Editing Slayers (section)

===Slayers D20 Character Creation===
One of the first things that becomes obvious in the Slayers D20 manual is that it reads like a (surprisingly well-edited) homebrew manual where various people have thrown in their input as to how and why the house rules operate the way they do. For example, the manual encourages the use of stereotypical, cliched, over-the-top characters as opposed to serious, mature ones, as long as it's not at the expense of the story. The best example of this is Amelia, the shortstack fistfighter. In any other campaign setting, her being overly [[Lawful Stupid|lawful good]] can be considered a handicap for parties since she would actively prevent, and possibly sabotage, anyone trying to tell a lie or steal from someone, even if the target of the lie or theft is evil themselves. In Slayers, Amelia's overdramatic steadfastness to righteousness to the point of being naive puts the party in hilarious (as far as Japanese humor goes) situations or allows the plot to immediately change its speed from slow-paced to explosive. Compare her to a character like Sylphiel, the lovesick shrine maiden who is much more calm, genuinely compassionate, and soft-spoken. If the two were a comedy duo, Amelia would be the "funny man", while Sylphiel would be the "straight man". The writers, then, actively push in character creation for everyone to find ways to capitalize on standard D20 jokes to create the funniest story possible.

Another interesting aspect are the naming conventions. As the manual puts it, "Heroic names tend to use the vowels A, E, I, and Y, and are often traditional names or names that sound similar to something that has a heroic connotation. Gourry's last name, for example, is Gabriev--a relatively close match to [http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Gabriel Gabriel]. Villainous names often use V, Z, and R, with the vowels O and U present. As an example, Rezo is initially described as being a wise priest with the name of a villain." This carries over to even the rest of the main cast: Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune is a proper, dignified princess' name; Zelgadis Greywords captures his "evil spellsword" persona, despite him having genuinely good intentions; and Lina's last name, Inverse, works on the two levels of her being an "inverted" ideal of a heroic protagonist, while also following the universe's name rules to reflect her violent, greedy nature.

To push the feel of the manual being a homebrew even further, the book adds in a small note suggesting the use of unusual hair or eyes because "[[Weeaboo|it is appropriate to the setting and can evoke a definite anime feel]]."