U is for Unisystem

U is for Unisystem, the game system that powers all of Eden Studios' games.

The system itself is rather simple.  Attribute + Skill +/- some Mod + 1d10 and compare that to a list of Success Levels.  Typically you want higher than a 9.  Simple right?  Well that is the point, Unisystem is designed to be simple and get out of the way.

Unisystem is divided into two basic types, Classic (which is used in WitchCraft, Armageddon, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Terra Primate and Conspiracy X) and Cinematic (which is used in Buffy, Angel, Army of Darkness and Ghosts of Albion).  Though all are 90% compatible system wise.

What I like most about it is that the system does get out of the way rather easily and allows you to focus on the story at hand.  Character creation is a snap and most people new to the game can get up and running in seconds.

One thing I think it has over d20 is that skills can be combined with any attribute and not just linked to certain ones.  Take "Art" for example.  To paint might be Dexterity + Art, to identify a particular painting might Perception + Art and to know something about that painting or painter might be Intelligence + Art.   All the other skills work the same way.

Skills, Qualities, and Drawbacks are bought much, in the same way, has GURPS and other point-buy systems.  But that is not what I think makes Unisystem so special.  It's the magic.

WitchCraft (which I'll get into later) has one of the best magic systems I have ever played.  I love how it works, how each "type" of magic is dealt with.  Conspiracy X uses a similar system but bent more towards the mythos of the game.   Buffy uses a simplified system for magic, but if I may be so bold, the magic system really shines in Ghosts of Albion.  I spent a lot of time thinking about what I like, what I don't like and how I want it to all work.   In GoA you have your spells, but you also have magical philosophies that say how you learn your magic and even restricts you from what you can or can't learn.  Magical defenses give you exactly that, a defense roll against certain magical effects. And what I might be most proud of the magical duel system.  Now your wizards and witches can stand 20 paces apart and duel like the Arch Magi they are.

The biggest flaw though in Unisystem is I own everything there is and the new material comes out at a snail's pace.  I can't fault Eden for this, they are doing all they can, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

I do know there is a new Zombie (AFMBE) book coming out for Free RPG day.  Hack/Slash is on the horizon and Beyond Human is all but done.

Maybe we will see more from Eden Studios and Unisystem this year.  Here's hoping!!!

S is for Strahd

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on Ravenloft, I think I want to share some different takes on Ravenloft's most famous vampire, Count Strahd von Zarovich. Master of Baroivia.

Strahd is an interesting character for D&D, or at least D&D back in those days.  This is pre-Drizzt, pre-Lestat (well, Pre-Lestat popularity) and pre-Vampire the Masquerade.  Strahd was one of the first fully realized monsters as a character.  We were given his stats, his backgrounds, his motivations.  We knew more about him that the characters going through the adventure!

Strahd has been considered one of the greatest D&D villains by more than one source (Topless Robot, Dragon mag in it's final print edition).  I think it is because his story, forbidden love turned to dark obsession, is one that resonates with people.  People always want something they can't or shouldn't have.  Most never go to great lengths to get it, and hopefully none go to the lengths that Strahd did, but you can pick up the paper any day and read about someone that came close.

Motives aside, in D&D before you can kill the monster you need to stat him up.  Thankfully you don't have to be a complete obsessive compulsive type to collect everything ever made for Ravenloft (but it helps) to use Strahd in your games, you can go to Wizard's site where they keep Strahd hidden away for just such occasions.

You can see his original 1st Ed stats here, http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/alumni/20061027a
His 3.5 stats are here, http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20061006a&page=2
and in 4e he is found in Open Grave and is a Level 20 solo skirmisher.

Even looking at these you can see some power creep.  Each edition of the rules he had to be more powerful.  He wasn't just a powerful vampire, he had to be the most powerful vampire in the game.  I think that is a disservice to the character really.  Strahd was about power, but that was not everything he was.

I also stated him up for Ghosts of Albion, where I pictured him being played by Timothy Dalton.

Strahd von Zarovich

Motivation: To escape Ravenloft; to be reunited with his love, Tatyana.
Creature Type: Vampire
Quote: "I am The Ancient. I am The Land"

Attributes: Strength 9, Dexterity 6, Constitution 7, Intelligence 7, Perception 6, Willpower 6
Life Points: 98
Drama Points: 10

Qualities
Acute Senses
Age 5
Attractiveness +3
Hard to Kill 8
Hypnosis 3
Nerves of Steel 2
Magic 7
Magical Philosophy: Necromancy
Mesmerize
Protector of Barovia
Scale Walls
Soldier, Officer (Retired)
Supernatural Form (Bat, Wolf, Mist)
Vampire

Drawbacks
Adversary (all other Darklords, monster hunters, rival vampires, some gypsies) 8
Cruel 3
Haunted
Home Soil
Honorable 3
Love, Tragic
Natural Barrier (Cant leave Barovia)
Obsession (Tatyana) 6
Obsession (leaving Ravenloft) 6
Secret 2 (many, including a tome of his history; locals think he is human)

Skills
Acrobatics 7
Art 2
Computer NA
Crime 7
Doctor 2
Driving 2 (Coaches)
Getting Medieval 7 (Bastard Sword 9)
Gun Fu NA
Influence 6
Knowledge 9 (he has done nothing for the last few centuries but read)
Kung Fu 6
Languages 6, though all are "Ravenloft" languages.
Mr. Fix-It 2, limited to dark ages technology.
Notice 10
Occultism 9
Science 4
Sports 5

Combat Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes
Punch 12 18 Bash
Break neck 16 36 Special
Sword 13 36 Slash/stab
Sword, bastard 15 40 Slash/stab
Bite (vampire) 14 22 Must Grapple first; no defense action

Bat 20 -- +8 to Crime when hiding
Bite (bat) 14 8 Slash/stab

Wolf 20 -- Double movement; +3 to Crime at night
Bite (wolf) 14 15 Slash/stab
Claws (wolf) 14 15 Slash/stab

Dodge 13 -- Defense action
Grapple 15 -- Resisted by Dodge

Magic 22/24 Varies By spell

Using the Ghosts of Albion rules, Strahd becomes a Protector of Barovia, with the Drawbcak that he can never leave his lands. I upped his occultism and knowledge, but he is not really an occult scholar, just a very well practiced amateur.

J is for Jabberwock

Jabberwocky for Ghosts of Albion.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jub Jub bird
And shun the frumious bandersnatch!

The Jabberwock might be a type of dragon, a creature of faerie or even a demon of some sort.  Two things are know for sure.  The seemingly non-sense poem, Jabberwocky by Lewis Caroll is a clever bit of occult poetry in disguise, designed to keep the Jaberwock away from Albion's shores.
The second thing that is known is that the Jabberwock elsewhere is a very real threat.

There are very, very few occult texts on the Jabberwock, and the ones that do mention it refer to it simplly as a type of dragon.  The Jabberwock though is no mere dragon but a force of pure chaos; a creature of insanity made whole.  There is debate on whether or not Caroll actually encountered the Jabberwock himself, but if he did it would have been before his 1872 poem "Jaberwocky", and even possibly before 1855.

The Jabberwock is a terrible foe.  Difficult to hit and even harder to kill. It can reattach limbs that have been severed by common weapons, and even magic is deflected away from it.  It is usually found only in the tulgey wood where it can be heard "burbling" by the Tumtum trees.

Name: Jabberwock

Motivation: To cause chaos

Creature Type: Unknown

Attributes: Str 14, Dex 6, Con 9, Int 3, Per 6, Will 3

Ability Scores: Muscle 34, Combat 24, Brains 12

Life Points: 220

Drama Points: 2

Special Abilities: Armour Value 8, Attractiveness –6, Breathe Fire, Flash, Flight, half damage from Bash attacks, Increased Life Points, Innate Magic, Resilience, Unique Kill (Decapitation, Vorpal Sword).

Manoeuvres

Name              Score   Damage           Notes

Bite                 22        47                    Slash/stab

Claw               24        34                    Slash/stab

Eyes of Flame 24         10+SLx3         Fire damage 

Deflect            15       —                    Magic defence action; deflects spells 45º

The Jabberwock can send fire from it's eyes..  All bu the greatest magics will bounce off the Jabberwock.

Reducing it to 0 or fewer Life Points only slows down the might Jabberwock as it will begin to regenerate itself.  The Jabberwock can not regenerate lost LP during combat, but once it is dead it will regnerate at the rate of 9 LP per hour.  The only way to kill a Jabberwock is to cut off it's head with a Vorpal Sword.

The Vorpal Sword
All is known about a vorpal sword is that it is the finest weapon of the land and that even in the hands of a novice it can lead them to victory over a great opponent.  What is most well know about the vorpal sword is that on a perfect strike, it will sever the head from an opponent in one swoop.
There are many theories about the vorpal sword including ascertaining if there is more than one or if it is an unique weapon.   Rumors also include that it is the Word of Law, forged into a weapon. It would make it oddly appropriate then that the only thing that can kill a chaotic creature like this, is the Word of Law forged into a sword.
The vorpal sword adds +2 to die rolls for sword combat and is deadly sharp.  Damage is Strx6 and must be wielded in both hands. Decapitation damage for it is x6 regular damage.

