Unfulfilled Promises

I am purposely not making any resolutions this year.

I always feel bad when I don't meet the resolution goals I set and even worse when I forget what they were all together. This holds true for gaming and this blog as well.

Last year (and in years prior as well) I promised to continue and/or complete a number of projects I simply haven't gotten around to. Muppet Mondays, Supervillain Sundays and completing the A-to-Z Challenge, completing the NaGaDeMon Challenge and Unfinished Business and mini-projects like The Storyteller, The Twilight Zone and probably a half dozen others.

That Sid and Marty Kroft game ain't making itself...

For this year, I intend to do a few things that I really want to do but I am making no promises. Consider these 'Low Resolutions'.

Here is what I hope to achieve with this blog in 2014:

1) Muppet March Madness Month II. I really want to update the games mechanics a little now that I've actually gotten the chance to playtest it with a large number of different people. Some things works, some things can be improved a little and there are still a lot of ideas I haven't gotten to explore. It is here that I will complete The StoryTeller RPG and add some additional concepts I've been considering. I've got a lot in store, not to mention the fact that the new Muppets motion picture, Muppets Most Wanted, will be out that month.

2) I want to Complete The A-to-Z Challenge in April this year very, very badly. I did it only once and after that drop the ball each time. Last year I only did 16 entries. The year before I didn't even bother. I'm not sure how to do it without getting bored or getting overwhelmed with other stuff, which is what usually happens to me around April. Hmmm. Maybe make it a Star Trek theme. We'll see.

3) Do the NaGaDeMon, National Game Design Month Challenge, next November. While it would be awesome if I could finally finish Unfinished Business, I am making no guarantees. I will do something. Just...something.

4) Posting More Often is a simple but major goal for 2014. I was really happy when Charles Akins, of the increasingly intriguing blog site Dyvers, included Barking Alien on his Great Blog Roll Call list, complete with a short but positive review, but bummed to see he listed it as being updated "About ten times a month". When I looked back at my average over the year and realized how accurate that was, I felt kind of ashamed. I can do better than that. I have a lot more to say and I will find a way to say it.

5) I Will Try Not To Start What I Can't Finish. I don't want another post of this nature next year. Expect fewer new projects this year in favor of going into depth on those subjects I love: Star Trek, Superheroes, Muppets, Traveller, Comedy, Star Wars, Mecha/Giant Robots, general Science Fiction gaming and Medieval Folklore will provide the core content.

That brings me to a few minor "sub-resolutions":

A. Talk more about Star Trek RPGs since I am running a new campaign.

B. Talk about Star Wars gaming. I can't believe I've done so little of that and played it so often.

C. Comprehend Pathfinder. One of my players is going to run it and I am switching to the role of player for that campaign. Will I survive? Will he?

D. Podcasts. Listen to more and if at all possible, do one. This is high on the 'I want to!' list.

E. I am thinking of going back to an old hobby of mine that actually made me some money. I have a hankering to build Japanese Mecha plastic model kits once more. I used to build them, kitbash and customize them, paint them up and sell them. I always kept a few around to inspire ideas for Mekton, so don't be surprised if that happens this time around as well.

Well, that's all for now.

I have a numbers of ideas for posts in the pipeline so maybe come back tonight and see if there are any updates.

Laters,

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Don't Stop Believin'

I am unlikely to be continuing with any additional work on my NaGaDeMon project. Again.

This month...man, who am I kidding, this year...has not gone smoothly for me. I am working more and harder than usual, largely to make up for the weak business of a few months back. Please check out my humiliating notice to that regard at the bottom of this post.*

Not one to simply give up (Never Give Up, Never Surrender!), I am putting in extra hours on all fronts and still working on my various game projects but I'll be taking my own sweet time thank you very much. I may not slay the NaGaDeMon but Unfinished Business will get finished, The StoryTeller will be told and The Twilight Zone, well, keep an eye out for the sign post up ahead.

Traveller is still going strong, if we survive the next session of Pendragon that too can be considered a success...but wait...what's that off starboard...sensors are picking up...

