31 Days / 31 Characters - EMIL FUJIKAWA

One of my best, longest, and most influential games in recent memory was my Traveller campaign, Operation: PALADIN.

It was also, on occasion, something of a nightmare. Fear of being injured, discovered, or any number of other things kept some PCs from being bold when it was needed. This frustrated other PCs who would respond by acting independently in an especially bold fashion that was counter to the rest of the team. You can read more about the trials, tribulations, as well as the good times by checking out the Operation: PALADIN tag. I believe there are some general Traveller posts that may discuss this campaign as well. 

While I've talked about this campaign and some of its character in detail in the past, one character who hasn't received enough attention is my friend Ray's PC, Dr. Emil Fujikawa. 

Character: Doctor Emil Fujikawa

Player: Ray Harris

System: Traveller - Classic version w/ modification from MegaTraveller and houserules.

 

Campaign: Operation: PALADIN

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein 

Circa: 2013-2015

Origins: The following tale of Emil Fujikawa's creation comes directly from Ray, the player. Take it away Ray: 

"When I started gaming with Adam, I had considered myself a veteran RPG player. My experience gaming was almost exclusively Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, Pathfinder, and homebrews (which used D&D as a baseline to recreate some anime or video game). Oh how wrong I was. Although I claimed to be an experienced gamer, I hadn't played in a game that shared in nearly any of the characteristics that Operation: Paladin would in its roughly three year run.

 

Dr. Fujikawa was my first character for a sci-fi campaign. Despite my fascination with Sci-Fi movies and TV that went back to Stargate and ST:TNG, I had no idea what to expect from the Traveller RPG. What I did understand was that intelligence and caution with just a little bit of daring usually saved the day. So that was what I tried to build into my character.

I decided that I wanted to be a scientist with a focus in Robotics but as I stepped through the character creation system with Adam, I lost sight of my desire and finished three terms of Scientist with only 1 point in Robotics. (At this point, I would like to highlight just how unfamiliar I was with sci-fi games, because I was creating a robotics expert with only the basic understanding of computers that is granted to a character by the fact that I was counting Earth as my homeworld). I started a second career as a Scout in order to round out my squishy Scientist a bit, only to find myself dead. I had failed the Survival Roll of my first term as a Scout and was feeling disheartened as I was starting to like the collection of skills and stats that would become Dr. Fujikawa. Adam too sensed the potential in my nascent character and offered to make it so that that my Scientist/Scout didn't die, but rather (homebrewed chart roll) was captured (homebrew chart roll) on an alien planet by the (homebrewed chart roll) aggressive and violent Ithklur.

This fateful encounter wound up doing two things for this collection of skills and stats to make it into a character. Firstly, I picked a skill that I would get to enhance because I was using it exhaustively during my capture. This would be my Robotics. I stayed alive during my captivity because I was performing forced labor, repairing the robots that my captors used. Secondly, it established that I was on the frontier, someplace where I might be captured by a hostile alien species. That got me thinking, not about how I would get out of this mess, but about how I got into this mess.

Adam was still in the middle of explaining how I was captured and who my captors were, but I was barely listening. My mind was thinking about how a respected Roboticist from Earth would find his way to the space boonies so that he could get captured, be listed as dead, and eventually get freed and reclaim his second lease on life on some backwater space station in Spica Sector. (This is why one of my favorite t-shirts reads, in the classic Traveller font, “You haven't lived until you've died... during character creation.”) Instead of listening to Adam's description of who the Ithklur were and why they might want to hold me captive, I was coming up with a reason for my character to be on the run from very dangerous people.

Before the day was out, I was talking to Adam about my ideas of how Dr. Fujikawa was unintentionally involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor and replace him with a robotic double. Adam explained how difficult that would be because of the state of robots in Traveller. Basically, robots in Traveller were more R2-D2 than Data and even a C-3PO, without the gold paint, would be a high end model. So I set out to explain in my backstory how my character would be involved in the creation of a fairly rare and possibly illegal model of robot called a pseudo-biological. A model of robot that, thanks to a duplicate 'lab ship' benefit roll, I would start the game in possession of. A couple of weeks later, we started the first session and a couple of weeks after that I gave Adam my full backstory."

Backstory: The full backstory as written and created by Ray with minor adjustments by me to fit it into the setting and story of the campaign:

Dr. Fujikawa's story starts while he was attending Neo Tokyo University getting his doctorate. 

He becomes smitten with a pretty lady, Anna Maria Romanov, who was able to wreck his thesis by talking his robot into a logical failure, multiple times. Eventually they hit it off and she helped him finish his thesis and graduate. It turns out her parents worked at a big time robotics corporation and hired him to work on various projects that all pertained to making a robot seem more like a human.

Eventually, he decides to ask Anna to marry him and she says yes. Unfortunately, they don't have the time to actually get married yet as he gets this big assignment to make a pseudo-biological robot. Luckily, Anna's degree was in art design so they get to work together as she is able to design and create the prototype robot body, while he is putting all of his work from the last 10 years together to create the robot's brain. They finish the robot prototype just before this big tech conference and finally get married. Anna reveals that the robot, "Maria", is physically a duplicate of her, because she has been keeping its design a secret from him as a sort of wedding present.

Then as they are due to leave for their honeymoon space cruise the next day, Anna pulls him aside and plays a recording for him. The recording reveals that Anna was a spy who was assigned by 'her parents' to get Dr. Fujikawa to ultimately build a robot that could pass as human that would be used in a plot to gain control of the highest ranks of government. She was supposed to turn him so that he would join the project willingly but he inadvertently turned her so that she wound up working against the plot. Anna was taking the robot's place and would stall for as long as she could so that he could get away.

