31 Days / 31 Characters - BO

Dogs are amazing.

The name of this blog should give you a hint but yeah, I really love dogs. I have ever since I was a little boy. My parents had a beagle before I was born and I grew up with him until I was about 5 or 6. When my parents divorced, my father always had dogs. I got my first dog, purely mine, in 2007-2008 or there abouts. My current dog Sketch has been with me almost four years now. 

I run a dog walking service, walking and caring for dogs for a living. 

Therefore, it probably won't come as a surprise to anyone that one of my favorite PCs ever was a Bluetick Coonhound Mix in a very unusual game of Bunnies and Burrows.

Character: Bo

AKA: Beauregard Swanson. 

Player: Adam Dickstein

System: Bunnies and Burrows, 1st or 2nd Edition - Heavily Modified Homerules 

I am unsure of which edition formed the basis of the rules. 
 
Campaign: Out On The Farm, Down By The River

Gamemaster (s): Matt W. 

Circa: 1979 to 1982 (See below).

Origins: A local television station aired the 1978 film Watership Down, based on the novel by Richard Adams, at some point between '79 and 81'. As the urban legend goes, the TV station aired the film not having fully reviewed it; believing that animated film equaled 'for children'.

Around the same time, our English class was covering George Orwell's Animal Farm. 

One day, with these stories and their ideas spinning through our young minds, my friend Matthew pulled a book out of his backpack and showed it to me. It was the RPG rulebook for Bunnies and Burrows. He said, "I've had this for weeks but didn't know what to do with it. Now I do."

A week later, Matt announced to our gaming group that he wanted to run a campaign for us; Matt assembled everyone together for Character Creation and gave an expanded explanation of the game he had in mind. 

What he described was life on a farm, with each PC playing the role of an animal on that farm or the land surrounding it. Something was going to threaten the peace of The Farm and we'd have to deal with it, as a group but also in our own way. 

"Can I play a dog?", I asked. Probably didn't even think about the question before asking it.

"Yes", Matt said.

All I needed to hear. Sold. 

Backstory: Beauregard 'Bo' Swanson was one of five pups born to Buck and Bella Swanson in The Barn on The Farm. He was a good dog. A very good dog. All The People said so. 

He got to go in The House. He slept inside The House sometimes and sometimes in his own house. A Dog House. He had his own blanket. He watched The Children. He guarded The Swanson Family, The House, and The Chickens. 

One day The Land and The Sky switched places. The winds which The Owl rode twisted around each other and hit The House and The Farm. The Farm was gone and The Animals looked to Bo for help but Bo needed to find and help The People. 

Bo was a good boy. 

Overview: I hope I am not alone in feeling that there are some campaigns that are so extraordinary, so beyond the regular fare, that they feel impossible to continue, duplicate, or top. A game were everything - every session, every character, every moment - hit the right notes so perfectly that you know you will never play that same song that well ever again. 

Lightning in a bottle.

I've had games like that myself. My 'The Legend of Boot Hill' campaign was like that. I want to go back to it someday but I think, 'If the next one isn't  just as good as the original or better, why even bother?'

Our one and only Bunnies and Burrows campaign was one of those games.

I will do my best to give you an Overview but I don't know if I can do it justice. Basically, it started with a farm - The Farm, with Rabbits stealing vegetables, a wise Owl giving advice but requiring you pay with some of your own in return, a dog patrolling the grounds like a castle guard, and clueless pigs enjoying their lives of perceived luxury. 

Then at the end of the first session it was all dashed to bits. The Farm was struck by a tornado and the entire thing turned inside out and upside down. The PCs looked to me for leadership because I had acted like I was in charge but I was just a dog doing a job. With the Humans apparently gone, I had no idea what to do. 

Idyllic day-in-the-life fun turned desperate game of tragedy and survival. Just incredible. 

The Highlights:

The Rabbits coming to me for help was one of the scenes that will stay in my memory forever. 

Debris had filled their warrens with metal, wood, and other materials they couldn't move. Sharp objects were everywhere. Many were hurt, some badly. They asked for my help because they'd seen how well respected Bo was, how smart he seemed, and how I appear to understand Human things better than most animals. 

Bo barked and growled at them. He had nothing but contempt for The Rabbits. He had no interest in helping them. They weren't animals of The Farm. They were thieves. The Family, the farmers, hated The Rabbits and therefore so did Bo. Bo needed to help The Animals on The Farm. Bo needed to find The Family. Bo needed help from the other Dogs. Why on Earth would Bo help The Rabbits?

