Role Playing Games – Page 2 – TardisCaptain's Blog of Holding

RPGaDay2023 Day 26: Favorite Character Sheet

Written by TardisCaptain August 26, 2023August 23, 2023

I initially had an answer in mind when I read that Day 26 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge was “Favorite Character Sheet”. I had seen a lot of them recently after three years of participating in the Character Creation Challenge. However just to be on the safe side, I did a quick run through the scanned character sheets that I had presented. I then decided that I would present a favorite for each year of the Character Creation Challenge. Primarily because I couldn’t pick just one sheet to be my favorite.

Favorite Character Sheet from the 2021 Challenge:

This is the character sheet for Top Secret: New World Order that was written by Merle M. Rasmussen, the original author of the 80’s Top Secret RPG. What made me like this character sheet was the design. It looked like a folder that the dossier of a secret agent would have been found in. And I don’t know why, but the image of the match book made it stand out.

Favorite Character Sheet from the 2022 Challenge:

Like the Top Secret New World Order sheet above, the sheet for the Star Trek inspired Boldly Go! RPG has an aesthetic that fits the science fiction theme of the game. I also like that it has some gaming rule information on the sheet itself to assist players during the game. Quite a few other sheets had this as well, but the aesthetic made this one stand out. The players “roll up” the starship first which is why there is a sheet for the vessel.

Favorite Character Sheet from the 2023 Challenge:

I had a blast putting together the character of Grukk for the Ork! 2nd Edition RPG. This game sounds like it would be set up on the fly when real-life prevented all of the players from attending a session. Let’s whip up some silly Ork characters and laugh at the scenario as we still play. Oh, and since most of the players probably don’t know all of the rules, there are some simple guidelines on the sheet itself. Perfect for a quick pick-up game.

Do you have a favorite character sheet from any roleplaying 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.

Doctor Who, Horror, Role Playing Games

RPGaDay2023 Day 25: Unplayed RPG you own

Written by TardisCaptain August 25, 2023August 25, 2023 1 Comment

What Unplayed RPG do you own is the topic for Day 25 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge. Are you kidding me? I’ve got a good collection of dead-tree books and a LOT of PDF copies of different games. OK, I think I’m going to pick one of each (physical book and PDF copy) that I wish I could play. However, I’m not going to talk about some of the games that I’ve already talked about previously.

Dead-Tree Version:

So I walked over to one of my bookshelves and the first book that jumped out and attacked me was the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game by Cubicle 7. I only own the 1st edition of the game, so I haven’t had a chance to check out the 2nd edition yet. Not only am I a huge Doctor Who fan (duh, look at the URL for this blog) but I loved how this game was presented. They made it very simple to try to explain the system to friends in an attempt to get them to play. (see photo below)

Not only was the basic rule easy to present, but so was the character creation process as I discovered in a past Character Creation Challenge. I liked how the attributes was explained (this score equals this type of human for each attribute). It made me really want to see how the system ran.

PDF Version:

Isolation Games put out an RPG called When The Moon Hangs Low. This is a gothic action RPG set in a fantasy Victorian inspired world where characters are tragic monster hunters in the capital city of Harrowmire. Each character has some connection (or deep secret) to the monsters they hunt. Think Supernatural in a Victorian Age. I had picked up this game in a charity bundle on DriveThruRPG to support Doctors Without Borders just after the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. The system sounds interesting and the Character Creation process was pretty simple. The company even has their own discord server for players to check out and ask questions.

Again there were a ton of options I could have selected from, but these two jumped out at me when I was looking over the collection.

Do you have an unplayed RPG that you own? 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.

Role Playing Games, Star Trek

RPGaDay2023 Day 24: Complex/Simple RPG you play

Written by TardisCaptain August 24, 2023August 24, 2023 1 Comment

Day 24 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge and the topic is “Complex/Simple RPG you play”. I’m probably in the same boat as a lot of gamers. I want to play, but getting things scheduled and set up (aka real life) is getting in the way.

Recently I have played a few rounds of Far Trek through the Roll20 website. Far Trek is a fan made Star Trek RPG that was created using the Microlite D20 rule set. Take your standard D20 rules and boil them down even more (no feats, simplified skills, etc.) I found it an easy read, easy character creation and easy to run. I’ve even been considering some homebrewing for this system. And if you are looking for a simplistic good Star Trek game, the PDF is free.

What Complex or Simple RPG do you enjoy playing? 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.

Collecting, Role Playing Games

RPGaDay2023 Day 23: Coolest looking RPG product/book

Written by TardisCaptain August 23, 2023August 21, 2023

Day 23 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge and it’s a hard one. Coolest looking RPG product/book. I’ve got so many to choose from.

I really liked two of the recent Modiphius Star Trek Adventures products. Earlier this year I reviewed the Star Trek Lower Decks Campaign Guide and the Utopia Planitia Starfleet Sourcebook.

I also thought that the Lynx Dice Dunce Chair that I had reviewed several years ago was pretty kewl and I could put my Jason Fox Lucky D20 in it if I wanted (but it has all 20s on each side so it would never go wrong).

