BESM, Random Anime and OVA MkII

[Chairman Aeon]

I just found this website while killing time on RPGNow. I saw the words anime and the bright colours and then started to look as the preview. I'm intrigued.

I own BESM 2R and Random Anime. I prefer the later over the former for some of the reasons in the other BESM & RA post. Namely I area with design decisions made in RA over BESM, that's my preference.

So why do we need another game about a medium that people mistake for a genre? I get this happy love comedy vibe from the web page and the demo, but I'm not about that. What's in it for me the guy that wants to run anything from Jin-Roh to Ninja Scroll via Wicked City? Or should I ask what's in it for my players who don't care about rules, but do care about characters and stories, ...

Iain.

[Clay]

Hey there, Aeon. Let me try to tackle your questions point by point.

The reason anime is so often taken as a genre is because, well, it does have a unique flavor all its own. Genres like Magical Girl, Mecha, and Exotic girlfriends began and, largely, remain as anime staples. But more than this, I use anime to represent an idea of style over rule nitpicking. The game is meant to keep the focus on the action and the story, not the rules.

As for the anime you mentioned, OVA is built around being VERY flexible. The sample characters range from remorse-ridden samurai, to hot-tempeed space bounty hunters, to yes, borderline psychopathic ninja assassins. The character creation system simply lends itself to creating anything you want.

I will admit one fault of the rules is that it lends itself to very heroic kind of games. Characters can get beaten down only to get up again and turn the tide of the battle. More grim, realistic anime (where a gunshot can kill a person instantly) will take a little bit of tweaking. OVA: Mecha will include rules on better representing a gritty campaign. (But easy changes you can make: lower Health and Endurance by half and make the default die roll 1 as opposed to 2)

As for players who don't care about rules, then OVA is perfect. The game is meant to be as transparent as possible, never telling you how to do something. It allows for a lot of versatility and flair without having to resort to endless rules and tables. Want to shoot two people while flipping through the air? Just add a difficulty modifier and you're ready to go.

Of course, if you ARE someone who enjoys lots of rules to cover every situation with utmost realism...then OVA is definately not for you. But from what you said, I'm guessing that's not the case.

As a final note, no "mood" is enforced throughout the book. Every sample character has multiple levels of depth. If you want a love comedy, most characters have enough quirks to stem comedy from, but there's enough detail there to make any of these characters part of a deep and absorbing campaign of a darker nature.

[Chairman Aeon]

I will admit one fault of the rules is that it lends itself to very heroic kind of games. Characters can get beaten down only to get up again and turn the tide of the battle. More grim, realistic anime (where a gunshot can kill a person instantly) will take a little bit of tweaking. OVA: Mecha will include rules on better representing a gritty campaign. (But easy changes you can make: lower Health and Endurance by half and make the default die roll 1 as opposed to 2)

For the most part I don't think it's a problem. Even most gritty stories are somewhat heroic or cinematic.

Now help me get a hang of the system please. Am I to assume you throw two dice for anything not on your sheet? Abilities add dice to your roll? Take the highest scoring die or add all the duplicate numbers together?

Iain.

[Clay]

Bingo! That's pretty much how it works. This number is either compared to a GM assigned difficulty number or to an opposing die-roll.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Clay

[Guest]

Bingo! That's pretty much how it works. This number is either compared to a GM assigned difficulty number or to an opposing die-roll.

And most character's aren't as complex as the one you posted in the forum? Or would that be an average character?

Iain.

[Clay]

Miho is probably the single most complex character in the game. Most characters have stat blocks half that size. I chose to show Miho to show as many Abilities as possible and because, at the time, she was one of the few characters I had art for. ^^;

Here's Karis's Stat Block, which I think is more or less average for an actively offensive type character.

ABILITIES
Acrobatics +2
Agile +1
Barrier +2
Combat Skill +2
Cute +1
Defense +2
Perceptive +1
Quick +2
Servant +2
Weapon +3
(Boomerang; Ranged, Special Perk: Steel Cable, Special
Perk: Sweep Attack)

WEAKNESSES
Bizarre Appearance -1 (Strange Ears)
Focus -1 (Flash Shield: Barrier)
Impulsive -1
Obsession -2 (Being strong like her Father)
Obsession -3 (Kill Shadowman)
Sensitivity -2 (Chest)
Short Temper -1
Special Weakness -2 (Stranger in a Strange Land)


Here's Braun, for an example of a less offensive character
ABILITIES
Hammerspace +2
Hobby +4 (Computers)
Invention +3
Pilot +1
Smart +3
Special Ability +1 (Contact with Black Market)
Weapon +2 (Handgun; Ranged)
WEAKNESSES
Absent Minded -1
Clumsy -2
Compulsion -2 (Honesty)
Nosebleeder -1
Shy -1
Weak -1
Weak-willed -1

Both follow the "Ground Zero" rule in which the total of Abilities may not exceed the total of Weaknesses by more than 5 points.

[Chairman Aeon]

OK so here's my question and for the prize of a sale of your game to me ... if you roll two dice, but have a Weakness that is -2 do you roll any dice at all or what happens?

Iain.

[Clay]

I ALMOST wrote about this in a previously reply, but decided not to. Guess I should've.

When you run out of dice, so to speak, you roll "negative" dice. What this means is if you have a -2 penalty and no bonuses or Abilities (and thus, "zero" dice) you roll two dice and take the LOWEST. Same principle goes for -3 (3 dice, take the lowest) -4 (4 dice..you get the idea).

Hope that's satisfactory ^^

[Chairman Aeon]

Hope that's satisfactory ^^

Actually better than satisfactory. You might actually roll three "6"s on three negative dice, but it's highly unlikely. And would three "6"s on negative dice be 6 or 18? I'd assume multiples don't add on negative dice since you have to take the lowest die.

Iain.

[Clay]

You'd be correct. Forgive me for leaving that out. I should just start pasting out of the rulebook. *laughs* You never add numbers when rolling negative dice.

There's also an extra rule where ones are never added and a roll of all ones is a particularly horrible failure. In the case of negative dice, any roll of one will result in this.

That is, if you're using that rule.