And here we are at Day 9 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge and we have a companion topic to yesterday, “An accessory you’d like to see.” I talked a lot about the accessories that I’ve already purchased, but what am I missing? Some of the things that I haven’t mentioned yet are the dice tray that I roll into. I saw something similar where it held the dice when rolled up but then flattened out to a tray.
But something I’d like to see? How about a phone app that is similar to the dating and hook-up apps where it lets you find someone within so many miles that may want a date. However, instead of dating it shows players and GMs that want to play roleplaying games. “Hey look, there are five people near me that are willing to play Star Trek Adventures and are free this Friday night. I’ll send them a message.” Technologically possible, but would require a lot of setup and maintenance.
Another accessory that just game to mind is a portable roll-able LCD screen that’s durable enough to be used as a battle mat on a table (because no one will spill their drinks). The GM can control it from a computer so different maps and views can be set up, and the character’s miniatures would also interact with the map to show things like ranges. It could be expensive, but would look very kewl.
All right let me see if I can come up with a third one. Something not electronic or digital. Blank white dice of the various varieties that can be marked by a wet-erase marker. This way you could come up with your own custom dice for different RPGs.
OK, I’ll end there. I think I’ve wracked my brain enough for today. What gaming accessories did you think of? 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.
Welcome to Day 8 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge. Today we will be talking about “An accessory you appreciate.” I like the wording of this one. It didn’t ask for best or latest, just one you appreciate.
There are several options that I could choose from. I’ve talked about several items that I’ve picked up and used. The Dunce Dice Chair made me chuckle, especially when I put my Jason Fox D20 on it. I’ve gotten a ton of use out of my Convention Backpack. While attending cons I’ve been introduced to various battle mats and a deck of 52 cards that has helped me GM games.
However, I think the accessory that I appreciate the most, when it comes to RPGs, is the internet. I’ve been able to share my creativity through this blog. I’ve been able to read other RPG and Geek blogs, talk on message boards, Discord and social media (while dodging the crap that is on the later). Purchase PDFs from DriveThruRPG, Humble Bundle and Bundle of Holding and more. I’ve been able to do some gaming on Virtual Table Tops, but I will never use Fantasy Grounds again. The interactions with game designers and authors alone has been worth the price of admission. A lot of times I wished I was back in the 80’s and 90’s. But then I look at the advantages that the internet has provided and I’m glad that I’m living now.
Is there an RPG accessory that you have appreciated the most? 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.
First some feedback from my Day 5 post about RPG Writing. LexTenebris on Mastodon responded to me stating that I may be off-base in my line of thinking and that people would buy RPG books purely for the reference on the source material. He referenced some of the GURPS supplements based on licensed products. He also made an interesting comment of “There are a ton of properties that I think are interesting and would like to see someone else’s approach to translating them into a world book. Sometimes it’s purely interest, sometimes it’s because I want to see how someone else deals with a setting in the context of mechanics or a particular issue within that setting.” It spawned an entire conversation with several RPGers on Mastodon,
On my entry for Day 6 on RPGs that are easy to use, Creative Wronging on BlueSky mentioned that the Cypher System is rather easy to use once you understand their stats system. Then he recommended some OSR systems like Mausritter, Cairn or the Odd-Likes. I’ll have to check these out.
Thank you to all of my readers and a big thank you for the feedback/response. It tells me that someone is listening to my scream into the internet void. And now on with the show.
The topic for Day 7 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge is “RPG with Good Form”. OK, so I had to actually look up what Good Form meant. Especially since the first thing that an online search brought up was some song that I had never heard of by an artist I never follow. So a Good Form is a “proper way of behaving.” I wonder if Mr. Chapman was wondering what systems are good? Or perhaps what RPG books flowed when reading them or looking up information? Ya know what, I’m going to go with that last one. And instead of pointing out a particular game, I’m going to stick with general items that have stood out to me when reading various RPG books.
