December 4th is National Dice Day. So to celebrate, here is my collection of clickity-clackity shiny math rocks. Some are the originals from the 80’s boxed sets, others are cheap dollar store purchases and even others are made by a family business. Or I wonder if the Game Master will notice that I’m rolling all 20’s in my special Jason Fox Lucky Dice?
Which dice deserve to be placed in the Dice Dunce Chair? Which dice should I reach for first when it’s time to participate in a role-playing game?
I can’t wait to actually throw some dice soon. Send me pictures of your dice to Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com
One of my most favorite books is available in the November sale of Star Trek eBooks. I’ve always enjoyed re-reading How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford. Now that I have it in eBook format, I’m going to have to re-read it again. Why is it a favorite? Just how odd the book is. I really can’t describe it, I can only recommend reading it and finding out for yourself.
Also, the two books on The Eugenics Wars by Greg Cox should really be turned into a series on Paramount+. It would be a Star Trek show without having to pay for large amounts of SFX since they are set in the 1960s to the 1990s.
All of these eBooks are available for 99 cents each. Amazon is also doing a special where you earn points for each book you buy. This can lead to free books.
October appears to be Spocktober for Pocket Books. There are a large number of Spock-centric ebooks that are for sale 99 cents each. This is a good way to build up a reading library without taking up a ton of shelf space. I’ve been using these sales to do that exactly. Links to the sales are listed below.
So another FanX: The Salt Lake Comic Convention is in the books. With how hectic my summer has been, I didn’t know if i was going to be able to make it. Starfleet Command’s Seventh Fleet was going to have a charity booth at the convention again to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Thankfully our Star Trek fan club is set up so that when real life gets in the way others can step forward. The crew of the USS Pulsar led the various volunteers for the booth. They put together a brand new photo op for convention attendees to use which was the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds transporter pad. After talking with Captain Joe Coleflesh, he stated to just come do what I could and they would handle everything else. So on Wednesday (the day before the con opened) I arrived and got the booth registered. I’m in a walking boot now, but I still had to stay off of my foot as often as I could. Luckily a friend of mine had let me borrow a knee scooter. This allowed me to move about the very large Salt Palace with some ease. It was still a toll on my body so every day of the convention was a “game time decision” on if I was going to make it.
On Thursday I rode down with a friend and was able to check out the vendors floor before the con opened (an advantage of being an exhibitor). I saw a few things that I wanted to pick up when everything was opened. I spent most of the day at the Seventh Fleet booth meeting up with new recruits and old friends who stopped by to say hello. Despite being sore, I made the trek back down on Friday and took my youngest to Kid-Con. Unfortunately, that may have been too much so I wasn’t able to come down on Saturday. If I missed meeting up with you, I hope to catch you at a future event. I will be adding some new photos to my online photo album that were taken at the con.
From a Utah vendor I was able to pick up a dice tray and a pin with a graphic of a D20 that stated “This is how I roll”. I purchased the 2022 anthology “Parliament of Wizards“. With several of the local authors in attendance, I was able to get several of them to autograph the book. My last long Dungeons and Dragons campaign allowed me to play a wizard, so I thought I might gain some inspiration from this book for future gaming sessions. Speaking of getting books signed, I also picked up The Complete Elfquest Volume One and meet the creators Wendy and Richard Pini. I’ve been a fan of this series ever since I read the first trade paperback back in the mid-80’s and I was unaware that they were even coming. While there are a lot of geeky things for sale at the con, I hardly see any role-playing books. So when I discovered that Andrew E.C. Gaska, the author of the Alien Roleplaying Game published by Free League was also present, I had to pick up the core book for him to autograph. When I told him that Aliens was my favorite movie of all time, he wrote a special message with his signature. Yes, I will be using this system in my Character Creation Challenge in 2023. And thanks to my friend Tina, I was able to pick up the autograph of Steven Weber who played Colonel Day on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I would have picked up more autographs but I wasn’t informed about the prices before the con so I couldn’t budget before hand.
