Can I Dream?

The conclusion to my 30 years in the making, 8 session, ALIEN FRONTIER campaign - run with Free League Publications' ALIEN RPG - occurred on Saturday, August 7th of 2021 after a year+ hiatus due to the Global Pandemic. 

I would describe the outing as an excellent session but a disappointing end to the series as a whole. 

Originally I wanted to give you all the play-by-play and detail everything that great and not-so-great about the session. Now, with sometime having past and my disappointment with the series' conclusion having truly set in, I would prefer to just give an overview of the game and why it didn't work as the end of what had up to that point been one of my best campaigns in a long time. 

To start with, not all of the players were available for the finale and that forced me to treat their characters as NPCs; something I don't mind doing but which doesn't feel right for a final episode of a series with really good characters.

One of the players missing was my dearly departed friend David Cotton. Not having Dave their was something I was very aware of the entire session and it made me very sad. Thankfully, the players who did show brought wonderful, positive energy and it made the event very enjoyable. 

The session was set for a six and a half hour run time and ended up going a full seven hours (more on that below). It featured six of the nine players (as mentioned above), though all the Player Characters were present and accounted for in the story. 

From a gamemaster's perspective, I divided the episode into three acts in order to facilitate what I hoped would a well organized narrative with a satisfying conclusion. I was not wholly successful. While Act 1 and 2 were fantastic - full of fast paced action, close calls, dark humor, and great PC characterization - I dropped the ball in Act 3. 

The problem was this...in the final act, when the stakes were highest and people were willing to have their characters die in order to save others or accomplish something significant, one player revealed that he'd been working toward a single goal the campaign and was unwilling to change course this [literally] late in the game.

I felt for him. I heard in his voice and saw on his face that what he wanted to accomplish was essentially what he'd been playing for for the past seven sessions. That's when I made the mistake of caving and allowing said player's PC to succeed. I made sure it was difficult to accomplish by increasing the task difficulty. The rolls were in the player's favor.

This touches on my recent discussion of Fudging. I should have Fudged a number of times during this session or simply not allowed a roll. That isn't my style of course. In fact, one of my personal 'Prime Directives' is as follows: If a player has a good idea and comes to it through solid reasoning, in-game knowledge and references, and employ nothing that defies the milieu as it has been established, I tend to allow it. At the very least it gets a roll. 

My second major directive is that the universal laws of my game are those of the setting/genre that the game covers. In other words, if you are playing a Superhero RPG based on Marvel Comics than the bottom line deciding any unclear action or event is to ask and answer the question, 'Well, how does it work in Marvel Comics?'

So, while we ended the game with a series of actions that brought about a reasonable ending, it wasn't right for the game. As one of the players put it, "This was an ALIEN game. The ending felt like the ending of a Star Trek adventure. It didn't feel like ALIEN." That perfectly sums up my feelings as well. 

The ending was too positive. It had too many survivors. It accomplished things too well and too cleanly.

I am not one for killing PCs but here I was totally ready to because, as noted, one of my goals is always to do things the way the genre/setting/IP does them. In ALIEN, nearly everyone should be dead at the end. I felt sorry for that one player and their PC and it cascaded from there. 

The entire series, the campaign, is still one of my best works. I am extremely proud of it and the cast of players and PCs that were a part of it. The finale just didn't land right.

I meant to be the Russo Brothers but ended up as Benioff and Weiss. 

Next time...

END TRANSMISSION.

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Barking Alien

GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!

Last Saturday, August 7th of 2021, was the first time in over a year that I'd run an in-person game. 

The game is question? The finale 'Episode' of my planned eight session ALIEN RPG campaign...ALIEN FRONTIER. 

One of the best campaigns I've run in several years, the series was put on hold in March of 2020 due to the Covid-19 Global Pandemic. With all attending players and myself confirmed to be fully vaccinated and everyone wearing masks during the game, we scheduled the Grand Finale to begin in the late morning/early afternoon of the 7th. 

Here is a recap of the story thus far...

Preface: Initially the players had no idea they were playing in a game set in the ALIEN franchise universe.

The game was billed as a Dystopia Science Fiction RPG with Cyberpunk elements based on an idea I had been making notes on for over 30 years (which was true). It was simply entitled, 'FRONTIER'.

The concept was that the Smithsonian Institute, in cooperation with the United Americas government and various megacorporate interests, had set up a scientific research project on the planet SA-2, orbiting the star 18 Scorpii, for the purpose of exploring various ways to save a dying Earth. 

