Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG Errata and FAQ

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Corebook Errata

Sometimes mistakes happen ... no matter how long we work on a book.

These mistakes will be fixed in future printings.

page 3: Say it isn't so, not a typo in the Table of Contents. Yes, Virginia, it's true. How embarrassing! What's most surprising is that four pairs of eyes looked at "Archeytpes" and saw "Archetypes." Sigh.

page 34: The Acute/Impaired Senses Quality/Drawback should have specified that it has four (not five) versions: Eyesight, Hearing, Touch, and Smell/Taste. The Werewolf Quality on page 51 includes the last of these as a Quality – Acute Senses (Smell/Taste).

page 56: The quote under the Mr. Fix-it skill should have been attributed to 5.15 I Was Made to Love You. Also, the text should include the word "plumber," not "plummer."

page 60: In the last paragraph of the New Slayer's background, "That makes me a feel a bit better" should be "That makes me feel a bit better."

page 67: The quote for the Martial Artist should refer to "your left cheek."

page 68: The Psychic should not have the Drawback "Charisma -1." That Drawback does not exist in the BtVS RPG. It should read "Bad Luck 1 (1)."

page 80: The Former Vampire Groupie's "Criminal Acts" skill should read simply "Crime." Her Bow Shot Bonus should read 9, and the Through the Heart Bow Shot 6. Unlike Getting Medieval, her Wild Card (Archery) skill does not suffer the -2 for Bow Shot.

page 82: The Amateur Hunter's Misfit Drawback should be worth 2 points, not 1. Add in another level of Good Luck or Hard to Kill if you like. Or use the extra point to take a new Quality or increase a skill.

page 84: Buffy should have the Psychic Visions Quality.

page 88: Spike should have Languages 3 at least. He knows English, Fyarl, and either Cantonese or Mandarin (he did spend a good portion of time in China). No doubt he learned a few others during his more evil years, but we'll leave that to you to decide.

page 96: At the end of Spike's seasonal adjustment paragraph, the last few words should read "and by three each for Season Two."

page 97: In Cordelia's adjustment, her name is spelled "Coredia". That's just a pet name used by her father . . . yah, that's it . . . and . . .

page 104: In Par Example, the Cast Member should have to tie or beat a value of 14, not 16.

page 109: Slight adjustment in the last four sentences of the Break Neck maneuver:

If the total damage reduces the defender to -10 Life Points, she must pass a Survival Test (see p. 121) with an added penalty equal to the Success Levels of the Break Neck attack (in addition to any normal Survival Test modifiers; this is due to the very sensitive nature of the neck area for us normal human types). If she fails, you get that telltale crunching sound with fatal results. If the defender is a vampire and the successful attack reduces it to -10 Life Points, she has to pass a Survival Test (but no special modifiers are applied; undead aren't so sensitive–in any sense of the word). On a failure, her head is twisted off and he is dusted–gruesome but pretty impressive.

page 109: Decapitation is missing a Survival Test requirement. It should read:

Decapitation: Your basic samurai killing slash–it needs a sword, axe, or similar large scale cutting implement. Decapitation uses a Dexterity and Getting Medieval - 5 roll, or the Combat Score - 5, but damage is multiplied by five (after Success Level bonuses are added and armor effects subtracted; damage type is not applied; weapon damage is listed on p. 240). If the damage is enough to reduce the victim to -10 Life Points or less, a Survival Test is in order. If that fails, the head comes off, and the rating of the show goes up to TV-M. Flashy way to dust vampires (see p. 168).

page 113: The Wrestling Hold description is missing a roll. After the attacker succeeds with a Grapple roll, she must make a Strenght and Kung Fu -2 (or Muscle Score -2) roll. That roll provides the Success Levels for the -1 per Success Level hinderance on the defender. The Combat Maneuvers table on page 239 has it right.

page 113: Under Knockdowns, the text states that a character cannot attack for the remainder of the Turn she is knocked down. After the first Turn, the prone penalty would apply until the character got up (which would take an action normally, no action on a Dexterity and Acrobatics roll). The prone penalty on attack and defense actions is incorrect. It should be -4, not -2.

page 115: Multiple shots with a gun degrade by -1 per shot, not one Success Level per shot.

