Competitive Vs. Cooperative

One day, at an old job I had, the head of our department called the whole team in for a meeting. 

It wasn't a big group, two men (myself included) and three or four women. The department leader asked, "Have any of you ever been involved in competitive sports? I don't mean as kids. I mean, in your adult life, say in college or a company softball team? What was it?"

One by one each of the members of our group described their previous experiences. As it turned out, the women in the group had played a lot more competitive sports than either I or the other fellow had, ranging from volleyball and basketball to ultimate frisbee. The other male in the group had some experience in the area but it had been a while. 

Then it came to me. "Adam, how about you?"

"Not really." 

"Surely you've competed in some way. Track?"

"I am flattered that you'd think so. No. I don't care for sports and I don't enjoy competitive play. I'd rather do something by myself or as part of a cooperative. Build something as a team. Achieve something as a team. I like working with people, not against them."

As you can imagine, I didn't last long with that group. I'd been with the company about two and a half years, in charge of an entire department myself with only one assistant, but when they downsized and dissolved the need for my position I transferred to another. It was one where I was excited to work with the group because I saw the team as a team. The 'powers that be' thought each member should compete against each other to motivate the department as a whole. That just isn't what I'm about. 

Competition is an innate Human quality that can be very useful, even helpful, but it's also one of your...ahem...sorry I mean our...absolutely worst traits. 

Animals compete. They compete for food, mates, territory; and other resources. We're Humans. We should try to do better. Competition tends to create a sense of selfishness and a general self-centered, self-important attitude. It prevents us, in my humble opinion, from achieving amazing things. Combined we could be great but because it's all about 'me', not we, the whole of Humanity is held back. 

Um, what does this have to do with RPGs?

RPGs are the ultimate cooperative endeavor. The players, through their PCs, work together to overcome obstacles, defeat enemies, solve problems, and achieve some agreed upon end goal. Individually they may not be able to meet their objective, be it personal or a group's objective, but together than can accomplish what the individual alone can not. 

The GM is equally in cooperation with the players. It is a give and take dynamic wherein the GM provides challenges, a world, interesting plots, and reasons for the players to work together. In turn the players engage with the GM's setting, the NPCs they have created, and try to succeed at their individual and collection goals.

All too often I feel an underlying competitive mentality in players to the detriment of the games I'm running. Not just competitive with me as the GM, that I can handle and will discuss further on, but with the other players. 

It is not enough for a player to have their turn, they must have as much spotlight as they can get. It's not enough to be effective and cool but the Most Effective and the Coolest. At best it's, 'You'll want to hear My idea'. At worst it's, 'Who cares about you're idea'. Be aware that the line between those two statements is often very fine in the other players' heads. 

Quite simply, WTH? What is this?! Are we not aware that there are other people at the table? That these people are our friends? Don't we want their characters to survive, to claim victories? Do we really only care about ourselves? 

Personally I find it incredibly entertaining and exciting when a fellow player's PC accomplishes something. I am encouraging when they miss a roll or when they guess wrong and set off a trap. I try to help them succeed by adding my PC's skill to theirs or trying to knock them out of the way of incoming damage. I try to always be aware that they are on my team. If they win, I win. If they perish, I too may perish. 

While I find player on player competitiveness especially disheartening, I find Player vs. GM competition to be simply downright stupid.

You want to be pushy, quote rules in a rules lawyer fashion, and be disruptive to the other players over what is happening in the game to your character? Fine, we can handle that sensibly or we can do it your way. Now what is happening in the game is your character is dead. That's it.

There is no competition with the Gods my foolish friends. Your GM can simply find a way to kill your PC or can kick a player out of the group. I am not saying they should or that either of these is a mature or reasonable way of handling the situation but it is the reality of what a GM can do. Instead, and I can't stress this enough, try going in with the mindset that you are there to work with your GM and vice versa. You'll be amazed at how much more a constructive, cooperative outlook can accomplish. 

In my ALIEN FRONTIER campaign, using the ALIEN RPG and film franchise setting, we've had some minor injuries and numerous really close calls, but so far no deaths in the 7 sessions we've played. 