The Anna that was with him was actually Maria and he had the only copy of the code and designs to build a new pseudo-biological. They were to get on a lab ship that was newly purchased and find a contact in SolSec (Solomani Security - Space CIA) who would protect them. The contact gets him into the Scout service so that he can disappear somewhere along the frontier, only he actually does disappear when he gets captured by the Ithklur of the Hive Federation. When he is later rescued by the Scouts, he has to recover what is left of his life, while wandering the passages of Bussard Reach space station, at least until he answers a post for a ship to travel to someplace called the Shallows.

Overview: "Throughout the next three years of play there would be many moments that stood out to me as touchstone moments in Dr. Fujikawa's life. From witnessing the death(?) of an NPC that gave him an inkling of understanding into why people had religion, to defeating an Aslan in mock combat by way of an exploding holo-drone, to participating in the arrest of the villain's most helpful minion, a fellow PC."

The Highlights:

"However, the moment that stands out the most to me is when I worked with another PC to infiltrate a Military Weapons Manufacturer and steal the evidence that we would need to arrest the main villain of the story. We had learned that one of the villain's primary lieutenants was an executive at this Government contracted weapons manufacturer. I had tried to hack into their systems but apparently having sensitive information about troop deployments meant that they had good firewalls, so I went to scout the building out and see if I could access an on-site terminal.

I went in claiming to be the parent of a new hire but bailed as soon as I saw the level of security at the front door. I was expecting a couple of overworked security guards tired of working the night shift. What I got was a couple of alert, physically fit guards that were part of a heavily-armed mercenary outfit which came out after the metal detector/x-ray scanner that was built into the front door alerted them that the woman who was pretending to be my wife wasn't what she said she was (that being a Human being). So, we got out of there as fast as we could, meeting back up with the rest of the team and I told them that the mission was a bust.

Having seen first hand how well defended the installation was, I was sure that there was no way we could get in without heavy losses. I argued passionately for hours with the others that getting the info from this location wouldn't be worth it, that we could find the same information stored elsewhere that would be less heavily fortified. I was out numbered. Everyone else insisted that it had to be here. This location was the only place that we could be certain was tied to one of the villain's lieutenants. If we turned back now it would throw out weeks of research and travel to determine the identity of this lieutenant and whoever else we could get to almost certainly wouldn't have the same kind of access to the villain's plans. So I relented. 

The other players changed my mind. I said that we would have to go immediately before the news of my attempted infiltration would bring reinforcements. Everyone scrambled to put a plan together to get me and one other player into the building. As desperate as we were to get this info, I didn't want to risk too many people, especially as most of the players were not combat inclined. That was how I wound up crawling through the sewers to reach a power junction terminal that granted me limited access to the building's security features so that one of my allies could infiltrate the building, access this corrupt executive's office and recover sensitive information from the computer and safe. After that I remember riding something down a sewer pipe that led out to a drainage vent so that we could jump over to our ship. The vessel was waiting for us and flew out of there with the planetary authorities hot on our tail.

This was the single most daring thing that I had done throughout the entire campaign and it held up the premise that I started the campaign with, that intelligence and caution with just a little bit of daring saved the day."

Legacy: A planned sequel to Operation: PALADIN never fully got underway and I haven't run a long term Traveller campaign since this one. The end result is Fujikawa  -who survived and had a solid epilogue in the original game- has not been seen since the Operation: PALADIN campaign ended.

In a twist I couldn't be happier about, Ray and my friend Will (who played the oft mentioned Belarus Hosta in Operation: PALADIN) are currently running a prequel campaign set some 15 years before ours. While Fujikawa doesn't appear, it details how the villain of Operation: PALADIN rose to his position of power and put his plans in place. 

Game Info: Dr. Emil Fujikawa

Species: Human – Solomani

Age: 34 years old.  Born July 25, 1061 IC/5579 AD

Height: 5'10”  Weight: 158 lbs  Appearance: Blue Eyes, Brown Hair

Homeworld: Earth

UPP:77AAC6

Armor Value: 7/0   Hits: 4/5

Scientist (Roboticist): 3 Terms / Scout 1 Term.

Special Assignment: every term

Skills:

Robotics 4, Robot Ops 2, Gravitics 2, Electronics 2, Computer 7, Sensor Ops 4, Mechanical 2, Navigation 2, Engineering 1, Computer AI 2, Laser Weapons 2, Vacc Suit 2, Stealth 1, Grav Vehicle 2, Pilot 2, Forward Observer 1, Instruction 2, Jack of All Trades 2, Liason 3, Demolitions (in training), Handgun (in training)

Special Items: “Maria”, an Android. “The Turing”, an Advanced Lab Ship.

Equipment:

Info Pad, Comm-Comp, Robotics Tools, Liquid Body Armor, Laser Carbine, Personal Drone, Maps of Spica Sector, Heads-Up Display, Wireless Download, Signal Jammer, Body Pistol, Knife, Coral Chunks, Sub-Basement External HD

Credits: 55,140

Next up we travel to that galaxy long ago and far, far away to meet a tough Mandalorian mercenary with a rather droll origin. This is the way of FLEETO WOFF! 

AD

Barking Alien

An Inconsistent Truth

Nothing irks me as much as inconsistency. My own that is.

Although I understand intellectually that not every session is going to be perfect, or 'the best session I've ever run', it still bothers me when there is such a significant difference in quality from a given session to the next.

