Buffy d20?

[Felon]

One very important point regarding the relation between setting and system: the Buffy RPG does an excellent job of accommodating PCs with vastly different 'power levels' (e.g. the Slayer verus mere 'white hats' like Xander). This feature -- essential for the setting -- is wholly absent from d20 Modern, with its insistence on crunch and 'balance'.

Pfah. Xander is your prototypical Tough Hero....with mediocre ability scores. He's your ever-resilient Daffy Duck.

 

[Akrasia]

The system is easy to Min Max, but it's a game that requires the GM and players to agree ahead of time on what kind of game they want and then to pursue that game together....

I agree with this. If players are going to min max, they really should not be playing in the Buffyverse to begin with! That kind of mentality is completely antithetical to the nature of the setting.

Anyway, if for some crazy reason you want to use d20 Modern for Buffy, the Eden book is still worth picking up for the information it contains (including useful advice on capturing the 'feel' of the Buffyverse in your adventures).

 

[Crothian]

I agree with this. If players are going to min max, they really should not be playing in the Buffyverse to begin with! That kind of mentality is completely antithetical to the nature of the setting.

I disagree with that. Min Maxing has nothign to do with setting. I can thing of plenty of characters that work very well in the system and can be min maxed all the while matching the concept perfectly.

 

[Akrasia]

I disagree with that. Min Maxing has nothign to do with setting. I can thing of plenty of characters that work very well in the system and can be min maxed all the while matching the concept perfectly.

Buffy is not about 'optimizing' characters. Rather it is about creating quirky, interesting characters that often have serious flaws and weaknesses. A player who seeks to 'min max' in a Buffy game 'just does not get it' IMO.

 

[Crothian]

Buffy is not about 'optimizing' characters. Rather it is about creating quirky, interesting characters that often have serious flaws and weaknesses. A player who seeks to 'min max' in a Buffy game 'just does not get it' IMO.

No game is really about optimizing characters, but if that were truely the case they wopuld have put something about not doing it in the books. And players don';t have to try to min max to actually do it. I think by saying peoiple who min max don't get the game is being really elitist. One has nothing to do with the other. I can easily make interesting characters with quirks, and serious flaws but also min max them. In fact systems with meritrs and flaws are even easier to min max then systems without them like d20.

 

[Akrasia]

... I think by saying peoiple who min max don't get the game is being really elitist. ....

I've never had a problem with being elitist. But in any case, I think we just have a basic difference of opinion here (or perhaps simply misunderstand each other).

 

[Hurtfultater]

I disagree with that. Min Maxing has nothign to do with setting. I can thing of plenty of characters that work very well in the system and can be min maxed all the while matching the concept perfectly.

There's nothing in the Buffyverse that I can see that goes against min-maxing. The Buffy game by Eden, however, is a differant story. The text explicitly encourages people to adopt a play style in which screen time and witty lines are traded against ass kicking. The drama points for white hats aren't just a power balance in terms of character effectiveness - they're a metagame resource to empower players equally to effect the plot. Remember that drama points can be used for out of character reasons.

The system isn't perfectly set up for it, but I'm arguing that the game is antithetical to traditional min maxing. If a player is decapitating left and right in opposition to what everyone wants to do with the game, he's being as disruptive as someone who tries to kill the other PCs.

EDIT: I'm not trying to imply that minmaxers don't get the game. I'm trying to say that they are using the game in a manner for which it was not designed. It's like using Paranoia for a long-running campaign with fully realized characters.

 

[Crothian]

The system isn't perfectly set up for it, but I'm arguing that the game is antithetical to traditional min maxing. If a player is decapitating left and right in opposition to what everyone wants to do with the game, he's being as disruptive as someone who tries to kill the other PCs.

Any style of gaming that does not corispond with the other styles at the table will be distrubtive. My only point is that the game is easy to min max. Be it wrong for some people or even the game doesn't matter.

 

[Akrasia]

Leaving aside the whole debate over 'min/maxing', I would strongly urge anyone interested in running a Buffyverse campaign to get the Eden core rulebook.

It is ... truly great.

 

[Klaus]

IMHO, Xander is better portrayed as a Dedicated Hero with just a couple of levels of Charismatic thrown in, from his tendency to uplift the group with funny remarks.

Why Dedicated? That was answered by the evil preacher Caleb, when he put out Xander's eye, claiming Xander to be the one who sees everything.

I'd also be tempted to say Xander is not a Hero, but rather an Ordinary, based on his talks with Dawn earlier that season (when Dawn turned out NOT to be a potential).