Month: February 2024

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: February 26-March 3

Written by TardisCaptain February 26, 2024

How I feel looking at some social media posts.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of February 26th through March 3rd. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.

February 26
Happy Birthday to Chase Masterson. @ChaseMasterson https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Chase_Masterson #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“At least we’re trying out. What about you?” Rom “I don’t have the slightest interest in this human game.” Quark “You know why? Jake said it’s a game that takes heart, and you sold yours a long time ago.” Leeta- Take Me Out to the Holosuite, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 27
“When our children are young, they don’t understand what might be dangerous. Our rules are to keep them from harm, real or imagined, and that’s part of the continuity of our human species.” Picard- Imaginary Friend, Stardate: 45832.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 28
“Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is.” Kirk- This Side of Paradise, Stardate: 3417.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 29
“This exact procedure was developed by Dr. Leonard McCoy in the year 2253. I’m equipped with the collective medical knowledge of more than 3000 cultures.” The Doctor- Lifesigns, Stardate: 49504.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

March 1
“We’re out here to meet new species, not tell them what to do!” Archer- Cogenitor, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

March 2
Happy Birthday to Gates McFadden. @gates_mcfadden https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Gates_McFadden #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekFilm #StarTrekProdigy #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“I don’t think anyone is born knowing how to be a parent. You just sort of figure it out as you go but the one quality that tends to be a requirement for parenthood is patience.” Dr. Crusher- Bloodlines, Stardate: 47829.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Happy Birthday to Ethan Peck. @ethangpeck https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ethan_Peck #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #StarTrekShortTreks #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“If you could lower the volume of your voice, Admiral?” Spock “My God, are you hungover, Spock?” April “The result of a peace treaty with the Klingon captain.” Spock- The Broken Circle, Stardate: 2369.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

March 3
Remembering James Doohan who was born on this date in 1920. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/James_Doohan #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekFilm #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“This derivative, mixed with alcohol, it merely deadens certain nerve inputs to the brain.” Dr. McCoy “Oh, well, any decent brand of Scotch will do that.” Scotty- The Tholian Web, Stardate: 5693.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Conventions, Dungeons and Dragons, James Bond, Red Dwarf, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars

Prepping for SaltCON Spring 2024

Written by TardisCaptain February 25, 2024

The two games that I will be running at SaltCON-Spring.

The time has come again to get ready for SaltCON, a local gaming convention in my area. This is the first of three SaltCONs and the biggest. It will take up the entire Davis Convention Center. You can read about my past adventures at SaltCON in my past blog entries. I will be packing my Convention Backpack that I have documented in a previous blog post.

When I first discovered that SaltCON had multiple RPG sessions (and not just board games, which is a massive draw at the convention) I had decided to make this my relax-a-con after volunteering at a lot of other local conventions. However while attending the SaltCONs last year I was talking with the RPG coordinators who expressed interest in having more game masters signing up to run games. Also the fact that I would be getting into the con for free (and get a special t-shirt) sealed the deal after some other bills had pilled up. So I’m nervous, but excited to dip my toe into running one-shots for the convention in the spring. If you can guess from the photo above, I’ll be running a Star Trek: Lower Decks inspired one-shot (think Lower Decks meets the cast of the BBC television program, Top Gear) called Top Core. The second game will be using the Basic Fantasy 4th Edition RPG using a polished up scenario that I used with my daughter and her 5th edition playing friends. It is my hope to take all of the notes from these two sessions and submit it to the Basic Fantasy community for possible publication. I’ve also been working on a Basic Fantasy 4th Edition Reference Sheet that players can use to answer basic questions while the limited gaming session is in progress.

Of the games that I’ve signed up to play, there are a few that I’ve played before and some new ones. They are as follows.

Fallout The Roleplaying Game– After playing this at a past SaltCON, I knew I wanted to play it again. This is the game from Modiphius.

James Bond 007– The classic game from the 80’s released by Victory Games. This will be run by the same GM who ran it last time. He did such a good job that I wanted to sign up again.

