The Astounding Mr. Goodner's Amazing Electric Widgets - Unisystem Widgets

Unisystem is Perfect, Except... (part 2)

David Goodner — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:26:52 GMT

A few more thoughts on a revised Unisystem

One of the biggest things I'd do is pare down the skill list quite a bit - not quite so brutally as Cinematic Unisystem did, perhaps, but still considerably.

Right now, there are several skills that demand a specialization, and each specialization is a separate skill. So if you want to be a pulp Science! expert, you probably need to sink considerable XP into three or four Science (Specialty) skills. That's realistic and grainular, but it's not much fun.

GURPS is already around for all your hyper-detailed system needs. My dream system is less weighty. So I propose that all the automatically specialized skills work differently.

First, you buy the skill and choose a primary focus. For example, Firearms (Pistol.) Your skill with pistols is equal to whatever points you put in the skill. Your skill with any other firearm on earth is 2 points less. If you want to become as skilled with a sub-machine gun as you are with a pistol, you buy a new specialization for 3 XP. Then you'd have Firearms (Pistol, Sub-machine gun). If you were really determined, you could buy every type specialization available, but I think it'd be cheaper to just buy two more levels of Firearms (Pistol) instead and just subtract 2 from all your pistol rolls if the difference offends you.

Then I might still do some trimming of the skill list.

Beautician should probably be an Art specialty, just to keep things simple. I'm very iffy about the Gambling skill. Gambling really seems more to be a mix of Interrogate, Notice, and Academics (Math). Both of those skills are kind of particular. If a game holds out a skill like Beautician or Gambling, it's kind of promising players who take that skill that they'll have something to do.

Beautician gets a bit of a pass because you can use it to improve your appearance, which then gives you a bonus on social skill rolls. There's a direct, mechanical effect that is useful for many settings. I just wafffle on whether it merits a separate skill or not, and in my more minimalist moments, on whether the bonus is realistic in a fairly grainy system.

Gambling is a little more iffy. The activity of gambling is a great social situation for gaming, and gambling can make you money, which can be important if the players are keeping track of cash closely enough. But having a Gambling skill that requires as much investment as the gun guy's firearms skill seems dubious.

(Of course, I'm also on the cusp of saying all combat skills should be Special skills, too...)

Another skill that spends some time on my mental chopping block is Research. In real life, anyone with just about any Academics (whatever) skill learns how to do some basic research, so you should probably be able to default Academics (whatever) for Research at -2. I can see leaving it in, however, since it provides an information gathering skill to go along with Investigate and various social skills. The brainy guy has a way to contribute. But then again, he would anyway, and he'd have several extra build points to spend on Dodge. Hmm...

Computers and Computer Hacking also threaten to get merged. Hacking could just be a specialty of Computers and/or Hacking difficulties could be really high. In much the same way, Survelance and Electronic Survelance should probably be merged.

Last on my list of skills to think about is Instruction. It has a neat little mechanic, whereby PCs can glean a few extra XP for specific skills. But it's a very fiddly little mechanic since you have to keep track of multiple Successes across weeks of game time. And it encourages the Players to chisel. So in my brave new world, I'd probably get rid of it.

Oh wait, not last. There's still Martial Arts.

Core book Martial Arts is really simple: Pay a premium for your "hit people" skill and you get to do a little extra damage and parry melee weapons. Since Dodging actually takes an action in this game, that's a really nice deal.

Then the Mystery Codex introduced maneuvers, with a fiddly little system for buying multiple special moves at different skill levels with points you get from your martial arts skill. It was never clear in the rules where the mythical "other points gained during play" were supposed to come from. Were they XP? Were they Instruction points? Did the Point Fairly bring them?

(Answer: I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be XP)

I think for the most part, I'd just ignore that whole system and only use it if I were running a dedicated martial arts game. Somewhere down the line, I might think of reworking it, too, to remove the focus from specific moves to mechanical effects like a basic strike that does your normal damage, another strike that's a little harder to use but does more damage, and so on. You can describe them as "punch," "kick," or "arm-lock" as appropriate for your style.

So anyway, that's hardly the last word on Unisystem skills, but it's a pretty good start. See you tomorrow for (probably) more lame personal stuff.

Unisystem is Perfect, Except...

David Goodner — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 04:14:06 GMT

My Unisystem fan cred is fairly well established. Classic Unisystem is my go-to system for just about anything. It’s My Favorite System ™, as it were.

But noodling around with systems is fun, and I’ve picked up some new ideas over the years that I’d like to apply to Unisystem. So this series of articles is kind of my working document for Classic Unisystem: Dave Edition. I have no illusions that it’s for everyone. It may not even be for me. I’m not sure how much of this stuff I’m going to implement. I’m just kicking around some ideas.

So let’s look at what I think could use some improvement:

The Glass Ninja Problem – Damage increases with power levels. Life Points don’t increase as fast. So after a while, you have a problem where anything that can hurt the characters is instantly fatal. I have proposed a patch for that in the past, but it’s inelegant.

Fiddly Skill List – Unisystem shows its’ GURPS roots in its skill list, with scads of individual weapon skills, science skills, knowledge skills, and a few over-specialized skills like Beautician and Gambling that seem not to get much use, so they’re a trap for the unwary.

No Player Narration Mechanic – Cinematic Unisystem addressed this very directly with Drama Points. As-written, Drama Points are too powerful for Classic Unisystem. “You automatically roll a 10” and “here, have half your life-points back” are just a bit too gonzo for the slightly lower-key characters of the Classic flavor.

Disadvantages that Give Build Points – I go back and forth on this one. Lately, influenced by my friend Steve, I’ve come to think that most disadvantages shouldn’t give you an immediate pay-off. If you take Adversary (Evil guy named Bob) 5, you’re kind of double-dipping. You get 5 points now, AND you get rewarded by getting to choose a major adversary for the group. Worse, you’re creating a problem for the whole group, since you just know that Bob isn’t going to leave the other PCs alone. And worse still, if you’re using Drama Points you tend to get Drama Points whenever your Drawbacks come into play, so you get rewarded for Bob’s enmity on an ongoing basis.

Which always seemed fine to me until lately. And I guess it’s still fine, but if I’m messing around with everything else, why not that, too?

All Over The Place Power Levels – Metaphysics are kind of clunky as-written. Invocations are a way better buy than anything else in the core book. (But hey, the game’s called WitchCraft, not PsiCraft, DivineCraft, or NecroCraft) Also, the psi powers have stupid names.

It would be kind of nice to have some uniformity. Not a total generic powers system, though. That’d take a lot of the fun out of the game for me. Having characters who can do the same kind of things differently is really neat. So if I address this point much, it won’t be a complete overhaul.

Unisystem Combat Cards mk 2

David Goodner — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:21:07 GMT

Hey Gamer Nation,

A day early and a bit short since I'm probably going to be crazy busy for the next couple days getting stuff squared away for Gen Con, here's the revised combat cards.

First, the PDF : Unisystem Combat Card Blank mk2.pdf (8.25 KB)

Second, the blank card .pub file : Unisystem index Blank mk2.pub (144 KB)

And finally, the black border version I use myself : Unisystem index Fill mk2.pub (145 KB)

I may not see you this weekend or next weekend, since I'll be at Gen Con. Usually, I do at least upload a few pictures.

Unisystem Combat Cards After Action Report

David Goodner — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:46:43 GMT

Hey all,

We just played our first session of Hyperseed, so I got to try out my shiny new combat cards. A battle with four PCs and seven NPCs went very smooth. There were only two little hiccups, which I will probably fix with revised cards.

Problem 1 is that for unnamed NPCs, there's no good place to label each instance of a character. I had six soldiers with identical stats, and I had to squeeze in a little number for each one.

Problem 2 is that I've decided for my game at least, Endurance is important to track. One of my PCs uses Mindheal/Mindkill, and the easiest way for him to be effective is to zap enemies with his Mindkill 3 pain effect and wipe out their Essence or Endurance, which both tend to be smaller numbers than Life Points. (And less murdery)

My cards have no Endurance slot, since I needed room for Initiative. That's okay for mooks and non-powered guys. Their Endurance and Essence pools tend to be pretty close, so the Mindkill guy isn't unfairly penalized. But the PCs will eventually be facing other psychics who have Essence pools considerably higher than their Life Points.

I think I'm going to shift Initiative to the top bar and squeeze in an Endurance slot. This will probably also mean I split the Life Pool and Endurance Pool trackers into smaller boxes.

I'll see if I can get that done this week to keep my one update per week streak going.

Unisystem Rules Tweaks: Classic Skills for the Lazy

David Goodner — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:38:03 GMT

Hi campers. This makes three weeks in a row. It's been a crazy-busy weekend, though, so this is going to be a pretty short contribution.

We just did Chargen for my Hyperseed game last week, which reminded me of something I don't totally dig about Classic Unisystem. The skills get really fiddly. It's realistic, but not particularly heroic. But then again, it's also not totally necessary.

Take the basic melee skill. The game says you have to specialize the skill, and based on the way characters are written, the idea seems to be that a fully-trained historical warrior would have three or four different weapon skills, one for swords, one for axes, and so on.

But you don't really NEED to do that. You can use similar weapons at a penalty. So if you want to be a rocking swordsman who's also competent with axes, spears, and numchucks, you're mathematically better off increasing your Sword skill by two than trying to buy three other skills up to a similar level.

Similarly, Science and Academics are skills you're supposed to specialize. But rather than penalizing players who would like to play characters who are really well-read or trained in science (instead of being Navy SEAL ninja gunfighters), I think you could probably take one Science or Academics skill and just use the others at a penalty.

And to keep things simple, the penalty is either -1 or -2. Mostly -1. That way, you can also just buy an extra Specialty and even your skills out if you want to play a guy who's generally competent with everything instead of an expert in just one.

So anyway, that's it for this week. Happy birthday to my favorite niece. (Her birthday was yesterday, but the party was this afternoon)

See you later.

Unisystem Combat Cards

David Goodner — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:52:49 GMT

First of all, a note: I've added a PDF to the Unisystem Chronicler's Screen. I meant to upload the PDF the first time, but I'd saved it to the wrong folder and wasn't paying attention.

Now, on to business:

Here's another inovation I'm planning on using in my Unisystem game. I like the simplified stats from Cinematic Unisystem. I tried them out in an All Flesh game a couple years back, and ran into a problem. Classic characters don't have Drama Points, and therefore don't do well against enemies who always roll a 6.

Another thing I've tried and liked recently was initiative cards for D&D. They provide a place for every character in the initiative order, and a handy spot for marking down hit points and whatnot. So I wanted to do something along those lines for my new game. I'm terribly disorganized, so anything that can help me is worth looking at.

So I kind of combined those ideas. I wanted to get a functional character sheet down to an index card.

This is the result.

They're not quite perfect yet. I may muck around with the design a little to get Endurance on there, since it's not quite fair that the PCs need to keep track of it but the NPCs don't. But I think it'll be okay. Major NPCs still have a full character sheet, since I plan to only have to deal with one or two at a time. Mooks will probably tend to die before Endurance could become an issue.

I use Hard to Kill as a way to beef up the opponents. Mooks who are more set decoration than real threat have none. Challenging guys who I don't want to see falling over immediately will have three levels. Tough guys who are supposed to be able to challenge several PCs have all five (or more if they're supernatural beings). I like to have most of my NPCs in a given fight with little or no HTK, but with a bunch of NPCs, so they start off dangerous, and become less so with every round or two. Nerves of Steel, Situational Awareness, and especially Fast Reaction Time are judged the same way. Most folks shouldn't have them, and if you give them to every opponent, that sucks for the PCs, so most guys don't have them. Only opponents who are supposed to be really dangerous do. And I only worry about Nerves of Steel if the PCs have powers that can generate Fear tests.

Attributes shouldn't be tough to figure out. Simplified stats are pretty much like the ones in Cinematic Unisystem. I actually considered splitting Brains into two stats: One for perception and willpower type stuff, and another one for knowledge skills. But I decided to stick with the Unisystem standard for now.

Now, I have slightly different ideas about calculating Simplified stats than the official party line. When I do my characters, I don't bother to calculate them exactly. I first build characters so a lot of their key stats will be pretty easy to average, then I just rough it out. The goons with Str 3, Dex 4, End 3, Int 2, Per 3, Will 2 who are supposed to be pretty good at fighting but not too amazingly bright probably have combat skills about 4, other physical skills about 3, and brainy type skills at 2.

Mostly, mooks who should be easy to take down have stats that will average less than or equal to the most of the PCs. Challenging opponents will average a little higher. Really tough guys will be four points or more higher, meaning the PCs need to be very careful even fighting one.

For a Classic game, I think you need to roll dice even for the mooks, so you calculate the simplified stats without adding 6.

So our mooks would have Combat 8, Muscles 6, Brains 4.

Down in the Notes field, I put the damage for a few common attacks and any Qualities besides Hard to Kill, Fast Reaction Time, Situational Awareness, and Nerves of Steel. (Those go up at the top for easy reference during combat.)

For download, here's a PDF designed to print out three cards at a time on Avrey 5388 card pages:

Unisystem Combat Card.pdf (7.8 KB)

Here's a Publisher file of the same document:

Unisystem index Blank.pub (136 KB)

And here's a Publisher file of the spiffy ones I use in my own game, where the top stripe is black and the character's name or label appears in white:

Unisystem index Fill.pub (137 KB)

New Unisystem Chronicler's Screen

David Goodner — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:47:36 GMT

As I mentioned, I'm setting up a new Unisystem campaign about psychic teenagers defending the world from aliens and running from the government. I'm using Classic Unisystem. I have the WitchCraft Chronicler's Shield, but it's not really very good, IMO. There's a good bit of wasted space, and there are tables that run across the creases. It's okay if a table runs across a concave crease, but if it runs across a convex crease, you can't see both sides at the same time unless you can get your screen to sit really flat.

So I spent the afternoon laying out a new screen. I have a generic GM Screen with four panels, so I did four pages. Print them on both sides, and you and your players will have virtually every common table. For my specific game, I wanted to fit on the Seer Power Art and Strength tables, but I didn't quite have room for that. So I added the Explosives tables instead.

The end result is very utilitarian, but functional. Enjoy.

Unisystem Screen.pub (205 KB) The original Publisher file, which you can edit to your heart's content.

Unisystem Screen.pdf (44.75 KB) A PDF, which I meant to upload in the first place. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Mindjump

David Goodner — Sun, 15 May 2011 23:38:33 GMT

I'm warming up to use Unisystem for an all psychics game, so I wanted to beef up the selection of powers a little bit. My first entry is Mindjump - somewhat inspired by the Jumper movie (which is vastly inferior to the novel, but had really cool special effects)

Mindjump

This is the power of teleportation. Mindjumpers are able to briefly transform themselves into pure Essence, leave the physical plane and enter the Otherworlds where space and time flow differently, and then exit somewhere else. Teleportation is difficult, and causes considerable strain. Jumpers have to be very skilled to avoid emerging weakened and confused on the other end.

Using Mindjump

Mindjump is most obviously used for teleporting, but moving any major distance requires significant Strength. Mindjump’s key effect is the ability to “ripple” in and out of reality for brief moments, which can let a skilled Seer seem to be immaterial like a spirit.

A Jumper can teleport a distance indicated on the Mindjump Strength table. The difficulty is modified by how much extra mass he wishes to carry and how familiar he is with his location. The greater his level of Success, the less traumatic the jump is. (See the Mindjump Success Table) Failure means the Seer is stunned for one turn, and doesn’t teleport at all. A single success level will let him get where he’s going, but he’ll be at penalties to further actions for the turn (or the next, if he teleports at the end of his turn). Further levels of Success reduce the penalties. A Seer teleporting less than his maximum distance reduces all penalties for himself by one level of Success per Strength level he has above the needed distance.

Passengers on a jump face the same trauma, but don’t have the same resilience. Passengers on a jump who do not have Mindjump Art must make a difficult Willpower test in place of the Mindjump Art test. Failure has no additional affect, but Success levels reduce the penalties to extra actions the same as they would for the Mindjumper.

Mindjump works best when the Jumper can impart real motion to his jump. Having to jump from a completely still start is more difficult.

Further, as Mindjump involves the flow of Essence, Jumpers cannot teleport across Wards or similar Essence barriers, and a Jumper bound with material that restricts the flow of Essence (such as Orikalk manacles) cannot Jump.

Using Mindjump Offensively

Mindjump is not much useful for attack by itself, but it allows a jumper to surprise most opponents. A Seer with Mindjump strength of at least 2 can teleport to attack from an unexpected angle. He jumps as normal, taking any penalties, and each success level on the Mindjump Art task adds one to his attack roll for his next attack. If he has already moved in this turn, the jump counts as an extra action, with all attendant penalties. This can also be a defensive technique, in which the Seer teleports away from danger, gaining a bonus to any other defenses instead of attack rolls. But for that matter, he could just teleport away from battle entirely.

A Seer with Mindjump can also deliberately grapple an opponent and teleport him, counting on the transport trauma to weaken him. The Seer must succeed in the attempt to grapple, and the defender can defend as normal. If the Seer maintains the grab, he can teleport with the target as if the target were a passenger. He can execute multiple jumps in a turn with the usual multiple action penalties, which will stack penalties on his target. That generally makes the target an easy mark for some other sort of attack on the next turn.

Using Mindjump Defensively

Mindjump is very useful for defense. The simplest use is to teleport far away from anything that could harm the Seer. But while this is quite safe, it makes continued combat difficult. Another use, available even for Seers with a Strength of 1, is to ripple out of the physical realm to avoid attacks. A Mindjump dodge works just like an ordinary defensive test, using Willpower + Mindjump Art. The only difference is that Mindjumping can let you dodge things you ordinarily couldn’t dodge like bullets or area-effect explosions. Of course all the usual penalties apply for teleporting.

Mindjump Strength Table

Strength	Distance
1	No distance. Can only “ripple” in place. Can use Mindjump Art in place of Escapism.
2	Can jump 1 yard (meter) per each level of Willpower + Mindjump Strength.
3	Can jump 5 yards (meters) per each level of Willpower + Mindjump Strength.
5	Can jump 50 yards (meters) per each level of Willpower + Mindjump Strength.
6	Can jump 100 yards (meters) per each level of Willpower + Mindjump Strength.
10	Can jump 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) for each level of Willpower + Mindjump Strength.
15+	Range increases to 20 miles (kilometers) for each level of Willpower + Mindjump Strength

Mindjump Art Table

Level of Success	Result
1	-5 to all actions for one turn.
2	-2 to all actions for one turn.
3	-1 to all actions for one turn.
4	No penalty to actions.

Mindjump Difficulty Table (All penalties are cumulative)

Carrying up to half your mass	-1
Carrying your mass	-1 for each extra
Cannot see destination	-1
Have never seen destination	-2
Have never been to destination	-3
Must jump while immobile	-3

Unisystem Rules Tweaks: Strength vs. Speed

David Goodner — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:47:24 GMT

This one will be short and sweet, since it's not a huge, vastly-thought out change.

Here's the deal: right now, Dex, particularly in Cinematic Unisystem, is the king of stats. Far and away, Dex is worth more than any other stat (With the exception of Willpower if you're a Witch. Then it's just far more valuable). Dex gives you your dodge, your to-hit, your number of attacks, and adds to your damage in the form of extra Success Levels (and extra attacks).

This is somewhat emulative of Buffy (and Angel to a lesser extent) and it's a handy way to keep the Slayer from needing a 9 STR to be as cool as Buffy. But it has some drawbacks. When your Slayer does get that 9 STR, on top of her 7 or better DEX, she's nigh-unstoppable. And she can get there while largely ignoring two of her physical attributes. Also, it's really hard to build a big, strong guy who's effective without being hyper-fast. By the time he's strong enough to make up for his lack of speed, the "glass ninja" effect really kicks in, and people start going splat and looking like wall-art.

