In The Works

Whoah. I got a lot to talk about.

I'm not going to dump it all into this one post, but suffice to say there are some interesting games on my horizon. Let's cross our fingers, and hope they work out.

Coming down the pipeline we've got...

The Masked Age '66

Bell-Bottoms, Tie Dye, The Beatles, Vietnam, Gemni 8, Luna 10, Star Trek, The Monkees, Capes, Masks, and Superpowers!

Using a doujinshi (self-published small press) Japanese tabletop RPG about Western-style Superheroes, I am going to run a campaign for 'Dan's Group' set in New York City, NY with an in universe starting date of March 11, 1966!

The premise will start out as a classically Silver Age Superhero romp, with spandex clad villains and crazy capers, then slowly introduce the trials, tribulations, and turmoil of the late 60's.

I'm really looking forward to this and already think the [PC] characters are fantastic. They lend themselves easily to both action packed comic book adventures and the possibilities of deeper pathos.

Next...

I have two ideas for my next RPG project with my Barking Alien Gaming Group. Before I talk about them, I need to update you all a little on what's been going on with them.

As it stands, I haven't run anything for them or with them in over a month. I ran a one-shot/test game of Star Wars Traveller* and while it went over pretty well and I definitely felt the system worked, it didn't really inspire me the way I was hoping it would.

I could fall back on regular Traveller again and honestly a part of me is tempted to do so, another stronger part of me wants to do something different.

Different, as readers of this blog may know by now, is difficult with the Barking Alien Group. Everything is a little harder to run with this group than I feel it should be. Many, many times I've assumed that it's me but I know it's not only me. As a matter of fact, one of the players let me know quite clearly it definitely isn't just me.

Anyway...I've taken enough time off from the group and I really want to get back to a regular game with them so I've come up with two concepts...

Wares Blade

You want different from Traveller? I got different from Traveller!

Wares Blade, the Japanese TRPG set in a world of Medieval Fantasy and Giant Robots is a favorite of mine that I have not run in a long time. I'd love to get an ongoing campaign of Wares Blade going and I think the group is a good fit as many of them are into Anime/Manga (though not necessarily Mecha Anime/Manga)**.

Space Opera Adventure / Comedy

I have a really fun idea I'm having trouble locking down.

I am seeing a game heavily inspired by the French comic book krrpk, the Anime Space Dandy, and the games Hunter Planet, Star Frontiers, Starships and Spacemen, and Teenagers from Outer Space.

I'm thinking of a group of space adventurers who perform some sort of job (maybe explorers, maybe salvage, maybe they're Galactic Patrol) with a slight tongue-in-cheek nature to the whole thing. Kind of like my old Galaxy Quest game but not exactly.

I can see it clearly but I'm having a little trouble putting it into a pitch. I think once I can explain what the PCs will be doing I will have a better idea of how to 'sell it'.

OK, off to work. Expect to see more on these and other subjects very soon.

Ta-ta for now!

AD
Barking Alien

* More Star Wars Traveller posts are going to be dropping out of hyperspace in the very near future. I am also hoping to incorporate material from the upcoming Rogue One film when more information on it is released.

** Which in my opinion is un-Japanese the way not liking Superheroes is un-American. That's the most political any post of mine will ever be

Humor Me

I picked a difficult month to focus on comedy as it turns out.

March is usually a very busy month for my dog-walking business, but this year, March has been pretty weak over all. My part-time job has been busy, as we are getting the kids at the tutoring center ready for the upcoming state-wide tests, so that's a positive. Generally speaking though, funds are tight at a time when I really need them not to be.

I don't know about you, but worrying about money, as I often do, doesn't really engage my feel for the funny.

I'm trying to regroup, and stay positive. To that end, here's a post on a few of the things making me smile lately (humor me, OK?):

***

STEVEN UNIVERSE

At the risk of sounding just like the wiki entry, Steven Universe is a Cartoon Network animated series created by the multi-talented Rebecca Sugar, former writer, composer, and storyboard artist of Adventure Time.

Arkhein, friend of this blog and proprietor of Rather Gamey, recently talked about it on his own blog. While I had seen illustrations of the characters on other sites before seeing the images from the show on Rather Gamey, it wasn't until his post that I decided to give the show a look.

I love this cartoon. It's like Dragonball Z for sensitive, creative types. It's what you would get if you crossed The Galaxy Trio with Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld.

While the cool designs of Crystal Gem heroines, and weird monsters are definitely fun, what makes this series stand out is its levels of subtle depth, mixed in with the action and humor. The serious parts of are quite serious, and the characters portrayed with honesty, They are fun, fantastic, and surprisingly flawed.

Kudos to Rebecca Sugar for the development of this excellent series. When's the RPG coming out?

THE FLASH

Flash Fact: The Flash is freaking AWESOME.

I am loving this show. So much so it is causing me to un-love a lot of other shows. Basically, Flash is my new gold standard, and very few others TV programs even come close. Arrow is eating Flash's dust. Agents of Shield have nothing that can stand up to The Fastest Man Alive! Bring back Agent Carter. At least then Flash will get a run for his money.

Enough speed puns? OK, onward...

iZombie, Warner Brothers' newest comic book inspired television series, had a pretty good first episode. Nothing ground breaking, but pretty good TV. Going to give it a chance, and see where it goes.

GAMES*

To be terribly honest, and I know I have lamented on this subject before, there isn't very much out new that I am interested in.

I've seen some neat stuff on kickstarter, but generally speaking I'm pretty underwhelmed with the market of late. There are items 'coming soon'-ish that I am excited about though, such as Mekton Zero, Spirit of 77', and a few others.

It's not that aren't any interesting games being made. There are definitely some quality, new RPGs coming out, especially in the indie games department, but nothing for me. There just isn't anything out right now I personally 'have to have', or need to try.

So why list games as a category of things that are making me happy? Well, for starters, I love games, and there is always something interesting to consider, be it new, old, or something in the middle. I've been re-reading a number of older RPGs, and RPG notes, even though not all the games I'm re-examining are all that old.

The catalyst for this has been my Thorough Thursdays series. As I plan out which RPG, or other subject, I am going to cover for my next entry, I check back over stuff I love, but may not have looked at in a while. In addition to RPGs I've already covered, such as Paranoia, Toon, and Hunter Planet, I've been reacquainting myself with Stuperpowers, Land of Og, Kobolds Ate My Baby, Monsters and Other Childish Things, and a few others that may make an appearance on the blog very soon.

COMICS*

 krrpk, by Bill Otomo

Likewise, I don't really have the money, or time for comic books right now, which is fine because there isn't a lot of stuff I'm interested in. Marvel continues to do a great job with many of its titles, DC continues to act like they are giving themselves enemas with their own heads, and the indies are putting out some truly impressive work. None of it is really what I'm looking for though, so for now I'll save my money.

I did discover the French comic book krrpk, by artist, and writer Bill Otomo. Otomo's style is So. Damn. Amazing! that I want to grab a copy of both volumes of krrpk, even though it's not available in English. Gah! No translations! So cruel.

Otomo is part of an art studio called Catfish Deluxe, and their work is outstanding, and inspiring to put it mildly. If I was thinking about doing something with Hunter Planet before, one look at krrpk and Sidera (Oh My Goddess! this thing! WATCH IT!) and now I'm chomping at the bit!

Well, that is enough of that for one day. Tonight I will try and get to a post with a little more meat to it.

Until then,

AD
Barking Alien

*I normally don't color anything Link Lime unless it is a link, but I didn't like the way it looked with the subject titles being different shades. I'm like that.