First, I love a properly set up PDF book. If it is searchable, has links, etc. Then it can help quite a bit when quickly looking up information for a game. As I’ve mentioned before, when learning a new game I love using the dead tree version. But when homebrewing, planning a campaign, writing an article, etc., I really appreciate how the PDF options help out a lot.
A book that didn’t have good form was the first edition of the Star Trek Adventures core rulebook. I had mentioned previously how early attempts at reading the book made me want to re-write it. Well the team covering Star Trek Adventures took this to heart when releasing the second edition core rulebook and they have made a massive improvement to the form of the book and made it easier to read and use. They even included step-by-step charts for various portions of the game that have helped a lot. Here is an example, but I’m saving most of my comments about the second edition core book when I get the physical copy to review.
Let me just say “Thank you” for a chart like this.
Good charts and giving us details on how a process should work within a system is something I very much appreciate. Having created a lot of characters using the rules-as-written for the Character Creation Challenge, I’ve noticed a few times that I was wondering if had made it to the end of the creation process. Even something as simple as “Step one: do this, Step two: do this…” Referencing page numbers allows for the reader to quickly find the additional details as needed.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve purchased core books just because the publisher knew to put the basic system for the RPG in a quick easy-to-understand section early in the book. Quick to find, quick to show to friends, quick to help get them excited to try it out.
For core rulebooks (and I’m shocked that I have to say this) please don’t forget to include a character sheet. The bigger publishers remember this, but for some reasons the smaller publishers have overlooked this. If it’s not in your book, at least include it on your website with some other freebies to get me excited about buying the game.
The last thing that I’ll mention before I wrap up this blog post is something that I’m shocked a lot more publishers don’t do. Please include an index at the back of the book. Again when we are at the table or trying to find something for research, it’s gratifying to just open up the index and say “Oh, what I want is on page xx.”
When I sat down I didn’t think I was going to have a lot to say about today’s topic. But when I started typing, the creativity started flowing. I’ve been seeing this as well reading other entries on blog posts and social media under the hashtag #RPGaDAY2024.
Have you experienced an RPG with Good Form? 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.
And on Day 6 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge we get to talk about an RPG that is easy to use. The question that came to my mind when I saw this topic is “easy to use for the player or for the GM?” So I’m going to answer this both ways.
In my RPG “career” there was Dungeons and Dragons and then there was Star Trek The Role Playing Game by FASA. Soon afterwards came the Star Wars RPG by West End Games. It used a D6 system they had previously created for Ghostbusters and it ran very quickly. Since we were playing with a lot of fans that were primarily Star Wars more than RPG, it was very easy to explain the system to them. Even to this day I have fond memories of those sessions. I used this system in the first year of the Character Creation Challenge and I’m looking forward to the new Kickstarter for the D6 second edition. The new Planet of the Apes RPG will also be using a variant of this D6 system. I’ve also thought that the D6 system would be good for a classic Battlestar Galactica RPG or a Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century RPG.
As for the easiest RPG for a GM, that is currently up in the air. I’ve ran Dungeons and Dragons, Basic Fantasy, the FASA Star Trek RPG, the Doctor Who RPG by FASA, the Decipher Star Trek RPG, Star Trek Adventures and a few others. I’ve GMed at SaltCON and for friends. But I couldn’t really point to one and say “this was easier than that one”. Monte Cook Games brags that their system, Cypher System, is the easiest to GM (and homebrew/port items into the game). But I’d have to take a deeper dive into that before deciding if that statement it true or not. I think a good GM that can think on their feet can use just about any system to it’s strengths and advantages.
What systems have you found is easiest as a player or a GM? 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.
While I had a specific example for the great art, I want to talk in general about great writing. I’ve noticed a trend with some RPG publications, especially those based on popular franchises. I’d like to remind all of the writers and publishers of one reason that your customers buy your product.
“Your customers are buying a game book, not a guide to the source material. Let me repeat that. Your customers are buying a game book, not a guide to the source material.”
