Jennifer's NEW rules for ANI-MAYHEM The Anime Card Game By Pioneer Entertainment

About The New Rules:

Ani-Mayhem is an anime based collectable card game which features images and personalities from many favorite anime series, such as Ranma ½, Bubblegum Crisis, El-Hazard, and Tenchi Muyo. As an anime otaku, I immediately fell in love with this wonderful card set. The rules for play with the Ani-Mayhem cards, however, I immediately found to be clumsy and ill-conceived. I have found this sentiment echoed in the reviews of many others - great cards, poor game system - and so resolved to redesign and engineer a new, workable game system. The system I present here should, I believe, retain the original intent of the Ani-Mayhem creators, whilst improving upon it. I offer it freely, in the hopes of improving the success of the Ani-Mayhem card set in the marketplace, and the pleasure of other anime otaku like myself. Distribute these rules freely, with my blessing. I retain all acknowledgment to my redesign work, but ask for no compensation save that I be remembered as the creator of these new rules. Enjoy!

Jennifer Diane Reitz

Ani-Mayhem is essentially a simple fantasy role play game in the true sense: unlike other collectable card games in the Magic The Gathering mode, individual characters play a vital role. The characters are grouped into a party, or team, and grow and change throughout the course of play. They may come and go form play, and even switch sides at times. But at the heart of everything are the characters, the loss of which ends play.

Ani-Mayhem is played upon a kind of map, a map created of separate, carefully placed little piles of cards, which are so arranged that they form a playing field, or 'game board' which may take any shape. The field of card-piles may form a grid, or a square ring, or an abstract branching form. In effect the card piles act as squares upon a board game, such as Monopoly, and the players move a token from pile to pile, game 'square' to game 'square' according to a movement allowance.

Like all role playing games, there is aquisition, in this case of items and characters, and combat in it's various guises. There is also the possibilty of total defeat, in which there is no survivor.

The new rules presented here boil down the basic intent of Ani-Mayhem's creators, and simplify it into an easy to play, easy to set-up, quickly enjoyable form. Conflict has been streamlined, the process of creating the playing field simplified, and the interaction of players and cards improved. Superfluous elements have been eliminated, and the new rules permit the player to work from as vast a selection of cards as they should like to collect, encouraging duplications, and eliminating the need to segregate types of cards (such as locations and characters) from one another. Jennifer's Rules permit a quick 'grab a handful of cards and let's play' ease of use, without losing any of the diversity that Ani-Mayhem provides.

The Ani-Mayhem card set consists of six unique types of cards. These card types can be identified by both appearance, and by symbols:

1. Attack Capacity: symbol is a fireball

Important in conflict, a measure of the damage a character can inflict.

2. Defense: symbol is a little shield.

Essentially hit points, a measure of the damage or charm a character can take before perishing or submitting. Defense is restored completely at the end of a player's turn, provided that the character or thing survives the end of the turn. If Defense reaches zero or below, a character is slain, unless restored in some fashion before the end of the player's turn. Slain characters are removed from play, and count against the players score at the end of the game. When a character is lost, all cards associated with the character are also lost.

3. Movement : symbol is six arrows radiating.

The number of game 'squares' or card-piles that a party of characters can traverse in one turn of play.

4. Charm: symbol is little red lips.

A form of non-violent 'attack' used to subdue or control a character or situation. In these new rules, charm is applied versus defense and can be used against anything that has a defense statistic. If succesful, charm allows the victor to control the target for the rest of the players turn.

5. Energy: symbol is a little four pointed star.

A basic minimum requirement for the use of certain cards.

Item cards can be identified by a tan border, and a gray sidebar on the left. The collection of these cards is one of the goals of the game, and they can also sometimes be used as tools as well.

Power cards come in four varieties, but all can be identified by the presence of a bright orange sphere in the upper left corner. Three of the varieties are blue in border, and the last is a blotchy green and red. The varieties are:

Power Enhancement:

Orange sphere features blue 'chevron' (downward pointing arrowhead) symbol. These cards permanently alter a character. Once used, they are forever associated with that character alone, and are lost with that character. They cannot be given to another character, once placed.

