Tavern is the Day 3 topic for RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge and I think this is a good one. The common thread of taverns with roleplaying games is the “you all meet up at the tavern for the start of the adventure.” Well taverns can be a bit more than that. They can be a home base of operations such as the Inn of the Crescent Moon seen in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons comics from DC Comics, a common gathering place for the community such as Quark’s Bar on Deep Space Nine, a place to find transport such as the Mos Eisley Cantina or just a place to pick a fight…
“Funny, sir, how you always seem to find yourself in an Alliance-friendly bar, come U-Day, lookin’ for a quiet drink.” Zoe- The Train Job, Firefly episode 2
Taverns, bars, inns, etc. can be used as plot points in may different roleplaying games or stories. A place to find a contact or pass on information. Especially if it’s a last minute option for the GM to use. Just in case you suddenly find yourself in need of a name for that shady little dive the players find themselves in, here are some random tavern names.
Fantasy Taverns-
The Silver Stag
The Soot and Song
The Broken Tankard
The Rusted Crown
The One-Eyed Owl
The Whispering Mug
The Moonspindle Inn
The Wyrm and Whistle
The Laughing Lich
The Barrel and Brimstone
The Hearthless Flame
The Twisted Oak
The Sly Fox and Fowl
The Emerald Lute
The Crooked Lantern
The Grinning Gargoyle
The Copper Cauldron
The Wand and Wagon
The Hollow Helm
The Scarlet Manticore
1920’s Speakeasies-
The Velvet Valve
The Blind Canary
The Whispering Flask
The Garter Grip
Club Hush
The Gilded Ghost
The Gin Mill Grin
The Clover Club
The Cat’s Meow
The Backdoor Saint
The Brass Button
The Crooked Ace
The Cinder Lounge
The Owl and Hourglass
The Silver Stitch
The Blue Note Bunker
The Dizzy Duchess
The Blind Ledger
The Staggering Dame
The Clockwork Coda
Space Bars-
The Nebula’s Kiss
The Black Hole Saloon
The Cyro Leak
The Void Cantina
The Binary Shot
The Dockside Drift
The Event Horizon
The Crater and Cask
The Proton Parlor
The Ion Ivy
The Comet and Coil
The Blacklight Bazaar
The Tachyon Tap
The Gravity Well
The Chrome Chimera
The Red Shift
The Wreck Deck
The Quantum Mule
The Circuit Inn
The Infinite Happy Hour
Western Saloons-
The Rusted Spur
The Dusty Deputy
Cactus Canteen
The Whiskey Widow
The Silver Saddle
The Golden Rattlesnake
The Crooked Trail Saloon
The Tin Horn Tavern
The Red Mesa Saloon
The Prairie Rose
The Dry Gulch Tavern
The Coyote’s Cry
The Spittoon and Sparrow
The Gold Tooth Tavern
The Bootjack Burrow
The Hangman’s Harmony
The Devil’s Draw
The Brass Rail
The Blind Bear
The Lone Star Hollow
What adventures have you had in a tavern? Is there a better name of a bar that you’d add to the list? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.
Welcome to the month of August. I didn’t get a chance to do a “Prepping for…” blog post (damn real life getting in the way) but I’m planning to participate in the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge as coordinated by David F. Chapman. As you can see in the image above, there are 31 different topics to inspire discussion. There are also additional Questions, Moods and Subjects. I might use these if the topic fails to get my fingers typing. This morning I’ve had a chance to read a few other blog posts that were participating and I think it triggered some ideas in my brain. So, without further adieu, here is my first entry.
Patron: For some, this term evokes the Warlock Class from the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons. A spell-caster has a pact with some sort of patron that provides them with the power to use as they see fit. Another use of the term Patron is the subscription service that I see advertised on various websites, podcasts, blogs and videographers. I haven’t really used this service as a sender or a receiver. What are your impressions of this? The Merriam-Webster dictionary tells us that a patron can be a special guardian, protector or supporter.
