I'm So Embarrassed! My Uncle is a Bullet Train! Chapter 1

A few weeks ago I was contacted by my friend Yasa who told me he had read my posts on Tokyo Ghost Research and mixing it with Ghostbusters. He really liked the idea, downloaded the original game rules, and decided to he was going to run a session of it with his friends at their favorite game cafe. 

The only issue was he didn't feel comfortable going in without a pre-made adventure and wasn't certain he could come up with one himself. While there are some pre-mades available online, none of them are written with the idea of adding Ghostbusters elements. He asked if I could help. His group was likely to be 4-5 players and the session would last about 4 hours. 

I told him I'd be glad to assist. I had a sudden jolt of inspiration and came up with a scenario in no time. We met up on Discord to discuss it and go over any questions or unclear details. The end result was, 'It Seems My Uncle is a Bullet Train!", the title of which Yasa changed a bit. He ran it the weekend of July 20-21. 

He told me how it went and said it was OK to share it with all of you. As English is not his first language, he said it was cool to paraphrase in my retelling. 

Here goes...

GHOSTBUSTERS:

TOKYO GHOST RESEARCH

'I'M SO EMBARRASSED! MY UNCLE IS A BULLET TRAIN!'

Left to Right: Ryōsuke, Isamu, Sachiko, Kei, and Kimiko

Overview/Premise: The Japan Railway Construction, Transport, and Technology Agency has received numerous complaints over the past few weeks about Bullet Trains on a particular line and/or their operators having schedule issues, performing incorrect operations, experiencing malfunctions, and being generally discourteous to riders. Unable to get to the bottom the situation on their own or with Police assistance, the JRCTTA has contacted Ghostbusters: Tokyo Ghost Research just in case the problem is paranormal in nature. 

Player Characters: Yasa and I came up with a twist on the original Character Creation rules, allowing each Employee to choose two Career Types. If they intended to play a 'traditional' Proton Pack wearing Ghostbusters, one of their Careers must be Sales.

The group ended up with:

Isamu -Sales and Investigations - Social Interactions with People and Physical Action.

Kei -Sales and Technology - Equipment and Paranormal Science. 

Kimiko - General Affairs - Coordinating her Team with Public/Government Bureaucracy

Sachiko - Sales and Investigations - Social Interaction with Ghosts and Detective Work.

Ryōsuke 'Ryo' - Sales and Technology - Positive Attitude and Psychic Abilities 

As noted in my previous post on Character Creation in Tokyo Ghost Research, each character chooses 5 skills between their Career(s) and General Skills. Most of the characters here focused on Career Skills with the exception of Kimiko and Ryo. Since Kimiko only picked one Career, she had General Skills that complimented her General Affairs abilities, specifically Communications and Connections. Ryo was Irish-Japanese and had the Psychic Powers of Distant Impressions and Spirit Perception.

How it went: 

Introduction Scene: The Employees are sitting around the Ghostbusters: Tokyo Ghost Research office trying to stay awake and look busy. It's been a while since they'd had a Project and they were all pretty bummed and bored. 

Isamu and Sachiko were slacking off, playing a video game at their desks. 

Ryosuke had just come back from a vacation to Ireland and was showing trip photos to Kei.

Kimiko was keeping busy with other work, filling out forms that had piled up on her desk.

Suddenly, the boss threw open the door of his office and enthusiastically announced a Project had come in! He called Kimiko into his office, closed the door, and explained what the job was. Meanwhile the other Employees were trying to ease-drop at the door. Kimiko was told to put a Sales Team together and have them head out to Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka, Japan. The boss's office door swung open once more, sending the group comically scrambling to appear as if they weren't attempting to listen in. Kimiko shakes her head, assembles the Employees, explains what's what, and hands the Ecto-K keys to Isamu (who took the General Skill 'Company Car'). 

Ghostbusters: Tokyo Ghost Research Company Car - The 'Ecto-K'

An Ecto-Vehicle variant based on the Japanese K-Truck. 

Phase I - Investigation: As the team drives to the project site (about 6-8 hours from Tokyo to Osaka), Kimiko makes some calls to Shin-Osaka Station and her contacts in the Osaka Police Department. She starts to put together a more detailed understanding of what's been going on and assembles a file she can read to the team and hand in to the boss. What she learns is interesting in what her contacts say and in what they don't. 

On the suggestion of Isamu and Sachiko, the group stops for food and restrooms. This allowed for Roleplaying and Character Development. Isamu and Sachiko are highly competetive with each other. They are both very 'act first, think later'. There are also, possibly, unspoken romantic feelings between the too. 