So I suggest a minor change: make STR and DEX interchangable for Melee attacks. Dex still wins on Initiative, number of actions, and defense, but now a big, strong, slow guy can hit by plowing through defenses with brute force. This only works on attacks where pure strength matters. Mostly, that'll be hand-to-hand or melee weapon attacks. I'm not even sure I'd apply it to thrown weapons, and for sure it wouldn't apply to launched ones like bows or crossbows.

I might also suggest a new Defensive Maneuver called "Just Take it" which is Kung-fu or Getting Medieval + CON. It works just like Dodge, but the idea is that you parry, shield your vitals with your arms, or whatever, and... well... just take it. I'd only allow it to apply to Bashing damage unless the defender has natural armor or something - in which case he probably doesn't care as much. I haven't thought that one out yet. It just occured to me while I was typing this post.

That's the kind of cutting-edge, up-to-the-minute, heavily-hyphenated game design you get around here.

Unisystem Rules Tweaks: Social Interaction

David Goodner — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:14:43 GMT

We return, dear readers, to the Unisystem. (Have we ever really left?) I've been thinking about a lot of things lately about how I like games to run. Eventually, I might undertake to design a game completely around the principals I'm mulling over, but for now I want to see if I can implement the concepts in an existing game.

Unisystem is a great one for this purpose, since the system is so easy to tinker with in general. For these articles, I'm focusing on the Cinematic rules, but they'll adapt to Classic Unisystem almost effortlessly.

First up is the dreaded topic of Social Skill Use on PCs.

Any time an NPC does something to a PC, it has the potential to be un-fun for the player. Getting stabbed, ensorcelled, or snuck past is no fun, but the results can be fun and the absence of the possibility makes the whole game kind of boring. Social skills are even worse than physical ones, though. The results of a physical action will tell a player what happens to his character: You're hurt; You don't notice X; You're turned into a frog. Social skills, in theory, tell a player how he has to play his character: You're in love with the evil princess; You're scared of the bully and have to run away; You believe the war in Iraq is completely just and logical.

That can suck. Not always, of course. Sometimes it's a lot of fun to play the besotted victim of a seductress, or the enraged guy who goes after his own friends because he's been fooled or magically charmed. But some players really hate it. Some are terrifically bad at it. And sometimes, even for the folks who normally like it, it's just not their thing that night.

Worse yet, basically social skills come down to GM Fiat. The rules tell you what happens in a concrete way when you get stabbed, and exactly how to overcome the wounds. All the rules usually tell you about being conned, seduced, or intimidated is to roleplay it.

So I wanted to come up with a system that would be more concrete, without adding too much complexity or weight to the game. "Social hit points" might be really interesting, but honestly they don't quite work like physical hit points anyway, and I'd have to add new stats and stuff to the game.

Instead, I'm building off the Success Level system and the system that allows complementary skill use to give you bonuses or hit the other guy with penalties. It works like this:

When an NPC uses a social skill on a PC, the GM states a goal like "he wants to get in your pants," or "she wants to fool you into believing X." He doesn't necessarily have to tell the player the goal, because sometimes that would ruin the interaction, but he needs a baseline.

With the goal in mind, the GM sets a difficulty, taking into account things like the PC's Drawbacks and Qualities and situational modifiers. For example, if a she-vampire is trying to seduce a PC and drag him off for dinner, and the PC has Lecherous -1, the PC is going to take his lecherous penalty. But if he also has Honorable 3 and leaving right now would violate his code, the vamp might get a penalty to her roll, too.

The test is Opposed, generally using Willpower for the "defender" and Intelligence or Perception for the "attacker," but there are other ways to stack it out. Influence is usually the relevant skill unless you got all fancy with Wild Card skills. (For you Classic users, there's Orate, Seduction, Haggling, and whatnot.)

If the attacker wins, the defender has a choice. Option A is to do whatever the GM says he's been convinced to do, within reason. Some goals might take multiple tests. A vampire trying to seduce a victim might need to get his attention, get him to dance with her, then convince him to go off alone with her. Option B is to accept a penalty to all "mental" tests equal to the margin of success. So if the vampire netted 3 SL, the victim would be at a -3 to things like perception tests (he can't stop looking at her), social tests (he's hung up on her and says stupid stuff or whatever), and intelligence tests (he can't stop thinking about her). Physical skills are only affected conditionally. Most of the time, they won't be. The only major exception you might want to consider is combat. I'd impose the penalty to Initiative and the first roll the PC makes in combat. After that, fear for your life has a remarkably focusing quality, and you ditch the penalty.

Keep in mind that the skill penalty is a "metagame" thing. In some cases, it doesn't make much sense, but it's still there to provide a mechanical consequence to failed Social tests.

The penalty generally only hangs around for a scene or so, or until something happens to nullify it. In our running vampire/victim example, the victim might shake off the penalty by spending a DP, or by getting counter-seduced by one of his friends who he has a crush on. And, of course, all bets are off when the vamp bites him, unless he's in to that kind of thing.

The penalties also don't stack up. Only the highest result ever applies. Even so, repeated attempts can wear down a PC's resistance, so I might cap the penalty at -5 or -7. To keep the "dog pile effect" to a minimum, I'd also limit how many social rolls you can make in a given time frame; say one every 10 minutes or half-hour for extended things.

If the player chooses option A, he should almost always earn a Drama Point, and maybe a bonus XP if he plays it really well.

This system would also work on PC vs. PC social tests, but I generally try to avoid those in my game. I'd rather have the players agree on those. There's a difference in social perception between the GM/NPCs and another Player/PC that makes things more personal.

I suppose it'd also work for NPCs, but I would generally choose to have my NPCs choose Option A rather than juggling penalties and stuff.

Superstition and the Sword: Part 3 -- Supernatural Packages

David Goodner — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:36:41 GMT

Okay, now it's time for those long-awaited Supernatural Packages

The Gargoyles universe is home to several unusual creatures and to humans who have traded (willingly or not) their humanity for something else. Gargoyles are relatively easy, but some of the others are a lot more fluid.

Gargoyles - the Gargoyle package will appear below. Basically, Gargoyles are strong, can fly, can regenerate when they turn to stone, and have nasty claws.

Cyborgs - Cyborgs can have just about anything that can be mechanically grafted onto them. Gargoyles-verse prosthetics can run the gamut from being indistinguishable from human parts without close examination to being large and obvious. It is not at all uncommon for cyborgs to be able to pass for human so long as they don't use their more obvious powers and avoid metal detectors.

Cyborgs have the disadvantage that some portion of their Life Points are tied to their cybernetic parts. For every 5 points of Cybernetic Qualities a character has, 25% of his LP no longer heal normally. Instead, he either needs a specific Regeneration power, or requires the services of someone with a cybernetics lab and the Mr. Fix-it skill. Additionally, Directors can rule that some powers can be temporarily lost due to damage. The Target Limb maneuver is particularly good for this.

Demifey - Human (or possibly Gargoyle or something)/ Faerie hybrids are viable life forms. The Third Race's genetics are remarkably adaptable. Faerie blood carries faerie magic. Demifey characters often have Sorcery, Supernatural Senses, and the like. These powers take practice to develop, so demifey who are unaware of their heritage or reject it might have very little power. Demifey generally look like normal members of their other race, with modest if any unusual features. They are generally quite attractive and fit specimens, so adding modest stat boosts to a demifey package is completely appropriate.

Mutates - Techniques pioneered by Dr. Anton Sevarious allow human/animal DNA grafts that produce viable life-forms. Mutates generally have powers that can be traced to real animals. A little Natural Armor is fine. Being bullet-proof would be kind of odd. Distance attacks are somewhat rare (but then again, electric eels.)

Hybrids - All of the above are at least somewhat compatible. Coldstone was a cyborg/gargoyle. There's nothing but the fact that you'll run out of points to stop you from making a cybernetic demifey gargoyle with a suit of battle armor.

Packages

To get you started, here are a few more obvious packages

Cyborg (20-point Quality)

Cyborgs have a lot of variation. This one is designed for straight-up combat with gargoyles.

+2 Str, Dex, Con (6)
Night Vision (1)
Natural Armor 10 (10)
Natural Weapons (wrist blades) Str x3 (2)
Supernatural Attack (Optical Laser) 20 (8)
Flight (Shoulder & boot Jets. Boot jets can also be used for Supernatural Attack) (5)
Combat Computer (Situational Awareness, Fast Reaction Time) (7)
Beholden (secret masters) (5)
Cruel 2 (disassociative disorder)
Appearance -2

Demifey (18-pont Quality)

Keep in mind that the Demifey are as varied as their Faerie parents, but here's a fairly typical one.

Dex +3, Per, Will +2 (7)
Appearance +5 (5)
Immortal (0)
Hypnosis (What do you See) (10)
Supernatural Senses (Basic, the Sight) (4)
Vulnerability (Can be bound by magic, iron does x3 damage) (5)
Honorable 3 (bound by Faerie Law)

The demifey probably also has Sorcery, but it's not part of this Quality. It might be fun to play him or her without it instead, perhaps replacing some of Hypnosis with Emotion Control to represent a less developed ability. The poor character might not know why iron is uncomfortable or why he can't seem to lie or break a deal.

Gargoyle (19-point Quality)

Gargoyles are stronger, faster, and tougher than humans, with sharp senses They get +4 Strength, +2 to Dexterity, +2 Constitution, and +2 Perception, and Natural Toughness. They get 3 levels of Hard to Kill, and can buy up to 5 more They also have razor-sharp claws (Strx3 armor-piercing), gliding wings, and prehensile tails. When in stone sleep, they regenerate Con/Minute, which also removes any poisons, but doesn't cure diseases. They also have very sharp hearing, sense of smell, and night-vision.

On the other hand they are ugly to human eyes, with Appearance -3. Gargoyles don't have human psychology, either. They feel a deep need to protect. This translates to the Driving Goal flaw at -2. A gargoyle's worst weakness, however, is their vulnerability to sunlight. Being exposed to sunlight turns a gargoyle to stone. On the up-side, stone is fairly tough, but modern man has plenty of ways to damage it. Staying indoors is no defense, either. Once the sun is fully in the sky (say, an ten minutes or so after sunrise) the transformation occurs regardless of whether the gargoyle can see the sun or not - and gargoyles need exposure to the sun. Without it, they gradually become sickly and infertile.

Gargoyles are currently 2-point Minorities with no legal rights, but that's not figured in to the cost of the Quality.

Gargoyles frequently have the Honorable Drawback, but this is not a requirement. Those who don't have Honorable often replace it with Cruel, but this, too, is a matter of choice.

Neo-gargoyle (27-point Quality)

Neo-gargoyles are Mutates built to have traits similar to gargoyles. They were created for David Xanatos by Dr. Sevarious, but he ultimately lost control of them. Sevarious may have created more than the initial group.

Neo-gargoyles combine the traits of big cats and bats or raptors, along with those of electric eels. They get +3 Strength, +2 Dexterity and Constitution, and +2 Perception. They also get +3 levels of Hard to Kill and can by up to five more. They have Str x3 claws, but theirs are not armor-piercing as a gargoyle's are. Most impressively, they can throw blasts of electricity doing 20 points of damage. These have limited use. After a number of blasts equal to the Neo-Gargoyle's CON score, he needs an hour or so to recharge. They have gliding wings, but not prehensile tails. They have no stone sleep, but regenerate at con/hr. Like Gargoyles, they have acute hearing and smell, and night-vision.

Neo-gargoyles have hair-trigger tempers, giving them one level of Antisocial Impulses: Violence. They also look frightening to human eyes, with appearance -3.

(Note: I really wish I could make htis one come in for 20 points or less, but supernatural attacks are VERY expensive)

Neo-Werewolf (14-point Quality)

One of Sevarious' most popular conversions is to simply graft some predator's DNA to a human's. The result is a stronger, faster, meaner creature.

A new-werewolf is a mutate with (generally) wolf DNA. This conveys Str + 2, Dex +2, Con +2, Per +2 (with a minimum of 5), Acute Hearing and Acute Smell, as well as Enhanced Smell, meaning the neo-werewolf can track by scent. Neo-werewolves are tough with 3 levels of Hard to Kill and an option on 5 more. They also have Strength x2 claws and fangs. The wolf's hardy constitution provides Con/hr regeneration.

Wolf DNA produces severe problems in humans. The neo-werewolf has -2 appearance and Antisocial Impulses: Violence at 2, as well as one level of Cruelty (and individuals can take more separately). Neo-werewolves have no vulnerability to silver beyond what one would expect.

And, with that, you should have enough to play a Gargoyles game, or add Gargoyles and their associated hangers-on to your Angel and Buffy games. Enjoy.

Superstition and the Sword: Part 2 -- Character Creation

David Goodner — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 02:25:03 GMT

At least at the moment, I'm not going to bother to write a lot of setting exposition, so we'll start roughly in what would be Chapter 2 of a normal Eden RPG book. Here, we'll take a brief run-through of attributes, skills, and existing Qualities and Drawbacks. New Qualities and Drawbacks will be in part 3. (Yes, Virginia , there is a Gargoyles Quality. There's probably a Santa Claus, too, but we'll talk about him under the Fey later on.)

Attributes - nothing much needs to change about Attributes.

Skills - the standard Cinematic Unisystem skill list works just fine for the Gargoyles world. Occultism clues you in on the secret history of the world, and lets you know about magic and the faeries.

Qualities - ah yes, here's the meat of the thing.

Attractiveness - The current system, elegant in its simplicity, lumps all matters of personal appearance into the Attractiveness Quality. So a Gargoyle might start off with -3 Attractiveness to represent his inhuman appearance, but could then buy it up as far as he wanted. Goliath, who's got a way with the ladies, might have spent 5 points or so to get an effective Attractiveness of 2.

I don't really like that. It's okay in Buffy or Angel, where most of the characters are human, but in a Gargoyles game, it's very possible that all the PCs will be Gargoyles, so it's a little wonky. I'm seriously considering splitting Attractiveness into two Qualities/Drawbacks. One would measure your aesthetic Attractiveness, and the other would measure your deviation from human norms. "Fearsomeness" would be a Drawback that makes your basic form scary/ugly to humans. It'd give you a negative modifier to Influence tests not based on fear, no matter how high your Attractiveness is - except for dealing with people who are used to your unusual form in some way. For them, your Attractiveness kicks in. Possibly rather than all or nothing, the two add/subtract from one another, so a Gargoyle with -3 Fearsomeness and +1 Attractiveness is only two points scary on first impressions.

When I get to the point of writing up characters, I'll decide whether to adopt this or not, but I think it makes a neat alternate rule.

Enchanted/Superscience item - The relatively high tech level of the Gargoyles setting means that 1-2 point items are frequently not worth paying for with Quality points. They can just be purchased with sufficient wealth or obtained through Organizations. Higher-level items should still be bought for 2 points per PL.

Optionally, something that would be incredibly expensive like a battlesuit (Which is really several PL 4-ish items all mushed together) can be purchased as a Supernatural package Quality. The Dual Form Drawback is appropriate to represent the fact that you can't walk around in your battlesuit all the time.

As I've mentioned, I think there's an Eden-approved method for this in All Tomorrow's Zombies. It involves buying the Robot Quality and whatever add-ons you'd like. That seems workable to me.

Enchanting/Superscience - Enchanting is completely gone. Mortal magicians can create potions and charms through a variety of spells, through the Sorcery quality. More powerful items are purely the purview of the Third Race.

Superscience is easier than it is in Buffy. Superscience devices no longer require special ingredients. Money works. This will be discussed more completely later on. Your Superscience Quality can never be a higher level than your Science skill, and you should probably really have Science of at least 4 before you pick up Superscience. 6 would be better. We're probably going to talk about new uses of Superscience to cover metagenetics and cybernetics.

Occult Library - I think Occult Library works just fine as-is.

Rank - Rank now explicitly buys up your standing in an Organization, granting you more autonomy (but also more responsibility). We'll talk more about Organizations when I get into new Qualities/Drawbacks. You can have Rank in several groups. For instance, an undercover police investigator might have rank in the Police and in an organized crime ring. Almost all Illuminati members also have Rank in some other group. In fact, that's frequently why they were recruited into the Illuminati.

Robot - The Robot Quality from Buffy is a decent starting point for any robotic characters, but there's no reason to limit yourself so. Instead, build Robots like Demons and Supernatural characters from Angel. Robots can have Drawbacks like Beholden from Armageddon (which I might list down in the next part, for simplicity sake). They could also have variations of Antisocial Tendencies, Mental Problems, Emotional Problems and the like to represent programming imperatives.

Cyborgs work pretty much the same way, except they can recover (depending on how many cybernetic parts they have) 75%, 50%, or 25% of their Life Points without a Mr. Fix-it test. Cyborgs who are nothing but a brain in a robot body work just like normal robots. Drawbacks like Cruel are appropriate to represent the dehumanizing effect of losing so much of your essential humanity. (Then again, Jackal and Hyena were already pretty twisted)

Sorcery - Sorcery works as-is, except that I'd drop it to 3-points per level and remove the TK. Pretty much only Faeries have Sorcery, and some of them might instead have 2-point per level Magic Domains, which are pretty much Invocations as per the conversion rules in the Magic Box.

Vampire - no Vampires have shown up in Gargoyles, thus far. If they do, the existing Vampire Quality probably won't really work for them, but do whatever you want with your own game.

Wealth - Wealth, at high levels, gives you free levels of the Organization Quality. At level 4, you get 5 Organization points. At level 5, you get 10. Beyond level 5, Wealth would start to describe the resources of nations. Characters might actually be that rich (like David Xanatos), but level 5 represents the limit of their liquid assets, so this Quality is capped at 5. (To keep the Director sane, really)

Supernatural Qualities - Note that many Supernatural Qualities are appropriate for Demifey, Mutates, and Cyborgs.

Natural Attack - New to this Quality is an Armor-Piercing kicker for 2 points. It'll probably work with Supernatural Attack, too, but I'd be more hesitant to apply it.

Supernatural Senses - New to this Quality is night-vision, costing 1 point.

Okay, so I think that does it for existing Qualities. Next up are the new ones.

Magical Conduit (2-point per level Quality)
A Magical Conduit is a mystical artifact that allows a human to freely work magic. Each level of Focus allows a non-Sorcerer to Quick-Cast spells of a power level up to the level of the Quality. A would-be magician can only control a Conduit of a strength equal to or less than his Occultism level. Otherwise, his spells have the chance to go seriously awry - using the miscast rules in Buffy. A Magical Conduit is essentially an enchanted item, and can be lost.

Magery (1-point per level Quality)
Magery provides bonus points on Sorcery checks. The maximum rating of this Quality is 5 levels.

Organization (Variable Quality)
The Organization Quality provides a character (or characters, it is possible to pool levels) additional Organization points.

Supernatural Qualities - Supernatural Qualities are possessed by such creatures as Gargoyles, Demifey, Mutates, and Cyborgs. To create such a character, you build a package Quality by picking the positive and negative traits you want to be intrinsic to your character's "race." (In the case of a cyborg or mutate, it might be a race consisting of a single creature, of course. Each demifey might be unique, as well)

Extra Limb - Variable Quality
You have one or more extra prehensile limbs. Extra feet don't really cost you anything. This Quality doesn't grant you any additional actions, but it can allow your actions to affect more people. If you had, say, ten tentacles, you might be able to grab ten people a few at a time and hold/crush them all.

