The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book (mercifully, Sailor Moon from here on out) is, without a doubt in my mind, the best game of its type. But wait - it is the only game of its type. Granted, there have been plenty of anime RPGs in the past, but they've mostly been restricted to the mecha genre (Bubblegum Crisis, Robotech) or more rarely the humor genre (Project A-Ko). The whole "magical girl" thing hasn't been touched, presumably because publishers didn't think it appealed enough to the mostly-male, western gaming market.

Hopefully, this gets to set them wrong, because it's a fine product, being the first supplement for Big Eyes, Small Mouth... sort of, since you really don't need BESM to play. Naturally, it doesn't have much in the way of competition, but it is far above and beyond BESM, coming off as a much more professional work. Which isn't to knock BESM, mind you - but Sailor Moon is that much better.

The initial parts of the book describe the genre, give a summary of the series. This is problematic, of course - you can't really get a feel for a series like this without actually watching it, but a good attempt is made to summarize all the important events. Next comes the standard 'What is Role-Playing' blurb. My only complaint with it being the comparison of RPGs to children's games... I think it's a terribly overused description of RPGs, and a poor one to boot.

Next comes character creation. For those of you whom have played BESM, it follows BESM rather closely, save for the inclusion of genre-specific attributes and defects. For those of you whom have not, the system is simple three attributes - Body, Mind, and Soul - are rolled up, or points are assigned for them, as your GM desires. Aside from that, attributes cover every other aspect of one's character, and there are always defects, which provide points for more attributes. Nothing groundbreaking, but where such a system is typically tacked onto character creation (like in the Storyteller system), here it is the focus of it. Everything is done simply, and the wide variety of character possibilities (including villain characters) is a nice touch.

Next is a listing of the characters from the series. There are stats for most of the characters from the early seasons, but others simply get quick summaries (like many side characters). This is done well, with a lot of detail... I would have liked some roleplaying tips for those of us whom have only limited access to the series, but other than that, almost everything you'd want to know on the Sailor Scouts and the early villains is here. Though, of course, undoubtedly the supplements will have 'updated' versions of the same characters from the later seasons. There's a color insert for the characters as well, containing pics of the characters given stats.

Next comes rules, which is possibly the shortest section of the book. Almost everything is simply 'roll under your attribute' on six-sided dice. It's very simple, and hard-core 'detail' gamers are suggested to either port this to another system, or be ready to run it with pages of house rules. Personally, I find the entire thing simple enough that it makes it very tempting to run it diceless rather than use dice at all.

The next chapter details the setting, and it's nicely thorough, with information on Japan, Tokyo, a full list of locations from the series, a timeline, several alternate settings, and a short bit on Japanese school. It's one of the areas of the book I keep looking back to, since it's vital to running a game - and I'm rather impressed. While I recommend picking up some books on Japanese culture nonetheless, they do a very good job with this chapter.

Next follows the GM section. This is well done, if a bit short, with good tips on how to run a Sailor Moon game. It also has rules for creating monsters - nice, but the random monster creation doesn't strike me as something I'll use a whole lot.

The rest is a simple miscellany, ranging from the opening song lyrics to an episode guide. Not much to be said on this, other than that it's a fine addition that rounds out the book.

Overall, this is a very impressive book. While the subject material obviously won't be for every gamer, if you appreciate the anime at all, this is a great game, with plenty of useful information. And, it at least earns points in my book for touching the subject matter, something even most other so-called 'generic' anime systems have barely even touched upon.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book
Author: Mark C. Mackinnon Category: game Company/Publisher: Guardians of Order Cost: $24.95 Page count: 200 ISBN: 0968243118 Playtest Review by Julian J. Kuleck on 02/04/99. Genre tags: Modern_day Anime Asian/Far_East	The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book (mercifully, Sailor Moon from here on out) is, without a doubt in my mind, the best game of its type. But wait - it is the only game of its type. Granted, there have been plenty of anime RPGs in the past, but they've mostly been restricted to the mecha genre (Bubblegum Crisis, Robotech) or more rarely the humor genre (Project A-Ko). The whole "magical girl" thing hasn't been touched, presumably because publishers didn't think it appealed enough to the mostly-male, western gaming market. Hopefully, this gets to set them wrong, because it's a fine product, being the first supplement for Big Eyes, Small Mouth... sort of, since you really don't need BESM to play. Naturally, it doesn't have much in the way of competition, but it is far above and beyond BESM, coming off as a much more professional work. Which isn't to knock BESM, mind you - but Sailor Moon is that much better. The initial parts of the book describe the genre, give a summary of the series. This is problematic, of course - you can't really get a feel for a series like this without actually watching it, but a good attempt is made to summarize all the important events. Next comes the standard 'What is Role-Playing' blurb. My only complaint with it being the comparison of RPGs to children's games... I think it's a terribly overused description of RPGs, and a poor one to boot. Next comes character creation. For those of you whom have played BESM, it follows BESM rather closely, save for the inclusion of genre-specific attributes and defects. For those of you whom have not, the system is simple three attributes - Body, Mind, and Soul - are rolled up, or points are assigned for them, as your GM desires. Aside from that, attributes cover every other aspect of one's character, and there are always defects, which provide points for more attributes. Nothing groundbreaking, but where such a system is typically tacked onto character creation (like in the Storyteller system), here it is the focus of it. Everything is done simply, and the wide variety of character possibilities (including villain characters) is a nice touch. Next is a listing of the characters from the series. There are stats for most of the characters from the early seasons, but others simply get quick summaries (like many side characters). This is done well, with a lot of detail... I would have liked some roleplaying tips for those of us whom have only limited access to the series, but other than that, almost everything you'd want to know on the Sailor Scouts and the early villains is here. Though, of course, undoubtedly the supplements will have 'updated' versions of the same characters from the later seasons. There's a color insert for the characters as well, containing pics of the characters given stats. Next comes rules, which is possibly the shortest section of the book. Almost everything is simply 'roll under your attribute' on six-sided dice. It's very simple, and hard-core 'detail' gamers are suggested to either port this to another system, or be ready to run it with pages of house rules. Personally, I find the entire thing simple enough that it makes it very tempting to run it diceless rather than use dice at all. The next chapter details the setting, and it's nicely thorough, with information on Japan, Tokyo, a full list of locations from the series, a timeline, several alternate settings, and a short bit on Japanese school. It's one of the areas of the book I keep looking back to, since it's vital to running a game - and I'm rather impressed. While I recommend picking up some books on Japanese culture nonetheless, they do a very good job with this chapter. Next follows the GM section. This is well done, if a bit short, with good tips on how to run a Sailor Moon game. It also has rules for creating monsters - nice, but the random monster creation doesn't strike me as something I'll use a whole lot. The rest is a simple miscellany, ranging from the opening song lyrics to an episode guide. Not much to be said on this, other than that it's a fine addition that rounds out the book. Overall, this is a very impressive book. While the subject material obviously won't be for every gamer, if you appreciate the anime at all, this is a great game, with plenty of useful information. And, it at least earns points in my book for touching the subject matter, something even most other so-called 'generic' anime systems have barely even touched upon. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)