Ryo is health conscious and vegetarian. He has a mellow, relaxed, open-minded, and unconventional approach to life. He's warm and quite gregarious. Kei has a sweet tooth and only seems to eat sugary snacks, cakes, Pocky, etc.. She is introverted, nerdy, and socially awkward but very intellectual and focused on her job. The two are quite opposite but get along really well. 

Kimiko calls the team and goes over what she learned. A few of the Bullet Trains running on a specific transit line, all of which pass through Shin-Osaka Station, have been performing strangely. Numerous maintenance check fail to reveal any mechanical problem. The trains in question open and close their doors at random intervals, speed up or slow down in the same fashion, and sometimes even turn or break in a way that has caused minor injuries. 

Only...

Speaking with her Law Enforcement contacts and reading the complaints very careful she discovered a peculiar trend. In once instance, an older businessman yelled at a pregnant lady to hurry and get on the train; he even pushed her. Once she was on the doors suddenly and very quickly shut in the businessman's face and the train left the station. At another time, the doors refused to shut until two old women got on. The most curious incident occurred late one evening when a drunk man was harassing two high school girls coming home from an afters-school club meeting. The train sped up and changed tracks abruptly, sending the man stubbling hard and falling to the floor. When he got up, the train did it again. The man got off at the next spot and was later treated for a bruised elbow and dislocated shoulder. 

"If this is a ghost it seems OK by me", said Sachiko. Isamu nodded in agreement while Ryo and Kei exchanged concerned glances. 

Once the PCs reached Osaka Station, Kei and Ryo immediately went to speak with the administrators, while Isamu and Sachiko went to explore the station platform. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on the platform until they noticed a young woman in business attire eating onigari and drinking a bottle of lemon tea. They noticed that she sat, ate, watched a train or two go by and then left. Her expression was an odd mixture of happiness and sadness. 

Kei and Ryo arrived not long after and Ryo tried using his Psychic Abilities to find signs of a supernatural presence. Kei walked beside Sachiko and Isamu as they continued to investigate, shining her Ghost Light into dark corners or anywhere they heard an odd sound. After a few hours the group was tired and frustrated (in character, having fun in real life) as they came up with theories as to what might be going on. Just as they were preparing to leave, the young woman from earlier returned. 

As the most of the team went over to talk to her, Kei had the brilliant idea of calling Kimiko. Kei asked if they could get ahold of security footage of the platform. If so, she asked Kimiko to check it for the presence of the young woman. Kimiko got on it right away. 

"Good evening", Isamu began in a polite and cordial manner, "lovely weather isn't it?" The young woman only then noticed him and nodded yes, looking out over the tracks. "So...you must like trains." Isamu added.

"I suppose", she said quietly, "my Uncle did. He liked them a lot. He was a train otaku, especially the shinkansen ('new main line' or what we in the US would call 'the Bullet Train')."

She started to tear up a little though her voice did not tremble. Ryo handed her a tissue. She thanked him so quietly no one could really hear her. "He would sit here with me for hours and tell me all about them. I loved that when I was younger. Not so much when I grew up. I just thought of him as my silly Uncle who loved trains."

Kei rejoined the others. Isamu asked her name and she replied that it was Kiko Sato. Ryo noticed the young woman had a book about trains in her bag. He motioned to it. "Was that his?" he asked. Again, she nodded yes but didn't speak. "May I...?", asked Ryo, gingerly stretching out his hand. At first she gave him the faintest of scowls but then relaxed seeing his warm smile. She shrugged and handed him the book. 

Ryo flipped through the tome but wasn't really reading it. He was using his Psychometry to get impressions of the woman's uncle off the book. As he did, Kei's cel phone rang and it was Kimiko. She confirmed that the young lady they were talking to came to the station twice a day, every two or three days, and had been doing so for a few weeks. She was never once seen boarding or getting off a train. 

"I'm guessing your Uncle died" said Sachiko matter-of-factly. Everyone gave her a cold, stern look and she reeled back in true embarrassed Anime Girl fashion. Big Sweat Drop on the back of her head. Kiko sighed and told them that yes, her Uncle passed away last month. A depressed man most of the time, with a job he found boring and tedious. He ate poorly, smoked, and drank a bit too much. "I'm sorry", said Sachiko, as much for her bluntness as for consoling Miss Sato. 

"I assume you're here about the strange reports of trains malfunctioning. It isn't the trains themselves, not exactly." The others were all about to say something but stopped themselves. Kiko stood up and said, with tears of shame, "I'm so embarrassed! My Uncle is a Bullet Train!" (the players burst out laughing at that moment). Before anymore could be said, Ryo's green eyes flashed bright blue and he turned around quickly towards the tracks.

"There's a train coming and yes, it's her Uncle!"

Chapter 2 coming soon - stay tuned!