One limb costs you 1 point. 2 to 4 additional limbs cost 2 points. 5 or more cost 5 points. In practical terms, 10 limbs is probably a good limit to this Quality. Extensible limbs that significantly increase your reach add a 1-point kicker if you can reach about 10 feet (3 meters or so), and 2 points if you want to be able to reach even further. And at some point you're just getting silly. Particularly at the higher levels, your limbs don't have to be static limbs. An amorphous mass that can extend multiple tendrils might vary from no limbs up to ten, depending on his mood.

Magical Affinity (2-point per level Quality)
Each level of Magical Affinity gives you a +1 bonus on Sorcery tests, up to a maximum of 5. Unlike Buffy Sorcery, there is no progressive spell-casting penalty, so there is no point in taking this Quality beyond 5 levels. The prerequisite for this Quality is Sorcery.

Special Movement (Variable Quality)
This Quality imparts more freedom of movement. Characters can have more than one type. For instance, Gargoyles have the first level of Climbing, and Gliding, for 3 total points and pretty much as much freedom of movement as someone who can just fly.
Climbing: 1 point for climbing with claws/special gear. 2 points for spider-like wall-crawling that lets you hang from the ceilings as well as scaling the walls and climb smooth surfaces easily.
Flight 3: points for flight that can be easily disrupted (like with wings), 5 points for freeier flight.
Gliding/swinging: 2 points. It's pretty much just the lower level of Flight.
Leaping: the ability to make prodigious vertical or horizontal leaps. 2 points.

Superspeed (2-point per level Quality)
Superspeed lets a character move really quickly. It's generally tied to a single type of movement, like running, swimming, or flying, depending on the character. Each level of Superspeed more or less doubles the character's maximum speed. At level 3, the character can move as fast as a car in the city. At 4, he's approaching race-car speeds, and at 5, he's... well, really fast. Superspeed doesn't allow any extra attacks. For that, you're going to want obnoxiously high Dexterity.

I think that covers new Qualities. I was planning to do Packages as part of this post, but it's getting late tonight and I still have some work to do on them. I'll do them next. Really, you don't HAVE to have package qualities to start using this stuff, so I don't feel too bad about leaving you waiting.

Superstition and the Sword: Part 1 -- Magic

David Goodner — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 03:46:46 GMT

I figured I'd start with the hardest part first. Well, that's not strictly true. I have most of the other parts worked out already, but magic is a toughie, and some of the other stuff hinges on how it works.

Buffy magic is a very robust system, but it doesn't fit the Gargoyles flavor. Buffy Sorcerers have an entirely diferent set of problems than Gargoyles ones. The high probability of spells going awry doesn't really fit, and the progressive -2 per turn seems a little off, too.

All we know about magic comes from Demona, the Magus, the Archmage, and various faeries. And really, there's not a lot. Normal humans hardly ever cast spells (compared to the amount of time they spend doing other stuff). Faeries, on the other hand, sling magic around all the time, although it does seem to wear them out after a while.

For humans and gargoyles, the rule seems to be that it's very hard to cast spells spontaneously. The Magus only ever does it once, and he dies from it. I think the Archemage throws around some nasty spells, but it's been a while since I've watched it. I'm going to go with the assumption that for the most part, magic in Gargoyles is through rituals, or through using magical devices. For instance, it was likely a property of Titania's Mirror that Demona could use a simple ritual to summon Puck - rather than a "spell" of Demona's.

EDIT: Something else I've thought of

One thing I might change, although I'd do so with some trepidation, is to make spell formulas a little more flexible. Spell R&D is pretty hard. If your books don't have a spell for turning people into statues, you're probably never going to be able to turn people into statues. But if your books DO have a spell for turning people into statues, you can probably turn one person into a statue, or a dozen, or a million if you're good enough to marshal the magical energies. And you can do so under different circumstances, like "the next person I touch" or "everyone in the sound of my voice."

What this means is that the spells you know are listed with their minimal effect and starting PL, and you can pick and choose modifiers. Make the spell work longer or faster or bigger, and the PL goes up. Make it take rare ingredients or year-long rituals, and it goes down.

That's a scary level of freedom, though. I've already learned that WitchCraft style Invocations are frighteningly poweful, and those just let a magician do one kind of effect. So I'll have to think about it. Sometimes play balance has to win over simulation of the source material.

So anyway, the Sorcery quality is really, really rare. Human magicians learn rote spells and need either elaborate rituals or a magical conduit to work their mojo. A magical conduit is an Enchanted Item that - just to keep things simple - provides the holder with the ability to Quick Cast spells up to its Power Level. It doesn't provide the bonus points. Instead, that's going to be a Quality called - because I like GURPS - Magery. Levels of Magery up to 5 add to your Occultism skill to cast spells. Since I'm already dinging you at roughly 2 points per level for Quick Casting, I'll just make that Quality a 1-point per level Quality. And if you want Telekinesis, you have to pay for it the old-fashioned way.

I think I'll leave Sorcery in, but make the prerequisite for learning it be something like Occultism greater than 10. And I might turn it into a sort of "Wild Card Skill" so it advances a lot more slowly.

On the other hand, Gargoyles magicians don't seem to have too much trouble with spells going awry. A spell can fail if you're not talented enough to cast it, and what it's supposed to do might not actually be what you think it does, but it's not going to do something radically different. Magic seems very legalistic. A spell to make you as enduring as the mountain stones may just turn you to stone.

(Although I have a private theory that if Xanatos had immersed himself in the cauldron, it would have made him immortal - he would have shed his stone skin like a Gargoyle. I think Puck didn't want Xanatos to be immortal because then he'd be stuck as Owen for all eternity, so he did something to scare Xanatos off. Greg Wiesman doesn't actually agree with me, but what does he know?)

Faeries have it different. They seem to be able to just whip out with spells that do just about anything at the drop of a hat. They also DO seem to suffer from some degradation of their powers. Puck says he'll need a long nap after The Mirror.

Ergo, Faeries DO have Sorcery, which costs 5 points per level and lets them Quick Cast spells. I'll keep the Quality at 5 points per level even though it doesn't include telekinesis because it will include the ability to improvise spells. Faeries just whip out with the magic whenever they want.

I'm also making one other major change - Magic can kill you. If you throw a Quick Cast spell of a higher PL than your Sorcery or available conduit, you take physical damage from it. I think I'll make it five times the PL of the spell. That'll REALLY limit what magicians can do without their tools.

Faeries can also have other powers. In fact, not all faeries or demifey need to have Sorcery. They might rely on innate powers that are more reliable, if less versatile. For those, the Angel supernatural Qualities will do most of the job.

So then there's Enchanting and Superscience.

Magic items are really rare in the Gargoyles-verse, and most of the ones I can think of are actually Faerie creations: the Eye of Odin, Titania's Mirror, the Phoenix Gate, and probably Excalibur. The Grimorium is something of an unknown, as is the Gae Bolga. I think I might limit Enchanting either to just level 1 for humans, or entirely to Faeries. Or maybe not. There's a dearth of evidence on the subject.

Superscience, on the other hand, should be easier than it is in the Buffyverse. Robots, blasters, floating factories, and whatnot are all common enough not to raise eyebrows, even if they're not ubiquitous. So Superscience works as written - you have to have a high Science skill to have it, and it costs 5 points per level. The only difference is that Superscience gadgets no longer require a special ingredient. Instead, rare ingredients can lower the effective Power Level like they do for Sorcery spells.

And I think that covers everything magic-related. We're going to discuss a slightly different way to approach the Enchanted Item Quality a little later on. It works okay for some devices, but is really bad for things like exo-armor.

If I get my hands on All Tomorrow's Zombies before I write the next segment, I'll see what Eden did for battle suits there. I think they went with a variation of the Robot Quality, which probably works pretty well.

Superstition and the Sword: Introduction

David Goodner — Wed, 23 May 2007 19:29:28 GMT

One thousand years ago, Superstition and the sword ruled...

I am a raving Gargoyles fanboy. I loved the cartoon, enjoyed the Gargoyles Saga fan-fiction project (which I should probably look in on again one of these days. I'm a fickle raving fanboy), and am really enjoying the new comic. Freed from the bounds of a kid's show, Gargoyles is really coming into its own.

I am also a raving Unisystem fanboy.

I think you see where this is going.

Tweaking the Unisystem rules so they'll work for the Gargoyles universe isn't going to be all that big a job, but it'll give me something to post about for a few weeks. I'm going to do it piecemeal here, and maybe at the end I'll write it all up nice and put it in a PDF.

First off, let's look at what we're doing. While you /could/ just write up a Gargoyle Quality and call it good, you wouldn't really have done everything right. Sorcery needs some work, as does Superscience, and the Gargoyels setting has some slightly different underpinnings than the Buffyverse. Getting that extra bit of harmony is what will make this take longer than a few paragraphs.

Here's what I have in mind:

Magic - Magicians in the Gargoyles universe need spellbooks - not just for learning spells, but for casting them. On the other hand, they can improvise spells very rapidly. The Occult Library Quality and the Sorcery rules are in for a change. Beyond that, there are some rules about magic in Gargoyles that I want to get right.

Enchanting - Nobody in the Gargoyles universe seems to produce magic items except the Faeries. Assemblages seem to be okay, though. So Enchanting is probably going to be limited to 1 level - or perhaps just folded into whatever Sorcery turns into.

Superscience - Giant floating factories, robots, battle armor, black-market blasters... the Gargoyles universe has a lot of high technology that people don't really bat an eye at. It's going to take some work to get all that right.

Organizations - Private armies and secret societies are a big part of the Gargoyles setting. The Organization rules in Angel are an okay start, but they don't really make any provision for characters like Xanatos or the higher-ups in the Illuminati (whoever they are). I'll probably do something with the Rank and Wealth Qualities, and possibly build a new Organization Quality that will let characters buy Organization points.

New Qualities - Obviously, there's going to be a Gargoyle racial package. Cyborgs, Mutates, and other strangeness will also make appearances. An outright Faerie is possibly too powerful for a PC, but half-fey like Fox will be within reasonable limits. And I'll give lesser Faeries a try, too. But no player is going to get to play Thor. Just don't ask.

Archetypes - Particularly if I decide to wrap this all up in a shiny PDF wrapper, I'll want to do some archetypes. Gargoyles is a setting that runs to Champions more than Investigators. The less competent characters are generally bit players. That doesn't mean you have to play your game that way, though, so I may throw in some lower-end characters, too.

I'm trying to do one Blog post per week, more or less, so you'll see something here soon.

Spook Stoppers

David Goodner — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:39:51 GMT

The time has come. I've waited on Eden for a long time, but they've had some severe logjam issues for the past year or so, and with the end of the Buffy/Angel license, it's unlikely that this will ever be published in its current form anyway.

(That said, if the Eden guys read it and they really like it, I'm totally open to publishing it or reworking the rules into another product)

I'm a big Ghostbusters fan. I loved the first movie, really liked the second movie, and loved both iterations of the cartoon. I played the hell out of the old WEG version of Ghostbusters and GBI. I wore the pips off two ghost dice and repainted both of them, twice.

I'm also a big fan of the Cinematic Unisystem, which should be news to nobody. And, while I liked the original Ghostbusters RPG, I don't think it's the only possible take on the material. WEG Ghostbusters played up the slapstick elements of the setting for a game that's a really humorous romp. But the movies, and particularly the cartoons, remind me more of the light-hearted side of Buffy and Angel. Danger is a little more serioius, and the world is a little less comedic, while still being witty.

So, back in July of 2006, I wrote a conversion of Ghostbusters to Buffy/Angel. "Spook Stopers Inc" is pretty much GBI, dropped into the Buffyverse, which isn't a perfect fit, but it gets by. If I were really going to run a Spook Stoppers game, I'd probably remove all the Buffyverse-specific stuff and just use the rules for a more ghost-heavy, Champion-light setting.

I, not having Acrobat, had no easy way to set this up as a PDF, so my friend, Lisa Hartjes did the honors. I actually DO have a way to do PDFs now, so I might do a slightly spiffier one with graphics and stuff somewhere down the line, but for now this one will get the point across.

spookstoppers.pdf (333.63 KB)

Cinematic Unisystem Spells

David Goodner — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:02:52 GMT

Here's another new section I'll update from time to time as the mood strikes me, collecting spells I've created for the Buffy Sorcery system.

Protective Bio-Coating

PL: 4
Quick Cast: No
Requirements: A blend of various chemiclals that are frighteningly easy to find, refined through a process that takes several hours. The budding mad scientist doesn't have to be present for the whole brewing time, but what he does have to do takes about an hour.

Effect: The end result of this process is a lab that smells vaguely of sulpher and blueberries and a half-liter of blue goop with a texture not unlike runny geletin. If you pour the goop onto an organic object, it will ooze forward and cover the entire object, up to something about person-sized. Then, in about thirty very itchy seconds, it will "set" into a flexible coating like thick body-paint. The person inside can move, speak, and breathe normally. He just looks like a member of the Blue Man Group. But it's probably worth it. For 1 hour per SL on the Occultism test (or Science, if you swing that way), he has an armor value of 10 and a "buffer" of 100 Life Points. Any damage he takes comes from these life points before it reaches him. Once they're all gone, the blue coating dries up and flakes off.

The Protective Bio-Coating isn't going to turn you into superman. It only protects against physical damage. Fire, electricity, and psychic mind bolts will all still hurt someone wearing one. It also gives some people hives, and extensive use has been linked to cancer in laboratory animals.

Breakdown
Casting Time: Lengthy -1
Scope: Noticable 1
Duration: Long (1 hr/SL) 1
Effect: Major 3

This spell is tailor-made for a budding Superscientist to make Assemblages out of. I would be slightly hesitant to use it because there's nothing stopping him from brewing up enough for the whole group. A pretty easy modification is to make the spell take Way Rare Ingredients, requiring some item of which the group has only one. That'll keep him in line, most likely. That drops the PL way down, too, which is good since Superscientists don't get a Sorcery bonus to their spellcasting tests.

Firespeaking

PL: 3
Quick Cast: yes
Scope: Noticeable
Duration: Long (1 hr/SL)

Requirements: Both the caster and the recipient(s) must be near a flame. If the caster is a Sorcerer, he just needs to concentrate on the people (up to 5 or so) he wishes to speak with. Normal casters need to chant and trace mystical symbols over the flame for a few minutes.

Effect: Firespeaking is a simple communication spell. When successfully cast, it creates a mystical connection between two (or more) flames. The caster can see and hear the person or persons he wishes to speak with, so long as they're close enough to a flame that he could hear them whisper. (Think of the flame as being the handset of a phone). The recipient can also see and hear the caster. If the caster chooses multiple recipients, they cannot see and hear each other unless they are using the same flame.

The spell lasts for several hours, or until the caster dismisses it (by putting out the flame, or just by concentrating if he's a Sorcerer).

This spell is useful, but limited. You can only Firespeak with people you have personally met well enough to remember. The image is limited to the flames. A candle doesn't leave much room for detail. Also, only the original recipients can see the image. Others just see shadowy shapes in the flames and hear murmering. Also, you can only have one Firespeaking going on at a time. If a second caster tries to contact you, he displaces the first one in a shower of sparks and a flare of light.

Despite its limitations, this remains a popular spell. Young enchanters make decent money preparing torches so that non-magicians can easily activate the spell to talk to distant friends, business partners, or relations.

Cinematic Unisystem Baddies 2: Acherix

David Goodner — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 00:30:33 GMT

Acherix (Aka Hive Demons)

The Acherix demons are not native to Earth and never arrive on their own. Instead, they must be summoned here. This, unfortunately, is something that all to many sorcerers are willing to do, as having control over an Acherix colony gives one vast power. This is a dangerous path to power, however. A hive is a hungry thing, and more than one occultist with more knowledge than wisdom has found himself in the feeding pits of his own colony.

Short of a nuclear strike, an Acherix colony is difficult to remove. A group of dedicated hunters might kill scores, or even hundreds, of workers and slaves, but still might never reach the queen or her drones. As long she survives, she can breed up a new colony.

The infestation begins when someone summons the queen, using the ritual of Belial’s Wine and inducing a chosen victim to drink the bitter draught. Within a few days, she will be transformed into a queen, and will start picking drones. The summoner would be wise to protect himself from the queen’s wiles, as she can be most persuasive.

Thereafter, the queen and her drones retreat to a place of safety and begin to breed. Their complete transformation takes one full moon, during which time they will acquire a few initial hosts for workers and warriors. The hive will be established somewhere safe, often isolated or well hidden. Acherix are far from mindless. Their hives will be defended as well as humans could defend them, and will always have some kind of cover that explains their isolation and behavior. Doomsday cults were popular in past centuries, as were isolated villages, although these could run short of humans before the hive grew very big. Today, cults are still popular, but so are survivalist communities and subterranean homeless “cities.” And those are fairly limited possibilities. A queen with the proper resources at her disposal, or with a wise “handler” could set up a popular religious movement, a housing subdivision, or perhaps even a corporation. The colony might have interests all over the world, although it will always have a central hive where all members spend at least some of their time. Extensive seperation from the hive weakens a lone member. After about a week, they start losing one point off each of their attributes per day until Strength and Constitution both reach zero, at which point the acherix dies.

Types of Acherix

The Queen

The queen always requires a female host, and prefers an attractive one. (If the initial offering isn't attractive enough, the Queen will emerge very angry and nearly uncontrollable, and will, after likely killing the summoner, magically transform the host to be pretty enough.) Somewhat like a vampire, the Acherix queen demon overwhelms the human soul while maintaining the body and mind. And very similar to a vampire, the queen has new goals. She wants drones, and she wants sex. Then she wants a safe place to breed. She may pursue these goals in different orders.

Name: Acherix Queen (Stage 1)

Motivation: "Do me, baby."

Critter Type: Demon

Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 7, Constitution 3, Intelligence 3, Perception 3, Willpower 5

Ability Scores: Combat 20, Muscles 12, Smarts 12

Life Points: 99

Drama Points: 5

Special Abilities: Emotion Control: Lust (-3 to resist), Infection, Increased Life Points, Hard to Kill 5, Hypnosis 3, Natural Weapon (Str x2 shashing + paralytic venom), Regeneration (Con/hour), Supernatural Senses (Basic, Night vision)

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Bonus	Base Damage	Notes
Dodge	20	None	Defensive Action
Grapple	22	None	Resisted by Dodge
Kick	19	4 Bash
Punch	20	3 Bash
Stinger	20	12 Slashing	+ Venom

Description

At this stage, the Queen looks pretty much like a normal person, most of the time. There's a stinger in her throat that can extend like a whip, about three feet long. It's razor sharp, and delivers a paralizing poison (Roll Constitution to resist. Each SL on the hit roll adds a progressive -1 penalty). Further doses of the venom can turn a male victim into an Acherix Drone (see below) She wants sex, lots of sex. And fairly soon she'll start producing eggs, which must be implanted in hosts (either male or female).

Name: Acherix Queen (Stage 2)

Motivation: "All will love me."

Critter Type: Demon

Attributes: Strength 3, Dex 7, Con 8, Intelligence 3, Perception 3, Willpower 9

Ability Scores: Combat 20, Muscles 12, Smarts 12

Life Points: 134

Drama Points: 5

Special Abilities: Armor 10, Emotion Control: Lust or Worship (-5 to resist), Infection, Increased Life Points, Hard to Kill 10, Hypnosis 3, Natural Weapon (Str x4 slashing + paralytic venom), Regeneration (Con/minute), Supernatural Senses (Basic, Night vision, Telepathic link to all "children"), Telepathy.

