Can we have a thread about this game? I am going to be playing it for the first time and I don't really know anything about it and would like to discuss it. I haven't even made my character yet!
I'd appreciate any stories with the system, impressions about the system, artwork, resources, or advice on how to make a fun and/or optimized character and enjoy the game in maximum capacity so it leaves a good impression.
>>48114208
The rulebook claims that there are going to be people who find Anima's rules too simple.
I am left to wonder what kind of people those would be.
>>48114484
I find them quite simple, other than breakage because I never used it.
t. Programmer
>>48114484
It looks more complex than d20 but doesn't seem that bad to me so far. Summoning looks convoluted and my GM insists that ki is more convoluted than summoning, and wants me to consider playing a summoner, but I am interested in a wizard with the book of light as his specialty. Not really sure how either works yet, been reading up on wizardry.
>>48114650
Ki is easy if you're into bean counting and use unified.
because fuck having each pool by itself, that gimps ki-users fucking hardcore
>>48114673
How about summoners and wizards? What am I getting into with them?
>>48114563
>>48114650
Granted, I've never really thought about the rules proper, since character creation already leaves me stumped.
>>48114687
Just use invoker. you go from having to put everything into 3 abilities to having to put everything into just 1 ability.
>>48114732
>invoker
Well I did roll kind of badly compared to the party on stats so a single dependency would benefit me.
>>48114732
>1
You mean
Bind-Summon-Dominate (and hope you never summon something that beats your dominate and assfucks you in the puss-puss) and regen and zeon
vs
Regen - Zeon - MA - ML
>>48114687
In order of math:
Ki=>Martial (Asumming you do more than DnD your way to the top)>Magic=Invocation (invocation has more stats but clear breaks)>Martial if you just move-attack>Mentalism
>>48114695
Anima -is- the post child of front heavy games, like gurps it's actually very easy.
I want to play this game so badly it hurts. I've had the book for years and tried to pitch it to my group a dozen times, and every single time they say it looks to complex.
It is a sad pain...
>>48114777
Invoker wants huge POW and OK int, mentalist wants HUGE will and the rest is irrelevant.
Denote anima favors ganging up, so be easy on spamming shit.
>>48114788
Play online or pitch it around your IT/Developer/Accounting departments.
>>48114785
You are speaking a language I am not read in the system enough to decipher!
>>48114802
>Denote anima favors ganging up, so be easy on spamming shit.
What do you mean by this?
>>48114785
So how are you supposed to get into it without an experienced GM to tutor you?
Dwarf Fortress also has a learning cliff followed by smooth sailing, but at least it has the invaluable advantage of having comprehensive external tutorials.
>>48114788
Well, if you understand it, run it and break it down so far that it becomes easily understandable for your players.
>>48114807
I can also start putting random spanish words, for flavor!
Wizards need:
Magic Accumulation (to cast spells)
Zeon (AKA mana, to y'know pay for the spell)
Magic Level (To learn the spells)
These key off Pow (MA and zeon) and int (ML)
Summoners need:
Summon -> to bring shit into this world (going into the tall grass)
Bind -> to bind shit into objects (pokeballs)
Dominate -> to make it obey you
Zeon -> Summoning stuff and making familiars is zeon-intensive
Both want:
Regen, huge amounts of-> You regen not a lot by day, and summoned and bound things (such as stuff in your pokeballs and familiars) eat off zeon plus they need your zeon (they don't have zeon of their own), summoners want as much of this as possible.
Wizards also want a huge amount as magic is VERY expensive but VERY powerful, anima assumes anime downtime, IE months.
>>48114861
I have tried. I don't know if I just didn't do it well enough, but dammit I tried.
Nope, lets just play pathfinder, we all know pathfinder!
I like them, but goddamn it's infuriating.
>>48114850
Summoners can bring a large amount of people into a fight, since they have summoned stuff, anima favors ganging up on people very, very hard.
Mostly try not to have 601832 things bound and use them to beat up everything.
>>48114861
There are some guides out there, but believe me, it's also heavy on spanish. It needs an easier introduction module that isn't the fucking lady's flight.
>>48114788
It looks complicated because of the combat tables; but the tables are in fact a really simple equation. I don't know why the designers added them.
Power scales are similar to D&D, one Anima level is about 2 D&D levels; except martials in Anima are actually powerful.
>>48114912
That is because martials are allowed to be special.
IE 16 str means you can just create quakes at will, 20 dex means you're omni-present, you can cut spells, wizards are very squishy.
Also ki/martials scale infinitely.
>>48114484
Kai users are fucking monsters in that game. Especially if you couple them with a tao. A level 2 in our campaign has a Kai punch that drops like 260 damage.
>>48114987
Denote most people read how most ki-stuff works incorrectly, but 260 damage isn't hard, it's hard to do consistently early on.
>tfw two handed +1 size battle axe with 11 str
>>48114208
One of the only combat systems I've dealt with that operate well and do counters in a way that sort of makes sense.
>>48114905
El español no me molesta. I'm learning it after all.
Something that just tells me how to actually create a character would be a nice start.
>>48114903
Well, your efforts are naturally wasted on a group suffering imminent brain death due to advanced 3.5itis.
The game we're doing appears to be large in scale, I think we're playing leaders of a large military company, possibly a private army type of deal. So I'm trying to make a character who is effective at either supporting a large force, or defeating a large force to minimize the need for risking my own assets.
>>48115035
http://tortureentertainment.blogsport.de/images/Anima_CharacterCreationWalkthrough.pdf
this might help
>>48115050
Sadly anima's biggest problem is the fact secondary skills are kinda useless.
That said, go war subpath and light for blessing and shit.
Or brew making tactics and command not shit.
>>48115010
That is true, also if you haven't looked at the dominus exxet it goes into detail how fucking long it takes your character to learn new martial arts and new Kai techniques. Which did hamstring him a bit from the retardedly strong char he would have had.