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Barking Alien

Now Hear Me Out...

I was thinking about generating my own questions and/or prompts for this year's RPGaDay Challenge when suddenly I realized I'd made this...

The odd numbers are Prompts, done in 'classic' RPGaDay style; just one word that can be taken and interperted however you wish. 

The even numbers are Questions, though not really. They're actually more like discussion points or requests for participants to share an aspect of their game(s) with the larger RPG community. At least that's the hope. 

What do you all think? Any better than the official ones? Same old thing? Let me know. I am curious to get some feedback.

Thanks,

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Barking Alien

A Giant Leap for Mankind or A Stumble in the Dark?

Is this an April Fools prank? A hoax? No?? It's real? Really real?

It's not my birthday. It isn't Xmas or Hanukkah. Life Day?

How can this be true? 

Well it is...it definitely is...

Modiphius Entertainment, the makers of my beloved Star Trek Adventurers, have announced that they are making a Space:1999 Roleplaying Game. 

I've brought up Space:1999, the British Science Fiction TV Series, only a few times in the past and as some may remember, that's the tagline for my Thorough Thursdays series. I had always intended to do a Thorough Thursdays about this show but never got around to it much to my dismay. Now I have every reason to do so...only its Saturday. Drat. Oh well, the show must go on! I'm too excited about this to wait until next week. 

I caught the show when it first aired in the US in 1975 and instantly fell in love. It was like a  a cross between Lost in Space and Star Trek, yet distinctly different in setting, plot, and atmosphere from both of those shows. The stories were somewhat darker and more surreal. The science of it was often wonky (Isaac Asimov famously lambasted the 'science' of the series in Cue Magazine in 1975) yet somehow gave off the feeling of being more 'realistic' due to its tone and look. 

I for one ate it up. I had the Mattel Eagle 1 Spaceship (the Eagle Transporter), action figures, the toy prop Stun Gun and Communicator, and even went as a Moonbase Alpha crewman one Halloween (not a store bought costume but a total homebrew - long sleeve colored shirt underneath another white one with one sleeve removed. Vintage/second hand clothes are magic). 

I've always wanted to run a Space:1999 RPG but never have as best I can recall. The series has absolutely influenced many of my Sci-Fi campaigns such as Star Trek, Traveller, Red Dwarf, and more but I have never done a dedicated Space:1999 game. The reasons for this are really three fold:

While I was and am a fan of Space:1999, my working knowledge of the setting and its elements is no where near as strong as those of Star Trek, Star Wars, ALIEN, or Red Dwarf. I would need to re-familiarize myself with the series in a big way in order to feel comfortable running it as a campaign. 

Am I alone in my love for Space:1999? I've seen a lot of people on the internet surprised that Modiphius chose this particular franchise to produce as an RPG. Most noted positive but only vague memories of the show or a hope that some other Gerry Anderson property would be made into a game (most notably UFO or Thunderbirds). My concern now is the same as it was in the past - do enough people know about and like Space:1999 enough for me to find players?

Lastly, the setting focuses on one 'world', Earth's Moon. On it is a single, large base known as Moonbase Alpha which is occupied by 311 crewmembers*. That's kind of limiting when compared to the settings of other modern SF RPGs. In the RPG to come, are you one of the 311 on Alpha? Don't we know we (the Player Characters) aren't the ones in charge unless the players are controlling John Koenig, Helena Russell, or Alan Carter?

The question that comes to mind would be the same one I'd have if I were running a Star Trek campaign set on the original series Enterprise; if we come upon a derelict alien vessel and we're not playing Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, how is it that the PCs get to go on a mission to investigate it? If we are assigned to accompany the leads, do the NPCs (again, Kirk, Spock, McCoy) decide what to do? That doesn't sound like fun even though it makes internal sense.

Personally, I am very excited to see this game and will definitely be picking it up. I do hope that the book dedicates a significant portion of the GM section to how you play this given the parameters of the milieu.

Until then, "Loyalty is better than logic; Hope is better than despair; Creation is better than destruction".

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Barking Alien

*Between character deaths and new births during the course of the show's two seasons, Moonbase Alpha has approximately 284 occupants (including at least one baby as I recall). 

It's Nearly That Time Again...

Next month the RPGaDay Challenge returns for 2024 with yet another 31 prompts that once again seem pretty uninspired. Ugh. My main issue with them, as in previous years, is they don't start conversations but simply require answers.

Asking what the first game I purchased this year was doesn't really give cause for a discussion. I tell you what it was, maybe what I think of it, and sure maybe you have an opinion on that game but you could just as easily go, 'Huh. OK.', and move on. A better question might be, "What's the most recent game you've encountered that impressed you? Why were you impressed?"

