Anyone played this? How is it? What is it the most like RPG-wise? What's the core game play about, and what is the world like?
I have a friend who's quite excited about the game and would like to run it. I'd like to know what to expect if I end up playing. Thanks.
I have never played it so I am basing the following entirely on the tiny thumbnail image of the cover on Wikipedia:
So, apparently, the campaign world is mountains and occasional fog. There's something going on in the campaign world, but it's behind us, because the sole character class available (Staring Japanese Girl) is looking pretty intently at it out of the cover. There are no rules for movement, however combat seems the default, as the Staring Japanese Girl class always has a sword drawn.
NPC types include and are limited to Tiny Helmeted Men who get the ability Flank Staring Japanese Girl.
Knowledge of written Japanese is a must, because Japanese words float above the sole playable classes' head in a sort of textured void; they must be important though since they're up there.
That is my review/overview of Anima: Beyond Fantasy. I hope you found that helpful.
If I'm not forced to look at the illos for too long I might be okay. :D
Quote from: Benoist;607259Anyone played this? How is it? What is it the most like RPG-wise? What's the core game play about, and what is the world like?
I like Anima quite a bit, but it is atrociously written by today' standards. I often compare it BESM 3e if it were written in the style of AD&D1e :)
On the up side, like my DMG for AD&D1e, its a book that I read over and over again and constantly find new fiddly rules to enjoy :D
If you are prepared to put in effort to learn the rules, they work relatively well in play. The world is a relative straightforward medieval fantasy world, which is initially quite dark and gritty, but has hidden depths that are more OTT and fantastical.
Yeah, BESM 3e written in 1e prose is about right.
Also, you gotta use the various magic systems. The regular physical combat is made of suckage and whiffing, all along a glorious chart! I don't like the whole contesting roll for each and every attack (roll to attack, defender rolls against, if still successful looks up reduction/soak/etc.). And there's umpteen magic systems to use -- very reminiscent of the oft maligned Fantasy Imperium.
Overall, as a player, not a fan. I'd have to own the books and bore through the thing, then let each player twink out their PC build, and then pretty much craft a setting to justify the madness, before I'd get anything out of it. Currently that is not my cup of tea.
But if you like anime, D&D 3e char building, magic wuxia out the yin yang, and the patience to endure much dice rolling... it might just be better than Exalted (sans setting) for you?
Edit: Oh and those Japanese words floating above are just katakana of the same below, in general. It's just an aesthetic thing to make it more, "Japanesque," I guess. You see more (grammatically incorrect) Japanese in L5R.
The core mechanics of the game are very heavily Rolemaster related, streamlined in some places and quirk-ified in others. It is relatively consistent and logical once you get past the initial learning curve (not helped by the awful organization that it also seems to have inherited) and while fully playable from the core book, the supplements tend to provide a lot of additional value.
As for the setting, it has a sort of Rennaissance-ish vibe for the most part, but with more exotic stuff hiding in the shadows. The main macro conflicts in the setting are the recent breakup of the Empire that controlled most of the world, and race by every faction to collect as much ancient technology remaining around from the centuries old ancient empire as they can get their hands on.
Main powers in the setting include the Catholic Church (long story), remains of said Empire, its rebel splinter the Azur Alliance, coalition of nonhuman races surviving out of everyone's sight, a collective of mad scientists with varying degrees of mad, and a megacorporation that trades in magical artifacts and also builds some mechano-zombies on the sides because it would be a shame to waste a perfectly good Necronomicon.
Oh and the whole thing might or might not be Earth in 10,000 years or so. The authors leave it for everyone to decide on their own.
I love talking about Anima so feel free to ask to elaborate about whatever interests you.
Oh and katakana above the title says "Fiat Lux". Latin. In Japanese script.
It sort of sums up the whole game I think :p
Quote from: Opaopajr;607271Yeah, BESM 3e written in 1e prose is about right.
Wow. I envy you all for knowing the content of BESM 3e. I never even saw that game.
(My love for BESM has cooled down considerably but there was a time when I would have killed for a book of 3e.)
QuoteEdit: Oh and those Japanese words floating above are just katakana of the same below, in general. It's just an aesthetic thing to make it more, "Japanesque," I guess. You see more (grammatically incorrect) Japanese in L5R.
That's perfectly ok.
You see lots of incorrect or meaningless English, German, and French in anime...
("Neon Genesis Evangelion"? "Weiß Kreuz Glühen"? "Le Portrait de Petit Cossette"?)