The PCs, operating from 'Frontier Station' in orbit around SA-2, would test ways of improving and/or surviving the harsh conditions of this world and applying successes to the Smithsonian Institute Terran Revitalization Initiative - SITRI. 

FRONTIER STATION

Periodically the game would feature elements that evoked concepts from various Sci-Fi films such as Blade Runner, Outland, and of course Alien and Aliens. When this came up, I would answer questions regarding these elements absolutely candidly, matter-of-factly, and truthfully. 

For example, when a [Non-Player] character bled a milky-white substance, revealing her to be an Android, the players began a discussion about Androids in both 'this setting' and Sci-Fi in general. When Replicants were brought up as a comparison to some point being made I said with a completely straight face, "Well, the Tyrell Corporation and Hyperdyne Systems have very different ideas and approaches to what an artificial person should be."

Around the fourth session one of the players said, "This is some Weyland-Yutani level techology"

I replied, "Don't be ridiculous. This is waaay beyond anything we have in Human charted space. Weyland-Yutani wishes they could get their hands on stuff like this."

Everyone did a double take. "Wait...are you saying there is a Weyland-Yutani Corporation?"

"Of course", I said with a warm smile, "This is ALIEN."

Previously on ALIEN FRONTIER:

The Smithsonian Institute Terran Revitalization Initiative (SITRI) Project was set to begin on SA-2, a world orbiting the star 18 Scorpii, on May 25th, 2212. A few hours before, a supply ship entered the system and reported Another Ship in its flight path. In an attempt to avoid this other vessel the supply ship changed course, causing it to collide with the orbital 'Frontier Station' and eventually crash onto the surface of SA-2.

SITRI Project Director Rebecca Jordan (aka Newt) sent the PCs to investigate and if possible rescue any survivors and/or salvage any cargo. The PCs managed to secure some supplies and found two crewmembers alive - well, one at least; the ship's pilot, a man with Cybernetically enhanced vision and Pierce, an Android. They also discovered that the supply ship's AI had indeed detected the signal of Another Ship, though it did not appear on sensor logs nor did the rest of the ship's crew see it. 

The PCs (at this time) consisted of:

Dr. Aaron Allen (Dave) - Robotics Specialist. Serving as Recon and Security using Drones. 

Templeton 'Temp' Diaz (Andy) - Mechanic and Engineering Specialist.

Dr. Stanley 'Stitch' Hudson (Eric) - Station Medical Chief and Surgeon.

Samantha 'Tex' Hunter (Ray) - Scout/Survey Specialist.

Dr. David Myers (Nick) - Social Sciences and 'First Contact' Specialist. 

Lt. Mitchell 'Ace' Thompson (Carl) - Pilot and Owner/Operator of the USRSS The Queen

Prof. Mara Typhi (Will) - Life Sciences Specialist

Chief Charley Venchenko (Leo) - Security Chief

This began an investigation into a mysterious signal with three sending and receiving points: They were discovered to be an ancient temple/Outpost belonging to an extraterrestrial species dubbed 'The Thinkers', a crashed medical ship containing Dr. Ana Myr Clearwater (Lynn's character), and finally a derelict alien vessel belonging to a species Director Jordan identified as the 'Space Jockeys'. After exploring all three sites, the PCs learned that the Space Jockeys and The Thinkers were at war or at least had been at some time in the past. The Space Jockeys used a creature known as Xenomorph XX121 to virtually wipe out The Thinkers. The remaining members of the latter captured and modified some of the Xenomorphs in an attempt to fight fire with fire.

In the end, it is unclear what the outcome of this endeavor was. The Space Jockey ship was crashed at the bottom of a massive, continent sized crater and filled with small creatures called 'Facehuggers'. The Thinker temple was likewise devoid of living Thinkers, having only mutated experimental Xenomorphs and a single, long dead member of The Thinker species.

Following their investigation of the Space Jockey derelict, the PCs returned to their ATV and tried to radio Frontier Station. No response. All channels were flooded with the message, 'Another Ship...Another Ship...Another Ship...', in spite of the PCs deactivating all known signal transceivers.

The last episode ended with a pyramid shaped vessel, a Thinker ship, descending from the sky.

And now the conclusion...

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Barking Alien

Full of Surprises

Continuing along from my last post but not showing you what's behind curtain #1 just yet - I am truly evil, no? - I wanted to mention the clues I liberally littered throughout the first three sessions of my FRONTIER campaign. 

