Of a complete game system, the latest purchase was Sorcery and Super Science by Expeditious Retreat Press. I picked this up from a Bundle of Holding sale that happened in earlier this year.
Sorcery and Super Science is a post-apocalyptic game that appears to be heavily influenced by the 1980’s cartoon series “Thundarr the Barbarian“. I clearly remember a world thousands of years in the future where the moon was cracked and the land was ravaged by sorcery and super science. Dang it, now I need to watch the series again.
I haven’t had a chance to go over all of the rules yet. But I’m certain that I’ll be using this in the 2024 Character Creation Challenge.
What was your latest RPG purchase? Was it a full game or a supplement? 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.
So looking at a lot of #RPGaDAY2023 posts yesterday, I noticed that a lot of the participants were posting about their first Gamemaster or their first time being a GM. I had wondered if I had messed up until I realized, I’m still having fun. I think that’s the spirit of this, showing the enjoyment of the roleplaying hobby.
I can also say that I found a ton of new accounts on Mastodon to follow when I searched out the #RPGaDAY tag. I’ve been noticing that I get more responses on Mastodon than I do on other social media sites.
Day 3 of the challenge is pretty straight forward. “First RPG Bought (this year)”. This would have been a purchase on DriveThruRPG so I went back and checked my email receipts. In early January there was a bundle sale for a RPG inspired by the FASA Star Trek system (but slightly modified and removing the IP elements). This retroclone uses the d20 instead of the d100s. This game is called Vintage Space and the description states it is also inspired by Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Space: 1999. When I looked over the rulebook just before making this blog post, I could see where some of the Star Trek elements were re-named.
There were also two supplements for Vintage Space that came in the bundle that I had purchased at the time. Space Battles for Vintage Space (expanding the starship combat from the original game) and The Arkon Gestalt (a new enemy race for GMs to use).
While I haven’t had a chance to play the game, I’m very certain that I will be using this system for the 2024 entry into the Character Creation Challenge.
Do you recall your first RPG purchase from 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 with any comments.
For Day 2 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge the topic is “First RPG Gamemaster”. From what I’ve read on the message boards, this could have (this year) on it like the Day 1 entry.
So the short answer is, I haven’t gamemastered anything since January 1st. However, I did run a session of Basic Fantasy RPG in December. I was introducing an OSR style game to some 5th Edition players over a holiday break. When I had offered to run an OSR game for them, their first request was “No 4th Edition.” I had to laugh and explain that OSR was a lot earlier than that.
Instead of re-typing everything about that happened in that great gaming session, I’ll give you a link to the blog entry where you can enjoy the after-action report and see the artwork the players came up with while we were playing. 5E players trying OSR for the first time.
Do you remember your first game that you GMed this year (or in the past year)? 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.
Alright I was able to get through the month of July, so let’s start the #RPGaDAY2023 challenge that I had posted about previously. The day 1 topic is “First RPG played (this year)”. OK, this should be easy.
Except it wasn’t. I had to go back and check. I thought it was my FarTrek game, but it appears that the first half of the year was under the dreaded “schedule curse”. So my first games were at SaltCON in March. At this gaming convention I was able to play the following roleplaying games in one shots.
Pathfinder 2nd Edition- The GM was really good. If I had a good GM like that, I could see myself participating in a campaign. Lots of stuff in Pathfinder that could become too overwhelming if not handled well.
Dungeon Crawl Classics– I’ve always wanted to play in a level-0 funnel and SaltCON gave me the opportunity to try this out. DCC is another game that I could see myself playing as part of a campaign.
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition- A filler game after another game I had scheduled was canceled.
GURPS– The scenario was set in the Aliens universe. This was where I was glad that I didn’t have to create a character.
Cyberpunk RED– It was good to step back into this universe after I had played the original Cyberpunk many years ago.
What was the first role playing game you played 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 with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of July 31st through August 6th.
July 31 “I’m a doctor, not an engineer.” Dr. McCoy “Now you’re an engineer.” Scotty- Mirror, Mirror, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
August 1 “They’re brothers, Data. Brothers forgive.” Dr. Crusher- Brothers, Stardate: 44085.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“While I may have harmed others in the past, I now choose to save.” Zero- Let Sleeping Borg Lie, Stardate: 61284.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
August 3 “I’m no writer, but if I were it seems to me I’d want to poke my head up every once in a while and take a look around see what’s going on.” Sisko- The Visitor, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
August 4 “Who would have thought that this eclectic group of Voyagers could actually become a family? Starfleet, Maquis, Human, Talaxian, hologram, Borg – even Mr. Paris.” The Doctor- Year of Hell, Part I, Stardate: 51268.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“I will not fight for Starfleet. But I will defend its ideals.” Hemmer- Memento Mori, Stardate: 3177.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“You should consider staying around. Our command believes misfits have merit, so we keep busy.” Georgiou “I’m surprised you call yourself a misfit, ’emperor’.” Tyler “The freaks are more fun.” Georgiou- Point of Light, Stardate: 1029.46 #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Ugh, senior officers are overrated. They’re always like stressed out and just yelling about directives. It is better down here where the real action is.” Mariner- Second Contact, Stardate: 57436.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
When the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover episode is released early and lives up to the expectations.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of July 24th through July 30th.