A few gamers I know who are not participants in the game have commented how I am probably being easy on them, or letting them 'get away with stuff'. When I asked a few of the players about this they all thought that was way off. As one noted, "Are you kidding, [there was this one moment] that was absolutely terrifying. I thought I was a goner." Another said, "I was sure I was going to die when I realized what I'd done".

You might be wondering, 'Why aren't they dead? How did they escape? What did I, as GM, do to ensure their survival?' Nothing. It wasn't ensured. Not by a long shot. 

So what saved them?

Cooperation. They saved each other. Each and every damn one of them has been hellbent on not leaving any of the others behind. 

Games need more of this.

Humanity needs more of this.

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Barking Alien

A Tale of Two Treks

I wanted to keep the momentum from last month going in hopes of posting more, but an overall frustration with my gaming lately has lead to my not really knowing what it is I want to say. 

That all changed with my inclusion in a recent online Star Trek Adventures campaign in which I am a player. 

I've been running Star Trek games as a GM for almost 40 years, starting with the FASA Star Trek game in 1982. In all these years I think I've been a player maybe a dozen times. I was really excited to play Star Trek for a change instead of running it, partially because I've felt a little  burned out of late with the Star Trek campaign I run bi-weekly, now in its fifth year.

Burned out isn't really the right phrase. I am not bored of it and I am not running out of ideas or anything like that. I am just getting tired of how much it feels like I have to work to get the game to run smoothly. The players in that campaign group approach the game, and perhaps gaming in general, a bit differently than I do. 

At the same time I have to wonder, as I often do, is it just me? I am losing my touch even with Star Trek? If not, why are the players in my campaign so frustrating to play Star Trek with sometimes?

This brings us to my experiences running one game, playing another, and a tale of two United Federation of Planets Starfleet vessels, boldy going where no one has gone before...

The campaign I run revolves around the USS Prosperity, a Ventura Class Light Cruiser in the mid-23rd Century / Original Series Era.  There are four PCs: the Captain, the First Officer/Science Officer, the Chief Engineer, and the Chief of Security. 

We've been playing the game bi-weekly for roughly 5 years, give or take breaks during the holidays or whathaveyou. We started off using the Last Unicorn Games ICON System rules and then took a one or two month hiatus after the first dozen episodes or so (Season 1). When we returned to it, we switched to Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius Entertainment. 

We have switched to playing online during our current global health crisis. 

The game I am playing in focuses on the USS Triton, a Luna Class Explorer beginning its mission a little after the end of the Dominion War in the 24th Century. A little less than a year ago, the USS Voyager returned from an extended period of being essentially marooned in the Delta Quandrant. Our own journey takes us through the Bajoran Wormhole to explore the Gamma Quadrant and support a Federation presence there. 

Each of the three players plays two characters, a Senior Officer (Bridge Crew) and a Junior Officer (Lower Decks). We mix and match for various scenes and missions which is very fun and feels very logical. It gives the players options and I like that. One player is the Captain and a Junior Medical Officer. One is the Helmsman/Conn Officer and a yet to be determined Junior (he hasn't decided). I am the Chief Engineer and a Junior Science Officer. 

We've only played a few sessions and it's been great fun. All of the sessions have been online. In addition to good scenarios, I am going to explain why it's so fun and why that fun sometimes re-enforces my frustration with my own game. 

There are a few things all my old Star Trek campaigns had in common. All of them featured players whose PCs - regardless of background, personalities, and personal styles - wanted to get involved in the story and get things done.

They made every effort, to the best of the players' abilities, to discover what the situation and its challenges were, solve or best them, and uphold the ideas of Star Trek.

They were all, in a very general way, morally good characters who shared a devotion to the Starfleet oath to 'Boldly Go Where No One Had Gone Before'. They wanted to seek out new life forms and new civilizations. They all wanted to preserve peace, protect the innocent, and uphold what the United Federation of Planets stood for. 

In conjunction with this in-game motivation was the meta, gaming motivation of all the players to have fun, make sure the other players were having fun, entertain the GM, and keep the game moving. 

This wasn't, and shouldn't need to be...dare I say it...rocket science. This is just the way it was and the way it always had been and I guess figured it would always be. 

These mindsets are clearly evident in the USS Triton game. 

