His First Time

Thursday, July 30th, through Sunday, August 2nd, Indianapolis, Indiana was once again the host of what is touted as 'The Best Four Days In Gaming', the 48th annual gaming convention known as Gen Con.

According to the Gen Con website's Post Show Report, Gen Con 2015 set a new attendance record with a unique attendance of 61,423 and a turnstile attendance of 197,695.

Apparently, Gen Con has more than doubled in attendance since its 2010 show.
 
As someone who loves gaming, and is a fan of conventions of this nature, I have attended Gen Con in a personal, and professional capacity at least half-a-dozen to a dozen times. Each, and every time I had a great experience, and I look forward to going again in the future.

For many years now I've planned to go in 2017, come hell, or high water, as that August would mark my 40th year in the gaming hobby.

This year I was unable to go, but a few of the players in my Barking Alien Gaming Group went, including my friend Will. It was Will's first Gen Con. I was very excited to hear how his trip was, and what he thought of the show.

I met Will [as well as Hans, and Steve, two of my other players, and most of my other group - Dan's Group] at a local convention here in New York City called RECESS. Sadly, RECESS is not longer being run. A very sad, and unfortunate thing indeed.

Will was expecting, hoping, for RECESS on a grand scale.

Here is what he experienced.

***

 

Me: OK Will, give us your stats. Let's have your age, gender, place of origin, and how long you've been gaming for.

Will: I'm 32, Male, born and raised New Yorker, and I've been playing RPGs for 4 years, though I've been wanting to get into it since I was 10.

Me: How did you first learn about Gen Con?

Will: I learned about Gen Con from fellow RPG gamer friends (Ray and Steve).

Me: What made you decide to go?

Will: I had grown tired of going to conventions a few years ago, primarily from Otakon, Katsucon, and NY Comic-Con. I was hesitant to go again even when I found out so many of my friends were going, but then my wife said we were going, so I signed up.

(Incidentally his wife, Emi, is a lovely, funny, and all around awesome person who is totally not into table top RPGs. She likes computer/video games, computer/video RPGs, and board games. She is also into other aspects of fandom).

Me: What were your expectations (if any) going in?

Will: I was expecting a four-day long NYC RECESS, with a dealer's room like Comic-Con, and crowd levels like Otakon.

(Note a bad description actually).

Me: What were your first impressions when you arrived?

Will: My first impression was that it was just like Otakon in crowds, though far fewer people in costume. 

(Otakon is the largest, East Coast Anime, and Manga Convention. Last year's Otakon, its 21st annual event, had an attendance of 33,929 unique memberships, and an estimated turnstile attendance of 109,000. Gen Con is nearly double its size).

Me: What was your favorite experience while you were there?

Will: My favorite experience at Gen Con was at a late-night Zombie Escape the Train game where a father and his nine-year old son were part of the game. Not only was the game good, and I got to play my character and make some epic saves, it was heartening to see a father and son game and just get into it together. 

Me: What experience did you find most disappointing?

Will: My most disappointing experience was at a Champions game where I found myself the target of [another] player's awkward sexual harassment just because I was playing a female character. I don't care if he was playing in-character, it was jarring, and I felt very uncomfortable and didn't know what to say or do about it in the moment. I hadn't expected it, and hadn't ever experienced anything like it before.

(Suffice to say, this guy was an asshat, but so, in my opinion, was the GM of said game. If you don't see one of your players is harassing another, and ruining their enjoyment of the game, AT A PAID EVENT NO LESS, you yourself are a double asshat).

Me: How would you describe your overall experience?

Will: Overall, I was disappointed. I went in expecting RECESS, and instead I found half my games dominated by old, obese, men who played their games like assholes, and the other half dominated by GMs who didn't really know what they were doing. I am told by friends that it was in part my fault for my choice of games, and I guess it's true since I'm new to RPGing and have no idea which systems, and stories will attract which kinds of players and GMs.

(RECESS was extremely diverse, with gamers of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, genders, and interests. It was the entire melting pot of New York City, NY represented in a small get together of game fans.