Though if the true Jabberwock is unkown, the other creatures are a complete mystery; The Frumious Bandersnatch, believed to be some large pack animal, and the Jub Jub Bird.

Season of the Witch: Episode 13

Episode 13: All Along the Watchtower

May/June, 2005
Heatherfield, WA

No previously on “Willow & Tara: Season of the Witch” we pick up right where we left off.

Willow and Tara are separated by the newly repaired veil. A lot of things happen at once. Tara is screaming for Willow and collapses, but does not pass out. Cordelia and Bob both disappear. The Guardians “power down” and revert to their normal forms.

The members of the Witches’ Committee attempt to use magic to capture Tara, but all discover that they no longer have any magic at all. S.A.V.E. (Nigel, Faith and a couple of field agents) gets in between them with guns (Faith, btw no longer feels like a Slayer). At some point the Daughters of Flame had arrived and are now surrounding Tara to protect her from anyone that might cross their line. It looks like everyone is going to resort to physical fighting. In what would later be called “Tapping a Line” in my games, Tara, the only Mage in the group, screams “Enough” and summons up enough magic to physically move everyone away from her. Think of those anime shows where the hero summons up magic. So lit from the bottom, hair flying wild, glowing eyes.

Tara manages to round up the groups and sets them into figuring out what is going on. I tell her player she can still feel Willow, but it is weak and distant. She can tell that Willow is still alive, but that is it.

With Bob and Cordilia gone I get their players to play Nigel (and Faith, representing S.A.V.E.) and Morgan (representing the Witches’ Committee). I slip them notes with what their ultimate goal is. S.A.V.E. wants to keep the veil closed so there are no more magical threats. Nigel though wants Tara to be with Willow because of his own guilt with Megan and Bob. The Witches Committee wants the veil to be removed since they have the most to gain in a world of magic. Lilith is also there, being represented by Anya. She is an NPC, but Lilith’s interests are maintain the status-quo. But she has plans for either outcomes. The Guardians for the first time in years have nothing to guard. They have no powers and they feel lost.

While meeting and discussing the various merits of all the plans, Tara and company get a visitor. The Lich from Episode 10. Tara meets with him alone, everyone else is too terrified and too surprised to see him still walking around (they had gotten reports that all magical creatures were gone or dead).

On the other side of the veil, Willow is having the opposite problem. She is super powerful, but everything she throws at the veil does nothing to change it. She is joined by Coyote. He mocks her a bit, saying this what the old Willow would have wanted, all this power. Willow tells him if the price for power is Tara then it is not worth it; That she would rather be a normal human, living a normal life as long as she is with Tara. Coyote tells her that maybe she can have both and he wanders off. Willow follows.

Tara and the Lich are meeting in a room, the Daughters begged her to allow a body guard, but Tara didn’t want one. The Lich tells her that they are linked, that she owes him but in the present state of the world there is no way she could pay him back. Tara figures out the other reason they are linked. Everyone else’s magic is gone, but his and hers. He was a Mage too. The Lich says that the only way they can settle their debt, and he indicates his mark on her, is to bring magic back to the world and not just the trickle that leaked through the Veil, all of it. Tara asks him what he wants in return. The Lich is silent.

Willow follows Coyote to the court of the Fae. Both the leaders of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts are there. The Seelie King and Queen treat Willow with an odd amount of respect. The Unseelie Queen is down-right friendly. King Oberon address Willow and says it has been over a hundred years since they last met. Willow is confused. Queen Maeve (the Unseelie Queen) tells her that the King refers to her past life when the Veil was erected by herself and her Anamchara.
The Seelie want the veil to remain closed, and have offered Willow a home on this side of it. The Unseelie want it open, Maeve enjoys humans and will miss the interactions. The court leaves Willow to think about her future, Coyote joins her.

Tara has decided to drop the veil. Living in a world with no magic is one thing, but living in a world with no Willow is another thing all together. Since she and the Lich are the only ones with magic she doesn’t even bother to tell the others.

Willow can feel Tara’s anxiety but does not know what it is about. She decides that living in a world full of magic is meaningless without Tara. She goes back to the Veil. Laughing, Coyote follows her telling her it is time to destroy the world.

At the Veil Tara is followed by the throng, wanting to see what she is going to do. She summons up her magic and tries to bring down the Veil. Nigel asks her to stop, telling her that if she drops the Veil she might not get it back up again.

On the other side Willow feels Tara at the Veil and uses her own magic to lower it. The Seelie Court detects this and are right on her heels trying to stop her. The Unseelie try to stop them.

The Veil is weakening as it does the people with magic on the other side begin to feel the return. The Guardians are first, and they are unsure what to do. The decide to help Tara. The Witches Committee member, Morgan, lends her magic as do the Daughters of the Flame.

On Willow’s side she can feel the flow of magic more and knows Tara is on the other side helping. Maeve is also lending her magic. So total we have five Guardians, three Daughters of the Flame, Morgan, Maeve, Willow and Tara, and the Lich for a total of 13 witches/mages.

The Veil falls.

Willow and Tara are reunited as magic rushes into the “real” world, banality rushes into the magical one.

The Guardians of the Veil are now the Guardians of the Watchtowers, each a mage in her respective element.
Morgan and the Daughters all have their magic levels increased.
Bob and Cordelia are back.
Maeve and the rest of the fae feel weaker in terms of magic, but they mention this is a temporary solution. King Obereon tells Willow and Tara that the pact forged in their past lives is now broken.
Two of the Daughters, Ceriweden and Brigh, offer themselves as their personal protectors as long as they draw breath.
Morgan can be heard on her cell phone talking away about setting up a press conference right away. She is ushered into a car that had just pulled up. She pauses to thank Willow and Tara and tells them they should come to offices, now that they are not trying to kidnap or kill them. They can do lunch.
Nigel and Faith mention they will figure out something to tell S.A.V.E., Faith kisses both girls on the cheeks and tells them not to be strangers anymore.

Tara looks out to see the Lich. It nods to her and she feels her mark burn. The Lich speaks in her mind, “there is still the debt”.

Tara feels ill, then light headed and she passes out.

--

Tara wakes in a hospital room. She is connected to an IV drip and Willow is sitting by her side. Bob is “pacing” the room. As soon as Tara sits up Cordelia orbs in. She tells them all the Elders are “Freaking out” but not as much as the demons. They are all crazy busy, but she felt they knew this was the direction everything was going to go. Now that they don’t have to cover up magic anymore they can concentrate more on fighting evil. Cordy gives Willow and Tara both a hug goodbye. She tells them she can’t be their Whitelighter anymore since they are Mages and she is needed elsewhere. But she will come by to see them when she can.
Cordelia orbs out.

Bob, who has been quiet this whole time says he has to go too. Tara protests, but he tells her that she is grown up and doesn’t need her daddy to help her back on to the horses anymore. He tells her this was how it was always going to be, he was here to help with the Awakening and that is what he did. He tells her he is tired, and he wants to see Megan again. Megan appears (played by Eliza Roberts again) she goes to Tara and hugs and kisses her. She also hugs Willow thanking her for being there and loving her daughter so much. She tells them both how proud she is of them and how exciting the future will be for them. She takes Bob’s hand and as they fade away they fade to their younger versions from the 1980s.

Tara is crying and Willow is holding her.

The doctor comes in, a young Indian man. He apologizes for being so late, saying that the ER has been a nightmare for the last 24 hours. He asks if Willow can leave so he can talk to the patient, Willow protests, but Tara mentions they are legal domestic partners and are married in the tenants of their faiths. That they are spending the rest of their lives together and that anything that she needs to know Willow needs to know too.

The doctor says, “Ok, this should be good news then. Congratulations Ms. Maclay, you are pregnant!”

The final scene is the stunned look on the girls’ faces.

--
Notes: Ok so big things here. Let’s break it all down.

No Big Bads: One of the things I wanted to do here was do a Season/Series/Arc/Campaign with no Big Bads. No final boss at the end of the level to fight. I am going to say that this was 100% a success. It did take some work to do. The mental place you are in when working on this game is a Big Bad. It’s what the show does, it’s what a lot of shows do.

The Awakening: The big season focus was on the Awakening, or the return of all Magic. Or as we said at the time, Magic was being outed. I felt that the world as it was could no longer exist. You can’t explain everything with gangs and PCP, you can’t even explain anything really. So the best plan was to have a world where everyone knew magic was real. We do it all the time in D&D and ShadowRun. My major influence here was the Piers Anthony “Incarnations of Immortality” series. Magic has returned to the world and it allows me make some rather big changes.

Pregnant: Yup. I got Tara knocked up. Well. Not me personally.
I wanted to keep the identity of the other parent secret for a while, but my Season 3 never quite got together the way I wanted. It got together in a completely different way, but more on that later.
Tara is pregnant. At the time we were building “The Dragon and the Phoenix” there was a meme of Tara getting pregnant stories. There were tons of them. Examples,  http://www.uberwillowtara.com/artfamily.htm  and http://www.uberwillowtara.com/artmothers.htm
I thought we should do our own take too. Taking a cue from Lisa , our co-author and resident Tara expert, I went to her Willow & Tara epic tale (700+ pages) “Unexpected Consequences” and got the name for Tara’s child, Brianna. Brianna was born Feb 2, 2006.