The inspiration that hit me while reading the other entries was the player character being a patron. Not just giving someone else ‘power’ but more like a mentor position. Consider the following ideas:
The Wanna-Be Magician: What if a mid-to-high level non-Warlock magic-user suddenly found out that someone wants to learn the ways of sorcery (or Jedi powers) from them? Perhaps this person was assigned to them by a guild or magic school so they couldn’t just dismiss the person outright. Perhaps this apprentice could be an eager beaver wanting to impress their superiors, a brat of a rich family who thinks that they are already destined for greatness, someone scared of the powers they might obtain, etc. The NPC options are endless and could make for an interesting addition to a mid-to-high level magic-user.
The Voices in my Head: I’ve thought about springing this on players previously, but it never came up in a scenario that it could be properly role-played. The player character (could be any genre) reaches for an ancient artifact, statue, scroll, tchotchke and gets an electric shock. When they recover, they can hear a voice in their head of a long lost archeologist/wizard/supernatural being/etc. that only they can hear. I wanted to have this happen to a strong non-learning character (barbarian, mercenary, etc.) on purpose. Perhaps they felt the stronger character would protect their conscious/spirit/??? and help them achieve their goals. Not following the instructions of the voice, could lead to madness, but the voice could be helpful in sticky situations.
The Next Next Generation: For Star Trek Adventures or any space opera style game with a structured fleet, the characters could be assigned a junior officer that they need to mentor. Like the Command Training Program or younger Ensigns asking Lieutenants for help as seen on Star Trek: Lower Decks. Space navies always need to have officers fresh out of the academy mentored by seasoned officers in real-world scenarios.
Training the Peaceful Villagers:“Across that valley lies an army of darkness such as mankind has never seen. The only thing between them and total victory is this pathetic pocket of resistance. Without a leader, without a plan. Into this bleak arena steps a man, the man for the moment.” Rimmer- Meltdown, Red Dwarf Series IV, Episode 6. The characters can be samurai, gunfighters or even an obnoxious, trumped-up, farty little smeghead who need to train a group of common people into a fighting force. They may not be much of a fighting force, but with the character’s help, they just might pull it off. And who knows, if they survive, perhaps they will want to become followers of the seven… err… characters.
Are there other ideas? Did I miss a possible patron opportunity to put the characters into? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of July 28th through August 3rd. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
July 28 “I’m a doctor, not an engineer.” Dr. McCoy- Mirror, Mirror, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
July 29 Happy Birthday to Wil Wheaton. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Wil_Wheaton #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekFilm #StarTrekReadyRoom #StarTrekPicard #StarTrekLowerDecks #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #Quote
“I know Admiral Necheyev gave you an order and she was given an order from the Federation Council but it’s still wrong.” Wesley- Journey’s End, Stardate: 47751.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“Change is hard. But it can also be freeing.” Tilly- Mirrors, Stardate: 866282.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #Quote
July 31 “Well, everyone is welcome at Quark’s. I don’t discriminate. Just like Starfleet.” Quark- Hippocratic Oath, Stardate: 49066.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
August 1 “We could be out here for years. All we have to depend on… is each other.” Archer- Minefield, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
“Or maybe this is the first step in a journey of self-discovery and unknown possibility. Either way, I’ll take it with those most important to me — my family.” Zero- Is There In Beauty No Truth, Stardate: 61881.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #Quote
August 3 “Did you have to program that Nausicaan guard to high stick so much?” Kim “Well, you play hockey, you got to expect a few lumps.” Paris- Critical Care, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
How I feel after watching the first two episodes of Star Trek SNW season three and having a good weekend with my Star Trek family.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of July 21st through July 27th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
July 21 “You can’t put everything on your shoulders, Wesley. Even when you’re off duty, you’re on duty.” Dr. Crusher- Evolution, Stardate: 43125.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“Thank you, Vedek Bareil, for reminding us how the sacred text can be so easily misinterpreted.” Winn- The Collaborator, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“The forced optimism in your voice suggests that you are trying to elicit a sense of calm in order to…” Spock “Oh, cut the horseshit.” Dr. McCoy “Doctor, I fail to see how excrement of any kind bears relevance on our current situation.” Spock- Star Trek Beyond, Stardate: 2263.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
