Highlander PDF

There Can Be Only OneSecond EditionBy Jason Vey

Writer, Director, Producer…heck, even Gaffer and Key Grip: Jason VeyArt: Varied and sundry (yet talented) photographers and camera people.All non-proprietary material in this document is copyright © Jason Vey, 2003. This workis in the public domain and may be distributed freely, so long as all copyright info (i.e.this page) remains intact.Use of these rules requires the Buffy the Vampire Slayer® or Beyond Human CoreRulebooks, published by Eden Studios, Inc. Full copyright information can be found atthe bottom of this page.This work is respectfully dedicated to all the Unisystem Fans out there, and to C.J.Carella, Alex Jurkat, and George Vasilikos, without whom we wouldn’t be enjoying theUnisystem today!WitchCraft and The Unisystem are copyright © and Trademark CJ Carella and Eden Studios, 1996-2002, published under exclusive license by Eden Studios.The WitchCraft and Unisystem trademarks are used without Mr. Carella's or Eden Studios' express permission and neither of those parties is responsible for thecontent of this publication.BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL ©2002 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The Buffy the VampireSlayer and Angel trademarks are used without express permission from Fox, and no challenge to Fox’s ownership of these trademarks isintended.HIGHLANDER ©2003 Panzer/Davis Productions. All Rights Reserved. The Highlander trademark is used without express permission fromPanzer/Davis, and no challenge to Panzer/Davis Productions’ ownership of this trademark is intended.

Table of ContentsDesigner’s Preface ........................................................................ 3Introduction ............................................................................... 3The World of Highlander .............................................................. 4Immortals..................................................................................5The Watchers ............................................................................6The Hunters ..............................................................................6The Sanctuary............................................................................7The Mood of Highlander............................................................... 7The Rules of the Game................................................................7Holy Ground ..........................................................................7Rules of Engagement ................................................................8Weaponry...............................................................................8Playing the Game......................................................................... 8Qualities and Drawbacks ............................................................. 10The Quickening......................................................................... 12Quickening Powers..................................................................... 13Losing Your Head ...................................................................... 14Decapitation ............................................................................15Yielding the Battle ....................................................................16There Can Be Only One............................................................16Complications ..........................................................................17Crossovers................................................................................ 172

Designerùs PrefaceMethos: “I spent years losing myconscience, only for him to go and find itagain.”Methos, 4:21, “Judgment Day”The rules you now hold in your hand are therevised second edition of the Highlander Unisystemrules, updated with the release of the AngelRoleplaying Game and the wonderful supernaturalcreation rules therein. I’ve also revamped theQuickening rules to better reflect my own vision ofhow the Quickening works and taking fancomments into account. This also results in aslightly powered-down version of the Immortals,and ones that could possibly be run alongsideother characters in a standard Buffy or Angelcampaign. Unfortunately, you now need the AngelCore Rulebook to get the most out of these rules,rather than the Buffy the Vampire Slayer CoreRulebook, but hopefully it works out for the best.So sit back, roll the dice, and Enjoy! Oh, anddon’t lose your head.-Jason Vey, April 20043IntroductionRamirez: From the dawn of time we came,moving silently down through the centuries,living many secret lives; struggling to reach thetime of the Gathering, when the few whoremain will battle to the last. No one has everknown we were among you…until now.-Ramirez, HighanderThe Highlander mythology and universe wasunleashed upon the world in 1985. Originally ascript turned in by fledgling writer/directorGregory Widen as a final project in film school,this epic tale of immortal beings traveling throughtime, untouched by age and disease and driven tobattle for a mysterious Prize that will, legend has it,bestow godlike powers to the victor, touchedmillions. Highlander is the story of ConnorMacLeod, a young warrior in a Scottish town in1536. After suffering a wound on the battlefield,Connor makes a miraculous recovery that leadshis village to accuse him of witchcraft and banishhim. Five years later, a stranger shows up at hisdoorstep, claiming that he, like Connor, is immortaland there to teach Connor just what it means to bewhat he is. Connor must learn to fight, because allof his kind are driven to battle to the death inpursuit of a mystical energy called theQuickening. When one single Immortal hasgathered into him all of the Quickening from everyImmortal who has ever lived, he will win the Prize,a mysterious, godlike, and never truly quantifiedpower over all mankind. While disease and agecan never touch Connor, he is susceptible to onetype of injury. If he is decapitated, he dies andloses his Quickening—all of his knowledge andpower, and everything that he is. Connor travelsdown through the centuries to 1985, havingadventures along the way. In the end, Connordefeats his arch nemesis, the Kurgan, and appearsto win the Prize (though we are shown in laterfilms and the series that this is not the case).The film was an underground success, andeven more so when it reached the home videomarket, and in 1991, a sequel was released. This

