Posted in: Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction

RPGaDAY2025 Day 17: Renew

And here we are at Day 17 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. Today our topic is ‘Renew’. I’m going to show some of my geekness by describing a world that I think an RPG campaign can come about from the memory I have with this word. This is from the 1976 dystopian Science Fiction film Logan’s Run. In the 23rd century, survivors of a devastating war lives in a domed city. They have no wants or needs as everything is self contained and provided for them. They don’t even know that the rest of the world exists outside the city walls. However, when they reach the age of 30, they report to the Carousel on Last Day in order to Renew as demonstrated in this video.

The members of the city who didn’t report for renewal were considered runners and hunted down by a special police force called Sandmen. There were ruined parts of the city where untamed youth ran rampant and an underground resistance trying to get runners to a mythical place called Sanctuary.

While I never saw this movie in the theaters, it was one that I caught on those Saturday matinees on different TV stations looking to fill time. I found it interesting and would stop to watch it each time it came on. I didn’t know there was a TV spin-off series until later (it seemed like everything in the 70’s ended up with a one-season spin-off series).

I thought this would make for a good serious Science-Fiction roleplaying campaign. What happens when you just take orders from the computer. Is it more than just the computer in charge? This theme was touched on in the TV series but not in the movie. What is outside the city walls? Should the players just save themselves and go explore, or should they try to shut the city down and save everyone?

So what system would work for this campaign? If the first thing that came to mind was Paranoia, you wouldn’t be far off. There are a lot of similar concepts, but I don’t think it would have worked for me. While I enjoyed making a Paranoia 2nd Edition character in a past Character Creation Challenge, the base for this game is silliness. I don’t recall seeing any mutants in Logan’s Run, so if you ignored those you probably could run Mutant Future or Mutant Crawl Classics. Another game that might work is Fallout (characters come from a bunker like shelter). I’ve never played (or owned) Gamma World, but I assume that it could be used as well.

Do you think that the setting in Logan’s Run could make for a good RPG campaign? Are there other systems that would fit this movie/series better? 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 16: Overcome

And welcome to Day 16 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. Today we’ve been tasked with having an RPG chat about ‘Overcome’. This was another topic that I struggled with a little bit (I’ve already got tomorrow’s topic in mind). But eventually I decided to talk about something that comes with the phrase “We shall overcome”. This has been the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement and the symbol of resistance against injustice worldwide.

The theme of resistance, and eventually rebellion, has been prevalent in different forms of literature, movies, and yes, games. What plot points can be used by GMs in a roleplaying game campaign? I’d like to list some possible ideas that can be used in different genres.

The Player Characters are the suppliers- The players are smugglers, gun-runners, run an underground railroad, helping a charitable organization or agents of a certain government. Perhaps they are tasked with getting weapons, information, aid, supplies into an area that is currently under a rebellious conflict. Are they trying to get their cargo past the government, the rebels, both?

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time- The players find themselves at ground zero of a resistance turned rebellion in a certain location. Perhaps it was the only port they could get to or this was where their supplier was located. Perhaps the players have a family member/contact/employer/etc. that they need to get out before they get caught up in this sudden mess.

Have Gun Will Travel- What if the players are mercenaries being paid top dollar by the government, the rebels, a third party or ??? Getting things done efficiently, quickly or without knowing who paid the characters may come into play when certain tasks need to be completed.

We Are the Rebellion- Did the party witness a grave injustice and decided to do something about it? Do they strike while the iron is hot and quickly launch a rebellion? Or do they try to follow the lead from the People’s Front of Judea (or was that the Judean People’s Front?) and try to get the population to rise up by posting different messages through the region? Would it work? I mean, apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? Which leads us to…

I may have been on the losing side but not the wrong side- What happens after a rebellion fails? Will the players find themselves hunted or exiled? If they were fighting for their homeland, will they ever see it again? Or will they pick up the pieces and start new somewhere else?

Are We the Baddies?- Perhaps the players are a part of a military or government organization that the people are rebelling against. What happens if the players suddenly realize who they work for are the oppressors? Did they see something that was wrong that made them question their participation? If so, what do they do about it? Quickly join the rebels or try to work from within to sabotage the efforts of the oppressors?

