Agents of ANIMA

Agents of ANIMA

There are many worlds, pearls in the darkness, each with their own parochial concerns. There are those who stand between the worlds, gods and devils, merchants of the bizarre, travellers in search of mysteries and truths. Then there is ANIMA. From its secret fortress <Lost Xanadu> in the <Interstice of Void>, the organisation ANIMA lays its plans across the cosmos, under the guidance of its leader, the mysterious Rion, who speaks of the liberation of mankind. In practice this seems to involve puppeteering high politics, nudging chosen ones with cryptic remarks, and accumulating phenomenal cosmic power.

You were once a nobody, or even a somebody, who pursued parochial concerns with no sense of the real scope and stakes of the world. Then you were undone, destroyed, cast out, until Rion found you and remade you with her power.

Agents of ANIMA is a limited run game with light mechanics about being smug (if you like) JRPG villains in a kitchen sink fantasy (and sci-fi) setting, seeking to accomplish your mysterious objectives and/or appear have a good time on ANIMA's expense account.

ANIMA

ANIMA’s general aesthetic is geometric black and white, with some splashes of bold block colour.

The <Interstice of Void> is a null space between dimensions with a silver-grey sky and lots of floating rocks, odd pathways in space, and sometimes ruins and strange creatures. It’s walkable.

<Lost Xanadu> is a big lonely hyper-magitech fortress. It has many powerful guards, creatures and machines inside, endgame loot, and nice amenities for the members of ANIMA. You all get quarters and support infrastructure here.

Rion is a mysterious woman who talks expansively about cosmic goals. She always seems to know what’s going on and has an aura of tremendous power. She provides general and occasionally specific direction, but nonetheless her subordinates sometimes plot against her or one another. Her stated goal, and that of ANIMA, is ‘the liberation of mankind’. In this ‘mankind’ seems to mean mortals in general, so including Viera, Dorafs, etc, and ‘liberation’ seems to mean overthrow of various gods, local nationalisms etc. and unity around her own programme. She intimates that this is necessary to face certain threats from the Outer Dark. Day-to-day orders are more likely to come from, or through, Rion’s #1, who is some kind of hot guy.

In practice this involves obtaining real ultimate power and manipulating politics and chosen ones. ANIMA maintains general secrecy, but to the extent it must inevitably reveal itself, it attempts to maintain an aura of intimidating power and mystery.

The Arcana

Anima's agents are each identified by a Tarot card.

• The Fool - A mysterious silver-haired girl, who hangs around <Lost Xanadu> and seems to know nothing about anything.
• The Magician
• The High Priestess
• The Empress
• The Emperor
• The Hierophant
• The Lovers
• The Chariot
• Strength
• The Hermit
• Wheel of Fortune
• Justice
• The Hanged Man
• Death
• Temperance
• The Devil
• The Tower
• The Star
• The Moon
• The Sun
• Judgement
• The World - [sealed]

Chargen

World

Every character has a world they came from. These might be visited during the game. All kinds of worlds are possible, from medieval fantasies to space operas to labyrinths of occult technology. The explicit scale cap is a few planets, though in practice scale differences will be glossed over.

Besides their old home, each character has a story behind their 'leaving' to join ANIMA.

Trump Card

Forthcoming. Watch this space!