I mean, I've been doing this a long time. I've run literally, easily, hundreds upon hundreds of RPG sessions for dozens, and dozens of people of all ages, races, genders, and backgrounds. I've run at schools, homes, parties, and conventions. By this point in time, you'd think I would have running sessions down to a science. You'd think a successful game is pretty much a given.

It is not.

A weekend or so ago I ran the penultimate session of The Barking Alien Gaming Group's three-year, thirty-six session, classic Traveller campaign, Traveller - Operation: PALADIN. This was the last episode prior to the big finale in December.

It went...OK.

There were some issues, most of which have plagued this particular group in one form, or another for some time now. There were also some factors unique to this particular day (a few people were running late, myself included, one had been working over time for a few days prior, that sort of thing).

The main issue I had with the session was that it meandered at the onset, as well as right before the end, and felt very light on drama and emotional resonance.

Which sucks.

Time to Leave - Traveller Art by Ben Wootten

There's espionage, giant robot battle armor, futuristic guns, spaceships, aliens,
psychic powers, loved ones in danger, romance, and the threat of all out war!

You'd think it would be more exciting.

It not only sucks because, hey, who isn't hoping for excitement, emotional impact, and dramatic weight in a story, but also because we're almost at the end of the run. The next episode is the last episode. The curtain is coming down for the last time, and soon. After three years of build up and struggle, I want to end with a bang and not a whimper.

Now there were a lot of reasons it wasn't as good as it could have been. I take full responsibility for some of it [as the GM] for not reigning in the issues that were caused by the players and not by me personally. I'm the Captain of the ship, the show's director, and I should have seen the hazards and steered us clear before they became a problem.

But I didn't. Why? Because sometimes you don't. You don't see it in time. You see it but can't figure out what to do about it. You figure, they'll get it any minute now. Give' em time.

Before I continue with this, let me tell you about a very different game I ran about three weeks ago...

The PCs' unnamed, customized Nova Drive Z-3 Light Freighter.

I did this image after the game. No picture was used during play.

Through the players' ideas and in-character dialogue, the ship

obtained numerous details and an easy to imagine layout.

I had the pleasure of running a one-shot of my favorite system, and one of my favorite subjects, Star Wars D6 by West End Games. Truth be told, I didn't really use the system so much as the Star Wars setting, and lessons learned from years of reading the West End Games books, and running the game. Mechanically, I simplified things a lot.

There were three players: My friend Dan, who is a few years my senior, and two recent acquaintances of his, a guy and a gal, who were both in their mid-to-late twenties. I had never met the others two prior to that day.

I have to say, it was one of the best single sessions I've had in a long time. It reminded me of my old NJ group days. Everything just clicked. The players quickly created, and connected with, their characters. Their individual goals were simple, clear, connected to the setting, and not specific as to how they could accomplish them. They established their relationships with each other through the course of play, but in very short order.

No long backstories, but they had backstories. No convoluted plans, but they had plans. The characters didn't all get along perfectly, and yet they perfectly cooperated with each other to get things done.

No one was the 'star', no one was trying to be, and as a result, each one shined.

It was nirvana. I think I heard angels. Seriously, angels. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them...

Probably the most notable thing about the adventure was that it moved fast. Incredibly fast.

In the past, I always prided myself on my pacing. Fast, and exciting during battles, or chase scenes; measured, and tense while attempting to infiltrate a location, or hide from overwhelming opposition, etc.

For the past year, or so though, this has been very off.

Reluctant to push the players in a particular direction, and take agency away from them, I all too often let them endlessly discuss, debate, and overthink their situations (this is true in both of my current groups).

Unfortunately, they don't know how to police themselves (or so it seems). Many of them forego what would be the most interesting, exciting, or cinematic option, instead looking to the most logical option; often making certain it is the surest, safest plan, devoid of conflict, drama, tension, and sadly, emotional impact, and resonance.

I realize my particular style of play is not for everyone. It is often best suited for a pro-active player who gets really immersed in the setting, and who works with the group (as well as with the flow of the game) to come out smiling on the other end.

The worst part is, I don't want to ask for that. I want to find it, just have it, you know, 'be'.

I guess it's asking a lot, although I've never thought of it as such.

In conclusion, they can't all be winners. Not every game will go exactly the way you want it to. And, surprise, you want it to go well. No great insight there, eh?

Now, how much of the responsibility for the game's success is the GM's, and how much of it is the players'? Equal? That would seem logical. Yet...there is but one GM, doing a lot of work, putting in a lot of love, and usually two, or more players. Surely, if you were helping a friend move a piano, you wouldn't have one friend hold fifty percent of the weight while three others support that other half.

If there is a place where a fair dialog needs to take place, it's probably here, in that special place reserved for friends who help friends move pianos.

Truth.

AD
Barking Alien

On Beyond Traveller

My group* and I have finally come to a decision as to what campaign will follow our current one once it concludes, very likely in December of this year.

The decision has been a long time coming, as those who follow this blog surely know. While our present, ongoing game is fantastic (though it has been a bumpy road at times), any attempt at a second campaign has fallen flat. Likewise, we were not able to agree on a follow up for when our current one ends.

Thankfully, that latter issue has changed, and we are almost as excited about beginning pre-production on the one as we are coming to the grand finale of this one.

Now, before I announce what we're doing next, let me update you on what we're doing now, and share some notes, and insight with you.

***

 

Science Fiction Concept Art by Sparth 

 

***

On Saturday, July 11th, my group had its 30th session of our [slightly modified] classic Traveller campaign, Traveller - OPERATION: PALADIN.

It is absolutely astounding to me that we've met thirty times, for 6-10 hours at a time, over the last three years, to play these same characters, and this campaign. I feel the non-religious/non-spiritual equivalent of blessed.

