The Smurfs and The Happy Halloween Hazard

Hello my little Smurfs! A spooky and smurfy Halloween season to you all! 

I've been preparing to run a Halloween-themed Smurfs RPG One-shot for months now and I finally got the chance. I was so smurfing excited to play this scenario and hoped to share all the creepy and kooky Halloween fun with all of you.

It went over well enough with the players but I wasn't all that pleased with how it turned out. My pacing was off, the Players/PCs took a while to interact with each other and with the story, and things just didn't feel smurfy until the very end. The whole thing was just not as good as I'd hoped for given how much thought, energy, and time I put into creating the adventure.

Group #1: Sir Smurfsalot (Questing Smurf), Smurfanise, Smurfevergreen,

Smurfnightshade (who ended up not joining us sadly), and Spelly Smurf.

Luckily, I got to run the adventure a second time with a different group and it worked a lot better, at least for me. The Players/PCs in this second attempt got what I was going for early on and that helped a lot towards making the execution of my intended ideas easier to pull off. 

Group #1 consisted of four of the five players in that usually make up our mid-week gathering.

Group #2 had six players - 6! - which proved tricky towards the end of their session. At the same time, I am traditionally better with more players [up to a point], which might be another factor that enabled me to run the second team's game somewhat more smoothly than the first. 

Group #2: Brash Smurf, Smurfhoneysuckle, Apathy Smurf, Smurfhawthorn, Smurfgrevillea, Conscientious Smurf.

I'll focus my discussion on the scenario itself and refer to the play throughs only to point out what worked, what didn't, and maybe how it could be improved. 

The Smurfs and The Happy Halloween Hazard!

(Alternatively 'The Smurfs and The Hazardous Happy Halloween)

Premise: The Smurfs of Smurf Village and Smurfy Grove are joining together for their annual Halloween Celebration! 

In addition to a smurfy party thrown in both locations featuring costumes, treats, dancing, and decorations, each group of Smurfs have their own unique Halloween tradition. 

The Smurfs of Smurf Village have Spooky Smurf; each year a random Smurf is chosen to be Spooky Smurf, the Spirit of Smurfy Hallow's Eve and serves as the Master of Ceremonies for the holiday festivities. Since they wear the Spooky Smurf mask and costume, no one knows who they are until the end of the night. Remember, everyone else is in disguise as well!

The Smurf Girls of Smurfy Grove have the All Hallow's Tree; an old, naturally hollowed out tree is decorated with cobwebs, jack o' lanterns, candles, and other holiday appropriate faire. The tree's hollow spaces are filled with little gifts, treats, and even some tricks. Everysmurf is welcome to reach in and see what they get.

While the Smurfs are all enjoying the party, strange occurances start happening that threaten to ruin the fun. The weirdness escalates until Spooky Smurf summons five ghosts to spread fear throughout the smurflands!

Who is under the Spooky Smurf mask and why are they doing this? How can they be stopped? Can this horrendous holiday hassle be transformed back into a Happy Halloween? 

Overview: For the most part, I had this idea for a Spooky Season Smurf adventure that might have had too much going on or there were too many expectations on my part. 

I started by introducing each Smurf PC and their costume. I intended to give each Smurf a +1 Stat bonus related to their outfit, treating their disguises as Special Items. Unfortunately, an early action by one of the Players/PCs in Group #1, a humorous bit they wanted to have with...themselves, would've been smurfed by having such a bonus, so I never included the idea in that group's outing. 

Hoping to prevent a similar situation, I let Group #2 know about the +1 Costume bonus from the onset. This made them lean into the gimmick a lot more. 

Their costumes were:

Group #1: Sir Smurfsalot came as a Dragon (one hunting for Sir Smurfsalot - very cute), Smurfanise came as Azrael the Cat (voted 'most frightening' costume), Smurfevergreen came as a Mouse/Rat (a cheaply made, poorly assembled costume she made herself), and Spelly Smurf came as Smurfalf (basically a parody of Gandalf the Gray).

Group #2: Apathy Smurf came as a Ghost (just a burlap sack with two holes for eyes - whatever. Who cares?), Brash Smurf came as a Superhero, Conscientious Smurf as a Clown, Smurfgrevillea as a Witch, Smurfhawthorn as a Fairy Princess, and Smurfhoneysuckle as a Scarecrow.

Hawthorn didn't like her costume, which was made by Grevillea. It was too frilly, too colorful, and she felt silly. Meanwhile, Grevillea was dressed as a Witch because she borrowed Hawthorn's regular clothes...without telling her. This made me laugh and started us off on a great note given these were both brand new characters. 

