Classes for a BTVS party (Buffy)

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I just stumbled upon a bunch of soundsets and portraits featuring some of the early season cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I think it would be cool to start a multiplayer game using those characters, with one open slot for Imoen.

The characters are Buffy, Giles, Xander, Oz, and Willow. The trouble I'm having is figuring out what kits and classes to use and what weapon proficiencies to assign for some of them. Keep in mind that they need to be spread out through the party so there are enough "good" weapons to go around. I also want to stick with weapons that the characters in the show are shown to have used when possible, but I can't recall what Giles used besides a crossbow and a stake.

Here's what I'm planning and seeking advice on:

• Buffy Summers
  I know it would make the character overpowered, but I plan to use Shadowkeeper on Buffy to give her a STR of 24, a DEX of 20, and a CON of 21. I plan to keep her total stats at 108. Buffy on the show certainly doesn't have an INT or WIS of 18. Although the other uses for wisdom in D&D make that arguable. I'm also planning to make her a kensai, but give her the bonuses and immunities from the undead hunter kit, as well as the bonus and immunity to fear from the Cavalier. The "Slayer sense" or "Slaydar" will be reflected by giving her the Paladin's "Detect Evil" spell, but I'm unsure if I should also include the protection from Evil. I'm not going to SK her every level however. I'm also going to try to give her a (ranger) favored enemy of Vampires. Finally, to reflect the instinctual knowledge the Slayer power-up gives her, I'm giving her a free pip in every weapon proficiency and style. Just one, she has to spend points to raise it more.
  
  She is The Slayer, after all and the whole point is to make her super-powered compared to the rest of the team. What weapon proficiencies should I give her? Hammers are a given, as is some kind of sword. I'm leaning towards bastard swords. The trouble is the other favored weapons I recall from the show would be wooden stakes and a scythe. Neither are used in BG2, or at least the stakes aren't treated as weapons.
  
  
  
• Rupart "Ripper" Giles
  G-Man is going to be a Skald. His primary asset is his immense knowledge of demon lore, he knows a bit of magic, he's not too great a fighter, and he tends to help the others by calling out weaknesses and advice rather than taking down the baddies himself. The Skald's song fits with that. Again, advice on profficiencies. He gets crossbows, but I don't know what else to give him.
  
  
• Xander Harris
  Xander, often called in fanfics "The White Knight" will find his calling as a Paladin. However, I'm having a hard time choosing between the Undead Hunter kit and the Inquisitor kit. I'm actually considering using Shadowkeeper to give him both, although he would also have the restrictions of both as if he'd been dual classed. I'd give him the Inquisitor abilities of an 8th level Inquisitor. Again, I'm looking for advice here on this as Xander "The Zeppo" should definetly NOT be overpowered.
  
  For weapons, my first thought for Xander wass axes and bows. I'll spend the other profficiency points on two-handed swords so he can use Carsomyr. Maybe later longswords for daystar, but I figure I'd be in Throne of Bhaal by that time. However, I might want to give the axe proficiency to Buffy so she can use throwing axes. Then again, I could probably get away with making her a dwarf and using the dwarven thrower.
  
  
• Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
  If I could, I'd make him a dual-class Bard(7)->Shapeshifter(x). As it stands, I'm going to just go with Shapeshifter.
  Advice on what weapons to give Oz in addition to his claws. I'm giving him slings since Willow used pencils like darts in the series.
  
  
• Willow Rosenberg.
  Wizard. She learned about magic from books and old tomes. The only real question is should I make her a vanilla mage or a wild one? Due to her using her magic to turn pencils into deadly weapons that threaten vampires in the show, I'm giving her darts as a proficiency. Up for grabs if she should also get daggers or staves. Metagaming makes me pick staves, but I don't recall her using either in the show with any degree of proficiency. Then again, mages don't use weapons very well so it fits. If this were IWD I'd pick daggers.

 

Buffy's an Undead Hunter; how can you make her anything else??? STR 15 (a 17 would be a stretch but reasonable), DEX 18, CON 16 -- there's no need to give her godlike abilities, there are enough magic items to grant high stats. Spreading out her proficiencies in a variety of weapons is reasonable (I wouldn't go nuts and just give her every proficiency though) -- as she finds weapons she likes she can then specialize. I think single handed weapons are a good fit for her -- bastard swords, katanas seem to fit her personality. You could SK to give her the cavalier bonuses and some kensai, but her class should be Undead Hunter .

Giles is also proficient in a lot of weapons. He trains Buffy in both weapon's use and the arcane. I actually think a fighter/mage dual (or make him an elf for multiclassed) would be a good fit for him -- this allows a good fit with crossbows and reasonable proficiencies in many other weapons (which would parallel the basics for Buffy) -- katana comes to mind here as well (I believe he had one in the show).

Xander is a jester, at least in my mind he always will be. Of course to round out the party you could make him a swashbuckler -- just give him average stats. He tends to use smaller weapons in the show (dual wielding short swords, daggers, etc.).

Oz -- Shapeshifter is the natural fit. He'll have all proficiencies by the end, it really doesn't matter the order. Shapeshifter rebalancing may be an option as he's pretty powerful in his werewolf form in the show.

Willow -- either a Sorcerer or a Wild Mage, she is not nearly as disciplined as Giles. You'll have all the weapon profs by the end, but yeah start with darts.