It has been a honor, a privilege, and an absolute blast Gamemastering this campaign. I owe that largely to the players who've participated in it, including those who are no longer regularly part of the game. If it weren't for the contributions of each, and everyone of them (of you - if you're reading this), this crazy ride would not have been as good as it is.

A heart felt thanks to Andy, Dave, Ed, Hans, Jeff, Marcus (yes, even Marcus), Ray, Steve, and Will.**

The campaign's overall plot was formed from the supplied background information each player contributed about their character at the start of the game. That main story has long since come to a head. The PCs know who the big bad is, what he's up to, and (to a lesser extent) who his allies are. Our problem has been finding definitive proof of the enemy's plans, details of his operations, who all the participants are, and avoiding having him know too much about the PC group.

Much of that has changed with sessions 29, and 30.

While it has become obvious that the enemy is aware of the PCs, and their endeavors to thwart him, he doesn't yet know how much they know. He will soon, as the PCs managed to hit the mother lode regarding evidence that can sink their adversary. While much of it is encrypted, and hidden behind code words, and falsified documentation, the PC group managed to get a hold of a computer server with tons of incriminating files on it. Additionally, flaws in both the enemy's secret weapon, and allied forces, may be forthcoming very soon.

One of the great things about this campaign has been the way the mysteries, and the investigation of them, have grown, and changed over the course of the game.

I was initially very frustrated with my group, as they simply did not investigate things. Anything strange, or out of place was taken at face value, and no one seemed the least bit interested in finding out if there was more to anything. It was freaky.

Eventually, they started to check into things here, and there, so I decided to change my approach. I made the information on what was going on, why and who was behind it, extraordinarily easy to find out...but hard to prove. Harder still became what to do about it now that they knew a thing, or two (or more). Very effective in creating, and maintaining tension when faced with players who just don't have that Sherlock Holmes mindset.

The various situations in the game, from the major meta-plot (hate calling it that) to the numerous subplots (though perhaps not all) are rapidly reaching a boiling point. With the year's end only five months away, I am assuming we have but five sessions left.

I see a very exciting, very messy finish on the horizon.

And then...

Concept Art Wallpaper from No Man's Sky

As the new year begins, so will our next campaign.

TRAVELLER: BEYOND

It finally came down to realizing that the game we're playing...works. It works when other things don't. It still interests us, and we haven't nearly exhausted the possibilities this universe has to offer us.

So why not keep going? Why not indeed.

Of course, we are looking to experience a different aspect of our Traveller milieu. If we were just going to continue playing the same exact type of game we wouldn't be ending our current campaign in December.

While the current one has a very heavy Political Espionage/Cyberpunk vibe,the new campaign will be focused much more on exploration, discovery, and will be, hopefully, more 'Science Fiction-y'.

Influences on the new, upcoming campaign for next year include classic Science Fiction stories such as Voyage of the Space Beagle, Rendezvous with Rama, and the upcoming computer game No Man's Sky. The themes I intend to focus on will mainly revolve around dealing with the unknown, the benefits, and price, of knowledge, survival, and teamwork.

I look forward to working on this new campaign, and to updating all of you on how it goes. In addition, come December, expect an extra-large, final episode/session recap of OPERATION: PALADIN's grand finale.

To infinity and BEYOND!

AD
Barking Alien

*For the purposes of this post, and the next, it may be best to identify my two, face-to-face gaming groups in a clearer, and more definitive way then perhaps I have in the past.

Group 1 is 'The Barking Alien Gaming Group', so named because I am the primary GM for this particular configuration of this particular group of my RPG gamer friends.  Our longest ongoing campaign is a classic Traveller campaign that is still active. We ran our 30th session on Saturday, July 18th, 2015. We meet (roughly) monthly.

We have made several attempts to get a second campaign going of something else, but to (frustratingly) no avail.

Group 2 I'll refer to as 'Dan's Group'. While I have run for this group in the past, and will again in the future, my good friend Dan is the primary GM for this particular entourage. We also tend to play at Dan's house.

With that said, this post refers to my Barking Alien Gaming Group.

**The bolded names are the regulars who are still active in the campaign.

This is Barking Alien's 900th Post

May Be and May Be Not

What the hell is it about April, huh? That's one b^*$! of a month.

Thankfully, it's over now, and this month is bound to be better. Plus, no themes, no challenges, nothing of the sort to distract me from just saying whatever it is I want to say. At least none I'm planning on participating in.

So what do I want to say? Well for starters...

I have a new plan going forward in regards to my gaming schedule. I have decided that I will not be running any other campaigns outside of my ongoing, monthly Classic Traveller game (Operation: PALADIN, its 30th session was played on Saturday, April 18th), and my (very) roughly, monthly Last Unicorn Games Star Trek game (Star Trek: Prosperity).

Basically, there will be no secondary campaign for my main group until Operation: PALADIN has concluded. Once the Traveller campaign has ended (and it will end), I will be ready to do the final preparations for a new game.

What I would like to have happen though is for pre-production on our next campaign to begin soon. Preferably, I'd like to get the ball rolling this month. If I can start my prep for the next campaign now, I will likely work out most of the kinks, and have oodles of material ready for when it begins.

I have no idea what I am going to run as of this moment. I hope to come up with something soon, obviously, so I can follow through with my aforementioned plans.

I know I want to avoid the genre of Superheroes, which simply hasn't worked for us as a group. I'll probably avoid Science Fiction too close to Traveller, although a desire to run Star Wars is nagging at me something fierce.

