Tag: Role Playing Games

Collecting, Reviews, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Spy-Fi, Westerns

Modern Necessities a Kickstarter Reward

Written by TardisCaptain December 6, 2025December 6, 2025

Continuing my catch up process, here is my report on the Kickstarter rewards that I have received for backing the Modern Necessities campaign by The Scrying Dutchman (that is the name used in the credits of the book). This set of books takes the B/X style rules from the Old-School Essentials books by Nerotic Gnome and provides different options for modern style games. This includes current times (with the Modern Necessities Professional Edition book), western times (with the Single Action book) and futuristic times (with the Cutting Edge book) that were included as part of the stretch goals. These three books are not stand-alone games, so they would need to be used with Old-School Essentials or another B/X set of rules. The level I backed included the PDFs as well as POD versions from DriveThruRPG. So far, I’ve been pleased with my POD purchases from DTRPG. You can read about my comparisons on this blog post.

The primary book is Modern Necessities Professional Edition. The two add-on books would need this book first. The ISBN for this softbound book is 2-370021-833733 and has 170 pages. While the cover has some color on it, all of the artwork is black and white. The cover was drawn by Noeland Collins with interior art provided by Galen Pejeau, Jonathan Torres, Carlos Castilho, Adam Black, Earl Geier, Jeshields and The Wonkee. The last two were listed that way in the credits.

The chapters covered in this book are Gameplay (primarily the use of modern firearms and a couple of optional skills system that can be used in OSR style games). New Classes (such as Crook, Detective, Face, Heavy Gunner, Hired Killer, Martial Artist, Medic, Ninja, Psychonaut (drug powered users of magic or mental powers), Sapper, Scout, Secret Agent, Sniper, Soldier, Survivalist, Tech Expert, Treasure Hunter (think Laura Croft), Vigilante (think Punisher) and Wheelman. Racial Traits used in modern based games (Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Half-Orc and Human). Chapter five covers all of the different weapons both modern and racial (such as the differences between a dwarven or elfin gun).

The next two chapters covers different types of armor and equipment. Magical items comes up in the next chapter (magically enhanced gun anyone?). Chapter nine tells us about the vehicles used within Modern Necessities.

Chapter ten takes us into a new section of the book, Technomancy. The use of magic with technology. I love the spell Crypto that converts physical monetary items into cryptocurrency. When you try to convert it back again, there’s a chance that the money/treasure returns at a lower value. In a similar vein, chapter 11 covers Psionics.

Chapters 12 and 13 provide information on NPCs and Hired Help. Kind of like a monster manual and lists of hirelings for modern times. There are some common types here (street punks, security guards, grey aliens, etc.) and some may be supernatural or alien in origin. I remember seeing a similar listing in the White Lies RPG and thinking how helpful it was. One of the opponents is obviously the Terminator with the serial numbers filed off.

The Extra Rules chapter is like a GMs section with information on how to make the game more cinematic. There are other rules that make the game unique if the GM wishes to add them. This is then followed by the Loot Tables in the next chapter. Different items that can be dropped by civilians, criminals, law enforcement, etc. The sixteenth chapter provides some different plot hooks with the last chapter presenting an introductory adventure for the GM to use.

Some of the examples of artwork used in Modern Necessities.

By contrast the two additional books, Cutting Edge and Single Action, have a smaller page count, 75 pages and 47 pages respectively. The ISBN for Cutting Edge is 2-370022-615949 and 2-370022-616014 for Single Action. Cutting Edge expands the Modern Necessities with information for cyberpunk and space opera games. This includes more technomancy spells, cybernetic implants, mechs, beam weapons and more. Some of the NPCs and Opponents include those inspired by Aliens, Predator, Blade Runner and more. Single Action allows the GM to run a western themed campaign with or without magic. Both books contain new character classes (six new for Cutting Edge and seven new for Single Action) and equipment.

Overall I got excited looking over these books. This is something that I could have homebrewed myself and seeing the ideas already in print give me energy as per my favorite Ray Bradbury quote. I inquired about a character sheet for Modern Necessities as I want to use this game in the upcoming Character Creation Challenge. The Scrying Dutchman responded that he was only planning to use the Old-School Essentials sheet, but he seemed open to the idea of generating a specific sheet for this game. While I love the art in the books, I was a little confused by one thing. It shows the different fantasy races in modern equipment and garb, but one race in particular was used in different pieces of art. The devil-looking Tieflings. Yet there were not gaming information for this race in Modern Necessities or the Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Player’s Tomb. I’m sure it wouldn’t be that difficult to port the races over, especially after the players see the artwork showing goblin, tiefling and draconian characters in the book. After reading the Skill Throw System and the 2d6 Skill System, I wonder how these would play at the table. Overall I’m very happy backing this project because I started thinking about how I could use the information in a game. I don’t know if I could pull this off as a one-shot for SaltCON or try to put together a campaign. I guess it would have to depend upon finding players to sit at the table and when I get the last stretch goal reward of Bunker on the Borderlands which has an adventure in it. But these books made me want to write and homebrew for roleplaying games.

