Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: August 26-September 1

Kirk in another timeline?

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 26th through September 1st. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.

August 26
Happy Birthday to Chris Pine. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Chris_Pine #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

“I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it.” Spock “See? We are getting to know each other!” Kirk- Star Trek (2009) #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 27
“You can’t let wishful thinking guide your decision, Counsellor. It’s time to leave.” Ro “We will separate the ship when I decide that it’s time and not before. Is that clear, Ensign?” Troi- Disaster, Stardate: 45156.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 28
“I dreamt about exploring the stars as a child and I wasn’t going to allow any… handicap-not a chair, not a Cardassian station-to stop me from chasing that dream.” Melora- Melora, Stardate: 47229.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 29
(Holding up a fancy sword) “A Claymore. You’re a beauty.” Scotty- Day of the Dove, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 30
“Mr. Data, what kind of cake is this?” Picard “It is a cellular peptide cake.” Data “With mint frosting.” Worf- Phantasms, Stardate: 47225.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 31
“I dread the day when everyone on this ship agrees with me.” Janeway- Random Thoughts, Stardate: 51367.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

September 1
“Our mission is to make contact with those whom humans consider new life and new civilizations.” T’Pol- The Andorian Incident, Date: June 19, 2151 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #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.

Posted in: Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2024 Day 25: Desirable Dice

For Day 25 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge we are going to talk about Desirable Dice. Now I’ve mentioned past dice (and dice like items) on past blog posts. There is the Jason Fox Lucky D20 that I purchased from the artist that drew the daily newspaper comic Fox Trot. One post that continues to get a lot of online visitors years after publishing it covers dice I purchased from the Dollar Tree store. Every time I check my visitor logs, that post gets a lot of visits from online searches. From Amazon I picked up the Lynx RPG Dice Dunce Chair with cap. This is a type of dice shaming jail. I’ve had a couple of free dice sets sent to me that I’ve reviewed in the past. These include the North to South Gaming Dice and the Dice Legends products. A very good dice like product was the 20-in-One Card Deck from Precis Intermedia. It is a set of 56 playing cards that also contain random dice rolls (and other random responses) for players and GMs to use. I’ve used this last item in several games that I’ve GMed.

So for this entry I thought I’d show pictures of a few dice items that I have in my dice bag. The first is a 30-sided die that I had picked up back in the 90’s. I remember using it a few times and even found a book with tables needing a D30. I believe it was from the same manufacturer of the die.

I’ve never really used it, but I keep it in my bag for some reason or another. It’s a D6 that is oddly shaped. It obviously wouldn’t roll very well and is quite large. In the photo I placed a regular sized D6 next to it.

The next photo is the original dice that I had picked up from the original Basic D&D boxed sets and other original gaming boxed sets. Most of these are the dice that needed the crayon to fill in the numbers. I haven’t really used these in a while, but they do stay in the dice bag to bring me luck.

This last set is the unusual dice (D3, D5, D7, D14, D16, D14 and D30) used for the Dungeon Crawl Classics and Mutant Crawl Classics RPGs. This one was labeled the DCC Special 7 that are black dice with white numbers.

Do you have any desirable dice that you have used for role-playing games? 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

RPGaDAY2024 Day 24: Acclaimed Advice

Welcome to Day 24 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge and the list has Acclaimed Advice listed as the topic. If you read various blogs, social media posts, message boards, podcasts, RPG videos, convention panels or just talking with fellow players, you might get a lot of advice about our hobby. There are quite a few of them and it may get a little overwhelming. I think there is a golden rule that everyone should follow for advice when it comes to roleplaying games.

Everyone at the table should have the opportunity to have fun. To make sure you and your fellow players are having fun, please communicate. Communicate with your players and GM before, during and after the game. What may have sounded like fun at the start may turn out not to be fun. You may have stepped on someone else’s opportunity to have fun or vice-versa. Things change, just make sure that you let others know when that happens. These are just games and we play these games for fun. If that goal is in mind, then you’ll have done your part at the table.

There was a time as a player I called up our GM and said “we need to stop this adventure and move onto the next one”. I explained the situation to him and he agreed. We moved onto to the next scenario and continued to have fun. I thanked him for that.

What advice would you give players? What advice would you give GMs? 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

RPGaDAY2024 Day 23: Peerless Player

The topic for Day 21 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge is Peerless Player. Let’s make sure I get the definition right. So Peerless means “matchless or incomparable”. I’ve had the opportunity to both play and GM a lot of players. I remember the friendships, I remember the jokes (even some of mine were pretty good), I remember the puzzle solving, I remember having fun. There really isn’t one that stands out as “Peerless”. So instead I’m going to say to everyone who has played in one of my games or thrown the dice with me as a fellow player. Thank you. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the laughter. Thank you for getting me out of situations I got myself caught in. Thank you for the camaraderie. Thank you for the fun. There is no way I could name you all. Some of you are not even here any more and I miss you.