Who is the “father”? Well I wanted to do a lot of Red Herrings and things like that. Maybe even implicate the Lich, but in the end that never came to pass. Season Three picked up many years later, with a small “Mini-series” in between.

The father of Brianna is Willow.

You can even see where (and when) I came up with the idea, http://edenstudiosdiscussionboards.yuku.com/reply/21984#reply-21984

During the adourflame the girls suffered provide the magical catalyst, and they were certainly having enough sex at the time. This is also (I am told) a fairly common theme in lesbian authored Sci-Fi stories, so I suppose I should not have been surprised there were so many fics out there of it.

Ghosts of Albion: A lot of what happened in Season of the Witch made it one way or the other into Ghosts of Albion. These were our play tests. Anamchara casting rules became “William and Tamara Casting Together”, faeries, expanded vampires, magical philosophies, all of it came from these games. Mages obviously never made it to Ghosts, but we also did not have Protectors in Season of the Witch (except Milicent, and she was only there in the beginning).
This lead to a number of discussions with Chris Golden, Amber, and all my players on how different were William and Tamara compared to Willow and Tara. The answer of course is not much at all.

This was the last time I played with that group. I had a more local group forming at this point and we were getting back into D&D and Ghosts of Albion. We played a lot of games, thus continuing my “conversions” threads over the years, but it was not the same without my witches.

Where are Willow and Tara now?

Well the character sheets (hundreds of them, for several dozen games) sit in a 4-inch binder in my game room.

The characters?

Willow created a small software company that produced a new type of data encryption method. It was quickly bought by a larger company making millions for Willow and Tara. Willow was hired by the same company as an executive consultant. She helps other companies set up her software to protect their data. Willow herself uses the same software on her home computers to protect all the magical texts she has scanned in over the years.
Willow took her money to have special Subaru Outback converted to a hybrid car.

Tara completed her degree and is teaching Art History at a local private school. She is also a youth councilor at the school. She still has her mother’s spellbook/journals as well as her own. She wants to complete a Ph.D. but thinks she will wait till after Brianna is older. She is also starting to think she wants another child.

Brianna is four and is the spitting image of Willow.

They all live in a converted Brownstone in Boston, MA. Tara takes her bike to work everyday (when it is cold she laments giving her dad’s car to the vampires). They have not seen Cordy again, but have heard of her and some of her charges. They have seen Dawn a few times, she is currently in medical school where she uses her psychic powers to diagnosis and treat patients.

Season of the Witch: Episode 12

Episode 12: Torn

May/June, 2005
Heatherfield, WA

Willow and Tara spend more than a month with the Daughters of the Flame. They begin to feel a pull to the north, something summoning them.

They prepare to travel but Tara mentions being sick. Cordy scans her, but finds nothing wrong with her. She admits though as she is mage now her magic is different.

They arrive is a small town in Washington State called Heatherfield. Here they meet up with five young women fighting a giant dragon. Before they can help they are able to send through a portal. The women identify themselves as “The Guardians” and they have been protecting Earth from threats from the magical worlds for almost 10 years. They are younger than Willow and Tara, but act much older. When they are finally able to talk to them (they are not interested in what Willow and Tara have to say) they learn that the Veil is thinnest here and it is getting thinner by the minute.

There are some battles with various monsters that come through and Willow and Tara prove their worth to the five Guardians. Tara notes that in Tamara’s Journal she talked about creating the Veil to protect the lands of Faerie from humans and visa versa. The spell is in the book, but it is a very complicated one and it will take all seven of them to cast it. They debate, the five guardians are anything but united in their plans, but finally they decide to give it a try.

The ritual is cast. During this time the Witches’ Committee shows up to try to stop them but they are stopped themselves by S.A.V.E. The ritual hits a tumult and the veil is erected anew, but Willow is trapped on the other side and they can’t take it down now.

Notes: This one was going to be bigger but my group was falling apart at this point. The Guardians obviously are a take on the Guardians of Kandrakar from the comic book W.I.T.C.H., but also designed to be any type of elemental-based magic-girl. I wanted to explore why the universe would choose five teenage girls as the ultimate protectors. I figured it had something to do with innocence or something, but I never got the chance to really get too deep into it.
I wanted this episode to have a real anime feel to it. So there were a lot of magical battles. I let Willow and Tara fire bolts of magical energy that were cast like spells and did SL x3 + Willpower x2 amounts of damage. It made for an interesting time.

I wanted to play up how the Guardian girls were no longer connected to what they were and that had something to do with the weakening of the veil, but I don’t think I quite got it.

I did the cliffhanger ending here of Willow being on the other side of the veil when it went up. Yeah I know, separating the girls to cause angst was quickly becoming a cliché in this game, but this was the last time.

The Witches Committee and S.A.V.E. were back to provide some more antagonists/distractions.

Next up. There must be some kind of way out of here…

Season of the Witch: Episode 11

Episode 11: The Burning Times

April 30, 2005 (Beltane)

Willow and Tara are mad. They have spent the last month researching all things mage, “Awakening” and every prophecy they can find and there is nothing useful out there. Though lots of stories of mages going insane or accidently causing destruction wherever they go. Plus their Adourflame condition is getting steadily worse, now they can barely touch each other without setting something on fire. A quick kiss in the kitchen one night causes the microwave to explode. In fact they discover in their research that most fire-starting supernaturals are either evil or groomed by evil. Independently each discovers something that might help, the binding ritual they used on Amy and Beth to remove their own magic. They do not mention it to the other.

They do get a visitor in the form of Anya, who is here to represent Lilith. She tells them that they have learned that Witches’ Committee is pissed off and they will be sending operatives to come and get them soon. They change plans and instead look for a refuge since they figure out that the town will not be safe. They discover there is a coven of witches, The Daughters of the Flame, in Sacramento. Willow and Tara are certain they can teleport there on their own. Anya remains, not wanting to trust their new powers teleporting them to an unknown location.

Not a moment too soon either as Bob appears to tell them that there are Witches’ Committee operatives headed their way. Anya says she will try to stall them. The girls along with Bob and Cordy, teleport out.

Arriving at the covenstead Willow and Tara are surprised to see it is really a commune with a few score witches. As soon as Willow and Tara though arrive they are set upon. There is a scuffle but soon the leader of the coven, Mistress Brent, recognizes the two and kneeling she welcomes them “home”.

They all go to Brent’s office. Cordy and Bob are silent as Brent explains the history of this coven. Bob and Brent keep looking at each other, till finally Bob calls her “Cathy”. She gasps out loud and says “Robert?” Brent, like all the women here, takes a coven name that is some form of a Celtic Goddess’ name. She explains she has been expecting them for some time now. She knows they are the reincarnations of Bohdmal and Liath, the founders of this coven. She didn’t know that Liath/Tara was the daughter of Robert Mclay, a man she had known about, but never met. Tara’s mother had been raised by the coven and was sent out to work with a “Robert Mclay” many years ago. Brent blamed that man for Megan’s death. Though Brent is torn now that Megan’s own daughter is here, seeking aid and the reincarnation of Liath to boot. Cordelia asks her leave to report this situation to the Elders and find out what she needs to do.

The girls explain what their problem is, the magic and being followed by both the Witches Committee and Lilith. Brent doesn’t trust either side. Brent offers the coven’s library, but she has never heard of two witches that were becoming mages that were also Anamchara. Bohdmal and Liath were Anamchara, but they never became mages. Brent says it is an exciting time in their cycle of life to have become mages at this point and waxes on what their next life might be like. Willow doesn’t care about the next life, she wants this one, with Tara. Tara mentions the binding ritual. Brent says that would destroy their magic, all of it, and also remove them the witches’ cycle of life, death and rebirth. Plus there is the roll they have to play in the Awakening. Willow and Tara argue that a life that they can’t have each other is no life at all. Brent agrees that if they ask her to she will perform the binding. It also means that they will never see Cordy or Bob ever again, but it will stop the Witches Committee and Lilith from chasing them. But she asks for 24 hours so they can all research a better solution.

They all agree and set to work. Because of their position in the coven, Willow and Tara are given a “Guardian” by the name of Ceridwen and a research assistant named Brigh. Brigh is in awe over Willow and Tara, having studied Bohdmal and Liath all her life. She couldn’t help but notice that their auras were brighter than any she had ever seen and more strangely they were exactly the same. Brigh said that even married couples whose auras begin to blend still retain distinctive patterns. As an example she asks them to view her and Ceri. They had been handfasted a few years back (June 21, 1997) and legally married recently (in Cerri's home of Boston last year), though both agreed that their handfasting was the true date of their bond. Brigh mentions that her own aura had been disrupted due to exposure to Taint a few years ago and when she and Ceri fell in love and were married the interplay between their auras “smoothed out” the Taint. Willow and Tara are a little stunned to meet two married women and their thoughts turn to each other. Brigh notices this and studies their auras more carefully. She gasps and tells them the exchange spiked the power in their auras. She doubts that they have 24 hours. She doubts they have 2 hours in fact before their magical feedback blew a hole in reality.