July 24 “Trying to get yourself killed… Do you know how much Starfleet has invested in you?” Kirk “One hundred twenty-two thousand, two-hundred…” Spock “Never mind!” Kirk- The Apple, Stardate: 3715.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 25 “As deeply as you feel hurt, you can also feel joy.” Picard- Suddenly Human, Stardate: 44143.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“If you want to change the government, Minister Jaro, you vote to change it. You don’t sneak up from behind it with a dagger.” Kira- The Circle, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 27 “Imagination frees the mind. It inspires ideas and solutions, and it can provide a great deal of pleasure. Human progress, the human mind itself, couldn’t exist without them.” Janeway- The Raven, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 28 “I see no reason to be concerned with idle gossip.” T’Pol- Rajiin, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“That’s what this exchange program is all about. You learn the way we do things and take that information back to your command. It’s up to them to decide which is better.” Wesley- A Matter of Honor, Stardate: 42506.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“I will remember to expect nothing… even from this espresso. Espresso –I release you.” Tilly- Runaway, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
It looks like the Dominion War from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is taking front and center for the latest eBook deal from Pocket books. There are also a couple of Voyager novels in this mix as well. Various Star Trek digital novels are only 99 cents for the month. Amazon is also doing a special where you earn points for each book you buy. This can lead to free books.
I noticed something putting this blog post together. The 3rd novel in the Dominion War series is listed by Pocket Books (and on Amazon) as being written by Esther Friesner. Yet the cover has John Vornholt listed. Does anyone know why there is a discrepancy?
Star Trek Adventures Core Rulebook (left) and the Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide (right)
My Father’s Day gift finally arrived. Around the time of the holiday my wife ordered the Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide for use with the Star Trek: Adventures system by Modiphius. This was a pre-order so it took a few months to arrive in my eagerly awaiting hands. I’ve talked about some of the other Star Trek: Lower Decks products for STA previously. In that blog post I had noted that one of the strengths of Lower Decks, the Star Trek Easter Eggs, had been played upon. I’m happy to report that I’ve seen several strands of the Star Trek minutia listed in the campaign guide. A good example of this is the chart of random items that a member of the Collector’s Guild could be looking for on page 26. For myself, half the fun of watching Lower Decks episodes was the various Easter Eggs that were hidden (or not so hidden) in the episode.
This hardbound book was put together by Project Manager Jim Johnson and a host of writers, editors, artists and more. The ISBN number for the book is 978-1-80281-042-4 and it contains nine chapters on 237 pages. In the image above I placed the Lower Decks campaign guide next to the core rulebook. According to a video interview with Jim Johnson, the similarities between the two were on purpose. I had wondered about this before I had seen the video (and seen an image of the cover). There is an introduction by Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan where he talks about his RPG experiences.
The book was very well protected for shipping.
The first chapter covers the “State of the Galaxy” in 2380 giving updates on the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Empire, Pakleds (of course) and other Polities (such as the Collector’s Guild and the Drookmani). There is also a listing of notable worlds. I particularly enjoyed reading the log entries from the various USS Cerritos crew members which tell a story.
Chapter two covers Starfleet Support Operations. This covers what would happen in the duties that the Lower Deckers would find themselves in. It also covers what type of second contact missions that a smaller starship would be assigned to by the Admiralty. It also covers some topics such as dead crew members returning to life or dealing with family members.
The title of chapter three is “The Lower Decks”. This covers careers in Starfleet, Lower Deck style adventures for other fleets (from Klingon to Vulcan to Borg), various jobs that junior officers may be assigned and the mysterious “buffer time”.
Science and Technology is the topic for chapter four. Here you can find information on various phenomena and creating new life forms.
Chapter five gives us several new character lifepath options (including Cetacean, Exocomps, Gorn, Pakled and Tamarians). We also get new tools and weapons (anyone want a Starfleet Excursion Helmet?).
The gamemaster gets an entire section in chapter six. There are sections about engaging the characters, story components and knowing the tropes. There are also several Lower Deck style mission briefs present to help inspire gamemasters.