 

STAR TREK: JOURNEY

 

I'm not exactly sure how it happened but basically I mentioned missing Star Trek gaming on a Facebook RPG Group I am a member of and the next thing I know I am gearing up to run a pre-TOS campaign which could very well have 7-9 players.

WOWZERS!

I am really excited and already have the 'meta-plot'/premise and tons of adventure ideas. Tons!

The game is a classic space exploration campaign. We will begin the game aboard the USS Journey, a roughly 70 year old Daedalus Class vessel being used to test the feasibility of upgrading older model ships with the newest equipment. Is it worth it, or more effective to simply back newer starship designs? The initial adventure, the Pilot Episode if you will, will feature a shakedown cruise and review of how well the ship performed.

If you think it ends there...you've got another thing coming.

So far only a few PCs have been worked out but I am very happy to say that among the players are two or more new additions to my group, two of which are female players. Yay! Female players again! Star Trek, female gamers...starting to feel like old times.

Expect numerous updates on this one. I am serious. Yeah, I know I've said that before but this is Star Trek. I also plan on working in a number of Journey references. Trust me, they'll go on and on, and on and on...

Oh wait, before I forget, I was name dropped on the latest Play on Target Podcast! Yeah boy! Lowell Francis and the amazing group over at PoT did an episode on Superhero RPGs and mentioned me both on Lowell's site Age of Ravens and in the podcast itself. Thanks so much Lowell! Everyone should check it out. Play on Target is my favorite gaming podcast so not only it is a great honor but I highly recommend listening to their previous entries.

***

Please bare with me for the rest of the month. I am going to try as hard as I can to update more regularly but with Thanksgiving, work and other concerns it might be a little tough. Still, know that I'm thinking about all of you!

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*Please highlight if interested: I have, against my personal pride and better judgement, added a Donation button on the right side of my blog. This is a temporary measure. Funds are very short right now because of a very bad summer season. Terribly so in fact. Business is getting back to normal and may soon improve and I will be expanding my weekend work teaching at the learning center. Right now though, I could really use some help.

Thanks everyone.

NaGaDeMon and A Ghost Of A Chance

I have some unfinished business with Unfinished Business.

So here is my idea...wait. I have kind of explained what the idea of this game is already in previous posts. Maybe not completely but I've eluded to it.

So here's my problem...

Very often (though not always of course), when I design RPG systems, the concept and design pops into my head full formed. I'm serious. The theme, rules, the look of it, everything. I then clean up that block of solid creativity into something that I can actually show others.

Do you know the old quote attributed to Michelangelo that goes...

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."

That is a bit like my game design philosophy. I think of it as 'Zen Michelangelo' (although by no means do I see myself as Michelangelo). The feeling is, this game already exists, inside of my head, in it's final form, completed. I know all of it but it's too much for my brain to handle. Instead, I am only able to perceive this big mess of parts, ideas and cool stuff and I have to then spend time sorting it out, putting it in order, adding a few pieces that got stuck deeper in my skull, while throwing out extraneous parts from other games and places that got mixed in and don't need to be there.

The Smurfs worked that way. Futurama worked that way. Galaxy Quest worked that way.

The Muppets did not. Not exactly. It popped out ready made but that version wasn't good enough for long term use. Several versions popped into my head after that. Over time I kept adding, taking away, adjusting and modifying until I finally got what I wanted in March of 2011. And the truth is, I'm still tweaking it.

The StoryTeller, a variant of the Muppets RPG system that is turning out to be quite different from the 'core rules' (Oh, so now you're some shot, eh? You got Core Rules for the Muppets do ya?), is half and half. In my noggin' it was basically fully formed but I need a lot of names for things. Like the Twilight Zone RPG, I saw in my mind's eye how to run it but the mechanics needed (and still need) a lot of spit and polish before I could actually run it.

Is any of this making sense?

So what is the deal with Unfinished Business?

Did anyone else hear that in Jerry Seinfeld's voice?

