Month: August 2025

Posted in: Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2025 Day 5: Ancient

Written by TardisCaptain 1 Comment on RPGaDAY2025 Day 5: Ancient

I was wondering what I was going to do for the Day 5 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. The prompt is “Ancient.” A quick search gave me the definition of “Belonging to the very distant past or having been in existence for a very long time.” Then it hit me, something ancient that still exists would be worth a lot for its rarity, functionality or long-lost information waiting to be uncovered. This is system agnostic for any fantasy roleplaying game.

Adventure Idea: The Battle Record of Anthelstan:
The adventurers are in (or from) the long-lasting Kingdom of Anthelheim. The Royal Family of Anthelheim lays claim to the throne since their bloodline originated with the ancient warrior-king Anthelstan. This is kept in the royal tome known as The Battle Record of Anthelstan. This rare book is only accessible to the first family and the guild of scribes; however, it is brought out on special occasions where the different guild leaders read passages from the book to the public. It was written by the First Scribe who followed the young king on his adventures and recorded down the events for posterity. The first warrior-king brings about a sense of pride in the people of Anthelheim for his many good deeds in uniting the warring clans and forming the first kingdom.

The party is approached by a middleman/mysterious figure/confidant/??? who wants to hire the party to perform a discreet search. Apparently, a hireling of a known adventure offered to sell to a guild master/prominent figure/member of a crime family/etc. an ancient parchment which matches the first page of The Battle Record of Anthelstan. They were with the adventurer when it was found while searching for the lost battlefield of Draag’s Deep and claimed they just barely escaped from the traps that took their master’s life. The problem is the first page in The Battle Record of Anthelstan is still attached to the book that was seen in the recent Festival of Thrax and Alyton. Is this page a fake? Is it part of another copy of The Battle Record of Anthelstan? The benefactor hiring the party wants to confirm if this second book exists. Who wants the book? Someone wanting to keep an ancient secret? Someone who wants to present another record of a blood line? Who else knows about this page? Is someone else looking for the book?

Pushes adventure seed into the ground and pours some water on it. Take this tidbit and let it grow. But share with me if you run an adventure from this idea. I’d love to hear how it turns out.

Did this idea inspire you? What else could I have done with the topic of “ancient”? 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: Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2025 Day 4: Message

Written by TardisCaptain

Here we are on Day 4 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge and our topic today is “Message”. I’m going to talk about an old-fashioned analog way to get messages to my players at my table without the rest of the party knowing what the contents of the message is.

A pad of Post-It Notes. No, seriously. These pads are small enough that I can have a stack of them behind my GMs screen. When I need to get a message to a player, I quickly write it down and toss it at them. The pad is stiff enough that they can write their response back and toss it back to me. Sometimes I’ll even just write down “Read this, giggle, and toss it back to me.” I can then remove the top layer and have the pad ready for the next clue/hint/joke/paranoia inducing information. The player themselves can then decide if their character wants to reveal the information they just gained or remembered.

I used this when I was GMing for the 5e group being introduced to OSR gaming (see the photo posted on that article). I’ve used it at a few one-shots that I’ve run at SaltCON as well. It allows me to keep players involved, drop hints (something the player would have known or observed) and just keep things interesting at the table. Simple and effective.

While I’ve been doing some of these articles, I’ve looked back on older RPGaDAY posts and recalled some of the feedback I had previously received. I had posted the comments given to me. I have had a few people tell me that they thought my posts (or twists on the theme) were very intriguing or entertaining. Thank you. Besides practicing how to write gooder, part of the reason I have this blog is to pass on information to other people. I even had someone recently send me an email thanking me for a four-year old article they had just read.

How do you communicate with the players at your table? Have you used messages to move the game along? 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: August 4-10

Written by TardisCaptain
Me trying to talk to state and national leaders.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of August 4th through August 10th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.

