Buffyverse role-playing games

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Role-playing games published by Eden Studios, Inc.. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG was published in 2002, the Angel one in 2003. The games use a streamlined version of Eden Studios' popular Unisystem game engine, which is also featured in their CJ Carella's WitchCraft and All Flesh Must Be Eaten role playing games.

In the games, players take on either the roles of the cast from the television shows, or create their own, original characters to adventure in the Buffyverse.

The games have been hailed for their sleek core rules mechanic and innovative "Drama Points" systems, which give players a degree of control over the flow of the story. Following the success of the games, Eden Studios released other successful licensed products based on the same game engine, for example one based on the cult film classic Army of Darkness.

Contents

Buffy Books and Products

There are several books in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Role-playing Game (BtVSRPG) series. These are:

BtVSRPG: Core Rulebook

The first book in the series and arguably the most essential. The book is broken down into sections describing the world, concepts, rules, and adversaries of the universe in as concise a manner as possible, so as to appeal to both new gamers and experienced gamers, as well as fans of the show.

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The chapters are as follows:

Chapter One breaks down the concept of a role playing game and discusses the major themes of the series season by season, exploring the role playing opportunities inherent in each season's overarching theme and story.

Chapter Two covers character creation, the elements involved in a player character, and ends with character writeups for the entire original Cast, as well as several original character archetypes.

Chapter Three covers the rules of the game, explaining how to use the characters created in chapter two in the overall context of the game.

Chapter Four discusses magic in the "Buffyverse," and includes rules for its use by player character spell casters.

Chapter Five is a detailed look at Sunnydale, CA, the fictional setting of the television series.

Chapter Six is a breakdown of various types of enemies one might encounter in a typical game, covering the obligatory vampire in detail, and looking at varied other races of demons and monsters featured on the series, as well as all of the "big bads" the show has had over the years.

Chapter Seven is the "Director's" section, explaining to the game master of a Buffy RPG campaign how to run a series, and breaks the idea of an rpg campaign down into an "episode and season" structure, much like a typical television series.

Chapter Eight is an original adventure to get players started playing in the Slayer's world. The later books also feature different original adventures.

The game also features appendices which give a glossary of "Buffyspeak," and collect all the important tables and charts for quick reference.

Other books based on this title are: BtVS Core Rulebook (Limited Edition) and BtVS Revised Core Rulebook which features details on the later seasons of the show, not featured in the original book.

BtVSRPG: Slayer's Handbook

This supplement contains information, background and advice on Slayer characters that can be used in the game. Also, it features alternative settings for use in the game.

There is also a limited edition version of this book.

BtVSRPG: Monster Smackdown

The BtVS equivalent of a Monster Manual. This supplement features information on vampires, demons and monsters as enemies and playable characters.

There is also a limited edition version of this book.

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BtVSRPG: The Magic Box

The supplement includes information on magic spells as well as guides and information on magic-based characters such as witches, psychics and users of near-magical technology.

BtVSRPG: Welcome to Sunnydale

This supplement features information on The town of Sunnydale including maps and relevant character descriptions.

This supplement is not yet released.

BtVSRPG: Character Journal

This accessory is for recording information relevant to the player-characters in a game (as opposed to the typical method of using scraps of paper).

BtVS RPG: Director's Screen

This accessory serves to block the hidden activities of the games-master from the other players.

Adventures

The first published adventure for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG, was the The Dark Druid. The adventure features Fionn mac Cumhail as a protagonist and ally. His battle with the druid Fer Doirich continues into the modern age and posits that the witches Willow and Tara are the reincarnations of his fosters Bodhmall and Liath respectively. The Dark Druid by Brannan, Timothy S., Games Unplugged , July 2002, p.25. [link]

Angel Books and Products

Angel RPG: Core Rulebook

The Angel RPG exists as a sister-rpg to the Buffy one. It includes many of the same features, but tailored towards the Angel TV series, such as histories and character sheets for the Angel cast as well as information on Angel's LA. It also has some features that are lacking from the Buffy Core Rulebook such as information on demonic or 'not-so normal' abilities that characters can have and also rules and guides for creating groups such as Gunn's gang, Angel Investigations or Wolfram & Hart.

A Limited Edition version of this book is also available.

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Angel RPG: Investigator's Casebook

This accessory is for recording information relevant to the player-characters in a game (as opposed to the typical method of using scraps of paper).

This accessory is not yet released.

Angel RPG: Director's Screen

This accessory serves to block the hidden activities of the games-master from the other players.

This accessory is not yet released.

Angel: Character Journal

This accessory is for recording information relevant to the player-characters in a game (as opposed to the typical method of using scraps of paper).

This accessory is not yet released.

Game Mechanics

Stats and Tests

The games utilize a variation on the Unisystem, where the basic game mechanic for deciding the outcome of any action is:

Attribute+Skill+d10 roll

Attributes represent the character's main six abilities, which in this case are three physical attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution; and three mental attributes: Intelligence, Perception, Willpower. Willpower is a change to the typical unisystem set of attributes, designed to for use in spell-casting-related tests as well as others.

There are seventeen skills, many of which have irreverent or humorous names to reflect the style of Whedon's Buffyverse. The skills include Acrobatics, Gun Fu (aka Ranged Combat) and Occultism.