To those that I haven’t had the chance to game with, I hope to toss the dice with you soon. Let’s have pizza while we game. If we can (sigh) get the schedules to work out.

Do you have a memory of a peerless player? Have you played with me or in one of my games? 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

RPGaDAY2024 Day 22: Notable Non-Player Character

When I saw the topic for Day 22 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge, Notable Non-Player Character, I wasn’t certain where I was going to take this. We’ve played against various NPCs in past games. Some NPCs have helped us. But none really pop-out as “notable”.

So I think I’m going to talk about some tools that will help GMs make NPCs for their games that I haven’t mentioned in previous blog posts. Some of these are PDFs published by different companies. Some of these are online tools that I have used in the past. They are in no particular order. This list is also just a sample of what tools are out there.

Basic Fantasy Tools– This website is a list of links to different tools that will help quickly generate various NPCs (as well as maps, treasure lists, HP box generators and more).

Fantasy Name Generators– Tired of Bob the Blacksmith, Bob the Guard, Bob the Milkmaid, Bob the Evil Warlock? Here is a website that will help GMs come up with various names based upon cultures and races. I’ve used this site in the past when making characters for the Character Creation Challenge.

Lazy DM’s Companion– This PDF was created by Michael E. Shea and contains both an NPC Generator and a Villain Generator among other things that may help DMs.

Frontier Space Referee’s Handbook– Like most GM handbooks, there are sections on NPCs. This particular book has quite a few pages dedicated to generating a Master Villain. This includes origins, type, motivations, power base, henchmen and more.

The Adventurer’s Guide to Non-Player Characters– This was primarily written for the RPG “For Gold & Glory” but it could be adapted for any OSR style game (or more). This actually treats NPCs like classes. So there are Arcanists, Aristocrats, Commoners, Soldiers, etc. It also talks about wages, personality and appearance.

The last thing I wanted to talk about was using illustrations to represent your NPCs. There are plenty of stock and historical illustrations that can be used that you don’t need to bother with AI image generators. I’ve tried these image generators in the past and honestly they just suck. I’ve talked about how plasticy they make everything seem. Just skip those all together.

What tools would you use to help generate NPCs? Are there any memorable NPCs that you recall from past games? 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: Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

RPGaDAY2024 Day 21: Classic Campaign

On Day 21 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge and our subject is Classic Campaign. There are campaigns that I’ve played in as a player and run as a GM.

As a player I think the most classic campaign was the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 campaign that I’ve talked about before with Tovark the Sun Elf Wizard with Xon his toad familiar. I think one of the things that made it a classic campaign is how well the DM ran it. We were wondering between sessions on how we were going to handle our situation. I remember trying to make sure I had the excel character sheet up to date and added links to all of the different feats, spells so I could quickly look them up.

As a GM I think the most classic campaign was the Star Trek Roleplaying Game by Decipher. I still have players reminding me of what happened in the different sessions. I had assembled a schedule of self-made and published adventures from different sources leading to a final “bad guy” situation that the players would have to overcome. The only thing I wish is that we would have been able to complete the campaign to it’s conclusion (schedules and players moving away prevented this).

What classic campaigns did you play or GM in? What made it a classic? 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: Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2024 Day 20: Amazing Adventure

OK, so we are asked to talk about an Amazing Adventure for Day 19 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge. I had a chance to talk about the FASA Star Trek adventure “Demand of Honor” and the B/X Dungeons and Dragons Adventure “The Keep on the Borderlands” in a past RPGaDAY Challenge post. So let’s look at my collection and see if I have another that I’d like to point out as an amazing adventure.

I think I’m going to talk about an adventure that I saw, but never had the chance to play or GM. S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition. It was also covered in the Original Adventures Reincarnated #3 by Goodman Games when they had the license to publish these.

I’ve always been a science fiction fan, so when I saw that my friend had a SF module for Dungeons and Dragons, I went a little crazy. Spells and rayguns? What sorcery was this? From what I understand it was something that was being conceived before TSR released Gamma World. I had inquired if we could play it, but alas, we were never able to get around to it. Apparently this adventure had enough of an impact for Goodman Games to give it the OAR treatment. Could this be a future game that I’d have to run? I don’t know as I’d really like to be a player at the table for this one.

Reader Feedback: LexTenebris on Mastodon posted this to me in response to Sensational Sessions. “It occurs to me that another great game that fits the mold of having a secondary even tertiary characters, which allows you to stay in play is Follow, which as a free version.”