August 4
“We prefer to help ourselves. We make mistakes, but we’re human, and maybe that’s the word that best explains us.” Kirk- I Mudd, Stardate: 4513.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

August 5
Happy Birthday to Bruce Horak. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Bruce_Horak #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #Quote

“Uh, I’ve read that, among many things, the Aenar have a form of precognitive ability.” Uhura “I knew you were going to ask that.” Hemmer “Because you sensed my question before I asked it?” Uhura “Because everyone always asks that.” Hemmer- Children of the Comet, Stardate: 2912.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #Quote

August 6
Happy Birthday to Michelle Yeoh. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Michelle_Yeoh #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #StarTrekSection31 #IDIC #Quote

“The best way to know yourself is to know others.” Georgiou- The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #Quote

Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered on this date in 2020 with the episode Second Contact. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Lower_Decks #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #Quote

“You’ve been on what, four planets?” Mariner “Five, if you include Vulcan.” Boimler “Of course I don’t include stupid Vulcan! You may as well count Earth.” Mariner “I was counting Earth.” Boimler- Second Contact, Stardate: 57436.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #Quote

August 7
Happy Birthday to Cirroc Lofton. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Cirroc_Lofton #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

“So we both disgust each other. You know, as we get older, this is just going to get worse. But I know one thing. I don’t want to lose you as a friend.” Jake- Life Support, Stardate: 48498.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

Happy Birthday to Brett Gray. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Brett_Gray #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #Quote

“Sometimes, the hardest thing is to take a leap of faith.” Dal- Asylum, Stardate: 61209.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #Quote

August 8
“Legends are the spice of the universe, Mr. Data, because they have a way of sometimes coming true.” Picard- Haven, Stardate: 41294.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote

August 9
Happy Birthday to Eric Bana. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Eric_Bana #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote

“I chose a life of honest labor, to provide for myself and the wife who was expecting my child.” Nero- Star Trek (2009), Stardate: 2233.04 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote

August 10
Happy Birthday to Evan Evagora. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Evan_Evagora #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #Quote

“Admiral Picard. I’d hoped to see you before my departure.” Elnor “Exciting Time.” Picard “Yes. I’m very excited. But I’m also worried my excitement may be distracting me from my studies. It’s paradoxical.” Elnor- The Star Gazer, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #Quote

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.

Posted in: Comic Books, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars, Westerns

RPGaDAY2025 Day 3: Tavern

Written by TardisCaptain

Tavern is the Day 3 topic for RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge and I think this is a good one. The common thread of taverns with roleplaying games is the “you all meet up at the tavern for the start of the adventure.” Well taverns can be a bit more than that. They can be a home base of operations such as the Inn of the Crescent Moon seen in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons comics from DC Comics, a common gathering place for the community such as Quark’s Bar on Deep Space Nine, a place to find transport such as the Mos Eisley Cantina or just a place to pick a fight…

“Funny, sir, how you always seem to find yourself in an Alliance-friendly bar, come U-Day, lookin’ for a quiet drink.” Zoe- The Train Job, Firefly episode 2

Taverns, bars, inns, etc. can be used as plot points in may different roleplaying games or stories. A place to find a contact or pass on information. Especially if it’s a last minute option for the GM to use. Just in case you suddenly find yourself in need of a name for that shady little dive the players find themselves in, here are some random tavern names.

Fantasy Taverns-

  1. The Silver Stag
  2. The Soot and Song
  3. The Broken Tankard
  4. The Rusted Crown
  5. The One-Eyed Owl
  6. The Whispering Mug
  7. The Moonspindle Inn
  8. The Wyrm and Whistle
  9. The Laughing Lich
  10. The Barrel and Brimstone
  11. The Hearthless Flame
  12. The Twisted Oak
  13. The Sly Fox and Fowl
  14. The Emerald Lute
  15. The Crooked Lantern
  16. The Grinning Gargoyle
  17. The Copper Cauldron
  18. The Wand and Wagon
  19. The Hollow Helm
  20. The Scarlet Manticore