In the very first session, the experienced, bold Captain and my timid, inexperienced Ensign were stuck in a turbolift when the main power went out on Deep Space 9. Without missing so much as a beat, the Captain climbed up to open the ceiling hatch. When it was stuck, he said, "Huh. It's jammed. Ensign, I could use your help up here." I got to role play wanting to help and impress the Captain while at the same time being intimidated by being in his presence and knowing physical force isn't my forte'. All while I immediately climbed up to help. 

I can just imagine that same scene in my other game.

We'd still be stuck in the turbolift ten minutes of real time later as the Players and PCs over complicate the scene with statements like, "I communicate with the command center of the space station and have them beam us out. Oh right no power. Using my phaser, wait are we between floors? On second thought I..." and, "OK we all stay put. Sooner or later they'll get the power on. There is no reason that a station full of NPCs need our help to do anything right now."

Beam me into space please. 

During Triton's most recent session, we were able to determine that a colony of mysteriously missing farmers and brewers may have been yanked into a different dimension, though the reason and cause was then unknown. A humanoid woman belonging to an unknown alien species suddenly appeared at the colony and quickly began to fall ill. 

After some quick scans and observation of clues, my Science Ensign discovered 'Trans-Phasic Energy' and came up with the theory that the missing colonists were transported to her dimension and she to ours. Our dimension may not be conducive to her well being. Not just the environment but the very nature of our reality could eventually kill her. The same might be true for her plane of existence and our missing colonists. The decision was quickly made by the Captain that her life needed saving and if that also helped us figure out how to save the farmers, excellent! No guarantees but fingers crossed.

Now stop and think about this for a moment. Here was an unknown alien, rapidly developing a fever and getting weaker. We don't know her, her people, or anything about her really. We are on a Federation colony whose Administrator is with us, harping on us to find the missing colonists. Our Captain says he will, that is the goal, but this woman is potentially dying right here, right now and we need to do something. 

I come up with a crazy, especially Star Trek idea. Using the colony's Communications Array and our Starship's Navigational Deflector, we flooded the region with Gravitons and Subspace static, then tweak it to go out-of-phase. We used a 'Trans-Phasic Graviton Wave' to purposely warp space/time and put the colony out of phase with our normal quantum reality (based on earlier readings I had made).

We were told by the GM this was totally possible but very dangerous. It could throw us into the other dimension, physically twist us like a wrung out towel, or even crush everyone. We counter-reasoned that we could protect ourselves by going inside a Cargo Shuttle we found on the surface. Unfortunately, one person would need to be in the Communications Center to flip the switch. 

Our Captain immediately said he would do it. No ifs, ands, or buts. He put on a crappy, beat-up old space suit we found in the Shuttle so as to have a small amount of protection. Fine and dandy. Off we went to our prospective positions. 

I will dispense with what happened next as this is not so much a recount of the session as it is a comparison to a situation in the latest episode of the game I am running. There, an alien craft of unknown origin launched a probe onto the surface of a planet with a native, pre-industrial society. The alien craft, in orbit of the planet, was clearly more advanced and also clearly of a different species. The ship's systems had failed for unknown reasons and all of the crew died. The PCs noted that some systems were still working on weak, emergency power. A screen indicated that the 'probe', if that's what it is, was moving at walking speed on the surface. One of the natives must have found it and was now bringing it somewhere. 

The PCs beamed down and saw that the person and the device were approaching them a little faster now, as the alien native was using a sled on the snowy, icy slope where the PCs found themselves. The Captain here stated that she had no reason, according to her own thinking, to intervene.

Partially it's a prime directive issue and I got that. At the same time, an unknown alien device of a considerably advanced nature is in the hands of a technologically less advanced people. In addition, the ship that launched said device failed, killing everyone on board. Those circumstances however were not enough to get this Captain to become involved in the situation directly. I had to have the native notice the PC group and attack, which got them to start talking and uncover the rest of the story. 

Maybe I should have had radiation from the device slowly killing the Native. The story wasn't about that though. Maybe she should have been attacked by others of her species who wanted the cursed thing destroyed. Sure, I guess I could have added that. There are definitely things I could have done to push the PCs to interact with the native alien. That's on me. But...I have to wonder...