page 116: Burst fire should have specified that it can be used more than once per Turn just like multiple shots with a semi-automatic gun. Each subsequent burst loses one Success Level.

page 120: The damage for the Submachine Gun should be 12, not 9.

page 123: The text under Breaking Things should clarify that damage types (Slash/stab, Bullet, etc.) modifiers are inapplicable to inanimate objects.

page 124-125: The sample combat contains a couple of errors. Rather than trying to explain where they are, we have included a complete copy of the example with revisions.

page 156: Add Attractiveness +3 to Amy Madison's Special Abilities.

page 156: Add Attractiveness +2 to Harmony Kendall's Special Abilities.

page 158: Add Attractiveness +3 to Jenny Calendar's Special Abilities.

page 168: The vamp is entitled to a Survival Test just like anyone else before decapitation and dusting (see errata above concerning page 109).

Page 169: Brand-new vamp's Bite Score should be 14, and the damage 18.

Page 170: Vampire minion's Bite damage should be 19.

page 172: Add Attractiveness +3 to Darla's Special Abilities. Add Attractiveness +4 to Dracula's Special Abilities.

page 177: Add Attractiveness -5 to the Judge's Special Abilities.

page 178: Add Attractiveness -4 to the Sister of Jhe's Special Abilities. Add Attractiveness -6 to the Telepath Demon's Special Abilities.

page 180: The jump cite for the demon ability is wrong under the Natural Attacks heading. It should be p. 175, not p. 165.

page 181: Add Attractiveness -8 (as monster) to Ms. Natalie French's Special Abilities.

page 184: Add Attractiveness -6 (as monster) to James/Grace's Special Abilities. Add Attractiveness -4 to Daryl Epps' Special Abilities.

page 187: Add Attractiveness -3 to the Master's Special Abilities. Add Attractiveness +3 to Drusilla's Special Abilities.

page 189: Add Attractiveness +2 (as Mayor)/-8 (as monster) to the Mayor's Special Abilities. Also, his Life Points in True Demon form are understated. They should be 400.

page 190: Add Attractiveness -6 to Adam's Special Abilities. Also, his Dodge should be 24, same as his Combat Score. He often chose not to dodge, but that doesn't undermine his abilities.

page 191: Add Attractiveness +4 to Glory's Special Abilities.

page 228: The quote from 4.20 The Yoko Factor under the Mr., Mrs., and Miss heading should have been attributed to Riley, not Buffy.

page 240: The damage for the Pistol Crossbow should be 10, not 1. The damage for the Submachine Gun should be 12, not 9.

page 240: The ranges for pistols and rifles are provided on page 115. Information on which weapons use which ranges classes was omitted on the Base Damage Table notes section. It is as follows:

• Pistol ranges: Big Ass Pistol, Big Pistol, Bow, Crossbow, Pistol, Pistol Crossbow, Popgun, Shotgun, Submachine Gun, Taser Rifle
• Rifle ranges: Assault Rifle, Hunting Rifle

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Corebook FAQ

There's always questions about how things work in a roleplaying game.

Here we have collected some questions and answers that may help clarify things.

Ability Scores

Q: When using the Heroic Feat Drama Point for a +10 on the attack roll, does the +10 apply to the attack roll AND damage, or the attack roll OR damage?

A: The Heroic Feat text states: "Also, only one Heroic Feat may be performed in a Turn. It can be used either for attack, defense or damage, but not for more than one of those in one Turn." You can apply the +10 to the attack roll OR the damage amount. You can't apply it to both, and you can't spend more than one Drama Point in a Turn to affect both. You must make a choice. Sucks when folks make you do that, no?

That said, a +10 to an attack roll not only makes it more likely that the character will hit her opponent, but it also adds to the Success Levels when she does hit. That in turn adds to damage. But the damage boost is a result of a better to-hit roll, not because 10 gets added to damage. That's a different and separate use of the Heroic Feat Drama Point.

Q: I don't see how the Ability Score for Combat works. You include the average of all combat-oriented skills, but what if the Adversary doesn't have any skills in a certain area. Say I have a martial artist with Dex 6 and Kung Fu 9, but no skill in Getting Medieval or Gun Fu.

A: The proper calculation is Dex 6, combat skills 3 (9+0+0 divided by 3), plus 6, or 15. Not overwhelming, but on par with a Vamp Veteran. This is the correct way of doing things.