Special Drawbacks: Limited mobility. The Queen can't move on her own at more than about a foot per combat turn. She is easily outmaneuvered, and could well be too large to ever leave her nest. Antisocial Impulses (Anger and Greed)

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Bonus	Base Damage	Notes
Dodge	10	None	Defensive Action. Mobility Penalty.
Grapple	22	None	Resisted by Dodge
Stinger	20	12 Slashing	+ Venom

Description

A fully evolved Acherix Queen is barely recognizable as human. Her limbs atrophy and her belly swells to monstrous proportions to support almost daily multiple births. Plates of chiton cover her body in places, and her face is stretched by mandibles and antennae. She can no longer speak, as her mouth-stinger is now much larger and longer. She can hardly move on her own, and is constantly tended by dedicated workers and drones.

Her lust is unabaited, and her mindcontrolled drones are only too happy to service her. However, her temper is very short. If her "children" fail to please her, she kills them. Drones are particularly vulnerable.

Drones

The Queen's first few victims will be males, generally attractive males. One by one, She'll seduce them, magically or otherwise, and have sex with them. Then she'll sting them into oblivion. When the unfortunate guy wakes up from "getting lucky" in about twelve hours, he will be an Acherix Drone.

Drones are completely devoted to the Queen. They'll do whatever she needs them to do. Initially, there are two things: Keep the Queen happy and bring her hosts for her first eggs.

Drones look pretty human, though as they get older, their insect-like features become more prominent. By the time the Queen is in stage 2, most of her initial drones now have compound eyes and stubby antennae, and have lost the ability to speak.

Name: Acherix Drone

Motivation: "We love you, mummie."

Critter Type: Demon

Attributes: Strength 3, Dex 3, Con 3, Intelligence 2, Perception 2, Willpower 2

Ability Scores: Combat 12, Muscles 12, Smarts 10

Life Points: 54

Drama Points: 1

Special Abilities: Armor 5, Increased Life Points, Natural Weapon (Str x2 slashing), Regeneration (Con/hour), Supernatural Senses (Basic).

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Bonus	Base Damage	Notes
Dodge	12	None	Defensive Action
Kick	11	4 Bash
Grapple	14	None	Resisted by Dodge
Melee Weapon	12	Varies
Parry	12	None	Defensive Action. -2 against thrown attacks
Punch	12	3 Bash

Workers

Once the Queen has drones, she needs workers. Before her transformation goes too far, she can recruit a few herself, but a lot of them will be recruited by the drones. Hosts for workers can be male or female. Their creation is a simple matter. Once the queen lays eggs, those eggs need to be kept warm and provided with food when they hatch into larva. So the queen inserts into the stomach of a paralized human, where they grow, eventually eating most of the human host's internal organs and taking over the body. The process is excruciatingly painful for the host, who doesn't die until it is complete.

Workers are completely loyal to the queen and not as limited as Drones. They do all the hard work like maintaining and expanding the hive and dealing with the public. They're not much good in a fight, but will defend the nest to the death.

Name: Acherix Worker

Motivation: "We hear and obey"

Critter Type: Demon

Attributes: Strength 5, Dex 2, Con 4, Intelligence 2, Perception 2, Willpower 2

Ability Scores: Combat 10, Muscles 16, Smarts 10

Life Points: 56

Drama Points: 1

Special Abilities: Armor 5, Increased Life Points, Natural Weapon (Str x2 slashing), Regeneration (Con/hour), Supernatural Senses (Basic).

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Bonus	Base Damage	Notes
Dodge	10	None	Defensive Action
Kick	9	6 Bash
Grapple	12	None	Resisted by Dodge
Melee Weapon	10	Varies
Parry	10	None	Defensive Action. -2 against thrown attacks
Punch	10	5 Bash

Warriors

Worker drones modify a few of the queen's eggs out of every batch to be warriors. The warriors are more powerful, but more limited than the workers. They can look mostly human, although there's something "off" about a warrior, but when they need to fight, they transform into armor-clad, clawed, fang-mawed monstrosities easily as powerful as any vampire.

Warriors mostly guard the hive. They leave it very rarely, excpet to help workers on missions. Warriors are incredible bloodhounds. They can follow a scent trail anywhere. Even in human form, their mouths and jaws have been modified too heavily to permit speach. They are armed with stingers similar to the queen's, albiet without the infectious properties.

Name: Acherix Warrior

Motivation: "Kill, Mangle, Maim!"

Critter Type: Demon

Attributes: Strength 7, Dex 6, Con 6, Intelligence 2, Perception 6, Willpower 2

Ability Scores: Combat 18, Muscles 20, Smarts 10

Life Points: 82

Drama Points: 1

Special Abilities: Armor 10, Increased Life Points, Natural Weapon (Str x3 slashing + paralytic venom), Regeneration (Con/hour), Supernatural Senses (Basic, Tracking).

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Bonus	Base Damage	Notes
Dodge	18	None	Defensive Action
Claw	18	21 Slash
Kick	17	8 Bash
Grapple	20	None	Resisted by Dodge
Melee Weapon	18	Varies
Parry	18	None	Defensive Action. -2 against thrown attacks
Stinger	18	21 Slash	+ Venom

New Spell

Ritual of Belial's Wine

Quick Cast: No

Power Level: 1 (technically 0)

Requirements: Six ounces of Royal Jelly from a single beehive. Various rare and noxious ingredients. A dozen apricots picked by a virgin girl on a night of a full moon. The ingredients are mixed together according to an ancient formula and allowed to ferment for a full lunar year. On each night of the full moon, the cask must be placed in a mystical circle and chanted over for a full hour, beginning at midnight. (Fully prepared casks are available from certian shady dealers. Sometimes on eBay) On the thirteenth full moon, the magician pours the resulting brew into a vessel along with a live queen bee larva and recites a magical chant. If she's done everything correctly, the larva will disolve in a flash of steam and the mead-like brew will take on a dark, red color like deep wine. To use the spell, the caster must get a female human (no vampires, demons, or whatnot) to drink the entire glass.

Effects: Belial's Wine transforms a female human into an Acherix Queen. The full transformation takes place over the course of a day, with growing symptoms leading up to her becoming a full-fledged stage-one Acherix Queen.

At first, she becomes more attractive and alluring. The effect is more psychological and mystical than physical. She gets the benefits of the Attractiveness Quality without necessarily changing physically. Every three hours, she gets one additional point of Attractiveness. Every eight hours, she gets one additional point of Mental Problems (Lecherous) to go along with it. She is not incurable until the passing of the 24th hour. Before that, various purification rituals might save her. The longer the delay, the greater the risk. The cure involves coughing up the Queen Larva now growing within the host. The victim has to make a Survival Test with a penalty of -1 for every three hours she's been infected.

Modern surgical techniques could reduce the risk, but you'd be amazed how often that doesn't come up.

Breakdown

Participants: 1 +0

Casting Time: Very Lengthy -2

Scope: Noticeable +1

Duration: Slowest -3

Spell Requirements: Unusual Ingredients/Difficult Use -1

Effect: Awesome +5

New Enchanted Item

The Eye of Belial

Power Level: 6

Appearance: For all its power, the Eye of Belial is not very impressive to look upon. It looks like a round gemstone a little bigger than an inch in diameter, cut from deep black stone into a multitude of hexagonal facets. It was carved, so the legends say, from a gem within the hell dimension from which the Acherix originate.

Requirements: To use the Eye, the user has to insert it into one of his own eye

sockets (which must be emptied out first). That's really it. After that, the user reaps all the benefits of the Eye.

Effect: The most obvious effect of the Eye of Belial is that the user can still see out of it somewhat normally, assuming it's not covered by an eye patch or something. He still has depth perception, but now also has, if not 360 degree vision, at least wider than human normal. This provides two points of Perception bonus. But that's hardly worth gouging out one of your own eyes.

Any Acherix workers, warriors, or drones who see the wearer of the Eye will react to him as if he were part of their hive, unless the queen orders them otherwise. He can also try to command an Acherix queen, enslaving her will. This works as an opposed Willpower doubled test, for which the wearer of the Eye gets a 2-point bonus. Fully mature queens gain a great deal of willpower. More than one summoner has learned this to his cost. A few things can tip the balance in his favor, though. Half of his Sorcery levels (if any) are added to his Willpower for purposes of the test. Situational modifiers can apply as well. If the wearer of the eye acts like a drone (which I will leave as an exercise for the reader's imagination), the queen is more likely to respond favorably to him. Bribery works, too.

If the queen ever breaks free of his control, though, all bets are off. Warriors, workers, and drones will see the wearer of the eye as an enemy. He might be able to re-establish control, if he's powerful, but more often he ends up getting eaten.

Breakdown: I didn’t actually do the breakdown. Choosing PL 6 was just an arbitrary point that seemed appropriate, and makes it hard enough that most PCs won’t think about making one.

New Tao Chi Powers

David Goodner — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 02:43:15 GMT

I really dig the Storm Dragons and Tao Chi, particularly the way Tao Chi stays just barely out of wire-fu territory. The martial arts powers from Enter the Zombie are a lot more visually impressive, but don't quite fit with the WitchCraft vibe. And yet, Tao Chi users are sort of limited. Pretty much, what you can use Tao Chi for is hitting people. Hitting people is all well and good, but there's more to life than that. So I've written some new powers. None of these are playtested yet. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who uses them. Or who just wants to talk about them, for that matter.

Body Equilibrium

Masters of this ability can perform amazing feats of agility, running up walls, nearly flying. To activate this power, the Chi Master must spend enough Essence for the effect he wants and roll Willpower + Body Equilibrium. Two points will allow the character to double his leaping distance, and eleminate any penalties due to treacherous ground. 4 points will allow the character to triple his leaping distance and run up walls at his full running speed. 6 points will allow him to run along any solid surface, even if it would not normally hold his weight (also useful for not tripping landmines), and jump 4 times his normal distance. He is immune to being tripped or otherwise falling, so long as there is something under his feet. 8 points will allow him to nearly fly, jumping 5 times his normal distance, and running even across water. Body Equilibrium lasts for one Turn per Success Level.

Circle of Awareness

The Chi Master has learned to attune his Chi to the world around him, becoming supernaturally aware of his environment. To establish the Circle, the Chi Master spends 2 Essence per yard (meter) of radius, and rolls Perception + Circle of Awareness. The Chi Master cannot be surprised by anything that originates within the bounds of his Circle. He gets to defend against any attack, so long as he has actions available to do so, regardless of direction. Similarly, The success levels The Circle test are added to any Perception tests he makes. The Circle lasts for Success Level in minutes. If the Chi Master wishes to maintain his circle for longer (for instance if he is standing guard), he may maintain the circle for longer by spending 1 more Essence to extend the duration by as many minutes as he originally earned. This power is very meditative in nature. A Chi Master must be completely focused on one task to use it. Activating your Circle of Awareness for guard duty, and then playing video games will produce very high scores on your video games, but will not really help you with guard duty.

Fade from Mind's Eye

This technique allows the Chi Master to subtly redirect the flows of Chi so that those around him are unaware of his presence. Masters of this technique can literally walk into a room full of enemies, strike, and flee without being seen.

To activate this technique, the Chi Master spends 3 points of Essence for each -1 penalty to Perception tasks relating to him. The effect lasts for a number of minutes equal to the Success Levels he generates, and may be extended by paying 3 points of Essence for each additional minute. While so protected, the Chi Master is very difficult to spot, so long as he makes reasonable efforts to disguise his presence. He must remain hidden with some level of cover or concealment for the power to work, but far less than might otherwise be necessary.

Anyone who sees the Chi Master while he tries to activate this power is unaffected, so wise Chi Masters either activate it before encountering witnesses, or use some sort of distraction, like flash bombs or smoke grenades to provide cover.

I may add to this later. I have ideas for a few more that I've never quite hashed out. And I'm still thinking about how I might undertake Greater Tao Chi abilities. My favorite method is to say that Chi Mastery 10+ substitutes for the "Old Soul" prerequisite for Enlightened, and the Greater Tao Chi powers are really just Abhijaha powers with a new name.

Angel Archetypes 2: The Perfect Weapon (corrected)

David Goodner — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 23:55:51 GMT

For some strange reason, I can't seem to edit the original post. This one is slightly cleaned up since my other one had a few small errors in format

The Perfect Weapon

Character type: Champion

Attributes

Strength: 5 (+1 from Demon Hunter, + 1 from Athlete)
Dexterity: 5 (+1 from Athlete)
Constitution: 5 (+1 from Demon Hunter)
Intelligence: 2
Perception: 5 (+1 from Demon Hunter)
Willpower: 4

Life Points: 65
Drama Points: 10

Qualities (20 + 10 from Drawbacks)

Demon Hunter, Athlete, Attractiveness Quality: 3, Nanjin Adept, Supernatural Senses - Empathy (from Perfect Weapon), Hard to Kill: 5 (From Perfect Weapon), Natural Toughness (from Perfect Weapon), Situational Awareness (from Perfect Weapon), Nerves of Steel (from Perfect Weapon), Fast Reaction Time (from Perfect Weapon), Perfect Weapon,

Drawbacks (10)

Physical Disibality - Impaired Language: 3 (from Perfect Weapon), Adversary ("Father"): 5, Adversary (Various): 1 (From Demon Hunter), Antisocial Impulses (Violence): 1 (from Perfect Weapon), Honorable: 2, Mental Problems - Delusions (Supernaturals are evil): 1 (From Demon Hunter), Outcast

Skills (30)

Acrobatics: 5, Art: 0, Computers: 0, Crime: 4, Doctor: 1, Driving: 0, Getting Medieval: 6 (+1 from Demon Hunter), Gun Fu: 0, Influence: 0, Knowledge: 0, Kung Fu: 6 (+1 from Demon Hunter), Languages: 0, Mr. Fix-it: 0, Notice: 5, Occultism: 3, Science: 0, Sports: 4, Wild Card: 0

Combat Moves

Maneuver	Bonus	Damage	Notes
Catch Weapon	8	None	Ranged Defense Action
Decapitation	8	Varies	Total damage x 5
Disarm (GM)	11	None	Resisted by Parry
Disarm (KF)	10	None	Resisted by Parry
Dodge	13	None	Defense Action
Grapple	15	None	Impairment Varries
Jump Kick	10	18 bash	Dex + Acrobatics roll adds SL to damage
Kick	12	12 bash
Parry	13	None	Defense Action; -2 against ranged attacks
Punch	13	10 bash
Stake	13	10 slash
Through the Heart	10	10 slash	x 5 damage for vampires; x 4 for other folks
Sword	13	20 slash
Takedown	13	5 bash	Knocks target down

Background on the Perfect Weapon

Words are... hard for me. I was raised with no words. My... father... made sure no one spoke to me. Where you learned to speak, I learned to... move. I learned to fight. I learned to kill. He wanted me to be... like him? Worse? Better.

Someone else can say it better. Words are hard for me.

We found her in the midst of a pack of Nosferatu, killing them at least as easily as a young Slayer might. As best I've been able to determine, her "father" was a member of the order of Turaka who killed any mortal parents she might have had and took her to raise himself. This behavior is not unknown amongst vampires with sufficient age to have become sentimental and sufficient willpower to be able to resist the lure of easy food.

What is unusual is what he did with her. He made sure she never heard human speech at all. Instead, from the time she could walk, he forced her into a regimen of physical training, teaching her acrobatics, stealth, and combat... all in complete silence. I can only imagine how that worked.

She has been trained by the best warriors, hunters, and assassins on the planet, and possibly beyond. Her body and mind have been honed into perfect tools of violence. Her abilities border on supernatural. She "reads" people's body language as easily as you or I would read a book. She knows what you're going to do as soon as you do. She can see your every weakness, possibly even know what you're thinking.

And she always wins at Roshambo.

She is not the most forthcoming, but I have managed to piece together the rest. Her "father" intended to allow her to reach physical maturity, then slay her so she'd rise again as a vampire herself. He did not reckon on her extraordinary perception. She saw his intentions at some point and broke away, and now she hunts vampires with all the fervor with which she would have hunted humans.

We have more or less adopted her, if only to keep her under nominal control. Left to her own devices, she has no sense of perspective and no idea when to quit. She also has almost no ability to deal with modern society. She can only barely speak a few words, and is completely illiterate. In fact, I think she's severely dyslexic. Her spatial and linguistic thought centers are irrevocably intertwined.

Nonetheless, I hope we will be able to improve her quality of life, and god forgive me, we need her on our side.

Quote: "..."

Roleplaying the Perfect Weapon

You're a highly-trained, utterly ruthless assassin, except that you have a deep regard for life. You don't mind killing vampires. In fact, you like it. But you don't want to kill humans. Hurting them is fine, though.

You're also a teenage girl (or boy, if you'd prefer. We're not sexist here), with all the hormone-driven insanity that brings. And things are really complicated for you. On one hand, you have no social skills at all. On the other hand, you can tell what other people are thinking by just looking at them.

So now you hunt monsters, knowing that at some point a showdown with your "father" is inevitable, and you try to figure out how to be a person instead of just a weapon.

Sample Equipment

Sword, Leather armor, Throwing Knives (bat-shaped shrunken optional)

Character Sheet by UniForge Version: 1.1. Last Modified 2006-08-07 17:25:32

Comments: As I said, not quite perfect. Cassie should be able to understand any language, which is an ability worth two or three points. But then again, she probably understands only basic, declarative, concrete concepts, so I guess it all evens out.

Full Unisystem Enchanted Items

David Goodner — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:01:52 GMT

I'm starting a collection of Full Unisystem stuff. I don't know how much it will grow, though. WitchCraft and Armageddon are a little less fun to write enchanted items for, since they're generally just sub-effects of various existing powers. If I start needing items with interesting history behind them, I'll probably post them here. The plot hooks and whatnot are more useful than the stats in that case.

I might also see about converting some of these to Buffy items. We shall see.

First up, one from a game I played over on devermore.net. The sequel game is still running, and this item is still around. Incidentally, I thank the nice folks at RPG.net for helping me with the name.

Die Märchenlanduhr

"The Fairy-Tale Land Clock" is a 17th Century German clock made by the eccentric genius Albrecht von Wittenberg. It is an ornate, baroque long case clock (aka. a grandfather clock) with numerous animated figures that emerge to dance the hours. The clockworks are insanely complex, and do different things in response to different hours or even seasons.

But the clock's mundane aspects are the least of its properties. When placed on a Place of Power and properly set, the clock reveals its true power. On the stroke of midnight, the entire clock changes. The outer section of the face flips over in tiny segments so that there are now 13 hours. The clock starts running backwards as well. The figures rotate 180 degrees, revealing different sides. They begin to dance the hours to a new, haunting chime tuned to a minor key. And a Gate to Faerie is opened. It will remain open for thirteen hours, after a fashion. Anyone who goes through once can go back through any time within thirteen hours of it opening, but it’s only a round-trip. To go to Yessod, back to Malkuth, then to Yessod again would take two days.

This effect can be turned off (for the safety and sanity of the clock owner) by turning a special key within the clockworks. This deactivates the special figurines and changing clock face, making the clock just act like a normal long case clock.

Effect: Opens a Gate to a specific spot in the Faerie Lands of Yessod, at a clock-tower on the border from Light and Darkness. Nearby is the massive Labyrinth. The Clock itself is a Gate, and uses the Activate Gate effect, 13 hours of duration purchased at 5 points per hour. (A special rule that players can’t do, just because that’s scary) The
Strength: 8
Recharge: 4
Essence Pool: 90
Uses: 1 before the pool is drained

Cinematic Unisystem Enchanted/Superscience Items

David Goodner — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:08:55 GMT

Like the Spells and Qualities articles, this one will be updated from time to time.

I started this item to be part of another Archetype, but I decided you'd have to be insane to ever let anyone have this. It makes a good plot device for a limited duration, and it might work in some really high-powered game, or a one-on-one game, but for a regular Buffy or Angel game, I think it's far too powerful for regular use.

I might write up an evil version later on, which would work better as a plot device, a'la Darth Rosenberg.