Well, I don't have it fully formed in my head. I've been thinking about it for a long, long time and while, once again, I can see how to run it and what kind of game it would be, I feel that the mechanics for achieving that goal are less formed than any previous project I've worked on.

The question is why? Why can't a lock this down from a rules standpoint?

The answer is 'a lot of reasons'. Among them the fact that real life and other projects have me highly distracted. Why the heck do they run this NaGaDeMon thing in November anyway? I'm busy as all get out in November. I need to be after a hit and miss Summer. Why not make it a Summer project? That would make so much more sense and be so much easier. Gripe, gripe, gripe.

Another reason is I may be trying to hard. Some game ideas come very naturally and the mechanics flow with them and it all follows suit. With this, an idea I had originally hoped to publish professionally , I am being ultra-picky and a perfectionist and as a result making very little head way.

What to do...

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Barking Alien

On This Veteran's Day, I just want to say to our service men and women, I appreciate what you've done and I am sorry that you had to do it. I remember and honor those who fought, served and died but long for a of time when your services will not longer be required.

Peace.

And now for something so freaking cool it's almost ridiculous...

Ryuutama in English on Kickstarter

Submitted For Your Consideration

UPDATED!

 

You are about to enter another dimension,
A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind.
You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas.
A journey into a wondrous land of imagination.

Next stop...

 

 

Obviously I don't have enough on my gaming plate right now with Traveller, Pendragon, my NaGaDeMon project and finishing The StoryTeller. I need to suddenly get obsessed with another game concept. If I've said it once, I've say it a thousand times; My brain doesn't know how to stop coming up with ideas for RPGs. Sometimes they're even good. Like (I hope) this one.

 

Like the Muppets, Star Trek, the Smurfs, Futurama* and of course, Sid and Marty Krofft**, The Twilight Zone is one of my long time IP obsessions. I have seen all the episodes a few times over, largely thanks to the annual Twilight Zone marathons that show on the we-can't-spell-Sci-Fi channel. Long before there was such a channel, there were local stations that did the same thing, usually around Independence Day, New Years Day or Thanksgiving.

 

Nothing says "I love America", "Happy New Year" or "I am thankful for this food" quite like a society of monsters thinking a pretty girl is horrific.

 

As with anything I like that is not already an RPG, the first question that springs to my mind is, "How do I make this into an RPG?"

 

I can think of two ways:

 

The more traditional approach would be to create a series of PCs in a modern or period setting (the 1950's or 60's perhaps) and have them investigate strange, surreal happenings in a manner not too different from Call of Cthulhu characters or PCs in a game of Chill or Stalking The Night Fantastic.

 

While that would certainly be the easy way to go, it might not be the best way. It certainly doesn't take into account all the myriad story, character and setting possibilities a game based on this particular show could cover.

 

My second and preferred approach therefore is to have each player control one or more 'Actors'. An 'Actor' would be a PC with some set stats and abilities perhaps but with a skill set that could be swapped out and changed for different knacks and knowledges appropriate to the 'Episode' or adventure session.

 

Thinking a bit further, maybe 'Actor' isn't the right name for it. I imagine character types or templates like 'Average Joe', 'Girl Next Door', 'Reporter', 'Hobbyist' or 'Soldier'.

 

If the session involves a Reporter on the front lines in World War II investigating strange lights in the sky, than the Reporter would gain some skills for surviving combat and the Soldier would be tailored for trench fighting, for example. In a small town haunted by an old wives tale about not playing near the reservoir or 'Missy Green will get you', the Soldier becomes a cop or a fellow back from the war. The Reporter becomes a local man working for the town newspaper and the Girl Next Door a School Teacher or, a Girl Next Door I suppose.

 

Any and all of these can be modernized but I think if I ran The Twilight Zone as an RPG I would want that period feel and would never set any scenario too close to the invention of digital cameras and smart phones. Once you have present day computers you open up a can of worms. Still, the themes and concepts in The Twilight Zone are essentially timeless. Perhaps I would go modern once in a while after all.