There is a problem here however. This Combat Score under-represents the martial artist's hand-to-hand abilities, and over-represents her gun and weapon skills. This nicely points out the problem of the "summary" Ability Scores in precisely representing characters.

One solution is that you arbitrarily set all combat skills at some level other than zero if one is of sufficient prowess. So your skill 9 Kung Fu martial artist would get a 3 in Getting Medieval and 2 in Gun Fu . . . just because. I would round up and get a Dex 6, skill bonus 5 and the "roll equivalent" of 6 for a total of 17. Not great but pretty tough.

A better solution is to create a Combat Score for Kung Fu and defense rolls (6+9+6, or 21), and use a different Combat Score for other weapons (6+0+6, or 12). This more precisely records the martial artist’s abilities. That is a variation from the rules however.

Difficulties with the calculation of Ability Scores can also be avoided by consulting the tables on p. 203. There we set out sample Ability Scores for certain types of Adversaries. Look up what you want on the charts and ignore the whole math thing.

Please remember that the Ability Scores are really only for those Supporting Cast whose precise numbers are not terrifically important. We probably shouldn’t have used them for the Big Bads in Chapter Six, but they were instructive in my view and do make it easier on the Director. If the Adversary is important enough, stat them out fully. Otherwise, the differences in the Combat and Brains Score due to imprecision shouldn’t affect the storyline too greatly.

Character Types

Q: I don't feel that the Drama Point amounts balance things out between White Hats and Heroes (particularly Slayers). Any other solutions?

A: The bottom line is that White Hats cannot be balanced with Heroes. That would distort “reality” as seen on the BtVS TV show. They can get specialties that out strip what a Hero (particularly one concentrated on combat) can do. They can also be more profligate with their Drama Points as they regain them faster.

The design intention behind the BtVS RPG was to make White Hats fun to play, despite the fact that they were not balanced against Heroes. The playtesters seemed to think we accomplished that. If your gaming crew feels differently, I recommend that they all play Heroes or Experienced Heroes.

Q: The Experience Hero Character Class says it is allowed 20 Drama Points. But the Original Cast members who are described as Experienced Heroes only have 10 Drama Points. What gives?

A: Experienced Heroes get 20 Drama Points. The Original Cast character sheets are completely made-up and not based on existing Character Type limitations in any aspect, Drama Points included.

Original Cast

Q: In 1.19 Santuary from the Angel TV show, Angel says, "Not to go all school-yard on you, but you hit me first. In case you've forgotten, you're a little bit stronger than I am." Also, when Buffy starts to pick up the Troll Hammer in 5.22 The Gift, Spike says it's way too heavy. Shouldn't Buffy's Strenght be greater than Angel's or Spike's?

A: Well, the answer for Spike is easy. The Troll Hammer has some conditions on wielding it that don't relate to Strength (more on that in the Monster Smackdown). As for the Angel comments, we'd like to present a good argument for ignoring that statement, but we're having trouble coming up with one. About the best we can say is that we weren't as proficient with our Angel lore when we created the BtVS Corebook. If you want to mirror that statement in stats, Buffy should have a Strength 9 and Angel a Strength 8. This will impact their Life Point calculations: Buffy's become 105 and Angel's change to 90. Also, on the Season Adjustments, Buffy's Strength would be 7 during Season One.

Combat

Q: Please run how defense actions work. I'm unsure how they interact with multiple action (p. 114) and the Full Defense option (p. 113).

One defense action is allowed per Turn without penalties (p. 108).

Still, when faced with a number of attacks, a defender gets a "roll" for each. The problem is that "roll" is modified (penalized) in certain circumstance (multi-actions), or equal to zero in others (see p. 114—"If a character is faced with more than one attack in a Turn, but only has one defense available (either because she is of insufficient Dexterity, or she has used or plans to use her additional actions as attacks), the undefended attacks land if the roll is nine or greater. A character without defense actions resists attacks with a zero total.")

In general, the character's one defense action allows a "roll" without penalties. Extra defense actions occur as a result of multi-actions, and suffer standard multi-action penalties. Defense "rolls" that have no action available result in zero.

