Orbital Drop

Before I get to the posts I really want to discuss, I feel it might behoove me to update everybody on my current 'State of Gaming' at this time.

Self-indulgent Info Dump Away!

Illustration based on the work of Calum Alexander Watt

I ended 2018 and began 2019 with two separate one-shot games with different groups.

On December 30th I ran The Orville Adventures, a 6 hour session of Modiphius Entertainment's Star Trek Adventures using the setting of the Sci-Fi Dramedy TV Series, The Orville. We had four players and myself and it was an absolute blast. A ton of fun. 

On January 1st I ran two my girlfriend and my good buddy Dave through a fairly simple D&D scenario using a homebrewed version of the game set in my own universe of Aerth. It was OK. Kind of meh. We were all tired and not really focused on the game. It happens.

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At present I am running two ongoing campaigns, as well as playing in two others. I have a third ongoing campaign in pre-production but more about that some other time. 

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The first campaign I am running is the continuation of our ongoing Star Trek Adventures campaign, Star Trek: Prosperity, now in it's fourth year!

The campaign features four players, all males, with bi-weekly sessions lasting about 4-5 hours.

Season 4 will see the return of all four regular players as well as (hopefully) periodic guest-stars just like the previous three years of the campaign. This Season will go back to more episodic adventures (unlike last Season's overarching meta-plot) with a greater focus on the characters, their relationships, and their backgrounds. Something which was last touched upon in the second half of Season 2.

The second campaign I'm gamemastering is the continued Champions 4th Edition game, Champions: Revival. The game has only had about 8 or 9 sessions at this point but it is coming along nicely. 

The game is run monthly, in 6-8 hour sessions, with five players, four male and one female. At least four of the five show for every sessions but one player or another has missed a session or two due to scheduling conflicts. 

Utilizing the setting created by my friend William for his epic, ten year long campaign in which I was a participant in high school, this series features an alternate timeline from previous campaigns I've run in the same universe.

The team is interesting and their approach to 'superheroing' is kind of atypical. If the average Superhero team is akin to Police, these guys are like a SWAT Team or even Seal Team Six. Within a very short period of time they've earned the respect of PRIMUS (a SHIELD type organization that traditionally doesn't like Supers) but rubbed some of the mainstream heroes the wrong way. 

The threat level of their opponents is rising rapidly as well, so I am really looking forward to seeing how they handle tougher adversaries who have it in for them. 

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As for the games I am in as a player...

Our Hogwarts/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter campaign is going strong and that too is in its fourth year. We are already 4th years in the game I believe and I am curious to see where we're going from here.

I really like my character, Ravenclaw student Francis 'Frank' Pellgrove. In fact, I like him more than I expected to. I haven't enjoyed playing a PC this much in a very long time. I am looking forward to seeing where his life and adventures take him, though I'm really in no hurry to see him graduate and leave Hogwarts.

This campaign is run bi-weekly (alternating with our Star Trek: Prosperity game), with 4-5 hours sessions. There are four players including myself with said players being the same group as the Star Trek Adventures campaign. The Hogwarts game is run by my friend Alex using a homebrewed system inspired by Apocalypse World. 

I am also in a Wild West campaign run weekly using a modified version of Savage Worlds. We've had about half a dozen or so sessions so far, each lasting roughly 4-5 hours. There are five males players in this game, though it is rare that all five are present for every session. I have been in every episode (I believe) as has my friend Alex who plays my character's nephew. 

The game is, at it's heart, the story of the small boom town of Dunton, Colorado during the Silver Rush of the late 1870s. At the same time, because the two most consistent players are my friend Alex and myself, it's really become the tale of our characters and their enterprise of 'THATCHER and Thatcher'.

Once again I have a character I quite like, 'Professor' Milford J. Thatcher. I love the way he and his nephew 'Buddy' banter and interact. The GM is doing a bang up job at least partially thanks to becoming completely obsessed with classic Western TV shows and films over the past few months. 

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That's where I'm at right now. I have plans to run another campaign to begin very soon but I need to lock down a few things first and finish the write ups for some of the games elements. More on this as it progresses. 

I started this post nearly a week ago and it's FINALLY finished. Geez. 

Now I can get to other things such as my current love...wait, let me just check out the latest episode and then I can talk about it. 

We'll chat again soon.

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Barking Alien

Lazy Days of Summer

Sorry for the long delay in getting out posts. Summer has been kicking my butt between an ever changing work schedule and the rather intense heat. I exist in two states lately: Totally revved up and unconscious. No middle ground. 

I still have a lot of Japanese TRPG related subjects I want to talk about but it's taking me longer than intended to get my sources and thoughts together. Fear not, my next entry in my 31 Days/31 Characters project is coming soon(ish). I'm sure the anticipation has been keeping you all up at night.

At present I am involved in a number of online TRPG campaigns and between playing, prepping, and running, a lot of spare time is taken up there as well. I am really enjoying all the games I'm in, so no regrets in that area. Let me give you a brief 'State of Gaming' update:

The longest running campaign I've ever gamemastered continues. Our Star Trek campaign entitled 'Star Trek: Prosperity' using the Star Trek Adventures system by Modiphius games, keep going boldly. Mentioned on this blog numerous times in the past, the campaign in now in its eighth year and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. I've got a lot of stories yet to tell. Although a Second Edition of the game is on its way, we are still using First, largely because I've made a few adjustments and houserules and said changes are tied to First. Not sure if I need a Second Edition. We'll see. 