I'm rocking a warrior mentalist with the entire psychokenisis tree and natural teleport at a +3 advantage. I also have him insufferable and charming so he's a blast to play outside of combat too.
>>48115108
>Insufferable and charming
How.Why
>>48115108
Reminder mentalism needs a fucking learning table and tuning so it isn't so shit at zen levels and so busted early on.
>>48115137
GM said I could do it if I can play him as a loveable asshole. Which I do fairly well. He kind of comes off deadpoolish in personality but a bit heavier on the dick side of things.
The why is because I like storytelling more than power gaming. So I make my characters usually intentionally not as powerful or broken as I can do that I can have some fun personality quirks . That and I'm the only guy in our group who isn't autismo so I'm always forced to face for the group.
>>48115176
Yeah I've been thinking of a way you could do that. Any suggestions?
>>48115035
It's partially my fault. I kinda like PF, when I want something easy to run that doesn't demand a lot of work, but getting them to play other stuff is like pulling teeth. And I've gotten them to play all the 40k games, GURPS, Numenera, and even Exalted. But for some reason Anima is just too hard.
>>48115214
None other than heavy math-crunching
>>48115230
Hah, was unfortunately thinking that would be the case, as that's what I'm currently doing.
>>48115242
Alternative:
High mentalism unlocked after level 3.
>>48115217
>Anima too hard
>GURPS not
I think my brain just broke
>>48115217
Which is ironic, since Anima is very similar to d20 based games: just multiply everything by 5!
>>48115071
>go war subpath and light for blessing and shit.
Isn't war exclusive from Light?
>>48115301
I was just gonna ask if they were just intimidated by a d100 system.
https://youtu.be/djrXCidqy0Q
some guy made this it teaches you how the game works
>>48115059
Not really, no.
It shows how to apply the rules, but not how to use them.
My problem is not that the creation rules are too complicated for me.
My problem is that I can't make out a clear image in the murky waters of this ocean of moving parts.
I fail to grasp how to transform a concept into its mechanical representation within the boundaries and expectations of the system.
Part of it might be that I'm used to class-based systems where I can start from a vague image as a kernel, which then grows as I bounce the predefined elements off it for inspiration.
With this fine-grained point buy, I can't find any of that inspiration in the system.
>>48115217
Then exercise some self-control and stop enabling their brain-damaging laziness.
If you just Google anima beyond fantasy, one of the first results is a Dropbox with PDFs of all the books and a couple of startup helpers the guy made himself. There's also a char gen spread sheet thing.
Do any veterans have any tips for my Summoner character before I begin spending DP?
>>48115386
Then, because Archetypes and Categories are pretty "void", why don't you take inspiration off mechanics and Advantages?
The system honestly, works the opposite of class-based, the system shapes into what you want, you don't have to fit a concept into a pre-defined slot. So you end up having a freedom that feels either empty or too vast to find meaning. But, it's great for simply having an idea and see how it can play around with the world.
You want a Martial with something special for combat? Check Dominus Exxet and the Ars Magnus and Impossible weapons, they tend to be pretty good at 'forcing' you through a determinated path of build up, but they are worth it. Unique Mages? The schools of Magic clearly define your magic style and add a lot of uniqueness and charm, or even an Innate Magic specialist (I created one long ago, and it honestly plays really well with a dip into multiple magic schools). On Psychic, you can either play around Innate slots or investing into very few powers and make them even more powerful early on.
Aptitude in a Field, Acute Senses, Artifact, Unlimited Familiars, Touched by Destiny, or Versatile, just by themselves can give you a really unique insight into what can a character be.
And, worst comes to worst, just cut apart two media characters and fuse them, throw it against the system and see what it sticks. Honestly, that's what I do to create unique-powered NPCs on most of my games.
>>48117241
Google "Blakrana's guide to Summoners and Summoning", which is a very comprehensive guide on how to play them, but remember that Summoners tend to be really dependant on Storytellers and downtime.
Other than that:
>Unless you are a mage, never invest in ACT, all to Zeon/Zeon regen. Advantages for Zeon and Zeon Regen are recommended
>Occultism high, Memory (depends on the GM, but some of them if you ask for details that your character should know force you to roll for it) is recommended
>Choose 2 or 3 Summoning skills at most. If you have a Paladin in the group, they are your best friend since you can forgo Banish, otherwise decide on your own
>Devah Nephilim are strongly recommended
>>48117467
I'm actually reading that right now, coincidentally.
No idea how legit this is, but cool either way.
Last bump for me tonight.
MEGA trove of English books:
https://mega.nz/#F!w0pTATCJ!AIlU1sVxmASerlUr27yrvg
MEGA Spanish trove with fan-content, Circulo de Bardos (Q&A with Anima Studio), image dumps and some initiative tracking programs:
https://mega.nz/#F!5gRTwZYJ!OXtQAeXxnit1bqx8monZsA!005lnSYQ
>>48119606
Azur and the dominion/argos are wrong
>>48117401
Because there are so many mechanics and Advantages that none of them feel in the least bit meaningful. I can't tell what purpose they serve mechanically and thematically.
And there's the next problem: Even if I have a concept, I can't put it into a form that makes sense.
Reading through the chargen rules, I know what I can do, but not what I should do. The book does not tell me what the system expects of a "first level" character nor what makes for a sensible character.
I can easily cram all 600 PD into Style on a Dark Paladin and call it a day, but that doesn't result in a functional character.
>>48121359
What is your concept?
What advantages don't feel mechanically meaningful?
A first level character examples are on the DM's booklet, aim for that or better in general works.
>>48121373
>What is your concept?
I don't have one. I'm talking any concept I have had or may yet have.
>What advantages don't feel mechanically meaningful?
All of them.
It's like the difference between differently shaped Lego bricks in my usual systems, where I can tell what makes sense in the figure I'm constructing, and globs of slightly differently colored sand in Anima that all seem to be able to serve the same purpose in the sandcastle, unless there is a clear color contrast.
