31 Days / 31 Characters - CAPTAIN CONDOR

I thought I'd round out the opening trinity of characters with a Superhero. After Medieval Fantasy and Science Fiction, that would seem the logical follow-up genre to cover the major TRPG 'Food Groups', right?

I don't have time to do a Champions character right now (thinking about what kind of Super to make takes more time than the actual act of Character Creation for me at this point), so I thought I'd go old school with a random generation system. Inspired by a fellow fan of the game by the name of Tim Hartin, I chose my favorite game from way back when, Villains & Vigilantes!

Let's find out who's going to be out there fighting for truth and justice shall we? *Rolls*

Oh boy. This guy is...definitely a V&V Character. LOL

Character: Captain Condor

AKA: Alan Dale, The Winged Wonder

Player: Possibly me, possibly an NPC.

System: Villains and Vigilantes, 2nd Edition

 

Nature: Created for this Challenge. 

Gamemaster: None yet. Possibly me.

Circa: January 3rd, 2026

Origins: Random rolls inspired me to think of this guy as a cross between Captain America and a Superhero in the Public Domain named Airman, but then I realized I'd rolled on the 'Powers' list. This fellow doesn't use devices or special gear to fight crime. He has Bird Powers! Not only that but I actually rolled 'Animal/Plant Powers' twice. When you get this result you get to roll for an additional 1D6 powers based on your rolled or chosen animal type. I rolled Avian and decided to go with two times the Bird Powers! As you can see, this fellow's got a lot of powers related to his Condor-ness. 

Backstory: (I imagine this character as Silver Age, early 1960s or so) Inspired by the heroes of the Second World War and the recent return of both new and old ones to the world stage, down-on-his luck pilot Alan Dale volunteered for what he believed to be a secret government project to create Super Soldiers for the USA by combining ones DNA with that of a particular animal. Alan requested 'Avian' DNA as he thought 'Flight' and 'Eagle Eye Vision' would work well with his past experience and skill as a pilot.

He was right, though the process was extremely painful and resulted in physical mutations he was too naive and desperate to anticipate. Dale grew functional wings, retractable talons on his fingers and toes, as well as a developing a number of other changes. Just as he was preparing to test out his abilities, the facility he was in was raided by a number of established Superheroes and CHESS Agents. As it turned out, the Scientist that performed the operation was lying and had no connections to the government whatsoever. He intended to perfect his techniques and sell his proccess to Intercrime to create new Super-criminals. 

Alan aided the heroes in capturing the Mad Doctor and his minions and was not charged with any crimes himself. Instead, they offered him a job! Work as a Superpowered operative for the Central Headquarters of Extranormal Activities for the Secret Service (CHESS, get it?)*. Originally the CHESS head honchos wanted to refer to his new identity as 'The Winged Bishop' but Alan requested something more inspiring, like the Golden Age Superheroes of yore. He wanted to be called, 'CAPTAIN CONDOR'. They laughed...but they liked it. 

Overview: I remember back in the day playing V&V and rolling the same power twice. We initially re-rolled, an unspoken houserule. Then one day, for reasons I don't recall, we allowed someone to just have a double strong Superpower. Not long after I rolled up a fellow who had Animal/Plant Powers, Animal/Plant Powers again, Wings, and then Waterbreathing. Everyone thought I'd start over but instead I had an idea; I chose Avian and Fish as my Animal Power Sets and created a Native American character called, 'The Seahawk', a cross between DC's Aquaman and Marvel's Falcon.

He was perfect for the campaign we'd planned, a superteam made of heroes from states other than New York and California; 'The Heartland League'. Representing Seattle, the Washington local had magical powers letting him talk to birds and fish, fly, breathe underwater, and possessed incredible Strength, Endurance, and Agility. Sure, Captain Condor is similar but luckily I also rolled a Body Power and a Special Power, allowing him to possess two unique abilities. Capt. Condor has his paralyzing Condor Cry and the ability to lift things into the air with his feet.

Fun!

The Highlights: Definitely like his Flight speed, the Condor Cry, and the Taloned Feet. His Natural Weaponry makes up a bit for his having lower Strength than I'd have hoped for. 

Game Info:

A couple odd things:

I couldn't figure out how to determine his starting Inventing percentage and beginning Cash. It's been a long time since I've played and forgot how it works and where to find it in the rules.