When I introduced the party itself in the very beginning of the session; bobbing for 'Appleberries', telling scary stories, dancing, and eating lots of sweets, I got very little energy back from Group #1. One fellow got into it but not many of the others did and none with as much investment as that first fellow. This meant very little talking with the other PCs, any NPCs, etc. Definitely some but the mood just wasn't very festive or smurfy and it kind of through off my momentum.

My buddy Nick - who plays Sir Smurfsalot - came up with the idea of Appleberries, basically Smurf scale apples. That's what the Smurfs use to make Candied and Caramel Apples and for the purposes of bobbing. I thought that was pretty clever. 

Group #2 on the other hand acted like the party WAS the adventure! They were having so much fun competing with each other, making up drinks and foods, and drawing items from the All Hallow's Tree, that they were genuinely surprised when the ghosts showed up and Spooky Smurf went all supervillain on them. 

There were hints as to who was dressed up as what so the PCs could figure out which Smurf was in the Spooky Smurf outfit. Booth groups did a pretty good job determining who was who and Spooky Smurf's true identity.

Baker Smurf - A Cupcake

Brainy Smurf - A Ghost

Grouchy Smurf - A Mummy

Handy Smurf - A Werewolf

Hefty Smurf - Frankenstein's Monster

Papa Smurf - Santa Claus

Smurfbegonia - A Clown

Smurfette - A Witch

Smurfstorm - Robin Hood

Smurfwillow - Mother Nature

Vanity Smurf - A Vampire

And this year's Spooky Smurf?

Jokey Smurf!

While both also used that knowledge to counter the effects of the mask that was possessing the wearer, Spelly Smurf from Group #1 came up with a really creative way of using magic to trap the evil spirit and the other ghosts [turning jack o' lanterns into Spirit Jars]. In addition, Sir Smurfsalot delivered the final blow by starting to sing the Smurfs' theme, 'La La-la la-La La', and getting everyone to participate. No evil can survive that song . Singing a happy song was the perfect defense against a fear based entity.

Group #2 initially thought it was a prank, a Halloween 'trick', and not a true spirit possession. Eventually they got what was happening and, when they figured out it was Jokey under the mask, used laughter to fight the fear generated by the sinister spook. As it turned out, Gargamel had summoned the frightful fiend in hopes that it would drive the Smurfs out of their homes and into the surrounding woodlands. 

As for the ghosts that were summoned, there was a Fiery Fiend, a Lantern Phantom, a Screaming Spectre, a Slimey Spook, and a Stinky Spirit. All had an Effort Max of 5 and were Difficulty Level 5D6. 

Each had a weakness of sorts that would reduce their DL. Water for the Fiery Fiend or blowing out the candle in the Lantern Phantom's lantern for example. 

In the end, as already noted, both groups had a lot of fun and so did I. I just felt, deep down, that I didn't execute the adventure as well as I could have with Group #1. A PC action early on through me off my smurf, I just couldn't get my smurf back the way it needed to be. 

With that, a Very Happy Halloween to all my readers!

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Barking Alien

Been A Long Time Since We Smurfed and Rolled!

It's been a long time,

Been a long time,
Been a long smurfy, smurfy,smurfy, smurfy, smurfy time!

Feels like it's been a Smurf's age since I've talked about one of my all time favorite Fantasy Tabletop RPGs - The Smurfs Roleplaying Game. 

Thankfully, I got to run AND play it yesterday (Saturday, September 19th 2026) and it was absolutely SMURFY! Did I say Run and Play? I did! It was awesome! Here's how it went down...

The session was split into two parts, each part being two hours long. Following the first half there was a small break inbetween and then we did the second half. I was Narrator Smurf (the GM) for Part 1 and I played Smurfcornflower for Part 2, which was run by Smurfs fan extraordinaire Stephen, the Storyteller for The Smurfs and The Palace of the Silver Princess and The Smurfs and The Bluebird of Happiness, as well as the player of Gamer Smurf in The Nightmare Before Smurfmas. 

OK...let's get to the good smurf...

BARKING ALIEN

PROUDLY PRESENTS...

The SMURFS

and

The Spectacular Smurf Day Snafu!

 

Part 1: A Foraging We Will Smurf! 

Narrator Smurf: Adam (Me!)

Players and Player Characters: Andrew as Apathy Smurf, Bob as Helpful Smurf, Heather as Smurfhoneysuckle, Julia as Smurfamaryllis, and Stephen as Gamer Smurf. 