But for this blog entry, I think I’ll talk about one of the recent purchases that I haven’t had a chance to review yet. The 20-in-One Card Deck by precis Intermedia. The GM of the James Bond RPG that I played at SaltCON Spring was using it during his game and I was really impressed that I had to order a set of my own.

It is a set of 60 cards and an instruction sheet. There is a standard set of playing cards (with 8 Jokers), your common single die rolls (D3 up to D20), common multiple die rolls (2D6, 3D6, 2D10, and D%), Averaging die roll, Fudge/FATE Roll (-4 to +4), D6-D6 Roll (-5 to +5), Coin flip, Yes/No with Conditionals (and/but), Directional (in degrees) and Clue (who, what, where, when, why).

While I haven’t had a chance to use these as a GM, I did get a chance to use them when I played Weird Frontiers at SaltCON-Summer. I’m looking forward to using these in the future. As a GM, the players can’t hear me draw a card as they can rolling a die. Muwahahahahahah!!!!!!

What is your coolest looking RPG product or book? 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.

Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games

RPGaDay2023 Day 22: Best Secondhand RPG purchase

Written by TardisCaptain August 22, 2023August 21, 2023

Day 22 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge has us talking about our Best Secondhand RPG purchase. While I have purchased a few used books from different sources, the ones that I love the best come from thrift stores. The prices are LOW and I feel like I’ve won a treasure hunt when I stumble across them. Here is a photo of just a few of the thrift store finds that I have uncovered.

Most of these are various flavors of Dungeons and Dragons. I wasn’t really expecting the Everquest RPG when I stumbled across it. I never really played the MMORPG, but I did use it in the first year of the Character Creation Challenge. However the best purchase is the 1979 third-edition blue covered Dungeons and Dragons book edited by Eric Holmes.

This was the rulebook that was released even before everyone could get the common set of role-playing dice. So the book had to come with a set of cardboard chits that you would place into a cup and randomly draw. The chits were still attached to this book.

When I had found the book in the thrift store, I had no cash on me. But I did have my debit card. Not wanting to run the card for the low price they wanted for the book, I poured all over the thrift store just to find something else. When I couldn’t find anything else to buy, I prayed that the store would let me run the debit for just this one item. Luckily, they did and this is how much I paid.

Yea, I found the receipt still with the book when I pulled it out years later. So this was the best second hand purchase that I’ve made.

Do you have a favorite second hand purchase of an RPG product? 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.

Role Playing Games, Star Trek

RPGaDay2023 Day 21: Favorite Licensed RPG

Written by TardisCaptain August 21, 2023August 18, 2023

So, Favorite Licensed RPG is the topic for Day 21 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge. I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.

I have sections of this website already dedicated to the FASA Star Trek game. I’ve started a LUG Star Trek section and plan to create sections for Decipher Star Trek and Modiphius Star Trek Adventures.

Not only am I collecting any of the Star Trek licensed RPGs, but I’ve been gathering the unofficial ones as well. Some of these are games where the IP elements have been filed off, but the game is clearly Star Trek. One example of this is Starships & Spacemen 2nd Edition. Far Trek and Where No Man Has Gone Before are fan created games based off of the Original Star Trek series. Star Trek Alpha Quadrant is a fan-made game based off of the Cepheus Engine. I haven’t had a chance to try STAQ yet, but I may in a future Character Creation Challenge.

What is your favorite licensed RPG? 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.

Role Playing Games

RPGaDay2023 Day 20: Will still play in twenty years time

Written by TardisCaptain August 20, 2023August 18, 2023

Day 20 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge and the question is “What game will you still be playing in twenty years time”.

Good question.

I can’t really give an exact answer on this. Perhaps a game will be released between now and then that knocks my socks off. The answer could be one of those as yet undiscovered systems.

If I had to select something that is published now, It would probably be one of the D20 variants or something that is not too complicated. Having re-visited or first reading some of the various games for the Character Creation Challenge has made me realize that I don’t want to deal with overly complicated systems that are too crunchy. I don’t need a bazillion rules to enjoy a game. Sure give me a ton of content (I love reading about the many fan homebrewed material that has popped up for Star Trek Adventures or Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space RPGs) because I can’t get enough of that. But as for the rules themselves, let me explain it to a potential player in a matter of minutes.

What games do you think you’ll be playing still in the future? 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.

Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

RPGaDay2023 Day 19: Favorite published adventure

Written by TardisCaptain August 19, 2023August 14, 2023 1 Comment

For Day 19 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge we were asked to discuss our favorite published adventure. Like some of the other favorites in this challenge, how can I select just one. So in order to make sure this isn’t a huge blog post, I’m going to stick with two that came to mind.

Demand of Honor for the FASA Star Trek RPG

I loved reading through Demand of Honor for the Star Trek Role Playing Game by FASA. There were quite a few good published adventures from FASA that followed up on episodes from the original Star Trek. This one gave us the aftermath of the episode Arena where we first saw the Gorn. From the FASA catalogs we had sourcebooks for The Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Orions, Merchants and more. The planned Starship Recognition Manual for the Gorns was never released. I don’t know if we ever would have received a manual for the Gorns, so this adventure was the closest we got. Insight on the Gorn point of view. It gave details about what the state of affairs after Kirk’s fight with the Gorn. We were also rewarded with a new Gorn vessel (with deck plans) that was probably planned for the recognition manual. This was great to flip through and read. I just wish that I could have played or GMed this adventure.