The Full Defense option is then layered on top of that. As it states on p. 113:

Going fully defensive allows the character to defend against two attacks at no penalty (and against others if extra actions are available) and gives her a +3 bonus on all defensive actions.

The correct way of playing it is to apply the +3 to all available defense actions, but also apply the standard penalties for multiple actions. That means the +3 will be partially or fully offset by the negative modifiers for multiple actions (when you get past the second action per Turn). Still, the penalty is abated somewhat and that may make the difference between getting clobbered or not.

Q: When damage is given with a maximum (like with a Bow) does that maxDam include modifiers for damage type? Or is it only a maximum to the base damage?

A: The max damage indicated serves as a ceiling on the amount of effect that high Strength has. It only applied to base damage. Modifiers for Success Levels and damage type are applied on top of that, and can increase damage far beyond the max damage indicated.

Q: Slash/stab damage is doubled "against normal humans" (see BtVS Corebook, p. 117). What's the deal with other folks like Slayers, werewolves, vampires, and demons?

A: Most other creatures are affected by Slash/stab damage just as normal humans are. "If you cut me, do I not bleed?" and all that. This is particularly true for Slayer, werewolves, and vampires. There are some variations you can use for vamps and we discuss that a bit more in the Monster Smackdown supplement. In general, demons are as unhappy about sharp implements of destruction as anyone else, but it's hard to make blanket statements about demons. That's really a call for your Director.

Q. Why does a Decapitation attack do full damage even when it doesn't kill? Should it be treated more as a Through the Heart attack – it only does full multiplier damage if it kills?

A: Decapitation is meant to be a devastating attack used by highly skilled characters, with the caveat that the high penalty makes it relatively easy to defend against. Even on a "miss" (head didn't come off), having a heavy sharp object slam against one's neck at high (one might even say breakneck) speed is not going to do anybody any good. On the other hand, against creatures who are not ordinarily affected by Slash/stab weapons, the Through the Heart rule should probably apply -- if the damage with the x5 multiplier is not enough to kill, only base damage for the weapon (Strength multiplied and Success Levels) occurs. Humans clearly don't fit into this category, however, and are SOL against Decapitation manuevers.

Drama Points

Q: I'm confused by the explanation of "I Think I'm Okay." It says that your character heals "half the Life Point damage (round down) . . . taken up to that point." Then the example shows a 19 point wound going to 9 points. If you heal half (round down), shouldn't a 19 point wound go to 10 points?

A: No, the example is correct. The text could have been clearer. Those dang passive sentences -- Mrs. Pennington warned us about those in high school but we were probably daydreaming about Penny from the swim team. Anyway, when you spend a Drama Point on "I Think I'm Okay," your character immediately sets the Life Point damage she has taken to half. If that number has a .5 (point five) in it, round that off and toss it out with last year's fashions. So, if your character was down 23 Life Points out of 75 total, a Drama Point gets her to 11 Life Point short of 75.

Q: Since you can borrow against the "bank" for purposes of coming back from the dead with Drama Points (p. 128-129), and there is no limit against how many times you can do so, how can you ever have a Cast Member go down permanently?

A: The original intent of this rule was to allow a beloved character to return even if the players were deep into a Season or Series, and thus Drama Points were at a premium. Indeed, it's at this point that you really want characters to be able to return. You have invested a lot into them by that time and hate to see them killed.

Still, your comment is telling. A suicidal character can abuse the system and essentially make herself invulnerable. Still, it costs 10 Drama Points to come back in the same Episode, or 5 in the next, even a White Hat is going to run out of positive points quickly. Four or so deaths is going to put her into a negative Drama Point hole that she probably cannot recover from given normal Drama Point awards. As long as the Director allows the player to keep accumulating negative Drama Points, this practice can go on forever.

The simplest solution is to disallow negative Drama Points past a certain level. We hesitate to set that at anything specific because the demands of the story and the politics of the gaming group will vary widely. I would say that anything below -20 is probably abusive however.

Experience Points

Q: How many experience points does it take to add a new quality? To improve a quality? To reduce/remove a drawback?