The image above has them in the following order: Amaryllis, Gamer, Honeysuckle, Cornflower, Apathy, and Helpful. 

The Adventure: It's almost Smurf Day! The smurfiest day of the year! This year, among the many festivities planned, Baker is making the most amazing Smurf Day Cake any Smurf has ever made! The reason this cake will be so extra smurfy is that Baker isn't making it alone. He's working with Smurfcornflower for in order to give the cake some extremely exciting additions. 

Unfortunately...Smurfcornflower is out of some key ingredients! Smurf Day is tomorrow and she needs to brew a uniquely smurfy potion before Baker begins making his cake. Panicking, Cornflower asks her best friends Apathy and Honeysuckle to get some Smurfs together and go collect the needed components. Helpful Smurf, Smurfamaryllis, and Gamer Smurf see the others heading out and offer to come with them to help. Each for this own reasons:

Helpful felt he wasn't being helpful enough (after listing a dozen Smurfs he'd already helped).

Amaryllis wasn't getting enough praise or attention, so she wanted to do something notable.

Gamer said no one wanted to play with him. They were all so busy with Smurf Day.

Maybe not everysmurf had the most noble motivations but nonetheless their assistance was welcomed by Honeysuckle. Apathy was fine with them coming as well. 

What came next was a series of challenges to obtain a shopping list of silly and strange berries, herbs, and other elements. The Smurfs were confronted by difficult terrain, severe weather, hungry Growlers, and of course Gargamel and Azrael.  The PCs overcame these obstacles with character, cleverness, and comedy.

The group managed to assemble all the ingredients though not without Amaryllis and Helpful taking some serious bumps and bruises. 

Part 2: Bubble, Bubble Smurfs in Trouble! 

Narrator Smurf: Stephen

Players and Player Characters: Andrew as Apathy Smurf, Adam (Me!) as Smurfcornflower, Bob as Helpful Smurf, Heather as Smurfhoneysuckle, and Julia as Smurfamaryllis.

The Adventure: Having returned with the resources they were looking for, everysmurf met with Smurfcornflower at her Mushroom Cottage in Smurfy Grove so they could help her with making your super smurfy Smurf Day Spectacular Potion. Gamer Smurf left for Smurf Village to stall Baker Smurf, allowing Smurfcornflower and her team time to finish her concoction. 

Stephen ran this section of the story as a combination of puzzles and varying physical challenges revolving around the brewing of a very difficult elixir. It was fun, extremely funny, and very different from what we'd done in the past. For example, at one point we had to add frozen berries to boiling water. The challenge dealt with mathematics and if the numbers didn't line up, the potion would explode! Thank goodness for Andrew/Apathy and Bob/Helpful. My math skills absolutely suck! Once we got the temperatures right, we had to crush some mint into powder and that was more physical and accomplished by Honeysuckle and Amaryllis. Meanwhile, I needed to keep track of time (using an 5-minute timer) and how many stirs in which direction Cornflower was making. Our game time frame of two hours was treated as the in-game time frame as well. 

My favorite part was towards the end when we had to sing to the potion to get it just right! I got to make up an impromtu song and we had the advantage of Heather/Honeysuckle who is an amazing singer. It was ridiculous and hilarious. 

Conclusion: The final potion was poured into the cake mix of flour, eggs, milk, and other traditional components with wonderfully proposterous results! Each time the cake was cut or bitten into it sparked colorful fireworks (mostly blue, red, and purple) that tickled the tongue and tasted like Smurfberries. It was basically Smurfberry Pop-rocks with harmless, magical bursts of light! 

WHAT FUN! Honestly the entire thing was a total blast (no pun intended but totally welcome). 

Honestly the best part was getting to play with these charming, humorous, and very creative people once again. I had so much fun gaming with Bob and Julia once more but being joined by Andrew and Heather was truly a treat. Stephen, as always, brought the magic and remains one of the best Gamemasters I've played with. 

Hopefully I'll get to smurf again soon. 

Smurf you later!

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Barking Alien

The Smurfs and The Whispering Stones

Oh The Smurfs RPG, I do smurf you so!

With two of our Wednesday night regulars out for various reasons, I had the opportunity to run The Smurfs once again this past week and obviously I smurfed at the chance!

In addition to returning characters like Sir Smurfsalot - The Questing Smurf and Spelly Smurf, we had Will trying out a new character in the form of Smurfevergreen of Smurfy Grove. 

