What Has My Attention

I am quite behind on my RPGaDay 2021 posts, largely (but not completely) because I've been absolutely exhausted lately.

It has been an August of ups and downs business wise. A lot of my clients are away on vacation, while others often find themselves in need of last minute schedule changes or additions. As my job mainly takes place outside, the heat and humidity this Summer has really been rough and I've been feeling pretty drained. Today I slept a good three hours in the middle of the day. I am told this is called a 'nap'. Curious.

In addition, I've been distracted lately with a lot of other things that interest me; specifically things that interest me more than the RPGaDay Challenge has. Yeah, sorry to say this but I'm starting to agree with the comment by Lord Blacksteel that the prompts feel a little generic and just aren't generating much excitement for me. I've started writing a few posts that I have yet to publish and in each case I've gotten bored part way through and moved on to some other activity. My hope is to revisit these, punch them up so they're a little more interesting, and maybe, just maybe, get to the end of of the RPGaDay project this year. 

All that aside, here is what has my attention right now...

Picaresque Roman - A Requiem for Rogues

An Indie Tabletop RPG from Japan, this game covers the genre of Romanticized Crime Drama very popular in both American and Japanese culture. This sort of game could be used to cover things like the John Wick films, Anime such as Baccano and Great Teacher Onizuka, and RPGs like Blades in the Dark (kind of) in the U.S.A. and SATASUPE in Japan.  

I am very excited for this game, as this genre isn't quite as well represented in TRPGs here in the West to the degree it is in the East. In addition, its more Japanese RPGS - and an indie one at that - being translated into English and that is definitely something I've been advocating for. Let's see, what else - Aha! It uses only D6s (as most TRPGs in Japan do), which only makes me smile that much more. 

The Kickstarter for this game goes live on August 24th. Please give a look if you're interested. 

Man, oh man. If only someone would translate...Wait! What's this?

Goblin Slayer Tabletop Role Playing Game

Be still my heart! The game I ran for some friends in Japan back in April is coming to the US in February of next year. Next February! For my birthday! WOO-HOO! 

Goblin Slayer, which began as a Light Novel series and was later adapted into an Anime, is a love letter to old school Medieval Fantasy Tabletop RPGs while at the same time depicting a setting with a its own unique character. Gritty, grim, but also fun and full of hope, I highly recommend Goblin Slayer if that's how you like your Fantasy. 

Very excited about this and what it means for the future of Japanese TRPGs in the West. Yen Press is a small, independent but rapidly growing company publishing numerous Light Novel and Manga series from Japan in English here in the US. They have seriously doubled or even tripled how many titles they publish in just the past six months! 

Among the many titles they publish are my absolute favorite Manga Delicious in Dungeon (aka Dungeon Meshi) and of course, the Goblin Slayer Light Novel series. Of special interest to me is that Yen Press is now getting into TRPGs, with a Konosuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! TRPG announced a little while ago and coming out in December of this year. Goblin Slayer will be their second such release.

Where will they go from there?

What if...

Speaking of What If...?

First, it's AWESOME! Do you love Captain Carter? 'Cause I LOVE Captain Carter!

Second, remember that there is an official Marvel TRPG coming and it is specifically called, 'Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game'. The Playtest Rulebook for this game is due in March of next year. That means I have roughly six months to ride the high I am getting from the aforementioned animated series on Disney+ to develop a Marvel Comics Superhero campaign based on an alternate history.

Excelsior! 

The newer trailer for Star Wars: Visions has me even more excited about that series - a series I was already INCREDIBLY excite about. I sense a disturbance in the Force...could it possibly be new Star Wars RPG campaign ideas? 

As mentioned earlier in the month, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is still very much on my mind and I've worked out some alternative Panic/Stress effects (based on the ALIEN RPG) to incorporate into my hybrid Ghostbusters/InSpectres rules. I'll likely reveal more of my ideas and work on the blog after seeing the upcoming film.  

Did I mention Star Trek: Lower Decks is back? No? Well it is! Season 2 of that series started two weeks ago (as of this post) and it has been fantastic. Good enough to renew my desire to run a 'Second Contact' themed Star Trek Adventures campaign? Duh. Of course!

Add to all of this my secret, Post-ALIEN FRONTIER project - similarly nearly 30 years in the making - and honestly, the RPGaDay Challenge just isn't holding my interest. 

That said...I feel like I should at least try to complete it. 

Why? I really hate how I feel when I start a project with the intention of completely it and don't. On that alone, I need to at least give it another go...

Let's see what happens...

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