Of Kids and Canon: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Two

If you missed the interview on Season One, check it out here....

So it took quite a long time, but we finally got through all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Two.  There were a lot more episodes than in Season One obviously, but the quality is definitely better, so thankfully my own attitude was more "Wait til you see this one," and less apologizing and saying "It gets better" the whole time.  Anyway, on to the post-game commentary...

Me:  So tell me what you thought of the second season of Buffy.
R:  It was awesome and cool and amazing and I really liked it and I thought it was awesome.

The surprising "big bad" of Season Two?
British soccer hooligans...

Me:  How was it different from Season One?
R:  Because Angel turned bad, and there's just different things that they're doing and things that are worse than the Master coming at Buffy and I just think that's super cool.

Me:  Like what?
R:  Like how Angel turned bad.  That was actually worse than the Master.  And Spike was worse than the Master.  But it's all like changing as it goes along, because Spike is bad the whole time, and he just wont go away, and also like in the last episode he's trying to save the world with Buffy.  So there's a lot of different changes and stuff that I really like.

Me:  So it wasn't too confusing how fluid everything was?
R:  No, not at all.  It was more awesome than weird.  And its also a little sad, because lots of people died and Miss Calendar died.

What's the worst that could possibly happen?

Me:  So was that the worst part of the season for you?
R:  Yeah, the saddest parts were the worst part for me.

Me:  What was your favorite part?
R:  The whole season was my favorite part.  I didn't really have one.  But I liked Season 2 better than Season 1, that's all I would say.

Me:  Did you have a favorite episode?
R:  Well I think the last one ("Becoming") is a little bit sad and a little bit fun and a little bit unfun all at the same time, so I think that one's the favorite.

Me:  So Buffy left town at the end of the last episode.  What do you think is going to happen to her next and what's going to happen in Season 3?

"Thank you!  Thank you!  I'm here all week!  Try the stake!"

R:  Maybe other vampires are going after her and maybe she goes to a different school library and it ends up Giles moves to that library too.  So there's other different sound effects in there too that I really might like.  But we don't know what happens until it does happen.

Me:  Do you think Sunnydale is worse off now or better off?
R:  Worse off because Buffy wont be there to protect that school.   She'll be protecting other places not there.

Me:  So it was awesome when Angel turned evil, right?
R:  Not super but it was pretty cool.

Tony Fleecs rules

Me:  And the part where she stabbed him at the end, that was like extra cool right?
R:  No, it was SAD.
And not funny.  AT ALL.

Me:  I'll have to take your word for that.  So who's cooler right now, Angel or Spike?
R:  I think Spike because hes always been bad and the last episode hes just like "Buffy, I want to save the world with you... blah blah blah blah blah".  

Me:  Ok, fistbump for Team Spike.

*bump*

Me:  What did you think about the non-vampire-y monsters?
R:  Awesome.  

Me:  Did you have a favorite villain that wasn't a vamp?
R:  I think it would be the werewolf because it turns out to be Oz and that's super awesome I think.  So I would vote for the werewolf.

TWIST!  It wasn't the dingoes, baby!

Me:  That's right, because you predicted in our last interview that Willow would die this season - where not only did she not die, but she got a boyfriend.  How did you feel about that?
R:  Good.

Me:  Is Oz cooler than Spike?
R:  Oh yeah.  He's in a band and everything.  But I love that Spike in the last episode just lies and says he's in a band and Buffy does the drums.  That's just funny and I love that part.

Me:  How do you feel about The Judge?
R:  Really cool and funny.  You know...  "What's that do?"  (Unintelligible laughter)

The inherent risks of omakase dining writ large

Me:  Fish people monsters?
R:  Funny

Me:  Lovelost ghosts?
R:  Sad and cool

Me:  People turning into their Halloween costumes?
R:  First I thought it was awesome but once I saw that (Ethan Rayne) was behind it I was a little freaked out.  Like how could he do that?

Me:  What did you think about Xander and Cordelia?
R:  Freaky crazy!  Who would have thought of them as a couple?

"Outpunting one's coverage":  Exhibit A

Me:  Were you mad about it like Willow was?
R:  I was a little mad about it like Willow.

Me:  How about Kendra the Vampire Slayer?
R:  I thought she was really cool but I didnt know there was going to be two slayers.  But when EVERY slayer dies a new one comes.

Me:  Principal Snyder?
R:  Not cool.  But I think its funny how in the last ep he gets all mad at Buffy but she just pulls out the sword and he's like "Uh...   I'll stop talking.."

Me:  Do you think he could be the villain in Season Three?
R:  Maybe.  It's possible he can try to kill Buffy with how much he doesn't like her...

Me:  Do you have any predictions for Season 3 before we start watching it?
R:  No I don't think yet.  Maybe next time I'll have a prediction for Season 4.  Maybe the next villain will be a werewolf-vampire?

Me:  Thanks!

It gets better.  Except for gym class.

