The Newsroom...No Relation

As the year draws ever closer (and ever more rapidly) toward it's inevitable end, the month of December refuses to let 2013 go quietly.

With a lot of possibilities and an equal number of difficulties, this month, only half over, has been what we in the scientific community call 'A Doozy'.

Before my next full on post, which I hope will be a doozy onto itself, I thought I'd give a shout out to a few very cool people who have kept the positive energy flowing for me this holiday season.

In no particular order:

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Charles Atkins of the blog Dyvers posted a list of the gaming blogs that are on his blog roll. Many of them will be very familiar to my followers and visitors as well as the gaming community at large. Some, not so much. To me, that's awesome because it lists blogs I may never has known about had such a list not been made. Plus, added bonus, he mentioned Barking Alien and gives it a very positive accompanying blurb.

So, here's a raise cup of Eggnog to Mr. Atkins and his list. Great resource! Thanks Charles.

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Do you know Joshua Macy? If you don't you should, or at the very least, you should get familiar with his line of currently free RPGs, all using his SFX system. While seeming quirky at first, the system is actually rather brilliant with a nice balance between fluff and crunch and a learning curve that will have you itching to make your own characters, settings and other elements once you get the system.

I say things like 'quirky' and 'get the system' like it's some kind of bizarre approach but really it's not. Rather, it is a twist on familiar concepts that (at least for me) took a second to realize were neither as complicated as it looked or as loose as it seemed.

I have played and recommend Kapow!, the SFX Superheroes RPG and Zap! for Science-Fiction Adventure. Josh used Zap! to run a Google Hangouts Star Trek game I was in and I am currently in his new Supers campaign using Kapow!

Also available are the Medieval Fantasy game Zounds! and Argh!, a Horror RPG.

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Have I mentioned Star Trek: Axanar to you guys at all? 'Cause, ya'know, Star Trek: Axanar Mother Hubbard!

A fan film motion picture featuring the character of Captain Kelvar Garth of Izar, commanding officer of the USS Ares (pictured above), as he and his allies engage in the famous Battle of Axanar, a major conflict during the Four Years War against the Klingons. I have been following this project very closely and it was this more than anything else that inspired much of my current Star Trek campaign.

The Battle of Axanar occurs around 2245. This is also the year of the launch of the Constitution Class USS Enterprise under Captain Robert April. The start date for our current campaign is 2233, concurrent with the birth year of James T. Kirk. It's all connected. All connected.

Heheheh.

That's all for now. I intend to update the rest of the Star Trek: Journey first session and finally finish an entry I've been working on about Superhero RPGs/gaming very soon.

Stay warm and dry East Coast!

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