Power Global Effect:

Orange sphere features blue 'starburst' symbol. These cards affect ALL the characters belonging to one player. If there is no time limit, the effect continues indefinitely, or until eliminated.

Power Flash:

Orange sphere features blue 'lightning bolt' symbol. One shot cards that produce a singular effect. May require that the character using them possess a required minimum 'energy' statistic. These cards are immediately discarded after use.

Power Tool:

Orange sphere features blue 'wrench' symbol. These cards are 'equipped' to a character, and can be exchanged and re-equipped amongst characters.

Location cards are green in color, and feature a circular window which depicts a place, realm, or zone. Some location cards may feature a symbol in the lower left portion of the 'window'. The symbol indicates a 'special' location. Known special locations include other planets (a small cratered moon is the symbol), and other universes (a square, twisting spiral). These locations are unique in that they require transportation, TOOLS, or special abilities to SCAVENGE (enter), or rest on (end movement upon) them. It should be noted that player parties can still freely pass across such cards, even if they cannot rest upon them. Any CHARACTER that has one of these unique symbols (such as the dimension symbol) may freely SCAVENGE or rest upon these LOCATIONS, provided no other requirements exist.

Some locations are 'HAVENS' which are marked by a small castle symbol and a faceted 'window'. HAVENS often have special benefits for the party. In Jennifer's Rules, HAVENS are safe from conflict, and battle, by attack or charm, cannot occur 'on' them. They are 'safe spots' or sanctuaries.

Disaster cards are mottled red and yellow, and feature an orange sphere in the upper left corner. The sphere may have one of two symbols upon it, a 'D' or a 'D!'. the exclamation point indicated a major disaster. Disasters are troubles which affect the game in a multitude of ways.

All cards possess instructions and special conditions that must be read and dealt with.

Ani-Mayhem can be played either solitaire or with a group of friends, but the goal remains essentially the same: to collect as many ITEM cards as possible, and finish with as many living CHARACTERS as possible. An additional goal in group play can be to thwart and destroy other players plans, kill off or steal away their CHARACTERS, steal their ITEMS, and generally wreck havoc to benefit one's own interests.

Grab out random fistfuls of cards from what is assuredly your vast collection. Shuffle the cards, which should be in standard (as purchased) proportions without regard to type or kind. When all cards are sufficiently randomized (mathematically, seven shuffles achieves true randomness), you are ready to begin the set up.

First, you must build your game universe. This can be started in a number of ways: allow one player to do the job, let players take turns adding 'areas', or just dig in. Take about three cards (could be four or even five, whatever you find best, but less than three is boring, but many makes the game very long) and place the small stack neatly face down. Take another such stack, and place it neatly face down to the north, south, east, or west of the first stack. Continue this process until the players are satisfied that a sufficient game 'board' has been created. Your finished effort may make a big square ring of card stacks, or a cross, or the letter 'F' or some branching tree-shape. The more stacks your game 'universe' has, the longer the game. Ten stacks offers about twenty to thirty minutes of play.

Grab a deck-sized mass of your fully randomized cards, and set them down as an initial 'draw' pile. After the game begins, you will not need a draw pile any longer. Each player draws out seven cards. If a player has a DISASTER or LOCATION card in their hand, these are immediately discarded and new cards drawn to replace them. The only cards that the player should start with are CHARACTER, POWER, ITEM, or COMBAT cards.

It is required that each player have at LEAST ONE character card to begin the game. If any player has not yet drawn a character card, then effort must continue, one way or another until a character is found. If necessary, just sort through some spare cards until a character is found. How it is achieved is not important.

This initial situation is the beginning of the game. Each player should now have at least one character card placed in front of them, face up for all to see, and a number of other non-disaster, non-location cards on hand. It is possible, and permissible to hide or display these cards as desired. As a player prefers. Hiding them adds to suspense, leaving them visible makes play easier.