Upon hearing about some of Will's choices, yeah, as a veteran of many games, and many conventions I probably could have steered him clear of some of his bad experiences. At the same time, I shouldn't have to. We should be doing everything in our power to make newcomers to the hobby welcome.)

Me: What is your biggest take away from your first Gen Con experience?

Will: My biggest take away is 2-fold. First, the people, both GMs and players, are more vital to the game than anything else. Second, veteran players seems to know which games attract which kinds of people, something I was very much not privy to ahead of time.

Me: What is the one thing you might do differently if you went again?

Will: If I could change one thing, it would be to let a veteran-player friend choose all my games for me. I chose based on my interests. What I needed was to choose based on what kind of people would attend each game.

Me: Would you go to another Gen Con?

Will: Honestly, I wouldn't attend Gen Con again even if I was paid to go, but my wife is likely going to want to go again, so, I'll probably go again while trying to make the most of it by employing my previous answer.

***

 

 

It is my hope that Will gives it another go. Further, I hope I get to go with him.

I have always really enjoyed Gen Con, and the overall feeling Will has for the show makes me very sad. I would very much like him to have at least as good a time at Gen Con as I've had in the past.

Thank you Will for allowing me to post this 'interview'.

Look forward to gaming with you soon.

AD
Barking Alien

RPGaDay Challenge - Day 15

Day 15 - Favorite Convention Game

I could write up the best game I've ever run at a convention, but I get the impression that the blogfest is looking for convention games I've played. I can only think of a handful, and one keeps popping up above and beyond the others.

GenCon/ORIGINS, 1992

I wanted so badly to be in a Villains & Vigilantes game. I had signed up for one, only to discover it had been cancelled when I arrived at the Mecca Arena. I was pretty bummed, until I discovered two other V&V events had opened up, and were still available. I immediately signed up for the first one, since the second (if I remember correctly) conflicted with another event I was going to.

I recall it was unusually cool, or raining, because I was wearing a light jacket or hoodie over my t-shirt when I entered the Arena where the session would take place. As my number was called, and I began to sit down at the game table, the GM for the event let everyone know that this was a basic, introductory event. You need not be familiar with V&V to pla...

As he stopped mid-word, I looked up to see all eyes on me. I had begun to take off my hoodie, revealing my custom printed Villains & Vigilantes t-shirt, which had the game's logo and a picture of all the heroes in our campaign super group.

I blinked, smiled, and with an even tone and a completely straight face said, "I have never played this game before." Laughter broke out among the assembled players and the GM continued explaining the game.

The story was titled, "What If...?", based on the multiple Marvel Comics series of the same name. The subtitle for this particular session was, "...In The Beginning."* The premise of the story was, in no uncertain terms, pretty awesome.

On a parallel Earth, Uatu The Watcher observed a most unusual twist in history. Following the Second World War, the disappearance of Captain America beneath the ice of the North Atlantic and the formation of SHIELD, super-powered beings never appeared again. There had never been an Avengers, a Fantastic Four, no X-Men, nothing. The comic books of the Golden Age happened, but by the McCarthy era, superheroes and villains were gone.

Unbeknownst to the world at large superpowered being and meta-normal events still existed. Rumor was that SHIELD kidnapped or killed any superbeings that they discovered, so the supers of this Earth stayed on the down low and certainly never partook in superheroic activity (at lest where anyone might see them). However, for one reason or another, a several superhuman individuals were summoned to an office at the top of the Empire State Building through a variety of cryptic means.

Expecting to get a lead on a story, hoping to make a lucrative business deal, or meet with an old friend, each arrived into the empty office only to encounter strangers they did not know. Once everyone had arrived the door locked and the lights went out. When they came back on, Uatu was standing in the room, towered impossibly high without quite touching the even higher ceiling. Uatu introduced himself and said he knew that each and every person in the room possessed extraordinary powers or skills. A catastrophic event was about to occur and only this group could stop it!

The players each grabbed a pre-generated character, complete with a backstory, from a pile of sheets. We couldn't see the characters but instead only a vague description like, "Male, Super-Powered, 4", or "Female, Mutant, 3". Because of my extensive previous experience with the system, I offered to choose last.

Hmmm, this looks promising...

Oh baby!

