Posted in: Autographs, Collecting, Comic Books, Community Service, Conventions, Cosplay, No One Lives Forever, Star Trek

FanX 2023 After Action Report

Some of the loot from FanX 2023.

2023 marked the 10th Anniversary of FanX: The Salt Lake Comic Convention. I remember when I first heard about this event in 2013. It was announced that Jonathan Frakes would be the guest at a con to be held at a convention center in Sandy, Utah. I had just arrived at a friends house to talk Seventh Fleet business. We had never heard of the company that was putting together Salt Lake Comic Con (as it was called then). The event became so popular (I think the name and lots of advertising helped) that eventually the convention was moved to the Salt Palace (the largest convention center in Utah). In 2013 it ended up being the third largest comic book convention in North America.

So it’s no surprise that ten years later it’s still going strong. Since the Seventh Fleet is given the opportunity to perform our community service mission at the con, I was in attendance to help out. Here is my after action report.

One of the first things that is different this year (for me) is using the FanX app. It had some good thing and some areas that needed improvement. I was able to see a lot of the panels that were scheduled and I could even set up reminders. However the reminders were not very descriptive when popping up on my screen (it’s only in the small notification area at the top). The map was very generic which was bad in trying to find something. Probably the biggest thing that needed to be improved was looking up the panels themselves. In order to see just the panels, you had to select each individual panel room. Then it showed you the panels for that room on that day. It would be very helpful if we could get this information (just the panels) in a grid so I could see if there was a conflict between two panels that I’d like to go see. I could see the value in having the app and I used it several times to confirm times. But I feel that this still needs some improvement before it becomes something to brag about.

Usually at a pop and comic convention there is a LARGE number of guests. Sometimes it is overwhelming when it comes to budgeting money to pick up autographs. As it turns out, this was Christopher Lloyd’s last convention appearance so that made . Something that FanX has finally done is added the autograph prices to their website so I could decide a head of time who I could afford. But I do dislike that a lot of guests (or more honestly, their agents) think, “Hmm… comic con. I’ll jack my prices up by 20-30 dollars.” I’ve found myself getting less and less autographs each convention.

Achievement Unlocked

The main person I was really interested in seeing was Jen Taylor. She is best known as the voice actress who voiced Cortana from the Halo series of video games and TV shows. But the reason I wanted to meet her was due to her work as the voice of Cate Archer in No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in Harms Way. This series is a cult video game that is in IP rights hell. No one knows exactly who owns the rights. So the game can’t be re-tooled for modern computers and added to GOG or Steam. Several years ago Jen Taylor had stated in an article that she didn’t know if there was still NOLF fans out there. I let her know that we were still present and really wished that the game could be re-made for new fans to discover. She was actually excited to hear that we were still out there.

I do have to thank my old roommate who had found this poster for me many, many years ago. He had found it in a gaming magazine and gifted it to me. This is the first time it’s been out of the frame I use in several years. Thank you Gibby.

A look at the autograph.

One of the other guests that I met up with is Science Fiction author Dayton Ward. He has written several Star Trek novels and contributed to the Star Trek Adventures RPG Star Trek Comics and Star Trek magazines. I wanted to make sure that he felt welcomed to Utah. I picked up two books from him. His Star Trek Discovery novel Somewhere to Belong and the Star Trek Kirk Fu Manual (you know I had to add this to my resource library).

After picking up the Alien RPG at the 2022 FanX convention, I was wondering if I could find any RPG books this time around. Believe me, I looked to see if anything jumped out at me this year. A ton of dice vendors. I’d really like to know if they made the dice themselves or ordered it from a third party. There was an author selling a superhero RPG (which is a genre I’m not really interested in role-playing right now) and another author who had written his own 5E guidebook to a fantasy world he had a book series set in. This last one looked pretty, but I couldn’t justify the $50 for the full color version. I did bump into a local publisher who had their first Kickstarter out for the Ter’Ra’Mentia Role Playing Game. This was a fantasy game with a 2d12 system that sounded interesting. I was able to look through the beta-version of the book (about a third in size of the book that will contain player, GM and monster information) and it looked interesting. They are also using a local artist for all the art in the book (none of that AI generated crap). For that alone I’m giving this one some serious thought towards supporting.

One of the biggest surprises from the con came not from the con itself, but from a friend. Earlier in September comic book artist Sean Von Gorman was in Salt Lake to promote the newest IDW Star Trek comic, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds- The Scorpius Run. Sean was there to sign the Retailer Variant cover that was inspired by the cover of the first issue of Star Trek DC Comics issue 1. I was not able to attend the signing because of another engagement, but my friend had picked up a copy for me and gave it to me at the Seventh Fleet booth. I was very excited.