Heh, got me on my sloppy shorthand. That'd be BESM + D&D 3e + D&D 1e prose.
And yeah, it was only a matter of time before Japanese language mash-up aesthetics ported over to English from otaku/weaboo fandom.
I just hope we don't have to endure the Japanese fad of ridiculous Japanese title lengths of the late 90's to today: "Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram," "Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1st Love Typing," "Atelier Violet ~ The Alchemist of Gramnad 2 ~ The Memories of Ultramarine," etc.
Books of Sorcery 4: Roll of Glorious Divininty: Gods & Elementals?
(It is a real book. It comes from, unsurprisingly, White Wolf.)
I'd still say Anima is more Rolemaster than D&D 3. Although they were both obviously inspired by Rolemaster, the execution is somewhat different.
Quote from: Opaopajr;607392And yeah, it was only a matter of time before Japanese language mash-up aesthetics ported over to English from otaku/weaboo fandom.
Offtopic:
Spoiler
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xfOyBn2ninU/TO0MKDgJPGI/AAAAAAAAAPY/EQ3E8j0r_Y4/s400/Moe%2BWanderer.jpg)
I once made this mock-up to give Settembrini seizures...
About the resolution system I agree. It's more percentile and charts. However those magic systems made my eyes glaze over. And the latest thing to do that was D&D 3e Feats and other such fiddly bits. The fiddly during char gen made me immediately think of D&D 3e char op-ing. It was so much that the GM cut out magic completely and it still took like forever.
Hey, how come the cover looks so different now? What ever happened to the previous more pinkish, violet with ribbons and feathers about cover? My friend said he got his as a special (alpha? beta?) edition straight from the lead designer. But I'm wondering how come they opted for this new art? And I can't find that (alpha? beta?) image anywhere on the 'net.
I'd buy that!
edit: Opaopajr, the "feats" in Anima are pretty much literally Talents & Flaws. As for magic systems, it's a huge matter of taste but some people actually like that the "feel" of magic, psionic powers, invocations and ki is different from one another.
Never heard of any beta cover with ribbons although I got into the game pretty late.
Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;607405Offtopic:
Spoiler
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xfOyBn2ninU/TO0MKDgJPGI/AAAAAAAAAPY/EQ3E8j0r_Y4/s400/Moe%2BWanderer.jpg)
:rotfl:
The space rabbit is a nice touch... :p
Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;607405Offtopic:
Spoiler
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xfOyBn2ninU/TO0MKDgJPGI/AAAAAAAAAPY/EQ3E8j0r_Y4/s400/Moe%2BWanderer.jpg)
I once made this mock-up to give Settembrini seizures...
That is awesome, off to the Traveller SRD with you. :)
Quote from: Opaopajr;607410The space rabbit is a nice touch... :p
And so typical of the mascot-loving Japanese. (
Paranoia Agent's Maromi, the Mokonas from
Tsubasa Reservior Chronicle/xxxHolic/Cardcaptor Sakura, devious Kyubey from
Puella Magi Madoka Magica...)
The anime and manga
Kämpfer puts a satiric spin on this with its Entrails Animals, plush toys that are notable for having their guts sticking out and names referring to different methods of death: Disemboweled Tiger, Black Seppuku Rabbit, Electrocuted Wildcat, Strangled Stray Dog, Burnt Alive Lion, Hit-and-run Hippopotamus, Exploded Penguin...
Does
Anima have mascots?
Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;607415Does Anima have mascots?
Not as such,
if you don't count Celia's boobs. But Arcana Exxet indroduced the Incarnation, which are sort of summoning a supernatural entity into your own body, and one of those allows you to turn into a large plush cat with a pink ribbon, or a crocodile in a top hat.
(it's an Incarnation of a famous puppet master, Lolly Anne)
Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;607405Offtopic:
Spoiler
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xfOyBn2ninU/TO0MKDgJPGI/AAAAAAAAAPY/EQ3E8j0r_Y4/s400/Moe%2BWanderer.jpg)
I once made this mock-up to give Settembrini seizures...
I'd buy that in a heartbeat if only to have a slightly more anime esque take on scifi that i could use to convince a couple of my "anime obsessed" but not very into rpg's at the moment(due to a lack of anime like imagery or something) to play a game again, they used to be big into d&d way back when but got into mmorpg's and anime between the death of tsr and 3rd edition.
Anima: Beyond Fantasy is an awesome art book if you like that style. However,I couldn't get past the needlessly complex character creation system and different martial arts and magic systems in the game.