sequel is universally considered to be vastlyinferior to the original, and even the producershave dismissed it as “non-canon.” The franchise,however, was off and running, and in the era oflow-budget action mythology TV, a televisionseries was inevitability. In 1992 the producers triedagain with Highlander: the Series, departing from themotion picture canon and taking up tales of a newImmortal, named Duncan MacLeod, a distantrelative who was 100 years younger than Connor,who had a similar origin story and who was in facttaught the ways of his kind by the original film’sprotagonist. The series was enough of a success tomerit another stab at a film, and in 1994 Highlander:the Final Dimension hit theaters. The third film in thefranchise did attempt to stay within the filmcontinuity rather than that of the television series,and this time the filmmakers managed to produce alegitimate, if still inferior to the original, sequel. Thetelevision series ran for seven seasons and wasvery much a success, spawning a single-seasonspinoff series entitled Highlander: the Raven. In2000 the producers finally crossed the seriestimeline into theaters with Highlander: Endgame.Just how good that film was is a subject of somedebate among fans, but regardless, a fifth film is inproduction and the legacy of the Highlander liveson. The films and television series have in theyears that followed become a culturalphenomenon, and there have been several failedattempts at role playing games since then, as wellas a slew of Internet rules for various systems (mypersonal favorite was that written by JohnGavigan and Hank Driskill for the White WolfStoryteller system.)The Unisystem, particularly the “Lite” or“Cinematic” version, is ripe for the handling of theHighlander Mythos and is just aching for a netsupplement. Internet searches have turned upseveral advertised sets of rules, but have almostuniversally yielded broken links. Thus, for part twoof our Cross-Genre Action Netbook, we turn to themythology of the Highlander universe. Andremember: in the end…there can be only one.The World of HighlanderDuncan: "So after 5,000 years, your onlysolution is that I kill you?"Methos: "He can beat me. He might beat you.He can't beat both of us."Duncan: "If it's that simple, why don't you takemy head?"Methos: "Because it's not just a matter of whois the best fighter. It is about passion, and hate.I don't have the fire. You do. You want Kalas.(reaches down lifts Duncan’s sword and pressesit to his throat.) Live, Highlander, growstronger. Fight another day.”Duncan and Methos, 3:16, MethosAs with many Gothic action franchises, theworld of Highlander is very similar to our own;more similar, in fact, than most franchises withinthe genre. One generally does not see monsters orsupernatural creatures other than the Immortalsthemselves within a Highlander tale, althoughmagic and demons have been shown to exist. TheHighlander mythos is set in a world of fast cars,high buildings, corporate executives, internationaldiplomats, world traveling…it’s James Bond meetsmagic and mysticism. Your Immortal characterswill soon become world travelers, if they aren’talready as established by their background.Immortals come from every walk of life, and so4

and ailments (though not missing limbs) will becured, and the Immortal will be in the peak ofhealth.If the new Immortal is lucky, another Immortalwho has a good heart will find them and teachthem about what they are and the Rules of theGame. If they’re incredibly unlucky, an Immortalwhose intentions aren’t so pure will find them first,and their Immortal existence may not last for verylong. There are those who learn what they need toknow through experience, but these are certainlynot the longest lived members of their species.The WatchersDuncan: "For thousandsof years Immortals havefought, and Watchershave observed. One day,there'll only be one of usleft, and someday maybenone at all. Somebody has to record that we'velived, somebody has to record the history thatwe've seen and the lessons we've learned.Someone who feels, someone who knows.Someone who has honor, like you."Duncan, 5:2, End of InnocenceOne important theme to keep in mind whenpresenting the world of Highlander is that of secrets.Immortals must keep their identities secret, lest theworld find out and hunt them out of fear. Inaddition, there are secret societies lurking aroundevery corner. The most important of these secretsocieties, of course, are the Watchers. Watchers inHighlander are a secret society of mortal men andwomen who know the secret of the Immortals, butwho themselves are unknown to the world atlarge, and even to the vast majority of the Immortalpopulation. Watchers observe the Immortals, andrecord their exploits for posterity, out of the firmbelief that the experiences of these extraordinarymen and women should be retained for allposterity, should not be lost when their heads fallfrom their shoulders. Thus, throughout history eachidentified Immortal has had a mortal assigned toobserve and record his exploits, but never tointerfere with his progress. Every Watcher takes asacred vow to observe and record, but to neverinterfere. On occasion, Watchers have broken thisvow and befriended Immortals; Joe Dawson isperhaps the most notable among them due to hisfriendship with Duncan MacLeod, and his violationof his vows led to him being put on trial by theWatchers, with his very life in the balance.Eventually, he was exonerated due to theappearance of Adam Pierson (actually the ancientImmortal Methos, disguised as a Watcherresearcher) with an antique diary thatdemonstrated just how friendship betweenWatchers and Immortals could be beneficial. Thetrial led to some serious tension between Joe andDuncan, and Joe eventually quit the Watchers,only to rejoin at MacLeod’s behest. The Watchersare trench coats, dark glasses, and secretmeetings, but as Joe says in the series, “it wasnever meant to be that way.” Indeed, it eventuallycame to light that the Watchers were secretlyfounded by the Immortal Methos, and have servedtheir purpose for thousands of years. It is onlyrecently that said purpose has become muddledand blurry due to the self-importance of certainleading members of the organization.Unfortunately, some Watchers decide thatfate can’t be left to the Immortals. There are splintergroups of the organization that attempt to takematters into their own hands. Perhaps the mostdangerous of these splinter groups are the Hunters.The HuntersThe Hunters, founded by an evil man namedJames Horton, have decided that all immortals areabominations to be tracked down and destroyed.All former Watchers themselves, they stole copiesof all of the Watchers’ files and journals, andbegan a campaign of slaughter that left dozens ofImmortals dead behind, their Quickening scatteredto the ether. Among those murdered was Darius, aFranciscan monk who was a father figure toDuncan. Duncan set out on a quest to avenge hisfriend, and the Hunters were crippled when Hortondied at MacLeod’s hand, but while they are in6

