Anime 5E Has Reached $300,000 and Over 4,000 Backers!
over 3 years ago – Fri, Apr 09, 2021 at 02:38:15 PM

WOW! Over 4,000 backers like you have pledged their support for this campaign, pushing funding past $300K and its linked stretch goal. You folks are simply AMAZING! ☺️

We will now create and print a short Anime 5E Primer and include a copy as a free bonus to every backer who pledges for physical rewards! A PDF version available for easy downloading as well. Thank you for showing us that there’s a demand for this type of introductory summary.

Unlocking at $325K: Two Original Character Races

Although Anime 5E contains 14 diverse and intriguing player character races that reflect different levels of power and capability, there’s always room for more gaming goodness!

If campaign funding reaches $325K, we will create two original player character races, with Anime 5E feature blocks and descriptions. This bonus content will be available as a free PDF download for all backers pledging at least $25 in the Kickstarter. Like most of our content stretch goals, the file will also be available for sale to those backers with pledge tiers that don’t align with this free bonus.

Race Spotlight: Blinkbeast

“Oh, you Elves think that the trees and the bushes are your ally. But you merely adopted the forest. We are born in it, moulded by it. We are one with it, and I can feel every step you take, hear every breath you exhale, while you think you are hiding so cleverly in the leaves. Blinkbeasts may not be as pretty or elegant as you and your Asrai cousins, but we are a prideful race and we demand the respect we deserve as forest protectors.”

Blinkbeasts are often feared and misunderstood, but they are rarely respected. They are natives of the Bloom – an insidious realm of fierce trees and murderous beasts – and survive on their rapid teleportation and mastery of plant life. In spite of their power, Blinkbeasts elicit contempt from many sylvan and demonic woodland creatures due to their binary nature – they are both beast and human. Their skin tones range across the rainbow spectrum from purple to red, and shift in patches from flesh to wood.

Adventuring Notes

Though often clumsy and lacking the elegant presence of most woodland creatures, Blinkbeasts are a crafty race with a dual identity that helps them blend into society. They are drawn to classes that integrate well with their forest origins, including Hunter, Ninja, and Warder.

Base Speed

Medium – a Blinkbeast’s base speed is 30 feet/round.

Alternate Identity

In addition to their natural form, all Blinkbeasts have a second identity as a human (or occasionally, a different humanoid). Their human form shares none of their wooden features and are normally indistinguishable from other humans.

Dynamic Powers – Lesser

From birth, Blinkbeasts have a deep spiritual connection with the trees, bushes, grasses, and flowers in their immediate area (30-foot radius). They can tap into the vegetation’s life energy and manipulate it in many ways, though their control is rudimentary unless practiced and perfected. Their use of Dynamic Powers can produce unpredictable results should they not establish sufficient control.

Teleport

The “blink” in Blinkbeast is rooted in their teleportation talents that allows them to instantly disappear and translocate to any perceived or known destination up to 100 feet away.

Subrace Variation

Instead of only one human identity, the Multi Blinkbeast Subrace have a total of six wildly varying humanoid forms that manifest upon puberty (Alternate Identity Rank 6 total). These forms often resemble familiar sylvan creatures (Elves, Satyr, Goblins), though further-ranging races are not impossible.

Thanks for reading, and for pledging! We’ll be checking in again soon, so enjoy the day.

Mid-Level Pregens, Anime 5E Primer, and Ask Me Anything Video
over 3 years ago – Thu, Apr 08, 2021 at 02:34:42 AM

Overnight you collectively pushed Anime 5E funding through the $275K stretch goal threshold. Your generous support means we will be designing a pre-gen pack of six 12th-level characters, which will be a free bonus PDF for all backers pledging $13+.

$300K Stretch Goal: Anime 5E Primer

When we released BESM Fourth Edition, one of the launch products was a BESM Primer. It served as an introduction to the game by outlining character creation and system mechanics – a teaser, of sorts, regarding what the game entails. You can download a free PDF copy from DriveThruRPG to check it out. 

We originally didn’t think that we needed an Anime 5E Primer, since we believed that everyone pledging for the game would be intimately familiar with the core Fifth Edition system. As the number of backers continues to grow, though, we see that our initial assumptions may be wrong – that an summary overview of the game would be useful for not just newer players but also for gamers who have played Fifth Edition in the past. Such a summary isn’t intended to replace the core rulebook, but provides an additional supplementation at the gaming table by distilling the essence of the game into a handful of pages.

So that’s going to be our more significant $300K stretch goal. If the campaign funding reaches $300K, we will create and print a short Anime 5E Primer and include a copy as a free bonus to every backer who pledges for physical rewards! We will also make a PDF version available for easy downloading.

Anime 5E Designer AMA Recording From Facebook Live

Last night, Anime 5E designer Mark MacKinnon did a Facebook Live “Ask Me Anything” event that ran for a little under two hours. Mark primarily talked about Anime 5E, but also touched on Dyskami’s other games and general approach to game design. We have uploaded the recording of the AMA to YouTube where you can watch it whenever it's convenient.