Dreams and Machines– A new game released by Modiphius that I haven’t played yet. This uses the 2d20 system that we’ve also seen in Star Trek Adventures, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium and John Carter of Mars. I think it’s a type of post-apocalyptic world some 200 years after a great war with machines.

Red Dwarf The Role Playing Game– The game originally released by Deep 7 in 2003. Not only have I always wanted to play this game as a huge fan of the series, but its currently my holy grail of RPG books to find.

Star Wars Roleplaying– Released by Edge Studio. I have not had a chance to play this variant of the Star Wars RPG so this will be interesting to try.

The Witcher Roleplaying Game– A game by R. Talsorian Games that I haven’t had a chance to play yet. I recently picked up the PDFs in a bundle sale, but I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet.

Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition- The description of the scenario sounded interesting, so I’m going to check it out.

Old School Essentials– I was going to play this D20 clone at SaltCON-Summer, unfortunately the GM came down with con-crud. I’ve signed up for a session hoping that we can get a chance to try this game.

GURPS Star Wars– The GM will be running a Star Wars scenario using the GURPs rule system. While I hate making a character for this system, I’ve had success with playing the system at past conventions.

What should I be on the look out for? Any recommendations for the games I’m going to be playing? 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.

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: February 19-25

Written by TardisCaptain February 19, 2024February 18, 2024

Who are you dressing up for President’s Day?

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of February 12th through February 18th. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.

February 19
“All of us corporeal, linear whatevers have certain things in common. And one of those things is… the need to improve ourselves.” Quark- Prophet Motive, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 20
“If I could travel back in time, I know exactly what year I’d pick. 1588.” Reed “What happened in 1588?” Tucker “England defeated the Spanish Armada.” Reed- Future Tense, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 21
Happy Birthday to Martha Hackett https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Martha_Hackett #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“We made a promise, B’Elanna, that we’d all stick together until the Zone was safe, and I intend to keep that promise.” Seska- Prime Factors, Stardate: 48642.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 22
Happy Birthday to Jeri Ryan. @JeriLRyan https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jeri_Ryan #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“You and Janeway convinced me to join Starfleet. I thought this could be the right path for me. I thought… I thought I could… one day inspire people to follow me, even if it’s dangerous. The way that you do.” Seven- The Next Generation, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Happy Birthday to Celia Rose Gooding. @celiargooding https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Celia_Rose_Gooding #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Think of the ocean in a storm. The surface is moving like crazy, but when you get under it, it’s calm.” Uhura- Charades, Stardate: 1789.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 23
Remembering Majel Barett-Roddenberry who was born on this date in 1932. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Majel_Barrett-Roddenberry #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekFilm #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekENT #StarTrekDiscovery #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“It’s wrong to create a race of Humans to keep as slaves.” Una Chin-Riley (Number One)- The Cage, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 24
Happy Birthday to Tawny Newsom. @TrondyNewman https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Tawny_Newsome #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“I know, Starfleet’s just an idea, but the people matter. You served on the Victory; you know that.” Mariner “Mariner, it’s suicide! We’re just one ship!” Aberdeen “I know, but we have to do something!” Mariner- The Stars At Night, Stardate: 58499.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 25
Happy Birthday to Anson Mount. @ansonmount https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Anson_Mount #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #StarTrekShortTreks #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Mmm, is that your mother’s sauce?” Batel “Anything else would be a crime against tomatoes.” Pike- Among the Lotus Eaters, Stardate: 1630.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games

2024 Character Creation Challenge feedback

Written by TardisCaptain February 16, 2024

As promised in the 2024 #CharacterCreationChallenge After Action Report, here are the badges for those who completed the 31 characters. My daughter provided them in a large and small format. The badge is different than the last two years and are provided below.

There was several participants who sent feedback to me on the challenge itself. I didn’t have permission to use their names, but I wanted to pass on their comments to encourage others. I think part of the reason that these have been successful in the past is the encouragement that we all give each other on message boards and social media.

