Two months have passed since I have acquired Anima and I realized a few common phenomenon in those games I involved.

First, my friends are not really eager to start the Final Mission even they fulfilled the requirements. It may be explained that they doubt their capability. They will only start when they are FULLY prepared. As a result, it makes the game much longer than expected (For instance, 2.5 hours!!OMG) ... and at the same time not very enjoyable. We feel frustrated instead of achieved when finishing.

Towards this phenomenon, I wonder if I adapt an alternate way to trigger the final mission can help. Here is my practice:

1.Each time when there is a supernatural or mystical creature revealed, the in-turn player must roll the 10-sided dice.

2.If the result is equal or less than the total number of supernatural or mystical creatures being revealed, the final mission starts.

I adapted it in my last game and the result is satisfying. It creates a constant excitement throughout the game. And the game pace is fastened.

Will you guys also adapt any personal practice to make this game more interesting? I would like you to share your ideas~

On my game experience, players prefer to reveal the final mission as soon as they can so they can actually win over the other players simply because they're the only ones with a starting mission revealed.

The idea of mystical creatures triggering the final mission is somewhat interesting...but couldn't you simply make it AUTOMATICALLY trigger the turn after the first player completes his initial mission?

Elric of Melniboné said:

It would be nice if my friends act like yours~

Your suggestion is feasible while my practice may further raise the difficulty.

The Final mission may be revealed before anyone finishes their basic, that means the clock is ticking while you are not qualified to attempt it ... really gives a sense of the end of days.

Besides, I love to play it by 2on2. : )

I realize that the interaction is far more frequent and vigorous. The tactic may look like... one of the players is trying his best to hinder others when another is aiming the mission. The co-operation raises the involvement of everyone!

2 VS 2? That's a really interesting variant...I'll have to test it...definitely! Thanks for the idea!

Acrobatics said:

Do you have custom rules for 2on2 variant?

Irxson said:

I have a blurred idea in my mind, and I am eager to put it in black and write.

Would like to share it once finished : )

And sometimes we may play it in 3 or 5... what to do with with the additional player?

A messenger from Genesis/Omega may be?

After discussing with friends and collecting ideas here, I come up with the following optional rules.

Feel free to comment if you spot any uncertainties or bugs within. And hope your next game a fantastic adventure!!

==============================================

Optional Rules for Twilight of the Gods

• Alliance Campaign: Applicable when there are 4 players. Divide the players into two alliances, each consists of two. The alliance wins if either of its members completes the final mission. In addition to Advantage and Character Cards, parties from the same alliance can exchange their unfinished Basic Mission Cards during Trade section. Parties from different alliances are considered as rivals. Unless special circumstances (For instance, the non-fighting rule in Archangel or one of the parties outnumber another more than one character), they must declare combat with another if they are in the same area during Interaction Phase.
• Triggering of Final Mission: In addition to the original rule to start the Final Mission, the in turn player is required to roll the 10-sided dice once when a Supernatural creature is revealed (No Advantage card nor Character Ability is allowed to alter the result), regardless the creature is discarded or the result of the combat. The Final Mission is revealed in the coming Reset Phase if the rolled result is less or equal to the total number of Supernatural Creatures being revealed.
• Genesis Messenger: Applicable when there are odd numbers of player. One of the players is considered as the Messenger sent by Genesis. As a loyal servant, his aim is to ensure other players fail the Final Mission. He is invincible towards all Supernatural creatures but he cannot recruit any Arcane Character. And he is rivals to all players. The messenger must declare combat with another party if they are in the same area during Interaction Phase.

================================================

Alliance Campaign - As I realized, certain players have little interaction with others.

One of the reasons is they don't want to offend others and gain revenge in the coming turns. As a result, many awesome interruption cards are never played during the game. But with the setting of a partner and rivals, players are required to challenge their adversaries before they can attempt their objective. The frequency of party combat and interruption should increase.