I am also running a weekly classic Traveller campaign I call 'Second Survey' in which the PCs are part of the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service's Grand Survey II in the Imperial Year 1024. Their mission is to visit the worlds in the Solomani Frontier Sector of Daibei (specifically starting out in the Outback Subsector) and make sure the information in the Imperial Library Data on these planets matches the reality of their present conditions. Due to the Solomani Rim War that occurred two decades past, much of this info is roughly twenty years out of date. Updates to things such as resource and trade potential, changes in population and/or government, and the like earn the PCs extra pay from their Patron, which is the IISS itself. 

As for playing, the other really long running game I'm involved in is the [roughly] biweekly Hogwarts/Wizarding World of Harry Potter campaign using a homebrew system. The campaign's 'official' title is 'Hogwarts: A Mystery' and is run by my friend Alex, who serves as First Officer and Chief Engineer Bhoth in our Star Trek: Prosperity game. I've mentioned this Hogwarts campaign a number of times in prior posts and it is now in its sixth or seventh year of real time. We, the PCs that is, are Fifth Year Students in House Ravenclaw. My character is Francis 'Frank' Pellgrove and he ranks among the most enjoyable PCs that I've ever played.

Lastly, I am both playing and running in a Star Trek Adventures campaign set in the time of Lower Decks (roughly), the early to mid-2380s. Entitled 'Star Trek: Copernicus'; the game features rotating Gamemasters, with each of the players serving a turn as referee. It has been interesting to say the least. Overall the adventures have been quite good, even great, though I feel my own have been kind of hit and miss (more miss). For some reason I'm finding it hard to motivate the other players to engage with the type of stories I want to explore. It may be that my more 'Original Series' approach isn't jiving with their 'TNG-DS9-Voyager'; mindsets. 

We are presenting going through the 'Season 1 Finale' adventure. After this we may take a break...literally. One of the players wants to GM BREAK!!. It might be a one-shot or it might be a short series. After that, who knows? Could be Star Trek: Copernicus Season 2, could be a short stint of something else...we shall see.

I am generally really happy with the gaming I'm participating in, though as always my thoughts leap to stranger and less traveled roads. I really want to run some sort of Horror game (though no idea what kind), wouldn't mind exploring a period such as 17th Century Pirates or the Wild West, and hope to get back to Ghostbusters at some point. All the while Anime/Manga influenced Japanese TRPGs call to me with their J-Pop siren songs. I also really want to run a Fantasy RPG - I know, I know - but more on that another time.

Sigh.

Man I don't like the Summer. Is it Autumn yet?

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Barking Alien

Barking Alien's Top 10 Favorite PCs of Mine

When I first sat down to make this post my initial thought was, "Have I even played enough characters over the years to warrant a list of my 10 favorites?"

The answer is yes...though just barely. 

Some characters jumped immediately to mind and a few of these have been described and discussed on this blog before. Others are less know to regular readers and I have to dig through the dusty bins of my memory to recall them. It helps that I have a pretty good memory for these sorts of things (if I do say so myself) and I used to keep excellent notes on my campaigns and character (I am a tad lazier these days though trying to get back into it).

The list below is in alphabetical order. It does not denote how long ago I played the character (the list in not chronological), nor how much I like them. If I had to pick a favorite among favorites I would probably have to go with Starguard as he is just so much fun to play. Jeckle the Jackal is a close second in that regard.

#10 - Counterfeit (aka The Counterfeit Kid)

(Space Opera, Gamemastered by ? - I forget)

I can't believe I almost forgot this character. 

Some of you may notice a modification to the list. One character is missing to be replaced with this one. All evening and all night I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I was missing a PC, a very special PC. It hit me this morning and I just had to make the change. 

Jon Candor, aka The Counterfeit Kid and later simply Counterfeit, was a character my friend Joe C. created for me. We came up with this idea to create characters for a Science Fiction RPG where we would design the coolest character we could think of, then switch them. Basically Joe would play the perfect character for me and I would play the perfect character for him. 

When a friend of ours had an idea for a Spy themed Space Opera campaign - Inspired by the Retief novels by Keith Laumer, the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison, The Dirty Pair by Haruka Takachiho, and of course Ian Fleming's James Bond - Joe and I got the chance to use our characters, Capricorn Alpha (changed to Capricorn) and The Counterfeit Kid (changed to Counterfeit). 

Counterfeit was a secret agent working for the Interstellar Intelligence Initiative (the III), sometimes referred to as 'Third Eye'. When Jon was a young boy he was nearly killed in what appeared to be a shuttlecraft landing accident. It was no accident. In fact it was an attempt to kill his parents, top Cybernetists working for Third Eye. His body all but decimated in the incident, Jon was saved by being transformed into a cyborg, outfitted with some of the most advanced bionics in the galaxy of our Space Opera's 25th century. 

As a young adult he was teamed with a partner, the 'Transhuman' Psionic known as Aia Diei, codenamed Capricorn Alpha (as he was the only member of the III to hail from the planet orbiting the star Alpha2 Capricorni). When we first see them in the campaign they are adults but there were periodic flashbacks to their first meeting and younger days as junior agents which was super cool IMHO. 

What made Counterfeit fun and unique aside from the setting and style of the campaign itself was relationship with Joe's character Capricorn. Our brotherly friendship showed up in the interactions between these two PCs. We also gave them a bit of an 'Odd Couple' feel, but the closeness of Joe and I definitely came through. 

More on this campaign some other time. It was a blast. 

#9 - Dreg

(Star Wars, The Role Playing Game - 1st Edition, Gamemastered by Peter C.)