Here are the prompts in standard text form and my first thoughts - totally going word association, first thing that pops into my mind here:

1 - First RPG bought this year

Really? See above.

2 - Most recently played

OK. Fine. Maybe this could start a discussion.

3 - Most often played RPG

Ever? OK. Feel like I've answered this many times.

4 - RPG with great art

Sure. 

5 - RPG with great writing

Sure.

6 - RPG that is easy to use

'kay. Getting bored already.

7 - RPG with 'good form'

WTH does this mean? Well laid out? Not sure how to answer.

8 - An accessory you appreciate

Sure. Favorite Supplement or whatever. 

9 - An accessory you'd like to see

This is good. Gives us new ideas.

10 - RPG you'd like to see on TV

'On TV'? As a commercial? Actual play? A show based on it? Hmm.

11 - RPG with well supported one-shots

Don't care. Create my own.

12 - RPG with well supported campaigns

Don't care. Create my own.

13 - Evocative environments

This could be interesting. I love exotic locales.

14 - Compelling characters

This could also be cool though nothing unique. We hear about peoples' characters all the time.

15 - Great character gear

Could be interesting.

16 - Quick to learn

A game that's quick to learn? This has to be a separate prompt from #6? Seems the answer to that one could easily cover this one too.

17 - An engaging RPG community

No idea. I don't really deal in RPG communities per se.

18 - Memorable moment of play

Sooo many. Sooo Sooo many.

19 - Sensational session

OK, this could be fun.

20 - Amazing adventure

Sure. Similar to last one.

21 - Classic campaign

Campaigns I have known/played. Check.

22 - Notable non-player character

I think #14 should read 'Compelling Player Character', otherwise you shouldn't have this one.

23 - Peerless player

I like this. 

24 - Acclaimed advice

Oh boy! A chance to give one of my 'hot takes'. I never get to do that. lol My only question here is 'acclaimed'? Are you asking for gaming advice from some official source that I find useful? I am now confused.

25 - Desirable dice

Really? Pass.

26 - Superb screen

Pass. Does not apply.

27 - Marvellous miniature

Pass. Does not apply.

28 - Great gamer gadget

Pass. Not even sure what this means. 

29 - Awesome app

Pass.

30 - Person you'd like to game with

I think I've seen this question before. Possibly multiple times. Could be interesting but it also feels mundane.

31 - Game or gamer you miss

This I can do but it makes me sad. Are you trying to make me sad RPGaDay 2024?

Alternative - Amazing anecdote

This is always fun. 'Sit down kids. Let ol' Barkley tell'ya about the time...'

Now get a load of this...

Easy to read, no? Yeah, no.

In addition to these prompt options, the main site gives an alternate list created by someone named Skala Wyzwania. Many of these are so specific and Fantasy/D&D focused that...well...it kind of turns me off. That said, some of these aren't half bad. I don't know. Am I crazy or is there some potential here?

Text version of the alternative campaign:

1 – Runes 16 - Dungeon

2 – Forest 17 - AI

3 – Demonology 18 - Curse

4 – Cosmos 19 – Hologram

5 – Fairies 20 - Battle 

6 – Portal                         21 - Disaster

7 - Forgotten City 22 - Interdimensional Space

8 – Experiment 23 - Ritual

9 – Heroes 24 - Antique

10 – Steampunk 25 - Mutant

11 – Invasion 26 - Tattoo

12 - Parallel Worlds. 27 - Shapeshifting

13 – Zombie 28 - Mimic

14 – Awakening 29 - Knight

15 – Genetics 30 - Trap 

31 - Dragons

In addition, it is suggested that each day you can roll 1D10 to go with the prompt result on the following chart.

1 - Describe a Monster

2 - Create an NPC

3 - Write a Bulletin Board Quest

4 - Invent an Item

5 - Write a legend or rumour 

6 - Create a random table

7 - Create a simple mechanic

8 - Present an idea for a Random Encounter

9 - Write an Eavesdroppable Dialogue

10 - Draw!

It seems like this random roll (roll or choose of course) would be instead of the 31 prompts listed. I suppose you could also do one in addition to a prompt if the response to said prompt is kind of short. 

So there you have it. The 2024 RPGaDay Challenge ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary friends.

Hurray?

I want to do it, I really do, but I can already see myself becoming frustrated. What to do, what to do?

Stay tuned...

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Barking Alien

Lazy Days of Summer

Sorry for the long delay in getting out posts. Summer has been kicking my butt between an ever changing work schedule and the rather intense heat. I exist in two states lately: Totally revved up and unconscious. No middle ground. 

