RPGaDay 2026 - DAY 14-15-16-17

REGARD - ENDURANCE - COMPOSSURE - INTENSITY

This past Wednesday - the first day I really started to feel better after feeling awful from a flu over the weekend - I got the chance to run my first actual session of Space Opera Heroes for some of my buddies. 

Nick was Sal Starwind, an Esper Hero of high Regard.

Ray was the team's Plucky Sidekick, a young man of loyalty and Endurance.

Carl was Hark Harwell, a Charismatic Hero who never lost his Composure.

Will was Celes Teal, a Lucky Heroine of joyful Intensity. 

Our Heroes!

Plucky, Sal Starwind, Hark Harwell, Celes Teal, and a helpful Repair Robot

Together they teamed up to serve the Galactic Federation by rescuing Ambassador Oeg Tagothi (Hey! We know him!) who had been kidnapped by the evil Raellians to prevent him from negotiating an important treaty between the GF and the Space Amazons. 

Oh Ambassador! You're always in the thick of things.

The Raellian Raiders had taken over an abandoned Galactic Federation Research Outpost on Gamma Serpentis II. Our heroes came in stealthily using Cloaking Device they'd obtained on a previous mission. It was illegal alien tech however, so they couldn't let the Ambassador know that's how they'd gotten to the surface of the planet. 

The Abandoned Research Outpost on Gamma Serpentis II

After landing on the roof of the Outpost (which threatened to cause said roof to collapse at any moment), the Raellians came out of hatches to see what the noise up above was. Shocked to see the rescue team, they nonetheless got ready to do battle but Starwind's Ray Sword and Plucky's pinpoint accurate shot with his Laser Rifle made short work of them. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the roof, Celes tried to sneak in another way but was met by a Raellian in a Powersuit heading up through double doors. Celes managed to lock the hatch, forcing the Raellian to blast through the roof to get to her. While he was doing that, she slipped away and took a different route down into the facility.  

The Raellian Raiders firing beams from their Psycho-Lenses!

Thanks to his Sixth Sense and Telepathy, Starwind was aware of the Powersuited Raellian and leaped to his position, cleaving the marauder in twain with his amazing Ray Sword skills. Hark Harwell used that opportunity to intimidate the remaining Raellians on the roof, convincing them they were outmatched and outnumbered by the forces of the Galactic Federation. The Raellians dropped their weapons and surrendered. The heroes, sans Celes who was already inside, instructed the aliens to take them to their leader. 

Raellian in an old Iapetus Class Powersuit with Laser Cannon and Missile Pods attachments

Celes meanwhile had come across a Maintenance/Repair Robot who was active and unaware the Outpost had been abandoned. It simply continued on doing its job, fixing various components and systems as they broke down. Celes asked him where they kept live specimens because...er...she detected a malfunction in that area. Complaining about people not reporting in such things and failures to follow protocol, the Robot took her to where it just so happened the Ambassador was being held! How lucky! 

Repair Robots are cranky but helpful. 

At around the same time, Hark, Plucky, and Sal were heading into the corridor leading to the Command Center. They had the three Raellians they captured with them. As they approached, two Raellian Raiders tried to sneak up on them from behind. Bad news for them, as you're going to be hard pressed to sneak up on Sal Starwind and his Psychic Sixth Sense! Leaping into the air, spinning backwards, and igniting his Ray Sword as he swung downward, Starwind smiled with satisfaction as the first Raellian's hands, tightly gripping a Laser Pistol, fell to the floor, severed at the wrists. It took a second for him to realize what had happened and then the Raellian roared in surprise, panic, and pain. Sal tried to read the thoughts of  the second Raellian who, in turn, took a shot at Sal using the Psycho-Lens on his foreheard. Sal deflected the beam with his blue laser blade as Plucky spun and blasted the attacker. 

Space Opera Hero Trivia Kids! Raellians can use Psychic energy directed at them and convert it into a beam emitted by the lens-like crystal on their foreheads. This only works if you try to read their minds, use telekinesis on them, etc. They can't absorb psychic power from Sal's Sixth Sense as that is internal and not directed at them. 

The doors at the end of the hall opened then, revealing the Outpost control room and the Raellian Leader. Hark got right to the point and noted how his team easily cut through the alien Raiders. The Leader was impressed and willing to negotiate...or so he said. 

At the same time, the Repair Robot and lucky Celes managed to find a lab with several large chambers for holding live creature, one of which contained Ambassador Tagothi. After giving the parched diplomat some water (which he promptly splashed over his head), the three of them got ready to head back to the ship. Celes let the team know what had happened and they she had the Ambassador. This was announced loudly over Harwell's Communicator, which he had left on in order to use it as a translator for the Raellian language. 

