''Silver Age Sentinels'' is a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

(RPG) published in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Guardians of Order Guardians of Order was a Canadian company founded in 1996 by Mark C. MacKinnon in Guelph, Ontario. The company's business output consisted of role-playing games (RPGs). Their first game is the anime inspired ''Big Eyes, Small Mouth''. In 2006 Gua ...

, creators of ''

Big Eyes, Small Mouth ''Big Eyes, Small Mouth'' (''BESM'') is a tabletop role-playing game originally produced by Guardians of Order in 1997 that was designed to simulate the action of anime and manga. The title alludes to the common anime drawing style of character ...

'', an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

-themed RPG.

History

moved into the d20 market beginning with their new superhero role-playing game, ''Silver Age Sentinels'' (2002), which was written by

Mark C. MacKinnon Mark C. MacKinnon is a Canadian politician, entrepreneur, and designer of roleplaying games. MacKinnon is the founder of Guardians of Order (GoO), and has produced work in the ''anime'' genre. His initial release, ''Big Eyes, Small Mouth'', led ...

, Jeff Mackintosh, and

Jesse Scoble Jesse Scoble is a Canadian game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Jesse Scoble was Mark C. MacKinnon's game master, and Scoble became an employee of Guardians of Order a few years after MacKinnon started the game co ...

, with

Steve Kenson Steve Kenson (born June 16, 1969) is a writer and designer of role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction. Career Steve Kenson began working as an author and game designer in 1995. Kenson co-wrote the super-hero role-playing game ''Silver Age ...

and was developed by

Lucien Soulban Lucien Moussa Shukri Soulban is a Saudi Arabian game designer and writer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Personal life Lucien Soulban was born in Saudi Arabia, where he lived for 12 years before attending school in Texas. He la ...

. ''Silver Age Sentinels'' was produced in both a Tri-Stat edition in July 2002 and then a d20 edition released at GenCon 35 later that year.

James Lowder James Daniel Lowder (born January 2, 1963 in Quincy, Massachusetts) is an American author and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popular ...

, who had experience with packaging fiction for

Green Knight Publishing Green Knight Publishing was founded by Peter Corless in 1998. He had acquired the rights to Chaosium's award-winning ''Pendragon RPG, Pendragon'' role-playing game after they defaulted on a loan from Corless with Pendragon as collateral. From 1999 ...

, moved to assembling book packages for other game companies, including some ''Silver Age Sentinels'' fiction for Guardians of Order (2003-2004). After Guardians of Order went out of business in 2006,

White Wolf A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf. It may also refer to: Organizations * White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band * White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA * Whi ...

bought the IPs for some of the company's games, including ''Silver Age Sentinels''. White Wolf's ArtHaus imprint holds the rights to ''Silver Age Sentinels''. Dyskami Publishing, founded by Mark C. MacKinnon in 2019, has come out with ''Absolute Power'', billed as the second edition of ''Silver Age Sentinels''.

Description

''Silver Age Sentinels'' features an original game world inspired by classic "four-color" DC and

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

comic book series, updated to modern political and moral sensibilities. The Empire City Universe (referred to after its central location, an alternative version of New York City) has a distinctive history. The original system is a variant of the Guardians of Order ''Tri-Stat'' system, later ported into a generic form called ''

Tri-Stat dX Guardians of Order was a Canadian company founded in 1996 by Mark C. MacKinnon in Guelph, Ontario. The company's business output consisted of role-playing games (RPGs). Their first game is the anime inspired '' Big Eyes, Small Mouth''. In 2006 Gu ...

''. It expands the system, adding additional modifiers to allow more customized powers and characters. It also uses the ten-sided die (d10) as its base die as opposed to the six-sided dice (d6) used in Guardians of Order's previous RPG titles. A ''d20'' version, using a similar power creation structure modified for compatibility with the '' d20 System'' line, was released two months after the ''Tri-Stat'' version. Many of its concepts were adapted to the d20 version of ''

''. The original ''Deluxe'' version is a full color hardcover, while the ''Unlimited'' version is a hardcover with a full color cover only. ''Silver Age Sentinels'' '' d20 System'' version is also hardcover with a black and white pages. The ''d20 Stingy Gamer Edition'' was softcover. The game is also the foundation for ''

The Authority Role-Playing Game ''The Authority Role-Playing Game'' is a role-playing game published by Guardians of Order in 2004. Description ''The Authority Role-Playing Game'' is based on Warren Ellis's '' The Authority'' comic book. The game uses ''Silver Age Sentinels'' ...

'', a game based on

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

's '' The Authority''. That game features a much higher power level, and uses twelve-sided dice (d12) as its main action resolution. Two anthologies of creator-copyrighted short stories tied to the SAS universe were published by Guardians of Order. ''Path of the Just'' (2003) featured an introduction by

Denny O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

and included stories by

John Ostrander John Ostrander (born April 20, 1949) is an American writer of comic books, including ''Suicide Squad'', ''Grimjack'' and '' Star Wars: Legacy''. Career Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes ...

Steven Grant Steven Grant (born October 22, 1953) is an American comic book writer best known for his 1985–1986 Marvel Comics mini-series ''The Punisher'' with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper. Biography Comic books Grant has ...

, and

Ed Greenwood Ed Greenwood (born July 21, 1959) is a Canadian fantasy writer and the original creator of the ''Forgotten Realms'' game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for ''Dragon'' magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sold ...

. ''

Path of the Bold ''Path of the Bold: An Anthology of Superhero Fiction'' is a fiction anthology edited by James Lowder and published by Guardians of Order in 2004. Plot summary ''Path of the Bold: An Anthology of Superhero Fiction'' is based on ''Silver Age Senti ...

'' (2004) featured an introduction by

Elliot S! Maggin Elliot S. Maggin, also spelled Elliot S! Maggin (born 1950), is an American writer of comic books, film, television, and novels. He was a main writer for DC Comics during the Bronze and early Modern ages of comics in the 1970s and 1980s. He is ...

and included stories by Robert Weinberg,

John Kovalic John Kovalic (born Robert John Kovalic, Jr. on 24 November 1962) is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. Career Born in Manchester, England, Kovalic is best known for his ''Dork Tower'' comic book, comic strip, and webcomic, and oth ...

, and

Mike W. Barr Mike W. Barr (born May 30, 1952) is an American writer of comic books, mystery novels, and science fiction novels. Barr has written for every one of the first four incarnations of ''Star Trek: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek ...

. Both anthologies were edited by

Reviews

*''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'' - Deluxe Limited Edition *''

'' - d20 Edition

References

{{reflist Alternate history role-playing games BESM/dX Canadian role-playing games Guardians of Order games Role-playing games introduced in 2002 Superhero role-playing games