The adventure, which I titled The Smurfs and The Whispering Stones, was inspired by some interesting folklore I came across recently pertaining to the beliefs and practices of the Gauls in Northwestern France.

The Smurfs of both Smurf Village and Smurfy Grove are all kept up one evening by whispered voices heard on the wind. No one can make out what they are saying but neither can anyone ignore them and get back to sleep. Well...all except Spelly, who cast a QUIET Spell as he does every evening to help him rest comfortably. 

In Smurf Village, Papa Smurf went door to door checking on his little Smurfs. Brainy was seeing formulas spin around his head. Smurfette could barely keep her eyes open. Even Lazy was awake! When Papa reached Sir Smurfsalot, the latter offered to go on a quest to silence these foul whispers! Papa Smurf was happy to hear that, as he had an idea of what the issue might be. He suggested Sir Smurfsalot not go alone, taking at least one other Smurf with him. He decided to call upon his friend Spelly Smurf, certain that Spelly's magic would probably prove helpful. 

Unfortunately, with the QUIET Spell cast within Spelly's house, he was unable to hear Papa and Smurfsalot knocking on his front door. Not to worry! Concerned for Spelly's well-being, Sir Smurfsalot removed his armor and climbed down Spelly's chimney. He was then able to go to Spelly's bedroom to wake him (funny scene). Going downstairs with Smurfsalot to meet Papa, Spelly got the lowdown on what was going on. Papa further explained what he thought the cause of the problem might be. 

"At the edge of the West Woods, past the Sarsaparilla Fields, and the path to Smurfy Grove, there are five menhirs (Gallic Standing Stones) known as 'The Whispering Stones' and 'The Hiding Menhir'. These stones aid in the enchantments that hide the Smurfs' lands and protect them from people like Gargamel. While the magic prevents that foul sorceror from finding our Village and the Grove, it is possible he's located the menhir themselves! If he's moved one, he may yet be able to locate our hidden homes!"

With that, Sir Smurfsalot and Spelly Smurf headed off into the night to investigate what had become of the stones. Papa Smurf advised them to return as soon as they knew what the situation war.

[Before he left the village, Spelly wrote the word QUIET with special chalk, one letter on each of five fist sized rocks. The three Smurfs then placed the rocks in a pentagram like pattern around the village, providing the rest of the Smurfs with a chance to get some much needed shut-eye.]

Meanwhile, wide awake though it was the middle of the night, a female Smurf of Smurfy Grove stood near her work bench in a hollowed out section of a tree. This was Smurfevergreen and she lived on her own a little ways away from Smurfy Grove in a tree at the end of the West Woods. Evergreen is an unusual Smurf in many ways; she prefers to be alone, she likes her tree home as opposed to a Mushroom House, and makes various tools and items out of things she finds out in nature. For example, she didn't carefully carve her bow and arrows so much as find twigs and saplings and just adapt them for her purposes. The only item she owns that may not have been made by her is a Survival Knife which she uses to cut and chop ingredients and materials for her...well...survival. 

Smurfevergreen hears the strange whispers and goes to investigate. The Whispering Stones are not that far from her home so she arrives well before the boys of Smurf Village. The voices were very creepy but hard to make out until she got close. Now she heard 'stone', 'moved', 'danger', and 'broken'. This did not bode well. 

Spelly Smurf and Sir Smurfsalot heard the words but much more faintly as they came striding down the path. Noting a small, dark hole behind the stones - possibly a fox's den or rabbit warren - Spelly wondered if there was something or someone hiding in there. As if on cue, dust and mist billowed out of the hole and five small, angry-looking people came running out towards the Smurfs. The dwarf-like creatures began shouting in a strange dialect the Smurfs couldn't make out at first. Spelly and Smurfsalot tried to communicate with them but the mad mini-men weren't listening.

Smurfevergreen leapt out from the bushes and ended up behind the creatures as they ran towards the boy Smurfs. Using her Survival Knife, she cut the belt of one of two twin beings, causing his pants to fall down and tripping him into a face-plant.

The boys briefly engaged the creatures as well but before long one of them said something Spelly caught on to. He tried again to talk to these ruffians and their 'leader' called Spelly out for 'moving one of the stones'. Pointing out that the Smurfs had only just arrived and were way to small to move a menhir, the creatures began to question their overzealous actions. Noting that SOMEONE moved one of the stones, breaking the enchantment that protects Smurf Village and Smurfy Grove, but these fellows couldn't see who it was. Apparently the culprit was 'Cloaked in Darkness'. 

The creatures introduce themselves as The Goric, spirits of the Whispering Stones. 

