Don't Tell Me...You're From Outer Space

Picture this...

Everyone familiar with classic Traveller will know this refrain:

Oh no! The ill-fated Beowulf is done for!

Wouldn't it be awesome if this were followed up by:

It that...Starfleet? Thank goodness!

We're saved!

I've been putting some additional thought into this project, and more so than others I've worked on, I think it sounds great, but even I am a tad skeptical as to how it will be executed.

Don't get me wrong, it's a cool idea, and I am up to the task, but when all is said and done, I have to ask myself, 'Does this work better than what I already have?'

This is a common question we in the RPG hobby ask ourselves, or at least it should be IMHO. 

Does the newest edition of a game give my players, and I a superior gaming experience to what we already have, or have had? Often the answer is easy. Sometimes not so much.

In the case of many games, I prefer older editions. I still run Champions 4th Edition (though they're up to 6, or 6.1 with Champions Complete), Ars Magica 4th, Star Wars WEG D6 2nd Edition, and my preferred Mekton is actually Mekton II (trying desperately to get a copy of the first edition).

For Traveller, I tend towards classic, original Traveller with some additional material from MegaTraveller.

For Star Trek, the tendency (by a wide margin) is to go with Last Unicorn Games' ICON System. When I feel like doing something different, I go for the older FASA game. 

Do I need another Star Trek RPG? That question came up as I discovered the upcoming Star Trek Adventures RPG by Modiphius Games. I am very excited to see that game, and happy to be part of the playtest, but I think I am more interested in the new material it will present (adventure ideas, ships, aliens, NPCs, etc.) than I am about a new set of rules.

That brings me back to Star Trek Traveller. 

Can I not run the above scenario in a previous version of a Star Trek RPG? No, I can. There is nothing in the USS Traveller's attempt to rescue the Free Trader Beowulf that can't be done with FASA, LUG, Far Trek, Where No Man Has Gone Before, or any number of other RPGs.

So why Star Trek Traveller?

I'm not entirely sure. I feel part of my desire to put this together stems from my love of both things (Star Trek and Traveller), and part of it comes from my wanting to run Star Trek this year for a group of people who don't have quite as strong an attachment to Star Trek as I do. They do have a strong attachment to Traveller though, and that is 'my in' you might say.

What it all boils down to is that I just love Science Fiction. I especially love Space Adventure Science Fiction. 

I love the idea of a diverse, heroic, good natured, and well meaning (though not perfect) group of people banded together to explore, learn, create, grow, and defend their principles against the forces of tyranny, hatred, fear, and ignorance. 

I love Star Trek.

I want to live in that future. I want to investigate it. I want it to challenge me.

I want to pass that love onto others. 

This just might be the way.

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Barking Alien

Easy Does It

Before I go deeper down the wormhole of Star Trek Traveller, I'd like to tell you about a some great gaming experiences I had over the holiday vacation.

Between December 24th, and December 31st, I got the chance to run a lot of games. How many you ask? I don't even remember. A LOT.

While they all went over well, two in particular were really fun, and I can pinpoint why quite reasonably.

They were easy.

Now when I say easy, what I mean is that it required very little effort on my part to get the games set up, started, and going smoothly. The players displayed no resistance to the genres, nor to any of the details of the setting, story, or rule mechanics.

Basically, in a very zen sort of way...I wanted to run a game for my friends. I did. They wanted to play a game I was running. They did. It was fun.

Um...why aren't all games like this?

Because in order for me to run a great game, I need players who want me to run, and want to participate in, a great game. Furthermore, it would be awesome if they want a great game from me more than they want to get hung up on their various individual, er, hang ups.

Wouldn't that be grand?

The first of the two games was a DC Adventures / Mutants & Masterminds 3E game with my ex-wife, my friends Luke, and Lily, and a bunch of  'alumni' kids from the Tutoring Center. Inspired by the DC Comics Holiday Special issues over the years, the Justice League, and some of their Young Justice proteges went up against the Penguin, Sinestro, Bizarro, The Floronic Man, and the wicked warlock Wotan! All in a desperate battle to save none other than Santa Claus!

The Justice League of Earth-602!

Why 602? That's the address of the Tutoring Center, LOL

The most amazing thing about this session was how well the players took to their characters when the vast majority of them aren't comic book readers. I've noted before that this group, largely middle school and high school students of Chinese decent, have never read American comics in their lives. Their only knowledge of and exposure to these characters comes from the animated and live action shows on television. Add in the fact that only one of the adults in the group was a huge comic fan (and more well versed in Marvel mythos), and it repeatedly astounds me how well they all nail these well-established characters. 

Each person's interpretation of their character was very much influenced by the individual players' familiarity:

Green Lantern was very much the GL of Justice League Unlimited.
Aquaman was Super Friends style.
Flash and Kid Flash were a mix of the CW show and Young Justice.
Martian Manhunter was a mix of Justice League Unlimited and the Supergirl CW show.
Aqualad was totally Young Justice.
Superman was classic Silver Age, if a bit powered down (JLU also?).
Supergirl was straight out of the CW show.
Wonder Woman was Super Friends/Silver Age, complete with Invisible Jet.
Batman was pretty much Batman: The Animated Series.
Green Arrow looked classic but was really more like the Arrow TV series. 

If you are asking yourself, "Wait...were there actually 11 players?!", then I can tell you the answer is yes, most assuredly. 

The second awesome game I ran was MACROSS - Return of the Blue Dragons!

