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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2010615" data-attributes="member: 1129">First off, I'd like to apologize for the length of this review. Unlike standard adventurers or sourcebooks, this is a different system using d20 and I'd like to hit the highlights.The important thing to note about BESM d20 is not like Character Customization, meant to be used with a standard campaign. No, BESM d20 is its own system with it's own rules and regulations that utilizes the core of the d20 system and tweaks it. The good thing is that unlike Silver Age Sentinels d20, the book is more compatible with standard d20 games, uses feats, includes the core classes converted, and has rules for using some of this material in other campaign settings.The book starts off with the Role Playing Manifesto. This is the same one from Silver Age Sentinels (both editions) and I'm glad they've included it here because it's a damn good reminder that the rules are in place to help you enjoy the game, not railroad you and the most important part, especially for a GM, “A game that is not fun is no longer a game – it's a chore.”The table of contents breaks the book into thirteen chapters. The first Introduction, gives the reader a quick take on what anime styles are and what this book is about. More important to the experienced role player are chapters two through ten, which go over character creation, breaking it down by abilities, races, classes, attributes, skills, feats, defects and finishing touches. I know, that's a lot of chapters for a standard character and a few of them probably could've been combined to shorten it, but this way everything is very clear and the progression is really only hindered at the end tail for reasons I'll get to in a moment.The major difference between this d20 product and others is that it's a point based system that uses levels and classes. This almost gives you the best of both worlds as you can customize your abilities while still working in the frame of a class. The book also provides options. For instance, newer players who haven't played in a point based system before may just want to get rid of points and there's an excellent sidebar on exactly how to do that.For example, discretionary character points are used to built your character initially. If you start off at different levels, you get more points. The good thing is that for those who want a touch of randomness, you either get a set amount or roll, depending on what the GM wants.Just like with Silver Age Sentinels, they've gotten around the stat generation by having you modify your stats after you roll. Each stat is worth half a character point. You can only have stats as high as your points allow, but if you have low stats, you can spend points to make up for that, as long as the points even out at the end. The bad news for those who think to maximize their stats is that the races have a cost to them. That's right, nothing's free here. The good news is that the breakdown of how the points were calculated is provided so if you want to convert other races to follow this formula, then you've got the same methodology to do so. Most races come out to a 0 score to it's not too bad but oddly, the dwarf and halfling come out at a point and the half-orc, as we've all known, got the shaft, at least mechanically, and is worth -5 points. Hey, get a bonus to be strong and stupid eh?Next ups is selecting your class and BESM follows the traditional Anime down to the last Gun Bunny. We've got the following: Adventurer: This is a generic class that gets character points every level for the ultimate in customization. If you're comfortable with a point buy system, this is the class you should be looking at.Dynamic Sorcerer: A character who uses the Dynamic Sorcery ability latter described in the book. Kinda like a chicken and egg as you've got to look over the Dynamic Sorcery ability before knowing what the class does, but the class comes first.Giant Robot: You have to be one of the Construct Race to take this class but they get special abilities related to taking damage and dealing it out. Very fighter like in its approach.Gun Bunny: Ever know those people who always seem to have guns and great ability with them? That'd be the Gun Bunny.Hod Rod: If you've ever seen the anime, Riding Bean, then you know what a Hot Rod is. For those who haven't, it's a master of a vehicle.Magical Girl: For those who want Sailor Moon, or Card Capturers, this is the one to take. They get items of power, special attacks and other goods to help them save the day.Martial Artist: Ah, the name says it all. Lots of anime focus on the fighter who just wants to be better than everyone else and this is the class for that person.Mecha Pilot: They get the advantage Own a Big Mecha at first level and it grows in power as they do, probably best represented as more advanced models or something along those lines.Ninja: Ah, the mysterious, high jumping ninja with greater senses than a normal person and the ability to deal out damage when attacking from shadows. More in common with the anime ninja of fighting abilities than the mysterious ninja of say Oriental Adventurers.Pet Monster Trainer: Just like it sounds. You get a Pet Monster whose abilities increase as your own do and gain abilities to influence that monster. Samurai: Much like the ninja, this one is more anime style than Oriental Adventures style.Sentai Member: Perhaps the one thing I've seen missing from previous BESM products is something that represented the dreaded likes of the Power Rangers but worry no more for here they are.Shapechanger: I must be losing my touch as I'm not too familiar with too many shapechangers in anime that get the spotlight but for those who want the ability to stretch, change their features or use their dynamic abilities to heal, it's here.Student: Another classic of anime, the one with the ability to distract the enemy and have friends in high places,.Tech Genius: If you have an item that you want repaired or improved upon, the tech genius is your friend.Each class starts off with a description of what the class is and what its roll is in the world. Characteristics provide a brief, generic run down of what they do. The section on Other Classes is great for those who want to run an anime style game with almost all of the core classes as it provides a quick run down of what each class thinks of the other. Class abilities like hit dice, ability score placements, class skills, points, are listed and the class level breakdown shows base attack bonus, saving throws and abilities