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A thousand years ago, our moon was home to a great civilization ruled by Queen Serenity. Everything was peaceful until the arrival of the evil Queen Beryl. To conquer the moon, Queen Beryl unleashed the awesome power of the Negaforce. Although her world was destroyed, Queen Serenity's last hope was the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal and the Crescent Moon Wand. Frozen in moon beam crystals, the Queen sent the Princess and the children of the moon to the future on Earth. Their memories lost to them all, the Queen's cat advisors, Luna and Artemis, must find the Princess so she will at last be safe.
And so our story begins...

-- Narrator First Episode of Sailor Moon (American Edition)

The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book, written and designed by Mark MacKinnon, is the second game from Guardians of Order ( http://www.guardiansorder.on.ca ), a new game publishing company from Ontario, Canada.

The background of the book is based, for the most part, on the American version of the Japanese anime Bishojo Senshi Sailormoon ("Pretty Soldier Sailormoon"), which is in turn based on the popular magical girl manga (graphic novels) of the same name by the immensely popular Naoko Takeuchi. With the recent inclusion of Sailor Moon in Cartoon Network's Toonami lineup (weekdays at 4pm) and Mixx Entertainment's release of an English-translated version of the original manga, the story of Sailor Moon and her fellow Sailor Scouts has become extremely popular throughout the country, both with it's intended audience of early-teenage girls, as well as with men and women of all ages.

The book itself retails for $24.95US, and comes in at 200 pages and includes a 16-page, full-color photo gallery of the show's major characters. Included are detailed summaries and episode guides of the two seasons available in the United States, as well as information on the rest of the series currently unreleased to American viewers. In fact, the majority of the book is background material, including everything from the original character's Japanese names to the people behind the voices. Disregarding the role-playing game still makes this book a valuable and comprehensive resource for all Sailor Moon fans.

The game itself is very simple, especially if using any of the characters shown in the television series. Thirty-five pages of the book detail everything needed to play everyone from the cool-headed Sailor Mercury to the pint-sized, either-love-her-or-hate-her Rini. Game play is based on the Tri Stat System, which was first developed for Guardian of Order's previous release, Big Eyes Small Mouth, which bills itself as a universal Japanese anime role-playing game. The majority of rolls are based against a character's main stats of Body, Mind and Soul. Additionally, there are the requisite Health Points, as well as Energy Points, used to power the various supernatural abilities which give the magical girl genre it's flavor.

Rounding out the list of important stats are the Attack and Defense Combat Values. There are Character Attributes and other Sub-Attributes, but for the most part, these are only used to modify the above-mentioned Stats and Derived Values. All of this is done in order to keep the Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game as simple and clean as possible, and does so very well. In fact, the game mechanics section of the book occupies a mere eight pages of the book, making it a prime example of brevity.

With such a simple and light system, The Sailor Moon RPG emphasizes plot, action and player enjoyment over detailed rules and dice rolls . However, as with most story-based systems, while players will enjoy themselves even with little or no gaming background, experience Game Masters are advised to helm an adventure.

If players wish to create original characters, they may do so. Character creation rules are more complicated due to the author's wish to balance powers with plot, and therefore take up around 35 pages of the book, which includes the extensive list of powers, attributes and defects that make up your typical (or atypical) Sailor Moon character. Character creation involves slightly more initial point calculation than other systems, though not by much, in order to create simple, derived values which speed game play later.

Due to the sharp decreases in the overall gaming population in recent years, there has been much talk about how to bring new gamers into the hobby. The Sailor Moon RPG has a rich background which appeals to younger gamers. The background is extremely popular with young women, whom have been neglected for the most part by many role-playing games over the years. With an experienced Game Master, the Sailor Moon RPG has been successfully run with players from both genders, as well as with those in their late forties to players as young as six years old. Many people who would never have looked at role-playing games before have been introduced to the hobby through a friendly, light game such as Sailor Moon.

In the end, when there is a game based on an established title, such as Star Wars, Babylon 5 or Sailor Moon, there is a concern as to how accurately a game models not only accepted facts about it's subject, but the "feel" as well. In this aspect, the Sailor Moon RPG does so successfully, with a game system as fun, fast and furious as the television show itself, without loosing either the humor or drama that comes with it.

Overall, the Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book makes an excellent guide to the television's most successful Japanese magical girl anime series, making it useful even for those only interested in the show itself. In the hands of an experienced Game Master, the role-playing game can be a wonderful introduction for those new to the gaming experience, as well as fast-paced, light fun for those well versed in the world of RPGs.

Go out. Buy this book. Sailor Moon Says...

