Sidequest: Every TTRPG Played 41-50

Many, many moons ago, I started a series of blogposts listing every tabletop roleplaying game I've ever played - inspired by a post over where the skies are blue (BlueSky) by Kieron Gillen. 

I'm still trying to follow some sort of chronological order. If you want to catch up, you can find the previous posts here:

Every TTRPG I've Played 1-10

Every TTRPG I've Played 11-20

Every TTRPG I've Played 21-30

Every TTRPG I've Played 31-40

And so, onto 41-50...

41) Star Trek Adventures

The cover of first edition Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius

I wrote a long blogpost ages ago about my involvement in Star Trek Adventures. I'm a big Trek fan, and love everything it stands for. When Chris Birch at Modiphius mentioned to me that he'd secured a license that involved a five-year mission I was so excited to get involved. And involved I was. Chris had me developing the game system, how the game would look, suggesting the products, advising on art and graphics, even looking at how the minis were being developed. It was fantastic. I loved every second of working on that. It was just frustrating that I couldn't handle that and a job in retail at the same time. Something had to give, and I reluctantly backed away from Star Trek and faded back into working in retail full time... 

We playtested a bit of the Trek system when we were working on it, playing with my regular gaming group to see how combat and momentum worked. Good times!

42) Spire / Heart

Cover of Spire by Rowan, Rook, and Decard

This is another two-fer, as we played Spire with a lot of its companion game, Heart, involved. This was another huge revelation. The way the experience system worked, accomplishing specific goals to unlock new abilities. Really clever. And some of the themes and motivations were completely bonkers. There was a lot of exploring underground, some investigations into the Spire, and I just remember using my Zenith Ability, my final power that was so powerful it would kill my character. My strange knight's final act was to erase the concept of the Spire from existence. The tower, the elves, the ruling class that brought so much misery, all gone. Forgotten, as if they never existed. As you can imagine, that's where our game ended. I think one of the other characters used their Zenith ability too, for a truly epic finale. Awesome.

43) Aegean

Cover of the Aegean RPG by We-Evolve

This one kinda started as playtesting and we just kept going. Stoo was working on an RPG based on Ancient Greek mythology, and wanted to playtest it. It felt strangely like Runequest in its detail in combat, looking at the reach of weapons, and the usefulness of armour. However, his Aegean RPG incorporated a lot of cool and heroic abilities, as well as the influence of the gods. Top all of that off with some town building mechanics, and Aegean shaped up to be incredibly cool. We played a lot of games of Aegean – including using the game system to play mythic Vikings battling frost giants and elves, and a separate game in a more traditional fantasy setting. The system holds up brilliantly, and it's no surprise Stoo is using again for his next game.

44) WILD

Cover of the WILD RPG by We-Evolve

Another bit of playtesting I'm afraid. Well, you don't spend ten years working on a game and release it unplayed do you? WILD went through a lot of versions, starting off using Vortex like Doctor Who, then a different dice system, then Tarot cards in a variety of forms and styles. Without those playtests it would not have been playable. Thanks everyone.

45) Scum & Villainy / Coriolis

Cover of Scum and Villainy by Evil Hat Productions

This is another one that's a strange mash up of two games. Our regular GM wanted to run Coriolis, but didn't really gel with the game system. This was long before the new Coriolis that uses the Year Zero Engine. Instead, we used the Scum and Villainy ruleset, a game that uses the Blades in the Dark system, and kinda felt like Firefly but incorporated some of the locations and mythology of Coriolis. Again, it was awesome and epic, and it was great to experience the Blades in the Dark system, with its "succeed at a cost" element from PtbA. 

46) Changeling: The Lost

Cover of Changeling: The Lost by White Wolf

Considering I was a massive fan of the old World of Darkness, and loved Mage: The Ascension, it wasn't until well over a decade later that I tried the 'New World of Darkness' in a game of Changeling: The Lost. We played set in Victorian York, and I based my character heavily on Timothy Dalton's character from the TV series Penny Dreadful. It was great, and whimsical, and strange. Trains full of fey markets, and weird spider-ladies. Our knowledge resource was an owl. One of the characters could communicate with the dead, and we were trying to save kids from becoming abducted from the city's orphanage. 