The players should have their cards organized, and have between them the 'game universe' of card piles, all carefully arranged. Each pile is a 'place', a fragment of the Shattered AniVerse, and the players will soon go exploring this makeshift 'gameboard'.

The 'draw' pile is put aside, it's job is finished. Alternatively, if it is desired, the 'draw' pile can be retained, and a player may sacrifice a turn to draw from the draw pile. This can be useful if a player becomes stuck, or the lack of a draw pile can add to the danger and risk of the choices in the game.

Another interesting thing to do, is to use any LOCATION cards found during the setup of the game as additional 'known' places on the 'board' (layout of card piles). Just set them down as appropriate.

Each player uses a token (a pebble, a bottlecap, a little inch high vinyl super-deformed anime character model - which I prefer!- or even a chess piece or monopoly artifact) adjacent to one card pile, or 'place' on the game universe of card piles. This token represents the physical location of a players entire party of characters (or singular character) and is used during MOVEMENT.

Phases Of Play

There are only FOUR simple phases of play per turn in Jennifer's Ani-Mayhem Rules. They are:

1. DRESS-UP TIME:

It's time to play dress-up! Equip your characters with power suits, dress those boys in women's clothing, transform those shapeshifters, and add POWER ENHANCEMENTS to permanently boost your characters. Tweak and fiddle about, till everything is SWELL! Any reference to 'EQUIP' on the cards refers to this phase. The name has been changed both for the sake of anime-style cuteness, and to reflect a wider interpretation of this phase.

2. MOVEMENT:

in which the player may move the token that represents their party of characters and artifacts. The token moves from 'game universe' card pile to card-pile, as though they were squares on a monopoly board. Movement is limited by the MOVEMENT statistic of the SLOWEST character in the party, unless the party is riding in a vehicle or using some strange form of transport. MOVEMENT can occur across, or end upon, any 'square' (card ) with only one exception: if the 'square' on the 'board' (game universe) is a LOCATION card, displaying a cratered moon symbol (a space LOCATION) or a twisting square symbol (alternate universe or dimension), it may not be stopped upon, but only MOVED across - unless the appropriate TOOL or ability is available. Parties can move in any direction, including diagonally.

3. SCAVENGE:

in which the player may now turn over the topmost Ani-Mayhem card of the card-pile they have 'landed' upon. If the card discovered is anything EXCEPT a DISASTER or a LOCATION, the player may take the card and add it to their party. Then the player may repeat this action again. If, however, the player should discover a DISASTER or a LOCATION card, then the process stops. Now the player must deal with this fact. If the interruption is eliminated, SCAVENGING may continue.

4. SCRAMBLE!:

The player's party of characters must now find a way to deal with whatever bizarre circumstance they now face. If they have run across a DISASTER, then the disaster always attacks or befalls them FIRST. The player may have an attack aimed at them, and must block or mitigate the damage, lest a character perish. The player can choose which character is in immediate danger, and the party works as a team. For example, four characters may be faced with an attacking monster. The player decides who can best survive the attack and chooses them as the endangered character. All available resources may be then used to protect that character, and as many cards played as are available.

The party may be used to gang up on a threat or threats, divide up against several targets, and any available cards may be played as desired. All action is simultaneous, and when all cards are played, the results are then totaled up. In this process, a character may receive fatal damage, be instantly restored by a card, return the attack in kind, and prevail.

That's it! Just Four simple phases per player turn: DRESS-UP, MOVEMENT, SCAVENGE, and SCRAMBLE. Fun, and funny. Please note that while these phases are distinct from each other and may not be blended together, they may be played IN ANY SEQUENCE. Want to MOVE, then DRESS-UP, then SCAVENGE? You are free to do so. Of course, since SCRAMBLE is a reactive phase, it is determined by outside events. Thus it becomes a matter of strategy as to how one should time the other four phases.