Triggering of Final Mission - I am wondering from the very beginning...why the Boss just like sitting at home and doing nothing to accomplish its plan?

The introduction of Shadow of Omega states "Every time one of the chains that hold Omega is broken, the natural order of Gaia is disrupted..." The sentence is attractive while the current Mission Triggering Requirement cannot make players feeling the dense atmosphere of the end of the days. Genesis will never show up if we don't want to call it out. He acts like a servant rather than a tyrant. Towards this, I borrow the idea of triggering criteria from a Boardgame called Betrayal at House on the Hill . I believe this setting giving players a feeling that they are really competing with Genesis.

Genesis Messenger - This idea comes after I figured out the Alliance Campaign, it is unfair to include one more member to either alliance. And it is even more unfair to exclude your friend from the game

In coincidence, there are quite a number of elements in game that will make every player suffer. Such as

• Refilling the Preliminary Encounters (Shlotterstein Reward from Twilight of Gods )
• Raising up Area Levels (Tower at the End Reward from Shadow of Omega )

In my experience, such rewards are never claimed as no player is willing to make themselves into any troubles. But a player who aims at hindering other paces has a high motivation to claim. It coincides with the mindset of Genesis followers, destroy others while fulfill their Lord's wish. Finally, a Genesis-side player comes into my mind. I believe that player will have a good use of all hostile elements in game.

The Messenger needs to be more outstanding to consolidate his role. Some strengths and weaknesses should co-exist on him. The obvious strength I first comes into mind is the Supernatural setting. By serving the same Master, the Supernatural creature should not offend their colleague.On the other hand, the Arcane characters have significant status in Gaia and it is unlikely for any of them falling into the dark side.

Looking forward to hearing you guys response!!

That's an excelent idea for team games and I loved the messenger one!

After putting some thought on your alternative rules, I found that the genesis messenger and trigger the final mission work great, but the 2on2 one was rather... Annoying, the rival team would gank on me several times during the game because my partner was doing is mission elsewhere, even if I fight each party one at a time this was forcing me to accompany my partner.

So I'm thinking about a way to make this work properly, I'm still trying to find the best solution but so far this is what I've got:

- Both players move as one party of 4 characters, 4 characters recruitable for each player but two must remain incapacitated but turned in 90º(As if they were resting at an Inn).

- Every reset phase players will be able to switch characters between the party and characters resting* at the Inn.

- Rested* characters provide +1 combat +1 Speed during the turn they enter the party after resting at least during 1 turn.

- During battle, both players on the same team can use advantage cards but they are still required to control a character with the required skill.

- Mission Cards are shared(still pondering if there should be 4 or less mission cards for each alliance).

I'm pondering if I should allow the allied party to split(using their incapacitated characters), because that could cause the original problem.

Irxson said:

Try to figure out your current thoughts with sample~

There are two Alliance, A and B. Player 1 and 2 belong to A, Player 3 and 4 belong to B.

Player 1 and 2 can recruit 8 Characters in total just as the original rule, but there are only 2 active characters for one player each turn. In other words, 4 active players for Alliance A and 4 for Alliance B.

During Interaction, Player 1 declares combat against Player 3. Although Player 4 is not related to this fight and he is not in the same area, he can still play Combat Cards for Player 3, right?

Your situation described may not change if your adversary just stick together. Player 2 can still declare combat against Player 3, or in your situation, it is you~ after you defeat Player 1. You still need to face two combats in turn.

I advice you to adapt "Maximum number of player in the same Area". If an area can only hold two players, the maximum number of P2P combat for one player is only one in a single turn. It has another meaning, the Speed decides who perform action first but there are no sound benefits to take the first role in the original rules. I have been performing this in my games, you may also try it.

I also like to share if multiple players go to the same area with Preliminary Encounter, player with lower speed should face it first, giving another advantage to the ones with high speed. Then Speed can play a more vital element instead of redundancy.