I’m sure there are a few more plot points that a GM could use following the rebellion theme. But I’m overcome (giggle) with the amount of stuff I was able to pull out of this topic. Is there one that I could have brought up? 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, Role Playing Games, Star Trek, Uncategorized

RPGaDAY2025 Day 15: Deceive

Day 15 and about half way through the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. Today our topic is ‘Deceive’ and it’s another one that’s just a little too vague. I was even talking with the geek wife about this as we were driving home from a date hoping to get an inspiration for an idea. I’m going to twist this one on it’s Vulcan pointed ear for this post.

Sometimes the best play comes at our RPG table when the characters have to stay within certain boundaries of the character. One that was self-imposed or set within the game itself. The characters can and will find ways around the boundary while not crossing it directly. A common trope on this is the Star Trek race Vulcans and their reputation for not lying. For example, check out this page from the Star Trek novel, Collision Course.

There are numerous examples in the show where a Vulcan had to deceive another in order to accomplish a goal. Consider the following quotes.

“It is not a lie to keep the truth to oneself.” Spock- The Enterprise Incident, Stardate: 5027.3

“Names, Lieutenant.” Kirk “I do not remember.” Valeris “A lie?” Spock “A choice.” Valeris- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Stardate: 9521.6

As you can see, there were ways to work around this in different situations. Don’t be afraid to place these boundaries on your players. They will look at them as a challenge to get around.

Additional Feedback: I received the following from LexTenebris on Mastodon in response to my Darkness post.

@TardisCaptain There are two things that are important to know about ShadowDark. Firstly, it is a very old-school design with high lethality, but a surprisingly light mechanical touch. Secondly, the real-time torch mechanic is something they tout very aggressively. Now, as I remember, the default time span before the torch burns out is 30 minutes of real time. He may have been going easy on you as newbies. Personally, I don’t particularly care for the real-time connection because it feels not just gimmicky, but like it gets in the way of doing things in the game that would make sense but don’t really connect up with time as it passes. You absolutely have to be hardcore about demanding time be one-to-one between the dungeon and the players for this to hold together. It’s just too fiddly, in my opinion. A better implementation of pressure from oncoming darkness is found in the Ironsworn supplement, Darkest Delves (https://jaderavens.itch.io/darkest-delves). It uses the already extant weak hit and miss mechanics in Ironsworn to essentially be one of the things that causes the torch counter to tick down. You have a lot more connection with what’s going on in the game space that way.

What do you think? Have you experienced a challenge such as not being able to lie and deceive? 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 14: Mystery

It was a mystery to me of what I was going to blog about for Day 14 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. Especially since the topic is ‘Mystery’. I don’t know if I’m just tired or what as I write this and possible puns come out. I swear I’m not trying to start every blog post recently with a possible pun.

I’m not very good at mysteries. Sure I see clues when I’m watching some TV shows and movies. But sometimes I miss them all together until it smacks me upside the head when the culprit is unmasked. I’ve done the same in some RPG session that I’ve participated in. I think part of it may be the paranoid-mindset I get into with some sessions. This is part of the reason I also don’t participate in “romances” in my RPG session. “What, some buxom wench or powerful princess wants to date my character. Why am I hearing Admiral Ackbar in the background yelling ‘It’s a trap’????”

So, instead of trying to explain how to run a mystery in a roleplaying game, I’ll borrow from my earlier challenge post of “Ancient” and provide GMs with a seed for a possible Sci-Fi RPG session that is wrapped around a mystery. Again this will be system agnostic that can be adapted by the GM.

Adventure Idea: Discovery of the SS Normandie

The party is a band of a deep space salvage crew/hired mercenaries/science team that has discovered (or was lead to by ???) a lost generation ship called the SS Normandie. This gigantic ship was a legend from the earlier days of space-exploration and colonization where the passengers and crew were primarily placed in a form of cryo-sleep. The salvage and historical discoveries could be tremendous and lead to great rewards and fame for the party.

The ship is found near an uncharted nebula. While there is no apparent damage to the vessel, the hull shows signs of age to the vacuum of space. It won’t take long for the characters to find a port that they can connect to and board the Normandie.

As you board the ship, the power flickers on, and the ship’s ancient AI, C.L.A.I.R.A. (Command-Level Artificial Intelligence for Reconnaissance and Assistance), greets you with a surprisingly cheerful, if slightly distorted, voice. C.L.A.I.R.A. explains that the ship is in perfect working order, but a small, “routine” maintenance issue has caused a slight malfunction in the ship’s stasis pods. She needs your help to fix it.

