Sangatsu Kyōki

This month, you may notice a bit of a Japanese influence here at Barking Alien.

This year is rocketing by, and I am feeling hard pressed to keep pace with it! Yet keep pace I shall, fueled by a sudden influx of creative inspiration brought on by several factors.

First, and foremost, I'm still powerfully into my Pokemon RPG campaign concept. I'll be keeping up with the entries on my idea off, and on throughout the month. I have plans to cover the Pokemon of the Canu Region in more detail, a closer look at the region itself, some ideas for adventures, adversaries, and hopefully much more. 

The goal of my very next post on the subject is to explain how a Pokemon campaign would actually work, focusing on the players' point of view. What do you actually do in a Pokemon game? What can you expect your PC to do, discover, find, and encounter? How do battles work, why do they happen, and how is Character Experience/Experience Points handled.

You can thank Blacksteel for this.

Secondly, I recently had a conversation with members of my online group, who brought up the fact that anyone is welcome to introduce [and if the interest is there], and run virtually any kind of game - at least in the short term. Since we meet weekly on Google Plus, and have been for a good, long while now, it doesn't take much away from our regularly scheduled programming to pop an alternative game into the mix every now, and then.

This lead to discussing games we haven't played in a while, very often, or in the case of some of the participants, and games ever. 

I got on a kick about how much I miss many of the Anime/Manga influenced/inspired games of my youth such as Mekton, and Teenagers from Outer Space. 

I've recently been looking at a lot of current Anime, and Manga, binge-watching some Anime series I've missed, and revisiting some of my notes from previous RPG campaigns inspired by Japanese pop culture classics. 

I can't tell you exactly what all of this means, but I can tell you the wheels are spinning like the back tires on the Mach 5. Is a game of psychically powered teenagers with giant robots in my near future? 

Only time will tell.

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Barking Alien 

By the way...'Sangatsu  Kyōki' means 'March Madness'.

Before I go, I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to Theodor S. Giesel, better known to the world at large as Dr. Seuss. Today was his birthday, having been born on March 2nd, in 1904. Giesel passed away in September of 1991.

A prolific writer, artist, and a fascinating figure in both his philosophical, and political standings, Dr. Seuss is an individual whose life is well worth looking into. Beyond the Sneetches, Grinches, and Whos, Giesel was a man passionate about a number of things, and much of that passion made it's way into his work in one form, or another.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss - The Cat in The Hat, and all of that!