Thursday, July 2, 2026

I'll Tell You What I Want, What I Really, Really Want

I am currently running three campaigns. 

One is a bi-weekly game of Star Trek Adventures that my players and I have titled Star Trek: Prosperity. This campaign has been going on for nearly twelve years of real time. It features four players, plus myself as Gamemaster, and is set in a version of The Original Series Era that has run considerably longer than the first Star Trek TV series lasted on television. 

I love this campaign. My players appear to love it. It just keeps going.

The other two are, as mentioned the other day, Superhero games;

One is My Hero Academia: Hero Helpline; basically the premise of the video game Dispatch set in the universe of My Hero Academia. I'm using a Japanese fan-made TRPG called 'Plus Ultra'.

The second is The Legion of Superheroes: Legion Outpost, a Champions 4th Edition campaign following an expansion team of DC Comics' 31st Century Superheroes, The Legion of Superheroes. 

These two are fun. Definitely fun. There are ideas in both of them that I think are interesting to explore. That said...are these the games I really want to be running? Well...

Allow me to start by saying, I don't mean for this post to imply I'd rather be running one of the following campaign concepts instead of any of the ones I'm currently GMing.

OK...wait. No, that is kinda what I'm saying. The RPGs below are what I'd really love to be running if I could run anything I wanted and had people who wanted to play them. Except Star Trek: Prosperity. I would want to run one or more of the campaigns I'm about to discuss in addition to continuing with Star Trek: Prosperity. That doesn't mean I am unhappy with the games I'm currently running, just that these are my current 'dream campaigns'. 

The problem is...I don't know that the games I want to run are ones my current groups of players want to play, especially for a prolonged period of time. They might say yes to a one-shot and truly have a great time with it but I don't think they see the ongoing potential of the ones I'm going to talk about. 

Maybe some do. Hmm. OK. With that...

Ghostbusters




Yeah, I've definitely been slimed by the news of the upcoming Netflix animated series Night Shift but a desire to run a long term Ghostbusters campaign always haunts the back of my mind. 

I love the idea of characters who aren't exceptionally adept or particularly professional facing off against foes beyond their 'pay grade'. At the same time, the PCs do have some special skills and gear to level the playing field (pun intended) and the wits and determination to take down far more powerful adversaries. 

I'm also particularly found of the system I've homebrewed to run Ghostbusters, really a kitbash of the original WEG RPG, InSpectres, and the Year Zero mechanics from Free League's ALIEN game. Add in some of the customizable elements my groups and I have added over the years  - things like unique Proton Packs, alternative Ecto Vehicles, and the PCs' Headquarters - and I really think the game, and the players, would get the most out of an extended campaign, instead of just the occasional one-shot.

The Adventures of Horai Academy!!


This is a game near and dear to my heart that I honestly haven't run in roughly 30 years. And to be clear, even back then I only ran 6 sessions. I'd never run it before that and I haven't had the opportunity to run it again since. どうしたの？

Not only do I love the premise, best described by my friend Ray as, 'Crazy Japanese High School - The Roleplaying Game', but I also feel it has simple, interesting rules that make it a breeze to run while maintaining a certain amount of mechanical depth. Not too much mechanical depth I suppose but just enough to keep me engaged and allow for the kinds of stories and actions the game intends to create. 

Man, I have to do a dedicated post on this game. It's history and current incarnation are absolutely fascinating.

Anyway, I am once again in an Anime/Manga mood and this game would absolutely satisfy my craving for Japanese pop culture and fandom influenced game. 

The Smurfs




I haven't run or played The Smurfs Roleplaying Game in a while now and I REALLY miss it. Moreover, I desperately want to produce an ongoing campaign. Not only have I been eager to do this for some time now but I have so many ideas for putting one together that they're burning a hole in my smurf! In addition to exploring the fun characters that players keep coming up with, I want to continue expanding the world/setting, bring in both new and classic adversaries, and incorporate the base-building element of developing your Smurf House. 

I seriously think a long term Smurfs campaign could be the best Medieval Fantasy RPG you're going to get from me. Hopefully I'll get the chance. Smurfs crossed.

AD
Barking Alien




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5 comments:

  1. Tim KnightJuly 2, 2026 at 9:36 AM

    I really, really want you to run a long-term Smurf campaign as well so I can enjoy the fun vicariously, knowing full well my group would never embrace it.

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    1. Adam DicksteinJuly 2, 2026 at 4:26 PM

      I get it. Smurfs isn't for everybody.

      Only the REALLY, REALLY cool people.

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    2. Tim KnightJuly 2, 2026 at 4:43 PM

      🤣🤣🤣

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  2. BlacksteelJuly 2, 2026 at 4:10 PM

    This is the challenge of the "forever GM" right? I'm running a game (or 3) and it's going really well and it's something I like and the players are into it but ... the mind never stops working and there are these other games both old and new that would be really cool to play as well. Then something happens and in a flash of insight I see a way to run a different really cool game - but I'd have to stop one of the ones I'm running to make room for it. Birds, hands, bushes, etc.

    I think it really hit home for me trying to run some of the Pathfinder APs years ago - I just do not like committing to one game (and one big adventure) for multiple years at a time. A year is about as much as I want to plan on if it's going to be just about the only game we play.

    And then of course as you mention there is the "game I want to run but none of my players want to play" - here that is Star Trek. Don't care which set of rules, don't care which era as I have ideas for all of them, but anytime I bring it up it's a near-unanimous "no" from the crew. I have others but Trek is the most-vetoed by far for me.

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    1. Adam DicksteinJuly 2, 2026 at 5:25 PM

      It's funny; Star Trek is perhaps the easiest sell among all the people I game with. So wild how varied the individuals in our hobby are.

      One of the reasons our Star Trek: Prosperity campaign has lasted 12 years is that each episode is very different from the next
      - an Exploration of Speculative Biology, a Murder Mystery, a Cosmic Horror Story, a Situation Comedy, a Political Thriller - and yet they are all Star Trek. This is why it works and why I don't get bored. Under the umbrella of a Starfleet vessel traveling through the Final Frontier I can throw in almost any idea that interests me.

      I think this is why I am so drawn to the titles I put forth in this post. Maybe not Ghostbusters, as that one is kind of specific, but The Adventures of Horai Academy!! and The Smurfs are vehicles for delivering a wide variety of ideas. in their respective areas. Horai Academy is a great way of exploring any and all Anime, Manga, Asian Horror, and Tokusatsu concepts. Smurfs can potentially investigate a vast range of Fantasy tropes, albiet with a bit of a humorous twist.

      I definitely suffer from Far Too Many Ideas Syndrome but I don't mind committing to a single game if that game can be flexible [within its own context]. The games that work best for me are the ones that have both a distinctive flavor all their own, yet are adaptable enough to host as many variations within them as possible.

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