Of Kids and Canon: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season One

One of the joys of being a geek is being able to spread the revolution.  That is to say, it's an immensely satisfying experience (usually) to share something you love and dig with someone coming to it with new eyes. You can share the word about something you dig on, as well as vicariously re-experience the thrill of seeing it for the first time yourself through that person.  Being a geek parent is an even more special case.  As I experienced a year or so ago when my daughter flat out told me not to worry that Vader was lying about being Luke's dad, because he's just too mean, watching beloved media for the first time with a junior geek-in-training can be a particularly rewarding way to experience things you know backwards and forwards with a fresh and clearer perspective.   As such, in the interests of posterity, I plan to use this particular series of posts to document, as well as I can, the passing of the torch to a new generation.

So a little while ago, I decided to break my 6 year old daughter's regular entertainment diet of Doctor Who, Spongebob and My Little Pony to introduce her for the first time to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season One.  She's definitely taking on more and more complex and ambiguous material already, as far as I can tell, and my hope is that she's old enough now to recognize Buffy as a truly badass role model of sorts, and also that the show can serve as an intro to a later discussion of all things Whedon-y as she gets older. Plus we have seven seasons to work with, so it should occupy her for at least, what, a month?

While the first hour was a bit wobbly and hit/miss (but let's face it, so is the pilot, am I right?), she definitely dug the premise and quickly demanded more.  We blasted through the three Season One discs in just under two weeks, between homework and trips to the park, and in the brief pause after the Season Finale (before I was emotionally bludgeoned into getting out the Season Two discs asap), I managed to document the following thoughts and opinions on what we had just come through...

Me:  So did you like BtVS?
R: Ohhhh yeah.

Me:  What did you like about it?
R:  That there were like vampires and stuff.  Cause I think like vampires and like zombies and stuff like that is cool.

Me:  What was your favorite part of all the episodes we watched?

Oh HELL no.  Go to your room til you're 27.

R:  In the episode "Angel" it was really weird, 'cause Angel hasn't been seen as a vampire by Buffy before, but then they just kiss, and then they stop kissing and he's like a vampire, so I don't get how that works.  Is it like whenever he kisses a girl he starts looking that way?  I don't get it.  But I really liked that part.

Me:  I think it might just be a high school thing.  Do you think any boys you kiss in high school will turn into monsters like that?
R:  I don't think so.  But if they did, it would be really cool.

Me:  What was your least favorite part?
R:  I don't really know one.  I thought it was all cool.

Me:  Do you have a most favorite or least favorite character?
R:  My most favorite is Giles.  It's so funny how in the last episode, Buffy just goes, "huh" and he just goes "huh", you know?

Me:  Sure.  I thought Cordelia was pretty mean this season.  Now that she helped them fight off the vampires in the last episode though, do you think she's going to join the "Scooby gang" and be nice now, or just go back to the way it was before and keep being mean?

Master?  Master of needing moisturizer maybe...

R:  She's probably going to keep being mean because at the very end, one of her boyfriend peoples was asking if she was hanging out with them and she was like "Nooooo."

Me:  If you had to take a guess what sorts of things would happen in Season Two, what would you guess?
R:  That even more hard stuff to fight than the Master is coming up.

Me:  Did you think the Master was a scary villain?
R:  No.  He was kind of boring.  But the scariest monster...  I can't remember what the episode was called... was the invisible girl.  Stuff that scares me too much are things I start thinking it's real and I try to be really quiet when I'm alone and stuff.

Me:  So if you were going to join the "Scooby gang", which way would you most want to help out?  Be a cool kick butt girl who fights things, be someone who knows a bunch of languages and can read a lot of old books, be someone who knows tons about computers, or be the one who says funny things?
R:  Be a girl who kicks butt.  Cause I'm really good at fighting.  So good I'm like a ninja.  So it's like...  (a demonstration of punches and high kicks ensues here).

Velma, Daphne, Scooby, Shaggy and Fred in repose

Me:  Are you taking any tips from Buffy's moves?
R:  Yeah, that's how I learned to do that flippy thing on my bed.  I was trying to practice how Buffy was doing it.  You know how in that first episode of all the seasons, it's the first time you see that girl vampire (Darla), and you know how they were in that ancient thingy, and there was that thing in the middle that she like flipped over and stuff?  So I learned that from her.

Me:  So are you excited for Season Two?
R:  Yeah, I think it's gonna be way better.  Like I said, there may be monsters that are more powerful than vampires and monsters that are more powerful than the Master that they have to fight.

Me:  Do you think anyone is going to die in Season Two?  Any of the good guys?

Really.  We're not blaming her or anything.

R:  Maybe.  Maybe at least one.  Cause I don't remember which episode it was in... ("Prophecy Girl") but remember when all those guys were watching a little tv show thing and then they were all dead?  Many people have died in the first season...

Me:  So of all the good guys...  We'll say Buffy and Giles and Xander and Willow, and Miss Calendar and Cordelia... and Buffy's Mom and Angel.  If one was going to die next season, which is your bet?  If any... Maybe none of them will.
R:  It would probably be Willow, cause she like never fights.  She like mostly is like "Uhhh, I should stay inside" or "Mmm, I just don't want to fight tonight guys".  And then she just doesn't do it.  I think she's kinda scared to do it.  I don't blame her... It's kinda scary to fight monsters you don't even know.