Do you have any questions about Modern Necessities or the two companion books? Have you backed any Kickstarters lately? 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

National Dice Day 2025

Written by TardisCaptain December 4, 2025December 3, 2025

As I’ve posted before, December 4th is National Dice Day. I was wondering what I was going to post about for this year. In the past I had reviewed various dice products or showed off some of my collection, but I wanted to do something different. The original idea fell through (mostly because the artists working on it hadn’t completed it yet, so hopefully a future blog post) but while talking with a friend inspiration struck.

Today I’m going to talk about something that every gamer should have for their dice. Dice Bags. The old joke is that gamers would have Crown Royal bags to use to hold their dice. But I was never much of a drinker. So for the longest time I was trying to find a good dice bag. Sometimes you can find them for sale at conventions. I’ve also seen some unique ones where they store some dice but also roll out to be a place where you can roll the dice. I haven’t picked up one of those yet, but I have picked up a few others. My main dice bag (pictured above) is a hand made leather bag that is very sturdy. It would have to be to travel around in my Convention Backpack. I don’t recall who made it, or how much I spent on it, but I know it’s served me very faithfully for years. It holds a TON of dice to the point where I have to get some snack bags to separate out some of the different dice sets. This makes it easier to grab when I’m sitting down at the table.

Side view of the dice holder with locking battleaxe.

Top down view showing the interior and lid with battleaxe key to the side.

Earlier this year at a farmers market I found some local makers who were selling roleplaying game gadgets to use at the table. One that caught my eye that I picked up for the Geek Wife was this purple die holder that had a rotating lid that locked down with a “battleaxe key”. She was quite impressed when we gave it to her for Mother’s Day.

And speaking of local makers, I have two other dice bags from a friend who is also on my Discord. Sarah uses her skills at crocheting to make dice bags for sale. I had purchased one to go with a past Secret Satan gift that I had sent off. The receiver wanted something local so I had purchased one of Sarah’s from The Queen’s Realm where she had them on consignment. I then went back and purchased another one to hold some poker chips that I’ve used for various games such as Star Trek Adventures and others. She is still selling a bunch of them and I offered to show them here in this blog post. If you are interested in picking one up, she uses the handle of Arsenic_Angel on the TardisCaptain dot com Discord server under the #-promote-yourself channel.

As you can see, they come in different sizes and colors. Some have metal holders to close up the drawstrings. Yes that is a pokeyball for Pokemon fans. The one I’ve been using for my poker chips has held up quite nicely.

So happy Dice Day everyone. I hope that the dice fall in your favor for your next gaming session.

Do you have any questions about these dice bags? Do you have a unique dice bag that you’d like to share? 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

Underhaven Kickstarter Reward

Written by TardisCaptain November 23, 2025November 23, 2025

The cover to Underhaven with the weathering as part of the art.

Here is another catch up article for you. This is my Kickstarter reward post about the Underhaven OSR Heroic Fantasy Roleplaying Game that I had backed earlier this year. Again, after my disastrous kickstarter lesson from the Cowboy Bebop disaster, I made sure I understood what RPG system would be used before pulling the trigger. For Underhaven they are using an OSR inspired system called TN13. It uses the standard character attributes seen in the original D20 D&D games (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS and CHA) and to resolve the most common checks, the player rolls a D20 and the action die associated with the attribute (D4 to D10) and any other bonuses with a target number of 13 to meet or beat. This target number may be lowered or raised depending upon the difficulty of the task. For any opposed challenges, the target number would be determined by the actions or stats of the opponent. Since the Kickstarter website had the system listed, I felt comfortable backing the project. Especially since the reward prices were reasonable as well. There have been a few Kickstarter campaigns where the reward prices were higher than what I wanted to part with.

The game world set up for Underhaven is all underground (hence the name). The surface world was subject to a disastrous war between two fey courts centuries ago leaving it covered in darkness, ice and completely uninhabitable. The various surface races were driven underground in an attempt to keep their societies alive, only to discover that the realms below contained additional dangers the deeper they went.

The rewards for backing this campaign was produced and delivered by DriveThruRPG. I had backed the level where I would receive a physical softback book and the PDF of the rules. The book was produced by Shadow Drifter Games and was written by Mike Brodu and Daymon Mills without AI. The cover contains color art and the interior illustrations are in black and white. I was also impressed that extra funds raised from the Kickstarter were distributed to the artists who contributed to the project. There are 196 pages in the book and it has an ISBN number of 2-370022-177621.

The back cover with some details of the game.

A sample of the internal text displayed within the book.

Some of the black and white internal art.

Overall I’m very happy with my backing of this Kickstarter project. I found the information contained within the book inspiring and well laid out. I wish there had been more on some of the monsters and how they had adapted to the new life underground. But the world has more of a sandbox feel instead of a “forced into this world” feel that I had felt in other games trying to differentiate from the glut of OSR fantasy RPGs. The system has an OSR feel with enough of a difference to make it something that works. I’m still exploring the different magic system, but I like the TN13 numbers and how it is used with common actions that characters would use in the game (perception, dodging, resisting magical attacks, etc.) I will be using this game in the 2026 Character Creation Challenge and I could easily see myself running a one-shot at an upcoming SaltCON.