Gladiator?! I get to be Superman in a Marvel Comics V&V game? Sweeet!

This looks like a job for...

SUPERGUARD!

As it turned out, the reason we had been assembled was that at that very moment, a new space shuttle design was carrying two American Astronauts and two Russian Cosmonauts into the path of a Cosmic Sphere* which was journeying through space. An alien artifact of immense power, the Sphere passed through a cosmic ray storm, activating it's energies as a defense. Bathed in the combined radiations, the shuttle malfunctioned and went out of control, hurdling back towards the Earth. The vessel crashed in the Arctic Circle, it's crew transformed into something...FANTASTIC!

Capt. Jim Rhodes had become The Invisible Man
Capt. John Walker had become The Living Torch (although we called him The Flamer a few times)
Capt. Natasha Romanova became Ms. Fantastic
Lt. Peter Rasputin became...some kind of...Colossal Thing!

Now, back on planet Earth, corrupted and warped by the Cosmic Sphere, itself lying somewhere on the plains of snow and ice nearby, these four fantastic beings threatened the safety of every man, woman, and child in the world.

They will achieve ultimate power through the Sphere and perhaps even destroy the Earth, unless stopped by the Watcher's chosen DEFENDERS!

The Amazing ARMORED-MAN - Young Peter Parker, science prodigy and inventor, skipped a lecture on radiation when he was almost hit by a car! That car belonged to none other than Tony Stark of Stark Industries. One thing led to another and Stark took on Parker as a intern, then an employee, and eventually a close confidant and friend. Parker helped perfect the 'Iron Man' Class battlesuit that Stark was planning on selling to SHIELD. During the story, he is wearing the prototype (resembles Iron Man's classic 70s armor except the gold parts are blue, there is no mouth slit on the  faceplate and the repulsors can be reversed so as to draw things to him or him to things. By reversing the polarity on his boot jets for example, Armored Man can walk on walls.)

DOCTOR NIGHT - A popular poet, bar owner, musican and doctor, Kurt Wagner was also secretly a paranormal investigator and a mystic in his own right. It turns out his mother was some sort of shape-shifting demon, and this gave him incredible magical powers, including turning into a dark blue, demon-elf like form. Picture the full-face mask incarnation of Doctor Strange, but the face, hands, feet and tail are that of Nightcrawler. Powers included blending into shadows, brimstone odored teleportation, second sight and the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!

DOCTOR VICTORY - Victor Von Doom, distraught over the death of his friend and colleague Reed Richards, decided to devote his life, talents, knowledge and vast fortune to helping people. He believed his own experiment was responsible for Richards death, and Richards, having knocked Victor clear of the explosion, saved Doom's life. In addition to supplying the team with transportation on his private jet, he offered a staging area in his home in Latveria. When it came time to face the enemies physically, Victor donned a suit of sophisticated gold armor, with a white tunic, hood and cape. Nothing on his face though. It was too beautiful a face to hide in any way. O_0

JOHN DOE - The mysterious man known only as John Doe spent most of the adenture unsure of why he was there. An Alaskan Pipeline worker with a thick mustache and beard, he seemed a nice enough fellow but possessed no obvious supernormal abilities. It wasn't until very need the end of the adventure, when the Colossal Thing knocked Doe into the freezing waters of the Arctic Circle that we learned who was truly under all that hair and flannel. Imperious Rex! Doe turned out to be none other than Namor, The Sub-Mariner!

SISTER SAINT - Emma Frost, raised in a convent, is startled when her mutants powers of telepathy first manifest. She is told by one of the nuns (remember, no super powered people are believed to exist) that her abilities are a gift from God. Eventually, Frost becomes a nun herself, with quite a reputation as a faith healer, an advocate for the poor and the needy, and someone of Mother Theresa like values. In addition to the more traditional 'White Queen' powers of the Marvel Comics Emma Frost, Sister Saint can psychically and psychokinetically heal people and ward off evil (Psychokinetic Force Field). Played by a male player, Sister Saint had some of the best dialog and banter in the game.

SUPERGUARD - Strange visitor from another planet, with powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. Who, disguised as Kent Summers, mild-mannered reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper, has longed to fight a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way, in the Mighty Marvel Manner!