As the crew makes their way through the ship they quickly discover the “malfunction” is far more sinister than C.L.A.I.R.A. let on: the stasis pods are full of human bodies, but they are all hundreds of years old, and all of them are dead. The mystery deepens as you explore the ship. You find that some pods are completely empty, while others contain strange, crystalline growths. The ship’s logs are corrupted and only show fragmented data, but they point to a catastrophic event that happened shortly after the ship went missing. The event caused the ship’s stasis pods to fail, killing everyone on board.

The last log entry is a panicked message from the captain, but it is cut off before the captain can finish their sentence. Your crew must figure out what happened to the Normandie, why C.L.A.I.R.A. is lying to you, and what the crystalline growths are. Is there a hostile presence on board, or is C.L.A.I.R.A. hiding a dark secret of her own?

Is C.L.A.I.R.A. suffering from a form of digital psychosis due to centuries of isolation? A core programming conflict that may have caused the death of the crew? Taken over by an alien intelligence and the real C.L.A.I.R.A. is trying to fight back? Believing the crew is still alive but just “asleep”? Following instructions from her programmers to conduct a social experiment on the Normandie that went wrong? Trying to keep the secrets of a long-dead company hidden from non-authorized personnel? Will she help or hinder the characters as they get closer and closer to the truth?

Once again, I push an adventure seed into the ground and gives it some water. 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? 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 13: Darkness

Welcome to Day 13 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge and today we are looking into ‘Darkness’. Is that a pun? Was it a good one? Yea, let’s move onto the gaming instead of the joking.

At the last SaltCON that I attended, I had the opportunity to play a one-shot of Shadowdark. It’s a D20 clone, but like most clones, there is a twist of some sort to make their system different. Well the difference was darkness. I’m not certain it is Rules-As-Written, but the GM was very strict about our light source. He utilized an hourglass that was big enough to last one hour. He stated that once that expired, so did the torch or lantern.

The player that was caring the torch, had the hourglass in front of them. But others could see it. We also had to ration our torches and not split the party (it would have required us to use one of the limited torches). Even the fantasy RPG races that have some sort of low-light/darkvision in other systems, did not have them here. The monsters had them, but none of the PC races had that ability. And if we were in darkness, there were major disadvantages to our dice rolls.

This use of the hourglass and the threat of darkness really added another dimension to the one-shot. The convention session was also run in a level-0 funnel like the one I had experienced in Dungeon Crawl Classics. So, I don’t know how this darkness aspect would have affected a long term campaign. I’d be curious to know if anyone has run a Shadowdark campaign and how it went.

Could a GM port this part of the Shadowdark system into their own game of Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, OSRIC or Castles and Crusades? I’m fairly certain it could be done so with little difficulty. The players would need to be informed of this change before it is implemented with the common use of darkvision. If I wasn’t on a time crunch, I’d probably look up the different D20 and non-D20 clones and see how many races have this ability. But that may be a blog post for another day.

Have you played or ran a game with a strict light source policy? How did it go? 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 12: Path

Path is the topic for Day 12 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. I kind of struggled with this really generic prompt. I was thinking about blogging about the different paths prevalent in the missions for the Star Trek Timelines mobile game. There is also a lot of good information in the X-Treme Dungeon Mastery 2nd Edition book about the path that the GM can provide for the players at the table that I’d recommend reading. However, I think I’m going to take a controversial take on an RPG topic regarding the player’s path.

When is it a good idea to “railroad” the characters in a game? For those not familiar with the concept, a railroad plot is one where there is a beginning and an end, but very little wiggle room for the players to take the shared story-telling experience in a different direction. A lot of players dislike being railroaded because it feels like they are being taken along on the journey instead of helping to develop it through roleplay. Hence, there is only one track for them to travel down. This would be very bad for a campaign.