on a level by level basis.The only bad thing about the classes is that there is no reference to which anime might make for appropriate watching in the classes. Sure, some of these are obvious to anyone whose spent some time watching anime but to the newcomer, having the source listed would've been a step up in the right direction. Of course there might be more legal issues if you put the source next to what it's represented by in the game but since the source material is listed elsewhere...Now BESM does something very cool next and that's presentation of the core classes in a BESM style. This allows the GM to automatically take the core classes and have them for use in an anime style game. More importantly, it provides the breakdown of how this was done as well as examining the d20 Modern Classes. This should allow almost anyone to take any class and see how it boils down to those presented here and how to augment them for their own anime style games. The important thing you'll notice though, is that these versions tend to be a little more powerful to to the character points they gain which allow them access to the abilities within this book. A standard fighter and a BESM fighter are not going to be equal. It's just that simple.For those who picked adventurer as a class or who've hoarded their starting character points, you'll get to look over Chapter 6, Attributes. Here's where the point buy system comes into play. If you've played Hero or GURPS, this section will be like home to you. Abilities are often broken up into ranks that can be purchased for a set number of points.These abilities do different things like say, Massive Damage, which allows you to inflict a lot of damage, damage that goes up as you purchase more ranks of it. How about Damn Healthy where you get more hit points? Those other elements mentioned under classes like Own a Big Mecha or Pet Monster are listed here and as you buy more ranks, you can do more with those options. Almost every general ability from teleportation to Superstrength is covered here and it really showcases that this isn't D&D with anime options, this is anime d20.The only problem with this section is that there aren't enough examples. Precisely because point options open up so many potential variants, this section should have many examples. I often post about how I like mercenaries and anime like Berserk and I'm pretty sure I could build Gutts sword using Massive Damage, but under that listing, are there any examples built for you? Nope.Like GURPS, Hero and the Tri-Stat System itself, there are special modifiers that can be added that are both positive and negative modifiers allowing a wide range of customization. How about an energy blast that's vampiric but can only be used if you're  underwater? You can do it.One interesting use of these powers is in a non-BESM d20 game. They suggest experience point buy based on the number of levels of the power you want to take and your character's level and they make 'hidden' references to Spycraft and Everquest in their examples. Me? I'd have no problem using this in say, Oathbound, patterning it after the Prestige Races, but would have to check every ability in a regular d20 game.The only thing I found 'wrong' with the point buy is that when listing the abilities, they don't break 'em out by cost as you would for say, a spell list. I mention this because when the book talks about not using the point buy system, it mentions buying your abilities in tiers and without having such a chart, it means you've got to either know the material by heart, or look through every items. Breaking it down into tiers and alphabetical order would've made those new players more at ease.Chapter Seven, Skills, takes some twists with the standard d20 rules. While most material is just as it would be in any 3.0 game ranging from Wilderness Lore and Intimidate, there are many specific Knowledge Skills and some assumptions that get rid of certain feats. For example, there are no more feats for weapon proficiency. All characters know how to use all weapons. Weapon Focus has been removed and other feats aren't recommended as the abilities here overlap them. There are now combat skills that I'll get into after we get to combat as the descriptions here don't do them justice.Otherwise, this is a pretty standard chapter with a listing of all the skills and BESM classes with indications if the skill is a class skill, or cross class skill. All skills are detailed and in most cases, the details are a little too brief and don't provide any example DC checks within their description. This is okay for those skills like Balance, Bluff, and Climb which already have many examples in the d20 system, but for others, it's a little more problematic. Chapter Eight uses Feats. Now I was wondering what GOO would do since they choose not to use Feats in Silver Age Sentinels d20 and I'm glad that they went with them here. As I mentioned under skills, some feats are asked to go by the wayside as other abilities can usually do what the feats in question replaced can do. The other thing is that Feats can be bought, just like powers. This allows a character to focus on his powers or his feats and makes for some tough choses. There is a chart that shows which feats have bee replaced by which skills or abilities so you've got an easy way to reference the material.The feats in this book do cover some standard material like Armor Proficiency and Ambidexterity as well as some new ones like One Shot Left where you always have at least one bullet left or Weapons Encyclopaedia where you have a great deal of knowledge about the vital and statistical information about weapons. Otherwise, like skills, this is a short chapter.In a standard point buy system, there is often a section on disadvantages and BESM d20 is no different as Chapter Nine, Defects, allows you to select disadvantages for background points. The only bad thing is if you've already readied your character, you've got to go back and spend those points. Those who've played point buy games will recognize some of the standards like achilles heel or blind fury, things that limit your characters actions or make him a target for others to hunt down.Chapter Ten, Finishing Touches, helps you calculate all of this information with the final steps like making sure your base attack bonus is correct, as you can buy powers to increase your BAB, or making sure that your energy points, used to power in-system magic, are right and that your saving throws are correct. One interesting switch is a variable armor class as they do away with the base 10 and use a d20 on a round by