31 Questions for Barking Alien - Question 15

This is Question I5 of 31 and it might be my last for the month of December.

Work, life, and the holidays have gotten in the way, making it difficult to finish, let alone catch up to where I should be by this time.

Fret not! I sure won't. Not this time. 

The whole point of this endeavor you see was to light a fire of inspiration under me and it has done just that. December has the most posts I've put up in one month since back in August. Usually when I do these blog challenges I don't hit my goal and end up feeling bad about it. This has been and is very different. Here the goal was never 'to win'; I never prioritzed completing 31 answers to 31 questions. Rather, the objective was to 'get better engagement with the viewers/readers of the blog by interacting with them more and using said interactions to fuel my desire to post more often'. I feel I've accomplished that.

I've seen more responses and comments these past four weeks then I have in a long while. Again, I've also posted more this month than I have in the past three months combined! I'm mentally cataloging this as a success and it has me itching to prep for next month in advance. 

With all that, here is Question #15 - it comes from my friend Miguel de Rojas, who has my sword, my bow, and my axe but remember, I'm just lending them to you. I need them back. 

For a guy with such love for IPs and a stated interest in medieval Europe's myth, legend, and folklore (not to mention RPGs), The Lord of the Rings is conspicuously absent from your blog. Can you explain your relationship with Tolkien's works?

As Gandalf himself once said, “The wise speak only of what they know.”

I don't really know Middle-Earth. Not the way I feel I would need to in order to run it.

I discovered the Hobbit after first playing D&D and The Lord of the Rings sometime after the Hobbit. It took me a while to get through all three books of Tolkien's trilogy but get through them I did and yeah, I really enjoyed them. Those books started my interest in reading more Fantasy books of the Appendix N variety.

Thing was, there wasn't more Lord of the Rings after Lord of the Rings (at least not that I knew of at the time). At the end of the story, the tale has been told.  After the original Star Trek series there was the Animated Series, comic books, novels, later movies, and further on there'd be much more material across many different forms of media. The same is true of Star Wars, Marvel and DC Comics, and a host of other franchises.

Lord of the Rings impressed me but it was all there was to it. After a while it fell off my radar. It was never my all time favorite thing. It wasn't something that I really wanted or needed more of and that was fine because there really wasn't more to be had.

It was also a story that didn't (and to some extent still doesn't for me) lend itself to continuing. It was a set story with some unique characters and we know (largely) their final fates. There are a specific and very limited number of Mages and we know what happens to them (for the most part). Frodo (and to a lesser degree Bilbo) was rare and truehearted enough to carry the One Ring and again, he accomplished the goal of destroying it and had a happily ever after of sorts.

I mean, the LotR series focuses on 'The One Ring'. There's only one. It's in the name. We know who was part of the one Fellowship that went to rid the world of the One Ring and the events that ultimately did so.

It's what I tend to refer to as a Closed Story or Closed Setting. Star Trek, as an easy example, is an Open Setting. We learn there are other ships, with other crews, doing other things. It's inherent in the make up of the franchise's universe. Lord of the Rings feels more 'closed'; a single, specific group did a single, specific thing with a singular object. The End. Star Trek doesn't have a The End. It keeps on keeping on.

Part of that is because Star Trek is indeed a franchise, an IP, not a story. There isn't one book or trilogy called Star Trek. There will always be Superman comics. Star Wars could theoretically go on forever as well. Lord of the Rings just doesn't have that feel. 

Personally I never loved it enough to learn all the details and complicated history of its world. There are many people, including several of my gaming friends, who know far more about the setting then I. This puts me at a considerable disadvantage as a GM. I wouldn't mind playing in that world for a short while though. 

Lastly, while Middle-Earth might be influenced by European folklore and myth, it isn't Ars Magica. It's its own animal and one that I am less confident about adding my own stuff to, a key necessity when running in an established IP. 

I liked the Peter Jackson movies more than I ever did the books. I also enjoyed the animated film way back when. That's about as far as my love of Tolkien's creation exists for me today.

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31 Questions for Barking Alien - Question 14

Smurf it all!

Excuse my Smurf but I'm totally smurfed by the fact that I can't figure out who smurfed me this question. If you supplied it or any smurf knows who did, please don't hesitate to smurf me. 