>aim for that or better
That is exactly the crux of my problem.
What is "better"?
It's like you're handing me an abstract painting of a cat and telling me to make a "better" one.
Do you want it more purple? More triangles? More teeth? Straighter lines? Curvier lines? Should it have an extra leg? More stripes? Less stripes? Circles instead of stripes? Do you want a bigger canvas? With the edges rounded off?
>>48121602
>Advantages
Come in 3 flavors:
Unlock (IE: The gift, access to one mentalism discipline, etc...)/Build Upon
They unlock a way to play your character (such as mentalism or magic), artifact, skill cost reductions, social-related (nobility, wealth)
Buffs:
IE Full accumulation, see supernatural, etc...
Filler:
Ki regen, magic armor, +stats, zeon regen, more zeon per level, etc...
You can build upon any, however it's easier to build on the first two than the last others.
>What is better?
You have a "main" skills (for example: Attack/Defense on a fighter, psy potential on a mentalist) the bigger they're, the better. What you focus has some stats related to it, the bigger they're the better you're at it, simple as that.
I'm writing a detailed level 1 technician (since it's mathy) guide and how to advance him, since it explain this concept of "better" in more detail.
>>48121799
That leads me right to an earlier problem: I can min-max a character, of course, but that just means that it won't be able to function outside its chosen niche.
As I said, I can pump 600 PD into Style, but that doesn't give me a useable character.
>>48121864
Practice self restrain.
IE: Instead of pumping 600dps into style put 100 150 on attack 150 on parry and the rest wherever you think would be good. You want to be bulkier? Get more HP and armor. You also want to be an OK tactician? get ssome tactics, you want to tell the supernatural entities to dick a suck, get banish
>>48121992
>wherever you think would be good
We're beginning to run in circles now.
I don't know what would be good because I don't know what the system expects.
The bigger the better, but too big is bad. What is big enough, then?
What about secondary abilities?
There is no overarching image I'm getting here.
>>48114563
>other than breakage because I never used it
Breakage is fairly simple, so I'm not sure why people keep forgetting how it works. A game once grinded to a screeching halt because the GM couldn't remember what to do when I used a breakage Ki Tech to destroy an opponent's weapons.
>>48122308
>I don't know what would be good because I don't know what the system expects.
The system doesn't expect much in the first place. Default anima encounters are all easy as pie and assume that the players have absolutely no idea how to optimize.
I found that just grabbing whatever you like is good enough in most cases. You may not be great, but it's pretty hard to be useless and if you try to specialize in anything you can probably find an interesting niche to fill in the party.
>>48114484
As someone who generally GMs two to three anima games at any given time, I can safely say that that is a statement only said by people familiar with the game.
>>48114788
Look for games online. One day you will be able to play.
Is or is not Phaion the most fedora tipping principality?
Actually, now that I properly think about it, classes have nothing to do with it.
Games like Double Cross and Tokyo Nova are no more class-based than Anima is. Classes just determine the pool of special abilities you have access to and have no level progression of their own.
Although most of the SRS-based games just plain do not work because SRS is Japan’s d20, they do something quite ingenious, yet completely basic with character creation: They have three different modes of character generation.
Mode 1: Quickstart
You just pick one of the pre-made characters, which were created according to Mode 2, usually for use in the sample scenario, add on a few personal details and you’re good to go.
Mode 2: Construction
You pick your class(es) and then proceed to put together your character with a set number and general distribution of abilities and skill/attribute ranks. For finishing touches, you get a couple free points to spend, along with the same personal details from Mode 1.
Mode 3: Full Scratch
You pick your class(es) and get a pool of points to spend as you see fit. This is what Anima does.
The catch here is that Full Scratch tends to be explicitly cautioned against for beginners, since you need to have played a few sessions to understand the rules enough to actually get a satisfying result out of that method.
With Mode 2, the system sets a competence baseline for all beginning characters with enough leeway to make something pretty personal nonetheless. Barring a few edge cases and assuming the system itself works, you’re guaranteed to get a working character within the expectations of the system.
What’s more, you can look at the characters from Mode 1 if you’re still not sure what a character made in Mode 2 should look like or use the rules from Mode 3 to further personalize your Mode 2 character without diving into Mode 3 outright.
>>48122357
S-sorry.
Game restart soon.
>>48122954
Azur and gabriel
>>48123572
Why Gabriel?
>>48123899
Merchant And french
>>48123983
But that's not fedorii
Also aren't they more Italian than French?
>>48124035
Dominion is italian iirc
What do you think happens post GoM?
>>48114650
Summoning is mainly convoluted in that you need to manage your critters - especially if you take Multiple Familiars. It's helped by the creature book - the Salamander is a great starting point for a Familiar.
It's potentially very powerful just on its own, but you can also add in the task of making a mildly effective second-string mage (because you will normally want The Gift).
If you try to take all four skills, they'll suffer. I'd drop Banish (because while it's very useful for instantly defeating critters, you can just fight them as a party).
Taking an item creation skill adds even more complexity, but lets you make Zeon recovery boosters (your recovery determines how many summons you can support) and skill boosters.
>>48115071
>Sadly anima's biggest problem is the fact secondary skills are kinda useless.
Yeah - though Occult does everything.
It identifies monsters and lore, lets you make items and Sanctums (which are fucking great for Summoners who can remote control their minions).
The crafting skills are good as well, because it doesn't punish characters for wanting to make neat equipment.
>>48125575
>What do you think happens post GoM?
Nothing. Nothing happens.
Romeo is still a stupid asshole.
Sealing Ergo doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things because Bearer is hinted to have acquired is power.
Whatever happens in Remo can completely be signed off as a singular incident.
Baal is in the same position it was at the beginning of the game. Same with every other Messenger.
The events of the game are presented like no one in the world has realized what happened.
...and if the sales aren't as good as Anima Studio wants, it's over. No more books, no more lore.
>>48122954
Lucrecio for sure. There are actual atheists there.