THOR - OK, this one has had me stumped for over 20 years now, UDATED: Now thanks to WQRobb, I remember the name of this character before he becomes Thor! One of the characters was an older fellow in a wheelchair, but not Charles Xavier. I didn't remember his name for a very long time, but he was very smart, and an archeologist. His age was of note in the story. He was much older than the rest of us, possibly in his late 50s or early 60s. He was none other than Doctor Daniel Damian. He had a pendant around his neck, shaped sort of like a hammer with runes on it. Towards the end of the session, SHIELD showed up and we still hadn't defeated Invisible Man and Colossal Thing (although we had found and contained the Cosmic Sphere). The archeologist read the runes on the amulet, than tore it from around his neck and slamed it to the floor. Suddenly, there was a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning, and standing there before us was Thor, the ancient Norse God of Thunder. Only...it wasn't blonde, comic book Thor. It was Thor. Red hair, beard, speaks only Viking era Norwegian. So, the cavalry had shown up, but it couldn't understand us and we didn't understand it. Best Thor portrayal ever! Like crossing a Berserker with the Swedish Chef.

That might've been it. That's all I remember.

When the session was over, everyone voted for MVP, most valuable player in the session. The GM scored also, and average his numbers with those of the players. I voted for the guy playing Sister Saint. Nearly everyone else voted for me.

I won this:

First prize was $5 off any purchase on the dealer room floor. I remember going right over to West End Games' table as soon as I could, and buying something for the Star Wars game.

Well, that's the end of that tale. I liked that one. May have to discuss other old convention games in the future.

AD
Barking Alien

*The Cosmic Sphere is an parallel universe variant on the more traditional 'Cosmic Cube'.

Superguard / Alternate Gladiator by Aris.

Campaigns A-To-Z: Ever Rimward

You may have noticed I am a little behind in producing entries for the A-To-Z Challenge. You would, in point of fact, be incorrect.

I am very behind. Extremely so. Monumentally would be an accurate assessment of how behind I am. Going to try to finish anyway.

Besides, the next few rock.

E is for Ever Rimward

Title: Ever Rimward

Gamemaster's Commentary:

Actually, Ever Rimward is the name I have given to a particular Star Wars universe continuity. It is actually made up of three separate campaigns that I eventually linked up together.

The first campaign, entitled "Tales from The Rim", though sometimes called "Tales Rimward",  was started in 92' I believe. I forget what prompted it, but it lasted roughly a year and was extremely popular among my gaming group at the time. It is still remembered fondly by those who participated.

The second was very short lived. I had created it on the fly at GenCon in 93' or 94' on the day we were getting ready to head home.

I had attended GenCon that year with a large group of friends from the New York and New Jersey area, including the earliest incarnation of what I sometimes call 'The Jersey Group'. One member of the group, my late friend Martin, had been convinced to come even though he had only one experience with RPG campaigning thus far and it has been a generally negative one.

Martin enjoyed himself at GenCon but really didn't get to play any great games. He was walking that fine line between being interested in gaming and thinking it wasn't for him. Hoping to sway him to the Light Side, I threw together an impromptu game of Star Wars D6.

After an hour or so of gaming, and an 18 hour drive back to NJ, the first question on everyone's lips was, "So Adam, when are we continuing that Star Wars game?"

Continue it I did, but after four or five sessions, the game was becoming unmanageable because, quite frankly, I never expected it to go beyond an hour at GenCon. It wasn't designed to keep going.

I sat the Players down the next time we got together and explained this to them. I also told them that if they wanted, I would actually create a serious Star Wars campaign for them. Everyone agreed that this was the best approach and I followed up with one of the best campaigns I've ever run.

Lasting roughly twelve monthly sessions, this campaign, "Star Wars: Ever The Brave" - aka 'Star Wars The Animated Series', since many of the players imagined it felt like a Japanese Anime show - goes down in history as easily one of the top 10 campaigns I've ever run or been a part of.