Woot, one of my favorite sections of the book is in chapter seven. Starships, starsbases and vehicles. We get the California, Luna, Osler, Obena, Parliament classes for Starfleet. We also see the Vulan T’Kalat and the Andorian/Teleraite Ganashia classes. There is a good section on the Pakled vessels including Clumpship construction. There are also several other notable starships listed as well. A section is also listed for ground vehicles (including construction notes).
The Allies and Adversaries are found in chapter eight. This contains the stats for various characters seen on the show that haven’t already been covered by the Season One and Season Two crew packs. There is a minor section on Kzinti characters that I wish had been written up as a full lifepath, but I’m glad to have some information on one of my favorite races. And for those of you wanting to bring the Renaissance Fair feeling to your Lower Decks games, there are some notes about the Hysperians.
Chapter nine is a Star Trek: Lower Decks inspired Mini-Campaign with four adventures. Let me just say this. There are stats for holographic Orcs. It looks like meat is back on the menu boys. After this chapter is an index which could be very helpful when quickly trying to look up a stat or rule.
As with other Star Trek Adventures books, there are various quotes from Star Trek episodes and movies used to help bring in some flavor. I’ve found that this helps when referencing for those fully immersed (or not so immersed) in the fandom. Badgey has several tidbits of information here and there (because he’s always monitoring comms). There is enough side-bar information present to make things interesting without too many of them (creating a pop-up problem). The book flowed pretty smoothly when I was looking for various things. The built in book-ribbon impressed my daughter when she looked through the book the first time. I was glad to see this addition that started with the STA Klingon core book continuing on here. You can tell that the production has come along way since the STA core rulebook.
I’m really glad that my wife pre-ordered this book when it came out. Hopefully when Star Trek: Lower Decks gets several more future seasons, a second Lower Decks Campaign Guide will be generated by Modiphius. I enjoyed playing a Lower Decks inspired Star Trek Adventures game at SaltCON and I’m looking forward to more.
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.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of July 17th through July 23rd.
July 17 “So, what do you do for fun down in Cargo Bay two?” Kim “Fun?” Seven “You know. Relaxation, entertainment, during your off hours.” Kim “I regenerate in my alcove. I study the Starfleet database, and I contemplate my existence.” Seven- Revulsion, Stardate: 51186.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 18 “If you drop a hammer on your foot, it’s hardly useful to get mad at the hammer.” Riker- Shades of Gray, Stardate: 42976.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Oh, Captain, are you going to punch me again over and over till your arm weakens? Clearly you want to.” Khan- Star Trek Into Darkness, Stardate: 2259.55 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 20 (After getting an injection) “I hope that’s an anaesthetic.” Reed “Phlox’s own recipe.” Archer “Please, sir, may I have some more?” Reed- Minefield, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 21 “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Symbolizing the elements that create truth and beauty.” Spock- The Infinite Vulcan, Stardate: 5554.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTAS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“I’m a patient woman, but I have run out of patience. I will no longer serve gods who give me nothing in return. I am ready to walk the path the Pah-wraiths have laid out for me.” Winn- Strange Bedfellows, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“This was once a piece of an ancient weapon, and now they offer it as a symbol of… of peace. In the Fibonan culture, to surrender a weapon is an offer of truce.” Kirk- Star Trek Beyond, Stardate: 2263.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 23 “You were lucky, Kurn, but luck always runs out.” Larg- Redemption II, Stardate: 45020.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
This is the character sheet for Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play from 1987. So this game would have been played in the late 80’s or early 90’s. In all likelihood it was played with some of my gaming buddies I had met through Comics Utah. This is my handwriting on the character sheet, but I have no recollection of the game itself. It is very possible that this may have been a one-shot game or a game that was intended to become a campaign, but never did. I did have the character sheet placed in a plastic sleeve, so it wasn’t just stuffed loosely in the book. I seem to recall getting annoyed that the sheet was larger than the sleeve itself so I had to fold it over.
Why is “corn” listed as the hair? The color of corn? Why didn’t I just say “blonde”. This rogue character is plundering tombs to feed his wife and three kids at home (that must have been randomly rolled). I have some money listed under wealth, but then I wrote some extra stuff in the side margin. So Udo Roughouser must have found something in his travels. I didn’t find any other notes with the character sheet.
Looking at it, I think this is a percentile based system. I believe this is first edition Warhammer Fantasy. Doing a little research I see that the latest version of the game is 4th edition as released by Cubicle 7. I do recall a lot of weird art when looking at past Warhammer products. I wasn’t much into the tabletop military games at the time. I think it had to do with my lack of patience when it come to assembling and painting miniatures.
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.