>>48129604
Iirc lucrecio doesn't.
The only place which AAAAAok'd! atheism is fucking empire
>>48129779
Not necessarily A-OK'ed, but the Children of Judas is said to be practiced there, even if it's the minority. Says so in Beyond the Dreams.
>>48129926
Oh yeah that can be
Why is the Consortium the best faction?
>>48114484
Exalted and Hero System players.
>>48114208
Providing books for you and everyone.
>https://mega.nz/#F!pZhBUS7L!Dqg24lVzifA23q2qNan3nQ
>>48114785
>Summoner
>Magic Level
>Ever
If you're looking to cast spells, get yourself a damned familiar to do it(Sheele are handy) or go Wizard/Warlock/WizMen instead.
Though Warlock and WizMen have problems with Secondary abilities, unless you just go into one non magic stat(Wear Armor on 'locks, single Discipline/Power for WizMen).
>>48114788
>>48115386
Mega link has a fanbook that breaks it down fairly well, IIRC.
>>48114879
To build on his statement, Invoker summoners want Zeon, Magic Recovery, and Summon. That's literally all, because they're like Final Fantasy VII Summon Materia: Make pact with angry demigod/Aeon/high elemental/Tarot Arcana, use Summon to call it, it does something(a player of mine has the Big Daddy Storm Aeon himself, he thunder nukes EVERYTHING), then it fucks off back to wherever it came from.
>>48114903
I know that feel. I have literally two people in my Anima group, meanwhile the D&D group I'm a part of is happy with having gotten out of PF and into 5e, and therefore thinks just like yours concerning Anima's complexity.
>>48114912
Case in point, anon?
>>48114965
Only real threat to martials are wizards that have somehow cracked the Divine Magic code.
And Nemesis Martials shit on literally everyone's day with the Cancellation powers.
>>48115028
They also do crits right, IMO. And rolling for location is fun.
>>48115071
>>48125884
>Secondary skills are kinda useless.
"Hey roll a notice real quick." should have EVERYONE shitting bricks instantly. Seriously, Surprise, Blinded, and/or Back strikes are no joke.
Also Withstand pain should be moderately high on most, if not all, Wizards because losing lodsaZeon sucks balls.
Knowledge skills can be important, unless there's a Creation/Knowledge mage around to break them over his knee.
>>48115353
Some people can be.
>>48132167
Misspelled Wissenschaft.
>>48133253
>Mega link has a fanbook that breaks it down fairly well, IIRC.
And which one would that be? It's all official material, afaict.
>>48133253
Also, one of my players is looking to try running again, after he let me take over the reins on our current campaign(which has been running for nearly two years now).
However, he's set a condition that we MUST play characters from media: anime, games, books, etc. I think because of our minmax-happy player and his railgun mentalist in the current campaign.
That being said, I've narrowed it down to a few choices based on the fact that I won't crossplay(don't have the vocal range for it, that's a big deal breaker for me), and that these guys would be fairly easy-ish to mesh with a build/the setting.
Other problem is I'm kinda sick of magic users, as I've been having a caster sidekick for my party while I've been running.
Which would you guys, as GM's want to see?
>Captain Hans Gunsche from Hellsing
Blood of the Great Beasts Human Tao with eventual Transformation Ars Magnus and Gunhell Ki Techs. Most likely a Dwanholf Guard captain. Mute but commanding presence, maybe play up his "secret Otaku" personality from inside the book covers.
Ninja Master Gara from Bastard!!
>Human Techie or Shadow, stealthy, athletic, bit of a musclehead. Has one or two Ki Techs for sword use, and an Artifact Sword that increases damage against Evil/Undead things via Vital Sacrifice.
Legato Bluesummers from Trigun
>Nephilim Devah Telepathy Mentalist. Follows Jigoku no Kami in his plan to eradicate everything, maybe? Big problem is RPing that much EDGE for too long might make me sick.
Walter C Dolneaz of Hellsing
>Human Technician, Cancer Magister Magnus. Calm, collected, good etiquette for out of combat. Also stylish as fuck.
Train Heartnet from Black Cat
>Acrowarrior, Assassin, or Techie, Daimah Nephilim. Because min-maxer kinda wants to play Sven. Only problem is I'm hesitant to go full Daimah on the GM.
Gannondorf
>Neph Jayan Dark 'lock or Techie. Problem is rping that arrogance and self-entitlement.
DIO
>Neph Vetala, same problems as Gannondorf.
>>48133414
My bad, here you go.
>>48133685
Addendum
Mister Torgue Flexington or Brick, both from Borderlands/BL2.
Brick's clearly a Jayan Tao, but what the F*CK is Torgue? A fire Warlock?
>Contacting Black Sun Agents
>Thread Necromancy Initiated
>>48135588
Thanks for bringing back my thread. :^)
My summoner is underway. We're not playing in the traditional Anima setting apparently but rather in some D&D inspired thingadoodle homebrewed by the GM, but I have faith in his work. He redid the races to fit his setting and since I expressed interest in Tiefling, he rather graciously made the Tiefling very good as a summoner. I had talked about wanting to play up my demonic heritage and he went fully into that with their design, including giving them bonuses related to summoning.
At any rate, I'm thinking I may shirk Banish, focusing mostly on my other three summoning skills, as I can't imagine needing it much.
>>48135746
Yeah, Banish is probably the most situational of the four.
It also has the nastiest "Colossal Fuckup" result, in that it SUMMONS more of what you were trying to banish, and they're STRONGER than it, too.
>>48135746
>We're not playing in the traditional Anima setting but rather in some D&D inspired thingadoodle homebrewed by the GM.
Ouch. good luck.
>>48133775
>BLOW THE UP OCEAN
every time
>>48135877
Yeah I would like to play in the Anima setting but the guy who is GMing is pretty creative and has been a part of our gaming group for a long time so I have faith in him. I'm leery of homebrew settings but this group is very talented and well-rounded.