A: We address changing Qualities and Drawbacks on page 133 of the Corebook, but obviously we didn't make it real clear on cost. Basically, the point cost of new or improved Qualities remains the same after character creation. "Buying off" Drawbacks costs the same as the point you got when you first took the Drawback. Many have commented that this seems too easy. That's because the true restriction on changing Qualities and Drawbacks after character creation is the storyline. Your character shouldn't be able to wake up one morning and gain Situational Awareness or Photographic Memory, or not have a crippled leg, or lose her talentlessness. We provide a list of Qualities that might be gained using experience points but even then, there should be a darn good reason for that happening, and it should be something that develops over time in the story. Ultimately, it's the Director's call whether it happens at all and is not something that should be governed solely by experience point expenditure.

Guns

Q: As far as I can tell, under Buffy rules, guns are more amusing toys than deadly weapons, sort of like the Feng Shui game. I've tried every combination I can think of to simulate Warren shooting Buffy, and every one ends with Warren a red spot on the ground and Buffy walking away. Unless of course you use Drama Points . . .

A: In the normal course of things, it would be hard for Warren to put Buffy in the hospital with a pistol. My only response is that the close of 6.19 Seeing Red is as far from the normal course as can be. That entire scene was a scriptwriters' creation in order to set up the last three episodes of the season. Taking Buffy out of action, and more importantly killing Tara, was done in a minute or two as the episode closed. As Director, I would just announce what had happened in a narrative, and give Buffy a couple of Drama Points as compensation (as per When Bad Things Happen to Good People, p. 130). Not sure how you would compensate Tara’s character tho. That just points out why her death has been so controversial.

Outside this situation, however, bullets do a bunch of damage to humans (remember the damage is doubled once it passes through armor). Also, if you strike the heart, the damage is x4. Now, it's true that you won't take out a Slayer with one bullet (except with a very large gun), and Drama Points can take much of the sting out of a gunshot wound. But that's the nature of the BtVS cinematic Unisystem. We don't want Heroes taken out with one gun shot. Where's the fun in that?.

Magic

Q: I have a question about how the telekinesis ability works. The rules say that TK lasts for one Turn, then you have to make a new roll to keep it up, at a minus. What I'm wondering is whether the new roll determines a new effective Strength for the TK (meaning that effective Strength will likely change every round that one can keep it up) or whether it's simply a "maintenance roll", and the effective Strength stays the same as long as you can keep rolling a nine or better.

A: Each Turn, a new roll must be made and the Strength of the TK ability will likely change. Aside from the standard variation due to a different roll, the general trend is downward as the modifiers stack up (-2 per Turn). TK is a fairly quirky thing. You never really know what you're going to get. Also, the power gets get weaker as it is maintained -- that was meant to represent the character getting tired as she keeps pushing her "brain muscles."

Now, an interesting rules addition would be sufficient training with TK to keep the same roll (Strength) with regular deterioration or go for a new roll, as desired by the character. Hmmm . . . not bad, not bad . . .

Monsters

Q: It's not clear what maneuver is used for natural weapon attacks, like claws. Is it just a Punch?

A: In general, the claw (or other natural attack) will be specified on the monster's Quick Sheet or just use the Combat Score. Still, we should have put in a bit more detail there. Here's the word from the Monster Smackdown on a similar subject:

Delivering damage with the natural weapon requires using a maneuver that brings it into play. So, a claw would use Punch, a horn Head Butt, and a serrated shin Kick.

Q: It's clear from the BtVS TV Show that werewolves are vulnerable to silver. Yet looking in the monster section under werewolves/primals, there is no information on that subject. What the deal there? Also, what about resistance to non-silver weapons for werewolves.

A: After careful and reasoned consideration, I can safely say "DOH!". We blew that one. We have silver rules for werecreatures on p. 35 of the WitchCraft supplement Abomination Codex. Further, 2.15 Phases clearly shows that werewolves are vulnerable to silver.

On the other hand, there is no discussion in the TV show or the RPG of werewolves having regeneration abilities. Also, it's clear that non-silver weapons will hurt werewolves. Thus, the simplest solution is to multiply the damage done by silver weapons against werewolves. You could simply quadruple silver slashing or bullet damage, or double silver bashing damage against werecreatures. Alternatively, you could use a slightly modified version of the slightly more complex Abomination Codex text:

Silver weapons inflict double normal damage (slashing and bullet weapons inflict triple damage). Silver weapons are less effective than normal metal weapons, however; subtract 3 points from any damage rolled (before the multiplying effect), to a minimum of 1 point of damage.