What upcoming RPG are you most excited for?

Whatever could it be?

The game I am anticipating above all others is Maestro Media's The Smurfs RPG, a Kickstarter that made over 135,000 dollars with over 1000 backers, resulting in a game that was about 1000% funded. Now that's impressive but it doesn't automatically make for a good game.

Luckily, it is a good game. Actually, it's a great game! 

Rules-lite? Check.

Not too rules-lite? Check.

Mechanics that reflect the Smurfs comics and cartoons? Check.

Base building rules? Check.

Say what now?

This game has rules for creating and fleshing out your very own Mushroom Cottage Smurf House! They didn't have to do that but WOW, they did it anyway and that's just so cool. 

With the addition of Smurfberries, Thorns, and Smurf Power, the Smurfs RPG does exactly what I want IP games to do: Create a link between the fluff and the crunch that reinforces the feel of the setting while still providing a fully functional gaming experience.

Add to all this my affection for the original Franco-Belgian Comics by Peyo, French and Belgian Folklore, and of course the comedic aspects and you have a game pretty much made for me.

I would also like to point out that I've rarely seen a publisher with such excellent customer communication and interaction. They have literally listened to the fan on more than one occasion and are sharing the game's design and production process with us as they go. Truly appreciated, inspiring, and of course smurfy. 

I look forward to smurfing around again in the very near future...

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Barking Alien

31 Questions for Barking Alien - Question 13

Whoa, Question 13 falls on a Friday the 13th? Sooo spooky! Except I don't have any specifically spooky questions. Bummer. Oh wait, I do have something awesome though...

Activate...The Omega 13!

Question #13 comes from Carl Stark, who Never Gives Up and Never Surrenders!

What RPG system would work best for a Galaxy Quest one-shot or campaign?

The YouTube channel RedLetterMedia recently featured Jack Quaid (Huey on THE BOYS and the voice of Boimler on Star Trek: Lower Decks) as a guest for a video discussing Galaxy Quest, which is apparently one of Jack's favorite films. It's very funny and if you're a fan of the movie, of Jack's, or RedLetterMedia's material I highly recommend checking it out.

It immediately got me reminiscing about the times I've run Galaxy Quest RPG games, including looking through my old notes. This question popped up in my email the next day. Kismet!

It's a hell of a thing.

On to the subject at hand...like Jack Quaid, I LOVE this movie. It is definitely one of my all time favorites and as I mentioned, I've run both a short campaign and a few one-shots of Galaxy Quest over the years and honestly it's some of my best work and the most fun I've had as a GM. The trifecta of Science Fiction + Comedy + Star Trek Parody/Homage is simply made for me. It's also an IP and I do love me some IP gaming. 

The system I've used in the past has been my modified version of Teenagers from Outer Space by R. Talsorian Games, which I refer to as 'Advanced TFOS'. The main difference is that I switched the D6 for a D10. Additionally, I added special abilities for each of the roles on the ship - Commander, Doctor, Engineer, Operations, Pilot, Science Officer, and Security/Extra - and character types such as Feature Alien (originally Token Alien), Background Alien, and Prodigy. I go into more detail on this homebrew in these three posts:

It's a Hell of a Thing

By Grabthar's Hammer, We Live to Tell the Tale

This Fine Ship, This Fine Crew

If I were going to run Galaxy Quest today, I might not use the same system (more on that in a moment) but I would definitely incorporate the special abilities I attributed to each 'Job' or ship's position. Those unique capabilities, such as the Commander's 'Overdramatis Persona' and Security's 'Glorified Extra', have been lauded by my players and blog readers alike as the key to making a Galaxy Quest game feel like the Galaxy Quest movie. 

What set of rules would I use if not my variant of TFOS? Well, there are actually a lot of options. I've considered using Starships and Spacemen, Far Trek, or even Star Trek Adventures.

While it may seem strange to suggest Star Trek Adventures, it being 'too close to the source material' as it were, keep in mind that STA has a published 'Lower Decks' supplement. It is certainly possible to use this system to facilitate a comedic campaign. I've used it to run a Lower Decks game as well as The Orville, so theoretically it would seem appropriate for Galaxy Quest. The role abilities I mentioned could become Talents I suppose and Momentum might be renamed 'Fanmail' or 'Star Power'. Threat can be 'Interference', as in interence from the studio execs. 