I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the experience and it was a great way to start the new year. I hope to have the time to do it again next year. If you have any questions please contact me on my email or feel free to also contact me directly on Discord. Thank you again I had a blast!
Thank you to TardisCaptain for this opportunity to participate and to all those enjoying this!
Made it! Thanks again for putting this together. And glad to hear everyone is okay.
I really enjoyed the Challenge this year, already looking forward to next year’s!
Agreed, thanks for running this, had a great time participating with my Advanced Fighting Fantasy reskins of classic 80s fantasy films (some of which may appear in The Warlock Returns fanzine as full articles in the near future), and had a lot of fun reading all the varied and imaginative entries from everyone else. Good times!
D&D remains my bread and butter. But I was able to explore a few other RPGs this year. More planning for next year, methinks. (Hubris. Any bets on no more actual planning next year?)
I’m afraid I’ve got no insightful commentary. Folks can make of my musical taste what they will. Thanks to TardisCaptain , it was fun. Now to sit down and actually read the thread. Is it bad I’ve come up with a theme for next year already?
Honestly, I think I did better last year; both in terms of being more organized and more creative. Which isn’t to say there isn’t a couple of highlights here, but between scrapping several ideas and having a lot else on my mind this year, it’s maybe been a bit more hassle than I’d have liked. I did enjoy coming up with themes to the names of some groups.
So, it was fun, but also more work than expected. If I do this next year, maybe rather than full parties I’ll go with something that requires less prep and crunch – simpler systems, more spontaneous ideas for chargen. Or maybe I’ll do pregens for one-shots. We’ll see.
However, doing this exercise has made me want to start writing stuff again, it’s really blown away the dust and cobwebs. It’ll take me a while to get back into practice, but I do intend to write more on this blog in future. And I’m really looking forward to next year’s challenge.
Wow, making 31 characters for as many different games was quite a lot, even though I did choose mainly rules-light games. Seeing the great diversity in games and character concepts posted in this thread was very fun!
I had fun making these characters and using several games I have not touched for decades I look forward to this next year!
Thank you, TardisCaptain ! Once again it was a lot of fun. And it was very cool to see all the creative stuff people came up with. I had to stop myself from gumming up the thread with questions. Thanks!
And with that 2024 is a wrap! Looking forward to 2025. As usual I will plan to get a few characters ready in advance so I can try more complicated systems. If all goes like previous years I will fail horribly and scramble to do each day next year.
Thank you for organizing the event once again.
Character Creation Challenge comes to an end! It was a blast!

So there will be a Character Creation Challenge in January 2025. I’ve already got a few new games to use and I’m willing to take any requests (if I have them). I’m also thinking of different themes that I may want to use since I saw a lot of successful ones used this year.

This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: February 12-18

Written by TardisCaptain February 12, 2024February 11, 2024

The only reason to watch the Super Bowl is for the commercials.

February 12
“In our system of jurisprudence a man is innocent until proven guilty.” Picard- A Matter of Perspective, Stardate: 43610.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 13
“Matt, where’s your crew? Kirk “On the third planet.” Decker “There is no third planet.” Kirk “Don’t you think I know that? There was, but not any more!” Decker- The Doomsday Machine, Stardate: 4202.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 14
Happy Birthday to Andrew Robinson. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Andrew_Robinson #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Well, the truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination.” Garak- Improbable Cause, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Happy Birthday to Simon Pegg. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Simon_Pegg #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“I told him that I could not only beam a grapefruit from one planet to the adjacent planet in the same system, which is easy by the way, I could do it with a lifeform. So, I tested it on Admiral Archer’s prized beagle.” Scotty- Star Trek (2009) #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 15
“I’m not bothered by what people think of me!” Torres- Parallax, Stardate: 48439.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 16
Happy Birthday to LeVar Burton. @levarburton https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/LeVar_Burton #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekFilm #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Ride’s going to get a little bumpy. Things are going to happen fast. Just keep alert, stay calm. Let’s focus on what we’re doing. You know your jobs. You’ve been trained, you’ve been tested. You’ve earned the right to sit in those chairs.” LaForge- Arsenal of Freedom, Stardate: 41798.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 17
Happy Birthday to Jerry O’Connell. @MrJerryOC https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jerry_O%27Connell #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“I know, it’s always weird revisiting planets from the TOS era.” Ransom “TOS?” Freeman “It’s what I call the 2260s. Stands for ‘those old scientists’ – You know, Spock, Scotty, those guys. Seems like they were stumbling on crazy new aliens every week back then.” Ransom- No Small Parts, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 18
“It’s vital to keep the mind occupied during the healing process.” Dr. Phlox- Regeneration, Date: March 1, 2153 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: February 5-11