Ghosts

Q: For the Poltergeist ability, page 183 reads "Treat this as the Sorcery power telekinesis (see p. 143) but use the ghost's Brains Score -2 to determine how much weight it can move." Does that mean that Brains - 2 is the Strength of the telekinesis power? That makes poltergeists very strong.

A: That is not right. The Brains Score -2 is the total telekinesis roll. So whatever Success Levels are gained from the Brains Score -2 become the points of "Strength" for the telekinetic effect. Weak ghosts have weak telekinetic "Strengths;" indeed, you need a Brains Score -2 of at least nine to have any Success Levels and thus any telekinetic strength.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Revised Corebook Errata

Page 110: "It could be witches / Some evil witches! / Which is ridiculous / 'Cause witches, they were persecuted / Wicca good and love the earth / And women power / And I'll be over here." Tara, the white Wicca, was the sweetest and goodest of the Scoobies. She should definitely not be following Angel’s lead and have a Wild Card skill in Torture. That should read Horseback Riding.

Page 135: The end of the multiple actions Example Me, Baby is incorrect. The vamps have an attack total of 20 as each gains +2 to his attacks due to the multiple opponents rule immediately following the example.

Page 135: The multiple opponents rules applies fully only when the combatants are using melee attacks. In ranged combat, multiple opponents get a flat +1 bonus (no more) each if more than two attackers engage the character. Ranged combatants don’t aid each other in the same way melee attackers do.

Slayer's Handbook Errata

Sometimes mistakes happen ... no matter how long we work on a book.

These mistakes will be fixed in future printings.

page 2: Despite their fine work on the character speak section in the appendix, James and Marianne Wilber were omitted from the Additional Writers byline. Floggings will commence shortly.

page 48: The Slayer-In-Training Archetype is missing a point in Attributes. Increase her Perception from 2 to 3.

page 116: The Grim Slayer's Attributes are too high (she spent 27 Attribute Points). Her Willpower should be 4. That brings her within the Experienced Hero limit of 25.

page 118: The Road Warrior is trying to keep up with the Grim Slayer and also overspent on Attributes. His Willpower should be 3.

page 122: We discuss how Dale's Attributes get augmented by his "He-Slayer" abilities, but we don't specify what the He-Slayer bonuses do for another character, such as a Cast Member. The easiest solution is just to add the Slayer Quality to whoever is chosen to be the He-Slayer. Alternatively, a Director could follow our lead with Dale and enchance the He-Slayer's physical Attributes but not his mental ones.

page 135: The citation "3.22 The Graduation - Part Two" should read "3.22 Graduation Day - Part Two."

page 153: The table entry for the Fire Rod should cite page 100, not page 99.

Monster Smackdown Errata

Sometimes mistakes happen ... no matter how long we work on a book.

These mistakes will be fixed in future printings.

page 31: It seems we mess up our substitute names with our memorials when it comes to the undead. The Master was an "epithet" not an "epitaph".

page 62: Two jump cites are missing. The first is "the Hellmouth Spawn (see p. 104)". The second is "Chapter Six: Monster Spawning (see p. 139)." Must be something about the "spawn" word.

page 77: The first sentence of the last paragraph should read "Ethan is not a Sorcerer in the black-eyes-magic-sense, but he is a talented magician". That pesky "not" is missing.

page 90: Again, Dracula is an "epithet" not an "epitaph."

page 139: The Zombie Quality is missing some material. Zombies regenerate at a rate of Constitution points per minute, and can reattach severed parts (other than the head). Bullet and Slash/stab damage modifiers are not applicable (all damage is treated as Bash type). Zombies also don't age.

A Zombie's regeneration is not perfect. Life Points are replaced but the process is not completely aethetic. Over time, the body parts start to wear out. Superglue, masking tap, and Zip-it are needed to keep the zombie from looking completely trashed. Even so, after a certain number of pitched battles, injury and dismemberment, there's no way the zombie can pass himself off as "normal."

The Magic Box Errata

Sometimes mistakes happen ... no matter how long we work on a book.

