RPGaDay Challenge 2019 - ANCIENT

I like old things.

Old songs, movies and TV shows, comic books...I have a lot of respect for works that stand the test of time. Such things generate in me feelings of admiration, nostalgia, and sometimes even a sense of heartwarming familiarity. 

Ancient is something else entirely. 

There is great weight and great majesty to Ancient.

It is old beyond most people's casual understanding of just how old we're talking about. 

Ancient implies a mystery derived from knowledge that has been lost and not necessarily hidden.

Ancient is a puzzle whose clues are also puzzles.

Ancient places things very far away from us. Time becomes distance. The time and place when and where Ancient occurred no longer exists. Only the shadows of that world remain. 

Old is comforting. Ancient can be scary. 

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Barking Alien

RPGaDay Challenge 2019 - SPACE

Space?!? Seriously? You want me to write something about Space? Muhuwahahaha! I thought you'd never ask!

Let's see. What's the first thing I think of when I think of Space. Well there's always...

This is an image of the Observable Universe.

This is a map of all the Exoplanets NASA has cataloged as of this post. The number is 4003. Yes. Four thousand and three planets have been observed orbiting stars other than our own.

Is that not the coolest thing you have ever conceived of? These aren't made up worlds. They're not from Science Fiction. There are PLANETS BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM and WE CAN SEE THEM! *Squee*

Ever since I was a very young child I have been absolutely fascinated with and inspired by Outer Space. I had a telescope way back when and I would spend a few hours each night looking at the stars. I lived in Brooklyn, New York and you really couldn't see all that much due to smog and the eternal glow of New York. At the same time, every tiny pin-prick of light in the endless black sheet of night was a catalyst for my imagination and a glimmer of hope that 'we are not alone'. 

I would constantly stare at some random star and wonder if there was a young being looking back at our Sun just as I looked at theirs and thinking, as I did, 'Is there anybody out there?'

Space Adventure Science Fiction is by far my favorite subject/genre for running Role-Playing Games. Whether it's a unified alliance of species banded together to explore the unknown reaches of the cosmos or a ragtag band of rebels trying to overthrow the tyranny of a galaxy spanning empire, I can guarantee that's where my head, heart, and dare I say spirit can be found.

The very idea of an infinite void that is not a void at all but filled with stars, planets, asteroids, comets, radiation, and potentially life propels my creativity far more than Fantasy ever could. Always in the back of my mind there is the knowledge that dragons are not real, magic is impossible, but Space...Space exists, as do all the things within it.

From the horror of Alien to the comedy of Galaxy Quest, the social commentary of Star Trek to the classic star-spanning action of Lensman or Valerian and Laureline, Space is the ultimate place to find adventure. 

Over the past 42 years I've run and played dozens upon dozens of RPGs set in Space. In addition to IP games based on some of the franchises I've mentioned, I have had successful games set in the universes of Traveller, Space Opera, and Star Frontiers, as well as numerous settings of my own design. 

Currently I am running a Star Trek campaign set in the era of The Original Series (now in it's fourth year) and FRONTIER, a hard Sci-Fi meets horror game I've been developing for about 30 years. 

I have other Space game ideas. I will always have other space game ideas.

After all, it's the final frontier.

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Barking Alien

RPGaDay Challenge 2019 - SHARE

As noted when I began the RPGaDay 2019 Challenge, I am trying to answer this in a sort of 'word association' manner. Basically, I see the prompt word and write the first thing that comes to mind. 

Share invokes two thoughts, with neither being particularly compelling to elaborate upon. 

First and foremost I think of sharing our love of the hobby with others, be it family, friends, co-workers friends, the 'next generation', and beyond. With the current popularity of RPGs and videos showing live-play on YouTube, RPGs and the passion we have for them are being shared to more people than ever before. Go Us Gamers!

Second, I think of this blog, which allows a regular Joe GM from New York City like myself (and his extraterrestrial, verdant furred, canine companion of course) to talk about whatever is on my mind in regards to gaming and pop culture. I have this venue that allows me to share my crazy ideas with all of you and really, that's pretty freakin' cool.

That's it. That's all I am able to think of for prompt number four. Hopefully word number five will be a bit more interesting.

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Barking Alien

RPGaDay Challenge 2019 - ENGAGE

Engage? Did someone say Engage?

