Anime-like system?

Sajber · Post by **Sajber** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:03 pm

So, I was just watching some Bleach and started thinking about what makes all those animes/mangas so addicting... I figure it's obviously the "Ooh, he just used his Bankai/Rasengan/Limit Release/Whatever, now he's AWESOME!"-factor. How one guy can both be a totally lame guy with a just as lame sword and a super-awesome-dealer-of-painful-death at the same time, depending on what time in the fight you're watching counts for something, I guess.

And I figured... Is there a system than mimicks this? In any way, doesn't have to be based on any manga, it can be totally independing as far as I'm concered. If there isn't one, has anybody on there boards thought of making one? Is it even feasible? I mean, balance issues aside, how would you account for the exchange of powerful attack -> more powerful attack -> insanely powerful attack -> etc without it getting boring?

Meh, I'm just throwing some thoughts out. Emulating the fighting manga/anime style of storytelling into a playable system, if possible, is the topic.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:11 pm

Isn't BESM and various similar systems for that kind of thing?

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:11 pm

'Anime fighting style' is ridiculously broad honestly. Even Shadowrun can handle an anime fighting-style system depending on what you want.

You said that you liked Bleach. Which leads me to believe that you like A) Flying. B) Ridiculous Power-Ups with a command word to activate rather than it running all of the time. C) Swordfights, not magic volleys. Even though that series uses kidou. D) Fights where dominance swings between the two combatants. E) Fights where the people pair off and fight.

Unfortunately, I can't think of a system off of the top of my head that does this. E is the greatest sticking point for any RPG, as Shadowrun comes the closest to averting the dogpile method of fighting. Which just goes to show you how little progress people have made towards this design goal.

I think that you might be interested in Mutants and Masterminds d20. Ranged combat inherently has an advantage in that system but it does almost everything else you want.

DragonChild · Post by **DragonChild** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:21 pm

For high-powered type anime, HERO is a good bet, and has a new edition out, although 5th edition is still pretty awesome.

Lich-Loved · Post by **Lich-Loved** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:35 pm

If you are interested in BESM, the core of the system is available in the free Tri-Stat dX system.

mean_liar · Post by **mean_liar** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:17 pm

BESM stinks - it's a poor man's Mutants and Masterminds. MnM could do it, and so could HERO, but MnM is generally faster-resolving.

Exalted would do for anime as well.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:51 am

Exalted takes a long time to learn, has narrow character concepts, is inflexible once you get put on the rails, and is not only not very balanced but doesn't actually have a lot of challenges for your sword-swinging billy badass.

Korwin · Post by **Korwin** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:58 am

In BESM you can built a Char with PowerUps/Transform into an Uber Char.
If I remember correctly you get discounts for your Powers if they are time-limited.

Sajber · Post by **Sajber** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:14 am

Lago PARANOIA wrote:'Anime fighting style' is ridiculously broad honestly. Even Shadowrun can handle an anime fighting-style system depending on what you want.

You said that you liked Bleach. Which leads me to believe that you like A) Flying. B) Ridiculous Power-Ups with a command word to activate rather than it running all of the time. C) Swordfights, not magic volleys. Even though that series uses kidou. D) Fights where dominance swings between the two combatants. E) Fights where the people pair off and fight.

You pretty much nailed it. A, B, C and E are pretty much optional, I don't really care if we're flying, fighting with swords or whatever, it's D that's most important. Powers activated by some word/gesture/whatever that severely alters the power of your character, dominance of the fight swinging wildly around as the fight progresses, etc...

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:58 am

I vaguely remember some system that attempted fights where people pair off and get to the fightation.

Another Supers system methinks.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:58 pm

Korwin wrote:In BESM you can built a Char with PowerUps/Transform into an Uber Char.
If I remember correctly you get discounts for your Powers if they are time-limited.

and Minions who have Mechs which hold Items of Power and get character points instead of damage and space travel who fly to the sun and just sit there for a few centuries until they are the most powerful thing in the universe.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:31 pm

Prak_Anima wrote:get character points instead of damage

...I don't remember that one.

FatR · Post by **FatR** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:18 am

Sajber wrote: You pretty much nailed it. A, B, C and E are pretty much optional, I don't really care if we're flying, fighting with swords or whatever, it's D that's most important. Powers activated by some word/gesture/whatever that severely alters the power of your character, dominance of the fight swinging wildly around as the fight progresses, etc...

You just reminded me of one of the reasons why Exalted sucks balls. It totally fails to provide this experience on mechanical level. In 2E you often can figure out the results of combat at its beginning (by calculating the rates of Essence attrition), and there is no meaningful mechanical choices that can alter this math.

Mask_De_H · Post by **Mask_De_H** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:28 am

Alright, since you want crazy Bleach action, MnM/BESM 3e seem to be your best bet. The GM's going to need to work things out with all parties involved so the game doesn't go into crazytown.

Wushu might be able to do this with the narrative based gaming aspect, and a rework of the FATE system could hash it if you want rules-light. For more crunch, go with the first two.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:44 am

FatR wrote:
Sajber wrote: You pretty much nailed it. A, B, C and E are pretty much optional, I don't really care if we're flying, fighting with swords or whatever, it's D that's most important. Powers activated by some word/gesture/whatever that severely alters the power of your character, dominance of the fight swinging wildly around as the fight progresses, etc...
You just reminded me of one of the reasons why Exalted sucks balls. It totally fails to provide this experience on mechanical level. In 2E you often can figure out the results of combat at its beginning (by calculating the rates of Essence attrition), and there is no meaningful mechanical choices that can alter this math.

Any chance we can get you to make an 'Exalted sucks' thread?

FatR · Post by **FatR** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:44 am

Lago PARANOIA wrote: Any chance we can get you to make an 'Exalted sucks' thread?

I've started writing the dissection of Exalted system, but it is not going to be completed for some time, because it shapes up to be really long and rambling.

DeadlyReed · Post by **DeadlyReed** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:55 am

Can't wait to read your Exalted rant, FatR.

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 3:32 pm

I, too, would like to read an Exalted rant. Even a preliminary version.