When Covid hit and we were locked-down, playing online meant that the game became a roleplaying experience of going to cafes, sampling cakes and drinking tea, or going shopping, rather than progressing the plot – you know, all the things we couldn't do in reality! 

47) Action Potential

Cover of Action Potential RPG by We-Evolve

This was another bit of playtesting, back when Action Potential was in its early concept phase. Rhi had used the Forged in the Dark ruleset to create a cool RPG of being able to upload your consciousness into new 'sleeves', in a cool cyberpunk weirdness way, like Altered Carbon. We played characters sent to a space station to discover what had happened to the crew, only everyone was dead and — plot twist — the crew were our characters! We were playing backups of our consciousnesses uploaded into new bodies as our originals had been killed on the station.

Rhi worked with Debs to develop these cool character sheets where your sleeves had different stats that overlapped and you could switch them out as you changed sleeve. It was really cool, and well worth playing.

48) Hard Wired Island

Cover of Hard Wired Island by Weird Edge Games

I must admit, I'd not heard of this game before we started playing it, and it surprised me by being really cool. Again, very cyberpunk, and set on a space station that feels very much like what we thought cyberpunk would be in the 80s. I played a hard-boiled detective, like someone from Sin City, who teamed up with a synth and graffiti artist to try to stop thugs from targeting a pro-synthetic club. Was really cool, and I'm definitely going to look into the second edition when it Kickstarts. 

49) Doctors and Daleks

Cover of the Doctors and Daleks Player's Guide by Cubicle 7

Another strange one. I didn't think Doctor Who would work with 5e Dungeons & Dragons, but the team who worked on this absolutely nailed it. They captured the feel of the series, kept true to Doctor's ideals, and introduced some amazing new non-combat conflict rules to 5e, allowing you to defeat an enemy with wits and dialogue. I was on board for the project, bringing my Doctor Who roleplaying knowledge, and did a few playtests, but did play a little on a short actual play run by Zak, which was a blast (especially as I played Graham O'Brien and got to be confused and old, just like me). 

50) ALIEN

One of the tensest games I've played. So many stress-dice being rolled, so much running around panicking. I think, in true ALIEN fashion, all of the characters died, but we destroyed the ship with the xenomorphs in so they couldn't get onto another ship. Very cool, and very evocative of the source material. I'd be intrigued to see how a longer campaign would work, and really harks back to the old Odyssey game that I played waaaay back (see Number 18).

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That's it for this part. Maybe one more batch to go? 

Until next time, stay multi-classy!

Sidequest: Every TTRPG Played #1-10

Over where the sky is blue (that's Bluesky just in case you haven't been on there), much respected and loved comics creator and TTRPG writer, Kieron Gillen, posted to say that he was trying to make a list of every TTRPG he's ever played. 

Alt Text - Trying to make a list of every TTRPG I've ever played, which presently includes such classics such as 'the very complicated home-brew game made by my friend James when I lived in America' and 'The one where you're all sad people at the end of the world with a name that sounds ominous'. 

I'm really hoping that his results appear on his relatively recent blog-site that he launched https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/ . However, it did inspire me to think... 'Can I remember every TTRPG I've played?'...

Challenge Accepted!!

I know I've been doing my "My Nerdy Life in 100 Geeky Objects" series, and there's bound to be a little crossover, but I thought I'd try and do this as well, just to keep my brain busy and so I don't spiral into the mire. Do forgive my indulgences. I'm not going to drag this out into another 100 posts... I promise.

Let's take it a chunk at a time, starting from the very beginning. The order may be a little off, but hey, it is 40+ years ago...

#1 - Traveller

The first three "Little Black Books" for the original Traveller RPG

The first tabletop roleplaying game I ever played was Traveller. I had no idea what I was doing, but I generated a character that sunny Saturday afternoon in what must have been 1983(?) up at JR's place. I remember thinking how old my character was by the time I left military service. I didn't do much, just sat in the background and took in the experience, but I was already hooked by the end of the first game. 

