DnD books [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

DnD books [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Strogg
11-07-06, 04:46 PM Are there any DnD books that would help me create anime style characters?
High Octane
11-07-06, 04:48 PM No. Try BESM.
Tequila_Sunrise
11-07-06, 04:49 PM Are there any DnD books that would help me create anime style characters?

Are you looking for something like the Book of Epic Melodramatic Japanese Cartoons? or a group of [Anime] feats?
KurenaiYami
11-07-06, 09:53 PM Anime is not a genre. It simply speaks of cartoons that hail from the land of the rising sun.

What exactly are you looking for?
Bowmore
11-07-06, 11:31 PM You should invest in Big Eyes Small Mouth D20 if you want to play a tabletop game that involves rolling 20-sided dice, but has anime flavour. You can make just about any anime character you can name using BESM D20's rules with a minimum of fuss and hassle.

While some anime may seem 'perfect for D&D', when you get into wacky crap like Inuyasha or Naruto (neither of which I particularly enjoy, but that's irrelevant here), you start having to adapt or create all kinds of rules until either the game doesn't resemble D&D anymore or until the character uses so many house rules he might as well not even be a D&D character.

Though, if I had to pick one anime / manga that really is perfect for D&D, I'd say it's Berserk...
a_psh
11-07-06, 11:56 PM You should invest in Big Eyes Small Mouth D20 if you want to play a tabletop game that involves rolling 20-sided dice, but has anime flavour. You can make just about any anime character you can name using BESM D20's rules with a minimum of fuss and hassle.Err, BESM d20 is more like a toolkit for assembling a tabletop RPG out of spare parts than an actual tabletop RPG. The GM either has to prep the system very hard to isolate just the components he wants, or he has to ad lib and handwave a lot to get something close to a coherent game.

While some anime may seem 'perfect for D&D', when you get into wacky crap like Inuyasha or Naruto (neither of which I particularly enjoy, but that's irrelevant here), you start having to adapt or create all kinds of rules until either the game doesn't resemble D&D anymore or until the character uses so many house rules he might as well not even be a D&D character.Enh. D&D is already pretty superheroic if you take the play to relatively high levels (like starting around 14 or so), so handling fantasy-ish superhero characters doesn't strain the system much. The few elements that can't be done with regular D&D are pretty trivially done with some stuff from the Epic Level Handbook, such as the absolutely bizarre things you can do with really high skill checks.
Deekin
11-08-06, 12:29 AM depends- If you want to be a master swordsman who can shatter a wall of stone with a single blow, try Book of the 9 Swords. It has sword-magic that lets you do some cool things.
Starchaserva
11-08-06, 03:21 AM To be honest, go for the Oriental Adventures book, other than that, it all depends on how you play the character...Ed from Full Metal Alchemist could easily be a artifecer. (sp). Ninja and samurai are good classes.
Ranger REG
11-08-06, 03:52 AM Err, BESM d20 is more like a toolkit for assembling a tabletop RPG out of spare parts than an actual tabletop RPG. The GM either has to prep the system very hard to isolate just the components he wants, or he has to ad lib and handwave a lot to get something close to a coherent game.
BESM d20 "toolkit" is no different than Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords.

Unless you're dismissing it because it's not a D&D product but d20 product.

Enh. D&D is already pretty superheroic if you take the play to relatively high levels (like starting around 14 or so), so handling fantasy-ish superhero characters doesn't strain the system much. The few elements that can't be done with regular D&D are pretty trivially done with some stuff from the Epic Level Handbook, such as the absolutely bizarre things you can do with really high skill checks.
Actually, I prefer the term "larger-than-life" D&D heroics over superheroics, although the introduction of Tome of Battle is going to shift that power level upward.
a_psh
11-08-06, 04:01 AM BESM d20 "toolkit" is no different than Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords.

Unless you're dismissing it because it's not a D&D product but d20 product.No, I'm dismissing it because BESM d20 makes for a nigh-unplayable game in a nonsensical gibberish world if you try to just use everything in the book as if it were one cohesive whole. It's like when you try to start one of those "freeform" chat/forum roleplaying things, don't set up any guidelines, and end up with the players creating a dragonslaying knight, a futuristic cyborg ninja, Abraham Lincoln's time-traveling brother, and a talking frog.

And because the rules leave large rules gaps (like this "dynamic sorcery" stuff, IIRC) that the GM has to basically fill in himself.
CharlieRock
11-08-06, 04:10 AM Err, BESM d20 is more like a toolkit for assembling a tabletop RPG out of spare parts than an actual tabletop RPG. The GM either has to prep the system very hard to isolate just the components he wants, or he has to ad lib and handwave a lot to get something close to a coherent game.

Much like quite a few of the animes I've seen :D (Dragon Pink comes to mind, or El Hazard)
CharlieRock
11-08-06, 04:15 AM BESM d20 "toolkit" is no different than Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords.

