Tag: Role Playing Games

Conventions, Dungeons and Dragons, Horror, Pirates, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars

SaltCON-Spring 2026 After Action Report

Written by TardisCaptain March 18, 2026

August sez “Who said you could be gone fur-ever?”

And another wonderful SaltCON is in the bag. Let me take this opportunity to thank the gaming coordinators, the volunteers and the people I met for helping to make this an enjoyable weekend. I had some disappointments, but they were far and few between. I also had a roleplayer come up to me to say “Hey you want to see my convention backpack?” after he had read about the backpack that I use at conventions. It was interesting to compare the two of them. Last year, I really needed the emotional support after some real-life events. This year I was providing the emotional support to others (and I was glad to give out the hugs when needed). It reminded me of the quote from Saru on Star Trek: Discovery.

“Before we can care for others, we must care for ourselves.” Saru- New Eden, Stardate: 1027.32

I was able to pick up a lot this year. The convention theme for 2026 is pirates (last year was a cyberpunk theme) and there were several articles of clothing that combined gaming and pirates together. My zip-up Star Trek hoodie (that looked like a uniform) was starting to get a little threadbare, so I decided to replace it with a black SaltCON pirate hoodie that says “Dead men play no games.” I also picked up the regular con shirt for spring which was a pirate riding a fish guiding it with a D20. The SaltCON GameMaster’s Guild shirt that I got for free said “Release the Kraken” And speaking of free shirts, Evil Genius Games provided me with an Evil Gamemaster shirt for running one of their games. On the sleeve is a bonus rule that allows the GM to make a player re-roll a D20 two times during a game. I didn’t use this at the con, but a friend who also got the same shirt did.

Some of the gaming loot that I picked up at the con.

As is usually the case with SaltCON, they give you free games when you pick up your registration badge. The free games this year included an interesting card game called Tacta and a humorous looking game called Riot at the Round Table. I’ll have to subject the family to these and see how they play. At the Saturday morning swap meet someone brought in the Star Trek Super-Skill Pinball that was still sealed and was a low price. So I snagged it. I really wish that more people brought their RPG books to this Saturday morning event. At the regular game swap (which is 99% board games) I did find an unusual looking RPG called Arzium which appears to be a fantasy game. And one of my thank you gifts for running quite a few RPG sessions was the Werewolf The Apocalypse Core Rulebook. Both of these I’ll be using in the 2027 Character Creation Challenge.

There were a couple more giveaways that I had received at the convention. The first was the SaltCON RPG pin which showed a kraken wrapping itself around a pirate ship. There was also a pin I got for running the Evil Genius game for Nacho Haus that came from the Origins Game Fair. I don’t know what that represents. I reached out to my contacts at EGG and I’ll report back what I find out. Another free gift was a small 3D printed dice tower that fit nicely inside my leather dice tray. Usually dice towers are too unwieldy or big, but this one worked just right. This was given to a GMs at the con and was provided by Scorehaven which appears to be some sort of gaming meet up group. A local young artists had a booth at the con and from her I purchased a set of dice that glow under a ultraviolet light (I’ll blog more about that later) and a special coffin box for the Geek Wife who loved it. Plus we wanted to support those who created with their hands and not tried to use AI.

For the four games that I ran at SaltCON Spring 2026 I think I must have picked a bad time-slot for Basic Fantasy. Only one person had preregistered for the game and they backed out the morning of the con. But this only gives me a chance to polish up this self-written adventure for a future event. The next day I ran Everyday Heroes: Escape from New York (for the prizes seen above). This game had a full complement (five pre-gen characters) and we had fun. However I may have disappointed a player who was playing an RPG for the first time. She chose a character that was a manipulator instead of a fighter. However the first part of the game (that was all we could do in the four hour slot) didn’t get to the point where she could use her talents. I let them name their own characters at the table, so Lady Lockbreaker, if you are reading this, I should have let you manipulate the guards you were trying to approach. I had thought about it later and I realized then what you were trying to do. I hope your future RPG sessions go a little better. For any GMs running some of the Cinematic Adventures from Evil Genius Games, be prepared to shorten the material to get it into a convention gaming slot. Friday I ran Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition with the Thursday’s Child game written by Roger Taylor. This ran very well and challenged the characters in a Star Trek way. There were lots of compliments at the end of the session (that ran longer than we were expecting, but it was the last game at that table for the day). On Sunday I ran the Star Wars D6 RPG from West End Games. While there were a couple of first time players who wanted to see what the fuss was all about, there were also several players who loved the original game. They loved the theater of the mind and how I used an opening script to get them all into character. Thank you to my players who showed up and had fun.

I was really looking forward to the two Cowboy Bebop games, but they didn’t happen. One was with Lasers and Feelings and the other was the official RPG that I had backed on Kickstarter. The GM fell ill and wasn’t able to return for the two games. I know another player who had signed up for both who was disappointed as well. Another player volunteered to run Lasers and Feelings for us and we pushed our way through it as an improv game. Thanks to that player for stepping up and showing how the community supports each other. To the GM that was running the early Sunday morning Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition game, I apologize for pulling out the night before. With how late my STA game ran, I didn’t think I was going to get there on time for the early morning session. I hope you found a replacement player and I thank you for bringing one of the classics to the con. I have a bit of a conundrum on the Tunnels and Trolls game. It wasn’t actually Tunnels and Trolls, it was a retro-clone called the Leopard Empress or something. Another player who also wanted to really try T&T had even brought his books from home. I think we got an idea how the system works with the clone, but I was also wondering if I would have signed up had it been advertised under the actual game name. I don’t know, am I thinking about this too hard? If I had advertised my Basic Fantasy game as BECMI and someone showed up expecting to play that, would they be giving me the side eye? The other game that I was able to play is called DC20, which turned out to be a beta version of the game that was backed by Kickstarter years ago. It made sense, but I could see where some of the betaness of the game came into play as the players had a few questions about things. We had fun. But the IT side of my brain kept saying “Beta version, wait for full release.” The most fun I had was with the Paranoia game. Because there was a long line to get into the con (and I had to stop to help a friend at the ER beforehand) I was a little late getting there. The GM was actually having the players create their own characters. Since I had missed the first of this process, I asked if I could just use the character I had recently created in the Character Creation Challenge, and the GM agreed. So bonus points for me to use a character that I had created manually. I want to say that the Paranoia game lives up to its reputation if you have a GM and players with the right mindset (and warped sense of humor). Good job. Overall I had fun in the games that I actually played and thanks again to the GMs for their efforts.

Again, if you are looking for a good gaming convention, I can’t recommend SaltCON enough. There are a ton of board games, card games, roleplaying games and the Artemis Bridge Simulator ran by Starship Frontier was always full. The next two conventions at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah are June 5-7 and September 4-6. I already have an idea for my next Star Trek Adventures game that I want to try out.