With Brent involved now the girls begin to think very seriously about the binding ritual. Of course I had dropped a hint or two, but they asked not about a binding ritual, but a bonding one. They discovered that a handfast could do the same thing but also allow them to still use their magic as always. Taking that huge step they agreed. That evening they prepared. Robert stood for his daughter, Cordy for Willow and with Cerri and Brigh as witnesses. Brent performed the ceremony. The girls kissed for the first time in a month and their auras were visible to all.

The girls are given the night to consummate their marriage, but by morning the reality of their mission hits them again. The Witches Committee are at the coven’s doorstep demanding that they release Willow and Tara to them.
The Daughters of course refuse, but the Committee tells them that they are not capable of dealing with mages. If Willow and Tara were only “just witches” it would be fine, but the Committee was set up to deal with witches that become mages. Both sides agree to allow Willow and Tara to be seen by the Committee’s people (called The Keepers). To everyone, Willow and Tara’s auras no longer look like mages, but just really powerful witches. Though they still have their mage powers. The Keepers, seeing but not believing, challenge them both to a battle Arcane. If they are Mages then they will be fine, but have to go with the Keepers. If they are witches then they will loose, but can remain here. Before anyone can say anything though Willow is grabbed by the female Keeper and Tara by the male and they all phase. All four have been removed from the reality of the coven, though everyone can still see everyone else. Willow and Tara are also not in the same reality and can’t touch to get the benefit of being Anamchara. The battle progresses, and does so poorly for the girls. Willow is locked in a reality with her attacker and Tara is also locked with her own. Cordy and Bob both make different attempts to phase into either girl’s reality, only to run into a wall. Willow and Tara both try to exploit their own connections to somehow bring themselves together, but no luck there either.
Tara does notice that the aura’s of the Keepers are also strangely linked. She figured out (with some good rolls and a drama point) that these two must be sleeping together, but don’t want anyone else to know (she sees lust and guilt). She uses the binding ritual on the male keeper to pull him closer to his clandestine lover. They crash into each other, metaphysically speaking, a cancel the magics in place. Brent rules that since Tara defeated them both not with mage magic, but witch magic they don’t have to leave with them and they can stay here. The male Keeper, furious, knocks down Brent, pulls out a gun and fires on Tara. Willow throws up a barrier and the bullet ricochets off and hits the Keeper in his side. He lives, but will need surgery to repair is intestines.

Willow and Tara decide to remain with the Daughters as a “honeymoon” and as a way to be trained on their new mage powers.

Notes: Brigh was “played” as Lexa Doig, Ceri was Yancy Butler, Brent was played by Kate Jackson, I did not cast the Keepers, but any resemblance to certain Executive Producers or show runners I am sure is by coincidence only.

Ok what is going on here?
A few things. The Daughters of the Flame are a coven I had made for my 1999 AD&D Witch book. I had used the coven a number of times in my own works and games for years before that. Lisa, who had been helping write a bunch of these episodes and was my Tara had also, independent of me, used the Daughters in her own writing. Brigh, Ceri and Brent were her creations. I ran Brigh and Ceri through some WitchCraft adventures back in 2003-2004 (where Brigh picked up some Taint from a Mad God cult), so it was nice to have them back here. In my WitchCraft game at the time I specifically mentioned that Brigh can’t read auras. Ah well, I forgotten that. The Keepers were also her creation (though she only had one) and their job was to train Mages into assassins. I wanted them all here in Season of the Witch since their genesis was so related to the “witch culture” I had built in my own games (Mages were even Prestige Classes for witches in my later d20 book).

The Daughters also gave us the chance to poke a little fun at our selves, the Willow and Tara fan community. Often stereotyped as fanatical lesbians devoted to Willow and Tara above anything else, the daughters became (on the surface anyway) a group of fanatical lesbians who believe that Willow and Tara (or rather their past lives) were their reason for being. If the Wicce book had ever come out for the WitchCraft game you would have seen a more balanced view of the Daughters of the Flame. There were the “Eala” or swans that were more passive and the “Brenna” or ravens were more fanatical.

The date the girls were married is set in my world as April 30, 2005.
Marriage. If there is one thing that is debated more in W/T fan communities more than when they first had sex it is what sort of wedding the girls should have, if any at all. I forced the issue by well, forcing the issue. Since no situation would have appealed to all tastes I made it so they had to get married in order to preserve their magic. There is a nice little bit of parity there. To save their magic (which had been a metaphor for love) and likely the world they had to get married. The Keepers, who were having an illicit affair (the male Keeper was married), actually became their weakness. I don’t pretend to be subtle.
This is also the Gaelic Tree month of "Willow".  Again.  Not subtle.
Plus we wanted to talk about the whole same-sex marriage issue, it's not something a TV would do to be honest, at least not one at the time.

Originally there was going to more to this episode making a double episode really. Dawn was going to be there as well since she was taking college courses and still in town. Willow and Tara were going to “confront their Old Souls”, but we had kind of done that with The Dragon and the Phoenix. Cordy was mostly an NPC by now anyway, but I was happy she was at the wedding, someone from the Original Series there was nice. I had more political play between the Daughters and the Witches Committee but it never came out well in the game, so it was dropped. There was also more scenes with Willow/Tara and Brigh/Ceri. We did learn that Ceri’s birth name was Susan and she had played drums in an all girl KISS tribute band called LICK when she lived in Boston. Brigh had been born Amy Nakamura to a Japanese father and an Irish mother. She had lived in Toronto.  Amy's transformation into Brigh was part of the background for my Witch Guardian post.

Next up: The Cast travels north to find the Veil between realities is torn and the witches holding it together are not in the mood to hear some new-comers' ideas on how they are supposed to do their jobs; fated or no.

Vampire Tara: Unisystem

Vampire Tara

I have mentioned Vampire Tara in posts in the past, specifically with Cortex and earlier today with Season of the Witch.

Quote:

Interviewer: Chris [Golden] said you had a great time doing Vamp Tara (for Chaos Bleeds).
Amber: I did. I had such a good time doing that. I think that people were like oh if shes doing vampire Tara then thats bad Tara but its a videogame. To me its a completely different thing than the show.
Interviewer: Can you give us a sample?
Amber: I think it was something like, I cant even remember the words, what she said. But it was very like sexy and you know purry and she made all these like weird noises and when she got killed aaghaa [funny impression that makes everyone laugh] it was very embarrassingly funny and everyone from the Buffy game were just laughing when we did it. It was a lot of fun though.

Kitten Board Interview with Amber Benson, July 5, 2003

---

Why Vamp Tara?

Why not.

Seriously.
Why not?

I personally have lost count of all the Vamp Tara and Vamp Willow fanfics I have seen out there. Most are excuses to have the girls kill people or act out their pornographic fantasies, or both. Often both. Sometimes at the same time. But all the death, killing and hot girl-on-girl action aside, there are some really good stories out there too.

So if we go with the premise that Willow and Tara are together in every world (and I always do) then it is certain that Vamp Willow must have found Tara and turned her. A great example of how this story could have played out is Leah's One Soul.

If there is a Vamp Tara, then is also stands to reason that she would come looking for Vamp Willow at some point (see Chris Golden's Chaos Bleeds). That and the fact that Amber Benson has said she has always wanted to play a vampire (and got her chance in Supernatural) Vamp Tara seems like a no brainer.

Soul or no Soul?
Now the next question arises, should Vamp Tara have a soul or not? The fanfics are about split 50-50. Some start her out soulless, and then gain a soul, others still start her out with a soul and she looses it. Of course by my own rules they cant have the Anamchara quality unless they both have souls, but I am surprisingly neutral on the subject.

In my adventure Through a Glass Darkly Vamp Tara has no soul, but the cast have the option to re-ensoul her (and Vamp Willow) if they choose, or they can stake her.

Going to the (other) experts, Chris Golden makes her soulless in Chaos Bleeds, but Amber plays Lenore with a soul, or at least a moral compass. Its apples and orange to me, or rather apples and different kinds of apples. To take in one last piece of information, vampires in the Ghosts of Albion and Chris Shadow War Saga stories all have souls. So if anything the scale might tipped towards soul, just to accommodate the different points of view.

Personality
So what is Vamp Tara like? Well lets use Vamp Willow as our analogue. Shy, dependable Willow becomes bisexual, raging psychotic killer vampire Willow. So what happens to Tara? Shy, not-large-with-the-butch, fear of rejection Tara, becomes a sex crazed nymphet. Also it is a well known rule that turning evil turns you into a sex fiend, or least prone to wear skimpy clothing and shifting morals (see Raven from Teen Titans, Jean Grey from X-Men, Xena). That being said she is not above killing a few people that piss her off. In One Soul and Through a Glass Darkly one of Vampire Taras first kills are her brother and father. Of course this will depend on the soul or no soul question above. But I can tell you that given the chance my regular Tara player enjoyed playing a tramped out, evil Tara. And lets face it. The look on your players faces when they encounter Tara and then she rips someones head off to drink from the crimson fountain belongs among the joys of being a Director.