disarray, they are still out there, and any Immortalthat comes into contact with a Hunter is bestadvised to run for her life, for the Hunters give noquarter and are not bound by the Rules of theGame.The SanctuaryMethos: “You know a little about Buddhistmonks. Some of them come to cherish life somuch that to step on an insect, or harm a bladeof grass becomes a violation of their creed, sothey place themselves under an extreme form ofprotective custody—a Sanctuary of sorts. Well,for an immortal who comes to abhor thebloodshed, there's a similar solution, A way tobe removed from the game forever. The price isunimaginably high, but you are, for all practicalpurposes, protected from the violence withinyou. And it's called The Sanctuary.”Methos, Highlander: EndgameAnother important splinter group of theWatchers are the Sanctuary. The Sanctuarybegan as a grand experiment, a voluntary retreatwhere Immortals who had tired of the Game couldhide in absolute solitude, guarded over by menand women who had sworn an Oath to maintaintheir hiding place. Unfortunately, the evil ImmortalKell tracked the Sanctuary down and slaughteredevery Immortal hiding there, save one: ConnorMacLeod, who was set free that Kell might hunthim down later. Kell, too, was defeated at thehands of Duncan Macleod, but the Sanctuary as ithad been was finished. Since then, the SanctuaryWatchers have also become fractured andsplintered, but the Sanctuary itself is no longervoluntary. The Sanctuary Watchers hunt and7abduct Immortals, forcing them into their druginducedstasis in an effort to prevent the Gamefrom ending, and thus keep the Prize from thehands of an evil Immortal.The Mood of HighlanderMethos: "We're none of us perfect, MacLeod.Not you, not me, not even Darius. And sure notyour friend Steven Keane."Duncan: "You should write fortune cookies."Methos: "Yeah, well, maybe I should. Just solong as I am not writing your epitaph. WhatKeane hates you for, happened. Nothing you dois going to change that. You accept it,MacLeod. It's part of who you are."Duncan: “We talking about me, now?”Methos: “Yes.”Methos and Duncan, 5:16, Forgive Us OurTrespassesImmortals are faster, stronger, more agile, andgenerally superior to humans in almost everyrespect, but the key element is that they are indeedstill human beings, just human beings with a veryspecial gift. Immortals have all of the samepassions and pains as mortal beings, although theiroutlooks and way of dealing with these issuestends to differ due to their extraordinarily longlifespan and the fact that they kill to survive, on adaily basis.These aren’t Slayers or Demon Hunters.They’re not dusting vamps and turning evilsupernatural creatures to puddles of ooze. Rather,they kill others just like them. They look into theirfoes’ eyes, face them in single combat, and cut offtheir heads. They live a “kill or be killed” lifestyle,and live it by a very strict and rigid code, the Rulesof the Game. Immortals who try and removethemselves from the cycle of battle generally windup dead, and those who disobey the Rules findthemselves hunted or punished by whatevermysterious force out there enforces the code. TheRules of the Game are as follows.Holy GroundRamirez: You are safe only on Holy Ground.None of us will violate that law. It’s tradition.