July 23 “Frankly, it’s refreshing to take myself out of the twenty-fourth century every now and then. And a little… disorganization can be very encouraging to the imagination.” Janeway- The Raven, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
July 24 “Shaka. When the walls fell.” Dathon- Darmok, Stardate: 45047.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
July 25 “Leave any bigotry in your quarters. There’s no room for it on the bridge.” Kirk- Balance of Terror, Stardate: 1709.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
“I never expected to say this, but as occupations go, this one’s not so bad.” Quark “No, I suppose that’s true if all you’re worried about is a monthly balance sheet.” Kira- A Time to Stand, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
July 27 “What year is this?” Archer “It’s 1944.” Alicia Travers “World War II.” Archer “Haven’t heard it called that before, but that’s as good a description as any.” Alicia Travers- Storm Front, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of July 14th through July 20th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
July 14 “No one has ever stated that Starfleet duty was particularly safe. You’ve followed the correct and logical course—done everything a commander could do.” Spock- The Apple, Stardate: 3715.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
July 15 “I suppose they don’t expect you to prove your battle skills.” Kar “No. They prepare us to defend ourselves in battle. They prepared us very well, and we had to pass many difficult tests before we were given the right to wear the uniform.” Chakotay- Initiations, Stardate: 49005.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
July 16 “One of the thing about them in the briefing studies was their respect for patience.” Data- Code of Honor, Stardate: 41235.25 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
July 17 “A lot of people feel abandoned by the Prophets.” Odo “Believe me, I know how they feel. That’s no excuse to turn to hate and fear.” Kira “In times of trouble, some people find comfort in hate and fear.” Odo- Image in the Sand, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“You saw that other Boimler, so cool and successful. He was acting captain three times. If I copy him, then maybe I can be cool too.” Boimler “Okay, sure, or you could just be yourself.” Rutherford- Of Gods and Angles, Stardate: 59482.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #Quote
“You… you should have let me sleep!” Khan- Star Trek: Into Darkness #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
July 20 “Where’s Isaac Newton when you need him?” Tucker- Anomaly, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of July 7th through July 13th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
“I did not know there were Klingons serving on human Starfleet vessels.” Korris “As far as I know, I am the only one.” Worf “Tell me, what it is like for the hunter to lie down with the prey? Have they tamed you, or have you always been docile?” Korris- Heart of Glory, Stardate: 41503.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“Thank you, captain.” Tyler “For what? Dragging you back into the war on a ship with a target on its back?” Lorca “There’s no place I’d rather be.” Tyler-Choose Your Pain, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #Quote
“Pineapple? But that’s my fav– how on Earth did you know?” Reed “We have our sources.” Sato- Silent Enemy, Date: September 2, 2151 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
July 10 “A man is not just a biological unit that you can patch together.” Dr. McCoy- The Changeling, Stardate: 3541.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
July 11 “You and I are going to be friends.” Quark “You are up to something.” Odo “Why would you say that?” Quark “Because you are always up to something.” Odo- The Homecoming, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
July 12 “When I was first activated I was regarded as little more than a talking tricorder. I had to ask for the privileges I deserved. The right to be included in crew briefings, the ability to turn my program on and off. It’s taken some time, but I believe I’ve earned the respect of the crew as an equal.” The Doctor- Revulsion, Stardate: 51186.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
“But every choice we make allows us to manipulate the future. Do I ask Adrienne or Suzanne to the spring dance? Do I take my holiday on Corsica or on Risa? A person’s life, their future, hinges on each of a thousand choices.” Picard- A Matter of Time, Stardate: 45349.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of June 30th through July 6th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
June 30 “Everyone is so concerned about my next job. With all due respect, Commander… sir, my career plans are my own business and no one else’s.” Riker- The Best of Both Worlds, Part II, Stardate: 44001.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“I wish I could but what you’re asking me to do is wrong. You can’t go around making people prove they are who they say they are. That’s no way to live and I’m not going to go along with it.” Joseph Sisko- Homefront, Stardate: 49170.65 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“If I told you to count the stars in the cosmos, would the task ever be complete?” Annorax “Sir?” Obrist “Our attempts may be sufficient; they may even be relatively successful, but they will never be complete. Choose your words with more precision.” Annorax- The Year of Hell, Stardate: 51268.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
