The Quintessential Barking Alien Playlist

I've always been someone who enjoys trying out new RPGs.

The very act of experimenting with new systems is fun for me in and of itself, independent of whether or not I end up liking a particular game or other. It should go without saying that 'New' and 'Different' doesn't automatically equal 'Good' but you'll never know if you don't give it a try 

All this said, I definitely have a selection of tried and true games I tend to fall back on. These aren't necessarily my favorite games, although some are, but rather the RPGs that see the most play at my table for one reason or another and that's what this post is really about...

My friend Ray and I were discussing the games that have seen reoccurring  use over the years and noticed that some see more attention then others, while a few have never been played with my Mid-Week group at all. They simply haven't come up and I found that both surprising and interesting.

It made me wonder, 'What are the quintessential Adam games?'; the RPGs that I am known for running on the regular that are most likely to give players an expected enjoyable experience. 

Star Trek Adventures

This is the game that I play most often lately; running a bi-weekly campaign and playing in a [roughly] weekly one. In the past few years I've also played in and GMed a handful of one-shots and short campaigns. 

It's one of my favorite games covering one of my favorite entertainment franchise settings. It's far more likely that I will continue to play it as a main game rather than need to 'get back to it'. This isn't the game I go to in order to take a break from my usual game but instead the game I might be taking a break from if anything. 

Champions

I go back to this game and my buddy William's homebrew setting regularly, often at the behest of my players. Many of them love this game or at the very least the universe. Superheroes in general are also a favorite genre with many of my friends. Like Star Trek Adventures, Champions is a major candidate for an ongoing, long term campaign.

The only draw back is that sometimes I want to try something new when the players want to return to this. Actually, that's a common element of many of these entries but this one seems especially 'in demand'. 

Traveller (Classic/MegaTraveller)

This one is another staple. Maybe it's not an 'automatic win' every time but the choice to run and play a Traveller campaign is going to go over well with my groups and result in an enjoyable game.

After running a long and very successful campaign some years ago, most of our subsequent outings with Traveller have tended to be short but reasonably successful.

Ars Magica

Ah, Ars Magica. The one Fantasy TRPG I consistently love. Unlike Champions, which comes up because my players request it, this game gets run when I get a pang of nostalgia for it. Sometimes you're just in the mood for a series of pseudo-historical myth and folklore based adventures, ya'know? 

Star Wars (D6)

Maybe its because I've run so much Star Wars over the decades, maybe its because the source of inspiration for these games has been rather hit and miss lately, but it can be very tricky for me to get jazzed to run this nowadays. I still love Star Wars the concept and the D6 system is among my top five favorite RPGs but this one doesn't come around quite as often as it used to. 

Ghostbusters (My OG / InSpectres / ALIENS Homebrew)

As you might have noticed if you frequent this blog often (yeah, I'm talking to you three) I LOVE running Ghostbusters. I am quite proud of the homebrew/kitbash system I've created for doing so and the mix of Horror, Sci-Fi, and Comedy is just perfect as a campaign setting. 

First thing about this is...I'd rather run an ongoing campaign of Ghostbusters than take a break from whatever 'regular game' I'm running to play a short run of this. Second thing is that Ghostbusters is definitely something I'm waaay more into than most of my current players are so this gets to the table far less than I'd like.  

The Winghorn Guard/Aerth

As you probably know, I'm not a D&D fan. Even my own D&D, which isn't really D&D in the classic sense. Kinda sorta. The point is, although I do love Aerth and the Winghorn Guard setting, I don't often feel the desire to revisit it that often anymore. Once in a while I guess but not on the regular.

Been a while though...

Mecha (Various)

This is directed at the genre moreso then it is any particular game. From time to time the need to strut around in six story high humanoid robots is just undeniable. A fan of Mecha Anime going all the way back to my Junior High School/Middle School days, I do love me a great story with people, politics, adventure, and of course giant robots. 

My favorite Mecha setting/universe is Mobile Suit Gundam, specifically the classic 'Universal Century' and 'One Year War' timelines. Rules wise I tend to prefer using my homebrew Mecha System Variant mechanics. Other options (for both settings and rules) include Aura Battler Dunbine, Five Star Stories, Mekton (Original and II) Macross, and Wares Blade. 

With my current range of players, short campaigns of this one work best.

Superheroes (Various)

I periodically give other Superhero games (as in not Champions) a shot and have revisited such titles as Mutants and Masterminds and Villains and Vigilantes a handful of times in the past five years or so. I might take the Japanese TRPG Deadline Heroes out for a spin in the next few months and I'm hoping to play the Marvel Multiverse game at some point. 

This is a curiousity, not a priority. That are a number of other games I'd like to get to first/more.

Teenagers from Outer Space

Finally, here's a game that hasn't seen play at my table(s) in a very long while but which was, at one time, a go-to RPG for me for throughout the late 80s to the late 90s.  It was and remains one of my all time favorites, a game I've modified and used in the past to run a host of different campaigns. It's 'default' game conceit is that of Japanese Anime and Manga over-the-top Rom-Coms and was heavily influenced by the works of Rumiko Takahashi. 

I miss TFOS. I really do. My issue with bringing it back into active use is that only a few of my players across all my groups are big Anime fans. To be clear, MANY of my players like and watch Anime. However, only a handful of them are otaku; fans who would consider Anime and Manga as their major area of fandom interest.

I should really pull out a one-short or short campaign of this for my Mid-Week group. 

You might have noticed that the list is in the order of how often I get to run these games. From games currently being run to ones I've run short games or one-shots of and finally one it's been years since I've gotten the chance to play. 

What do these games have in common? Why do I keep going back to these again and again? Would I even do so given the opportunity to do something else? To put that last one another way, I would have to ask myself whether or not I'd prefer to return to a welocme favorite over trying out something I haven't before. 

Ah, who am I kidding? With rare exceptions I'd definitely want to go for something I've not yet played. Also, remember what I said in the beginning of this post: These are the games I regularly return to. They are not necessarily my all time favorite games. That is quite a different list.

All ideas I'd like to explore in the near future. 

See you then,

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Barking Alien