Greeting and Questions

[Doresh]

For my little collection of anime-themed rpgs, I recently pruchased the print version of the OVA RPG. What should I say? I like what I've read, and I guess I'll buy the PDF too just for the colors

However, I've some little questions regarding the rules and the book. I hope you can answer them:

- Agile and Combat Skill are basically identical. But Agile has a few extras, making Combat Skill look like a mere supplement for Agile. Is this intentional?

- [Same as above but with Quick and Defense]

- Do you now which artist is responsible for the picture on page 89? The "Fukiko in an alternate outfit with ribbons, new shoes and 80% more panty shots" picture ? I've read the artist index numerous times, but I didn't find page 89 there...

[calibur1]

The first thing you have to understand is that OVA is a powergamer's wet dream. Because of its lax rules on character creation it is very open to abuse. It is this same "rules-lite" approach that gives the game its greatest strength. You can create virtually any character from anime, manga, comic books, movies, video games, etc., all by simply breaking them down into adjectives. That being said, the GM must work closely with his players to create well-rounded, balanced, three-dimensional characters.

On paper Agile is a superior ability over Combat Skill, but Clay has already stated before that the abilities and weaknesses weren't designed to be balanced against each other. They are simply there to describe your character and give you a game mechanic to work with. When creating a character you have to be honest with yourself and the GM and not go out of the way to break the system. Lara Croft (from Tomb Raider) might know how to fight, but her Agile would be much better than her Combat Skill. However, Deunan (from Appleseed) might be Agile, but her Combat Skill is going to be much better. A simple exercise I do with myself and my players is to first visualize the character before looking through the book. Once I can "see" this character in my mind I jot down adjectives describing him, then I go into the book and pick abilities and weaknesses that match my description. The section in the rules on Limiting Your Character has some good advice on how to balance out characters somewhat.

Sorry that this has been a "long-winded" reply to your question, but it doesn't just apply to Agile vs Combat Skill. It answers Quik vs Acrobatics vs Defense and a host of other abilities. Perhaps in the revised edition of OVA Clay might address these issues, but I personally never saw them as a problem. As long as the GM and the players are willing to compromise and play nice together everything should work out.

[Father of Dragons]

What caliber1 said is correct, but additionally (I don't know if this is official), I think Combat Skill can be used as a Knowledge ability to gain information about another character's fighting style and skill level.

[Doresh]

What caliber1 said is correct, but additionally (I don't know if this is official), I think Combat Skill can be used as a Knowledge ability to gain information about another character's fighting style and skill level.

Yeah, that makes sense ^^ .

@calibur1:

Nice, long text! So after all, you just have to watch out for munchkins, just like always

[Clay]

Everything said here is pretty spot on. While some Abilities, at first blush, seem much better than others, there will always be situations where it is no longer the case.

My favorite example is with Strong and Martial Arts. Strong not only applies to damage, but also gives a bonus to lifting and other tasks. However if character with Strong +5 is zapped with a kid-ray that turns his physical form into, yes, a kid, he loses his damage potential. However, if a character with Martial Arts has the same thing happen, he retains his KNOWLEDGE of Martial Arts. Result? He has no real disadvantage.

This is the case with a lot of Innate v. Knowledge abilities. On top of that, remember that they stack.

[Doresh]

This is the case with a lot of Innate v. Knowledge abilities. On top of that, remember that they stack.

How could I forget that...

So an Agile character might have serious problems once you cast a spell / fight in a narrow tunnel / give him a chain with a nice metal ball for his legs, while someone with more specific combat knowledge might overcome these flaws.

Okay, so how about the pantyshot artist ?