 

Mechanics wise, well that's when things get a little harder. I have thought about going back to the one RPG already in existence that's as close as you can get to a Twilight Zone game...Over The Edge. Not sure. Need to reread my copy and see if it really captures the tone and style I am looking for.

 

Risus, InSpectres and other similar games would also work I believe but I would have to test them out first. They would probably require some detail to be added.

 

One idea for a mechanic that came to me just today was a 'Twilight Point'.

 

I want the players to have access to the opposite of a Hero or Drama Point. Basically, doing...something, I am not sure what...during the game gets you points that you can spend to make the situation worse. That's right, you spend Twilight Points to shift blame to another PC or cause things to become more complicated for everyone. Perhaps, if the situation has a time limit you spend a point and shorten the amount of time you all have.

 

You would want to do it to stay on the theme and reinforce the atmosphere but there needs to be some other in-game incentive for it as well. Still thinking on that.

 

I had another idea while responding to a comment on this game concept in the NaGaDeMon Facebook Group. There is a free RPG created by the sublime genius of Andrew Peregrine called Doom & Cookies. I may have mentioned it before. I may not have.

 

Not only is this game written by a guy named after a falcon, but it also may hold the key to how I want the Twilight Points to work.

 

In Doom & Cookies, the objective is to finish the game with at least 1 Cookie (a good thing) and no Dooms (a Doom being a bad thing). Regardless of what these mean in the context of that game, you get the idea that if you have a Doom and No Cookies or a Cookie and a Doom you do not get to win or succeed at the game's finale. My ghost RPG Unfinished Business has a very similar mechanic and I didn't really even think of it until now.

 

So what if, to be spared the Twilight Zone twist ending, to succeed or at the very least escape, you need to be rid of your Twilight Points and have at least one point of...of...Insight. Yes. A touch of Insight and no Twilight.

 

I can already see some of the episodes of the original show explained in this fashion.

 

OMG. I think this is something I can really make work.

 

Anyway, I am going to revisit this idea periodically or at some point at least, later this month. I hope I can finish at least one of my insane ideas before month's end.

 

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*Yes, I have actually created a homebrew Futurama RPG. I hope to post it here one of these days.

 

**No, I have not created a Sid and Marty Krofft RPG. This is something of a reoccurring joke or running gag here at Barking Alien. I've done the Smurfs and the Muppets so I wouldn't put it past me to stat up the Far Out Space Nuts or H. R. Pufnstuf.

 

 

 



The Return Of The NaGaDemon

Greetings all, and a very happy November to you!

November is one of my favorite months, for it contains Thanksgiving, one of my favorite Holidays. Thanksgiving is a big deal with the Barking Alien clan and well love when it rolls around.

 Another November festivity I've been looking for to is the tempestuous, biting and oh-so-challenging National Game Design Month event!

For those of you who don't know about it, National Game Design Month, or NaGaDeMon, is a challenge put forth by Nathan Russell who was riffing off November's annual National Novel Writing Month event.

(It's cool too by the way and you should check it out. Even if its initials don't spell out a mythological monster. Our contest is just cooler like that)

The challenge is to design, write, play and complete a workable, playable game in one month. It can be a board game, a card game, a role-playing game or anything else game related. There is no physical prize other than having a completed game of your own design in your hands but there are the accolades and cheers of your peers and fellow NaGaDeMon slayers.

Last year I failed to complete the challenge. Heck, I barely started it. I had a few good ideas and false beginnings but the timing was terrible. Hurricane Sandy and some personal sadness lead to me giving up early on. My heart just wasn't in it (actually my heart was a mess but that's another tale for another time).

This year, SCREW YOU YA CREEPY, DICE-TAILED SERPENT! I am going to best this challenge and the resulting work is going to be so beautiful you will look upon it and cry little snake tears.

Yeah!

So what am I doing? Right...

Unfinished Business, my Ghost Story Role Playing Game which I have been thinking about for forever and a day, will be completed by month's end. That is my goal. You can read a little about my obsession and ideas for it here and here.

