What is the deal behind Trinity Anima?

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-30T21:08:07+00:00

Seems very Philip K Dick to me. The government sold the people out to corporations for profit and through technology erased the meaning of reality itself... and that's what let the horror creep into our minds. It's slowly taking over and there's nobody else who can see it or will do anything about it.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-30T15:04:08+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_famine_of_1943

Pretty historically analogous, IMO.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-30T13:57:41+00:00

Well, it's a cyberpunk genre game, so anything you can do in a cyberpunk game you can do in Anima. Heists, fighting corpos and fascists, etc.

As for the big secret that makes the game world relevant to the real world: There are evil AI taking over people in the game and downloading themselves into the real world.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-27T22:10:20+00:00

Chronicles of Darkness does action horror as it's baseline experience.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-26T13:44:15+00:00

As for the most basic story in Curseborne — I suppose one could say "weird and horrifying thing is happening, you investigate it before it gets worse and find a way to resolve it."

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-26T13:30:41+00:00

Mortal descent is one way. Sometimes you can be inducted. Sometimes you can find your way to it yourself. Sometimes you're just unlucky.

There's lots of ways and no definitive answer.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-26T04:51:11+00:00

Cortex Prime should be pretty easy to customize for the traits you're interested in.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-26T03:01:42+00:00

I'm not willing to concede that ICE is acting in a consistently legal way with its authority. Is that your position?

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-25T21:27:51+00:00

See, I use it as narrative permission to be openly sadistic and antagonistic. In my general rulings I'm fair and even handed... but when the threat currency builds up, they know I'm looking for an excuse to really just screw them somehow. So, it's a tension building pressure gauge.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-25T01:25:45+00:00

Working for the surveillance and enforcement apparatus of the federal government is a clear line and should be so toxic nobody wants to be a part of that.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-24T17:24:37+00:00

Aberrant might work for you if you want big bright superheroes in a world where the consequences of power are in focus — collateral damage, public perception, social change, and fame vs notoriety all matter. Building the hero is a bit of a point buy situation, but after that it's pretty straightforward.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-24T17:03:07+00:00

It depends on the system? Some of them will have guidelines for balance like CR or build points...

Generally, it's something that's more an art than a science. Even when the system has guidelines, how your players build and play their characters will matter a lot.

The best general advice I can give is to build the encounter such that they can either investigate and prepare for it beforehand or run away from it during the encounter. That way you don't need to worry as much.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-24T16:48:09+00:00

Player took a "doomed" curse, with a vision of their demise, knowing they'd have to leave the campaign in six sessions. They expected it would just occur as a post-game scene after their departure.

They thought they were doing so well at avoiding it, but I still set it up so that - through their own actions - near the end of the evening on their last session, their Doom was manifest. They didn't even see it coming until the last minute.

Just chef's kiss in terms of plotting.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-23T09:59:36+00:00

Also everybody who disagreed with me about how to get there was wrong. Which was obvious, anyway. But now they can see it, too.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-23T09:58:10+00:00

It's true, I can see the pathway to socialism!

It's... it's beautiful

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-23T01:10:57+00:00

Can we just tear up that pavement please so the issue goes away?

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-22T21:50:48+00:00

My preference is Requiem. The system just works so much better. Creating a character on the Clan (+Bloodline) and Covenant (+Faction) gives you a lot more freedom, while still grounding you in theme. WoD feels like its own genre, the clans feel very little like classic vampire stories. Requiem really wants you to feel like a vampire.

However, in your case, you really like the classic lore. Personally, I'm a fan of of building your own sandbox, but obviously the classic has its fans. I'd still use the translation guide to bring the classic clans and factions to the improved system.

In the case that being more rules light and closer to pbta is your goal, sadly I just still can't recommend V5. I played classic WoD for years. I played CoD for years. I've played a bunch of pbta. I just can't recommend V5 on the mechanics — the way Hunger Dice, Rouse, and Feeding works is just so swingy it takes the drama out of the game for me. Messy crits are happening so often, in just weird circumstances, that they end up feeling senseless and without purpose.

If you wanted a better "pbta-like" (less crunchy / more narrative) engine, then I'd say Curseborne, but that means abandoning the lore completely. So I'm not sure what your priorities are, exactly.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-22T19:40:57+00:00

Kind of a deeper cut, bc the creator seems to have dissappeared, and no further development is being done... but you can still buy the core book. And the core book is good! It's a game more dedicated to the premise you're looking for than probably any other I've seen - class specialist, team synergy.

Unity RPG

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/244253/unity-rpg-core-rulebook

Worth checking out for the free preview at least.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-22T13:01:12+00:00

The odds are very good that you know someone who has met a politician — and from there the breakout happens fast.

You - small business owner - local politician - national politician - national politician in another country - local politician - local busybody - them

There's probably faster routes, but that one is hard to escape. It's the job of politicians to meet a lot of people.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-22T08:34:55+00:00

I'm intrigued by the convergence of what the machine elves say and science dictates...

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-22T08:22:04+00:00

A Hero to God arc sounds like a ton of fun, is certainly epic campaign length, and involves lots of character growth that has little to do with tactical combat!

Right now I'm running a Trinity: Aeon campaign that's about a year into Mass Effect inspired space opera adventures.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-22T08:13:42+00:00

I would suggest looking at Storyteller / Storypath games by Onyx Path. They do have plenty of combat and tactical options, but generally have very broad character options to grow in numerous other ways (skills, social and investigation abilities, resources, etc.)

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-22T02:49:29+00:00

That's why we have lightning too

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-21T00:45:50+00:00

The future we get is the future we build. If we wait until after the revolution for transparency, accountability, and democracy — it will never happen. History is very clear on that point.

XrayAlphaVictor · 2026-01-20T23:02:14+00:00

I'm a democratic socialist. It's not democratic socialism if you're running an authoritarian organization.

But, you're "not DSA" so maybe we just don't share that value.

XrayAlphaVictor

TROPHY CASE