Buffy d20?

[Voadam]

How one could like the Buffy setting, but dislike a system that has been perfectly designed for it, is beyond me. The Buffy rpg has everything that d20 Modern has that would be useful for the setting (skills, qualities, etc.) but without all the crap that would detract from the setting (inappropriate classes, slow tactical combat, etc.).

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'.

I guess one could use d20 Modern for Buffy -- but to do so would mean using a system that fails to capture what is great about the Buffyverse (again, IMO and IME).

An analogy: using standard D&D rules for Middle-Earth. What a disaster.

So you are saying if you want a game with player dynamics like the show (a main combat competent protagonist with supporting help) go for the Eden book.

Whereas d20 Modern will feel like D&D in the buffyverse where each player is roughly comparable in combat and there is not that protagonist support split among the players or the stories.

 

[Akrasia]

So you are saying if you want a game with player dynamics like the show (a main combat competent protagonist with supporting help) go for the Eden book.

Whereas d20 Modern will feel like D&D in the buffyverse where each player is roughly comparable in combat and there is not that protagonist support split among the players or the stories.

There are two basic kinds of characters in the Buffy RPG: Heroes (Buffy, Riley Finn, Angel, Reformed Spike) and White Hats (everyone else).

There is nothing stopping you from using the Buffy RPG to run a campaign in which all the PCs are Heroes -- or White Hats!

Either kind of campaign still fits the Buffyverse far better than some d20 Modern attempt IMO & IME.

 

[Akrasia]

While watching reruns of "Angel", I think it's fun to see how handily the supporting characters in that show--Wesley, Gunn, Fred, Cordelia, & Lorne--display the traits of d20M archetypes. Being a team of semi-professional demon hunters rather than just a bunch of high-school chums who grew up together, the writers had to come up with a way for all of the characters to pull their weight in adventures. That's probably a better mdoel to follow if you're doing d20 in the Buffyverse. White-hat, schmite-hat.

Meh. :\

If you want to run an Angel campaign, I would -- surprise! -- recommend the Angel RPG. It has the same rules as the Buffy RPG, modified for a more mature setting.

Characters in the Angel RPG are tougher than those in Buffy -- which naturally reflects the differences between the two series.

 

[Akrasia]

Can someone tell me how magic and psionics work in the Buffy rpg?

All characters can try to use magic, though this is naturally risky and can have unpredicable consequences (as per the show). There is a skill called "Occultism" that is related to this -- characters add their occultism skill when attempting to cast spells. Generally speaking, casting spells involve rituals, etc., and so cannot be done in the middle of combat. However, characters with the 'sorcery' quality (like Willow) can use magic in quickly, in combat.

During character creation, you spend points on 'qualities' (these are special abilities, and disadvantages, that your character has). One such quality is 'Sorcery', which improves your character's ability to cast spells. (Other qualities can give your character other kinds of 'supernational' abilities -- e.g. being a 'slayer' is a quality -- and in the Angel RPG you can choose to be demon or part demon.)

There are a few sample spells from the show included in the core rulebook. The supplement "The Magic Box" has a lot more info and options.

'Psionics' as understood in d20 are not really supported in the system. But you can buy qualities like "psychic visions", "telekinesis", or "telepathy" that are psionic-esque.

 

[Crothian]

It is really easy to improve ones's magic or psionic ability so you may want to either up the cost of those abilities or prepare for a really power sorcerer

 

[orangefruitbat]

Player - I want to make a slayer character, that's basically a Buffy clone
DM - OK.
Player - let's see...max Dex, max STR, max Getting Medieval, attractiveness advantage, the slayer quality of course, lots of ranks in Hard to Kill, fast Reaction Time, and dependent (Dawn). That pretty much covers it.
DM - Damn minmaxers.

Let's be honest, the hero and champion classes are fully of cheesy minmax. "I want to play a kickass vampire with ubercombat stats. To balance this, I'm taking the "Doesn't drink human blood" and "Angsty" flaws...

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.

 

[Felon]

So you are saying if you want a game with player dynamics like the show (a main combat competent protagonist with supporting help) go for the Eden book.

Whereas d20 Modern will feel like D&D in the buffyverse where each player is roughly comparable in combat and there is not that protagonist support split among the players or the stories.

Well, I can't speak for the Buffy game, but by no means do all characters in D20M necessarily wind up with comparable combat ability. Smart, Dedicated, and Charismatic Heroes are, naturally, more geared towards activities of a cerebral nature. The difference is even more pronounced once you get into advanced classes. Gunslingers, martial artists, and shadow slayers are definitely more combat-oriented than infiltrators, investigators, and occultists.

So you have support roles. What you don't have are characters that really don't bring any special skills to the table. Characters that are, essentially, hostages-in-waiting, as you have in many settings. It's about as hard to apply a class label to someone like Dawn as it is Aunt May or Pippin ("well, he's a petty thief, and he tries to hide from bad guys because he can't fight that well--let's say he's a 7th-level rogue!").

From what I'm hearing, the Buffy RPG's main draw besides the ability to play a hostage is that it offers a bunch of quirks you can add to a character for points (which you can apparently buy combat abilities with), and it has some kind of "drama point" system that rewards players for roleplaying. I would like to hear more about that mechanic. Do these points get pooled? Does some specific objective trigger the reward, or is it at GM discretion?

 

[SWBaxter]

The Buffyverse is one of those settings where atmosphere matters far more than rules system. It can, and has, been done in many different rules sets (including but not limited to d20, Hero, GURPS, Feng Shui, HeroQuest, pre-license Unisystem, Prime Time Adventures, Storyteller, and Call of Cthulhu/BRP, that I'm aware of). In every case, the success or failure of the campaign is almost entirely dependent on whether the players and GM are willing to introduce characters and situations in line with what we see in the series. If they are, they can play it out using FATAL and it'll probably work OK. If they're not, the game won't be anything like the series regardless of what system they use.

Eden's book looks nice enough, and the system's not bad. If Unisystem's your thing, then sure pick it up (though IMHO it's ridiculously overpriced for the content delivered, better to get it second-hand). If you prefer another system, then that's easy enough, too, since so long as you own a DVD player you have access to all the source material you'll ever need. I personally would go for one of the more free-form systems like Prime Time Adventures or HeroQuest, but it's trivial to do in d20 Modern. The important thing is to have a group that's willing to act all Buffyish instead of doing the most effective job they can.

 

[fanboy2000]

"I want to play a kickass vampire with ubercombat stats. To balance this, I'm taking the "Doesn't drink human blood" and "Angsty" flaws...

Angsty isn't a flaw. It improves ratings!

 

[Hurtfultater]

Let's be honest, the hero and champion classes are fully of cheesy minmax. "I want to play a kickass vampire with ubercombat stats. To balance this, I'm taking the "Doesn't drink human blood" and "Angsty" flaws...

Angel's player gave him the four point 'dumb as a post' flaw. He threw away an immortality ring.