Dreg is a Rodian Smuggler from the only long term Star Wars RPG campaign I ever played in. I honestly love this character. Cowardly, neurotic, and clearly not cut out for the life of a heroic Rebel, Dreg nonetheless found a way with the help of a quick wit, good friends, and a really cool spaceship. 

What I loved about playing Dreg was that he was not built to be a hero and didn't want to be, but he was. He cared about his friends, he cared about the battle against the Empire, even if it was against his own better judgement. That dichotomy was extremely fun to explore. 

You can read more about Dreg here. 

#8 - Equinox

(Kapow!, Gamemastered by Keith J.)

Equinox was a Superhero character I originally created for my friend Sergio way back in 1982. He was created for a Villains & Vigilantes campaign in which each of the heroes was from a different country. Sergio based his character on mythology from his homeland of Argentina, mixed with that of other Pre-Columbian cultures. I added elements from Sergio's favorite comic book Superhero, The Silver Surfer and what I hoped were a few unique twists.

Many years later - about five years ago in fact - I was cycling through various Superhero character ideas for the online Kapow! game I was in. I would play a hero for a few sessions and then switch to another. Finally I landed on 'resurrecting' Equinox.

What I really loved about this character was getting to play the same character with four different personalities and approaches. Originally I had intended on focusing on the singular 'Air' persona and hoping to figure out a way to get to the other ones in at some point.

With the help of an idea from one of the other players (my good buddy Carl), the four entities that make up Equinox were split apart and I was able to switch to the 'Fire' entity when they spirits recombined. 

Over time I got the chance to check out each of the spirits in turn, eventually getting to play a completely and fully merged gestat. It was a really fantastic experience. 

You can check out more about Equinox in this post and this one.

#7 - Excelsior

(Villains and Vigilantes, Champions, Mutants and Masterminds, Others - Gamemastered by Various)

Excelsior is one of my oldest characters, created before I started playing RPGs. I have mentioned him on the blog a number of times so I won't go into him much here except to say how cool it is to have been able to translate a character from my pre-gaming imagination to my gaming hobby. He was the first and most prominent example of my doing that that I can think of. 

Check out Excelsior here, here, and here for more information. 

#6 - Francis 'Frank' Pellgrove

(Hogwarts/Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Homebrewed System based on Apocalypse World, Gamemastered by Alex B.)

I get an extra special sense of satisfaction when I create the kind of character for someone's game that I'd like to have in my own games and the GM appreciates it. 

What I mean is, if you are setting up a certain type of game with a very particular setting, genre, or whathaveyou, let's see a character that simultaneously fits squarely into the setting but also brings something new to the table. 

I also vehemently dislike it when people create PCs who don't fit the game the group has agreed upon. I don't like it when players don't put at least a little creative effort into character creation either (I'm looking at you D&Ders with Mages named 'Merlin' or 'Joe Magic' - ugh).

Frank comes from a long line of Wizard shepherds and farmers in the North of England near Hexham ( or somewhere between North Umberland and the hills of North Pennines). His family is poor or at least lower middle class, but they own land on which they raise sheep, pigs, chickens, and less muggle oriented beasts. 

Frank comes off as a bit thick sometimes, though he is a Hogwarts student in House Ravenclaw. The young Mister Pellgrove is not dumb by any means but he is - as one of the other PCs noted - differently smart. His field of specialty is unsurprisingly Care of Magical Creatures. Newt Scamander, Rubeus Hagrid, and Edwardus Lima (author of The Monstrous Book of Monsters) are his heroes. He 'minors' in Herbology and recently Transfiguration. 

He rarely uses his wand if he can avoid it. "What?", you're thinking. "A Wizard who doesn't use a wand?" No, no, he uses it when he needs to but he isn't very good at casting spells, dueling, or that sort of thing. He is very hands on and physical. A bit unusually so for a Wizarding World character. When a fight breaks out and everyone reaches for their wands, Frank is likely to charge across the room, tackle an opponent, and punch him in the face. It's surprisingly effective as most Wizards are not prepared for it. I mean, who does that? You could say Pellgrove fights like a Muggle, lol. 

He is one of the quickest thinking characters in the group, quick to action, a bit impetuous, stalwartly supportive of his friends (whom he thinks are all more worthy of being Hogwarts students than he is). He is brave to a fault, unafraid of beasts or bullies, but very wary of adults with wands aimed at him (the only times he's been badly injured in the game have been from grown-ups using spells). 

I could go on and on. He is surprisingly deep, thoughtful, humorous, and exciting to portray. Can't wait for the next session. 

#5 - Gobo Pepperthorn

(Dungeons and Dragons - Holmes Basic Edition, Gamemastered by Tom Z.) 

My very first character in my very first RPG, August 25th, 1977. He was a Halfling in the days when that was both his 'Race and Class'. That still cracks me up. Ah, old D&D, you silly thing. 

I've mentioned him in a number of posts over the years and really my most distinctive memories of him are his first and last appearances. 

What makes him special and qualifies him for this list beyond being my first PC is that in a very real way, Gobo set the tone for how I would see gaming from that point on. He wasn't played with the idea that he was a set of numbers in a game. I didn't base his actions on his character sheet. I played him with the idea that he was a person in a world. He did what someone would do given his story, circumstances, and the genre. 

This remains my head canon when running and playing RPGs. The mechanics are there to explains your actions, not the other way around. 

