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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
Page 3 and 4: There Can Be Only OneSecond Edition
Page 5: Table of ContentsDesigner’s Prefa
Page 10 and 11: disarray, they are still out there,
Page 12 and 13: crossfire, a suicidal Immortal can
Page 14: down to your Quickening. Your soul
Page 18 and 19: Now that the functionality of the Q
Page 20 and 21: Second, the Immortal receives his r

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