from Guardians of Order Let me start out by saying I'm a huge anime fan, but I'm not a huge Sailor Moon fan. So where I can appreciate the game system and components, I really have no desire to play it. This, I feel, makes me an ideal reviewer for the game. But I should say, if you are a rampant Sailor Moon fan, BUY THIS BOOK. The Role-playing game portion of the book is actually really good. This is the first game I've read from Guardians of Order (their only other release is "Big Eyes, Small Mouth," a game book for playing any anime style character) and I'm impressed with the simple, yet effective game system. This is first of G of O's game/source books for individual anime worlds, and with such a good system backing it up I'm looking forward to what they get the license to next. The system is set up for 3 main stats: Mind, Body, and Soul. You are given a certain amount of points to divide between the 3 stats. This number is either given to you by the GM or can be randomly rolled. The GM even has the option of granting a high number of points if the world he/she created is in the future, or requires more powerful characters. Points are spread from 0 to 12, with 0 being abysmal and 12 being unequaled. From here you pick up attributes. These attributes are a lot like D&D Proficiencies you are able to buy levels in a particular attribute rather than worrying about point spreads. The levels won't always tie into your primary stats, but will instead tell you what you can accomplish at each level. Attributes are not skills, but rather superpowers. These abilities can be forms of attacks or bonuses to the character's stats. Most of the attributes available to the Sailor Scouts, Knights, or Negaverse Villains are, or the most part, very open for interpretation. For example: The Sailor Senshi attack attribute is how Sailor Moon, Jupiter, or Mars delivers an attack. But depending upon their sphere of influence their attacks will be completely different. If your players are creative, and familiar with the show, they should have no problem interpreting these attributes as the show intended them. Though I fear power-gamers and those unfamiliar with the show will have trouble adhering to the original intention of the show. If you want or need a few more points to spread to your stats or attributes you are encouraged to take a few (no more than 8) character defects. These are defects common to the characters in the show. Defects like Attack Gesture, Attack Words, and Easily Distracted can enrich the game; but I would worry about what kind of group you're playing with... After that you're ready to roll (role). The character types you are able to play in the game are Sailor Scouts (Like Sailor Moon or Sailor Pluto), Knights (like Tuxedo Mask), Negaverse characters (like Queen Beryl or Sapphire) or a "Normal Persod' (like Molly Baker or Grandpa Hino). This can be a bit restrictive since the entire series is based around girls and it may uncomfortable to play a giggly schoolgirl in a room full of guys. And since the only Knight ever depicted in the series is Tuxedo Mask creating a knight may not fit in with the series. You are however not restricted to just playing established characters from the series (although this is encouraged). You can create new characters based on the Sailor Moon theme. The combat system isn't too bad; it shares common ground with a lot of game systems and only has a few tendencies toward difficulty. The good thing about the system is you only need to "role play" during combat. Meaning you don't have to make endless dice rolls during the game, and when you enter combat you only need two 6sided dice. You roll under your check, and the GM will tell you how successful you were. Not too bad. The difficult part comes from manipulating numbers to find out what your skill check number is. You're actually encouraged not to enter combat every game, but to focus on the bigger picture of character development. I think this is a nice change from the endless combat games currently on the market. I've always hated games where the GM drags the characters from one firefight to the next and doesn't give any time for character development. The Guardians of Crystal Tokyo The book includes an abundance of source material siting the first two seasons of a Sailor Moon (the only 2 translated into English), making play easy. There is even a great little section about school life in Japan. The GM's section has great advice for first time GMs interested in running a Sailor Moon adventure. As well as a down and dirty method for creating quick monsters. GMs are instructed to watch the series, not make combat the focus of the game, and make each session relaxed and entertaining. I think every GM, no matter what their game, would benefit from this advice. There are also 2 starting adventures included to get the group and GM going. The final section is a must have for all rampant Sailor Moon fans, even if they never plan to role-play the game. This section is filled with an excessive amount of information regarding each episode (including those never shown in the US), the creator of the series, the symbolism behind the characters, and generally any information a good anime geek would love. I did find the revelation of Naoko Takeuchi's (the creator of Sailor Moon) blood type excessive. But if I were a fan of the series I would value the information contained in here. Overall, if you're up to playing a school-girl with super powers, or are Just looking for a good dose of anime roleplaying pick up The Sailor Moon RolePlaying and Resource Book, and keep your eyes open for new supplements based on your favorite anime series. I'm personally looking forward to Ranma 1/2 and Secret Ninja Team: Gatchaman (known as G-Force in the US). Back to Masters of Role Playing #7 Table of Contents Back to Masters of Role Playing List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Chalice Publications. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com