Another PC, a Rabbit calmly pleaded with me saying something along the lines of, "Because we need help, you're a good boy Bo, and good boys help." Damn. Got me right in the loyal dog feels. 

Another great moment was finding The Children - The Boy and The Girl - alive in the wreckage of The House, only to have to face off with a Mountain Lion. Thanks to fantastic team work and creative tactics from the Owl and The Pigs, we managed to drive it off. Yeah, we didn't even defeat it really but we did win; the Mountain Lion left, realizing any potential meal to be gained was not worth the pain and the trouble. 

Game Info:

It's been an incredibly long time since I played this campaign and it was the one and only Bunnies and Burrows campaign I was ever in (though I might have run one or more one shots). I don't remember anything about the rules and even if I did or if I had the old Character Sheet it probably wouldn't help you.

The game was heavily overhauled, with Matt spending a week creating alterations to the rules. I recall PCs being defined by their Animal (gives Attribute adjustments and basic abilities), their Calling (Class/Profession), and their Nature (kind of like Alignment meets the character's Goals - used to determine Experience Points and other aspects of the game).

Bo was Dog - Guardian - Loyalty if memory serves. 

Next, a 21 Blaster Salute in a Galaxy Far, Far Away to the fallen hero of the Tales of the Rim Campaign - say Bright Suns and Farewell to CARLACC ACEN!

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RPGaDay Challenge 2020 - STRANGE

Strange.

Strange is defined as, 'Unusual or surprising in a way that is unsettling or hard to understand.' Another take is 'Not previously visited, seen, or encountered; unfamiliar or alien.'

I like to think that I, or more specifically my areas of interest and the games they inspire, fall into the former category, with settings and locations that are firmly in the latter. 

While I do not claim Star Trek, Star Wars, Superheroes, or Medieval Folklore to be all that strange in and of themselves (all but the last of these appearing in mass media and as elements of pop culture), I would like to believe that my individual takes on them are often a little off-center and odd. This is certainly more evident in Supers and Folklore than the big the IP franchises however. 

At the same time, that's not all I run and when push comes to shove, I wonder how many other people are Gamemastering sessions of The Muppet Show, a Smurfs game set in Medieval Flanders, and a rather creepy and occasionally tear-jerking campaign of Ghostbusters. 

Let's not forget time travel games run in reverse order, a UFO/aliens-in-disguise two-parter set in America's Dust Bowl period of the 1930s, and my ongoing 'Unfinished Business' project - an RPG in which you portray ghosts trying to move on to the afterlife (essentially attempting to remove your PC from play). 

I love the strange. I eat it up. I would rather encounter and engage with the strange over the tactical, the reasonable, the grotesque, or the violent any day. I want to meet living things that make me question the nature of life, picture vistas that redefine terrain, and phenomena that don't quite match our understanding of established physics. 

Sure, in many ways my love of IP gaming belies this interest; I run many licensed franchises because fan familiarity with them is an advantage when explaining the premise of an RPG set in that universe. The key is, once you understand where you are and why, I can more easily get you to wonder about the weird and wild parts I've injected into the setting you feel you know. 

“Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.”
-Werner Heisenberg, Theoretical Physicist

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Two Notes: 

First, I failed to recognize what a very special day yesterday was. August 25th, marks my Gaming Anniversary; 43 years in the hobby beginning in 1977. Yay me!

Second, today is National Dog Day, which is very important to me both personally and professionally. Hurray for Dogs! We do not deserve them. I am spending it hanging out, playing, walking, and chilling with my best friend, Sketch, who turns 3 years old on Friday. 

Onward...

RPGaDay Challenge 2018 - Day 27

I have but one answer to this question...

...because, frankly, I don't watch or listen to these very often. Definitely not regularly. 

The only time I check out streams or actual play videos, podcasts or whatever is when there is a new game I'm interested in and I either want to get a handle on it before it comes out or it came out and I need help understanding some of the mechanics.

The exception to this is The Pod of Many Casts. 

Partly because some of the guys in it are friends of mine who game at my table (and I at theirs) and partly because of the comedic aspect of the series, I find this one a little different and fun to have on while I'm working on various projects or reading or what-have-you. 

Give it a listen and enjoy.

That's it.

See ya tomorrow!

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A big Happy Birthday shout out to my puppy Sketch who is one year old today!

It's been a tricky six months but I couldn't have rescued a sweeter, cuter dog. He spends half his time playing and the other half cuddling. I love you buddy!