I really wanted to like it, but I am well past the point in my gaming career where I have the time to learn all that from scratch.
Wow, I am sounding like a grog! :)
One of my "if I hit the lottery" plans is to get a license to make AD&D products - strictly core-book, DMG, MM, PHB only. Dungeon crawls, treasure hunts, dragon slaying, Town Encounter Table type stuff but hire Masamune Shirow to do all the art.
Make my fellow grogs' heads explode :D
Quote from: Opaopajr;607271Edit: Oh and those Japanese words floating above are just katakana of the same below, in general. It's just an aesthetic thing to make it more, "Japanesque," I guess. You see more (grammatically incorrect) Japanese in L5R.
Quote from: vytzka;607273Oh and katakana above the title says "Fiat Lux". Latin. In Japanese script.
It sort of sums up the whole game I think :p
Funnily, vytzka is right, it's not Japanese, it's Latin. Latin written in katakana, but Latin nonetheless.
I can't say much about Anima, I had a look at the corebook and the style was not for me, too Final Fantasy-ish. The rules are obviously inspired by Rolemaster, though.
The game sounds intriguing I am a total sucker for different and varied magic in the same game. So 2 questions, first is it runnable/playable with just the corebook? Second how many if at all, splatbooks are there?
Very playable with the core. I consider a couple of things from the supplements near autoincludes now that I have them but they're not mandatory in any way and the game doesn't assume you will use them.
(example: Basic Martial Arts have only one level of skill in the core book, Dominus Exxet splits them into Novice/Advanced/Master or some such, but it's made in such a way that costs and benefits of Advanced level correspond exactly to the corebook style)
The supplements are the following:
Gaia, Vol. 1: the setting book. REALLY well done, lots of info, plot hooks, art, you name it. Few additional rules.
GM Toolkit: GM Screen (decently made) and a booklet with premade 20 characters, a sample adventure and a few extra rules, mostly background related.
Dominus Exxet: martial artist/fighter book, expands the ki powers, martial arts and advanced fighting styles. If you only get one supplement, get this one.
Arcana Exxet: sort of like the above but for magic/psychic powers/summoning, though not as revolutionary as Dominus Exxet I think but nice nonetheless.
Those Who Walked Amongst Us: monster book. Now Anima is not exactly D&D and most antagonists are going to be humans/other supernatural races but a monster book is still useful, especially for summoner characters, and has decent amounts of art and background info. Also expands monster creation rules in the corebook somewhat, adds a bare bones mass combat system and a few extra PC species (among them the living vampires are probably the most popular ones).
Finally, Anima Tactics book is not directly useful for the RPG but it works as a sort of NPC compendium as it has art, background, general capabilities (including class and level) but not direct stats for a lot of characters in the setting (some of them later got full RPG write ups in a free web supplement).
Also, you can see 95% of the character art here (http://wen-m.deviantart.com/gallery/11369054) so you can see for yourself it's going to be a turn-off or a turn-on for you :D
Quote from: thedungeondelver;607927One of my "if I hit the lottery" plans is to get a license to make AD&D products - strictly core-book, DMG, MM, PHB only. Dungeon crawls, treasure hunts, dragon slaying, Town Encounter Table type stuff but hire Masamune Shirow to do all the art.
Make my fellow grogs' heads explode :D
NO IT'S NOT WHAT I CAME IN WITH DAMNED WEEABOO NONSENSE HOW DARE YOU <
>
Wow, I really like that image!
(http://www.mamedb.com/marquees.small/ddtod.jpeg)
Speaking of which, I'd love to see Wen-M do a remake of some classical D&D picture with Anima characters.
The way Exalted (http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/Johnny_Redactor/SOE_cover.jpg) did it.
Quote from: Kaiu Keiichi;608106NO IT'S NOT WHAT I CAME IN WITH DAMNED WEEABOO NONSENSE HOW DARE YOU <>
Wow, I really like that image!
What can I say? I like what I like, and until I
do hit the lottery and can buy a truck big enough* to carry the cash it would take to get Dave Trampier working on AD&D art again, it'll do.
Oh also I'd commission stuff by Aidan Hughes (Brute! - seriously, look his stuff up).
Don't get me wrong -
rules wise I'm all about AD&D 1e; don't care for Exalted etc., but that + art from Shirow? Mmm...
(http://www.mamedb.com/marquees.small/ddtod.jpeg)
Ah, ToD. Shadow Over Mystara, too! Also, the games were "written" by a TSR employee; the adventures and basic plots came from his home campaign.