A note: When I've run Galaxy Quest previously, I've done so with the assumption that the PCs are characters living in the universe of the mock TV series. I don't directly incorporate the Meta nature of the characters being played by actors on a show but treat it the way most people treat playing a Star Trek or Star Wars RPG. 

However, outside of the events happening in-game the players and I have joked about the actors, episodes, writers, and the special effects budget for the series. I would describe it by saying that during 'Time Out's we are aware its a television program and during 'Time In' we are unaware of that and it's the 'real world' for the PCs. 

Honestly, after all this recent discussion about the film I decided to watch it again and damn it holds up perfectly. I'd really love to run it again if given the opportunity. 

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31 Questions for Barking Alien - Question 12

This next question is hard for me to answer in any meaningful way as it addresses Modules and I don't really use Modules. I haven't in over 25 years, except in rare nostalgia moments. That said...

Question #12 comes from my pal Andrew Rodriguez one again.

What are the key factors of building a module?

 

I have no idea.

No seriously. I've had one or two game companies ask me to submit some manuscripts for RPG Modules and I simply couldn't do it. I don't use pre-made adventures and I certainly don't write any myself. Like most RPG hobbyists, I did use Modules when I first started gaming but even back then I would significantly modify them. 

The very idea of a Module, defined as a 'pre-made, often self-contained adventure scenario', isn't something I am particularly interested in or fond of. For one thing, it is usually designed with the idea that anyone can play it and that the adventure neither requires nor reflects the particulars of any specific campaign or characters. This is quite the opposite of many of my adventures, which are created with the players, their PCs, and the type of campaign we are running in mind. Since the creator of the Module doesn't know me, my players, or the game we've come up with, how are they to write a scenario that fits what we're doing? How can I write one for others when I also lack that sort of knowledge?

Simple, you write something that is bland and generic, generally applicable to anyone and everyone, which means it lacks anything that would get me excited to run or play it. That's not to say there haven't been some great Modules throughout the years but they are few and far between and much better suited for GMs early in their 'career' who don't have a handle on how to run adventures just yet. Additionally, I always customized the Module scenarios I ran, often heavily, added a main villain [if it lacked one], a reason for going into the adventure beyond getting rich, connections to one or more of the PCs, and usually a climactic battle location/set piece to finish off the whole thing. 

My favorite Modules of all time are therefore the one easiest to modify. Ones where there are openings for the GM to add or substract their own ideas and work the adventure into something more their own style. I suppose all Modules can work this way given enough effort but some are simpler more inspiring [to me] than others and therefore make me want to alter them as opposed to just ditching them and doing everything from scratch. 

Finally, there's the fact that as I've mentioned in the past, my own adventures are, generally speaking, for open-ended and flexible by nature. I have a thing happening, characters involved, and conditions created as a result but there is no 'way to go about it'. I have no idea how the PCs will solve the mystery, find the villain, or right the wrong. That's entirely up to the players. Hard to write that up as a Module.

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31 Questions for Barking Alien - Question 11

Jonathan Linneman jacks into the 'net once again with Question #11

Do you find that some [technological] elements of your games are actually retro-futuristic at this point and if so, do you embrace that or try to keep modern tech in mind?

I view all genre fiction in the way one might imagine a piece of period fiction; it's simply that the period in question might be the present or the distant future. You wouldn't add cellphones to the era of the Vikings or give Victorian England streaming television now would you? Of course not. The attraction of playing in a different time and place is partially that it features the props of some other time and place. 

In my opinion, the worlds of ALIEN, Cyberpunk 2020, Star Trek, and Traveller are no different. They need not line up with our current, real world technological developments but rather they should be internally logical and consistent.

All too often I see writers and GMs trying to make their game settings 'realistic' even though they deal with elves and wizards, superheroes flying unaided across the sky, and fleets of FTL starships. Realism? Sorry Captain, that boat has sailed. The universes of Sci-Fi and Fantasy need not line up with ours but they must absolutely, positively line up with themselves. 

So yes, one could say the Star Trek TOS Communicator or the MUTH/R computer interface of ALIEN is anachronistic but only to us, to our knowledge of current technologies. To them, those in that setting, it's not just advanced but more importantly, perfectly normal.

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