Do you have any questions about Underhaven? Have you backed any Kickstarters lately? 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.

Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games

2026 Character Creation Challenge

Written by TardisCaptain November 18, 2025November 18, 2025

31 Day Character Creation Challenge — Feel free to share this image on social media to spread the word.

We are in November, and this is the time that those wishing to participate in the Character Creation Challenge should start planning. With how 2025 has felt like a year from hell (just as bad as 2020), I can’t wait to kick off 2026 by doing something fun with my RPG hobby. Especially since I’ve discovered how interactive the geek community has been on the BlueSky social media website. It was really reminding me of Twitter back in 2012-19 back when it was fun and a source of information. I’m seeing feeds as I want them (not four days later like other social media websites). When I ask questions, I get answers instead of ridicule. I’ve made a ton of new connections. I hope you all enjoy reading this blog.

I’ve been getting this website updated in preparation for the upcoming challenge. The 2025 entries and links of participating sites have been moved to their own section. This has the effect of making the main Character Creation Challenge page look pretty blank for participating forums and blogs. If you are participating again this year, shoot me a message and I’ll get you added. I’ll try to search out what I can, but I know I won’t get all of them. This event has been growing every year and now we have reached the fifth year. I can’t wait to see what creativity you all come up with.

I’ve got a few new games to use in the next challenge. Some I had received as thank you gifts from SaltCON for volunteering as a GM, some were Kickstarter rewards. There are also some games that I picked up in different charity bundles or DriveThruRPG sales. Plus I don’t know if I’ll be gifted a game in the upcoming “Secret Satan” gift exchange that always happens on the RPG.net forums. I’m not certain which game will be my Day 1 entry (aka the game I’m most excited about), but I’m sure I’ll pick one for that honor. I’ll have a better idea which 31 games I’m going to use soon when I post my “Prepping for the 2026 Character Creation Challenge” post coming next month. And even then (as I discovered in past challenges) the list of games might change depending upon what falls in my hands.

It feels good to get an actual blog post up about Roleplaying Games. I know that I’ve been able to keep my Star Trek Quotes reports fresh, but I want to type, I want to pass on knowledge, I want to grow and explore. I’m still working on new blog themes such as the Better Plus One Sword series. So look for more soon and thanks for being patient with me.

If you would like to participate, email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com, post on the TardisCaptain.com Discord Channel or find me on social media/message boards and let me know where you will be posting your challenge characters at. If you are posting them on a website, I’ll add the link to my Character Creation Challenge page.

Some forever GMs use this as a challenge to create a character like they were actually going to just play. There are a few other themes posted on the main Character Creation Challenge page. Remember, this is for fun, so have fun with it.

Collecting, Role Playing Games

New RPG Miniatures For My Collection

Written by TardisCaptain November 15, 2025November 15, 2025

For my Day 27 entry of the 2024 RPGaDAY challenge I talked about how few RPG miniatures that I owned. In that blog post I mentioned that I wanted to obtain more miniatures for gaming use, but I didn’t want to spend too much on it. At the game swap at SaltCON, I had seen a few packs available, but again the price was just a little bit more than what I wanted to spend. I had been looking for miniatures (or smaller toy figures) at different thrift stores and continuing my bargain hunting. Well thanks to my friend Ross, I finally had a chance to get a start on a collection that I’ll be able to use in different RPG sessions.

Ross is one of my friends who has hopped on the 3D printing craze. There are opportunities now to print gaming miniatures and cosplay props that we never had access to before. A large number of artists are designing STL files that can be downloaded and used on various 3D printers using spools of plastic. Last spring while visiting him he showed me a bunch of fantasy RPG miniatures that he had printed out. I had inquired about printing some up for me and his response was, ‘buy a spool and I’ll use it for your miniatures.’ A spool (at the time) was only $18 and for that, he printed out 153 miniatures of different sizes. That’s eight and a half cents for each one.

So now, when I find some bargains for smaller sets at SaltCON or other locations, I’ll probably be more inclined to pull the trigger because I can now add to the set. I’ve already shown them to a few gaming friends and one inquired if I wanted to paint these. I don’t really have the paints or brushes to do so, plus I’m not a patient person at this. That was one of the reasons I never kept up with building models. So while someday I may. But for now, I’m over the moon at just having some figures now that I can drop down in the middle of the map on the game table.

I took some photos of the miniatures that Ross put into the plastic tub for me. He had them separated into different groups which is how I photographed them here.

Barbarian warriors which may or may not be friendly.

Turtle warriors (I don’t know if they are teenagers) and rats.

I can use these for warriors, guardsman or militia.

This is a lively bunch of skeleton warriors.

A giant slug, adult and baby owlbears, spiders of different sizes and a rust monster.

