10.6 Power Slots

This section offers some modifications to the basic game. This optional system of powers alters and in some cases replaces the Core, Soulbound Weapon, and Summoning powers and how they work. It provides for an alternative if you want your Anima Prime game to play differently from the standard version, and I suggest having played the standard version first before you decide to try this variation.

Having permanent powers for each character has certain advantages: it is simple and streamlined, it allows players to focus more on maneuvers and goals, and it gives each character a particular style and niche. However, I know that some players would rather have the ability to change their powers around during the game, and some source materials and settings fit well with this approach.

For those cases, here’s a system of changeable and leveling powers. You’re going to have to do some work to make it fit exactly what you’re looking for, but it might just be worth it if this is your preferred way to play.

In the setting and story of your game, there should be a reason why powers work this way: characters with powers could be cyborgs with different add-on modules, people infused with magical gems that can be collected and traded, and so on.

Slots

When using this variant, characters do not select their powers at character creation. Instead, they have a certain number of slots for powers. I suggest 5 slots as a good starting number, though you could start lower and use seed-based or other character advancement to add slots to characters during your story, up to a certain limit.

Placing a power in a slot is called equipping the power. Each power can only be equipped once by a character. For example, you cannot equip Resilience in two separate slots to gain its benefit twice. Changing one or more assigned powers is added to the list of possible character scene benefits.

Power Modules

In order to equip a power, the character must possess a power module for it. I suggest that the group as a whole has a stash of power modules to use between them. If there aren’t enough modules to go around for everybody, some slots might have to remain unfilled until you gain more modules. Only one character can equip a particular module at any one time, but of course you can have duplicates (for example, you could have 3 Resilience modules that the characters can share among them).

PCs gain new modules from a certain source (powerful demons, enemy cyborg units, etc.). The source depends on your setting. You’ll need to figure out, just like with the optional item mechanics above, how often they gain new modules, whether there are rare and common ones, and so on.
One additional suggestion I have would be to change PCs’ starting ratings to defense 2 and 2 wound circles due to the limitations and potential of leveled powers.

Leveled Powers

First, I suggest not using Summoning and Soulbound Weapon powers in this system at all. They don’t quite fit in here and can create all sorts of complications.

In addition, taking powers multiple times is replaced by adding levels to a power module. Each new level is in addition to the effects of the previous ones unless otherwise noted (usually with “instead”).

The powers that are available come in 3 levels each (you could add more levels, but 3 is a good manageable number). When the PCs start out, the powers they have at their disposal are all at the first level. The PCs can take collected modules and combine them with each other to create new modules, either with new powers or of a raised level.

The way in which this combining works is up to you. The simplest way is to allow players to sacrifice a certain number of modules to create a module of the next-higher level of any of the kinds used in the combination. For example, you could combine Resilience, Toughness, and Blaze to create either Resilience II, Toughness II, or Blaze II. You’d need 3 powers of level 2 to create a level 3 power. The three modules used to create the new one are always used up in the process.

A more complicated approach would involve tables showing the outcome of particular combinations. This is useful if you’ve got rare powers that are hard to come by and hard to level up, but it’s also much more involved.

All of the levels of each power should be determined beforehand, so that you know what you’re getting. With some of the powers, that’s easy:

Resilience
Raise your character’s defense by 1.
Level 2: Your character’s defense is raised by 2 instead.
Level 3: Your character’s defense is raised by 3 instead.

Charge powers benefit from leveling by netting additional bonus dice, lowering the cost, or applying to other kinds of adversity. For example:

Blaze
Type: Strike
Cost: 3 Charge Dice
Effect: This strike is now fire-based. You gain 4 bonus dice to roll in this strike against an individual, 3 against a squad, or 2 against a swarm. Blaze cannot be combined with electricity- or frost-based powers and weapon effects.
Level 2: Add an additional bonus die to your strike roll.
Level 3: Lower the cost to 2 charge dice.

Some of them can even change in other ways:

Resistance to Fire
Your character’s defense counts as 2 points higher against fire-based strikes (charged or weapon effect).
Level 2: Your defense counts as 4 points higher instead.
Level 3: You gain 2 action dice when a fire-based strike is used against you.

Creating a complete system of leveled powers will take some time, and it will depend quite a bit on your setting and your desire for levels of complexity as well (which is why I’m not laying it out completely here). But I figure that it’ll be worth it for several of you out there, so good luck, and if you like, post your systems in public for other players to look at and maybe make use of.