Caster Pistol

Power Level: 6
Appearance: A Caster Pistol is normally an ornate, old-style pistol, and is usually quite bulky. It fires Caster Shells, which are shotgun-shell sized, metal, and come in a variety of colors.
Requirements: The Caster Pistol must be loaded with a Caster Shell and fired as a normal pistol.
Effect: Hokey religions and ancient superstitions might not be a match for a good gun at your side, but with a Caster Pistol, you can have both. Caster Pistols (and perhaps Caster Rifles, but they lack the personal touch) are created in realms of magic and technology, and even there, the weapons aren't all that common. They're difficult to make, difficult to arm, and exact a cost on the user. But even with these disadvantages, they are powerful weapons in the right hands. The Caster Pistol can let a non-Sorcerer fire off spells.

A Caster Pistol is generally a single-shot, breach loading pistol. Double-barreled and revolver variants are exponentially rarer. Automatic pistols of any description are virtually unknown, as they would have some severe drawbacks. Few arcane artificers even know the secrets of making them or their specialized ammunition anymore. A Caster Pistol uses pistol ranges, and, if one were to fire normal bullets in it, would have damage equal to a "Big Ass Pistol." That would be a terrible waste of potential, however, and might damage the delicate arcane circuitry of the pistol.

The true ammunition of a Caster Pistol is a Caster Shell, about the size of a 12-gague shotgun shell. Caster Shells are essentially assemblages, but they're difficult to make. Besides the efforts involved in casting the spell as normal, the gunsmith must also hand-craft each shell. This requires a Mr. Fix-it test with a penalty equal to the power level of the spell being imbued into the shell. WC: Gunsmithing cuts the penalty in half. Alternately, the WC: Castersmithing skill can be used, which removes the penalty entirely. If the crafting test fails, the shell is inert, even if the spellcasting test was successful. For that matter, normal penalties for miscast spells apply, but only when the shell is fired, which can lead to interesting situations. The shells are made from orichalcium (which isn't really all that difficult to acquire. It's just an alloy of bronze with a particular red hue. Real life is so boring sometimes.) They change color and acquire mystical symbols based on the spells imbued into them, such that an Occultism test will tell a trained observer what a given shell does. Inert shells look just like live ones. There's no way to tell if the Caster Shell is live without firing it.

(As such, we suggest that the Director keep the rolls used to craft shells secret, to preserve the sense of wonder and adventure for the players. Most of the time, it's safe to assume a shell got the minimum SL for a successful casting and not worry about it. Inflicting defective or inert shells on Cast Members is probably worth a Drama Point or two.)

So why didn't the weapon smiths of old crank out millions of these things and arm every Tom, Dick, and Roland with one? Well, besides being hard to make, the Caster Pistol has one big downside. Spells take mystical energy, and that energy has to come from somewhere. Where it comes from is the life-force of the user. Every time you fire a Caster Shell, you do so at the cost of a little piece of yourself. Most of the time, it's no big deal. You use little bits of your life-force all the time. But the Caster Shells take more than most people can easily deal with.

For Sorcerers, each Caster Shell fired counts as casting a spell of whatever power level the Caster Shell contained. For normal folks, it's more difficult. for Caster Shells with a PL of 3 or less, there's no problem, but for shells with a PL of 4 or greater, the cost adds up quickly. When a Cast Member engages in extensive Caster Pistol usage, keep track of the shells he uses. Once he stops (or whenever the Director thinks it's a good point) he needs to make a Consciousness Test. Each shell with a PL of 4-6 adds a -1 penalty to the test. Each shell with a PL of 7+ adds a -2 penalty. Instead of Constitution doubled, use Constitution and Willpower for this test.

If the unlucky spellslinger fails the Consciousness test, he must immediately make a Survival Test with 1/10th the penalty applied to the Consciousness Test. If he fails the Survival Test, he falls into a coma and will lose 1 from all his stats per day. Once he's out of stat points, he dies, unless heroic measures (or Drama Points) save him. If he passes the Survival Test, he's merely in a coma for a while: 24 hours per point he failed the test by, divided by his Constitution. So a spellslinger with a Constitution of 2 who fails his Consciousness test by 4 points would be unconscious for 2 days. If he'd only failed by 1 point, he'd be out for 12 hours. And he should really think about building up his endurance if he's going to go around firing Caster Shells indiscriminately.

Directors are free to determine what types of Caster Shells are available. It's possible that the secrets of smithing them have been lost, so not even Enchanter/Superscientist Cast Members can make new ones. By far most Caster Shells are damaging spells, but if your Director is amenable, there are other options. Healing spells would seem like a bad idea, though.

The Colt

Power Level: 7
Appearance: A Colt Peacemaker, crafted by Samuel Colt himself, with a dark finish and a handle made of wood from a hanging tree. The barrel is engraved with the latin motto "non timebo mala." ("I will fear no evil.") There were originally thirteen bullets, each cast from the metal of a blessed cross. How many are left now is up to the Director.
Requirements: The user shoots something he wants to kill. This requires a normal Gun-fu roll. Period, hand-made revolvers aren't terribly accurate. Increase all range modifiers by +1. The gun works normally if loaded with normal ammunition. Its true power is tied to the thirteen bullets.
Effect: When fired from the Colt, the magic bullets can kill anything, no matter how invulnerable it normally might be. So long as the shooter isn't specifically aiming to wound (Targeting a limb, for instance) any shot is fatal. Humans, werewolves, vampires, demons, even hellgods are all vulnerable to the Colt.

Notes: This is more a plot device than something a player would use long-term, but it might make a neat toy. Say he's got 5 bullets left, and after that, he's down 14 XP (if you charged him for it). He'd want to be really choosy. And since he still has to hit, it's not a for-sure kill every time.

Emerald Flame of Life

Power Level: 7 (Don't even think about trying to make one)
Appearance: A green lantern, and a green ring crafted from the same strange green metal. Only the lantern is really necessary. The ring, though, acts as a smaller, more convenient remote unit, and keeps anyone else from using the power of the Lantern while it is worn.
Effect: The Emerald Flame of Life is an extraterrestrial source of vast power, perhaps sent to Earth by the Powers that Be. It grants the user the equivelent of Sorcery 5, although rather than Occultism, the Emerald Flame requires its own Wild Card skill. Rather than "Spells" the ring can do pretty much whatever the user can imagine, but it takes some time to figure out the more esoteric ones. You can (assuming your Director allows it) probably whip out any PL 3 effect or less that you want. Any others require you to purchase a special Quality called "Flame Kenning." (2 points per level) This gives you access to new effects just as if you were a Witch with an Occult Library of the same value. Invoking particularly powerful ones for the first time might require a Drama Point.

The Emerald Flame also extends the life of its host. If you began the game with the Emerald Flame, that's a reason to buy the Age Quality. If you've raised your WC: Emerald Flame skill to at least 7, you can have the Ageless Quality, so long as you possess the ring.

The Emerald Flame of Life is not all-powerful, so users need to keep a few things in mind. First of all, since it is the power of green and growing things, it is powerless against wood and plants, although processed plant fibers (cloth, rope, etc...) are fair game. Why? The forces of magic are just weird, that's why. Also, the Flame is primarily a thing of White magic. Using it for evil is difficult. Any negative effects resulting from backlash are bumped up level. So you're often wiser using the ring to protect yourself while just hitting people in the conventional way, rather than blasting them with bolts of verdant fire. One final limitation: the ring can operate any distance from the lantern, even in other dimensions, but it needs to touch the lantern every 24 hours. If it doesn't, then, starting on the 24th hour, it begins to lose 1 level of Sorcery every minute until it has none. When it hits zero, it loses all power until it touches the lantern again.

The Flame is not just a power source. It is also an intelligent being with vast wisdom. The Bearer of the Flame can make friends with it, buying it as a Supernatural Contact worth two points.

Angel Archetypes 4: The Former FBI Agent

David Goodner — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:44:28 GMT

Here's the latest. For some reason, I enjoy making up Investigators more than Champions for Angel. Maybe it's just because there are so many more interesting adult archetypes than high school students. Anyway, this one breaks my general rule against having more than one "professional" Package Quality, but she really merits the exception, as I'm sure you'll agree. In fact, I could make a Champion version who might work better. As is, I had to shaft her computer skill, and she needs more Contacts.

The Former FBI Agent

Investigator

Attributes
Strength: 2 Dexterity: 3 Constitution: 2
Intelligence: 5 Perception: 5 Willpower: 4

Life Points: 26
Drama Ponts: 20

Qualities and Drawbacks
Attractiveness Quality: 3, Brainiac: 1, Contacts (various) 2, Ex-Detective: 1, Occult Investigator: 1, Nerves of Steel: 1, Secret: 3, Adversary (Evil Govt. Conspiracy): 3, Emotional Problems - Fear of Commitment: 1, Honorable: 1, Recurring Nightmares: 1

Skills:
Acrobatics: 0, Art: 0, Computers: 1, Crime: 2, Doctor: 5, Driving: 1, Getting Medieval: 0, Gun Fu: 4, Influence: 3, Knowledge: 2, Kung Fu: 1, Languages: 1, Mr. Fix-it: 0, Notice: 3, Occultism: 3, Science: 4, Sports: 0

Combat Maneuvers

Aiming (Gun-Fu)	9	none	Adds Sucess Levels to shooting roll
Dodge (Kung Fu)	4		Defense action
Punch	4	4	Bashing. Basic nuckle sandwich
Gunshot	7	Varies by weapon	Bullet Damage. Ranged attack modifiers apply

Background on the Former FBI Agent

It all started with my crazyass partner, but now he's missing... probably dead... and I'm on my own. I've lost my job, my medical license, and my academic standing. But if they thought that would make me stop, they don't know me at all.

I should start at the beginning, though. I used to work for the FBI as a forensic scientist. My superiors assigned me as a partner to a wildcard agent with possibly the worst reputation in the agency. I never did figure out who I pissed off. He was a real loon, beliving in demonic possession, psychic powers, and alien abductions.

Two out of three ain't bad.

We started digging through old cases that had been closed for lack of evidence and otherwise forgotten, looking at weird stuff that nobody else wanted to acknowledge. And they weren't too happy about us doing it, either, especially when we started turning up leads about something called "The Initiative" and finding out that basically everyone in the government had sold their souls (literally, in some cases) to a lawfirm called Wolfram & Hart.

That was when things went to hell in the proverbial handbasket. I've been kidnapped, operated on, and generally mindscrewed more ways than I know how to describe. I've seen things I never believed in. And I've lost just about evrerything I care about.

But if they thought that was going to stop me, they were wrong. I still had strings to pull. Now I've got a new identity, a PI license, and a small agency I pretty much run out of my house. I've been recruiting, though. And my new allies and I are trying this a whole new way. If we can't drag the monsters out into the light, we'll hunt them in the shadows. Their secrets are weapons, and I know just how to make every wound we inflict hurt.

Quote: "Traditionally, we'd play some 'good cop, bad cop now,' but instead, we're going to play 'bad cop, worse cop.' And the only right you have in here is the right to tell me everything I want to know before my friend mister bad-cop uses your ligiments for his knitting."

Roleplaying the Former FBI Agent

You used to be a skeptic, and in a way you still are. Now you're just a skeptic who knows vampires and demons are real. But you're still more likely to rely on forensic evidence than divinations, signs, and omens. It works well, since many of the perps you hunt now know how to confound the oracles, but aren't so good at covering their tracks from UV sensors and computer hacking.

You find yourself conflicted these days. The people you're working with now are the kind of people you used to laugh at, or try to put away. And they're really the best you can find. It's a scary old world.

Suggested Equipment

Gun, Recroom full of forensic equipment bought off Ebay, fake badge.

Angel Archetypes 3: The Preacher's Kid

David Goodner — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 19:33:48 GMT

Here's one more Angel Archetype shamelessly stolen from popular culture. Perhaps her inclusion will inspire me to do one other. It'd be a great use for the "Criminal" Quality.

The Preacher's Kid

Investigator

Attributes
Strength: 2 Dexterity: 3 Constitution: 2
Intelligence: 3 Perception: 3 Willpower: 4

Life Points: 41
Drama Points: 20

Qualities and Drawbacks
Nerves of Steel: 1, Attractiveness Quality: 2, Hard to Kill: 5, Artist: 1, Emotional Problems - Fear of Commitment: 1, Recurring Nightmares: 1, Screwed Up Adolescent: 1, Honorable: 2

Skills
Acrobatics: 0, Art: 5, Computers: 1, Crime: 1, Doctor: 1, Driving: 2, Getting Medieval: 2, Gun Fu: 3, Influence: 4, Knowledge: 1, Kung Fu: 1, Languages: 1, Mr. Fix-it: 1, Notice: 2, Occultism: 3, Science: 1, Sports: 2

Combat Moves

Maneuver	Bonus	Damage	Notes
Aiming (Gun-Fu)	6	none	Adds Sucess Levels to shooting roll
Dodge (Getting Medieval)	5		Defense Action.
Flamethrower (Makeshift)	4	See Notes	Fire. 30 points, all Fire then 3 points per turn until target out. Item may explode. Flammable items ignite
Gunshot	6	Varies by weapon	Bullet Damage. Ranged attack modifiers apply
Stake	5	4	Slash/Stab.
Through the Heart	3		X5 damage for vampires

Background on the Preacher's Kid
I haven't told too many people my story. Who would believe me? The ones I have, they ask me how I can still believe in God after what I've seen. I ask them what other choice I have. I've looked hell in the face, and I owe my life to a theif and murderer, but God brought me out of it.

And now I'm trying to do His work.

Rolling out of Mexico in an empty RV with no father, no brother, and a dufflebag full of blood money, I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't feel like I could go home again. What would I say? Dad didn't have any other family, and Mom's people never had any use for us. So I kind of dropped off the radar, staying in trailer parks, shopping late at night when I wouldn't have to deal with anybody. But eventually I needed to /know./ Were those the only monsters? Could I ever feel safe again?

I found some people who could tell me. Turns out those weren't the only monsters. But maybe I'll feel safe again one day. They're teaching me to fight, and to hunt. I turned up at a good time for them. The last of the money I had was enough to bail them out of a tight spot, so they kind of adopted me.

So far, I'm strictly a "support" person, but give me a couple years and I'll be an mmm, mmm warrior of God.

Quote: "I've been in tighter spots than this. Come back after you spend the night in a titty-bar full of vampires with only some bikers and the guy who kidnapped you for protection and THEN complain about how much trouble we're in."

Roleplaying the Preacher's Kid
Despite all you've seen and done, you're a remarkably good, hopeful person. While the rest of your team is generally focused on smiting the forces of evil (and let's face it, that's a good thing to do), you're more concerned with helping out the innocent. Whenever possible, you'll curb their baser impulses.

But when it comes to fighting monsters, all bets are off.

Suggested Equipment
Winnebago, Gun, Holy Water, Crucifix, Bible

Buffy Archetypes 7: the Guardian Demon

David Goodner — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:42:57 GMT

Guardian Demon

Character type: Hero

Attributes
Strength: 8 Dexterity: 6 Constitution: 8

Intelligence: 2 Perception: 3 Willpower: 2

Life Points: 98
Drama Points: 10

Qualities
Maulthite Demon: 1 (see my Unisystem Qualities entry), Natural Armor: 5, Regeneration: 1, Natural Weapon: 1, Nerves of Steel, Situational Awareness, Hard to Kill: 8, Fast Reaction Time, Antisocial Impulses (Violence): 1, Obligation: 3, Vulnerability (Magic), Age: 3, Immortal, Contacts (Demon Underground): 2, Resistance (pain): 2.

Drawbacks
Adversary (Demons and Whatnot): 5, Adversary (People you ticked off in a past life): 3, Honorable: 2, Humorless, Mental Problems - Cruelty: 1 (-1/0), Mental Problems - Recklessness: 1.

Skills
Acrobatics: 2, Art: 0, Computers: 0, Crime: 1, Doctor: 1, Driving: 0, Getting Medieval: 6, Gun Fu: 1, Influence: 1, Knowledge: 1, Kung Fu: 5, Languages: 1, Mr. Fix-it: 1, Notice: 1, Occultism: 2, Science: 0, Sports: 1.

Maneuver	Bonus	Damage	Notes
Disarm	10	none	Resisted by Parry
Dodge (Getting Medieval)	12		Defense Action.
Grapple	13	None	Impairment varies
Axe	12	40	Slashing, can use 2 hands
Stake	12	16	Slashing
(Through the Heart)	9		X4 for humans, x5 for vamps
Punch	11	16	Bashing. Slashing for natural weapon.

Character Sheet by UniForge Version: 1.1. Last Modified 2006-08-17 14:33:01

Background on the Guardian Demon

My brethren and I were born for battle, serving demon lords and mortal sorcerers alike for centuries. Countless times, I have died and been reborn in a life of endless battle. My first master was a Blood Wizard of ancient Lemuria who sent me against the Atlantean host. Later, I served a demonologist in the burning land of Al-Khem, and still later, a magi of Rome .

And in this age of light and steel and toxic smoke, I was summoned to serve a sorcerer of vicious cunning and boundless cruelty. Great would have been the battles I fought, the kingdoms I brought to the ground.

Alas, it was not to be. A group of children led by a Slayer disrupted the ritual by slaying my master-to-be in the middle of the summoning. I arrived in the mortal world and was bound to the nearest magician, a mere slip of a girl who had been cowering behind a desk while the battle raged.

But I must serve her with all of my being. Thus is my destiny, until I am slain and returned again to the dreaming blood. So now I prey upon demons and vampires as I have in the past, but I am seldom allowed to eat them, and my mistress never wishes her share of my kills.

Mine is a vexing lot, but I will bear it, for that is my way.

Quote: “Face me, Vampire, and I will rend you limb from limb, and feast on your entrails before I allow you the relief of death… um… if that’s okay, mistress.”

Roleplaying the Guardian Demon

You are a warrior born, consummate in skill, and in cruelty. You have served bloodthirsty warlords, carnifex priests, and soul-destroying warlocks… and now an astigmatic vegetarian wicca who gets faint at the sight of blood.

You’re not really “evil” per se, just bloodthirsty and violent. You’re pretty much as happy fighting vampires as you are slaughtering villages of innocent farmers. In fact, you prefer a good fight over an easy slaughter. You don’t understand a lot of this “protect the innocent” or “show mercy” stuff, but you’re bound to try.

Suggested Equipment

Big Axe, Overcoat, Broad-brimmed hat, Sunglasses.

Angel Archetypes 2: The Perfect Weapon

David Goodner — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 23:53:49 GMT

I found a typo, so I have reposted this. I hope it comes out in the right order. If not, I suppose you'll all live.

This is a tribute to one of my favorite DC characters. The conversion isn't quite perfect, but it does well enough.

The Perfect Weapon

Character type: Champion

Attributes

Strength: 5 (+1 from Demon Hunter, + 1 from Athlete)
Dexterity: 5 (+1 from Athlete)
Constitution: 5 (+1 from Demon Hunter)
Intelligence: 2
Perception: 5 (+1 from Demon Hunter)
Willpower: 4

Life Points: 65
Drama Points: 10

Qualities (20 + 10 from Drawbacks)

Drawbacks (10)

Skills (30)

Combat Moves

Maneuver	Bonus	Damage	Notes
Catch Weapon	8	None	Ranged Defense Action
Decapitation	8	Varies	Total damage x 5
Disarm (GM)	11	None	Resisted by Parry
Disarm (KF)	10	None	Resisted by Parry
Dodge	13	None	Defense Action
Grapple	15	None	Impairment Varries
Jump Kick	10	18 bash	Dex + Acrobatics roll adds SL to damage
Kick	12	12 bash
Parry	13	None	Defense Action; -2 against ranged attacks
Punch	13	10 bash
Stake	13	10 slash
Through the Heart	10	10 slash	x 5 damage for vampires; x 4 for other folks
Sword	13	20 slash
Takedown	13	5 bash	Knocks target down

Background on the Perfect Weapon

Someone else can say it better. Words are hard for me.