Getting Vamp Tara into your Game
Ok, you decided to use Vampire Tara in your game. Congratulations. Now, how do you get her there? The McGuffin often used is the spell gone awry but that is what got us Vamp Willow (both times) so lets be more original.

In my adventure Through a Glass Darkly Vampire Tara casts a spell to find her favourite sex-toy, Vampire Willow. So the spell this time works exactly as she wanted it to. She needs a powerful witch to bring back Vamp Willow, so who better than Real Willow. That way if real Willow fails, Vamp Tara can still just bite her and have a new plaything to train. Trouble is how do we convince Real Willow and Real Tara to do what a bloodthirsty (literally and figuratively) vampire wants them to do? Take a page from Dracula. Vamp Tara manages to get Real Willow alone and put her under thrall. Holding Willow as her hostage (a game she played a lot with Vampire Willow I am sure) and have Real Tara go get the spell needed. In Through a Glass Darkly Tara went off with the ghost of her father, Robert McClay, to find the spell. They cast it, bringing back Vamp Willow and for a special twist (and not a few experience points earned) they re-ensouled her, ensouling Vamp Tara (her Anamchara) in the process. The vamp girls were not very happy about that.

Tara Maclay
Vampire

Life Points 66
Drama Points 10

Attributes
Strength 6
Dexterity 5
Constitution 5
Intelligence 3
Perception 3
Willpower 5

Qualities
Attractiveness (2 levels)
Empathy
Fast Reaction Time (Vampire)
Hard to Kill 4 (2 from Vampire)
Natural Weapon (Vampire)
Reduced Damage (Bullets) 2 (Vampire)
Regeneration (6 Life Points per hour) (Vampire)
Sorcery (3 levels)
The Sight
Vampire

Drawbacks
Adversary (1)
Love (2)
Mental Problems, Covetous (Lechery) (2)
Minority

Skills
Acrobatics 5
Art 3
Computers 2
Crime 1
Doctor
Driving 1
Getting Medieval
Gun Fu 1
Influence 2
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 4
Languages 2
Mr. Fit-it 1
Notice 3
Occultism 6
Science 1
Sports 2
Wild Card Riding Horses 4

Maneuver        Bonus        Base Damage        Notes
Bite                +11        18                Slash/stab, requires Grapple
Grapple        +11                        Resisted by dodge
Break Neck        +11        24
Punch                +9        12                Bash
Kick                +8        14
Dodge                +9                        Defense
Axe                +10        30
Magic                +14        Varies

Armor Value: 2 (Leather coat)

Real Name: Tara A. Maclay
DOB: 11/07/1980, turned to a vampire sometime in 1999-2000
Height: 55, Weight: 125lbs, Eyes: Blue (yellow when feeding), Hair: Dark Blond

Stories
Here are some other stories to use as inspiration.

Leah, One Soul
www.uberwillowtara.com/onesoulcover.htm

Zahir, Never the Twain
www.shadows-and-dust.co.uk/SDFA/Round1/neverthetwain.htm

Season of the Witch: Episode 10

Episode 10: Through a Glass Darkly

March, 2005
Sunnydale

Willow and Tara are preparing for a special dinner with Willow’s parents, Ira and Shelia. Bob has been trying to get them back on “the mission”, but has agreed that at the moment they don’t have any information on where to continue. Cordy is off in northern California looking for other witches that might know more about the Awakening. Not wanting to wait around to see this domestic scene (and maybe a little uncomfortable with the connotations of what the dinner means) Bob offers to spend some time shaking down the any supernatural locals that might be left over.

The girls spend some time discussing exactly what this dinner does mean and what it means to them. Willow was introducing Tara to her parents, not as her “friend” or even as her “college rebellion or experimentation”, but as her lover, the woman she wants to spend the rest of her life with. This of course has made Tara nervous to make sure everything is perfect. Willow is nervous not because of that, but because she wonders what then the next step has to be for them.

Willow attempts to engage Tara in a conversation about what their future is going to be, will they stay here, where should the live, what should they do. Tara is too busy frantically getting dinner ready. She was making sure everything was Kosher, using new pots, pans and kitchen utensils. Tara panics when she discovers the wine they have for cooking is not a Kosher one. Willow tells her not to worry about it, they had another wine, but Tara insists on running out to the store to get more. Willow says she wants to stay home and look up something. Tara runs out to the store.

Willow spends some time researching various topics, mostly anything about witches, historical or otherwise but ends up on the website about gay marriage in Massachusetts. There came a knock at the door. Followed by Tara’s “Hello?” Willow went to the door, shouting out to “come on in”. Tara replied back that she can’t. Willow mentioned that she was only supposed to get wine, not a bunch of stuff. Willow opened the door to and Tara is just standing there. She smiled at Willow, saying “thanks, I needed you to do that.” She vamped out and attacked Willow.

Tara (real Tara) walked into the house (they are staying at the Summers’). The door was wide open and she started calling for Willow. Willow said she was upstairs. Tara went upstairs and saw Willow sitting on the stairs. She was holding a towel to her neck, she had been bleeding. Tara freaks out and asks what happened. Willow indicated that what happened was currently in the bathroom puking her guts out. Tara tentatively walked into the bathroom to see herself doubled over the toilet throwing up blood. The vampire Tara looked up at her and said “oh great, you too.”

Tara freaked out and runs back to Willow, who is fine, mostly. Vampire Tara left the bathroom, she looked awful. Willow tells Tara that she accidently invited Vampire Tara in and she attacked her. As soon as she bit her though, she began to retch, claiming her blood was “all wrong”. Vampire Tara looked at Tara and said that hers was the same. Willow, still sitting on the stairs, said that she was here for something. Something she needed them for. Tara asked if she (VT) had said that, Willow (surprised) just said she knew.

Vampire Tara talked to Willow and Tara, now in the kitchen, and told them she wanted something and her spell somehow brought her here. Tara asked her doppelganger what she was looking for. Vampire Tara looked to both girls and said “Willow” or rather her Willow, the one that made her into a vampire. She had been staked, but she wanted her back. Tara began to explain how you couldn’t do that and her spell must have backfired and brought her here instead. Willow had been silent this whole time. She had cleaned up and was using a glamour to hide her neck.

She finally said that they would help Vampire Tara, which surprised both Taras. Willow says she knows of a spell. But they will have to go to LA to get it. Tara said they shouldn’t do it. Willow said that they have too. Tara asked to speak to Willow in private and argues that Willow’s parents are showing up in less than an hour they can’t do anything between now and then. At that point Robert appeared in the kitchen, seeing Tara and Vampire Tara, Robert rushes over to protect the girls. Vampire Tara saw Bob and vamped out, saying “I killed you! What are you doing here!” The two supernaturals were getting ready to attack when Tara tried to get in between them. Bob was demanding that they kill Vampire Tara, Vampire Tara was vamped out and trying to get to Bob. She looked over to Willow and said “Willow! Help me!”and Willow stood and walked over to Vampire Tara.

Everyone calmed down to a stalemate. Tara was starring at Willow in confusion. Vampire Tara laughed a bit and said “I didn’t get her blood, but I got enough of my salvia into her system to make her a thral. Oh it will wear off soon, but long enough for me to get what I came here for.”

Tara agreed to find the book needed to bring back Vampire Willow. Bob would go with her. Willow would stay with Vampire Tara as insurance. If Bob and Tara are not back by midnight (now almost 5 hours away) she was going to kill Willow and vamp her.

Tara called Cordy, who showed up, and orbed them to LA.

Vampire Tara turned to Willow and asked seductively what they were going to do with all that time? Willow told her matter of factly that she needed to change because her parents were going to be there in less than an hour for dinner.

Tara, Bob and Cordy ended up in a underground cavern in LA. Using the maps from Willow’s research Tara broke into a run. Bob and Cordy followed her.

Willow had Vampire Tara change clothes, and was telling her that she was going to behave herself for her parents tonight or the deal was off. Willow told Vampire Tara that she agreed to this not because of the vampire thral but something else. She knew the loneliness that she was feeling, the loss, and would do what she could to help her, but vampire Tara had to help her in turn.

Ira and Shelia showed up, bringing wine. Dinner began, Willow was nervous and quiet. Shelia kept talking and to everyone’s surprise Tara was quite chatty.
After dinner conversation began. Shelia though could not help but comment that Willow needed to think of her future, what she planned to do with her life. Shelia wandered over to the computer in the living room and saw the website open on gay marriages. Shelia asked Willow if that is what she really wanted and that is she wanted to do. She continued on about how sure, she was young and her time with Tara was exciting, but sometime she would have to grow up. Shelia asked her if she ever wanted to have children?
Tara finally had enough and defended Willow to Shelia. Telling her that she loves Willow and that is all they need.

