Tag: Role Playing Games

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

SaltCON-End of Summer After Action Report

Written by TardisCaptain September 5, 2023January 14, 2024

SaltCON t-shirts I had picked up at all three conventions

So Father’s Day finally arrived for me on Labor Day Weekend. My wife had purchased my SaltCON-End of Summer ticket as a Father’s Day gift. I had a chance to meet up with some of the friends that I had met at previous conventions. Some people were stating that they had recognized me from before. But I had also missed out on talking with a few others. We saw each other at a distance while getting to different events but didn’t get a chance to stop and talk. So sorry if I missed out on talking with you.

One of the things that I had not mentioned in my SaltCON-Spring and SaltCON-Summer after action reports was the available convention t-shirts (now seen above). These shirts were very reasonably priced for the sizes offered. So I made it a habit of picking one up each con when checking in at the registration desk. I’m grateful that they had a non-blue shirt for the end-of-summer event. And speaking of picking things up.

The dealer that I had picked up several Star Trek Adventures sourcebooks now had the Star Trek: Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide. This was one of the last books that I need (I’m only missing the Strange New Worlds Mission Compendium 2 hardback). From the game swap area I was able to track down a used copy of Ninjas & Superspies for a good price. I was also able to pick up a used copy of Rolemaster Fantasy Role Playing as well. Both of these will end up being used in the 2024 Character Creation Challenge as well as other future themed blog posts.

Not in the photo was several gifts that I had picked up for my geek wife. But from one dealer I was able to pick up a Boba Fett pin and a D20 pin to go on my convention backpack. Hopefully you can see them at the bottom of the photo.

Some of the characters that I had a chance to play

I was able to attend all of the games that I had mentioned in my Prepping for SaltCON-End of Summer post. Here is how the games went.

Hyperborea– Yes this was definitely weird and ran pretty smoothly. The GM knew the game pretty well having backed the kickstarter. I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to play this game again.

Dragonbane– This game really impressed me. The character sheet made sense and I could see the logic behind both the system and the setup. I was originally thinking this was going to be my highlight game of the con, but another game knocked it off on Saturday. In this game your player character could be an intelligent duck. I played a wolfkin who was an excellent fighter.

Fallout– And the game that did grab my highlight of the con was Fallout. Most of us at the table were playing this 2d20 RPG for the first time and it actually made a lot of sense. I quickly understood how it ran (and it explained some items I had questions on other games using this same system). One of the players let me look at his dead-tree version of the book and I’m seriously thinking of adding it to my collection. Especially after I stated thinking of what a Salt Lake based Fallout campaign would be like.

Low Fantasy Gaming– This ran like a D20 clone. In true OSR style fashion, it was quick and deadly. Luckily the rolls went our way and we actually finished the scenario before the allotted time had expired.

Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition- We had to stop some highway bandits while investigating a logging camp that had stopped sending logs down the river. As it turns out, we had to make peace between the loggers and a Fae queen who was not happy.

Star Trek Adventures– A session that a friend ran that was from one of the adventure books. He ran it pretty well, but it also went really late on a Saturday. I took some of the stuff I had learned from Fallout and was able to apply it here. I’m starting to get a better grasp for the game.

Pathfinder 2nd Edition- The first game I was in was part 4 of 5 of a connected story ran over the weekend. The gamemaster gave us a “Previously on…” flashback so that we understood where we were in the storyline. In the last event, we connected all of the clues together and confronted the final boss. The GM had a homebrewed system that he used to allow us to put all of the clues together and find our suspect. Luckily we had rolled well and was able to catch the bad guys before they realized we were on to them. Had we not rolled well, they could have been more prepared for the final confrontation.

Ghostbusters- It was weird when this game ran because most of the other games had concluded for the con. We had a big quiet room to ourselves. I could see where this early D6 system eventually developed into the Star Wars RPG by West End Games. We had to investigate dinosaur ghosts at the New York Museum of Natural History. Yea, we made a lot of Night at the Museum jokes while playing.