And she always wins at Roshambo.

Nonetheless, I hope we will be able to improve her quality of life, and god forgive me, we need her on our side.

Quote: "..."

Roleplaying the Perfect Weapon

So now you hunt monsters, knowing that at some point a showdown with your "father" is inevitable, and you try to figure out how to be a person instead of just a weapon.

Sample Equipment

Sword, Leather armor, Throwing Knives (bat-shaped shrunken optional)

Character Sheet by UniForge Version: 1.1. Last Modified 2006-08-07 17:25:32

Cinematic Unisystem Baddies 1: Zombie Pirates

David Goodner — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 23:27:53 GMT

Zombie Pirates!

As the Aztec civilization fell to European invaders, the Aztec blood gods took one final stroke of vengeance, cursing a stone chest full of sacred coins so that anyone who stole them would never die, but never live. All pleasure would be denied the thieves, and the moonlight would reveal them as the rotting husks they were.

Naturally, some pirates stole it anyway. Now they sail the seas, trying to find every last coin, because the curse cannot be lifted until each one is returned and paid for in blood.

Undead Curse Victim (57-point Quality)

Just in case some enterprising Cast Member decides turning into an immortal zombie would be a good idea, here's what you get for your Doubloon of Death. Keep in mind, though, that this is a *curse*. The Aztec blood gods have no sense of humor, and will not take kindly to you abusing their divine justice. And besides that, it's not very pleasant in the long run. Generally speaking, this Quality should be strictly theoretical.

The curse turns you into a walking dead man (or woman. The blood gods aren't sexist). You'll never die, no matter how much you suffer. You don't need to breathe, eat, or drink. Damage doesn't damage you as much as most people. Pieces can get cut off, but they keep working, and you can just put them back on. You won't heal from any lost parts you lost before the curse, though. Essentially, you're completely invulnerable to physical damage. Some forms of magic might be able to hurt you, though, so don't get cocky.

(Essentially, you're paying for Reduced Damage level 3 for everything (you take 1/10th of any damage received, with no multipliers) and Con/Turn regeneration, which doesn't quite cover full invulnerability, but it should do for most purposes. Like I said, normally Cast Members won't have this Quality for long enough to really need to pay for it.)

With all that, you'd think people would be lined up 'round the block for a chance to steal some cursed Aztec gold, but there are some pretty significant drawbacks to that course of action. You cannot feel any pleasure at all. Food tastes like ashes. The best wine tastes like lukewarm piss. (Unless you *like* ashes or lukewarm piss, in which case it probably tastes like something else. And you need help.) Your lust can never be satisfied. You can't really enjoy *anything*. No, not that either. Nothing. Nada. And if that weren't enough, whenever the moon shines on you, you're revealed as a rotting zombie, even if you just stole the gold a few minutes ago. As a rotting corpse, you're at -10 to Attractiveness. You don't actually get any bonus points for this.

Also, the Aztec blood gods have your number. If you should ever find some way to escape the negative side of the curse, you'll have them as an Adversary worth as many points as the Director decides is appropriate. Or they might just wait until you're about to get killed and lift the curse.

----

Undead Pirate Grunt

Here's your basic zombie pirate. He's a tough customer, but not unbeatable, except for the fact he's invulnerable, and pretty mean. You'll notice that he has Life Points, even though they're mostly pointless. You still need to know them to calculate decapitation and limb removal.

Undead Pirate Grunt

Motivation: "Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho! A pirate's life for me!"
Critter Type: Undead
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Constitution 3, Intelligence 2, Perception 2, Willpower 2
Ability Scores: Combat 14, Muscles 14, Smarts 10
Life Points: 38
Drama Points: 1
Special Abilities: Invulnerability (total)

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Score	Damage	Notes
Dodge	14	None	Avoid getting hit
Pistol Shot	14	12	Bullet damage
Punch	14	8	Bashing damage
Sword	14	16	Slash damage

----

Undead Pirate Lieutenant

Here's a pirate a little further up in the chain of command. He's got life points, too, along with a little Hard to Kill to make him nastier.

Undead Pirate Lieutenant

Motivation: "If anyone so much as thinks the word "Parley," I'll have his guts for garters."
Critter Type: Undead
Attributes: Strength 4: Dexterity 5, Constitution 4, Intelligence 3, Perception 2, Willpower 3
Ability Scores: Combat 16, Muscles 14, Smarts 11
Life Points:47
Drama Points: 2-4
Special Abilities: Invulnerability (total), Hard to Kill 3, Situational Awareness, Nerves of Steel.

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Score	Damage	Notes
Dodge	16	None	Avoid getting hit
Pistol Shot	16	12	Bullet damage
Punch	16	8	Bashing damage
Sword	16	16	Slash damage

----

Undead Pirate Captain

This guy has a really fancy hat, and could easily be a Big Bad, in which case he probably deserves a full character sheet. As is, he's pretty tough, with 5 levels of HTK and lots of combat related advantages. There's a reason he's the captain.

Undead Pirate Captain
Motivation: "For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died."
Critter Type: Undead
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 6, Constitution 4, Intelligence 5, Perception 4, Willpower 4
Ability Scores: Combat 18, Muscles 14, Smarts 15
Life Points: 57
Drama Points: 5+
Special Abilities: Fast Reaction Time, Hard to Kill 5, Invulnerability (total), Nerves of Steel, Situational Awareness.

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Score	Damage	Notes
Dodge	18	None	Avoid getting hit
Pistol Shot	18	12	Bullet damage
Punch	18	8	Bashing damage
Sword	18	16	Slash damage

Buffy/Angel Combat Worksheet

David Goodner — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 19:46:57 GMT

Hello everybody,

Some time ago, I decided it was time to learn to use Microsoft Excel, so I built a chart that calculates combat maneuvers for the Cinematic Unisystem, using all the ones included in Angel. It's not very pretty as Excel worksheets go, but it does the job.

Unfortunately, then I accidentally deleted it. But fortunately, before that I had uploaded it to a friend's website. So now I have it again, and I'm posting it here. That way, when I accidentally delete it again, it'll be easier to find.

EDIT: Oops, forgot to actually upload the file. Boy is my face red.

buffy angel cmt.xls (24.5 KB)

Angel Archetypes 1: the Reluctant Seer

David Goodner — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:59:10 GMT

The format is changing slightly since I am writing these with benefit of some nifty chargen software I didn't have several years ago when I wrote most of the Buffy Archetypes. The main thing is that Uniforge doesn't give me output that breaks down where all the stat and skill bonuses go, so you'll have to trust me.

These are, on the other hand, "made fresh" rather than recycling old material.

This one is one I'm playing in a PBP game right now.

The Reluctant Seer (Investigator)

Attributes:

Strength: 2 Dexterity: 2 Constitution: 2

Intelligence: 4 Perception: 3 Willpower: 4

Life Points: 26
Drama Points: 20

Qualities (10 + 10 from Drawbacks)

Contacts (Supernatural): 1 (1), Occult Investigator: 1 (4), Supernatural Senses - Basic: 1 (1), Supernatural Senses - The Sight: 1 (3), Occult Library: 1 (1), Supernatural Senses - Insight: 1 (5), Supernatural Senses - Fortune Telling: 1 (5)

Drawbacks (10)

Addiction (Smoking): 1 (-1), Adversary (TBA): 3 (-3), Emotional Problems - Fear of Commitment: 1 (-1), Honorable: 1 (-1), Impaired Senses (Vision, Corrected): 1 (-1), Mental Problems - Cruelty: 1 (-1), Resources Drawback: 1 (-2),

Skills (25)

Acrobatics: 0, Art: 0, Computers: 1, Crime: 2, Doctor: 1, Driving: 1, Getting Medieval: 2, Gun Fu: 1, Influence: 0, Knowledge: 5, Kung Fu: 1, Languages: 4, Mr. Fix-it: 0, Notice: 0, Occultism: 5, Science: 2, Sports: 0

Background on the Reluctant Seer

It all started with the Enigma of Astaroth. Not Astaroth the demon of Sloth, just some 14th century sorcerer who liked his name. Like there's fifty Balthazars, ya know. But anyway, I'm a folklorist. I studied various occult traditions and folkways for years without ever believing it. Vampire attacks were just urban myths, like the Highway Hook Murderer (who is also real, by the way). Wicked witches were just old religious propaganda.

That changed when the Enigma wound up on my desk, which was due to a screwup at the shipping company, but I didn't know that until later. The Enigma was a book with a strange lock on it. To open the lock, you had to work out the combination, which was a tricky math puzzle. I love math puzzles. So I worked it out. After that, things got a little weird. Then things got a lot weird.

I could see all kinds of stuff I didn't want to see, and I kept getting visions of the future. So I did what anyone would do. I tried to play the lotto a lot and ignore the rest of it. An encounter with a fire spirit in the Dean's office put an end to that (and resulted in some not entirely voluntary time in a psychiatric hospital)

Now I'm trying to learn all I can about real magick. A lot of what I know is true, but a lot isn't. And let me tell you, nothing's quite as embarrassing as throwing a bunch of poppy seeds at a vampire and having him laugh at you.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not some big bad hero here. I'm just trying to survive. That first fire spirit wasn't the only one. It seems like every month or so, something new and interesting tries to kill me.

Fortunately, I've hooked up with some folks who are into this whole "fight the good fight" thing. They're not the sharpest tools in the shed, but they have swords and guns and stuff that come in really handy when all the dead bodies in the cemetary arise and try to kill you.

Quote: "I predict that if you don't surrender now, there will be blood, pain, and ultimately death. I just wish to hell I knew if it was going to happen to you or me."

Roleplaying the Reluctant Seer

You're a smart guy, but not at all a brave one. And you're geeky enough to realize that it's a terrible cliché that you've taken up smoking, wearing a battered overcoat, and not shaving regularly.

You'd like nothing more than to somehow remove your powers and forget any of this ever happened. Except...

Except, you like knowing what's going on. Except, you know what it's like to be the normal person suddenly dumped into the deep end of the supernatural swimming pool, and you don't really want to see it happen to anyone else. Except, you're pretty sure someone is trying to kill you, and he'll keep trying until you figure out who it is and make him stop. Except, deep down, you really are a hero. Maybe it's arrogance, but you know that you need to be doing what you're doing.

Sample Equipment

Laptop computer, The Enigma of Astaroth (a spellbook), Notepad. No gun. He doesn't really like guns.

Buffy Archetypes 6: the Teen Wolf

David Goodner — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:35:03 GMT

Here's one more Buffy Archetype. I think I'll try some Angel ones next.

The Teen Wolf (Hero)

Life Points 57/81 (as Werewolf)
Drama Points 10

Attributes (20)

Strength 4/8 (as Werewolf)
Dexterity 4/6 (as Werewolf)
Constitution 4/6 (as Werewolf)
Intelligence 3
Perception 4
Willpower 3

Qualities (20 +5 from Drawbacks)

Acute Senses [Smell] (from Werewolf Quality), Attractiveness (1), Fast Reaction Time (2), Hard to Kill 5 (5), Jock (3), Natural Toughness (2), Werewolf [full control] (12)

Drawbacks (10)

Adversary [Vampires, Demons, and the occasional Werewolf Hunter] (3), Clown (1), Love (2), Secret [Werewolf] (2), Teenager (2)

Skills (20 + 5 from Drawbacks)

Acrobatics 3
Art 3
Computers 0
Crime 1
Doctor 1
Driving 2
Getting Medieval 1
Gun Fu 0
Influence 2

Knowledge 0
Kung Fu 3
Languages 0
Mr. Fix-it 1
Notice 3
Occultism 1
Science 0
Sports 4
Wildcard 0

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuvers	Bonus	Base Dam.	Notes
Claw	10	16	Slash/stab; wolf
Bite			Slash/stab; wolf
Dodge			Defense Action
Kick			Bash
Punch			Bash
Slam-Tackle			Bash; no parry; possible target prone
Stake			Slash/stab
(Through the Heart)			x5 vs. vamps

Background on the Teen Wolf

They say puberty brings on many changes. I'm here to tell you, they don't say the half of it. One day you're joking around with your friends, playing on the B-Ball team, getting into a little inoffensive trouble. The next day you're running down a dark alley trying to get away from a werewolf hunter who wants to stuff and mount you.

The first time the change hit me I almost ate my best bud. We were fighting over a girl. He hit me. He didn't mean anything by it, ya know, but it cheesed me off royally. I snarled at him, and I mean really snarled. Then I felt funny, and Ed was giving me this look. I looked down at my hands, and my nails had grown a little - like an inch.

I ran all the way home, and it only got worse. By the time I was home I was covered in fur, with inch long fangs.

I ran up to my room, trying to avoid my mom. I was totally freaked, so I ended up knocking over a lamp, and a chair, and a table.

Mom found me in my room, and she wasn't surprised at all, just kind of sad. She told me about my dad, who had died when I was like six, and about the gypsy curse and the way it had gradually changed so we could control it. She said she hadn't mentioned any of this before now because she hoped it wouldn't hit me. Sometimes it skips a generation.

Ed was cool, but he was freaked, and he started talking. Pretty soon I was getting funny looks from other people. About a month later I had my first run in with a professional werewolf hunter. Fortunately, he was expecting a mindless monster, not somebody who would slash the tires on his Harley.

We moved after that, though. Of course it seems that we've moved to Weirdness Central. A couple of months ago, I saw an honest-to-god Vampire attacking this girl. I didn't even think about it, I just wolfed out and tore the bloodsucker to shreds. Then this other girl with a wooden stake tackled me and tried to rip my head off before the first girl told her to stop. Then this English guy said something about it not being the full moon, and the girl stopped hitting me, which was really good.

Now I'm helping these people out. On the sly, like. I don't want the whole school to know I'm a furry freak, and I'd kind of rather my mom not know I'm out fighting vampires.

Quote: "So help me if you offer me one more dog-biscuit I'll bite your arm off, and I may not wait to change shape first."

Roleplaying the Teen Wolf

You want to be just a normal kid, play on the team, maybe form a band (You're pretty good at that guitar thing), party, you know. On the other hand, you can't just stand by and watch other people get hurt while you can do something about it. With great furryness comes great responsibliliy, right?

You're not about to make a spandex costume, and you sure as heck don't want anyone outside the Scooby Gang to know about you, but when it's time to throw down with the forces of darkness, you're a lean, mean werewolf machine.

Oh, and that girl you saved from the vampire that time is a hottie.

Sample Equipment

"Vintage" car, Letter Jacket, Tire Iron.

Buffy Archetypes 5: the Hierophant

David Goodner — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 01:17:57 GMT

The Hierophant (Hero)

Life Points 45
Drama Points 10

Attributes (20)

Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Constitution 3
Intelligence 5
Perception 5
Willpower 8 (3 from Hierophant Quality)

Qualities (20+10 from Drawbacks)

Artist (2), Attractiveness +2 (2), Contacts: spirits 2 (from Hierophant Quality), Enchanter 1(1), Hard to Kill 5 (5), Hierophant (16), Occult Library 2 (2), Resistance: Mystical 4 (4), Spirit Medium (2), The Sight (3), Sorcery 2 (10)

Drawbacks (10)

Adversary: Forces of Darkness 5 (From Hierophant Quality), Clown 1, Emotional Problems (Fears Commitment) 1, Honorable, 1 Love (tragic) 4, Misfit 2, Recurring Nightmares 1, Obligation (Powers That Be) 3 (From Hierophant Quality)

Skills (20)

Acrobatics
Art 4
Computers
Crime 1
Doctor
Driving
Getting Medieval 1
Gun Fu
Influence 2

Knowledge 2
Kung Fu 2
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-it
Notice 2
Occultism 4
Science
Sports 2
Wildcard

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuvers	Bonus	Base Dam.	Notes
Aiming (crossbow)	6		Success added to Crossbow shot
Crossbow Shot	4	16 Slash/Stab
Dodge	4		Defense Action
Kick	3	6 Bash
Club	4	8 Bash
Punch	4	4 Bash
Stake	4	4 Slash/Stab
-Through the Heart	1		x5 to Vampires

Background on the Hierophant

There are things on heaven and earth undreamt of in your philosophy.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt (and the scars).

See, about a year ago, my father died. I never knew I even had a father in any sense other than the theoretical. Mom left Dad when I was like three years old. She'd never talk about him. There was a picture, old and faded and kind of burned around one edge.

So I dealt with not having a dad, and with having a mom who was always a little flaky. We always had a horseshoe over the door, and mom was kind of weird about spilling salt, but she was totally not into any New Age stuff. She caught me and some friends playing with a Ouiji board once, and went totally ballistic.

I found out why not long ago.

I woke up in a cold sweat after a nightmare. I don't remember much of the details, but there were flames and... bad stuff. And then there was this man in my room in an old, battered coat, and leaning on a twisted wooden stick polished to a black sheen. He looked tired, and a little sad, and exactly like the guy in the picture.

He said, "I'm sorry that I was never there for you." Then he faded away.

The stick stayed. I got out of bed and picked it up, and right then I got my first parapsychic migraine. Years of occult knowledge rushed into me, kind of a crash-course in weird. My Dad had done something to store up all his knowledge and power in the stick, and to transport it to me. Mom's horseshoes made sense all of a sudden.

The weird only got weirder after that. I started seeing things. Mostly ugly things. Ghosts, monsters under the bed, that kind of thing. But some of them weren't so bad. I learned to leave a cup of milk out for the house fairy, and I never lost another sock in the dryer. There are spirits all over the place. Most of them are too busy upholding the fundamental nature of reality to bother talking to people, but a few of them are nice folks. A bunch of them knew my dad. It seems that he was some kind of hereditary gatekeeper between the living lands and the Other Side, and when he died, I got his job.

And here, I wanted to be an airplane pilot, or a firefighter.

One of the spirits told me how my father had died. She led me to the site of his final battle, and to his library. There was a lot of damage, but even so there was more stuff than I could carry out. Even if I could have, I don't think mom would have taken well to me moving the Encyclopedia Britannica set she bought out of the way so I could put in a bunch of tomes of dark and forbidden lore. So I've got it all hidden in some trunks at the back of my closet.

Since that day, I've been trying to do Dad's job. I'm not very good yet, but I've found some people to help. It turns out that I'm not the only one saddled with a hereditary destiny that shortens the life-expectancy.

Quote: "I see Dead People. All the time. They're even more annoying than living people, and not really any smarter."

Roleplaying the Hierophant

You never wanted this. Well, actually, you fantasized about havin super powers all the time, but you kind of thought you'd be the only one who had them. Ghosts, goblins, ghouls (which are really nasty) and things that go bump in the night weren't part of the equation.

Still, you're going to give it your best shot. You want to get good at this magical guardian thing. One of these days, the thing your Dad died to banish will come back, and you're going to kick its ass.

He may have never so much as sent you a birthday card, but he was still your Dad, and no elder demon from the third pit of Hell is going to kill him without answering to you, right?

Suggested Equipment

Magic Staff (Making it actually do anything would require scraping up points for the Enchanted Item Quality, so mostly it just looks cool and has sentimental value. But it does have a knob on the end), Occult paraphernalia, Bomber Jacket, skate board.

*The Magician's Obligation works a little differently than the official version. His power comes from the spirit world, and if he doesn't toe the line, the spirits will withdraw his power. If he uses it in ways they don't approve of, he can find his Sorcery cut down to level 1, for instance. They also cut off the Psychic Friends Network (Contacts Quality) until he makes it up to them. Jerks.