#4 - Jekyll the Jackal

(Originally Toon - 1st Edition, Gamemastered by Me (See below) )

Jekyll the Jackal was not designed for an RPG campaign. A game was built around him. 

Some friends and I were discussing various American cartoon such as Animanics and Tiny Toons when I began to ad-lib Jekyll, an anthropomorphic jackal, breaking the 4th Wall to talk to an unseen audience and various stage crew. I/He explains that he is putting together a kids TV show and is now hiring for various rolls. My friends then piped in with a variety of other wild characters auditioning for roles on the show. 

An unusual amount of backstory and plot ideas were dropped in the next hour or so until someone finally said, "We need to make this a game." I decided they were right and I quickly wrote the campaign up for Toon. Jekyll, Uhaul the Rhino, The Killer Emu, and many other characters as well as the Zoonatics campaign gets mentioned in my own game, The Googly Eyed Primetime Puppet Show. 

Jekyll is a favorite for the unique nature of his portrayal, both character wise and in the pacing and management of the games he's in. 

To begin with, Jekyll is a deeply flawed humorous cartoon character. He is somewhat egocentric, delusional, obsessed with the life, career, and death of Abraham Lincoln, and dismissive of danger (not because he is brave but because he hired a legion of highly trained Stunt Jackals to place themselves in harm's way any time he is threatened with injury). Honestly, this only scratches the surface of the surreal madness that surrounds this character. 

Most interesting though is I almost never 'GM' when using this character in the traditional way. He is the host of 'the show', the MC, and the director of the events going on around him. It's a lot like having the GM be a PC if you can picture that. Very fun, very liberating, and it enables me to interact with the other PCs in a very different way. Playing the AI of a ship in a Red Dwarf game is very similar. 

Jekyll and Zoonatics have not been mentioned very often on this blog (oddly) but if you do a search I'm sure that something will come up. 

#3 - Milford J. Thatcher

(Savage Worlds - Modified w/ House Rules, Gamemastered by Dan R.)

With 15 sessions under his belt, Milford J. Thatcher, aka 'The Professor', is my newest Player Character and I absolutely adore him. If Starguard is 'playing against type' (See below), then Milford is a nearly perfect example of an 'Adam Character'.

He is a character who lives by his wits, his earnest demeanor, and the image he puts forth of being part sage, part charlatan. Clever, even crafty, and a fast talker he nonetheless someone who actually knows what he's talking about. Using what seems like alchemy to the good folk of Dunton, Colorado circa 1869, Milford is able to extract silver from the sludge and lead found in various sites of the outlying Rockies. He refers to his technique as the 'Thatcher Process'. 

The 'Thatcher Process' is a fictional variant on the real life Parkes Process, invented and patented by Alexander Parkes around 1850. In reality, the Parkes Process wasn't used in the United States due to the low native lead production in North America. Our campaign assumes that there was more lead in the campaign region than previously thought and that the Professor somehow made the process more cost effective and therefore viable. 

Prof. Thatcher is not a combatant by nature, believing violence is never the answer to any problem, mystery, or puzzle worth solving. At the same time he is well aware that most people in his time see no problem with pistols at high noon and that sort of thing. Although the least physically adept and battle hardened member of our group, Milford has already killed two men and a bear, all in self defense and at different times mind you. 

I love playing Milford. I love his voice, a combination of Groucho Marx and character actors from the heyday of the Hollywood Western. My friend Alex plays his nephew Buddy Thatcher and the banter is at once hilarious and sublime. His interactions with the other PCs, the townsfolk, Navajo Traders, and other NPCs is what I live for in a game. 

Our next session is a sort of Season Finale and I am both excited and not looking forward to it. We are taking a break from the Dunton story and I will be running something for the group for a while. I will really miss spending time with the Thatchers. 

#2 - Sh’Hasta Zihl

(Star Trek, The Role Playing Game - 1st Edition, Gamemastered by Myself and Joe C.)

My first Star Trek character, created for my very first campaign using the FASA rules, Zihl was originally made up as an NPC. We had two players and myself as the GM, but I thought it would behoove the game to have a Kirk-Spock-McCoy style trinity, so in addition to the PC Captain and Chief Medical Officer I added First Officer and Helmsman Sh'Hasta Zihl, a Male Andorian. 

I really fleshed him out as a NPC and at some point in the campaign my friend Joe said he wanted to try running an adventure. It was decided that his character, the ship's doctor, would become an NPC and I would play Zihl as a PC. 

I love Zihl for his unique relationship with his Captain and the CMO. A Hawk to the good doctor's Dove, tempered by the Captain's cool and calm demeanor, the dynamic between them was some really great stuff. 

The campaign featuring Zihl has been mentioned here and there over the years. I managed to immortalize his name in Among The Clans, the Andorian Sourcebook for the Last Unicorn ICON System Star Trek game with one of the NPCs I created for the project. 

I am not sure if his status as an occasional NPC should disqualify him from the list but I am going to say no because I really liked playing him, developed him quite thoroughly, and it's my blog so there. Ha!

#1 - Starguard

(Champions - 3rd Edition, Gamemastered by William C.) 

Starguard, perhaps the most enjoyable PC I've ever had, is also probably the one best documented on this blog over the past 10 years.

The Praetor of the Protectors of Pleiades has been described here, here, and of course here. 

I've spoken about him so much I won't go into details here except to say that he is definitely the most fun character I have ever played. He isn't the deepest and certainly not the most subtle but he was incredibly enjoyable. He is very different from what I normally prefer. I tend to play characters less physical, less combative, and more thoughtful. In classic Dungeons & Dragons terms, I go Wizard or Cleric but never straight Fighter.   