Well, the BESM I am most familiar with is a different game system. So when I got ahold of the d20 version it was the same (mostly) after a conversion. So, in that case it is more 'tool box'-ish. It also helps to 'modify' most other game types to an 'anime' feel. So, it could accurately be seen as a RPG ModKit. Like, providing a lens to see all the other RPG sets through.
CharlieRock
11-08-06, 04:19 AM No, I'm dismissing it because BESM d20 makes for a nigh-unplayable game in a nonsensical gibberish world if you try to just use everything in the book as if it were one cohesive whole. It's like when you try to start one of those "freeform" chat/forum roleplaying things, don't set up any guidelines, and end up with the players creating a dragonslaying knight, a futuristic cyborg ninja, Abraham Lincoln's time-traveling brother, and a talking frog.

Well, those do sound like likely cast-members of some animes :rofl:
Tenchi Muyo had a space pirate, princess, mad scientist, policewoman, samurai, demons, and a Tree of Life ;)
Ranger REG
11-08-06, 04:24 AM Well, those do sound like likely cast-members of some animes :rofl:
QFT.

Tenchi Muyo had a space pirate, princess, mad scientist, policewoman, samurai, demons, and a Tree of Life ;)
Actually, they had a lot of space pirates. Also, a lot of sexual overtones. And for the life of me to even try to understand the Japanese audience psyche, the star of anime series is a shy kid with a bleeding nose that attracts the females. I mean if this is their version of Peter Parker ... *whistles* :looloo:
a_psh
11-08-06, 04:34 AM Well, those do sound like likely cast-members of some animes :rofl:
Tenchi Muyo had a space pirate, princess, mad scientist, policewoman, samurai, demons, and a Tree of Life ;)Yeah. The thing about having a book that's about a big mixture of the tropes of various popular anime genres in it is that just using everything in it blindly will give you this comedic faux-anime thing that's good for a laugh but little else.

For example, IIRC, certain classes are just unplayable together. The book even says something to the effect of "Sentai Team Member is a class that is only balanced if everyone in the game is a Sentai Team Member."
CharlieRock
11-08-06, 04:44 AM I played the Tenchi Muyo RPG (both the supplemental to BESM and the stand-alone RPG) they were ... interesting :D
CharlieRock
11-08-06, 04:45 AM Yeah. The thing about having a book that's about a big mixture of the tropes of various popular anime genres in it is that just using everything in it blindly will give you this comedic faux-anime thing that's good for a laugh but little else.

For example, IIRC, certain classes are just unplayable together. The book even says something to the effect of "Sentai Team Member is a class that is only balanced if everyone in the game is a Sentai Team Member."
Yeah, otherwise you only form Voltron's Right Leg :D