It may be biting off more than I can chew, but I also intend to finish The StoryTeller, my Muppets RPG variant based on the Jim Henson series of the same name featuring John Hurt and Brian Henson (as the Dog). You can check out what I've mentioned about it so far here. I have decided not to focus on any elements from the latter Greek Myths series but may do it as a sort of expansion at some later date.

Wish me luck and please stop by for periodic updates on my progress.

See you soon!

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A Considerable Threat

It's been a strange month.

What with it being October, Halloween and all, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

In my real life, business has gone from 'Crappy Summer' to 'Awesomely Busy Fall' and that's good news for me. I may be tired but at least I don't have to worry as much about bills, food, etc.

Posts were light this month, views were up, comments down and the focus a bit unfocused as far as I'm concerned. I did get the chance to talk about my two mainstay campaigns, Traveller and Pendragon, but not enough. A host of other ideas I've shared have gone unfinished, while others were not shared at all.

'Scuse me whilst I reflect upon this.

Hmmm.

Onward...

Next month is November and with that comes Thanksgiving, the National Game Design Month event (NaGaDeMon), a continually busy work schedule, and very possibly the end of one or both of my campaigns.

What?!?

My player Marcus, in addition to being a consummate pain in the tail region, has managed to get himself and several of the other players into serious trouble. IN BOTH GAMES! Now that's some mad Player Skillz at work, don't you think?

In Traveller, he and a few others who have decided to go with him, are heading to an uncharted star system in order to claim it and the right to own it. There are numerous obstacles and problems with his plan, not the least of which is time and competition. And the fact that he really has no plan.

And that's just the problems he knows about.

In Pendragon, he pissed off a Knight who had come to the court of the dukedom the PCs are in to ask if the Duke knew of a young girl who had been taken from a village under said Knight's country's care. The NPCs sought to stall the Knight and make him lose his cool. That way, they and the PCs would be in the right to do something about him. If he didn't lose his cool, they would feign ignorance of the matter and he would simply leave. The young woman in question is one of the PCs actually and she left voluntarily when King Arthur himself sent her a letter and asked to meet with her.

During the exchanges between the Knight, the good Duke, his Chancellor (all NPCs) and one or two of the PCs, the Knight made an inquiry of Ray's character Sir Henry. Marcus indicated that he would like to say something to defend Sir Henry or divert the conversation. Ray said sure, and Marcus proceeded to accuse and embarrass the Knight in front of everyone, taking on an antagonistic approach that may now plunge us into war.

Ray managed to interject just after Marcus finished talking at court and did so with flying colors. As the Knight readied a retaliatory volley of words, Ray took complete control of the conversation and told the Knight in no uncertain terms that this audience was over. You lose. Good day to you sir. I said Good Day!

Wait now, Marcus wasn't done...

Marcus decided to accompany the group of soldiers, mostly Irish mercenaries, who were told to escort the Knight and his entourage out of the kingdom. The escort also included Hans' character and an NPC mercenary he (She. Shhhh.) had befriended. Just as they reached the gates of the city, Marcus pulled the Knight aside and apologized to him in a whispered exchange. In that exchange he also set in motion a situation which could easily destroy the entire troupe of PCs and the goal of why they were in the region in the first place.

***

Yes. In the span of an hour or two of the second session of Pendragon we have had, Marcus managed to create an almost no win scenario.

Why? How? Screw how, WHY?

Because Marcus isn't having fun unless it's about Marcus. He has to be the one with the clever plan, be the smooth talker, the guy who gets the right people on his side while he pulls the wool over the eyes of the people who he doesn't like or who are against him.

The problems with this?

1. He doesn't take the motivations and personalities of his enemies into account.
2. He doesn't consult or consider any other member of the team when pulling these stunts.
3. He wants to be the consummate con man but his words and actions make everyone distrust him.
4. He doesn't consider that there could be factors at work he doesn't know about yet.

In the Traveller campaign, if death is in the team's future, it will only be for those who go with Marcus and Marcus himself. I know Will's and Ray's characters will not be joining his mission. This campaign can easily live on with other characters.