This guy though, he made playing the Punch and Tank guy fun because he was more than just a Punch and Tank guy. He was so Silver Age, Big Personality, Over-the-Top Superhero-y that I couldn't help but love him.

Honorable Mentions go to characters I really loved playing but were only used in one-shots, very short campaigns, usually served as NPCs, or were alternate PCs which I would sometimes play instead of my main character.

Adam 'Black Adam' Schott, Guncannon Pilot (Mekton/Mobile Suit Gundam)
Alien Robot Repairman - Don't recall his name (Hunter Planet)
Gates, Near Human Alien (Teenagers from Outer Space - NPC and occasional PC)
Gabriel Zimmerman (Ghostbusters)
Harlan Quinn, aka Harlequin (Shadowrun)

Jet Kahele (Mekton II/Mobile Suit Gundam)
Kid Chameleon (DC HEROES)
Mummy Treasure Hunter - Don't recall his name (World of Darkness)
The New Yorker (Champions)
Rook Grey, Android Operations Chief (Aliens Film Franchise RPG - Don't recall the system)

Onward...

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Barking Alien

PS: I feel like Gabriel Zimmerman from our Ghostbusters: The Home Office campaign could have been #11 or could even have pushed one of these fellas off the list. Hmm. I'll have to dedicate a post to him at some point in the future. 

This post took waaay too long to finish. 

I starting writing it over a week ago. I got distracted by life and other project as well as, I'll admit, writing too much material. The post was supposed to be a list and while I knew it would have to include some notes on each but I feel I may have over done it. 

I'll try to make future posts more concise.

What you you think?

RPGaDay 2024 - Barking Alien Edition - Day 14

This is tricky to answer as it's difficult to pick my favorite campaign setting.  

I could easily go with Star Trek and explain why even after 42 years of running campaigns set in that universe, I still love to do so and probably will for 42 more. Honestly, I feel like I've discussed the subject before or I am very likely to do so in the future. It's also...too easy. Too expected. 

Instead, let me tell you why I don't generally like Medieval Fantasy but I do enjoy running my D&D-But-Not setting of Aerth, the world of The Winghorn Guard.

First created in 1982 for a campaign called 'The Winghorn Guard', the main idea behind the game is the same reason it remains special to me. The concept was simple, 'Run a Dungeons and Dragons campaign using the Gamemaster advice from a Superhero game'. Instead of planning to do a Medieval Fantasy game using ideas from the Advanced D&D Dungeon Master's Guide , I based how to go about running the game using what I'd learned from years of reading comic books like Marvel's Avengers and DC's Legion of Superheroes. Eventually, when I purchased Villains and Vigilantes [2nd Edition], I used the Gamemaster advice in that game to supplement what I was already doing. 

Giving Dungeons and Dragons 'Four Color' Superhero Comic Book elements allowed the game to have a unique identity and feel. I was able to focus on aspects of world-building and adventure design that emphasized the heroics, ethics, and emotions of the PCs, while de-emphasizing the murderhobo approach. The money, violence, and quest for power normally attributed to traditional D&D PCs are what the bad guys are concerned with on Aerth.

My objective was to inject Medieval Fantasy and Folklore with something I understood a lot better and that, at the time, was Silver to Bronze Age comics. The results were very successful and continue to be four decades later.

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Barking Alien

BONUS FEATURE: Day 14 of the official RPGaDay 2024 Prompts:

What about them, eh? What makes a character compelling?

That's definitely a subject that could take up an entire post (good job official challenge!) and may be too broad a topic for a 'BONUS FEATURE' entry. 

I'll say this; it isn't always clear at the onset what will make for a compelling character. Often times players write multi-page backstories for their PCs not thinking about the fact that what they (really the player) might find really interesting is something they hadn't considered or didn't even know about when making up the character. 

As an example, my Hogwarts/Wizarding World PC, Frank Pellgrove, was created with an eye toward making him less interested in and effective at casting spells or brewing potions but really good with Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. These were two things I knew most other players wouldn't give much thought to.

At some point during the campaign he helped birth a Hippocampus (mythological fish tailed horse) in the Hogwarts lake and became especially interested in aquatic beasts thereafter. In follow up sessions he would take an interest in boats, other sea creatures, and it was suggested to him that he might someday get a job as the Wizarding World's equivalent of a Marine Biologist.

These were profund moments for Frankie and ones that intertwined with and challenged his sense of self. Now, after roughly 6 or 7 years playing Frank, he's a much more compelling character than I ever would have expected. 

Bottomline is don't limit yourself to what you think would be compelling. Start with a basic concept, an outlook on life, and then through play allow yourself to be compelled. Give it a try!

Regrouping

Now that I don't have to concern myself with the A-to-Z Blog Challenge I can get on to more pressing matters.

What I am running, and with whom...

This is a bit like my past 'State of Gaming' addresses, but with the purpose of helping me to organize my thoughts as opposed to entertaining you my audience (My apologizes. Honestly, I haven't forgotten about you. I'll try to be entertaining anyway).

We begin with...

Dan's Group, and The Masked Age 66':

Following a pretty successful first arc of three, consecutive, Friday night sessions, we are going to alternate the campaign to every other Friday night going forward. On the nights I don't run, my friend Alex is running a Harry Potter/Wizarding World/Hogwarts game in which I am a player.

I am really liking the Hogwarts game a lot so I have no problem switching off. Basically it amounts to playing a Harry Potter game twice a month, and running Silver Age Superheroes with a Twist twice a month. I am absolutely good with that.