The Raellian Leader has a trick up his sleeve...er...on the back of his hand!

Chuckling in a most unpleasant way, the Raellian Leader pressed a glowing green button on his gauntlet, causing the double-doors behind him to open, revealing a warbot powersuit even more powerful and terrifying than the last...

Oh no! Are our Space Opera Heroes Doomed? Can Celes get to her teammates in time to help? Do the Raellians or their technology have a weakness? Find out - Same Space Opera Time, Same Space Opera Channel!

To Be Continued...(maybe).

We had a lot of fun and the game went over well, though it was played more for laughs. Were I to use Space Opera Heroes for an ongoing campaign, I wouldn't go quite this light-hearted. Still and all it was a blast and has me even excited to try other iterations of the game in the future. 

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RPGaDay 2026 - DAY 13 - STRAIN

STRAIN

The biggest Strain on my ability to catch up with and continue posting for the RPGaDay Challenge of 2026 has been the fact that as of last weekend I've been really sick with the flu. That is in addition to work, life, side projects, and all the other facts that usually make August a tough go for blogging. 

My apologies to all my readers and I hope to get back on schedule but don't be surprised if the next few posts are a bit of a cheat in order to reach the point of being at least roughly concurrent with where I'm supposed to be. 

Ya'know, like this one.

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RPGaDay 2026 - DAY 12 - LOSS

LOSS

This one is going to be a little different. 

These characters aren't active NPCs and they aren't villains; these are characters in the background of our protagonist Gidget Starseeker and are part of the World-Building of my Space Opera Heroes Solo Campaign. 

Here we go...

'The Starseekers' were a organization

 of independent deep space explorers operating in and around the Frontier Sectors of Epsilon and Zeta for over 20 years. They surveyed over 50 planets in that time and made First Contact with five previously unknown starfaring species, including the Opionchidians, who are now members of the Galactic Federation.

About ten years into their activities, two of the lead surveyors, Gene (Chief Expedition Leader and owner of their starship, The Wanderer) and Gillian (Head Xenobiologist and a Xenoanthropologist) had a child, a daughter they named Gidget. The Starseekers was starting to look like a 'family business'. 

Approximately 10 years later [and roughly 15 years ago] the Wanderer was investigating a Spatial Anomaly in the Zeta Sector when a discharge of unidentified energy damaged the starship severely. Gene and the ship's Chief Engineer, Gillian's Sister Ginny, had to go outside the ship to repair the damage when a second discharge appeared to vaporize Ginny! Gillian, overcome by her sister's death and her husband being in mortal danger, left her daughter with her robot companion and protector GUS and headed out as well.

Gidget's Aunt Ginny

Yes, she went outside the ship. I know what you're thinking...why her? She wasn't specifically qualified for this course of action, nor was she a particularly big fan of Zero Gravity. She did it because she felt she had to. To save her ship, your team, her husband, and her daughter, she had to do something.

She was right...to an extent. Gillian was able to assist Gene in repairing a key component that would allow the ship to escape the area and get beyond the range of the anomaly. Unfortunately, a third discharge took her and her husband away in a flash before Gidget's very eyes. 

Over the next three years following the incident, the Starseekers broke up as an organization. Some just retired on the credits and accolades they'd gained during their time on the Wanderer. Others, without the leadership, vision, and charisma of Gene and Gillian, migrated to other exploration teams.

Gene, Gillian, and Ginny were the only members of their species on the team and that species is rare in the galaxy, their homeworld sitting in a sector that was practically on the opposite side of the Galactic Federation. Even then, few of them venture off their planet. Returning Gidget to other family members, if indeed any others existed, was not feasible. In addition, her parent's left the Wanderer and GUS to her.

For sometime after, Gidget remained in the custody of the Galactic Federation's Bureau of Unfulfilled Parental Guardianship until, at the age of 18, she was able to claim the Wanderer, GUS, and establish herself as Gidget Starseeker, freelance explorer. 

In addition to her other adventures, Gidget is always trying to obtain information on the Spatial Anomaly that took her parents and aunt, now known as 'The Zeta Evanition Enigma'. She seeks to understand what happened, how it happened, and did they actually die. In all instances related to the Enigma, no debris, remains, or even scattered particles of the objects or beings struck by discharges from the anomaly are left behind. How is this possible? Could something other than simply 'hit by an energy blast' be going on?

The alternative is that our heroine is chasing ghosts and running from Loss.

