Besm 3rd edition pdf free download

This sort of show often crosses over with the supernatural action or mecha genres, with artificial intelligence, psychic powers, or advanced mecha as part of the experiment. There are many other common themes and genre conventions that appear in anime, ranging from apocalyptic themes to sailor suits. The Resources appendix page gives examples of the best shows in these and other genres, along with information on where to find or buy anime for yourself.

A game requires a handful of players and one person to act as the Game Master GM or referee. The players tell the GM what their anime alter-egos would like to do, and the GM describes the results of their actions.

The GM is also responsible for creating the plot and the setting for the game adventures and works closely with the players to keep the game interesting and fun for all.

The game system helps players assign some strengths and weaknesses to their characters using numbers to indicate relative ability.

He or she can be likened to one of the major characters in an anime movie, working through the unexpected twists and turns of the plot with the help of other major characters. As a GM, your contribution will be much greater than that from any one player. You must establish the genre, setting, conflicts, and plot of the adventure as well as all the non-player characters NPCs your group of players will meet during the game. NPCs are similar to the background characters in a movie — few are given quality screen time with the major characters unless they are good buddies, or central to the plot.

Additionally, you must be able to project your imagination to the players by describing in vivid detail the world in which they live. A plot that is too rigid may leave players feeling their characters have lost the free will to affect their own destiny.

Should you assume the role of GM, you must possess creativity, good judgment and the ability to improvise in unexpected situations. It takes extra time and effort, but the reward of a well-played adventure can be almost euphoric. Each role-playing adventure or episode will require one or two sessions, each several hours in length. A number of episodes using the same characters can be linked together to form an anime campaign. Campaigns require more commitment from everyone involved, but watching the characters grow as the greater plot unfolds makes the extra effort worthwhile.

The most engaging campaigns can last upwards of years, but keeping a campaign running for 8 months to a few years is considered tremendously successful. More advice on choosing an anime genre and on game-mastering in general can be found in Chapter 5: Role-Playing in an Anime World. The rules are simple to use and thus do not afford a high level of detail, although the resolution system and combat system have been designed to capture the fast-moving nature of anime action.

This element is one of the central strengths of the game, making BESM ideal for either the novice or experienced role-player. Nevertheless, the role-playing interactions between the GM and the players, as well as between the players themselves, is the primary focus of Big Eyes, Small Mouth, and, to this end, the core mechanisms of the game have remained straightforward.

These changes are only minor and thus do not constitute a new, third edition for BESM. As some anime genres are more realistic than others, extra detail in many of the Attributes and an additional chapter of expanded rules have been added to support those GMs who would like a bit more detail in action resolution or character and mecha design.

Feel free to ignore these additions if a simpler, more free-wheeling style of play is preferred. They are designed to make your game play more smoothly and to ensure that character abilities are properly balanced. If you have an existing game that any of these changes would disrupt, however, just adopt those new rules with which you feel comfortable.

This book provides more options and more rules for those who wish to use them, but remember that they are options. Issues that should be addressed include the duration of the game, scheduled playtime, the setting and related timeline, and the thematic intensity level. Based on this, the GM should set the power level of the campaign, which will determine the number of Character Points that each player may use to design their characters.

See page Use the game boundaries established through your talk with the GM to sketch a rough character outline. See Page Any remaining Character Points may be used to acquire Character Attributes, which are rated in Levels from 1 to 6. These Defects will provide you with more role-playing opportunities and give you Bonus Points you can use to raise Stats or acquire additional Character Attributes. You can earn extra Character Points by giving the GM a background history of your character, an important character story, or a character drawing.

Use the Skill Points to acquire Skills and specializations relevant to your character outline. Skill Levels range from 1 to 6. In BESM, you can choose to spend as little as ten minutes designing a character or upwards of an hour. The difference lies in the amount of detail and individuality given to your character.

At no time during an RPG campaign do you have more control over the destiny of your character than during the creation process. If you have any questions about game mechanics or specific character abilities, talk to the GM before you begin character creation.

The examples are presented following the main text. Before any characters are created, the GM should outline such details as genre, setting, campaign duration, story boundaries, and expected time commitment. It is certainly not useful if you decide to create a computer hacker character should the GM set the game in late Seventh Century Japan. Ask for clarification of any rule modifications the GM plans to use as well as any background restrictions on your character. If you have any game preferences involving issues such as combat intensity, maturity level, or drama versus comedy ratio, let the GM know about them.

