Hello All:

As the topic above shows I'm looking to start running Anima. I'm a veteran of many different gaming systems and I've played and/ or run RPGs off and on for the last 20 years. I have all of the current hardback books available for Anima and I've read and glanced through them from time to time. To be honest the system seems a little daunting to me, and I'm having a hard time knowing where to begin. When I pick up a new game I like to start with character creation, but again it seems a little over whelming. Where do you think I should begin if not with creating characters? And is there some sort of cheat sheet that I can find online or in the book? Thanks in advance for responding.

EH

Creating a character is comparatively labour-intensive in Anima, but once you start it's actually not as complex as it appears (as long as you know what types of characters you want). The stuff's all there (mainly in the Core Rules, but with the odd bit scattered around the GM Toolkit, Gaia and a ton of stuff for Martial Arts and Ki in Dominus Exxet), but you might have to jump around a bit. If you get stuck at any point though, there's plenty of people here and at the official Anima forum that will be more than willing to help.

But if you're starting from scratch, I'd give both the GM section in the Core Rules and the Gaia book more than a cursory glance. A lot of what makes Anima so great (IMHO) is the background history and setting. It will really help to put a lot of stuff in context.

If you are looking to start with character creation, let me guide you here . It's a fan made project from the official forums. It has a step by step guide to create a character with full example and some fanmade characters mostly created with just the corebook

Thanks to the both of you for responding so quickly. I think Anima has a lot of potential and I'm looking foward to diving into the world. Now if that magic book would just come out my collection would be complete. Do you think the GM screen is something I should invest in?

The GM Toolkit is a pretty useful little guide, at least the first half of it is. It gives a whole bunch of new Advantages and Disadvantages, some new rules (Unrestricted Creation Points is a nice one to consider), a few new combat modules, guidelines for mental health etc. The second half has a few sample characters, and a sample campaign.

I wouldn't say it's essential reading, but it's very useful.

I love the GM Screen of the GM Toolkit. The little book is only a "nice to have", but the screen is IMO a "must have".

So long,

Got it! So for me to run an effective game, I should have the core book, Gaia book, and the GM screen? I guess what I'm really looking for is a step by step guide for character creation all on sheet (or 2).

I'm looking it at it now. Thanks for the help!