Where To Next?

 What's the next stop on this Long Strange Trip?

I'm not entirely sure but the meter is running and decisions need to be made. 

Where to Mac?

It's February of 2021 and my birthday is coming up. I get really bummed out around this time of year as February holds memories good, bad, bittersweet, and I'm one of those people for whom a birthday puts me down in the dumps. 

Add to this the continuing Pandemic conditions, the fact that my gaming has been good but not...not...that level of good I'm always striving for, and I am tempted to just have the driver take me home or drop me off here. Anywhere. 

All is not lost however and this isn't meant to be a downer of a post. Quite the contrary. The purpose of this entry isn't to tell you where my head is at but rather where I intend it to go. 'Further' is the answer I'm focused on. Further into the future. 

For a long while now I've been wanting to do several things and this year, do them I shall!

First, I am working on several self-publishing game products including Barkley's system-agnostic Sci-Fi travel series, 'The Barking Alien Guide to...', each of which will provide information on several star systems and planets in a particular area of space for use with whatever Space Adventure RPG you happen to prefer. From flora and fauna to the best place to buy Steamed Gumlets (Sweet or Spicy!), The Barking Alien Guides will give you an experience the average tourist will surely envy. 

Second, it is my intention to start a Podcast or Youtube channel based on this blog. I must be honest, this one excites and terrifies me. I don't know a damn thing about the technical side of this and while I have no fears about speaking before large groups of people (I've done it many times), the sound of my voice recorded electronically annoys the heck out of me. I guess I'll have to adopt one of my many character voices! Heheh. *Insert nervously scratching my head with a large Anime sweat drop going down the back of it*

Anyway...

There are some other things in the works which I will discuss as they come closer to fruition. I've always wanted to type 'fruition'. That's such a fun word. 

My main concern right now, one bit I don't have fully worked out, is what my next game idea will be. I am having a lot...wait, let me correct that...A LOT...of difficulty coming up with an idea that really grabs me.

This would be for my Sunday Evening group. We've played some really good games together - specifically and especially Red Dwarf / Yellow Sun - but have recently gone through a bout of short campaigns (or attempts at such) which were a bit harder for me to get into. Part of it was the mechanics of these games, part of it the style/approach (which I may discuss in a future post), but really I think I just want to get back to GMing. I've been playing in these as a player and I can only take so much of that before I get antsy. 

What to run, what to run...the eternal lament of multi-interest Gamemaster. Oh to be one of those referees who only runs one thing over and over but no, that is definitely not me. 

I have been particularly interested in all things Japanese again lately. From Japanese tabletalk RPGs to Anime and Manga (the visuals, energy, and style more than any one series), I seem to be drawn to that 'mental aesthetic' as it were. 

Hmmm. Barkley, let me off at the corner of Mecha and Yokai. I want to stretch my legs and look around...

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Barking Alien