Hi, I'm planning on making a character for an upcoming PbP Anima game, and it motivated me to take a look at the Anima system. However, I'm not sure I'm getting all of it right, especially at the optimization level. As far as I know, we are playing starting characters, and I'm looking to make a warrior type - either an acrobatic, swift swashbuckler type (think the third cousin of the Prince of Persia, who's been playing with Sandokan) or a tougher, more armored and less "flashy" swordsman or polearm-user. I am not looking forward to making something complex, though I think that given the exotic nature of the setting, a bit of supernatural mojo would look good. I read a few threads, and generally it seems specialized or semi-specialized builds are the way to go. I still have a few questions, though:

- Is there any significant differences in power level between the weapon master, warrior, and acrobatic warrior? I'm not trying to get absolutely 100% juice out of my build, but I would like my character to be at least good at what he (probably a he) does. Also, just how big are their differences? At present these are the classes that most interest me, although if you think some of the other warrior classes can be just as good (or better) at the archetypes I have in mind, please let me know.

- If I do decide on splashing a bit more into ki (mostly for augmentation and shoring up whatever weaknesses I may have), do the extra martial knowledge of the warrior/acrobatic warrior make a notable difference, and is it enough for some technique use? Also, would there be any martial art styles from the basic book that would be good to pick up at first? Kung fu with its flexible bonus sounded interesting... and generally, knowing how to make do when bare-handed (i.e. on a gala, in bed, or when disarmed) strikes me as a decent insurance policy.

- Is there a big difference between using block and dodge in a fight? Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of, apart from (I guess) not needing both?

Thank in advance and all the best for the new year!

The_Shaman said:

1) Weapon Masters are weaker than any other class because of how few supernatural abilities they get. This does not matter much after they get Presence Extrusion and Aura Extrusion, I will write more on that later I will try and answer quickly then explain more on this. Other than that its all a matter of choice. Feats of Strength (the advantage for fighters) is ill defined in the book and therefore weak unless the GM has house rules on it, so I would say Acrobatic Warriors are the strongest (purely stat-wise) of those presented. Like I said more to come.

2) part A) Yes there is a noticable difference (It will be part of my explanation.) and a Fighter or Acrobatic Warrior can use some simple techniques. They will probably have to buy some MK, but it can work very well.
part B) If you are not a Tao you will probably only pick up one Martial Art. I suggest Taekwondo because it allows an extra attack after your weapon attacks, however Tai Chi is good for MK and as pointed out Kung Fu has its floating advantage.

3) Yes, dodge is almost always mechanically better, but can cause MAD and will not be better for a Weapon Master, and a few other classes (because they do not get a class bonus to it). You can use the one you are untrained in at -60 to your trained skill. (This is also what is related to what I will post next...)

Now for the full explanation I was promising

Weapon Masters get 10MK/level, this is the lowest in the game and takes 4 levels to get Use of Ki. This is a long time, especially against supernatural abilities. If you play in a world without Mentalists or Wizards, Weapon Masters are not really weak. However their weakness comes from how long it takes to get two abilities that are way too needed for all Fighter types: Presence Extrusion and Aura Extrusion.

on page 93 of the base book there is a section called Supernatural Attacks, and it explains pretty well why Weapon Masters are weak.

1) Energy Attacks cause ones Block Ability to be set to 0 automatically, if you have a 150 Block, you roll 1d100+150 normally, but against Energy Attacks you roll nothing and have a 0. Therefore a Weapon Master (who is trained in Block because that is where their Class Bonus goes) has to try to dodge at a -60 (compared to block) then take another -30 (Due to it being considered a "fired projectile) for a total of -90 to their ability. With presence extrusion they can block these normally (but still take a -80 because they are "fired projectiles" see page 89).
2) Area of Effect attacks are another large problem. They cause a -120 to block (if they can block energy, noted above otherwise their block is 0) and a -80 if you can't dodge out of the area (so someone without Presence Extrusion trained in block would have to try to dodge at -60, and probably take another -80).

As you can see Dodge is better in all situations. However Dodge would be lower for the Weapon Master, as that they are a Blocking class. Further Block uses DEX as its main stat, just as Attack Ability does, where as Dodge uses AGI, this causes MAD as that you need all four of your physical stats (well technically not perception, but I digress).

Then there is Aura Extrusion, there are many abilities that supernatural people can use to become immune to someone who does not have Aura Extrusion (it allows you to "damage energy"). In example some wizard/mentalists shields are immune to attacks that cant damage energy, there are multiple spells to become intangible, and damage barriors can prevent lower base damages from being a problem (unless, of course they have Aura Extrusion.)

Point is you kind of need Presence Extrusion/Aura Extrusion. However it takes the Weapon Master 4 levels for Use of Ki, 1 level for Presence and 1 level for Aura extrusion (6 levels). They could spend 50DP to obtain it at level 1, 40 at level 2, etc. Fighters and Acrobatic Warriors can get both Presence and Aura extrusion at level 3, level 2 with 20DP or level 1 with40DP. This 20MK/level instead of 10MK/level is a huge difference (besides you know, being double). Weapon Masters will probably never have any Ki Techniques, and very few Ki Abilities. Other Fighter Archetypes will have at least a few Ki Abilities (like Ki Healing) fairly early, and maybe one or two level 1 techniques.

As per other Fighter archetypes there is little different in power between them. Although the Fighter itself is weak depending on how your GM interprets Feats of Strength. A Fighter specializes in Feats of Strength and the book does not give a good definition of what Feats of Strength actually does. So if you GM does not let it do something useful the Fighter class is not all that good...in my oppinion anyway.