More Easter Eggs than true clues, these not-really-hidden references were really more for me then the players. If they picked up on any of them great! If not, it actually helped the final reveal have even more impact. 

At the same time, they were there, right out in the open more times than not. I made a concentrated effort (which I honestly had to practice) not to put special emphasis on any of these clues and make them yet another background detail in a setting I was building from the players and their PCs to enjoy. 

The hints, signs, and signals of what was to come ranged from very subtle to blatant but in the latter case I managed to hide them in plain sight. 

A moment in the game might prompt one or more players to ask a question. I, with a neutral, straight face or easy smile, would answer the question in a matter of fact way that absolutely revealed a truth about the game's setting. These answers were taken not at face value but as references to something else so as to seem only tangentially in context.

For example, let's say you were playing an 'original' setting Superhero RPG and a glowing green rock was discovered that seemed to be deadly to a particular villain. A player might say, "Wait...like Kryptonite hurts Superman?" The GM would answer, "Exactly. Though it isn't just Superman, right? I mean, any Kryptonian would be effected by the radiation from a Kryptonite rock." The players would nod and plan on obtaining more of the rock to defeat their enemy, not realizing that the enemy is in fact an actual Kryptonian and their campaign is set in some alternate version of the DC Universe. 

So these were the clues I put out there...can you figure out the truth behind our semi-dystopian Science Fiction Space Exploration game before my next post?

Just one moment...

Before you get all full of yourselves on how easy it is for you to figure out what's going on and think, 'How could Adam's group not know they were playing in a X campaign? Those rubes!', bear in mind everything I mentioned above plus...

You are reading these hints in a list, completely free of any other in-game or out-of-game activity or distractions. I have removed these from three sessions, each session being 5-5 1/2 hours long, with 8 players. You aren't getting the Role-Playing, the Battles, Rules Explanations, Jokes, or any of the other things that goes into a real game. 

Jeopardy is much easier at home than it is when you're in the TV studio with the bright lights, live audience, and Alex Trebek's steely-eyed gaze bearing down on you. 

Now let's see:

Episode Zero/Pilot Episode - Session 1 - Beast of Burden

The campaign's starting date and year is May 25th, 2212.

Beast of Burden, by the Rolling Stones plays on the incoming commercial transport, the USCSS Orpheus. 

The Orpheus is a White Dwarf vessel, formerly used by Red Star Lines.

The Project Director for our Scientific Research Mission is Director Rebecca Jorden. 

Director Jorden has her ID and Access Cards on a keychain with a plastic Lizard or Gecko on it. 

Alerts from the AI of all the ships feature a blinking yellow light. 

There is very specific iconography for the various departments and sections of the ships and FRONTIER station. 

The government names United Americas and United Systems are mentioned. 

An Android is discovered among the Orpheus crew. She is injured and bleeds a milky white substance. When asked if it was like Bishop in Aliens I said yes. Another player mentioned two other IPs that also feature Androids with similar chemical or non-Red blood. The Replicants of Blade Runner are brought up and I explain the differences in design theory between the Tyrell Corporations Replicants and Hyperdyne Systems Synthetics to give detail and context. 

A player asks if it is normal to see Androids in this setting. I reply, "It's been policy for years to have a synthetic on board all government, military, and large scale corporate vessels. It's a little unusual to see one on a private, commercial transport, but not unheard of."

A mysterious signal is detected that is thought to be the cause of the Orpheus' accident. It is very dense and comes in 12 second bursts. 

Episode I - Session 2 - Comfortably Numb

Episode open with Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb playing. The lines reference what happened in the last episode as well as the current situation with the dangerous signal:

"A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying."

The Medical Transport, the USMSS Foster, serves the Extrasolar Colonization Administration. 

The Foster is en route to the Arcturus System following a worker rebellion that required marines to be sent in. Although order was restored, there were many wounded on both sides and medical supplies were needed. 

That occurred in 2177, 35 years prior to our current campaign date.

OK, wait, this brings me to a great scene:

The Trauma Team Medic is awoken from a 35 year Hypersleep and when asked what year she thinks it is she first responds that it's a strange question, then says it's 2177, and then says, "Don't tell me. I've been asleep for more than 50 years". The Security Officer who woke her replies...

SO: "No..." 

Medic: "Thank goodness."

SO: "It's been 35."

Medic: *Vomits on the SO's boots*

SO: *Short pause while looking down* Looks back at Medic and says, "Yeah that tracks."