Despite missing Saturday and being sore, I did enjoy getting out and seeing the creativity that our local geek community comes up with. Also a big thank you to the members of the Seventh Fleet for running a successful charity booth and to all of the fans who helped donate to the American Cancer Society. To Dan Farr and the many, many volunteers at the con, thank you for all that you do. FanX 2023 has already set the dates of September 21-23 for the next event. I can’t wait to see what amazing things we will see then. Hopefully I’ll be well enough to cosplay.
With the FanX: The Salt Lake Comic Convention taking up most of my time this month, I almost forgot to post the discount Star Trek eBooks offered by Pocket Books. They are all 99 cents and cover a wide variety of Star Trek series.
So earlier this month I received a DM from @StarTrekonPPlus asking if I wanted to receive a special mailer that would celebrate the Season Three premier of Star Trek: Lower Decks on Paramount+. Of course I was interested and I followed the instructions given to RSVP. I was thinking that this would be something that could be sent in a large envelope with a few kewl SWAG items.
Boy was I wrong. And boy am I happy about that.
As you can see from the photo above a very large shipping box arrived. It was very well packaged that it took two of us to safely get it out of the container. As my oldest clamored to find out what was inside, I had the bright idea to start taking photos of everything as we pulled them out so I could share them with you. Here is what we saw before pulling everything out.
You can hear voices singing “Aaaahhhh!!!!”
My box arrived undamaged. I had heard from some other Star Trek fans that their box had encountered mishaps during delivery which resulted in the poster being bent. Luckily everything appeared OK with my delivery. There was a combination of green paper filler and bubble wrap at the bottom to help protect the items inside. The box itself could easily be used to hold collectables. There was also a card with some details of the cookies with raisins from the Boimler Family Vineyards.
Something sweet to eat.
I don’t know why the cookies caught my attention first, but they were the first things that I wanted to look at. These oatmeal raisin cookies will be enjoyed by me while watching the first episode of season three. My family are not big raisin fans so I’ll get to enjoy them myself. These cookies are HUGE. On the back was a list of ingredients and information about Fleurs el Sel, the bakery that made the cookies.
The front label of the Ketracel White-Hot Hot Sauce.
The description on the label.
The next item that I pulled out was the Ketracel White-Hot Hot Sauce. “Locally Sourced” from Gama Quadrant ingredients. I also had to snap a photo of the description as it was bottled for Quark Industries. Since my family is not big on hot sauce and it is factory sealed, I can see myself keeping this as just a collectors item. There wasn’t an actual company listed for creating the product, but the ingredients label did state it was distributed by HSH Inc out of North Port, Florida. I wonder if there will be a reference to this hot sauce in a season three episode?
The Lower Decks III hat to cover your head.
The tye-dye reversible cap caught my daughter’s attention. She begged for this item after I was done blogging about this SWAG. She has already worn it around the house. Created by a company called Simplicity, the tag states that it offers 100% UV protection. Because I won’t be able to resist the puppy dog eyes of my child, I don’t think I’ll be the owner of this for very long.
Now I just need a Star Trek pen.
This special min-notepad had a special message from Ensign Brad Boimler on the last page (see sub-note at the end of the blog). There was no indication on which company created this wirebound notepad. I’m not certain what I’m going to do with this (use or keep as a collector’s item).
Starfleet Strong
Next was a pair of blue Starfleet exercise wrist bands. I could see Mariner wearing these. There was no indication on the package or on the bands of who made them. My daughters may end up fighting over these as they don’t fit my wrists very well.
Singing: Yo, I got myself a fanny pack. They were having a sale down at the GAP.
I haven’t owned a fanny pack in years. I can also see myself using this item on certain occasions. It is transparent so I could use it for carrying items into areas where they need to do quick inspections before entering. Like some of the other items, there was no indicator of who made this SWAG.
