Bewitched

[Steve]

Yes, I speak of the classic TV series of Samantha Stevens and her wacky relatives.

 

How would you build the abilities of a witch like Samantha as done in Bewitched? Some would be inherent, like Life Support (I'm guessing 4 points worth rather than full immortality) and maybe Invisibility. Some magic didn't require much effort (usually some form of TK, Summon or Transformation), but others required elaborate rituals and incantations.

 

Would you define a witch/warlock as staying within NCM?

 

This is my 800th post!

[Blue Jogger]

Re: Bewitched

 

The witches never seemed to have any inherent characteristic greater than 20, they seem to be quite human although with a long lifespan and magical powers.

 

They talked as if they thought of themselves being more intelligent and having better willpower, but it didn't seem to be anything near superhuman. Given Samantha inability to give up the witching habit, she didn't seem to have a higher than normal EGO. You might give them higher INT, EGO, and PRE as they age like any good wizard should.

 

I wrote up a faerie that was very much a "TV-Witch" kinda of character and it turns out that although most of it was done with a Multipower, it developed so many slots it turned into a Cosmic VPP.

 

Powers included

1) Any Cosmetic Transform

2) Distract (any sound illusion)

3) Befuddle (an invisible Flash, stuff flies someone's face, etc.)

4) Clean and Polish (Change Environment)

5) Helpful Hand (Invisible 10 STR TK)

6) Break (Invisible RKA)

7) Unbreak (Heal Object)

8) Healing (Healing)

9) Unlock (Lockpicking 25-, not on electronic locks or locks on self)

10) Summon Changlings (fae that looked like children)

11) Summon Illusive Illusions (Simulacrum)

12) Delusion of Grandeur (+25 PRE, long-term use would actually cause an inflated sense of self-entitlement)

 

I did not have the points for Worldwide Instant Teleportation and wasn't allowed Time Travel or Reverse Time or any of the major Stop Signs. And there was major use of Transformations, but mine were all cosmetic or simulacrums. No transforming someone to look like someone else.

 

They also seem mental powers that would make a mentalist cringe, except it wouldn't work on other witches/warlocks and mortals that knew about them.

[OddHat]

Re: Bewitched

 

Cosmic VPP, limited choice of powers: Witchcraft (-1/4). Built into the Witchcraft rules is that all spells and effects over X active points require -Y in limitations drawn from Gestures, Incantations, and Focuses, and that certain types of spells (GM's choice) always require certain limitations. Every time a player comes up with a new spell above X active points, he has to pass a KS: Witchcraft roll at -1 per 10 active points to invent it. If he fails, he needs more time for research.

 

This gets you witches with a wide range of low active point powers that can be accomplished with a simple gesture, and more advanced powers that require the more complicated incantations and preparations we saw used from time to time. The spell invention rules allow for someone like Dr. Bombay who specializes in a given type of magic that can't be easily duplicated. You can also impose whatever limitations on spells that seem to make sense at a given time.

 

Add in LS: Longevity, a Contact: World of Witches, and maybe Reputation for certain witches. I remember they had a king and queen, so some major perks might sometimes come in handy as well. Darren got witch powers once or twice, so a Transform: Human to Witch or Witch to Human should be possible.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Bewitched

 

Yes, I speak of the classic TV series of Samantha Stevens and her wacky relatives.

 

How would you build the abilities of a witch like Samantha as done in Bewitched? Some would be inherent, like Life Support (I'm guessing 4 points worth rather than full immortality) and maybe Invisibility. Some magic didn't require much effort (usually some form of TK, Summon or Transformation), but others required elaborate rituals and incantations.

 

Would you define a witch/warlock as staying within NCM?

 

This is my 800th post!

 

You're showing your age, Steve. IIRC, they didn't do a lot of really spectacular stuff. I would likely include:

 

LS: Longevity

Dist. Features: Mystic Aura (detectable by limited group, very noticable, cannot be concealed, yadda yadda)

PS: Hedge Magic

Power Skill: Witch Craft

 

Multipower: Witchery (This is the cheapest way to do it, HOWEVER, they may have done "enough" to warrant a full VPP).

[OddHat]

Re: Bewitched

 

Actually, to save points, you could drop the Cosmic from the VPP. Power Skill will let you reconfigure your VPP in one phase, and the witches never seemed any faster than the very ordinary people they were hanging around. Give them a SPD of 3-4 and they'll have plenty of time to re-arrange the pool and work their mojo.

[sinanju]

Re: Bewitched

 

Just remember that one of the CARDINAL rules of Bewitched-style witchcraft is that no other witch can undo another witch's spell.

