Enter the Animus: Exploring the Assassin’s Creed Roleplaying Game
The Assassin Brotherhood has been waging a secret war against their sworn enemy, the Templar Order, for thousands of years. The Templars aim to create a “perfect society” ruled by order and discipline, a goal that is in direct opposition to the ideals of the Brotherhood, which strives to defend the free will of humankind.
A tool for the Brotherhood to regain lost ground in the war is the Animus device, technology stolen from the Templars which allows for the exploration of memories encoded in human DNA. Using the Animus, the Assassin Brotherhood has a chance to locate the Pieces of Eden, extremely rare and powerful technological artifacts left behind by an ancient civilization.
That is the setting of Assassin’s Creed©, which you will explore in our upcoming Roleplaying Game that will be available to pre-order on September 5th!
Creating a roleplaying game for Assassin’s Creed©, generated great excitement in the development team, but also, as expected, lots of questions. How would we transpose such complex lore that encompasses so many characters across different locations and timeframes to the tabletop?
So, a custom system was created by Max Castellani and Andrea Macchi, overseen by our Head of RPGs, Francesco Nepitello. The Assassin's Creed RPG uses the Match System, an original set of rules using 2 sets of 6 custom dice (also available as a digital dice roller on the official and free Assassin’s Creed RPG App).
This system focuses on promoting fast-paced, fiction-first gameplay. Characters choose how they want to approach situations, calling into play 1 of the 4 areas of competence listed on their Character Files. The 4 areas of competence are Action, Stealth, Wits, and Social. The higher the number on their sheet, the more difficult it is for the character, as the player has to roll that number or higher to succeed. Activating a character’s signature traits, gear, or quote (if appropriate) can help them roll extra dice, though!
As a player, you play the role of a modern-day character, the last Descendant of a lineage comprising one or more members of the Assassin Brotherhood. Possibly even one of the iconic assassins from the videogame series! When you enter the Animus, you take part in a Simulation, a three-dimensional virtual reality world reconstructing a significant event in the history of the Brotherhood. In the Simulation, you assume the role of your Ancestor or of another key Witness to the event, a character represented in the game by a card from the Animi Network Card Deck (or by a virtual card on the Assassin’s Creed RPG App).
During a Simulation, the abilities of your character are replaced by those of the Ancestor or Witness they are synchronizing with. Players won’t be playing a single character, but most likely several different ones across different sessions as they explore different events of the past. They will employ skills which are not solely their own, and will have the opportunity to bring those skills in the Modern Day to continue their fight with a newfound special edge.
The past itself will be an infinite canvas, as the Reader (the GM) may carry the characters in adventures across the world and its history, at the same time keeping a unified, epic narrative. With simple game mechanics, the Match System encourages players to express their creativity freely and add to the story and the game world itself.
This is an RPG, a game where your strongest allies are creativity and imagination. So, now more than ever, nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
Sign up to discover your ancestor and be notified at launch HERE!