I still have a lot of Japanese TRPG related subjects I want to talk about but it's taking me longer than intended to get my sources and thoughts together. Fear not, my next entry in my 31 Days/31 Characters project is coming soon(ish). I'm sure the anticipation has been keeping you all up at night.

At present I am involved in a number of online TRPG campaigns and between playing, prepping, and running, a lot of spare time is taken up there as well. I am really enjoying all the games I'm in, so no regrets in that area. Let me give you a brief 'State of Gaming' update:

The longest running campaign I've ever gamemastered continues. Our Star Trek campaign entitled 'Star Trek: Prosperity' using the Star Trek Adventures system by Modiphius games, keep going boldly. Mentioned on this blog numerous times in the past, the campaign in now in its eighth year and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. I've got a lot of stories yet to tell. Although a Second Edition of the game is on its way, we are still using First, largely because I've made a few adjustments and houserules and said changes are tied to First. Not sure if I need a Second Edition. We'll see. 

I am also running a weekly classic Traveller campaign I call 'Second Survey' in which the PCs are part of the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service's Grand Survey II in the Imperial Year 1024. Their mission is to visit the worlds in the Solomani Frontier Sector of Daibei (specifically starting out in the Outback Subsector) and make sure the information in the Imperial Library Data on these planets matches the reality of their present conditions. Due to the Solomani Rim War that occurred two decades past, much of this info is roughly twenty years out of date. Updates to things such as resource and trade potential, changes in population and/or government, and the like earn the PCs extra pay from their Patron, which is the IISS itself. 

As for playing, the other really long running game I'm involved in is the [roughly] biweekly Hogwarts/Wizarding World of Harry Potter campaign using a homebrew system. The campaign's 'official' title is 'Hogwarts: A Mystery' and is run by my friend Alex, who serves as First Officer and Chief Engineer Bhoth in our Star Trek: Prosperity game. I've mentioned this Hogwarts campaign a number of times in prior posts and it is now in its sixth or seventh year of real time. We, the PCs that is, are Fifth Year Students in House Ravenclaw. My character is Francis 'Frank' Pellgrove and he ranks among the most enjoyable PCs that I've ever played.

Lastly, I am both playing and running in a Star Trek Adventures campaign set in the time of Lower Decks (roughly), the early to mid-2380s. Entitled 'Star Trek: Copernicus'; the game features rotating Gamemasters, with each of the players serving a turn as referee. It has been interesting to say the least. Overall the adventures have been quite good, even great, though I feel my own have been kind of hit and miss (more miss). For some reason I'm finding it hard to motivate the other players to engage with the type of stories I want to explore. It may be that my more 'Original Series' approach isn't jiving with their 'TNG-DS9-Voyager'; mindsets. 

We are presenting going through the 'Season 1 Finale' adventure. After this we may take a break...literally. One of the players wants to GM BREAK!!. It might be a one-shot or it might be a short series. After that, who knows? Could be Star Trek: Copernicus Season 2, could be a short stint of something else...we shall see.

I am generally really happy with the gaming I'm participating in, though as always my thoughts leap to stranger and less traveled roads. I really want to run some sort of Horror game (though no idea what kind), wouldn't mind exploring a period such as 17th Century Pirates or the Wild West, and hope to get back to Ghostbusters at some point. All the while Anime/Manga influenced Japanese TRPGs call to me with their J-Pop siren songs. I also really want to run a Fantasy RPG - I know, I know - but more on that another time.

Sigh.

Man I don't like the Summer. Is it Autumn yet?

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Barking Alien

Savin' The Day

Happy Ghostbusters Day Everybody!

Saturday June 8th was the 40th anniversary of the release of the original Ghostbusters film, a movie near and dear to what passes for my heart. Forty years of bustin' ghosts and feeling good! 

Though my work and life schedules have been crazy again of late, I still managed to go down to the firehouse of Hook & Ladder Company 8 (which doubles as the Ghostbusters HQ in the films) and participate (to some extent) in the celebration held there to commemorate this auspicious occasion. 

It was a blast getting to see and talk to follow fans from all over the country and even a few international visitors. The outfits - complete with amazing Proton Packs, Neutrona Wands, Ghosts Traps, PKE Meters, and more - were incredible to behold! There were at least five different Ecto-Mobiles, from recreations of the original to GB customized alternative car models. Loved the different license plates! 

All in all it was a really fun time and I'm glad I went. There weren't any major announcements about new Ghostbusters projects but teases of a Netflix animated series and more being in the works have been making the rounds across social media. I know I'm excited to see more and intend to keep the faith through tabletop rpgs.

Here's to 40 more years and beyond! 

Who you gonna call?

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Barking Alien

Great Shot Kid! That Was One In A Million!

 Happy Orthodox Star Wars Day Everybody!