Speaking of the Seventh Fleet, we were performing our community service charter by raising funds for a special charity. Heroes4Causes is a publishing house creating superheroes that have the same affliction (such as pediatric brain cancer or cystic fibrosis) so that kids can see that they can still be heroes. One of the artists was present at our booth and was signing books and art for donations. To draw in the crowds, we had home-made stand up cutouts of the Star Trek: Lower Decks crew for people to take photos with. We had a lot of people who were wanting photos. There was even a crowd of other vendor chanting “Lower Decks! Lower Decks!” when we first brought in the characters.

Many thanks to Dan Farr, the staff and volunteers at FanX. You helped us perform our community service mission and we had a lot of fun in the process. I can’t wait to see what will happen in 2024 when the convention is held on September 26-28.

Here are some random photos from the convention.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 25-October 1

How it feels the day after a comic con.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of September 25th through October 1st. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.

September 25
“I know what time it is. I don’t need a bloomin’ cuckoo clock.” Scotty- That Which Survives, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 26
Star Trek: Enterprise premiered on this date in 2001 with the episode Broken Bow. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Enterprise #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“You can’t be afraid of the wind.” Henry Archer- Broken Bow, Date: April 15, 2151 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 27
“I’ve recently begun a thorough study of opera. I find it… quite satisfying.” The Doctor- The Swarm, Stardate: 50252.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 28
Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered on this date in 1987 with the episode Encounter at Farpoint. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Then your rank of Lieutenant Commander is honorary?” Riker “No, sir. Starfleet class of ’78. Honours in probability mechanics and exobiology.” Data- Encounter at Farpoint, Stardate: 41153.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 29
“A question. Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question.” The Guardian of Forever- The City on the Edge of Forever, Stardate: 3134.0 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 30
“Another glorious chapter of Klingon history. Tell me, do they still sing songs of the great Tribble hunt?” Odo- Trials and Tribble-ations, Stardate: 4523.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

October 1
“Thought is the essence of where you are now.” The Traveller- Where No One Has Gone Before, Stardate: 41263.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Posted in: MST3K

Kickstarter rewards from the MST3K Gizmoplex

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 loot

I love it when something unexpected happens and it inspires me to make a blog post. Delivered today was some of the Kickstarter rewards for Let’s Make More MST3K & Build The Gizmoplex! that I had backed in 2021.

When the box arrived, there was nothing on the outside that indicated what it was. I was pleasantly surprised when the Gizmoplex popcorn bucket was the first thing I saw. My wife, also a MST3K fan, reminded me that Kickstarter rewards are gift that past you sends to current you. Both the popcorn bucket and the drink holder will get used for future viewing.

The red t-shirt is in 3D (you can’t really see it in the photo) and I can’t wait for a proper event to wear it at. As for the stickers. Well the bumper sticker will have to wait until I get a better car. But the other Gizmoplex Founding Member sticker is now sitting on the back of my laptop.

My first laptop sticker

I hope that we will get an announcement about another season of MST3K soon. I really enjoyed season 13. I think my favorite episodes are H.G. Wells’ The Shape of Things to Come and Doctor Mordrid. I also enjoyed watching the specials and behind the scenes videos that were available for backers.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 17-24

When I tell a joke and no one is laughing.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of September 18th through September 24th. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.

September 18
Happy Birthday to Christina Chong. @christinachongx https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Christina_Chong #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Not believing you’re gonna die is what gets you killed.” La’an Noonien-Singh- Strange New Worlds, Stardate: 1739.12 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Happy Birthday to Babs Olusanmokun. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Babs_Olusanmokun #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“We have to fight so the people we love can have a chance to live in peace. That’s Starfleet.” Dr. M’Benga- Under the Cloak of War, Stardate: 1875.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 19
“Where is Bok?!?!” Picard “Removed from command, sir, and placed under guard for his act of personal vengeance – seems there was no…profit in it.” Riker “In revenge, there never is.” Picard- The Battle, Stardate: 41723.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 20
“The man on top walks a lonely street; the ‘chain of command’ is often a noose.” Dr. McCoy- The Conscience of the King, Stardate: 2818.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 21
“I don’t have anything to teach a daughter.” Neelix “Why wouldn’t it be any different from what you would teach a son?” Tuvok- Elogium, Stardate: 48921.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 22
“One can begin to reshape the landscape with a single flower.” Spock- Unification II, Stardate: 45245.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 23
Happy Birthday to Rosalind Chao. @rosalindchao https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Rosalind_Chao #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekDS9

