Buffy RPG

[Crothian]

Forked from: Grumble Grumble...

I have the Buffy game but have never played. How's it play? Is it a hoot? Are you a fan?

It has a nice and simple system. The books are written in style of the show so if you like that the books are great. But others have found it annoying. The Buffy RPG does Buffy really well, but the Angel RPG is better over all. It is a bit more accommodating for a wider range of characters.

The Slayer kicks ass and the support characters do not, just like the show. There is a lack of character power balance and it is done on purpose and it works. The side kick characters do get more Drama points (think character points from D&D but a lot more useful) so that will safe them.

I'm a big fan of the game even going to the length oh having at least 2 copies of each of the books. Not that they were able to produce many of them due to a very slow approval process they eventually cost Eden the liscense from my limited understanding of events.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

So long as all your players understand that the Slayer is much more powerful at fighting vampires than them, and that this is deliberate and fine, then all will be well.

I'd concentrate more on the high-school angst and social issues, and a lot less on the vampire ass-kicking for the best sort of game.

Oh, and make sure you have a fight in the Bronx. Can't be a proper Buffy game without a fight in the Bronx.

 

[roguerouge]

Do the drama points actually even things out? And how's the magic system?

 

[Stormborn]

Its been awhile since I played it, but IIRC the magic system was fun -and pretty dibilitating. I just about killed my character once casting magic.

Drama point work fine once you get used to them.

The one short campaign of it we played in I was a half-demon rogue watcher in late 1800s Hong Kong looking for the cult, which I had once been apart of, that killed my brother. I had taken over training of his slayer as well. I believe the GM was using a portion of Masks of Nyarlothotep for the adventures.

 

[Crothian]

Do the drama points actually even things out? And how's the magic system?

No, the Slayer is going to be stronger and faster and tougher then the other characters. But Drama points will let the other characters hit a vampire and stay alive. But like the show the Vamps and monsters are tougher then normal people.

Magic also like the show is rare and not always useful. It is possible to min max magic and create a powerful witch but magic still has limitations. It isn't the best defined but with the book The Magic Shop it does a good job of having all the spells used in the show.

 

[pauljathome]

One thing that the system does VERY well is to let the less powerful characters still contribute to combat. The Slayer kicks ass but it is very clear that she'd have lost the battle without the supporting characters.

This is done mostly by the game mechanic involving multiple attackers. Basically, multiple attackers really suck. So, you get 2 very common scenarios:

1) Slayer + scoobies vs bunches of baddies. The scoobies act to reduce the numbers attacking the Slayer at once while basically just surviving. Slayer takes out baddies. But, absent the scoobies, she'd have been mobbed

2) Slayer and Scoobies vs a really tough opponent. The scoobies act to give the
slayer a bonus on her attacks and, because of that bonus, they win.

My campaign has only 1 Hero level character, the rest are all White Hats. I've given the White Hats carte blanche to become Heros if they choose (power up to near Slayer levels). None have taken me up on the offer.

It takes a while to get used to the Drama Points. They essentially (not quite, but its close) mean that the characters automatically succeed at anything that they really want to, at least out of combat. Which makes for a very different feel in a game. Players have a lot more control.

 

[demonsquidgod]

In my experience did an exceedingly good job at making a game session really feel like an episode of the show. Emulates not just the setting but the genre of the show it self.

 

[Starbuck_II]

Magic also like the show is rare and not always useful. It is possible to min max magic and create a powerful witch but magic still has limitations. It isn't the best defined but with the book The Magic Shop it does a good job of having all the spells used in the show.

Does it have Willows Fireball? The seeking one that she used on one of the trio that killed Tara?

I mean, that was some powerful magic.

 

[jdrakeh]

Magic also like the show is rare and not always useful. It is possible to min max magic and create a powerful witch but magic still has limitations. It isn't the best defined but with the book The Magic Shop it does a good job of having all the spells used in the show.

I believe that the book in question is The Magic Box. That said, the magic system in the Angel RPG is much more to my liking, with regard to the discussion of power limitations and balancing of spells (it is not, however, as robust as the system in The Magic Box).

In fact, if you're playing Buffy, you may want to look into picking up the Angel RPG as a companion volume. The rules for organizations and demon creation (essentially a bare bones effect-based character creation toolkit) are great on their own or as an addition to the BTVS RPG.

 

[am181d]

I actually bought the Buffy RPG books a few years back with a mind towards converting the ritual magic rules over to D&D. Now that D&D 4e has an actual ritual magic rules system, I'm wondering if that would be easier or harder...