The day of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s 20th anniversary seems as good a time as any to start the blog about my Buffy themed roleplaying game. I’d had it in my head to run a game set in the Buffy-verse for some time and I particularly liked the idea of exploring the world after the series ended. How difficult is the life of a slayer now that they know they have an army of slayers backing them? How has Buffy and Giles changed the Watcher / Slayer relationship now that the Watcher’s council has been dismantled? I imagined there still would be a council of watchers, but they would be run by Giles and Xander who report directly to Buffy. So clearly, some of the questionable practices, such as Buffy’s “Trial” would be a thing of the past, as well as the need for absolute secrecy. Buffy was so successful with the help from friends and family that I think she would want to afford her team of slayers the same type of benefit.
I set the game in college, partially because a game about High Schoolers is a hard sell to a bunch of 30-somethings. But also because, with so many slayers out there in the world, Buffy would want to let the new recruits enjoy their teenage years for as long as possible before being thrust into the world of demons, prophecy, and death.
As I said, this was a hard sell with my roleplaying group. I’d never run a game before, and am not really the ideal “role player.” We had just come out of a frustrating D&D campaign in which, after a year, I still had a couldn’t completely grasp the basic rules of the game. After some personal issues we decided that I give running a game a shot. Originally, I was going to run a discworld campaign, but it had been so long since I’d read a discworld novel and I was drawing blanks for the ideas. The dense setting, coupled with immense discworld knowledge of some people in the group had me too intimidated for my first campaign. And frankly, I really just wanted to do a Buffy game.
In the group, my husband was the only one really familiar with the Buffyverse, and that’s because he’s been around during my regular binges of BtVS and Angel. This was a bit of a disadvantage because the other four players had no reason to be excited: all they knew of Buffy was that it was a campy show from when we were in High School about vampires. But, because they’re good friends they were willing to give it a shot. Their lack of knowledge did quickly become an advantage because I could introduce them to the game without a lot of preconceived notions on their end as to what should happen, just as Buffy was indoctrinated into slayerhood: a new slayer and her friends have the veil pulled from their eyes and are thrust into the unknown.
When we got together to really talk about the and plan everyone’s characters, I showed them one of my favorite episodes of the show: Hush. You know the one, that is primarily played out in silence while creepy floating monsters (and their straight-jacketed servants) steal the voices of the town and cut out civilian’s hearts. It turns out there is a lot more interpersonal drama in the episode I remembered, but it’s also a really great example of how the show isn’t just about punching vampires very, very hard.
What followed was a big discussion of character possibilities. I insisted most things weren’t off limits (although I had to veto one player who really wanted to be one of the Gentlemen). Rising to the challenge, people’s requests got more and more absurd as they tried to find something that wasn’t in the show before. I must have said the phrase “that’s not without precedent” 50 times in an hour.
“Can I be a good guy vampire?”
“That’s a hard sell… but it’s not without precedent.”
“If I’m an inventor, should I have a ray gun?”
“That’s not without precedent.”
“And a jet pack.”
“That’s not without precedent.”
“Oh, can I be a human-like robot?”
“That’s not without precedent.”
“How about a cyborg?”
You get the idea.
That was enough to get everyone excited. Even the biggest skeptic left saying he was pretty stoked to play.
So, I thought I’d start a blog about our adventures. It’s a little self-indulgent (as all blogs are) but it’s also a good way for me to work out my ideas for the game. I also thought it would give others ideas who are looking to start their own Buffyverse games. We’re running this game in the D6 system. This was favored because it is simple to learn, which I really needed, and helped out some of the more casual players in our group while still offering the opportunity to play a crunchy character, which some of the players prefer. The system also makes it easy for me to include a wide variety of creatures that would fit in the Buffyverse.
As I mentioned earlier, the game is set after the events of the show, and the events from Angel are also canon (as they should be). I understand that there is literal years of material in the comic books, but I’ve only read Angel: After the Fall, and I’m not sure how much of that I really want to include, so I’ll say it’s canon for now, but it may not come into play very much.
I’ll refer to the players by their character name, to respect everyone’s privacy. Of course I told them unusual character names were encouraged.
SETTING AND CHARACTERS
I set the game in college, partially because a game about High Schoolers is a hard sell to a bunch of 30-somethings. But also because, with so many slayers out there in the world, Buffy would want to let the new recruits enjoy their teenage years for as long as possible before being thrust into the world of demons, prophecy, and death.
As I said, this was a hard sell with my roleplaying group. I’d never run a game before, and am not really the ideal “role player.” We had just come out of a frustrating D&D campaign in which, after a year, I still had a couldn’t completely grasp the basic rules of the game. After some personal issues we decided that I give running a game a shot. Originally, I was going to run a discworld campaign, but it had been so long since I’d read a discworld novel and I was drawing blanks for the ideas. The dense setting, coupled with immense discworld knowledge of some people in the group had me too intimidated for my first campaign. And frankly, I really just wanted to do a Buffy game.
In the group, my husband was the only one really familiar with the Buffyverse, and that’s because he’s been around during my regular binges of BtVS and Angel. This was a bit of a disadvantage because the other four players had no reason to be excited: all they knew of Buffy was that it was a campy show from when we were in High School about vampires. But, because they’re good friends they were willing to give it a shot. Their lack of knowledge did quickly become an advantage because I could introduce them to the game without a lot of preconceived notions on their end as to what should happen, just as Buffy was indoctrinated into slayerhood: a new slayer and her friends have the veil pulled from their eyes and are thrust into the unknown.
