Must Be The Season of The Witch

It's that time again my friendly fellow gremlins and ghouls - Halloween is upon us!

When Spooky Season rolls around each year I like to take the opportunity to focus the blog on the scary fun and goofy creepiness associated with All Hallows Eve. My record of accomplishing this feat is mixed. I tend to get very busy with my Real LifeTM job during the onset of Fall, which has made it a challenge in the past. All that said, I definitely want to try to get some scary good stuff out this time around.

In addition to some further investigation into Ghostbusters (and my Tokyo Ghost Research crossover concept), there are games such as the Japanese Tabletop RPGs  Peekaboo and Mamono Scramble (for which I have what I hope is an interesting if oddball approach). If I'm lucky I'll also be able to address some other neat JTRPG games that fit with October's witch-worthy theme.

There is a new Dark Medieval Fantasy game called 'Aionia, Without Mercy' that I'm looking into which seems quite intriguing. Will I have time to address it this month? We shall see. 

Not all the posts this month will be of the creepy and kooky variety however. I want to get back to my 31 Days/31 Characters JTRPG Challenge, share some thoughts on SMURFS, Space:1999, and - inspired by from buddy Ray - tackle 'The Quintessential Barking Alien Playlist'. 

There's also some other media to discuss, such as today's debut of Dan Da Dan, a Japanese Anime Series available to watch on both Crunchyroll and Netflix that I've mentioned briefly in past posts. It's definitely coming out at the perfect time given its premise. Looking forward to watching it and discussing it with you. 

Join me and pick up every stitch...

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Barking Alien

While we're on the subject of witches...

On September 27th of this year everyone's favorite Hogwarts Deputy Headmistress, Dame Margaret 'Maggie' Natalie Smith, passed away at the venerable age of 89.

Maggie Smith is a talent with few equals. Comedy and drama, stage and screen, from her Oscar nominated work in Othelo and A Room with a View to the Harry Potter films and Downton Abbey, Smith constantly grabbed audiences attentions with her rapier wit and commanding performances.

Rest in Peace Grand Dame. You will be missed. 

Too Many Ideas Syndrome

Too Many Ideas Syndrome. Apparently this is really a thing. It's sometimes called 'idea-ism'. Yeah, I've definitely got it bad right now. 

My lack of posting is not because I have nothing to talk about or show you all but rather the opposite; I have so many RPG concepts runninlg through my head I don't know where to begin. Adding to the problem is that many of them are only half finished and poorly organized. 

Let's start with a 'State of Gaming' update, shall we?

Currently as of this post...

I am playing Hogwarts: A Mystery

Now in its 6th or 7th year, the campaign follows students - currently 5th Years - in House Ravenclaw. It is full of teen angst and drama, setting based angst and drama, action, suspense, and other kinds of angst and drama. The GM is very into making children suffer. No, no...in a good way!

The game runs bi-weekly with my friend Alex as Gamemaster and four players including myself. My character, Francis 'Frank' Pellgrove, goes on the short list of all time favorite PCs I've ever had. The system is a homebrew extremely loosely based on Apocalypse World but really nothing like it at this point. 

I have been running SMURFS

Over the past month I've run a three session scenario and a one-shot scenario using the Quickstart Guide rules for the upcoming Smurfs officially licensed RPG by Maestro Media. I'm pretty much obsessed and I love the game. Getting people to play it may be the biggest challenge one faces with the game but based on my own experience most truly mature gamers will give it a try. After all, those are the people most comfortable with not taking the hobby too seriously. 

Upcoming posts will discuss the Player Characters from both games and later I'll talk about the adventures themselves. 

I am still running Star Trek: Prosperity

Our Original Series era Star Trek Adventures campaign is still going strong, with all the sessions so far this 'season' (Season 8 that is! Eight years of Star Trek: Prosperity! Woohoo!) being good and a few being great! We've had a couple of real bangers! Very much looking forward to the next three missions, the last ending in a 'Season Finale Cliffhanger'!  

This game is [usually] played bi-weekly. I am the Gamemaster and we have four players. It ranks as my longest running single campaign ever. 

Coming up...

I will be running Champions: UNITY again

My weekend group is returning to our Champions campaign after experimenting with a host of other concepts with mixed results. Our campaign is set in yet another version of my friend William Corpening's 'Age of Champions' setting, this time on Champions Earth-Alpha Delta-1A. The campaign is already three years old and the players are eager to get back to their characters and this universe. Actually, one player will be using a new character.

