Author Topic: Anima: Beyond Fantasy  (Read 8290 times)

Offline Nytemare3701

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Anima: Beyond Fantasy
« on: November 18, 2011, 04:20:02 PM »
I was at M:TG Worlds in SF yesterday and I found some guys playing Anima: Beyond Fantasy. I didn't get to stay (my match was starting) but the game looked interesting. Have any of you played it? What should I expect?

*reads core book while waiting for a response*

Offline GawainBS

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Re: Anima: Beyond Fantasy
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2012, 04:03:57 PM »
The short: it has very good ideas, and the mechanics look nice on paper, however, I do feel they'd be better suited for a computer game, as they're very cumbersome. Also, it's not originally English, so there's the translation aspect, and I have a feeling that the translation didn't make it easier to understand. (I'm not native English myself, which only made it worse.)
It also suffers a bit too much from "That's up to the GM to decide"-syndrom, even for relatively important areas.
The long: when I have more time. ;-)
« Last Edit: March 22, 2012, 12:37:13 PM by GawainBS »

Offline Deusnocturne

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Re: Anima: Beyond Fantasy
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2012, 02:54:35 PM »
I have played this on multiple occasions with my gaming group Anima is great fun and gives you a lot of freedom with some interesting powers. However, the game suffers from Rifts syndrome, that is it has a lot of content (for only being 2 maybe 3 now books) with balance issues between powers/magic schools etc etc and has spots where the rules are way more complicated than they should ever be. It's a good first attempt and has potential but depending on how interested you are in it most of the issues are easily house ruled and they are releasing a revised edition of the rules in the next couple months called the Core Exxet book so it may well be worth waiting for. My gaming group gets the itch for some Anima from time to time though our games never last more than about 5-6 sessions so I'm not sure how it would play as a full campaign.

Offline Alexei

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Re: Anima: Beyond Fantasy
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2012, 06:10:20 PM »
Well I thought I'd better drop by, as I have been DMing Anima for a few years now.
Oh, I forgot so I must add this: the books are wonderfully done, much better than the D&D ones, and in my country even cheaper. If you are playing Anima, they are worth it, if you can stand the anime style illustrations.

The books are as follow:
Core Exxet (basic book, you can get by with just this. Has rules for almost everything, from creating techniques to monster creation)
Gaia 1. A book on background.
DM screen + small book. Extra rules, advantages, and a little adventure. Plus a DM screen obviously. Nice to have
Dominus Exxet. If you want to create a DBZ/anime style character, this expands on the basic book a lot. Want to shoot kamehameha at your opponents at lvl 1? With the basic you can, with this you can, and much much more.
Arcana Exxet: Magic/Psi powers. Lots of nice stuff. Lots, lots
The bestiary + extra races and rules (Monster manual like, includes rules for mass combat and a couple more needed things)
Prometheum Exxet. Create artifacts and magic items. I still have to get my hands on this book.


The game is very dinamic, high-powered (you can have spells to undo aspects of creation, jump a building roof 5 stores high) and whatnot. It's very "don't do that or i take my DM stick and beat you with it" inclined, that's true. But as it's very open you can get quite everything you wish if your group is friendly and not entirely comprissed of idiots. (If profanity is frowned upon... please remove this last word)

On the game system:

No classes. Well, there are, but at the same time there aren't. You have a few archetypes to pick from, each giving a range of ability costs and increments by level. How you spend your points is up to you, and there is a "standard" archetype to build with not too high costs on anything if you need to make something different.
You then get an advantage/disadvantage system to further personalize your abilities, on 2 different sets: regular and backstory ones. The rule is that a background disadvantage gives background advantage points, not regular ones, so not too much abuse here (better than UA I think  :rolleyes )
At level 1 you are roughly an equivalent of a 3.5 character at level 5 (a mage with around 3rd level-equivalent spells) with exceptions on some spells. You can level a city being level 1 but there's also Pun Pun and other things in any system.
A sample character concept:
-I want a guy strong in close quarters, who looks down on the supernatural and has been born with an innate resistance to such powers (basically a mage hunter)

I'd take the warrior archetype, spend points in a weapon table (you get proficiency on a set of weapons. You can also buy them one by one, but a table is cheaper and has variety).
Then look at my concept. I need a mid armor, and a few weapons and shields. This means a lot of money for Anima, so I buy 1 background point of wealth and get 1 disadvantage to counter it. You have 3 adv. points at start but as you usually want 5-6 adv points, you need drawbacks. I pick powerful enemy (a wizard whose apprentice crossed my path or whatever).
3 points yet. I pick 2 drawbacks I find suitable, then buy Immunity to magic (3 points) which makes you impenetrable to all but the mightiest magic, and the free will advantage (harder to mind control. Psykers...)
Then spend the points (they come per level, and you allocate them with a few rules, like not spending everything in the same thing) in attack/defense/wear armor. Armor has reqs in Anima and gives penalties if you don't have the skill. Then get my secondary skills with the remaining points.

You can, I really emphasize this, build everything you wish. You can create the techniques, with costs per effect! That's awesome

Offline Dusk Eclipse

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Re: Anima: Beyond Fantasy
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2012, 07:53:22 PM »
I am just popping here to say that I really love the system, true it is a bit complex and some rules interactions are messed up; but I really love the versatility of the character creation, you can really make any character you like.

 My last character for example was almost a perfect copy of Kimimaro from Naruto (Technician with Natural Weapon Blood legacy and Libra Ars Magnum) it was a blast to play.

Offline Alexei

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Re: Anima: Beyond Fantasy
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2012, 08:01:38 PM »
I am just popping here to say that I really love the system, true it is a bit complex and some rules interactions are messed up; but I really love the versatility of the character creation, you can really make any character you like.

 My last character for example was almost a perfect copy of Kimimaro from Naruto (Technician with Natural Weapon Blood legacy and Libra Ars Magnum) it was a blast to play.
The best thing Anima had (if you were spanish, of course, as the creator is spanish) was that you could ask him directly in the official board and he would drop by and post a lot of stuff not yet published, like NPC backgrounds, future rules planed for a release 2 years from the tme of his post... Too bad he doesn't have the time anymore...

Offline Dusk Eclipse

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Re: Anima: Beyond Fantasy
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2012, 08:12:16 PM »
Well I am not spanish; but I speak spanish so yeah; actually I thought he named someone to act in his stead in the official forum, at least for rules questions.