Different minotaurs that I can throw at the party.

A Beholder, Gelatinous Cube (which is hollow to put over a figure) and rising tentacles.

More monsters to terrorize my players with.

The largest piece, a fully grown dragon.

All of the miniatures except for the dragon fit into a plastic tub that Ross picked up at the dollar store. He brought me the miniatures to a meeting we recently held at a nearby library. When I was leaving I was carrying out the tub with the dragon on top and passed a father and son who were walking in. I heard the boy, who I believe was about ten years old, whisper under his breath “Oh wow a dragon” as he saw what I was carrying. If the father hadn’t been in a hurry, I might have stopped them to talk.

So thank you Ross for taking the time to do this. He was even sending me sped-up videos of the figures being printed so I could see how it looked. Also a shout out to all of the amazing artists who put together these files and released them to the internet. Your efforts are appreciated.

Now I really need to get a campaign going. Who wants to be my victims…. err…. players?

Have you had any experience with 3D printing or 3D printed miniatures? Any tips on painting them if I ever get the chance to actually sit down and paint them? 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.

Reviews, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction

Planet of the Apes RPG Kickstarter Reward

Written by TardisCaptain October 14, 2025October 14, 2025

What I saw when I opened up my box with my POTA RPG rewards.

And in my quest to catch up on the articles that I owe all of you, here is my first look at the Planet of the Apes Roleplaying Game Kickstarter rewards. This box arrived in late August. With how busy things had been between conventions and real life baloney, this is the first time I’ve had a chance to sit down and go through it all.

Because I was a backer of the Kickstart campaign, I had received a PDF of the core rulebook early. This allowed me to use the system in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. Thanks to the release of the Quickstart Rules, I was able to run a scenario at a past SaltCON. The players had a blast with the scenario. I talked a lot about the system in the Character Creation Challenge entry, but if you are familiar with the D6 Star Wars or Ghostbusters game, you’ll see this game as a spiritual successor and easy to pick up. The new system is called D6MV (Magnetic Variant). I had to make sure it was really a D6 system and not the disaster that came with the Cowboy Bebop Kickstarter. I’ll never make that mistake again when backing an RPG on Kickstarter.

With the level of backing that I had done in the 2024 campaign, I received the following items. A hard-bound core rulebook (See below). An 8×11 art print of the cover on really nice paper. A pad of POTA RPG character sheets. A double sided blueprint poster (the starship fan in me loved this one). A metallic Simian coin (one of the bonus rewards) and an Ape Management patch. Incoming photos below.

The character sheet pad, blue print poster (folded) and Ape Management patch.

The Ape Management patch for size comparison and Simian coin dated with the year 3955.

The front of the blueprints showing the Liberty-Class capsule with game stats.

The back of the poster showing the ANSA Project Liberty details.

The artwork showing the cover of the core rulebook with the patch.

For how much I paid at this backing level (Gama Level), I am really pleased with how much I received from the campaign. I really wish that I would have had the money to get the two other supplements covering the ANSA astronauts and an adventure guide Into the Forbidden Zone. Eventually I’ll pick these up.

As for the hardbound book itself, it was written by Andrew E.C. Gaska and E.L. Thomas. Cover art by Bill Sienkiecz with additional art by Andrew Probert, Chris Moeller, Barron Storey, Erik Gist, Dan Dussault and Colo. The book has a copyright of 2024 with an ISBN of 978-1-962413-03-9 and was released by Magnetic Press Play and West End Games. It is full color with 308 pages and also contains two ribbon bookmarks. One additional comment on the features of the book, it has rounded corners on the open side. At first I thought the book had been damaged until I noticed that all four corners of the hardbound cover were this way. I actually like it.

An interesting, but welcome, design choice.

So now that I have the actual book in my hand (and can experience that new book smell) I’m even more excited about this game. I’ve always loved the classic Planet of the Apes series and I’m very happy that they decided to focus this game on these entries into the franchise. There are several Planet of the Apes comics by Malibu Graphics that I had collected back in the 90’s and I’m starting to wonder if I could homebrew those adventures for this game?

Within the pages of the book I really enjoyed the use of different quotes to add flavor. Some came from the movies themselves, while others appear to be original work (or from other sources I may not be familiar with). While looking at the common situational skill modifiers on page 36, I noticed that the error I had noted in the PDF version of the book (and reported to the publisher) was corrected. I don’t know if they caught it themselves or if I wasn’t the only person who reported it. One of the original aspects of the D6 Star Wars game that thrilled me was the character’s personal quote. It set the tone for the character. I found it interesting that the mute tribal humans also had quotes, in the forms of actions. There are a lot of good charts in this game for creating characters. I may have to steal some of these for NPC traits and quirks creation.

There is a solo adventure in the front of the book. I’ll have to try this out later. There is an introduction adventure in the back of the book, but it’s the same one that was contained in the Quickstart set. I was a little disappointed in this as I run these intro adventures at SaltCON and I was hoping that there would be a new adventure for me to run.