Didn't the Players, who are playing Starfleet Officers in the TOS Era (lean on that with me if you would) want to interact with the native? Didn't they want to know what the device was? Did they intend to beam down to a planet where they knew a native had possession of an advanced probe and...what exactly?...wait until she fell asleep and take it? Wait for her to drop it off a cliff? I mean, I can't figure out how they wanted to get to the adventure part of the adventure.

Group Prosperity is generally very cautious, careful, and sees no reason to act unless they are directly threatened, there is no choice, or it is safe and reasonable to do so. The crew of the TOS Prosperity is often very TNG in its approach to things. 

So far, Group Triton is eager to take action. They want to help their fellow officers, injured aliens, and anyone else in need of assistance whether those individuals realize it or not. The crew of the post-TNG Triton is very TOS in its approach to things. 

In the future I think I need to be more direct with the Prosperity group. I need to attack their ship, have alien artifacts present a clear and present danger to them and their allies. If a danger was threatening a new alien species that was only at the tech level of Ancient Rome, they'd just let them die. No reason to get involved as that would violate the Prime Directive (which I can understand to some degree) but also because it would require universal compassion, which I don't feel is a major motivator for them (which I can't really understand). 

Another element, and one that really, truly saddens me, is that the players in the Prosperity game don't back each others ideas and plays the way I am used to players doing. I get the impression they are used to a more competitive or adversarial approach to gaming. It's that old school mentality D&D creates and which I positively abhor.

One guy came up with a leap of logic that seemed wild at first, but actually fit what the PCs had learned. Honestly I was pretty pleased and impressed. Another player immediately says that the first player's PC wouldn't have thought of that. It was meta, something a Science Fiction fan might think of and not a character in a Sci-Fi universe (I guess).

I can't lie, this crushed me. For the rest of the session I was going through the motions. Someone actually thought outside the box for once, actually came up with a cool assumption that fit the information I provided and one of his fellows was like, 'It doesn't make sense that your PC would be so creative.' It broke my heart.

Meanwhile, the Triton sessions see my Scientist PC come up with crazy ideas that he is nervous to suggest because he's a timid guy, but I found a way to suggest them anyway - TIMIDLY! Then the bold and supportive Captain is, get this, BOLD and SUPPORTIVE! Where am I? Star Trek RPG Heaven? Might as well be.

My Engineer hears my Scientist's crazy notion and I get to say a funny line that shows off the Engineer's very different personality. "That's a pretty wild and dangerous idea you've got there kid. I say let's do it! (Motions to his Engineering team) Who here wants to bend reality? *Cheers go up in Engineering* Well alright then." The Captain approves and we move the story forward.

Again: We Move The Story Forward By Suggesting Actions, Supporting Each Others Actions, Doing Them Right Away, and then Seeing What Happens. 

It's madness! It's also the way I've been gaming for roughly 42 years. 

All I want to do is run and play to the best of my ability. I put my heart into it because gaming is something I love doing.

I know that not every session is going to be perfect, but I can promise that I am going to try to make each and every one as good as I can make it. My old groups, my ALIEN FRONTIER group, and now this USS Triton group, all share that outlook and goal. 

Unfortunately, I don't always feel that from all the members of my other groups. It's about them individually, and not the team or the campaign. That makes my job that much harder and it's definitely wearing me down. 

As one friend suggested, I need to incentivize active choices. I need to give more reasons to react quickly and reward those who react and take action. I thought I always have and that I am simply not getting the same response from one particular group.

Hopefully I will figure out a way to make the situation better for Prosperity going forward. 

Ahead Warp Factor 5. Engage.

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Barking Alien

Will There Be An Egg?

They say the third time is the charm. Unfortunately, it may take a while to get to a third time. With our current global health crisis, Season 3 of my new favorite Space Opera series - other than The Mandalorian of course - may well be delayed a bit. Hopefully not. I need to see more, know more, and get more material for gaming.

What I'm talking about of course is...wait...

"Hey, c'mon man! We're trying make a blog post over here."

Sorry everybody, where was I? Oh yeah...

Let me back track a little; if it hasn't been clear up to this point, I'm rather obsessed with Seth MacFarlane's Science Fiction Space Adventure Dramedy, The Orville. 