What are we Engaging? Well, it's an RPG event so obviously we're Engaging with games but, hmmm, that seems too simple. 

I'd say what we're really Engaging with when it comes to RPGs is each other. 

I've said it before and it bears repeating - Role Playing Games are (for the most part) a team sport.

I don't know how to break it to you so I'll just come out and say it...the game isn't about you. Don't worry, it isn't about me either. It's about us, the 'party', the group, going through a world or universe created by one of us, who is acting as the GM. It's symbiotic.

The player needs the other players to accomplish the goal of having a good time at tonight's session. Your PC needs the other PCs to complete the in-game goal of solving the current mystery or defeating the current villain. You all need the Gamemaster to describe what you see and encounter and the GM needs players who are going to encounter things and explore the setting they've developed. 

The key to truly Engaging in a game with your friends is awareness. 

Awareness of your fellow players, awareness of the game, awareness of yourself. 

Imagine you are seated at a table with five other Human beings. A Gamemaster is talking to one of these people about something that involves them, though more specifically, their character. Why should you or any of the other four people give a damn. Furthermore, what should you be doing or thinking about at this time - the time not about you and your character that is. 

Well the default might be to read over your character sheet, play with you cell phone, check your email, look up the abilities you want next in the rulebook; there is so much you can do for you about you!

Try...not doing that. Instead, cheering your friend on, ooh and aah at the creature the GM presented, look up stuff they need to clarify so they don't have to, etc. Before you know it, it'll be your turn. 

By Engaging with the other people at the session with you, by realizing you are all in this symbiotic relationship of creating a fun time together, you improve the outcome of not only this endeavor but all going forward with this group. 

Some (hopefully) helpful do's and don't's for Engaging with the game and its various participants:

The best way IMHO to Engage with a game and those involved in it is to be aware of everything that makes a game work. This awareness and a little effort will go a long way. 

You'll be surprised how much your players and referee will invest and Engage in the game when they feel like everyone is putting in the same effort to be there, with each other, as components of the whole.

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Barking Alien

RPGaDay Challenge 2019 - UNIQUE

What comes to mind when I read the word Unique is the question of whether or not anything truly is.

Unique is defined as 'being the only one of its kind'.

Surely no one on this Earth or in this universe is exactly like you, or me for that matter, and therefore by definition of the word that is exactly what each and every one of us are. Unique. 

At the same time, Unique is also defined as 'unlike anything else'. That is a very different situation altogether. Is there really no one in the world like me? No 50 year old, long time gamer geeks with a passion for Science Fiction, Superheroes, and the Muppets exist other than myself? I find that very hard to believe. 

When I create campaigns, characters, even game systems, I like to believe them to be special, not your average fare, maybe even a bit unusual. I'm sure I'm not alone. At the same time, I have never thought of what I do are truly Unique. The ideas came from somewhere, sparked by thousands upon thousands of influences I am both conscious and unconscious of. Often my creations are directly inspired by a popular idea I want to do differently, or one that failed to work but I see a way to 'fix' it. 

I don't run Dungeons & Dragons, surely the most common and mundane of all RPGs, so my games must, at least by comparison, be progressive, innovative, even avant garde! Well, no. They are not, by default, any more or less singularly revolutionary then the millions of D&D games being run across the globe. 

Remember, I tend to run IP games quite often. I love running Star Trek and Star Wars for example, and I am most assuredly not the only one. Beyond that, I did not create either of those settings myself. I am, at best, a highly skilled and dedicated hack, with a real passion for those franchises. 

Is anything in gaming Unique? Are there games with settings, concepts, characters, and/or rule mechanics not seen in any other game? I'm sure there are. I'm sure if I thought long and hard enough I'd come up with a few. Honestly though, I don't think that's what really matters.

Being Unique isn't as important to a successful and memorable game or as being Entertaining. Whatever it is that makes your games work, whatever causes players to pester their Gamemaster as to when the next session is, that's what matters. It could be the same old Fighters and Clerics in the same old Dungeon. It might be yet another alien planet visited on the ongoing mission of your starship. If it is what you enjoy, what gets you and your friends excited, then it doesn't matter that large numbers of others are doing roughly the same thing. 

Even if they are, only your group is running it with your friends, in the way that you all love. And in that way, even the umpteenth delving into the Caves of Chaos below The Keep on the Borderlands is absolutely Unique.

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Barking Alien