Conclusion:

I had a blast at all three events this year. If you are reading this and can make only one event, I’d recommend making it the spring one as it is the largest. The End-of-Summer event was the second largest in scope and layout at the convention center. I was also able to put a bug in the ear of some people to, hopefully, see more of an expanded used-RPG book swap for next year. The bulk of the convention is boardgames, but I’m there for the roleplaying side of things.

Not only am I making plans to attend next year, I’m also starting to give serious thought about GMing a few games. I really like that classic games such as James Bond and Ghostbusters can find themselves on the schedule. Considering I can play 5E or PF2 anytime, I really want to play the more rare games at conventions to make it more unique.

Have you been to any gaming conventions 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

RPGaDAY2023 Challenge After Action Report

Written by TardisCaptain September 1, 2023August 30, 2023

So August has come to and end and so has the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge. I must say that I really enjoyed this month. Last year I had issues that prevented me from actually participating in the challenge day-by-day.

Another thing that made this year enjoyable was connecting to the people participating in this challenge on social media using the #RPGaDAY2023 hashtag. I’ve been moving the bulk of my social media engagement to Mastodon and I even picked up a BlueSky invite. By using this gaming hashtag I’ve followed and been followed and (more importantly) interacted with other RPG enthusiasts. Thank you.

I also used a different method than previous years. I queued up my entries and posted them on the day listed on the schedule. I needed to do this so that I could have a buffer on the days that I knew that I would be busy. That has been a pain with past challenges.

Some of my posts from the challenge that I’m proud of include Favorite Character, Favorite Tie-In Fiction (I had inspired others to examine the comics), Game You Wished You Owned (I had some readers state that they would keep an eye out for the Red Dwarf RPG), Funniest Game You’ve Played, Favorite Published Adventure, Best Second Hand Purchase (I still can’t believe I picked it up for that cheap), Unplayed RPG you own, and Most Obscure Game You’ve Played (someone actually found for me where the online PDF can be purchased from).

I was also able to post a reviews for RPG items in the Coolest Looking RPG Product and another past Character Sheet fro the old book of characters that I’ve kept forever.

Thank you to those who read my posts. Thank you to those who sent me feedback. And thank you to David Chapman for putting this together. I’m looking forward to the #CharacterCreationChallenge in January 2024.

Did you participate in the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge? Did you have a favorite post of mine from the challenge? 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

RPGaDay2023 Day 31: Favorite RPG of all time

Written by TardisCaptain August 31, 2023August 29, 2023

And here we are, Day 31 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge. The topic for the final day is “Favorite RPG of All Time.” Boy that’s a tough one.

I’ve played a lot of different Roleplaying Games since I first started in my Junior High days. I’ve dedicated several pages within my own blog towards some of them such as Star Trek, Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons. When I get some time (yea right) I’ve got more that I want to create pages for.

Favorite RPG of All Time? I’m big on the FASA Star Trek RPG. But if I’m thinking of playing in the Trek universe, it’s currently not the first one I’d reach for. I’d probably think Star Trek Adventures or Far Trek.

For my fantasy itch, there are so many systems that I want to try just to see how they are. When I introduced my college aged daughter and her 5E playing friends to OSR, I used Basic Fantasy.

There are games I dislike. There are games that I’d play only because I’d have a chance to socialize with friends. But favorite of all time?

Probably the one I’ll get off my ass and write. Yes, those ideas have been rolling around my head. Eventually they will make it out of the maze that is my brain and escape. Science Fiction author David Gerrold once stated that he writes the books he wants to read. Well in that same vein, the game I’ll write is the one I want to play. And that will be my favorite roleplaying game of all time.

So do you have a favorite RPG of all time? 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.

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

Prepping for SaltCON-End of Summer

Written by TardisCaptain August 30, 2023November 16, 2023 1 Comment

I’m going to need one of these for the con.

So in my gaming convention trifecta, I’m going to be attending SaltCON-End of Summer over Labor Day Weekend. My wife had purchased a ticket for me as a Father’s Day gift. It will be interesting to compare this event to the big SaltCON in March and the smaller SaltCON-Summer that was in June. While I do have to take off for a birthday, I don’t have any concerts scheduled for this same weekend.