Assembling together with Smurfevergreen, Spelly and Smursalot explained that they were Smurfs and that it was their homes that the stones helped protect. "Why would WE move them?" This made sense to the Gorics. Their leader mentioned that it was 'the Old Man' and 'The Lady' - Papa Smurf and Smurfwillow - who set up the magic in the first place. The Goric apologized, not recognizing the Smurfs as being the same type of people as the Old Man and Lady. It turns out the Goric act first and think...eventually. 

Studying the stones, it was indeed clear one of the stones had been moved, though not more than two Human strides. That's three or four steps for a Goric and quite a few more for a Smurf. Suddenly a trap went off, catching Smurfevergreen and two of the Gorics in a crude rope net and lifting them high off the ground. Using her Survival Knife and the surprising strength of the Goric, Evergreen was able to free them all, taking part of the rope net down with them.

Judging by footprints near by, it was likely the menhir was moved by a Man and that man was accompanied by a small animal. Probably a cat.

Wait a smurf...

Now the Smurfs panicked! "If it were indeed that fiend Gargamel and Azrael, his wretched familiar, thy friends are in grave danger! The protection of the enchantment hast doth been weakened and they may be nary moments from bestowing woe upon our lands!", exclaimed Sir Smurfsalot. 

It was true and what to do about the situation had to be decided at once! Spelly had an idea! Move the stone back into place first. With any luck, Gargamel and Azrael haven't reached the Village yet and there was still a chance to confuse them and have them lose their way. 

Sir Smurfsalot immediately went to push the stone back into place but even his great strength [for a Smurf] was quite enough. Smurfevergreen fashioned a lasso out of the remains of the rope net so she could pull while Smurfsalot pushed. Spelly asked the Goric if they could help to. It never occurred to them that they might be able to move the stones themlves. Never once in all their centuries. All together, the entire group moved the menhir back into place and just as they did, Gargamel bumped into a tree! He looked about and could not longer see the way to Smurf Village.

"Where did that come from? Wait...where is the path? Azrael! Which way, Azrael? What happened?", Gargamel called out. A confused Azrael just shrugged and looked this way and that. "Egad Azrael! The Smurfs! It must be them. They must have moved the stone back into place! Curses! We must go back to the Whispering Stones and this time, break them into pieces!" This was following by a manical laugh and the sounds of a snickering cat.

Pulling up the hood on a particularly peculiar dark cloak, Gargamel and Azrael faded into the shadows as they headed to the standing stones once again. 

The Smurfs meanwhile assumed their enemy would be making their way back to them and formulated a plan. Spelly readied himself to cast a major spell but needed the others to buy him time. Sir Smurfsalot and Smurfevergreen got ready as the Goric, cheering on the Smurfs, faded back into the spirit world and the stones. 

Not long after, when bushes rustled and hands swiped down to grab the Smurfs, Smurfsalot raised his Sword and angled it to catch the moonlight. He called upon the light to shine down and reveal their opponent! It worked! The moon shimmered across Gargamel's magic Cloak as Evergreen tussled with Azrael. All this time, Spelly Smurf had been spelling out...

C-o-n-c-e-a-l t-h-e H-i-d-i-n-g M-e-n-h-i-r f-r-o-m G-a-r-g-a-m-e-l a-n-d A-z-r-a-e-l

Yes, 'Conceal the Hiding Menhir from Gargamel and Azrael', an incantation it took three long moments to spell out. The spirts of the stones, the Goric, helped a bit by distracting Gargamel and Azrael with their trademark creepy whispers but it was the skill in battle of Sir Smurfsalot and Smurfevergreen that really made the casting possible. 

In the end, Gargamel and Azrael were standing in the West Woods completely lost. Totally baffled by where the Whispering Stones had gone and which way to go to look for either them or the Smurf Village, the two gave up. Defeated, they slinked back to Gargamel's hovel of a keep with their nerves on edge and the Cloak of Darkness shredded by the blades of the fighting Smurfs.

Sir Smurfsalot and Spelly Smurf returned to Smurf Village and Smurfevergreen walked them home, a big deal for her as her preference is to be alone. Generally, Evergreen doesn't make friends easily, if at all, and few Smurfs consider themselves friends of hers. However...Sir Smurfsalot declared how impressed he was by her skills and commended her for her bravery. Spelly insisted the 'quest' could not have been concluded successfully without her. Smurfevergreen felt a strange and unfamiliar emotion...camaraderie? She wasn't sure she felt comfortable with it but you know, she didn't dislike it either. The trio agreed to call upon each other again in the future if they were ever in need of help. 

