Was I Smarter In My Youth?

Kinga Rajzak, Photograph By Tim Walker

British Vogue - 2009

The title of this post was uttered by my friend Ray yesterday as he, myself, and the rest of the Barking Alien Gaming Group, discussed our next potential campaign.

The phrase came in response to my explaining my desire to run a Space Opera style Science Fiction campaign very much like the ones I used to run in the 'days of gaming yore'. As I've mentioned many times of late, in honor of my 40th anniversary in the hobby I want to both get back to my roots, and aim for my Ultimate Game.

Most of those campaigns were run with either FASA's Star Trek, or FGU's Space Opera. 

While the first of those makes perfect sense (one might even say it's Logical. Heh.), the latter one does not. 

How in the heck did we play Space Opera?!? Seriously, how did anyone? I look at it now, and it's like looking at a foreign language, translated into a code, read backwards in a mirror. Incorrectly I might add! Its rule mechanics are preposterously convoluted. Its organization cryptic at best. 

What were we thinking? No really. What were we thinking...

We somehow made it work. We not only made it work, we played it fairly often. I know I ran at least three campaigns of it myself, 'Cosmic Rhapsody', 'A War in G-Minor', and a Space Opera/Superhero kitbash that was set in the same original (-ish) universe as the other two. I played in at least one full campaign, as well as a number of shorter ones. 

How did we accomplish this? Was I more patient with rules back then? Probably. Did it make sense to my young, teen brain in a way it just doesn't now?

As Ray said...Was I smarter in my youth?

How about you? Any games you used to play that made perfect sense then, but are gibberish to you today?

Gotta figure this out.

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Barking Alien

The Ultimate Game

A November Challenge for My Fellow RPG Blogger-ites*!

Heh.

What, for you, is the Ultimate Game?

Imperfect grammar aside, it's a question I've been asking myself a lot lately. With my 40th Anniversary coming up next year, and my age ever increasing (can we get someone on that please? Thanks), I'm wondering if I've already run my greatest campaign, or is my greatest campaign yet to come? Would I know it if I saw it? What would it consist of?

Now this isn't necessarily the same as my dream game. My dream game would be a game impossible to achieve. It would require conditions, people, and other various elements I not longer have viable access to. It couldn't happen.

An Ultimate Game is, by contrast, possible. It is a game that, if I could meet the appropriate conditions, could be done now, or in the coming months. Not easy perhaps, not guaranteed, but likely enough to make a go at it. 

So, what would my Ultimate Campaign look like? What would yours look like?

For me...

Genre/Setting

For me it would be Space Opera Science Fiction. 


Approach:

The style of game I'd most like to put together would be an open-universe, sandbox, or storybox in which the PCs start out as low-competence (but not incompetent) galactic adventurers, and can potentially go anywhere and do anything. 

Beginning as a Blaster-for-Hire, and ending up a General, or even the Governor of a Planet is not out of the question.


Pace

Fast. I want a faster paced game then I've been seeing in the last few years. I want to go back to rewarding action, even if it's social action, and penalizing taking thirty minutes of real time (or more) to decide what to do just because you think your in a 'safe area'. Screw that. I'm going back to dropping asteroids on you if you overthink what's going on.


Players/PCs

I would really love to run a game where PCs could come in, and out of the story. This means that not every player must be there for every session (or more accurately, a session can occur even if one or two people can't make it), as well have players with multiple PCs. I've really enjoyed troupe play in the past and I'd like to try it again.


System

Yes, system is last. Why? Are you new here?

Just teasing. System is last because to me it's the least important element compared to the ones I've already mentioned. It's not 'not important', but it can be figured out later. 

My preference would be one in which PCs improve over time, but it happens in small increments over a long period. Alternatively, you might get middle ground competent fast, but becoming really amazing at something takes a long while.


Well, those are my general parameters. What are yours? How doable are they?

My real fear is, I've already done this. That is, I've already run my personal, Ultimate Game. What if my best gaming years are long behind me?

Surely not. Right? What about your Ultimate Game? Already happened? In your near future?

I'd love to hear from you.