Help the GM create the game that you all want to play. One of the most important things that the Game Master should discuss with his or her players is the Character Point total.

Character Points are a measure of the relative power and capability of characters. The GM decides how many Character Points will be available to each player. He or she will usually assign the same number of Character Points to each player for the creation of their character while the NPCs may be given widely varying Character Point totals depending on their role in the game.

The GM may run a: low-powered game 15, 20, or 25 Character Points average-powered game 30 or 35 Character Points high-powered game 40 or 45 Character Points very high-powered game 50 or 55 Character Points extremely high-powered game 60 or more Character Points The GM tells Elizabeth one of his players that he plans to run a mini-campaign once a week during the month of August. The game will be a space opera set in an interstellar empire in the year The empire spans many worlds, but some of its culture and fashions are strangely reminiscent of medieval Japan.

Elizabeth lets the GM know that she would prefer a swashbuckling adventure with an opportunity for politics and courtly romance. It will be a high-powered game — the characters will be built with 40 Character Points. Use the game boundaries established in your discussion with the GM as the starting point for your character and build your outline on that foundation. Discuss your character ideas with the GM to ensure your character will work with those of the other players and with the overall themes and focus of the campaign.

Here are some issues to consider. In other settings, it is possible that non-human or part-human characters may exist, or that a setting might not include any human characters at all.

In some campaigns, the players may want to create complimentary characters with unique sets of abilities. For example, a team fighting supernatural evil might include a combat specialist or two for bashing monsters, an exorcist or medium for dealing with ghosts and spirits, a psychic or sorcerer for handling magical opponents, and a scholar or computer hacker for digging up background information.

A degree of specialization helps players enjoy their characters by giving them a unique identity. At the same time, it is equally important that the characters not be too specialized, or the group will lack cohesion and other players will sit around bored while each specialist has his or her own little adventure within the game.

It is a good idea to identify a minimum set of capabilities that everyone should have. For example, in a martial arts campaign, everyone should be a fighter but individual characters may possess different fighting styles karate, kick-boxing, ninjitsu, kendo, etc. Similarly, in a game centred on giant robot action, each character might be a mecha pilot on the same team, but they and their mecha may have different capabilities: one might be a close-quarters fighter with heavy armour, another fast and agile, a third may specialize in electronic warfare, while the fourth may have the most powerful long-range attacks.

In some games, the group of characters will be independent operators. Examples include a detective agency, a party of fantasy adventurers, the crew of a pirate ship, or a team of magical girls who fight evil. In other game concepts, the characters will be part of a larger organization and would logically have helpers in supporting roles.

An example of this scenario is a squadron of mecha pilots in a military space force. A base commander, communication officers, mechanics, doctors, cooks, and other personnel all support the pilots. On the other hand, it is equally important that a character have room to grow beyond your initial concept.

A character that you have spent hours perfecting and detailing may quickly become stagnant and uninteresting once play begins. A good character outline usually focuses on one or two main personality traits and leaves plenty of room for you to explore and develop the character into a fully rounded personality over time.

Although the starting archetype should be an integral part of the character, it should not rule all of his or her actions. At some point during the game, your pacifistic martial artist may be driven to an act of vengeance, or your angst-ridden mecha ace may finally discover a cause in which to believe.

As long as these developments proceed naturally from events in the game, they should be a welcome part of the role-playing experience. You have the freedom to name your character whatever you like, but the GM may have some ideas for character names that fit a particular setting. For example, you character should probably have a Japanese name if the campaign is set in Japan. She has enlisted in the Imperial Star Legions for a life of adventure and the promise of Imperial citizenship.

After doing well in battle, she was rewarded with a post on the Imperial Guard. Higher Stat values indicate an advanced level of accomplishment or achievement. This includes overall health, strength, endurance, quickness, rate of healing, manual dexterity, and ability to withstand trauma. A character with a high Body is in good physical shape. High values indicate intelligent, witty, and quicklearning characters. A high rating in the Soul Stat helps a character focus his or her personal energies or life force to go beyond his or her normal limits and to power special abilities.

Significantly below adult human average. Below adult human average. Adult human average. Above adult human average. Significantly above human average. Highly capable. Extremely capable. Best in the land. World-class ability. Legendary ability. Best in the universe. Sometimes these are actually borrowed from Western or Asian mythology or named after objects such as cars, motorcycles, or rock stars, making them sound suitably exotic without being totally unfamiliar.