True, Traveller, and Star Wars can be very different, but they can easily fall into similar styles, and patterns. Our last Traveller session for example, had a very Star Wars-y, last minute escape at the end.

The thing of it is, while this is definitely one of the best campaigns I've ever run (see an upcoming post updating the status of things in our Traveller campaign - Coming Soon! - this post has a lot of 'soon' doesn't it?), I would like to take try something different to prevent stagnation. The last thing I want to do is be viewed as a one trick pony, or suffer from genre/game burnout.

It may seem like I am back to square one, still unable to conceive of a game for my group other than Traveller, I don't see it that way. I've made progress. I know I need to finish my current campaign before I start another. I know what kind of games I don't want to run. I am getting a better idea of what works with the group, and far more importantly why. I see the pitfalls, and I am compiling tools to fix, or get around them.

An answer is on the horizon. I sense it.

AD
Barking Alien

The Road Less Travellered

Recently, I ran the 22nd session of our group's more or less monthly classic Traveller campaign.

Operation: Paladin.

This really is, by far, one of the best campaigns I've run in a very long time. The only downside is that trying to get a second campaign together seems impossible. It's like, we can play Traveller, at least this Traveller, but any other genre or setting is doomed to failure.

More about that another time. Right here, right now, I want to focus on what has happened in our Traveller game, what it means for the future of the campaign, and why I feel my Traveller isn't your run-of-the-mill version.

Our Story Thus Far... 

A Solomani politician, currently the sector's Secretary of Defense, is making a play for Sector Governor. Secretly, he (with the help of an elaborate network of allies) is building an army of psionic, cybernetic super-soldiers, who will go into battle in robotic, powered armor. Once in office he will use his secret army to attack the Imperial Duchess of Spica, and declare Spica an independant Solomani ruled nation.

This plan has been in effect for over thirty years.

By piecing together various clues, talking to the right people, and being in the right (and wrong) places at the right (and wrong) times, the team had enough information to find at least one of the choreographers of this mad dance; the idea man behind much of the genetic and psionic manipulations was a SuSAG corporation board member named Abraham Grant.

After successfully infultrating the SuSAG orbital vault and obtaining evidence, PC Belarus Hosta (Will) used her family connections with SuSAG to bring the evidence before a meeting of the board of directors.

Long story short, the PCs not only manage to expose Grant and get him fired from SuSAG, but their evidence and all relavant information is forwarded to both Imperial and Solomani Intelligence. Grant is immediately arrested and charged with treason, conspiracy, and a host of other things.

Problem player Marcus was actually helpful in this situation. Afterward, he is asked to accompany Imperial Intelligence and SolSec (Solomani Security) Agents as they transfer Grant into custody. They are expecting someone might try to kill Grant to keep what he knows a secret.

What does Marcus have Rex do?

After escaping a fire fight against would be assassins, Rex continues forward with Grant and two Solomani officers while the wounded retreat back to the SuSAG building and eventually a nearby hospital. Rex at some point manages to separate himself from the other two officers and play it off like a door is malfunctioning. He promises to meet them back at the rendezvous site.

Rex then attempts to make a deal with Grant. Rex will hide Grant and tell people he escaped. In exchange Grant will help Rex and the rest of the team to find the others involved in the conspiracy. Grant agrees and Rex calls the SuSAG company's head lawyer, who had apparently known about Grant's wrong doings and covered them up. Rex offers to give Grant over to the lawyer. The lawyer says OK and sends a van to pick up Grant.

Do you see a problem here? Rex didn't.

Grant gets injured when additional assassins show up but Rex manages to escape with him to reach the contact and their vehicle. The other PCs, knowing roughly where Rex was and thinking he was in trouble, sent a taxi to pick him up. He tells the taxi he doesn't work for their company and refuses the pick up.

With Grant injured, the contacts in the van bring Grant and Rex to a hidden garage with a stolen ambulance in it. As they are about to transfer a dead body out of the Ambulance and put Grant into it, Marcus comes up with another, er, brilliant idea. He sets up an electrical discharge device, puts the body back in, and drives the ambulance to the hospital. As he reaches it, he uses his repulsor and grav belts to hurl himself from the vehicle as if blown out, while the electrical device fries the vehicle's interior.

Rex claims the body was Grant, who had been injured, and who Rex was rushing to the hospital. The team's enemies must have sabotaged the ambulance.

As news of the event goes out, Rex rests overnight in a hospital bed.

The coroner's office takes a look at the body. Dental and DNA records don't match. Imperial Intelligence is called. The local director calls one of the PCs. She calls the other PCs. Within moments everyone knows.

The man the PCs took several sessions to learn the identity of and several more to take him out of the picture, is now free thanks to Marcus' character.

This is Marcus.

The other PCs had had enough. Based on the falsified evidence and using her connections with the Imperial Navy and Intelligence bureaus, one PC organized a massive arrest procedure.

Coordinated with Solomani Security, the other PCs, and local law enforcement, at 7:00 'AM', 0700 hours station time, Rex Kinkaid was arrested on charges of treason, conspiracy, aiding and abetting a suspected traitor and conspirator, falsifying evidence, theft, manslaughter (for some of the combat inside the tunnels while escaping with Grant), obstruction of justice, and at least five or six other crimes.

I have to say, I was totally impressed. Hans, who played the arresting officer, Amaya Takeda, read Rex his rights, which Hans himself wrote up. He used well thought out tactics to position his team at important locations including various exits, and snipers on the roof opposite the hospital.

Rex Kinkaid, Marcus' character, is now on his way to a Penal Colony via Prisoner Transport at Jump-4, where he will wait until a trial date is set.