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resources Book
Author: Mark C. MacKinnon Category: game Company/Publisher: Guardians of Order Cost: 24.95 Page count: 200 ISBN: 0-9682431-1-8 Capsule Review by Derek Meister on 02/28/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Comedy Anime Asian/Far_East	A thousand years ago, our moon was home to a great civilization ruled by Queen Serenity. Everything was peaceful until the arrival of the evil Queen Beryl. To conquer the moon, Queen Beryl unleashed the awesome power of the Negaforce. Although her world was destroyed, Queen Serenity's last hope was the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal and the Crescent Moon Wand. Frozen in moon beam crystals, the Queen sent the Princess and the children of the moon to the future on Earth. Their memories lost to them all, the Queen's cat advisors, Luna and Artemis, must find the Princess so she will at last be safe. And so our story begins... -- Narrator First Episode of Sailor Moon (American Edition) The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book, written and designed by Mark MacKinnon, is the second game from Guardians of Order ( http://www.guardiansorder.on.ca ), a new game publishing company from Ontario, Canada. The background of the book is based, for the most part, on the American version of the Japanese anime Bishojo Senshi Sailormoon ("Pretty Soldier Sailormoon"), which is in turn based on the popular magical girl manga (graphic novels) of the same name by the immensely popular Naoko Takeuchi. With the recent inclusion of Sailor Moon in Cartoon Network's Toonami lineup (weekdays at 4pm) and Mixx Entertainment's release of an English-translated version of the original manga, the story of Sailor Moon and her fellow Sailor Scouts has become extremely popular throughout the country, both with it's intended audience of early-teenage girls, as well as with men and women of all ages. The book itself retails for $24.95US, and comes in at 200 pages and includes a 16-page, full-color photo gallery of the show's major characters. Included are detailed summaries and episode guides of the two seasons available in the United States, as well as information on the rest of the series currently unreleased to American viewers. In fact, the majority of the book is background material, including everything from the original character's Japanese names to the people behind the voices. Disregarding the role-playing game still makes this book a valuable and comprehensive resource for all Sailor Moon fans. The game itself is very simple, especially if using any of the characters shown in the television series. Thirty-five pages of the book detail everything needed to play everyone from the cool-headed Sailor Mercury to the pint-sized, either-love-her-or-hate-her Rini. Game play is based on the Tri Stat System, which was first developed for Guardian of Order's previous release, Big Eyes Small Mouth, which bills itself as a universal Japanese anime role-playing game. The majority of rolls are based against a character's main stats of Body, Mind and Soul. Additionally, there are the requisite Health Points, as well as Energy Points, used to power the various supernatural abilities which give the magical girl genre it's flavor. Rounding out the list of important stats are the Attack and Defense Combat Values. There are Character Attributes and other Sub-Attributes, but for the most part, these are only used to modify the above-mentioned Stats and Derived Values. All of this is done in order to keep the Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game as simple and clean as possible, and does so very well. In fact, the game mechanics section of the book occupies a mere eight pages of the book, making it a prime example of brevity. With such a simple and light system, The Sailor Moon RPG emphasizes plot, action and player enjoyment over detailed rules and dice rolls . However, as with most story-based systems, while players will enjoy themselves even with little or no gaming background, experience Game Masters are advised to helm an adventure. If players wish to create original characters, they may do so. Character creation rules are more complicated due to the author's wish to balance powers with plot, and therefore take up around 35 pages of the book, which includes the extensive list of powers, attributes and defects that make up your typical (or atypical) Sailor Moon character. Character creation involves slightly more initial point calculation than other systems, though not by much, in order to create simple, derived values which speed game play later. Due to the sharp decreases in the overall gaming population in recent years, there has been much talk about how to bring new gamers into the hobby. The Sailor Moon RPG has a rich background which appeals to younger gamers. The background is extremely popular with young women, whom have been neglected for the most part by many role-playing games over the years. With an experienced Game Master, the Sailor Moon RPG has been successfully run with players from both genders, as well as with those in their late forties to players as young as six years old. Many people who would never have looked at role-playing games before have been introduced to the hobby through a friendly, light game such as Sailor Moon. In the end, when there is a game based on an established title, such as Star Wars, Babylon 5 or Sailor Moon, there is a concern as to how accurately a game models not only accepted facts about it's subject, but the "feel" as well. In this aspect, the Sailor Moon RPG does so successfully, with a game system as fun, fast and furious as the television show itself, without loosing either the humor or drama that comes with it. Overall, the Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book makes an excellent guide to the television's most successful Japanese magical girl anime series, making it useful even for those only interested in the show itself. In the hands of an experienced Game Master, the role-playing game can be a wonderful introduction for those new to the gaming experience, as well as fast-paced, light fun for those well versed in the world of RPGs. Go out. Buy this book. Sailor Moon Says... Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resources Book