Once again, I’m really grateful that I can schedule my games in advance. While scheduling mishaps can (and have) taken place, I’m sure that I’m going to have fun at this event. I’ve got an opportunity to play several common games, but several rare games as well.

Game line up for SaltCON-End of Summer:

Hyperborea– A game of swords, sorcery and weird science-fantasy. Reading the description sounded really interesting. This will be my first time playing this system.

Dragonbane– A fantasy game released by Free League Publishing (the same company that released the Alien RPG). This will also be the first time I’ve played this game.

Fallout The Roleplaying Game– Based off of the video game series. I’ve only played part of one of these games, but the world they are set in sounds really interesting. This game was released by Modiphius and uses their 2d20 ruleset. It will be interesting to see how this compares with Dune and Star Trek Adventures.

Low Fantasy Gaming– A system that I’ve been interested in for a while. This has been on the schedule at the last two SaltCONs, but the schedule had never lined up so that I could give this game a try.

Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition- This adventure is called The Mystery of the Moonstream and it sounded interesting.

Star Trek Adventures– This game is being run by a friend of mine.

Pathfinder 2nd Edition- I actually have two sessions for this system (that’s just how the schedule lined up). I’m wondering how it will compare to the first time I played it at my first SaltCON.

Ghostbusters- The original RPG from West End Games with the D6 system. I’m glad when older RPGs are played at conventions. I’d jump on more of these if they were available.

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.

Role Playing Games, Science Fiction

RPGaDay2023 Day 30: Obscure RPG you’ve played

Written by TardisCaptain August 30, 2023August 28, 2023

So the theme for Day 30 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge is “Obscure RPG you’ve played.” Does it count if it’s so obscure you don’t even remember playing it?

So a little bit of a background. In 2021 I was going through some old boxes and found a three-ringed binder full of old character sheets. So one of the things I thought I’d do is scan them and post them here in this blog. In my previous character sheet entries I posted characters from Dungeons and Dragons, the FASA Doctor Who RPG, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Vampire: The Masquerade, WEG Star Wars the Star Trek RPG by FASA, GURPS, Marvel Superheroes and Warhammer Fantasy.

One of the character sheets that I had found in the book was for a game called Star Ace. It was a science fiction based RPG released by Pacesetter in 1984 that I remember seeing advertisements for. But I never owned a copy of it myself. So imagine my surprise when I was going through this book after many years of looking at it and finding a Star Ace character sheet with my handwriting on it. The sheet itself appears to have been hand written and then photocopied. There were no other notes found on the back or with the sheet. So I think I may have played this game at least once? But I don’t recall anything about it.

Apparently the character of Drath Staybor (where did I pull that name from?) was a starfighter pilot who was also good with a bullwhip. I know I had no kinky streaks in me at the time so I must have been combining Luke Skywalker or Starbuck with Indiana Jones and some ninja skills thrown in. I don’t know.

When I looked up to see if this game was available now, I couldn’t find it on DriveThruRPG or Amazon. It did show up on one of the online RPG second hand stores for much more than I wanted to pay for. I couldn’t justify $75 for a game I’ll probably never get a chance to play. So yea, this game definitely counts in the obscure category.

Have you ever played an obscure roleplaying game? 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 Wars

RPGaDay2023 Day 29: Most memorable encounter

Written by TardisCaptain August 29, 2023August 28, 2023

Day 29 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge and the topic is “Most Memorable Encounter”. While a few of them popped in my head when I read the question, I’m going to go with this one for the West End Games Star Wars RPG system.

Back in the 90’s I was regularly attending games at a place called The Clubhouse which was next to Comics Utah. There were lots of different games happening in this place. Members of my gaming circle enjoyed playing the Star Wars RPG from West End Games. We played the usual misfit of rebels just after the events of The Empire Strikes Back. We had the smuggler, the pilot, the Jedi, etc.