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*As originally noted, the proper names given to people of Gidget's species are the closest sounding Human equivalent. Family names are unpronounceable by Humans and possibly can't even be completely 'heard' with their antenna. 

Evanition is an old time poetic word for someone or disappearing, vanishing, or fading from sight.

RPGaDay 2026 - DAY 11 - TACT

TACT

Some say war is inevitable. A baked in brute fact resulting from nature of the vast majority of intelligent lifeforms. Makes you question the term 'intelligent' doesn't it?

Right now, there are probably dozens of wars going on across our galaxy and that's a conservative estimate. At the same time, there are dozens of battles that have been avoided, dozens of treaties signed, and many, many sophont species shaking hands (or tentacles, or face tendrils, or suction tubes) in favor of a peaceful solution to their predicaments. 

War is easy. Tact...that requires real skill.

Ambassador Oeg Togathi is the Galactic Federation's foremost Diplomat, responsible for negotiating numerous famous trade agreements and cease fires over the course of his very prestigious career. Ambassador Togathi convinced the aggressive Cumopatians to join the Federation. He prevented open war with the Dark Pulsar Imperium, maintaining our current 'cold war' status. Finally, he worked out a deal where the Sunfire Blades, a former Space Pirate fleet, now make a living protecting the Australis-Opiuchi Trade Route. 

How does he do it?

A bit of skill, a bit of talent, and a lot of experience.

Like all members of his species, Oeg Togathi has an extraordinarily long lifespan. Now into 'Middle Age', the Ambassador recently celebrated his 350th birthday. During that long stretch of time, the Ambassador served in the Galactic Federation's Space Forces as a Captain and later Admiral, the Primeminister of his homeworld, and has traveled all over known space.

 

While drawing on his accumulated knowledge of how sentient beings think in times of both war and peace, Togathi also incorporate empathy, an understanding of the emotions of others and how their feelings interact with their reasoning. This is his greatest advantage and the galaxy as a whole is better for it. 

The Ambassador is once again a custom Archetype, 'Alien Ambassador', built on a combination of several Spy Hero variants. Originally I pictured him being a lot like Keith Laumer's Jame Retief, a sort of 'Action Diplomat', but decided he used to be that guy and is now older and wiser. He is intended to be more of a father figure/mentor should he run into Gidget in their travels. 

Flag of the Galactic Federation

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*Oegopsida is one of the four order of Squid's that exist in the world. 

Nematogathi is the old term, no longer used, for fish of the order Siluriformes or more colloquially, Catfish.

RPGaDay 2026 - DAY 10 - SECRET

SECRET 

Who is 'The Black Knight of Nebula-X'?

Before I tell you all about her my fellow Space Cadets, I want to address the trope from whence she came - The Masked Mystery Villain!

While the West certainly has its far share of mysterious masked menaces, what were discussing here is a little more specific and particularly, if not uniquely, Japanese. 

In Japanese pop culture media dating back to origins of Kabuki and Noh theatre, where masks represented a particular negative emotion such as anger, greed, or jealousy for example. As these art forms developed there was, on occasion, the idea that a mask of happiness hid sorrow or a mask of rage could be turned to understanding. 

In Japanese Manga and Anime, the trope of the Masked Mystery Villain takes this further with some very specific elements. Usually the Masked Villain isn't THE villain, not the Big Bad. They are the Second-in-Command, right hand 'man' of the leader of the evil organization or power. They are more 'physical' then the Big Bad however, actually going into battle to face off (pun intended) against the heroes while the main antagonist hides in their secret fortress. 

The Masked Villain in many stories is someone the PCs are connected or even related to. They may not know they know them but the writer knows there are ties between the heroes and the villain.

They could just be a well known person in disguise but this is much less common. The cowled antagonist seems to know one or more of the PC heroes as well, occasionally dropping clues to this fact, making the main characters actively wonder who they are. Their identity, their TRUE identity, becomes an important part of the narrative. 

At some point, the moment where the PCs/heroes finally get one up on this villain [who has up until now has seemed unbeatable], their mask cracks, partially revealing their true face. This is often a turning point in the story where the relationship between the heroes and this villain changes. Maybe the Masked Mystery Villain starts to see the era in their ways or redoubles their efforts to destroy the protagnists, embarrased to the point of unrivaled fury!

The perfect version of this character in the West is Darth Vader of course; he is Obi-Wan's former Padawan, Ashoka's former Master, and Luke's Father. His face mask has been damaged to reveal his face in Star Wars REBELS, the [awful] Obi-Wan streaming series, and in Return of the Jedi. He goes to meet the heroes while the Emperor remains an even more mysterious mystery character.

