Unisystem

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Unisystem is the proprietary roleplaying system for the various RPGs produced by Eden Studios, an Urban Fantasy-focused RPG company that emerged, flourished and ultimately died in the late 90s to the early 2000s.

So, what's the deal?

Unisystem, as its name implies, is a "generic roleplaying system" that attempts to offer a broad mechanical backdrop you san build your own custom settings from - think GURPS. At its core, it's a point-buy character generating system, where players are given a specific set of points based on the "Tier" of the campaign (the grittier or lower-power the campaign, the fewer points you have to play with) that are spent to purchase Attributes, Skills, Qualities, and Metaphysics, with the option to take Drawbacks that inflict penaltis on your character but give you more points to spend on the good stuff.

Attributes are Unisystem's Ability Scores; Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception and Willpower. Like Skills, these are pretty self-explanatory.

Qualities are the "Positive Attributes"; the physical, mental or supernatural edges that make your character stand out. Are you Hard to Kill? Rich? A reincarnated soul? Able to use magic? A supernatural creature? Qualities dictate all that. Metaphysics are specific magical abilities you can purchase and require you to take a specific Supernatural Quality first.

Actions are resolved by adding together the character's relevant Attribute, the applicable Skill, and a ten-sided die roll, plus any modifiers for difficulty; if the total is nine or greater, the action succeeds. Gamemasters (called "Chroniclers" in Classic, and "Directors" in Cinematic Unisystem) are also given tables of successes: characters that get a higher roll than the required nine have bonuses on their final outcome; this table describes how successful they turn out to be, and gives guidelines to figure out the resulting bonuses.

Classic vs. Cinematic

Unisystem went through two distinct "versions" of its core mechanics, which came to be distinguished as sub-systems of the system; Classic Unisystem and Cinematic Unisystem.

Classic was the first iteration of the system, pioneering Unisystem as a whole. It's typified grittier, more realistic play, greater attention to detail in skills and combat, and the use of Secondary Attributes that are typically derived from the Primary Attributes. Essence, or the measure of life-force and magic, is also central to Classic Unisystem play. This was the sub-system associated with Eden Studios' original settings.

Cinematic was the second iteration, and was created when Eden Studios began creating its licensed RPGs. Cinematic features a limited set of skills that cover most situations, no Secondary Attributes or Essence, simplified combat and flat damage resolution. Cinematic games also feature the use of Drama Points which allow the character to do things above and beyond what they could do under the system alone.

The chief difference between the systems are Drama Points (used only in the Cinematic system), and differences in magic system mechanics.

Despite the differences the two are still largely compatible, though every Cinematic Unisystem game offers an appendix to convert values from the Classic system, and the Buffy RPG's Magic Box supplement offers an appendix on converting between the Buffy magic system and the WitchCraft magic system.

Gamelines

• All Flesh Must Be Eaten (Classic)
• Angel (Cinematic)
• Armageddon: The End Times (Classic)
• Army of Darkness (Cinematic)
• Beyond Human (Cinematic) (Never Published)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Cinematic)
• C.J. Carella's WitchCraft
• Conspiracy X (Classic)
• Ghosts of Albion (Cinematic)
• Terra Primate (Classic)