Where I'm At

February. Oh boy. Where to even begin?

The month of February is always a taxing one for me, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. It marks a lot of major and minor occasions in my life, as well as being the month wherein things get really busy for my business after the lull of the Xmas to New Year's Holiday season. 

Today in particular is my birthday, a day I have not traditionally been a fan of acknowledging but I am in good spirits so this year, I am feeling particularly positive about it. I have a true day off, had a lovely dinner with my Mom last night (Peruvian Seafood!) and I'm going to try to get some RPG things done (maybe even another Post? Baby steps...baby steps...). 

Anyway, a bit of an overall overview of my gaming these days - turns out the break I look at the end of 2022 was just the ticket.

I have, as noted before and in upcoming posts, begun my Pokemon AD homebrew RPG campaign, Pokemon: Rise and Fall which has only had two full sessions as of this writing. The players seem really into it and I am excited to see where it goes. 

Star Trek: Prosperity - my bi-weekly, Friday night Star Trek Adventures group - has returned to the final frontier! Now in our 7th year - Yes, you read that right - we've already had two real bangers; each session was both self-contained and part of a larger ongoing story. Once again, everyone seems to be enjoying it immensely, myself included.

Finally, I am playing in an Anime Fantasy RPG using the Cypher System, inspired by the Japanese TRPG Sword World. The jury is still out on this one but so far so good. We've only had Character Creation and a short introductory Bar Fight at this point. I trust the GM, my buddy Keith, who ran a fantastic and long Superhero game but I am still a little wary. I'm the big Anime otaku in the group and I don't yet know how Keith will make the game feel 'Anime/Manga'-ish. It's also the Cypher System, of which I am not a fan. Still and all, I'm optimistic. Let's see what happens.

I also want to raise a glass...OK, a mug of Coffee...to my dearly departed friend David Cotton, whose birthday was yesterday, the 11th. Miss you brother. 

Anyway, that's what's going on. Now on to...well...whatever comes next!

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Barking Alien

31 Days / 31 Characters - JORVAN STARSBYNIGHT

Another character created by the late, great David Cotton.

It's interesting to note how often the same players pop up when I am thinking of characters to post for this challenge. To reiterate, I am trying to choose ones who were not only awesome and memorable but who additionally haven't been discussed on this blog before or at the very least not in great detail.

 

Character: Jorvan StarsByNight

Player: David Cotton

System: Dungeons and Dragons AD - Homebrew Variant of D&D

 

Campaign: The Winghorn Guard: Golden Ring

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

Circa: 2005-2006

Origins: I really can't say whether or not Jorvan had a specific origin or inspiration. I can only recall that this campaign was one of the first I ran with Dave, Dave's friend Lee, and our mutual buddy Jeff, following the first campaign I ran wherein we all met for the first time. 

Part of the reason I ran this particular Aerth/Winghorn Guard game was that Dave really wanted to try my homebrewed D&D variant. He was especially intrigued by the world/setting and wanted to not only explore it but play a 'Race' and 'Class' that was uniquely 'Aerth'. 

I wanted to help him fulfill these interests by suggesting he play a Corindel Elf, inaccurately referred to as Half-Elves, as well as a Sorcerer. Both quite different from their traditional D&D counterparts. Additionally he used his one his character's 'Personal Talents' to get a sailing ship, thereby checking the 'explore the world' box. 

Backstory: Jorvan StarsByNight is one of the 'Elves' of Corindel, a descendant of the island's Elven and Human inhabitants who have been interbreeding for many centuries. Referred to as 'Half-Elves', this nomenclature is inaccurate as the lineage of the Continent-Island-Nation's inhabitants are much harder to accurately identify. A given Corindel Elf might be only 1/10th Elf, or 95% Elf, or anywhere in between.