Tara, Bob and Cordy worked their way to a temple. Inside there were scores and scores of vamps all on their knees chanting before a mummified figure. The figure stood up and beckoned them all closer. Cordy exclaimed “oh crap. A Lich.”

Tara demanded to know were the book they needed was. She used her nascent mage abilities (and a drama point) to set the kneeling vampires on fire. The Lich turns to her and tells her “that was very rude.”

Back at the dinner, Vampire Tara and Shelia are still arguing. Vamp Tara breaks down and tells Shelia how much Willow meant to her how she saw her when no one else did and how she took a shy, timid girl and made her into a strong woman and in the process did the same for herself. She said they were soulmates. Argument over, Ira agrees it is time they should go and maybe they would like to have breakfast in the morning.

They leave, and Willow goes back to Tara, still in the dinning room. She asked her if she had meant everything she had said and Vamp Tara said yes. She told Willow that without her, without her Willow, she didn’t see the reason to go on. She lifted her head and vamped out and said, “so if I can’t have her, I’ll have you.”

Tara (again the real one) was facing off with the lich. He called her a curiosity, that he had not seen her kind in a thousand years. She asked about the tome. He said he had it. She asked him if she had to fight him for it. He said, “No.” To everyone’s surprise. He told Tara he would give her the spell she wanted, for a small token, that one day she or her offspring would owe him a favor that he could call upon. Cordy and Bob told her not to do it. But Tara was desperate. She agreed. He asked for her hands. She brought them out and placed the spell parchment in them. She turned to go and he grabbed her wrist. His hand were strong and cold as iron. He left a black circle on the inside of her left wrist. A mark that would stay with her till she paid her debt.

Taking the spell Tara went back to Bob and Cordy and they orbed out.

Back at the house Willow had Vamp Tara on the other side of the table trying to keep it between them. The other orbed in with the spell. Vamp Tara calmed down.

Tara and Willow embraced and she gave Willow the spell. Reading it quickly she told vamp Tara they needed something of Vampire Willow’s. Vampire Tara goes to her duster and pulls out a pair of panties. Which gets looks from everyone. Vampire Tara corrects herself and says that her Willow hardly ever wore those and gives them a pair of padded bondage cuffs instead. Vampire Tara changes back into her regular clothes and Willow and Tara prepare the spell. (at this point my Willow player hands me a note).

They draw a circle in the basement and begin the spell. The spell is complex and even with Willow and Tara both reading it it takes some time. At one point Willow begins a secondary incantation, Tara keeps reading.

There is a flash of lightning and thunder. A rift appears that gathers itself into the shape of a woman. Another flash and the blackness becomes the naked form of Vampire Willow, pulled out of time and space. Vampire Tara runs over to her, putting her duster around her asking her if it is really her. Vampire Willow, confused, only looks up asnd said “you found me!”

Vampire Tara and Willow looked at their human counterparts and said “we don’t know how to repay you. Oh. Wait. Yes we do.” and they vamped out. They told the human girls that they were going to kill them and take their places in this new world. Tara gets ready to attack, but Willow says wait (and tosses me another Drama Point). Approaching Vampire Willow and Tara double over in pain and begin to scream. They fall to the ground while magical auras form around them. Soon they stand asking what they hell did they do. Though it is obvious. Willow had re-ensouled them both. Not needing the focus since they were soulmates they acted as each other’s focus. Willow told them they were not cursed, they could be happy together, just as long as they didn’t kill anyone and they stayed out of each other’s ways.

New unlife at hand Vampire Willow and Tara drive off into the night in Bob’ Thunderbird (much to Bob’s chagrin). Tara tells Willow that her spell was amazing and Willow tells Tara getting the time and space spell was also fantastic. She asked Tara how she got it so fast, and Tara promises to tell her some time.

The next morning Willow, Tara, Shelia and Ira all have a much more pleasant breakfast at the Rosenberg’s. Shelia tells Tara that her words last night really touched her and she would be proud to have Tara in her family.

They are leaving and Willow promises her mom that she will not be so much of a stranger anymore and that she is happy to bring Tara over. Shelia tells her Ira really likes Tara, but could not help but think she was a vampire!

Notes: Ok bit of a shift here. Less action and more drama. My Willow player had the idea from the start to re-ensoul Tara and Willow when she had the chance. She planned it well and paid me enough drama points to do it.

Tara’s player played both Tara and Vampire Tara. Which was a lot of fun.

I was beginning to lose my group here, so the big magical battle with Magnus (the lich) was scrapped in favor of the more horrific Faustian deal. Also my Willow player had to play Cordy in this session too.

No overt allusions to the Awakening except at the very beginning. I wanted to focus on characters here.

Giving up the Thunderbird was a spur of the moment idea by my Tara player. They felt they could teleport via the Ghosts of Albion spell to anywhere they really needed to go. I revisited them in my WitchCraft adventure "Vacation in Vancouver" they had joined the supernatural night life there and basically enjoying the hell out of themselves.  They had not killed anyone, but had plenty of willing volunteers to give them the blood they needed.

Tara’s debt is not dealt with anytime soon, but becomes a major plot point for the next season.

The title is an allusion to Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s book In a Glass Darkly that gave us the first lesbian vampire tale “Carmilla”. As well as the Through the Looking Glass website, a site dedicated to all sorts of alt-reality Willow and Tara fics. http://www.uberwillowtara.com/

Next up: The girls come into their full power, but they might not be able to deal with it. Plus the Witches’ Committee is back and they are not happy about getting a depowered Amy and Beth instead of Mages Willow and Tara.

The Young Ones for Ghosts of Albion

Being sick made me think of the Young Ones episode "Sick" and that made me realize I had not posted my Ghosts of Albion stats for the Young Ones here yet.  So without further ado.

The Young Ones

Once in every lifetime
Comes a love like this.
I need you and you need me.
Oh my darling cant you see.

The young ones,
Darling were the young ones,
And young ones shouldnt be afraid.

To live, love
Theres song to be sung,
For we wont be the young ones very long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meioyAthGDw

(Character descriptions stolen from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Ones_%28TV_series%29 )

Rick: Oh no, the front door's exploded. Vyvyan.
Mike: Vyvyan.
Vyvyan: Vyvyan, Vyvyan, Vyvyan. Honestly, whenever anything explodes in this house it's always 'Blame Vyvyan'.


Neil Pye
Name: Neil Pye
Alias: Neil the Hippie
Played by: Nigel Planer
Type: Pacifist Hippie

Neil: Oh, look, I know, I know, why not put "boomshanka"?
Mike: Ahh... that's hard to tell, Neil. What does it mean?
Neil: It means "may the seed of your loin be fruitful in the belly of your woman".

Life Points: 25
Drama Points: 10

Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Constitution 1
Intelligence 3
Perception 4
Willpower 4

Qualities
Hmm...he is the only one that cleans the house. Hard to Kill (though he does manage to get killed) 2, Natural Toughness.

Drawbacks
Emotional Problems (Depression, Severe; Fear of rejection, Severe), Bad Luck 3, Honorable 1, Humorless, Mental Problems (Delusions Sleep will give you cancer, Severe; Obsession pacifism, vegetarianism, Severe; Paranoia Deranged) , Outcast, Resources (Miserable),

Skills
Acrobatics 0
Art 2
Computers 0 (he hates technology)
Crime 1
Doctor 1
Driving 1
Getting Medieval 0 (Pacifist)
Gun Fu 0 (still a Pacifist)
Influence: 0
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 0 (yeah)
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-It 3
Notice 3
Occultism 2 (only because he has a personal devil)
Science 1 (limited to Natural Sciences)
Sports 1
Wild Card

Neil Pye, the hippie, is a clinically depressed, suicidal pacifist, vegetarian and environmentalist working towards a Peace Studies degree. He is victimised by other housemates (especially Rick and Vyvyan) and forced to do the housework, including shopping, cleaning and cooking. He is never acknowledged for it unless it goes wrong.

Neil is pessimistic and believes everyone and everything hates him, a belief which is mostly true, though he does have some friends, two hippies, one also named Neil and one named Warlock. He dislikes technology (except for videos) and speaks out for Vegetable Rights and Peace. He is a chronic insomniac, believing that "sleep gives you cancer".

Neil wants the others to feel sorry for him, or even just to acknowledge his presence. His attention-seeking antics range from repeatedly banging himself on the head with a frying pan to attempting suicide. He claims that "the most interesting thing that ever happens to me is sneezing". This is because whenever he sneezes, it causes a large explosion.

In the second series his parents (who appear in the episode "Sick") are revealed to be upper middle class. They are conservative Tories who look down on Neil for starring in such a disreputable comedy series.

He also says 'heavy' a lot.

Neal in Modern Games: Neal is still living in the house and working on his Peace Studies degree. He does not know that the other guys have left, since they never told him, and thinks they just have been avoiding him for 25 years.


Rick
Name: Rick
Alias: Prick (the p is silent), The Peoples Poet, Rick the Complete Bastard
Played by: Rik Mayall
Type: Communist Bastard

Rick: Neil, the bathroom's free. Unlike the country under the Thatcherite junta.