So was I putting to much thought into the Tunnels and Trolls concern? Did I do the new player in Escape from New York wrong by not letting her play to her character strengths? Do you have any questions about the convention weekend? 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.

Conventions, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Star Trek, Star Wars

Prepping for SaltCON Spring 2026

Written by TardisCaptain March 7, 2026March 17, 2026

Some of the games that I’ll be running at SaltCON Spring 2026.

Wow, 2026 is flying by already. In less than a week I’ll be at SaltCON Spring at the Davis Convention Center in Layton to throw some dice and see some friends. This will run from March 12-15 and is the largest of the three SaltCON conventions held at this location.

I volunteered to run four different games this year. I’m also signed up to play in four games that I’ve never played before and I’ll be re-visiting a game that I haven’t played since my early days of gaming. I will also be packing my Convention Backpack that I have documented about in a previous blog post.

Once again, my Sunday game has filled up first. But this shouldn’t surprise me because it’s the classic Star Wars D6 RPG by West End Games. I’m certain that all of the players probably remember (or heard about) how well this game ran. I’ve also followed up with some games that I’m getting known for, Basic Fantasy 4th Edition (The Guildmaster’s Quest Part II) and Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition where I’ll be running a scenario written by my late friend, Roger Taylor that I converted over to 2e. I think that Roger would have loved 2nd edition. Another first for me is running the Everyday Heroes cinematic adventure, Escape from New York. What is especially interesting about this last game is that it will be a sanctioned play recognized by the publisher. I’ll get some swag for running the game and the players can get some points as well if they sign up online. The publisher had one of their convention coordinators reach out to me and ran me through a quick online session about a month ago.

I’ve signed up to play in six games. The one that I’ve played before is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition (role play like it’s 1979). In 2025 I did see a couple of pick up 2nd edition games start. If I hadn’t already been booked for another session, I might have joined them. The remaining games are all new to me. I am really appreciative of the opportunity to try new games. There are 5th Edition/Pathfinder games at all of the local gaming stores, I want to try other things. The first game is the new Paranoia All New Shiny Edition (aka “Perfect Edition”). I recently had the opportunity to make a character for this in the 2026 Character Creation Challenge. I’ve really wanted to try this game ever since I first heard about it back in the 90s. I’m not certain what version it is, but another game that I’ve signed up for is Tunnels and Trolls. Yea, speak about old-school. This was another game that I saw advertised over the gaming publications at the time. I’ll have more to report about this later. There is a sci-fi game out there called Lasers and Feelings which looks like it was inspired by Star Trek. This game has had several hacks published for it to cover other genres and this one will cover the Cowboy Bebop anime. And speaking of Cowboy Bebop, someone will be running the official RPG at the con and I’ve signed up for it. After backing the Kickstarter for this and being very disappointed (see my review) I’ll get a chance to play it at the table. Will this opportunity change my mind? We’ll see. My final game that I signed up for is called DC20, which is a 5e variant. I had seen it scheduled at SaltCON in the past, but the schedules never lined up for me to try it. So I’m taking another plunge to see what it’s like. This game will actually have the players make their character at the start of the game instead of using pre-generated characters.

I’m looking forward to geeking out and forgetting about how bad this year has been so far (again). If you are going, feel free to come up and say Hi. Seeing friends is exactly what I need right now. And a way to help myself is to help others. So let me know if you need a hug as well.

What should I be on the look out for? Any recommendations for the games I’m going to be playing? 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, Reviews, Role Playing Games

Bree-YARC Quickstart Guide a Kickstart Reward

Written by TardisCaptain February 22, 2026February 22, 2026

So towards the end of 2025 I was notified about another Kickstarter campaign from Third Kingdom Games for the Bree-YARC Quckstart Guide. YARC stands for “Yet Another Retro Clone” and combines elements of BECMI and 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons together with some additional houserules. I’ve backed several Kickstarter campaigns from Third Kingdom Games in the past including the BX Advanced Bestiary Volume 1 and BX Advanced Bestiary Volume 2 (links to my reviews).

Some of you may be wondering why there was a kickstarter for a quickstart? The goal was to provide the internal art for the book and pay the artists for their work. Third Kingdom Games has made the pledge to not use AI generated graphics in their publications. And since that’s a subject very close to my heart, I had to back them. Besides the PDF, I received a print-on-demand from DriveThruRPG. I’ve reviewed some POD publications previously.

Now if Bree-YARC sounds familiar, I’d recommend reviewing the Rumor Table in the Dungeons and Dragons Adventure Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. Having read and broken down that module for many years, I recognized it immediately. A tip of the hat for the reference.

So the softcover book that I received in the mail has a full color cover and interior black and white art. Probably in a callback to the older RPG books that we use to collect. The ISBN number is 2370022620158 and the book has 50 pages. It was written by Todd Leback. The cover art is by Juan Ochoa with Perplexing Ruins and Dyson Logos providing some of the interior art. There are two sections for Players and GMs. Six short chapters for the players (The Basics, Character Classes, Gear and Gold, Magic, Adventuring and What Comes Next) and three for the GMs (Intro Adventure, Monsters and Treasure). One interesting note, the book measurements are slightly taller than other books. I took a photo of the Quickstart rules with the Basic Fantasy core rulebook which is standard sized.

Side-by-side comparison with a normal sized book both level at the bottom.

As a retro-clone, it might be easier to say what the differences are to the other publications that we are all well aware of. Bree-YARC uses Ancestry (aka race) as a Class just as it would back in the B/X days. In this quickstart there is only Humans, but they do have classes like Thief, Fighter, Cleric and Magic User. On DriveThruRPG, the publisher has been releasing PDFs of other Ancestries and Classes for free. These include the Dwarf, Goblin, Owlfolk and Tiefling. For the new Human classes they have Ranger, Bard, Berserker, Hexblade and Sorcerer. It is mentioned that more classes and ancestries will be presented in the Core Rulebook when it is released.

All characters have their 0-level HP that they roll before they obtain the 1st level HP+CON adjustment roll. Savings Throws use the older terminology (Wands, Breath Attack, etc.) but are calculated differently. There are skill checks that require meeting/beating a DC rating. Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic is the alignment system presented. XP bonuses are given for playing characters with lower ability scores instead of higher ability scores. Each class has their own special abilities and each character gets a Knack or special ability. It appears that this game is using Ascending Armor Class (thank you). There is Advantage/Disadvantage. Experience points for treasure is only earned when the party returns with it to a safe place. There are also opportunities to earn XP through exploring. Before a character moves up a level, they have to complete a certain amount of Downtime in a safe location. This could include item crafting, research, carousing, hiring, etc. And finally each character will have a Renown rating that represents their reputation in the game world. Whew.

