Xander Harris

Yah, I'd like to check out CyberPunk 2020 someday, but I think I had better get Dnd 3.5 first. My current campaign has some cyberpunk elements in it (how can anyone's home-brew world avoid them in this post-Matrix age ;) ) but I have yet to do any pure cyberpunk. On the issue of GURPS characters dying too easily: well, they do if they don't buy armor or health, Farto (hint, hint). With armor and a few decent Health checks, GURPS characters can take quite a bit of punishment. And the more lethal combat system encourages players to think twice before whipping out their weapons and charging ahead. Also, high level D20 characters are just as hardy as LOTR characters, maybe more so, since D20 characters don't suffer penalties as they take wounds. I'm surprised more girls don't roleplay. There is a huge amount of females who read fantasy fiction, and a sizable amount that write it. Plenty of girls like acting. And if you show me a women who doesn't enjoy social interaction, I'll show you a funtioning computer without a CPU. So why don't more women roleplay? Mainly, I think, because so many groups are already made of tons of men, and because of some of the social stigma put onto the hobby by fundamentalist baptist preachers. But I think that there is nothing about the medium itself that turns off ladies, in fact, as I said earlier, I think there are many reasons why girls would [I]like[/I] roleplaying. Men just need to be more open to the possibility, and let the girls actually play the game instead of spending the whole time hitting on them or demeaning them. I agree with Godelsensei that RPG is not confusing at all once you see it done. People get intimidated by the rulebooks, or think you are talking to your friends in code, but once you see roleplaying being done (and better yet, participate yourself) then it makes perfect sense. That's all I have to say about that for now.

How many of you here play, or have played, in an old-school pen and paper Roleplaying game. Where a bunch of people sit around a table with a Gamemaster running things? If you have, what game? What is/was the campaign/adventure/dungeon crawl like? What are your best and worst RPG memories? What do you like and dislike about Pen and Paper RPGs? I myself got into RPGs with the old West End Games Star Wars game. I GM'd that for several years before switching to the d20 version. I played Dragonraid for awhile in there at our church. Last year I began a very successful Lord Of The Rings campaign, which was the first long-running campaign of mine to have a satisfactory ending. Everyone really loved that campaign... I am currently running a game set in a universe of my own creation, about a bunch of bounty hunters fighting demons and vampires in the far future. Think Cowboy Bebop meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My best memory would have to be when our Lord Of The Rings Campaign ended. We watched ROTK and played the final session in the same day. Worst would have to be the time only one person showed up... I love RPGs because it gives me a great creative outlet, and provides far more unpredictabilty and versatility than any video game or TV show.

Rylon was glad. With this kind of fortune, he could see to it that every last Dark Jedi was eradicated. But maybe he would let the good ones stick around. He had come to respect Tarpals, and possibly even like him. Rylon just couldn't envision himself shooting the good-hearted gungan.

Rylon grabbed his exploding blaster, then tossed it up in the air. "Tarpals! Use the Force to guide it into the dragon's mouth!" Tarpals began doing his "dragon killing dance", and the blaster flew up into the beast's mouth gullet. The dragon stumbled for a second, and made strange choking sounds. Rylon grinned, then pressed the detonation stud on his gauntlet. The dragon's neck became a ball of fire, and it's head fell down to the ground with a mighty thud. Rylon ripped one of it's eyes out, and kept it for a trophy. He gave the other eye to Tarpals.

Note: Cyriel, when you were watching the vampires you saw John arrive and talk with them. Act 3: Another school day begins, and the daywalking vampire makes another killing. This time he takes his victim's toes. Time is running out for the White Hats, as John almost has everything he needs for his master's spell...