I loved the first season of the series and I was absolutely blown away by the second season, which aired its first episode, 'Ja'loja', on December 30th, 2018. The series continues to explore alien worlds, strange beings, amazing spacecraft, cool characters, and best of all, the relationships between them, all with a touch of often irreverent humor.

The show both homages and fully embraces the true spirit of Star Trek, something that Star Trek itself hasn't felt like doing in quite some time. The new Picard series comes close, and while enjoyable to watch, still doesn't feel as Star Trek as The Orville does.

At the same time, The Orville has it's own identity which grows and expands with each new episode. It is easy to dismiss the series as a parody or cheap copy of Gene Roddenberry's 'Wagon Train to the Stars', yet it is a lot more than that. It is love letter to that beloved franchise while at the same time saying, "If I had my way I'd keep all the good elements and add a few twists". 

Like all my favorite television, film, and other entertainment media IPs, The Orville possesses the key element I am always looking for - It is a universe I'd want to live in. 

If you know me you know that 'Universe I want to live in' translates to 'Universe I would like to run or play an RPG campaign in'. I mean, it just stands to reason. Right? 

OK, so now that you're caught up with where my thoughts are (more or less), you surely realize that my next big game project just has to be a fully fleshed out RPG set aboard a Planetary Union Fleet Starship exploring the unknown in the distant reaches of the galaxy.

I have already run three one-shots using the Orville setting and particulars, each with a different group, utilizing the Star Trek Adventures RPG by Modiphius Entertainment. The second one worked better than the first and provided some interesting insight into why and what to do next time. The third one went even better still, enhanced more than a little by the players involved, who were really into the idea that is wasn't a comedy with space stuff in it but a Science Fiction Action Adventure that also contained funny bits. 

It is my desire and hope that next time will be the first session of a ongoing campaign. To that end I am watching and re-watching the episodes, playing with different rule options, and analyzing the best way to get the feel and atmosphere right. 

One of my biggest hurdles is my good buddy Leo, who would make the absolute perfect Captain. He played a Smuggler a while back in a Star Wars game that was far from the Han Solo type. He wasn't particularly good at all the things you think of when you think Smuggler. He was a decent pilot, a lousy shot, and not the luckiest fella you'd ever meet. He was very likable however, a competent ship's captain, and an excellent negotiator. I just think that character ported over (with some tweaks) would fit right in as a commanding officer in the Planetary Union Fleet (say, as the Captain of a Mid-Level Explorer or something). 

The problem is, Leo isn't into The Orville. In fact, after watching about half the episodes of the first season, he stopped watching as he didn't like it. 

I feel you Alara. I feel you. 

I can totally respect his opinion and choice, even if I don't agree with it. Hopefully though, I can at least convince him to look past that enough to try it out as a game. While that doesn't necessarily create what I would call 'optimal conditions', I still believe in my heart of hearts (all five of them!) that he would be great for the part and it would make for a fantastic campaign. 

That's all for now. More to come as I think of things and luckily, I am doing that a lot recently.

Stay safe planet Earth,

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Barking Alien

Do What You Like and Let Others Do Too

I've recently been thinking a lot about why we play. 

It is easy to say that RPGaming is different things to different people and doesn't dig too deep to acknowledge that we all play for our own reasons. The real questions I want to ask are:

Do we know why we play? Do we know what our reasons are? Are we honest with ourselves about those reasons?

For a lot of players, beyond feeling that gaming is fun, I'm not sure they feel the need to analyze things further and that's fine. We don't all need to be overly analytical, philosophizing wackos like...well...me. At the same time, giving it a little thought can be really helpful to both yourself and your GM. If you know why you play, what it is you want out of a game, the better you'll be able to convey what you're looking forward when discussing the game with your GM and/or fellow players.

I know that as a GM the elements I enjoy most are: 

• An interesting, engaging story, whether session wise, arc wise, or campaign wise.
• Interesting personal stories of the PCs and their interactions with each other. 
• World/Setting Building and seeing the PCs explore the setting.
• Generating mysteries and watching the PCs/Players solve them. 
• Development of the story and setting. Making sure none of it remains static and unchanging.

My reasoning is simple, I like to create and I like to tell stories. My end goal is to entertain both my players and myself, and have a memorable experience we can all talk about fondly years down the line. I see myself as part of the great tradition of oral storytelling. I want to tell a tale and have that tale retold time and time again. 