The room descriptions in the intro adventure looked interesting. At a glance the GM knows what’s in the room with additional details described below the chart. This can include lighting, secrets, sounds, exits, etc. The monster stats are found in the adventure with the monster section mostly describing the stat description breakdown, morale conversion table, XP chart for creating monsters, etc. The treasure section describes the types of treasure and the value of a treasure horde.

Conclusion: When I first got the physical book, I wondered if I’d be happy backing this Kickstart campaign when I saw how thin it was. I had forgotten that it was just the quickstart book. But I wasn’t too worried because the support levels were very reasonable for a publication of this size. I really dislike the Kickstart campaigns where they want a bunch of money for an unverified product. The smaller prices usually entice me to pull the trigger. However, once I started reading this book for this review, it reminded me why I had backed their earlier Kickstart campaigns. I can tell that the effort put into the Bree-YARC Quickstart Guide had a lot of thought behind it. They were providing an interesting twist to the OSR game instead of a bunch of fluff. When the core rulebook comes out, I’ll be very tempted to purchase it (or back it if it’s a Kickstart campaign). Even if the core rulebook isn’t available by the time the 2027 Character Creation Challenge rolls around, I can still use this quickstart book to make a Human character. Usually RPG quickstarts don’t include character creation steps.

Do you have any questions about the Bree-YARC Quickstart Guide? 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.

Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Review of two Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition Books

Written by TardisCaptain February 10, 2026February 9, 2026

Two of the new STA2e supplements released by Modiphius.

Between a lot of real-world issues, and a lack of funds, I’m finally able to catch up on reviewing two books that have been released for the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition Roleplaying Game. As you can see from the photo above, these are the STA2e Technical Manual and STA2e 23rd Century Campaign Guide. Previously I had reviewed the STA2e Core Rulebook and the STA2e Game Toolkit. I also sang the praise of Modiphius for providing the 1.0 to 2.0 adaption documents for their previous publications (of which more have been released since that blog post).

Let me get this out of the way now. The excellent work done by the crew at Modiphius, from the writing to the art, has continued. Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition has been a vast improvement from the 1st edition and so far every new book I’ve wanted to buy (damn you lack of funds). Every new release of the 1.0 to 2.0 adaptions have been downloaded and reviewed instantly.

The cover of the STA2e Technical Manual.

For those of you who have been regular readers of my blog, I love the various Star Trek Technical Manuals that have come out. I’ve even been called a Treknologist. So when I heard in 2025 that Modiphius was releasing their own Technical Manual for the Star Trek Adventures 2e game, I cried. Not because I was happy, but because at the time I had no money to get it. Eventually I was able to free up some funds to order it from the Modiphius website. I’ve tried to get my local gaming stores to bring in the game, but for some reason they could only get limited items. They were finally able to get me a copy of the Technical Manual for which I was very grateful. If you are not aware, if you purchase a Modiphius product, you can contact them at the email Support@Modiphius.com with a photo of the book and they will send you the PDF. Even if you buy the book used. I was able to do this when I had picked up the John Carter of Mars RPG.

The Technical Manual is a hardbound book with 129 pages and has (thank you) a ribbon book mark for when I’m doing research. I’ve found that a simple thing like the ribbon book mark really improves the book itself. The 2nd edition books have been much, much easier to quickly find answers in, but the ribbon helps. The product number is MUH0142513 and the ISBN number is 9-781802-811933. The project manager is Jim Johnson, the writers are Michael Dismuke, Nathan Dowdell, Jim Johnson, Aaron M. Pollyea, Al Spader and Dayton Ward. Hey, I know that last guy. The cover artist is Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo (OK, why does that sound like a name you’d see at the top of a character sheet?) with a bunch of artists for the interior art. All the art is in color and I’m still of the opinion that Modiphius should release an Art of Star Trek Adventures book for the 10th Anniversary of the game coming up in 2027.

Some of the equipment displayed on the inside front cover.

And some of the equipment on the inside back cover.

As you can see from the photos above, the inside front covers have a ton of graphical information that add to the book. As for what is on the inside, the book is broken down into eight chapters. Supplemental Game Mechanics, Standard Equipment, Diplomatic Assets, Scientific Equipment, Medical Technology, Engineering Technology, Weapons and Tactical Gear and finally Starship Technologies.

For the new submissions for the game mechanics, there are some new career events that are all technological in nature. Several new talents for the different departments and equipment styles (cybernetics, etc.). For the designers of Starships in STA2e there are several new service records and talents that you can apply to the different classes. There is also a new weapon type for mines (the exploding kind, not the digging a tunnel kind). Do you want different types of propulsion? Not only does this book have them from the different shows, but it appears that some are from Star Trek Online (I haven’t played that in years so I couldn’t confirm).

Your standard equipment covers holograms, PADDs, communicators, replicators, uniforms and 32nd century common items (programmable matter, tricom badges, etc.). Not only are these broken down by the major powers, but there are also complications that can affect these equipment items. I think is to make the players lives interesting if they keep depending upon one piece of equipment like The Doctor would always depend upon his sonic screwdriver. So the writers would take it away from him in order to move the story along or challenge the character.

In chapter three there is discussion with the diplomatic assets. Communicating between different languages and how universal translators may (or may not) help. Chapter four talks about the scientific equipment that may be used in the game. From the very common like chronometers to tricorders to sensors. What do the non-Federation scientists use? In our medical device chapter it not only talks about the equipment, but the treatments and enhancements that may be encountered in a Star Trek story. What are some ways a transporter, genetic engineering or cybernetics could be used to resolve medical issues? This book covers it.

It can’t be a technical manual without talking about engineering technology. What do the different diagnostic levels mean? What are the steps in the transporter operation? What are the different tools that can be found in an engineer’s toolkit? While engineering items can create, weapons can destroy which is what is found in chapter 7. The different melee weapons from different cultures. Different types of phasers, plasma pistols, distruptors, and tetryon rifles. I know that in Beta cannon, there were stun only weapons, but I didn’t see those here. I wonder if that ever came up on the show itself? It probably wouldn’t be that difficult to homebrew with this book.

Starship fans will love chapter 8. All of the different pieces of equipment found under (or on) the hull are listed here as well as possible complications (as found throughout the book).

Conclusion: As per usual, this book could have been bigger considering all of the equipment that we’ve seen in the show. I didn’t envy the editors tasks of making it all fit between the covers. I think the Technical Manual does a good job of giving us the basics, which will allow a good game master to homebrew what they need for their table. The use of Star Trek quotes was recognized and appreciated. There is an index in the back for quick lookup.