#2 - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook (2nd Cover)

Had to be there, didn't it? Usually everyone's first game, I leapt straight into Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. None of this Basic or Expert stuff, I was thrown into the deep end of AD&D. Admittedly, I didn't even roll a character to begin with. My first character was a Paladin called Ivanhoe that was already at 8th or maybe 9th level. One of the players in the group was bored of playing the goody-two-shoes, and it was just the sort of character I liked playing. I gave him a last name after a few years, Navarre, from watching Ladyhawke, because, let's face it, Rutger Hauer was the coolest thing around. Played him for years, never got higher than 9th level, but always liked playing Paladins ever since.

#3 - Runequest

Cover of Runequest 2nd Edition

That same gaming group seemed to alternate between AD&D and Runequest most of the time, so it was inevitable that Runequest would turn up on this list, and very early. I really liked the way that individual locations had their own armour ratings, but I remember the GM had bought the Big Rubble setting and we kept heading into the Rubble to seek our fortunes, getting a fraction of the way in, and getting our arses kicked so badly we retreated back to the inn and healed up before doing it all again. 

#4 - Star Frontiers

Front cover of the original Star Frontiers "Expanded" Rulebook

Everyone was running RPGs and I really wanted to get in on the GameMastering action, and I preferred SF to fantasy. Traveller was cool, but it just wasn't saying "Star Wars" to be enough. A trip to the local (if you can all it that) game store and that cover for Star Frontiers literally screamed "Look!! I'm like Star Wars, look at me!!" and I had to get it. Absolutely loved that game. Played so much of it, you wouldn't believe. All the way through to the Zebulon's Guide update and beyond. I'd love to see a proper revival, not the nonsense that's happened recently. 

#5 - Gamma World

Much like my desire to GM something, I remember Coop wanted to GM in our group, and his game of choice to start was TSR's other SF RPG, Gamma World. The weird, post-apocalyptic RPG of an irradiated future. I don't remember playing too much of it, but it was pretty cool. Spent most of my time worrying I was going to grow an extra arm or something from the radiation...

#6 - Call of Cthulhu

Cover of 1st Edition Call of Cthulhu

Of course, the other big classic from the early days of gaming had to be Call of Cthulhu. I hadn't read any Lovecraft, so I had no idea what was going on, but I loved seeing those weird silhouettes and wandering around in the 1920s. I ended up buying my own copy (the Games Workshop hardcover version, rather than the boxed first edition) and we played a heck of a lot of that too. Most of my characters went mad, except for the one that died when another character threw a bottle at me to get me out of their tent. 

#7 - FASA Star Trek

Cover of FASA's Star Trek Roleplaying Game

Our "Keeper" for Call of Cthulhu ran a couple of other games for us as well. One is FASA's Star Trek RPG. I used to watch classic Trek on TV as a kid, and a lot of it went way over my head. It wasn't until much later that I really *got* Star Trek and really loved it (but that's one for another story). I don't remember playing too much of it, but it was cool. I remember us playing the Star Trek III Starship Combat game more...

#8 - Space Opera

Cover of the Space Opera RPG

What the hell even is the Space Opera RPG? I have a dim recollection of this, and remember it being so darn complicated that we spent two evenings just creating characters... and then never actually got around to playing it. Does this one still count? I've cut many a game from this list that I've read but never played, but does character creation count? I think so... maybe?

#9 - Stormbringer

Cover for Chaosium's Stormbringer RPG

Another one of those "one of the players wanted to have a go at GMing" games was Chaosium's Stormbringer. I remember it being very similar to Runequest, so the learning curve was really easy as we'd been playing that for ages. The tricky thing for me was I was completely unfamiliar with Michael Moorcock's Elric stories, so I was mostly confused by what was going on. Still, the art was cool. 

#10 - Middle Earth Roleplaying (MERP)

The cover I remember the most of the old 
MERP game, with the Balrog looking like
Lobo in the background.

