07.15.09
[Anima Prime] Solo and GM-Less Play
I’m considering including something in Anima Prime that will allow players to play on their own or without a GM. The way to do this is to “automate” adversity. I would write up charts (lets call them Tactical Action Charts or TACs) for each opponent that’s included in the book. The TAC shows a list of priorities with conditions, and you go down the list and check if the conditions are met. If so, do the action that’s listed.
For example, here’s a simple TAC for the Steambot Dreadnought:
- S4+, C4+: Full Strike with Force Attack
- S6+: Full Strike
- Maneuver
When it’s the adversity’s turn, the player(s) go down the list. Does the Dreadnought have at least 4 Strike and 4 Charge Dice? If so, use all Strike Dice (up to the limit, of course) on a strike and spend the Charge Dice on Force Attack. If not, the next check is: Does the Dreadnought have at least 6 Strike Dice? If so, use all of them (up to the limit) to strike. If those conditions aren’t met, do a maneuver to earn more dice.
The only thing to add to the TAC is how the Dreadnought picks targets. Either it picks randomly, or it picks the one with the lowest defense, or the least wounds, or something like that.
Now you can either write up modules where the opponents are listed, and players just go through (with a determined number of character scenes in between), or you play kind of freeform until the players agree that in the fiction, opposition arises, and what it is. The third alternative, I guess, would be to use a deck of cards, with black cards allowing character scenes and red cards indicating a certain type of enemy.
I’m not sure this will make it into the first edition of Anima Prime, but if I don’t get this figured out in time, it’ll be a free add-on once I do.
For solo play, the player would need to play at least two PCs and be open to playing them with each other, like a writer who makes up scenes between characters (or like we used to do with action figures when we were little).