The second book that I’m including in this blog post is the 23rd Century Campaign Guide. I already used the 23CCG (as I had to start calling it) when I made a merchant trader STA2e character for the 2026 Character Creation Challenge. This book was a gift from one of my kids who ordered it from the Modiphius website and shipped directly to me. It was very well protected when it had arrived.

How the book was very well protected when it was shipped to me.

This is another hardbound book that was released in late 2025 by the same gang that I had listed above. However the cover to this book is very different as compared to the earlier STA2e products. Instead of being just a painting of the characters that talk to you in the different STA2e publications, it shows the characters that we’ve known and loved from the 23rd century. Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Pike, Burnham and Saru. I thought it was an interesting, and logical, change. Oh, and thank you again for the bookmark ribbon. It has been very handy.

The cover to the 23rd Century Campaign Guide as done by Paolo Puggioni.

So we have seven chapters in the 23CCG. Supplemental Game Mechanics, Growth of the Federation (2200-2255), War and the Red Angel Crisis (2256-2258), Federation and Empire (2259-2269), Conspiracies and the Thaw (2270-2299), Playing in the 23rd Century and finally Gamemastering in the 23rd Century. I like how they broke down some of the details by different eras in the 23rd century.

Of course, the front and back inside covers are filled with information. You can see the different uniforms presented in the photo above. I didn’t get a photo of the back inside cover, but it has different timelines within the 23rd century. Not just of the prime universe, but of the mirror and Kelvin timelines as well. I think this is the first time I’ve seen any Kelvin information in a STA2e book (or any come to think of it).

For the character creation additions to the game, there are new environment options. This gives a breakdown of some of the major homeworlds (Andoria, Denobula, etc.) and what benefits the character would receive from their time on that planet. This opens up the possibilities for homebrewers to write up different options for different locales. And on page 9 is a quick guideline for gamemasters to do such a thing. Then there is the new Free Trader career path option that I had used last month in the Character Creation Challenge. As I mentioned there, I think this write up for a merchant type character was better than the options listed in the core rulebook. But both could be used if needed. Then there are new Career Events based upon historical moments in the 23rd century like the Tarsus IV Massacre, or the Whale Probe Crisis. There are quick guidelines for homebrewing these as well which has lead to a bunch of fan submissions on the STA Continuing Missions website. Then there are some optional rules that are presented for the GM to consider. These appear to be updates to some of the conflict rules that was presented in the first edition Klingon-Federation War campaign guide.

The three chapters dealing with the different eras within the 23rd century are all broken down into three sub-sections. State of the Galaxy, Technology and Politics. These are all viewed with the eyes of the different powers at that time. There are some interesting side-bars that gamemasters could find interesting such as how to use Command Codes.

Playing in the 23rd Century is the sixth chapter in the book. It also breaks down information by the four eras mentioned above and provides some additional roles. There was a very good side note about “player knowledge vs character knowledge” that I appreciated and would probably bring up at the start of an STA campaign. I also had to giggle at the section about the USS Enterprise being the “only ship in the quadrant”. Primarily because it made sense (and is being adopted into my own personal headcannon). Another good side note is the examples we have in the show of multiple roles such as Spock being both XO and science officer.

Like chapter six, the gamemastering chapter is also broken down by the four eras. The book talks about themes, tones, styles of play and campaign structures. It gives different suggestions for each item and how gamemasters may be able to integrate them into their campaigns. And at the end is another index for quick searches and more Star Trek quotes scattered throughout the book.

Conclusion: I’m also happy to have this the 23rd Century Campaign Guide in my collection. I’m really hoping that this will lead to campaign guides for other eras. I can see the 24th century as a sure bet, but I really hope we see one for the 22nd century as well (possible lack of details may hinder this one). I don’t think we’d see a 32nd century guide until well after the TV series set in that era have ended. I’m still seeing some of the FASA Star Trek RPG influences in the book and I’m still pleasantly surprised that there was some Kelvin timeline information. Even if it was mostly a footnote.

One additional note before I wrap this up. There are two other Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition books that have been released, but not yet shipped yet. The Exploration Guide and the Species Sourcebook (which isn’t even available on DriveThruRPG yet but can be pre-ordered from the Modiphus website closest to you). When this second book was announced, I had just enough money to pick up one of them. While I really want to see the rules for creating sectors and planets in the Exploration Guide, I had to pull the trigger on the Species Sourcebook. It already came in handy in the Character Creation Challenge. Hopefully I’ll have both books physically when it’s time do write up some additional reviews.

Did you have any questions about the 23rd Century Campaign Guide or the Technical Manual for Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition? Ask 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, Doctor Who, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars

2026 Character Creation Challenge After Action Report

Written by TardisCaptain February 3, 2026February 4, 2026

Note: If you made it through 31 days of the challenge, read to the bottom of the post.

The 2026 #Character Creation Challenge has been completed. What a difference a year makes. 2025 sucked so bad that I didn’t complete my 31 characters until March. For 2026 I tried a different approach that was, somewhat, successful. I posted 31 characters in January and a bonus character on February 1st. Now I will admit, since I knew that I had some real-life responsibilities (a funeral and parental duties) in January, I did generate some characters in December. This gave me a little bit of a buffer at the start of the month. But in the latter half, I was making the character the day before it was scheduled to be posted. I think this helped my sanity (what little left there is) a lot.

Another thing I did differently this year was not scheduling out the whole month and printing up all the character sheets in advance. This gave me a little bit of flexibility, especially when one game I selected turned out to be a supplement and not a game. However by the middle of the month I had scheduled everything out. I’m not certain how I’m going to do this in the future. Another thing I did was combine some reviews with the character creation. This wasn’t too bad, but I think I’d like to keep these separate in the future.

The entries that really stood out for me in the 2026 challenge included White Lies 3rd Edition, Paranoia “Perfect Edition”, Dragonbane, The One Ring and the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition with the 23rd Century Campaign Guide. When I was re-reading the entries to help me write this report, I remember feeling happy after I had made these characters. Plus a few of them I really want to run at SaltCON as a one-shot or homebrew for.

I really didn’t have any games that disappointed me this year other than Rebel Scum. Sure there were some weird ones like Time Lord or slightly incomplete like the Trader Captain’s and Merchant Princes. But I think Rebel Scum was the disappointment of the 2026 challenge. It needed to really be more a rule book first.

Of the other entries that I read on various message boards, blogs and social media, I noticed a lot of Star Trek characters. One participant was making Star Trek characters with other RPG systems (like the D6 Star Wars game). There was also a participant who created the classic Masters of the Universe characters using the Advanced Fighting Fantasy system. I also loved the Alpha Squad (a 1930’s A-Team) using the Outgunned Adventure system. There were also a lot of other good themes and new system. I wish I had room to mention them all.