So overall, I’m really happy backing this Kickstarter campaign. I picked up these books because I could see myself playing or even running a campaign. Thanks to the people who put this together. Now has anyone seen my missing astro-nauts?

Do you have any questions about the Planet of the Apes RPG or this Kickstarter campaign? Have you backed any Kickstarters lately? 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

Better Plus One Sword: Heltath’s Revenge

Written by TardisCaptain October 4, 2025October 4, 2025

Better Plus One Sword: Heltath’s Revenge

For my first official entry into the new Better Plus One Sword series, I’m writing up the backstory of Heltath’s Revenge. A collection of magic swords that come with a price. This write up is (mostly) system neutral for D20 based games. Feel free to adjust it for your own campaign.

Magic Item: “Heltath’s Revenge” Long Sword +1 plus special abilities

Special Abilities: For each charge used, add 1d4 damage to a successful strike in addition to the standard damage die (2 max charge increase). If a charge is used, damage vs any orcs are 1d6 in addition to the standard weapon damage. Charge activated by stating “For Westbarrow” with a successful strike. The sword will vibrate within 50 feet of orcs when held or sheathed.

Special Notes: If fighting mixed opponents, the sword will guide the wielder to attack the closest orc-like target first if within 50 feet. The wielder must make a WILL save to attack other opponents of their choosing. Due to the sword’s reputation, orcs automatically distrust any wielder of this weapon if they can see it, even if sheathed. Sword bears the touchmark of the blacksmith Cardius the Giant.

Rarity: Common- found in some magic shops, by traveling merchants or other adventurers. May be found in some dungeon locations, but not in deep confines. (see Lore)

Starting Charges: 3d6 (Max 18)

Add Charge: One vial of orc blood covering the sword for one hour restores one charge. Cannot exceed maximum number of charges.

Identification/Lore Check: Low Success- Weapon is magical that assists the user in attacking and damage. It may have other abilities. Medium Success- Higher functions are activated by using a charge. Number of current charges revealed. Ability to detect orcs revealed. High Success- History and manufacturer revealed. Reputation and knowledge of animosity towards orcs revealed. Charge restoration revealed.

Additional: If the sword is found and not purchased, characters may find (GMs discretion) 1d4 vials of unknown (orc) blood with the magical sword on first discovery.

Lore:

Fifteen years ago, the ranger Heltath and her hunting party had returned to her village of Westbarrow after a successful expedition. Upon arrival they discovered that most of the population had been slaughtered by members of the Iron Tusk orc tribe. Enraged, Heltath and her party tracked the raiders down and slaughtered them in a surprise night raid. However, instead of her vengeance being quenched, she discovered that she loved killing orcs.

Her hunting party had moved on trying to rebuild their village, but Heltath took it upon herself to continue hunting orcs of any tribe. This became an obsession for her over the years. She had joined up with other like-minded adventurers to track down orcs before they could raid any other settlements.

Needing more tools to help her in her quest, she sought out the magical blacksmith known as Cardius the Giant who was known for quickly making magical weapons. He was willing to make a magical sword that would aid her if she could provide orc blood as a component in the creation of the sword. Heltath brought him so much blood, that he discovered he could make many swords with the same capability. This only pleased Heltath more as she believed it could aid her in her quest to rid the world of orcs. She made plans to get these swords out into the lands where adventurers could obtain them. The total number of swords is unknown but believed to be more than 100.

This caused some riffs with her latest party as they believed her obsession didn’t line up with their long-term goals. These swords became so well known within the orc communities, that they could recognize them on sight.

Adventure Hooks:

Heltath is still seeking help in hunting down orcs and obtaining more blood and funds for Cardius. She hooks up with the party and tries to discreetly collect the blood after battles so that she won’t lose her latest adventuring group. She is travelling under an assumed identity. What will happen if the party discovers her true nature? Perhaps a local kingdom, wanting to make peace with the orcs, is trying to stop Heltath on her personal quest.

Some orc tribes are trying to counter the threat of these weapons. They believe that if they can find the magical anvil that was used by Cardius the Giant and destroy it, it may neutralize the blades. (true? false?) The orcs may follow the party if they believe that they can lead them to Heltath or Cardius. Or the party may be searching for Caridius’ services when the orcs attack his lair.

Brother Ramos, cleric of a lawful/good deity, was a party member that assisted Heltath in her initial quest against the orcs believing their cause to be just. The amount of slaughter performed by Heltath’s actions has caused this deity to punish Ramos for his overzealous participation. Brother Ramos, now stripped of is clerical powers, hires the party to assist him in his quest for redemption. Does his deity require him to make peace with the orcs? Find as many of these swords and destroy them? Stop Heltath from continuing her war against the orcs? Track down Cardius and try to convince him to stop making the swords? Cardius doesn’t care, he just makes what his clients want, what happens with the items after he makes them is not his concern.