1. Player one (solitaire or group) begins the game with one CHARACTER and two ITEMS, a pair of COMBAT cards, and a few POWER cards. One of the POWER cards is a POWER ENHANCEMENT, so player one calls DRESS-UP TIME, and permanently associates the ENHANCEMENT with the CHARACTER. A good way of doing this is to place the ENHANCEMENT card under the CHARACTER card, so that the bottom of the ENHANCEMENT shows below the CHARACTER card, as a reminder. Player one also has a POWER TOOL, a Bubblegum Crisis Hardsuit, and equips the CHARACTER with it. DRESS-UP phase is now over.
2. Player one now thinks about MOVEMENT, and moves two 'squares' ,or card-piles, across the 'game universe' or 'game board' if you will. MOVEMENT is done.
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3. Player one now enters SCAVENGE phase, and turns over the top card of the pile they are now 'on'. The card is an ITEM, so player one takes it. Player one now has a score of FOUR. Why? One point for one living CHARACTER, two points for the two ITEMS player one started with at the beginning, and one more point for the ITEM just SCAVENGED. Player one has no dead CHARACTERS, so no subtraction (minus one point each) of points occurs. This is why player one has a score of four.
4. Player one turns the next card over as SCAVENGE phase continues. This time, the card is a DISASTER.
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5. SCRAMBLE time! There is a DISASTER afoot! SCAVENGE phase is interrupted!
6. The DISASTER is an attacking monstrosity of some sort, and immediately attacks. The attack does enough damage to kill player one's character, so Player one is desperate for a solution. Player one searches the COMBAT card pair, and discovers that one of them has the ability to increase the DEFENSE statistic. This will save (just barely!) player one's character. Player one uses, then discards the COMBAT card.
7. Fortunately, one of the ITEMS that player one started the game with, has the power, if discarded, to damage the monstrosity. Player one uses the precious item, adds their own CHARACTER'S attack to the damage delivered and the DISASTER is gone. SCRAMBLE time is over.
8. Now, SCAVENGE phase may continue, because the DISASTER was eliminated. If the DISASTER had not been defeated, it would serve to block further SCAVENGING.
9. What if the DISASTER had been a LOCATION, instead? Then the player and party would have to cope with the LOCATION instead. Once either of these card types is encountered, SCAVENGE ends, until the card is dealt with. DISASTERS must generally be defeated, while LOCATIONS act as gates, requiring a specific TOOL or skill set to 'enter' and SCAVENGE beneath. Some LOCATIONS may also be attacked and stormed, as well.
10. One important difference between a DISASTER and a LOCATION: a DISASTER, once defeated, is discarded, but LOCATIONS are essentially permanent. They remain (unless destroyed) as a permanent 'square' on the 'board' but may not be 'entered' (say, to SCAVENGE what is beneath them in the card-pile), or passed through, unless certain requirements are met. Note that some LOCATIONS occasionally have no requirements, and are thus not a problem at all.
11. Player one now has a score of THREE. One point for one living character, two points for the remaining ITEMS in stock. Player one has lost a point, but is still in the game!
12. Now, it would be player two's turn, or if this is a solitaire game, repeat the sequence anew.

Of course, it should be noted that, should two parties land on the same 'square' or card-pile, that they could attack one another, if they wished, either directly, or through CHARM (CHARM plus any enhancements versus DEFENCE, with the winner choosing to, say, force a CHARACTER to obey for the current turn, such as give up all equipped TOOLS associated with it). They could also trade ITEMS, or CHARACTERS, if they so desired.

If a player takes the last card in a pile on the 'game universe board' that leaves a blank and empty hole in the structure. What then? I suggest that such a move CUTS the path, making further MOVEMENT impossible, except by starship, or dimension travel, or similar means. Thus taking or leaving such a card becomes a strategic decision, with possibly serious consequences. Should the last card be left face up or down? It's up to the SCAVENGER. If a player removes the last card, they remain 'floating in subspace' until their next turn, whereupon they can move freely out of the newly made 'hole'.

When is the game over? Easy. When there is no place left to SCAVENGE, and/or there are no more legal moves left. At this point, all characters are considered to head on home, the quest is over, and it's time to total up the score and party.