[IMG]http://myimages.fourvalve.com/oakenot/mana.JPG[/IMG] A little old lady wearing a tall witch's hat makes her way down the red carpet, chuckling quietly to herself. A small bag with rose decals is tied to the end of her staff, filled with her personal items and a copy of Reader's Digest. (she never remembers what the articles were about after she reads them, but it just doesn't seem right to go to the restroom without reading material.) Her parcel was getting to be too heavy for her old, creaky joints. Oh, well, Mana could fix that with a simple Spell Of Weightlessness. She turned to face her bag, then raised her hands and traced the mystic symbols in the air while dancing the magic dance. The crowd grows strangely silent as they watch the venerable witch at her work. The parcel shudders, then trembles, then quakes. It rises slowly into the air by fits and starts, until at last it is..... a purple chicken!?! [I]Oh, dear. How will I survive without my things?[/I] As she stands watching the chicken prance about in front of her, Mana hears a familiar voice: "Hey! Manie! Over heeeear!" "Eh? You talk?" Mana asks the chicken. "No, over here, you old joker you!" Mana realizes the voice is coming from the crowd. She shields her eyes from the sun and gazes in the direction of the voice. "Eloise! How have you been!" Mana shouts. About five or ten (they change every time Mana counts them) senior citizens stand gathered at the edge of the crowd, holding up hand-sewn blankets that read "Mana is swell!" "Awwww, isn't that nice!" Mana is filled with happiness as she walks over to her friends, "All you youngsters turning out to see me off on my little old sea cruise!" Joseph, an old WWII vet in a wheelchair, grasps Mana's hand in a firm handshake. "Do us proud." Mana has her very own fanclub! With that thought in mind, she cackles cheerfully and heads off to the ship. The purple chicken follows close behind.

OOC: I want a cookie too!!! Rylon tossed his screamer grenade at the nearest Dark Jedi. The jedi reeled backwards in pain, and Rylon dispatched him with his plasma rifle. The streets of the Korriban compound grew quiet except for the crackling sounds of burning blaster wounds and the dying moans of the rancor. Rylon pointed toward the prison complex. "Let's go, people."

Act 2: Investigation. Scene 7: In an musty cave on the edge of town, just by Finler's Woods, the Briaxton vampire clan has taken up residence. Briaxton, an ugly old vampire with shrivled white hair, storms back and forth in the center of the cave, ranting at the vampire sitting on a stone slab before him. "Why is it taking so long? All you need is 12 components! That's all!" "Sir," the vamp on the slab replies, "you have to understand that this is difficult. There are two slayers to avoid at that school. And the fact that your spell requires each of the victims to be slain in broad daylight doesn't exactly make stealth a simple thing!" "Silence!!! How dare you take that tone with me!" Briaxton took a big swig of blood from his hip flask, "I sired you. I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!" "What an origional line," scoffed the seated vampire. Briaxton howled in rage and smacked his underling upside the head, provoking muted giggles from his 'siblings', who were watching the proceedings with great interest. Briaxton muted them with a stern glance. "You had better start producing for me, or else!" "Or else what, you'll replace me? I'm sure you have daywalkers just lining up for the job. What's this spell going to be for, anyway? What the hell is written in that book, anyway?" The vampire gestured at a hardbound, padlocked volume on Briaxton's bed. "Why can't the rest of us have a peek at it, huh?" The cave went deathly silent. The vampires' sire spun away and stormed toward his desk. He lifted up the book, walked back to the stone slab, and struck the vampire he had been berating with it. "The master plan is in the hands of your master, and there it will stay!!! What I say goes, or you go, into a swirling, filthy, pile of DUST!!! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!" "yes sir." The vampire muttered under his breath. He had already read his sire's precious book, while Briaxton slept off a hangover from feeding off a drunk. He knew what it said, about him, about Otaku Lake, and about his true destiny.... Who is the day-walking vampire? And what does he or she need with those organs? Scenes 8, 9, and 10 (possibly 11) Alright. We will be running the next scenes simultaneously. When you post, use the "title" feature to tell which scene you are picking for your character. When these scenes finish, we'll move on the the climactic third scene! Scene 7: Whoever investigates Jaycee will be in this scene. Scene 8: Whoever investigates John will be in this scene. Scene 9: Whoever goes on a normal patrol will be in this scene. Scene 11 (this may end up being more than one scene, depending on what people do in their posts): Anything else your characters need to do tonight? Have fun :)

OOC: Good point. Whoever the vamp is has apparently found a way to walk in daylight. Either that, or the killer isn't a vampire, but when the corpses were inspected, they showed definate signs of being killed by vampires. 99% certainty. The plot thickens...