Drawn Together

There has been a hole in my heart these past two months effecting everything I do, every waking moment. While the wound left behind by the passing of Delilah, the first dog I've ever had that was wholly mine [and not a family pet] may never fully heal, the emptiness has been greatly eased. I have adopted another dog and I couldn't be happier.

Say hello to Sketch!

Sketch is a 6 month old, Male, Hound/Terrier mix that is perhaps the most affectionate dog I have ever met. 

Originally from Mississippi and adopted from New York's ASPCA, this scrappy little guy is incredibly smart and playful, but if given the chance he would much rather just sit in my lap and cuddle. He already has decent name recognition, fetches, sits, and we are working on a touch command. 

As of now, his favorite toys are two balls: a plastic, squeaking one and the other a simple tennis ball. He seems to like all his toys though. He sleeps in his dog bed, but would rather sleep on my bed or the couch. 

I love him. He is adorable, sweet, and the exactly what I'd hoped for. It sounds corny I know but I really feel like we rescued each other with this adoption. 

Thanks for sharing this moment with me. It's a happy one.

Peace and Love,

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Renewed Vitality

The past six weeks have been very difficult for me. I have been feeling down, anxious, and not particularly creative. The blog has suffered a little as a result. 

Simultaneously, I have become really close with my girlfriend, gotten incredible support from family, friends, my students, and I am really beginning to feel like myself again. 

Today I went to Bidewee, an animal welfare organization that, among many other good deeds, rescues dogs and cats and adopts them out to new homes. It is where I adopted my dog Delilah from, and where my family has adopted a number of other pets over the years. 

I have decided the time is right, following Delilah's passing, to consider adopting a new rescue dog. I have done inquiries at New York City's ASPCA, but on my Mom's recommendation I went to Bidewee today to refresh myself on their criteria and process for adopting. 

Two incredible things happened:

I explained my situation and that my dog, whom I adopted from them, had recently passed. They asked if I remembered her original name, the name the Bidawee folks had given her before I got her. I did, and they were able to look her up in their computer.

On the screen was the exact date of her adoption - 10 years, 5 months, and 2 days ago today - her original mislabeling as a Male dog; she had two brothers in her litter and they accidentally listed all three as Males. I'd forgotten that. - and best of all, photos of her at 4 months of age. My heart melted, I smiled, and yes, I cried a little too. Happy tears. 

Moments later a very self-assured female voice said, "I can vouch for this man. He really loves dogs." It was none other than my friend Emi, who volunteers at Bidawee working with cats. Not only was I overwhelmed by her statement, but I had forgotten how much I missed seeing her. She is a wonderful person and her being there was an added bonus on what was becoming a really good day.

The second thing that occurred today was that Tim Knight, aka The Acrobatic Flea, over at the blog HEROPRESS, posted an interview he and I had recently done. In addition, he added a little something nice in his opening introduction that was very kind of him to say. Please give it a look won't you? 

The end result is a sense of renewed vigor, a boost to the spirit, and the ego, which is sometimes just what is needed to get one out of a funk. 

I am looking forward to new ideas and a very productive March. I am excited about a new puppy in my life. I am happy to have such a fantastic girlfriend, great friends, my small yet awesome family, and this blog. 

Onward and Upward!

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Lucky Dog

Happy Lunar New Year and Spring Festival Everyone!

It is the Year of the Dog, which as you can imagine is a favorite year of mine. Heh. 

Woof Woof and Gong Hei Fat Choy!

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My Heart Is Not In It

This may seem crazy to some of you, or at the very least hard to relate to, but I am having a lot of difficulty blogging following the passing of my dog.

Simply put, it's hard to get motivated and excited about the prospect without her presence. 

She did very little to directly influence my posts, what with being unable to speak, read, or write English and generally not well-versed in the rule mechanics of RPGs, but she was a constant inspiration for, well, just about everything in my life. 

It isn't Meowing Alien kids.

The screen seems less bright, the ideas less exciting, the prospect of sharing holds a lesser charge. As noted in the title, my heart just isn't in it. It is currently too heavy, weighed down with sadness, to be lifted by blogging. 

At least at this moment. 

There are some ideas struggling to break through this miasma of melancholy, and I wouldn't be surprised if just posting this is therapeutic enough to get me back on track. Delilah wouldn't want me to give in to sorrow, and before long I know I will adopt another rescue because no dog should be homeless, and no home should be dogless. 