...
*=such a vehicle has yet to be built.
A couple of notes about Anima that I found important:
1. The combat chart can be reduced to a single equation. One thing about the combat that is nifty is that if you roll poorly enough, the opponent actually gets a free -counter- attack.
2. The magic section will probably require about 30 readthroughs to fully 'get'. It should be noted that mages are INCREDIBLY weak without lengthy casting preparations/times. At the beginning, you won't even get off a spell in a single round unless you heavily min/max your character. Furthermore, unless you literally acquire the power of a superbeing (which, unless it was errata'd, is not even possibly by the core book alone), you are likewise INCREDIBLY restricted in the total amount of magic you can know, ever. If you choose your school-equivalent poorly enough, you can end up starting the game with every spell you'll ever be allowed to know.
3. The ki powers are incredibly overpowered. Incredibly. I mean, to the point that you can't describe JUST how overpowered they are.
4. Levels do -not- work like levels in any other game. They're more...exponential. A level 3-4 Anima character is pretty much on par with a level 9 or so D&D character.
5. Psionics are...quite interesting. It's the heavy-hitter, and with a little bit of preparation they can be outright devastating. They can also be cheesed very easily, and that's not good. The system pretty much requires the game master to keep a close eye out for powergamers.
All of these are observations from the core book only, and the first printing of it. Some of them may have changed over printings. As a whole, I don't like it. As a source to tinker with to create a usable system, it is amazingly good. YMMV. =)
Quote from: CerilianSeeming;6083422. The magic section will probably require about 30 readthroughs to fully 'get'. It should be noted that mages are INCREDIBLY weak without lengthy casting preparations/times. At the beginning, you won't even get off a spell in a single round unless you heavily min/max your character. Furthermore, unless you literally acquire the power of a superbeing (which, unless it was errata'd, is not even possibly by the core book alone), you are likewise INCREDIBLY restricted in the total amount of magic you can know, ever. If you choose your school-equivalent poorly enough, you can end up starting the game with every spell you'll ever be allowed to know.
I can't quite parse what you're trying to say but I disagree with most of this.
"At the beginning, you won't even get off a spell in a single round unless you heavily min/max your character." That doesn't mean anything because spells cost a varying amount of zeon (magical power). If you have bad MA may be useless in combat (at first level!) but you'll be able to cast utility spells at least. And know a lot more of them than a 1st level D&D wizard. And heavy minmaxing in this case means spending development points on magic accumulation or taking advantages that increase it in your favorite paths. Woo. Minmaxing.
I mean yeah, you can make a character that will be useless in combat in Anima, or even useless in their implied role (it's possible to have a wizard that can't cast spells - although they can learn to do that later and some people appreciate this kind of stories over here I am sure). But requirements for contributing are not particularly hidden.
By the way, Anima has a decent way for more combat capable characters to protect weaker ones in combat so even having one or two characters that can't fight doesn't make it auto-death for them in the first encounters.
"Furthermore, unless you literally acquire the power of a superbeing (which, unless it was errata'd, is not even possibly by the core book alone), you are likewise INCREDIBLY restricted in the total amount of magic you can know, ever."
Again, I'm not sure what you mean exactly but I'm pretty sure it's wrong anyway. Top 20% of spell lists are only available to semi-divine and divine beings, that is true (but there are ways for PCs to reach High Magic and thus up to the 90th percentile). However, spell levels available to a character as well as maximum power of a spell being cast depends on intelligence, and you can increase one stat every other level. And unlike with physical stats you don't need Inhumanity to use high Intelligence. So there.
"If you choose your school-equivalent poorly enough, you can end up starting the game with every spell you'll ever be allowed to know."
Yeah I have no idea what this means but I hope it's related to issues above.
If I missed something, let me know.
Quote3. The ki powers are incredibly overpowered. Incredibly. I mean, to the point that you can't describe JUST how overpowered they are.
The whole point of ki is to make fighters stand on equal footing with wizards (that you seem to be a fan of). People called Bo9S overpowered too. I think you're overreacting, although there are a couple effects you might want to ban.
Quote4. Levels do -not- work like levels in any other game. They're more...exponential. A level 3-4 Anima character is pretty much on par with a level 9 or so D&D character.
Not sure how you get this with a linear amount of development points available every level but YMMV. But characters are higher in power than they would be in D&D at that level, I'd say by a factor of 2 maybe.