>>48135884
Right? That entire DLC was fucking gold.
Actually thinking on it, he may be a Jayan Nephilim Fire Illusionist, because EXPLOSIONS and his way with words.
>>48135825
Yeah I can't see be Banish being hugely necessary if I can control or just have my party take down any nasties. I may put some into it later since keeping it up doesn't seem pricy but for now I'm leaving it behind.
>>48133253
You're right.
Why is Wissenschaft the best faction?
>>48137433
Probably because it's the only in-setting faction that even gives a damn about psychics period. It and the machine.
>>48137433
Because they get shit done in non-retarded ways, and aren't complete jerks to people they don't agree with. Unless Lucanor says "Fuck those guys", of course. Then shit hits the fan bigtime.
Case in point.
>Lucanor: Hey Sammael Fallen Angels, I don't appreciate you guys just up and killing/eating humans in my province, knock it off.
>Fallen Angels: Psssh. Human thinks he's hot shit. Thinks we're scared of him and his "Crows," Ooooooooooh, spoopy, not the birds. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
>Lucanor: I am moderately annoyed now.
>Next day
>Fallen Angels: How are half of our council members dead and their bodyguards unharmed?!
>Lucanor surfs Daaku through their SUPER SECRET SANCTUM, a pennant fluttering behind him written in several forgotten languages, all saying the same thing "Talk shit, get hit"
Fallen Angels: 0.o
Meanwhile, Consortium is burning down the house of a guy who dared sell his goods at 10% lower than THEIR "Suggested" price, Yehudah is going full "MAGE WAR NOW, PURGE ZEONLESS FILTH", Selene and Brotherhood of Raksasha are feuding over who's going to kill that one fat fuck, Black Sun is accidentally a mansion, the surrounding town, and an entire city with zombies, and Inquisition is going full retard and fighting demons with demons in Moth, which is a shit-hole anyway, so that kinda isn't that much of a problem.
>>48137433
>>48137532
Am I the only one who wants to see Carlos release info on mechanics for the Black Blood?
>>48137917
Psychics will always be ignored by both fluff, and by Carlos. The most they will ever likely get are some info on Black Blood in the factions book down the line.
>hopeful for psionic exxet
>tfw friend reminds you it's been years since the exxets released, and that they likely consider the piss puddle in arcana adequate.
>>48137917
I think part of it is leaving it up to the individual imagination of the GM. Like I see it as almost like the Blood of the Great Beasts advantage in that it provided some DP to invest in monster powers, but maybe higher concentrations grant higher Gnosis or more points.
Same goes for figuring out ways to incorporate different lore characters into the sessions.Like players unknowingly getting along swimmingly with the Shadow of Omega, and destroying the seals keeping him from cutting loose on Gaia.
>>48135588
>tfw we barely get any lore on them
Why is bella such a slut?
Where the fuck mr. Voodoo gets his sword
Why the fuck does clover have a fetish with multi-charge
>>48138048
It's known that next book will probably have a summoning fix and a focus on solomon.
So it might get some psy since lucanor <3 psy
>>48138048
To be fair, a Railgun Mentalist who get's his hands on a Heavy Ballista quarrel of stupid high quality, is a threat to a surprising amount of things.
I mean, 270 base damage at zen, before quality and enchantments is nothing to sneeze at. I know Ki users and wizards can nuke harder, but there's usually a longer cooldown, especially if the Mentalist get's his mage buddy to enchant a Quarrel bag with Infinite Ammo, or the Quarrel with Returning and Indestructible enchants.
>>48138066
Kingsley probably found Aldebaran either somewhere near some necromantic artifacts, or in the wake, considering it was last used to Coup de Grace Baal, the Messenger of the Apocalypse before it disappeared.
>>48138209
What the fuck was kingsley doing in the wake?
>>48138114
That railgun mentalist can also be viable by level 3 or 4, so they're pretty grossly unbalanced. Not on a larger scale, since they get outperformed by mages and ki users, but if they got some sort of limitations or extra factors to consider, such as the starting amounts in the GM's guide, or the arcana spheres or ki learning times. I'm mostly salty they got shafted as far as extra cool shit to spend on. The only special mechanics or things to spend on for psychics are mental patterns, which are advantages and disadvantages in one.
>>48138234
Wizard and/or Black Guys stuff.
Look, it's very complicated and beyond your non-necro-alchemical understanding. If you keep asking uncomfortable questions the Necrogolem is going to slap you.
>>48138241
What annoys me of Pattern is that the disadvantage part is utterly fucking bonkers.
>grab introvert
>Never again attack with psy or exist socially
>grab psychopath
>"fun"
>>48138262
>tfw romeo's too incompetent to get it back
>>48138241
I hear you on the extra cool shit, but some of their disciplines are fairly nuts all around.
Telepathy is actually pretty nasty when the Mentalist decides to fucking kill people's brains, and the Physical Increase discipline is by far the cheapest, easiest way to augment your, or your allies' characteristics.
The thing about plateauing early is that you can then start working out creative ways to keep up.
Like teleporting to the enemy's encampment and then 'porting their catapults and ballistae on top of their army.
>>48138286
I don't think he gives a shit, he has fucking Jared Apocrytus, one of the five most fucking nutzo swords going, alongside Platinum(Marchosias has it), Cladehim Solus(It's made from a fucking PILLAR OF SOULS), Zelber(Fuck evil), and fucking Caliburn.
>>48138405
The same goes for plenty of core spells and ki techniques. Then if you include Arcana and Dominus, they blatantly pass psychics up as far as dumb anime bullshit goes. Summoners were even treated better in Arcana, getting new advantages, incarnations, and the option to build exclusively for evocations.
>>48138486
Zelber fucks all, evil or not
>>48133739
Again, that's just a cheat sheet, without explanation or advice.
It's just a summary of what's already in the book and contains none of the missing information.
>>48140015
What does the book lack?