He inherited his ship from his father; an adventurer, explorer, and occasional privateer. StarsBySea, his father, was himself about 2/3rds Elf. His mother was a Sorceress from somewhere within the Southern Freelands of Rae. It was she that taught Jorvan the sorcerous skills of communicating with Elementals and other beings from Beyond this Realm. She died when he was fairly young, payment for a deal made with an otherworldly oceanic entity to protect Jorran and his father from a terrible storm.

After that incident Jorvan's father ventured out into the sea less and less but Jorvan himself did so more and more. He was convinced the sea would always protect him and his time on land was borrowed. By young adulthood, he was a pirate of sorts, though one preying on other pirate ships or the vessels of petty warlords and other villains. Having assisted a Winghorn Guard group on a mission to defeat a sea monster, the Sargent of that party suggested he try out for the Winghorn Guard himself. Not long after that he was Chosen and assigned to Golden Ring, the Guard division located at his homeland of Corindel. 

Overview: We first encounter Jorvan as his vessel, dubbed 'The Lady Luck', chases an enemy pirate vessel in the Sea of Polaris. A Sorcerer aboard the pirate ship had summoned a massive and powerful Sea Spirit that was creating a thunderstorm and terrible waves. Jorvan's allies were flying overhead, trying to wrestle control of Kargas (Griffin-like creatures from Turkish folklore) from their pirate riders. 

Combining his own Sorcerer abilities with his charm and gift of gab, he convinces the Sea Spirit to turn on its summoner for a favor to be bargained for later. Using his magical 'Hand Canon' (a Flintlock Pistol that can never needs physical reloading), Jorvan fires at the opposing Magician and appears to miss.

The Sorcerer taunts Jorvan for his wasted shot until Jorvan points out he wasn't aiming for the magic-user. StarsByNight looks down and the enemy follows his eyes to see the Summoning Circle on the deck of the pirate ship damaged by Jorvan's shot. The villainous Sorcerer looks up again as the Sea Spirit transforms into a tidal wave that crashes against the vessel, sending him head over heels into the ocean. 

When asked by the pirate ship's first mate how he was able to do all this, Jorvan replied with what would become his catchphrase, "Cheating!".

Jorvan's Caracca, 'The Lady Luck'

Indeed Jorvan favored cleverness and trickery above any other power or weapon at his disposal. He and the team's Aegytian (Aerth Egypt) Warrior / Cleric would often have friendly debates over his use of Cheating and the latter's preference for Knowledge, Honor, and Truth. Both agreed time and again that the others ways were not for them but certainly effective. 

In addition to the many missions the group would go on in the name of heroism and in service of the Winghorn Guard, Jorvan would rack up additional quests trying to buy or pay for favors of the various supernatural entities he dealt with to gain his powers or their help. 

The Highlights:

One of my favorite exchanges was when the Sea Spirit mentioned above wanted the bones of a sailor returned to his wrecked ship that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. The bones had drifted inland and where now in a river. The River Spirit would only let the bones go if Jorvan planted a red-brown mushroom of some importance to the local river wildlife. The fungus had died out for some reason. This led to the discovery of an undead thieves guild organization using a poisonous black mushrooms to kill opponents and raise them as new members. The black mushroom had killed off the red-brown ones. 

What seems like side-quests at first turned into a complex relationship of enemies and ecosystems which eventually united a Forest Spirit, the River Spirit, the Sea Spirit, AND Osiris, God of the Nile to aid our heroes against their soon-to-be reoccurring nemesis, an Eye of Fear and Flame!

Legacy: I think I may have mentioned or used Jorvan as an NPC briefly in a one-shot but for the most part he hasn't been seen in many years and that's a shame. He is an extremely fun character with a lot of personality.

I will try to find a place for him the next time I run a game set on Aerth.

Game Info: The other day I went looking for Jorvan's character sheet, which I was certain I had and yet I could not find it at all. Bizarre as I found the other PCs from that campaign as well as all the notes from it. Is it possible I gave it to Dave? Maybe but it seems unlikely. 

It would be difficult to give you Jorvan's stats and specifics without context as, although he was a D&D character, he was actually a D&D-But-Not character. My house-rules version is so different from any official version as to make them almost incompatible. Well, maybe not incompatible, but there are significant alterations. 