I have mixed feelings on this personally. I am not really feeling 'Superheroes' at the moment and I'm having trouble coming up with a new or interesting angle. Don't get me wrong, I have some ideas for villains and scenarions but I'm lacking...I don't know...that certain something, ya'know? 

I will largely be playing Star Trek: Copernicus

After the Smurfs my Midweek Group is going back to our Star Trek Adventures campaign, Star Trek: Copernicus. This game is...good...sometimes great...sometimes just OK. It's been a tad inconsistent and that's not surprising. We've been doing a 'Revolving GM' situation, with the four players each taking turns as the Narrator when they had a solid adventure idea. Going forward it seems that one of us will be the 'lead' Narrator, having quite a lot of ideas and enthusiasm for the game.

I like my character a lot and that goes a long way towards making the game fun. 

In the near future...

I would like to run Space:1999

A fan of the series and intrigued by the rules, I would love to run a short campaign of this, partially to see if it has legs. That is to say, I'd likely run a three session 'pilot' adventure and gage interest in doing more.

Halloween is coming and I have Spooky Games in mind

Obviously I would love to revisit Ghostbusters. My hope is I'll get to run at least a one-shot scenario with my A&D/'The Home Office' group sometime in October. With any luck I might also be able to set up a Ghostbusters: Tokyo Ghost Research adventure with my friends in Japan. 

On that note, I want to finish my recap of the 'I'm So Embarrassed! My Uncle is a Bullet Train!' game. I'll also post some general ideas for more Ghostbusters RPG paranormal activities (see what I did there?). 

Another one-shot [or maybe two-to-three-shot] I'd love to run is Peekaboo (aka Peekaboo Horror), The Neighborhood Ghost Story TRPG from Japan that I adore but rarely get to the table. I also have a recounting of my first time playing it coming up next month so be on the look out for that. 

Finally...

What should really be an entire post all on its own (and might be soon) is this nagging desire to run...hold on to socks...Fantasy. 

Specifically I am wanting to run Fantasy with an Anime twist. Like...imagine if what I did with Superhero gaming to create The Winghorn Guard and my world of Aerth was done with Anime/Manga tropes in mind. Although Aerth does have considerable Anime/Manga influences already. Hmm. 

I really want to do this but I keep running into two major snags: I just don't love Fantasy gaming for a variety of reasons and I can find a system I really like that does what I want. 

Arrgh! 

*Sigh* Oh well. I'm glad I got that off my chest. Let's finish up with the Smurfs RPG for now so I can move on to other discussions.

Thanks for letting me prattle on.

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Barking Alien 

I've been so busy with Real LifeTM that I've missed some very important acknowledgements.

 

On September 9th of this year the world lost an entertainment icon in the person of James Earl Jones. A multiple award winning pioneer of theatre and film, Jones was a fascinating man before and after his long career of acting and voice overs. While best known to fandom as the voice of Darth Vader and Conan's nemesis Thulsa Doom, I highly recommend looking into this fellow's life outside these roles if you haven't already. Epic. 

Rest in Peace Mister Jones. 

September 24th was the birthday of Muppets creator Jim Henson. I don't even know where to begin talking about my feelings regarding Jim, one of my all time heroes. I've discussed him many times in the past and if you're interested you can look back to previous posts on the man. Henson is another fellow I suggest reading up on for the incredible life he lead and the impact he had on generations of fans and creatives. A documentary about him entitled 'Jim Henson Idea Man' is currently available on Disney+ and while it was tough for me to watch I definitely suggest checking it out. 

September 25th, yesterday, was the birthday of the amazing Mark Hamill. Actor, voice actor, and vigilant, outspoken, opponent of stupidity, Mark is a gawd dang national treasure. Happy Birthday Mark!

Kessel Spice and Everything Nice

In the early days of the Star Wars Artists Guild (SWAG) I came across the work of a regular contributor who went by the username of 'Reverend Strone'. In real life, Reverend Strone is none other then Daniel Falconer, a New Zealander who has worked as a concept artist and designer for some of the top projects by WETA Workshop, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Narina film series. 

Daniel and I chatted online a few times, the most common subject discussed being a Star Wars D6 RPG campaign he was part of from which most of his fan art originated. I don't recall if he was a player or the GM but the idea behind the game was awesome to me. It took place solely on Tatooine and the PCs rarely left the desert world. The campaign focused on these people living on a world in the Outer Rim who ran a ranch (I forget if they were Nerf or Bantha Herders) and had to deal with rustlers, gangsters, sand people raids, family drama, and the limited resources of Tatooine. 