>>48140119
See
>>48115386
>>48121359
>>48121602
>>48121864
>>48122308
The book tells me what rules I have to follow, but not how to use them.
It tells me what is possible, but not what is sensible.
It has all the information for experienced players, but none for a beginner.
>>48140311
Write your problem in a comprehensive way so we can try to solve it?
Also if you know the system you'd know what each feat does, or you want a tier like a videogame or 3.5?
>>48140337
Okay. Comprehensive, comprehensive...
"How do you make a sensible character in Anima?"
Comprehensive enough?
>>48140360
Yes.
Your problem seems to be that you don't know which numbers are too big, right? That's explained (a bit?) in the Master's booklet, if you give me some time I'll write a guide on a basic level 1 character with normal stats that aren't too broken and make him one trick pony.
>>48140311
1. Max your primary stat (attack/defense/magic/psychic projection) to what the limit allows
That eats most of your primary limit.
2. Put the rest into whatever extra abilities you want that look cool to you. There is a ton of to choose from.
3. Put the rest into secondary abilities to flesh out a character.
It's pretty hard to screw this up. Maxed out primary stat gives you a very decent level of competence so no worries if the extra abilities you choose aren't that great.
>>48115386
>>48121359
>>48121602
>>48121864
>>48140311
>>48140360
Holy shit, do you understand that optimization is a patient endeavor and not something we're obligated to spoon feed to you? I was making a summoner and I calmly went to the summoner chapter, checked the difficulty of summoning, controlling, binding, and banishing shit, checked out the bonuses and penalties one page after, and was able to know how much I needed in the four skills to give me a high rate of success against level appropriate roll difficulties.
How is this so hard for you? The system is not complicated, the book is not poorly laid out, you're literally just too lazy to do any leg work.
I would throw you out of this gaming group in a heartbeat for this type of whining and entitlement.
>>48140640
Reading comprehension isn't your forte, eh?
>>48140783
You ask how to do a "sensible" character.
Meaning you don't know when too much is too much->See what the skills level are and what they do for secondary for primary compare to your other players and be around their level.
Then you don't now what feats are good, IE you want a tier list for them -> that's minmaxing which you should do by yourself, also that was explained above how to clasify them roughly
>>48140783
Give us a concept to work with at least, before you act like a smug cunt.
>>48140783
No,your complaint is just nonsensical. Anima was the first system I learned and I still didn't have any trouble making a functional character despite having nobody to turn to for advice.
>>48140851
Yes, I don't know when too much is too much because the system doesn't mention it.
There are no other players because nobody I know would ever consider playing Anima, much less run it. If I knew someone who ran Anima, I would not have this problem, because they could either explain it to me or just give me a character to play so I could experience the system for myself.
And I never even implicitly asked for a tier list. Advantages and Disadvantages are the least of my problems. Of course, if you're saying that for a character with basic competence, you need to min-max, then yes, I'm asking for a tier list.
>>48140912
This has nothing to do with any particular concept, but with the system as a whole. If I provide a concept, you turn it into a character and I am none the wiser for it.
>>48140953
And I started with the pile of dogshit that is 3.5 without any outside help and I enjoyed it, but I know that it took me several months of trial and error to sorta, kinda get things right.
If I could find people to play Anima with regularly, I might go for the trial-and-error route again, but as it stands, we are no longer schoolchildren, so ain't nobody got time fo dat.
>>48141043
Alright, well sit down and make a character completely before you do anything. Just try the rules yourself. If I'm gonna impart my knowledge, I need to not have to explain the basics.
>>48141107
Fair enough.
Is there a fillable, saveable character sheet I overlooked or do I just dump the character in text form?
>>48141043
>Yes, I don't know when too much is too much because the system doesn't mention it.
Look what the other people have more or less senpai. Also the system does. Read the books, dom exxet literally tells how how borked your attacks become as you get higher values, DM's booklet explains limits to make things "sensible".
In short:
Mastery (200p)->SERIOUSLY FUCKING GOOD. -1 to failure on dice (5->4 3->2)
Inhuman 320->Irrealistic, IE running a marathon faster than a human physically can
Zen 440 -> Magic-tier IE each time you attack everything around you gets fucked up by the shockwave
>>48141274
http://animaunico.helechaloscuro.net/
>>48141274
In this very thread, someone posted a MEGA link full of anima stuff, english and spanish. There's a character sheet in there.
>>48140783
>Reading comprehension isn't your forte, eh?
I don't know, you tell me, you're the guy who hasn't read enough of the book to even get how to make a functional character.
>>48141292
>You cannot save data typed into this form.
>>48141478
Works for me, man.
Spaniard here. I own a few books of Anima, 2ed, on it's original language. Lemme tell you about my experience with it thus far.
First of, it appears to be more class-less than it actually is. You're far, far better off adhering to the skills your "class" provides than going towards another path. Speaking of skills, unless you're playing a Freelancer, you're pretty much fucking screwed. Who thought skills being just as expensive as, say, attack or defence was a good thing? And by that I don't meant attack is cheap: I mean skills are fuckexpensive, and the -30 penalty due not having a skill is a joke.
The combat system is also a joke. If it was stupid enough that the system is just d20 multiplying everything by 5, the way damage works is ridiculous. On d20, you roll, compare to AC, roll damage is you surpass it.
Anima, on the other hand, has many steps in comparison: Roll attack, roll defend, compare. If attack wins, you need to calculate damage: This is the part I've got trouble with. You see, you can only deal damage in 10% steps. after substracting the difference in the attack-defend roll. The weapon gives you a damage value, but thing is, you will almost never deal anywhere close to 100%. So you'll find yourself calculting percentages, instead of, say, giving it a "step value" to a weapon. It's much more efficient calculating 2 * 6, than (60 / 10) * 2. And that's assuming that every damage value is divisible by 10. All are divisible by 5 though.
I could go into further detail, but long story sort, combatants with similar level of skill will just miss or hit for no damage and cancel the other guy's turn, until one gets lucky enough to roll over 90, and do some massive damage that will leave the other guy out of combat. All that while doing a lot of overcomplicated (Not hard, just inefficient) math. Thank god I use maptools, this must be hellish to play at an actual table.
>>48141478
Download or try the webpage, unico is great.
>>48141908
Oh, and another note. Combat maneuvers seem pretty already, but they're kinda ruined due to the fact that the better you hit, the more damage you deal, so called shots do not seem to pay off unless you get a crit out of them. That wouldn't be so bad, but there's a maneuver that single handedly ruins the others: Counter.
Counter lets you add, if you're defending and successfully do so, half your margin as a bonus to said counter. This prevents the other party from using some of the most expensive maneuvers, in terms of accuracy, thus dulling combat for fear of getting countered. Also, the stacking armor rules is kinda retarded, this guys seem to think full plate against naked skin is somehow plausible. Gambeson should incur not a penalty for wearing it under heavier armor.
Rolling initiative each round is great with macros, but must be hell on a table. Specially considering how much initiative varies depending on which weapon you're wearing (That and retarded stats for weapons, but I can get behind it for the sake of balance)
More on armor. I might have misinterpreted the rules on 2 base armor for everything, but if it does indeed stack with armor, it's utterly retarded. Combat took for fucking ever until I houseruled it out. Then, armor stats seem retarded as fuck, even moreso with weapons. Feels like they gave them stats and then pinned random names, disregarding what those armors actually are good against. Promotheus Exett fixes this to an extend, thankfully)
Now lemme talk about mages.
>>48141908
>I mean skills are fuckexpensive, and the -30 penalty due not having a skill is a joke.
I want to define that having zero points in a skill means you've never done it.
They're still fucking expensive.
>>48141960
Mages I'm surprisingly happy with, moreso is we include the Sephira on Arcana Exett. The only real trouble I've got with them is how the magic levels are tiered. A spell that gives you an insignificant bonus to firing arrows (+15 or +25 I think) is level 78. (or 70something, at least). Level 80 is the line for high magic, that's supposed to be demigod-like.
Now, there's something funny. Damage can get fucking astronomical, but insta-kill effects are absolute rubbish. Too much a cost, too little a chance. That's retarded considering you can blow the solar system a few levels after. It kinda reeks of "pls don't kill my snowflake".
That's another thing. It seems way, WAY over the top on too many aspects. Though I'm pretty sure that was what the system was meant for, so it's just an opinion. The setting is horrible, though, it boils down to "The PCs work for my super special OCs with edgy names". It really limits player agency, and practically feels like a 13y.o's wet dream.
Ki users are retarded on core due to having a pool for each stat (Why is Perception a stat again?), but generally, they're great with unified pool. Techniques are actually fun to come with, if they can get out of hand easily.
Summoners I haven't tried, but the rules for failing skills are, once again, retarded. Failing by 100 or more to summon something summors a legion of those things: So just get an apprentice to try it and insta-army! Otherwise they seem cool.
I could go on with more details, but this is the bulk of it. Am I doing something wrong, /tg/, or is this game just this bad on some fields? What rustles me specially is that it feels like "d20, but with big numbers"!
>>48141960
The 2 base armor (absorption) is by default on the base table, it's not "armor" it just exist because otherwise you're all made of paper.
However with the 2 base armor combats can get seriously fucking stupid. Tbh anima system would be GOAT as a bell-curve turn based RPG or roguelike, specially roguelike since it's already cryptic.
>>48142003
I agree, but -30 seems too harsh. If it's a knowledge skill, I can get behind it. It's not going to pop into your head. But come on, Jumping? That's the very definition of intuitive. It also makes Jack of All Trades really OP, since you get to nulify that and have some extra points for about...2 points I think it was?
I'd keep the -30 penalty to knowledge, and reduce it to -10 for other skills. And not make them as expensive jesus christ
>>48142027
I think it'd be much better if they had figured out that AC has a base 10 cause that's the average on a d20 and thus it's easier to hit, as it's only dependent on the attackers luck, rather on that and the defending guy to have bad luck. That, and it halves the dice rolled.
>>48142015
>"The PCs work for my super special OCs with edgy names". It really limits player agency, and practically feels like a 13y.o's wet dream.
Shitty DM spotted.
>Not having your own agency
>Not jewing everyone
>>48142035
Secondary skills need a rework ASAP social needs to be more defined, tactics, etc... needs an actual combat use.
Also jack of all trades is either OP or shit because of what you said.
The -30 to knowledge and -10 to intuitive ones seems good-ish.
>>48142050
>It halves the dice rolled
Not really, it just makes it a permanent 2 dice rolls vs 1 diceroll and another sometimes to follow up.
Again, I do enjoy anima's combat much more than d20's since it's more interactive and forces you to pay attention.Also I like to always get to roll my dice.
>>48142055
I don't even run the setting you dingu-
Oh.
You cheeky motherfucker.
Now that we're at it, I've been actually wanting to give reworking Anima a shot. Mostly fit it on d20 because if you're just going to multiply everything by 5, it's still fucking d20.
Should I give it a shot, /tg/?
>>48142065
You can have a monster have a constant attack value AND allow players to roll defence. That way agency is always on the player's hands.
>>48142105
You can in anima senpai. Predets are a thing
>>48142094
No. D100> D20. Funnier shape.
Also critfails work on <5%
>>48142146
You can't spin a d10 if you're bored anon!
>>48142146
You can? I missed this one, but then again Anima has shittons of optional rules.
>>48142182
Fuck, botched this one. First response meant for >>48142160
>>48142182
>You can't spin a d10 if you're bored anon!
Fuck that, I can play FOOTBALL (well finger)!
IF I GET A GOAL IT COUNTS AS CRIT.
You can, techs and magic can predet the value of their attack (final, no dice roll allowed) unsure if psy can do the same, artifacts also get the base attack predetermined (if not yours) and you can with a disadvantage make it final. You can also have creatures special attacks do the same, "cheat" and default behind the screen.
>>48142234
oh, but that's circumstantial, not a constant rule
What stops people from putting 1 point in every skill to get rid of the -30 penalty?
>>48142321
Their cost.
>>48142321
You can only raise stats in multiples of 5.
The natural/class bonus count as being trained in a skill, that's what I've always doing.yes, I know it's wrong but do I care?
>>48142182
>You can't spin a d10 if you're bored, anon!
Bullshit you can't.
>>48142055
Social seems entirely self-explanatory to me.
>Commerce is for large-scale trading, like commodities exchanges, stock markets, or just being Kraft Lawrence.
>Streetwise is for knowing how to act in which parts of a town, what parts to avoid, who makes the best tapatillas in town, etc.
>Style is how awesome you did/failed a thing. If your Tao didn't drive this skill to stupid levels immediately, then there's something wrong with them.
>Etiquette is for more personal social events, when you need to act a certain way so as not to ruin your reputation or your host's opinion of you.
>Intimidate is for making fuckers back the fuck down before you tear their HEARTS OUT!
>Leadership is how well you give/follow orders. Usually a commander is the only one to need/roll it, but it can be good for troops to have, for Chain of Command reasons as well as figuring out if the orders mean they can do it at their own pace vs IMMEDIATELY
>Persuasion is all about the smooth talking, using words not as hammers, but as scalpels, getting others to believe that they wanted to do the thing you want them to do all along, why wasn't it obvious before?
And tactics is strategy. Batman has 440 in it, at all times. If the Tao is there, and the Wizard is there, but there's a Gaira Dragon there, then the Shadow needs to gank that dude there in order to turn things to our advantage.
>>48142015
>It seems way, WAY over the top on too many aspects
Well yeah, it's over the top the tabletop. In tiers of over the top, it stands squarely between D&D and Exalted.
Also, it's REALLY hard to critfail by 100 or more on a summon, that's why the consequences are so insane. And hilarious.
>"I summon Baelzethor, the Cerberus"
>Critfail
>"Well, you better be good at talking your way out of shit, because Manelefaz the Orifice Violator, the Infernal Duke, is wondering just why you're in his living room. And clothed."
>>48142321
1. You have to buy in increments of 5. Why? Because fuck if I know.
2. Even if you could put increments of 1 in a skill, the rules STILL say you need at least 5 in a secondary ability to not take the -30 to it.
>>48142744
>Social seems entirely self-explanatory to me.
I meant the fact they're free-form tier and hold no actual crunch background, it annoys me.
Id' enjoy tactics, etc... to give mass combat bonuses
>>48142873
>Id' enjoy tactics, etc... to give mass combat bonuses
I get what you're saying. But there's nothing that explicitly says a GM couldn't rule that it could do that.
>>48142759
>Why
Because Anima is d20 with everything multiplied by 5 so numbers seem cooler. Everything works in multiples of 5. 5 is literally the 1 of Anima.
>>48143021
Except ki and zeon price, zeon, failure and stats
>>48143088
stats give bonuses all multiples of 5. Zeon you pay per 5 units. With ki you have a point.
>>48143233
Stats as in the number (which seems to be half of DnD's), ki and zeon costs to buy them (second zeon is supposed to be ki tech price) but the rest you can /5 and be safe.
If you want to d20 anima the easiest way is to /5 each number except:
DP-related.
Ki and Psy power points.
Breakage rules
And you'll be set to go.
>>48142015
>Summoners
Litreally bullshit.
If you fail to summon, you either summon something that was not intended, a lot of lvls stronger than expected, or you fuck up so hard YOU get summoned into the house of an opposite creature you intended to create.
If you fuck up BANISH, then you summon a legion of stronger enemies. I want to add, that the rules mention that abusing this on purpose can simply lead the GM to rule it whatever the fuck they want. Instead of Summon teleporting you, it fails as a Banish, and you end up soul-tied to a demon.
>>48144079
On the flipside: You can if you don't get unlucky as fuck and calculate your odds well, you can be six flavours of broken.
Also it being risky makes it more interesting and mystic m8. If you want risk-less stuff go wizard or ki.
>>48144190
Don't forget going the opposite way, maximum BALLS TO THE WALL, by rocking a Mentalist with the Psychic Consumption disadvantage.
Or using Nodes as Wizard, Summoner, or Mentalist. Nothing says "Nut up or shut up" like an incredibly high chance of wiping yourself from existence or losing your powers permanently.
>>48144654
Isn't using nodes as ki-user even worse since the rewards are also pretty shit?
>>48145049
I wouldn't say the rewards are TOO shitty. The chance to pop something like DELEVI DEUS ANIMA: EXTERMINATOR OF THE SOULS OF THE GODS for zero ki, instead of the 120+ it normally takes, is pretty good.
>>48144079
D&D magic needs shit like this.
>>48145390
>get too low on zeon
>Nearly die
>Same for ki
>fuck up mentalism
>get so fatigued you die
>fuck up fighting
>get cut in half
Anima does pull less punches that one would expect from an anime-style game.
>>48145347
What charsheet is that?
>>48145347
>Before rolling
Doesn't predetermination prevent you rolling?
>>48145561
another chargen site, not as in-depth as unico, doesn't have the Natural Bonus improvements or anything. Made that build before finding unico.
>>48145592
No, it means you have to declare in advance you're going to accumulate for it, then the moment you've accumulated the Ki, you HAVE to fire it off.
>>48145671
forgot to add the other chargen site.
>http://jmbowman.github.io/anima-character-generator/
Like I said, not as in-depth, but eh.
>>48145592
Predetermination - the ki disadvantage
You have to ANNOUNCE it AND only use your ki for it
Predeterminated attacks/defense go with a default value.
what kind of monsters do your summoners conjure? Ive created a shrimp god-mage with level 40 in water magic, but havent been able to research anything else. What stuff have you guys come up with?