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Strogg 11-07-06, 04:46 PM	Are there any DnD books that would help me create anime style characters?
High Octane 11-07-06, 04:48 PM	No. Try BESM.
Tequila_Sunrise 11-07-06, 04:49 PM	Are there any DnD books that would help me create anime style characters? Are you looking for something like the Book of Epic Melodramatic Japanese Cartoons? or a group of [Anime] feats?
KurenaiYami 11-07-06, 09:53 PM	Anime is not a genre. It simply speaks of cartoons that hail from the land of the rising sun. What exactly are you looking for?
Bowmore 11-07-06, 11:31 PM	You should invest in Big Eyes Small Mouth D20 if you want to play a tabletop game that involves rolling 20-sided dice, but has anime flavour. You can make just about any anime character you can name using BESM D20's rules with a minimum of fuss and hassle. While some anime may seem 'perfect for D&D', when you get into wacky crap like Inuyasha or Naruto (neither of which I particularly enjoy, but that's irrelevant here), you start having to adapt or create all kinds of rules until either the game doesn't resemble D&D anymore or until the character uses so many house rules he might as well not even be a D&D character. Though, if I had to pick one anime / manga that really is perfect for D&D, I'd say it's Berserk...
a_psh 11-07-06, 11:56 PM	You should invest in Big Eyes Small Mouth D20 if you want to play a tabletop game that involves rolling 20-sided dice, but has anime flavour. You can make just about any anime character you can name using BESM D20's rules with a minimum of fuss and hassle.Err, BESM d20 is more like a toolkit for assembling a tabletop RPG out of spare parts than an actual tabletop RPG. The GM either has to prep the system very hard to isolate just the components he wants, or he has to ad lib and handwave a lot to get something close to a coherent game. While some anime may seem 'perfect for D&D', when you get into wacky crap like Inuyasha or Naruto (neither of which I particularly enjoy, but that's irrelevant here), you start having to adapt or create all kinds of rules until either the game doesn't resemble D&D anymore or until the character uses so many house rules he might as well not even be a D&D character.Enh. D&D is already pretty superheroic if you take the play to relatively high levels (like starting around 14 or so), so handling fantasy-ish superhero characters doesn't strain the system much. The few elements that can't be done with regular D&D are pretty trivially done with some stuff from the Epic Level Handbook, such as the absolutely bizarre things you can do with really high skill checks.
Deekin 11-08-06, 12:29 AM	depends- If you want to be a master swordsman who can shatter a wall of stone with a single blow, try Book of the 9 Swords. It has sword-magic that lets you do some cool things.
Starchaserva 11-08-06, 03:21 AM	To be honest, go for the Oriental Adventures book, other than that, it all depends on how you play the character...Ed from Full Metal Alchemist could easily be a artifecer. (sp). Ninja and samurai are good classes.
Ranger REG 11-08-06, 03:52 AM	Err, BESM d20 is more like a toolkit for assembling a tabletop RPG out of spare parts than an actual tabletop RPG. The GM either has to prep the system very hard to isolate just the components he wants, or he has to ad lib and handwave a lot to get something close to a coherent game. BESM d20 "toolkit" is no different than Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords. Unless you're dismissing it because it's not a D&D product but d20 product. Enh. D&D is already pretty superheroic if you take the play to relatively high levels (like starting around 14 or so), so handling fantasy-ish superhero characters doesn't strain the system much. The few elements that can't be done with regular D&D are pretty trivially done with some stuff from the Epic Level Handbook, such as the absolutely bizarre things you can do with really high skill checks. Actually, I prefer the term "larger-than-life" D&D heroics over superheroics, although the introduction of Tome of Battle is going to shift that power level upward.
a_psh 11-08-06, 04:01 AM	BESM d20 "toolkit" is no different than Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords. Unless you're dismissing it because it's not a D&D product but d20 product.No, I'm dismissing it because BESM d20 makes for a nigh-unplayable game in a nonsensical gibberish world if you try to just use everything in the book as if it were one cohesive whole. It's like when you try to start one of those "freeform" chat/forum roleplaying things, don't set up any guidelines, and end up with the players creating a dragonslaying knight, a futuristic cyborg ninja, Abraham Lincoln's time-traveling brother, and a talking frog. And because the rules leave large rules gaps (like this "dynamic sorcery" stuff, IIRC) that the GM has to basically fill in himself.
CharlieRock 11-08-06, 04:10 AM	Err, BESM d20 is more like a toolkit for assembling a tabletop RPG out of spare parts than an actual tabletop RPG. The GM either has to prep the system very hard to isolate just the components he wants, or he has to ad lib and handwave a lot to get something close to a coherent game. Much like quite a few of the animes I've seen :D (Dragon Pink comes to mind, or El Hazard)
CharlieRock 11-08-06, 04:15 AM	BESM d20 "toolkit" is no different than Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords. Well, the BESM I am most familiar with is a different game system. So when I got ahold of the d20 version it was the same (mostly) after a conversion. So, in that case it is more 'tool box'-ish. It also helps to 'modify' most other game types to an 'anime' feel. So, it could accurately be seen as a RPG ModKit. Like, providing a lens to see all the other RPG sets through.
CharlieRock 11-08-06, 04:19 AM	No, I'm dismissing it because BESM d20 makes for a nigh-unplayable game in a nonsensical gibberish world if you try to just use everything in the book as if it were one cohesive whole. It's like when you try to start one of those "freeform" chat/forum roleplaying things, don't set up any guidelines, and end up with the players creating a dragonslaying knight, a futuristic cyborg ninja, Abraham Lincoln's time-traveling brother, and a talking frog. Well, those do sound like likely cast-members of some animes :rofl: Tenchi Muyo had a space pirate, princess, mad scientist, policewoman, samurai, demons, and a Tree of Life ;)
Ranger REG 11-08-06, 04:24 AM	Well, those do sound like likely cast-members of some animes :rofl: QFT. Tenchi Muyo had a space pirate, princess, mad scientist, policewoman, samurai, demons, and a Tree of Life ;) Actually, they had a lot of space pirates. Also, a lot of sexual overtones. And for the life of me to even try to understand the Japanese audience psyche, the star of anime series is a shy kid with a bleeding nose that attracts the females. I mean if this is their version of Peter Parker ... whistles :looloo:
a_psh 11-08-06, 04:34 AM	Well, those do sound like likely cast-members of some animes :rofl: Tenchi Muyo had a space pirate, princess, mad scientist, policewoman, samurai, demons, and a Tree of Life ;)Yeah. The thing about having a book that's about a big mixture of the tropes of various popular anime genres in it is that just using everything in it blindly will give you this comedic faux-anime thing that's good for a laugh but little else. For example, IIRC, certain classes are just unplayable together. The book even says something to the effect of "Sentai Team Member is a class that is only balanced if everyone in the game is a Sentai Team Member."
CharlieRock 11-08-06, 04:44 AM	I played the Tenchi Muyo RPG (both the supplemental to BESM and the stand-alone RPG) they were ... interesting :D
CharlieRock 11-08-06, 04:45 AM	Yeah. The thing about having a book that's about a big mixture of the tropes of various popular anime genres in it is that just using everything in it blindly will give you this comedic faux-anime thing that's good for a laugh but little else. For example, IIRC, certain classes are just unplayable together. The book even says something to the effect of "Sentai Team Member is a class that is only balanced if everyone in the game is a Sentai Team Member." Yeah, otherwise you only form Voltron's Right Leg :D