Here is my list of 2026 Characters:

Day 1: FASA Star Trek- Trader Captain’s and Merchant Princes Character: Kraxx
Day 2: Rivers of London Character: Oliver Cook
Day 3: Time Lord Character: Carl Stark
Day 4: Twilight: 2000 4th Edition Character: Benton Ward (Stiletto)
Day 5: Dungeons and Dragons Rule Cyclopedia Character: Carthan
Day 6: White Lies 3rd Edition Character: Walter Cunningham
Day 7: Attack From Space Character: Sir Reginald the Fourth
Day 8: Rebel Scum Character: Lifter THX1138
Day 9: Star Trek Adventures-Captain’s Log Character: Valltex of the Kazon-Pikaar
Day 10: Tales from the Loop Character: Kirk Stark
Day 11: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st edition Character: Teowulf the Hunter
Day 12: Star Wars 2nd Edition Character: Arcus Junn
Day 13: The Well Character: Barton the Bastard
Day 14: Worlds Beyond Character: Yirr’baun
Day 15: Worlds Without Number Character: Jarret
Day 16: Paranoia “Perfect Edition” Character: Todd-R-TOT-1
Day 17: FTL Nomad Character: Marcos Tryladar
Day 18: Dragonbane Character: Drake Grandfeather
Day 19: Rocket Age Character: Arnold “Ace” Rimmer
Day 20: vs Ghosts Character: Professor Proton
Day 21: Underhaven Character: Thorronlir Whitbraid
Day 22: D.A.M.N.I.T. Character: Hezan Copperhood
Day 23: Swords & Wizardry Character: Ivasaar Perleth
Day 24: EverReach Character: Charles Craig
Day 25: The Walking Dead Universe Character: Jay Dunn
Day 26: Modern Necessities Character: Xathel “BL4NK” Dalla
Day 27: The Terminator Character: William Harden
Day 28: The One Ring Character: Reginard Grubb
Day 29: Other Dust Character: Trabb
Day 30: Doctor Who 2nd Edition Character: ALAN 1701D
Day 31: Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition with 23rd Century Campaign Guide Character: Kraxx
Day 32: Jack Photon’s Fan Made Star Trek RPG Character: Jayce Newton

Past Character Creation Challenges After-Action Reports:
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021

And if you completed the 31 characters in 31 days, here is the badge that you can display on your blog posts or social media. I’ve already had this badge show up on Welcome to the Eyrie, Paratime, Three Kobolds with a Trench Gun and on BlueSky. If I missed any, please let me know. This graphic is in a large and small format. I commissioned it from AuroraStark.art if you are ever looking for some production art for a project. Additions: The Other Side, Flubs and Boons and Ravaged Renaissance. Let me know if there are more.

Also, if you purchased anything after clicking on the affiliate links to DriveThruRPG or Amazon, thank you. I’m not doing this blog to make money, but the kickback helps when making game purchases for future challenges.

Get ready for the 2027 #CharacterCreationChallenge coming up next January. And thank you everyone who had fun. Even if you only made a few characters, I still enjoyed reading them.

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.

Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

2026 Character Creation Challenge Bonus Day: Jack Photon’s Fan Made Star Trek RPG

Written by TardisCaptain February 2, 2026February 2, 2026

What? Aren’t you burned out on making characters after January? Well, yes. But before I take a break (and start my final preparations for all the one-shots that I’m running at SaltCON in March) I have one more bonus entry for the 2026 #Character Creation Challenge. Jack Photon’s Fantaversary Revision House Rules 4.0 (for the 40th anniversary of the original release of the FASA Star Trek Roleplaying Game).

Jack was kind enough to send me some physical proofs of his massive project to make a “4.0” version of the FASA Star Trek RPG as a love letter to that game. Why 4.0? Well, besides being the 40th anniversary (which was in 2023 actually) this is the “fourth iteration of the game”. The first edition was published by FASA in 1983. Then, in 1985 FASA, released a second edition of the game which is the version I primarily played with my friends. When the internet connected fans of the game about 15-20 years ago, enough fans got together to make an unofficial “third edition” to polish up the game a little bit. It also allowed fans to introduce stats for various races seen in the other Star Trek series such as The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.

When I was making characters for the 2025 Character Creation Challenge, Jack had asked me if I would be interested in making a character using his system since I already had the prototype books. I said yes at the time, and over the course of the sucky year that 2025 was, I forgot. Luckily, Jack reminded me about half-way through the 2026 Challenge, so I added it as a bonus entry (which I’ve done before in past challenges). Sorry Jack, I’m still human (at least I think so).

Now, I’ve made several characters using the FASA Star Trek system before including a Starfleet Officer, a Starfleet Intelligence Officer and the Merchant Trader made earlier this year. However, I’ve never made a First Edition FASA character (hmmm…. 2027? I better write things down so I don’t forget this time). In my correspondence with Jack he informed me that his version was primarily based upon the first edition which he had enjoyed more. So this will be a new experience for me.

Ok, I’ve printed out the character sheet and found the Officer Generation rules and it looks pretty similar to the FASA entries I mentioned above. Roll 3d10+40 for each attribute of STR, END, INT, DEX, CHA and COOL (oh BTW, that last attribute is new in this version). For the LUC and PSI stats it is still just a percentile roll. There is a note here that magnanimous GMs may allow re-rolls of 1s or 2s. There is a random chart of basic alien races to choose or roll a d10 for (dice clatter on table) and this guy is a Human (hey, that’s what the dice came up with). I adjusted the PSI score as the only racial adjustment. And finally on attributes there is a conditional bonus points option of rolling percentile, divide by two and round down. As a human, he can’t raise his PSI score, but the others can be raised as I see fit. I made my choices and wrote them down in my notes.

Before we joined Starfleet Academy, the character already had some education. There is a list of skills for Personal Development and Formal Education. I divide the INT score by 10 and could choose that number from each list rolling a d10 for the score. As this character entered the academy there are some automatic skill scores that he would have learned and I added them to my notes.

Now I’m told that Starfleet maintains three specialized training schools for select candidates if the minimum requirements are met. He just barely missed out on the Contact Team. Nor did qualify for Command School. So I think I just automatically roll over to one of the Service Branches (Command, Sciences or Services) and I choose a major in that branch (the departments we usually see in TOS) and I think I’m going to make this guy an Engineer. I wrote down the stats listed for that major.

The Cadet Cruise. I remember this from making many different FASA Star Trek RPG characters back in the day. Roll percentage dice and add some different modifiers from LUC and INT. And this yet-to-be-named character was sent to a Starbase. Rolling the dice to see how he did and he passed. Did he get noticed (again dice clattering on table) and he got a Commendation which turned into a Minor Award (Silver Palms if I read that part correctly). And now this guy is an Ensign.