The clanging of the bell brings another grueling PE class to a halt. The weary participants stumble to the showers. After school, the scoobies meet to discuss what their next course of action should be. ROBERT shows up with his own theory as to the identity of the killer, and a certain oriental girl might overhear what is being discussed.... Scene 6: After School. (not sure how long this scene will need to be... but we need a good transition between school and the next patrol)

A boy with greasy black hair, by the name of John Schelling is a dodge-ball machine. He dodges every ball with ease, and hits his target more often than not. He catches a ball thrown by Raven, and Phillip comes back into the game. The poor german is hit again a moment later, this time in the face. Blood spurts out his nose and he walks toward the sidelines. The game stops for a moment, much to Robert's dismay. John gets some paper towels cleans up the blood on the floor. When he is sure all eyes are on him, he dips his finger in the red liquid, then touches it to his tounge. "Mmmm. Tastes like LOSER!!!" He basks in the thunderous, though a bit grossed-out, laughter of his peers. John Schelling- Jerk and attention hog, yes, but is he also a blood-sucking fiend?

A tall and scrawny boy called Jaycee Verbeerg stands in the midst of the other students, trying to look invisible. "Hey, string-bean! Catch this!" Taylor Brakari, a wide, muscular, and popular boy who was held back in tenth grade for two years in a row chucked the ball at Jaycee. His eyes open wide, the langly lad steps to the side and the ball smacks one of Jaycee's team's best players in the head. "Get your sorry rear out of there, boy! If you can't dodge the ball, how can you expect to dodge a...a... just get out of there." Robert sat down on the bleachers, opened a can of gatorade, and took his pill. Jaycee's teammates began to berate him. Why didn't he take the hit for the team? As if anyone in the class would ever do anything for him.... most of the time they just laughed at his awkwardness. Jaycee stood there, looking ashamed, then suddenly he seized a ball off the ground, threw it, and nailed Taylor. The broad shouldered man (he's too old to call a boy) was knocked over backwards! Jaycee nimbly avoided the return-fire from the other team, but then turned and stormed out of the gym, muttering something about how they would all pay... Did Jaycee just become a better athlete from the adrenaline of the moment, or had he perhaps recently had a change of species? Vampire suspect number one: Jaycee Verbeeg.

On that dramatic note, let's cut to scene 5, where our heroes brave the dangers of high school.... and PE class! Our heroes only have one class that they are all in together, and that class is PE. ALL, except for Vaillanus, who is no longer in school, are in this scene. I will also introduce several suspects for the mysterious killings (in addition to Helie of course), in this scene. Take it away, Anonymous_Source! They are in your world now :devil:

Cool character. Your guy might make a better guest character than a regular, so I could probably fit him in at some point. I'll PM you when you are needed. Thanks for posting! :)

I don't recall giving Farto any extra points to spend... Rei, please change your character before anyone has a heart attack over it ;) Scene 3: Theme Song :D (go to the first page and turn up your sound) Scene 4: ALL at the CAFE. After a hard night of vampire slaying, this is where the local vamp hunters go to relax. (This is similar to The Bronze scenes in the Buffy show) CARY is there working, which is why he couldn't help on this night's patrol. HELIE is there. Being a vampire, she tends to stay up late. Both of you can introduce your characters in this scene. Other than that, this is an opportunity to talk in character and further character sub-plots. The band that is playing at the Café is called ?The Committee? When the conversation seems to be dying down, I?ll post the fourth scene. Possible discussion starters: Raven. Your characters can discuss her, talk to her, and consider the ramifications of there being two slayers in the same town. The Otaku-High killings. Someone, or something, has been ritually killing students in the local high school (two puncture marks in the neck were found on all the victims. They also had various organs removed) and putting the corpses in people?s lockers. Apparently, there is a day-walking vampire at school? Word has it that a new Vampire clan, all sired by a vamp called Briaxton, has moved into town lately. Romances? Rivalries? Life issues? Talk about them all over a cup of coffee. As always, the more witty Buffy-Speak the better... I'll be back when people run out of stuff to say, or if any NPC's need to be run...