“I’m a teacher. My responsibility is to expose my students to knowledge, not hide it from them!” Keiko O’Brien- In the Hands of the Prophets #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 24
Star Trek: Discovery premiered on this date in 2017 with the episodes The Vulcan Hello and Battle at the Binary Stars. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Discovery #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“If their intention is to attack, balling up our fists won’t dissuade them.” Philippa Georgiou- The Vulcan Hello, Stardate: 1207.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Posted in: Collecting, Reviews, Role Playing Games

Review of Dice Legends products

Two sets and dragon dice bag from Dice Legends

Last year I saw an add for the North-to-South Designs Gaming giving away free dice if you paid for the shipping. Well another advertisement came up earlier this year for Dice Legend that was giving away dice if you payed for the shipping. After the interesting response from NTDS, I thought I’d check it out.

After checking out the link from the advertisement, the prices were all listed as $0.00. The shipping prices were not listed but would be revealed just before completing the order. There was 21 pages of free items that also included pins, dice trays, metal dice, acrylic dice, jewelry, dice containers and patches.

I had selected three sets, and then knocked it back down to two after I saw the shipping prices. With the two sets it cost me $18 (so about the same if I had purchased two sets in a local gaming store). I received a confirmation email and a tracking number. Which turned out to be from China Post. It took a few days before I could get signed up to receive email updates and I waited. One email arrived a few days later stating that the package had moved from one location in China to another location. Google maps showed it wasn’t very far. Oh well, I figured it would take a while.

To my surprise, the package showed up a week later. I think the reason it was a surprise is that I didn’t get any further email updates letting me know the status. I never received another email until a week after the package had arrived stating that the package had been delivered. Um… OK.

As for the dice themselves, I picked up two sets. The first was the Dark Purple set (for my geek wife, which she loved). The second was the Vampire Set with red numbers on a white translucent color. Both sets had the same gothic looking font. I’m certain that there is an official name for this font, but I don’t know what it is.

The two D20s compared with the NTDS D20 on the right.

While comparing the weight and feel, they seemed to be about the same as the NTDS set and the set I picked up from the Dollar Tree in 2021. Which also meant that it was lighter than the Chessex dice. I did several test rolls and it did the job. Random numbers across the board.

A surprise in the package was a free dragon dice bag with an eye embedded in it. The note of appreciation stated it was a $12 value. It was large enough to hold a set or two, but not my entire collection. I’ve got a dice bag that I have no idea where I picked it up from.

Since she hasn’t had a chance to uses the set, my wife didn’t have an opinion on her dice. So while I thought the gothic looking font was kewl, I’m not really certain I’d pick up another set for full price. The weird lack of communication from China made me raise an eyebrow. I think I’d prefer to order from a domestic manufacturer.

What is your favorite dice set? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 11-17

New season of Star Trek: Lower Decks?

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of September 11th through September 17th. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.

September 11
Happy Birthday to Roxann Dawson. @roxdaws https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Roxann_Dawson #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Nothing’s impossible if you want it badly enough.” Torres- Remember, Stardate: 50203.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 12
“What are the other five trials?” Sisko “Blood, pain, sacrifice, anguish and death.” Worf “Sounds like marriage all right.” Dr. Bashir- You Are Codially Invited, Stardate: 51247.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 13
“If you want to run your own ship someday, maybe you should start showing a little initiative.” Archer- Acquisition, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 14
Happy Birthday to Walter Koenig. @GineokwKoenig https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Walter_Koenig #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“That unprincipled, evil-minded, lecherous kulak Harry Mudd programmed you?” Chekov “Yes, my lord.” Alices “This place is even better than Leningrad!” Chekov- I, Mudd, Stardate: 4513.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 15
Happy Birthday to Tom Hardy. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Hardy #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“We will no longer bow before anyone as slaves. Not the Romulans and not your mighty Federation. We …are a race bred for war. And conquest.” Shinzon- Star Trek Nemesis, Stardate: 56844.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 16
Happy Birthday to Jayne Brook. @thejaynebrook https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jayne_Brook #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“And Chris? Whatever your path may be, you can handle it.” Cornwell- Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2, Stardate: 1201.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 17
Happy Birthday to Ella Purnell. @PurnellElla https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ella_Purnell #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“You made your choice, Father. Now I’ve made mine.” Gwyndala- Terror Firma, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Posted in: Reviews, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Modiphius celebrates Star Trek: The Animated Series 50th Anniversary with a supplement

Back in 2021 I remember getting a surprise from Modiphius when they released the IDW Year Five Tie-In for Star Trek Adventures. I was so inspired that I wrote a review of that product here on my blog. Well on Star Trek Day (September 8th) for the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series, Modiphius dropped another surprise on me by releasing the Star Trek: The Animated Series Supplemental Guide.