I did notice that if you buy an artifact that can Damage Energy and Block Energy the Weapon Masters weakness mostly goes away, but if your Disarmed or your weapon is destroyed if could be a large problem for you. Although, personally, I think this is part of poor game design. Presence Extrusion and Aura Extrusion are way more important to get. But I understand why the rules work the way they do, and I do not know how I would solve this, save maybe saying
HOUSERULE: Presence Extrusion and Aura Extrusion are abilities all fighters get for free, Presence Extrusion at level 5 and Aura Extrusion at level 7. If you buy them before that you get a refund of 10MK each at those levels.
Yes they get them late, but normal people are around level 1-4, and "normals" shouldn't have this ability. Maybe if I based it of Gnosis or Natura instead...sorry I think I got off topic, I'm done.

Lia Valenth said:

Actually, if they can't block energy it is -120 to block, if you can block energy there is no minus at all(handy if the area affect has a radius of 1 au like holocaust of light or darkness). At least according to page 93.

The way it works in that arcane holocaust of light situation, is that if you can block energy, you take no penalty to block at all. While if the party's Shadow tries to dodge, he needs to be able to move 1 au as a passive action or take -80 to his dodge.

Kalis said:

I've heard that before and it seems to be right. But at the same time, if they have a 0 to block an energy projectile why do they only take a -120 to block an energy AoE? That never made sense to me... Plus if they can Block Energy they take a -80 to block a energy bolt, but a -0 to block an energy AoE? Now that I think about it, I think that is how the rules work, it just doesn't make any sense to me...any idea why?

Hehe, you can block a bomb, but die from an arrow.

If you're aiming for a DPS choose either the Warrior or the Acrobatic Warrior. If you're aiming for a tank choose the Weapon master. Give him See Supernatural and a couple of points of Martial Mastery and/or a Level3 Artifact...and he'll stop absolutely everything. Many player seem not to notice that the Weapon Master also has the lowest cost for buying extra DP. Supposing your WM has Constitution 10, he pays 10DP for 10HP...which is good compared to other classes spending 15+ DPs for the same amount (even assuming you roll them with Constitution 10). Also Noah Elan is killer on Weapon Masters. If you go for an Artifact, I strongly reccomend having it Armor. A +20/+25 Armor has much reduced requirements, hence allowing you to wear considerably heavy armor without need for investing too much on Wear Armor. If you have Noah Elan the rest of your equipment will be between +10 and +15 (depending if you took Starting Wealth to buy +5 Items), meaning good bonuses on Attack/Block. Remember to take a shield. The distance attack penalties are drastically reduced, and almost disappear once you reach mastery...and a Full Shield +10 gives you +40Block.

The game is pretty much balanced, although Taos and Technicians have a really hard time at low levels. Different characters have different strengths and the purpose of the party is to complement each other's strength, which is the entire point of why RPGs were created in the first place.

Anyway: if you're playing fighter and you're interested in the "light type", Shadows should also be thrown in the mix.

Lia Valenth said:

They take the -120 to block AoE, but not all area attacks are energy based. Those that are take a the no block thing(if you can't block energy). A technician's area attack ki technique, for example, is an aoe but not energy based(without paying extra for it). So mooks can try to block, but at a -120.

Hello again - thanks a lot, the help has been appreciated. I've waited a bit for the DM to decide the game terms, and by the looks of it we are going by the core book. There are two things that seem interesting, though:

- stat generation is PB 60. Quite generous, apparently meant to allow multi-archetype classes to shine too, and I guess that if the game goes on long enough we're going to feel like superheroes

- a 0 point advantage called "mundane" that denies any ki/psionics/magic for further bonuses, atm undisclosed. It sounds like pretty much a given if I try a weaponmaster, though with a fighter or acrobatic fighter ki use sounds more interesting. Generally, I'm a bit worried about how things will go when elemental attacks come into play - in your expertise, does that come at levels 1-2 or does it usually occur later?

So far, I'm mostly looking at a heavy powerhouse weaponmaster with bastard sword (and maybe shield, though with easy access to 10 in strength I'm not sure it's worth it), splashing a few DPs in a few more weapons and possibly one martial art for when a weapon is not available. Attack, block, armor usage at least enough for breastplate use, and a few DPs for extra life points (I'm thinking about spending an advantage for constitution of 11 - might as well really make a tough guy). Since with that strength I am considering a two-handed weapon, would a buckler be sufficient, or is it worth it to take a regular shield and a one-hander and be prepared to take the pain? And one last thing - would learning a martial art make me proficient in unarmed combat, or do I need to pay extra for the unarmed module?

An alternative involves an acrobatic fighter (or just fighter) with some fancy ki moves. A bastard sword or halberd still sounds appealing, though - the extra leverage and range will look just as good on a fancy acrobat as on a giant brick s....house.

The_Shaman said:

First, yes martial arts grants the unarmed module for free.

Second, Two-handed would be great for counter attacks, one handed with a shield does provide a nice bonus to defense. Hard call, but as a Weapon Master you can have many multiple weapon sets for any situation that occurs, including thrown and fired ranged weapons. There is no reason not to have a lot of backup weapons, I would even advise learning to be a Blacksmith as your job outside adventuring (I had a technitian in my campaign that could make +5 weapons in an hour. That got rather annoying as the GM actually.)

Third, unless "mundane" grants the ability to block and hit energy or you have an artifact to do it (that you can not lose), it is a very bad idea (reasons noted above).

Fourth, if the Dominus Exxet is allowed elemental damage for Fighter and Prowler archetypes is easy to get at level 2, a level 1 Technician or Tao can also get it without much trouble. If not, elemental attacks are fairly difficult for Fighter and Prowler Archetypes to get. However Wizards and Mentalists both get them at level 1 (actually they can easily get them at level 0).