There was one session where we all discovered an interesting aspect added to the WEG SW RPG. We were flying to some destination when we were spotted by an Imperial patrol. Not a big Star Destroyer, just some patrol along the way.

The captain of the vessel got on the comlink with the Imperials and was starting to talk his way out of them having to board us. Unbeknownst to him, the character of one of the players had an irrational hatred of the empire and immediately ran to one of the gun ports and started firing. He ended up shooting down at least one TIE Fighter. The CO was putting the Imperials on mute, screaming to the other characters about getting him off the guns and then returning to the conversation that they were having a “slight weapons malfunction”.

When asked for the name of the vessel, the CO responded “We are the Fresh Fruit Express” (trying to come up with a name on the fly. The GM tilted his head and asked the player to make a CON roll. Now this wasn’t CON as in Constitution that we normally see in Dungeons and Dragons. This was a skill used to “persuade an NPC to do something that isn’t in the NPC’s best interests.” It could be a distraction or a logical argument. Well the CO had a decent number of dice in the CON skill and rolled very high. High enough that he had been able to fool the Imperials that there was a mechanical issue and that they were carrying fruit.

We did end up having to land on a planet and meet up with the Imperials. The player had his CO character walking down the ramp eating an apple when he stepped out to continue the bluff.

I don’t know if I conveyed how hilarious we had found it at the time, but I still giggle when I think of “This is the Fresh Fruit Express.” Seeing how successful he had been in bluffing the Imperials, a lot of players dumped advancement points into the CON skill for future encounters.

Or was this just nostalgia in my head? It was memorable to me. Do you have a memorable RPG encounter that you’ve experienced? 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.

Horror, Role Playing Games

RPGaDay2023 Day 28: Scariest game you’ve played

Written by TardisCaptain August 28, 2023August 25, 2023

The Scariest Game You’ve Played is the topic for Day 28 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge. I had to think about this one for a moment. I really don’t get into the horror roleplaying games. When you are sitting around the table, or at a virtual table, how do you get scared? You are primarily in a safe controlled environment. Especially if you know you are going to be in a horror based game, you are expecting to experience something horrible like zombies or some unspeakable horror.

But I do recall one moment where I was “scared”, not only for one session but for multiple sessions. I’ve previously talked about a recent Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 campaign that had my favorite character (and his demise) and towards the end of that campaign the DM, Jeff Sullivan, pulled it off.

Here is how Jeff did it. He placed us in a demon controlled pocket dimension where the rules of wizard and clerical magic didn’t apply (aka His realm). The ability to rest to recover hit points wasn’t available due to the nature of the dimension. My magic-user character and our cleric couldn’t replenish our spells in the normal manner. And we would be in this dimension for a long time.

Let’s just say it worked. Not only was my character agitated, I was agitated as well and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. This made me as a player on edge and slightly (more) paranoid that usual. All it took was getting the character out of a comfort zone.

Could this be done in a game like Chill or Call of Cthulhu? I don’t know. I’m expecting horror then. I think the best way to present it is to run a game with a generic rule set where you don’t tell the players that they are going to be experiencing a zombie outbreak or an interdimentional invasion. Then you might actually get some horror elements in there to scare some players.

What do you guys think? Is it possible to scare someone in an RPG where they know that a homicidal maniac or weird beast might pop out of the shadows? What experiences have you had with horror based games? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Role Playing Games, Spy-Fi

RPGaDay2023 Day 27: Game you’d like a new edition of

Written by TardisCaptain August 27, 2023August 25, 2023

Day 27 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge and our topic is “Game you’d like to see a new edition of”. I had to think about this one. Various games such as Doctor Who Roleplaying Game, Dungeons and Dragons and others have new editions. Alien, Star Trek Adventures and Dune Adventures in the Imperium are new enough that they don’t need new editions, yet. The recent WotC OGL fiasco has inspired Basic Fantasy and White Lies to update their editions to remove OGL components.

Just as the unplayed games entry used inspiration from my collection, I decided to look that way again. As I look at my shelf full of books, one immediately jumps out.

