How can players use Drama Points? Let me count the ways. Five (short count). Used judiciously, they can snatch victory from the fanged jaws of defeat. They include Heroic Feat, I Think I’m Okay, Plot Twist, Righteous Fury, and the ever-popular Back From the Dead.

As the Director, you have veto power over the use of Drama Points. Usually, if something bad is slated to happen to the character, using Drama Points won’t help her get out of the situation. The consolation prize, however, is that those situations earn the character extra Drama Points. So, if Buffy is meant to get blindsided and knocked out by a hidden villain, Buffy’s player doesn’t get to use Drama Points to escape her fate, but instead gets a Drama Point for her troubles. Okay, she’s not rolling in puppies, but she does have something.

Sometimes, a character really needs to land that punch, disarm the time bomb with ten seconds left on the clock, or shoot the oxygen tank in the shark’s mouth before it swims over for a bite. When the Cordelias of the world have to stake a vampire on the first try, invoke the Heroic Feat.

By spending a Drama Point, the character gets a +10 bonus on any one roll or value. This can be an attack or defense roll, or any use of a skill, or even a Fear or Survival Test. The Heroic Feat can also make things hurt more; the +10 bonus can be added to the base damage of a single attack strike in addition to any Success Level bonuses (then armor, damage type, and other modifiers are applied).

A player has to announce her character is using a Drama Point during the Intentions phase of a Turn (see p. 128), or before rolling during non-combat situations. Also, only one Heroic Feat may be performed in a Turn. It can be used either for attack, defense, or damage, but not for more than one of those in the same Turn.

The bullet didn’t hit any vital organs. The character rolled with the impact and the baseball bat didn’t crush her skull. The spear got caught in the knight’s chain mail and no serious damage was done. Somehow, the injuries that should have killed a character or at least put her out of commission are not as bad as she thought they were. Or maybe she got her second wind—a few bandages on her bloody but largely harmless wounds and she is ready to go. Whatever the rationale, I Think I’m Okay allows Heroes, White Hats, and normal humans to get back into action after enduring beatings that would have sent a pro football player to the hospital.

For a mere Drama Point, the character heals half the Life Point damage she has taken up to that point. Round fractions in the character’s favor (23 points of damage becomes 11). The character is still bloody and battered, but she can act normally. I Think I’m Okay can be used only once per Turn, but it can be used several Turns in a row, each use halving whatever damage remains. If the character had suffered enough damage to be incapacitated or unconscious, however, healing does not necessarily awaken her. You as Director decide if the time is right for the character to revive and join the action. Also, if the injuries were life threatening, you may decide that the character has to go to the hospital at some point, although she can wait until the action (or the Episode) is over.

The killer accidentally dropped a valuable clue at the scene of the crime. When the three vampires were about to finish off Buffy, Angel showed up in the nick of time. The local thrift shop just happened to have a copy of the Pergamum Codex on a back shelf. Heroes often find help and information from the most unlikely places or at precisely the right time. Once per game session, each character can spend a Drama Point and get a “break.” This is not a Get Out of Jail Free Card. If the heroine stupidly walked into a vampires’ lair and she is surrounded by a horde of bloodsuckers, a Plot Twist won’t allow her to escape unscathed. The vampires might decide to keep her alive, however (after beating her soundly to get some cheap thrills), and her friends might somehow realize where she is and come to her rescue. By the same token, sometimes clues are available, but they cannot be found at that time. If you decide that a Plot Twist is not possible, the player gets the Drama Point back.

I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore. Nothing is more deadly than a pissed off heroine; even the humblest White Hat can become a fearsome enemy if properly motivated. It takes a lot to drive a character over the edge, but when it happens most fictional heroes become unstoppable engines of destruction.

By spending two Drama Points, the character gets a +5 bonus to all attack actions, including magical attacks, for the duration of the fight. These benefits are cumulative with Heroic Feats, above. Problem is, an appropriate provocation is necessary to invoke the Righteous Fury rule. A player can’t decide her character is pissed about the existence of vampires, or global warming, or even the mystery meatloaf they served at school that morning. She needs to be truly provoked—a brutal attack on a loved one, an unexpected betrayal of trust, or crimes so horrible they go beyond the usual vampiric and demonic mayhem.

Sooner or later, everybody dies. In the Buffyverse, it’s usually sooner, but sometimes they manage to come back. It doesn’t happen often, but it is possible. There are also ways in which a character remains dead, but she (or somebody much like her) can still be part of the Cast. A character who dies may, by spending Drama Points, make a triumphant return. No return from the grave is without complications, however, and not even Drama Points can erase the problems that result from cheating the Grim Reaper.

The sooner the character is back from the dead, the more Drama Points it costs. Coming back next Season costs one Drama Point (that means the player is going to need a new Cast Member until then). Returning for the next Episode costs five Drama Points. Bypassing death in the same Episode as one’s demise costs 10 Drama Points. At your option, a Cast Member with insufficient Drama Points can pay in installments—all Drama Points she has now, and any Drama Points she gets in later Episodes, until the debt is paid. Spending the points is not enough; you and the player need to work out the details behind the resurrection. Some possible explanations follow.

Miracle at the ER: The hard-working docs at Sunnydale General Hospital (or the local body and fender shop) got that heart pumping after some electroshocks, heart massage, and pure force of will. The character might have seen visions of the future or the past, spoken to dead friends and relatives, or undergone some type of Profound Mystical Experience during the brief time she was dead.

Ghost with the Most: The character is dead and buried but her soul lives on, and she’s not going anywhere. Or the character may rise as some type of undead. Vampires are possible, but it’s very hard to be a good vampire. Zombies tend to stink up the place. But maybe some mystical force brings the character back as an undead instrument of vengeance (maybe named after a black carrion bird?). The character gets at least 10 points’ worth of new Qualities, and possibly more. Those ain’t free, and must be paid for with unspent experience points (see pp. 150), or paid in installments with earned experience points.

Greater Power: Perhaps some greater power decides that the character has not fulfilled her destiny yet. The reason for the return could be unknown to the character for a while, and thus unexplainable to her friends. The downside is the greater power’s motivation. Depending on what’s expected from the resurrectee, it might be better to have stayed dead …

Twin Sibling: At the character’s funeral, before you can say Laura Palmer, there she is, looking sad but perfectly alive! Well, it’s not really her, just her long-lost sister/cousin/clone/alternate dimension stand-in/so on and so forth. The character should be adjusted somewhat, to reflect the different life story (some skills or Attributes might be modified).

All these options could be very useful to generate drama. How will the character’s miraculous return affect the Series? How will the rest of the Cast react? What terrible price must be paid for the life that has been given back?