The first action of the game is always very much the same.
Follow this structure closely.
The GM starts the game by describing the beginning of the briefing action. She should describe all the pilots and anchors together, where they’ve been called by the authority figure.
The GM should speak in the voice of the authority fig-ure, who should announce that a group of alien remotes have been spotted approaching the group’s headquar-ters. He should specify that all pilots will be needed for this mission, and that they should suit up as soon as possible. Assign anchors based on which anchors have the strongest relationships with which pilots.
The authority figure should say that each pilot, in turn, will take on a part of this mission. Each pilot has two mission objectives: “Prevent alien from reaching the base”
and “Defeat enemy pilot.” The GM should explain that fail-ing either of these will result in harm to one character of the GM’s choice.
Choosing one pilot to start, close the action by having the appropriate describe prepping the pilot for ANIMa use, and then move on to the mission actions.
After the mission is finished, every player gets a privi-leged interlude action if they want it. From there, move on into more interlude actions or another briefing action.
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2)
3)
4)
5)
Once you’ve set up the action and played it to completion, move to the next section to see how to play out a mission action.
Maria: Okay, so you’re all in the base, doing what it is you would normally do on a day that you have free time. Suddenly, the klaxons start blaring. In the areas where you’ve set up flashing emergency lights, the emergency lights are flash-ing. The base is under attack.
As you run to Jim’s office, which is down on the first floor where the super has an office right now, he’s outside screaming “This is not a drill! This is not a drill!” at the top of his lungs.
“We’re under attack” he screams. “Since we only have one ANIMa rig functioning, you need to spell each other. Josh, I need you suited up and ready to go right away. Anna, you’re next, Sara, you’re last. Jenny and Megan are already near the crech-es set up to anchor you.”
Okay, guys. The mission goals for each of you here are “Prevent the aliens from reaching the base” and “Defeat an enemy pilot.” If you fail either of these, your perimeter is breached and someone will be harmed. If you want to hotshot, you could also take other people’s targets. Ev-erything clear?
Damien: Uh, not exactly ...
Chris: I’m up first, so why don’t you watch me and Phoebe do it and ask us afterward if you still can’t see how it works?
Damine: Sure, okay.
Chris: So I’m tearing off my clothes as I run down into the ANIMa creches, trying to change into my pilot’s suit as quickly as I can.
Phoebe: Megan is totally waiting for you right at the bottom of the stairs, holding out a suit.
“Good luck!” she manages to belt out before you jump into the tank.
Chris: “Roger that!”
Phoebe: I’m testing the radio. “Testing. Testing.
Josh can you hear me?”
Maria: Great. Let’s move into the mission action.
Chapter Summary
The first action of the game is always the same.
It is a briefing action.
The assigned mission is for all pilots, to stop the inva-sion of the base.
Once this mission is done, move into interlude actions or another briefing, whichever you like.
1) 2) 3) 4)
Mission Actions
Mission actions take place largely inside the dream world, featuring a pilot inside his ANIMa attempting to accom-plish something in the dream world, while being guided through the dream by an anchor and challenged by aliens, nightmares, and his own doubts and fears. In the real world, the pilot is half-asleep, put into the trance by the ANIMa technology.
During a mission action, the pilot may succeed or fail at his goals, and the pilot or any of his relationships might be damaged. The dream world may also be transformed and reshaped.
During a mission action, the anchor’s player will guide the pilot’s player step-by-step through the mission, using her character’s voice the entire time. Meanwhile, the pilot’s player will talk back and forth with the anchor using the pilot’s voice, and also describe the pilot’s actions to the group at large. The GM and other players describe the pres-ence and actions of the aliens, local nightmares, and other hostile dream elements. The GM additionally has a role providing difficulty for traumatized pilots.
Mission actions are usually taken strung together back-to-back, as a series. One such series of mission actions (one trip to the dream world) is sometimes called “a mission,”
so when you read that know that it just means “a series of mission actions.”