In being honest I will come clean on what I don't like or appreciate.

• Thinking about the rules over the events in the game. For example: Trying to use an ability or advantage because it's your 'highest' or 'best' one even if it  doesn't logically or organically apply to the current situation. 

• Trying to figure out what GM is going to do or 'should' do because 'it would make a good game', even if it doesn't gel with the games' story or character motivations.

Are those reasons compatible with other people's reasons? Could our reasons for being at the gaming table bother other people or vice versa? What do we do about that?

Say you're in it for the combat. You like battles and that's mainly why you play. The rest of the group likes role-playing, character development, and talking with NPCs. Everyone else is trying to negotiate and come up with peaceful solutions and all you want to do is punch a monster in the face. 

Does their attempt at being less combat oriented bother you? Does your more combative play style bother them? How does a group reconcile this? 

To me it's very simple but require all involved to actively work toward a common solution. First, let players play the way they want to play as long as it doesn't disrupt the game as a whole.

There is a difference between one person wanting to take action and someone being a jerk and starting fights with every NPC for no reason. If you are the latter or have the latter player in your group, you should probably just ask them why they do that and be prepared to cut them loose. 

If they just prefer action and cool battles to conversation, you should all convey this to your GM. GMs, you should then include opportunities for combat as well as negotiation. Be prepared to split the party so the talky types can haggle over a better price on a ferry to the haunted island while the combative type fights pirates in the local tavern. During the fight the warrior learns a name and finds a key. The name is for someone the talkers and speak with to learn more about the island. The key opens the doors to the island's mysterious abandoned temple. 

Everyone gets to do their thing and it's all helpful to the whole group in the long run. 


If you assemble a group of people to play together, how do you make sure everyone enjoys themselves if each person might well be hoping to get something different out of the game?

Weirdly this is perhaps the most difficult question to answer and yet it almost feels like a given that this should be understood. In recent years this has often been a problem I've encountered, wherein a group of even four people have different ideas on what gaming is about and each gets frustrated with the others that they don't game their way. 

First, you selflish, self-centered, shallow womp rat. Get over yourself and realize it's a team sport. It's not YOU the RPG. It's US the RPG. 

OK, now with that out of my system...

I can only point to my old NJ group as the perfect example of a group that worked so incredibly well because they all liked different aspects of RPGs. 

Allen loved a good mystery. Specifically the Sherlock Holmes kind, where the key was deductive reasoning and the collection of facts and information both evident and seemingly trivial.

Ken likes to solve problems. Fix things. Figure out why something is or isn't doing what it's supposed to be doing or why it's doing something its not supposed to be doing. Fix that. 

Jason (Big J) likes puzzles, sort of a cross between Allen's mysteries and Ken's problems, but solvable using simple logic, clever thinking, and perhaps a trap set for the enemy.

Lynn likes mystery but of a more conspiratorial nature. She wants there to be secrets and she wants to secretly spy on the secret makers or keepers and get their secrets. Secretly. 

Nelson enjoyed it when his character looked cool and did something cool. 

Phil likes to play characters with issues, who are perhaps a bit off or odd, but trying desperately to hold on to their sanity to accomplish something. 

Rebecca liked action, be it physical, verbal, or otherwise. As long as something was going on with a pace and goal she was happy. She enjoyed tension to if it felt like it was going somewhere.

Selina likes socializing with PCs and NPCs alike and getting to know the world and it's people. 

So...

Knowing this I create a situation where is it likely that Phil will 'accidentally' cause a fight or Ken will realize something isn't as it should be. This will get Lynn to start snooping and Selina to starting getting to know the locals. This reveals information that sends Nelson and Rebecca into a situation likely to go south but one which they can punch, shoot, swing, and flip their way out of. 

Now they regroup and Nelson and Becca tell the team what they found. Lynn's snooping gives context to one truth and reveals another story to be a lie. Jason sees the paradox but thinks he can find the real deal with the help of Phil. Phil's PC acts a bit strange but isn't acting and an enemy drops their guard. Jason pounces and gets what he needs.