As an ensign fresh out of the academy I could start playing him now and watch him grow. But I wanted to at least get one term under his belt. Let’s see if we can get him up to the rank of Lieutenant. But the dice say only one term so perhaps we can make Lt. (j.g.). Starbase duty again for 3 years? Well that’s how the dice came up. Average efficiency rating so I just rolled the extra skill experiences.

Heh, Chapter 5 is called Life’s Lil’ Details. Age and starting cred, terms of active duty, family history, homeworld, etc. Wow, there is a lot to take in. Some of it I didn’t understand so I kind of muddled through it. His homeworld was being shipwrecked for one year? Besides a backstory did that get me anything? What if I already had a character concept in mind? I think I skipped most of this and just came up with a name and transferred my notes to the character sheet. As I transfered this information over, I noticed some additional derived attributes such as Foolies (aka Bluff or avoid being Blulffed), Perception, Focus and two types of Perseverance (mental and physical). Luckily there were some quick mathematical formulas to follow.

Afterthoughts:

There were some in-jokes like the Herbert Department. Also Jack pulled in information for his version of the game from different sources including different magazine articles about the FASA Star Trek RPG. It was quite interesting to see.

There is a TON of character options in here. Non-Commissioned officer, civilian who went through college, etc. I really could have used the quick-guide that was present in the FASA STA RPG 2nd Edition. Was I supposed to roll on the friends and romance tables? I can see where a lot of work went into this labor of love. I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance to play it.

Additional Notes:

I’ve had quite a few of you reach out to me stating that you’ve made 31 characters in 31 days. I’ve sent the reward graphic, lovingly made by my commissioned artist, that is starting to appear in the wild. If you haven’t received yours yet, please email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain dot Com (or buzz me on one of the socials if we follow each other) and I’ll make sure to get it out to you.

Coming Up Next:

After-Action Report

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.

Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

2026 Character Creation Challenge Day 31: Star Trek Adventures 2E with 23rd Century Campaign Guide

Written by TardisCaptain January 31, 2026January 31, 2026

Day 31 and the last day of the 2026 #CharacterCreationChallenge. For this character, we are going back to the beginning. On Day 1 of the challenge I made a merchant character for the FASA Star Trek RPG. Some of the feedback from that character encouraged me to follow one of the comments that I had made in that post. “I’m wondering how the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition merchant character would roll up? Perhaps I’ll pick that for one of my later characters in this challenge.” Thank you for the encouragement. Another factor that pushed me in this direction was getting a Christmas gift in the mail that my daughter sent me. The STA2e 23rd Century Campaign Guide (review post is half-way complete and will be released soon) which contains some additional rules on creating the Free Trader as a career path option.

Frequent readers of my blog (thank you) will recall that I used the STA2e game as my first entry for the 2025 Character Creation Challenge where I made a Trill Starfleet officer named Keman Les. In that entry I go into detail on the attributes and steps needed to generate a character. So I’m not going to go into as much detail here other than switching books to the 23rd Century Campaign Guide. Also to note, this is a creation challenge and I’m comparing the creation process between the two games. So this isn’t a direct migration of the FASA character to STA2e. However I’ll be using the same name (Kraxx) and species (Edoan) and trying to mach up what I can.

Step One: Species- As mentioned above, Kraxx is an Edoan which isn’t listed in the core rulebook. But it is listed in the new STA2e Species Sourcebook that just went on sale from Modiphius. Since I have purchased it the publisher has already sent me the PDF and I will use it here. And yes, there will be a review when I have the physical book in my hands. I wrote down the attribute adjustments, traits and species ability.

Step Two: Environment- For the FASA merchant character, I had to roll what type of background the character had (disadvantaged, normal or privileged) but not what environment they were raised. I had rolled normal for that system so I looked at the environmental list and eliminated some of the colonies and being raised on the world of another race. I’m going to roll the d20 and if it comes up on one of the options that I crossed out, I’ll just re-roll. It came up as Frontier Colony. That would work as it could be disadvantaged, but would easily fit the normal background. I’m not hoping over to the 23rd Century Campaign Guide (23CCG is how I’m going to abbreviate that from now on) but there are additional options for this step listed on page 8. I added Kraxx’s first value and added to the attribute and department scores.

Step Three: Upbringing- Do I automatically pick Business or Trade and accept it, or one of the other options and then rebel against it? 30 some odd characters ago, I don’t recall what I was thinking when I originally made Kraxx. Since he had a normal upbringing in the FASA game, I’m going to accept the Business or Trade option. Had he been disadvantaged, I probably would have picked something he rebelled against. I added the character updates from this step to my notes.

Step Four: Career Path- Now this is when I’m moving over to the 23CCG book page 12 and selecting Free Trader. There is Civilian (Trader) option listed in the STA2e core rulebook. I compared the two of them together and I can see where some things are similar and some things were changed. I think I like the Free Trader more in the 23CCG book. I wrote down the adjustments and additions to my notes.

Step Five: Experience- Stepping back to the core rulebook I elected to pick this one. Since Kraxx was new to the trading universe, he is going to be a Novice. I added the Value and Talent for the Novice to my notes.

Step Six: Career Events- I would like to note that the 23CCG does have some new Career Events based upon the historical periods of the 23rd century that were quite interesting. There was also some guidelines for the GM to create their Career Events. However, I’ll be randomly rolling from the core book and adjusting them for a non-Starfleet character such as this one. With the FASA STRPG entry the character did start merchant academy, get kicked out and was later re-admitted. So I let the dice decide. (clacking sound on table) I ended up with “Dealt with a plague” and “Lauded by another culture”. I wrote down the adjustments as per these two entries.

Step Seven: Finishing Touches- These are the same as before since I’m still in the core rulebook. I used this time to see if I could match this Kraxx up with the FASA STRPG Kraxx. I did have to wonder about him carrying a phaser. He was trained to use one on the FASA side so I gave him a Type-1 cricket phaser. Since there wasn’t a sheet for merchants (hint, hint) I used the Federation sheet.

Afterthoughts:

In one big way, the STA2e creation system is simpler. Instead of adding 5% here and 8% there to the multitude of skills listed in FASA, they are quickly added to the departments and focuses. While I do like the FASA creation system, it does take a little bit longer to complete. The 23CCG adds some additional stuff for those wishing to play a merchant campaign in STA, I feel that there could (and probably will) be more details added soon. I don’t know if this will be by the fans or the publisher.

When writing things down on the character sheet, I always seem to run out of room in some areas and have too much in others. I noticed that when looking at last year’s entry as well.

Something to note for STA players. The Multi-Tasking talent listed on page 158 of the STA2e core rulebook is different from the Mult-Tasking Edosian species talent in the new Species Sorucebook. When writing down the information on your character sheet, you may want to include the description or source to confirm what your talent abilities are.

Additional Notes:

So this completes my 31 characters in 31 days. For those of you who joined me in reaching this milestone, please email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain dot com, on the Discord server or by your preferred method and I’ll see that you get the award graphic. Thank you for taking this journey with me and congratulations for making it this far. Even if you only got a few characters in before real life got in the way, you should still be proud of yourself. I hope you all had fun with this challenge.

I do have one more bonus character coming up before I write up my after-action report. If you liked this entry, you’ll love the next one as well.

Coming Up Next:

Special Bonus Character

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.

Character Creation Challenge, Doctor Who, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction

2026 Character Creation Challenge Day 30: Doctor Who 2nd Edition

Written by TardisCaptain January 30, 2026January 30, 2026

Here we are on Day 30 of the 2026 #CharacterCreationChallenge and today I’ll be using the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game 2nd Edition by Cubicle 7. I had created a character using the 1st edition of this game all the way back in the first challenge in 2021. Cubicle 7 also had a game called Doctors and Daleks (based off of 5e) that I used in the 2025 challenge. In 2021 I had also created a character for the FASA Doctor Who RPG (which I had ran back in the 90’s). Then earlier this year I created a character for the little-known Time Lord RPG. This creation journey allowed me to create my own Time Lord called The Barron, two human companions, and a Sontaran. So, my goal is to expand the team by making a robot/android type character. Why not a female character? I usually stick with male characters because I’m always worried that I’ll represent a female character wrong at the table. I just stick with what I know.

Chapter two talks about the characters you can play in this game. There are a lot of different steps that have explanations, but no summary that I can see. So, I’m going to try to follow the steps presented.

The first step appears to be The Concept. What type of character are you playing? As mentioned above, I would like to play some sort of Android. So, if he’s from Earth, it’s in the future. The more I’m thinking about it, yea, he’s an Android from the 2160’s. By that time, I hope we have a better grasp on android technology. This character was designed to be a teacher unit for the equivalent of college students. I jotted down some notes to add to the character sheet later.

The next item is The Focus. This is a single word that explains the characters’ drive or passion. This has both a positive and negative side to it, and the book recommends talking with the gamemaster about this. I talked with the voices in my head, and we agreed that the Explorer sounds good. This teaching android is taking an opportunity to expand his programming by experiencing some of the things he actually teaches. I hope that’s not too vague. If I had to defend it to a GM, I would say that he is more interested in learning the new experiences and may not be aware of what he is getting into. In the system if I was able to use the Focus, then I’d gain an extra d6 to a roll. To those familiar with the first edition, these two items are new to the game.

Experience appears to be the next section. This is what the character was doing before they started gallivanting around the galaxy with a Time Lord. It’s not a complete history, but I’m instructed to pick two major events that happened in the character’s life. There were a few examples listed, but they seemed pretty human centric. I’m going to use “Death of a Student” and “Invalid Source of Information”. With the first, there was a natural disaster at the school, and the android was with the student in their last moments. The second was the android discovered a source of information that they were instructed to use was incorrect. Even with submissions to get the data corrected, it was not. This last part made the character interested in “finding out for himself” so that he could present correct information in his class. In this same section is a Shared Background Experience or something that all the players got to go through together. It had some interesting options, but I have no TARDIS Team to hash this out. So, I’m going to skip this one for now.

Ah, now we are at the Attributes. If you read my blog entry for the first edition of the Doctor Who Rolplaying Game, the attributes are the same. Awareness, Coordination, Ingenuity (smarts), Presence (charisma), Resolve (willpower and determination) and Strength. These scores range from 1-6 with the average Human having 3’s in most of the categories. There are 18 points to distribute between the six attributes. I wrote them down on my notes what I thought an android would have.

Alright, so next is the Skills of the character. The Attributes are the physical and mental abilities and skills are things that everyone knows. They are Athletics, Conflict (aka fighting), Convince, Craft, Intuition, Knowledge, Medicine, Science, Subterfuge, Survival, Technology and Transport. There are 18 skill points that I can award to different skills. A score of 1 represents basic knowledge of the skill. The highest level is 6 which is renown expert. Any skill that has a score of 3 or higher then I can spend a skill point on a specialization. I wrote down the skills that I thought an android teacher would have and picked a specialization for a few of them.

Next is the character’s Distinctions. In the first edition this was covered by Traits. Well for this character he is an Android (I wrote down the details from one of the sample characters in the Doctor Who RPG 2nd Edition Starter Set) and Experienced.

Story Points are something that a player can use to tweak the narrative of the story in your favor. Most characters start with 12 points but you reduce this number by 2 for every distinction present. So this android character would have 8 points.

And now we wrap things up with the Finishing Touches. What is the character’s name? Advanced Learning Android Number 1701-Delta (aka Alan), a Background (the teacher story listed above) but there are ten questions listed in the book that would help players come up with this information (thank you). What is the Home Time Period and Technology Level (examples are provided), Personality (what? he’s an android), Personal Goals (learn more from experience) and Equipment (I really don’t know on this one). And since the book has started talking about Experience, I’m assuming the character creation process is done. Here is the one-page sheet.

Afterthoughts:

I ran the starter set adventure for this at a past SaltCON. From what I recall, going in cold it ran very well. I don’t think that the players knew that I was just as new to the game as they were. As I said then, I could very easily see myself running or playing this game.

This game really could have used a Character Creation Summary that fit on one page. If I was going to run this at the table, I’d probably write one up for my players.

There is a character conversion guide from the first edition to the second edition at the back of the book. I was glad to see this as I like seeing what the differences are between editions. I think it would also assist me with any homebrewing. But there is a large number of fan made publications where they hombrewed stats from the Doctor’s appearance in novels, comics and video games. Gah, I shouldn’t have pulled them up while working on this blog post. I got distracted by the shiny things.

Additional Notes:

While I was finishing up this character, I still had people reach out to me having just learned about this challenge. For those of you reading about the #CharacterCreationChallenge, welcome. I hope that the characters you see here, on other blogs, on social media or on the different RPG message boards inspire you to check out new games or even plan to participate next year.

Coming Up Next:

Star Trek

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.

Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games

2026 Character Creation Challenge Day 29: Other Dust

Written by TardisCaptain January 29, 2026January 28, 2026

Day 29 of the 2026 #Character Creation Challenge and we are almost to the end. Today we are using the post-apocalyptic role-playing game, Other Dust. This is from Sine Nomine Publishing that also released Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number. This is in the same OSR style as those two games. I had picked this up in one of the charity bundles.