Really Dicey Interview With Mark

A few days ago, Manny and Matt from Really Dicey did a short 18-minute video interview with Mark about the Anime 5E Kickstarter. It has been uploaded to their YouTube channel as well. 

Thank you once again for all your dedication to the Anime 5E project. You’ve helped us reach funding levels that vastly exceeded expectations, and we look forward to getting the books into your hands ASAP!

PS. If you haven’t joined the Anime 5E Facebook group yet, what are you waiting for? The community there is growing, and it’ll be an excellent resource to connect with other players and discuss Anime 5E ideas.

Tactical Actions Plus Designer Interview
over 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 07, 2021 at 03:38:21 AM

As indicated in the Anime 5E combat flowchart from Update #20, a character can choose from four actions during each combat round: ready action, attack action, tactical action, and general action. Today, we delve into character options during tactical actions.

Anime 5E Preview: Tactical Actions

A tactical action is an additional (and optional) type of action technique that will directly aid an upcoming attack or defence roll, rather that immediately impact the combat. The three standard tactical actions are aim, wait for an opening, and total defence. Regardless of how many bonus actions the character has each round from the Extra Actions Attribute, they can only perform one tactical action in a round.

Aim

A character who intends to make a ranged attack may deliberately take extra time to aim. If a character aims a ranged weapon at a particular target for an entire round – and does not move or defend during that period – the next ranged attack on that opponent the following round gains an advantage on the attack roll. Aiming for a second consecutive round allows the character to add their Proficiency Bonus to the damage that a successful attack inflicts as well. Aiming for additional rounds has no effect. The Extra Actions Attribute does not reduce the time a character must spend aiming.

Wait for an Opening

An attacker who is at melee range may use a tactical action to study their foe for one round, and wait for an opening instead of attacking. This works much like aim: the next melee attack on that opponent the following round gains an advantage on the attack roll; waiting for a second consecutive round adds the character’s Proficiency Bonus to damage as well, but waiting for additional rounds has no effect. This action is especially useful if the character is planning a called shot. Unlike aiming with ranged weapon, though, the benefit gained while waiting for an opening is unaffected by defending, receiving damage, or moving normally during combat. The Extra Actions Attribute does not reduce the time a character must spend waiting for the opening.

Total Defence

A character taking this defensive tactical action (alternatively known as a dodge action in standard Fifth Edition) is concentrating completely on defence instead of attacking or engaging in another activity. They may still move normally, but may not take other attack or tactical actions – regardless how many actions they have each round – since the character is dodging and weaving, parrying frantically, or simply ducking and hiding. Any opponents attacking the character suffer a disadvantage on these attack rolls made during the round that the character is concentrating on defence, plus the character gains an advantage on combat-related Dexterity Saving Throws. Consequently, the decision to use this tactical action can be made anytime during a round on, or even before, their Initiative. Once a character decides to take a total defence, they are prevented from changing their mind later in the same round to attack or perform a different tactical action.

Reminder: Anime 5E Designer AMA on Facebook Live

Join designer Mark MacKinnon for a Facebook Live “Ask Me Anything” tonight (Tuesday, April 6th) at 8pm EDT. Mark will talk about the Anime 5E Kickstarter, the upcoming line of Tri-Stat System mini-games, the late-2021 superhero RPG Absolute Power (aka Silver Age Sentinels 2nd Edition), plans for BESM Fourth Edition, and more!

Podcast Interview With Mark

Last night, gaming podcaster Mildra did a one-hour interview with Mark that focusses on Anime 5E primarily. Mildra has since posted the audio recording on YouTube if you’re interested in listening. Note that there’s dead air due to a technical issue near the end of the interview (from 0:58-1:00).

Funding progress has been steady since you unlocked the $250K stretch goal, and the campaign is approximately 30% of the way to the next stretch goal at $275K. Thank you for continuing to spread the word. We’ll check in later!

Paper Minis Are Unlocked Plus Veteran-Level Characters
over 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 07, 2021 at 12:55:24 AM

THANK YOU!!!

Your engagement with the 5E and anime communities, as well as invitations to your gamer friends to join the campaign, keeps pushing the funding to new heights! Because your support has smashed through the $250K stretch goal, you have unlocked the printable Anime 5E paper minis that we will distribute as a free bonus PDF to every backer who pledges $100 and above. Thank you for all your support!

$275K Stretch Goal: Veteran-Level Pre-Gen Pack

As the campaign powers up, so will our pre-gen character packs! If Kickstarter funding reaches $275K, we will create six diverse 12th-level Anime 5E characters, with stat blocks and brief descriptions. This pre-gen pack will be available as a free bonus PDF download for all backers pledging at least $13 in the Kickstarter.

Reminder: Anime 5E Designer AMA on Facebook Live

Join designer Mark MacKinnon for a Facebook Live “Ask Me Anything” on Tuesday, April 6th at 8pm EDT. Mark will talk about the Anime 5E Kickstarter, the upcoming line of Tri-Stat System mini-games, the late-2021 superhero RPG Absolute Power (aka Silver Age Sentinels 2nd Edition), plans for BESM Fourth Edition, and more!

Arigato and good night. We’ll check in tomorrow!

