“If the apocalypse happens, beep me.”
I have no problem admitting that I'm a
fan of Buffy. I remember when it first came on TV and watched the
first episode. I wasn't hooked right away, but stuck around because
of Alyson Hannigan. I have no problem admitting this as well. I'm a
sucker for redheads.
As I continued to watch the show, I
enjoyed it. I found myself identifying with Xander. White, lower
middle class (if not poor), a little geeky, and just awkward. When
Xander gets shot down by Buffy, I know exactly how he feels. Why he
didn't go for Willow is beyond me...
Ahem. Anyway. Before too long, Buffy
was a wildly successful series, that even got a spin-off show, and
helped push the “Urban Fantasy” genre into existence. Given the
popularity of gaming that was happening in the early 2000's, it
should come as no surprise that Buffy got the RPG treatment. What
surprised me was that Eden Studios managed to pick up the license. I
wasn't surprised to see them get Army Of Darkness (which I now regret
not picking up when I had the chance years ago), but Buffy seemed a
little out there for them. My introduction to Eden Studios was All
Flesh Must Be Eaten (which I reviewed a while back). They also did
some other stuff that was clearly inspired by World of Darkness.
There was always a dark edge in their early games. All Flesh,
Witchcraft, Conspiracy X, and Armageddon; these all dealt with horror
and bad monsters to one degree or another. While Buffy did have some
horror elements (the first episode still gets a jump out of me, many
years and viewings later), it was very clearly Noble-Dark, not
Grim-Dark. So, I wasn't sure what to make of this idea. I was also
worried about balance and keeping Mary Sues at bay. I've been on
FanFiction.net. I've even been known to write my own fan fiction. And
what I've learned about Buffy fan fiction is that there's a lot of
Slayers out there. So, so many. Would this game be about a posse of
Slayers going around kicking fangs and taking names? I didn't want to
see, so I skipped it.
Recently, I had a chance to pick up the
core book in near mint condition for $3. I couldn't pass that deal
up. I bought it and have started reading through it. Already I can
see that the humor of the series is front and center, making me
hopeful. While the system is very much the Unisystem at its core,
there's a few changes that have been made. The damage is a flat
number, no rolling and multiplying (except for Slashing and bullet
damage, which is optional). They dropped Endurance and Essence
points. They added in Drama Points. And they condensed skills and
combat. I guess you could call it “Unisystem Light.” Which does
kind of fit Buffy. And would make it easier for people new to
roleplaying.
When it comes to making characters,
there's varying power levels, as is the norm for Eden Studios. You
can make a White Hat, Hero, or an Experienced Hero. Thankfully, they
didn't make Slayer a power level. Instead, it's a 16 point Quality.
There's also options for vampire, werewolf, Watcher, and even robot
characters, as they're all Qualities. While they did add several
thematic Qualities, the Drawbacks are still lacking. Usually a
Quality, like Nerd or Jock, have a built in Drawback. One thing I
will say is that FINALLY corrected Fast Reaction Time in this
edition. Which I'm totally stealing for my Silent Hill project.
There's also some simple rules for magic, but there's an expansion
called Magic Box that greatly expands the system from what I've been
told. There's also a bestiary book, to help flesh out the enemies the
slayer and her posse could face.
Looking over the game, it's clearly
designed to be in a high school setting, but there's no reason why
you can't change that up. With the aforementioned Qualities of Jock
and Nerd, coupled with the Drawbacks of Misfit and Teenager, it's all
ready for you. But, if you don't want to, you don't have to. Another
thing they mention is playing games without a slayer. As the game was
written in the later years of the series, you can do a whole campaign
involving the Initiative. That would be the government monster
killers, in case you don't remember. Or, if you wanted to have some
real fun, you could have “good” monsters, such as werewolves and
vampires with souls, maybe working with some magic users, to fight
against “bad” vampires, demons, and other baddies. It's really up
to you. Even in the series, they mentioned other Hellmouths (most
notably Cleveland), so you can have some fun. Of course, who really
wants to play a game set in Cleveland?
The long and the short of it is that
you've got a “cinematic” version of the Unisystem that let's you
play in the world of Buffy and captures the spirit of the show. Does
it feel like any other Unisystem game? No. Does it feel like Buffy?
Hell yes.
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