I offered to allow Marcus to make up a new character. He refused. He asked to be told when Rex's trial date comes so he can mount a defense. I said OK to that.

So Marcus is out of the game for the time being and honestly, I think the rest of us couldn't be happier.

It's one thing to go off on your own, play the secretive or lone wolf character, but when your actions directly undermine what the rest of the group has been working toward, I don't feel sorry for you if it bites you in the ass.

This player is a murderhobo treating the game like it warrants that. The rest are actors in a complex, dramatic, emotional, suspense thriller. I have no problem with saying, "Get the hell off the set. You're in the wrong damn movie."

AD
Barking Alien

For more information on Marcus, you may want to check out:

A Considerable Threat
Gaming Solo...With A Group

Gains and Losses

I am very surprised my last post received so few comments. I thought is was a subject universal to gamers, and gaming of the RPG variety. Perhaps not.

Contemplating death (In a manner of speaking), got me to thinking about the lives of player characters, and what, short of death, would strike them as a significant blow, or loss.

While thinking along these lines it occurred to me that PC death, extremely rare in my games as I've noted, is considered a thing to avoid by both player and GM alike, because you lose much more than your character. In the campaigns that I run, you lose all the plots, subplots, relationships with NPCs, and everything you've developed over however long you've been playing that character. It is that which my players fear. It is that which tends to make them cautious, paranoid, and wary of the reaper.

The subject of loss over death, and loss of what a PC has gained, oddly came up today with my one difficult player. OK, all my Players can be pains in the keister, but in that lovable, entertaining way your friends who you game with can always be pains in the keister. No, this is the one guy in the group I've mentioned before as the only guy I periodically think of kicking out.

In a discussion we were having (yet again) about his Traveller character going off and doing his own thing, against the grain of the plot and the rest of the group, he had the gall to say that of all the characters in the campaign, his had the most to lose.

Ignoring the sheer ego of the statement, I asked him why he thought that to be the case. What made him say so? He could not clearly answer. He simply said he didn't want his character to die.

Granted, that is true of nearly every character, belonging to nearly every player, everywhere, in every game, ever. Other than that...?

It got me thinking ever more deeply about what this PC had gained. What had this player and his PC really accomplished over the course of our 21 game sessions of Traveller so far?

The answer is...nothing.

Unlike the rest of the group, this fellow maintains the classic 'murder-hobo' mentality. He seeks to make money, and most of his attempts to do so involve discovering/stealing something of value before someone else gets to it. He also tries to wheel and deal with NPCs, looking to set up some cockamamie scheme or other to get rich quick.

He has made the least money of any character so far. He has also, comparative to how much he has, spends the most.

He has been arrested once, legally freed thanks to another PC's legal expertise, and nearly killed at least three times.

If this PC were to die in the next game, what would he leave behind? Who would miss him? What great event would fail to unfold?

You got me.

He has an NPC sister, but in classic Old School fashion, she is viewed as an NPC who can help him when he needs it. That's it. Like an Henchman or Hireling that he doesn't need to pay because she's family. Recently she was kidnapped, and he decided to go on a different mission that would benefit him, while another PC went to save the first guy's sister.

(Of course, she's kind of bad ass, and the rest of the group likes the character).

Now let's look at what the other PCs in the campaign have accomplished in 21 sessions.

1) Two have gone into business together, and through the efforts of the two of them and another PC, gained a contract with the security department of a major megacorporation.
 
2) In conjunction with the above, two of the aforementioned PCs have made deep connections and allies among Imperial Naval Intelligence and SolSec (Solomani Security).
 
3) Early efforts by several of the PCs developed a unique way of hiding a ship in the asteroid belt of a star system that they patented and sold to the Imperial Navy. The Navy has decided to purchase all rights to the idea for over one million credits.
 
4) On a more personal note, one PC has reconnected with his (NPC) son, and his estranged father (NPC), though the father is now missing in action. She also negotiated a contract with an Aslan clan that impressed the Aslan so much, they began to speak socially. Soon, the Aslan Clan Leader's younger sister and the PC's son were hitting it off, and they decided to negotiate, well, arrange a marriage. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg. If any one of the other PC's died, there would be people grief stricken, unemployed, enemies ready to pounce, Aslan ready to pounce back, investigations, conflict, madness! If these PCs were in danger of losing a NPC loved one (which actually has, and is happening in the story), they would move Heaven and Earth to try and prevent it, or take revenge on those who harmed their own.

I love this campaign. I love what it's about, where it's been, and where it's going. There have been rocky parts for sure, but overall, I can't wait to run the next session.

Then, there is just this one guy who, if he didn't show, or his character died, only he would care.

Never be that guy.

AD
Barking Alien

Some Notes:

Today, July 23rd, is officially Batman Day! Happy 75th Birthday to the Caped Crusader!

July 20th commemorated the 45th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, and Neil Armstrong becoming the first Human being to walk on the moon. A big day for him, a giant day for mankind, and a major fascination and inspiration for me.

I may not be on much for a bit. The blog will be powered down for a week or so while we refit the Warp Core, and run a level 3 diagnostic on the Communications and Sensor arrays. You may see a post now and then, you may not. Hopefully we'll be ship shape and out of Spacedock by mid-August.

Take care all!

Removing The Kid Gloves

This is a very special installment of my popular (relative to this blog) series, 'What Other GMs Do Wrong'. For this entry, I take a look, not at other GMs, but at my self. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, and semi-amphibious, unisex, budding polyp entities from the Pinwheel Galaxy (You thought I forgot about you, didn't you? Never. We should do brunch. It's been ages), this time I want to address...

