for daring to think you have the right to look at them
VII	Chariot	Control, will power, victory, assertion, determination	Lack of control and direction, aggression	ALRIGHT CHUMS LET'S DO THIS!
VIII	Justice	Justice, fairness, truth, cause and effect, law	Unfairness, lack of accountability, dishonesty	adorable children (and katsuya)
IX	Hermit	Soul-searching, introspection, being alone, inner guidance	Isolation, loneliness, withdrawal	vidya games (and a fox)
X	Fortune	Good luck, karma, life cycles, destiny, a turning	Bad luck, negative external forces, out of control	pretty boys with secrets of varying severity
XI	Strength	Strength, courage, patience, control, compassion	Weakness, self-doubt, lack of self-discipline	they are your bro, they are there for you, one of them is a dog
XII	Hangedman	Suspension, restriction, letting go, sacrifice	Martyrdom, indecision, delay	jesus shitting christ that's an unhappy backstory
XIII	Death	Endings, beginnings, change, transformation, transition	Resistance to change, unable to move on	they're creepy but really nice, except eikichi, he's FABULOUS and really nice
XIV	Temperance	Balance, moderation, patience, purpose, meaning	Imbalance, excess, lack of long-term vision	ha ha no persona steve
XV	Devil	Bondage, addiction, sexuality, materialism	Detachment, breaking free, power reclaimed	no
XVI	Tower	Balance, moderation, patience, purpose, meaning	Imbalance, excess, lack of long-term vision	you have issues and your arcana reflects that
XVII	Star	Hope, spirituality, renewal, inspiration, serenity	Lack of faith, despair, discouragement	i know they seem sweet but they are hiding something
XVIII	Moon	Illusion, fear, anxiety, insecurity, subconscious	Release of fear, unhappiness, confusion	let's be positive to hide our crushing emotional issues
XIX	Sun	Fun, warmth, success, positivity, vitality	Temporary depression, lack of success	surprisingly troubled but will never talk about it
XX	Judgment	Judgement, rebirth, inner calling, absolution	Self-doubt, refusal of self-examination	we're all in this together (and elly)
XX	Aeon	Curiosity, exploratory, inhuman, understanding	Confusion, loneliness, disconnection, silted	short-haired nonhuman girls who are extremely eccentric because they are nonhuman
XXI	World	Completion, integration, accomplishment, travel	Lack of completion, lack of closure	god in a school uniform (*note: only P3/4/5 protagonists may have this Arcana)
XXI	Universe	N/A	N/A	also god (*note: no one can get this arcana)

WHAT NOW?

Now that you've read all this TL;DR on this very fancy CR mechanic and if you think that your character has enough to start/reverse/break/rank up a social link with Souji, comment below in the proper threads! Even if you don't currently have CR with Souji but plan to, then still comment below!

Comments

[esperimental]

Character Name: Ritsu Kageyama
Character Journal: esperimental
Arcana: Hermit or Moon
Rank: One!
Currently Established: Nope! But I really love Souji so I'm sure I'll hit him up sooner or later. :>

[tarotcards]

glad to hear it! i'm excited to get cr with ritsu soon! c:

just let me know by commenting back here when you think they can form a social link and all that!

[esperimental]

persona we heard you liked social linking with kids with problems so we took that problem and put in more problems

would it be cool if I added you on plurk as well?

[tarotcards]

LAUGHS that's pretty accurate ngl

but of course! go right ahead. i'm northpaws so toss me a friend request and i'll accept c: