What's Anima?
Anima is a freshly translated RPG that took Spain by storm, and after a looong translation cycle, has finally been properly translated! It tends towards the fantasy side of things, with a built-in setting, rules for magic, and a variety of other genre tropes, and it also takes a LOT of inspiration from the Anime side of things. Just look at that book cover art to see what I mean.
Anima boasts a
totally rad character creation/customization process, which has rules for things like creating your own
martial arts style.
You start off as a pretty awesome human, but as you level up(yes, Rainfall is plugging a system that uses levels, go 'way!) you end up trumping most fantasy characters you've ever read about. It's good stuff!
Why should I care?
Because this is YOUR chance to pick up a new system along with a bunch of other people who have never tried it! This thing is in its first edition, and has been out for a couple of months. We'll all blunder through everything together, and it'll be a great time! Nobody is going to whine about 'doing it wrong' or 'goddamn newbies!' Well, we will now, but only for irony.
So what are YOU doing with it?
Well, Monday nights are clear for me. That means that I'm doing something with Anima on Monday nights. That's MST, or GMT -7 for you savages. My idea is that we do a sort of rotating GM situation, where everyone runs a short story for a month or so with everyone else's character, then hops back into play. Eventually someone will want to run something more long-term, and we can settle into a traditional campaign style. Or maybe we'll find a new system to play with.
Let's talk about me. What do I need?
The Anima book! It's available from most online retailers who deal in RPG books, and it's not too pricey, only being forty-ish dollars, which is damnably good value for the artwork in the book. Unless you don't like anime stylings, in which case this probably isn't for you.
You also need IRC, since that's the most convenient thing to do. 2 d10s are great as well, but I have a diceroller if you REALLY can't get your polyhedrons together.
You also need free Monday evenings.
What if I've never RPG'd before?
Not a problem! This system is nothing like the familiar western systems most of us experienced people are used to, and a fresh start is always good on the actual roleplaying side of things. Trust me, you won't be at a disadvantage, and you're totally welcome.
Whine bitch moan arrgh stupid!
Screw you too!
Did you mention awesome artworks?
Yeah, Anima is headlined by
Wen-M, a guy with a stunning sense of style. The rest of the art is also awesome, but I'm not going to link a bunch of images here because all the good ones are REAL BIG. Check out that site, though. If you like the arts he's posting, you'll like Anima.
~Discuss!
Posts
I'd need to check my Monday availability. Also, I need to learn to GM somewhere.
Rain, I think you have an addiction.
Playing with you guys would be awesome.
I feel the urge to make a character that involves pyrotechnics.
Maybe I'll just keep an eye on this...
Can you post an example of character creation and an example of combat?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Sort of a scary contrast.
But Anima is very not d20. It's a d100 system, although not percentile(which is tragic, percentiles are so so so simple to run)
irc.slashnet.org
The room will be called PAnima, please log in with your PA username so we don't boot you.
Basically, you can play this in many ways - Mage style (Hidden supernatural dudes vs. big bad empire), James-bond style (Fantasy spies doing missions for the Empress), Greenpeace Style (Fight to save the hidden supernatural dudes), Indiana-Jones style (Delve dungeons and tombs for epic loots), and a load of other ways.
However, we're going to play this like a fantasy Version of Dark Heresy, because let's face it, that's the best and only way to do it, and anyone who disagrees are heretics who need to be burnt.
Groups that are not (generally) Heretics:
The Church:(This is us!)
Playing as the church is basically like playing Fantasy-themed Dark Heresy.
The Heavenly Order:
Playing as the Heavenly order is either like playing Fantasy Spycraft or D20 Modern, or even Exalted.
Groups that are Heretics, and consequently, need to be burnt:
Tol Rauko:
I'm not sure how you would describe playing as the Tol Rauko, besides it probably being wierd.
The Samael:
There exist a few groups among the Samael, including the Fallen Angels, who lead the Archons and hope to one day reveal themselves and attack the church. Their strong arm is known as the Shadows, the assassins and henchmen of the Fallen Angels.
In lands far from the guiding light of the Emperor's throne, there are even rumors of entire towns springing up, populated with heretics and mutants. Called the Division, there are even rumors that the races that comprise it are at odds with each other, split among the lines of "dark and light" as they call it, though as loyal inquisitors to the empire, we know that they all possess souls of black which must be put to the flame.
Playing as the Samael is pretty much like a game of Mage: The Awakening.
The Black Sun:
Playing as Black Sun Retrievers is probably like a strait Fantasy Shadowrun or just plain Dungeons and Dragons.
The Wissenschaft:
Playing as the Wissenschaft is probably like a fantasy version of Cyberpunk.
Groups that are stupid concepts, and consequently should be burnt:
The Selene:
Playing as the Selene is like playing FATAL. Well, not really, but it's a dumb concept.
While not directly heretics that must be cleansed by the holy flames of the Emperor, they work for them.
Really though, they seem like generic Dungeon-crawler DnD types on a quest for treasure.
Remember one important thing! You don't have to start as members of an organization. Starting characters are starting characters. You can be a farmboy with a magic sword, it's a bit harder to be a member of one of the big organizations.
And don't even THINK about being a member of Imperium or the Illuminati.
Just throwing that out there, if you don't want to start affiliated with these groups.
And This is for you Pluto. Burn Everything!
I assume that Serious Illness is out because it'd be a pain in the ass to deal with the rotating DMs and all. Anything else?
Would you guys mind posting your character concepts?
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=414104
Like I mentioned earlier, I have a pretty good idea for an opening campaign, if you're Ok with letting me GM it.
I would probably want a few more weeks to finish getting it ready. The 17'th of November would be best for me, as I have something coming up on the tenth, though I would also want to run prologues beforehand at your guy's leisure.
Edit: The tenth is good for me
Again, I would like anybody who's thinking of playing to post their character concepts.
Now I will follow with even more interest
I think there are four of us atm, so I think it should be ok?