In 2005, AEG released SpyCraft version 2.0. I even remember playing it at a friends house with one of the authors of the game. Later the license would transfer over to Crafty Games along with FantasyCraft. However it’s been a long time since 2005. I’m wondering if an RPG year is like a dog year? I know it’s that way for computers. A newer version with streamlined rules (SpyCraft 2.0 is a D20 system, but it’s a bit on the crunchy side) would probably sell like hotcakes. Plus I’m a sucker for picking up espionage roleplaying games.

What game would you like to see a new edition of? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Humor, Role Playing Games, Top Secret

RPGaDay2023 Day 26: Favorite Character Sheet

Written by TardisCaptain August 26, 2023August 23, 2023

I initially had an answer in mind when I read that Day 26 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge was “Favorite Character Sheet”. I had seen a lot of them recently after three years of participating in the Character Creation Challenge. However just to be on the safe side, I did a quick run through the scanned character sheets that I had presented. I then decided that I would present a favorite for each year of the Character Creation Challenge. Primarily because I couldn’t pick just one sheet to be my favorite.

Favorite Character Sheet from the 2021 Challenge:

This is the character sheet for Top Secret: New World Order that was written by Merle M. Rasmussen, the original author of the 80’s Top Secret RPG. What made me like this character sheet was the design. It looked like a folder that the dossier of a secret agent would have been found in. And I don’t know why, but the image of the match book made it stand out.

Favorite Character Sheet from the 2022 Challenge:

Like the Top Secret New World Order sheet above, the sheet for the Star Trek inspired Boldly Go! RPG has an aesthetic that fits the science fiction theme of the game. I also like that it has some gaming rule information on the sheet itself to assist players during the game. Quite a few other sheets had this as well, but the aesthetic made this one stand out. The players “roll up” the starship first which is why there is a sheet for the vessel.

Favorite Character Sheet from the 2023 Challenge:

I had a blast putting together the character of Grukk for the Ork! 2nd Edition RPG. This game sounds like it would be set up on the fly when real-life prevented all of the players from attending a session. Let’s whip up some silly Ork characters and laugh at the scenario as we still play. Oh, and since most of the players probably don’t know all of the rules, there are some simple guidelines on the sheet itself. Perfect for a quick pick-up game.

Do you have a favorite character sheet from any roleplaying game? 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.

Doctor Who, Horror, Role Playing Games

RPGaDay2023 Day 25: Unplayed RPG you own

Written by TardisCaptain August 25, 2023August 25, 2023 1 Comment

What Unplayed RPG do you own is the topic for Day 25 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge. Are you kidding me? I’ve got a good collection of dead-tree books and a LOT of PDF copies of different games. OK, I think I’m going to pick one of each (physical book and PDF copy) that I wish I could play. However, I’m not going to talk about some of the games that I’ve already talked about previously.

Dead-Tree Version:

So I walked over to one of my bookshelves and the first book that jumped out and attacked me was the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game by Cubicle 7. I only own the 1st edition of the game, so I haven’t had a chance to check out the 2nd edition yet. Not only am I a huge Doctor Who fan (duh, look at the URL for this blog) but I loved how this game was presented. They made it very simple to try to explain the system to friends in an attempt to get them to play. (see photo below)

Not only was the basic rule easy to present, but so was the character creation process as I discovered in a past Character Creation Challenge. I liked how the attributes was explained (this score equals this type of human for each attribute). It made me really want to see how the system ran.

PDF Version:

Isolation Games put out an RPG called When The Moon Hangs Low. This is a gothic action RPG set in a fantasy Victorian inspired world where characters are tragic monster hunters in the capital city of Harrowmire. Each character has some connection (or deep secret) to the monsters they hunt. Think Supernatural in a Victorian Age. I had picked up this game in a charity bundle on DriveThruRPG to support Doctors Without Borders just after the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. The system sounds interesting and the Character Creation process was pretty simple. The company even has their own discord server for players to check out and ask questions.

Again there were a ton of options I could have selected from, but these two jumped out at me when I was looking over the collection.

Do you have an unplayed RPG that you own? 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.