Oct 22, 2021 3:32 am
"I am Duncan MacLeod, born four hundred years ago in the Highlands of Scotland. I am Immortal and I am not alone. For centuries we have waited for the time of the Gathering, when the stroke of a sword and the fall of a head will release the power of the Quickening. In the end, there can be only one."
--- Highlander: The Series, Season One intro
Princes of the Universe
Highlander is a multimedia franchise first introduced in 1985. It spans movies, television, books, comics, video games, and anime. If you aren't familiar with it, the setting deals with immortal beings traveling through time, untouched by age and disease and driven to battle for a mysterious Prize that will, legend has it, bestow godlike powers to the victor. Immortals can die if you take their heads, and they adhere to special Rules about where and how they can fight one another. In recent years, Immortals are being subconsciously drawn together and compelled to battle; a time known as "The Gathering." The original 1985 movie is an epic tale about Connor MacLeod, a Scottish Immortal, and his journey over the centuries as he learns to fight, and eventually takes on his arch-nemesis, the Kurgan.
This game will draw heavily on the franchise lore, particularly the first movie and Highlander: The Series. Over the course of the franchise, however, the setting's mythos contradicts itself quite a bit, and continuity diverges between the movies and shows. That means that, when contradictions occur, I'll select which interpretation I believe works best.
For this game, only the first, third, and fourth live action Highlander movies are considered canon, as well as the two live action tv shows. Everything else is non-canon.
How is This Gonna Work?
You're probably wondering how a game set in the World of Highlander would function. Wouldn't the players, all Immortals, be trying to take each other's heads? How do you do a game that revolves around one-on-one duels? On the surface, Highlander isn't a setting that seems to lend itself very well to group play.
Those are all valid questions. The premise will be as follows: it is the time of the Gathering. A small group of evil Immortals, known as The Cadre, have united for the purpose of taking down Immortals in tandem. They work closely together to track down and behead any Immortals that they can find. While the members of the Cadre stop short of actually breaking the Rules of the Game, they have no qualms about taking dishonorable measures to weaken or manipulate perspective opponents (thus increasing their odds of winning). A number of Immortals have already fallen to their blades. Unless you watch your head, you'll likely be next.
The players characters are a group of Immortals who've banded together to prevent the Cadre from preying on them and others. Your characters might be united by genuine friendship and/or for mutual protection. Whatever the case, you've tasked yourselves with finding the Cadre and putting a stop to it.
This game is a one-shot that I expect to last a few months. It's going to be primarily investigative, along with some good old fashioned Highlander-style sword duels. In the case of duels, I'll probably run individual sword fights concurrently, so no one needs to sit around waiting for a fight to end. Everyone will be doing something.
Cinematic Unisystem
For this game, I decided to use the Cinematic Unisystem. This is the engine used for the Buffy and Angel RPGs from Eden Studios. My reason for choosing this system is that it's available for free online, and there exists a great fan made Highlander conversion for it (which I'm using). It's not a complicated system, and you can learn it as you go along. The Cinematic Unisystem is d10-based and uses "Drama Points" which can be spent to gain advantages. Specific rules for the Quickening and other Immortal stuff will be posted in a character creation thread.
System: Cinematic Unisystem.
Adult Content/Themes: Some violence.
Game Duration: This is a one shot that I expect to last for a few months.
Post Frequency: Four times per week.
Player Experience Requirements: Open to anyone, regardless of experience.
Character Restrictions: Immortal characters only.
How to Apply: No application is needed. Spots are first come, first served.
Last edited October 22, 2021 7:25 am