The Sorcerer Class and Half-Elven 'race' (I prefer the terms Species, Tribe, or People) are quite unlike their commercial counterparts. Jorvan possessed the abilities of Seafaring (granting bonuses to anything related to ships, sailing, and survival at sea), Sorcery (here the power to communicate with, summon, and borrow powers from otherworldly beings in exchange for favors), and skill with both sword and pistol, a very rare talent (and item) on Aerth. 

Additionally his ship was enchanted to give him increased Defense and Saving Throws while aboard it (hence 'Lady Luck) and as mentioned, his pistol need only be shaken once after firing to 'reload' it. 

Next it's back to the Star Wars universe for one of my favorite characters, who belongs to one of my favorite species, played by one of my favorite players! Meet KASHPA!

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Barking Alien

31 Days / 31 Characters - 'DUSTY' DIBBS

I've only ever run one ongoing campaign in the Western genre, The Legend of Boot Hill. Strangely, while I've mentioned it on this blog a few times, I've never dedicated an entire post to it. I'll need to remedy that sometime this year.

I ran The Legend of Boot Hill campaign way back in 1979 or 1980 and it was so perfect, such a great campaign, that I can't imagine I'll ever match or surpass the pure awesomeness of that game. If I can't see running a game that good again, why bother?

Additionally, while I don't dislike Westerns, my interest in them doesn't come close to my interest in many other genres. The end result is that the pull to run a Western just isn't strong enough to overcome the fact that I don't feel I could do it justice anyway. 

All that being true, there is the case of Virgil 'Dusty' Dibbs and his tales of the Odd West...

Character: Virgil Dibbs

AKA: 'Dusty'

Player: David Cotton

System: Odd West - A Homebrew system of my own creation. 

 

Campaign: The Adventures of 'Dusty' Dibbs

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein 

Circa: 2010-2012

Origins: Sometime around late 2009 or early 2010 I was discussing RPGs with my good friend David Cotton (who passed away in 2020) and the conversation turned toward games we'd always wanted to play or run but hadn't for whatever reason. There were very few I could think of honestly since, as I've mentioned before, if I want to run a game I do. I find a way. 

The closest thing was a Western game, one like my old Boot Hill-But-Not game from nearly 30 years prior. I told him all the reasons I conveyed to you in the opening of this post. Funny enough, David said he'd love to try a Wild West game, especially if it were crossed over with other genres as I have described my Legend of Boot Hill game being. 

The next time a free game day came up, one where we weren't scheduled to run or play any of our regular campaigns, Dave and I sat down to play a homebrew I'd put together for that very occasion. I dubbed it 'Odd West'. Just me as GM and him as the sole player and PC. It went really well and over the next two years whenever there was a glitch in the usual schedule, we turned to Odd West.

The character himself is largely inspired by real life African American US Marshal Bass Reeves, thought by many to be the basis for the Lone Ranger. His name was originally Dane Dibbs but his first name was changed to Virgil when we realized Dave already had a character with the name Dane. Funny enough, years later he would name his Mobile Suit Gundam RPG character Dane Bradley. Dave liked the name Dane I guess. 

There were really only half a dozen sessions of this 'series' but they were really cool, memorable, and yet another reason I miss Dave.

Backstory: Virgil Dibbs was born the son of two former slaves who escaped the South sometime around 1840, eventually making their way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dibbs would join the Union Army in the fight against the Confederates at the young age of 17 and impress both his White Commanding Officers and fellow Black Soldiers with his marksmanship, resourcefulness, and uncanny luck. 

Whispers and rumors of Dibbs' luck spread as only such stories can and before long many who saw the young man thought him to either be favored by angels or having made a deal with the devil himself. He would leap into a ravine without looking only to land in a convenient pile of soft leaves. He made shots too keen for the Human eye at too far a distance. Riding last among his unit, his horse would clear terrain that threw the riders of horses but a moment behind him. How had they not seen that ditch? How had it not felled Dibbs?