The son/daughter/relative of a nobleman/royal house is traveling through orc infested lands. Perhaps to make peace/trade agreements with the orc tribes. Unbeknownst to this individual, they were given one of these swords as a gift. The nature of the gift was discovered by an ally. This ally has hired the party to reach the sword bearer in time before they create an incident which may erupt into violence.

Author’s Notes: Talking about how many vials of blood a character could ‘harvest’ from a dead orc and how many ounces a potion vial holds became an interesting topic on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. Thanks to Chantel and MoonHunter for the insightful comments they provided. I had also recieved feedback on other gaming Discord servers, than you. Also a tip-of-the-hat to my long time D&D friend Jeff S for looking over my initial draft. The feedback helped polish the article up.

Not all entries in the Better Plus One Sword series will be about weapons. There will be other magical items of different varieties. However for the first entry, I had this weapon pop into my head one morning. By the end of the day I had most of the article drafted up.

Also on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server I had a few readers submit their own magic item ideas. These will be included as ‘reader entries’ on a future blog post. If you have any feedback or suggestions for BPOS entries, feel free to 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

Kudos to Modiphius for Star Trek Adventures

Written by TardisCaptain September 24, 2025September 28, 2025

When a company screws up, I complain about it. I want other people to know how badly that company handled a situation. Because I don’t want to be someone who complains all the time, I also want to point out when a company excels at what they do. And my latest good example of this is the team behind the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game by Modiphius.

Like any successful roleplaying game, as time progresses the designers get feedback from players. They also make changes when the same RPG system is used in other games adding and removing portions of the game. Look at the latest version of Dungeons and Dragons. While it still has the D20 aspect, there are a lot of changes to the game if you compare it to Dungeons and Dragons version 3.5 or the older BECMI that I started out with. There are differences that are good and bad. After the publisher had released the first edition of Star Trek Adventures, they took the feedback to heart and made some changes that were reflected in the Klingon Core Rulebook and the STA Rules Digest. Later, they took more feedback (and aspects from other 2D20 games) and released the much superior 2nd edition.

An advantage for the publisher, besides making the game better, is the sales of new books. This also caused some difficulties as well. If a new version of a game is released, then their loyal customers wondered why they invested in the previous books. Most games were not very backwards compatible. This was particularly bad when it came to the Warhammer tactical games with the official miniatures. The older miniatures were not allowed in the new official tournaments to drive up sales. I remember a friend telling me after the latest edition change that he was done with Warhammer because of this. It had gone through it twice and was not going to follow a third time even with how much he had loved the game.

When the second edition of Star Trek Adventures was released, I recall a few players wondering if their books were no longer compatible. I even saw one collection going up for sale online as the seller thought they were no longer needed. The team behind STA2e kept telling us that the older books could still be used. Well, they have started doing something beyond talk. They are releasing free PDF updates to all the older books that makes them “second edition”. Usually, it’s a minor correction to a character stat, or the wording on a certain rule. These ‘revisions’ have been released for the division books covering Command, Operations and Sciences.

As someone who wants to homebrew for this 2D20 game, it’s been fascinating to read some of these revisions and comparing them to the original releases. It helps me get an ‘under the hood’ look in the system.

So, I’m going to grab one Starfleet officer from Star Trek Adventures: The Next Generation Player Characters and compare the 1st edition book to the 2nd edition revision that was released for free. That being our earl grey drinking captain, Jean Luc Picard.

Now the “story line” presented in the 1st edition publication is not present in the revision. I don’t believe that ‘revision’ meant ‘reprint with 2e stats’. The revision just presented the stats. So it’s still worth picking up the 1st edition publications for all of the lore presented within the books. With STA2e relying more on traits, our enterprising commanding officer has some of his traits reworded. For example ‘Former Borg’ is now ‘Liberated Borg’ which makes more sense. His position of ‘Captain of the Enterprise’ is also listed as a trait. In the STA2e stats, the new past time focus of ‘Ancient Earth Literature’ was added. I love the idea of a past time focus as it tells us that the character is more than just a bunch of stats on a piece of paper. For Picard’s talents, Spirit of Discovery is slightly re-worded (as it was between the two books) and the Veteran talent has a change since STA2e dropped the challenge dice (again, seen in the new core rulebook). This is the same reason Captain Picard’s attack stats are slightly different, no challenge dice means he uses the damage listed in the new core book. Besides the past time trait, the only other noticeable change was the ‘special rules’ listed for the character. These contain the Species Ability which gives the character the advantages of being Human. And the role benefit of Commanding Officer. These role benefits have been very interesting to read. Other than that, the character’s values, attributes, departments (called disciplines in the first edition), stress, focuses, protection and equipment are all the same.

So, as you can see, Jim Johnson and his team of writers have been true to their word. You can still use your STA first edition publications with the second edition with just some minor tweaks. And they are helping you along by taking the time to provide some of these tweaks themselves (at the same time that they are working on new STA2e content).

Besides being impressed with these ‘revisions’, I recently used a 1st edition adventure in a one-shot at SaltCON. I GMed a game using the scenario from the Klingon Empire Quickstart using the second edition rules. Other than a few minor strokes of the pen on the pre-generated characters and a few NPCs, I had no problems running it with the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition rules.