-Ramirez, HighlanderDawson: In all of our records, there’s only onemention of an Immortal killing on holyground…It was in Pompeii. 79 AD.-Joe Dawson, 5:8, Little Tin GodThis is the single most important Rule of theGame that all Immortals follow. No Immortal willever face another on Holy Ground. This rule isabsolute and is enforced by unseen powers. HolyGround doesn’t just mean Christian Churches,either. Cemeteries, Native American sites ofpower, even Buddhist shrines apply. Immortals canalways sense when they are on Holy Ground, andcan not battle therein, at least, not to the death.Fisticuffs, however, are permitted.Rules of EngagementDuncan: What, it’s a team sport, now?Calvin: Didn’t anyone tell you? Whole new ballgame.Two or more Immortals are not allowed toteam up against a single one. All combat betweenImmortals must be one-on-one; if two Immortalsboth carry a grudge against the third, they’resupposed to get in line. In addition, once achallenge has been issued and joined, no Immortalis allowed to interfere with a battle in progress.Unfortunately as we’ve seen on the show and inthe films, this rule is a matter of honor, and whilethe vast majority of Immortals do follow it, there arethose who have broken the rule. Tradition aloneholds this one intact, and a group of unethicalImmortals who choose to violate the rule canindeed be a force to be reckoned with; however, itshould be noted that even the Four Horsemen, themost cruel and feared band of Immortals in history,abided by this tradition.Weaponry(Methos shoots Keane)Keane: You bastard…(falls)Methos: Sticks and stones.Methos and Keane, 5:16: Forgive Us OurTrespassesWhile Immortals cannot be killed by gunshots,stakes through the heart, fire, or falling from abuilding, such things do indeed incapacitate themfor a time. The interesting facet of Immortality isthat Immortals suffer damage just as normalpeople; they just always get better so long as theirhead is attached. This being said, guns arecertainly a device that gives one an unfairadvantage in a sword duel. Another strictlyadheredto tradition is that all battles betweenImmortals are to be fought with archaic weaponry.Swords are the most typical, though some do useaxes. If an Immortal shoots another, she isexpected to not take their head. Unfortunately, thisis one of the most often disobeyed Rules of theGame, and even some non-evil (we hesitate tocall Methos a “good guy”) Immortals have resortedto the Great Equalizer at times.Playing the GameKell: “What you need to understand is that Idon't care about the Game. I don't care aboutthe rules. I don't even care about these otherpathetic souls you lock away as a barrier to thePrize.”-Jacob Kell, Highlander: EndgameOne of the keys to playing a character in theHighlander world is angst. Like any Gothic actionfranchise, Highlander has plenty of “why me”about it. Immortals are characters who are forcedto live for centuries, watching and suffering as allthose who love them age and die. They cannotprocreate; they are all sterile. No Immortal hasnatural parents; all are foundlings. They are trulyalone in the world because the only others likethem are as likely to kill them as they are to getalong. Any ties they make in the human worldbind them only temporarily, as mortals will oftendie long before Immortals, or the Immortal inquestion will have to move on from where hecurrently resides. Some Immortals start to feel thatdeath would be better than eternity alone, and sothey actively seek it out, picking fights with otherImmortals or challenging the authorities anywherethey go in hopes of drawing enough attention tothemselves that they meet death somehow.Unfortunately for those poor souls caught in the8

crossfire, a suicidal Immortal can do a great dealof damage before he finds the end he seeks.Fortunately, angst isn’t the only key to playingin the world of Highlander; in fact, it’s not even themost important. Many Immortals do deal very wellwith their Immortality and learn to deal with deathmuch as we mortals do; indeed, they becomeadept at dealing with it. Some, in fact, become alittle too adept; these Immortals become cold anddispassionate, even cruel as they gradually losetouch with their emotions and distance themselvesfrom humanity.Another key to playing an Immortal in theHighlander mythos is that of time. Immortals haveno shortage of it; in fact, many can harbor grudgesfor centuries, plotting and scheming the perfectway to wreak their vengeance upon anotherImmortal who has wronged them. We’ve seen thismore than once in the series, and it can make forhigh drama, particularly if the Immortal in questionhas some degree of guilt over past betrayals ormistakes. An important element in playing with9time is that of flashbacks. Immortals have years,decades, even centuries of experience behindthem, and after so long, there isn’t much that is newor surprising. Often times, Immortals will drawupon past experiences to adapt or relate to currentones, and this is where flashbacks come into play.Flashbacks can be “cut scenes” read aloud toplayers, or they can be fully interactive, with theplayer acting his way through the flashbacksequence and attempting to apply the experienceto his current one. Flashbacks are tricky to dealwith and difficult to get the hang of, but once youpick up the knack, they add an incrediblyimportant element to the game, helping to set moodand develop character at the same time.Last but not least, and perhaps the most vitalidea that must go into a Highlander-style game, isthat of the eternal struggle between good and evil,and the difficult choices one must make who isinvolved in this battle. Immortals in the series aredrawn in three camps: those who are championsof light, those who represent the forces of utterdarkness, and those who continually bouncebetween the two. The overriding premise of theshow revolves entirely around the idea that if thePrize falls into the hands of the wrong Immortal,“mankind would suffer an eternity of darkness.”The dichotomy is essential to the concept andtheme of Highlander. Immortals are called upon tomake hard choices on a daily basis; in the serieswe have seen Duncan kill other Immortals whowere close friends, because they had strayed toofar over the line into darkness. He never takessuch choices lightly; indeed, if an Immortal takestoo much darkness into himself, he runs the veryreal risk of becoming evil himself, be it throughtemptation, bloodlust, or the dreaded andlegendary Dark Quickening.And so they battle, falling one by one, downto the last. The Gathering is now, and dependingupon whether you choose to follow the film ortelevision series continuity, it is either an event or aperiod of time. Regardless, Immortals areinexorably drawn to one another as never before,and the forces of good and of evil clash in the