The Rutherford poster arrives undamaged.
One of the things I noticed from other Star Trek fans posting their SWAG on social media is that the poster was random. My poster contained the character of Ensign Sam Rutherford as voiced by Eugene Cordero. As mentioned above, some fans had damaged posters when they opened up their box. Luckily, mine came through with no issues.
Thank you to the gang at Paramount Plus for these kewl items. We had fun unboxing everything and looking things over. I’ve always loved Star Trek: Lower Decks because the writers and artists put a ton of Star Trek Easter Eggs in the show for fans to find. I’ve been eagerly waiting for the third season ever since I chewed out Mike McMahan on Twitter for the tear jerker ending of season two.
Sub-Note: I was just kidding, there is no special message from Boimler in the notebook. Just the thought of a bunch of fellow Star Trek fans scrambling to see if they had missed something made me chuckle. I’m certain my wife will allow you to smack me on principle when you see me.
As you can imagine, it’s been another busy month. So without any further delay, here are the various ebook deals on different Star Trek titles. These are all 99 cents for the digital versions in the month of August. I wonder which ones will inspire new story ideas or Star Trek Adventure ideas.
Feel free to tell me which book you picked up so we can compare notes about them later. I’m interested in seeing if others thought of the books in the same way that I have.
The month of July has been so busy, I forgot to bring up the ebook deals on various Star Trek novels that can be read on various e-readers. These are all 99 cents, as per normal, and are books that I could add to my Kindle for reading when ever I desired. I’ve taken to reading more on my tablet as I can take it with me where ever I go.
Which book do you think would make for an interesting Star Trek Adventures scenario?
Feel free to tell me which book you picked up so we can compare notes about them later. I’m interested in seeing if others thought of the books in the same way that I have.
The first X-treme Dungeon Mastery book was published in 2009 and became an instant hit. Not only did it give advice about running games and handling the various types of players, but it also talked about the Killer Breakfast. This last item is something you should really look up if it happens at a convention near you. If you look on Amazon the physical copy of the first edition book runs between $150-200. I was lucky to find a copy at a Westercon in 2019.
The Unboxing:
Showing the box without showing any addresses (you stalkers).
The shipping box was very well secured. The book was in a padded section with paper taking up any excess space to keep things from moving around. I knew instantly what it was when I picked it up off my porch.
What I found first.
Under the paper I discovered the signed bookplate that was included with my level of contribution. While I had Howard’s autograph on several art books, this was the first time I was able to get an autograph from Tracy and Curtis Hickman. Oh, if those names don’t sound familiar, turn in your geek card. Tracy Hickman is one of the co-authors of the Dragonlance books and games, the Ravenloft game books and a ton of various fantasy novels. Curtis Hickman is the son of Tracy and is also a magician an co-founder of The Void, a virtual reality experience.
Hey, that’s the book. Don’t make any cracks about the book.
The text from the back of the XDM 2nd edition book.
The Book:
Tracy & Curtis Hickman’s X-treme Dungeon Mastery 2nd edition. Illustrated by Howard Tayler, edited by Sandra Tayler with an introduction by Jim Zub. ISBN 978-1-945120-11-4. Like the first edition, this version is hardbound. There are 190 pages (compared to 158 in the first edition) with illustrations on almost every page (check out the lower right corner on each page).
After I had opened up the box and took the photos I did a quick glance at the contents of the book. While I did have access to a PDF version of the book for several weeks (another benefit from participating in the Kickstarter) I wanted to wait until I had the dead tree version in my hands. I enjoy reading a new book this way with the electronic copy being used for quick reference searches. I noticed that there were some items that had been carried over from the first edition, but there was also a lot that was added to the second edition. A lot more. I’m planning to do a deep dive later, but I wanted to drop a blog post since I was excited to get the book in my hands. There were several chapters where I had to stop and read immediately. And there are some other chapters that I’m going to have to go over later. I can see where some of the value for Dungeon Masters can be found in this tome.