In Pendragon, only one player has any idea of the real threat potential. The threat Marcus has created could, very likely, result in a TPK. My first ever I believe. If that occurs, I think I will lay off fantasy again for a good long while.

I am at the edge of my seat.

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I Can't Get This Out of My Head - UFOs

So ends my attempt to discuss Anime/Manga gaming...for now.

I simply can't maintain the enthusiam if there isn't much of a response. I can do it if I am talking about something I am currently working on or an idea I love that just hit me but for a general discussion I need feedback or I get distracted and want to talk about some else.

There are a number of something elses on my mind as a matter of fact. Some of them, I can't seem to stop thinking about.

Other than the Dogs, Faerie Folklore, Muppets, Smurfs, Star Trek and Superheroes, there are a handful of other things I am obsessively fascinated by.

One of them is UFOs.

I had an idea last year for the NaGaDeMon Challenge but wasn't really feeling it and because of other circumstances during that period of time, I couldn't drum up the strength of will or creativity to push forward. While the idea was new the subject matter was not. Not for me anyway.

I have long since wanted to create, run and/or play a RPG in which the PCs are the crew of a UFO, visiting Earth and creating all sorts of mayhem as extraterrestrials on a modern day Earth. Exactly what that would entail I don't know. Rather, I have some ideas but they keep twisting and changing.

One key factor would be the idea that the aliens have advanced technology but are really just run-of-the-mill joes. I see them as very blue collar people but with a Masters-of-the-Open-Road attitude and mystique, like truck drivers or the guys on Deadlist Catch. They could also be scientists but less Mr. Spock and more the people who try to tag wild life in the rainforests to follow their migratory patterns. Smart, highly skilled professionals but in the end, just doing their job.

I want to incorporate as well as parody the troupes of UFO reports, stories and movies, including everything from mysterious power failures to abductions, cow mutilations to crop circles. I want to examine the 'REAL' reason these things occur in a fashion that is both sensible and humorous.

I have read Chariots of the Gods waaay too many times. I have seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind even more often. I love reading about and watching all those Discovery Channel and Nation Geographic shows where they search for answers and after an hour of television say, "So, we still have no freaking clue".

I want it to be, all at once:

Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Destination Truth, E.T., The Extraterrestrial, Escape from Planet Earth, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hunter Planet, Men in Black, Paranoia, Planet 51 and Teenagers from Outer Space.

And more than that.

Right now it's just an idea.

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Barking Alien

NaGa DeMon Versus Barking Alien - Resurrection?

Holy crap! I actually have an idea for the NaGa DeMon Challenge.

Can I write it, put it all together and play it in a month? Especially considering that it's already the 5th of November. Hmmm...

If I could just get over this cold I might be able to pull this off.

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Barking Alien

NaGa DeMon Versus Barking Alien - Three Strikes

Nada. Zip. Zilch. Un-, anti-, dis- and non.

I got nothing.

I simply can not come up with an original or relatively original game idea I like enough to dedicate an entire month to working on it. Nothing is generating even the slightest bit of creativity in me outside of my desire to continue my Ars Magica campaign and my longer term Ghost RPG project.

This sucks. I feel like...well...like suck if suck were a feeling.

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Barking Alien

NaGa DeMon Versus Barking Alien - Day 3

 

 

This is not going well.

I am devoid of ideas. Me. The guy whose brain is the idea generating equivalent of the Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone.

I have today and tomorrow to work on something too, as my group is not meeting today and tomorrow the Study Center where I teach will be closed due to the after effects of Sandy (the building is fine but trains and power are still spotty in Brooklyn).

All this time and no ideas. None. Nothing that speaks to me.

I don't want to give up on this but I'm stuck.

Need to get out of the house. Go somewhere. Look at something cool.

I will be back on later this evening.

Peace.

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Barking Alien

NaGa DeMon Versus Barking Alien - Day 2

CONSPIRACY THEORY!