 

For Buffy I'd rather raise dex than str, she usually doesn't hit much harder than enemies but her agility lets her evade enemy attacks.
Monk is the class which fits to her best since she fights extremely well unarmed.
You could grant her damage resistance to emphasize her stamina and an extra AC bonus, without armor she won't have good AC and will get hit a lot, so you might have to hide her behind other party members, that's surely not what you want.

 

T2Bruno
My first reaction to your declaration of giving Buffy a strength of 15 is "Are you kidding?!?". I can easily believe that was her strength score prior to the Slayer power-up, but afterwards she is strong enough to lift cars. Some of the key powers of being The Slayer are superhuman strength, superhuman dexterity/speed, and superhuman constitution along with enhanced healing. The last two aren't that powerful, so I figure a CON of 20 or 21. No more than 22 tops, which I think pushes the regeneration a little too high. The slayer was able to go toe-to-toe with a hellgoddess and survive, not to mention all those nasty demons from hell dimensions, so I do feel it is necessary to make her godlike.

I admit I was tempted to make Xander a jester, however he also is magic-free. I think it's pure fannon, but a lot of people have the belief that magic tends to go wonky around Xander, which is why I considered the Inquisitor class. That class gives him True Seeing and the ability to disrupt magic, with the only other spell-like abilities being protection from evil and detection of evil. However, his hatred of vampires makes him a perfect choice for undead hunter personality wise.

The swashbuckler with also works. Especially if I can ShadowKeeper in a favored enemy of vampires. Probably better when considering party balance. I was planning to use Imoen and Yoshimo for the thief slot.

I still think the Skald is the best fit for Giles. I can easily give him extra proficiencies in SK. The Skald has the lore, the spellcasting, and the fighting ability with warrior weapons. Giles isn't a pickpocket, so the penalty works perfect for him. In P&P a bard doesn't necessarily have to sing to give the bonuses. The way Giles inspires and gives tips doesn't fit perfectly, but it works close enough.



Kmonster
I considered the monk class while giving the same SK modificatinos as the Kensai. Both give armor bonuses. The main reasons I decided against the monk was twofold. One, weapon specialization. I wanted her to be able to improve with training while having basic usage of most weapons. Two, the magic resistance and resistance to disease. Buffy is shown to be vulnerable to both magic and disease in the series.

 

I recently bought all the Buffy dvd's so I'm going through the show again. Up at season 4 currently (which IMO is a terrible season...).

Buffy doesn't seem that interested in weapons, sure when she does she's good at them but she usually discards them at the first oppertunity. She's used a sword against Angel at the finale of season 2 and decapitates a daemon with his own axe during an episode featuring Faith's fake Watcher (season 3).

I think monk might be the best fit for her and 90% of the time she's just punching away. Alternatively you could do a kensai single wielding a dagger, she bronzed mr. Pointy if I'm not mistaken.

Xander is a tough one, but in the Halloween episode in season 1 he did turn into a soldier and he does remember most of the stuff (at least, up until season 4 so far). He's also a fairly good punch, but usually he's up against enemies a lot tougher than him. He might make a good fighter? With abysmal stats that is...

Willow is, ofcourse, a mage, but she is a computer wizzkid as well. In DnD terms that might translate to thief? You might consider going the "Imoen" route with her.

Have fun with this game, you have my seal of approval *stamp*.

 

Cool ideas abound!

Buffy should have at least vampiric STR, a STR of 18/76, she can go toe to toe with vampires (average vampire is supposed to have 18/76 STR according to DnD rules) and win with some struggle but she has grave difficulties when fighting beings with godly STR (Glory, she has 25 STR IMHO), she should have higher DEX and CON though, 19 or 20 both. Mental stats should not be too high but not abysmal either. As for class, definitely she screams 'Undead Hunter' but with the added bonuses of 'Cavalier' as well she will rock. Though her alignment is not very 'lawful' sometimes.

Why don't you make Willow a cleric/mage? Remember she has a 'deity' in the series and she prays a lot to evoke some of her powers. Also she was able to 'ressurect' Buffy at one time. This clearly calls for some cleric levels, IMHO. But better yet, make her a cleric/wild mage. Her spells causes havoc some of the time. Alignment NG.

I can't picture Xander as a paladin, no, he is not that lawful to begin with and I don't think he has at least 17 CHA either. (let's face it, he is funny and most fans love him but he is not paladin material) So make him a fighter with 15s or 16s in STR DEX CON and he will do OK. He can do some damage to enemies but not all great in his own. Alignment NG or CG.

You can have another party member! Tara could be a timid cleric or druid (she does not show as much destructive power as Willow so no mage levels for her) or put Riley, as a fighter/thief (he has great knowledge in equipment-stuff and all and he is a good fighter as well)

 

...he's still a jester....

 

My initial notion was also 'Undead Hunter', but on reflection, there's not a chance that Buffy's a paladin. If you really need an explanation as to why, go read The Long Way Home. Yes, Whedon wrote it.

Likewise, there's not a snowball's chance in hell Xander is a paladin. In Season 8 (yay comics!) he has a relationship with Dracula, ffs. T2 is right. Jester all the way. At the very least, he should under no circumstances be a melee tank.

 

Spike would also be interesting - you could go the Valen way.