While we love to celebrate Star Wars on 'May the Fourth' for the pun if nothing else, the true birthdate for Star Wars is May 25th. It was on this day in 1977 that the original film, now referred to as Episode IV: A New Hope, was released in movie theatres across the USA..

I saw the film opening day and loved it so much I watched it again! And again. And again. And yes, again. Five times on the day of its release thanks to a day off from school (the reason for which I do not recall) and my maternal grandfather being the manager of a theatre.

Raise a glass of Blue Milk with me won't you and join in wishing Star Wars a Very Happy Birthday!

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Barking Alien

Thoughts to De-Cypher

My Sunday group recently finished an original 'Mecha vs. Kaiju' campaign using the Cypher System by Monte Cook Games. It's OK, you don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything. I'm not blaming you, nor anyone really. It was my own decision. I could have said no.

In defense of the GM*, he did a good job with the campaign itself, in spite of the fact that he didn't have a really good source for running this particular genre with the Cypher system. Had he had a solid sourcebook/rule supplement specifically geared towards helping a GM to run a Mecha vs. Kaiju themed game, he would likely have been able to add a spoon full of sugar to help the system go down better. 

I'm just joshing of course but yeah, I don't like those mechanics OK, I basically despise them but that isn't really what this post is about. The point of this entry is something I observed during the game that related to something else I've been thinking about lately. In order to wash away my feelings about Cypher, I want to take a look at why it didn't work for me and why a very different outlook on game design is appealing to me more and more. 

In Cypher, the player rolls a D20 and attempts to beat a number determined by the opponent's or situation's Level (or Tier? PCs have Tiers which are just Levels so...) times 3. So, to hit a Level 3 monster, the PC needs to beat a 9. Yep. You get a number (Level - Difficulty), multiply it by a number (3), in order to get another number (in this case 9). Way easier than saying, 'OK, you need to beat a 9', right? Anyway...

During the actual campaign, it seemed like the overall average difficulty for enemies and tasks was 12 and 15. A PC can spend points from one of three pools (which pool dependent upon the nature of the action) to lower that difficulty. Based on another aspect of your character, it can cost between 1-3 pool points to drop the Difficulty one Level. I would guess each of the three Players/PCs spent points one out of every three actions. Why so often? Because we missed a lot. A LOT! Even after spending the points, we still missing fairly often. So much missing!

In a game with a binary Success/Fail outcome, missing sucks. Sure, sometimes you miss or fail, that's gaming and life. That said, if I go and miss and then the next player, two villains, and then the last player go before the GM gets back to me and then I $^%&ing miss AGAIN...it's more than frustrating. It isn't fun.

Bare in mind, nothing else is happening. I just miss. There is no cool side effect, no interesting 'you miss but this opportunity opens up...' or anything like that. You just sit and wait your turn until you miss again. You could also hit. It's possible. Through out this, you are likely spending points from the same finite pool that powers your special abilities and in the case of 'Might' serves as your Hit Points as well. 

Anyway, I don't want to dwell on the specifics of Cypher but rather the mindset that went into the design. It doesn't reward failure, regardless of the context of that failure. A good idea followed by a poor roll equals a failure result. Having a good idea doesn't really matter. Sure, the GM can award you a reduced Difficulty if they want want but I am not sure if the rules-as-written include that idea. My point is, Cypher appears to be built on much the same mentality as Dungeons & Dragons (not surprising - Monte Cook don't you know); Hit/Miss resolution, little Narrative influences or results, and your PC begins the game incompetent. 

Meanwhile...

I've seen some talk about the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV Tabletop Roleplaying Game from none other than the 'House of Final Fantasy' itself, Square Enix. One of the interesting ideas the game is supposed to feature is the way your 'To Hit' roll works. Based on the way it works in the MMO itself, you always hit. Take a moment, step back, breathe deeply and release it slowly, now read that over again. You always hit. 

The Starter Set and Core Rulebook

All coming soon...

From the FFXIV Reddit Community:

• Attack rolls are checked against physical or magic defense (AC). Attacks will always hit, but rolling (+ bonus) above defense is a Direct Hit and has additional effects (just more damage?).

• Nat 20s are Critical Hits, which double your damage or healing. There are no critical misses (Nat 1).

What a fascinating approach to the normally punitive to the players combat systems of classic Fantasy TRPGs. I'm not sure I love no Critical Misses as those offer opportunities for cool complications and narrative additions but I get it as those wouldn't appear in the MMORPG. Hmm. Wonder how hard it would be to mod that? Sorry, where was I...