Life Points: 22
Drama Points: 15

Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Constitution 1
Intelligence 3
Perception 2
Willpower 2

Qualities
Is complete and utter bastard a quality? If so Rick has it in supernatural levels.

Drawbacks
Adversary (Vyvyan), Emotional Problems (Easily Flustered; Fear of rejection, Mild), Bad Luck 1, Mental Problems (Coward, Severe; Cruelty, Mild unless it is directed towards Neil then Severe; Delusions is charming and intelligent, Severe; Obsession Cliff Richards, Severe; Paranoia Severe; Zealot(communism, socialism, Rickism), Severe), Resources (Miserable), Talentless/Dullard

Skills
Acrobatics 1
Art 2 (he thinks its 5)
Computers 0
Crime 2
Doctor 1
Driving 0
Getting Medieval 1 (but it refers only the medieval police state he is living now)
Gun Fu 0
Influence: -2
Knowledge 2
Kung Fu 1
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-It 0
Notice 1
Occultism 0
Science 2
Sports 0
Wild Card

Rick is a self-proclaimed anarchist who is studying sociology and/or domestic sciences (depending on the episode). Rick writes poetry and calls himself "The People's Poet".

Rick is a hypocritical, tantrum-throwing attention-seeker who loves Cliff Richard. Rick tries to impress the others with his non-existent wit, talent and humour. He verbally insults (and often physically assaults) Neil at every opportunity. He fights and bickers with Vyvyan and often attempts to impress Mike.

Rick is also vegetarian and wishes all men to love each other like brothers. However, he rarely does anything that can be attributed to brotherly love.

Rick is portrayed as unlikeable and so self-absorbed that he believes he is the "most popular member of the flat" even though his housemates hate him (Vyvyan describes Rick's name as being spelled "with a silent P"). Despite the fact that the other members dislike and disregard Rick, at one point he is heard to say that they "really are terrific friends."

Believing himself to be the 'People's Poet' or the "spokesperson for a generation", Rick often greatly exaggerates or lies about his political activism and class background and is exposed in the final episode "Summer Holiday", when it is suggested he comes from an upper class, Conservative background.

While he perceives himself as an anarchist, he is actually very fond of ideals produced by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky and states his interests in them in several episodes. However, he claims to have a dislike of Margaret Thatcher, as is noted by his efforts to threaten her with a bomb in the eponymously named episode "Bomb." This is also noticed in "The Young Ones Book," first published by Sphere Books, wherein negative references are made to both Thatcher and The Conservative Party.

Rick speaks loudly and cannot pronounce his "r"s.

Rick in Modern Games: Rick died in 1985 before receiving his degree in a student protest march. Rick thought it was for an anti-Thatcher march, but it instead was to protest the replacement of Coke with New Coke in the student commons.
He is now haunting a castle in Scotland that houses a magic school.

Vyvyan Basterd
Name: Vyvyan Basterd
Alias: Vyvyan the punk rocker
Played by: Adrian Edmondson
Type: Anti-social Bastard

Vyvyan: What we need is a large consignment of very hard drugs.

Life Points: 49
Drama Points: 15

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

Qualities
Fast Reaction Time, Hard to Kill

Drawbacks
Mental Problems (Anti-Social impulses, Deranged; Cruelty, Deranged; Obsessions, Mild; Paranoia, Mild; Recklessness, Deranged), Resources (Miserable),

Skills
Acrobatics 1
Art -1
Computers 0
Crime 3
Doctor 2 (he is pre-med after all)
Driving 2
Getting Medieval 4 (practically his middle name)
Gun Fu 1
Influence: 3
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 2
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-It 2
Notice 1
Occultism 1
Science 2
Sports 3
Wild Card

Vyvyan is an orange-haired, mohawked punk rocker and medical student. He is extremely violent and regularly attacks Neil and Rick with pieces of wood, cricket bats and other large objects. He never harms Mike, whom he respects. He despises Rick more than he does Neil, taking every opportunity to insult and attack him. For example, when Rick, Mike and Neil meet his mother at a bar in the episode "Boring", he calls both Neil and Mike his friends, but not Rick, whom he refers to as "a complete bastard." Ironically, the antagonistic relationship between Rick and Vyvyan makes them all but inseperable; by a wide margin, the two spend more time together than apart or with the other housemates.

Vyvyan owns a yellow Ford Anglia, with red flames painted along the sides, and a Glaswegian hamster named Special Patrol Group ("SPG" for short) which he is very fond of, although SPG is also frequently subjected to Vyvyan's extreme violence. His mother is a barmaid and former shoplifter who before "Boring" had not seen Vyvyan in ten years and has no idea who his father is.

Vyvyan displays feats of inhuman strength on occasion (moving entire walls with his bare hands, lifting Neil above his head in a fight with Rick, biting through a brick and even being decapitated and re-attaching his own head), and eats just about anything; televisions, dead rats, cornflakes, or cornflakes with ketchup.

Despite being a homicidal maniac, Vyvyan seems quite sociable and creative; In one episode ("Flood"), he has developed his own potion to transform a person into an axe-wielding homocidal maniac (he claims "it's basically a cure...for not being an axe-wielding homocidal maniac...the potential market's enourmous!"). He has more friends than the others but apparently "he doesn't like any of them." He frequently causes havoc or damage such as wiring the doorbell to a bomb and adding a 289 CID Ford V-8 engine to the vacuum cleaner which proceeds to suck up the carpet, the floorboards and a friend of Neil's (the vacuum also prompted one of the few clashes between Vyvyan and Mike; when Mike admonished Vyv not to use it anymore, Vyv replied by calling him a "poof"). Disturbingly, Vyvyan also appears to be the only member of the group with a driving licence.

Vyvyan in Modern Games: Vyvyan became a very successful plastic surgeon.


Mike
Name: Mike
Alias: "the Cool Person"
Played by: Christopher Ryan
Type: Con-artist

Mike: Neil, have you upset the neighbors?
Neil: No, I've blown them up.

Life Points: 26
Drama Points: 15

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

Qualities
Charisma 1, Criminal (Con Man)

Drawbacks
Covetous (Greedy, Desperate; Lechery, Serious; Ambition, Desperate; Conspicuosness; Serious), Mental Problems (Anti-social, Mild), Resources (Miserable),

Skills
Acrobatics 1
Art 2
Computers 1
Crime 5
Doctor 1
Driving 0
Getting Medieval 1
Gun Fu 2
Influence: 6
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 1
Languages 1
Mr. Fix-It 2
Notice 4
Occultism 0
Science 1
Sports 2
Wild Card

Mike was the odd-one-out of the four. He is the assumed leader of the group, despite his diminutive size, and does not involve himself in the battles between the other three. He makes puns, which are either deliberately cheap or humorous but over-celebrated.

He frequently utters confusing, profound-sounding phrases which baffle the others (for example, when asked by Rick if he stole his apple, Mike replies "Well, if you're gonna sin you might as well be original."). Mike is supposedly the ladies' man of the bunch and brags about his prowess with women, although he is eventually forced to admit his virginity to the others in "Nasty." Though he is a virgin, as are the rest of the housemates, he makes every attempt at wooing the opposite sex, being quite forward and unsuccessful.

A con artist, he always has some kind of plan to make quick money such as renting out Rick's bedroom as a roller disco and soliciting bids for the unexploded atom bomb that fell into the house. Mike attends Scumbag College only nominally as he has blackmailed his tutor and the Dean of the school for grants and apparently passing grades. In "Summer Holiday" he muses "I think I'll ask for one of those Ph.D.s next year."

While Mike often does things at the expense or detriment of his housemates, he rarely expresses the sort of open hostility that the others do, and seems to cause them trouble only when it benefits him, rather than out of sadistic joy. He has, however, managed to nail his own legs to a table, and knocked Neil out during a game of cricket, albeit unintentionally. We only see violence inflicted on him once (at the end of the "Living Doll" video, when Vyvyan knocks him unconscious with a hammer).

Mike in Modern Games: Mike bought and conned his way to a seat on the House of Lords where he was instrumental in working on the committee to elect Mr. Harold Saxon.

Season of the Witch: Episode 9

Episode 9: Web of Lies

January, 2005
Sunnydale

Willow and Tara are back in Sunnydale. Cordy wants to report to the Elders so she orbs out. Bob wants the girls to continue their mission, but they tell him they have other things that they need to do first. The town is very quiet. Since the destruction of the hellmouth nexus in the Dragon and the Phoenix, supernatural activity is at all time low. Their friends are all away on various errands of their own (and thus not appearing in this episode). Some things are as they left them; the Bronze is still closed, but there is a new bar in town, “Hanger 61” that is a converted airplane hanger.

Tara needs to go to campus to pick up her transcripts so she can apply to grad school. Willow joins her.
On campus they notice that people are starring at them a lot. At first they think it is because they are holding hands, but it is more than that. They decide to stop a student, who gets too flustered to talk. Finally they get someone that can speak them, but all he wants to know is if they are doing their webshow tonight. Confused they ask for details and get a url. Back at home they try it out, but first Bob interrupts by saying that outside of small pack of vamps there is nothing on this town, no demons, no ghosts, nothing. It is like the metaphysical equivalent of a ghost town, pardon the pun. By this time the site loads and it is a pay porn site featuring Willow and Tara and a bunch of other naughty witches! The site is very x-rated and there is a notice that tonight at midnight PST there will be another free show.