July 4 “For what indeed is a man without freedom? Naught but a mechanism, trapped in the cogwheels of eternity.” Mudd- I Mudd, Stardate: 4513.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
July 5 “I have a maxim that I have always lived by. No one is more qualified to write your story than you are.” Samuel Clemens- Time’s Arrow, Part II, Stardate: 46001.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
July 6 “These are a proud people. They have their own customs, their own laws, and while we’re here we’re subject to them. It is absolutely imperative that this matter be resolved according to Argelian law. Is that clear?” Kirk- Wolf in the Fold, Stardate: 3614.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Again, phrases I find myself saying a lot more lately.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of June 23rd through June 29th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
June 23 “Your blood pressure is practically nonexistent, assuming you call that green stuff in your veins blood.” Dr. McCoy “The readings are perfectly normal for me, Doctor, thank you. And as for my anatomy being different from yours – I am delighted.” Spock- The Naked Time, Stardate: 1704.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
June 24 “Counsellor Troi told me herself that feelings are not negative or positive. It is how we act on them that makes them good or bad.” Data- Descent, Part II, Stardate: 47025.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
June 25 “The last three years have been the most demanding and rewarding of my career. I can only hope that the future will hold even greater challenges.” Sisko- The Adversary, Stardate: 48959.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
June 26 (sees nuclear explosion on TV) “I’d hate to see Humanity destroy itself.” Mestral “That makes two of us.” Maggie- Carbon Creek, Date: April 12, 2152 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
June 27 “Whoever said getting there was half the fun never rode in a class-8 probe.” K’Ehleyr- The Emissary, Stardate: 42901.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. It’s been too long.” Borg Queen “What do you want?” Seven “Do I need a reason to visit a friend?” Borg Queen “We’re not friends.” Seven “No. We’re more than that, we’re family.” Borg Queen- Endgame, Stardate: 54973.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
June 29 “The commander is responsible for the lives of his crew, and for their deaths. Well, I should have died with mine.” Decker- The Doomsday Machine, Stardate: 4202.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Yea, I’ve been getting this feeling as well. Too much sun?
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of June 16th through June 22nd. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
“Mr. Sulu, we have to achieve terminal velocity in order for the stabilizers to provide lift. Are you sure this drop is high enough to do that?” Chekov “We’ll find out.” Sulu- Star Trek Beyond, Stardate: 2263.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
June 17 (looks at the baseball on the desk) “What is that?” Weyoun “A message from Sisko.” Dukat “I don’t understand.” Weyoun “He’s letting me know… he’ll be back.” Dukat- Call to Arms, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“I haven’t taken a math class since Pythagoras made the crap up!” Pelia- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Stardate: 1581.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #Quote
“Nero’s very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the USS Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party.” Spock “An alternate reality?” Uhura- Star Trek (2009), Stardate: 2233.04 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
June 20 “Enjoy yourself. You have the free time. Use it.” Picard- A Fistful of Datas, Stardate: 46271.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
June 21 “Open your mind and your heart and the way will become clear.” Surak- Awakening, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
“Without the darkness, how would we recognize the light?” Tuvok- Cold Fire, Stardate: 49164.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
I’m writing this the day after SaltCON-Summer 2025. Let’s just say I’m really happy that I was smart enough to take the Monday after the convention off. It gave me a chance to not only unwind from the very busy weekend, but get somethings done that I usually do on Saturday or Sunday to prep for my next week. I’m also very happy for the time I spent at the convention. Thank you to those who gave me hugs. I hope you realize how much this is helping me keep my spirits up. I also had one of my readers come up and tell me that he enjoyed my blog posts. Thank you. I know that recent posts have been rare, but I’m going to keep going. I do have plans to participate in the upcoming RPGaDAY 2025 activity this August. I also still owe you guys different reviews and first-looks at some of the KickStarter rewards that I’ve received.