So, don’t sell your first edition books, and if you happen to see any dead-tree versions, snatch them up as they are no longer being printed. Or you can pick up the PDFs on DriveThruRPG. You can use them in a second edition game with minimal effort. Truly something to tip the hat to the writers of this game. Like I said in the title of this blog, Kudos to Modiphius.

ADDITIONAL: It was pointed out to me that I didn’t include a link to the free downloads on the Modiphius website. They can be found here: Star Trek Adventures Downloads.

Have you encountered smooth transitions between editions of your favorite roleplaying game 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.

Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games

Better Plus One Sword- The Introduction

Written by TardisCaptain September 18, 2025October 4, 2025

So, what’s better than a magical +1 sword? The answer isn’t a sword with a +2 attack and damage bonus. Let me explain.

I have fond memories of reading the early Dungeons and Dragons books when I was first introduced to the game. One of the areas that I particularly enjoyed was the magic items that a DM could place in various dungeons. Especially when reading some of the published modules by several companies. I would go through the text and create a list for the module showing how much treasure and magic items were found within the adventure. Usually, it was a shield +1, a spear +2 or a ring that stored extra spells for a magic user. There was some sort of protection item, or something that added to the offensive power of the character, but they usually had no personality. At the time, I was enthralled with what I read in those older gaming tomes. Now, I’m thinking that I’d want something more for the magic items that I place in my adventures. A sword +1, heh, how original. Nothing memorable, nothing to spark the imagination of the player as they discover what the magic item does, and how their character can use it in the adventure world they find themselves in.

How can we as game masters present magical items to our players that will present more roleplaying and gaming opportunities beyond adding a mathematical bonus to a game mechanic?

How did the players acquire the item?- Sometimes the way they come into possession of the magic item may mean more than the benefits it provides. That sword may only give a +1 bonus, but it was a family heirloom that was given to the character when they first went out into the world. I can’t replace this; it came from my grand-uncle who used it at the Battle of Brodon’s Bridge. It could be proof of family membership or increase the notoriety of the holder. The item could be on a temporary loan from a member of the royal family or a famous adventurer as a sign that they have authorized the character’s mission.

Give the item a name and history- So the DM tells your character that they have found a Sword +5 Sword of Sharpness that can be wielded by a lawful character. Sounds like a lot, but that doesn’t inspire the character. Now tell the player that the historian that accompanied them on their latest quest has told Sir Richards that he has found the sword Excalibur in the tomb of King Arthur Pendragon (as detailed in the AD&D 1e Deities & Demigods book). If the player has any medieval fantasy knowledge, they suddenly see a different sword that is now in the hands of their character. Now, I’m not saying give every fighter this legendary sword, but name the sword. Give it some markings that an expert can look at (for a price) and research its history. Perhaps the researcher needs some items to help identify the item or is willing to identify the item in exchange for a favor (which could send the players on another quest). Perhaps the item was once owned by a hero, adventurer, villain, demi-god, etc. What happens if an heir or a cult wants the item after it’s been discovered in the lost caverns it was hidden in? Perhaps they hid it there.

Let the players help create it- Another option is that the character had a hand in creating the item. The mage and the blacksmith helped create the physical and mystical portion of the item, but they need some additional components that the characters need to acquire. The weapon gives a bonus when used against a certain opponent. Perhaps it’s some blood, or scales or another item from the target creature. The larger the quantity, the more damage it does when the magic weapon hits. A weapon made in such a way would not be looked upon kindly by those it was meant to slay. Think of the reaction that the goblins had when they saw Orcist in the hands of Thorn Oakenshield in The Hobbit. It probably wouldn’t help with any negotiations.

Give the item a limited number of charges- This would be more mechanical than historical within the game. A sword only gives a +1 to hit for each charge used up to a maximum advantage. Need to make sure you hit, spend four charges to give +4 to the attack roll. Give the item one or more special abilities and this ability needs a charge to activate. This makes the player wonder if they use the charge now, or save it for a more dangerous foe?

Allow the player to discover the advantages during roleplay- Imagine the player’s surprise when they realize their item gives the character an ability they didn’t have before. It’s suddenly easier to hit certain targets. Or that the item talks only to them. Just being in possession of the item may be enough to give these benefits, or boons. Which leads us to…

Give the item a bane to go along with the boon- So there are a couple of good advantages the item gives. Perhaps it gives a warning or translates a language. Then give it some bad advantages as well. That sword that is +2 more vs dragons, entices the character to attack any dragon he sees. The translation given is correct, but may take a while to translate. Make it interesting without being too much of a curse.

What magic items can you think of that would be better than just a scroll or a shield +1? I’m planning to write up several magic items to post about in future blog posts. Feel free to share some with me to be included in those articles. 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

What is on your own character sheet?

Written by TardisCaptain September 12, 2025September 12, 2025

Which character sheet from the last Character Creation Challenge should I use?