shadows of old warehouses, abandoned powerplants, darkened parking garages, and suspensionbridges in the dead of night.Qualities and DrawbacksDawson: “For 400 years he’s been a warrior, alover, a wanderer, constantly facing otherImmortals in combat to the death. The winnertakes his enemy’s head, and with it…hispower.”-Joe Dawson, Highlander: the Series intro(seasons 4-6)The vast majority of Qualities and Drawbacksfrom the Core Rulebook are available andunaltered for any Cast Member in a Highlanderstylegame. Directors wishing to maintain a gamefaithful to the films and/or series should probablyrestrict such Qualities as Vampire, Werewolf, andRobot, although there’s no reason you couldn’texpand your mythos to include such beings. Theone vital Quality from the Core Rulebook thatneeds to be slightly altered for the HL-verse isWatcher, and this is detailed below. Other thanthat, I present to you the new Qualities andDrawbacks that are indeed essential for anyonewishing to participate in a Highlander-style roleplaying game.Age (3 point per level Quality)The Age Quality is slightly altered from theCore Rulebook. It costs 1 more point per level, andin addition to other benefits, each level of Agepurchased adds 1 to the effective power level usedto determine initial Quickening Powers (describedlater).Anachronistic (1-3 point Drawback)Silas: “Where are the stables? The horses?No? Well, how do we ride?”Silas, 5:12, Revelation 6:8Anachronistic characters are unable to adjustto changing times. They still wear the types ofclothes that were en vogue during their life, use thesame speech patterns, and have the same outlookson life, technology, and magic that were held to betrue whenever the Immortal was alive. Theseverity of this drawback comes from how farremoved the Immortal in question is from their timeof origin. An Immortal awakened in the 1980’s, forexample, would suffer from a 1-point version of thisdrawback, as his anachronism would not yetseverely interfere with his interactions with peopleand society, though he would be looked upon asunusual and possibly freakish by the majority ofpeople he comes into contact with. The 2-pointversion of this Drawback results from Immortalswho are more than five or six decades active,and, say, “trapped in the 1920’s.” These CastMembers suffer a -1 on all social rolls and tasks dueto being out of touch with the times. An Immortalwith a 3-point Drawback would be one who iscenturies, or perhaps millennia old and is simplyincapable of grasping the changes in the times.Immortals with a 3-point Anachronistic Drawbacksuffer a -2 penalty to all social tasks and rollsrelated to the use of technology significantlyadvanced from their current time period. Inaddition, they cannot learn technologicallyadvanced skills such as Computers, and anyranks in Science skills they possess will bealchemical in origin and based heavily on archaictheories.Immortal(10 point quality)Connor: “I am Connor MacLeod of theClan MacLeod. I was born in 1518 in thehighlands of Scotland, in the village ofGlenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel. I amimmortal, and I cannot die.”Connor MacLeod, HighlanderYou are one of the chosen. Not that that isnecessarily a blessing; lucky you gets to stopaging, never get sick, and never die…at least notpermanently. That is, as long as your head staysstuck to your body. The problem with that is, thereare hundreds of others like you, all just rearing totake it off. That’s because you’ve become abeacon of mystical energy; all of yourexperiences, power, and knowledge are boiled10