Imotta the Hutt getting a massage.

A small time crimelord operating a smuggling ring and a legitimate restaurant, 

Imotta is a nephew of Jabba the Hutt.

 

Art by Daniel 'Reverend Strone' Falconer.

If The Mandalorian is a Star Wars 'Space Western' version of the Rifleman, then this campaign was a Star Wars version of Bonanza.

This sounded so cool to me for a variety of reasons but the main one, the element I want to focus on for this post, is the idea of a campaign where you 'live in the Star Wars universe'. The idea of a Star Wars Sandbox without galaxy threatening stakes sparks my creativity in a way that's hard to explain. A story about people just trying to make a living on a frontier planet puts me in a cozy, warm, and very inspired state of mind. I want to sit down, grab a cup of hot blue milk, and jot down ideas for what might be out there to challenge the PCs. 

This concept, common in Anime/Manga and Japanese TRPGs, is what the Japanese call kuki-kei (Airy-Themed Systen) or nichijo-kei (Daily System or Everyday Life System). The genre centers around [relatively] normal people going about their [relatively] normal lives. In Anime and Manga the characters are usually young girls (of course) and a common phrase for the genre is 'Cute Girls doing Cute Things'. This has greatly expanded in recent years, with series that focus on male and female characters trying to exist peacefully in a setting that is often strange and dangerous. 

I've probably mentioned this before but I am absolutely fascinated by the juxtaposition of the strange with the mundane. What is it like to be professional Pet Walker on Coruscant? What does a middle management Imperial Officer do all day?

Imagine being a Jawa Droid Mechanic who has a regular customer on the outskirts of Mos Taika on Tatooine. He combs the Dune Sea and bordering areas for Astromechs of all kinds and knows that this Human will buy them. Problem is, there hasn't been anything decent in weeks. The Jawa pulls up the ol' Sandcrawler to Power Station to trade for some provisions.

The PCs work at the Power Station (picture it like a 1950s Gas Station mixed with the Tatooine aesthetic) and know this Jawa. He seems down and desparate and the gang offers to help. Maybe one of them knows about a starship wreckage kinda far to the South that might have some droids. Closing shop early to the dismay of some locals and a guy with a podracer, the team heads out to the shipwreck. Perhaps they find some vehicle parts they can use in the garage as well. 

What will they run into? Competing group of Jawas? The Pirates who downed the ship looking for salvage? A Stormtrooper who survived and has been living in the destroyed vessel for months? Who knows! The point is that the planet isn't at stake, the galaxy isn't doomed, and the Sith Warlord isn't your father. You are just a person who lives on Tatooine (or wherever) doing a local acquaintence a solid. Reward? Hopefully you'll find some good gear and your Jawa buddy will owe you one. 

The Japanese TRPG Mamono Scramble is all about this, which is one of the reasons I'm so interested in it. Like Ryuutama for Star Wars, ya know? More Star Wars: Outlaws and less Star Wars: The Acolyte. 

And anything that's less Star Wars: The Acolyte is OK by me. 

May The Force Be With You,

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Barking Alien

While I know this is a Star Wars post, I'd like to take this moment to wish everyone a Happy Star Trek Day! Here's to 58 years of exploring The Final Frontier. 

Wild Blue Yonder

Inspired by a comment on my previous post by the illustrious Lord Blacksteel, I am not only adjusting and further expanding my Smurfs RPG setting but also changing the original scenario I was planning to what amounts to a prequel to itself. The result would make an excellent catalyst to a full campaign but that's me getting ahead of myself. 

Smurf this out...

A feature of the Smurfs RPG is that each PC gets points towards building and customizing their very own Smurf House.

The in-game universe explanation for this is pretty brilliant; while normally hidden from Humanity by enchantments, Gargamel occasionally finds the Smurf Village through magic, trickery, or whathaveyou. He did this recently, sometime prior to your first session, and ended up destroying several Smurf Houses including yours. Now you get the chance to rebuild. 

But...

At the start of my adventure, Papa Smurf will inform the Village that they are out of the unique mushrooms that Smurfs use to make houses. Fret not my little Smurfs! According to an ancient tome on Smurf Herbology there are said to be mushroom house mushrooms to the East across the River to the Sea in The Hidden Valley.

All that is needed is for a group of brave Smurfs to travel to the Hidden Valley and see if it can spare the resources they require. Luckily, our Smurf PCs are perfectly suited for this expedition. 

