Anima represents a character’s connection to The Veil and their capacity to interact with magic.
Anima is an Attribute and is used by several magical systems.
- Spellcasting uses Anima as part of the casting test.
- A Spellcaster’s safe Strain limit equals their Anima.
- Mystics gain Power Points equal to their Anima.
- Some supernatural effects may also use or affect Anima directly.
Anima can be reduced by cyberware, supernatural effects, and other sources. Unlike Strain, which represents temporary magical stress, Anima loss represents a weakening of the character’s connection to their soul.
Reduced Anima
When Anima is reduced, immediately recalculate anything based on its current value.
If a Mystic no longer has enough Power Points to support all of their Mystic Powers, they must choose enough powers to lose access to until their total Power Point cost no longer exceeds their available Power Points.
Anima may be reduced fractionally. Whenever Anima is used as an Attribute or to calculate another game value, round the current value down unless a rule states otherwise.
Example: A Mystic has Anima 12 and has learned 12 Power Points worth of Mystic Powers. They install cyberware that reduces their Anima by 2.5, leaving them with Anima 9.5. Their Anima counts as 9 when determining game values, so they now have only 9 available Power Points. They must choose at least 3 Power Points worth of Mystic Powers to lose access to.
Zero Anima
A character whose Anima reaches 0 completely loses their connection to their soul.
What they become depends on the cause of the loss:
- A character reduced to 0 Anima through cyberware becomes a Cyberzombie.
- A character reduced to 0 Anima through another source becomes a Husk.
Cyberzombies and Husks may remain biologically alive, but no longer possess the metaphysical connection represented by Anima.
A character who reaches 0 Anima is no longer a player character and becomes an NPC under the Game Master’s control.