I’m also interested in taking a deeper dive in the second edition of the XD20 roleplaying system. Don’t be surprised if I use this as one of my entries for the 2023 Character Creation Challenge. I also have another set of blog posts that is currently boiling in a pot that I can use this system for as well. More on that later.
I did notice that the method of printing on the cover held my fingerprint smudges more than the first edition book. However this doesn’t bother me that much since I purchased this book to use, not to keep as a collector’s item.
Other Kickstarter bonuses that I received included two adventure modules (PDF) and several color illustrations in JPG format. One of these illustrations was also sent to me in a postcard.
Overall I am very pleased with the material I received for my Kickstarter backing. This book will look very nice next to my first edition copy in my gaming library. I can’t wait to delve into the wit and wisdom of the book’s contents. If you didn’t get a chance to participate in the Kickstarter, you can still pick up the book in various formats from Howard Tayler’s online store. I would recommend picking up this guide to being an X-treme Dungeon Master.
Twenty-Five years ago a documentary about Star Trek fans was produced and released in theaters called Trekkies. It was narrated by Denise Crosby and focused on various Star Trek fans while interviewing various actors from the (then) franchises that were airing. Recently Shout Factory released a 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray to the wild that included not only the movie but a special interview with producer Denise Crosby and directory Roger Nygard called “A Trek Back”. I picked up this disk and invited my college aged kid to sit down and watch it with me since she had never seen it before.
Back when this movie was released in the theaters, I was invited with other members of my Star Trek fan club to attend a sneak-peak screening prior to the opening night. Because they knew we were die-hard fans, the organizer had set up some hard trivia questions. I recall that one of them was “What Star Trek character was referenced in the 1980’s song 99 Red Balloons by Nena?” It had been a while since I had seen the movie so it was an excellent re-visit. I could re-call some of the stories about some of the various fans that were interviewed and what happened to them after Trekkies had been released. Gabriel Koerner was able to move into a career in movies and television working on special effects. I had to explain to my kid why the Star Trek juror, Barbara Adams, was a big thing in the 90’s during the Whitewater Trial. Specifically how the media was trying to latch onto anything during a boring trial (which was nothing like Law and Order) It also reminded me of when I entered a costume contest at CONduit (a Salt Lake fan-run convention) in a Star Trek uniform with a sign on my back stating “Avoiding jury duty”. Yes that got a lot of laughs. My daughter looked up the Star Trek dentist in Orlando and discovered that something like that was still going on. The name may have changed (which is how she had heard about it). Another reminder that was kind of sad for me was seeing the various dealers room tables during the 90’s. Back then, that is where you got your latest blueprints or resource books. (yelling at cloud moment) Most dealers rooms have been very dull. Comic Conventions seem to be the “State Fair” setup and smaller fan-run conventions are falling by the wayside. The dealers room use to be a huge draw for me at conventions, now I hope to find something. But seeing the Trek clubs in action and talking about how Star Trek fans help with charity brought a smile to my face. This is something that is continuing to this day as we try to move our world into the 24th Century.
When the movie was over I had a great time remembering this movie. I asked my college aged art student what she thought. She loved it except for some of the semi-erotic art put out by various fans. Seeing what fandom was like before she was born was an interesting experience.
After watching the movie I played the original trailer (I’m very happy when companies include this in their media) and “A Trek Back”. The special was recently filmed with Crosby and Nygard and had some very interesting tidbits including a response from JJ Abrams. I was hoping there would have been another special or two (this is blu-ray after all) but that was it. Hopefully we will get more specials if Shout Factory releases a blu-ray of Trekkies 2.
For the price on Amazon, Trekkies was a good pick up for the money. It was good to add this to my collection (my previous ownership was the VHS tape I had recently found in the garage). And yes, I want Trekkies 2 on blu-ray to complete my collection.