Looking forward to looking forward to more Barking Alien.


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Barking Alien

Back In Action

Why hello there stranger!

Yeah, I know what you're thinking.

"Didn't you used to be Barking Alien?" Heh. Good one.

Yes, I'm Adam 'Barking Alien' Dickstein, and I'm here to tell you that while things might be a little crazy next month, you're definitely going to see more posts from me. Hopefully, by late July/early August I'll be in full swing, and back to my [occasionally] prolific self.

I had originally planned on dedicating a good portion of June's posts to Science Fiction gaming, a subject I love that doesn't get enough attention in my opinion. The catalyst for this plan was the release of the computer game No Man's Sky, originally scheduled to hit stores on June 21st. Unfortunately, it seems that game has been delayed until August. I may just have to do the same for my Sci-Fi RPG discussions.

As for June, expect posts to be more frequent, but less structured.

I've been working on my real life business a lot lately, as well as getting ready to move again soon. After a year of living at my current address, I'm really looking forward to not living at my current address. I've tried really hard to like it here, but I don't. If the next place is even a little better than this one, that will be enough to make it fantastic.

As for my business, I am starting a second blog named for my service, Friend of Dogs, that will focus on my company, and my love of dogs. OK, mostly it will focus on dogs, but there will be some business stuff too. I already have a Facebook page, and I'd be ever so grateful if any of you could pop on over to it, give it a follow, or just a like. Thanks. I truly appreciate it.


OK, got to go to bed.

See you all soon,

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Barking Alien

Don't Hate The Player, Hate The Game

The next few posts are about some things that have been on my mind lately.

They are not meant to be deep or philosophical, although if you find them so be my guest. The posts are not necessarily my opinion, though some may be, or may include my opinion.

More accurately, they contain things that have crossed my mind, and which I felt would be fun or intriguing to consider, whether I agree with them or not.

Please feel free to discern for yourselves what you think about these subjects, and what I think on the subjects if you should fancy such an exercise.

***

I don't really want to use the word 'hate' in the post title but it is part of the original phrase I am playing on and, in all seriousness, 'Don't Vehemently Dislike The Player, Vehemently Dislike The Game' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

***

 

 We gamers (at least those of us who have been doing this for a little while or who care about it enough to read blogs on the subject) are all too familiar with the Power Gamer, Min-Maxer, Rules Lawyer and other less than desirable player types that crop up at our tables from time to time.

 

Those of us of the Gamemaster persuasion gripe about them, ask for and read our peers advice on handling them and more often than not, try to come up with some devious method of dealing with them by (as I have personally heard it phrased) 'teaching them a lesson'.

 

As I am something of a Player Advocate Gamemaster (from now on known as a PAG, unless I utterly forget I came up with that), I think my fellow GMs may be coming at the problem from the wrong direction.

 

Don't Hate The Player, Hate The Game.

 

For a good number of years, I had no real clue what any of the aforementioned player types were like first hand. I had heard tell of them and read about these phenomena in Dragon Magazine and the like, but never personally encountered them in any of my games..

 

It wasn't until late Junior High School or really early High School that I began to see gamers who qualified for these awful nomenclatures. Yet still, not in any of the games I ran (though occasionally in ones I played in, especially if I was playing with strangers and not close friends).

 

As time went on I noted their presence more often. It was usually in games of Dungeons & Dragons and Champions, though sometimes they showed up in others. I no longer ran D&D by this point and while I played Champions, the GM made up my character and I didn't even know what the rules were.

 

My own games of choice during the era in question were Ars Magica, Cyberpunk 2020, Mekton II, Star Trek (FASA), Teenagers From Outer Space and Toon, among others. Not a Power Gamer, Min-Maxer, Rules Lawyer, Hack and Slasher or any other such entity in site. Why would there be?

 

Why would there be indeed. Why would you Min-Max Star Trek? How can you Power Game TFOS? What is the benefit of Rules Lawyering Toon? As for the other systems and games, my approach to running campaigns was much more focused on story, theme and genre so maxing out your character's combat abilities was fine if you wanted to but what were you going to do the other half of the time when we were role-playing and not fighting?

 

While learning to train dogs I learned a few things about canine psychology and a few things about Human psychology as well. Dogs, much like young children, will not do something that is not perceived as beneficial to them and will figure out what is beneficial and repeat the activity.

 

For example, if your dog begs at the table for scraps and you give her some, expect her to beg at the table from now on, every time you sit down. You proved it worked so don't go getting upset that she does this.

