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https://github.com/jmbowman/anima-character-generator

Character generator for the Anima: Beyond Fantasy RPG
https://github.com/jmbowman/anima-character-generator

Last synced: 3 months ago
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Character generator for the Anima: Beyond Fantasy RPG

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README 

        
Anima Character Generator

=========================



This is a browser-based utility for generating characters for the Anima: Beyond

Fantasy role-playing game.  It doesn't require an internet connection or even a

local server; everything is done in JavaScript within the browser.  Character

data is saved and reloaded by copying and pasting it (using a JSON text

format).  It's already relatively complete for DP and MK expenditure and

assorted score calculations.  Better support for magic, psychic, and creature

abilities is gradually being implemented.



Background

----------

I'm currently running an Anima game, and while the players and I really like

the system, character generation is rather time-consuming; there are a lot of

options to consider and calculations to make, and there aren't any official

electronic aids beyond a printable character sheet.  Some players of the game

have helped remedy this by creating editable PDF versions of the character

sheet, but these still require you to do a lot of calculations by hand and

require a full sheet of paper for each character; this is cumbersome when the

party encounters a mixed group of opponents, and I really just want an

overview of their main statistics.



Other players have created Excel spreadsheets for generating Anima characters,

which mostly solve the problem of needing to do manual calculations, but I find

myself skipping all over the sheet to fill in the blanks, having trouble

remembering what's left to fill out, and getting distracted by the display of

intermediate calculations.  Also, there are some rules in the game which are

rather ambiguous, and the spreadsheet authors have sometimes chosen a

different way of interpreting them than I have (which affects the

calculations).  And then there's the problem of needing a spreadsheet window

for each opponent.  These tools can be quite useful for players to keep track

of their characters, but are only a modest improvement over the editable PDF

forms for a GM with many characters to run.



Since I and several of my players are web application developers, we decided to

write our own utility to deal with this.  It interprets the rules as I run

them (although it may eventually have options to use alternate rule

interpretations).  It separates the raw data that needs to be input from the

display of the resulting character statistics.  It has a summary display that

shows just the information you're likely to need in order to run that

particular character effectively.  This stat block can be copied and pasted

into a text file and still look ok.  And it will eventually be capable of

showing the summaries for several characters at a time, and easily editing any

of them.



Status

------

The basic data format and most of the core calculations have been implemented.

Advantages, disadvantages, and most of the things that DP and MK can be spent

on are supported, although some things like Ars Magnus and creature powers

aren't fully implemented yet.  It's currently useful for starting almost any

character, and can fully represent characters without magic, psychic, or truly

esoteric martial abilities.  Support for creature Essential Abilities is in

place, and work on creature Powers has been started.  The character's total

Psychic Points and Magic Level are calculated and displayed, but allocating

them to abilities isn't yet implemented.



These are the main things left to be implemented that I'm aware of:



* Allocation of Magic Level to Paths, spells, and Metamagic Advantages

* Allocation of Psychic Points

* Creature Powers (about half implemented, but not yet in the UI)

* Current Elan level and its effect on abilities

* Mental Patterns (from Arcana Exxet)

* Ars Magnus (from Dominus Exxet)

* Limits (from Dominus Exxet)

* Seals of Invocation (from Dominus Exxet)

* Legacies of Blood (from Dominus Exxet)

* Selection of weapons and armor, and display relevant stats when using them

* Option to use Secondary Ability development rules from Core Exxet



If you notice other missing features or find bugs in what's already there, let

me know and I'll update it as free time allows.