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Barking Alien


*Is to a word.

Goal Setting and Risk Taking

I need your opinions on an idea I'm playing with...

A little while ago I ran a game with a system I kitbashed out of a variety of different RPGs,

The primary source for the mechanics were the systems Otherkind by Vincent Baker, Ghost/Echo, and other hacks of those rules. While each of those games describes the mechanic their own way, my personal take on the mechanic works like this...

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Any time you take an action [of any kind] that could be challenged in some way (by opponents, environmental issues, a looming timeline) you role two 6-sided dice.

The first die represents the player's/PC's Goal.

The second die represents the player's/PC's Risk.

The goal is what you want your PC to accomplish.

For example: Joe's PC is trying to pick a fancy lock in order to get into a safe.

The risk is what can go wrong when the PC tries to complete their goal.

For example: There is a risk that the burglar alarm will go off.

Failing to achieve the Goal is NOT a risk. If you don't make a the Goal die roll successfully, your action fails. The risk can still happen. How? As follows...

The Goal Die: 

• A Roll of 1-2 Fails to achieve the Goal.
• A Roll of 3-4 Accomplishes the Goal, though not complete. A partial success.
• A Roll of 5-6 Accomplishes the Goal.

The Risk Die:

• A Roll of 1-2 Means the Risk happens.
• A Roll of 3-4 Means the Risk happens, but it isn't so bad. A partial failure.
• A Roll of 5-6 Means the Risk doesn't happen.

Going back to my example:

Joe's PC rolls with the Goal of picking the lock on a safe, and the risk of setting off an alarm.

Joe rolls 6 on the Goal Die, and 1 on the Risk Die. The safe is open, but the alarm goes off.

Joe rolls 1 on the Goal Die, and 6 on the Risk Die. The safe won't open. Luckily, the attempt doesn't set off the alarm.

Joe rolls 3 on the Goal Die, and 4 on the Risk Die. The safe unlocks, but is stuck. It's going to take a little muscle, and time to pull it open all the way. The alarm makes a loud, short beep, and then dies off. A short circuit? Probably. Well, it's not on now, but someone might have heard that.

The beauty of this system is that you can succeed, but something bad could still happen. Likewise, you can fail and crap could hit the fan, or you can fail and things could still be fine. 

Plus, I love the idea of letting the player determine the nature of the Risk involved. I have noticed some players have difficulty coming up with an appropriate Risk, and in those cases I'm happy to help come up with something appropriate, and hopefully entertaining. 

n my opinion, and from my experience, this occurs because most players are wrapped up in the idea of pass/fail. They assume/expect/hope that if they don't achieve what they are aspiring to do, well that's it. Situation permitting, the status quo is maintained. If you roll to hit an enemy and miss, you didn't hit your target. They aren't injured. Nothing untoward happens to you the attacker either. The combat continues.

Imagine instead a die mechanic that says you missed, and broke your bow string. Perhaps you hit, but only nicked the opponent. What about hitting your opponent dead on, but you chipped your sword doing so? 

I think you all get the idea of the basics. Let's move on to some expanded ideas, and my issue...

Advantages

Let's say you are creating a character who is a doctor. When you want to do something in the game, you state your Goal, roll the Goal Die and hope you get a high number. You also come up with a Risk, roll the Risk Die, and hope you also get a high number (and therefore lower, or eliminate the Risk).

Now, if the Goal is healing a injured person you might say, "My PC is a Doctor. Shouldn't I have a better chance of achieving my Goal?"

The answer is yes. In addition to your Goal Die, you roll an Advantage Die. When determining whether or not you met your Goal, pick the higher of the two rolls. For example: The Goal Die roll is 3, but the Advantage Die roll is 5. The Goal is met successfully thanks to the Advantage Die!

Likewise...

Drawbacks

Should the situation your PC is in be less than optimal, the Gamemaster may add a Drawback Die to the Risk Die. If you were a doctor trying to heal someone in complete darkness, or without the proper equipment, it would likely increase the Risk, or run counter to the Goal.