Papa Smurf, along with Smurfette and Brainy, met with the guys and welcomed them home. As the heroes described their adventure and the others oohed and aahed, Evergreen faded into the Sarsaparilla Fields with a smile.

The End.

Thanks for coming by! Sorry this was a bit of a long one but it was a really great session and I just wanted to share. 

Talk to you again soon...

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Barking Alien

On A Blue Note

My recent lackluster excursion into Medieval Fantasy Solo RPGaming had me really down; moreso than I would have expected. It was made worse by a poor purchase I made specifically for this experiment, hoping the product I bought would be useful for my endeavor*. It was not and in fact it is so lame I can't see myself ever using it but more on that later.

I really dislike wasting time and money. Grr. Sigh.

Luckily, there is light at the end of this dark tunnel and that light my friends, is blue...

I'll be running The Smurfs RPG this week! Woohoo!

With some of our regulars out we'll be skipping the next session of the normal campaign and playing a Smurfs one-shot instead. I am officially cheered-up as I haven't gotten the chance to run The Smurfs in what feels like a long while and, as you probably know by now, I absolutely love this game! 

It looks like Nick will be return to play Sir Smurfsalot - The Questing Smurf, Ray will reprise Spelly Smurf, and Will will be coming in with a brand new Smurf Girl from Smurfy Grove by the name of Smurfevergreen! 

I'm genuinely looking forward to this and will be spending today working up my adventure (as much as Adam works up adventures that is). Later in the week I'll give you all the aftersmurf report. 

Until then, smurf you later my fellow Smurfs!

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Barking Alien

*A Mini-Review of Roll & Play Press's 'No Place Like Homebrew':

I don't normally do product reviews of this sort but I was not happy with this purchase and I wanted everyone out there to be aware of what the book was all about. If you are new to tabletop roleplaying games in general and Dungeons and Dragons 5E specifically, this product might be of interest and use to you. 

If you have been playing for 10 years or more, have played games other than D&D, and have what I have to assume is a modest amount of creativity, you can probably skip this book. It has 252 pages of stuff, ranging from deities and locations to creatures and more locations that you've already come up with or read before on a blog, in a magazine, or any number of other places a dozen times already. Nothing in it, as far as I can tell, is of particular noteworthiness. 

The book is oddly organized, at least to me, though perhaps Fantasy gamers are more accustomed to the thinking process that went into this. For example, it starts with REALMS, a whole section on sample worlds and settings which certainly makes sense but its then filled with things like Deities, Celestials, and other otherworldly entities. Is that where most people start their world-building? With the Gods? Is that the first thing I need when trying to put together an adventure for my party of players and their PCs? Felt a little strange to me. 

Their idea of cool and interesting monsters are Bulettes but their gold-colored, Corgis with extra legs, and Pink Hounds that don't tire. Wow. Breathtaking. Also, thank goodness for an Index at the end of the book because its not like all the creatures are in one creature section. Instead they're scattered throughout the book (as are NPCs and other elements) based on terrain type. That makes sense, can't fault them for that, but I found it hard to know where to look to find something I'd previously read without use of the index. 

At $54.99 for the physical book (not including shipping) and $29.99 for the PDF, I can't recommend spending your money on this. I've seen far more exciting and innovative ideas to plug into your campaign for free or at a much lower cost from blogs, forums, magazine articles, and the like.

This product gets a 5 or maybe 5.5 out of 10 from me.

I'll Tell You What I Want, What I Really, Really Want

I am currently running three campaigns. 

One is a bi-weekly game of Star Trek Adventures that my players and I have titled Star Trek: Prosperity. This campaign has been going on for nearly twelve years of real time. It features four players, plus myself as Gamemaster, and is set in a version of The Original Series Era that has run considerably longer than the first Star Trek TV series lasted on television. 

I love this campaign. My players appear to love it. It just keeps going.

The other two are, as mentioned the other day, Superhero games;

One is My Hero Academia: Hero Helpline; basically the premise of the video game Dispatch set in the universe of My Hero Academia. I'm using a Japanese fan-made TRPG called 'Plus Ultra'.

The second is The Legion of Superheroes: Legion Outpost, a Champions 4th Edition campaign following an expansion team of DC Comics' 31st Century Superheroes, The Legion of Superheroes. 

These two are fun. Definitely fun. There are ideas in both of them that I think are interesting to explore. That said...are these the games I really want to be running? Well...