Can you say “Instabuy”? Yea, spoiler. But I’ll still give you a full review. This book had a lot of good effort put into it.

As I was looking through the PDF, I knew that I had to write a blog post about this. But the real world gets in the way and I had to wait for the workday to completed. Stupid real life.

The Star Trek: The Animated Series Supplemental Guide is a PDF only release from Modiphius. The document comes in 69 pages (compared to 26 for the Year Five Tie-In) with ten chapters in total. This PDF is bookmarked for easy navigation. The writing was done by Aaron Harvey, Jim Johnson, Fred Love and Aaron M. Pollyea. There wasn’t an ISBN number listed, but it did have a product number of MUH0142322-PDF. The copyright is 2023. The foreword is written by Aaron Harvey who is the co-author and designer of the Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series that was released in 2019.

There was an interesting tidbit in the foreword regarding the writers strike that was happening in the 70’s when the Animated Series was in production. I thought this was interesting considering the current state of affairs between the studios and the unions currently going on now. Considering the production schedules that corporations follow I’m fairly certain that this was written before or just about when the current strike started.

So the first chapter gives us the stats for the characters that we see in the Animated Series. I had to chuckle when I saw that the Department of Temporal Investigations had redacted a piece of information in a couple of the bios (and where they missed one). Not seen in other publications are the stats for Lt. Arex, Lt. M’Ress. The second chapter covered some additional crewmemers from both the Enterprise and other Starfleet services.

New Life and New Civilizations is the title of the third chapter. Here we find information on various planets that were visited in the Animated Series. And since they were colorful, there is a lot of color in this section.

For those of you wanting new races for the game, Chapter Four gives several new lifepath options. We get stats for the Aquans, Aurelians, Caitians (yes we had them before, but this was to be complete), Edosians, Kzinti (Yay, I’ve been waiting for this one), Pandronians, the plant like Phylosians and the Skorr. I did notice something when I first saw the Kzinti, the stats were different than they were in the Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide. When I inquired on the Modiphius discord server, Jim Johnson (Project Manager) replied that the Lower Decks guide was a misprint and that I should use the stats in this book. I did like that the Kzinti entry gave information on why some Kzin are members of Starfleet.

Chapter Five gives us the Equipment and Gear. This includes the Life Support Belt, the Automated Bridge Defense System, the Phaser Bore and the Telefocals.

Gamemasters may find the items in Chapter Six interesting. This is Science and Spatial Phenomena. I’ve seen Pocket Universes used in several different stories.

Being a Treknologist, I was glad to see the starships in Chapter Seven. Besides the Enterprise, we get to see the Inflatable Decoy, the Aquashuttle (loved the Monty Python joke embedded here), the Stormbird-Class Romulan Battlecruiser (chef’s kiss for the FASA reference), the IKS Devisor, the Traitor’s Claw (a Kzinti police vessel), the Orion Orchid-Class and more.

Chapter Eight provides the different Allies and Adversaries that were seen in the Animated Series. We get information on Harcort Fenton Mudd, Ari Bn Bem, The Aprils, Thelin, Cyrano Jones, Spock 2 (no Electric Boogaloo jokes please) and more.

We get some additional creatures in Chapter Nine. Do you want genetically modified Tribbles? Because this is how you get genetically modified Tribbles. Plus Glommers, Le-Matyas, Shelats and a host of others.

The last chapter is the Index. Something that may come in very handy while trying to look something up.

For the art and layout, it’s very easily to read. There is some original screen captures from the shows and some very well done new art. It captures the feel of the Animated Series with a modern twist. The usage of pink is a tip of the hat to the usage in the series (partially because the producer had some colorblindness).

Does it give us all of the items from the Animated Series, no. I’m not certain what the limits are on a PDF production. If there is a time limit or just a need to keep the document to a certain number of pages, but there are a few items that didn’t make it into the book. The Copernicus shuttle, the Bonaventure, the Lactrans, the USS Huron, the Dramians, Sord, Vedalans and other entries are now fair game for homebrewers. I feel that about a good chunk of what was seen in the series is listed in this book. So, overall it is an excellent source for any Star Trek Adventures campaign. Ever since Deep Space Nine, elements of the Animated Series were inserted back into “canon” after being pushed out in the late 80’s. Lower Decks has practically dragged the Animated Series back into the light so I would highly recommend picking up this book.