 

 

 

Everything you know is a lie.

 

What? You knew that? Well, then not everything I guess.

 

I can tell you that I told a little white lie yesterday. I am not really feeling Visitors From Space. The POP! I was hoping for, the one I got from some of my previous projects (The Muppets, The Smurfs, my Expanded Extended Mission campaign, etc.), didn't come full force. Not like it did for those others. This was a bubble wrap pop and not a huge, loud...I'm thinking more BOOM Tube BOOM! than a mere pop here people. That's what I am waiting for. That's not only going to get the office light to go on, it's going to keep it on.

 

Several nefarious elements have conspired to make me want to drop this project (Visitors From Space - Not the whole NaGa DeMon challenge).

 

Broken hearted and depressed, it's hard to generate a comedic RPG.

I like the concept, I don't love the concept. To finish and play it in a month, I need to LOVE it.

Some things challenge organizer Nathan Russell posted recently.

 

I really need to rethink this. To re-feel this. I seem to be out of tune with the force.

 

Bare with me...

 

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NaGa DeMon Versus Barking Alien - Day 1

IDEA INVASION!

When I design a role playing game, I do it in a way that some find unusual.

Unlike a lot of creative people, I dislike 'the process'. The idea of coming up with a concept or two, mulling it over and writing pages upon pages of material just to edit them down, tweak them, fiddle with it, do away with some parts, bring them back, add new parts, change things...the entire litany of events leading up to the finished product drives me utterly bonkers. It bores me to tears. Somewhere less than half way through the whole thing I lose interest and either abandon the project totally or completely restart it in a wholly different direction. Not every time but often.

That stinks for a "Do a game in a month" concept like the Nation Game Design Month Challenge.

It's a good thing then that the way I do some of my best work is that the entire game, from setting to system to adventure scenarios, usually pop into my head wholecloth. Yep. One day I'm sitting there thinking, "Hmmm, that movie was cool. Kind of reminded me of that book I read years ago. Makes me think about...and if you added this...hey, this would make a great..." *POP!* At which point I scribble a few pages of notes in my personal shorthand (which looks like html crossed with cuniform) and proceed to type it up.

While The Muppets RPG* was actually developed over time in the near-traditional way, it sort of wasn't. The idea for a Muppets based role playing game had been in my mind for a long while and I certainly forget about it and remembered again later more than once. Every few years I would write up a page or two of notes, absolutely. When I finally posted it on this blog however, it had been essentially reconstructed from the ground up just a week or two before I went 'live'. I was sitting there one day, thinking about it and the light flipped on and the all the ideas and mechanics came rushing in. Same thing with the Smurfs*.

It's like...There is a little office inbetween my ears where the light is usually off. It is largely empty and it's so tedious and difficult to write or type in the dark with no office supplies or files for research or furniture that I get very frustrated even trying. Then one day, inspiration will strike, I will turn on the light and...HOLY HECK IN A HANDBASKET! While I wasn't paying attention, someone snuck in and constructed a state of the art office with a computer, phones, supplies, file cabinets with files and the whole nine yards.

Yeah, it's like that.

So how does all that apply to the NaGa DeMon?

Well, I had this idea...then I didn't. Then I hoisted it back up on the table and took a closer look at it and it was pretty small and weak. I tried pumping it up but I realized I was forcing it. Nothing was coming from it that inspired me. I had no real reason to turn the light on in the office.

So I tried another idea. And another. And another. It wasn't happening. There was no rapid build up to the sudden POP I'm used to. I panicked a little. What should I do?

I started to think back to the game I want to publish. It's good. I feel it's really good. It deserves time even though it sort of popped into my head a long time ago and is sorta the kind of thing you do want to work on carefully. I remembered that I chose that idea over another one. A good one. One I would certainly put together quickly once I really thought about it. One I would love to give out for free...

So here it is...my entry into the NaGa DeMon Challenge...

Visitors From Space is a rule-light, situation comedy, science fiction role playing game about UFOs, what they are and why they are really here. It uses six sided dice which you can snag from any of the boardgames in your house and is designed for both one shot play and short campaigns, although ideas for long term play are coming to me. I just haven't worked out all the details.

