Donjon Buffy

[John Harper]

As I mentioned in the Serious Donjon thread, I'm going to be running Buffy using the Donjon system.

I made a character sheet for the game that you can grab here:
http://www.shootingiron.com/feng/btvs/btvs_donjon.zip

I used the very cool-looking Eden Buffy sheet graphics, and replaced the game info with Donjon-relevant stuff.

"Resistances" replace saving throws in Donjon Buffy, and they are sometimes different for different characters. "Special Qualities" include extras like Slayer or Occult Library. They are handled pretty much like regular Donjon abilities, but they are not actual character abilities, per se, and won't often be rolled at all.

(By the way, "Slayer" might be rolled if the inate "slayerness" of a character came into play. It's not rolled for staking vampires or feeling sorry for one's self... those would be abilities, as normal.)

"Drawbacks" give the GM dice to roll against the character in certain situations, though they can sometimes be used by the player in creative ways (Faith's "Cruel" drawback might be used as bonus dice to torture someone, for example).

"Magic Stuff" is where you write down the Names and Words for spellcasting characters, and any rituals they know. Buffy magic usually involves the invocation of magical beings or gods, so spellcasters know magic Names in addition to the magic Words system from Donjon. Most Buffy spells are one-time only. The exact same spell cannot be cast twice, unless the character learns the spell as a ritual (Willow's now-common "locator spell" is a ritual, as is Amy's ratification spell).

[John Harper]

Bailywolf had some Donjon Buffy questions in the other thread, so I'm gonna address them here:

Eden's Buffy (a true top-shelf production) diferentiates 'hero' class characters from 'zeppo' characters... will you be doing likewise.

Yes. My life is much easier because my players are using the characters from the TV show. I don't have to worry too much about coming up with a character creation system that works. I plan to keep the main distinction from the Eden game: White Hats have more Drama Dice, Slayers kick more ass.

How will Drama Dice work?  Perhaps by allowing players to "bank" dice from successful rolls rather than immediatly rolling them into another roll or into effect?  Hero's get more dice to build a character with, Zeppo and supporting cast types can bank more Drama dice to save their asses in emergencies... and to boost the checks of their more heroic counterparts

Yeah, something like that. I'm not sure about the banking part. I think characters will earn Drama Dice just like they earn Drama Points in the other system: with witty dialogue, good roleplaying, and stomping on baddies. It will certainly be permissable for characters to add their bonus success dice to the pool of an ally. White Hats might even be able to perform actions that add dice to an ally's pool even if the White Hat's action fails.

If Xander wants to grab a demon so Buffy can wail on it better, it's pretty unlikely that he'll get any successes in his grapple attempt. What he'll do is distract it for a moment, and Buffy will get a good shot in. So, Xander could have a hefty "Distract Monster" ability (and then roll successes over to Buffy's pool), or he could have a White Hat special quality that lets him add some dice to the Slayer's pool whenever he does something pathetic and brave (whether he succeeds or not).

I can see things like Occult Library being very useful, and working like Town in Donjon.  You make Research checks (and then roll the dice over into combat), but the level of the Library determins the max you can get out of it.

I like that. Consider it stolen.

How about some more details on how you are implementing buffy magic?  How do Names work in play?

Um... I don't know. Willow is an NPC right now so I can do whatever the hell I want. I'm not gonna wrestle with the magic system any time soon.

[Bailywolf]

Any update on this game?  If you've run it, do you have any Actual Play to report?

-Ben

[John Harper]

Unfortunately, no Actual Play. I went charging off with this idea of Donjon Buffy without really thinking about what my players wanted, or what was best for our game. Before I had a chance to try it out, I came to the realization that my players are not interested in anything as heavily Gamist as Donjon.

What they want is Narrativist, so that's what I'm trying to deliver now. I'm using a tweaked Everway system, and the game is going very, very well. The game has already shifted from "fight the monster of the week" to a soap-opera storyline that is much more like the TV show, and more like what the players want. Everyone is having a blast.

If I have time, I'll write up the system I'm using now, and the process I went through getting there (probably in RPG Theory).

[Bailywolf]

Ah sigh....   Donjon Buffy seemed like a revelation on so many levels to me (- so Xander is getting is ass  kicked in combat not becasue he is a useless zeppo but because he is using his victories to name useful facts the others can exploit...!).

If you ever get the chance to run with it, please let us know.  

-Ben

[Russell]

The thing that interests me the most about Donjon Buffy is the application of abilities like "Research Demon" or "Translate Made-up Languages."  Heck,  on the Angel front,  Lorne's readings and Cordelia's visions could be a tremendous amount of fun,  too.  Sadly,  although I'm about to start running Donjon with my regular gaming group,  the group currently in my Buffy game aren't the types to go for having more power over the flow of the game.  (No,  I didn't think those kinds of players existed,  either.)

[Wulf]

the group currently in my Buffy game aren't the types to go for having more power over the flow of the game.  (No,  I didn't think those kinds of players existed,  either.)

What I found was that my group were only interested in 'killing things and taking their stuff'. Now, that's NEVER been true in any other game, but the power of being able to choose what the 'stuff' actually WAS seemed too much for them. So they made up encounters, treasure, doors, etc., but never plot-related stuff. Maybe a more solid backdrop (like a Buffy style setting) would help move the focus away from short-term gain.

Wulf

[Russell]

I've tried to provide a fairly detailed setting for my Donjon game,  and I've been giving the players plenty of derivative references ("this part is just like Nausicaa" and so on) to try and keep us on the same page.  We're going for an epic heroism sort of campaign,  like some of the D&D campaigns we remember fondly.