The team, with Medic in tow, discover the extraterrestrial 'temple' structure. Inside in a large chamber covered in hieroglyphics and pictograms. Among the symbols are:

Long, thin vines - or snakes or tentacles - with thorns, spines, or spikes.

A football shaped oval resembling a seed or egg. 

Humanoid figures shown only from the waist up, wearing helmets or gas mask with an elongated nose tube or trunk (like an elephant). 

Episode II - Session 3 - Under Pressure 

As the 'camera' descends into the temple, Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie plays. 

"It's the terror of knowing what this world is about,
Watching some good friends screaming, 'let me out'!"

The further exploration of the structure takes the group into other rooms with more hieroglyphs and a pictographic language. Much of the aforementioned symbols reappear as does a slightly asymmetrical 'horseshoe' or 'omega' emblem. 

As the team descends further down to the lower levels of the building we learn at least part of the purpose of the place. Those who constructed it, 'The Thinkers', were researching a weapon to use against another alien species. 

A player says jokingly, "What is this? A Weyland-Yutani facility?" I laugh and reply, "This? No way even Weyland-Yutani could build something like this. This was clearly constructed by a highly advanced alien intelligence. That said, man, they'd probably kill to get a chance to study this place."

In addition to all of these points, there were a series of re-occurring numbers. As my friend Ray noted in an unrelated discussion, "Adam does love his numerical clues".

The numbers include:

33

79

86

90

1979

2179

2212

52579

By now you probably know what the players now know...

The big reveal next post.

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Barking Alien

Elements of SURPRISE

As promised last month, I have a Surprise for everyone. 

Back during the month of August, the 23rd word prompt of the RPGaDay event was SURPRISE. I didn't post a full entry on that day as I was saving an actual Surprise I wanted to reveal but couldn't since the Surprise was coming from a campaign I was (and I am) currently running. The Surprise had yet to be revealed to the players and their PCs in the game, so to post it on my blog ran the risk of spoiling things for the members of that gaming group. 

In that post on the August 23rd I made a promise to post the Surprise in full on September 23rd, which is today.

The cat is out of the bag now as the session that revealed the big secret was played on the first Saturday of this month. But...Unfortunately, one player couldn't make it and the rest of the group made a deal not to reveal what had happened to the missing team member. 

Yes, you read that right. The big reveal of our campaign's third session and second full 'episode' is still a mystery to one of the players.

Here's the set up...

As I have mentioned before, on July 6th I started a Science Fiction RPG using a modified version of the Year Zero System created by Free League Publishing (or Fria Ligan in their native Sweden) entitled FRONTIER. 

FRONTIER is based on a SF RPG concept I've been wanting to run for over 30 years. Set in a dystopian future in which the Earth is dying from years of  Human abuse and neglect, FRONTIER focuses the story on a project set up by the Smithsonian Institute and the United American governments (along with Megacorporate backers) to find a way to save Humanity's homeworld.

To this end, a group of scientists, engineers, and other specialists have been shipped 45.3 light years from our Solar System to FRONTIER Station, a Scientific Research Outpost orbiting the planet SA-2 in the 18 Scorpii system. 

Over the course of three monthly sessions - The Pilot Episode/Episode Zero, Episode I, and Episode II - the players discover a mysterious signal that causes the A.I. of a starship to malfunction, feeding false information to the pilot and eventually other stations and equipment warning them that they are going to collide with 'Another Ship'. 

The story begins with a cargo ship en route experiencing this very issue, with the ship's pilot - a cybernetically enhanced individual - suffering from hallucinations and severe paranoia as a result of the signal. He diverts him course to avoid a spaceship that simply isn't there and glances his transport against one of FRONTIER Station's exterior fuel pods. He then crash lands on the planet below, eventually shooting a shipmate dead and chasing another out of the vessel. 

Our team is assembled to go down and look for survivors and as well as retrieve any intact cargo as we needed the shipment to fully load the outpost. In the process we find the dead Navigator, a Cargo Handler injured in the crash, and the Pilot and Warrant Officer wrestling at the edge of a cliff. Some of our team retrieves them but not before the group at the cliff are attacked by armor headed worms about the size of a large dog. 

While some of the PCs engage in a quick, scary action scene with the worms, others gather some of the usable supplies, and still others investigate the wreck of the freighter. Eventually we start to piece together what transpired and the signal that caused the accident returns. The PCs begin picking it up on their own ship's systems and some of their personal gear connected to those systems. 