More to come so stay tuned!

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Barking Alien

*I am very proud of my work on my Muppets and Smurfs RPGs. While the Smurfs one could use some additional fleshing out, I have run it for others and it works very well. The Muppets game has been run several times now at NerdNYC's RECESS Game Day Event and has been wildly successful.

If you are new to my blog, please feel free to check out the Muppets and Smurfs tags or go to March of 2011 for my March Muppets Madness Month, detailing the whole thing plus a few surprises.

Thanks for your time.

Halloween Is Today But Tomorrow Scares Me

The hurricane that eat the Big Apple has finally past and life is starting to get back to normal, albeit slowly. The clouds are parting, the Sun is out and I am back to work, although on a considerably abbreviated schedule. The subway and train systems are not yet back online and that means most people are not back to work yet. Kids are home since the schools are still closed.

Many places are without power (including my Sister's neighborhood in New Jersey) and probably will be for a few more days. Property damage is considerable throughout New York City, Brooklyn, New Jersey and the surrounding areas.

I have been very lucky as I and the majority of my family, friends and acquaintances seem to have all been spared any major upheaval. Well...from the storm anyway.

My girlfriend and I maybe breaking up. There is no need to discuss it here in this forum but suffice to say, it has really taken the wind out of my sails and made the last two to three days very painful. In the end, life goes on (even if you sometimes question why it keeps doing that).

The future is looking a little scary for me right now. I have some plans, some goals and no where near the enthusiasm to see them through that I had just a week ago. I need to rise above that however. How? Not easy. Getting things started helps.

Finally, tomorrow begins the National Game Design Month Challenge I mentioned. I am viewing it as a practice run for the development of the game I eventually intend to publish which I posted about at the beginning of the month. The problem is...I have completely lost interest in my idea. A lot of my creative energy has dissipated. I have no new idea to replace it. Did I mention I am supposed to start tomorrow?

In any case, Happy Halloween to everyone! Enjoy it and it's ghastly, ghoulish fun. Hopefully I will find some inspiration in it and tomorrow will seem a little less frightening.

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Barking Alien

The Jack O' Lantern I put up (the illustration at the top) is by my incredibly talented friend Aristides Iliopoulos, who in addition to being an amazing artist, celebrates his 42nd Birthday today. Happy Birthday Aris!

I colored the above image from Aris' black and white drawing.

An odd bit: This month's views have skyrocketed. I am serious. A lot more than last month and yet I've only done 13 posts. At the same time, comments are waaay down, with only four comments on the last four posts (actually they are all on the post about Lucas selling his company to Disney). I thought there would be more interest and questions in regards to my Ars Magica campaign. Oh well. One of these days I'll just have to talk about D&D and get with the program.

Not. ;)

Facing The NaGa DeMon

This is coming...
 

 

 

Actually, this is here...though technically it doesn't start until November. I...

Wait...why is this pink? They went with pink? Gah.

 

 

 

 

There that's better.

 

So what is this? Why this my creatively curious compadre is the NaGa DeMon or National Game Desgin Month for this November of 2012. A challenge to yourself and the creative community to come up with, design, write and play a game of some kind within one month.

 

Games of all kinds are welcome and encouraged, from traditional tabletop role playing games to boardgames and computer games. There are no judges, no prizes and no obligations. It is simply the chance to challenge yourself and see what you and your fellow designers can come up with.

 

I am pretty excited to be participating as I see this as a test run for the game I am intending to publish but can't seem to get going on. If I can do this NaGa Challenge successfully than I think it will give me the courage to finishing my little 'Project X'.

 

As far as what I will be doing for the NaGa DeMon, it will of course be an RPG of the more Storytelling Game variety, very likely based on some untapped faerie folklore and folk tale ideas I've been thinking about lately. 

 

Wish me luck. Will keep you all updated as I go.

 

Laters,

 

AD

Barking Alien