down to your Quickening. Your soul has becometangible and ripe for the harvesting by anyonewith the wherewithal to do it. Immortals gain thefollowing:• +1 to any two physical attributes. Immortalscan raise physical attributes to a maximum of10• 3 free levels of Hard to Kill (and maypurchase up to 10 total)• 1 level of Getting Medieval• Regeneration: Constitution per minute• Unique Kill: Decapitation• Reduced Damage: half damage fromSlash/stab weapons. It’s not easy todecapitate an Immortal.• Honorable (1-point) Drawback, related to theRules of the Game. The Immortal gains nopoints for this Drawback• 3-point Secret (Immortal) Drawback. TheImmortal gains no points for this Drawback.• Adversary (Other Immortals) 4-pointDrawback. The Immortal gains no points forthis Drawback.• Supernatural Senses (Basic): Immortals cansense others of their kind. This occurrence isautomatic and always happens as soon asany two Immortals come within 300 yards ofone another, but does not point to a location,merely as a generic presence sense thatmanifests as a sort of nausea and “pins andneedles” sensation, combined with a sort ofwhite noise in the ears of the Immortals. In ashared-mythology game, Immortals can senseother supernatural beings as well, with asimple Perception test as described in theAngel core rulebook.• At the Director’s option, Immortals canpurchase any of the Demon Qualities in theAngel Core rulebook except for Dual Form,Limited Use, Natural Attack and Supernatural11Attack. Optionally, a Director *may* allow anImmortal to purchase Supernatural Attack andhave it apply to the damage caused by theirsword (in effect, they "charge" their weaponwith Quickening), though this is a more"superheroic" style ability. This covers abilitiessuch as Cassandra’s “Voice” power,Immortals’ enhanced combat abilities, psychicphenomena, and other of the varioussupernatural abilities Immortals havemanifested throughout the series and films.Old Soul (4 point per level Quality)This Quality is found in the WitchCraft corerulebook, page 87, but must be heavily modifiedfor use in a Cinematic Game. In the context ofHighlander, it represents the knowledge andexperience gained from battles fought with otherImmortals, and manifests as a boosted skill level. Ina Cinematic Game, after a successful invocationof the Quality as described in WitchCraft, theImmortal adds his levels in Old Soul as a bonus toany skill he possesses. Using this Quality requiresconcentration and peace of mind, and thus it cannever be called upon during a duel. In EssencebasedHighlander games, the Quality functionsexactly as written. (due to copyright issues, Icannot reprint the Quality here, but WitchCraft isavailable as a free download athttp://www.edenstudios.net/witchcraft/).Sorcery (5 point per level Quality)This Quality is unaltered from that in the Buffythe Vampire Slayer Core Rulebook.

Quickening Defense works the same asQuickening Attack, but applies to defensivemaneuvers rather than attack actions. Thus, acharacter can use this ability to add her successlevels beyond 3 to a single defense action, mayadd her additional success levels to her ArmorValue against a single attack, or may make anumber of additional Defense actions at no penaltyequal to half her success levels (minimum of 1additional).Quickening HealingPower level: 1Quickening Healing may only be attemptedwhile the character is conscious and instantly knitswounds the character has suffered. Successfullyinvoking this ability instantly heals wounds equalto the character’s Willpower multiplied by heradditional success levels on the roll. So acharacter with a Willpower of 3 who gains a totalof four success levels on a Quickening Healing rollinstantly gets 9 Life Points back (4 success levels,minus 1 to activate the power, leaves 3 times thecharacter’s Willpower of 3).Recognize BuzzPower level: 10A very difficult ability to master, and one veryfew Immortals possess, this power allowsImmortals to recognize the distinctive pattern ofenergy put off by another. Since Essence is merelylife energy, one signature is very much likeanother; not to mention, the energy put off byplants, animals, and the Earth itself interferes withthe Buzz. Recognizing the miniscule differences inthe energy signature that denote a specific personare difficult at best. A successful use of this rollallows an Immortal to glean the identity of theImmortal she’s sensed. The character may gainbonuses or penalties to the roll depending on howfamiliar she is with the target, at the Director’sdiscretion. Regardless, it is impossible to positivelyidentify any Immortal that the character is notfamiliar with. If you haven’t met him, you can’t IDhim.Track QuickeningPower level: Special (treat as 4 for purposesof starting powers)This ability allows an Immortal to track the“buzz,” or Quickening trail, of another. Rather thana Willpower (Doubled) Roll, this power reliesupon a Perception + Willpower roll, and lasts aslong as the Immortal concentrates (though multiplerolls may be required.) Invoking this abilityrequires a number of successes equal to theWillpower of the Immortal being tracked, plus one;however, Immortals who are aware they arebeing tracked, or who want to be found, canvoluntarily reduce this target as low as they wish,to a minimum of 1. Sometimes they just want you tofind ‘em.Por ejemplo: Methos is hiding in a warehousefrom a group of Hunters; he senses a buzz that herecognizes as Duncan’s. Anxious for his friend tofind him, Methos drops the veil on his signature toallow Duncan to locate him. Duncan wouldnormally have to roll a number of successes equalto Methos’ Willpower of 3 to track the signature;however, since Methos wants to be found, Duncanonly needs one success level to track theQuickening. He does, and finds his friendcowering in an old broom closet and looking veryindignant.Losing Your HeadRamirez: Never lose your temper. If your headcomes away from your neck, it’s over.Juan Sanchez-Villalobos Ramirez, Highlander14