If a Drawback Die is added to the Risk Die is might look something like this: There is a Risk of the injured person's wound becoming infected. Roll a Risk Die, and a Drawback Die, since the doctor PC is working by moonlight only. The Risk Die comes up 5, but the Drawback comes up 2. While the wound may be patched up, and the injured individual can stand, it seems infection has set in.

Alternatively, the Drawback hampers the Goal. Instead of increasing the chance of Risk, you could have the Drawback Die subtracted from the Goal Die. A roll of 1 on the Drawback Die would still allow for a complete success of the Goal if the Goal Die came up a 6 (5 still totally achieving the Goal). This kind of runs counter to the idea that you want the Goal roll high, and the Risk roll high however. 

My question is...

I want the ability to have comparative level of skill, and the capacity of PCs to improve in order to give the system the ability to run campaigns. That is to say, it is my feeling that for campaigns to go on for a good length of time, PCs should improve their skills and abilities, even if it's slow, and/or marginal.

I can't really figure out a balanced way to do that with this system.

Any suggestions?

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Barking Alien

Sweet November

November. Can you believe it?

Seems like this year is flying by. 

Tonight I am heading out with a great, big group of friends to see Marvel's newest cinematic entry, Doctor Strange. Between now and then, a busy day indeed.

All things considered, not a bad day.

Now, what does the month of November hold for Barking Alien?

Glad you asked.

First, I have a game idea I'd like to discuss with everyone. It's unusual in that the idea focuses on finding a way to use an interesting mechanic I can across. I don't normally work this way, but this game mechanic concept intrigued me, so I started building a RPG around it. Thing is, the rules aren't fully formed yet. The mechanic I'm speaking of isn't really a working thing at this time.

Maybe you guys can help?

Next up, more Campaigns I Have Played! I've got some interesting ones lined up, including games not normally addressed on this site. Remember these are ones I've played, so sometimes you're going to see games I would participate in, but not necessarily run myself.

Lastly, as I've recently mentioned, next year I celebrate 40 years of gaming. That's right, 40 years! I want to run something really special to commemorate the event. But what?! Check back as I periodically freak out over it. Wee!

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! Happy Birthday to Walter Cronkite (who would have been 100 years old today), and good luck to those running in The New York City Marathon this coming Sunday!

Later days,

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Barking Alien

STAR WARS - SCUM OF THE GALAXY - Part II

Continuing my first Campaigns I Have Played entry covering the only the Star Wars RPG campaign I was ever in as a player, I'm going to add a few new features in addition to those I regularly have in my Campaigns I Have Known series.

The first new feature I've already added, as the previous post contains a reference to who the Gamemaster was for this campaign. In the Campaigns I Have Known version of this series, the GM is always me (or me, with a few sessions run by other here and there).

Another feature, which I am thinking of applying to future entries of both my '...Have Played' and '...Have Known' posts, is Opposition. Basically, a summary of the opponents the PCs faced during the campaign. 

Lastly, there will be a section called Player's Perspective. It is here that I will give my personal feelings about the campaign, and how it was run and played from a player's point of view. As I prefer to GM, this section may have a Gamemaster's slant to the review. 

Now then...

 A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

From Left to Right:
Tag Aether, Dreg, Alec Raydawn, Reek,

and Hud Choban (rear)

Opposition: The main enemies of the PCs in this campaign were intergalactic crimelord Chuuphga Two-By-Four, an Imperial Admiral, and an Inquisitor. Other reoccurring opponents were several Bounty Hunters, numerous minor Imperials, and the competing crimeboss Gumbad the Hutt (and of course his henchmen). 

The most memorable villain was, by far, Chuuphga (pronounced CHOOF-gha) 'Two-By-Four'. A Pho Ph'eahian career criminal who started as a small time hood under a younger Jabba the Hutt. Making his way up the ranks, he eventually took the initiative and gave himself a promotion to kingpin of his sector. The previous crimelord retired. Permanently. Due to blaster fire.

A mix of movie mobster styles, Chuuphga could best be described as a Russian Mob Goodfella. He was polite, reasonably well mannered, cordial, and warm if not exactly charming. He was also ruthless, randomly killing minions who displeased him.

