Very soon I may have to change the name of this blog from Barking Alien to Barking Super.
In the past two weeks I've run two different Supers RPGs with more players joining each time. I will be running a game at the Compleat Strategist on the 3rd of March demoing a brand new Superhero game about to hit the market (very likely with a haymaker depicted next to the POW!).
While I intended to focus this blog primarily on Science-Fiction gaming, fate and the personal preferences of my players and I have resulted in Comic Book Superheroes becoming the default RPG genre for myself and my group.
I couldn't be happier (OK, maybe if we were playing a Star Trek campaign I could be), while at the same time, I am feeling a bit frustrated as these past outings have not been my best. I won't lie, I take a lot of pride in my games and my approach to running campaigns and anything less then a really, really good session can kinda crash my mood or harsh my mellow. I don't know why but I love that phrase. Harsh my mellow. I am such a hippie.
Now one of the new players, the aforementioned, all-around great guy Corey, is bowing out of the campaigns. The game conflicts with another game he really wants to be in and with a wife and kids, his free time is both limited and precious. I totally understand that. Does it bother me that he'd rather spend that time playing someone else's game and not mine? Yes. Actually, it hurts quite a bit. However, I kind of saw it coming.
Corey fit in awesomely as a member of our group of friends and I'd hang out with him any day. If he wanted to see a movie or have a beer, I am right there. I believe that our play styles or perhaps our ideas about what makes a good Supers game didn't perfectly gel. No ones fault. These things happen. I would much rather it be this then we were jerks to each other and didn't get along as people. That would truly have sucked.
The final outcome is that I now have two new players, though exactly what we're playing from this point forward remains to be seen.
I do know, it will be super...
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Barking Alien
I'd like to set a formal agenda for today:
ReplyDeleteItem 1: Blog title - Are you really worried that "Barking Alien" might be misleading to new readers? I think a green dog is just as much "supers" as it is sci fi, perhaps moreso.
Item 2: Quality of session - not every run goes on the highlight reel. For me it's being in the proper frame of mind right before the session starts - if that's good, then prep or no prep it's going to be a good run. Sometimes that doesn;t happen. It's a little weird because I'm not typically much of a "feelings" guy (ask Lady Blacksteel) but for this one thing it makes a huge differenece and it's been that way for years.
Item 3: This Corey guy - I've dropped out of games I liked with people I liked just because the time it was going to run and the time it was taking to get there were just too much. It doesn't have to be a reflection on you. Plus any new game takes some time to really gel and it may be better that he punched out now than 6 months from now. It sounds like no one walked away with hurt feelings, so the future remains bright.
Two players - sounds like an opportunity for a Trek game - or more Supers!
(all of this is very tongue in cheek, in case it doesn;t come through that way)
I here ya man and like I said...
ReplyDelete1: I am obviously not changing the name. I am just saying it's amazing how Supers oriented I am of late. Me keeping on any one subject this long is kinda unprecedented.
2: I take my fun seriously. My humor too. That is, I try really hard to make sure each session is really good. They can't all be '10's but they should all be '7's or better. When they're not it's back into my little Doghouse of Solitude to figure out how to fix the flaws and build on the good stuff. As my buddy Conrad said to me today, "Always strive to do your best." Striving for mediocre is not my style.
3: Indeed it was all good. I like Corey as a person and a gamer but something didn't click they way it needed to click and that's OK. If it clicks with him somewhere else, that's awesome. If I can now realign things so they click with my remaining four guys, that's wonderful. Positive vibes all around.
I think the call does indeed go out for more Supers. And I have just the thing...