He gives the info to the group. Selina can ask a friend she made. Lynn can spy some more to confirm on her end. The villains are definitely hiding something. Bad guy thugs show up since the PCs know too much. Rebecca, Ken, and Nelson tussle with them. Nelson does a crazy ricochet shot, back flip, land behind cover maneuver. Ken rigs the gear of a downed thug to explode. He tells Becca. Her eyes bulge as she yanks Ken and Nelson out the back door. BOOM!

Final regroup, everyone recounts their fun in having encounters that match what they love about gaming. The each spill and update the clues they've discovered no matter how small and seemingly insignificant. 

But wait...what about Allen? Isn't he bored? He's done nothing while...

All eyes turn to Allen, looking over a map, writing notes, and looking up from time to time to listen intently to the others. Finally, the team quiets and waits for him to speak. He begins, "As you all know, the people of this region closely resemble the people of the Balkans at the time of the late Byzantine Empire...". He than proceeds to unravel the plot of the villain, up to and including how all the things encountered so far relate to his deduction and the next, if not only, logical course of action would be for both the enemy and the PCs. Pleased with his assessment, pleased with themselves, the group heads off to the location where they believe the bad guys will execute the final phase of their plan with a plan of their own on how to stop the foul scoundrels.

Everyone gets to do what they enjoy doing. Everyone plays a part in the overall story and the overall game. No one tries to prevent anyone else from doing their thing.

When Ken wanted to blow up the enemy's gear, causing an explosion to knock out all the opponents, Rebecca didn't tell him not to. She didn't say that's too dangerous or won't work or 'no we don't do that' (yes, I have a player who does this to the other players and it's very frustrating). Instead she simply has her PC grab Ken's PC, sees Nelson's PC behind cover, leaps over and behind the cover grabbing Nelson's PC with her other hand and rolls them all further from the blast. 

The gaming equivalent of 'Live and Let Live' should be 'Do and Let Do'. 

Just some thoughts.

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Barking Alien

A Star Wars Story - Special Edition!

The Art and Making of The Smiling Bantha Gang!

Original concept illustration for Ximet Phours

By Nelson Marty

One of the things that really stands out about The Smiling Bantha Gang campaign now that I look back on it from a point some 30 years in its future is how much material we made up that would later be filled in by Lucasfilm, Disney, the Expanded Universe/Legends, and other official and semi-official sources. 

It's also amusing to note how much of what we created matched some of the canon or popped up and became canon later on. 

We had Purple Lightsabers, Double-Bladed Lightsabers, Offworld Jawas, a Volcanic Ash Planet, and more details on the Mandalorians and certain alien species, long before they became part of Star Wars common knowledge now made canon by the Prequels, The Mandalorian Disney+ series, and the Clone Wars and Rebels CGI animated shows. 

It become a running joke over the years that one of us (one of the players in the group) was a spy for Lucasfilm or that our gaming locations were bugged by the company so they could steal our best ideas. LOL

My group did had a Jedi with a purple lightsaber long before Samuel L. Jackson's character Mace Windu in the Prequel Trilogy. While there was a story behind it, it really came about because the player's favorite color was purple (same reason Lucas gave Sam Jackson one). We retro-actively adjusted the story to imply Ximet's Uncle trained under Windu.

If you look at the villains of our game. Gildergath the Great (aka, The Great Gildergath and not to be confused with his son Gildergath The Lesser) was inspired by  an unused concept art design for Jabba the Hutt. That same design was used in Star Wars Rebels for Azmorigan, the Jablogian criminal who appeared in several episodes throughout the series. 

Fleeto Woff, the Mandalorian Bounty Hunter who you might notice closely resembles Boba Fett's color scheme in his first appearance, the much maligned 'Star Wars Holiday Special', has a rather humorous origin. After seeing the Holiday Special my friend Joe and I fell in love with the character of Boba Fett but could not remember his name. At one point I said, 'Was it something like Baba Fetts?", to which Joe replied, "That sounds like a Star Wars universe breakfast cereal. Kids, did you eat your Baba Fetts today?" Complete with Blue Milk no doubt.

We eventually settled on believing it might has been Fleeto Woff. When we saw The Empire Strikes Back and other material confirming Boba Fett's correct name, Fleeto Woff became an original character used often in our Star Wars RPG campaigns whenever a similarly badass Bounty Hunter was needed. 