Buffy Archetypes 4: the Gamer Geek

David Goodner — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 00:08:23 GMT

Gamer Geek (White Hat)

Life Points 37
Drama Points 20

Attributes (15 + 2 from Nerd quality)

Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Constitution 2
Intelligence 4
Perception 2
Willpower 5

Qualities (10)

Hard to Kill 5 (5), Nerd (3), Photographic Memory (2)

Drawbacks (8)

Clown (1), Emotional Problems [fears rejection] (1), Impaired Vision (1), Mental Problems [delusion: thinks life should be like RPGs] (1), Misfit (2), Teenager (2)

Skills (15)

Acrobatics
Art 2
Computers 2
Crime
Doctor
Driving
Getting Medieval 2
Gun Fu 1
Influence

Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 1
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-it 3
Notice 1
Occultism 3
Science 4
Sports 0
Wildcard (urban spelunking) 2

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuvers	Bonus	Base Dam.	Notes
Crossbow Shot	4	16 slash	Ranged attack
Dodge	4	none	Get out of the way
Pistol Shot (paintball)	3	varies	Ranged attack
Punch	3	4 Bash
Stake	4	4 slash
(Through the heart)	1	4 slash	x5 vs vampires
Sword (ratan/boffer)	4	varies

Background on the Gamer

This was all a big mistake. Huge. Monstrous (or even Shift X). I heard, ok overheard, ok eavesdropped on... some kids at school. They were talking about going out on patrol to hunt down some vampires and a demon prince. I thought they were talking about a LARP. They mentioned an address, and I decided to show up.

I always go all out on costumes and stuff for a LARP. I mean, if you're not going to do costumes, why not just stay in the basement where there's a sofa and potato chips? It turned out to be a pretty good thing I did. I think my chainmail coif saved my life when this goth chick (who turned out to be a vampire) tried to rip out my throat.

The kids showed up then, and a couple of them beat up the vampires. I managed to make myself a little useful - the Slayer broke one of my ratan swords over one vampire's head, and used the pieces to stab another one.

I've been with the Scoobies ever since. I know all kinds of cool stuff about the occult and magic, and I'm learning more all the time. I can also help out with other stuff. I took martial arts for two years, and I learned to swordfight in the SCA.

Quote: "Wow. Critical hit... It means you hurt him really bad. Can I have my bastard sword back now?"

Roleplaying the Gamer

You don't know near as much as you think you do, and you tend to get things from gaming manuals mixed up with things from tomes of occult netherlore, but on the other hand you remember EVERYTHING. You're also reasonably intelligent and can fill in for just about any other geek type in a pinch.

You can't fight very well, which you may figure out before you get killed. However, you have a huge arsenel of archaic weapons, and quite a few of them are sharper and more functional than your parents know.

Buffy Archetypes 3: the Byzantine Errant

David Goodner — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 00:12:15 GMT

Byzantine Errant (Hero)

Life Points 61
Drama Points 10

Attributes (20)

Strength 5 (1 from Demon Hunter Quality)
Dexterity 5 (1 from Demon Hunter Quality)
Constitution 4
Intelligence 2
Perception 3
Willpower 4 (1 from Demon Hunter Quality)

Qualities (20 +4 from Drawbacks)

Demon Hunter (4), Enchanted Item 1: Blessed Sword (2), Fast Reaction Time (2), Good Luck 3 (3), Hard to Kill 5 (5), Iron Mind (3), Nerves of Steel (3), Situational Awareness (2)

Drawbacks (10)

Adversaries [Demons and Vampires] (4, 1 from Demon Hunter Quality), Honorable (2), Humorless (1), Mental Problems: Mild Delusion, all supernatural beings are evil (from Demon Hunter Quality), Misfit (2), Reckless (2)

Skills (20 +6 from Drawbacks)

Acrobatics 4
Art 0
Computers 0
Crime 2
Doctor 1
Driving 1
Getting Medieval 6
(1 from Demon Hunter Quality)
Gun Fu 0
Influence 1

Knowledge 0
Kung Fu 6
(1 from Demon Hunter Quality)
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-it 0
Notice 2
Occultism 5
Science 0
Sports 0
Wildcard 0

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuvers	Bonus	Base Dam.	Notes
Aming	9	--	Add Success Levels to shooting roll
Axe	11	25 (s)
Crossbow Shot	11	16 (s)	See p. 119
Decapitation	6	varies	x5 damage
Dodge	11	--	Avoid getting hit, duh!
Punch	11	10 (b)
Stake	11	10 (s)
(Through the heart)	8	varies	See p. 112
Sword	11	20 (s)

Background on the Byzantine Errant

My order is fallen, destroyed by the Beast. But we had fallen before that. I knew it the day I watched my brothers pursue the Slayer as she and her friends fought and bled to protect the life of an innocent. We were meant to be protectors and heroes, but we had become thugs and murderers.

In the aftermath, I fled. I found someone to tend my wounds. My body recovered.

My spirit has not. My purpose is spent, and all that I believed is dead or in ruins. I am left with one thing I know to be true. There are monsters who prey upon innocence, and it is my place to destroy them.

Once we were legion. A thousand could die to bring down an enemy. Now I am alone, and I must guard what allies I have carefully. When I die, no other will come after me.

I only hope that I have found atonement when that day comes.

Quote: "By the light, I abjure thee. By the Holy Three, I abjure thee. By the unspoken name... aw, screw it. Just die, Ugly."

Roleplaying the Byzantine Errant

You were once part of something greater. Then you learned that it was not so great after all. Now you fight demons, trying to make up for some of the harm you did. You're probably a little suicidal, thinking subconsciously that if you die in glorious battle you won't have to keep dealing with your crisis of faith.

You're a pretty handy guy to have around. The Order of Byzantium taught you how to fight, and how harden your mind against the corruption of the hellspawn. It was insufficient to protect your brothers from Glorificus, but it serves to give you an edge that the average demon doesn't expect. And you have a magic sword.

Sample Equipment

Blessed Sword, Chainmail Armor, Crucifix.

Buffy Archetypes 2: the Dropout

David Goodner — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 01:05:20 GMT

The Dropout (White Hat)

Life Points 45
Drama Points 20

Attributes (15)

Strength 3
Dexterity 2
Constitution 2
Intelligence 3
Perception 2
Willpower 3

Qualities (10)

Attractiveness (2), Contacts (2), Hard to Kill (5), Nerves of Steel (3)

Drawbacks (10)

Adversaries (demons & vampires, particularly Jenny -3), Emotional Problems (fears commitment -1), Resources (below average -2), Tragic Love (-4)

Skills (15 +10 from Drawbacks)

Acrobatics
Art
Computers
Crime 5
Doctor 1
Driving 3
Getting Medieval 2
Gun Fu
Influence 1

Knowledge 1
Kung Fu 2
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-it 5
Notice 1
Occultism 2
Science
Sports 1
Wildcard

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuver	Bonus	Damage	Notes
Aiming	4	None	Adds SL to shooting rolls
Crossbow Shot	4	16 slashing	Ranged modifiers apply
Through the Heart	1	16 slashing	x5 vs Vamps.
Dodge	4	None	Defensive action
Stake	4	12 slashing
Through the Heart	1	12 slashing	x5 vs Vamps.
Wrench	4	12	Can use 2 hands

Background on the Dropout

You know that story about the two kids: the prom queen and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks who fall in love. That was me. That was us. Then she died. Then she came back.

I took it kind of hard. I mean, first she was going to leave for college. Someone in my family went to college once. Uncle Elmo is a Janitor at UCSD. Then we had this big, stupid fight and she stormed off and got killed by some bastard in an alley – only she didn’t die. The night of her funeral I woke up with her pounding on my door in the rain. I let her in and she was all over me. Then she bit me.

I couldn’t fight her off. She was hella strong. But with my free hand I found the half bottle of Jack I had left and smashed it over her head. That bought me a little space, and I stuck the candle I was burning for her in her face. The whiskey caught fire and she ran.

The next thing I did was find new digs. I remember she never asked to come in before. Hell, she had a key. I got a place near the junkyard. I turn some bucks as a mechanic and handyman, and the junk yard’s got some good stuff. Old man Jenknins’ dog likes me better than him. Course, old Jenkins doesn’t feed the dog hamburgers.

After that, I built some stuff. I fixed up an old jeep with some totally non-standard options, and I made some weapons. It’s supposed to be a stake through the heart and fire and cutting off the heads. I got it covered. Then I went looking for some closure.

I found some other people with the same ideas. They help me out. Well, really I help them out. They can do stuff I never dreamed of. We’ve dusted some vamps, and some other stuff. I still haven’t got Jen yet, but every once in a while she lets me know she’s still out there.

Quote: "Trust me, it'll work. Remember all those episodes of Scoobie-Doo? It'll be like that, except instead of a net, it will drop a bunch of sharp stakes, and instead of taking the monster's mask off, we're setting it on fire."

Roleplaying the Dropout

You don't have much book learnin' but you're not as dumb as you let people think. You're not up to fighting a vampire in hand-to-hand combat, but you're still a handy guy to have around. You can build just about anything you have a mind to, and years of having to be... creative... about acquiring parts have also made you really good at getting into places you're not wanted.

But still, you're out of your element, and close to your wits' end. You play the part of the disinterested stoner gearhead to cover for the fact that you're really freaked out that your Ex is still hunting you, and that you're not sure you could really stake her if you had the chance.

Suggested Equipment

Toolkit, lockpicks, big wrench (use mace damage), various improvised weapons. Truck with toolbox in the back and a crucifix hanging over the rearview mirror.

Cinematic Unisystem Spells

David Goodner — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 02:02:29 GMT

I enjoy writing spells with the Buffy magic system. You can do just about anything you can imagine. Here are some I've written for my games, or just for the fun of writing them.

Barrier of Koranos
Quick Cast: No (at least not exactly)
Power Level: 5
Requirements: Specially prepared parchment, ink made from a variety of expensive substances, and an alchemically prepared soot made from burning certain woods and herbs mixed with other chemicals.

Effect: Casting the Barrier of Koranos is a slow process. Each roughly two-hour ritual results in the creation of one card covered in black soot and sparkling golden ink. The cards are anchors for a protective spell. Whenever they are placed in a perfect geometric shape with an odd number of sides, up to thirteen, from three to thirty paces apart, they immediately create a mystical shield.

The shield has can take 80 points of damage, and has an armor value of 10 +2 per card beyond the third. So A five-point barrier would have an armor rating of 14.

The Barrier cards are consumed by arcane energies in the casting of the spell.

Call the Dragon's Breath
Quick Cast: No
Power Level: 6
Requirements: A ritual taking an entire day (12 hours), during which time the caster sacrifices something of great personal value. The sacrifice can be a possession, a person, a supernatural power, or even an ideal. It is up to the Director to determine if the sacrifice was sufficient. If not, the spell is still cast, but cannot succede. If the caster gets enough success levels, the spell is miscast. (see below for why this is a VERY bad thing)

Effect: This powerful, but ancient spell is used rarely, even by those few who know it. The Dragon is a powerful and terrible force, and exacts a high price.

The Dragon's Breath fills the caster, granting several benifits. Foremost among these is a Power Boost of +10. Further, the Power Level of all spells the caster wishes to cast is reduced by half (round up), for purposes of success. The effect lasts for as many hours as the caster's boosted Sorcery level, or until he exhausts his Sorcery with multiple castings. Additional Power Boosts will work as normal, further extending the duration of the Dragon's Breath.

Casting this spell is very dangerous. If the casting fails, the caster takes life point damage equal to his own Willpower x 3, and is knocked unconscious until the damage is healed. Regeneration does not speed the recovery of this damage, but various forms of magical healing might.

Succeding can be even more dangerous. If the roll succedes, but the power level is not met, the caster dies, rapidly aging and decaying to nothing over the course of a day as the Dragon absorbs all his life force. There is no way to reverse this process.

If the caster is successful, at the end of the Dragon's Breath, he still suffers a Side Effect as though he had miscast the most powerful spell he used during the duration (using the full power level, not the half one). Most frequently, the result is a coma of varying length, but the Dragon is capricious. If the caster has not completely expended the Dragon's Breath, every bonus point of Sorcery he has left is added to the roll.

note:Sweet Jesus, this is a powerful spell as written. I thought the power level would be higher. It could be lower, if I decide the sacrifice is more of a rare ingredient. I made it just -1, because while you probably don't want to sacrifice something you love, it's readily available.

Oracle's Benediction (type)

Quick Cast: No
Power Level: 4
Requirements: An Oracle (Someone with psychic powers who knows this spell) The supplicant must make an offering to the gods, burning something of value in front of the Oracle. At the GM's option, an
insufficient offering can cause the spell to fail or even backfire. The Oracle then meditates and chants a ritual for a several minutes before pronouncing the Benediction, which is a cryptic phrase vaguely related to the purpose. Hearing the phrase is what transfers the favor of the gods. If the supplicant can't hear the Benediction, the spell automatically fails. (Writing on a slate or sign-language counts, so long as the supplicant witnesses the actual act of writing or signing in
person. No email or teleconferences. The gods are big on personal contact.)

Effect: There are several seperate Benedictions, each counting as a seperate spell. (Of course, once you know one, you can probably develop the others through research.) Their effects are similar, but each with a different focus. The basic effect is that the supplicant is granted supernatural insight and divine favor, making his efforts more successful than they'd otherwise be. In down-and-dirty game terms, the supplicant gets temporary levels of Good Luck that can only be spent in circumstances befiting the particular Benediction, and are spent automatically whenever the Benediction would come into play. (The player gets to choose how many points, however, so long as he spends enough to get at least one SL on the relevant test or just barely win an opposed test)

The Oracle's Benediction provides Good Luck equal to twice the Success Levels generated. These points are never recovered after they're spent.

Benediction of Protection: Provides help to keep the supplicant alive. He can add Luck points to his defense tests until they run out. These points are almost always automatically spent, but they're spent after damage is generated. They kick in retroactively to protect the supplicant from any wound that would cause half or more of his current Life Points in damage. Besides dodge tests, the Benediction will protect the supplicant from other forms of potentially fatal harm. The GM can choose how many luck points are required to avoid something you don't normally get a roll to avoid.

Benediction of Success: Provides the supplicant with aid in a specific task, which must be stated at the time of casting. Tasks must be fairly specific, or else the divine favor gets absorbed fairly quickly. Suitable tasks would be "to find the golden fleece," or "to conquor Thrace." "To win the lottery" works, too, but there's only so much the gods can do. You'd pick the best random numbers you could, but your chances of actually winning would still be pretty low. "To create the best possible [something or other]" would also be good. You'd end up burning all your Luck on an Art or Mr. Fix-It test, but you'd be able to excede your usual skill limits if the GM is imposing those. Divine inspiration is like that.

Benediction of Aphroditie's Favor: Provides help in the wooing of a specific individual. You get Good Luck points to spend on Influence tasks with that person. With the GM's permission, you might also be able to spend them like Drama Points for "Plot Twists" like guessing the person's favorite song or picking a resturant they really like. I'd suggest a sliding scale. The first coincidence costs 1 point, then one additional point per coincidence. (What, you expect the gods to do EVERYTHING?)

A Benediction lasts for a number of weeks equal to the SL generated. After that, it fades and any further points spent are lost.

A given supplicant can only be under the effects of one Benediction at a time, and must wait a full lunar month between Benedictions. Breaking this restriction invites the scorn of the gods, which comes in the form of all benedictions active upon the supplicant inflicting Bad Luck points instead of Good Luck. Sucks to be you if that happens, so don't get greedy.

Quintra's Adept Recal
Quick Cast: Yes
Power Level: 1

This spell requires the tools of a true adept, for instance a master thief's lockpicks, or a master swordsman's favored blade. High skill is not enough. The tools must have been used for some time by a truly legendary master. The tools in question must be in working condition, and the adept in question must be dead.

By focusing his will, and chanting a prayer to Thoth, the Sorcerer (Sorcery 3 minimum) may call upon the skills of the former adept. Thereafter, until the spell fades (after several hours), anyone who uses the bespelled tools in their intended way gains a skill bonus equal to the number of extra success levels the Sorcerer rolled.

A given tool (or set of tools in the case of something like lockpicks) may only ever be enchanted in this way once. At the end of the spell's duration, the affected item(s) rapidly sucumb to decay, collapsing into dust in a matter of seconds. No force on earth can prevent this destruction.

Substitutary Locomotion
Quick Cast: Yes
Power Level: 3
Requirements: A half-hour ritual in which the caster sits within a circle inscribed with the Star of Astaroth, surrounded by candles while meditating and chanting. For Sorcerers, a little concentration and the words "Treguna Mekoides Tracorum Satis Dee"

Effect: This spell summons up ephemeral spirits that will inhabit clothing and animate it. The spell is somewhat unpredictable. The animated clothing, which can be anything from normal clothes to suits of armor, will behave according to its nature, in general accordance with the will of the caster. Animated army uniforms would move with military precision. Animated clown suits would act like clowns. About ten such sets of clothes can be animated. Available clothing will always group itself by theme, and create complete "outfits" if possible. So, for instance, if you had a set of football pads, shoes, helmet, pants, and jersey, you'd get one phantom footbal player, not five.

They will not harm the caster, and will generally be as helpful as whatever they're animating could be. They have Physical stats equal to the caster's mental stats and skills equal to his Sorcery - but cannot perform complex actions like computer programming or surgery.

They "live" for the duration of the spell (one minute per success level) or until they are destroyed (see "Breaking Stuff"). The duration can be extended an extra minute per SL with a Will roll at -1 for every extention.

Therion's Threshold Seal
Quick Cast: Yes
Power Level:5
Requirements: A chalky dust made from the ashes of a funeral pyre (or a crematorium fire) and various healing herbs - used to trace a magical diagram on the recipient's forehead or torso. The diagram is traced while the caster recites a chant to ward away the spirits of death.

Effect: The recipient of Therion's Threshold Seal must be a living, flesh & blood being who is in need of making Survival Tests and/or has 0 or fewer Life Points. When the spell is cast, the recipient is bestowed with ten levels of Hard to Kill, including the 30 Life Points.

The benifits only last as long as the recipient is relatively still. If he engages in any sort of strenuous activity (pretty much anything requiring the rolling of dice), the Threshold Seal fades at the rate of one point of Hard to Kill (along with its 3 Life Points) per minute. Fortunately, the spell leaves the recipient listless and tired. He has to make a Willpower doubled roll to get up and move around at all, and has to make another one every time he stops and wants to start again.

The Seal lasts for one hour per success level, unless it is broken beforehand.

Buffy Archetypes 1: the Cyberpagan

David Goodner — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 02:45:41 GMT

I've written a bunch of archetypes for Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. Sadly, I doubt I'll ever get to use most of them, but they were fun to write. Here's the first one, submitted for your approval...

Cyberpagan (White Hat)

Life Points 45
Drama Points 20

Attributes (15)

Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Constitution 3
Intelligence 5
Perception 2
Willpower 3

Qualities (10 +6 from Drawbacks)

Attractiveness 1, Contacts (hacker friends) 2, Nerd, Hard to Kill 5, Resources +3, Occult Library 2

Drawbacks (10)

Dependent (daughter), Humorless, Obsession (hunting monsters), Physical Disibility (paraplegic), Recurring Nightmares

Skills (15 +4 from Drawbacks)

Acrobatics
Art
Computers 5
Crime
Doctor 1
Driving
Getting Medieval
Gun Fu 2
Influence 1

Knowledge 3
Kung Fu
Languages 2
Mr. Fix-it
Notice 1
Occultism 2
Science 2
Sports
Wildcard

Combat Maneuvers

Maneuvers	Bonus	Base Dam.	Notes
Dodge	2		Avoid getting hit
Gunshot	4	by weapon	Ranged modifiers.