Lookout Smurf has a ship to sail across The River to the Sea and can use his Spyglass to search for the valley.

SCIENCE! Smurf should be able to determine which species of fungi is the correct one they're looking for.

Sir Smurfsalot has sworn to protect his friends! There may also be a connection between the Hidden Valley and his personal quest (more on that soon enough).

Spacey Smurf (NPC) is an explorer by nature and just so happens to be one of the Smurfs most familiar with 'Outer Space'. Lookout Smurf is another.

Outer Space being any areas of the Cursed Lands outside the Smurf Village.

Now, the crux of my idea is that once the Smurf PCs find The Hidden Valley (assuming they can) they will discover a long lost secret of the Smurfs. What they do with this knowledge will give direction to the game's narrative going forward (if indeed it does go beyond this first scenario). 

Between leaving the Smurf Village and hopefully locating the Hidden Valley our intrepid Smurfs will face numerous challenges, not the least of which is The River to the Sea itself! There's also the Weather, Beasts, and perhaps even a certain desperate dark magician and his cat...

What do you think? 

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Barking Alien

Blue Sky Thinking

As I mentioned not long ago, Maestro Media is coming out with an official Smurfs Tabletop Roleplaying Game and I don't think I've been this excited about a game in a very long time.

I've been so inspired by the announcement and my reading of the rules in the Quickstart Guide that I've asked one of my gaming groups if I could run them through a scenario and for some insane reason they said yes. 

I immediately started putting together an adventure, some setting material, and generating some illustrations for the occasion. I will definitely be reusing and/or repurposing some concepts I came up with back in 2011 for my first Smurfs campaign [which I ran using a homebrew system]. I have expanded upon that earlier work a bit but not overly so as I only intend to run this one adventure (probably two or three sessions tops) for the time being. If I were to run a full on campaign I'd definitely go through both the old and new ideas more thoroughly. 

For now...

The Smurf Player Characters

I noticed that each of the pre-generated Smurfs in the Quickstart has a set of Attributes - Quick, Brawn, Mind, and Heart - that total 24 points. Based on this, I allowed the three players to arrange their 24 points of stats as they liked and used the the Smurfs in the Guide as templates to determine the other aspects of a PC (along with the rule mechanics provided). 

The end result is three original Smurf characters with rather odd Motivations and Specialties that fit perfectly with what I have in mind. The strange combination of Medieval Fantasy and humorous anachronism should provide for a very entertaining adventure. In addition to the three PCs, I recreated my assisting NPC 'Spacey Smurf' from my the previous game to help them get accustomed to the game world. 

The Cursed Lands and Smurf Village Setting

The official Map of The Smurf Village by Peyo and his studio

from the book 'The World of The Smurfs', 2011.

English Translation from French and minor modifications by me.

For the game's setting, I am beginning with the classic, official depiction of the Smurf Village and it's surrounding area, originally called 'The Cursed Lands' from its earliest appearances in Peyo's comic series, 'Johan and Peewit'. Added to this are some canon inconsistences between that comic and the later Smurfs comics and cartoons that I've reconciled to my personal tastes and the requirements of the adventure.

From there I expanded and detailed the region based on the notes I wrote up for my original Smurfs campaign that include and flesh out the milieu, inspired by the folklore of Belgium and France combined with the comic book, cartoon, and other related materials. The end result is this map:

Scale is not really a concern so much as direction and placement of the different important locations. It was necessary to place larger waterways and how they might feasibly connect in order to work in one of the characters having a nautical theme. That and two of my favorite old Smurf stories involve our little blue heroes traveling by river.

Curiously, another favorite tale had a river (a stream really) running through the center of the village when nearly all other comics featuring the Smurfs show the nearest body of water to be river going around the wooded area where the Mushroom Village is located. I have included both ideas in my interpretation to allow greater versatility to the Smurf House building aspect of the game. I am also toying with the idea (as has been suggested in more recent Smurf media) that this may be 'a' Smurf Village and not 'the' Smurf Village. I'd like to imply that but keep confirmation of it vague for now. 

My design for an updated, post-Gargamel's Rampage Smurf Village. 

Do other Fee or Fairie beings dwell in the Enchanted Woods? Are there really Giants in the Northern Mountains? Has any Smurf reached the Sea at the end of the River that goes there?

I really like the idea of exploring beyond the Enchanted Woods and Forbidden Forest we generally see in the Smurf stories to discover what else might be out there. 

That's it for now. I should have a write-up of our first sessions later this week. 

Any comments or questions are greatly appreciated. 

