We got an experienced role play gamer to tell us what he thought of the Buffy Role Play game.
Once Dungeons and Dragons dominated the lives of those with lots of dice but few social skills. Those days may be gone, but Role Playing Games (RPGs) live on.
Adapting a TV show into a RPG can be a cash-in, but Buffy gets the treatment it deserves, thanks largely to the team at Eden Studios who strike a perfect balance between rules that work and keeping the feel of the original.
The rule book is packed (though first-edition purchasers should consult the errata on the Buffy role play game website), and includes weapons from stakes to assault rifles, armour, damage, spells, character generation and more.
Navigation is a little awkward – at first, even the simplest fight can involve lots of flipping pages – but when role-playing is done well, you shouldn’t need rules. It’s frequently said that in a perfect game, dice should never be rolled, that things should instead be closer to acting or 'let's pretend' within a different world.
The creators are aware of this, and concentrate on how a game should be framed and presented – there’s even a chapter focusing on how to represent Episodes, Seasons and Finales. If you’re lucky enough to have a good Game Director then the Buffy sequel - once Sarah Michelle Gellar retires - will start in homes across the country this winter!
With its beautifully illustrated rulebook, liberal usage of quotes from the show, and the ability to play at being Buffy and/or the Scooby Gang, this RPG is about as close as anyone’s going to get to living in Sunnydale. Book the day off, get some friends over, and lose yourself.