 

Ever. (As far as I can remember, anyhow.)

 

This was a frequent plot point. One or another of Samantha's dimwitted or senile relatives would create a magical effect and they'd have to tap dance around it for the length of the episode until the culprit could remember/figure out/invent a way to undo the spell.

["V"]

Re: Bewitched

 

Well according to Jack Chick, the appearance of Bewitched on tv was the first move in a deliberately planned satanic conspiracy to desensitise Unclesamular culture to the perils of the occult.

 

 

So you could always add:

 

KS: Satanic Theology 18-

Conversation (only to subtly persuade wholesome youth to abandon the faith of their fathers and dabble in things man was not meant to wot of (-1)) 18-

 

(No, I don't subscribe to this point of view. Just saying).

 

You could also give Samantha the psych limit "Doesn't notice when husband changes appearance entirely and loses ability to act (Uncommon, Total)."

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Bewitched

 

Good old Jack Chick. He's in the same box of ammunition that Jack Thompson is in. I hate them both with a force greater than the gravity of the Sun. Not quite a singularity. I'm saving that.

 

But a whole **** of a lot.

[keithcurtis]

Re: Bewitched

 

You're showing your age' date=' Steve. IIRC, they didn't do a lot of really spectacular stuff.[/quote']

 

Time Travel, Time Stop, Reverse Time, Summon any Specific Being from Time or Space, Global Teleport, Major Transformation, Psychic Surgery...

 

nah, nothing really spectacular there.

 

To really simulate the show, you would need to have a fully cosmic VPP. Slap a large number of Naked Variable Limitations on the Control cost. Each of these Limitations has a very low activation roll (Or high-- I'm not sure how Activation Roll should work on a Limitation, but it strikes me that the cost should be reversed). Any time they are going to use more than say, 40 points of effect, then run down the Variable Limitations. The resulting limitations (elaborate incantations, ingredients, hand gestures, whatever) are needed to cast that power for the duration of that scenario. Next week, you start over.

Some episodes, Time Travel was easy, other episodes, she needed to brew a potion for really minor effects.

 

Keith "Calling Doctor Bombay, Calling Doctor Bombay, Emergency! Come Right Away!" Curtis

[McCoy]

Re: Bewitched

 

Just remember that one of the CARDINAL rules of Bewitched-style witchcraft is that no other witch can undo another witch's spell.

 

Ever. (As far as I can remember, anyhow.)

Except when they could. They were inconsistant abou this.

 

A frog that had been turned into a human kept pestering Samantha to turn him back. She explained she couldn't, untill she found out he had bought the wish that changed him. "Any witch can undo a bought spell!" A cousin changed a mortal into a manakin, they couldn't udo the spell untill Tabatha showed them the gestures he had used casting it. Once or twice Dr, Bombay undid Clara's faux pas. Upon becoming Queen of the Witches, Samantha was able to change several transformees back to human, or at least humanoid, form. So for all their Cosmic power, dispell magic is one of the more difficult things for them to do.

 

Their longevity was a step below true immortality, Samantha was 271 when she married Darrin, and Serena once confided that Endora admitted to being over three thousand, but Clara and Hepzibah showed they did age, however slowly. (Clara, by the way, was actually Endora's aunt, Samantha's great aunt, and as matriarch of the family deserved far more respect than she got. AFAIK, we never saw Samantha's grandmother (unless Hepzibah was her grandmother) or any of the family on Maurice's side.)

 

I did get a chance to talk to Bill Asher about the series once. Most of what he said was to the effect of "Look, kid, it was just a story, I wated to get my wife a paycheck and play with the trick photography, we never dreamed there would be such a thing as syndication," we did touch on the series as a Gay allagory. Samantha as an Absolutely Fabulous creature, with abilities, taste and sensitivities far beyound the norm, choosing to live in the closet and pretending to be normal, while her secret side constantly temps her. He said that was not a conscious decision at the time, but perhapse he and some of the actors had put more of themselves into the show than they realize at the time.

 

He also said that the strangest thing on the set was that as long as Elizabeth Montgomery was playing Samantha, Paul Lynde was her greatest friend, almost considering her the daughter he never had. But when she was playing Serena, Paul was a total b!tch to her whenever the cameras weren't rolling. And seemed totally unaware of it. Any episodes with Uncle Arthur and Serena, they got their scenes in the can first, to get some tranquility back on the set.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Bewitched

 

Time Travel, Time Stop, Reverse Time, Summon any Specific Being from Time or Space, Global Teleport, Major Transformation, Psychic Surgery...

 

nah, nothing really spectacular there.

