Anyone played BESM?

[Prime32]

(No, not that. Big Eyes Small Mouth, the Anime RPG system)

So, has anyone played it? I have collated some of the Anime d20 SRD in HTML to make it easier to look through. And does anyone have any builds?

[Josh]

I have never played BESM, what about the game appeals to you?

There are a few other Anime-like systems I have seen.  FUDGE or Cthulhutech for example.   

[Prime32]

I have never played BESM, what about the game appeals to you?

Well, I have never played it, but the system looks interesting and flexible.

[Optimator]

I've played it.  Very flexible and open-ended--what with the tri-stat system and all--but I prefer more structure in a game, personally.  I'd probably rather play D20 modern and picture it Anime in my head.

[Fox Lee]

Weeell... I would not recommend BESM 2E. It has some interesting principles and I quite like the Body/Mind/Soul stat system - but it's horribly, horribly unbalanced, and shortsightedly takes the stance that the lack of mechanical solidity will be compensated for by the players being sensible. Oops. Seriously, do not play this game with a min/maxer who's even vaguely good. Talen's first BESM character had a gun which could blow up the moon with one shot. Even my BESM character (and I'm not a good min/maxer!) had a retardedly overpowered weapon attack which made him at least five or six times more dangerous than the primary fighters in the group.

Plus, it lets you buy combat skills with the same resource as non-combat skills. I have never seen a system where that was a good idea.

d20 BESM I am dubious about. What I really liked about BESM by comparison to d20 was that BESM was classless. In the d20 version, they took away precisely what I thought was the best aspect of the system :\

Perhaps a better idea would be to combine systems - for example, using the d20Modern basic classes with point-buy BESM abilities sounds rather attractive to me. Provided the abilities are balanced, of course.

A friend and I have been working on a better ("better" by our obviously objective standards ) anime-flavoured d20 system embracing the classless ideal. It's currently at the "playtestable" stage, though it's in a state of flux because I'm arguing with the other head designer about what direction we should take it in (he wants to stick as close as possible to the D&D/d20Modern type of system, I want to branch out and make more variations).

I'm currently worrying that it doesn't fall under OGL because it includes rules for points-based character generation, which seems to not be permissable under OGL...

[Runestar]

Talen's first BESM character had a gun which could blow up the moon with one shot. Even my BESM character (and I'm not a good min/maxer!) had a retardedly overpowered weapon attack which made him at least five or six times more dangerous than the primary fighters in the group.

You can't exactly deny that such stunts have been covered in anime shows before. :wink

[Fox Lee]

I believe that's what he was inspired by, assuming we're both talking about spikey blonde hair and green eyes

Unfortunately, what you see in movies/ TV/etc. and what the players should be allowed access to do need have a line drawn between them. Unless, I guess, you're playing BESM Akira

It's also a question of usability. There's too much of a difference between a min-maxed character and a "normal" character. I know there's always going to be some builds that are better than others, sure - but BESM 2E isn't so much "open to abuse" as it is "wandering around the backstreets at midnight, drunk and wearing a bikini".

[chibishuffle]

I have played both BESM d20 and BESM tri stat.  Both are viable what you need is a good DM, ST GM etc to watch as players build characters.  I had a terrible experience with BESM d20 due to poor DMing and favoritism.  on the other hand I played BESM tri stat with a very good DM and had a blast.  It's not the game itself its the DM who runs it.

[bludmarine]

I've played the tri stat version of this myself and everyone went over the top with the characters.... But that was the point. We went insane on characters stats, the DM went insane on antagonist stats. It's a lot of fun, but every player needs to make characters at the same level of power.

[Fox Lee]

I have played both BESM d20 and BESM tri stat.  Both are viable what you need is a good DM, ST GM etc to watch as players build characters.  I had a terrible experience with BESM d20 due to poor DMing and favoritism.  on the other hand I played BESM tri stat with a very good DM and had a blast.  It's not the game itself its the DM who runs it.

Creating balanced rules shouldn't be up to the GM. That is the system's job. Obviously, any system can be broken by a GM tweaking it, but it should be at least reasonably balanced before the GM gets his/her paws on it, and tri-stat BESM isn't.

[logan9a]

(No, not that. Big Eyes Small Mouth, the Anime RPG system)

So, has anyone played it?

No, but the thought of it's existence still gives me nightmares...

[Leress]

I have BESM 2nd Edition, BESM d20, Advanced d20 magic, BESM Bestiary 2E and d20, TriStat dx ,and Slayer d20.

BESM 2E - Nice and easy to pick up, easy to break. So GM needs to put fences up.
BESM d20 - Wow, this is worst of both worlds.
Advanced d20 Magic - Pretty good for putting DnD spell into BESM d20 (some spell become to cheap though)
BESM Bestiary - (2E) very nice, (d20) does it's job more or less
TriStat dx - Haven't really had a chance to play with it yet?
Slayer d20 - Very good, only problem is that it only covers the Slayers, Next, and Try...so no Naga

Off topic note:
I recommend everyone try EABAnywhere, a free diceless RPG system. It's only 8 pages long 
You can also try out their EABA lite for a test run of their main system.

http://www.btrc.net/html/eaba2.html#FREE3

[Kari]

Personally, I'm a fan of the BESM system. (Matter of fact, I ran a few introductory games for Guardians of Order a few years back at GenCon, for BESM 3rd.)

Some of the big complaints with BESM were, at least, somewhat addressed with 3rd... If I'm remembering rightly. It's been a long time since I last looked at my copy. I do remember it being at least somewhat more balanced. Still needs a GM with an iron fist to ensure none of the players get too far out of hand, though.

(And, since someone mentioned it, Slayers d20 is awesome, and I seriously, seriously wish I could play a Slayers d20 game.)

[j0lt]

d20 BESM I am dubious about. What I really liked about BESM by comparison to d20 was that BESM was classless. In the d20 version, they took away precisely what I thought was the best aspect of the system :\

Perhaps a better idea would be to combine systems - for example, using the d20Modern basic classes with point-buy BESM abilities sounds rather attractive to me. Provided the abilities are balanced, of course.

A friend and I have been working on a better ("better" by our obviously objective standards ) anime-flavoured d20 system embracing the classless ideal. It's currently at the "playtestable" stage, though it's in a state of flux because I'm arguing with the other head designer about what direction we should take it in (he wants to stick as close as possible to the D&D/d20Modern type of system, I want to branch out and make more variations).

With d20 BESM the classes are "suggestions".  They're presented there as examples of basic class ideas.  The way I was playing was using point buy, as explained in the book, to design both the race, and buy abilities/feats/saves/skill points/whatever each level.  It's still a level-based system, but you can completely ignore the classes with no adverse effects.

On the other hand, this opens the door for some serious munchin characters, so I side with your friend.  d20 Modern is the way to go for a modern/low fantasy setting.