All The Gods Are Bastards

I feel, not for the first time either, that all my heroes, and inspirations are gone.

Just when I remind myself that they aren't, that this artist, actor, or that author is still with us, we lose another one.

Another bright light in an endless sea of drab darkness has gone out, snuffed from existence by fate, chance, the nature of things, or, spare me, a higher power.

Ladies, and Gentlemen, a moment of silence, and a lifetime of respect and admiration, for the passing of Terry Pratchett.

Terry Pratchett was to be one of my Thorough Thursday posts this month. Seems appropriate that I praise him now, rather than wait.

It is very difficult to know where to begin, or what to say. To speak on behalf of the life of a man who I did not know personally, and whose wit, and way with words would surely put anything clever, or poignant I wanted to say to shame, I am left feeling inadequate to the task.

The one thing I can say is this; Terry Pratchett would not put me to shame. He would not read what I wrote about him, say he could do better, and proceed to embarrass me with his gifts.

Based on everything I've read about him, everything I've ever heard him say, he would say not to put him on a pedestal, not to treat his life as any more important, or full of grandeur than any other. "Sure, I had a good run", I am imagine him reflecting, but in the end he would say that, in the end, all our stories come to a last page.

All of us meet Death. We can see him coming, and run screaming in the other direction, but it really is so much wasted effort I'm afraid. We can instead, wait until we are ready, quietly close up shop, give him a firm and friendly handshake, and say, "Well then, where are we off to now?"

Mister Pratchett, I don't know where you're off to, and I certainly don't believe there is a particular place to go in the literal sense, but I have to hope there is a new journey of some sort waiting for you. Enjoy your eternal holiday.

You will be missed.

“No one is actually dead

until the ripples they cause in the world die away...”

 

Reaper Man, a Discworld novel,
By Terry Pratchett.

Ripple on,

AD
Barking Alien

Inspired By Mediocrity

I am in one of my moods.

You know the one I'm talking about. I'm sure you get into it yourself. It's the one where ideas are coming at you like a Japanese Bullet Train. Dozens of them pulling into the same station at the same time, threatening to crash into those already there at any moment.

 

Seriously, they look like freakin' starships.

Right now my brain is a madhouse! A MADHOUSE!

Funny enough, this has been the case every since I ran Dungeons & Dragons 5E on July 4th. Funnier still is that none of the ideas I'm having have anything to do with D&D 5E.

I found the game serviceable, and if I had to play a D&D game, I would prefer 5E over any of the others based on what I've seen so far. As one of my friends and players said today, "That's high praise from Adam."

Yes, tell the people that Barking Alien approves of this game. It makes him vomit least of all the versions. That's marketing, that is.

The only negative thing I have to say about it, so far as my experience with it goes, is that it is a tad bland. Not exactly dry, as it's probably a bit unnecessarily flowering in its prose, but just not exciting.

It doesn't stir me, or make me want to work up a campaign of it. Perhaps it would if I were predisposed to Dungeons and Dragons style gaming, but I'm not, so it left me with an uncontrollable urge to make something really interesting to compensate.

It would be like having a really boring lunch, and afterwards all you can think of is stirring up something really exotic and spicy for dinner to make up for it.

***

So What's On My Mind?

Attack The Block, The Role Playing Game

Awesome concept. Not letting this one go. Still developing some ideas for it on the side. No idea when I'll be able to run this, but if I can work out a holiday one-shot some time in the not-too-distant future I'd be really happy.

Fringeworthy/The Long Earth

I am currently reading the third novel in the Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, The Long Mars. The idea of parallel Earths, and the undertaking of reaching and exploring them, has long been a fascination of mine. Strangely underwhelmed by the various Stargate series, I have always wanted to run a game in an original, or at least more original, version of what you saw in the first of those programs (Stargate SG-1).

Fringeworthy, the first alternate world and alternate history RPG ever published, is a precursor to Stargate in many ways. I am pretty much convinced that Stargate was someone's Fringeworthy campaign. There are just too many similarities.

So basically my idea is a bit of Stargate-by-way-of-Fringeworthy, a bit of The Long Earth series. I'm still working it out in my head.

UFO, The RPG

Working title for my revamped, Sci-Fi, comedy game about blue collar flying saucer jockeys. Inspired by Attack The Block, I want to make it a little more creepy-weird, in that way documentaries on UFOs and other unexplained phenomena often are. I don't want to lose the comedic aspect, but I feel it needs to generate the same feeling you'd get if you actually saw odd lights in the night sky, and wondered, "What the *^%# is that?", immediately followed by, "That's pretty awesome!"

It is my hope to publish this game some day. Once I can really lock in on what it is.

Unfinished Business

Yeah, I'm back to thinking about my supernatural, ghost story game. Another game I want to publish in the not too distant future. I just can't seem to get past the awesome, initial idea to actually making it work as a game.

***

So these are some of the ideas rolling around in my mind. I have others. Many, many others.

What crazy things are you thinking of doing this summer?

AD
Barking Alien