Following the Civil War, one of his former commanders, now a US Marshal, introduced Dibbs to a man named Wilfred Wesley, a law enforcement officer of the US government in charge of a rather secretive branch that dealt with the paranormal. Wesley had collected numerous accounts of Dibbs and his lucky escapes, impossible aim, and nick-of-time saves. Believing Dibbs to be among 'The Gifted', Wesley offered him a job as a special sort of lawman. Dibbs agreed on two conditions: A portion of his pay went to help his family and their community back in Philadelphia and Virgil had some say in which assignments he undertook. Wesley agreed and rest is history. Well...legend...

Overview: The adventures of Dusty Dibbs all began the same way...I would open with Dibbs walking or riding into a town as I spoke a narration in the form of a letter to Dusty from Mr. Wesley. The narration would detail the place Dibbs was heading to and the reason why he was being sent there. Something along the lines of, "Mr. Dibbs, I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing because the owners and lumber workers at the Pine Bay Logging Company have reported a most unusual and hazardous animal in the vicinity of their camps, one that seems consciously determined to upset the White and Red Pine industry vital to our nations' development..."

Dibbs would then investigate, often befriending at least one person directly connected to the situation and with their aid, get to the source of the problem and attempt to solve it. On one occasion that involved fighting a 'Timber Baron' and his thugs as well as the 'Fearsome Critter' (a class of North American folklore creature) whose home territory they'd disturbed. In another instance he had to appease the Rain Spirit of the local Indigenous People who had become so upset it was flooding a section of the Great Lakes Region with an unending downpour. 

The Highlights:

I remember that the first session - the aforementioned scenario with a logging camp under attack by a Hugag - was reminiscent of an outdoor 'Die Hard'. Dibbs started by avoiding the owner of the camp and his heavies, periodically hunting them down and picking them off one by one as the Hugag wrecked the logging operation all around them.

I remembering doing a ton of research for the second (maybe third?) session we ran, which involved a 'Thunder Spirit' of the Kickapoo tribe. A week of torrential rain that was flooding Lake Eerie and a town along its coast was attributed to the anger of this otherwise benevolent entity. Dibbs apparently had some positive dealings with Native Americans in his Civil War days and was considered a friend to the local Kickapoo. It turns out a misguided young man had complained to birds in the area about the lakeside town. The birds conveyed his message to the sky and the Thunder Spirit enacted revenge on the young man's behalf. In the end, Dibbs had to protect the man from the townsfolk while also getting him to apologize to the birds and spirit for blowing things out of proportion. A lesson was learned by all. 

Legacy: As I've already said, doing a Western the way I want to isn't easy but is extremely rewarding when it works. It's hard to convey the balance between the real and the supernatural I am envisioning when I set up to do a Wild West campaign. This series of adventures leaned far more heavily into the mystic and paranormal than my original 'Legend of Boot Hill' campaign but it still maintanced that 'distance' between the 'real world' and the 'world beyond'.  

Dibbs hasn't been seen since 2012 and my other Western campaign concepts in triple that time (except the Red Rider - more on him later this month). Perhaps that should be reconsidered. Maybe there is a future for this peculiar vision of the past. 

Game Info: Odd West, the game I used to run this, was a homebrew, a strange mixture of D6 dice pools and Poker. I looked for my notes but couldn't find anything showing the system. As best as I can recall, the key element of the character mechanics-wise would be coming up with a way to invoke his 'luck power', either by giving him 'Luck Points' that could be spend to alternate/manipulate the outcome of a situation or a limited number of rerolls per session. I prefer the former of course. 

Next up, set coordinates for Amaro Highport at Aequine and initiate the Jump Drive! Look who survived character creation! It's none other than Doctor EMIL FUJIKAWA! See you soon Traveller. 

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Barking Alien

Player Profiles - David Cotton

On Saturday, May 30th, 2020, one of my closest friends passed away. 