1920’s Speakeasies-

  1. The Velvet Valve
  2. The Blind Canary
  3. The Whispering Flask
  4. The Garter Grip
  5. Club Hush
  6. The Gilded Ghost
  7. The Gin Mill Grin
  8. The Clover Club
  9. The Cat’s Meow
  10. The Backdoor Saint
  11. The Brass Button
  12. The Crooked Ace
  13. The Cinder Lounge
  14. The Owl and Hourglass
  15. The Silver Stitch
  16. The Blue Note Bunker
  17. The Dizzy Duchess
  18. The Blind Ledger
  19. The Staggering Dame
  20. The Clockwork Coda

Space Bars-

  1. The Nebula’s Kiss
  2. The Black Hole Saloon
  3. The Cyro Leak
  4. The Void Cantina
  5. The Binary Shot
  6. The Dockside Drift
  7. The Event Horizon
  8. The Crater and Cask
  9. The Proton Parlor
  10. The Ion Ivy
  11. The Comet and Coil
  12. The Blacklight Bazaar
  13. The Tachyon Tap
  14. The Gravity Well
  15. The Chrome Chimera
  16. The Red Shift
  17. The Wreck Deck
  18. The Quantum Mule
  19. The Circuit Inn
  20. The Infinite Happy Hour

Western Saloons-

  1. The Rusted Spur
  2. The Dusty Deputy
  3. Cactus Canteen
  4. The Whiskey Widow
  5. The Silver Saddle
  6. The Golden Rattlesnake
  7. The Crooked Trail Saloon
  8. The Tin Horn Tavern
  9. The Red Mesa Saloon
  10. The Prairie Rose
  11. The Dry Gulch Tavern
  12. The Coyote’s Cry
  13. The Spittoon and Sparrow
  14. The Gold Tooth Tavern
  15. The Bootjack Burrow
  16. The Hangman’s Harmony
  17. The Devil’s Draw
  18. The Brass Rail
  19. The Blind Bear
  20. The Lone Star Hollow

What adventures have you had in a tavern? Is there a better name of a bar that you’d add to the list? 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: Role Playing Games, Science Fiction

RPGaDAY2025 Day 2: P.R.O.M.P.T.

Written by TardisCaptain

For Day 2 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge our prompt is…. Prompt? Uh… yea. Let’s give it a twist instead by designing a sci-fi engineering tool for characters to use. I’m keeping this system agnostic so you can drop it into any science fiction roleplaying game.

Here is one of the new items presented in the Engineering Section of Issue 39,247 of the Spacers Catalog and Bargain Basement Yearly by Crapola Inc.

Art by Aurora Stark at https://aurorastark.art/

Introducing the Mark IV version of the Programmable Reconfigurable On-demand Multi-function Portable Tool or P.R.O.M.P.T. for short. Designed by the team of Allyce, Auroro and Noxx who had previously developed the Neural Duct Tape and the Tachyon Muffler.

The Mark IV P.R.O.M.P.T. has three times the battery length of the Mark III and re-charges 27% faster from a standard interface power port. The memory has been increased to include 95 more common and exotic engineering tools which become instantly available from it’s short-range programmable matter paddle field. Just use your P.R.O.M.P.T. to scan the engineering challenge and the hand-held device will present three possible engineering tools extruding from the top of the device to assist the engineer with their duties.

So how much would you pay for this? Well before you answer, there’s more. Now the Mark IV P.R.O.M.P.T. can link up with other Mark IV devices to coordinate repair efforts. Tired of filing those pesky engineering reports? The Mark IV is now Interstellar Organization for Standardization Alpha-60009 certified so it can link up with your primary shipboard computer. This allows your engineer to provide exact reports on the repair jobs and close the assigned duty tickets upon completion.