With that...

The Black Knight of Nebula-X, or simply The Black Knight of Space, is a being of unknown origin who occasionally works for the Lord Kowai of the Meraisekai, the Emperor of the Dark Pulsar Imperium, and other interstellar ne'er do wells. At the same time, 'she' (the Black Knight is believed to be female based solely on their appearance - true gender unknown) doesn't take any job she doesn't agree with and it has been theorized her agenda and goals are very much her own.

She possess a suit of Powered Armor of highly advanced design that has capabilities rarely seen in a powersuit of this size. The armor appears essentially unique in that there is no record of any other Powered Armor of the exact same design being identified elsewhere. 

She carries a Ray Sword that is clearly of an older style than the sort seen in modern times. Many believe the Black Knight also has Psychic Abilities but this has not been confirmed at all. A popular theory among the Galaxy Police is that her evidenced supernormal powers can be attributed to her powersuit.

Her starship is as impressive as her skills and armor, being a custom Boomerang Class vessel heavily modified to allow for great speed, maneuverability, and possessing a Cloaking Device! That's right, the Black Knight's ship has an energy shield capable of bending light to appear completely invisible to visual sight and a stealth coating making sensor detection very difficult.  

OK but who is she and what is Nebula-X?

Nebula-X is a common use name given to the Adiaphoron Nebula, a breathtaking but extremely dangerous gaseous nebula roughly 100 light years across. It is a malformed stellar nursery; a region where fluctuating gravitational forces cause stars to form and get pulled apart on a regular basis. Due to the extreme levels of radiation and electro-magnetic discharge, sensors and communications do not function properly, if at all, within the Nebula. Many brave and ambitious explorers have attempted to map the Nebula's interior...never to return.

Somehow, the Black Knight's base of operations is somewhere within Nebula-X. On several occasions, her vessel has been confirmed to be entering or existing the Nebula. In fact, in one notable instance, the Black Knight escaped a squadron of Galaxy Police Patrol Ships by entering the Nebula. How this is accomplished is unknown. 

The Adiaphoron Nebula or 'Nebula-X'

As far as who she is...obviously no one knows. Captain Lacey Pepper of the Galaxy Police of Frontier Sector Zeta has several theories. Based on her technology and previous actions, Capt. Pepper thinks The Black Knight may have adapted artifacts of the ancient Forerunner species that went extinct in our universe many eons ago. Their tech often defies logic when compared to current levels of engineering. It may also be that the Nebula itself is the result of Forerunner experiments and her ship is geared to function within its particular conditions. 

On a few scant occasions The Black Knight has encountered the explorer Gidget Starseeker and refused to attack her or take any action that would caused her serious harm. She has damaged Gidget's ship to slow her down and prevent the Wanderer from giving chase. Capt. Pepper suggests The Black Knight may be of the same Alien Species, one rarely seen in the galaxy. 

The Black Knight of Nebula-X - Masked Myster Villain

Ability Scores: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Agility 3, Intelligence 5, Luck 0, Size 1.

 

Skills: Evasion 3, Firearms-Pistol 3, Melee Combat 3, Powersuit 2, Ray Sword 3, Spaceship Piloting 2, Stealth 3, Tactics 4.

Powered Armor-Unique: Anti-Gravity Assisted Jetpack (Super Leaps, Limited Flight), Built-in Communicator (can summon Starship), Energy Shield (+2 to Durability B), Palm Laser (Damage 4, Skill Dex+Powersuit+1D6), Physical Enhancements (Already Adjusted).

The Ebony Dragon, The Black Knight's Starship

Ability Scores: Structure 8, Size 7, Agility/Maneuverability 3, Armor A 1 and B 1.

Final Hull Durability: Base 15, Durability A 16, B 16. 

Weaponry: Two Particle Beam Cannons Foreward and one rear. Skill: Spaceship Weapons, Damage 17, Damage Type B, Size 4, Rate of Fire 1.

Modifications:

Cloaking Device +1D6 to Avoid Detection or penalize opponent with 1D6 Detection Disadvantage (Attempts to Detect the Ship roll 2 Dice on their Check and take the lowest result). 

Cloaking Device can not be maintained for more than 5 rounds.

Nebula-X Protective Shield - Enable ship to enter and operate in Nebula-X.

There you go, an antagonist with a concealed identity and a hidden agenda! Exploring her and her role in the game would definitely be fun. 

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Barking Alien

*Adiaphoron means indifferent or indifference. Nebula-X does not care about you. It is not your friend.