About Us
Birthright is a fantasy RPG (role-playing game) based on the rules of the Buffy/Angel universe. Stretching across Nevada, between the neon paradise of Las Vegas and desert town of Searchlight, Birthright offers the perfect setting for good writers seeking a quality world where supernaturally-inclined characters can play.

Rooted in the near-future (2011) Slayerverse of Joss Whedon's franchise, Birthright has taken on an epic life of its own, with a primary focus on original characters, although applications are welcome for minor canon characters from the show. If you're looking for somewhere with a wealth of talent and writing, friendly players, dark and light themes, humor and horror, Birthright could be the perfect home for your characters and ideas. We welcome series fans and those new to the genre.

The term 'RPG' can be a bit misleading. We are not a tabletop roleplaying game. Birthright exists entirely online. Really we're just a group of writers that get bored of doing solo fan-fiction and want to write together instead. ;) We've stolen (with love) the world created by Joss, but have branched out in a new direction. Click here to read what Wikipedia says about fan-fiction.

Our game was created on July 10, 2004. Since then, we have written thousands of in-character posts, making Birthright one of the largest, most active RPGs on GreatestJournal. The RPG format consists of solo and tag-team scenes (using AIM) posted to GreatestJournal, though comment threading is allowed when difficult scheduling persists. Because there is sometimes graphic content, you must be 17 to write with us. We place our more graphic content behind labeled cut-tags.

Our story is set in 2011 in Searchlight and Las Vegas, Nevada. An entity called the Exile is primarily responsible for bringing our characters to the area. The Exile is a catalyst that propels the game forward, but runs in the background of more active, character-focused storylines that our writers create. We encourage both individual and group plots.

To learn more about the Exile, scroll down this page!  For other resources, including application instructions, click the 'Resources' link above!

Our Buffy/Angel Past

Writers are not required to be avid Buffy/Angel viewers.  They are expected to abide by the rules of the Universe.  For example, if a writer wants to apply for a vampire, they need to research what being a vampire means (skills and limitations) in this genre.  Where to look?  We use a website called 'All Things Philosophical on Buffy the Vampire Slayer".  A link can be found in the resource section.

Birthright is not an AU (alternate universe).  It takes place several years after the close of the Buffy and Angel television shows.  Because those finales left a few loose ends, we have come up with a vague description of what we think happened to those characters.

After the collapse of Sunnydale, Buffy, Dawn, and Andrew headed for Italy. Willow, Kennedy, and Xander traveled, hoping to locate slayers. Giles and the few remaining Watchers worked to rebuild the Council.  As for the former members of Angel, Investigations, a group of Council-led Slayers intervened in the demonic uprising. It is known that both Spike and Illyria survived. Gunn is widely believed to have died, but there is no definitive account of that. In the midst of battle, the Powers That Be removed Angel and made him the new guardian of Old Ones in the Deeper Well.**

Over the next few years, the line between good and evil became blurred. Hundreds of slayers had been called into a world without a cohesive Watchers' Council to guide the way. A major Hellmouth had been closed, and the Circle of the Black Thorn destroyed. Unlikely alliances were made between demons, witches, watchers, slayers, and other humans. Both light and dark forces were scattered, and an increasing number of 'gray area' players were born.

**Spike, Lorne, Faith, Oz, and Connor have reappeared in Birthright.

What is The Exile?

Archaeological evidence tells us that pockets of human civilization have existed in the American southwest since 12,000 BC. The region that would become Searchlight, Nevada was no different. Among the first to cross the mountains and deserts were nomadic tribes, some of which flourished briefly before disappearing from archaeological record, leaving behind only vague impressions of their world. After the nomads came the settling tribes-- the Paiutes and the Washoes among them. Hundreds of years later, Europeans came for land and stayed for mining. At times a bustling community, at others a ghost town, Searchlight has always been a place of periodic population explosion and purging. The latter has almost always been accomplished through violence.

Until recently, it was unknown to all but the loftiest forces of Good and Evil that there is a reason for Searchlight's violent history.  A great power exists within that land. Called The Exile, it is is an ambiguous entity with allegiance only to itself. A mystery at times, The Exile has always been a force deserving respect and something more-- containment. For thousands of years, it has been locked in the desert, its prison a dimensional rift. The key to The Exile's eventual freedom is not magic, but the absorption of energy that is released in acts of violence, lust, chaos, and death.

Throughout the ages, The Exile has acted as a beacon, sending subconscious signals to humans and demons alike, drawing them close for inevitable confrontations that culminated in slaughter, and feeding off the energy released. Each time, the goal was to harness enough energy to free itself. Every previous attempt to corral enough energy has failed.

In the summer of 2008, efforts were begun anew, this time with an entirely different target. What better source of energy than a slow-building battle between the supernatural light and dark? As their battle builds, so does the strength of the Exile's 'beacon', calling players from farther corners of the earth and of more significant power. It also has a small following of demons, whose underground stronghold protects The Exile and its prison from disruption.

The Exile's allegiances to Good and Evil, as well as its endgame, are unknown.  Until recently, its efforts have been largely ignored by the higher order of Good and Evil, who practice an unspoken policy of non-interference, because The Exile's freedom could cause an upset in the delicate balance of power. But this newest advancement has garnered attention because it has the potential to succeed. If The Exile is permanently released, the delicate balance between Good and Evil will be disrupted.

On the winter solstice of 2010, a battle broke out in the city of sin.  A tear between universes had been opened by a scientist at Wolfram and Hart, allowing traffic between our world and a decimated version of it, in which the Old Ones had taken control.  The tear eventually became unstable and began to envelop the city.  During the fight to keep our world from being destroyed, enough energy was generated to allow the Exile a temporary release.  Without warning, and without known motives, the entity surfaced in Las Vegas and stabilized the tear.  Once the chaos stopped, and thus the fuel for its temporary freedom, the Exile was returned to its mystical prison.  Its small army fought to kill off the remainder of the demons left by the tear.

The everyday warriors on both sides of the ancient struggle are now aware that an entity exists; they have no understanding that it is their ongoing battle that feeds The Exile, whatever the consequences may be.