I totally remembered that we changed the Security Clearance system 'cause it kind of ridiculous. The lower the number the better it is, so the President of the US would have a SC of 1 and a Rookie Beat Cop would probably have a 30 [maybe]. You start with the number 40, subtract your less, then you subtract your PC's Intelligence and Charisma. This means someone with Heightened abilities would have an incredibly good Security Clearance. Capt. Condor here ended up in the negatives! Much better than a US President. That just doesn't make sense, especially for a starting character. 

I'd probably just fudge it.

Notes: None as of now. Again, I like him but I haven't thought about it too deeply as of yet.

Legacy: I can see translating this fella into Champions with a few upgrades or modifications. Maybe I'd use him as a PC or NPC in another Supers game as well but with nothing in particular on my plate, Captain Condor gets filed away for now. 

UPDATE: Last night my buddy Mark used Captain Condor as an NPC in our City of Heroes setting Cypher Superheroes game! The good Captain helped the PCs escape an alien ship that had abducted a Superheroine NPC and my PC.

Coming up...Someone Else!

Stay tuned.

AD

Barking Alien

*In Villains and Vigilantes canon CHESS stands for The Central Headquarters of Espionage for the Secret Service. I changed it back in the day as I wanted it to be thought of as a Superhero Support organization and not just a Spy agency.

31 Days / 31 Characters - BEFITIR

After making a D&D-esque character, I thought it would be a nice palette cleanser to create one for Star Trek Adventures.

For me, Star Trek is comfort food. Gaming in the Star Trek universe feels like going home. As such, it's very easy for me to create a character, since I'd be happy playing almost anything.

To that end, I'm going to roll a D20 and if it's even I'll make a Communications Officer, odd a Navigator. As far as Species, I did say 'almost anything', right? Definitely going with an alien. I'll make a list of my favorite Star Trek Alien Species and roll for that too.

*Rolls* Cool!

Character: Befitir Rru'ro

AKA: Lt. Befitir

Player: Possibly me, possibly an NPC.

System: Star Trek Adventures, 2nd Edition
 
Nature: Created for this Challenge

Gamemaster: None yet. Possibly me.

Circa: January 2nd, 2026

Origins: As noted above.

Backstory: Befitir Rru'ro was born on Starbase 1 (later dubbed Spacedock) in orbit around the planet Earth to two Diplomats from the Betelgeuse System. Befitir's father is the Betelgeusian Ambassador to Earth and his mother is a Chief Consular Officer at the Betelgeusian Embassy.

Fascinated by the myriad languages and customs of the people constantly coming and going to and from Starbase 1, Befitir Rru'ro studied a great deal about the galaxy's many and diverse Alien Species. When he was old enough, he performed the J'tonka, choosing of one of the great heroes of Ancient Betelgeuse to emulate, and picked Slichez, The Thinker and Intellectual. Following this path, he was drawn more and more towards joining Starfleet Academy.  It just seemed the best place to learn...well...more.

Betifir did well at the Academy, majoring in Communications and Linguistics. As part of his upbringing and heritage, he took minors and independent studies in other areas such as Self-Defense, among other subjects. He eventually graduated in the upper percentage of his class and was assigned to a Scientific Research vessel. 

After a few tours on a few different ships, Betifir, now a Lieutenant, has been posted as Chief Communications Officer on the recently commissioned Ventura Class Mk. III, USS Curiosity. 

Overview: I like this guy. I've never played a Communications Officer and always thought it would be fun to show how they could be used in a interesting way. Very often players playing this role connect the character to Starfleet Intelligence, code-breaking, or other spy shenanigans. I wanted to go a different way so I kind of focused on Diplomacy, Culture, and Linguistics. Since it's my character I decided to go TOS Era since that's my favorite period (well that and the TOS Movie Era around Wrath of Khan to Undiscovered Country). 

 
The Highlights: When creating a character in Star Trek Adventures you choose two Career Events. For Befitir I picked Narrow Escape and Negotiate a Treaty. The former is a fan made.event. 

Narrow Escape: Then Ensign Befitir was on the USS Hubble when the Landing Party was besieged by hostile creatures that could not be negotiated with via words. Befitir aided in the group's escape but it was a quite harrowing experience. He gained the Value: Solutions come from adaptability. 

Negotiate a Treaty: As a Lt. JG aboard the USS Goodall, he was instrumental in formulating a Treaty with an alien species with initially confusing ideals. Befitir learned a lot about Command and especially how and when to take action. His Value related to this would likely be Knowledge is power but application is free.  

 

Game Info:

Notes: For the Betelgeusian species I used the cultural information from previous  incarnations of Star Trek RPGs. The idea of the Six Heroes was from Decipher I believe. Having had Betelgeusian PCs and NPCs in the past, I would probably draw some inspiration from those experiences as well. 