Chuuphga was humorous, smart, and honestly scary. We were far more worried about dealing with him and his minions than we were the entirety of the Imperial Forces sent against us. 

I recall the voice of the Admiral having a classically sinister British accent. Other then that, I don't recall much about him. He was pretty clever, but terribly arrogant. It was easy to fool the Admiral by playing off his perceived self-importance. 

The Imperial Inquisitor was cool in that he was very different from what you'd expect. He wasn't the typical athletic, physical sort as much as he was old, sage-like, and wizardly. He was much more of an advisor and deeply knowledgeable about the Jedi texts that the Imperials were attempting to uncover.

Our Imperial Inquisitor was more like one of the Emperor's Advisors

as seen in Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Synopsis: Local legend on the planet Ord Itani says that there was once a notorious gang of pirates, scoundrels, and other riff raff who met at the Laughing Gundark tavern, and eventually used it for a base. The gang became known as 'The Laughing Gundarks' themselves as a result. Eventually the group was wiped out by their rivals, 'The Smiling Banthas'*, and by the early rise of the Galactic Empire. The establishment was driven out of business by it's association with the name of the gang.

Several years later, the cantina opened up again using the pirate den identity as a theme to bring in customers. As the planet was now on the very outskirts of Imperial jurisdiction, controlled more by Hutt crime families, no attempt was made to dissuade the owner from using the name. In fact, keeping up the idea that the Laughing Gundarks were a thing of legend, and not something real, benefited the Imperials and the Hutts.

Many years went by before an employee of the Laughing Gundark Cantina, the Uchoda mechanic named Hud Choban, got involved in an after hours altercation with some local gangsters. A group of Chuuphga Two-By-Four's goons, and a few others he didn't know were trying to start up a fight with a Rodian whom Choban thought he remembered from earlier that same day.

Choban decided to step in and assist the Rodian, as a second Rodian (the one Chodan had actually seen beforehand) joined in the fight. Well, sort of joined in the fight. Stumbles into it is more accurate. The three of them end up in a pitched battle between themselves and the various blaster totting thugs. 

Escaping their opponents, the team runs into Alec Raydawn, a scoundrel also on the run from Chuuphga's gang. Together they make a play for Dreg the Rodian's ship, the Green Sun Endeavor. Unknown to the four, their movements have been followed by Mercenary Pilot Tag Aether, secretly a Rebel Operative. Using his Toscan 8-Q starfighter, Aether covers the Green Sun Endeavor's escape. The Transport, and the fighter communicate, then depart together, with Aether giving the others the coordinates for a safe haven on the planet Nanador.

The campaign then follows the group as it goes on the run, hoping from planet to planet, sometimes on the defensive, sometimes on the offensive. While trying to avoid prolonged engagements against Chuuphga's forces, and those of the Imperial Empire, the group actively pursued their enemies from time to time to find out what they were up to. The PCs were also out to determine why Chuuphga and the Imperials had joined forces [unbeknowst to the galaxy at large]. 

It is eventually revealed that while hiding out on a remote, abandoned, mining colony planetoid as a younger man, Chuuphga discovered some sort of Jedi Temple buried deep beneath the surface. The structure turned out to be more a library then a temple. After being rescued by his cronies, the crimelord hide the truth about the planetoid until he could find a way to exploit his findings. He eventually bought the planet with his ill gotten gains, and contacted the Empire. Working together, the two parties hoped to bypass the library's hidden defenses, and excavate any useful texts, maps, or other materials.

We (the PCs) performed a number of hit and run attacks against our adversaries in the later half of the campaign, getting bolder and more confident as the game went on. We learned the truth of what they were after, and pursued a plan to thwart the enemy. Eventually we were able to disable the Admiral's strike cruiser, killing him in the battle, and badly wounding the Inquisitor. The final fight was actually against a Sith Spirit possessed Chuuphga in the ancient, lost Jedi library. Chuuphga, true to his nature throughout the campaign, is able to fight the possession (with our help and encouragement), enabling Raydawn to banish the Dark Side Phantom to the nether reaches of the galaxy.