HEY! Everybody DIED! NOBODY WON at ALL! Yeah, so? This was a part of the original design by Pioneer, is intrinsic to the possibilities within the game, and is a bit of danger to spice things up. Try to play well enough that this does not happen. Besides, you can still determine a post-mortum winner. 'Dead, but victorious!'

If there is any confusion over combat in the game by players new to these concepts, simply look upon the process as attempting to beat one number value with a higher value. Be the exchange one of damage, say ATTACK statistics (plus any additive bonuses) versus DEFENSE statistics and their bonuses (if any), or the same using CHARM versus DEFENSE, the overall process is to total all the numbers, and who or whatever has the highest sum, wins. It is really pretty straightforward, really. Of additional note is the Jennifer rule about the control of opponent actions for one turn after a succesful CHARM attack - making for some devilish gameplay. It is interesting that it would be theoretically possible to conquer all threats by CHARM alone, and never attack anyone during a game. That makes Ani-Mayhem possibly the first collectible card game that offers a complete alternative to violence. Hail the power of cute!

Whosoever has the highest score at the end of the game wins. Score is totaled thus, with one point awarded for each:

1. Living CHARACTER in player's party.
2. ITEM in stock at end of game.

One point is subtracted for each:

1. Dead CHARACTER in the player's keeping - dead CHARACTERS are not discarded, but are allowed to pile up, to be counted against one. Gruesome, huh?

The final total determines the final score for each player, with the highest score winning. In a solitaire game, play for a set point value, such as, say ten points or more, or try to beat your last score. Or play just to survive.

Alterations And Details Not Otherwise Covered So Far:

The play system outlined above should provide a decent framework for more enjoyably using the Ani-Mayhem card set. However, it is not meant to be all- inclusive, nor all-explanatory. The user is invited to use what parts of the original Pioneer rules that they deem desirable: for instance the idea of a character being considered 'bonked' (out of action for one turn) if they lose all their DEFENSE (hit points) in one turn, yet are saved before the turn is over, thus avoiding death.

The PARLAY rule for multiplayer games (wherein a player-party may invite another player-party to leap one 'square' to join them, and if accepted each may make one demand of the other) is slightly modified. In Jennifer's Rules, the demands may not be refused on any grounds, and a charm battle need not be waged. Additionally, in these rules, PARLAY has no distance limit whatsoever, so that a party may leap across the 'universe' to join a PARLAY. Further, a player may perform multiple PARLAY invitations, one per player, if desired. PARLAY, if invoked uses up the entire turn of the player who invokes it: the 'called' player-parties who accept are moved, but suffer no loss of turn.

In Jennifer's rules, the requirement that only ONE of each CHARACTER or LOCATION be allowed is voided: if there are five Ranma Saotome's in play, then each is considered to have come from a parallel universe (or AniVerse!) and much fun may be had of their interaction with each other (what would happen if Ranma-Kun seduced Ranma-Chan? Let's find out!).

I hope that my efforts improve the players enjoyment of the Ani-Mayhem card set. I believe the cards to be of excellent value and beauty, and worthy of marketplace success. However, not all individuals are good game designers, and can often fall into the trap of over-complicating design. This is what I believe happened to the rules provided with the Ani-Mayhem card set. I felt there was a great game begging to be let out of that initial attempt, and have done my best to point the way. I hope that you, the player will find my game re-design of worth.

As has been mentioned, I give these rules freely to all players, everywhere. Spread them about, hither and yon, as you see fit. I would be pleased to find them the standard in time, but we shall see.

A special note to the creators of Ani-Mayhem, and Pioneer:

Please feel free, if you are so inclined, to publish, print, re-write and otherwise have free use of this document and it's intellectual contents. If you are feeling generous, and find my re-design of value, the only compensation I would ask, other than a note that I originated this version, would be a complimentary complete set of all Ani-Mayhem cards. Ultimately, my purpose is only to increase the probability that Ani-Mayhem will succeed: it really is a beautiful product.

Jennifer Diane Reitz