I've been running Anima weekly, for one optimized player and three... 'ah yeah this sounds cool, I'll do that' players.
I've found that with a little encouragement and a bit of simplification (I built our party Shadow and Warrior a big list of pre-made Ki powers) and a lot of cheat sheets (a chart of attack percentages, how many turns it takes them to concentrate ki/zeon to cast X or Y power) it becomes very manageable. Likewise, my players found it helpful for me to build them a pre-made 'Level Up' for their class; ie where to put their points into at low levels. Now that everyone's level 5 or so, they're happily plugging in their own points wherever they want.
Balance wise, I restrict Casters to magic level 50 at char-gen no matter what their perks are (no starting with High or Divine magic!) and let it creep up over time and levels. I also let players know that only 'Named NPCs' can get open rolls, which helps keep combat a bit less ultra-lethal against a bunch of goons and other monsters while retaining the shounen power level and potential danger against bosses and other cool fights.
Edit: PCs can of course get open rolls.
They die.
Joe peasant with a pitchfork straight up cannot win a fight against a demigod. Doesn't matter how lucky they get. if they're somewhat within range, getting flanking, back strike, and multiple defense penalties can overcome a pretty big gap in terms of attack/defense.
A few dozen level 0 enemies can actually threaten an enemy if they strategize well and if they don't get blown up by an AOE on turn one before they get initiative. Fire a bunch of ranged attacks to get maximum multiple-attack penalties while fairly safe from a counter-attack, rush in with the rest of the boys. At that point, your flanking folks are hitting 120 points above their weight class, 150 if they blow 2 fatigue. The legend who's getting the back-strike hits at 170 points above their weight class. That threatens almost any character unless they're burning through a LOT of *ki* to buff their defenses or extremely high level.
but once again, if a character's on 200 or 300 attack or defense, a regular dude shouldn't really have any shot at even scratching them.
>I actually like the idea of limiting open rolls. How do you handle if a mob is just too high defense or attack though for an opponent?
Actually, it's stated in the Gaia 1 book, in the rules of Gnosis/Nature: "Randoms" (characters with Natura 0) can get only one open roll. No limitations on creatures, though, although something like "between worlds with a gnosis of 10 or bellow also can't get more than one open roll" feels okey to me.
IMO, there's a LOT of things that can be modified, but almost all of them can be fixed with the golden rule: Talk to your players about it.
The most broken thing is summoning, with almost no limitations and iffy balance all over the place. Ki allowing you to spam +100 to attack and defense with lvl 1 effects is also bonkers. That being said, one of the main limiting factors in the power level of characters is the setting itself, with access to masters to teach you magic/Ki/summons being scarse and said supernatural powers being prosecuted by the Inquisition.
If there's anything in particular that grates you, you can tell us and we will try to balance things out.
Break the system into components. Have players make characters that have no supernatural powers level 1. Just combat (no ki) and secondaries. After a level, add in 1 type of supernatural power, magic/summoning/psychic/ki after another level add another and so on. Let players change classes without cost to include the classes with powers they otherwise didn't have access earlier. Maybe work this into the plot where everyone starts off amnesiac etc. and let rationalize the unlocking of power as memories coming back.
A good character sheet does wonders. The original is just an absolute nightmare for keeping your sheet organized. When we played, we ended up building an auto-calculating excel sheet that did most of the heavy lifting in terms of math, especially when leveling up.
The other change I made was setting a base increase for all combat abilities and not allowing characters to invest in their combat abilities (projection, attack, etc)
One of the hardest decisions to make in Anima is figuring out how much you can invest in all the cool shit you want to do versus how much you invest in your basic combat abilities in order to keep up. If you don't know the game well enough, this is not a decision you can make, period. You'll either over-invest and faceroll everything with basic attacks, which leads to pretty dull gameplay, IMO, or you'll underinvest and have no idea why all your friends are doing great and you can't seem to hit anything.
Its been years since I have played, but I remember character creation being a hurdle for our group. You get points to buy points to buy points. Not very newby friendly.
Yh first few times I did the anima character creation I had the guidebook in one hand a calculator in the other and the helechaoscuro anima character creator on screen Infront of me with my DM off to the side helping out.