OOC: Four vampires left...

OOC: Nice work on the intro. posts, people. Buffy_boy, yeah, you control yourself and the vamps in your post. You can control other people's characters in some minor ways if need be. Of course, it's a lot easier to show than tell, so allow me to introduce... Robert Redshirt (you'll get the joke if you are a classic Star Trek fan): Martial Arts: 1 Technology: 3 Guts: 2 Health: 2 Robert looked around the graveyard furtively. He had really wanted to come on tonights patrol, and despite Kara's attempts to keep him away, he came anyway. He had found out about how Z and Rannos fought demons in their spare time and thought it would be fun. But now he was feeling scared. The cemetary was spooky at night! He saw Vaillanus, a creepy looking vampire arrive. Fenris greeted him briefly, and went back to his silent contemplation. Z and Rannos were chatting quietly, but Rob didn't feel like discussing the Viking's latest loss right now. He wanted to go home, but he didn't want to look like a coward. Black shapes leaped out from behind the gravestones. Robert almost wet his pants. The creatures had long, menacing fangs, and their skin was the most pale shade of white he had ever seen. One of the charged ahead of the pack, eager to take on the Slayer. Kara, kicked his legs out from under him and stabbed him through the heart. Within a matter of seconds, the somber graveyard was transformed into a chaotic battle-field. Robert spun around and ran. He smacked right into the chest of a fat vampire. "Well, well. What have we here? A little tender morsel for the rear guard to enjoy!" The vamp plunged his fangs toward Robert's neck. Robert held up the stake Fenris had given him with a trembling hand, and closed his eyes. The stake was knocked from his hand. He felt the fangs burrow into his neck and pain shot through his skull. There was a swooshing sound, and when he opened his eyes he saw that the chubby vamp had been reduced to ashes by Kara. Another vampire attacked her from the rear, and she engaged him. The others seemed to be holding their own, but that was just about all. Robert Redshirt died from blood loss. OOC: That's how you do it. Take it away, folks! Don't take forever with this battle, though. This is just the pre- theme song fight. Only eight vamps left to dust... have fun! ;)