Oh course, the Superhero game is not without it's bumps. It's a tough group to please in some respects. I'm hopeful however.

The Google Hangouts Group, Kapow!, and Galaxy Quest!:

Whoohoo! I am super excited about this.

For about two years now my friend Keith has been running a really cool Superhero RPG called Kapow! in his own homebrew world. I have played a number of characters in the setting, but for the longest time now I've been using a Superhero named Equinox.

Equinox is actually a very old character I helped my friend Sergio create waaay back before we even knew about RPGs. When I discovered Villains & Vigilantes in 1982 we made up Equinox for a game, and he was so cool I decided to remake him for Kapow!

I've stepped in a few times as GM to cover Keith when he had a family thing, or had to otherwise miss a session (which in two years has been maybe three times. It is exceptionally rare). When I run, the players play a different group of heroes on my alternate setting of Earth-F-Omega, a variant on the Mutants and Masterminds Freedom City* Universe by Green Ronin.

I filled in with an Earth-F-Omega session three weeks ago, and ended up continuing the story even as Keith came in to join us. Tomorrow will be my last session of the arc. Keith then goes away on vacation for two weeks ( ! ), so I offered to run something else. Something different. That's when things got really interesting...

Keith proposed that going forward one of us (he, or I) would run a game for several sessions, or perhaps a month or so, and then the other would take over and do the same. He will be continuing Kapow!, while I plan on a Science Fiction/Space Opera type series. As a test run, I will be GMing a short Galaxy Quest adventure over the two weeks Keith is gone.

More details as I have them. Very excited to get the best of both worlds out of my Wednesday night online game.

Last, but not least...

The Barking Alien Gaming Group, and What Comes Next:

It's been well over a month since I've met with the players in my Barking Alien Gaming Group.

For a short while there it looked like that particular gaming group incarnation had run its course. Luckily, that is not the case. I had a nice sit down discussion with two of the players, and I'm going to try to redouble my efforts to make a game that works for this bunch. In exchange, one of the players will try to overcome a few of his...um...less endearing habits...which often threaten to derail our games. The other player I spoke to will try to keep the first one on track, and act as an intermediary if the player, and I bump heads.

As I look at what I am running, and playing with the other groups I'm a part of, I have to say I'm pretty happy I'm getting the opportunity to run two of my favorite genres already. I'm running Superheroes with one, and I'll soon be running Space Opera/Adventure with the other. I don't need to run those with my monthly group. I am free to tackle something else.

But what?

Then it hit me, and if it didn't make so much sense I probably would've hit it back.

Aerth. My Dungeons & Dragons-But-Not setting of almost 35 years. Superheroic, Anime Influenced, Folklore Fueled [Vaguely] Medieval Fantasy.

System wise I won't be using any form of D&D however. I want to enjoy this. I'm going to be adapting Ars Magica for this campaign.

Yes. I'm going there.

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Barking Alien

Where Am I Now?

I realize I have a number of unfinished post series' on the blog, and I apologize to my readership for leaving them incomplete [so far]. I do mean to get back to all of them, but my thoughts don't always march out of my head in a straight line.

The Paradise Fleet series of Campaigns I Have Known posts, and the Champions: Age of Chaos series of Campaigns I Have Played will both be completed before August, I can promise you that. 

Additionally, I'd still like to write one or two additional posts on my Pokemon RPG idea, though I can not say exactly when I'll get around to that. Hopefully I can get those out before August as well, but I can't guarantee it.

This post is designed to get the ball rolling for the month of June. I have quiet a bit I want to discuss this month, but I felt I needed a 'State of Gaming'-type post to get things started after my short hiatus.

The total view number of views for this blog in May exceeded 13,000, which is decent for Barking Alien. It surpassed both April (around 11,000), and March (around 12,000). There were only 10 posts in March, 6 in April, and 7 in May. I personally felt that some of the posts over this three month period were very good. Comments and +1s to Google Plus seem to confirm that many others agree. 

As I draw closer to my 40th Anniversary in the gaming hobby, I figured it was time to take stock of what I am currently doing, and what is in the immediate future...


What I Am Running

I am currently running a Champions campaign with sessions run every other week (twice a month essentially) on Friday nights. I am looking forward to finishing it. It's been an OK game, but I haven't really been inspired, and as it goes on it feels more, and more like a chore. I should be about to sum it up next session (two weeks from now).

I am also running a monthly Traveller campaign focused on deep space exploration, with my 'main group'. We had the first session a week or so ago, it went OK, but I'm not really feeling the buzz I wish I was. Not sure why. Hopefully it'll pick up, and I'll get more into it.


What I Am Playing

When not running Champions with my Friday night group, I am playing in a Hogwarts/Wizarding World game with my Friday night group. It's run by my friend Alex. The game uses a variation on the Apocalypse World/Powered by the Apocalypse rules. It's good - really, really good - translated from Adam-ese that's high praise indeed. One week Hogwarts, next week Champions, rinse, repeat.

I am also still playing in a weekly online, Google Hangouts Superhero campaign using the rules lite system called Kapow! It's been about 2 and 1/2 years now, and crazy thing, we're still having fun. In fact, the last two sessions were a lot of fun. There was a real sense of urgency, heroism, and teamwork. It was a Superhero game session where we actually felt like superheroes. Loved it.