Now that the functionality of the Quickening iscovered, it’s time to move onto how an Immortalgains and loses Quickening. The concept behindthis is simple: if an Immortal is beheaded, she loseseverything that she is and ever was. Her lifeenergy quite literally flows out of her body. If thereis another Immortal nearby, this life energy—theQuickening—will burst forth in a violent stream oflightning, fire, and explosions, engulfing thesurviving Immortal and pouring into them, makingthem stronger and more powerful.If there is no Immortal nearby, the Quickeningsimply flows silently back into the Ether, withbarely a crackle of energy to mark it. Such anevent is tragic, and many believe that theknowledge and power of Immortals killed in sucha fashion is forever lost. There is, however, the asyet unexplained fact that new Immortals continueto appear even now, in the time of the Gathering,and in perhaps even greater numbers than everbefore. One possible theory that takes this intoaccount is the idea that a new potential Immortal,or even multiple ones, are born whenever anotherImmortal’s Quickening is lost to the Ether. Such amonumentous event would depend upon the rawpower available from the killed Immortal, whichwould be divided evenly among new Immortalscreated. The theory makes more than a little sense,given that more new Immortals seem to beappearing than ever before, and the populationexplosion has occurred close to the time when theHunters first appeared on the scene.DecapitationRegardless, it’s what happens when twoImmortals battle to the death that concerns us here.So now we turn to the mechanics of combatbetween two Immortals. As has been stated, to diepermanently, an Immortal must be beheaded,generally with a sword or melee weapon of somesort. This is not an easy task, for an Immortal’sthroat is naturally (or perhaps supernaturally)tougher than the rest of her body. In game terms, aDecapitation maneuver performed on an Immortalworks the same as a Through the Heart maneuverdoes on a Vampire. Multiply base damage fromthe attack by five, and if this damage is enough tokill the Immortal, her head comes off and the lightshow ensues. If it’s not enough to kill her, shemerely suffers base damage (not multiplied forslash/stab). Immortals also suffer half damagefrom all slash/stab attacks. It’s not easy to just goaround cutting off the heads of Immortals. Hence,the flashy swordplay. This half-damage should beapplied before any modifiers for attacking specificbody parts are figured in.For example: Ramirez slashes at the Kurgan’sthroat, a hit with 5 success levels that wouldnormally deal 16 points of base damage, plussuccess levels (so 21 total). Normally, hitting thethroat (decapitation) would figure to 105 points ofdamage; however, the Kurgan is an immortal. Thebase damage is halved, to 10 points, and Ramirezinflicts 50 points to the Kurgan’s throat. Notenough; the Kurgan suffers only 10 points ofdamage to his neck for the failed decapitationeffort.Given the above, It’s usually a good idea towear your opponent down a good bit before youtake their head off. There’s also the matter of honorinvolved. Immortals don’t just fight to kill; they fightto win. A clear victory is always important, andoften an Immortal will not perform the decapitationuntil her opponent yields the battle. Of course,there are always exceptions…Combat maneuvers for a swordfight betweenImmortals are unaltered from those described inthe core rulebook, with the exception of15

Decapitation, as described above. However, fordramatic effect, the Director should encourage theplayer to be as descriptive and detailed aspossible when stating which maneuver she’susing. Don’t be afraid to award a Drama Point for awell-fought battle, if and only if the player wasextra descriptive. Also, since the battle betweenImmortals is the event around which everyImmortal’s life revolves, Directors are encouragedto use full (not Quick) character sheets forImmortal nemeses, and play out the combat withall die rolls involved. It may drag out the battle, butit will be more dramatic and satisfying in the end.Yielding the BattleDuncan: You can walk away, if it ends here.Clay: It’s what we do.Duncan and Clay, 5:2, End of InnocenceWhen engaged in a swordfight with another,it is highly unusual that an Immortal will actuallylose consciousness. Rather, when reduced to zeroLife Points or below, the Immortal falls to theirknees and is unable to act any further. At this pointshe is at the mercy of her better, who may utterthose famous words, “There can be only one,” andperform the coup de grace, or who may offer mercy(though the latter is unusual at absolute best).Note that this rule is in place only for dramaticpurposes, and applies only to single combat withswords. It allows the defeated to make a finalspeech before the end, or to beg for their life, andis similar to the final moment rule in the CoreRulebook.There Can Be Only OneKronos: You still don’t understand, do you? Iam the end of time!Duncan: You’re history.Kronos and Duncan, 5:12, Revelation 6:8This is the part you’ve been waiting for. Thebattle is over, your opponent is on his knees. Heslowly raises his head to look you in the eyes, andsays, “Do it.” Your sword flashes in the sun, swingsdown in a blur of motion, and it’s over. The calmbefore the storm.Slowly, gently, a breeze sweeps in, ticklingyour hair. Then it builds to an almost gale forcewind. The body of your opponent glows, rises offthe ground. Electricity arcs from the neck, leapingto whatever minor or major conductors arenearby. It’s coming for you. Everything stops, forone split second, then it hits you like a millionhammers, flashing into you, through you, lifting youoff the ground, then dropping you to your knees.All around you, explosions erupt, windowsimplode, fires leap into existence. It lasts aneternity of seconds. Then, it’s over. You’re weak,exhausted, and filled with new powers andmemories to integrate. You stagger away,knowing that the knowledge and power you’vejust absorbed must soon be defended and used,when the next challenger arrives at your doorstep.But for now…you need a drink.Killing another of his kind in combat is the onlyway an Immortal can increase his own power andstrength. In game, when an Immortal emerges fromcombat victorious, several things happen. First, theImmortal takes Bashing damage from theQuickening, equal to the sum total of all of hisopponent’s attributes. This damage can neverresult in unconsciousness, although it is possible toalready be unconscious when the Quickening hits.When the bashing damage occurs, the Immortalmust succeed at a Constitution (doubled) roll at -3or fall to his knees under the onslaught. Thisdamage heals normally, and can be healedthrough the use of the Quickening Healing power ifthe Immortal possesses the ability.16