Do you have an amazing adventure that you’d like to talk about? 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, Star Trek, Star Wars

RPGaDAY2024 Day 19: Sensational Session

Reaching Day 19 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge and our topic is Sensational Session. This one is a little vague. Yesterday we had “Memorable moment of Play” which is just about the same thing. So I’m going to talk about what I think would make for a sensational session.

In my humble opinion, a sensational session is where everyone (GM included) has something to do that contributes to the game in a timely manner. I’ve played in a WEG Star Wars game that had so many players in it, my character could take his turn and then I could take a 15-20 minute nap before needing to do something again. I’ve played in a Cyberpunk game where the hacker had a mission to complete, so the rest of us left to get some food. These are not good sessions.

Now that I’ve been typing up this blog post, I think the RPG that has succeeded in giving everyone the opportunity to play no matter the scenario is Star Trek Adventures. They had the concept of a “Secondary Character” that you can create before hand or create on the fly. If you are playing the Conn officer on a Starfleet vessel and there is an away team going to the planet on a rescue mission, instead of the player being bored, they could create a secondary character that is a member of the security team.

Sure, there might be sessions that are geared more towards one or two players, but remember that there are other players at the table that have taken just as much time and effort to be present for the gaming session. With how limited our gaming time seems to be, lets make sure that everyone gets something sensational out of them.

Feedback from a reader: Phil Hatfield on MeWe responded to my Quick to Learn post noting that he thought MiniSix was an easy to use game systems. It looks like it is free on DriveThruRPG so I’m going to check it out. He also stated that the FATE system was very simple. This is one I keep hearing about, but never had a chance to try.

Do you have any thoughts on what makes for a sensational session? 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 19-25

When you realize that it’s Monday.

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 19th through August 25th. Coming soon to Bluesky once we can find a scheduler option.

August 19
Happy Birthday to Diana Muldaur. http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Diana_Muldaur #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

“We humans learn more often from a failure or a mistake than we do from an easy success.” Dr. Pulaski- Elementary, Dear Data, Stardate: 42286.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

Happy Birthday to Jonathan Frakes. @jonathansfrakes https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekFilm #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekENT #StarTrekPicard #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

“You should know that I now prefer pacifism to actual combat. Energize.” Worf “We’re all gonna die.” Riker- The Bounty, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 20
Happy Birthday to John Noble. @thejohnnoble https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/John_Noble #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

“I am coming for you, my progeny.” Ilthuran- Starstruck, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 21
“Unhappiness is the state which occurs in the human when wants and desires are not fulfilled.” Spock- I Mudd, Stardate: 4513.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 22
“I never thought I’d meet a species that forges such intimate bonds with lesser creatures. It’s surprising the things you humans choose to invest your emotions in.” Dr. Phlox- Dear Doctor, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 23
“The fun in the program, Data was in the attempt to solve a mystery.” LaForge- Elementary, Dear Data, Stardate: 42286.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 24
Happy Birthday to Jennifer Lien. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jennifer_Lien #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

“The next time someone has something nice to say about you, maybe you should just take them at their word and feel good about yourself.” Kes- Lifesigns, Stardate: 49504.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

Happy Birthday to Melissa Navia. @melissaCnavia https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Melissa_Navia #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

“‘Gorn Protocols. To be distributed upon an encounter with the hostile species.’” La’an “Break in case of Gorn.” Ortegas- Hegemony, Stardate: 2344.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet #Quote

August 25
“I’m supposed to be a doctor, I’m supposed to put my patient’s needs above my own.” Dr. Bashir “You didn’t want to be lonely anymore. Nobody does.” O’Brien- Chrysalis, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #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.

Posted in: Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2024 Day 18: Memorable Moment of Play

For Day 18 of the RPGaDAY 2024 Challenge we have the subject of a Memorable Moment of Play. I’ve already talked about some of the previous moments on my blog. These include funny encounters in Star Wars, It Came From The Late Late Show or Star Trek.

There have been panels at past conventions where gamers were able to tell the “There I was…” stories from their gaming adventures. I think this is part of the reason we love roleplaying games so much. You never know what is going to happen when a bunch of geeks get together and roll some magical math rocks. The improvisational and quick thinking efforts of both the players and the GM can sometimes lead to stories that we want to talk about later on in life. I know that when I’ve bumped into old gaming friends, we usually bring up a session or two that stick out in our minds. To this day I giggle when I think about blowing out a candle, a Gorn captain saying “dude”, or insects disguised as gold coins.

Do you have a memorable moment of play from a past RPG session? 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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