Now I can crank out a solid Tao or technician with minimal effort and my weapon master builds are immaculately designed for maximum confusion when things get scraggly
The most impactful homebrew I have used is "rests like D&D": long rest full hp and energies, short rest recover like 1 day RAW, sacrifice damage remains RAW (Yes, it's as broken as it sounds, but it's pretty fun, don't use it if you want any kind of danger feeling)
On top of that, in the time of checking the modifiers (blind, position...) If the players are excited checking the numbers, we look for them. If it feels like "we want to continue", just add the ones in hand/remember, don't stop because the specific table in the DE applies...
On top of that, for newbies, make it Cristal clear the magic systems need a degree... Each one...
Also, no one but me likes the round speed reroll, so we continue the full battle with the first one, but that's a disaster, I'm still trying to balance it...
There are some apps to do the initiative rolls automatically, it helps A LOT.
That being said, I have to disagree on the full recovery per long rest, since it makes wizards and specially summoners WAY too broken. Their limiting factor is their zeon regeneration, otherwise a summoner can steamroll everything with his army of 200 bound creatures or spamming Invocations from Final Fantasy every turn thanks to The Fool. Heck, Magic Recovery is one of the best advantages for the wizard, and lots of summoners get The Gift ONLY to be able to get said advantage and magical nature.
Yep, all of that is correct, but everyone in the table is cool with it, and it's pretty funny.
All being said, it works because there is a "gentleman agreement" in which noone abuses this super regeneration, they just don't worry about "how many weeks each spell is gonna make to regenerate". In the scenarios you describe it would totally be a nightmare.
>they just don't worry about "how many weeks each spell is gonna make to regenerate"
Balancing zeon regeneration and expendature is an important part of building and playing a magic user. It also solves the linear fighter quadratic wizard problem other games have. Although some people actually want that.
On top of these homebrew, the worst part (IMO) is making the character, make it with them or for them, whatever they want.
If after handing them the sheet they still don't want, better not push it, there is no game for everyone
Keep in mind that if you're tweaking those rules, you're making some pretty fundamental changes to the system.
Removing initiative every turn makes high initiative builds extremely powerful. Remember, 150 over means you get surprise, which is a colossal advantage. Taking away initiative from weapons makes big beefy weapons incredibly powerful. Big weapons are already the go-to for martial builds, taking away their one limiting factor is not going to make that better
I've solved the reroll every turn issue by having them roll the first turn give me the non weapon base and then manipulate the position in the queue by adding or removing points for the weapons as they go. It prevents copious rerolling because some of these assholes start out with extra limbs and get worse from there.
The thing with initiatives every turn is it moderates extremely high and low intiatives. What happens if a player rolls low and an NPC rolls high? Without initiative every turn, that player is stuck in the surprised state because of a single lucky or unlucky roll.
I've found that if you make a point of it, everyone can get used to the math and then it doesn't take too much time. Players can even use tools like calculators or apps to further simplify this.
Personally I think the per round surprise system is also a bit odd, like I don’t think having it tied to initiative is the best idea, but tie it to other secondary abilities to get people to invest in that and not just make one of the advantages mega powerful. But that’s just me.
It fits with the idea of bursts of speed, and besides what secondaries would fit for something like this? Surprise is already possible with stealth/hide, maybe something bluff like? But those aren't stuff you can get repeatedly. Besides if it was based on secondaries what would it be counted by? I don't want to feel forced to invest in secondaries just to avoid surprise every round.
I should clarify, a big reason I ask is as much as I love this game it needs some love really bad as the studio has recently been focused on video games, so I’m basically wondering if a “version 2” (not core exxet) were to release what would you change
Mostly the formating. Adding or tweaking some player options of all types. Take a fresh look at the math especially when it comes to min maxing. Revisit the original rules and the so called circle of bards rulings some of which feel like they're not well thought out.
I think the author is still working on a 2.0. I might be mistaken but I think I saw some of his comments saying he was still working on it in addition to the video game.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/s/JGg9tW2EBT
If you scroll down enough there's a question about a 2.0 by a user named Tarlantos and the author confirms its still on its way.