Written by TardisCaptain February 5, 2024February 4, 2024

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of February 5th through February 11th. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.

February 5
“What must I do to convince you people that I’m mortal?” Q “Die.” Worf- Deja Q, Stardate: 43539.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 6
“Without freedom of choice there is no creativity. Without creativity there is no life.” Kirk- Return of the Archons, Stardate: 3157.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 7
“This is pointless. Our culture is governed by rules. We’re not about to ignore them.” Stromm “There are no rules telling you to oppress minorities.” T’Pol- Stigma, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 8
Happy Birthday to Ethan Phillips. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ethan_Phillips #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekFilm #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“I’m just trying to look at all sides of the issue.” Neelix- Elogium, Stardate: 48921.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 9
“I lied on my application. And that mistake will be with me for the rest of my life.” Tarses- The Drumhead, Stardate: 44769.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 10
“This is an excellent body, Doctor. I seem to have received the best of the three. Strength, hearing, eyesight, all far above your human norms. I’m surprised the Vulcans never conquered your race.” Henoch “Vulcans worship peace above all, Henoch.” Dr. McCoy- Return to Tomorrow, Stardate: 4768.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

February 11
Happy Birthday to Philip Anglim. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Philip_Anglim #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“I suppose it must be nice to have that kind of faith. I’ve always preferred to believe in nothing. That way I’m never disappointed.” Mirror Bareil- Resurrection, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Anime, Character Creation Challenge, Dungeons and Dragons, Horror, Humor, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Top Secret, Westerns

2024 Character Creation Challenge After Action Report

Written by TardisCaptain February 4, 2024February 16, 2024 1 Comment

And we’ve reached the end of the 2024 #CharacterCreationChallenge. If you made it to 31 days, congratulations. Send me a note via email (carl (at) tardiscaptain.com) on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. My daughter is currently working on a new graphic for those that completed the challenge and I’d like to make sure that it gets sent to you upon completion.

I did make it to 31 characters, but I was delayed by a few days due to a family emergency. Thank you to everyone who reached out to me to ask. One poster mentioned that they had seen a lack of entries for the last two days. My mother and grandmother were involved in an automobile accident. The good news is that they are OK with no injuries and they are just fine (other than needing to replace a minivan). But it was a little scary for me when I found out.

I noticed that the Scooby Doo gang was used in a lot of different themes by participants (seeing Velma and Daphne in the Doctor Who RPG was a hoot). It was interesting to see them show up in different gaming systems. On the discord server there was a very good representation of characters from 80’s movies represented in the Power Rangers Roleplaying Game. It was kind of a trip down memory lane since I hadn’t seen some of these moves in a LONG time. There was also a participant who was making Star Trek characters for three different RPG systems for several entries. It was interesting to see the characters side-by-side. One of the most unexpected discoveries wasn’t a current participant, but someone who participated back in the first challenge in 2021. Apparently it got him out of some serious mental funk that he had been dealing with. It got him back into blogging and eventually back into writing RPGs (that he had done before). It was an emotional moment for me when I read his blog post.