 

To really simulate the show, you would need to have a fully cosmic VPP. Slap a large number of Naked Variable Limitations on the Control cost. Each of these Limitations has a very low activation roll (Or high-- I'm not sure how Activation Roll should work on a Limitation, but it strikes me that the cost should be reversed). Any time they are going to use more than say, 40 points of effect, then run down the Variable Limitations. The resulting limitations (elaborate incantations, ingredients, hand gestures, whatever) are needed to cast that power for the duration of that scenario. Next week, you start over.

Some episodes, Time Travel was easy, other episodes, she needed to brew a potion for really minor effects.

 

Keith "Calling Doctor Bombay, Calling Doctor Bombay, Emergency! Come Right Away!" Curtis

 

Well, sure, when you put it like that. Anything sounds complex.

 

What?

 

To be fair, my memories are sketchy at best. I didn't remember anything more than her wiggling her nose and her relatives showing up. Your memories of it are probably much clearer than mine.

[keithcurtis]

Re: Bewitched

 

Well, sure, when you put it like that. Anything sounds complex.

 

What?

 

To be fair, my memories are sketchy at best. I didn't remember anything more than her wiggling her nose and her relatives showing up. Your memories of it are probably much clearer than mine.

 

But not as clear as McCoy's.

 

Keith ":hail:" Curtis

[sinanju]

Re: Bewitched

 

Re: My claim that Bewitched witches can't undo one anothers' spells:

 

Except when they could. They were inconsistant abou this.

 

A frog that had been turned into a human kept pestering Samantha to turn him back. She explained she couldn't, untill she found out he had bought the wish that changed him. "Any witch can undo a bought spell!" A cousin changed a mortal into a manakin, they couldn't udo the spell untill Tabatha showed them the gestures he had used casting it. Once or twice Dr, Bombay undid Clara's faux pas. Upon becoming Queen of the Witches, Samantha was able to change several transformees back to human, or at least humanoid, form. So for all their Cosmic power, dispell magic is one of the more difficult things for them to do.

 

I bow to your superior recollection of the series.

 

Besides, I never thought that was much of a limitation for anyone with any imagination.

 

Fred gets turned into a frog by a witch who then dies. He's stuck as a frog forever.

 

So what? I can't turn Fred BACK into a human. But I can turn Fred the Frog INTO a human. I just layer my spell over the previous one. What difference does it really make?

 

Aunt Clara accidentally summons George Washington. I can't send him back to his proper time and place.

 

But I can turn him into an armchair for the duration. Or freeze him and stuff him in the basement until we're ready to send him back.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Bewitched

 

This is all just so someone can use the phrase "hilarity ensues," isn't it?

["V"]

Re: Bewitched

 

I don't think luring the youth of America into satanic worship is a cause for hilarity.

 

/Chick

[Midas]

Re: Bewitched

 

 

I did get a chance to talk to Bill Asher about the series...we did touch on the series as a Gay allagory. Samantha as an Absolutely Fabulous creature, with abilities, taste and sensitivities far beyound the norm, choosing to live in the closet and pretending to be normal, while her secret side constantly temps her. He said that was not a conscious decision at the time, but perhapse he and some of the actors had put more of themselves into the show than they realize at the time.

 

 

Damn Hoss, how do you remember all that detail? One time I vaguely remembered a kids show I watched as a toddler, about a mermaid and a diver, finally remembered it was called "Diver Dan" and you posted a short synopsys!

 

NEway, to your point, I never realized that Bewitched could have been a gay allagory. I did catch on, as soon as puberty hit, that I Dream of Jeannie was a D&S piece.

 

Would anyone write up Jeannie's powers as different from Samantha's? (In my case no, both shows had very similar -plot driven- magic).

 

And why are you spending so much time discussing an obscure actress, Pandora Spocks?

 

Midas

[McCoy]

Re: Bewitched

 

Damn Hoss' date=' how do you remember all that detail? One time I vaguely remembered a kids show I watched as a toddler, about a mermaid and a diver, finally remembered it was called "Diver Dan" and you posted a short synopsys! [/quote']

Basically, I have no life.

 

While I'm doing better now, for several years I was on oxygen and almost never left the house. Watched a lot of shows in syndication during that period.

[starblaze]

Re: Bewitched

 

Except when they could. They were inconsistant abou this.

 

A frog that had been turned into a human kept pestering Samantha to turn him back. She explained she couldn't, untill she found out he had bought the wish that changed him. "Any witch can undo a bought spell!" A cousin changed a mortal into a manakin, they couldn't udo the spell untill Tabatha showed them the gestures he had used casting it. Once or twice Dr, Bombay undid Clara's faux pas. Upon becoming Queen of the Witches, Samantha was able to change several transformees back to human, or at least humanoid, form. So for all their Cosmic power, dispell magic is one of the more difficult things for them to do.