What do you remember from the Animated Series? What would you like to use from it in your Star Trek Adventures game? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Posted in: Conventions, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

SaltCON-End of Summer After Action Report

SaltCON t-shirts I had picked up at all three conventions

So Father’s Day finally arrived for me on Labor Day Weekend. My wife had purchased my SaltCON-End of Summer ticket as a Father’s Day gift. I had a chance to meet up with some of the friends that I had met at previous conventions. Some people were stating that they had recognized me from before. But I had also missed out on talking with a few others. We saw each other at a distance while getting to different events but didn’t get a chance to stop and talk. So sorry if I missed out on talking with you.

One of the things that I had not mentioned in my SaltCON-Spring and SaltCON-Summer after action reports was the available convention t-shirts (now seen above). These shirts were very reasonably priced for the sizes offered. So I made it a habit of picking one up each con when checking in at the registration desk. I’m grateful that they had a non-blue shirt for the end-of-summer event. And speaking of picking things up.

Some of the loot from this convention

The dealer that I had picked up several Star Trek Adventures sourcebooks now had the Star Trek: Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide. This was one of the last books that I need (I’m only missing the Strange New Worlds Mission Compendium 2 hardback). From the game swap area I was able to track down a used copy of Ninjas & Superspies for a good price. I was also able to pick up a used copy of Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing as well. Both of these will end up being used in the 2024 Character Creation Challenge as well as other future themed blog posts.

Not in the photo was several gifts that I had picked up for my geek wife. But from one dealer I was able to pick up a Boba Fett pin and a D20 pin to go on my convention backpack. Hopefully you can see them at the bottom of the photo.

Some of the characters that I had a chance to play

I was able to attend all of the games that I had mentioned in my Prepping for SaltCON-End of Summer post. Here is how the games went.

Hyperborea– Yes this was definitely weird and ran pretty smoothly. The GM knew the game pretty well having backed the kickstarter. I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to play this game again.

Dragonbane– This game really impressed me. The character sheet made sense and I could see the logic behind both the system and the setup. I was originally thinking this was going to be my highlight game of the con, but another game knocked it off on Saturday. In this game your player character could be an intelligent duck. I played a wolfkin who was an excellent fighter.

Fallout– And the game that did grab my highlight of the con was Fallout. Most of us at the table were playing this 2d20 RPG for the first time and it actually made a lot of sense. I quickly understood how it ran (and it explained some items I had questions on other games using this same system). One of the players let me look at his dead-tree version of the book and I’m seriously thinking of adding it to my collection. Especially after I stated thinking of what a Salt Lake based Fallout campaign would be like.

Low Fantasy Gaming– This ran like a D20 clone. In true OSR style fashion, it was quick and deadly. Luckily the rolls went our way and we actually finished the scenario before the allotted time had expired.

Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition- We had to stop some highway bandits while investigating a logging camp that had stopped sending logs down the river. As it turns out, we had to make peace between the loggers and a Fae queen who was not happy.

Star Trek Adventures– A session that a friend ran that was from one of the adventure books. He ran it pretty well, but it also went really late on a Saturday. I took some of the stuff I had learned from Fallout and was able to apply it here. I’m starting to get a better grasp for the game.

Pathfinder 2nd Edition- The first game I was in was part 4 of 5 of a connected story ran over the weekend. The gamemaster gave us a “Previously on…” flashback so that we understood where we were in the storyline. In the last event, we connected all of the clues together and confronted the final boss. The GM had a homebrewed system that he used to allow us to put all of the clues together and find our suspect. Luckily we had rolled well and was able to catch the bad guys before they realized we were on to them. Had we not rolled well, they could have been more prepared for the final confrontation.

Ghostbusters- It was weird when this game ran because most of the other games had concluded for the con. We had a big quiet room to ourselves. I could see where this early D6 system eventually developed into the Star Wars RPG by West End Games. We had to investigate dinosaur ghosts at the New York Museum of Natural History. Yea, we made a lot of Night at the Museum jokes while playing.