The character creation summary starts on page eight and it looks like there are nine steps in total (as compared to eighteen steps for Worlds Without Number). The first step is to generate scores for the six standard attributes that we are familiar with. We roll 3d6 in order but can immediately move points around (lowering anything 13+ and raising anything under 8). This is going to be a warrior type character (step two) who is protecting his village.

Next is to pick a Background Package. There were a series of interesting options, but I selected City Dweller and wrote down the skills. For the class (next step), I picked the Slayer from the list. I was then told that if one of the prerequisite attributes didn’t have a score of 14, to make it that. Selecting one of the training packages for that class is the next step. I looked at the list and selected Tribal Champion and wrote down the skills gained on my notes.

Ah, we can’t have a post-apocalyptic game without mutations. I get to roll three times on a chart to determine the starting mutations the character possesses. I could make this character a pure-strain human and then just add points to the attributes, but I really want a mutation or two. For each mutation the character has, they also have at least one mutation called a stigmata and one mutation that has a flaw. I rolled one each to start with and wrote them down on my notes. For the first roll I ended up with a Powerful Form (get some physical bonuses), but he recovers slowly from system stress (when you activate a mutant power) and he has dwarfishly small legs. Um… OK. Do I want two more sets of good/bad mutations or should I just move the points to the attributes? I’m going to do the attributes because I’m getting towards the end of my allotted time to type this up.

Now I think we are in the wrapping up stage of the creation process. I rolled the character’s hit points, selected the languages he speaks (common) and selects equipment. Each character automatically has a knife (Now that’s a knife) a starting weapon for which he has skills in (in this case xxx), some armor, rations of clean food and rations of clean water. Then there is an equipment list I get to roll six times on. I then transferred my notes to the character sheet. Wait, I don’t have a name yet. I dub thee… Trabb.

Afterthoughts:

If you notice that the skills have a level 0, that is the level for “trained”. Untrained has no skill level listed and may not be accessible in this state. The highest level is 4 for “legendary”. To make a skill check, roll 2d6+att bonus (if any) and skill level. What I didn’t see in the book (or in the index) is how characters gain more skill points. But I also didn’t do a deep dive into the book.

I really want to try this game. Especially to see how the skill system works. Post-apocalyptic games (and movies) have always held a fascination for me. Probably because we all thought we would end up in such a society while I was growing up. Who knows, we may still end up getting there.

Additional Notes:

I just got the graphic from my artist honoring those who were able to create 31 characters in 31 days. It’s gorgeous and I can’t wait to show it off.

Coming Up Next:

Doctor Who 2nd Edition

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.

Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games

2026 Character Creation Challenge Day 28: The One Ring

Written by TardisCaptain January 28, 2026January 27, 2026

Day 28 (almost there) and the entry for the 2026 #Character Creation Challenge will be The One Ring by Free League Games. This is the last of the books that I selected from this publisher. This a game officially connected to the Lord of the Rings franchise. I had a chance to play this game at a past SaltCON, and from what I wrote in the blog entry I really liked the system as it worked very well with the Middle Earth universe that we were familiar with. I have a lot of these game books on PDF which makes me think I picked it up on a sale with DriveThruRPG or one of the charity bundles. My apologies if this entry seems rushed, I don’t have a lot of time today.

The character creation steps start on page 28, but they are in categories from the looks of things. So I won’t really be numbering the steps. But first is to pick the Heroic Culture that your character came from. These are the various cultures that are seen in the books and movies. Bardings (Northmen from the Wilderland), Dwarves of Durin’s Folk, Elves of Lindon (aaahhhhwoooo… oh sorry that’s Werewolves of London), Hobbits of the Shire, Men of Bree (from Bree-land) and Rangers of the North. Yes, I’ve made halflings before, but never a Hobbit since that term is copyrighted. So, I’m making a Hobbit. I’m instructed to follow the steps in the write up for this Heroic Culture then return to start the steps of character creation. Interesting, I can pick from a set of attributes, or I can randomly roll for one of the six. guess what I’m doing (dice clatter on table) and wrote down the score for his Strength, Heart and Wits. This also gave me some derived stats (I wrote them down in my notes) and Skill ranks. I was then instructed to pick some combat proficiencies, distinctive features and a name. From the list I picked Reginard Grubb. Boy there was a lot in that first “step”.

I guess there was a reason there was a lot in the Heroic Cultural portion, most of the steps now numbered on page 28 are already filled in. Let’s see, the Target Number mathematical formula is listed for each attribute so I can write that down. Ah, I was also supposed to pick an age. Well, it states that Hobbits come to age at 33 before they leave their comfortable lives. So, 33 he is.

Answer the call to adventure on page 44 is what is says next. Pick a Calling (aka Class), spend some experience points, pick some gear, record a score for Valour and Wisdom (1 each) and choose a Starting Reward and Virtue. The options for Callings are: Captain (leader), Champion (warrior), Messenger, Scholar (I think Gandalf is here), Treasure Hunter (gold, gold, gold, gold…) and Warden (protectors). Originally when I was thinking ahead on a possible character concept, I was thinking that Grubb was going to be an outcast. But that doesn’t seem to be an option, so I’ll go with Treasure Hunter. Perhaps he’s trying to gain a fortune so he can obtain the hand of a rich family daughter. Yea, that’s it. I followed the steps in this section and added the information to my character sheet.

For Previous Experience, I’m given 10 points to spend on skills and combat proficiencies. The higher the skill, the more the cost. So I filled in what I thought my wandering Grubb would need to try to survive while finding his fortune.

As for Gear, I’m instructed to pick a weapon for each combat proficiency (based upon the limitations of a Hobbit), some armor (including helms and shields) and common items (based upon the standard of living). The last item is a starting reward (better armor) and virtue (I picked nimbleness).

The last step is The Company. This is the group that Grubb would be adventuring with and requires some help from the Loremaster (aka GM). I’m instructed to choose a Patron (I wrote one down from the list), a Safe Haven (a village or who knows) and something called a Fellowship Rating. I think this is determined with the group and the voices in my head are mad at me and not talking right now. Plus I’m running out of time so I think I’m done. Here is the sheet.

Afterthoughts:

I thought the way of getting the gear was simple and easy. In fact creating this character was easier than I thought it would be. Again, I’ve played this game in a one-shot and I thought it made sense at the time. but that was back in 2024 so I don’t recall much off the top of my head. But I’d be willing to play again.

Additional Notes:

On the same day that I made my Terminator RPG character, Three Kobolds With A Trench Gun had posted his Terminator character on BlueSky. I had to laugh because we had both picked Historians and we both had about the same views on the game.

Coming Up Next:

Other Dust

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.