A week before Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace came out in the theatres, I assembled the Players of both groups (as many as I could), plus a few new additions, and ran an 8 hour adventure where the two teams met and faced off against an old enemy (from both campaign 1 and 3), on a familiar planet (to those in campaign 3), which ended by revealing the origin of one of the character from back in campaign 2. In addition, the main villain of campaign 1 ended up being their ally as he had a past grudge against the villain in campaigns 1 and 3. Whew.

That's right. We bad.

The cast of Star Wars: Tales from The Rim

Left to right, starting from the rear -

Back row: Phay-Rec-Seket-Tepth, a Bounty Hunter of the frog-like Tepth Species, Waphqui, a Nimbachi Pirate and Carlacc 'Junior' Acen, Brash Pilot

Middle row: Jeard'en Kaine, a Smuggler and his NPC girlfriend and mechanic, Naena Moonrift
(Along with R2-D6)

Front row: Drake Madamus, Vigilante Jedi

System: Star Wars, The Role Playing Game (Second Edition D6 System by West End Games)

Circa: I believe the dates were 1992 to 93 for the first campaign, 93 or 94 for the second mini-campaign and 94 to 95 for the third campaign. Additional adventures featuring the same continuity and characters were run in 99 and 2002.

Player Base: The first campaign featured five guys, ages 21-24. The second and third campaigns featured about seven players, four men and three women, ages 23-29. The later adventures featured a group consisting of a mix of the first two plus other men and women in those age ranges. Ethnicities were very diverse.

Characters:

Group #1 from Tales from the Rim are pictured above.

Group #2 consisted of an Assassin Droid, a Tusken Raider/Sand Person, a Pho-Pheahian Engineer, a Smuggler and a Mercenary.

Group #3 had a Smuggler, a Repair Droid trying to improve it's own design to the point where it became a nearly Human android, a Mad Scientist, a Vhaspear (Original alien species) Medical Doctor/Scientist, a Brash Pilot, a Twi'Lek Dancer/Assassin and a Young Jedi.

Synopsis: OK, let's see if this can be conveyed in a way that makes sense and gives you some idea of how awesome these games were.

***

Tales From The Rim focused on the Star Wars universe's Outer Rim Territories three years after Return of the Jedi. Remnants of the Imperial Empire controlled some of the systems rimward of the New Republic and had recently captured members of a terrorist cell posing as a religious group called the Ho-Ken-Tota.

Unfortunately, their intel was bad and they captured the wrong people. The PCs all meet as prisoners onboard an old Victory-Class Star Destroyer (an older design than the one in the films), currently on course to drop them off at a penal colony. During the trip, the Star Destroyer is attacked by zealot members of the real Ho-Ken-Tota. The PCs must survive the attack and escape the ship, which is damaged and out of control.

Sometime after reaching relative safety on Tatooine, each PC reveals a bit of their background to the others and they decide to team up, as some of their background elements overlap. Before long, they are a band of brothers, and one sister (NPC) seeking to destroy the evil, Sith Inquisitor Prakken Drol and the mysterious Sith lord, Darth Galos.

In the final battle against the Imperial forces and their allies and the PCs, Prakken Drol's command ship is destroyed, instantly killing his second in command, Admiral Moloff, and likely killing Drol as well. Darth Galos escapes. One of the PCs sacrifices himself to destroy the enemy vessel and the shipyard facility he is using as a base.

***

The mini campaign was set at an unknown point in the Star Wars saga. It revolved around a mysterious escape pod crashing in the Tatooine desert known as the Dune Sea. An Assassin Droid painted metallic red emerges and encounters a large predator which is quickly dispatches. Having witnessed the event is a Sand Person named Fa'Hee. The Tusken Raider saw the pod crash and the droid's handiwork and believes him to be both a friend and 'The Red Metal Spirit of Death'. The two journey together to the nearest city, as the Red Metal Spirit of Death has told Fa'Hee he must return to the night sky where 'A Great Spirits War' is happening even as they speak.

The ruse doesn't fool the other PCs but they decide to humor the two nutcases as the droid actually has some money to pay them to help him return to space.

We kind of ended it there.