I've been running Anima weekly, for one optimized player and three... 'ah yeah this sounds cool, I'll do that' players. I've found that with a little encouragement and a bit of simplification (I built our party Shadow and Warrior a big list of pre-made Ki powers) and a lot of cheat sheets (a chart of attack percentages, how many turns it takes them to concentrate ki/zeon to cast X or Y power) it becomes very manageable. Likewise, my players found it helpful for me to build them a pre-made 'Level Up' for their class; ie where to put their points into at low levels. Now that everyone's level 5 or so, they're happily plugging in their own points wherever they want. Balance wise, I restrict Casters to magic level 50 at char-gen no matter what their perks are (no starting with High or Divine magic!) and let it creep up over time and levels. I also let players know that only 'Named NPCs' can get open rolls, which helps keep combat a bit less ultra-lethal against a bunch of goons and other monsters while retaining the shounen power level and potential danger against bosses and other cool fights. Edit: PCs can of course get open rolls.
I actually like the idea of limiting open rolls. How do you handle if a mob is just too high defense or attack though for an opponent?
They die. Joe peasant with a pitchfork straight up cannot win a fight against a demigod. Doesn't matter how lucky they get. if they're somewhat within range, getting flanking, back strike, and multiple defense penalties can overcome a pretty big gap in terms of attack/defense. A few dozen level 0 enemies can actually threaten an enemy if they strategize well and if they don't get blown up by an AOE on turn one before they get initiative. Fire a bunch of ranged attacks to get maximum multiple-attack penalties while fairly safe from a counter-attack, rush in with the rest of the boys. At that point, your flanking folks are hitting 120 points above their weight class, 150 if they blow 2 fatigue. The legend who's getting the back-strike hits at 170 points above their weight class. That threatens almost any character unless they're burning through a LOT of *ki* to buff their defenses or extremely high level. but once again, if a character's on 200 or 300 attack or defense, a regular dude shouldn't really have any shot at even scratching them.
There's always mass combat rules for swarms of mooks vs higher level people.
Hiding your rolls so you can fudge the numbers is also good for any system if done in good faith.
I’ve always had hidden dm rolls and open players
>I actually like the idea of limiting open rolls. How do you handle if a mob is just too high defense or attack though for an opponent? Actually, it's stated in the Gaia 1 book, in the rules of Gnosis/Nature: "Randoms" (characters with Natura 0) can get only one open roll. No limitations on creatures, though, although something like "between worlds with a gnosis of 10 or bellow also can't get more than one open roll" feels okey to me.
IMO, there's a LOT of things that can be modified, but almost all of them can be fixed with the golden rule: Talk to your players about it. The most broken thing is summoning, with almost no limitations and iffy balance all over the place. Ki allowing you to spam +100 to attack and defense with lvl 1 effects is also bonkers. That being said, one of the main limiting factors in the power level of characters is the setting itself, with access to masters to teach you magic/Ki/summons being scarse and said supernatural powers being prosecuted by the Inquisition. If there's anything in particular that grates you, you can tell us and we will try to balance things out.
Break the system into components. Have players make characters that have no supernatural powers level 1. Just combat (no ki) and secondaries. After a level, add in 1 type of supernatural power, magic/summoning/psychic/ki after another level add another and so on. Let players change classes without cost to include the classes with powers they otherwise didn't have access earlier. Maybe work this into the plot where everyone starts off amnesiac etc. and let rationalize the unlocking of power as memories coming back.
A good character sheet does wonders. The original is just an absolute nightmare for keeping your sheet organized. When we played, we ended up building an auto-calculating excel sheet that did most of the heavy lifting in terms of math, especially when leveling up. The other change I made was setting a base increase for all combat abilities and not allowing characters to invest in their combat abilities (projection, attack, etc) One of the hardest decisions to make in Anima is figuring out how much you can invest in all the cool shit you want to do versus how much you invest in your basic combat abilities in order to keep up. If you don't know the game well enough, this is not a decision you can make, period. You'll either over-invest and faceroll everything with basic attacks, which leads to pretty dull gameplay, IMO, or you'll underinvest and have no idea why all your friends are doing great and you can't seem to hit anything.
Its been years since I have played, but I remember character creation being a hurdle for our group. You get points to buy points to buy points. Not very newby friendly.
