Angel RPG - Eden Studios, Ability Theft

Angel is based on the Buffy spin off. It deals with a vampire who has a soul  and the support cast. Most of the support cast came from either full time roles on Buffy or part time roles that caught on and go expanded upon.

The game system used in Angel is the same as that which is used in the Buffy  RPG. Both are published by Eden Studios who publish a number of other notable games in the horror line including All Flesh Must Be Eaten,  Witchcraft, and Conspiracy X. The book is written by C.J. Carella who has a  fair following amongst gamers.

The book is well designed and features many instances of full color art. This  makes it a game that will attract the Angel (and Buffy) fans even if they are  not drawn to other games in general. I for one am a huge fan of any book that  features full color, or any pictures for that matter, of Charisma Carpenter. 

The book clocks in at 256 pages and in addition to the rules for the game it  contains a starting adventure to help get the Director started. The book also  features a glossary that will help the Director with the lingo and  terminology that is in many cases unique to the TV series.

This is a book I am not sure i would of bought if I had not been a fan of  Angel and Buffy. If I had not been a fan it would have been a loss on two  fronts. First the TV show side and then the games. They are both well done  and can be used for material outside the licensed properties.

Spell:

Ability Theft

Level: Fourth
Range: Touch
Duration: Special
Ares Effect: Creature Touched
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 4 Segments
Saving Throw: None

When this spell is used the magic user steals the desired ability from the  victim/recipient of the spell. The person they are sealing the ability from  must be physically touched by the caster. If the victim is aware of what is  going on and is unwilling then the caster must make a successful To Hit roll.

The ability that is stolen may be one that innate because of the victims  race, class or any other reason. The caster could choose to steal the ability  to cast spells (from which they gain no benefit), pick locks or the monks  Quivering Palm. They could steal a dwarf's ability to detect depth and grade  or an elfs resistance to to sleep. The could even steal a demon's magic  resistance, infravision or a gnomes ability to speak with burrowing mammals.

The duration of the theft will be based on how the ability that is stolen is  going to be utilized by the caster once it is stolen. If the ability is  utilized after it is stolen then the theft will last four rounds plus an  additional 2D4 rounds. If the ability is simply stolen and not utilized then  the ability is stolen for a flat two turns.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups  last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology  may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I  did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any  duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :)  Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If  anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in  advance and all I ask is proper credit.