Our vessel's Captain decides to purposefully maroon us on the planet, not wanting to take the chance that the signal might cause us to crash as well once we're airborne. Additionally, the PCs find out the Cyborg Pilot still has his gun, but before he can use it one of our Security Officers takes him out with a single punch. The Warrant Officer from the transport is revealed to be an Android, but for some reason her A.I. was not affected by the signal. 

In the next session the team works to find the source of the signal and protect our ship from being affected. Meanwhile, in a sequence I am especially proud of, we find another ship, a medical rescue ship is approaching the planet. I cut to a Trauma Team Specialist PC, a new player being introduced into the campaign, and her NPC Captain letting her know they're waaay off course. Before long the medical ship and it's cybernetic engineer also get infected by the odd signal and drive the vessel into a deep dive towards the world of SA-2. 

This is inter-cut with scenes of the other PCs already on SA-2 searching for two spots that may either be bouncing or producing the mysterious and dangerous message. After potentially deadly run-in with a herd of huge, stampeding, bipedal, horseshoe crab creatures, the PCs come upon another ship wreckage that appears to have been buried in the desert sands of SA-2 for a few decades.

Cut back to the medical ship and we see the new Trauma Team Medic get into a Hypersleep style chamber as the NPCs frantically race to hold down their crazed Engineer and try to save their ship. Sadly...it's too late. The medical transport crashes into the surface of SA-2. I reveal the year of the crash as 2177. 

"Wait a minute", says one of the players, "that's not the year. You said it was 2212." I replied that they were correct, it was 2212...currently. The medical transport Foster was lost and presumed destroyed with all hands in 2177. As several of the players, the new one included - who thinks she joined this session just to die - the others check out the wreckage in the desert which turns out to be...The Foster! Digging through both it's physical remains and what's left of it's systems they discover one survivor...heheh...a Trauma Team Medic in stasis. 

After helping the newly awakened Medic and regrouping the rest of the PCs together, the group begins searching for the final signal point, which must be the source. Eventually they find it, an ancient structure deep in the sands. 

The PC group then goes deep into the bowls of a pyramid-like building clearly constructed by a non-Human intelligence in a setting with no definitive proof of sentient aliens to the players'/PCs' knowledge. Knowing that one player would be unable to attend the session, he and I worked out that his PC, the Captain and Pilot of the ship we had used to reach the surface of the planet we were on, had returned to said ship to facilitate communications between the party, himself, and the orbiting space station that serves as the PCs' home base. 

After much exploration and experimentation with the 'temple's strange pictogram-like runes and various secret doors, the PCs discovered the structure was likely some sort of base of operations belonging to a species of highly intelligent beings that were at war with another, separate intelligent species. In fact, the temple may have been a way station or outpost during their conflict. 

Finally reaching the lower level of the structure, the two Security Officers, aided by remote, robot drones, came upon what the scientists reasons was a research facility. They also came upon the ancient, desiccated remains of one of the aliens they believe built the pyramid. This being has signs of severe physical damage about the face and chest and was dead long before near-mummifying in this mind-bogglingly advanced tomb. The First Contact Specialist dubbed them 'The Thinkers' because of their amazing achievements and large craniums. 

It was then that a shadow moved on a ledge halfway up the wall towards the very high ceiling. It darted again a moment later. Our Security Officer with the remotes instructed one of his drones to emit a high-pitched sounds, the sort audible to animals but not Humans. 

The shadow leaped, clearing a distance nearly 50 feet across and 25 feet down, to land on the robot drone and force it into the ground. Although they didn't fully illuminate the entire room, many lights in the room were on thanks to the PCs messing with the  switches, buttons, and pictograms early. The creature, and it was a creature, was visible. As it stood up and hiss/roared at the closest Security Officer, I described it in vivid detail. While it has some unusual specific differences to it, the Security PCs' player thought it seemed familiar...

Oh dear. That's all the time we have. Muwahahahaha! Stay tuned...

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Barking Alien

Improving For The Worst

Today I’d like to tip a sacred cow and go against my own preferences for a time with an idea that came to me recently…

Do we need Player Character Improvement to enjoy RPGs?

I am questioning, or perhaps even challenging, the notion that RPGs need any sort of progression of skills and abilities for PCs to make the game enjoyable.

Bear in mind I am not necessarily trying to find or put forth a particular answer to this question here and now. My goal is just to get people to think about and discuss it. After all, analyzing and questioning these corner stones of our hobby is kind of my thing. Well one of my things. I have several things. I'm sure that generates some interesting mental images. You’re welcome. 