Rules Preview: Character Size in Anime 5E
over 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 06, 2021 at 06:07:28 AM

Anime 5E’s approach to character and monster size is one of the biggest (see what we did there?) foundational changes when compared to standard Fifth Edition. We accomplish this through size templates, which are collection of Attributes and Defects that apply across the size spectrum.

Size Templates

Size templates help describe the modifiers your character receives for being any size other than medium (i.e. human-sized). Anime 5E sizes align with traditional and expanded Fifth Edition categories: diminutive, tiny, small, medium, large, huge, gargantuan.

In brief, larger characters gain the following modifiers compared to shorter characters:

• taller
• heavier
• stronger
• faster
• enhanced throwing distance
• more damaging
• less susceptible to standard types of damage (including bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing)
• easier to hit
• have difficulty hitting targets
• have restrictions on spaces in which they can fit

A summary of the size-related modifiers is presented in the Anime 5E table below.

The Attributes and Defects associated with size templates cross all race boundaries and are created to have the widest application possible. Each size larger than medium consists of a package of attributes and defects that costs a total of 5 points: Large = 5, Huge = 10, Gargantuan = 15. Conversely, each size smaller than medium returns 5 Points to the character (ie. the value of Defects exceed the value of the Attributes by 5 Points): Small = -5, Tiny = -10, Diminutive = -15.

If your character is approximately the same size as a medium human – ranging from 4’ to 8’ tall, which applies to most races in Anime 5E and other Fifth Edition books – you can ignore the size template section. Character races in Anime 5E that use size templates include: Archfiend (huge), Demonaga (large), Fairy (diminutive), Kodama (tiny), and Slime (small).

The collection of Attributes and Defects for two template examples (small and huge) are shown in the image below.

Fitting In

Assigning a size template larger than medium may greatly restrict the character’s ability to fit in with society and embark on standard fantasy RPG adventures. It’s difficult to join your teammates on a dungeon crawl when you’re 30 feet tall and can’t even fit in the front door at the dungeon entrance! Similarly, if the fantasy setting is dominated by more common medium-sized races such as humans, dwarves, and elves, most community amenities like inns, taverns, shoppes, academies, and temples won’t easily accommodate large characters – and are off-limits completely to huge and gargantuan adventurers.

Wee Folk

Although playing characters smaller than medium may not limit adventuring options the same way as playing someone larger, a character’s modest proportions will present their own unique challenges. Children are often small-sized (as are numerous humanoid races, such as halflings and gnomes), and thus most fantasy settings can accommodate small size easily enough. Tiny and diminutive characters may have a difficult time finding appropriately sized clothing, armour, weapons, and adventuring gear, and they have limited carrying capacity. And of course, their heavy damage penalties and susceptibility to physical injury poses significant combat and adventuring risks.

Why Use Size-Related Combat/AC Modifiers?

While many of the effects of size make intuitive sense (for example, having larger characters with greater lifting capacities), the combat modifiers to AC and attack rolls might seem odd. The example below illustrates the logic of the rules.

Consider firing a bow at three targets – a coin, a wagon, and a tavern – from across a field. Clearly, the coin would be the most difficult to hit, and the tavern the easiest. A similar analogy can be made with a melee attack. Thus it makes sense that if a huge character (a giant) was fighting with a diminutive opponent (a fairy), the giant would suffer a penalty to hit the fairy, and the fairy would gain a bonus to hit the giant.

Now consider two opponents the same size – two humans, two giants, two fairies, etc. Since they are the same size relative to each other, no modifiers should apply. That is, any bonuses they receive to hit should balance with any penalties they receive to be hit. Since Anime 5E involves the attacker rolling a d20, adding modifiers, and comparing the final value to the target’s Armour Class, a penalty on the attack roll is functionally the same as a bonus to the target’s AC. Similarly, a bonus on the attack has the same effect as an AC penalty.

Consequently, a larger-than-medium character receives a penalty to both their AC and their attack rolls against all opponents. A smaller-than-medium character receives a corresponding bonus to AC and attack roll against all opponents. If two combatants the same size clash – whether medium, small, large, etc. – the bonuses and penalties cancel each other out. Similarly, the bonuses/penalties cancelling also applies to the damage-inflicted and damage-received modifiers for each size rank.

As you can see, the size combat modifiers might not be intuitive – especially for gamers who have previously played under traditional Fifth Edition rules – but they work well across all size categories in Anime 5E.

Anime 5E Designer AMA on Facebook Live

Join designer Mark MacKinnon for a Facebook Live “Ask Me Anything” on Tuesday, April 6th at 8pm EDT. Mark will talk about the Anime 5E Kickstarter, the upcoming line of Tri-Stat System mini-games, the late-2021 superhero RPG Absolute Power (aka Silver Age Sentinels 2nd Edition), plans for BESM Fourth Edition, and more. Join the event on Facebook using the link above. If you're unable to join Mark live, we will make the video recording of the AMA available for later viewing.

Thanks to you, the campaign is less than $15K away from unlocking the next stretch goal that we announced yesterday – Anime 5E paper minis! Thanks for spreading the word to your gaming community.