What's On The Horizon

As I noted, my Champions game should be ending in the next session, or two. After that...who knows. I am not really sure where to go with my Friday group. Theirs are an eclectic mix of interests, opinions, and approaches. Finding a games that works for everyone isn't easy. Still, I'm sure I'll think of something.

As for my online group, we are going to take a break from our regular campaign in a few weeks and run some interesting short campaigns for the Summer. First, I will be taking over the GM reins briefly to run a Giant Robot game. I am thinking of using either original, 1st Edition Mekton or my homebrew Extended Mecha system to run a Mobile Suit Gundam series. A few sessions at most of war, tragedy, and heartbreak should be an great palette cleanser.

This will be followed by an idea our regular GM Keith and I came up with that I think will be awesome. Keith will run a few sessions of Marvel Heroic, set in the Marvel Universe. He hasn't been able to fully grok that system, but really wants to. We compared notes, and now he wants to give it the old college try. Xavier's Institute offers college courses, right? Following that, I will run a few sessions set in the DC Universe using Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition's DC Adventures RPG. It'll all come to an epic climax when a GM (TBA) runs Kapow! (our regular game) featuring characters from the Marvel and DC games.


Ultimate Superhero Crossover Action!

Marvel Characters in the Marvel Universe, using Marvel Heroic
DC Characters in the DC Universe, using DC Adventures/M&M 3E
Marvel and DC Character in a Crossover Universe using Kapow!

SO EXCITED!

Finally, my friend Dave Cotton is back in action after nearly two years. I am really looking forward to getting a game together with him, and the mix of old crew players I've talked about in the past (two of my NJ friends, and one friend from high school). More may be added. I have the perfect idea for that campaign...but I am not ready to reveal it yet.

Soon. Soon.


Other Projects

I am looking to e-publish one, or more RPG games through DriveThruRPG later this summer. It is my sincerest hope to finally finish Unfinished Business, as well as a Sci-Fi/Space Adventure Comedy game idea. 

Wish me luck, stay tuned, and have a great summer!


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Barking Alien

State of Gaming Address - May 2022

April was pretty much a bust. Few posts, no epiphanies made or real insights given and no A-to-Z Challenge at all. I am lost in an RPG funk and I really shouldn't be. 

Sure I get frustrated now and again with the groups and games I'm playing in or running but overall the material has been good. Really good in fact. 

Inspired by the comments on my previous post, I thought it might be a good idea to assess where I am gaming wise by doing one of my 'State of Gaming' addresses. 

Here's what I am doing in the hobby...

Gamemastering:

Champions: UNITY

Run once a week by me, this campaign is based on 'The Age of Champions' campaign setting created by my good friend William Corpening and mentioned on this blog numerous times. I have run several games using this universe, each following a alternate history of what followed the end of my time as a player in the original campaign (and once following the actual end of the campaign past my own involvement). We have designated this incarnation Champions Earth-Alpha Delta-1A (see my breakdown on the known Earths of The Age of Champions).

There are three players in this campaign (originally four but one is currently taking a break from gaming for a while) and it's been really good. The characters are each quite different and their backgrounds and natures have been informing the types of plots and villains I've been generating. I also like that I get to explore new aspects of this setting that in some cases haven't been fully explored before.

Star Trek: Prosperity

Every Friday I'm not playing Hogwarts I am running a Star Trek Adventures campaign with the same four other people from the Wizarding World game as players. The campaign is set during the late 'Original Series' era (roughly 2268-2272 so far). We started the game using the Last Unicorn Games Star Trek RPG but we converted the campaign to Modiphius' Star Trek Adventures 2D20 System fairly early on. Presently we are on 'Season 6', having been playing this game for a little under 8 years. 

This has been a great campaign with some very challenging scenarios, interesting characters, real emotion, as well as some nifty exploration of Star Trek canon and lore.

Star Wars: Gray Territories

My latest campaign, run roughly twice a month, is a Star Wars D6/West End Games game with three friends whom I've known for almost 35 years. We played an epic Star Wars campaign back in my late college days called Tales from the Rim and now we're back at it like no time has passed. This is presently my pride and joy.

I've already started discussing and recapping it on the blog but for a quick overview - It's Awesome! The setting/universe is one we all love, the characters are quirky and fun, the narrative is simple so far but with a larger background mystery just beginning to unfold. Best of all (OMGrogu! THE BEST!) is that it moves quickly. Each session is about half as long as the sessions of my other games and yet some much happens! Love it. 

Honorable Mention: Traveller: Buried Treasures

For almost a year I was running a classic Traveller (with some MegaTraveller) campaign one a week but it's on hold for time being as one of the players has had a baby. Apparently infant Humans cannot fend for themselves and my friend Will and his wife will be occupied with this endeavor for sometime. Who knew?  

Playing:

Hogwarts: A Mystery

Run bi-weekly (every other Friday) by my friend Alex and using a rules-lite homebrew system originally inspired by Apocalypse World (but quite different), the campaign focuses on four Player Character students of House Ravenclaw. The game has been going fairly regularly for about five years now and the students are 'Fifth Years'.

This is the only game I am in as a player and I have to say, it's one of the best I've experienced overall in a very long time. I attribute this to Alex, who is not only an excellent GM but someone well-versed in the setting, lore, and capable of making it 'feel right'. I also really like my character, Francis 'Frank' Pellgrove, whom I would list among the greatest PCs I've ever run (and I did!).

This is where I am at TRPG-wise. All of these games are excellent. At the same time, they all have their flaws and imperfections (well...except for the Star Wars game. So far it's perfect.). 