The idea for this post first came up because one of my player asked me for the third time in the span of a few weeks just how and when we would be improving the PCs in our FRONTIER Science Fiction/Horror RPG.

I said, as I had twice before, that we would be upgrading the PCs at the end of the current four episode story arc. Basically, when we complete Episode III, Session #4, we will 'level up' as it were. That would be at the very end our next episode/session by the way.

I was a little disappointed me because I feel like his character isn't really a developed personality yet but he (the player) is concerned about upgrades to his PC's abilities. Why? Our story so far has taken place over the course of maybe 6-9 hours of time. Why would he or anyone else necessarily improve significantly over such a short period?

For many players, a big part of the game is the achievement of linear progression. It can certainly be fun but if that’s all you want, there are countless video games that do the same thing.

Don't get me wrong, I like increasing skills and upgrading my ship and such very much. At the same time the power creep of games is what often makes them unwieldy and ends the campaign faster since its hard to challenge PCs mechanically. In other words, while experience points and upgrades are the norm for the RPG hobby, they also generate one of the largest problems in the hobby, and that is enabling a system to sustain prolonged play with the same characters. 

I recently played a short series campaign of Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (no...you read that correctly. I played D&D 5E. On purpose). We started the game at 3rd Level, because the DM and other players agreed that was a level where you can do some cool stuff but you aren't inherently particularly powerful. It was universally agreed the high level characters (10 or above) are a chore of bookkeeping and low level characters (1-2) are too fragile. Most thought the 'sweet spot' was around 4-6. 

This rattled my brain. I have sooo many questions! Why doesn't the game start with 1st level characters being what is currently 3rd level. What is the purpose of a game where it sucks at the start? Why design at game that begins boring or overly deadly? What would make you want to keep playing?

If the range generally considered the most fun is 5-6, what's the motivation to go to 10? Why isn't the game about creating starting characters and fighting enemies who all function around the levels that are the viewed as the best and most entertaining?

For another take on the subject of linear progression or lack there of and what it means to an enjoyable RPG experience, let's consider Marvel Heroic by Margaret Weiss Productions. 

I know I myself scoffed at Marvel Heroic, a game with a very interesting way to obtain XP, but no real system for improving the power or effectiveness of your character. One of the game's key creators, game designer Cam Banks, made a point that in his view comic book Superheroes don't actually improve in comics.Sure they might get a new costume or have their powers change, suddenly increase or decrease, but it's usually plot driven and eventually they return to the same power levels and abilities they had prior their last story arc. I discuss this further here.

These are really separate but related topics I suppose. The point is, wouldn't it make more sense to create a game where the PCs begin fairly effective and competent but then maybe only increase in ability once every few sessions or even less often? Maybe not a all? Why must we have increases? Why should they gain new abilities? What would a game lose or gain by not having that aspect to it. 

I'll note that in my current Star Trek campaign, now in its 4th year or 'season' as we call them, our PCs have only improved once, getting a +1 to each of their two different stat sections and gaining one new talent or special ability, Meanwhile the campaign starship has been upgraded twice in that same length of time. In FRONTIER, as mentioned above, we are only going to improve a little bit every 4 sessions. 

In conclusion, I am not personally advocating the elimination of character improvement or XP systems. I like them from both a player and Gamemaster perspective. However, a feel the best systems have a slow, incremental progression, enabling the characters to be engaging yet effective over the long period of time. 

Furthermore, if the reason you are playing is to win points and improve your scores, go play with your Xbox. I am sure you'll have a much more enriching experience battling your friends online with a Playstation then you will engaging with other people physically and socially at a table. At least for me, I know I enjoy it when my character gets better but I also know that is not the reason I am there at the game. 

I am there to play a part and tell a story. A lollipop and a gold star are nice but not strictly necessary. 

What do you think?

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Barking Alien

A Touch of Sweetness

A number of touching things happened to me this past Saturday and I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate them, as well as use them to lead in to a kinder, gentler post on how to improve ones GMing skills. 

I ran the third session/second full episode of my new 'Hopeful Dystopian' Science Fiction campaign, FRONTIER. There was a lot of investigating, puzzle and problem solving, a small battle that felt epic, and a HUGE reveal. I can't talk about it all in detail yet but trust me, you're going to want to stay tuned to this blog for some posts about it later in the month. 