I want to thank the participants of the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server for keeping me on track and thinking about future blog posts. Thanks MoonHunter for the virtual donuts (at least those don’t add to my daily calories, even when I want a real one). He was talking about how continuing to write and work on a project is beneficial. I especially liked his comment of “And remember, you can always edit crap. You can not edit a blank page.” How true.

So I started thinking about what was something I could put together. Sometimes when I place my fingers on the keyboard, the ideas start flowing through them from my brain to the page. I’ve got a few ideas that I need to prep for, or would take longer than a single sitting to put together.

But then an idea hit me. Arsenic_Angel on my Discord server has been talking about crocheting home-made dice bags for an upcoming booth at SaltCON. I had commented back to her that she was doing a good job and had increased the skill level of her character.

So for this blog post I’m going to talk about our own character sheet. The one that represents us. I’m going to throw out a rough idea for “Real Life- The RPG”, but that’s for the purpose of getting the message across for this blog post. So don’t think of it as a finished system but a lump of clay ready to be molded. Sort of like all of us.

When we sit down with a blank piece of paper, or unfilled character sheet, there is a level of excitement. Perhaps we have an idea on what we want to do with the character. Another layer of fun could be finding out about the character as we develop and play them. I think that is why there is a segment of the gaming community that likes using point buys to create their character and another that like random dice rolls. While the bulk of the characters we make are at the starting levels, our own personal character sheet doesn’t have to be that way. You may already have some experience in several areas, but as long as you are still learning, you are still living. That is part of the reason I try to learn something new every day.

So at the top of our sheet is our name. Perhaps some nicknames as well. Don’t worry if you need to change the name later. Your name was a gift and gifts are not meant to be used forever. Think about what went into that name, why it was selected and what it means to you.

In roleplaying games we use attributes to represent the natural abilities of our character. So for us we all have three distinct things. Body, Mind and Spirit. Our health, physical resilience, strength, coordination, balance and more are part of our Body score. The intelligence, recall, perception, insight and more make up our Mind score. And finally our drive, creativity, mental resilience, happiness and more make up our Spirit. Instead of a single rating for these attributes, we would have two. An average rating, and a peak rating. If we keep up with certain daily activities, we can keep our average rating. If we don’t get enough sleep, eat healthy and mentally take care of ourselves, then we may fall below that average rating. But if we push one of our ratings (sometimes at the cost of the other two) then we can use the peak rating on certain tasks. An example of this could be professional and Olympic athletes who train constantly for long periods of time to reach that peak needed for a certain competition.

Now there isn’t going to be class and levels in “Real Life- The RPG” because we are more than just our occupation. Instead we are going to have talents, skills and traits which could help us in a variety of different jobs. A talent is something that comes naturally that helps with certain ability rolls. These could be athletic, musical, artistic, creative, charming, dedicated, problem solving, etc. Skills are specializations that we develop or need for certain tasks. I mentioned Arsenic_Angel increasing their crocheting skill. There are two writers on my discord with the handles of Chantel and MoonHunter who are constantly giving us updates on their word count and projects. So I can see the Writing skill number going up. If you do something that is trained, then that should be a skill that increases. Some may even get high enough to become a professional skill (aka you get paid for it) while others may just be more a long the lines of hobbies and interests. For myself I’d have a professional skill level in cybersecurity, a hobby skill level in roleplaying games and an interest skill in World War I and II trivia. While I don’t make money off of it, since I’ve been interviewed for Newspapers, TV, Radio and Magazines, my Star Trek knowledge skill is at a professional level. And finally traits are things that affect your character both good and bad. Some may be temporary, such as “exhausted” or some may be semi-permanent such as my myopia (aka nearsightedness) or permanent, like if I was missing an arm (which I am not thankfully).

Instead of having equipment, we would have resources, because not everything is physical. Sure, owning a car is a resource (that comes with a cost), but having friends is also a resource. Internet access, a full-time job, a safe neighborhood to live in, the love of a family, a pet, food storage, and more would make up the resources our character can use. These resources can help with a trait (like my glasses help with my vision), or with the upkeep needed for my attributes (like visiting with friends to lift my spirits). Each resource could have multiple traits as well just like the character. A low-stress job, an older car that isn’t as reliable, etc. These would also be listed on my character sheet.

So, when we make a character, we plan for that character to change and grow as we play the game. We might get access to additional resources, increase an ability, learn a new skill. As I was thinking about this blog post this morning a thought ran through my head. “This Count Chocula cereal may not help my body attribute score, but it sure helps my spirit attribute.” Think of things that we can do to improve our characters for “Real Life- The RPG” and take them. Even if it’s just the daily activities to keep our average attribute score, that is still helping. Don’t forget to use your resources such as your friends and family. We are all playing this game together and there are no NPCs.

OK readers, give me topic and subject ideas (RPG or anything geeky) that you’d like to see me blog about. I have some ideas of my own, but I’d love to hear some short prompts that you might be interested in. This helps encourage me to get off of my duff and write. And that increases my writing skill on my personal character sheet. 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.