Conclusion:

I had a blast at all three events this year. If you are reading this and can make only one event, I’d recommend making it the spring one as it is the largest. The End-of-Summer event was the second largest in scope and layout at the convention center. I was also able to put a bug in the ear of some people to, hopefully, see more of an expanded used-RPG book swap for next year. The bulk of the convention is boardgames, but I’m there for the roleplaying side of things.

Not only am I making plans to attend next year, I’m also starting to give serious thought about GMing a few games. I really like that classic games such as James Bond and Ghostbusters can find themselves on the schedule. Considering I can play 5E or PF2 anytime, I really want to play the more rare games at conventions to make it more unique.

Have you been to any gaming conventions lately? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 4-10

Walking into a convention after a busy week.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of September 4th through September 10th. The @STrekQuotes Twitter account is now active again after another (but clunky) tool was tested that will allow me to schedule posts. I am also attempting to see if I can schedule on the BlueSky platform with an eye on creating a Daily Star Trek Quotes account there as well.

September 4
“The Battle of Clontarf—you, me and a thousand stalwart Irish warriors against a ravening hoard of Vikings. It’s like the Battle of Britain only with swords.” O’Brien- Bar Association, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 5
“Music does have intriguing mathematical properties.” Seven- Someone To Watch Over Me, Stardate: 52648.0 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 6
Happy Birthday to Idris Elba. @idriselba https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Idris_Elba #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“I fought for Humanity! Lost millions to the Xindi and Romulan wars. And for what? For the Federation to sit me in a captain’s chair and break bread with the enemy!” Krall- Star Trek Beyond, Stardate: 2263.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 7
“We were just discussing Vulcan mating rituals. Most of my people are extremely uncomfortable talking about such things. So many inhibitions. Vulcan males are driven to mate once every seven years.” Kov “Seven years?” Tucker- Fusion, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 8
Star Trek premiered on this date in 1966 with the episode The Man Trap. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“My demonstration of concern will not change what has happened.” Spock- The Man Trap, Stardate: 1513.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Star Trek: The Animated Series premiered on this date in 1973 with the episode Beyond the Farthest Star. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Animated_Series #StarTrek #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Captain’s log, Stardate 5221.3. On outward course beyond the fringe of our galaxy towards Questar M-17, a source of mysterious radio emissions. Mission, starcharting.” Kirk- Beyond the Farthest Star, Stardate: 5221.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTAS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 9
Happy Birthday to Jeffrey Combs. @jeffreycombs https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jeffrey_Combs #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekENT #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Peanut Hamper, is it? Ooh, I must say, that’s a mathematically perfect name.” AGIMUS “Thanks. Who the hell are you?” Peanut Hamper “I am AGIMUS, and I think you and I could do awful things together.” AGIMUS- A Mathematically Perfect Redemption, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

September 10
Happy Birthday to Harry Treadaway. @TreadawayHaz https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Harry_Treadaway #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Is everything Romulans do a secret?” Soji Asha “Ooh, I’m not at liberty to divulge that.” Narek- Maps and Legends, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Posted in: Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2023 Challenge After Action Report

So August has come to and end and so has the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge. I must say that I really enjoyed this month. Last year I had issues that prevented me from actually participating in the challenge day-by-day.

Another thing that made this year enjoyable was connecting to the people participating in this challenge on social media using the #RPGaDAY2023 hashtag. I’ve been moving the bulk of my social media engagement to Mastodon and I even picked up a BlueSky invite. By using this gaming hashtag I’ve followed and been followed and (more importantly) interacted with other RPG enthusiasts. Thank you.

I also used a different method than previous years. I queued up my entries and posted them on the day listed on the schedule. I needed to do this so that I could have a buffer on the days that I knew that I would be busy. That has been a pain with past challenges.

Some of my posts from the challenge that I’m proud of include Favorite Character, Favorite Tie-In Fiction (I had inspired others to examine the comics), Game You Wished You Owned (I had some readers state that they would keep an eye out for the Red Dwarf RPG), Funniest Game You’ve Played, Favorite Published Adventure, Best Second Hand Purchase (I still can’t believe I picked it up for that cheap), Unplayed RPG you own, and Most Obscure Game You’ve Played (someone actually found for me where the online PDF can be purchased from).

I was also able to post a reviews for RPG items in the Coolest Looking RPG Product and another past Character Sheet fro the old book of characters that I’ve kept forever.

Thank you to those who read my posts. Thank you to those who sent me feedback. And thank you to David Chapman for putting this together. I’m looking forward to the #CharacterCreationChallenge in January 2024.

Did you participate in the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge? Did you have a favorite post of mine from the challenge? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Back to Top