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Barking Smurf? Smurfing Alien? This is a tough one...

I'm So Embarrassed! My Uncle is a Bullet Train! Chapter 2

Welcome to the second half of my recap of the Ghostbusters: Tokyo Ghost Research adventure I created and my friend Yasa ran for his gaming group in Japan.

I recommend reading my description of the game itself and my idea of crossing it with Ghostbusters. It isn't necessary but I think it will give you a clearer context in regards to the adventure. 

I definitely suggest you read Chapter 1.

OK? You good? Cool. Let's continue...

Part 1 Summary: A Ghostbusters: Tokyo Ghost Research team consisting of Isamu, Kei, Sachiko, and Ryōsuke, and overseen by Kimiko back at the main office, were sent to Osaka to investigate strange activities on one of the Bullet Train lines. After a road trip and some investigation at Shin-Osaka Station, the group encountered a young woman named Kiko Sato. Miss Sato was seen on security footage regularly visiting the station for a few weeks, eating her lunch in the afternoon and just sitting in the evening, never once boarding or getting off a train. 

When the GB:TGR group confronted the woman, in a friendly fashion of course, they started asking her questions and she revealed that her uncle had passed away recently and he was an absolute fanatic about trains. She had become aware of the Bullet Train incidents and came to the realization that her late uncle, Yukito Sato, was haunting the Bullet Train(s). Seconds after this declaration, Ryōsuke's Psychic Spirit Perception went off and he turned towards the tracks to see a Bullet Train coming in. A Bullet Train POSSESSED!

Part 2 and How it went:

Phase II - Main Part: Kei swung her Ghost Light towards the train and its eerie pale beam revealed glowing blue streams of ectoplasm/spirit steam*. A ghostly blue vaguely humanoid shape hovered above the front windshield. It turned to look towards the Ghostbusters and faded as it passed downward into the driver's cabin.

"It's him. That's her Uncle. My Psychic Abilities confirm it", said Ryōsuke.

The train doors opened and people got off but at the late hour few got on. Sachiko broke into a mad dash for the doors and the group was taken aback. Kei rushed to follow her. Ryōsuke took Kiko Sato's left hand and gingerly motioned for her to stand up and follow him. She looked to him, blushed a bit, and then they both looked to the right to see Isamu doing the exact same thing with her other hand. Isamu gave an embarrassed smile as Sachiko, now on the train, saw him holding Sato's hand and turned red, starring daggers at him. Just then, the doors closed and the train took off at greater than normal speed.

"What the--? To the Ecto-K!", exclaimed Isamu with a devilish smile. He and Ryōsuke took off towards their vehicle at a 'Naruto Run', with Kiko Sato holding on to both their hands for dear life as she trailed behind them.

They rounded the K-Truck, got in, and as Isamu started the engine, Ryōsuke activated a roof mounted PKE Sensor. Between this device and Ryōsuke's Distant Impressions ability (thanks to touching the Uncle's book about trains earlier - See Part 1), there was no way they'd lose track (pun intended) of the haunted Bullet Train. Isamu drove like a wild man to travel to the next stop ahead of the Bullet Train. Unfortunately, Bullet Trains go FREAKIN' FAST, so Isamu had to cut across areas other than the expressway..

"Areas other than the expressway? What does he mean by that?", asked Ryōsuke.

"Buckle up and hold on to something. We're going off-road!", chuckled Isamu as he jumped the K-Truck over a barricade. 

Ryōsuke called Kimiko and gave her the 411 on what they're learned so far and the team's current status. He asked her to please compile any information she could on previous Projects involving haunted vehicles in general and trains in particular. She said OK but was rather busy on the other line; she was speaking with the Japanese transit authority client, various emergency services, and her contacts within the police. Kimiko was attempting to coordinate a response should things go...well...off the rails. 

At this point Kimiko and her player entered a kind of 'mini-game' in which she had to convince those who controlled the three key resources - the Trains, the Emergency Services (Fire, Paramedics, etc.), and the Police - to work together and supply the Ghostbusters: Tokyo Ghost Research Team with assistance. A key component was 'The Budget'. Inspired by the bureacracy and political troubles depicted in Japanese media (such as modern Godzilla films for example), Yasa managed to give Kimiko a social interaction/resource management task tailor made for her player and the character's role as a General Affairs Employee. 

These scenes were intercut between the scenes featuring the other characters. Sounds awesome and perfect for the themes of Tokyo Ghost Research.  .

Meanwhile on the train...