Unless your campaign is a comedy, however, try to avoid a silly name since it may ruin the suspension of disbelief for the other players. A value of 4 in a Stat is the adult human average with ratings under 4 indicating decreasing competence while numbers over 4 designate increasing superiority. For more details, see Table , page Thus, a person of average build, high intelligence, and above average determination might have Body 4, Mind 7, Soul 5. Your starting Character Points page 13 are used to purchase Stats.

At least 1 and no more than 12 Character Points must be assigned to each Stat, giving it a value between 1 and You may only give your character one Stat with a rating of Any Character Points not spent on Stats will be used to acquire various useful talents and powers called Character Attributes page For this reason, it is a good idea to allocate anywhere from 12 to 24 Character Points to Stats but usually less than twothirds of your total Character Points and to save the remaining points for Attributes.

The GM may set an absolute ceiling or floor on the number of Character Points that can be allocated to Stats to ensure characters have a balance between Stats and Attributes.

Elizabeth decides her warrior cat-girl will possess substantial strength and agility, average intelligence, and great willpower. Any Character Points remaining after you have purchased Stats are available to acquire Attributes.

Character Points may be used to acquire Attributes, but since some represent exotic abilities like magical or superhuman powers or abilities innate to non-human races , the GM may choose to place certain restrictions on their availability in his or her particular game setting. There are many different Character Attributes, each representing a particular talent or special ability. Each Attribute is rated with a Level from or in a few cases, If one of your Attributes is modified by another to extend beyond Level 6 such as the Appearance Attribute modifying Art of Distraction , you should discuss the influence and limitations of the new Level with the GM.

For example, high Level Attributes are very appropriate for villains who may need exceptional resources to oppose an entire group of characters.

Think carefully about the balance between a few high-level Attributes and a large number of low-level Attributes. If you find yourself needing more Character Points than you have been assigned, consider burdening your character with one or more Character Defects Step 5: Character Defects, page Each Defect can provide you with an additional Character Point or two, which can be used to acquire more Character Attributes or higher Stats.

The Own a Big Mecha Attribute page 59 allows players to design mecha for their characters; Mecha only Attributes or Defects are used only as part of this mecha creation process. These abilities reflect innate aptitude or training rather than supernatural power. They are recommended for wizards, ki-users, psychics, mystics, spirits, gods, demons, undead, and monsters with supernatural powers. In game worlds where these sorts of characters do not exist, the GM may forbid paranormal powers.

For example, Flight may be natural for a winged race, or Light Armour may be natural for a species with a tough hide. They are recommended for characters who belong to another non-human species and are also useful when designing animals or monsters. Mecha will often have these Attributes, as will characters who are partly or wholly machine, such as androids, cyborgs, or intelligent robots.

It is available to characters who can take Paranormal, Racial, or Technological Attributes. The above categories are only intended as general guidelines, not as hard line restrictions. As long as an Attribute can be justified to the GM within the character concept and the campaign setting, it is possible to take it.

The GM is the final authority on whether or not to allow a given Attribute. As a result, players may occasionally find that an Attribute does not exactly match their concept of how a particular power or capability should function. Often, an Attribute fits into more than one category.

If the GM feels a changed effect makes the Attribute significantly more or less powerful, he or she may alter its point cost to reflect this. Also, the value of Attributes assumes the setting of the game gives them a good chance of actually being useful in play. If a character is given an Attribute that the GM decides is unlikely to have much, if any, utility in the campaign, he or she can reduce its Character Point Cost or even give the Attribute away for free.

If circumstances change and the Attribute becomes useful on a regular basis, the GM may opt to hold back a few earned Advancement Points until the original cost is paid. To make up the difference Elizabeth will have to assign Character Defects to Tabitha see page On a successful Soul Stat check, the character can befriend an otherwise hostile or even ferocious animal.

For example, this would allow a character to get past a police dog or guard dog. Utilizing this ability requires behaving in a calm and friendly manner; a friendship cannot be made if the character or his or her friends have already attacked the animal. If the attempt fails, the animal s may attack, threaten the character, or slink away, depending on its nature. A second attempt is usually not possible within a short period of time. If an animal is befriended, it will let the character and companions approach it, and will not attack or act aggressively unless it or the members of its pack or family are threatened.