David Cotton, mentioned numerous times throughout the online history of this blog, suffered a heart attack as a result of a seizure. I was informed on Thursday, June 4th, by our mutual friend Eric, who was contacted by Dave's mother earlier that day.

Last night, from 6 pm to roughly 11 pm, Dave's friends including myself (who facilitated the event) held an online Memorial, sharing memories, telling stories, and of course recounting his many RPG characters and exploits. Eight members of our circles of friends showed up with calls, messages, and emails from literally dozens of others sending their love and sadness over his passing and their regret over not being about to attend live. A post on Facebook related to the new gained over 40 comments and nearly 60 likes/hearts in just a day and a half.

I first met David Cotton about 14 or 15 years ago when I decided to run a campaign of Mutants & Masterminds at my FLGS, The Compleat Strategist, in New York City. My wife and I had separated a year or so before and I hadn't gamed since. Gaming was such a big part of our time together and it didn't bring me joy any longer to do it without her. That was until I realized not doing it, not doing something I really loved, was preventing me from moving on and so I set up this Superhero campaign and opened the table to anyone who wanted in. 

At first I got some old friends and acquaintances I'd met over the years of shopping at the store and working in the retail game industry myself. It was a good sized group right off the bat, maybe six or seven players. Then a fellow came in, saw us getting ready, and asked what game we were running. This was Dave.

He came up with a character concept based on one he'd made for fun (not specifically for gaming) and I fudged his stats and such for the 'Session Zero' introduction. He returned the following session and from there on in never missed a game. In addition he brought in his cousin and later another friend. 

That campaign was easily one of my best Superhero games ever and the largest, with an average of 9 players showing up monthly and a maximum of 12. Dave was a key part of making the game entertaining and over time we learned we had a lot of interests in common beyond games. We shared a love of the same foods, films, social concerns, and many other details. Amazingly his birthday was February 11th. Mine is the 12th. 

Dave's A-List Superhero Characters

(Only a small portion of the ones he'd created)

IMPACT!, Silver Sun, Night Knight, and Anthem

The following fifteen years or so saw us becoming really close friends, discussing some of life's best and worst moments. From hirings to firings, found loves to break-ups, Dave was always there with warmth, intelligence, and honesty. And I gave it all right back because that is what true friends do even, no especially, when times are tough. 

He was also a great sounding board for ideas; creative and supportive but honest when he didn't like something or thought is could be better. He coined a number of phrases and concepts that still stick with me and always will about the creative process, how I myself do things, and how things can be done. We didn't always agree. We definitely had our differences of opinion but we shared a love of reasonable discussion and debate. We changed each others minds as often as we patted each other on the back. 

He would say, "I am a Reese's guy. I want some chocolate in my peanut butter." This was his way of explaining why he would combine two or more genres together to me, who can sometimes be a setting purist. 

When I would got confused or even frustrated over what to run he would say, "Adam, you make two kinds of campaigns: Summer Blockbusters and Indie Art Films.The Blockbusters aren't as close to your heart but they always go over well. Doing them earns you the credit and good will to suggest the Art film".

Mobile Suit Pilot Dane Bradley and his GM Striker

We would also speak about our views on racial injustice and equality that ring through my head continuously in our current world situation. I regret that I will never hear his thoughts on this past week. I, and others, will never get to know his take on what can be done to make things right and make them better. 

Universally, every person I have ever spoken to about Dave, whether they were close to him or had only met him once for a game at a Convention, described him the same way - One of the truly good people on this Earth. Kind, supportive, compassionate, confident not only in his own abilities, his own success, but in yours.

The Lady Luck, caracca of the Half-Elven Pirate Hero Jorvan StarsByNight

You believed him too, because his belief in himself and in you was like a force of nature. It was like a hurricane. 

The winds have died down. The storm is over. Only memories remain. 

Through the memories, I hope to retain a spark of Dave's lightning within me always. 

So long my friend,

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Barking Alien