What This GM Does Wrong: Lethality and Player Character Mortality

EDITED and UPDATED, Monday, July 21st, 2014.

Comment, critique, and enjoy.

***

 

We just completed the 21st session of our monthly (more or less), classic Traveller campaign, TRAVELLER: Operation Paladin.

It was a great session. Not to mention a rough one.

Although perhaps not rough enough. Not tough enough maybe. Maybe I was not tough enough to back up my intentions. Please read on.

It was rough in that I have decided it's long past time I took off the training wheels for my group and ditched the kid gloves.

The kid gloves are off.

 

In the process of running this campaign, it has become very clear to me that I am way too easy on my players. The truth is, I have been for several years.

I don't think it started with my current group, but rather some previous incarnation of it. On the whole, my group/groups over the past few years have consisted of some variation of the same guys, with some people leaving, and others coming in, on a semi-annual basis.

In contrast to previous NJ and NY groups of my Junior High, High School and College years (and for sometime before and after as well), the group dynamic I've encountered from 2010-2014 is one with fewer experienced players, who are not only less familiar with RPGs, but also not as familiar with each other, or with me (Nor I with them).

After suffering for a time with no regular group, I initially took on a few people who hadn't played in a long while. To beef up the groups numbers, I added some really cool guys I met who were much newer to the hobby than the rest of the band, and certainly myself.

That was when I made a miscalculated judgment that will slowly, and subtly, create a major problem for me in the long wrong. I decided to go easy on my players.

For a good stretch of time, I made a concentrated effort to make the challenges challenging, but not too difficult. Enemies were dangerous, and could hurt you, but they weren't too deadly. I wanted this group of people to get into it and still around. I didn't want to frustrate them, or scare them off. The problem is, once you do this, once you establish this approach, and it works, it's very hard to undo it.

Before long, you've grown soft.

My friend Dave noticed, and he would often make me aware of it in conversations we'd have on the subject. He felt, and rightly so, that without the threat of PC mortality, RPGs lose a good deal of their appeal for many (Toon, TFOS and other comedy games not withstanding). Without the threat of ultimate loss, there is no sense of ultimate victory. If I can not die, why work so hard at living?

 My games were (and are) still fun of course. The stories, characters and challenges remained entertaining. So crazy fun apparently, that my players not only keep coming back, we expanded the number of times a month we meet to game, and they keep asking if their friends can join in. "I told my pal So-and-so all about our campaign, and he's really jazzed to play in it. Got room for one more?"

Problem is, I sat in front of my computer one day last week, and thought to myself, 'Of course people want to join in. Adam's giving away free candy.'

Now that's an exaggeration. I do not make it anywhere near that easy. At the same time, the sentiment is valid. I needed to get more serious, tougher, less worried about whether or not they were going to bail on the campaign, or the group, if their characters died.

So this past session I let them know. No more Mister Nice Guy. No more hand holding.

What do you think happened?

One fellow got very close to dead at least twice. The first time, he bitched and moaned, searched through every bit of equipment he had, and any loophole in the rules for combat to avoid death. One of the other players said, "I'm confused, why is this taking so long?" (My combats usually move very smoothly and quickly).

"Because his character could die. This is one of the reasons I've been easy on you guys. I was afraid that, if I wasn't, I'd get this."

In the end, he did find that one of his hi-tech items reduced the damage of the attack considerably. Thinking quickly, he managed to paralyze his opponent with a hardening foam grenade. He then ran like heck, and received assistance from one of the other players whose PC had hacked into the computer system controlling the maintenance tunnels the first PC was in. Thanks to the PC hacker, the first guy avoided the second potentially life threatening situation (explosive decompression).

I have to wonder, did I still go easy on the bitching and moaning guy. At least one of my players thinks so. In an email to me after reading this blog entry he said,

"When one of the assailants tried to shoot [the PC] in the arm, and afterward the other assailant attempted to throw a bomb into the room, both times [The Player in question] got out of his chair, and started loudly complaining until he made you [Me-Adam] retcon a battle situation you'd already established.  It felt like he pulled a fast one."

In retrospect, that is essentially what happened. I can not deny it. He further when on to say,

"You created a lot of great stuff in that session, but I think the retcons undermined the stakes you wanted to raise. More than ever it feels to me like [That Player and his PC] cannot lose."

Bottom line is this; Just as going easy on them for a long while made it hard not to do that after a while, it will take some time before we (my players and I) get used to my return to a more lethal style.

However, I need to keep up my end of the bargain. I have to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk.

My old groups were OK with it because they were accustomed to it. However, when I met them, nearly all of the players in all of those groups, were raised on games far more dangerous.

The Old School games didn't assume you were creating a deep, in-depth story, and so they didn't figure the death of your character would be a big deal. Since I tend to run games in genres where the death of the lead characters is fairly uncommon (Star Trek, Star Wars, Superheroes, etc.), the players knew to enjoy the heck out of their time, and be very smart about their actions since, although they weren't supposed to die, they knew they could.

By going easy on my more recent groups, I fear I have created a situation where they needn't be too attentive or too clever. After all, Adam's going to give us a way out of this mess. Simultaneously, none were too bold either, a strange dynamic I've noticed with my current group that I can't yet fathom. My older groups knew they could die, but rushed bravely into danger. This group is less afraid of meeting their makers, but less likely to enter a potentially life threatening situation.

Curious. Annoying, but curious.

In the end I have to do what's best for the group and the campaign we're all trying to enjoy together. That can mean making tough decisions. Decisions I've rarely, if ever, had to make in previous games over the last 37 years. It may mean kicking a player out, or myself in the arse, or both.