Legacy: Who knows? He could certainly work as an NPC in my ongoing Star Trek: Prosperity. I'd definitely like to play him. I think he could be alot of fun. 

I wonder who's up next?

AD

Barking Alien

31 Days / 31 Characters - ALEA LOOKBEYONDTHESEA

I had a helluva time trying to figure out what kind of character I should create first.

Honestly, arguing with myself over which RPG would go first was starting to drive me a little mad. I have so many options, so many games that I love, that I came very close to overthinking the entire idea and experiencing 'Analysis Paralysis'. Finally I just stopped, took a deep breath, and thought, 'Where do stories begin?'. The answer is 'at the beginning'. Well what was the beginning? What started it all?

Dungeons & Dragons. 

I can sense your confusion. Adam doesn't like Dungeons & Dragons. He especially dislikes Character Creation in D&D. Well yes, all that is true. Creating a character for D&D would not only be uninteresting to me, it would be kind of pointless. I'd never end up using the character 'cause I never play that game. You're right again. 

I used to though. I started with D&D. I've played and run both short and long campaigns of Advanced D&D 1st Edition, as well as Dungeonmastered long campaigns of Dungeons & Dragons 3E and 3.5. I've played every version at least once. My favorite is...my version. D&D-But-Not, a term I've used over the years, isn't just an easy way to refer to my houseruled version of D&D but it is actually a game in and of itself. That is to say, D&D-But-Not (also called D&D AD) is a complete(ish) homebrewed game of my own creation, largely based on the various earlier editions of the famous ampersand Fantasy game. 

Introducing ...the first Dungeons and Dragons-But-Not Character I've created in at least 10-15 years.

Character: Alea LookBeyondTheSea

AKA: Alea of Corindel, Alea The Sea Ranger

Player: Possibly me, possibly an NPC.

System: Dungeons and Dragons AD/D&D-But-Not. A Homebrewed RPG based on D&D.

But very different.

 

Nature: Created for this Challenge.

Gamemaster: None yet. Possibly me.

Circa: January 1st, 2026

Origins: I already went over that above. I have chosen to go with a Race/Kind and Class that shows off the differences between my homebrew and the official versions. 

Backstory: Alea (Pronounced A-Leia) LookBeyondTheSea was born on the Island Continent of Corindel, the daughter of a Corindel 'Half-Elf' Shipwright and a Sea Elven Scout. She grew up a happy child, her family doing well as members of important and lucrative Guilds. Alea spent most of her time on the land with her mother where she learned about ships and sailing. She looked forward to her father's return from the sea to hear his tales of the ocean and its wonders.

As she approached her 'teens' (late 20s to early 30s) she apprenticed with her father and used her talents and knowledge to quickly raise to the level where she was dubbed a true 'Ranger of Corindel'. In adulthood she became a full member of the Corindel Rangers Guild. With her good looks, warm personality, and both learned and natural abilities, she was hired quite often. She was especially popular with Adventurers seeking fame, fortune, or knowledge either above or below the waves or on any of the scattered islands of the Northern or Southern Atlantaen Seas. Fueled by her innate Curiousity, she looked forward to any mission that took her to where she'd never been before, to see things she had never seen.

Overview: Alea LookBeyondTheSea showcases both a Kind (aka a Race - in this case a Race of Elves) and a Class with features particular to D&D AD.

She is a Corindel Elf, the accepted name for the people of the nation/continent of Corindel. The inhabitants of this land (think Australia) are the descendants of Humans, Elves, and Half-Elves who have lived, married, and had children together for many generations. While she is mechanically a Half-Elf, she could very well be a Six-Eighths Elf or a One Fifth Human. She receives a +1 Intelligence, a +1 Charisma, and two -1's that can be placed wherever the player wishes. In addition, while an Elf may choose a +3 Elf Trait and a Human a +3 Human Trait, Half-Elves choose one Elf Trait and one Human Trait, each at +1. She automatically receives Seafaring +1, as all Corindel natives do (which would drop her Kind Trait to a +2 if she were pure Human or pure Elf). . 

Hmm. For my stats I've rolled 4D6 drop the lowest. Wow. Not bad. Honestly best rolls I've had in a really long time. I add the +1 Int, +1 Cha, and adjust a -1 to Strength and -1 Wisdom. As her father is a Sea Elf, I'm picking the Sea Elf Trait 'Amphibious'. No Movement Penalties related to being in the Water versus being on Land. I should've gone with 'Waterbreathing' but I almost feel that's too expected. Her Human Trait will be Curious. This gives her a +1 when investigating/looking for clues, trying to learn something new, etc. 