I could go into the detailed workings of each campaign but I don't want right here and now. I may do articles addressing more general issues in the future though. 

Writing this post has done its job, giving me a clearer idea of what I want to talk about going forward. With renewed vigor and new ideas, I aim to get this 45th Anniversary Celebration back on track.

Thank you all for coming by and sticking with Barking Alien. I really do appreciate it.

Thank you.

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Barking Alien

Cowboys and Aliens

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first Barking Alien post of 2018! 

I apologize for taking so long to get started this year. I've been incredibly busy of late. All good I assure you.

I am now technically in my 41st year in the Role Playing Game hobby.

Wow. Can you imagine?

So what am I going to be working on this year? What's my current 'State of Gaming'? What is my next big game project (or projects)?

I know you're all waiting, gripping the edges of your respective seats in anticipation. Well, some of you are. That guy is. You know who I'm talking about. Yeah you. This one's for that guy.

Where are we now?

At the moment, I am playing in two games, and running one. The other game I was running has ended, at least temporarily. 

On Wednesday nights, I am involved in a Kapow! Superhero campaign that has been going strong for about three years now. I've been getting a little frustrated with it lately due to no fault of the GM, or the other players. The group is the thing I enjoy most about the game. It's me. I'm a little bored with the Superhero genre right now. Even I find that a strange statement coming from me, so I can only imagine what you're thinking dear reader. I attribute it to too many Supers games in 2017. 

The second game I'm playing in, which has been hiatus for some time now, is an in-person Hogwarts/Wizard World of Harry Potter game run using a homebrewed variant of Apocalypse World. The game is has traditionally been run on alternating Friday nights, except when the GM is unavailable (such as this past holiday season, and into the new year), or when more than two of the players can't show (as there are only four players in the group).

I like this game a lot, although the tone of the last several sessions shifted too dramatically for my personal tastes. Our PCs are in their third year, but the situations and antagonists felt like they were more appropriate to Book 5 (The Order of the Phoenix). This wouldn't be a big deal except Book 3 (The Prisoner of Azkaban) was my favorite book, and Book 5 my least favorite. We all had fun, but I felt a little shorted, or cheated thematically. Still, I am very much looking forward to this games return in the coming weeks.

On the alternating Fridays I mentioned above, I am running Star Trek: Prosperity, a Star Trek Adventures campaign set in the late, Original Series era. Our campaign begins a before the U.S.S. Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk has completed its 5 year mission, and is now approximately a year, and half in to its own 3 year mission. Our campaign has a number of influences from The Animated Series, as well as various Star Trek comic books.

I was running a Superhero game with a homebrew system that was based on the Japanese Anime/Manga series, My Hero Academia entitled My Hero Academia: American Ultra. I completed the campaign's 'first season', which went well, but I began to feel that aforementioned weariness with Supers that I mentioned. I felt it necessary to end the game while I was just jazzed about it. It could certainly be optioned for a second season at some later date. . 

Kapow! continues, as does Hogwarts, and Star Trek: Prosperity, but a new year means new games, and I have several concepts I want to explore. The question therefore is...

Where are we going?

The two ideas that are foremost in my mind right now are:

The Orville

A traditional Science Fiction/Space Exploration campaign set in the universe of the Seth Macfarlane's TV series of the same name.

In addition to really liking the show, I love that idea that the players will have the kind of familiarity they would have with a Star Trek game, but without having to worry about all the continuity, and elements they don't know. There have only been 12 episodes. We've all seen the same 12. Not hard to keep things straight. 

I also like that although the show is not really the comedy that everyone expected, there are more relaxed and light hearted moments than you might be on other Sci-Fi shows. This milieu is one of serious Science Fiction, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. 

As noted in some earlier posts on the subject, I am adapting Star Trek Adventures for this. Expect to see a lot of The Orville Adventures in posts throughout the year, but especially within the next couple of weeks.

Travellin' West

A working title, with another possibility being Western, or Westward, Traveller. Essentially, a Wild West RPG campaign using a variant of classic Traveller. 

Now, when I say a variant, I am talking about the kitbashed, house-ruled version of classic Traveller I've been running for many years now. Basically it's classic with some updated rules from MegaTraveller, and an optional 'Death During Character Creation' system that can result in some very neat background material, plot hooks, and even special abilities, and items on occasion. 

I've been toying with the idea of returning to the rather unusual approach to running a Western I took when I was very young, and still a relative newbie with RPGs. You can find references to both the original game, and my desire to revisit it here, and here. 

While considering and turning down a number of options for a new campaign for this year, the Western idea kind of crept up on me out of nowhere, but stuck in my head even as others came, and went. While trying to find a system, it occurred to me how relatively simple, and effective it would be to adapt Traveller. It has an ideal balance between simplicity, and mechanical crunch, features a combat system where a pistol can kill an unarmored man, and PCs don't get more hit points as they improve in other way. A bandit's bullet can take you down in session fifty, as easily as it can in session 1.

There are other elements I think also translate over well, including the Character Creation, with Career rolls, and the building of the PCs history as they're being generated. 

I am pretty excited about this endeavor. I will keep you all posted regarding my progress. I hope to get it down, and working, and not drop the project as I did Star Wars Traveller.*

Alrighty now...we've got the ball rolling!

Let's see where it bounces...

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Barking Alien

*Star Wars Traveller is on the back burner, and has been for some time. With my feeling less than impressed with the latest film, and far too many other ideas going through my head, Star Wars Traveller is not my concern at this time. I may get back to it at some later date, but right now that later date seems to be much, much later.