Well, that's that. I have not been tough enough, and now I will be.

Suck it up you pansies.

But your still my buds, so I say that with love. Yes. Suck it up with love.

Um...yeah.

AD
Barking Alien

Traveller Light - Part 1

Before getting into my project(s) for the NaGaDeMon challenge, I wanted to do an update on my Traveller campaign, as we completed Session #15 this past Saturday.

Far
We've been travelling far
Without a home
But not without a star

 

 

This remains one of my best campaigns in a long time. On a scale of 1 to 10, the campaign would rate at least a 9.5 at this point, maybe 9.7.

Why not a 10? I personally wish there was a bit more action and exploration mixed in with the intrigue, wheeling and dealing that goes on. Business deals, corporate espionage and conspiracies rule the day, and while the players and I are loving it, I am hoping for a little more two-fisted space adventure in the near future.

The irony is the only aspect of the game that can get frustrating is the activities of one player, Marcus, and his character Rex Kincaid, who as it turns out is the only truly bold, adventurous type. Unfortunately, he is often the leap-before-you-look type as well, meaning the rest of the group, who are playing a 'thinking game' of Traveller, are unlikely to follow him into the breach.

Andy and Hans (playing Ivan Petrovo and Amaya Takeda respectively) are a bit more action oriented and gung-ho than Will and Ray (Belarus Hosta and Emil Fujikawa), but thankfully have mindsets and motivations that add an air of caution or at least forethought into any grand adventure they may hope to undertake. If all goes well, Andy and Hans can temper Marcus' impatience while simultaneously encouraging Will and Ray to take a few more chances and perhaps even leap into the fray a little (well Ray at least. Will's character would be acting considerably out of character if she leaped into fray of any kind).

***

TRAVELLER: Operation Paladin

An Overview and Campaign Summary
Part 1

Our campaign began on Imperial Date IY 1095.40, or February 9th, 5613 on the Solomani Calendar.

All the PCs present in the first session began on Bussard Reach Highport, a space station orbiting Leighton IV in the Leighton system of Flux, Subsector J of the Spica Sector.

The PCs started not knowing each other at all. Most of them go looking for work, either by talking to NPCs or checking help wanted post on the station's internal 'E-Net' kiosks. Major sources of information and work come from NPCs Antoine Lambert, the station's Quartermaster, and bar/restaurant owner 'Barkley' of Barkley's Den (a Vargr who has dyed his fur green and claims to be of a very rare subspecies).

Belarus Hosta (Will's PC), contacts Barkely and Quartermaster Lambert (establishing that she has been on the station long enough to become friendly with them*) and tells them she is hiring for an excursion to a planet in the next subsector (Farbor, Subsector K). She also posts the job positions she needs to the E-Net.

Hosta ends up hiring the other PCs: Dr. Emil Fujikawa (Ray's PC), JayZed Trisector (Ed's PC) and Rex Kincaid (Marcus' PC). Fujikawa has a ship (a variant Lab Ship) and will take them to their destination. In addition, Hosta learns of two vagrants on the station: an alien pilgrim called Berell ThirdTurnFromTheSun (NPC) and his companion, a mysterious man named Kael (Jeff's PC). Hosta leaves the bay doors on Fujikawa's ship open after some parts and cargo are loaded on, giving an unspoken invite for the two to stowaway. Having learned a bit about the alien's culture, she believes she can cover some of the more questionable elements of her trip by saying she and the crew are escorting a religious pilgrim while also studying his religion and culture for a thesis.

Forged papers and permits helped that go more smoothly.

According to Hosta, she needs to travel to The Shallows, a planet supporting an experimental aquatic farming operation that she has invested a great deal in. Three months ago, all contact with the colony stopped and now the Imperial Navy has designated it a Red Zone, allowing no civilian traffic to the system. At the same time, they will not tell her the status of the colony and its operation, which she must know for business, legal and insurance purposes. Once she confirms what happened, they can leave.

In addition to the PCs and the alien Berell, Hosta convinces Barkley to come with, saying he could use a vacation and the experience will give him some great stories and maybe information he can use back at his restaurant. Actually, she was hoping his heightened senses and greater knowledge of Charted Space might come in handy. She and Barkley also cook up a contest, "Where's Barkley Gone?", encouraging patrons of his establishment to guess where he went. A contest entry is free with any purchase. The winner gets a 'Barkley's Den T-Shirt, Mug and a free dinner for two (or if it's a family, kid's eat free and adults are half price).

The trip will take approximately a month there and a month back, during which time there would be one fuel stop at the mid-way point each way. On the first fuel stop, the PCs docked at a Hive Federation Highport and refueling station and did a little side business. Barkley told Hosta that since that were there he would try to get a shipment of 'Green Wig', a mildly psychoactive moss/algae that when dried and ground, makes a very relaxing tea. It is something of a delicacy and hard to obtain.

By creating a ruse in which a sample of the tea 'caused' Barkley's fur to 'turn green' (the Hive Federation merchant was aware Barkley was a Vargr but hadn't seen him), Hosta got the group a discount on the fuel and a good deal of a batch of Green Wig, once it was scanned and tested of course.

Now...as to why are they actually going to The Shallows? Well...

AD
Barking Alien

*At the start of the campaign I asked everyone, "How long has your character been on the station?"

More than a month.
A month.
Less than a month.
Less than a week.
Just arrived today.

I prepared a series of index cards with the information they would know or have gained by being on Bussard Reach for their chosen amount of time. Longer wasn't automatically better, just a little different. However, the longer you were on the station the more and better you knew the station personnel (and they knew you).

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.

AD
Barking Alien