Her Class is Ranger and in D&D-But-Not, Rangers begin with two Class Traits (Ranger Class Traits). One has to be Tracking +Level (Bonus is equal to the Character's Experience Level). Rangers follow trails, track animals or missing villagers, etc. Her second Trait is free for me to choose and I choose Survival +Level. This will help her if and when her Seafaring fails and ends up running aground, marooned on some tiny isle. I'm making her as a First Level Character so that's it. Later I can choose additional Traits or raise previous ones.

Lastly, Alea gets two Personal Traits. Traits unique to Alea LookBeyondTheSea. This is the fun part. One gets to be at +Level and the other is +1. Tough. Hmm. Random rolls! OK. For my first Trait I got a 'Gift' - a Magic Book! Ooh, how about a Magic Book of Maps! I'll call it, 'The Cartographer's Memories, A Guide to Where You've Been'. It makes maps of the places you go to as you move through the area so you'll have a (mostly) perfect record to refer back to. For the other I'll choose Swimming since, yeah, you figure she'd be good at that. 

I like her. A Seagoing Ranger who knows her way around a ship, can swim and move through the water almost unnaturally well, and has maps of the seas and lands she's already been to. Alea's not just good on a boat or in the drink but can handle herself on land, skilled at finding a way to survive in the roughest environments. 

Her character sheet would look like this...

Game Info:

Elements of Alea's Character Sheet will be both familiar and strange to many a D&D player and that's to be expected. As noted, this is NOT a Dungeons & Dragons or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons PC. This is a D&D-But-Not PC. There are several major and minor differences in the mechanics of my version of the game. 

Still and all, I think you get a decent idea of Alea's capabilities and could easily convert her to one of those lesser...ah, I mean...more familiar editions of the game. Heh.

Notes: This was...fun? I'm honestly not sure. I mean, I like her but there is nothing earth-shattering here. She isn't a member of The Winghorn Guard; those character sheets read more like a Superhero game! Rolling randomly for much of it was sometimes interesting but mostly slow. It took me longer to roll her up than to create a character for Star Wars D6, Star Trek Adventures, my Ghostbusters game, ALIENS, etc. 

In the end, I'm happy to be done with this first entry and look forward to creating characters for games I'm more jazzed about. Essentially, I like her but still don't like the game, even my take on it. 

Legacy: She'd make an interesting NPC. Maybe spice up her backstory a little more. Not sure.

Onward!

AD

Barking Alien

Faces of The Stranger

 The 31 Days / 31 Characters Challenge

is upon us once more!

Originally I had planned on going with a particular theme for 2026 but as I began exploring my chosen concept I decided it wasn't how I wanted to open 2026.

Instead I'm going to lean into the original intent of this challenge and create more brand new characters then I have in the past. Considering the fact that I primarily showcase PCs and NPCs from the games I've run and participated in over my 49 years in the hobby, this will be a big change, at least for me.

In fact, it might prove sort of difficult.

Unlike the majority of the TRPGamers out there, I don't generally enjoy the process of 'Character Creation'. Mechanically that is. I love creating characters! I just find most systems for generating PCs kind of tedious; an often limited set of options that I have to slog through to get kind of close to the idea in my head.

There are exceptions of course, systems where I truly enjoy Character Creation but they are usually ultra-simple like the Smurfs RPG or Meteor City - Star Rainy Days or strangely rather complex like Champions. I also really like games that hit that sweet spot in the middle thanks to the mechanics effectively reflecting the setting or genre; Ars Magica and Star Trek Adventures come to mind. Basically, I like Character Creation that gives stats to the concept I've come up with in my mind, outside of any system.

I also tend to dislike games where you create your character purely or largely through random die rolls. There have certainly been instances where random generation gave me an idea for a character I hadn't planned on making [yet still enjoyed] but outside of Traveller, that was mostly in my earlier years when that was pretty much all there was. 

So, how am I going to make this fun for me and also useful? Well, the latter is easy; focus on games I might actually use someday and character who can double as either a PC or an NPC. Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard, right?

Wish me luck gang.

Before I go, I want to wish everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, who comes to the Barking Alien blog a very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year! May 2026 be better than 2025, 2024, 2023...well, you get the picture. Thank you for taking the time to visit this small corner of the internet and reading what are surely the delusional yet hopefully entertaining scribblings of a madman. . 