Kei grabs and shakes Sachiko, scolding her for being so brash. Sachiko apologized, letting out a sigh. She asks Kei if she saw Isamu flirting with Kiko and how unprofessional it was. Kei looks at Sachiko dumbfounded and tells her that yes, that would be unprofessional but that didn't seem to be what he was doing. 

"Do you...like Isamu?" asked Kei in a low, even voice.

Sachiko become flushed and lightly pushed Kei away. "No! That's not...we're...it's...nevermind."

Suddenly the two ladies heard screams from the next car foward and immediately took ready stances, charging up their Proton Packs. Kei stuck a Pocky in her mouth, looked at Sachiko and the two nodded at each other and began to take aim at...whatever may come. 

They didn't have long to wait. Blue and violet sparks erupted from the door and through them crawled...this crazy b****.

That my friends is a Teke Teke; a Japanese urban legend [with some yokai folklore ancestry] describing a young woman [usually] whose legs, or sometimes their entire lower torso, have been severed after being hit by a train. As in the legend this vengeful spirit, armed with a curved knife, asked the Ghostbusters, "Have you seen my legs?"

When Kei responded with a 'Huh?' the Teke Teke charged her, somehow bouncing into the air and swinging her blade downward, nicking Kei's cheek and knocking off her glasses. Sachiko shouted, "Hey! I know where your legs are!" The Teke Teke landed on a seat and spun to look at her, totally focused on Sachiko and seemingly desperate for the info. "Right here!", Sachiko growled as she blasted the Teke Teke at close range with a Particle Stream. 

The Teke Teke hit the wall and window, richocetted off into the aisle and then went at Sachiko in a berserk rage. "Everyone - Move away from the center aisle and towards the windows!", shouted Kei as she stood up and pointing her Neutrona Wand straight ahead of her. Together the two ladies in grey fired their weapons, sending the Teke Teke hurdling backward down the middle of the car. The passengers cheered and a few had their cellphones out, taking video of the two GB: TGR Agents. 

The Teke Teke, clearly injured, rushed Kei and Sachiko again, flipping about to avoid their blasts. Sachiko got stabbed in the shoulder as Kei lassoed the yokai with a Capture Stream. Sachiko, nursing her shoulder wound, tossed a Ghost Trap under the Teke Teke and activated it. The Teke Teke struggled against both the Streams and the Trap, slashing and thrashing about. Sachiko played to the crowd to boost herself and her teammate as well as intimidating the yokai, then fired her own lasso Stream. After a few tense moments, the Teke Teke was sucked into the Ghost Trap.

"Yatta!", the pair cheered as they high-fived each other to the applause of the passengers. The train then began to slow down and the two woman prepared to run further ahead towards the driver's car. 

Back to the boys...

Both Isamu and Ryōsuke took some Physical and Environmental Damage as the Ecto-K sped, swerved, and 'stunt showed ' to get to the next station before the paranormally possessed train arrived. Both guys took turns making sure Miss Sato was alright in the back seat, though Ryōsuke moreso since Isamu was driving.

They pulled in to a parking area near their target station and then the three of them hoof it to the train platform as fast they can. Reaching their destination, Sato pointed towards the second car and said, "Excuse me but...aren't those your co-workers?", as the fellas saw Sachiko and Kei running into the middle door. After exchanging quick glances at each other, the three of them put everything they had into a powerful sprint and managed to get on the train just as the doors were closing. The whole team plus Sato assembled once more, collectively taking a moment to catch their breaths. 

Kei's phone rang and it turned out to be Kimiko. She informed Kei that back-up and support was on the way or already in place. Kei lets the rest of the team know and Kimiko blushes and smiles as the others graciously thank her for efforts. Sachiko mentions the capture of the Teke Teke and Kimiko confirms she'll add that to her research for the Project. She'll also be sure to charge the client extra. 

Stay tuned for Chapter 3 and the big finale!

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Barking Alien

Failing Forward

As you can see, I am not going to be able to complete the RPGaDay Challenge for 2024. It simply wasn't in the cards this year for a variety of reasons.

My real life personal and work schedules were much more unpredictable and irregular than has been usual for a typical August of the past few years. 

When I have had time to think about gaming my thoughts were focused on very specific topics and not the general subjects some of the RPGaDay prompts might suggest.

I still haven't going back to my 31 Days/31 Characters Japanese Pop Culture Edition Challenge and that's frustrating. So much so that I keep thinking about that project more than this one.