Of the entries that I used for 2024, the games that stood out to me were Monty Python, Fallout, White Lies and Star Trek Alpha Quadrant. I really enjoyed making a character for Teenagers from Outerspace and I’ve been watching some classic comedy anime lately While Vintage Space didn’t fully scratch the FASA Star Trek itch that I was trying to recall, it did get some gears turning that may result in a future project. I also appreciated the publishers that responded when I posted characters for their games. They were able to answer some of my questions that I had raised in the blog posts. I tried to post those responses in the “Additional Notes” section of an entry a day or two later.

The disappointments were those games that were needlessly crunchy or overbearing. I had a few readers on Mastodon and a few of the message boards respond with similar experiences, which made me feel like I wasn’t such an idiot. I’m still digesting Cowboy Bebop and I have a few things I want to check out before I post my unboxing and final thoughts entry.

Here is my 2024 list of characters:

Day 1: Fallout Character: Ragnal Walker of Vault 47
Day 2: Hackmaster Basic Character: Cid the Kid
Day 3: White Star Galaxy Edition Character: Jenker Slix
Day 4: Fantasy Quest (Dicing w/ Dragons) Character: Alric Hinman
Day 5: Top Secret S.I. Character: Nick Tanner
Day 6: Tiny Wastelands Character Stewart Barlow
Day 7: The Dark Eye Character: Halmar
Day 8: Star Trek: Alpha Quadrant Character: Tropp
Day 9: Monty Python Character: Sir Richard Hammond
Day 10: Basic Fantasy 4th Edition Character: Durlan Torven
Day 11: Teenagers from Outerspace Character: Prince Zaxxod
Day 12: The Spy Game Character: James “Captain Slow” May
Day 13: Star Ace Character: Balkor
Day 14: Ninjas and Superspies Character: Luke Ward
Day 15: Conan Character: Braga
Day 16: Boot Hill Character: Noah ‘Lasso’ Johnson
Day 17: White Lies 2nd edition Character: Jack Sterling
Day 18: Vintage Space Character: Troxtor
Day 19: Fantasy Hero Character: Drokkin the Dwarf
Day 20: Shadowrun Anarchy Character: Spike
Day 21: Nights Black Agents Character: Kendal Barker
Day 22: Barbarians of Lemuria Character: Kruk
Day 23: Starfinder Character: Sarangari
Day 24: Crypts & Things Character: Azor
Day 25: Cyberpunk Red Character: Indigo
Day 26: Dungeons and Dragons Essentials Characters: Pelloth Graysoul
Day 27: Cowboy Bebop Character: Wayne Wolf
Day 28: Rolemaster Fantasy Character: Hobson Silversting
Day 29: Tiny Frontiers Character: YYZ-2112
Day 30: Pathfinder 2nd edition Character: Rogar of the Granitebender Clan
Day 31: Anarchy Character: Marcell Freeman

Also, if you purchased anything after clicking on the link to DriveThruRPG or Amazon, thank you. I’m not doing this blog to make money, but the kickback helps when making game purchases for future challenges.

This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction

2024 Character Creation Challenge Day 31: Anarchy

Written by TardisCaptain February 2, 2024

NOTE: Real world issues delayed the last two characters getting posted online.

And here we are to the final day of the 2024 #CharacterCreationChallenge. It was very rough for me at the end as a family emergency came up and delayed my last two entries. Today I am using the Anarchy: The Role Playing Game by Dicegeeks. This game is using the Open D6 system which I was able to play (a lot) in the Star Wars Role Playing Game from West End Games.

I picked up this game after reading about it in a series of newsletters about creating your own role playing game. Being a fan of post-apocalyptic games and the D6 system, I elected to check it out and to use it in the challenge.

The PDF is 65 pages long with the character creation process starting on page 10. The character sheet is one page long. The PDF is only bookmarked in the table of contents. The setting for the game is the United States that has twenty cities destroyed by nuclear explosions. The concept for the game is that the players begin the game alone three-years after the nuclear war and the winters it has caused has ravaged the planet.

Step one is to determine what your character was doing before the war. There is a list to choose from or you can roll randomly. Since I wanted to throw some dice, I let fate decide. This character was a college graduate student working towards a higher degree. Age is 28 and he was at an Ivy League school (both of these were part of the random roll charts.