As you can see from the loot photo above, I was able to pick up a few items. SaltCON has always had a good t-shirt design for each event. This year seems to be following the cyberpunk genre. I had some money to pick up both the current con shirt, but the spring shirt as well that I missed out on a few months ago. One of the nice things that SaltCON does is sell the older con shirts at a discount. When I picked up my badge, I was notified that I was one of the random winners of the game giveaway. Out of the two possible options, Chicken Time Warp sounded like fun. And since it was the size of a deck of cards, it wouldn’t take up too much room in my convention backpack. There was a dealer that had a sale on geeky pins, I picked up some that said “Dungeon Master”, “I’m not procrastinating, I’m doing side quests”, “Sarcasm +5” and “I don’t have any ducks in a row. I have squirrels and they are at a rave.” I also received a couple of thank you prizes for running games that included the RPG Attack from Space (medieval knights vs. invading aliens from outer space) and a mug that says “DnD Diplomacy, Persuasion, Deception, Intimidation, FIREBALL.” I’ll be using the mug for my end-of-day sleepytime tea and I’ll be using Attack from Space as one of my entries in the 2026 Character Creation Challenge.
Posters made by the con to advertise my games.
I was scheduled to run three games at SaltCON-Summer 2025. I’m not sure if it was karma for dropping out of some games at the spring event, or if I simply waited too long to submit my events and got stuck with bad time slots—but unfortunately, no one showed up for my Basic Fantasy and Teenagers from Outerspace sessions. I did get a chance to run the TfOS game at The Queen’s Realm a few weeks ago (in preparation for the con) but I also put a lot of effort into the home-brewed Basic Fantasy adventure. So I may make another attempt with one or both games at a future convention.
The Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition game. Let’s just say that the players and I were laughing and having a very good time with the scenario. Probably one of the best one-shots that I’ve ran in quite some time. We even ended up with a “There I was…” type of story out of it. Long story short, the players were disguised on a planet with a pre-warp civilization. The Prime Directive was in full effect, but the players had found themselves in a dangerous situation where the villagers were chasing some of them. One player hid in a merchant’s shop and wanted to use his back door. The merchant, wanting to make a sale, said that he was willing to allow paying customers slip out the back door. The character had not thought to bring any of the local currency with them when they went into the village, so he accepted the offer to trade his hat, for one of the agrarian level hand tools. The moment he had made the exchange, I spent a level of threat and reminded him that the hat had been replicated with his advanced technology. While it was an imitation of the local headgear the natives wore, it wasn’t the same material. There was another PC in the store with him so he couldn’t just say he had lost it. This put the player in a panic and we ended up spending an extra amount of time over this one plot point and the hand-wringing it brought about. Was this a violation of the Prime Directive like Dr. McCoy leaving his communicator behind on Sigma Iotia II? When they rejoined the Commander leading the expedition, I did give him a chance to notice the missing headgear, which he did which lead to further awkward. When the game was over and I asked for feedback from the players, one of the first-time players said he was glad that I had used the threat in-game currency (which I had on several different times) to spice up the scenario. Some of these I only came up with on the fly during the course of play. Another first-time player stated he now needed to go out and pick up the core rulebook because of how much fun he had. Had there been a merchant at the con selling books for the games being run, they would have made a sale. Jim J, if you or any of your team are reading this, just know that the first time players picked up the system very easily and had a great time around the table playing your game.
Some of the characters I played this weekend.