A sequel to the 1986 MACROSS - Blue Dragons campaign I ran in high school. Two of my old high school buddies, David Concepcion, and Eric Flores, were on hand to revisit my version of the Macross universe 30 years later (both in game and in real life). 

David played the son of his original character, while Eric played a bishonen character whose gender is never clear throughout the scenario. 

Numerous upgraded elements from the original campaign were added including the PCs' base of operations - The UN Spacy Odyssey II replaces the previous Odyssey, upgraded versions of the variable space fighters - the VF-3 series - and both of A.J. DeLorca's kids following in their parents footsteps and becoming Valkyrie pilots. 

The VF-3J Crusader

(Based on Shoji Kawamori's VF-3000 Crusader design)

With a thirty year gap between the last session of the original series and this one-shot, one would think it might have been hard to get back into the swing of things. Nope. Not one iota. 

For Dave and I it was really just continuing the campaign as if little time had passed out of game. As if we've been meeting to run this every month for three decades. Eric, for his part, merged into our lane with ease and contributed an interesting character with good tactical skills and even better social ones.

Snappy dialogue, fast paced combat, and a classic science fiction plot made this so much fun we were bummed when the session ended and we realized, 'Crap. This doesn't continue next week or even next month.' Sad panda.

Dave, as I have mentioned in the past, now lives in Boston. He is a working single parent and though he makes trips back to NYC one to three times a year, he doesn't always know if and when he'll be visiting. 

Eric is a GM regularly running his own campaigns.

I have work six days a week (my own Dog Walking Company and one day teaching), yet still manage to run or play twice a week (online and Friday nights), as well as once a month (my monthly group campaign, which is currently my homebrew Superheroic Medieval Fantasy setting using Ars Magica rules). 

Sigh.

Still and all, I am looking forward to more gaming like these two sessions this year. For my 40th Anniversary I want - no NEED! - to get back to gaming like I use to. I'm looking for that immersive experience with players that buy-in and embrace the setting and their characters. I can't wait to see what happens next. Additionally, I'd like to do so without the deconstructed, meta-viewpoint so prevalent in modern gaming.

Easy does it now. Baby steps. Baby steps...

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Barking Alien

Charted Space...The Final Frontier

I've come up with another one of my absolutely awesome, terrible ideas.

Heheh.

One of the biggest differences between my last few approaches to Star Trek gaming and my older approaches is that the more recent attempts have a tad too much 'meta' in them. 

I have delivered the pitch, and executed the adventures with an awareness that this is a game, based on a TV show franchise, in a universe that is not necessarily a living, breathing thing.

It has long been my goal to get back to Star Trek RPG campaigning as I originally envisioned, and ran it; a series of moments in the lives of people living, and working in a possible future.

To this end, I'd like to try to adapt the Star Trek universe to the slightly crunchier, often more 'gritty', and 'realistic' feel, and mechanics of Traveller. 

This is certainly not a new idea, and I am sure many gamers have done this over the years, but it is a first for me. I have toyed with the idea in my head every once in a blue moon (Blue moon? Andoria?), but never committed any real effort to making it happen. Certainly I've never put thought to paper (or screen as it were). 

Would it work? How much work is involved? Should I even bother?

Well, last year around this time I attempted to create a Star Wars Traveller. The effort had mixed results. It was fun to do, and I got some very positive reactions from readers of the blog. My one attempt to actually run it got a decent response, but my players didn't quite connect with the setting, or style I was hoping to produce.

In this case however...er...hmm. I fear the same thing might happen.

Traveller is one of the games that works with my mainstay, monthly group. That gives this project, and me, some hope. At the same time, it is definitely Star Trek, and if that isn't going to act as a draw then I may end up feeling like I'm doing a lot of work for nothing. 

USS Traveller - Insignia with Department Colors

Command, Sciences, and Engineering and Support Services.

As I have mentioned, 2017 is my 40th Anniversary in the RPG hobby, and as such I want to do something really special this year. Special to me that is. This idea fits that bill. Why? Because these are two of my favorite things, and I think that they might just go really well together.

What do you think? Worth a shot, or save myself some heartache?

Should I boldly go, and keep her in dry dock?

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Barking Alien

Celebrating The Old, The New, and The Next

Happy New Year Everybody!

Welcome to the first Barking Alien post of 2017, celebrating not only a New Year, but my 40th Anniversary in the RPG Hobby as well!

Holy Crap! Forty Years?!? Yes, you read that right - The Big Four Zero!

In addition, today is (unofficially) National Science Fiction Day (corresponding with the birthday of noted professor, and Science Fiction author Isaac Asimov! 

How awesome is that?

Well it's pretty damn awesome in this SF fans opinion.

What does it mean for my gaming plans in 2017? I'm glad you asked!

Another cool, unnecessary project? Why yes!

Wait until you see it...


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Barking Alien

Is It Over Yet?

This is my last post for 2016.

What a year. I am personally very glad it's over.

While I ran some good games, played in some too, saw some cool movies, and TV shows, and met some great people, the year as a whole was kind of a downer.

From celebrities passing, to political and social disappointment on a grand scale, I feel like 2016 has long since worn out its welcome.

I still don't have a clear idea of what my next big game is, and that is bugging me a little. OK, more than a little. I really wanted to have the idea locked down a while ago so that I could start developing material for it during the holiday vacation. No such luck. 

Ah well.

To all my friends, family, and those who get even the smallest bit of use, and/or enjoyment out of this blog, I would like to wish you a safe, happy, and healthy new year. 

-Adam

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Barking Alien