Pyramid Pick: Big Eyes, Small Mouth RPG (Second Edition)

Pyramid Pick

Big Eyes, Small Mouth RPG (Second Edition)

Published by Guardians of Order

Written by David L. Pulver and Mark C. MacKinnon

288 pages (6"x9" full color), $29.95 U.S. ($39.95 Can)

When it was released in 1998, Big Eyes, Small Mouths made waves in anime gaming for its simple, streamlined design and versatile mechanics. The Second Edition is better. Much better. In fact, I'd argue it's not just for anime anymore.

To anyone familiar with the First Edition of BESM, the Second Edition is a remarkable change. The First Edition was only 96 pages and some 16,000 words, while the Second Edition is over 280 pages and 100,000 words. But fear not, those extra pages are not just filler. Second Edition BESM incorporates much of the material previously published in Big Robots, Cool Starships along with some concepts from other Guardians of Order titles.

This book is a high-quality product with exceptional production values. The 288 pages are color-printed throughout, and the design uses that color to good effect, showing off the anime-styled artwork one would expect. The art is very good, with only a few real clunkers, and covers a wide variety of anime styles without looking disjointed or busy.

The use of color doesn't stop with the artwork. BESM also make good use of color to highlight information tables (green), examples (blue), and notes (red). The notes are especially significant because they highlight changes from First Edition, and usually explain . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: September 29, 2000

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