Willow hacks in immediately and tracks down the source to a rundown hotel outside of town. The go there to discover Amy and Beth have been using glamours to disguise themselves as Willow and Tara. But that is not the worse part, Amy and Beth then proceed to use magic to kick Willow and Tara out and they put up a shield even they can’t get through.

Willow and Tara head back to the house where they hit the books and the computers. They discover that recently a lot of young men have been admitted to the ER with symptoms of massive dehydration. Normally this might stand out, but the supernatural activity is so low that it is accepted as the norm. Willow coordinates the times admitted and all happened within six hours of Amy and Beth’s free broadcasts. Tara is able to determine that the symptoms perfectly match that of a succubus attack.
Eventually they piece together enough information that leads them to believe that Amy and Beth are somehow using succubi (most likely the other girls) to drain people over the web. Since they are drawing from an audience of thousands they only need a little bit from each, though some are more prone to succubi attacks. Willow checks the subscriptions and it seems the largest audience ever is due tonight. And midnight is just a few more hours away.

CUT SCENE

A young woman gets off a bus. She is wearing a long heavy coat that seems out of date as well as too much. She walks away from the bus after conferring with a piece of paper in her hands. He movements are not unnoticed as a solitary vampire begins to follow her. A nearly imperceptible signal and soon more gather.
The young woman, no more than a teenager really, moves forward, headless of her surroundings. She turns down an alley and the vampires close in.

“Not so fast little lady. Don’t you know it isn’t safe to walk the streets alone?” Laughs as she looks around only now seeing her mistake.
“I am afraid this will have to cost you. An' here we only have one price for everything.” The vampire switches to game face. The woman squints at the vampire and says “Kyuuketsuki?” The lead vampire looks confused then suddenly bursts into flames. Soon the gathered crowd one by one bursts into flames. They scream and soon there is nothing left but ash.
Unaffected the young woman goes back to looking for her address.


Cordy confirms that there have been succubi in the area. Tara asks if the pact they made with the Mormo and Lilim will extend to Succubi and Cordy say she doubts it as succubi are fiercely independent. Bob returns and tells the girls that something has killed the last pack of vampires in town. He doesn’t know what it was, but all that was left was ash.

The cast plans to assault the run down hotel just before midnight, reasoning that Amy and Beth will need the shield down to get the essence from their web broadcast.

They get to the hotel and prepare their attack when they are all stopped by a ring of fire. Willow is able to dispel it with ease (more ease than I wanted her too) and soon they are confront by the young woman from the cut scene. She doesn’t talk to them but attacks with magical bolts of fire. Willow and Tara are able to dodge them (thanks to the then new magical dodge rules we had made for Ghosts), but Bob is not so lucky. He is hit and it hurts. Not a lot of damage, but enough to know that he can be hurt. The girls attack with magical strikes of their own, but they seem to have no effect. They do notice that with every hit the cross the girl wears around her neck glows green. Cordy orbs in, grabs it and orbs away (but not as far away as she wanted). A magical bolt from Willow sends the girl (Robin) down. In the attack though they missed their chance and the barrier has been down for several long minutes.
They burst into the hotel room expecting to see the live show, but instead they seem Amy and Beth glowing as energy is pouring into them. The Succubi are standing around the webcam and drawing the energy from it into the other witches.

Amy and Beth monologue a bit while getting ready to fight. The sucbubi are drawing magical essence from the viewer via a computer that Amy found when she went to go recruit the three nerds to help in her revenge plans. Not finding them she found all this equipment and a huge stash of net porn. Amy joined her a couple months back; she had left home right after Willow and Tara did and came straight here. Amy and Beth get all the magical boost from the viewers, who are dying now, and the succubi get all the souls. There is no need to film this time as the succubi are feeding each viewer their own personal show via illusion.

What begins is a Battle Arcane from the Ghost of Albion rules. Amy and Beth vs. Willow and Tara. Of course I have Amy and Beth more powerful. The battle begins and goes for a few turns. Cordy and Bob are busy fighting off the succubi. The entire time Amy taunts Willow telling her about all the people that are going to die.

Robin wakes up and comes into the hotel room. Willow tells her to destroy the computer, Willow and Tara can’t break the Battle Arcane and Cordy and Bob can’t get near it. She doesn’t seem to understand, so Tara repeats it in Latin first and then Japanese. Getting it, a lance of flame launches out and destroys the computer, webcam and the link. Amy and Beth power down and Willow and Tara get in their last blow rendering them unconscious. The succubi then “shimmer” (demonic teleportation) out, escaping.

Tara quickly runs up to the prone girls and cuts a strand of hair from each to perform a binding spell. She binds Amy’s and then Beth’s powers. Willow joins the spell, and Robin gives her aid, speaking the incantation in Latin.

There is a tense scene where Robin is looking Willow and Tara up and down. Tara tells her they don’t want to fight anymore, they just wanted to stop these two. Cordy orbs between them and tells her if she won’t believe them, believe her. The girl, stunned to see a Whitelighter again this time bows her head low. She tells Tara she was only following orders from her Superiors. The orders were simply, go to Sunnydale, find the two most powerful witches and bring them in alive if possible or dead. But if the witches have a Whitelighter such as Cordy, then they can’t be evil.
Robin tells them who she is working for, Solomon HQ, but knows nothing else. She says she can’t go back to Rome empty handed, so she decides to take Amy and Beth with her. After all, she says, they were more powerful. Willow, in a fit of revenge, glamours Amy and Beth to look like her and Tara respectively. Saying, well they wanted to be us so badly.

The equipment is all destroyed and the Cast leaves before the Solomon pick-up team comes to claim Robin and the fallen witches.

Back at home Tara is watching the news and there has been a rash of ER cases, which authorities are claiming is due to the college dorm food. Willow is online searching. Cordy reports back that Solomon is the real deal, a group of witch hunters dating back to King Solomon himself. She says that they only hunt evil witches and have been focusing on that. Willow hacks into their databases and discovers that the order to get them came from the highest levels and their names were mentioned specifically in the order, but were ordered to be removed when field agents got the assignment. She discover that the request to have them “bagged and tagged” came from Morgan, the leader of the Witches Committee.

Notes:
Lot going on here. Robin of course is Robin Sena from Witch Hunter Robin. I had been wanting to do another assassins go after Willow and Tara episode, but only have the assassin turn sides to help them. The setting up of Amy and Beth was one of those things that came up in the writing and it fit so well I had to use it. I had plans to use them again after this, though originally this was going to be a double episode.

Robin taking out the vamps was snark on my part. The original series spent so much time and energy in the kill and here comes my guest star who can kill them WITH HER MIND! Yeah, snark.

Again we have Willow and Tara performing the finale magical spell with another witch. This time it is Robin for 3 witches, before it was the Charmed ones for 5. We still have 7 as one of magical numbers to go. Plus a binding cast by three witches (“The power of three times three”) is very powerful.

The Witches Committee sent Robin after them, feeling that Willow and Tara were not going to do what they wanted. Again more doubt on their real agenda. Did they stop them thinking they were going to close the portal and that is what they wanted, or did they try to stop them thinking the girls were going to open it up and they didn’t want that.

The astute will notice a lot of things here that later made it into the Ghosts of Albion rules. Obviously the Battle Arcane (“Magical Duels”), magical dodges, philosophies got their start here, and the spell “Barrier Reduction Bolt”. This is also where the primary offensive spells “Azure Wave” and “Energy Dart” came from.

I brought in Amy, Beth and succubi, and really underused them all. I only had vauge stats for succubi since I didn’t see them as combat monsters. The pairing of Amy and Succubi pleased my Tara player who had once commented that Amy was probably half-succubus anyway.
The succubi were all named after various TV critics that claimed killing Tara was a good idea back in S6.
No. We were not bitter at all. For the record they were Amy, Wendy, Wanda and Kristen (the twins), Kitty and Candy. Sure not “demonic” names, but it worked. A prize if anyone can tell me who these people were.

The main feature of this episode was though the girls had come home, this was not the same place. Their friends were gone, the places they hung out were gone, even the supernatural creatures were all gone. And to top it all off the one thing new in their lives, the “mission”, followed them home and almost killed them. The Awakening was not waiting for them.

"Hanger 61" is an homage to this alternative bar I hung out at in the late 80s, "Hanger 9", which was an airplane hanger, and this dive goth bar "611" I was at in the early 90's.

The "massive dehydration" line was an in joke.  Alyson Hannigan was doing an interview (for Jay  Leno I think) years ago where she mentioned she had worked at a video store for a while.  She talked about this customer who would come in and rent this stack of porn every morning and return them the next day for another stack.  She said she always wondered why he wasn't dehydrated or something.


Up next: What is scarier than facing vampires, demons, hell gods and ancient timeless evils??
Having your parents over to dinner to properly meet your lesbian lover.