-Me
I have purchased publications because in the first few pages of the book, it gives me the basic concept of the system that will be used in the game. This helps me explain to my friends how the game is played and why we should play it. When I see an RPG based of a specific IP, I worry that the first 20-80 pages will be “Well let’s tell you about the source material this game is based upon, once upon a time…”. I can read the title. I know what the source material is based on. A fan of the source material already knows this, instead they wonder how they can play the game. A fan of RPGs will be looking for the system, not the source material. Publishers are doing a dis-service to both possible customers by not getting to the point. Yes, there should be some explanation of the source material. But that can be in the later half of the book, not the first half.
Game system first, game universe second.
Now primarily this is for the core rulebooks. Adventures and most supplements tend to get to the point fairly quickly. I’ve started adding “Character creation rules start on page XX” when I write up my mini-reviews for the Character Creation Challenge to show how quickly readers will get into the meat and potatoes of the game. I know it’s not much, but I want to try.
So am I on the right track? Or do you think I’m off-base on this writing point-of-view? 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.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of August 5h through August 11th. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.
“Once again, the magic of science prevails! Too much?” Hemmer- The Elysian Kingdom, Stardate: 2341.6 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
August 6 Happy Birthday to Michelle Yeoh. @michelle_yeoh https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Michelle_Yeoh #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #StarTrekShortTreks #StarTrekSection31 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
“No, that is the easy way, and I know how that story ends. You die, I die, or both. But as of this moment, our future is unwritten. Let’s make it count, shall we?” Mirror Georgiou- Terra Firma, Part 1, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
“I really like this classical band called The Monkees. Ever heard of ’em?” Barnes “Let’s just say ‘I’m a Believer.'” Rutherford- Second Contact, Stardate: 57436.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
“We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity.” Jake Sisko “What does that mean exactly?” Nog “It means… it means we don’t need money!” Jake Sisko- In the Cards, Stardate: 50929.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
“You’re growing and adapting.” Hologram Janeway “Eh, what can I say? Resistance is futile.” Dal- Let Sleeping Borg Lie, Stardate: 61284.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
August 8 “Use every scrap of knowledge and logic you have to save the ship. But temper your judgment with intuitive insight.” Kirk- The Tholian Web #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
“What are your orders?” Ayel “We wait. We wait for the one who allowed our home to be destroyed, as we’ve been doing for twenty-five years.” Nero- Star Trek (2009), Stardate: 2233.04 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
“I have bound myself to Picard as qalankhkai. Anyone who threatens him will be choosing to die!” Elnor- Absolute Candor, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote
August 11 “I may be a walking encyclopedia but even I don’t know everything.” The Doctor- Nothing Human, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #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.
Here we are at day four of the RPGaDAY 2024 challenge and our topic is “RPG with great art.” Being the father of an artist who is trying to break into the business, this is a big topic for me. Lately there has been a rash of AI renderings (I refuse to call them art) that has been used in RPG publications. Yes they are cheap, but the old saying is “You get what you pay for”. AI renderings look plastic and uninspiring. I remember when creating a character for Vintage Space in the last Character Creation Challenge and I noted how bad the AI renderings were. They didn’t have any uniformity and just seemed to be a random jumble of bad images that didn’t fit together.
So I’m going to talk about an RPG product that I purchased specifically for the art. It was the X-Treme Dungeon Master 2nd Edition that I picked up from Kickstarter and did a review when it arrived. The book was written by Tracy & Curtis Hickman, but the artist is Howard Tayler. I’ve talked about him before on my blog when he did some personalized art for me. Howard ran a webcomic called Schlock Mercenary and was able to keep it running for twenty years. As a loyal reader, I got use to his art style. The art he created for the XDM 2nd edition book had his style, but not once did I think “oh it’s Schlock Mercenary”. He was able to make it unique, make it his, but also make it new. There were a few color pieces on the cover and just inside the front cover, but the black and white art on the inside flowed along with the subject matter being discussed. There was also a little “flip book” art at the bottom of each page. I really liked the piece where the GM is using the “theater of the mind” to describe the scene. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few photos of the book that I took just for this blog post.