These mistakes will be fixed in future printings.

p. 17: In the second paragraph of Orders as Allies "is that is isn't obvious" should read "is that it isn't obvious".

p. 21: Dark Willow should have Magic (Power Boost I) 20, Magic (Power Boost II) 24, and Magic (Power Boost III) 37 added to her Combat Maneuvers.

p. 24: On Rack's Quick Sheet, the missing page reference should be 53. It's correctly stated in the accompanying text.

p. 44: Addicted Willow should have Magic (Power Boost) 20 added to her Combat Maneuvers.

p. 44: Willow should have the Telepathy Quality.

p. 45: Tara's Honorable (Serious) feature should be listed as a Drawback, not a Quality.

p. 46: Giles' Magic (Power Boost) Combat Manuever should be 26, not 18.

p. 47: Amy should have Magic (Power Boost) 19 added to her Combat Maneuvers.

p. 73: The Summon Draconian Katra spell should have "may be Quick Cast (+1)" in its Aspect Analysis. Its Power Level should be 5.

p. 76: The source for False Resurrection should be 5.17 Forever.

p. 77: In Season Seven, we see Willow use an energy barrier spell without Tara. Thus, another version of this spell exists that does not require dual casters. The Power Level of this version is 8.

p. 85: The source for the glove of Mynhegon should be 3.7 Revelations.

p. 120: The second paragraph under Tao-Chi should read "Ignore Essence costs listed; instead, use the multiple castings rule from the BtVS Corebook (see p. 140) but lower the resting period to two minutes. For Inner Strength and Speed of the Tiger, each Success Level gives the user +1 to the appropriate Attribute."

The Magic Box FAQ

There's always questions about how things work in a roleplaying game.

Here we have collected some questions and answers that may help clarify things.

Q: If a character starts the game with the Enchanted/Superscience Item Quality, how do you determine the success levels that went into its creation? Just GM's call?

A: As a default, I would say Success Levels equal Power Level. That's what's needed to make the item successfully and it fits the cost structure (2 points per Power Level) nicely. A secondary question would be what is the Willpower level of the creator. I would say at least four, just because enchanters/superscientists tend to be pretty strong willed. Other than that it's basically a Director's judgment call.

Q: What Power Levels would be appropriate for what levels of armor provided by Enchanting/Superscience?

A: I would equate it to the damage allocation. A Power Level Two enchanted armor would deflect an additional Willpower per Success Level damage points over what it normally does. Power Level Three would defect an additional twice Willpower per Success Level, and so on.

Angel Corebook Errata

Sometimes mistakes happen ... no matter how long we work on a book.

These mistakes will be fixed in future printings.

page 2: Well, they say no good dead goes unpunished and we are hard copy proof. For all the great help provided by the Kristana and the folks at City of Angel.com, we managed to transpose the last two letters of their URL in our special thanks section. It should read www.cityofangel.com.

page 46: The Resistance (Pain) Quality does not affect Survival Tests as the text suggests. It does reduce the penalties due to severe wounding (imposed when a character is reduced to ten and five Life Points), and aids in Consciousness Tests (see p. 133).

page 72: The Barbarian Queen's Demon Hunter Quality should cost 4 points. That leaves an extra Drawback point available which could be spent on skills (raising Notice to 5).

page 76: The Crusading Biker's Demon Hunter Quality should cost 4 points. That leaves an extra point which could be spent on a Resistance (Pain) 1 Quality.

page 86: The Pyro Girl got shortchanged on skills points by 5 (should be 30 + 4 from Drawbacks). Raise her Acrobatics to 4, Crime to 4, Mr. Fix-it to 1, and Notice to 5. Also, Mr. Fix-it has a typo.

page 135: The text under Breaking Things should clarify that damage types (Slash/stab, Bullet, etc.) modifiers are inapplicable to inanimate objects.

page 144: The cost of improving Attributes is understated. It should be "five points per level or DOUBLE the cost of the next Attribute." Thus, raising an Attribute from one to two costs five points; raising an Attribute from five to six costs twelve points.

page 180: Anne's Quick Sheet should list her last name as "Steele." In our defense, we did get it right in the descriptive paragraph above the Quick Sheet (besides consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, right? . . . right?).

page 204: The "Connor" Half-Demon Quality is too cheap. The Supernatural Senses Quality should be six points (three for Hearing and three for Smell), and the total package 23 points.

page 216: The "Experienced Champions" reference in A Gathering of Champions should be "Veterans" instead.