round basis. I've used it a few times and while it does add some time, it makes combat much more dynamic.One interesting thing that this system does is allows players to earn background points with background history, and drawings, to earn you more points for character creation.One problem with a book like this is where do you stop. Since this is a game based on another game, do you have pages and pages of say, equipment, or just a select list for use as an example? Chapter Eleven goes with the short list on weapons but has a lot of ground to cover as this isnt' D&D BESM d20, it's BESM d20, meaning it has a lot more genre to cover and has to provide vehicles and other modern equipment types that standard fantasy settings don't have to worry about.One thing some will notice right away is that armor doesn't do the armor class bonus but provides damage reduction. If you've got on full metal armor, you've got a DR of 6 or 8, depending on the armor bulk and size.On that note, we'll jump to Chapter Twelve, Combat. There are some elements that might be perfect for say, a Swashbuckling Adventurers campaign like taking a penalty to attack multiple opponents, or for a high level D&D game like Attacking Multiple Weaker Opponents or 'Mooks' as they're called. Critical Strikes are automatic, no need for a confirmation roll. Characters do not die when they reach  -10 hit points, but die when they reach they're negative in hit points. For higher level characters, that might be a problem but I know in some animes we've seen characters take wounds that should be fatal, but aren't.Lots of little options like these can be tested in other genres. For example, using Wound Penalties where depending on how injured you are, you suffer effects on your ability, skill and combat checks.The problem some may have with the system isn't these little elements, but the root change to the system as you now use combat skills where you get a bonus to attack based on the number or ranks you have with your combat skill and it's opposed so the enemy gets a defensive combat bonus based on his skill ranks and attributes to avoid being struck. It's also a little more complicated because it involves different uses of skills for different areas of attack like melee and ranged. Without the right skills, you don't get a penalty, as this is a familiar skill that anyone can use untrained, but you'll be easily outclassed. This doesn't count any defense actions you take either. With all of these material running around, it reminds me a lot of the Palladium Game system where it's easy to hit your enemies but combat doesn't end with the one roll.While not quite the right place, rules for gaining experience points are also in the combat section. Like Star Wars and a few other systems, the rules here don't follow the normal challenge rating standard. Instead, you get a base of 100 x the average party level with other modifiers thrown in for overcoming challenges. Pretty simple system that eliminates a lot of headaches from the GM but works against those, who like myself, don't give higher level characters a bonus for traveling with lower level ones by using the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting rules that break experience awards down by actual level. Adds more time but doesn't reward the higher ups for bringing the low level characters with them.Chapter thirteen, Role-Playing, is a very short section on the different genres and types of game that one can run, ranging not only in time period and category, but also world building and how to design adventurers. It's all good stuff but is woefully short. Some mini-campaign examples that run for a couple of pages would've help flesh out this section tremendously. Some of the ideas, especially for players, are golden like “Don't be a loner”, and “Do not obsess about the rules.” Stuff that applies to any game. I like the GOO approach with game as fun, not game as mechanical system that needs to be maximized.The book uses a very tight and condensed font for the main body of the work. This allows a lot of information to be fitted into the book. This fails when it comes to headers as huge headers and sub-headers eat up a lot of space while making the regular tiny font easier to read. The cover is a great piece, but it suffers the same problem that Savage Worlds did in that it's a compilation of internal artwork. Maybe I'm just getting too old but I remember when the cover was a different piece of art.The interior art is one of the book's strongest points. The art in this book not only lends itself to the anime style, it defines that style. If you want to know what an anime ninja or samurai looks like, this book has that image ready for you.In some ways, I personally think that the biggest failing of this book isn't the price . Siege on Ebonring Keep, an adventure for AU by Mystic Eye Games, is the same length, but in paperback for $23.99. Savage Worlds, a new game by Pinnacle, is the same length in hardcover, for $30. The price may not be what others have set as the standard like Fantasy Flight Games and Necromancer, but it does meet the industry standard.No, my worry is the the inclusion of the core d20 classes. Not because it's a bad thing to have by any means, but because it sets up a false 'compatible' feeling to the book. Someone not familiar with the game may say, “Wow, they've got the d20 core classes in here so it's got to be compatible.” Not quite true. They've included the core classes, I believe, to save the GM the effort of translating those classes over to BESM d20 to make sure that the game has enough variety to play almost standard D&D and use the BESM rules to do it. I believe that those pages should've went to providing more examples, options, equipment and things to make the game itself more complete.My worry extends to future products from GOO. After all, Mecha d20 isn't being touted as being fully compatible with D&D, it's noted as being fully compatible with BESM d20. Does that mean that materials like A Game of Thrones or Slayers are using BESM too? With each release I can see BESM becoming more and more enriched and useful but also see those books lacking the compatibility that 95% of the standard d20 books have with the core rules.If you're going to run a game from the ground up using BESM d20, there's not doubt that this book gets a 5. If you're going to run a Spycraft, Slaine, Everquest or standard D&D game, there are elements useful in this book but full integration will be much more difficult. For anime, BESM d20 is the way to go.</blockquote>

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