Anima Prime Interest Check

[MadPanda]

No, not Anima from Final Fantasy Games.

Anima Prime (Berengad Games)
(available for free here: http://www.animaprimerpg.com/main/docs/Anima_Prime_CC_04-07-2011.pdf  or in the really stripped down Pocket Version which fits on two pages here: http://www.animaprimerpg.com/main/docs/PocketAP_11.pdf )

This is as close to a Final Fantasy themed system as I've ever found that has the right 'feel'!  Skyships.  Summoned beasties.  Strange tech.  Steamtech.  High-flying stunts that defy logic, reason, and the laws of physics as we know 'em.  What's not to like?

I have three general ideas in mind.  There's the core setting, the Ghostlands, with imperial occupiers, rebel forces, criminal syndicates, and the empowered beasties called Beyonders sneaking through dimensional gates to provide a modicum of danger and excitement for the normal residents of the world.

Second, partially inspired by another little RPG called Monkey, there's the Ministry of Thunder idea: one part Roaring Twenties fantasy noir, one part Jackie Chan movie, one part Hellboy, and a dash of RWBY.  PCs are disgraced gods working off their demerits with the Jade Court of Heaven by helping the Duke of Thunder, Lei Gong, clean up after various messes that the mortals can't handle on their own.

Third, and currently under active discussion, something more like Cadillacs and Dinosaurs meets Gold Digger by way of RWBY.  'Cause nothing says pulpy post-apocalyptic fun like catgirl treasure hunters, muscle cars, and velociraptor ninja!     

[ReijiTabibito]

Well, I'm in, but the MoT idea is the one that sounds the best to me!  I've even got an idea (inspired by Marvel!) for a character in that particular universe.

[MadPanda]

That's true--we sort of skipped straight to the Xenozoic thing, didn't we?  Okay, here's what I have in mind for Ministry of Thunder.  This is all very work-in-progress, and I have a brief bit of fiction that'll go into this when it's formalized.

UPDATE: Links added!

Ministry of Thunder
PCs are immortals, or demons, or animal spirits who have screwed up and are working off their misdeeds through community service...namely helping the Duke of Thunder, Lei Gong, police the mortal world and handling any problems that the mortals can’t.

The whole has a retro-cool feel to it, a mashup of art deco and wuxia: tommy guns, Model Ts, big jazz bands, fedoras, swords, fans, temples…Hellboy meets Gangbusters by way of Drunken Master 2 and Final Fantasy.

The MoT is a ramshackle detective agency on the second floor of a three storey building in a crowded neighborhood.  The Boss, a stern older woman who traditionally wears pantsuits, is known only as Duke.  There is a tiny reception area with a small desk and telephone, three rickety chairs, and a table with several old magazines on it. The main room has a desk and phone for each PC, plus another two.  Duke’s office has a bigger desk, a phone, a tickertape machine that periodically spits out instructions from one of two sources (identified as EBH and WDH), and a most unusual Go board.  There is also a file room, a bathroom, and a kitchenette.  Apartments for the staff can be found on the third floor, but these are rarely used since the Operatives are usually out in the field somewhere.

The Go board on Duke’s desk is a situation map of the world.  Each of the points on the 29 by 29 grid can be ‘expanded’ into an 8 by 8 grid for more precise locations.  How this manifests is that the stone on the point turns blood crimson and a golden trigram appears on it to denote the subsector.

Operatives are allowed their own weapons of choice and are issued an official badge in a plain black leather carrying case.

Thought--the main office is in an Otherspace, accessible only by Operatives and other empowered persons (like, uhm, demons…).  As such, Operatives can walk into any “branch office” anywhere in the world, go through the ‘staff only’ door behind the receptionist, and there’s their desk.  This is also how they get to the trouble spots so quickly, exiting the main office through the nearest branch kiosk. All this assumes that someone hasn’t blown up that branch office, or that inauspicious circumstances haven’t crashed the transport network, or that some other mishap won’t make it safer and saner to travel by normal means.

The Main Office is a good source of Character Scenes and Flashbacks, but almost everything else should happen in the field.

We're live.

Background Information:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=201442.0

The OOC: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=201443.0

The Cast Thread: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=201444.0

Character sheet template is in the Cast thread.

[ReijiTabibito]

Okay.  My idea is mainly inspired by the Marvel comic hero Iron Fist (aka, the Immortal Iron Fist).

Basic idea of the character is that they're more a kung fu style of character (Though they also follow the Tao of the Thomas-Cannon), but the whole reason they're in hock to the MoT in the first place was because they were a bit...randy.  Even by Chinese hero standards.  And it was decided, after he inadvertently went and did up the wrong broad, that if he liked cooches so much, then maybe he should have one...

[MadPanda]

(laugh)  Helloooooooo, Ranma-chan!

One other thought is that the PCs should have names based on the various animals of the Chinese Zodiac, possibly with alliterative epithets.  Y'know, like...Modest Mouse (instead of Rat).

[Thufir Hawat]

Basic idea of the character is that they're more a kung fu style of character (Though they also follow the Tao of the Thomas-Cannon), but the whole reason they're in hock to the MoT in the first place was because they were a bit...randy.  Even by Chinese hero standards.

Is that even possible ?

[MadPanda]

There's a whole laundry list of reasons why a god or demigod or demon might end up doing community service with the MoT. 