Second, the Immortal receives his reward fora battle well fought. First, a Drama Point shouldalways be awarded for winning a battle withanother Immortal, unless the loser wasphenomenally weaker than the victor. In the lattercase, it may be appropriate even to take a DramaPoint away from the victor, depending upon thecharacter and role playing involved. Besides theDrama Point, however, the Immortal gains thepower and experience of his opponent. Onebonus experience point should be awarded to thevictor in a battle between two Immortals. Also, forevery four Immortal opponents defeated, theImmortal makes a Willpower (not doubled) roll. Ifhe succeeds, he gains a level in the Old SoulQuality, as described earlier in this document.The strength, power, and knowledge of theloser of the contest between Immortals manifests asa kind of “alternate past life” for the victor, and hecan call upon this knowledge and experience intimes of need.In Series that use Essence-based Quickening,the Immortal victor gains levels in EssenceChanneling equal to half the Essence Channelingof the loser, rounded down (zero is possible); andgains Increased Essence Pool equal to 1/10 of theEssence Pool of the loser (minimum 1 level).ComplicationsHere’s where the Rules of the Game we talkedabout earlier come into play. Never can twoImmortals “gang up” on a single one; if they do,there are cosmic repercussions. The majority of theQuickening goes to the Immortal who actuallybeheads the opponent. It is the Immortal whoactually delivers the death stroke who gains theDrama Point, Old Soul, and/or IncreasedEssence. The secondary Immortal gains one bonusExperience Point, to be applied however theplayer sees fit. However, the Immortal whoactually delivers the death stroke also loses levelsin skills of the Director’s choosing, equal to thesecondary Immortal’s Intelligence score, whichare transferred to the secondary Immortal. It ispossible to forget skills entirely in this manner. In17the case of more than two victors, each Immortalinvolved loses ranks in skills equal to her ownIntelligence score; all points are then pooled andredistributed by the Director. Note that this onlyapplies if two or more Immortals actively gang upon a third. Merely being present at a Quickeningdoesn’t affect the observer in any waywhatsoever. No one knows why this is, but theQuickening seems somehow drawn to only thosewho participated in the battle.Consequences for battling on Holy Groundare entirely up to the Director, but they should becataclysmic at best.CrossoversProbably the greatest thing about usingImmortals in your Unisystem game is that theycross over almost seamlessly into any other setting,with little to no adjustment whatsoever. Sincethey’re mostly empowered, long-lived humans,Immortals can be important players in your game,and while their power level does indeed approachthat of the Slayer, they shouldn’t be sounbalancing as to overshadow such a character ina more “canon” game. Look, for example, at thevery first season of B:tVS. Before he was revealedas a vampire, Angel could very easily have beenan Immortal. He had the same sort of “feel” to himthat we’ve seen many times in the Highlandertelevision series.Look also at the Watchers. Perhaps in acrossover universe the Watchers are a massive,all-encompassing organization with differentbranches to deal with different elements of the

supernatural. Each branch is self-contained, andhas its own methods, problems, andresponsibilities, but all answer to an overalltribunal or Council which enforces the secrecyand non-interference policies that they all seem toengender (remember, Giles is exceptional in hisassistance of Buffy. Most Watchers are expectedto stay back and let their Slayers handle the dirtywork).Introducing an Immortal and the Game intoany other setting is every bit as simple as a goodconcept, which players can work on with theirdirectors. The difficult part is actually on theshoulders of the Director, who must make sure tooccasionally throw in that Immortal opponent tokeep things interesting and plausible for the CastMember in question.On the other hand, introducing other types ofcharacters into the “canon” Highlander universemay be a bit more difficult. You could makeOccultism more widespread an ability, perhapsallowing Immortals to get a free level with theQuality, or make it dependent upon age. Toomuch in the way of vampires and ghosts upsets thedelicate balance of the Highlander ‘verse, which isby and large very low in the supernatural. There’salso the fact that Immortals play by their own rules,and interference by Slayers and other superswould certainly not be welcome. Still, a hybrid of‘verses is probably easier with Immortals than withany other type of Gothic Action character, andcan be a world of fun to play.18