Anyhow, one of my players, an old friend of some 25 years or so, got married a while back to a lovely fellow who, unlike my friend, doesn't play RPGs. As a matter of fact, though he doesn't speak ill of them or any such thing, he has upheld a sincere attitude of not wanting to partake in them. The reasons are his own and I completely understand. One needs to watch out for ones own mental health so I hold nothing against him at all.

Now imagine how incredibly surprised I was to learn that he may be up for participating in a game sometime next year.

The couple, my friend and her husband, challenge each other periodically to achieve things like art completion deadlines, getting out of their comfort zones, etc. After a complicated but heartwarming series of anecdotes about recent dares between them, my friend said that her hubby was willing to give RPGs a try. Furthermore she said, and I quote, "There are only two GMs in the world I would trust to do this and you're the only one alive."

That is a reference to our mutual departed friend Allen Halden. It may seem dark humor to some but trust me when I say Allen would have loved it. In addition, it is a statement with momentous weight and impact. In all my years of gaming, nothing has said, 'You are really good at this' quite like this sentence. 

Of course I said I would do it and yes it is a tad daunting. At the same time I am very excited for the opportunity to change a friend's attitude towards something I very much enjoy and make my buddy Allen proud at the same time. 

Later on, another of my friends and players announced to me a desire to run a Traveller campaign. This was extremely exciting for me as this particular fellow has grown so much as a player and GM since we first met and it's the first time any of my friends (many of whom love my Traveller games) have decided to try refereeing Traveller themselves.

He asked only where I had gotten the maps I'd used during our old campaign. He informed me he had purchased the rules and had already begun doing research for the game (see my previous post). I was more than happy to fill him in on a few 'trade secrets' because it was clear that he was interested, excited, and had put in the effort to get himself started. Obviously I told him I would help him in any way he needed going forward to which he seemed relieved. 

These two moments were followed by a great game session. The big reveal I mentioned above hit some slowly, others mentally slapped their foreheads with the realization, and a couple were wide eyed and mouth agape. 

That's when it dawned on me:

I love what I do, I do it well, and I really want to share my know how with others that want to learn how to do it also. Yes, it frustrates me when people are lazy and don't put in the effort to improve but are then surprised players didn't enjoy their GMing. At the same time, some people put a hell of a lot of thought and effort into running a game and it still misfires.

Well the honest truth is, at least in my book, even if it doesn't go over swimmingly, if you did everything you could to make it happen you succeeded. Don't let the frowning faces deter you if you really gave it your all. 

Ask yourself what you missed. What were the players hoping for that you weren't able to deliver? What areas do you need to brush up on or practice? What advice would help you improve and where or whom can you get that knowledge from?

With one friend asking me to GM a once in a lifetime event and another wanting to know how they can add the same pizzazz to a game that I did, I must also remember that I. MESS. UP. TOO. I run games that don't go over well. I screw up. I am not a perfect GM who never runs a bad game. 

What I do is keeping trying to do better. I read, write, re-write, analyze, ask questions, listen, practice, and continually push to improve. 

Do that and you can't go wrong even when you go wrong. 

Remember, nobody's perfect. That doesn't mean you can't aim to be great. 

AD

Barking Alien

RPGaDay Challenge 2019 - SURPRISE

I've got a Surprise for you all. No peeking, now.

The Surprise is...well if I told you it wouldn't be a Surprise would it?

OK, OK, the real Surprise is that I am not going to talk about Surprise. I can't. Why? It would ruin the Surprise. 

Let me explain...

The next session of my new/current Science Fiction/Horror campaign FRONTIER (which will incidentally be the third session, though technically Episode II) will feature a major plot twist. The players are in for a huge Surprise!

One might even call it a game changer! 

Talking about Surprise now would almost seem like a waste when I can discuss the subject right after dropping one hell of a bombshell on one of my groups in an active game. 

To this end I am going to give this post a 'rain check'. 

I promise to do a post on Surprise on the 23rd of September. I know! It's crazy! Unprecedented! You always knew I was a maverick, outside-the-box type guy, but this is madness! 

This Barking Alien blog plays by its own rules baby!

Trust me I can hardly wait for the big reveal. They'll be so Surprised!

AD
Barking Alien

Do The Right Thing

In the past I have made posts that were critical of various aspects of player approaches to the hobby of Role Playing Games.

Specifically I am talking about things like overthinking, doing nothing on your turn, failing to immerse oneself in the setting and/or your character, and the like. These things irk me a great deal, still do, and I still encounter them more times then is enjoyable (which would be exactly no times. These things are never enjoyable).