To paraphrase the list in the rulebook for Monkey (D101 Games): Cowardice, Corruption, Miserliness, Violence, Lust, Pride, Vanity, Laziness, Selfishness, Theft, Gluttony, Tyranny, and Lack of Discipline are the usual reasons for this sort of thing.  Of course, this could be anything from slacking off once during a double super-secret inspection of your appointed rounds to openly declaring war on the Celestial Jade Court after starting a food fight in the cafeteria...and winning.

(FYI According the the Pfffft of All Knowledge, Lei Gong is supposed to be kind of a prude, so it wouldn't take much to exceed the Duke's allowances for lusty behavior.  However, nobody's asked the Ducal opinion on the matter, so the scribes might have embellished a tad.)

Hmmm. There's another suggestion for char-gen...make one of your Traits reflect the flaw what brung you to this pass...

[ReijiTabibito]

....really?  Nobody else is really going to respond to this?  Come on, people!  Just as least give it a try!  The game's free!

[Vanetias]

Me.

[Jefepato]

Sorry I was out of touch a few days.  I'm in if you'll still have me.

[MadPanda]

I shall see what I can cobble together over the weekend, tax prep permitting!

[ShadowFox89]

 My only question is- Would a foxgirl thief work?

[Saric]

If the Panda will have me, I'm totally in for any version of this! 

[MadPanda]

We'll see what we have!  Already have one Foxgirl but won't say no to a second!  Spares me from having to send in either the Monkey or the Jade Pig as backup.

[ShadowFox89]

 Well, going with the idea that she's a fox-spirit thief, she probably (duh) stole something and got caught, landing her in community service.

What can we expect for the game in terms of smexy times and any kinks that might be included?

[Saric]

The Dragon is unamused by your shenanigans. The Dragon is above such petty- Oooh! Shiny!

[Izaya Orihara]

Curious.
Not particularly knowledgeable about the Chinese stuff, though I know a bit more where it overlaps with some Japanese mythology.

Still, the premise that seems most popular (according to the posts above) seems like it would have some space for creativity, and shouldn't be too hard to conjure up character ideas for. I might make a Kami akin to Yato, who's a god of calamity (magatsukami), though I'm not sure if he'll be qute as materialistic and lazy at times as Yato is. He'll probably be a bit like Yato used to be; serious, merciless and cruel. Though still uncomfortable around women, and quite easy to embarass, since he hasn't really got involved in any relationships over time.

Anyway...

[ReijiTabibito]

*counts* Six...things looking up, finally.  Hopefully the GM will be by to start helping people out.  Of course, if he can't, then I'm available to point people in the right direction.  Least, far as making a character goes.

[ShadowFox89]

Curious.
Not particularly knowledgeable about the Chinese stuff, though I know a bit more where it overlaps with some Japanese mythology.

Still, the premise that seems most popular (according to the posts above) seems like it would have some space for creativity, and shouldn't be too hard to conjure up character ideas for. I might make a Kami akin to Yato, who's a god of calamity (magatsukami), though I'm not sure if he'll be quite as materialistic and lazy at times as Yato is. He'll probably be a bit like Yato used to be; serious, merciless and cruel. Though still uncomfortable around women, and quite easy to embarrass, since he hasn't really got involved in any relationships over time.

Anyway...

And I'll be playing a kitsune girl who likes to flirt, dress in tight black outfits, and steal things. Looks like they'll get along perfectly!

[Izaya Orihara]

And I'll be playing a kitsune girl who likes to flirt, dress in tight black outfits, and steal things. Looks like they'll get along perfectly!

So it would seem.
Should definitely be interesting, however things pan out.

[MadPanda]

Bear with me, folks!  Is a bit busy here in Pandaspace but I'll do my best to get something solid up this weekend.

No actual knowledge of Chinese mythology is required, here, at least beyond what you can find in ten minutes on Wikipedia and/or google.  When in doubt, ask!  The core material for the D101 Game, Journey to the West, is a very popular novel in Asia.  IIRC there are something like a hundred different variants of it in Japan alone (where the Monkey King is known as Son Goku.  Yes, THAT Son Goku, thank you Toriyama-sama.) and more than a few anime and manga are based on it.  Saiyuki's my personal fave.  Think of it as the equivalent of the Arthurian Tales.  Only with kick-ass martial arts and superpowers thrown in.

Yes, Reiji is effectively my second-in-command for char-gen purposes, on grounds that he and I have spent a LOT of time discussing this stuff offsite.  Trust him as you would any other brother.

What I'm shooting for here is an open and friendly little game, more light-hearted than gritty most of the time (the, uh, Jackie Chan elements) while still verging on some serious nastiness for the major baddies.  Adult content?  Not going to focus on it, but it makes for a good scene for a couple of inclined PCs (and since character scenes are one way of recovering post-battle damage, feel free to indulge).

I may have to split you guys into two groups if we have six people.  The Duke will like that, at least.  Mo' agents, mo' problems get solved.  Unless Monkey is involved, of course.  Damn that Monkey...

[MadPanda]

We're live!

Background:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=201442.0
OOC:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=201443.0
Cast: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=201444.0

Character sheet template is in the Cast thread.

[MadPanda]

Hey, y'all?
No characters posted yet!  Nothing happens if nobody does char-gen, yeah?

[MadPanda]

Just in case the problem is that people haven't found the links for some reason, or aren't sure which is which, I'm bouncing them to the top.

[ReijiTabibito]

Hey, y'all?
No characters posted yet!  Nothing happens if nobody does char-gen, yeah?

I don't think no characters is quite accurate...but I do say that for all the interest we had, it appears the Life Is Havingeth Its Way with our players...