Step two is what changed over the past three years. A roll of 1 resulted in a close family member or friend died from disease. I would assume that there would be a lot of that in a nuclear winter Earth. The RAW states work with your GM to create the details of the recent change. Talking with the voices in my head we decided that the character’s wife is the person who died.

Step three is the character’s goals that, if achieved, will be rewarded. There is another chart to roll against and the D10 (there is a different die for each time something needs to be randomly selected). A roll of 5 lists “Found a democratic town as a safe haven for any weary souls.” I think that the first thing the character would want to do is find a location that a town could be safely set up.

Now we are to step four where we set up the attributes. I have 18D to spread between the attributes of Dexterity, Knowledge, Mechanical, Perception, Strength and Technical. No attribute can be less than 2D or higher than 4D. Since this guy was almost done with his masters degree, I gave him high knowledge but lower strength.

Step five is to select advantages and disadvantages. The RAW states that a minimum of two disadvantages must be taken. I can skip any advantages, but it doesn’t give me a limit (which seems wrong) so I’ll match the plusses and negatives listed next to the advantages/disadvantages. Unlike the earlier steps, there is no random chart with the advantages and disadvantages. For the first time I had to go searching for the descriptions of the advantages and disadvantages (having the bookmarks on the left of the PDF would have helped here).

The skills are selected in step six. The RAW states that we get 7D to distributed (and a D can be broken down in to +1, +1, +1 or +1, +2). I went over the character sheet and gave him a lot of +1s and +2s.

Step seven is to determine the health points. 20+a STR roll. I wrote down the 26 health points.

Personal info is the next step. I consulted a random name generator and stopped at Marcell Freeman. I wrote up a brief physical description and a short background based upon what had been rolled above.

Step nine is the starting equipment and we are back to the random charts. All beginning characters start out with some clothes. Then I’m instructed to roll a D10 for each chart of Gear, Tools and Vehicles. This resulted in a sleeping bag, a hacksaw with two blades and two quarts of motor oil (uh… why?).

Starting weapons and armor is step ten. More D10s results in an axe and some motorcycle elbow pads. More D10 rolls for starting food and water resulted in eleven cans of spam (singing: Spam in my mailbox at work) and three gallons of water.

Step twelve determines the starting vehicle for Freeman. We are doing a percentage roll here. Freeman has an SUV that has 10 MPG and GHT of 30. What is GHT? The character sheet has something marked GIT under vehicles? I looked down at the vehicles section and it had some additional items, but nothing on the GHT/GIT question.

Step thirteen is to randomly roll for a personal memento. A D10 roll resulted in a music box. Probably all he has left over from his dead wife.

Step fourteen is to determine the current age of the character. Add three to anything determined earlier (28) results in an age of 31. Adding a single Fate Point is step fifteen. And the steps end here. I looked over the sheet and I noticed that I didn’t have any armor points listed. I looked at the equipment section and wrote them down. Here is the character sheet.

Afterthoughts:

So I’ve played this system before and I’d be willing to play it again. I liked some of the random charts, but I wish that there had been some costs involved for obtaining other items. It sounds like there may be a lot of bartering or GM decision making to be made. I doubt I’ll get a chance to play this game, which is too bad.

Additional Notes:

I had a few people ask me how I was going to get Jeremy Clarkson into one of the characters after making Sir Richard Hammond and James “Captain Slow” May characters. I kept waiting for inspiration to strike. When none came, I decided to make the school that Marcell Freeman was studying at Clarkson University. I’m sure they have a great automotive study program.

I received an email from one of the participants in the Character Creation Challenge. He had been posting on his own website for the entire 31 days. I thanked him for his participation and added his site to the links list. In the future, if you are participating let me know as soon as you can. This way I can add the link with the other participants. Congratulations to everyone who made it to the 31 days.

Coming Up Next:

2024 Character Creation Challenge After Action Report

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