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They're scary. They're dangrous. They have the life expectancy of mayflies. They are the monsters of Sailor Moon, who show up in most episodes, terrorize the senshi, and die.

Guardians of Order has gotten a lot of mileage out of their Sailor Moon RPG, with the popularity of the shojo anime series driving a popular game line. With their first supplement, GOO has chosen to devote a book to the monsters. Whether they're called Yoma, cardians or Droids, they're here -- all the monsters from the two seasons that were mangled -- er, dubbed for TV -- by DiC.

Strangely, the first part of the book suggests limiting the use of the monsters. Combat it says, is never the real focus of a Sailor Moon game. Then we get into the meat of the book, which shows how to inflict fear and loating upon the Sailor Senshi while giving them a foe they can destroy without remorse (as opposed to the more complex and dangerous Dark Warriors who are their main opponents).

The Yoma creation rules are simple. The Gm decides how powerful a monster he wants, assigns stat values to the critter, and then gives it special abilities. A list is provided, but the abilities can be anything the GM can imagine. This could provide a lot of sadistic fun as the GM provides frighteniong-but-not-too-lethal attributes that make the mosnetr unique and memorable. Each monsetr should also have its own theme and unique characteristics.

And there are a lot of examples in the book -- all those monsters. Each has its full stats and abilities, a full describption, a set of pictures and a summary of what it does during its short lifetime. This includes how the Senshi killed it in the series. These descriptions are a lot of fun to read and have a lot of neat little details. The monsters are all unique, though many have similar themes. You can use them in your own game should you choose -- everything is there to do so -- but it's really more fun to make up your own.

Yoma can do all kinds of things, from mind control to warping time. They range in power from pathetically weak (one in the series is disintegrated by a kick to the head!) to powerful enough to be a real threat (this is the first detailed description I've read of how the first season of Sailor Moon REALLY ended -- unlkike the Senshi, it isn't pretty.). But even a weak monster can cause a lot of trouble if it has the right set of special powers, so power level can be deceptive. And the GM actually WANTS the yoma to die -- they're there to challenge, not destroy, the Senshi.

Non-gaming Sailor Moon fans will love the book if they love the monsters. It is a complete guide to the monsters of the first two seasons, and a second volume is promised for sometime in the future. Hopefully it will cover the monsters the Anmerican mainstream audience will never see. The more Sailor Moon you see, the more you appreciate the work GOO has put into this line.

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