ANTHEM is an online multiplayer action role-playing video game, developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts, released for several platforms in 2019. While the world-building and movement mechanics of the game were praiseworthy, the grinding gameplay was not well received and the game ceased development and support in 2021.
Which is a real pity, because Anthem had some really fun elements and fascinating potential in its setting. Powered armor? Magic and Technology blended as one? Deep mysteries about the world and the powers that made it the way it is? Radio dramas for people to obsess over?
I really enjoyed my time with ANTHEM, short as it was. I found myself wanting to know more about this world and what other kinds of adventures could be had. I mean, if Neil Blokamp makes a live action trailer for your game, you’re onto something. What kind of pen-n-paper experience could we create to capture the feel of this setting?
Some more background for those not familiar with Anthem, I quote from the wiki:
Set on a fictional planet named Coda, players assume the role of Freelancers, heroic adventurers who wear powerful exosuits (called Javelins) to defend humanity from the threats beyond their cities' walls. The game's title refers to the Anthem of Creation, a powerful and mysterious force responsible for most of the extraordinary technology, phenomena, and threats in the world. … Freelancers rely on the help of Cyphers, individuals who are naturally attuned to the Anthem and use resulting psychic gifts to remotely assist on missions and sense Anthem energy.
While designing the powered-armor of the setting makes me want to get my Mekton books out, I don’t think it’s quite the right system for this setting. It certainly could be done; figuring out how to make mecha designs work is the entire point of the Mekton technical system. But Anthem combines powered-armor heroes, infantry on foot, huge monsters to battle and truly massive supernatural threats to fight. Designing all those and making them playable would be a headache in MTS terms.
Instead, I am tempted to make this a Forged in the Dark style game and here’s my reasoning: In Anthem the video game play was divided into missions in the field, and interactions at your home base with teammates and allies. Materials and knowledge gained in the field during a mission gets turned into upgrades and refits back at base before the next mission. Your connections and resources at your home base inform your mission options and opportunities. Multiple player characters, each a Freelancer in their own right, working individually or together, pooling facilities and assets and sharing connections. This all sounds and feels more like a Blades in the Dark or Band of Blades structured game, doesn’t it? So let's run with that.
First up: Freelancers. A Freelancer character is a combination of traits that represent their prowess in the field, and their relationships and connections, and resources at base. Field skills are used in the Missions phase, while connections and resources are used during the downtime between mission phases. Freelancers track Stress and Traumas; They have XP clocks. They have Connections for their standing with various Factions and NPCs, and Skills which are used both in the Field and otherwise. They have Talents that grant special impact on actions in the field as well as social interactions at Home Base. Their base Resistance dice pools are based on their Skill groups.
Second: Javelins. What Javelin a Freelancer takes on any given mission depends on what they have access to, what the Mission calls for, and so on. The Javelin is really an equipment choice before going on a Mission (almost like a Load choice, since the four base Javelins in the game have different mobility and weapons loadouts), and Javelins should have their own stats to track; each is essentially a mini-character, which is combined with the Freelancer’s skills to make an effective combined unit during the Mission phase. A wealthy Freelancer, or team, could have access to several Javelins, each with its history and stats and options. Javelins would track their speed, power and armor. They have Traits and special abilities and gear options based on their base frame, and can be upgraded in stats, special abilities and what gear options they have. Javelins can suffer temporary conditions, such as overheated, out of ammo, jammed, etc. They can take Harm, and can be disabled, even destroyed.
Third: Home base. This is where the Freelancer(s) eat, sleep, heal up and repair/upgrade their Javelins, as well as plan and prepare for Missions and work their contacts. Home is where you store your loot, where your supporting cast do their work from, downtime is spent, and where the majority of social events occur. Your home base can grow, improve, change, and be affected (even negatively) by world events. Each Home Base should have a ‘character sheet’ representing and recording the resources, assets, progress clocks and status that reflect it. This should function much like the ‘gang’ sheets from Blades in the Dark. Home Bases can have clocks for ongoing activities, Assets for making downtime checks, Resources point pools that fuel downtime activities (repairs, R&D, recovery, etc…), or can be burned to boost Mission engagement rolls.
I imagine that Freelancer teams would choose an initial type of setup at their home base before play begins: this reflects their initial setup and what kinds of missions they already have experience in. From there with experience and materials they can expand facilities and connections and improve their tools and support mechanisms. Adding Striders to their asset pool would extend their mission reach, maybe unlock entire new areas to go on missions in.
Gameplay should have three Phases: Downtime, Mission, and Aftermath. Downtime and Mission should work much as they do in Blades in the Dark; you spend your Downtime to rest up, make connections, get information, interact with NPCs and factions in a social way. Succeeding in Mission objectives could win more Downtime actions (representing more money coming in, as well as material resources that boost productivity).
Missions are when you mount up in your Javelins, make that Engagement roll, and try to achieve your goals. Missions will have primary goals, secondary objectives, and failures that impact during the Aftermath phase. A truly devious game model would present multiple possible Missions choices to take, and force the players to choose which to focus on and which to ignore. Ignoring some Missions might have consequences …
The new phase is the Aftermath; the ‘Find out’ phase of play after your Mission. Missions take time, and life moves on when Freelancers are away. Aftermath is where world and social events are kicked off that affect the next play cycle. NPCs and Factions pursue their goals (clocks), change status. Supporting cast not involved in the Mission report back what their activities resulted in. You may have successfully intercepted the smugglers and gotten that locked chest of artefacts, but what’s actually in that chest and can it help you further your other goals?
Obviously there’s a LOT more to explore and prep before jumping into a FitD style game set in the ANTHEM universe, but there’s a TON of lore already to pull from, and many examples of FitD games to adapt mechanics from (I’ve only referenced Blades in the Dark and Band of Blades but there is a lot of fan made content and published games that run with this style of game play already). I’ll probably come back to this one several more times this year: exploring some character and Javelin options, what a playsheet for a Home Base might look like, and so on.
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