Shuuth, the Ubese Bounter Hunter, was played by my dear departed friend Peter Hernandez III. He wanted something Humanoid but not too Humanoid and originally considered playing a Twi'lek. Then he saw concept art of Boushh and said, "Wait...who are these guys when they're not Princess Leia in disguise?"

Looong before The Mandalorian I had Jawas with gray cloaks and red eyes, living on a planet other than Tatooine. When I saw the second episode of that series I literally shouted and laughed out loud. Plus, the planet I had them on, my original world of Gardine, is a gray, ash-covered, volcanic planet virtually identical to the planet Nevarro which also appears in The Mandalorian.

I apologize to whomever played Mees. I remember him very clearly and his unusual 'play mechanics' which I will discuss below. It's very frustrating that I can't remember who the player was. I actually called out to the old players and none of them could recall who played him either. So strange. 

Mees was played in a non-traditional way, especially when you consider this was back in 1990. The basic Template of Jawa Mechanic was given less than the standard 18 Dice to Attributes and 7 Dice to Skills. I forget exactly but it may have been something like 15 and 5 or even less. What Mees' Player did was then create a set of Droid Templates. Initially I believe he had 5: An R2 Unit Astromech (R2-D0D), a Protocol Droid (JD-3PO), a Medical Droid (30-1B), a GHK Power Droid (GONK-90), and one other. He would than allocate a number of Dice to these that made each one less effective than a normal PC but SUPER effective at a narrow set of abilities. 

This was his 'Droid Pool' and he could field Mees himself plus two Droids, or three Droids at a time, with the Player playing the role of the Droids in either case. The other droids were assumed to be back at the ship powering up or undergoing repairs or whathaveyou. During the course of the campaign, Mees would pick up other droids, usually ones we had damaged or found wrecked, and added them to the Pool but he would still only play no more than three at a time. I wasn't ultra strict on this, as I would often play JD-3PO as an NPC, while the Player played Mees and two other droids. 

A lot of work went into this game in a relatively short amount of time. In a period where the only source of expanded information on many aspects of Star Wars could only be found in the RPG by West End Games, my friends and I developed a huge volume of fan stories, theories, art, and researched reference material to give the game its unique feel as fresh but wholly set within the concepts of Star Wars. 

In addition, as you may or may not be able to tell, there was often a tongue-in-cheek, humorous element to The Smiling Bantha Gang campaign, though I would definitely not label it a comedy. That is to say, while some of the character concepts were a bit over the top and some of the dialogue and situations very funny, the entirety of the plot and the approach to the game was quite serious. If anything it could be likened to the later half of The Orville Season 2, wherein there is humorous banter but the show is no longer a comedic take on Star Trek but instead a Science Fiction Dramedy. This was the Star Wars equivalent of that. 

Oh yeah, I almost forget...

The ship is calling The Smiling Bantha, and that in turn is where the gang got it's name, but where did the ship get that name? Well, as it turns out, the Smiling Bantha is an old Sand People/Tusken Raider legend about a Bantha that roams the Dune Sea finding lost travelers and laughing at their misfortune. Supposedly, if you tell the Bantha why you're there and he deems you brave and determined, not foolhardy, he will lead you out of the seemingly endless desert to safety. 

Jo Jetto claimed to have seem this Bantha as a young man and it lead him to the wreck of a ship that he repaired, used it to get back to Mos Eisley, and, you guessed it, he named The Smiling Bantha. The actual (?) Smiling Bantha appeared twice during the campaign. Once to Shuuth who thought he was seeing things, and once to Ximet in a dream. 

Well that is that for now. Man this was fun. I would like to thank David Concepcion, Nelson Marty, Mike Moss, and the late, great Pete Hernandez III for making this game so memorable and producing so much artwork and ideas for it.

I want to thank all of you out there you took the time to take this stroll down memory lane with me and please, let me know if you liked this and want to see more Campaigns I Have Known again in the future. If there is a particular campaign you'd like me to reminisce about - Hey Adam, do you have a particularly memorable Mekton game you can tell us about? Was there a TOS Era Star Trek Campaign You Have Known that you'd like to share? - please let me know that too. 

Until next time, May The Force Be With You and with your dice as well!

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Barking Alien