Yo! I've really gotten into Anima and so far it looks like the best RPG I've come across. I've read the core book once through and now I'm going to go through the main points a few times so I can hopefully play my first session soon. There were some things that I need some help with though:

The one question I can remember right off the bat now is this: How is a being's Gnosis calculated, or is it calculated at all? Do I as a GM simply give a being a certain amount of Gnosis and just have it as that?

Oh yeah, and KI is another thing I have trouble understanding (and judging by how many people have posted questions regarding the subject here on the forum, I'm guessing I'm not the only one). My main question is regarding KI Accumulation: what is the whole point in Accumulating KI with different Characteristics? I get the function, but I don't see the point. Is it so that when in battle you can use different Characteristics for fighting and the others for Accumulation or what?

And one more thing: in the Book of Creation, the 100-level spell, Creation, states, and I quote: "...it grants 5,000 Presence Points to create whatever the caster wishes, as long as it doesn't exceed 350 points of Presence." Now I'm fine with the limitations, but 350 points of Presence doesn't seem enough to create a whole new world, as the spell dictates? Or maybe I've got it wrong somehow.

Anyways, thanks in advance! =)

Zaphkiel said:

Please enjoy this wonderful game, it too rates VERY high on my list of games. There are sooo many possibilities!

Gnosis is just a figure the GM can assign to represent "spiritual" effect on the world (posters correct me if I'm wrong) and just prior to the creation prtion of the GM section is a explanation of how much to assign (usually 0 for "normal" creatures, elementals and spritis at least 10, etc.).

Just dig into the forums for your KI question, there ar many great explanations how this works.

I think the spell might provide 350/per item up to 5,000 (maximum 5000/350=14 "350" presence items)

Sorry for no pg #s, but not digging through my book right now.

Zaphkiel said:

The point of Ki points and Ki Accumulation is to use Domain Techniques. Each Technique you create will require Ki from certain Characteristic pools. Raising the Accumulation level will let you Accumulate faster, so you can do these Techniques faster.

lets do an example. ill use a premade Technique from the corebook.

Excisum Aeris, Level 1

Long Distance attack 50 meters

Initiative +50

Agi 4, Dex 4, Pow 2

As you can see, the Ki cost for this technique is 4 Agility points, 4 Dexterity points and 2 Power points. If all you do is Accumulate Ki during your turn, at 1 Accumulation per Characteristic, it would take you 4 turns. now if you have 2 Accumulation in Agi and Dex and still 1 in Pow, it would only take you 2 turns to gather enough Ki. Once you use the Technique, the ki points are spent, and you would need time to recuperate them.

i hope this answered your question, if not just ask some more questions and i'll answer to the best of my ability.

Rock on! Thanks a lot guys, that really helped

Another question just popped in my mind, which was presented to me earlier by a friend who will probably be a player in the game: as a rule of thumb, how fast should players be able to progress in a game? I looked over the part about gaining experience in the book and I guess it depends a lot on the GM how fast you want the players to gain levels, but how much have, for example, other GM's here given out points?

Another thing which I noted: creating creatures and monsters for the players to face is really cool and easy and all that, but like someone here has already stated, it can become pretty time- and energy-consuming to create a bazillion new monsters which should every time be somehow thrilling and engaging. Is there some kind of a creature appendix in existence at the moment (preferably in English)?

Oh yeah, and while we're at it, has anyone used the Yggdrasill (the Soul Clock) or any of the other worlds, such as Khalis or Lunaris in their games? I'd like to know more how you've used them (seeing as I'll most likely be using them myself), because the details on all three were kinda sketchy in the book and Lunaris was horribly so, and that seemed like the most interesting one of the three.

Cheers!

Aaaand one more thing! The other races (the D'anjayni, the Duk'zarist, the Elves and so forth) are apparently split into two groups: the Nephilim, or the reborn souls in human bodies, and the real deal, who apparently only dwell in the other worlds. Now, has anyone considered that there be some way of distinguishing between, say, a D'anjayni and a D'anjayni Nephilim without actually having to add the word 'Nephilim' to the other ones every time? I've been thinking of adding some kind of a prefix or suffix to the names of the Nephilim races (Duk'zarist-shi, D'anjayni-an, and so forth...) Anyone come across this? Any thoughts?

there is a creature book in french and spanish. translated, it's called "Those who walked among us" or "Ceux qui ont marchés parmi nous" or "Los que Caminaron con Nosotros"

Raybras said:

Okie, thanks, I might have to look into that one. Geez, just wish they'd translate all the rest of these Anima books too...seems like there's a lot of people who'd really appreciate having it in English.

Oh yeah! I just remembered one thing:

In the part where they explain the level of experience the characters should receive after each gaming session, they talk about giving like 5 points for mundane and medium-leveled battles, whereas 60 points are given for inhumane battles, where the characters have to be up against a demi-god and where they should be some semi-gods themselves to even have a chance of winning. In the beginning of the book, however, in Table 6 it says that just to get from level one to level two requires 100 exp points, and from 2 to 3 another 125, not to mention that after some point you'll need 450 points for each level.

How the hell do they expect anyone to reach even level two in a decent timespace, if you're awarded like five points for each battle you have? You'd have to either have tens of completely arbitrary battles each session, or wait until you're a grandfather to even be on level 5. Now am I just being a speed-gamer and this is the way it really goes, or did I miss something?

Also I'd still like to hear your takes on the Yggdrasil and the other worlds, it would help me in planning the game.

Thanks in advance!

you forget that Anima isnt solely combat based, theres another experience reference, Box XV on page 219. this one is Based on Roleplay, Difficult actions, Plans and Ideas and Segment Closure, and Session time. basically, the better the roleplay, the better the experience. your players will go up faster if they give the roleplay their best.

Ah, good point! I'd forgotten about that aspect completely, thanks! =) But even so, what would be a good rule of progression for at least the first few games? I mean, how fast should players progress from level one to level two? One session, two sessions, three sessions...?

personally, when my friend (the GM) made us play, he started us with the short campaign in the GAME MASTERS KIT. it took us about 7 sessions to clear it out, and we were level 3 by the end. although i must say that the early levels go by fast, and that quest gives a lot of experience. for level 1 to level 2, id say 3 sessions doesn't seem impossible, maybe 5 sessions to reach level 3 from 2, and then go by what you think is right.

Alright, thank you very very much, Raybras! I think I now have a much more concrete idea of the game at present. I'll just ask again if I think up of something else ;D

happy to have helped

There's something that is implied is that of secondary goals, you get 5 to 30 from segment end, but I add some secondary goals ranging from 5 to 10 points when doing some things that can help the story or they show interest in some mysteries or take a risk for them or the group.

I also value fumbles and open ended rolls, as they affect the whole team, I count them, multiply by 2 then divide by the number of players, can be from 5 to 20.

Okay, sounds pretty interesting, I'll have to try that out. Thanks!

Another question about leveling: do the players get DP only after they've leveled up or can they get some every game session? It would seem harsh not to do so...

only when they level up. giving them more would just make them too powerful too fast.

there is an optional rule that stipulates something like "if one of the characters succeeds a secondary ability that i above his ability at a critical point in the campaign, you may award a special +5 bonus to that ability. should not exceed +20 to that specific skill" i dont have the book in front of me, but i think it says something like that.