Janus: the Persona is a fangame for the New World of Darkness inspired by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
We all know our own Shadow. That part of yourself you say No to, day in and day out. You might reject it out of shame, or guilt, or fear. You want it to go away, you wish you weren’t like this, but the urges keep coming. You’ve been telling the urges No, I won’t for years, but now they’re talking back. And they’re saying Yes, you will.
Janus is a game described by its creator as "evil twins meets Jungian psychology," dealing with themes of duality, identity, and self-discovery. Janusi have just discovered they don't know themselves as well as they thought and struggle to regain equilibrium. It's kind of hard to be introspective when your Shadow is whispering terrible ideas in your ear, however.
Development is happening in an RPG
net thread. A Codex has been compiled of current rules. There is also a Skype group for less formal conversation.
The Splats of Janus are as follows:
Temperament: One's innate temperament.
- Sanguine: The Performers and Egomaniacs. Their extremes are Lust and Envy, and they're prone to Megalomania.
- Phlegmatic: The Peacemakers and People-pleasers. Their extremes are Obsession and Sloth, and they're prone to Obsessive Compulsion.
- Choleric: The Leaders and Control Freaks. Their extremes are Rage and Domination, and they're prone to Hysteria.
- Melancholic: The Fighters and Perfectionists. Their extremes are Perfectionism and Paranoia, and they're prone to Paranoia.
- Leukine: The Apathetic and the Mystics. Their extremes are Apathy and a profound sense of emotional Madness, and they're prone to Delusions.
Agency: One's beliefs about the nature of the Shadow.
- Brethren of the Road: The most practical Agency, the Brothers are more concerned with the threats facing them than idle philosophy.
- Brimstone Society: Modeled on 18th century Hellfire clubs, the Brimstone Society believes that balance is the key to a happy life.
- Chained Order: Having no unified theory on the Shadow, the Order acts more as an open forum to discuss insights that their members have. A common thread among their disparate views is the Shadow is out-and-out mystical, and so reject any idea that it could be purely psychological, scientific, or pseudo-scientific.
- Le Carnaval: A descendant of post-Revolution French carnivals, the Zanni alternate between very strict, bland daily lives, and fantastical parties designed to exhaust its attendants' repressions.
- Long Pig Compact: This group of Janus are not concerned with what a Shadow is, but what it can do. Founded in the wake of a heroic sacrifice, the Long Pigs dedicate themselves to protecting people, usually mortals, from the supernatural, usually Malchiks.
- Moorsen Institute: Operating as a pseudo-scientific business group, Moorsen agents are primarily focused on researching the Dreamscape and the effect that is has on people, human and Janus.
- Temple of St. Giles: Templars of St. Giles believe that the Shadow is a demon come to Earth to pay penance for its actions and Janusi are sinners inflicted with a Shadow as punishment for their transgressions. To that end, they use the abilities granted by their condition to hunt down and destroy evil.
Tropes:
- Alchemy Is Magic: What the Sheared use. How they actually get it to work, however, is pretty much anyone's guess.
- Black-and-White Insanity: The reason Asha are dangerous is that their view of the world is entirely one-dimensional, and they will go to great extremes to try and enforce it.
- Demonic Possession: One of the proposed theories for the origin of a Janus's Split Personality.
- Dream Land / Mental World: The Dreamscape/Astral Sea. Though, admittedly, it is pretty different form the ones that Changelings and Mages are familiar with.
- Mugging the Monster: The main reason Kindred find Janusii terrifying; it's all too easy for them to attack what they believe to be a regular human for food, only to get a really ugly surprise in return.The Veiled are the stuff of nightmares and bad horror movies: the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. More than a few Kindred have rushed down a blind alley way after a delicate little thing, only to run smack into a seven-foot tall slab of meat wielding a telephone pole as a billy club.
- Power Perversion Potential: The Brimstone Society tends this way.
- Psychic Powers: One of the many theories about where Janusi come from and how they actually work.
- Seven Deadly Sins: Four, actually. Each Epitome represents one.
- Split Personality: The premise of the game. Every character has one. Whether it is just that, or something else, is anyone's guess.
- Super Serum: Tinctures. They let you take your Shadow's form, be it partially or completely. Your Temperament and/or Agency determines which ones you can get.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Asha, the "evil" counterparts to the PCs.
- Serial-Killer Killer: Reckoners.
- Stalker without a Crush: Redeemers.