Background on the Cyberpagan Researcher

My husband used to say I never got out enough. We were total opposites. He was a big, gregarious business major who got into computer sales after he blew out his knee in college football. I was a mousy little programmer who thought the only way to play football was with a control pad.

We were really happy. We had a nice house, nice car, a daughter.

Then this carnival came to town. Charles loved carnivals. Kimmy loved carnivals, of course she was only ten. She liked everything, especially if it took tokens. With a lot more complaints than I was serious about, I allowed myself to be dragged along.

Something wicked, indeed. The carnival was run by some kind of monsters.

(They're K'thrak demons. They're blind, and hunt with a sense of smell better than a wolf's, and with echolocation. I learned that later)

They tried to grab us in the funhouse. Charles, God bless him, tried to hold them off. I think he killed one, but that only made the others worse. Kimmy and I ran, but the maze was so confusing. I don't know how we found the way out. It wasn't the real exit, it was an access hatch. There wasn't room for both of us to get through at once, so I pushed Kimmy out first. Then I felt pain. So much pain. One of the demons had hit me on the back with an axe. It hurt so much that I couldn't move. Somehow, Kimmy pulled me out.

There were people outside, the kind I usually would have called the cops on. Two of them carried me to safety and used my cell phone to call 911. The rest descended on the funhouse. From where I was laying, I saw the fire start, but I never found out what happened.

The way it read in the papers, the carnival was old and broken down, and a fire broke out. Several people were killed in the burning funhouse. In my medical reports, a piece of falling wreckage struck my spine and broke two vertibrae.

Kimmy couldn't remember any of it. The entire night from the time we entered the funhouse onward is a blank spot.

But I remembered. No one would believe me, though. So I found people, online. I started really reading websites and chat rooms I'd dismissed before, and I learned some things. I learned that what had happened to my family happened all over the world every day. I learned that there were a few people who knew enough to fight against the monsters.

I'm learning to help them. I don't have the power to throw a lightning bolt, yet, but I do have the power to run a global search of law enforcement databases, correlating the details of crimes all over the world. I have the power to consult with experts on five continents. I'll find an Australian demon hunter one of these days to complete the set. I have the power to hack the city mainframe so I can get streaming feed from all the traffic cameras.

There are some people right here in town who are striking back against the monsters. I'm not much good with a stake or an axe, but sometimes what you need is a Pentium IV with intrusion software instead.

Quote: "Tobin's Spirit Guide? Yeah, I know there are only three copies in existence, but fortunately, someone scanned one of them. I burned it to CD last week."

Roleplaying the Cyberpagan

You're smart, capable, and more than a little bitter. You tend to try to overcompensate for your disability, and have a problem about asking for help when you might need it.

Gaining more power and killing more demons is just about all you care about now, except for your daughter. You love her more than your own life. The rest of the Scoobie Gang is starting to grow on you. One of these days, you may end up sending them up against more than they can handle. Then you'll have to re-evaluate your life. Hopefully, you'll realize that before anyone else ends up in a chair for life. Or in a box forever.

Suggested Equipment

Electric Wheelchair, Taser, Laptop with Cellular Modem, Palmtop with Wireless Web and Cell Phone link, Pistol, collection of occult lore on CD-ROM.

Unisystem Qualities

David Goodner — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 18:56:59 GMT

Anyone who has read my posts on RPG.net will know I'm a raving Eden Studios fanboy. As such, I've collected a bunch of Unisystem Qualities for games I've played, run, or thought about running.

And now I'll share them with you.

NEW: There are some of these Qualities that work dramatically better with Classic or Cinematic Unisystem. I have now marked them with the system I believe most appropriate. That doesn't mean they won't work with the other version, just that it might not be quite a perfect fit.

Artificial Cambion: (14-point Quality) (Cinematic)

Created by some nefarious agency, the Artificial Cambion started life as a human fetus exposed to demonic energies in an artificial (or maybe normal) womb. As she developed, her genetic and spiritual structure adapted to the invasive presence, gaining demonic strength, limited demon powers, and a resistance to further demonic manipulations.

First the good:

+3 to Str, Dex, Con
5 levels of Hard to Kill (and can buy up to five more)
Basic Supernatural Senses
Nightvision
Regeneration at Con/hr
Resist Demonic Powers 3

Then the bad:

Antisocial Tendencies -1 (She has a bit of demonic rage inside her that she'll never fully escape
Adversary (Nefarious Agency) -2 (Wolfram & Hart is a popular choice)
Adversary (All demons) -3 (Something about her just sets demons' teeth on edge)

Elemental: (4-point per level Quality) (Cinematic)

Somehow, the Elemental got a shard of a Primal Element stuck in her soul, which has lead to all sorts of interesting complications her life. She's not technically completely human anymore, so various magics that detect "demons" detect her, and now she has all these strange occult senses herself. She senses the magical nature of other things, which resonates with her own. Then there's the spirits. And the magic. Actually, the spirits and the magic are pretty cool.

Sorcerers spend weeks reading dusty spell books and muck around with candles and circles and all kinds of stuff to do what she does with a snap of her fingers. (Or a wiggle of her nose. Or whatever.) She can "feel" her element, which means if she's a Fire Elemental, she can tell when stuff's on fire. An Earth Elemental can tell if the soil is fertile, and predict earthquakes. A Water Elemental can find water, tell if it's fresh, and so on. An Air Elemental knows which way the wind blows, and more importantly, whether it's blowing poison gas.

But wait, there's more. She can also control her Element. A Fire Elemental can call down columns of flame, or put out fires. A Water Elemental can walk on water or part the seas. An Earth Elemental can move mountains. (Little ones, mostly, but mountains all the same). An Air Elemental can create gale-force winds and throw lightning bolts. The way this all works is whenever the Elemental wants to use her power, she defines the effect she wants to create and works it out as if it were a spell. Then she rolls Willpower + Elemental level. Sorcery helps up to a maximum of +5. If the Elemental rolls more successes than the Power Level of the effect, it works. If not, it's miscast just as a spell would be, which is liable to be inconvenient.

Then there's the spirits. An Elemental is attuned to the spirits of her Element, Undines, Sylphs, Salamanders, and Gnomes. They'll come when she calls, and maybe even do what she says. To summon an Elemental Spirit, just work out the power level of a summoning spell, as above. Spirits are generally not hostile to their summoners, but they won't necessarily be all that helpful either. The Elemental must either negotiate with her spirit, or command it with her Willpower + Elemental Level vs. the spirit's Willpower. She can also do the same thing to Elemental Spirits other people have summoned, or that have slipped into this reality in other ways. Just like Elemental Effects, each use of this power imposes a progressive -2 penalty until the Elemental has had a chance to rest.

Notes: this is basically an Elemental Invocation coupled with a Spirit Mastery invocation, per the conversion rules in The Magic Box.

Flight (3-, 5-, or 7-point per level Quality) (Cinematic)

Creatures with the Flight Quality can fly. Unfettered by Gravity (mostly), they are free to move through the air to the great envy of the insects down below. (At high speed levels, the insects above can be a problem, mind you. I suggest keeping your mouth closed and wearing goggles)

For 3-points per level, the flyer can only glide or hover a short distance above the ground (say, 10 feet or so). Gliders lose one yard/meter of altitude for every turn in the air, though they may sacrifice forward motion for altitude. 3 yards/meters of momentum buys one yard/meter of altitude, if there are updrafts available. (Easy in a mass of skyscrapers, hard over the great salt plain). Gliders are assumed to have wings. Without, this QUality costs 4 points per level, and looks rather strange.

Hovering characters move just like flyers, but have a flight ceiling of about 1 story off the ground.

For 5-points per level, the flyer flys with wings, which can be Targeted with combat maneuvers.

For 7-points per level, the flyer flies with no visible (or targetable) support.

The maximum level of the Flight Quality is 30 for unsupported flight, 15 for other versions. Wings can be made "retractable" for a 1-point kicker. You can't fly without your wings, but it's easier to buy shirts.

Notes: I'm pretty sure there's another version of this Quaity floating around. If it ever turns up in an official Cinematic Unisystem product, I'll probably replace my version with the official version.

Gift of the Gab (3-point Quality) (Cinematic, mostly)

Some people hava a knack for picking up languages. Given a day with a native speaker and a chance to study up, they can achieve surprising levels of fluency. People with this Quality get two advantages. First, after a day or so to study, they are able to make themselves understood in any language, making rolls with their full Intelligence if any dice-rolling is necessary. Second, languages are easier for them. When buying more points of the Language skill, Their level is considered to be two levels lower than it is, with a minimum of 2.

Notes: This one was inspired by the Jack of All Trades Quality from One of the Living. I actually use Cinematic Linguistics in place of multiple languages in my Classic games. to make this work with Classic skills, I'd change the skill discount to say that level 1 only costs 3 XP.

Glamour (4-point per level Quality) (Cinematic)

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." Oh yeah. One with the power of Glamour shapes the world to her will. She can bend minds, warp shadows, and bring dreams to life. But none of it is real.

This power works like highly focused Sorcery, except that the Glamour-caster doesn't need to research spells. Glamours can affect people's emotions and make them see and hear things that aren't there. They can even be used to inflict illusory damage, for instance by creating a glamour of a fireball. However, Glamours don't ever do any real harm. Someone "Killed" by a glamour-crafted troll would wake up in a few hours, skull completely not crushed by a hammer. He'd be likely to be nervous in hardware stores from now on, though. That isn't to say that glamours aren't dangerous. A glamour of a bridge over a chasm might look like it would hold a car, but it really won't.

To use Glamour, the caster defines the effect she wants as if it were a Ritualism spell and determines its Power Level. She then rolls Willpower + Glamour, + up to 5 more for Sorcery. If she gets enough success levels, the Glamour works as desired. If not, it is miscast, generally with humorous results. Each use of Glamour incurs a progressive -2 penalty until the glamour-crafter has the chance to rest, just as Sorcery does.

Notes: Essentially, this is Lesser and Greater Illusion packaged together, as per the rules in The Magic Box.

Hellrider (30-point Quality)

Not all demons are bad. Well, okay, mostly all demons /are/ bad, but some are bad in good ways. The Hellrider is such a one. Maybe.

The Hellrider is a demon of justice. He might be called a 'vengeance demon' except the name is already taken. Perhaps he and his kin were once the true vengeance demons, and D'Hoffryn's brood supplanted them. But he's not bitter.

Somewhat like a vampire, the Hellrider cannot manifest physically on earth without a host. But rather than killing the host, the Hellrider spirit lives alongside him. By day, the host can mostly do whatever he wants, but when darkness falls, the Hellrider emerges to punish the guilty, summoning a mount out of pure hellfire and riding out to destroy the guilty without mercy.

In the darkness, or in just about any dimension to which demons are native, the Hellrider is a being of terrible burning power. He has:

+1 Str and Con. +3 Dex and Will.
Nerves of Steel and Fast Reaction Time
Five levels of Hard to Kill, and he can buy up to five more, if he somehow has the points. (Cause geez, this is an expensive Quality)
Reduced Damage. Being nothing but a skeleton wreathed in hellfire, he takes half damage from everything. (See his Vulnerability, though. There are exceptions, so don't get cocky.)
Whatever damage he does take, he regenerates at Con/minute.
Supernatural Senses: Basic and Insight.
He has a Natural Weapon, doing Strx4 slashing damage. It manifests whenever he wants it, as hellfire wrapped around his fists, vicious bone claws, or whatever (maybe a big chain). He can also "throw" it. Depending on the special effects the player chose, this could be throwing shards of bone, or blasts of fire or something (like perhaps flipping out his chain and making links turn into throwing stars...).
The Hellrider has a mount, like a Nightmare Steed or maybe a motorcycle. In either case, it has the following stats:

            * Str 10, Dex 6, Con 8, Int 2, Per 3, Will 3
            * Combat 17, Muscles 26, Brains 10
            * Flight (by running on air, up walls, or whatever, not really "up, up, and away" stuff), Armor 10, HTK 5, and Unique Kill (Death of the Hellrider - otherwise, it can be "killed" but returns whenever the Hellrider next changes back from human form). It also goes about as fast as a motorcycle or sports car.

The Hellrider's gaze can strike fear into the hearts of evildoers (which is "everybody above the age of two"). They are at -3 to resist.

There are fairly significant drawbacks to being a Hellrider, not the least of which is that your immortal soul is damned. (But you don't get any points for that)

-5 levels of Attractiveness.
a 5-point Adversary (Various supernatural beings AND various champions of Good, since, let's face it, you're a demon)
Zelot: the Hellrider never thinks about anything but vengeance. It takes significant effort to convince him to do anything else, or to hold off on the immediate vengeance, even when waiting would be a good idea.
Whatever force unleashes the Hellrider on the world also afflicts him with psychic visions, the -3-point Drawback version.
As mentioned, the Hellrider's powers only work at night. By day, the Hellrider's host loses all the cool stuff except for the Hard to Kill, Con/Hr regeneration, Basic supernatural senses and the Psychic Visions.

Hierophant (16-point Quality)

(AKA Druid, AKA Priest, AKA that guy who talks to empty rooms)

Some people are good with people. Other people are good with animals. Other people are born with the ability to mix up really good fruit smoothies. The Hierophant has a natural affinity for the spirit world. Through ancient pacts, mingling of blood, or whatever, the Hierophant is a conduit between this world and the one beyond. Powerful spirits serving The Powers That Be seek him out, whisper secrets to him in the night, and grant him power.

All this power comes at a price, though. To the spirit world, the Hierophant is a window into reality, and his actions are vitally important to them. If the Hierophant refuses to follow the dictates of the Powers, they can withdraw their power, leaving him weakened and vulnerable.

Naturally, the bad spirits and evil magicians of the world aren't likely to ignore an opportunity like that.

The Hierophant gets:

+3 to Willpower, and can raise his Willpower beyond 6
2 free levels of the Sorcery Quality, and, of course, he can buy more.
The Spirit Medium Quality and the Sight Quality
4 levels of Resistance (Mystical)
2 levels of Contacts (Spirits). The spirits don't usually just come up and tell him stuff (though some certainly will) but will answer traditional divinations like Ouiji boards, tarot cards, and fortune cookies.

On the down side, he also has:

Adversary (Forces of Darkness) at 5. Most of his enemies are powerful spirits on the Other Side or evil necromancers and sorcerers. They, in turn, have hordes of minions and whatnot.
Obligation (The Powers That Be) at 3 points. This Obligation is a little different than a normal social one. The Powers aren't going to go around giving the Hierophant orders or anything, but if he lets them down they're going to stop funneling power through him. In this case, his Sorcery (even if he's bought additional levels) drops to 0 until he makes amends. He might be able to still Quick Cast spells and participate in spells that require a Witch or Warlock, but he gets no bonuses. The Director should feel free to use this to keep an uppity Hierophant in line.

The Hierophant was originally designed to be a male, kind of a Yin to the Slayer's Yang, but I'm using it as a more general "Sorcerer Supreme" kind of thing in Sanctuary. Besides, after Willow futzed with the Slayer Quality, I don't want the possibility of hundreds of these guys running around.

Notes: The Hierophant is one of an example of Qualities I like to call "Slayer Replacement Qualities." A Hierophant is a good candidate as a focus for a series. One neat aspect of that is that the Hierophant isn't going to be as good in a fight as a Slayer, so he'd have to rely more on his friends in the crunch.

Maulthite Demon (15-point Quality)

The Maulthites are a race of spiritual beings who can be incarnated on earth through certain spells. Their home dimension is a Hell Dimension of constant battle, torture, and death. They are effectively immortal, but when "killed" are banished back to their home dimensions. No spell known to man can summon a specific Maulthite demon, so if the one you're playing dies, you're pretty much in "Better have 10 Drama Points Handy Land" if you want him back.

They appear as large humanoids with scaily skin and bone ridges on their hands and faces. Their eyes are gold and snakelike. However, they can assume an almost perfectly human shape with a little concentration. Only a pale visage and their inhuman eyes betray their true origins - and in the right nightclub, not even those.

Maulthite Demons get:

+3 Strength and Con, +2 Dex, +1 Perception.
Fast Reaction Time and Situational Awareness.
3 levels of Hard to Kill
They're Immortal. In practical terms, not so much, but it does give you the excuse to buy lots of the Age Quality.
5 points of Natural Armor
Strength x 2 Slashing claws, bone ridges, and fangs.
Regeneration at Con per hour.

But since it can't all be cake:

Maulthite Demons have Antisocial Tendencies: Violence at the Mild level.
Obligation: Serve Master. The only way a Maulthite Demon can be summoned to earth is through a Guardian Demon Spell, and a Maulthite only remains as long as he faithfully serves his master and no other.
Vulnerability: magic - all magical attacks (lightning bolts, fireballs, etc) do x5 damage after armor.
As spirits clad in magical flesh, Maulthites are bound by the same sort of things that effect other spirits, such as wards and necromantic magic.

Notes: See the Guardian Demon Archetype. That's why I wrote this Quality.

Natural Born Killer (3-point Mental Quality) (Classic)

Some people have a talent for art. Others for languages. And some people are very good at violence. A character with this Quality is such a person. When dealing with an unfamiliar weapon, he either rolls his Dex without an unskilled penalty, or rolls his closest default with the penalty reduced by 1. For instance, a Kendo master who needs to fight using a mace might normally use Hand Weapon (Sword) at -2 or so. If he's a Natural Born Killer, he only suffers a -1 penalty, instead. This Quality applies to Hand Weapons and Guns. If the character somehow got through life without Dodge or Brawling, it could apply to those as well. It does not apply to Martial Arts.

Notes: To use this Quality with Cinematic rules, I'd reduce the cost to a 1-point Quality, if I bothered with it at all. This one was inspired by the Jack of All Trades Quality from One of the Living.

Sidhe (15-point Quality subject to slight editing)

The fey are beautiful and terrible, wielders of Glamour, the very stuff of dream. They are rare in these times, which makes the world a drabber, safer place.

An average Sidhe, if such a thing can be said to exist, has:

+1 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +1 Constitution, +1 Intelligence, +2 Perception, +2 Willpower.
3 levels of Hard to Kill, and may buy up to five more
Basic Supernatural Senses, and may buy more with GM permission.
+2 Attractivness, and may buy as much more as she can afford.
Regenerates from any wound not inflicted by iron at Constitution in Life Points per turn.
1 level of the Glamour Quality, and may buy more later.

Individual Fey have other powers, which may be purchased as Qualities. Some Fey are powerful Enchanters, but no Fey may have the Sorcery Quality ever. Such magic is not their province.

On the downside:
The least of the Sidhe is greater than any human. This fact is simple and elementary, so deeply ingrained into the nature of the Sidhe that they have the equivalent of Mental Problems: Cruel at one. They can also purchase more, if so inclined. In addition, every Fey must have a level of Covetous. This may be any form of the Covetous drawback, but Lechery seems to be popular. Really Covetous Fey may buy more.

Despite their winning personalites, the Sidhe take pride in their honesty. In point of fact, all Sidhe are unable to speak any untrue word, break an oath, or violate the rules of hospitality. This acts as the Honorable drawback at -2-points.

Finally, iron is the great bane of the Fey. Pure iron weapons inflict x5 damage after armor, and this damage heals as if it were fire damage. Even being around iron is uncomfortable. A Sidhe surrounded by iron might take a -1 penalty for mental actions. One bound by iron cannot work Glamour.

Notes: the Glamour quality can be replaced by Hypnosis pretty easily, which shifts the price of the Quality just a bit. I'd suggest level 2. A Sidhe makes an okay Slayer replacement, but seems more appropriate to an Angel game to me.