When we got together to really talk about the and plan everyone’s characters, I showed them one of my favorite episodes of the show: Hush. You know the one, that is primarily played out in silence while creepy floating monsters (and their straight-jacketed servants) steal the voices of the town and cut out civilian’s hearts. It turns out there is a lot more interpersonal drama in the episode I remembered, but it’s also a really great example of how the show isn’t just about punching vampires very, very hard.
What followed was a big discussion of character possibilities. I insisted most things weren’t off limits (although I had to veto one player who really wanted to be one of the Gentlemen). Rising to the challenge, people’s requests got more and more absurd as they tried to find something that wasn’t in the show before. I must have said the phrase “that’s not without precedent” 50 times in an hour.
“Can I be a good guy vampire?”
“That’s a hard sell… but it’s not without precedent.”
“If I’m an inventor, should I have a ray gun?”
“That’s not without precedent.”
“And a jet pack.”
“That’s not without precedent.”
“Oh, can I be a human-like robot?”
“That’s not without precedent.”
“How about a cyborg?”
You get the idea.
That was enough to get everyone excited. Even the biggest skeptic left saying he was pretty stoked to play.
So, I thought I’d start a blog about our adventures. It’s a little self-indulgent (as all blogs are) but it’s also a good way for me to work out my ideas for the game. I also thought it would give others ideas who are looking to start their own Buffyverse games. We’re running this game in the D6 system. This was favored because it is simple to learn, which I really needed, and helped out some of the more casual players in our group while still offering the opportunity to play a crunchy character, which some of the players prefer. The system also makes it easy for me to include a wide variety of creatures that would fit in the Buffyverse.
As I mentioned earlier, the game is set after the events of the show, and the events from Angel are also canon (as they should be). I understand that there is literal years of material in the comic books, but I’ve only read Angel: After the Fall, and I’m not sure how much of that I really want to include, so I’ll say it’s canon for now, but it may not come into play very much.
I’ll refer to the players by their character name, to respect everyone’s privacy. Of course I told them unusual character names were encouraged.
SETTING AND CHARACTERS
The game is set in the fictional town of Brightfield, Maryland, a college town on the Eastern shore. Several of the characters attend Brightfield University, and live on campus. Our slayer, Anastasia Turner is one of those students. She is naturally athletic and although she’s only a freshman she made striker on the Varsity soccer team, drawing the ire of the forward Shannon, Anastasia’s new (minor) enemy. Anastasia is not the smartest, and is also completely indecisive, making her an unusual leader. When the chips are down she will do the right thing, but may need guidance from her friends to know the right course of action.
Anastasia is an orphan, both her parents were killed in a car accident. She is raised by her grandfather, Carlyle Edison Ramirez (also a PC), and lives with him when she isn’t on campus. In his sixties, Carlyle exhibits the crotchetiness of someone in their nineties. He is a grouch, suspicious of Anastasia’s friends, and also a shut in. When Anastasia comes home unannounced she often walks in on Carlyle smoking weed with his dealer and listening to loud rap music. His eccentricities aside, he is a brilliant inventor. He used to be a professor at Brightfield university, and they often ask him to return as an adjunct but he adamantly refuses. His inventions and creations are less than legal, however. Or, at least he obtains his materials in illegal ways. This adds to his curmudgeonliness. Paranoid for his granddaughter’s well-being in college, Carlyle built a humanoid robot called Barri to look after his granddaughter.
BARRI is a humanoid robot, built by Carlyle to protect Anastasia. He looks, feels, and acts (for the most part) human. Carlyle even built in a food trap so he can appear to eat and drink (though it doesn’t look quite natural). His name is an acronym that changes frequently, but my latest text message has him named as “Bionic Autonomous Recovery and Reconnaissance Intelligence.” Barri’s prime directive is to protect Anastasia at all costs, and he may allow harm to befall others if it does not contradict his programming (although he will sometimes choose to help save a random life or two). Barri is posing as Anastasia’s cousin from Canada, and only her and Carlyle know his true identity.
Anastasia’s roommate is Ariadne (last name to be determined). The two women met in High School but didn’t become friends until they bunked together in college. Ariadne is a beginning magic user, and doesn’t try to hide it. Anastasia feels that her friend is just a weird pagan, as she has yet to see a magic display. It doesn’t bother her, however, as long as Ariadne keeps her salt and candles on her side of the room. Ariadne believes in doing good and social justice. Things have become a bit difficult for Ariadne because she has a massive crush on Barry.
Finally, there’s Serenus Hill. Serenus is assigned to be Anastasia’s watcher who has a demeanor very similar to Bob Ross. Serenus grew up on a farm in the midwest where he became best friends with a Loose-Skinned demon named Elliott. Because these demons are able to feed on others’ emotions, Serenus learned to keep his feelings in check at a very young age and is rarely prone to outbursts. His pleasant, patient demeanor made him an excellent candidate for a watcher, as Giles knows all too well the struggles that can come from trying to guide a young slayer to her destiny. Serenus is a Tai Chi master and teaches classes at Brightfield University so he can stay in touch with the slayer. He also teaches at the Brightfield Gardens retirement community, where they allowed him to live (even though he is in his thirties). Carlyle is, understandably, very suspicious of Serenus who tries to include the grandfather in the training and decisions regarding Anastasia.
Up next: A slayer is realized!