Additional things about the challenge. I’ve appreciated the feedback that readers have given me on my first couple of posts. I’ve had questions about comparing different Star Trek RPG systems. I’ve also enjoyed looking up #RPGaDAY2024 on BlueSky and finding a lot of other interesting gamers to follow. If you’ve followed me back, thank you.
Is there an RPG product that you thought had really good artwork in 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.
So I’m going to tilt this subject on it’s side slightly. Most often RPG that I’ve GMed. Back in the mid 2000’s. The Star Trek Roleplaying Game by Decipher was the first Star Trek RPG that I played with my local Star Trek club. I was even able to GM a few sessions. I had a group of young Ensigns (the player characters) lead by an NPC Lieutenant as the CO, head to a shipyard to recover the USS Crockett for refitting just after the end of the Dominion War. Starfleet needed to pull some older, but still serviceable ships out of mothballs to rebuild the fleet and get back to the primary duty of exploring. Because the PCs got kicked off the station managing the shipyard, the team left with the Crockett before making sure the ship was ready to go. There was a very large nest of Talarian Hook Spiders that woke up from hibernation when the environmentals warmed up. As the crew tried to re-take back the ship, one of the PCs accidentally set the Lieutenant on fire who then fell in the turboshaft that they were traversing through. Luckily he survived despite being very injured. After the players recovered the ship and got to their destination, the poor Lieutenant was placed on a medical leave and eventually retired somewhere far away from the PCs. The Ensigns were assigned to the USS Crockett to investigate an unknown signal coming from an unexplored sector of space. There they encountered a band of rogue Kzintis, a planet of robots and more. One of the PCs being diplomatic with a Gorn captain gave him the impression that the word “Dude” was a universal greeting in the Human language.
What is the RPG that you’ve played the most? Was there a game that you GMed for quite a while? 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.
Well this is going to be a disappointing entry for me. For Day 2 of RPGaDAY 2024 challenge the topic is “most recent game played”. If things had gone the way I had hoped, I would be talking about the session zero of the new Castles and Crusades game that I had been invited to. The Castle Keeper wanted to start us on a weekly long term campaign. It would have been my first game on The Foundry VTT and my first C&C game. I’ve been wanting to play in a C&C campaign after creating a character for it in a past Character Creation Challenge. But real life popped up with the dreaded scheduling curse. Too many players had dropped out due to real life issues and there wasn’t enough players to justify a game. So, hopefully a C&C campaign will start up soon.
But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been active with my RPGs. Yes I’ve been playing and GMing at SaltCON, but that wasn’t the latest. My local Star Trek fan club had a Star Trek Game Night at a local gaming store in June. I finally had a chance to run the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition Quickstart game. I had run a few STA games previously, but I wouldn’t call myself an expert. I did alter the scenario slightly and I noticed that the group got more out of the alteration that I did than the other listed events. I think I need to get more experience with running STA as I saw where some of my GM rust was still present. Now that I have the new 2nd Edition in PDF (physical book and it’s review coming soon), I’ll have to give it some serious thought.
What was your latest RPG game? Were you a player or a GM? 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.
Welcome to Day 1 of the RPGaDAY 2024 challenge. The first topic for today is “First RPG bought this year.” I elected to give two answers to this.
According to my records, I purchased a Bundle of Holding for Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition at the start of January. This came with quite a few books including the Starter Set, the Vehicle Handbook, the High Guard Update and a few other items. I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet as I had picked it up right in the middle of the last Character Creation Challenge. But I should be using it for the 2025 Character Creation Challenge.
The physical purchase was a dead tree version of the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire core rulebook that I had picked up at SaltCON-Spring. I was grateful that I had found it at a bargain price. Every time that I found a core rulebook, it was mega expensive. I think that’s because it has the name “Star Wars” on the cover. I’m planning to also use this for the upcoming 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.