Me:  Alright, well - we'll see how it goes.  Thank you!

ASSAULT ON EQUESTRIA!

A few months ago, I attended GaryCon down in Lake Geneva WI, and while I was there, I picked up issue number one of Gygax magazine. For those who haven't seen it, it looks very much like a retro clone version of the old Dragon magazine, and I appreciated the lengths to which they went to bring home the feeling of picking one of those old copies off-the-shelf.

After finally reading it through a month or so later though, the content within didn't really quite live up to the hype or the hope.  Most of the articles seem to be reminisces or celebrations of grognardia (and not in the good way). One article in particular as I recall was about "putting the magic back in magic" which basically amounts to ways to ensure the wizard in your party has even less fun on game night by making his abilities only work randomly about half the time - and such other fun ideas that treat game balance as a foe of imaginative roleplay.  Oy.

One article that did catch my imagination though was titled "DMing for your Toddler" by Cory Doctorow, in which the author essentially describes his efforts to set up a battle using his plastic pre-painted minis and some of his daughters' stuffed animals.  The premise of a simple to understand rule set, using the items already at hand which your child wants to play with struck a big chord with me and I had been thinking on it ever since.

My daughter R. and I discussed it for a while and kicked around some ideas and finally one recent Saturday we were prepared to undergo our first attempt at, "ASSAULT ON EQUESTRIA!"

To begin with, we assembled teams.  She used eight of her ponies, including the core 6, Princess Celestia and Miss Cherilee.  I gave her the choice of defending her castle, or trying to recover it post-invasion.  She chose to defend.  (Even at age 5, she displays a level of tactical genius which G.A. Custer could perhaps have used a smidge more of...)

In This Corner...

As the attacker, I selected six of my DDM dragon minis, including a wyvern.  The non-wyvern dragons all naturally had dragon breath as a weapon option.  I thought my experience and the advantage in having more ranged attackers and fast movement for all of my "troops" would offset my numerical disadvantage.

The evil invaders

The ruleset was as follows...  We would each act in turns.  On a turn, each member of a team would choose either to move, fight, or use a magical ability.  Every character was assumed to have 8 stamina, which when reduced to 0 would result in them being knocked out.  We used pennies by each figure to keep track of damage (but only after they actually did get damaged).

Movement rate was determined by rolling a d12 each time and moving up to that many inches.  For having wings, we allowed the pegasi, Princess Celestia and all the dragons to add two inches to their movement rolls.

Let slip the ponies of war!

Fighting consisted of a melee attack and was an auto-hit situation as long as one was reasonably adjacent to the target.  Just roll 1d6 damage, except in the case of the wyvern (which had a stinger instead of dragon breath) and the extra-tough earth ponies (who needed something to offset the lack of wings or magic).  These could all roll 1d8 damage in melee.

Next to be addressed were the magical abilities, used by the unicorns and Princess Celestia.  I followed the suggestions in the article and initially we agreed on two spells, fireball and "zap" (or magic missile).  The theory was that fireball was easier to hit with but did less damage than zap.  In reality though, fireball was never used, and we ended up using the zap guidelines exclusively for any magical attack, as well as for dragon breath.  To do damage, we first needed to hit on a d20 attack roll, throwing greater than or equal to the target's range in inches.  A hit did 1d6 damage.

Lastly, the magic users could choose to spend an action healing other characters.  This could be done at any range and restored 1d4 stamina.  We didn't keep track of negatives; once a pony or dragon hit 0 they just fell over and we took the pennies away.  So waking up knocked out characters was easy.  I chose two of my six dragons as captains who would also have this healing ability.

As with most minis games, the first couple of turns moved slowly while I crossed the open plain approaching the castle.  I thought she was in trouble when she forsook her defensive advantage to rush out of the front gate and meet me head on.  But that assessment was dashed once my front line got a face full of Applejack and Pinkie Pie...

Pinkie Pie takes the fight to the wyvern

In retrospect, R. was quite in the right to blunt my advance with melee fighters while keeping her casters up on the castle ramparts.  Blind luck or masterful strategy, it kept me acting on the defensive, in spite of my role as aggressor.  Also, the disparity in numbers was a lot heavier in practice than originally anticipated, and once dragons started dropping, the shrinking economy of action limited my available options dramatically.  By contrast, whenever I landed a shot lucky enough to fell a pony, it was not difficult at her at all to find a spare unicorn to heal her right back up the next turn.

Long story short, I got my butt handed to me big time and R. is raring to go for another round asap.  I think next time we will look to set up better number parity (sorry, Miss Cheerilee) and will simplify the magic options and rules a bit, cutting the chaff we didn't bother to use.   

Additionally, I would love to have some better ideas for scenarios or storylines we can add to mix up the games and make them not become a monotonous dice-rolling exercise.  Maybe a rescue or a capture the flag type plot for next time?  Or once the dragons become passe, maybe I should assemble an army of elementals, demons or goblins or the like. 

The beginning of the end for the legion of wyrms...