Tease: Ever wanted to be Buffy or Giles? Wondered how you would reach to the world of Sunnydale? You can explore those and many other options with Eden’s Studio’s newest release: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game. Let’s take a peek in on the world of roleplaying with a game session.
His whole life had
been leading up to this moment; in monumental turns of unbelievable events led
him to stand outside of the cemetery gates.
The moonlight washed his swarthy skin with an eerie glow. Pulling the smoke into his lungs from the
cigarette pinched between his fingers, his dark eyes searched the tombstones
for her. She was in there, somewhere,
hunting her prey and running her programming.
A small tingle traveled up his spine at the thought.
From the first days of
his studies, he’d applied himself to his Watcher duties. Yet year after year, Apu was passed over when
they assigned potential slayers to be watched.
Running his short, stubby fingers through his thick, black hair, he
thought back to the flames in his cheeks as a new excuse was passed down as to
why he wasn’t chosen. Finally tired of
the wait, his rashness led him down the road of cybernetics and robotics. He was going to prove to them all that he
could be a Watcher by building a slayer to accurately test his instructing
techniques.
Lifting a small
display screen in his free hand, the Watcher monitored his slayer’s progress
through her eyes. A bone-ridged vampire
leapt into view on the attack. He
watched as a boot encased foot swung across the screen, connecting with the jaw
of the demon. Off to the side of the
monitor, the robot’s programming paraded down through the various selections of
responses to the stimulus. Taking
another drag of the cigarette, Apu nodded and smiled, pleased with the
readings. He dropped the butt, grinding
it out under his foot as he set across the grass to find his slayer.
~@~@~@~@~@~@~
“So, now that we have a volunteer for our Slayer, who wants
to be her Watcher?” As the Director or
Master of ceremonies of this roleplaying game session, I looked out over my
group of players for another volunteer.
Out of the four, the bravest of gentlemen had offered to play the
Slayer, fulfilling the title role or main character of the group. Now, her mentor and trainer (her Giles)
needed to be decided. Since the group
opted to create their own characters rather than play Buffy and Gang, I hoped
one of them would create a character that was unique and interesting as our
Slayer. Luckily, with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game,
the only limitation was their imaginations.
“I will,” Nick offered.
He tucked his head as his friends started vying for their parts.
“We can be experienced heroes, right?” Matt looked at me wistfully. Since the four friends sitting around my
dining room table had role-played before, I decided to be very lenient with the
rules of the game.
Nick flipped through the rule book to the second chapter on
character creation. He started dividing
up his twenty-five attribute points amongst the six categories, investing
heavily in dexterity and intelligence.
His character’s coordination, agility and wisdom would be his greatest
asset. Unfortunately, having invested so
many points, his willpower – his mental strength and self-control – ended up
being below average.
“So, are you British?”
Brian quipped, smiling.
Nick flipped through the qualities and drawbacks, those
little quirks that help round out a character.
He had to spend his points on the Watcher package, which would give him
extra levels in specific attributes and skills.
“No, I don’t think so.”
Reclaiming one point, he gave his character the drawback of
being a minority. “Think he’s going to
be Indian.”
“Yeah, that’s good!
Is he going to be able to cast spells like Giles?”
“Sure. Plus, I’m
thinking resisting demon powers would be helpful.”
Rounding out his features, Nick moved on to disburse his
Skill points. Complimenting his Watcher
type by investing most of his points in Medieval, occultism and knowledge, he
finished by investing his remaining points in art and computers.
“Art?”
“Yeah, um, he likes to draw.” Nick smiled.
“Great – like Angelus.
Maybe you should take ‘Emotional Problems.’”
Everyone chuckled. “I
would laugh, but I’m ‘Humorless’, remember?”
With Nick and Brian construction their Slayer and Watcher
characters, I, enjoying my Director’s hat, turned to Mike and Matt. “So, boys, who’s going to round out our
supporting cast?”
~@~@~@~@~@~@~
Sitting down with players after the character creation
session, I was able to ask them about creating a role-playing game character
using the Uni system featured in Eden
Studio’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying
Game system.
Where you able to
create the character you wanted in the current gaming rules?
Mike: Yes, the rules
seemed very solid. Also, very easy to
understand.
Matt: Yes and then
some!
Brian: Yes, after
long hours of research (please not the sarcasm), I was able to play my
character the way it was meant to be. I was
happy!
If so, what part of
the process would you have improved? If
not, what part of the process prevented you from creating the character you
wanted?
Nick: I would like to
see more bonuses for the hero and white hat character classes. There seems to be no real reason to not play
an experienced hero or, at least, the incentive not to.
Mike: Limiting
certain combinations (such as Robot Slayer or Robot Werewolf) would keep the
“cheese factor” done. The system was not
limiting at all.
Brian: I have not
found any problems with playing the character I wanted. I did find a couple of combinations that
should not be allowed, such as a slayer bot (which I’m playing).
Do you like using a
point-based system to create characters?
Mike: Yes, nothing is
worse than being stuck with a character you don’t want to play or who just
plain sucks. The point system allows you
to make a character you want, not what the dice wants you to play.
Brian: Yes. It makes it easier for newbies to learn a
game using the point system.
Matt: Yes, much
better than rolling dice and trying to use those scores to create the character
you want.
Are you a fan of the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show?
Matt: Yeah, I’ve been
watching since season two.
Nick: A little over a
year, yes.
Mike: Yes, I am a fan
and I’ve been watching for about a year.
Have you roleplayed
before? If so, what and how much?
Mike: I have played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (2nd
edition), Dungeons and Dragons (3rd
Edition), Shadownrun, Weird Wars,
Hackmaster and the D20 System Star
Wars. I played for the past four
years and still currently play Weird Wars,
Hackmaster and D&D 3E. I have played
Eden Studio’s Hack!! Card game many
times. My favorite system is the D20
system for its simplicity and completeness.
Brian: I have been
gamin for several years. My favorite system
is the D20 System.
Matt: I have played Dungeon and Dragons, Shadowrun, Vampire LARP and numerous
other games for twelve years.
Not only does Buffy
the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game offer the veteran gamer a solid system
and something to use, but presents the Buffy fan with new insights to their
favorite show. C.J. Caredlla, writer and
game designer, does an excellent job of capturing the show’s style in his writing,
blending the right amount of fact and humor to make the book a fun read even
for a beginner. Filled with quotes,
pictures and facts from the show, gamers and fans alike will find this book a
nice addition to their prospective collections.
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