On this same line of thinking there's the Japanese game I recently covered (and merged with Ghostbusters), Tokyo Ghost Research. TGR also has every roll (combat or otherwise) succeed unless the player decrees that they fail. If the roll meets or beats the  Target Number it results in a positive outcome. If its less than the Target Number you get a generally positive outcome plus a negative or problematic outcome to go with it. You either succeed or succeed with 'Trouble'. What's Trouble? Something interesting.

I know I use the word 'interesting' a lot here but really, after 47 years of gaming, games that go: roll, hit, damage, roll, miss, roll, hit, damage are immediately followed by yawning. A lot of RPGs, the majority I think its fair to say, focus on Combat or more accurately have Combat as a key component of the game. If that Combat is flat, untextured, and dry it means you're going to be experiencing that blandness regularly. I just can't take that. I don't have the attention or patience for un-engaging combat scenes that happen often. Ugh. 

The same is true, to a less extent perhaps, to non-combat activities amounting to nothing. Skills rolls for things that should just happen because of the in-setting context that a character is a specialist in the thing they're doing and/or the meta-context that if its just a failure the game comes to a halt. Either just allow the PC to succeed at the endeavor or make the roll have the possibility of an added positive or negative outcome. 

Have actions worth rolling for result in a useful, detrimental, or otherwise memorable outcome. Also, I personally prefer games where the PCs, the protagonists of your story, don't seem like they absolutely suck. They shouldn't always be successful; I want to be clear that's not what I'm saying. What I'm trying to convey is the idea that out of five actions, four of them being failures is lame - unless that failure comes with a 'and yet', 'but you notice', or some other narrative element that makes failure as fun, or at least nearly as fun, as success.

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Barking Alien

*The GM of our Cypher game, as well as the other players, enjoy the system very much. They have various reasons for this and they're all as valid and legitimate as my criticisms (for whatever that amounts to). The GM finds the system extremely easy to run, the rules requiring the least amount of prep of any game he's played. Understandable that this would be appealing, even more so given the differences in how he preps and executes a game compared to myself [who's generally loosey-goosey with rule mechanics in favor of rule of cool.]

Cypher isn't a bad-wrong, terrible system. It just really isn't for me. 

 

Live Long and Prosperity

Yesterday evening, my Friday night gaming group completed the second half of the first 'episode' of 'Season 8' of our Star Trek Adventures campaign, Star Trek: Prosperity.

Passed through the Universal Translator, this means we played the second session of the eighth year of our game, finishing a two-part adventure. Eight years marks the longest running campaign I've ever Gamemastered. It has gone on for nearly twice the length of any of my previous Star Trek campaigns across three different systems (FASA, Last Unicorn Games, and Star Trek Adventures itself).

 

The four Player Characters (first row) and cast of Major NPCs - Seasons 3 to 7

The game's sessions have been an average of four hours long and run roughly biweekly. We've missed or skipped a get together here and there due to personal or work related issues and holidays but I estimate we've had around 140 sessions. For the first few months of the campaign, we used the Last Unicorn Games ICON System version of the Star Trek RPG but, after a brief hiatus, we converted everything over to Star Trek Adventures. 

In the earliest sessions, which occurred 'in-person' prior to the Covid Global Pandemic, there were a few additional players who came in and out but the same four key players who have been there since the beginning are still here. 

It hasn't always been easy, as this group is made up of some strong and occasionally conflicting personalities. Add to that the fact that some of them have core viewpoints on adventure and campaign design that differ from my own. Still and all, we've all pursued the same goal of ensuring the game works to the best of each of our abilities. The entire group is committed to making the game fun for each of us and all of us. 

Character Progression occurs every even numbered 'Season', with the Players gaining bonuses ranging from increases to their Attributes and/or Disciplines, a new Focus, or a new Talent. Usually it's some combo of these as it happened only once a year.  

Every odd numbered year they get an upgrade to their starship, the USS Prosperity. In addition to the advantages of Rugged Design and a Rear Mounted Photon Torpedo Tube (a rarity in The Original Series era in which we play), the ship started with two flaws:

The Nacelle Warp Coils were stressed and/or damaged by maintaining high warp for an extended period - especially the Port Side Nacelle. 

each time the Prototype Rear Photon Torpedo was fired the launch tube was knocked out of alignment. This required additional Task Checks between each shot. Also, whereas firing Photon Torpedoes adds a point of Threat (an in-game Gamemaster currency), the Rear Mounted Photon Torpedo generated two. 

Over time the flaws were repaired and Advanced Sensors, an Improved Warp Drive, and the ability to Rapid Fire their forward Torpedo Tube were added. Thanks to the Prosperity and her crew, the aging Ventura Class vessels still in operation were being upgraded (usually a couple of steps behind the Prosperity itself). Unfortunately, the class as a whole was originally scheduled to be mothballed, with no new such ship having been commissioned in years. A 'B plot' had the PC Chief Engineer, Commander Bhoth, work with the NPC Asst. Chief in order to prove to Starfleet Command that the Ventura Class was still viable. In the end they saved the design, with the first brand new Ventura due to be completed soon (in Season 8). 