The game ends with the team, 'The Laughing Gundarks', turning the location of the Jedi Library over to Luke Skywalker just after the Battle of Endor. Luke considers taking on Alec Raydawn as an apprentice after he gets the chance to read through some of the texts in the library.

Tag Aether, Hud Choban, Dreg, and Reek are seen swapping stories with Wedge Antilles, Nien Nunb, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian (who acknowledges Alec with a smile and a wink - see Part I). 

Big finish, epic music, classic screen wipe, roll credits...

Appendix N: In addition to the Original Trilogy, and some material from the Han Solo novels by Brian Daley, there wasn't a ton of expanded universe information back in 1989.

Wait...that's not true. There was the RPG.

Our GM, Peter C., used a ton of the material found within the West End Games produced RPG to aid in the 'world building' of our campaign's particular take on the Star Wars Universe. Several modules, sourcebooks, and related supplements factored into our story, often with the names, locations, and such altered to fit our game.

In addition, a number of other films from the 70s, and 80s served as inspirational material for the theme, and atmosphere of our campaign including: 

Dog Day Afternoon, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Poseidon Adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Take the Money and Run (as well as many others).

Bonus Features:

I played this campaign while attending my first year of college. Most of the players were friends, and classmates I went to college with. We were all artists (it was an art college), and the game had a good deal of artwork made for it as a result. Sadly, I do not have any of it anymore (the GM kept most of it). All the illustrations in these past two posts were either obtained from other sources, or drawn specifically for these entries.

I created detailed deckplans for my ship, the Green Sun Endeavor. I had the bridge/cockpit layout, knew where each character's room was, and even accounted for secret panels, and hidden cargo holds.

The overall look of the Green Sun Endeavor was based on the arrow shaped ship in this painting by Peter Elson and the Star Bird toy by Milton Bradley. 

For a few sessions we were on a planet that translated the name of the ship...poorly. 'Green Sun' was the nickname for an illness one could catch from too much exposure to the local sun. Endeavor was oddly translated as well, believed to be a term for a never-ending, or ongoing process. The natives called my ship the Unending Incurable Illness. Very embarrasing.

A number of other players stepped in to run NPC guest stars. Most were one-shot appearances, while a couple would appear, and then come back several sessions later for another episode. 

Our GM used a surprisingly large number of modules in the campaign. Many elements of these modules were changed to fit our campaign, but pre-prepared adventures were fairly common place. For example, the adventure Tatooine Manhunt, the first Star Wars D6 module produced if I am not mistaken, was set on the original planet of Pumot, a volcanically active world of ash, fire, and stone. Although the location and some other elements were changed, the plot - find a hero of the Clone Wars thought long dead while evading bounty hunters - remained unchanged.

 

Player's Perspective: NEW FEATURE! What I really liked about Peter as a GM, and especially as a GM of Star Wars, was his excellent use, and command of pacing.

Chase scenes and battles had a fast, often frantic pace. Planning scenes were given time to happen, but then something would complicate matters, and get us moving again. We had moments of downtime to think, relax, and catch our breath, but not for longer than necessary. Never so long that it slowed down the game's overall pace. 

It was very much in keeping with the approach described in the West End Games products, and IMHO, very much in keeping with what makes for a good Star Wars RPG campaign. Lucas himself could've used to take notes on Pete's approach before embarking on the walking-talking head prequels. Ugh.

Peter was also good at creating memorable NPCs. Their quirky natures, accents, and distinct personalities made them fun to encounter, as well as easy to love, or hate. Of particular distinction were the droids 'Wendy', and 'Ruby', the bartender/owner of the Laughing Gundark Cantina, and of course everyone's favorite crimelord, Chuuphga Two-By-Four.

***

Well, that about wraps up my first 'Campaigns I Have Played' entry. Sorry it took so long to complete. October turned out to be incredibly busy, and not entirely smooth sailing for me in the real world. 

Now we're about to embark on November, and I have a lot of ideas and thoughts I'd like to get out so let's hope for the best, and see if I can get back to posting more regularly.

No promises.

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Barking Alien