An animal that has been befriended simply likes the character. Actual training of the animal takes time and requires the application of the Animal Training Skill page An additional -1 modifier is applied to the Soul Stat check. An additional -2 modifier is applied to the Soul Stat check. An additional -3 modifier is applied to the Soul Stat check. An additional -4 modifier is applied to the Soul Stat check. An additional -5 modifier is applied to the Soul Stat check.

The character is quite attractive. The character is very attractive. The character is extremely attractive. Art of Distraction Attribute is increased by 1 Level. The character possesses legendary beauty. Art of Distraction Attribute is increased by 2 Levels. The character possesses unparalleled beauty. Art of Distraction Attribute is increased by 3 Levels. This Attribute allows a character to distract a number of people or animals at a critical moment, provided he or she has some method of communicating with them for example, talking, dancing, television broadcast, illusionary image, written word, etc.

If the character is trying to directly distract a potentially hostile group, such as an angry mob or a group of security guards, his or her Level dictates how many people are distracted. This Attribute may be modified by the Appearance Attribute, but only if the character is visible to his or her audience see the Appearance Attribute description.

If multiple people with this Attribute work as a team, the total number of people distracted is added together. The Body Stat is used when distracting people physically for example, with sex appeal while the Soul Stat is used when distracting someone through emotion, rhetoric, or force of personality. Players are encouraged to think about giving their characters the Appearance Attribute, since it is appropriate for anime heroes to be good looking.

A character lacking points in this Attribute is considered to be of average appearance. Values of 4, 5, or 6 increase the Art of Distraction Attribute by 1, 2, or 3 Levels respectively, but only when the character is visible to his or her audience.

A cute character will usually inspire affection rather than igniting romantic desire. When appropriate, Appearance also gives a -1 bonus per Level on any Seduction Skill page roll. According to some psychic theories, everyone has an astral body, but only certain individuals can detach this body from its physical form.

In anime, powerful sorcerers or psychics often possess Astral Projection. The astral body is normally invisible and can only be seen by other astral travellers or individuals with special senses see Sixth Sense, page The astral body is intangible, and can pass through walls or other solid objects, walk on air or water, or perform similar ghostly feats.

An astral character can interact normally with another astral character, however. Most attacks will pass through an astral body without harming it. He or she may also use these attacks except for Affects Incorporeal on solid individuals, but each such attack costs 5 Energy Points in addition to any Energy Point cost the attack normally has.

Any damage or other injury that is somehow inflicted upon an astral body will apply to the original body as well. If the character has other movement related Attributes such as Ground Speed, Flight, or Space Flight that grant faster than normal speed, his or her astral body can also utilize them.

A character with high levels of Astral Projection can make his or her astral body travel faster than his or her normal speed. This also applies to other forms of movement. For example, in game terms, this means a character travelling at 10 times normal speed could rapidly move from place to place through the astral plane, but would have to slow down in order to explore a particular area.

A character can always choose to use Astral Projection at a lower level moving slower than the maximum speed , if desired. This may be because the astral body is a reflection of a true, future, or idealized form. If the character wishes to awaken from his or her astral-travelling trance, the astral form reunites instantly with his or her material body. Instead of distracting them, the character is able to inspire allies or neutrals into following him or her into dangerous situations that they might otherwise avoid.

Simply because a character is in a position of authority over other people does not automatically imply that he or she possesses the Aura of Command Attribute.

In a military structure, subordinates will usually follow most orders even dangerous ones without hesitation because it is part of their job. Note that few leaders have an Aura of Command sufficient to inspire their entire force at once. Commanders usually concentrate on key individuals such as immediate subordinates and hope the actions of these people will encourage others to follow them.

The character can inspire one person. The character can inspire up to two people. The character can inspire a small team people. The character can inspire a medium team people. The character can inspire a large team people. The character can inspire a very large team people.

Individual Combat Skills page let a character specialize with particular weapons or specific styles, but Combat Mastery allows a character to pick up any weapon or use none at all and still be proficient. The character can use this Attribute to voluntarily or involuntarily transform other people into entities like himself or herself.

The method should be specified when the character is created. Alternatively, the character might lay an egg or seed real or metaphorical in the body of his or her prey, which will later hatch within the victim, killing him or her as a new monster is born. The character might even need to perform some special ritual that alters its victim. The GM can add special conditions, limitations, or effects to ensure that becoming a monster is a curse and not a blessing. The higher the Level of Contamination, the faster the transformation occurs.