 

If on the other hand you don't give her anything, she will eventually walk away and find something else to do. Sometimes you will see dogs learning a new trick or task running through the gambit of the tricks they already know in hopes that ones of them will get them the treat you are holding. Those tricks have worked before so why not now? Ah, because you are looking for that new one she just learned and you'll give her the treat the moment she does it.

 

Players (I hope no one minds my comparing Dogs and Gamers. I assure you the Dogs will not be offended) will develop styles based on what they are rewarded for and for what works in the game they are playing.

 

Champions players min-max in that game because the system allows it by its very design and because its a game where you fight powerful opponents a lot.You need to be tough and if you are tough you can defeat the enemies that get you points so you can make yourself even tougher. I love Champions but the basic concept of its mechanics does lend itself to that type of mentality.

 

In Dungeons and Dragons (and especially the Old School approach to it), monsters, traps and dangers abound. Everyone and everything is trying to cheat and kill you. In order to survive, you need top-rated stats and abilities, since in some editions that can net you bonuses, more spells and languages, increased skills and all manner of advantages.

 

Being a Rules Lawyer is another survival technique. With an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules, you can find a loophole or an advantage over whatever it is the DM is throwing at you and your party. With some members of the team running around with 4 Hit Points and no armor, you need all the help you can get. You NEED to be or have a Rules Lawyer.

 

Sure, individual personalities and player preference is the main thing that gets people into the aforementioned mindsets. All I am asking is that we consider for a moment, is the game we're playing and the way we're running it influencing the players to be this way or that? Instead of berating such players, should we not take a look at the system we are using and ask ourselves, "Am I/Are We/Is this game reinforcing the approaches that many view as negative?

 

Just some thoughts.

 

We'll chat more soon,

 

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Double The Thanks And Twice The Giving

Thanksgiving this year was...not the best.

Initially.

Let me explain...

I've mentioned before that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays if not the favorite. I love everything about it. My family has a tradition of watching the balloons getting blown up the night before and than getting together early Thanksgiving Day to watch the parade on TV over pancakes and bacon, than hanging out, talking, playing with my nephew, cooking and eventually eating an awesome early dinner made by two of the greatest cooks in the world, my Mom and my sister. Oh! How could I forget my other favorite part of the day? After the parade I get to watch the National Dog Show!

My family is small. Very small. It always has been. Even when it was larger with my grandparents around, I really only had my Mom's grandparents. It was still small. As a result, it is a very tight family unit. We have our falling outs like any other family but various factors have shown us that, well, we are all we got. So we enjoy this holiday a lot and are truly thankful for each other.

Anyway, for one reason or another, this year things started off great but ended on a sour note to some extent. The dinner was kind of a wash out. My brother-in-law wasn't feeling well. We had just the tiniest of fires in the oven. Don't worry, everyone is OK.

I have been down a lot recently and this should have really put me over the edge but it didn't. I am still thankful we got together, thankful everyone is fine and thankful that we saved enough food for leftovers.

There is always next year...if you're not Mayan I suppose.

Anyway...

Yesterday, my ex-wife invited some ol' friends and myself over for a sort of 'Retread Thanksgiving' that also involved my running a game. I can't really put into words how cool this was. It was good food (Selina, my ex-wife, is a great cook and makes a kick ass cheese cake. My friend Luke's Turkey is pretty damn good too), good people and I got to run a one-shot of my D&D-But-Not game at it's full potential.

What do I mean by its 'full potential'? Well, Selina is one of the greatest players I have ever met and she knows and gets my style. I don't have to pull punches. I can make complex plots that intertwine politics, culture, folklore and mystery and have her not only understand what's happening but extrapolate into directions I totally didn't expect. I lay out Legos on the table and she builds a vehicle that drives across the floor when I don't remember including movable wheels.

Not sure that analogy made perfect sense but yeah...she is awesome at adding to and guiding the story as a player as much as the GM does.

Luke is a role player with a good sense of humor and a knack for creating odd roles. He was in top form yesterday as an atypical typical Scottish sounding Dwarf who was part drunkard, part berserker and secretly pretty swift on the uptake. Throughout the session he accidentally succeeded at what he was doing again and again.

Lily is the new comer, less experienced as a table top gamer than the rest but she enjoys herself and loves the story and listening to the other two. She is often surprising effective when the fighting starts.

In the end, I feel very lucky. I got to have two Thanksgivings and for each I am thankful, if for slightly different reasons.