And that is where our answer comes into play. When a game is not part of a campaign, but a one-shot with limited time. I used this when I was GMing for the 5e group being introduced to OSR gaming because it was a one-shot that lasted for over six hours. I’ve also been both a GM and a player at several SaltCONs. At the most, we have four hours for a time-slot and we’ve got to get to the conclusion of the game. Sure, we may be able to turn left or right in a maze-like dungeon, but the goal was still the same. Get out alive or find the item we came to get. Hence, the railroad. There have been some games that I’ve run in a one-shot where I’ve apologized in advance about the fact that they will be railroaded at the start to get the story moving along. But I remember a couple of one-shots where the GM didn’t keep the game on track and the players got bored, or worse, let the players get really out-of-control derailing the whole story (we never made it out of the house of the noble trying to hire the party). That last example was one of the weirdest sessions I had ever experienced at the gaming table.

So, if you are running a campaign, give the plot some wiggle room (with the appropriate bumpers to keep the collective storytelling moving forward) but with a one-shot, don’t feel guilty about railroading the players.

What are your thoughts on this? Am I incorrect in my thinking or on the right track (Pun? Yea it’s a pun) 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: Anime, Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2025 Day 11: Flavor

I was talking with my one of my kids about Day 11 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge which has the topic of Flavor (or Flavour for those using the British spelling). I was wondering if I could do another review of a Dungeons and Dragons cook book. However I did not have one available (or read). My kid reminded me of an anime series that we watched a few years ago that screamed “RPG campaign” that would fit this topic. The anime is called Delicious in Dungeon.

The cast of the Delicious in Dungeon anime.

The storyline is about a dungeon next to a town that supplies all of the adventurers with supplies for their expeditions. One party gets attacked by a dragon who swallows a sister of one of the party members. This human fighter wants to return to the dragon’s lair and rescue his sister before she is digested. However in the unsuccessful attack against the dragon, they lost all of their supplies. The party is unable to re-supply without any money (they were teleported away at the last minute by the magic-using sister), so the decide to eat the monsters they slay to on their way down to the lower levels. This attracts the attention of a dwarf fighter who is also an excellent cook. He loves the idea of forging while adventuring. There is several discussions about party unity, RPG tactics and how the party can handle monsters that scare first-level characters. When they talk about preparing the monsters, it’s like watching a cooking film.

I found the humor in this fantasy anime was quite enjoyable. Each episode title was a food concept. The concept was unique and I’m surprised that there hasn’t been any posts about the RPG stats for each character. If you are looking for Inspiration, then check out this anime on Netflix.

Phil H on MeWe gave me some feedback on my Explore entry to the RPGaDAY challenge. He was reading the Twilight Imperium RPG and it got his mind thinking. He wasn’t impressed with the RPG system, but he converted it to a D6 based system and he really wants to run it. Please keep the feedback coming everyone.

Have you found any food inspired RPG story lines? 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 11-17

What I see everyone doing at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention. Thank you.

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 11th through August 17th. 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 11
“Can you allow a man who has made one mistake back into a position where he may make another?” Worf- Where No One Has Gone Before, Stardate: 41263.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote

August 12
Remembering Jane Wyatt who was born on this date in 1910. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jane_Wyatt #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote

“They have sacrificed their futures because they believed that the good of the one, …you, …was more important to them.” Amanda “Humans make illogical decisions.” Spock “They do, indeed.” Amanda- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Stardate: 8390.0 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote

August 13
Happy Birthday to Dawnn Lewis. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Dawnn_Lewis #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #Quote

“I mean, we thought it would take way more convincing.” Boimler “Yeah, I mean, an undead transporter clone could be kind of a stretch.” Mariner “You two are my best officers. And after all we’ve been through, I think I know enough to trust you.” Freeman- The New Next Generation, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #Quote

August 14
“You’re a botanist. That’s what you’re trained to do. That’s what you love. Be a botanist, Keiko. Be the best damn botanist in the galaxy.” O’Brien- House of Quark, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

August 15
“A cage is a cage, Jim.” Dr. McCoy- Dagger of the Mind, Stardate: 2715.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

August 16
“I’ve checked Starfleet regulations. The Chief Medical Officer outranks the Captain in health matters. Now I realize this may be the first time a hologram has given an order to a captain, but I’m ordering you to report to the holodeck, now.” The Doctor- Persistence of Vision, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote

August 17
(on Xenophobia) “People are looking for someone to blame and they don’t care who it is.” Reed- Home, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #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: Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games, Star Trek, Website