In conclusion, I'm sorry I wasn't able to best this challenge this year but also not so much as I had to create my own prompts just to kinda be into it [given everything I mentioned].

I expect to be a bit more prolific with my posts in September as I have a lot of cool ideas and new game experiences to share. Get ready for discussions galore and a return to some of the previous endeavors I've left uncompleted.

That's all for now.

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Barking Alien

RPGaDay 2024 - Barking Alien Edition - Day 15

'All the Universe is full of the life of perfect creatures.'

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Scientist. One of the 'fathers' of modern astronautics and rocketry. 

I love animals and I love Science Fiction, so it isn't surprising that one of my favorite aspects of the latter is alien critters. The field of exozoology would definitely be my calling if I lived a distant future akin to Star Trek or Traveller. 

Art by Nicholas Ferrand

I love considering what kind of animals might live on the planets I create for my Science Fiction RPGs, even if they don't necessarily play a major part in the adventure I'm running. As mentioned previously in the post on WORLDS (Day 13), a creature that is both strange to the players but squarely fits its environment can add a sense of 'realism' to largely fantastic local. 

Shy by Alexander Ostrowski

Dragon Magazine #123 (July 1987) had a Star Frontiers article in it titled, 'The Whole Earth Ecology' that discussed... While the article was not an indepth bio-sciences analysis of life on other planets, it did what many great Dragon articles did back in the day; it made easily forgotten things to remember stick out in your mind and it inspired ideas. 

Art by nao70shark

Like a lot of articles from the old Dragon I read and re-read this one over and over, each time getting charged up by the very idea of populating distant worlds with new life forms. I couldn't wait to flex my creative muscles and create creatures that would challenge and interest my players and create a believable ecosystem for the world around them. 

The Sardu Reef by Alex Reis aka Abiogenesis

As you can see from the images accompanying this post, visuals play an important role in my use of creatures. I really like having or making pictures of the creatures I am referring to during a game. Sometimes the visual will inspire the development of a beastie and other times the critter concept comes first. Either way, a picture really enhances the introduction of a new alien animal. 

Art by Ben Mauro

With that, I don't really have much else say. I just love me some cute and cuddly creatures like the fellow above. Heheh. I'm sure I'll have some inspired revelation tomorrow but that's the way it goes. 

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Barking Alien

BONUS FEATURE: Day 15 of the official RPGaDay 2024 Prompts:

Hmm. You know which characters have great gear? Starfleet characters and Ghostbusters. 

I might have mentioned this before but playing these two games, along with Star Wars, really shook up my outlook on how to run an RPG. Starting the characters off with some seriously awesome hardware not only feels right for the settings in question but also adds to the idea that gear is cool but not the goal.

The objective isn't obtaining more and/or better weapons when you start off with a Phaser or Particle Thrower. The Tricorder and PKE Meter are the right tools for the right job in their respective settings. You've already got the best toys. You're free to dig a little deeper and sure for something more meaningful. 'Course you could still be in it for the money in Ghostbusters and Star Wars. Oh well.

RPGaDay 2024 - Barking Alien Edition - Day 14

This is tricky to answer as it's difficult to pick my favorite campaign setting.  

I could easily go with Star Trek and explain why even after 42 years of running campaigns set in that universe, I still love to do so and probably will for 42 more. Honestly, I feel like I've discussed the subject before or I am very likely to do so in the future. It's also...too easy. Too expected. 

Instead, let me tell you why I don't generally like Medieval Fantasy but I do enjoy running my D&D-But-Not setting of Aerth, the world of The Winghorn Guard.

First created in 1982 for a campaign called 'The Winghorn Guard', the main idea behind the game is the same reason it remains special to me. The concept was simple, 'Run a Dungeons and Dragons campaign using the Gamemaster advice from a Superhero game'. Instead of planning to do a Medieval Fantasy game using ideas from the Advanced D&D Dungeon Master's Guide , I based how to go about running the game using what I'd learned from years of reading comic books like Marvel's Avengers and DC's Legion of Superheroes. Eventually, when I purchased Villains and Vigilantes [2nd Edition], I used the Gamemaster advice in that game to supplement what I was already doing. 

Giving Dungeons and Dragons 'Four Color' Superhero Comic Book elements allowed the game to have a unique identity and feel. I was able to focus on aspects of world-building and adventure design that emphasized the heroics, ethics, and emotions of the PCs, while de-emphasizing the murderhobo approach. The money, violence, and quest for power normally attributed to traditional D&D PCs are what the bad guys are concerned with on Aerth.