Mark IV P.R.O.M.P.T. Statistics:
Weight- 200 grams
Length- 24 cm *
Width- 12 cm *
Programmable Matter Extension Length- 1-8 cm
Battery Life
Constant Use- 59 days
Standard Use- 128 days
Internal Processor- Holly V Pro
Maximum Programmable Matter Tool Storage Limit- 287
ISO Alpha-60009 Certified
HBZZ Cybersecurity Enabled

*= without programmable matter tool extensions

Pre-Installed Programmable Matter Tools:
Reverse Polarity Enabler
Metric Hyperspanner
Duotronic Probe
Regulated Coil Spanner
14B Dispenser Cleaner
14F Dispenser Cleaner
Flux Coupler
Interlink Sequencer
Quantum Flux Regulator
Sonic Screwdriver

Interested in expanding your engineering toolbox? Authorized accounts can order directly from the catalog or by visiting one of Crapola Inc.’s many retail locations on Earth, Neptune, Venus, Ganymede and Titan. And remember, if we don’t sell it, then it’s not Crapola!

The art was last minute as the idea struck me today. Did this entry bring a smile to your face while reading it? 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: Dungeons and Dragons, Red Dwarf, Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2025 Day 1: Patron

Written by TardisCaptain

Welcome to the month of August. I didn’t get a chance to do a “Prepping for…” blog post (damn real life getting in the way) but I’m planning to participate in the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge as coordinated by David F. Chapman. As you can see in the image above, there are 31 different topics to inspire discussion. There are also additional Questions, Moods and Subjects. I might use these if the topic fails to get my fingers typing. This morning I’ve had a chance to read a few other blog posts that were participating and I think it triggered some ideas in my brain. So, without further adieu, here is my first entry.

Patron: For some, this term evokes the Warlock Class from the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons. A spell-caster has a pact with some sort of patron that provides them with the power to use as they see fit. Another use of the term Patron is the subscription service that I see advertised on various websites, podcasts, blogs and videographers. I haven’t really used this service as a sender or a receiver. What are your impressions of this? The Merriam-Webster dictionary tells us that a patron can be a special guardian, protector or supporter.

The inspiration that hit me while reading the other entries was the player character being a patron. Not just giving someone else ‘power’ but more like a mentor position. Consider the following ideas:

The Wanna-Be Magician: What if a mid-to-high level non-Warlock magic-user suddenly found out that someone wants to learn the ways of sorcery (or Jedi powers) from them? Perhaps this person was assigned to them by a guild or magic school so they couldn’t just dismiss the person outright. Perhaps this apprentice could be an eager beaver wanting to impress their superiors, a brat of a rich family who thinks that they are already destined for greatness, someone scared of the powers they might obtain, etc. The NPC options are endless and could make for an interesting addition to a mid-to-high level magic-user.

The Voices in my Head: I’ve thought about springing this on players previously, but it never came up in a scenario that it could be properly role-played. The player character (could be any genre) reaches for an ancient artifact, statue, scroll, tchotchke and gets an electric shock. When they recover, they can hear a voice in their head of a long lost archeologist/wizard/supernatural being/etc. that only they can hear. I wanted to have this happen to a strong non-learning character (barbarian, mercenary, etc.) on purpose. Perhaps they felt the stronger character would protect their conscious/spirit/??? and help them achieve their goals. Not following the instructions of the voice, could lead to madness, but the voice could be helpful in sticky situations.

The Next Next Generation: For Star Trek Adventures or any space opera style game with a structured fleet, the characters could be assigned a junior officer that they need to mentor. Like the Command Training Program or younger Ensigns asking Lieutenants for help as seen on Star Trek: Lower Decks. Space navies always need to have officers fresh out of the academy mentored by seasoned officers in real-world scenarios.

Training the Peaceful Villagers: “Across that valley lies an army of darkness such as mankind has never seen. The only thing between them and total victory is this pathetic pocket of resistance. Without a leader, without a plan. Into this bleak arena steps a man, the man for the moment.” Rimmer- Meltdown, Red Dwarf Series IV, Episode 6. The characters can be samurai, gunfighters or even an obnoxious, trumped-up, farty little smeghead who need to train a group of common people into a fighting force. They may not be much of a fighting force, but with the character’s help, they just might pull it off. And who knows, if they survive, perhaps they will want to become followers of the seven… err… characters.

Are there other ideas? Did I miss a possible patron opportunity to put the characters into? 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