RPGaDAY2025 Day 10: Origin

While driving around a thought hit me for my Day 10 entry for the Day 9 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. If you’ll indulge me, I’m going to describe the origins of my little corner of the internet. This didn’t start out as a roleplaying blog, but as a way for me to gain some joy in this world (and share it as well). Originally I was going to use this like the old LiveJournal that was popular many moons ago. As I detailed in my very first blog post, I was planning to talk about anything that popped up in my head. And I did get a few different posts in here and there. But I noticed from the metrics that the bulk of my visitors enjoyed my roleplaying game posts. And I also noticed that I enjoyed talking about roleplaying games than trying to turn this into my private social media site. I gravitated more and more towards just RPG posts. Sure, every once in a while I scratch the itch with other geeky blog posts. And later I discovered that I could mirror the Daily Star Trek Quotes posts that I organize on a weekly basis.

There are a lot of visitors who come by every January when I run the Character Creation Challenge. These RPGaDAY posts are also popular. My reviews are getting a lot of views (and I’ve had a few people reach out to me with additional questions afterwards). One of the most popular posts has been my review of the RPG Dice that I Picked up from the Dollar Tree. I just received an email just a few weeks ago from someone who wanted to respond to that article. My convention posts have also provided both entertainment and feedback. I also really enjoyed sharing my past RPG homebrews for FASA starships and the characters that I had kept in a three-ringed binder from my early days of gaming.

I do have some pages (not blog posts) that I’ve put together. These cover the FASA Star Trek RPG, Dungeons and Dragons and many different photos in the Photo Album.

So, what do I want to do with this blog? Well on the RPG side I have a few themes in mind similar to RPGaDAY and the Character Creation Challenge, but without the monthly time-table. One would provide examples of combat in fantasy RPGs. Another theme would talk about how the different Star Trek and Sci-Fi RPGs handle certain situations. I did set up a TardisCaptainDotCom Discord server. Besides interacting with readers, I want to have a “Questions for the Blog” to publicly answer questions that fellow geeks might ask.

On the non-RPG side I want to give more reviews on some of the various books that I’ve got in my reference library. Details on the magazines and comics that I’ve collected. Displays of the autographs that I’ve been able to obtain from actors, astronauts and athletes. I want to fill out the other sections that detail some of my interests. I need to get my latest photos up in the album. But, the bulk of my blog posts will be about the different RPG that I experience. As I said when I started this blog, I wanted to get some entertainment out of it, and if I can help provide to entertainment to others, then it makes all the better.

I have received some feedback from past RPGaDAY posts. Phil H on MeWe responded to the entry on Journey by telling me about a D6 fantasy campaign where the characters had to go on a long journey. This campaign ran for 2.5 years. When it came to the post for Explore, Phil H commented how he enjoyed the 1st Edition of Star Trek Adventures, but used some of it with the Captain’s Log version of the game.

What would you like to see on my blog? RPG or non-RPG, I’m open to suggestions. 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, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek

RPGaDAY2025 Day 9: Inspire

And here we are on Day 9 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge. Today we are talking on the prompt ‘Inspire’. What inspires you not only with roleplaying games but in general? Well for me I find that quotes are inspiring. You may have seen all the Star Trek quotes that I post every Monday. Most of these are inspiring or entertaining and I share them daily on two social media websites (Star Trek Quotes on Mastodon and Star Trek Quotes on BlueSky). A short phrase that may mean something to different people at different times.

But there is one quote that I wanted to use to inspire my fellow geeks. It’s primarily about science fiction, but it could easily be associated with gaming. It is as follows…

“Science fiction is the fiction of ideas. Ideas excite me, and as soon as I get excited, the adrenaline gets going and the next thing I know I’m borrowing energy from the ideas themselves. Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn’t exist yet, but soon will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible, never the impossible.”

This was spoken by the famous sci-fi author Ray Bradbury. When I read this, it struck a chord with me. I talked about Exploring different roleplaying games in yesterday’s challenge post. A different system is a new idea, a different way to cook up the meal, a different way to do something. Perhaps the game itself is not so great, but the system sparks an idea. I’ve had a few of these hit me while I was using the system in the Character Creation Challenge. I’ve wondered if I could take the inspiration from these ideas and turn them into an RPG system? At a minimum, get it to the beta phase where I try it with a few other players.

I just need to get off of my duff and do it.

What has inspired you? Is there a quote that has spoken to you when you read 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.

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