I hope this holiday has been good to all of you and even if it hasn't, look at it closely and try to find something positive in it that you can take with you into December.

All the best,

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Barking Alien

A Good Day And Then Some

I want to open this post with a personal story.

Today is my 3 month anniversary with my girlfriend Jenn. She is an amazingly talented singer and keyboard player and she played live tonight at a restaurant in New York's Greenwich Village. Not only was she fantastic but I got to meet a number of her friends and they were really sweet and lovely people.

It seemed like all or most of them were artists, dancers or other creative types and as such I felt strangely comfortable with them right away.

Possibly the coolest moment of the evening was when Jenn announced her second song and that it was going to be special. Since she writes and performs her own songs for the most part, I think they are all special but I assumed she meant that it had personal significance to her.

It turned out to be a uniquely Jenn rendition of Rainbow Connection. I could tell many liked it but thought it an odd choice. I knew better of course. She sang it for me and it was amazing. It may not seem major to some but it was a big deal to me. I can be sentimental like that. I was really moved.

Love you baby.

Posting may be spotty here for the rest of the week (I can hear Statler and Waldorf heckling, "So pretty much the same as usual! Awhawhawhaw!"), as I prepare for RECESS.

Oddly, although I haven't run Galaxy Quest for a long while and never for anyone outside of my ol' NJ gang, I don't feel nervous about that session in the least. As always, nearly all my energy and effort is being directed at the morning festivities, The Muppets RPG. It doesn't matter how often I run it, I panic right before it's ready to roll. I feel like I can't take any chances that it could be anything less than ridiculously fun. Can't help it. It's my little obsession.

In regards to my recap of our Hunter X Hunter session last Saturday, I realize that there isn't much more to tell.

After reaching the Hunter Examination registration location (say that three times fast!) thanks to our guides, we spent the rest of the session role-playing, talking to NPCs, getting to know the world and getting into our characters. We added an NPC to our little trio of Hunter hopefuls, a 10-12 year old girl with pigtails in a sailor suit school uniform. This being Anime and Manga I can only assume she is among the most powerful and deadly people on the planet.

At the very end of the adventure, the first part of the Hunter Exam is revealed and it was refreshingly not what I expected. To pass the 'Physical Portion' of the test you have to cross a 'Ninja Warrior' type obstacle course. So cool. I plan on using my Creativity more so than my physical strength and agility to get past the obstructions and pitfalls.

***

Well hopefully I am in for a great RECESS and you are all in for a great Muppet Monday and Galaxy Quest recap new week. Back to work...

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PS: Today was my dog Delilah's birthday! My little girl is 5 years old and still the cutest, smartest, most awesomest puppy I have ever seen. Happy Birthday Dee!

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming...

To bring you this special news bulletin...

I once again apologize for my infrequent blog entries but life outside of gaming, reading comics and blogging about gaming and reading comics has been especially active.

I am now a full-time, professional dog trainer...well...an assistant trainer to be more accurate but I love it and I am learning so much. I was in an apprentice program for almost a year before I received this position and it was well worth the wait.

Now this doesn't mean I haven't been gaming but it does mean I have less free time to develop new material and work on projects I am not actually running. Hopefully as I get into a routine I can get back to those somewhat neglected projects.

A few other notes...

I was at this amazing dog training seminar, a two day affair, where on the second day, each of the less experienced members of the training staff had to teach a behavior to a class consisting of the senior training staff. I was so nervous I slept less than I usually do (which quite possibly means the universe owes me some sleep as part of a cosmic balance sorta thing since I have insomnia to start with). I had never actually taught a class before and decided to take some ques from how I run a game. I mean, teaching a class and running an RPG session have a lot in common, no? Stand up (I rarely sit when I GM) in front of a group of different people, get their attention, keep their attention and explain what it is we're going to do during the time we're together.

You've got to inform, entertain and be approachable so students (or players) can feel good asking questions. You have to convince the intrepid to take their time and the timid to give it a try. You have to 'work a room' and get everyone excited so you can all share in a great experience. You need to be knowledgable about the rules. You need to have fun.

In the end everyone that I did a great job and I have to say I'm pretty proud. 'Proud' is not a word I am always comfortable with and yet this time I have to say it feels damn good.

Anyway, more DC Adventures talk on the way as well as a revisiting of one of my all time favorite games ever...a present for a friend's birthday...Galaxy Quest!

See you soon,

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Barking Alien