Allow me to start by saying, I don't mean for this post to imply I'd rather be running one of the following campaign concepts instead of any of the ones I'm currently GMing.

OK...wait. No, that is kinda what I'm saying. The RPGs below are what I'd really love to be running if I could run anything I wanted and had people who wanted to play them. Except Star Trek: Prosperity. I would want to run one or more of the campaigns I'm about to discuss in addition to continuing with Star Trek: Prosperity. That doesn't mean I am unhappy with the games I'm currently running, just that these are my current 'dream campaigns'. 

The problem is...I don't know that the games I want to run are ones my current groups of players want to play, especially for a prolonged period of time. They might say yes to a one-shot and truly have a great time with it but I don't think they see the ongoing potential of the ones I'm going to talk about. 

Maybe some do. Hmm. OK. With that...

Ghostbusters

Yeah, I've definitely been slimed by the news of the upcoming Netflix animated series Night Shift but a desire to run a long term Ghostbusters campaign always haunts the back of my mind. 

I love the idea of characters who aren't exceptionally adept or particularly professional facing off against foes beyond their 'pay grade'. At the same time, the PCs do have some special skills and gear to level the playing field (pun intended) and the wits and determination to take down far more powerful adversaries. 

I'm also particularly found of the system I've homebrewed to run Ghostbusters, really a kitbash of the original WEG RPG, InSpectres, and the Year Zero mechanics from Free League's ALIEN game. Add in some of the customizable elements my groups and I have added over the years  - things like unique Proton Packs, alternative Ecto Vehicles, and the PCs' Headquarters - and I really think the game, and the players, would get the most out of an extended campaign, instead of just the occasional one-shot.

The Adventures of Horai Academy!!

This is a game near and dear to my heart that I honestly haven't run in roughly 30 years. And to be clear, even back then I only ran 6 sessions. I'd never run it before that and I haven't had the opportunity to run it again since. どうしたの？

Not only do I love the premise, best described by my friend Ray as, 'Crazy Japanese High School - The Roleplaying Game', but I also feel it has simple, interesting rules that make it a breeze to run while maintaining a certain amount of mechanical depth. Not too much mechanical depth I suppose but just enough to keep me engaged and allow for the kinds of stories and actions the game intends to create. 

Man, I have to do a dedicated post on this game. It's history and current incarnation are absolutely fascinating.

Anyway, I am once again in an Anime/Manga mood and this game would absolutely satisfy my craving for Japanese pop culture and fandom influenced gaming. 

The Smurfs

I haven't run or played The Smurfs Roleplaying Game in a while now and I REALLY miss it. Moreover, I desperately want to produce an ongoing campaign. Not only have I been eager to do this for some time now but I have so many ideas for putting one together that they're burning a hole in my smurf!

In addition to exploring the fun characters that players keep coming up with, I want to continue expanding the world/setting, bring in both new and classic adversaries, and incorporate the base-building element of developing your Smurf House. 

I seriously think a long term Smurfs campaign could be the best Medieval Fantasy RPG you're going to get from me. Hopefully I'll get the chance. Smurfs crossed.

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Barking Alien

All Alone and Blue

My regular Wednesday night group decided to skip this past week's get together, largely due to exhaustion and a couple players being away because of personal and/or work obligations.

As a result, the Smurfs RPG one-shot I had planned will have to wait for another time. It's OK. I'm cool with it. No worries on my end. 

...Oh who am I smurfing? I want to play Smurfs! I'm smurfing at the bit! Chomping at the smurf? You smurf my meaning, right?

Wait...this is the perfect opportunity to try out something I've been pondering for a while now; a Smurfs RPG Solo Adventure!

I first mentioned this idea back in November of last year, in a post titled Blue Plate Special. The basic smurf of it is that I would use/focus on a single Smurf as my Player Character but have them accompanied by a rotating cast of additional Smurf companions. 

There are some rules on pages 30 and 31 of the Smurfs RPG Core Rulebook regarding playing a Smurf with a 'Sidekick' and I kind of extrapolated my Solo rules from there...at first.

The smurf of it is that a Smurf with a Sidekick isn't exactly what I had in mind for a Solo Smurfs RPG. I wanted the NPCs to have a little more to them. Less Sidekicks and more Supporting Characters I suppose. 

For the star of this Solo smurfy outing, I went with my original character Smurfcornflower, first created for The Smurfs and The Palace of the Silver Princess. I just adore her and she makes an excellent central character thanks to her Potion Making talents; needing to make a Potion, having to find the right ingredients, having to cure the effects of a botched potion, and the like all make good catalysts for an adventure.