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][SIZE=4]Slayers[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial Narrow][SIZE=3]A Buffy-verse RPG[/SIZE][/FONT] Season 1 [SIZE=3]Episode 1: The Beginning.[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]Act 1: Introductions[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]Scene 1: [/SIZE] 20,000 B.C. Swords, spears and arrows lie broken among the bodies that fill the crater. The corpses stretch as far as the eye can see, past the crater and onto the plains, and blood covers everything. It has turned the dozens of sulfur ponds that pockmark the battle field a crimson red. Humans and demons alike lie broken on the dirt, their time on this world ended forever. Following the trail of shattered armies, past thousands upon thousands of rotting and burning bodies, we come to see that the battle is still not over. Hideous beings tower over a small band of warriors and mages. Several of the creatures are composed of swirling masses darkness and fire. One is like unto a giant serpent, and another a giant wolf. One has a billion eyes, all searching for the next morsel to shove into it's massive gullet. They are all the very embodiment of evil. They are The Old Ones,. The Pure Demons. The Princes Of The Air. For a millennia they have ruled over this world, and now the days of their rule are coming to an end. The small band of humans press their attack. The mages, short and wrinkled men carrying heavy sacks of herbs, salamander stomachs, and other exotic substances, empty the contents of their parcels, chanting wildly, sweat flying from their faces. The warriors press forward, slicing a dozen eyes off of one demon, and wounding the snake so badly that a torrent of green, acidic blood falls down upon them, killing two soldiers where they stand. Behind the Old Ones is a portal filled with images the human mind cannot truly comprehend. A portal back to Hell. As the last of the Ancient Rulers is driven off the face of the earth, he grabs one of the warriors, a tall black haired fellow with intense brown eyes, and drinks of his blood. He casts the corpse down. In his other claw he clutches the warrior's shield. It glows blue, and shudders with power. The demon spits the warrior's blood onto the shield. Words in a tongue forbidden to be spoken by mortals trace themselves onto its surface. The Demon throws the shield down beside the warrior, and leaves the human plane. Night falls. Weary beyond comprehension, the triumphant humans begin walking away, hoping to find a settlement to take them in before they collapse. The bodies decay. Worms begin to devour them, and the swirling sands cover them. The moon reaches it's highest point and all is deathly silent. The sands stir. A warrior rises. He sniffs the air, and follows after the humans. He is one of the first vampires to walk this earth. And he is hungry. The shield lies behind him, still glowing softly. Scene 2: VAILLANUS, FENRIS (carrying stakes and crosses), ZYNTH, KARA THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (taking the lead), and RANNOS, are on patrol in the Otaku Lake Cemetery. They have just been ambushed by ten angry vampires. Little do they know that the newest slayer in town, RAVEN is also patrolling that night. By the end of this scene, they will meet her. (Rei, give yourself a cool intro toward the end of the fight.) Opening Scene Vampire Stats (10) Guts: 3 Strength: 7 Martial Arts: 4 Goals: Introduce many of the major characters, and start the series with a fight :cool: . Also establish a bit of the group chemistry. When the scene is finished, just hang tight and I?ll post the set-up for scene two. Those of you who are not in this scene, don?t feel slighted. It just didn?t seem realistic or in character for your guys to be along on this patrol. You will all show up by the end of the episode, though. Have fun! (Note: When you first post, include your 'character sheet' from the sign-up post so that it is easily accessible. Thx.)

Wow. That was totally worth the wait. Thanks for putting some effort into your background. Love the pic. :love: One question: Is Helie immune to sunlight, since she's going to school? The RPG is up now!!! Head on over and check it out...

Missle finger- good. We'll put that at level 5. You may cast it once per battle if you choose it as one of your three 'battle spells'. Magic muscle- will require preperation and spell components before casting. Also level 5. We'll figure that your character can start the game with one of these prepared. That's two of the three spell slots filled... Fireball: Components and preperation definately needed. Level 9. Lightning: The same. Burning touch: Ritual, componants, preperation etc. definately needed. Level 11. You need one more spell to fill out your three-spell minor combat spell arsenal.

Yeah, I PM'd him about that. If he doesn't fix it soon, I doubt that I will let him play in this game...

O.k. I'll probably have there be a watcher character, but I guess it will be an NPC. Anyone else want to play a watcher? I would much rather have him/her be a player character...

Yeah. They also tend to have good magic and research skills. They fight demons with knowledge and by guiding others. Think of Giles and Wesley.

Nice to have you on board, Shy! I think we have enough characters to get started now. Give me a little time to get the opening post ready. Heezay, I would appreciate it if you would post that watcher soon. Cyriel, likewise for you if you want to participate. Realize that because we have so many people playing in this, some people might end up with a little more or less 'screen-time' than others. Keep in mind that Angel did not become an official member of the cast until halfway through season 2. If anyone else really wants to play, and gives me a really good character, I might consider bringing him in later. Also, over time, current players are bound to drop out, and their characters with them. So we will eventually need some people to take over their slots. The cast of Angel changed many times over the course of the season, and I see no reason why this should be any different. Farto, the Battle Of Sunnydale was in the 2002-2003 year. This RPG will start at the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year, around the same time as the fifth season of Angel.

Yeah, we do still need a watcher. Go ahead and sign up to be one. :D If Rei doesn't post a background soon, you could maybe have the slayer slot. Daermon, thanks for posting your bio :) You've got a pretty cool character there :cool: