BESM & Random Anime

Discuss rule quandaries, supplements, or anything else OVA related here.

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migo
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Re: Dark Lore and Forbidden Subjects of Discussion

Post by migo »

Clay wrote: Sorry to step on toes, it was not my intention. I just find myself annoyed by a few key facets of BESM, mainly the fact that the basic "tri-stat system" is broken enough to warrant special attributes to fix them. (Want a Strong but slow/clumsy character? You have to make a character with high body, then purchase enough Flaws to negate a high Body's inherent dextrous competency...The facets of strong/tough and Fast/agile just should never be combined in my train of thought.)
I'd say it's more unusual to have someone who is fast but weak or strong but unhealthy than it is to have someone who is equally strong, fast and healthy. The attributes are to deal with these unusual cases instead of having to go through the effort of statting each NPC/Mook for the various aspects of the stats that only are the standard because of how D&D decided to handle them. It makes things A LOT easier on the GM to just have 3 stats and use attributes to modify them when necesary.
Clay
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Post by Clay »

Is it easier than to have ZERO stats and to modify them when neccessary? ^_^

But as a side note, maybe realistically strong and fast go hand and hand...but how many times have we seen the "Huge, hulking, and powerful behemoth....who's really slow" or "the fast and nimble fighter that's hard to hit...but once you do, he goes down" cliches in anime? I think BESM makes it cumbersome to emulate those standbys.

In the end, it's everyone's personal preference. If you truly wanted 3 hardcoded stats, it wouldn't be too hard to squeeze them in. Game Mastering is half tinkering with the rules, after all. ^_^
migo
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Post by migo »

They're still the minority, and I'd say it's still easier on the GM to just have the 3 stats that a number of other things are derived from. If you want to create a quick mook you just need the 3 stats, and maybe a couple attributes.

It might take a bit more work for the players to have their unique character but that's a tradeoff you have to make, and the players only have to make their character once, the GM has to make a bunch. Shifting the balance of the game to make things a bit easier in the GM definitely makes sense in the long run.
Clay
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Post by Clay »

Again, it's all about preference, but I feel you have the wrong idea. The lack of stats does not make things more complex for the Game Master. If anything, it makes things easier. The Game Master can creat NPCs on the fly using a few key statistics, instead of worrying about globs of derived stats and how to make X work with Y.

But hey, I actually had fun with ROLEMASTER, so...rules aren't always the badguy. But OVA's rules are meant to be transparent. Lack of stats is a difficult notion to accept at first, but it really does become second nature.
Andrea from Italy

Post by Andrea from Italy »

Clay wrote:Again, it's all about preference, but I feel you have the wrong idea. The lack of stats does not make things more complex for the Game Master. If anything, it makes things easier. The Game Master can creat NPCs on the fly using a few key statistics, instead of worrying about globs of derived stats and how to make X work with Y.
Exactly. The part I hate about D20 and most every other system with fixed attributes is writing stats for the NPCs (especially unimportant ones), when in another system (like my homebrew, but I suppose OVA is similar) I could just write: Sergeant of the Guard 3d6, and leave it at that, maybe adding a few somatic traits for making the NPC more believable.
momosnyx
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Re: Dark Lore and Forbidden Subjects of Discussion

Post by momosnyx »

Tenka wrote:Though in the case of Random Anime, for me, it was more of a letdown, since that's how I learnt about the 8 basic attributes.
The same with me, but I bought the rule book nevertheless.
Unfortunately, my first impression was right: I didn't like the eight attributes (too many for my little brain). The rules were a bit too crunchy for my taste as well, as they - of course - use all those attributes.
migo
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Post by migo »

Clay wrote:Again, it's all about preference, but I feel you have the wrong idea. The lack of stats does not make things more complex for the Game Master. If anything, it makes things easier. The Game Master can creat NPCs on the fly using a few key statistics, instead of worrying about globs of derived stats and how to make X work with Y.
What "globs" of derived stats? There's the 3 base stats and maybe 6, give or take, derived stats. Complete mook in a matter of seconds since the stats offer a template of sorts.
But hey, I actually had fun with ROLEMASTER, so...rules aren't always the badguy. But OVA's rules are meant to be transparent. Lack of stats is a difficult notion to accept at first, but it really does become second nature.
It's not a difficult notion to accept, but I've looked at other systems that lack stats and I like them quite a lot, but I still don't see them being easier on the GM.

Every system has it's ups and downsides, and while I'll agree with some of the other complaints about BESM, the 3 stat bit is one of the most solid parts of it as far as I'm concerned.
Clay
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Post by Clay »

Every system has it's ups and downsides, and while I'll agree with some of the other complaints about BESM, the 3 stat bit is one of the most solid parts of it as far as I'm concerned.
To each their own. I guess here we have to agree to disagree.
Michael Hopcroft
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Post by Michael Hopcroft »

Another competing game is the game I was lead designer on -- HeartQuest: romantic Roleplaying in the Worlds of Shoujo Manga, which is also available through RPGnow.

I havenm't saeen OVA yet, so comparisons would be difficult to come by.
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