For the first time ever, all of the games that I participated in as a player was completely new to me. Usually I just try to get one or two in so I can try out different systems. Two of the games were played with the actual designers who had attended to show off their works.
Shadowdark: This was an interesting game since we were playing zero-level characters in a funnel similar to the kind I experienced in Dungeon Crawl Classics. Every single one of my randomly pulled characters only had one hit point, so I went through a stack of them trying to get out. What made this D20 clone interesting is that none of the PC races had any type of infravision or dark vision. So if our light source went out, we were at a disadvantage. The timer would run in real time and to demonstrate this, an hourglass was placed on the table that would match one hour. This made for a very interesting scenario that I’m glad that I tried out. I wouldn’t turn down a Shadowdark session if an invite was extended and I’m interested in seeing the character creation rules.
Pirate Borg: Another game that I’ve been hearing a lot about and that I’m hoping I can pick up for a future Character Creation Challenge. Ran by the same GM who ran the Shadowdark game earlier. The character was higher than level 0, and thus a little bit more hardier. All of the players got into the pirate theme of the game (one even kept talking with a Jersey accent the entire time) which added to the enjoyment. One of the players ended up getting killed at the very last second of the game which showed me how weird this game could be. Again, I wouldn’t turn down a chance to play it again.
Untold: This is a fantasy game that uses D12s. A LOT of D12s. It kind of reminded me of the 2d20 system where you have target numbers based off of skills and attributes, but you had to roll over the target number. Which wasn’t easy to do sometimes. I played a barbarian so I didn’t get a chance to try the unusual magic system, but it wasn’t Vancian. It was interesting to try the game and a lot of players got into their characters. This was one of the creator run sessions.
EverReach: This is a science fiction/cyberpunkish game with the designer of the game. The system was pretty easy to follow along as it only used D6s with the ability to swap out one of the D6s rolled (by the player or GM). We played an independent crew that was hired by a corporation to perform a smash and grab. As the players, we spent the bulk of the session planning out the heist and bouncing ideas off of each other. How were we going to get past the defenses and neutralize the third-party gang hired to protect the server we were after? How were we going to extract ourselves? Because we did a bunch of planning (something I had experienced in a past Spycraft game) there wasn’t a lot of rolling until the very end. So I got a little taste of it. But I’m going to be doing a deeper dig on this game as a review in a future blog post.
The Expanse: So I had only seen the pilot episode of this hard sci-fi TV series, but it turns out the game is based off of the books (it’s a rights thing). So there was still a lot of explaining to the newbies at the table like myself. There were different factions controlling different parts of the Sol System and there was no FTL in this universe. The main reason I wanted to play this game is to try the Age System that comes up in Fantasy Age and Modern Age. The dice roll mechanics was easy to get down, but there were pages and pages of stunts that each character could pull from when they ended up with special Stunt Points. So we were continuously looking through these pages to see what fit the situation we currently found ourselves in. In the end, we completed the mission in style due to these stunt points, but I’m going to have to go back and take a deeper dive into the Age books that I own to see if I’d want to do anything further with this system. Something I don’t know if I would have noticed without getting my hands dirty with it.
So in conclusion, I had a ton of fun (again) at SaltCON. Yes, the summer event is smaller than the spring one. But there were a couple of temping RPG pickups at the swap meet and game exchange. If there is a regular RPG book seller who’s looking for a market, this convention could easily make you a lot of sales especially if you had the books for the games being run at the con. As I was writing this blog post, one of the con-organizers posted on FaceBook that this had been the highest attended SaltCON-Summer ever. Once again, a big shout-out should go to the other attendees, volunteers and organizers for putting this together. As someone who has retired from the con-chair business, I know how much effort is put into these events. It was noticed and appreciated.
SaltCON-End of Summer is coming up on August 28-31 at the Davis Convention Center in Layton, Utah. Currently I’m planning to attend and run some RPG one-shots. Let me know if you plan to go so I can meet up with you.
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.