There should always be some means of curing or delaying the eventual mutation, however. Possible cures include the death of the demon that inflicted the contaminant, radical surgery, blood transfusion, or a successful mystical healing. Any retention dreams, memories, etc.

Usually, though not always, the mutation will result in a monstrous form similar to that of the character responsible. Thus, a spider demon that laid an egg in its victim may produce another spider demon, the victim of a vampire will grow fangs, etc. The GM should be wary of potentially undesirable possibilities such as a werewolf character infecting the entire group of player characters, thereby creating an entire party of werewolves.

The Contamination Attribute usually allows the creator or mother some measure of control over the newly transformed character. In these instances, the Level of Contamination is added as a favourable modifier to any Mind Control attempts performed against the subject. The transformation occurs over several months.

The transformation occurs over several weeks. The transformation occurs over several days. The transformation occurs over several hours. The transformation occurs over several minutes. The transformation occurs over several rounds. The Damn Healthy! Note that characters with high Body or Soul Attributes may be very healthy even without this Attribute.

The dimension can be as large as a closet. The dimension can be as large as a room. The dimension can be as large as a house. The dimension can be the size of a city block. The dimension can be the size of an entire city or even larger. Mages often create dimensional portals leading from closets or doors into other places.

In less serious games, Dimensional Portal can also represent the ability some characters have to suddenly produce big items like huge hammers or swords seemingly out of nowhere.

A pocket dimension could even be partially unexplored or dangerous territory where characters could adventure. A character with this ability cannot create new portals leading out of the pocket dimension; he or she may only leave by the one that was entered. A character can usually only have a single portal opened to his or her dimension at a time, but additional apertures to the same dimension may be possessed for one extra Character Point each.

Once opened, a portal stays open for as long as the creator is in the pocket dimension. In the case of a portal acquired as a Magical Power see Magic, page 48 , opening it burns Energy Points and holding it open also burns Energy Points every minute.

Dimensional Portals may optionally be designated as only one-way, restricting access in or out until the character or machine maintaining them is destroyed, or some other condition is fulfilled. This means that there has never been an official BESM writeup for Naga the Serpenta popular character who does not appear in the television series.

Third edition core book. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. They seem to take the challenge of both making the sheet nice looking and having all the information present very seriously and do pretty damn good work. Professional level design aesthetics applied to a role-playing product? MacKinnonwas released by Guardians of Order in There are a few names that stick out a lot in that circle of gamers who make their own character sheets and distribute them. This page was last edited on 6 Julyat Thread started by strongblade.

Log in No account? Can someone explain this to Palladium Books, please? New versions of Centauri Knights and Uresia were released under the new version. Ah, yes, the complaints about the character sheets have started again. Regarding the COV virus and its effects: Things are frustrating, and confusing, and scary.

People dream up conspiracy theories to help make sense of things. They're not helpful, though, and only serve to make the world more confusing and scarier. We're not going to have that here. And we swear to God, if anyone comes in here and starts spouting off QAnon bullshit about COVID or literally anything else, you are going to get permabanned so thoroughly that your grandchildren won't be allowed to post here.

RPGnet sends its condolences to his friends and family. BESM offers been lauded for its use of the system, though the first look of the expression Tri-Stat system did not really show up until the discharge of BESM 2nd-edition. The initial edition of BESM has been a little bit of a cIusterfuck, as it has been GoO's first discharge, but unlike several companies' 1st releases, it has been still playable and enjoyment.

Some of these incorporated Dominion Tank Police, Sailor Moon and, the last of which was type of a functioning draw up of the sport's 2nd Edition. From the back cover: In the myriad realms of imagination there are an infinite number of worlds waiting to be discovered. The game uses the Tri-Stat system in its D6 iteration. Learn more about Amazon Prime. The same formula can be used for Flight or Swimming.

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. MacKinnon offered a public explanation and apology, and offered to refund buyers who were dissatisfied with editipn purchase of the book. Combat will be as unbalanced as you think it will be. BESM uses a point-based character creation system. Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon. Amazon Rapids Fun stories for kids on the go. If you pre-ordered the book from us, more information will follow.

Amazon Renewed Refurbished products with a warranty. A vast promotion and beta test was organized, and included a number fdition demo-team members from around the world.