The Power of Three

‘Charmed’ is a TV series about three sisters who discover they are actually powerful witches. They are the chosen three, who will stand alone against the… Hang on; is this sounding a little familiar? Charmed does seem to have some remarkable similarities to Buffy the Vampire slayer. So it’s only sensible to present these notes for playing a Charmed RPG as an adaptation of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer unisystem rules. For those of you who are fans of the show, I should mention now that I’m mostly working with season one as a basis for this article. There is just too much in the six seasons of Charmed to write into one magazine. If you want to see a full RPG, ask Eden Studios to get the license, they'll do a damn fine job..

For those of you who are new to Charmed, I should take a moment to introduce you. The show is set in San Francisco and concerns the Halliwell sisters, Pru (Shannon Doherty), Piper (Holly-Marie Combes) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano). Another sister, Paige (Rose McGowan) arrives when Pru leaves the series, although I won’t spoil it by telling you how. So there are three sisters working to fight the demons and the darkness, and in Wicca, three is a powerful number. The sisters were brought up by their Grandma from a very young age. They moved in with her after the death of their mother and the disappearance of their father. However, as soon as they were old enough to leave the nest they did, if only to get away from each other. To say they didn’t really get on is an understatement. Imagine their surprise when after their Grandmother dies, they discover they are witches. It turns out that Grandma was also a witch, and had been suppressing their powers until she felt they were ready to use them. If that wasn’t enough, they are also ‘The Charmed Ones’, born with a destiny to be the most powerful of all witches, and fight for good on the front lines. None of them are very pleased about this as demon-hunting plays hell (sorry) with their social lives and relationships. However, being in peril and danger every week brings them together, which is a good thing as their powers are far greater when they work together – the power of three.

In addition to being able to work magic with the help of their mother’s old spell book (the Book of Shadows) they each have a particular power. Pru is telekinetic, and later learns to astral project. Piper has the ability to freeze time for a few moments. Phoebe can see the future, like Cordelia in Angel but without the blinding headaches. Paige has the ability to ‘orb’, which is basically the power to teleport herself. The three sisters are helped by a ‘Whitelighter’ called Leo, a form of guardian angel who also has the ability to orb and to heal. Leo and Piper fall in love almost instantly, but still take at least four seasons to get together.