Anima: Beyond Fantasy "RPG"

[Kishin]

Originally Posted by Cadfan

Right. The stylistic difference is that English writers are likely to think the way that you do, and Spanish writers are likely to think otherwise.

Its kind of like the so-called "Gygaxian" style that some early English RPGs have.

I'd just like for translators who are more familiar with the fact that RPGs have to have a concrete terminology basis and a clear purpose. Preserving the 'color' of the text is a noble goal, but it just seems like the translators of Anima ended up muddying the water in some areas. However, the project did go through at least 3 separate sets of hands over the last two years, so that may well be a contributing factor.

I fully admit to being an anal retentive nag when it comes to translation: Its something of a passion of mine, and thus I am prone to excessive scrutinization of all things pertaining to it.

[beta-ray]

Originally Posted by Kishin

I've played quite a bit of it since GenCon when I picked up the book (a purchase I'd been waiting on for several years) and I'm enjoying it greatly. The character customization is fantastic: The 'classes' aren't so much classes as purchasing frameworks for how you spend your DP (Development Points). Some classes can advance certain skills easier (or gain bonuses to the skill per level), like the ability to Wear Armor, Stealth, History etc. etc.

Thanks for your insight into this game. I *just* discovered this at a local bookstore and was wondering about how good it is. Any more insight would be appreciated. Will check out the forum you linked to.

Thanks again.

[dm4hire]

You can pick the book up for 37.77 on Amazon, a little less from some of the dealers selling through them. When it comes to buying a new game that might end up being a dead end I recommend buying it the cheapest you can get it for. I appreciate FLGS, but a $60 investment into something you might only read and never play is pretty painful on the wallet. I picked it up but won't be playing it as trying to get people in my area to play something other than D&D, WoD, or Magic is like trying to get water from a desert rock.

[Obryn]

I checked it out pretty well at Borders this past weekend while I was trying to decide how best to spend some gift cards.

It looks like a very well-done game, of a style in which I have exactly zero interest.

It's not the anime background. I actually quite like the anime-style art and themes. Mechanically, though, it looks very dense. The book is enormous, and packed with small type. Eyeballing its complexity, I'd put it somewhere around DJ/Mythus... which is dramatically too rules-heavy for me and my players at this point in our lives.

Had I found it in college, I would have been all over it. As it stands, I don't have the energy to learn an incredibly detailed system. And I can guarantee my less-rules-savvy players would falter.

-O

[Kishin]

Originally Posted by beta-ray

Thanks for your insight into this game. I *just* discovered this at a local bookstore and was wondering about how good it is. Any more insight would be appreciated. Will check out the forum you linked to.

Thanks again.

Let me know what I can offer insight into. Shoot me a PM here, reply in the thread, or post over at the Anima forum (especially the latter) and myself (and others) will do the best to answer any questions.

Originally Posted by Obryn

echanically, though, it looks very dense. The book is enormous, and packed with small type. Eyeballing its complexity, I'd put it somewhere around DJ/Mythus... which is dramatically too rules-heavy for me and my players at this point in our lives.

I'd put it more on par with SR3 (ok, maybe slightly simpler than SR3 if your SR3 game includes Matrix running and Riggers) or really sourcebook heavy 3.5E. Its daunting at first, but very grokable.

If you're a relatively rules light guy (In which case, go play some Ubiquity system games! I want to see that succeed too! ) though, its probably not the best fit for you. It does, IMO, do the high powered anime/JRPG action genre better than anything else out there right now.

[MadMaxim]

This sounds awesome, Kishin I've been looking at it and was wondering if it's class based like D&D or point-based like say Mutants & Masterminds? Is it like Final Fantasy in regards to damage dealing and stuff like that? What does a sample character look like? I hope you can answer my questions

[Kishin]

1) There are 20 'classes', but they are more like frameworks by which to spend your DP (Development Points), making it mostly point buy. Each class pays a certain amount for certain categories of abilities, and are also (In the case of Primary Skills like Combat/Magic/Psionics), can only spend X % of their DP there (I.E. A Warrior can spend 60% of their DP on Combat stuff including Attack Block/Dodge (Whichever style of defense you choose), Wear Armor, etc.), a Wizard can only spend 50%, and would pay 3 DP for every 1 point of Attack, say, where a Warrior would pay 2 for every 1. You can put points wherever you want, but some classes are better at it. (And if you wanted to really invest over multiple areas, you can use the hybrid classes like Warlock (Warrior/Wizard), Warrior Mentalist, Warrior Summoner, Shadow (Warrior/stealth type)...

Secondary skills (Hide, Swim, Persuasion, the usual stuff) are grouped into categories and priced in a similar fashion: A Thief can get 1:1 in Subterfuge skills, where a Warrior gets 2:1. You can use Advantages (Which your character gets 3 points worth, plus more if you take Disadvantages) to buy down the cost of certain Secondary skills/skill groups (among many other things). 2 Advantage points, and (for example) 2:1 Social cost for a Warrior can be brought to 1:1. 1 Advantage point, and you can reduce the cost of a single skill. So its all in all a pretty flexible character building process.

2) Damage is not 'omg big numbers' like Final Fantasy, and combat can be fairly fast paced and vicious. At 1st level, you'll see ranges of 80-120 LP, and most things will go down with 3-4 solid whaps. Degree of success in your attack roll versus their defense determines how much of your weapon's potential damage you do: Things like a Two handed sword have a base damage of 90, and can be extremely painful if you take 100% or more of the weapon's base damage (caused by them beating your defense by 100+. If it was something ridiculous, like 400, you'd take x4 the base damage). Criticals happen whenever you lose half your current LP in one swing, and those can lead to nasty penalties.

3) Here's an example first level character I had lying around, pasted behind the cut. There may be a few errors, as he was done awhile ago and the values aren't recorded, but it should give you an idea what it looks like laid out.

Telenn Arkad

Spoiler:

Level: 1
Life Points: 95
Class: Ranger

Str: 7 Dex: 10 Agi: 9 Con: 6 Pow: 5 Int: 7 Wp: 6 Per: 9
PhR 35 MR 35 PsR 35 VR 35 DR 35

Initiative: Base +50, Longbow +30, Shortsword +65
Attack Ability: Longbow 90, Shortsword 35
Defense Ability: 75 Dodge
Damage: 45 Longbow/Standard Arrow
AT: Cut 3 Impact 1 Thrust 2 Heat 2 Elec 1 Cold 2 Ene 0 (Studded Leather, Wear Armor 30)

MA: 5
Zeon: 85
Magic Projection: 0
Level of Magic: 0

MK: 100
Ki skills: Use of Ki, Ki Control, Ki Detection (100)
Techniques: Path of Burning Wind: Blazing Arrow

Advantages: Martial Mastery 2, Danger Sense
Disadvantages: Easily Posessed



Movement Type: 8
Secondary Skills: Notice 70, Track 60, Search 50, Trap Lore 30, Stealth 50, Hide 40, Herbal Lore 25, Animals 25




Path of Burning Wind
Blazing Arrow

The arrow in Telenn’s bow ignites mid-air, exploding in a fiery burst that expands
outward after striking the targeted area.

Required MK: 20 Level: 1
DEX 8
WIL 5

POW 4
Effects: +50 Attack, Area Attack (30 Feet), Elemental Attack (Heat)
Disadvantages: Elemental Binding (Air/Fire)

The actual character sheet is visible on the website.