See you next year,

AD

Barking Alien

Another sad passing to announce is that of Tim Kask, a playtester of the original Dungeons and Dragons game, the first real employee of TSR, and the first editor of Dragon Magazine, actually starting with its predecessors, The Strategic Review and later The Dragon. 

Even though his beginnings in the hobby were by way of wargames, particularly those of Avalon Hill, Kask once wrote in what was intended to be the forward to Eldritch Wizardry that, "D&D was meant to be a free-wheeling game, only loosely bound by the parameters of the rules." Later he wrote, "It all starting going bad with the publishing of AD&D, The Player’s Handbook. Here come the rules lawyers, the nitpickers, and the homegrown experts. The fun started to leech away within months. Now there were dicta, dogma, and regulations; gone were the days of guidelines."

While I do not have a particular fondness for the D&D of those days in the Golden Age of TRPGs, I do appreciate and respect the hobby's history and noteworthy personages. Tim Kask definitely qualifies as one of the forefathers of what we do and if I may be so bold, I think he and I would've gotten along just swell. 

Rest in Peace. Godspeed.

All The Rest Have 31

The 31 Days / 31 Characters Challenge begins tomorrow, starting the New Year of 2026 off right with a deep dive into Tabletop RPG Character I Have Known or will create!

Before we get started, let's take a look at the Characters of Challenges Past, shall we?

ADAM - Red Dwarf / ALIEN RPG
Ai Washinda - MAID
Aki Rush - Mobile Racer Championship
Alexander D. Thorton - Ghostbusters

American Dream - Villains and Vigilantes
Arigon - Dungeons and Dragons
Black Adder - Mutants and Masterminds
BLEEP – The SPACE GUARDIAN - Toon

Bloody Sunday - Assorted Superheroes and Horror
Bo - Bunnies and Burrows
Boon Brushborn - Sword World
Carlacc Acen - Star Wars D6
Cat’s Meow, The - Gangbusters
CB Ramble - Car Wars
Ceren-Dee WindDrake - Dungeons and Dragons
Chicken - Red Dwarf / ALIEN RPG
Crimson Cyclone Cybero - Mekton II / Villains and Vigilantes

Curious Merp  - Star Trek Adventures, 1st Edition
David Myers - ALIEN RPG
Dee Hoshiyoru - Creguian

Deeno - Star Wars, The Roleplaying Game, 2nd Edition (WEG D6)
Dietrich Armbuster - Gear Antique
Dusty Dibbs - Odd West
Emil Fujikawa - Traveller

Eto Halo Bright - Meteor City SFRPG - Star Rainy Days
Everyn Wolfshadow - Wares Blade 
Far Future GIrl - Deadline Heroes

Flea Fly - Deadline Heroes
Fleeto Woff - Star Wars, The Roleplaying Game (WEG D6)
Frankie The Ferret - Toon

Gabriel Zimmerman - Ghostbusters
GAMMA MAN - Villains and Vigilantes / Superheroes
Gareth of Ollwood - Mekton II
Gates - Teenagers from Outer Space

He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons - GQ/TFOS
Herek - Star Trek
Hinata 'Hellcat' Nekomoto - Cyberpunk 2020 / Mekton II 
Hyborian - Mutants and Masterminds
Ichiko Yoruhime - The Adventures of Horai AcademyII
Ipperius Witspear - Dungeons and Dragons

Ivan Petrovo - Traveller

Jake Topaz - Dungeons and Dragons / Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
Jet 'Ohana' Kahele - Mobile Suit Gundam / Mekton II
Jin'Hoko - Teenagers from Outer Space
Jorran StarsByNight - Dungeons and Dragons
Kashpa - Star Wars, The Roleplaying Game, 2nd Edition (WEG D6)
Kei Okami - Champions / Hero System
Lance Gravity - Space Opera
Red Rider, The - Boot Hill / Various
Shade - Kapow!
Xerek Xeet - Star Trek

Now then, everyone else will be doing this Challenge more or less 'correctly'. There will be variations of course but by the end of January, it's a pretty solid bet that the rest of the participants will end up with 31 brand-new characters. My take on the Challenge, as always, is going to be a wee bit different.

Originally I planned a themed month; Dead Characters. You read that right; every entry would have featured a character who had died in their respective campaigns. 

While I still think the idea is interesting, it's not really what I want to do. I've thought about it and I want to celebrate the new year on a more creative and positive note. So instead of old, deceased characters, I'll be writing up a lot more newly created characters than usual. We'll see how it goes but that's the plan.

Please join me won't you! 

Happy New Year Everyone!

AD

Barking Alien