I no longer have my original copy of B2 The Keep on the Borderlands. In the mid-90’s when I had to cut down on the amount of D&D books that I owned for various reasons (20/20 hindsight told me that I should have kept them). But I remember reading this module. I remember wanting to play this module. Eventually I even ran this module as my first attempt at being a Dungeon Master. In my conversations a lot of people had this book and loved it as well. So it didn’t surprise me that Goodman Games had obtained the rights to publish a 5E conversion of B1: In Search of the Unknown and B2 called Into the Borderlands. I was able to pick up a copy myself and loved reading through the history and information. I should sit down and do a full review of this hardbound book.

As I mentioned above, there were several other printed adventures that I would love to mention as well. I felt the need to restrain myself at this time. I may make future blog posts talking about some of the others.

Do you have a favorite adventure that was published for a role playing 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.

Role Playing Games

RPGaDay2023 Day 18: Favorite game system

Written by TardisCaptain August 18, 2023August 18, 2023

OK so Favorite Game System is the subject for Day 18 of the #RPGaDAY2023 challenge. And I have to think about this one. While there are a few systems I’d prefer not to play (such as something really crunchy or overly-complicated) I’m pretty much open to playing just about anything at least once.

There is the old standby of the standard D20 system that has been seen in the various flavors of Dungeons and Dragons or the various retro-clones such as Basic Fantasy, Castles and Crusades, OSRIC or Labyrinth Lord. There are a ton of other options in this category as well that covers other genres.

Lately, I’ve been impressed with the 2d20 system put out by Modiphius such as Star Trek Adventures, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium or John Carter of Mars. I even picked up the Conan books before they lost the license and I look forward to creating a character for the 2024 Character Creation Challenge.

Probably on the not-so-well known stage is the d100Lite system that is seen in such games as Barebones Fantasy, Covert Ops and Frontier Space. While I haven’t had a chance to play these systems yet, they look and read amazing.

There are also several other systems that I haven’t really mentioned here. But I’m sure my readers don’t have time for me to list just about everything. So my answer is kind of like Bubba’s answer to what his favorite beer is. But replace beer with what game system is currently being played at the table.

What is your favorite #TTRPG system (or systems)? 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.

Humor, Role Playing Games

RPGaDay2023 Day 17: Funniest game you’ve played

Written by TardisCaptain August 17, 2023August 18, 2023

Day 17 of the #RPGaDAY2023 is “Funniest Game You’ve Played”. I’m certain that we will see several other entries for this date for Toon or Paranoia. But unfortunately I’ve never played these games.

What I have played is a game that came out in 1989 called It Came From The Late, Late, Late Show. This was a roleplaying game is a humor based game where you play an actor (or someone pretending to be an actor) trying to help a low-budget film get made. The director had a script which was the plot of the session. It was all tongue-in-cheek.

A bunch of RPG buddies had the opportunity to play this game sometime in the early 90’s in a late night gaming session. What I recall is that we had our main character and their stunt double. If we were going into a combat situation, the stunt doubles could go in first. This kept the main character safe until the stunt double ran out of health and could no longer be used.

There was an option where the players could create their own skill/ability (I don’t recall what it was called) and one of my friends came up with the brilliant idea of “Parry with Other”. Basically if he rolled successfully, then he grabbed another person and parried with that person (giving them the damage). There was a chance that it could be an opponent, or a chance that it could be an ally. He used this skill a lot in our game so he never had to send his stunt double into battle. But in one battle, he successfully used the Parry with Other to avoid the attack from the last opponent, and succeeded in the roll of grabbing the bad guy. So the henchman attacked and then was thrust into his own sword attack.

But that wasn’t the funniest part for me in the entire game. We were playing in a bad cheesy kung-fu samurai vs ninjas action flick in ancient Japan. I was playing a failed rock-star wanting to start his acting career (so I sang during parts of the game). There was one scene where we had to sneak into this bar in the middle of the night for one reason or another and it was pitch black. One of the players decided to light a candle so they could see. The director then described the comical scene of how the light now illuminated an army of ninjas that had surrounded us in preparation to attack. The director went around the room and asked each player one-by-one what their character was doing. Various answers of drawing weapons or getting into a defensive stance were returned. When it was my turn, my response to the director was turning my head to the side and making a blowing sound as I blew out the candle.

My friend playing the director fell to the ground laughing maniacally. I was quite proud that my joke had taken him several minutes to recover. I loved making people laugh. I know that in another game, if I could make the DM give a laugh at humor injected into the scenario, he would give me experience points.

This is one of the reasons that I like to play these games with my friends, around a table while eating unhealthy snacks. We get to have fun with each other in a place where we are socializing.

Have you had a session that you would consider your funniest? 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.