The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The first time I heard the title of this game, I knew I had to have it. In four words, Guardians of Order leaves no doubt what the game is. Pure anime. After reading some reviews of first edition, I plunked down some money for this book. Well worth the $40 I spent on it. (That is with 2-day shipping.)

The first thing that struck me about BESM is just how fun it was to make a character. I used to like the ability of the HERO system to create the sort of character I wanted, but I grew to hate the complexity of it all. BESM lets the player design any sort of character without needless math juggling.

What makes it work? Well, most multi-genre games make the mistake of trying to scale everything; GURPS Supers ends up with players having to roll ten d6's at a time and tally them. Same with the HERO system. BESM defines everything in symbollic terms; the three stats, BODY, MIND, and SOUL are abstractions, and therefore need not be subjected to real world benchmarks. The book defines super-strength by how many cars the character can lift, not how many pounds. (Or kilograms.) The abilities are more a suggestion of the character than a blow-by-blow account of all her characteristics.

Combat is more smooth than most games, also. The defender and attacker make one roll each, and it does a set damage like Marvel Superheroes. There is a problem, though. Since both attacker and defender rolls are independent, a defender with a high Defensive Combat Value (DCV) will be hit 1/36 (!) times. Combat can take awhile this way. There are some obvious work-arounds to this if you don't like it.

I have a couple of problems with the layout of the book; the art is pretty good, but the images vary in quality greatly. Also, green and yellow on every page is pretty, but it was a poor choice because it can sometimes clash with the illustrations, which are in full-color. The decorations should have been in grayscale, or not be there at all.

The chapter layout is also annoying. All of my players complained about the Special Abilities and Defects being in a different chapter than character creation. I don't like it either; I have to constantly flip back and forth between chapters two and three to make a character.

However, these are minor problems. My first two play-test sessions have been so successful that I have nothing but respect for Guardians of Order. The games ran smooth and had minimal book-keeping. It freed my mind up to concentrate on vivid visual descriptions and role-playing, but still keeping dynamic combat. I loved it, and, more importantly, so did my players.

Some of the more valuable information in the book is not in the rules, but in the advice it gives the GM and players on running the game. It has an extensive list of reccomended viewing and discussion of genres, along with a few sample campaign ideas. Great read.

This book may not be as slick or well-edited as, say, D&D3E, but it certainly has greater content. I would suggest anyone buy this who desires a fast-paced, maybe-not-too-realistic game.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Big Eyes Small Mouth (BESM), 2nd Edition
Author: Mark C. MacKinnon Category: game Company/Publisher: Guardians of Order Line: Tri-stat Cost: $29.95 Page count: 288 SKU: GUA02101 Playtest Review by Stephen Grady on 10/09/00. Genre tags: Anime	The first time I heard the title of this game, I knew I had to have it. In four words, Guardians of Order leaves no doubt what the game is. Pure anime. After reading some reviews of first edition, I plunked down some money for this book. Well worth the $40 I spent on it. (That is with 2-day shipping.) The first thing that struck me about BESM is just how fun it was to make a character. I used to like the ability of the HERO system to create the sort of character I wanted, but I grew to hate the complexity of it all. BESM lets the player design any sort of character without needless math juggling. What makes it work? Well, most multi-genre games make the mistake of trying to scale everything; GURPS Supers ends up with players having to roll ten d6's at a time and tally them. Same with the HERO system. BESM defines everything in symbollic terms; the three stats, BODY, MIND, and SOUL are abstractions, and therefore need not be subjected to real world benchmarks. The book defines super-strength by how many cars the character can lift, not how many pounds. (Or kilograms.) The abilities are more a suggestion of the character than a blow-by-blow account of all her characteristics. Combat is more smooth than most games, also. The defender and attacker make one roll each, and it does a set damage like Marvel Superheroes. There is a problem, though. Since both attacker and defender rolls are independent, a defender with a high Defensive Combat Value (DCV) will be hit 1/36 (!) times. Combat can take awhile this way. There are some obvious work-arounds to this if you don't like it. I have a couple of problems with the layout of the book; the art is pretty good, but the images vary in quality greatly. Also, green and yellow on every page is pretty, but it was a poor choice because it can sometimes clash with the illustrations, which are in full-color. The decorations should have been in grayscale, or not be there at all. The chapter layout is also annoying. All of my players complained about the Special Abilities and Defects being in a different chapter than character creation. I don't like it either; I have to constantly flip back and forth between chapters two and three to make a character. However, these are minor problems. My first two play-test sessions have been so successful that I have nothing but respect for Guardians of Order. The games ran smooth and had minimal book-keeping. It freed my mind up to concentrate on vivid visual descriptions and role-playing, but still keeping dynamic combat. I loved it, and, more importantly, so did my players. Some of the more valuable information in the book is not in the rules, but in the advice it gives the GM and players on running the game. It has an extensive list of reccomended viewing and discussion of genres, along with a few sample campaign ideas. Great read. This book may not be as slick or well-edited as, say, D&D3E, but it certainly has greater content. I would suggest anyone buy this who desires a fast-paced, maybe-not-too-realistic game. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Big Eyes Small Mouth (BESM), 2nd Edition