***

Ever The Brave takes place during the original trilogy. A number of the different people from very different walks of life (the PCs) all know a fellow named Tiree Palmight. Suddenly, Palmight disappears leaving clues as to where he might have gone. The PCs pursue the leads, run into each other and find themselves on the run from bounty hunters and Imperial agents looking for Palmight. They also discover some oddities in their relationships with and descriptions of their missing friend. Some describe him as an older fellow, a wise man, a scientist and a mentor. Some say he was a scoundral and a rogue but with a heart of gold. Two women seem to describe a much younger man, a rebel, a visionary and a lover. Who is the real Tiree Palmight?

It turns out that Tiree Palmight was Jedi, made a Knight just prior to the rise of the Empire. He was hunted down by Darth Vader's lackey, a force sensitive Inquisitor by the name of Prakken Drol (This is tied into the Tales From The Rim campaign. Drol killed the father of Drake Madamus, that groups resident Jedi.). Palmight crashed on the planet Kolindoor, the site of an ancient force using splinter culture. His ship was transporting parts and equipment for the clone banks used during the Clone Wars. By combining this equipment with some of the old Kolindoor technology, Palmight was able to clone himself (it was never clear how many times).

The small team of Palmights made survival on the barren world a little easier. While on this planet, Tiree communed with his other selves and had a prophetic vision. Eventually, the lot of them were rescued by Tiree's half-brother, Tiron Gold, and the group went about trying to prevent the tragedy that Palmight perceived in his vision. To this end he and his clones manipulated the PCs into various situations that would eventually lead them to find each other and join forces to defeat Drol and his allies.

Eventually, the PCs become pivotal parts of the Star Wars story, if only off to the left of what you've seen. It was this group that transported the Bothan spies that stole the plans to the second Death Star. It was this group that freed Sullust, the planet used as a staging area for the rebel fleet before the Battle of Endor.

In their final battle: The female Young Jedi kills Prakken Drol's Twi'Lek apprentice and adds in the defense of Endor. The alien Physican, Dr. Bospero, escapes to Sullust with radical healing technology based on the Kolindoor/Cloning devices and techniques. The Brash Pilot, adopted as a daughter by Tiron Gold, takes out one of the Star Destroyers at the Battle of Endor as the power of the Force awakens within her. Our Twi'Lek Dancer and Mad Scientist board the second Death Star, steal some key information and than attempt to escape together but are separated. She makes it safetly to Sullust but the Scientist is lost. The Smuggler and his all too Human Droid somehow merge, enter an escape pod, and are blasted into deep space in the wrong direction...

The Mad Scientist eventually crashes on Tatooine and loses his memory. Dr. Gustal Frahkeen is found by Sand People who called him Fa'Hee. Some months later, the second pod crashes containing the merged Smuggler/Droid biomechanical construct, who is mistaken for an Assassin Droid by many and as 'The Red Metal Spirit of Death' by his former ally.

***

Bonus Features:

Where to start? OK...

I say 'Come to the Light Side' when most people say Dark Side. Why would I want you to be hateful, scared, and sad?

Tiree Palmight is an NPC in a sample adventure from the very first Star Wars RPG corebook by West End Games. I took a liking to the name.

All the R2 units in my games were initially named for dice. R2-D4, R2-D6, R2-D8, D10, D12, and D20.

Prakken Drol killed Drake Madamus' father Indego Madamus and downed Tiree Palmight. He had tonfa-like lightsabers, personal body armor, and a force field similar to the Droideka. This was long before the prequels however (all these games were).

Frahkeen of Campaign #3 becomes Fa'Hee of Campaign #2. Likewise, Smuggler En Fochs (pronounced Ian Fox) and IM1-MA-N2 (aka MAN-2) from Campaign #3 merge to become R3D-R1BB0N (aka 'Red Ribbon') in Campaign #2.

Red Ribbon is a reference to the evil organization of robot villains in Dragonball Z.

The name of the Smuggler's ship in Campaign #1 was originally 'The Good Fortune'. He gains a device that can give false transponder code readings and created the following additional identities: The Centurion Turtle, The False Profit, Ill Wind, and the Star Spray.

Jeard'en Kaine's modified Ghtroc 720 Light Freighter

'The Good Fortune'

The look of Drake Madamus, anti-Imperial Vigilante Jedi, is based on Batman.