This post instead addresses the positive habits and things I love to see players do. I am also proud to say I saw all of these leading up to and during the first session of our new 'Year Zero Engine' Science Fiction campaign, FRONTIER. 

Get Into It Before We Get Into It

I first announced that I was putting together the FRONTIER campaign around May 15th of this year. The first session, the 'Pilot Episode', was run on July 6th.

I had most of the character concepts and questions regarding character creation to me and answered by the last week of June. Practically all the characters were completed about 3-5 days before the first session. 

All the players had come to the table with character names already in mind. 

That is how it's done. 

Know Yourself

The first session had a 'cold opening' in which a transport ships nearly collided with the space station serving as the PCs home base. I then announced klaxons and alarms going off all over the outpost as the place shakes like go-go dancer at a 70s LA nightclub during an earthquake.

I then pointed at at player and asked, "It's 0600 hours station time. Where is your character, what are they doing?" 

Each player responded via a short scene that established who they were and how they react to emergency situations. No one took more than a minute or two. Perfect. I then gave them each another minute or so follow up before forwarding to the station's flight deck an hour and a half later.

The group was assembled at the airlock to a Scout/Survey vessel belonging to one of the PCs. Each Player Character had been chosen to go to the surface of the planet below and see if the transport, which crash landed, had any survivors. Also, they needed to retrieve any intact cargo. Every PCs had a different Skill Set useful to the mission. 

In both that scene and the short trip to the planet we got to know a little bit more about their personalities and interactions with each other. Again, brilliant. 

Think Fast

Each player quickly and smoothly decided what their character would do to accomplish the group's goals. They split up into teams - two guys went to look for survivors inside the ship, two went to check on the cargo, and three more went to check out footprints and heat signatures leading away from the transport in the direction of a cliff. The Pilot PC stayed with the Survey Vessel to monitor and coordinate the operation and also stay in touch with the orbital station. 

Team One was investigating but also had our PC Doctor. Team Two had a Biologist and an Engineer - one figured out what was perishable and important and needed to go first while the other figure out the best way to load up and move the containers. Team Three had a Scout to determine how to move along the loose sand cliff, a Security Officer in case they ran into dangerous local wildlife, and a Scientist with a variety of skills for dealing with, shall we say, the unexpected. 

At least one, maybe twice, the teams modified what they needed to do and who should do it. 

Basta! That's it. Quick and clean.

Take Action!

I have to single out one player who really did an amazing job of just freaking doing something. We'll call him Nick.

Nick is playing a Scientist whose specialty is First Contact, Archeology, and Anthropology. There are no intelligent aliens in the setting up to this point in the milieu's history but various clues have indicated there might be, so we need a guy who knows First Contact protocols. OK.

So at one point, Nick, the Scout, and the Security guy drive a buggy/jeep type vehicle to the edge of a loose, sandy cliff to find two survivors of the Transport Ship crash wrestling on the ground.

The Scout and Security guy leap out of their vehicle and run over to drag these two morons away from a long, steep fall to their deaths. In addition, sensors indicate native worm creatures are rapidly approaching that position. 

As the PCs yank the survivors to safety, the vicious worm beasts lunge at the group. Nick's Scientist is still in the car and when I get to him he says something like, "I am not really a combat person. I...I go into the front seat and drive over so they can get into the car faster." A great idea except...our Scientist also has not driving skill and a low Agility. 

So what does he do? HE DOES IT ANYWAY! I think I teared up a little. 

Was he successful? Not really, but he tried and it really pointed to his character's character! Similarly there was another moment when an NPC had a gun, a concealed pistol, and Nick's character panicked while trying to get it away from the guy. He failed to disarm the opponent but his startled reaction made the driver in the front seat at the time - a Security Officer PC - aware of the situation. 

It was AWESOME to see a player act like a Human Being in a tense situation and not like a PC in a RPG. Also, Nick didn't rationalize or argue that his PC SHOULD HAVE been able to do X, Y, or Z. He said straight up, "This guy is not the guy for this moment in time." Ha! I think he was perfect for that moment by being so wonderfully imperfect. He made it extra memorable.

Anyway, I got to run but WOW, if all my players in all my games were like these guys I'd not have felt like I needed to run this one. Wait...I...whoah. That's actually true. Well, thank goodness for varying degrees of awesomeness I suppose. 

AD
Barking Alien