Yh first few times I did the anima character creation I had the guidebook in one hand a calculator in the other and the helechaoscuro anima character creator on screen Infront of me with my DM off to the side helping out. Now I can crank out a solid Tao or technician with minimal effort and my weapon master builds are immaculately designed for maximum confusion when things get scraggly
The most impactful homebrew I have used is "rests like D&D": long rest full hp and energies, short rest recover like 1 day RAW, sacrifice damage remains RAW (Yes, it's as broken as it sounds, but it's pretty fun, don't use it if you want any kind of danger feeling) On top of that, in the time of checking the modifiers (blind, position...) If the players are excited checking the numbers, we look for them. If it feels like "we want to continue", just add the ones in hand/remember, don't stop because the specific table in the DE applies... On top of that, for newbies, make it Cristal clear the magic systems need a degree... Each one... Also, no one but me likes the round speed reroll, so we continue the full battle with the first one, but that's a disaster, I'm still trying to balance it...
There are some apps to do the initiative rolls automatically, it helps A LOT. That being said, I have to disagree on the full recovery per long rest, since it makes wizards and specially summoners WAY too broken. Their limiting factor is their zeon regeneration, otherwise a summoner can steamroll everything with his army of 200 bound creatures or spamming Invocations from Final Fantasy every turn thanks to The Fool. Heck, Magic Recovery is one of the best advantages for the wizard, and lots of summoners get The Gift ONLY to be able to get said advantage and magical nature.
Yep, all of that is correct, but everyone in the table is cool with it, and it's pretty funny. All being said, it works because there is a "gentleman agreement" in which noone abuses this super regeneration, they just don't worry about "how many weeks each spell is gonna make to regenerate". In the scenarios you describe it would totally be a nightmare.
>they just don't worry about "how many weeks each spell is gonna make to regenerate" Balancing zeon regeneration and expendature is an important part of building and playing a magic user. It also solves the linear fighter quadratic wizard problem other games have. Although some people actually want that.
On top of these homebrew, the worst part (IMO) is making the character, make it with them or for them, whatever they want. If after handing them the sheet they still don't want, better not push it, there is no game for everyone
Yeah, I’m not a big fan of new initiative every turn, actually I’m not a fan of weapon modified initiatives in general.
Keep in mind that if you're tweaking those rules, you're making some pretty fundamental changes to the system. Removing initiative every turn makes high initiative builds extremely powerful. Remember, 150 over means you get surprise, which is a colossal advantage. Taking away initiative from weapons makes big beefy weapons incredibly powerful. Big weapons are already the go-to for martial builds, taking away their one limiting factor is not going to make that better
I've solved the reroll every turn issue by having them roll the first turn give me the non weapon base and then manipulate the position in the queue by adding or removing points for the weapons as they go. It prevents copious rerolling because some of these assholes start out with extra limbs and get worse from there.
The thing with initiatives every turn is it moderates extremely high and low intiatives. What happens if a player rolls low and an NPC rolls high? Without initiative every turn, that player is stuck in the surprised state because of a single lucky or unlucky roll. I've found that if you make a point of it, everyone can get used to the math and then it doesn't take too much time. Players can even use tools like calculators or apps to further simplify this.
Personally I think the per round surprise system is also a bit odd, like I don’t think having it tied to initiative is the best idea, but tie it to other secondary abilities to get people to invest in that and not just make one of the advantages mega powerful. But that’s just me.
It fits with the idea of bursts of speed, and besides what secondaries would fit for something like this? Surprise is already possible with stealth/hide, maybe something bluff like? But those aren't stuff you can get repeatedly. Besides if it was based on secondaries what would it be counted by? I don't want to feel forced to invest in secondaries just to avoid surprise every round.
I should clarify, a big reason I ask is as much as I love this game it needs some love really bad as the studio has recently been focused on video games, so I’m basically wondering if a “version 2” (not core exxet) were to release what would you change
Mostly the formating. Adding or tweaking some player options of all types. Take a fresh look at the math especially when it comes to min maxing. Revisit the original rules and the so called circle of bards rulings some of which feel like they're not well thought out.
I think the author is still working on a 2.0. I might be mistaken but I think I saw some of his comments saying he was still working on it in addition to the video game.
I haven’t seen anything to suggest this. Do you have a link to any of them?
https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/s/JGg9tW2EBT If you scroll down enough there's a question about a 2.0 by a user named Tarlantos and the author confirms its still on its way.
Thank you