Do I need to have seen or understand the series in order to watch the movie?

Nope. It's kind of a standalone.

Cool. Danke.

No. But when you watch the series, realize the movie fits in around episode 22...

No, but I finally got to play the Buffy RPG.

How was it? I've heard lots of good things about it, but haven't been able to convince myself to spend $40 on a game I'll probably never play. (Most of my gamer friends aren't Buffy fans.)

So this is sort of my best guess on the appropriate thread, but I seem to remember some Cowboy Bebop conversation going on in here.

Do I need to have seen or understand the series in order to watch the movie?

Seeing the series allows you to catch a couple in-jokes/recurring characters, but much like most of the episodes themselves, it's pretty standalone. Caught a showing of it at a theatre in Chicago with a fellow Browncoat who'd never seen any of the series and she thought it was great.

I received it as a gift...I probably wouldn't have plunked down the money myself.

The Buffy RPG requires a pretty firm hand from the GM, to keep it moving like the show. It's a bit hard on my friends to make with the quippage, but only a couple of them are Buffy fans. I had fun, but I don't think it's going to be a steady diet.

Yeah, the quippage would be hard, 99.9% of people aren't capable of doing that sort of thing consistantly and on the fly. I was playing in a PBEM Buffyverse game (no actual rules, just a group consensus sort of thing) where we tried to keep up the quippage, though it was a lot easier there since you had time to think before you typed.

Unfortunately that game has ground to a halt halfway through the first "episode", which is pretty disappointing.

I could see the RPG working as a "break from the usual" sort of game, though I'd imagine running it on a regular basis would be difficult.

The other thing, one that's tough for my friends, is that most of the characters aren't really able to lend a hand in a fight. People can participate in all other ways, but really only the Slayer (and any friendly vamps) can bring the pain.

And no one wanted to be part of a game that was all Slayers, because then you'd have Slayer Moon, Slayer Mars...

I thought the fact that non-Slayer characters got more Hero Points (or whatever they're called, it's been awhile since I read a review) was supposed to balance out them being less able to unleash the vampire butt-kicking. (As an aside, one of my problems with the new Buffy video game is Xander is just as powerful as Buffy, Spike and Faith when it comes to beating up baddies. It's especially silly when you pull off a power move and send a vamp flying through the air. It would have been a lot more true to the show if Xander was weaker, but always started a level with some kind of weapon--like that ax he seems to favor on the show--to even things out a bit.)

On the other hand, I'd imagine being relegated to the role of supporting character for a long-term game would get old after awhile, Hero Points or not.

[ Edit - made a post in the wrong thread. Sorry.]

I'd imagine being relegated to the role of supporting character for a long-term game would get old after awhile, Hero Points or not.

That's exactly it. You have to spend Hero Points like there's no tomorrow to be involved in the fights. Which is actually fine with me, but bugged the non-Slayer players. I appreciated that they had to be more creative, using found weapons or whatever; they felt like they weren't able to lend a hand.

And it being BtVS, there are a fair amount of combat scenes, ya know?

That is pretty goofy with the video game. Unless they are using Soldier!Xander, he's not a fighter. Also, he should get a lot more hurt, a lot faster, than Buffy, Spike, or Faith.