Tests are also decided by applying the character's Qualities and Drawbacks. These act like Feats, deciding a character's strengths and weaknesses in a number of situations. Qualities/Drawbacks include: Nerd, Slayer, Vampire, Minority, Showoff, Mental Problems. Each Quality/Drawback costs a certain number of points, with qualities like Slayer or Vampire costing a great deal because of all the benefits a character receives (which outweigh the negative aspects one would also receive). Drawbacks 'cost' a negative number of points, allowing more points to be spent on qualities, but players are limited in how many drawbacks they can buy, in order to prevent them from abusing the system and earning a great many qualities.

Like qualities/drawbacks, skills and attributes are also bought on a points system. The number of points a character is allowed at the start of the character creation process is determined by the player's choice of character type.

Character Types

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Buffy

In the Buffy game the two main character types are Hero and White Hat. Heroes are allocated more points to spend on character creation, allowing them to become things like Slayers or Initiative members. However, White Hats are given more Drama Points, meaning that despite their apparent weaknesses, they will often persevere through an in-game form of 'luck' or whenever it is dramatically appropriate for them to succeed. Xander would be an example of a White Hat, and his exploits in the episode The Zeppo would have required the use of a number of Drama Points to succeed unscathed. There is a third character type: the Experienced Hero, but this type is largely theoretical, as it is too powerful to be used in most games, having very high points in all areas.

Angel

In the Angel RPG, Heroes and White Hats are replaced by Champions and Investigators. These character types are allowed more spending points and more drama points than their Buffy RPG equivalents, to reflect how characters in the Angel universe are typically more experienced. This game also features the largely-theoretical super-powered third type.

Character Development

Like in many other RPG's, characters can of course learn and advance by gaining/spending experience points. These are generally earned through good roleplaying, such as when a player has their character deal with their emotional issues (usually detailed by their Drawbacks), or engage in (usually doomed) romantic relationships.

References

External links

Buffy

[Btvsrpg.com] The official website of the Buffy RPG.
[Btvs-rpg.net]
[Tabula-rasa.info]
[Darkshire.net]
Official character sheets for [Willow] and [Tara].
[Mystick Krewe MUSH] An online text-based RP post-canon, set in New Orleans.

Angel

[Angelrpg.com] The official website of the Angel RPG.
[RPGnet] Review of the Angel RPG, including a breakdown of chapters.

PLEASE DISCUSS CHARACTER ADDITTIONS/REMOVALS BEFORE MAKING CHANGES AT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Buffyverse#Buffyverse-box_character_inclusions)

This box cannot/shouldn't be including every Buffyverse character. Some suggested guidelines are:

"The people who appeared in the opening credits (Scooby Gang & Fang Gang/FG) appear in the box, and the most important villains/friends who had a significant emotional impact on multiple of those opening credits characters - as long as they have a significant episode count, and preferably if they appear in three or more seasons."

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Buffyverse
Main	Canon \| Index Chronology: Ancient \| Modern \| BS1 \| BS2 \| BS3 \| BS4/AS1 \| BS5/AS2 \| BS6/AS3 \| BS7/AS4 \| AS5 \| Future \| Flashbacks
Buffy	Characters (main) \| Characters (minor) \| Episodes \| Plot \| Comics \| Film \| Pilot (unaired) \| Promo: History.. \| Novels \| Promos: Pre-"Bargaining"
Angel	Characters (main) \| Characters (minor) \| Episodes \| Plot \| Comics \| Corrupt (unaired) \| Novels \| Pilot (unaired)
Spin-offs	Comics \| Fan made productions \| Fray \| Novels \| Spike movie \| Undeveloped productions Buffy Animated \| Card Game \| RPGs \| Tales of Slayer (prose) \| Tales of Slayers \| Tales of Vampires \| Toys \| Video Games Upcoming: Blackout \| \| \| \| \| \| Portal Through Time \| Spike vs Dracula \|
Powers	Angel Investigations \| Circle of the Black Thorn \| Order of Aurelius \| The First Evil \| The Initiative \| Monsters \| Old Ones \| The Powers That Be \| Ra-Tet \| Scooby Gang \| Senior Partners \| Watchers' Council \| Wolfram & Hart
People	Adam \| Amy \| Andrew \| Angel \| Anya \| Buffy \| Caleb \| Connor \| Cordelia \| Dawn \| Darla \| Doyle \| Dru \| Eve \| Faith \| Fred \| Giles \| Glory \| Gunn \| Harmony \| Holtz \| Illyria \| Jasmine \| Jenny \| Joyce \| Jonathan \| Kate \| Kennedy \| Lilah \| Lindsey \| Lorne \| The Master \| Mayor Wilkins \| Oz \| Professor Walsh \| Riley \| Spike \| Tara \| Warren \| Wesley \| Willow \| Xander
Places	L.A. \| Sunnydale Bronze \| Caritas \| Hellmouth \| Hyperion \| Library \| Magic Box \| Pylea \| Sunnydale High
Music	Complete Tracklist \| Use of Music in Buffy & Angel \| Dingoes Ate My Baby \| Film \| \| \| Once More, With Feeling
Key Terminology	"Demon" \| "Slayer" \| "Vampire" \| "Watcher" \| "Werewolf" \| "Witch" "Child of Senior Partners" \| Shanshu \| Sunnydale Syndrome \| Tro-Clon

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