The Ho-Ken-Tota is mentioned in the Art of Return of the Jedi book. Markings on Jabba's Sand Skiff are attributed to them.

***

Some much more...

Special thanks to Keith Conroy and Aris Iliopoulos for the artwork.

May The Force Be With You.

AD
Barking Alien

And The Children Shall Lead Them

I wanted to take a quick break from the Star Trek entries to catch you all up on some updates of other things going on here at Barkley's Den.

My Champions campaign is ending, with the first of the 'two-parter' finale already completed last Saturday. We are skipping this coming Saturday as my friend and player Ray will be attending GenCon. And I am not jealous at all. Nope. Not one bit. I...oops. Seem to have broken my third stress ball.

In all honesty I am happy to see this campaign end, before it got to the point where I was really disliking it. I went back and read my accounts of the early part of the campaign and then compared those posts to the ones related to the latter half and you can clearly see...things changed. I think I will hold off from Superhero gaming for a bit, at least with the current group dynamic. It's a shame. I am still a huge fan of Supers games and this one had so much coolness that I didn't get to.

My amazing girlfriend Jenn (no, seriously, she is amazing. I am amazed.) has agreed to give gaming a try. The introductory game of choice? Faery's Tale Deluxe! Didn't I tell you she's amazing?

***

The main focus of today's post is an update on the RPG/Storytelling class summer program I continue to teach on Sundays in Brooklyn.

For this particular summer session, I wanted to focus on something a bit more light-hearted and humorous but more importantly, to teach the kids about cooperation and teamwork. Now it has been working...for the most part...but I am up against the mentality of 3rd-to-6th graders, some of whom are related. Having trouble with your cousin outside of the game means you don't want to help him in the game.

One lad in particular has a tendency to be a bit troublesome and self-centered, although strangely enough, he didn't act that way at all when he was a Starship Captain in a Starships & Spacemen one-shot I did with the kids a ways back. There he was fantastic,. letting each person voice their opinion, taking everything into account and going with the choice that best solved the problem at hand and benefitted the crew and ship as a whole.

It took some time, I had to get all 'tough teacher' on him, followed up with extra homework and then a little one-on-one conversation but I did finally find out what the issue really was. He was indeed having issues with his cousin (another player/student in the class). In the end, I think we worked out an understanding, even if everything may not be completely squared away.

I don't know that I will never see the same bad behavior again but I honestly believe he'll think about it before doing something in the game that hurts his allies (who are, in truth, his friends) or stops the game from being fun. He's a good kid, one of my favorites but like all of us at his age, he's got a lot to learn about life and growing up. Luckily he's got time.

I think I really like this teaching thing. Who knew? I sure didn't. I despised school. But then again, none of my teachers used RPGs to try to teach us stuff.

I'd love to get back to that Starships & Spacemen idea with this class. Not only would it be fun but I wonder if I could make each planet a mini-lesson on a different subject. Ooh. Wonder if that would work with my regular gaming group. They could use it...

***

Also, I wanted to acknowledge a few happenings, both joyous and sorrowful, that have occurred within the last month or so.

GenCon is this week! AHHH! I cannot go (weep) but my good buddy Ray will be. I am going to try for next year. If my business is as slow next year as it is this year it should be no problem to get the time off.

Congratulations NASA on the successful landing of the Curiosity Rover on the surface of Mars. Nice work ladies and gentlemen.

While our brains were placing robot explorers on the red planet, our athletes were taking the gold on the green and pleasant isle of England. Kudos to our Olympic participants.

We may be a gun-toting nation of rich people treading on poor people's backs, without money, jobs or a decent health plan but we really do kick ass at the cool, fun stuff don't we? Boo-yah!

On a more serious note...

Rest in peace Joe Kubert, father, teacher and comic book artist and pioneer. The man who taught me nothing's ever easy in Easy.*

Well, looking forward to the weekend! Another session with the kids, a game with my girl and hopefully cool news from the floor of GenCon. In the meantime, more Star Trek RPG talk is on the way!

AD
Barking Alien

*From the classic DC war comic 'Sgt. Rock and The Easy Company'