I rolled randomly off a table I created to determine which companion Smurfs would be joining her and then wrote them up as follows: Create the NPC as per Sidekicks. Then add/expand upon elements of the character that might be prudent to know for an adventure such as Best Stat, Worst Stat, their Advantage, a Signature Item of Equipment, and a short description of their personality and motivation. 

Basically, a Smurf Companion is more than a Sidekick, less then a full Player Character write-up.

In practice, I made all of the choices for my 'Solo Smurf', while the other NPC Smurfs were guided by a mixture of my decisions and random rolls. I also generated the adventure randomly and used die rolls to determine a lot of the elements within the adventure. 

In upcoming posts I will detail the characters, the adventure, and the far too detailed plans I created for Smurfcornflower's Mushroom Cottage. 

Smurf you later!

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Barking Alien

A very Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there with the utmost appreciation and love for all you do!

A Blue Dilemma

This past Wednesday I received an email from Maestro Media indicating my physical, hardcover copy of The Smurfs The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook has shipped and is on its way to me as we speak.

Hopefully the package will include the custom dice I added on 'cause who could resist a bunch more themed 6-sided dice, right? (See previous post)

I also got to run a Smurfs one-shot with most of my regular Wednesday night group, my first time running or playing it this year. Next week the group make up will be a little different - the one person out this week will be back but one or two others will be out - so I'll be running it again [with a new scenario] so everybody gets to experience the magic.

This is awesome and I couldn't be happier. Well...unless...unless I could get a full campaign going I suppose. 

In addition to adoring this game for the comedic elements and really liking the mechanics, its turning out to be something I didn't expect...a Fantasy RPG that I enjoy. Crazy right? 

The reason for this can be, at least partially, attributed to my deep dive into the Smurfs' comic book origins, as well as French and Belgian folklore. A curious item I just picked up is a Smurfs 'Graphic Novel' called The Smurfs Monsters, a collection of Smurfs comics that each feature our favorite little blue people facing various fantastical creatures. I feel a potential 'Monster Manual' coming on, taking these beasts and beings and giving them write-ups in the Smurfs RPG. If the cover is any indication, I'm going to be getting some very interesting looking critters. 

If the game has a flaw it's that one of my favorite aspects, creating your very own personal Mushroom Cottage, is difficult to work into play. As I gain more and more experience with the game, I realize this element truly shines in a campaign and is rather tricky to implement during one-shots or even two-parters. 

Usually, the PC Smurfs go on some adventure that takes them out of the village and don't return home until the scenario is complete. Perhaps they are chasing Gargamel, who just captured some Smurfs. Maybe Papa Smurf has sent them out to gather a rare magical ingredient. Whatever it is, the Smurfs are going away from their Smurfhouses and only coming back to them if they finish their quest or get totally Smurfed! 

I imagine in a long term campaign, more adventures and general activities would be occuring in and around Smurf Village and Smurfy Grove. Because of this, characters would be visiting their Mushroom Cottages (and each others') far more often. This, combined with the usefulness of the mechanical bonuses supplied by Smurfhouse, would make the inclusion of these homes more appealing to the PCs and more vital to the success of particularly difficult scenarios.

I've noticed that some players take the idea of a Smurfs RPG 'seriously', while others default to assuming they're playing a silly, comedic 'break' from their regular, more meaningful campaign. This makes sense given the natural of one-shots combined with the Smurfs themselves being comical characters from comic book and animated origins. As someone who has run and played some dramatically rich 'humorous' games, I think that given an open mind and a full campaign, I could get some great Roleplaying and World-Building moments from the Smurfs RPG with little trouble. 

These are just some thoughts I find myself having on a lazy Sunday in May. More to come, not to mention an idea for a new professional project. 

Smurf strong and stay tuned!

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Barking Alien

The Smurfs depicted are all original, Player Character Smurfs; all the ones I've seen so far in the Smurfs RPG games I've run and played [that I could remember]. They are:

Row 1 (L-to-R): Fisher Smurf, Adventure Smurf, Science Smurf, Lookout Smurf, Sir Smurfsalot aka Questing Smurf, and Champion Smurf.

Row 2: Smurfamaryllis, Suave Smurf, Apathy Smurf, Smurfcornflower, Brash Smurf, Smurfhoneysuckle, and Gamer Smurf.

Row 3: Smurfpepper, Helpful Smurf, Spelly Smurf, Frontier Smurf, and Smurfanise.

UPDATE: May 4th, 2026, 3:30 pm.

I got it! It is here!