 

Their longevity was a step below true immortality, Samantha was 271 when she married Darrin, and Serena once confided that Endora admitted to being over three thousand, but Clara and Hepzibah showed they did age, however slowly. (Clara, by the way, was actually Endora's aunt, Samantha's great aunt, and as matriarch of the family deserved far more respect than she got. AFAIK, we never saw Samantha's grandmother (unless Hepzibah was her grandmother) or any of the family on Maurice's side.)

 

I did get a chance to talk to Bill Asher about the series once. Most of what he said was to the effect of "Look, kid, it was just a story, I wated to get my wife a paycheck and play with the trick photography, we never dreamed there would be such a thing as syndication," we did touch on the series as a Gay allagory. Samantha as an Absolutely Fabulous creature, with abilities, taste and sensitivities far beyound the norm, choosing to live in the closet and pretending to be normal, while her secret side constantly temps her. He said that was not a conscious decision at the time, but perhapse he and some of the actors had put more of themselves into the show than they realize at the time.

 

He also said that the strangest thing on the set was that as long as Elizabeth Montgomery was playing Samantha, Paul Lynde was her greatest friend, almost considering her the daughter he never had. But when she was playing Serena, Paul was a total b!tch to her whenever the cameras weren't rolling. And seemed totally unaware of it. Any episodes with Uncle Arthur and Serena, they got their scenes in the can first, to get some tranquility back on the set.

 

 

Heh. I was watching True Hollywood Stories recently and they did one on Bewitched. There a story that one time Elizabeth Montgomery and her then husband William Asher decided to have a fantasy. You see when they ran the credits of the show at the end they would name the actress that played Serena as someone other than Elizabeth. So one night William Asher role-played calling home saying that he was working late at the office and then Elizabeth dressed as Serena took of with William and they played out the fantasy that William was having an affair with this other who in fact was his own wife.

 

Screwy ain't it? :D

[starblaze]

Re: Bewitched

 

Damn Hoss, how do you remember all that detail? One time I vaguely remembered a kids show I watched as a toddler, about a mermaid and a diver, finally remembered it was called "Diver Dan" and you posted a short synopsys!

 

NEway, to your point, I never realized that Bewitched could have been a gay allagory. I did catch on, as soon as puberty hit, that I Dream of Jeannie was a D&S piece.

 

Would anyone write up Jeannie's powers as different from Samantha's? (In my case no, both shows had very similar -plot driven- magic).

 

And why are you spending so much time discussing an obscure actress, Pandora Spocks?

 

Midas

 

D&S? :confused:

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Bewitched

 

D&S? :confused:

 

Dominance and Submission.

 

I know a lot of guys in the Scene that directly credit the influence of Jeannie, waiting on "Master" hand and foot wearing nothing but a floaty harem costume, as one their first kinky revelation moments.

[McCoy]

Re: Bewitched

 

Dominance and Submission.

 

I know a lot of guys in the Scene that directly credit the influence of Jeannie, waiting on "Master" hand and foot wearing nothing but a floaty harem costume, as one their first kinky revelation moments.

For me it was the Westerns. Between Bonanza, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, and the rest, at least one guy would tied up every week, maybe a quarter of the time with their shirts off. And don't even get me started on Wild, Wild West!

["V"]

Re: Bewitched

 

I guess my whole thing about watching dogs eat goes right back to Scooby Doo. Wow. Just remembering the way he could fit a whole quintuple decker sandwich in his mouth makes me feel so... so... hungry.

[The Weapon]

Re: Bewitched

 

D&S?

 

Dominance and Submission.

 

I know a lot of guys in the Scene that directly credit the influence of Jeannie, waiting on "Master" hand and foot wearing nothing but a floaty harem costume, as one their first kinky revelation moments.

If you liked that you'll love "The Avengers". They tired up Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) about every second episode. Why? They're British they don't need a reason.

["V"]

Re: Bewitched

 

If you liked that you'll love "The Avengers". They tired up Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) about every second episode. Why? They're British they don't need a reason.

 

Rule Britannia, I say and run out the guns.

 

Mrs Peel joins the Hellfire Club. Damn your colonial eyes, Claremont you plagiarising insurgent!

[McCoy]

Re: Bewitched

 

Rule Britannia, I say and run out the guns.

 

Mrs Peel joins the Hellfire Club. Damn your colonial eyes, Claremont you plagiarising insurgent!

Colonial? Claremont's one of you.