My objective was to inject Medieval Fantasy and Folklore with something I understood a lot better and that, at the time, was Silver to Bronze Age comics. The results were very successful and continue to be four decades later.

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BONUS FEATURE: Day 14 of the official RPGaDay 2024 Prompts:

What about them, eh? What makes a character compelling?

That's definitely a subject that could take up an entire post (good job official challenge!) and may be too broad a topic for a 'BONUS FEATURE' entry. 

I'll say this; it isn't always clear at the onset what will make for a compelling character. Often times players write multi-page backstories for their PCs not thinking about the fact that what they (really the player) might find really interesting is something they hadn't considered or didn't even know about when making up the character. 

As an example, my Hogwarts/Wizarding World PC, Frank Pellgrove, was created with an eye toward making him less interested in and effective at casting spells or brewing potions but really good with Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. These were two things I knew most other players wouldn't give much thought to.

At some point during the campaign he helped birth a Hippocampus (mythological fish tailed horse) in the Hogwarts lake and became especially interested in aquatic beasts thereafter. In follow up sessions he would take an interest in boats, other sea creatures, and it was suggested to him that he might someday get a job as the Wizarding World's equivalent of a Marine Biologist.

These were profund moments for Frankie and ones that intertwined with and challenged his sense of self. Now, after roughly 6 or 7 years playing Frank, he's a much more compelling character than I ever would have expected. 

Bottomline is don't limit yourself to what you think would be compelling. Start with a basic concept, an outlook on life, and then through play allow yourself to be compelled. Give it a try!

RPGaDay 2024 - Barking Alien Edition - Day 13

"Impressive. They can make planets."

-Maltz

I consider myself a 'World-Building GM'. 

What does that mean exactly? Well, according to a definition by Merriam-Webster world-building is, 'the creation of a fictional world (especially within the science fiction and fantasy genres) that is believable and consistent within the context of the story'. Solid explanation I'd say. I would add that [good] worldbuilding creates a setting that feels makes the alive, as if it exists or could in some other time, place, or alternate universe.

As a World-Building GM, creating the setting and breathing life into it is my favorite part of the job. The best part of the TRPG hobby experience overall for yours truly is when one of my players shows interest in some element of the setting and decides to actively investigate it. 

Since I run a lot of Space Adventure Science Fiction, it isn't uncommon for me to create a lot of worlds. A lot of a lot. Consider my Star Trek Adventures campaign Star Trek: Prosperity. This is a bi-weekly campaign with a multi-role Starfleet vessel that visits a planet, spends two or three sessions on that world (on average), and then visits another planet in the next adventure. The campaign is in its 8th year now. Even with holidays, sick days, and other cancellations and skipped sessions we must have gone to literally hundreds of planets by now. 

Now most of these aren't fully fleshed out the way my Medieval Fantasy/Dungeons & Dragons-esque world of Aerth is. Aerth is over 40 years old and has been the setting for roughly a dozen campaigns (likely a little less than a dozen). There are people in the real world who know the layout of the streets of Rae-Uhn, the food of the island-continent of Corindel, and the location of the Cornerstone of the World. The cultures and history of the Elves, Dwarves, Ancient Humans, and even the Dragons have been explored. 

People have 'lived' on Aerth. People will live there again. They will find that past events and the actions of previous players will have influence the people and places they will visit. Likewise, their activities will effect those that come after them. If even one of them remembers this world and their experiences on it fondly later in their real life, I have successfully built a world.

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BONUS FEATURE: Day 13 of the official RPGaDay 2024 Prompts:

Wow. I actually like this prompt. Fits with mine in a way. Cool. 

I am big on evocative environments. When creating a game world I like to have a few interesting 'set pieces' not matter where the PCs go. These visually distinct environs serve as both background color.and interactive terrain.

Background color translates to the players being able to 'see' where their PCs are and how it informs the atmosphere of a sequence. A cloudy evening with light rain over a vast plain surrounding your small farm invests the scene with loneliness, melancholy, and perhaps a tinge of fear. Soaring high above the shimmering sea on the back o a dragon during a beautiful sunny day generates a very different mood. 

Interactive terrain is an environment the PCs can use or which could be used against them. Think about snowy hills on an icy planet or in the deep winter of medieval europe. There is ice to slip on, banks of snow to hide behind, sliding downhill on your shield as a quick escape, and throwing snowballs makes for a great distraction. 

Anyway, I highly recommend switching up the environment around the PCs to something other than a stony underground corridor or the same old Eurasian forest. Shake it up!