In the two-part 'opener', the Prosperity's First Officer and Chief Science Officer Commander Solok returns to Vulcan along with the other PCs in order to marry his long term romantic interest, the ship's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Margaret 'Maggie' Hanover. Following the wedding, Solok's player essentially retired the character. After eight years of playing the Vulcan Science Officer, my friend Leo wanted to try something else. 

The rest of the team left Solok and the NPC Doctor to the next stage of their lives while they traveled back to the USS Prosperity. En route, the established command crew meet a young Helmsman, Lt. Charles 'Charlie' Wilder, Leo's new character. When the transport bringing them 'home' was attacked by religious zealots and a creepy space kaiju, the level-headed and action oriented Captain Ann Fletcher took command. Tapping each PCs unique set of skills, Fletcher organized and facilitated the transport's escape from the massive monster. The episode ended with the wounded ship pulling up alongside the USS Prosperity and Deep Space 5. 

Alien Friends and Foes

The next episode and Season 8 as a whole will see a considerable paradigm shift in the game and it's one the group and I are definitely down for. Our perfectionist, poor-work-to-life-balance Chief Engineer is going to become the First Officer. New PC Charlie Wilder, a more action oriented character, gives me an excuse to switch up the type of adventures I run, with fewer science mysteries and more fights against alien gladiators (and such). We'll have a new NPC Doctor. I've got sooo many things planned. 

After 8 years, over 50 different adventure ideas, and 140 sessions I am still inspired to run this game. Amazing. 

'Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning'...

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Barking Alien

Star Wars VISIONS - The Roleplaying Game

Bright Sun's and Happy Star Wars Weekend everyone!

In celebration of May the 4th and 5th, I wanted to share an idea I've been developing in my...um...I was going to say 'spare time' but we all know that isn't a real thing, now don't we?

I recently found out that the next Star Wars Celebration event in 2025 will be in Japan. How cool is that! It got me to thinking about my favorite pieces of Star Wars content from the last few years: Star Wars VISIONS. 

A key element making many of the installments of the Star Wars VISIONS anthology so amazing is the fact that they don't have to be connected to the greater Star Wars canon and in fact, aren't.

The 'Ninth Jedi' takes place in a distant (though undefined) future. 

'Journey to the Dark Head' seems to be set in the Old or High Republic. Again, seems.

'Aau's Song', 'Akakiri', and 'Screecher's Reach' take place in indeterminate times and places.

In my opinion, this is a major factor in why these entries are so awesome. 

Looking back on my many Star Wars campaigns, all the best ones were run in the real world era wherein we didn't have any 'canon' beyond the original film trilogy. Everything else - from the books, to the comics, and of course the West End Games RPG - were myths and legends describing someone's own take on a galaxy 'Long Ago and Far, Far Away'. 

For some time now I've been thinking, 'I wish I could go back to that time.' Essentially, I'd like to run a TRPG campaign in the Star Wars universe but not necessarily in the Star Wars canon. Would that work nowadays? Could it?

These thoughts led me to postulate how I could use a system other then my beloved Star Wars D6 to give such a campaign both a distinctly different feel and, simultaneously, imply a separate 'non-canon' version of the setting. 

Star Wars D6 is, for me at least, 'real Star Wars' as far as Star Wars tabletop RPGs go. It was the only widely shared and accepted source on information about the Star Wars universe for years. It informed Timothy Zahn's 'Heir to the Empire' trilogy, the Prequels, and even some content that was actually good (Ooh! Not he didn't!) like the Rebels episode 'Wings of the Master', based on the WEG adventure 'Strikeforce Shantipole'. (He did by the way. I read it again to make sure). 

So, the idea is that using another game for Star Wars automatically makes it a another kind of Star Wars for me. Does that make sense to anyone else? It makes sense to me but I know sometimes I think oddly. lol The question then becomes, 'What game and what sort of Star Wars am I considering?' Well...

I'd like to use the Japanese Doujinshi TRPG 'Space Ship Story' to run a Star Wars VISIONS: The Roleplaying Game. I'm thinking lots of Anime/Manga influence, kinetic combat, melodrama, and of course lots of cool art/visuals. 

Star Wars VISIONS 'Original Manga' 

Art by Tomohiro Shimoguchi

More on this as it develops but I really believe this idea will work. Fingers (and maybe Lightsabers) crossed.  

AD

Barking Alien