Finally, for this first selection of every game I've played, we'll stop at number 10 with MERP, or Middle Earth Roleplaying Game. And I think this was another of the players wanting to GM something. Again (please forgive me, I was young, and not much of a fantasy reader) I was not very familiar with Tolkien. I mean, everyone else in the gaming group had read The Lord of the Rings, but I'd just watched the 70's animated movie. I tried, and I just didn't have the attention-span until much, much later (thanks to Babylon 5 - see, I told you I was a SF nerd). We did play a lot of this as well though, and I have fond memories of the critical tables. 

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So, that's the first 10 TTRPGs I remember playing. I'm sure I'll go back to this list soon, and try to do the next little batch. When I wrote them down, I did manage to get to 100, but that included RPGs I'd bought and read but hadn't actually played. I may cut those ones from the list, or have a sublist - a side-sidequest. 

Until next time, stay multi-classy!

#RPGaDAY2024 - DAY FOUR: RPG with great ART

Day Four of #RPGaDAY2024, and today we're looking at RPGs with great ART. I have to say that most RPGs these days have the most amazing art that my 80s RPG playing self would never believe. 

Star Trek Adventures is one that really stands out for me as it's a licensed game that doesn't use photos from the movies and TV series, and the art really captures the feel of the universe. 

I always love a game where a particular artist is key to the game, where the publishers just use one or two artists to ensure the game maintains its theme and feel all the way through the books.

A great example of this is Raven, featuring the amazing art of Abigail Larson -

However, when it comes to art in games, and games based on art, there are two examples that really stand out, and both of them are by Free League. 

The first is Vaesen, the Nordic horror RPG based upon the art and work of Johan Egerkrans, whose stylish and evocative illustrations really bring the setting to life. And the whole book, and the production values, are flipping gorgeous. 

The other has to be one of my favourite games of the last ten years, and that's Tales from the Loop. Simon Stålenhag's artwork is amazing, and I've always loved it. It just perfectly captures that weird alternate 1980s where robots and anti-grav vehicles are fairly commonplace, and the game that was inspired by the art does just the same. It has led to some of the most memorable games I've played, and it easily one of my favourites. 

#RPGaDAY2024 - DAY ONE: FIRST RPG bought this year

 Oh no! It's August again already! 

I had big plans for #RPGaDAY this year... I was going to do the whole 'two birds, one stone' thing and try to get some practice in drawing comics - I used to draw and publish comics about 25 years ago and since then I've hardly set pen to paper, and I really wanted to get back into doing something creative like that. It would also mean I could do #RPGaDAY without people having to see my aging and ridiculous face over and over again on Youtube...

The best laid plans. Maybe I'll still do it and catch up if I get chance.

Anyway, life kinda got in the way, and awful things have happened. But I'm still going to try and take part as much as I can, even if it's just as blog posts.

So... Day One - FIRST RPG bought this year.

I've bought a few this year, not too many. But I honestly can't remember what was the first. There's a good chance it was either the Fiery Angels adventure supplement for Blade Runner, which we played through before I read it, and it was amazing. Totally gripping, and there was a brilliant rug-pull moment of failing a Voight-Kampf test even though my character was human and starting to really question my reality...

Or, it was an eBay purchase of a load of 1st Edition Star Trek Adventures books that I didn't have (not that I had any of them). I love Star Trek, and had the opportunity to work as Line Developer for the initial creative burst on the line until juggling a day job with line-developing became too much and I had to drop out (paying the bills meant I had to stick to the day job, which was absolutely gutting). 

#RPGaDAY2023 - DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Game you'd like to see a new EDITION of...

 Onto Day Twenty-Seven of #RPGaDAY2023 and we're into weirdly prophetic territory. Back in the first year of #RPGaDAY I set the same question, and my answers were - 

... James Bond 007, the amazing cool Victory Games RPG of playing agents in the world of James Bond; and Star Trek. There had been the FASA, the Last Unicorn Games, and the Decipher versions of a Star Trek roleplaying game, but since that video I was even lucky enough to be involved in the early development stages of Modiphius' Star Trek Adventures. 

Since then Star Trek Adventures has evolved into something even bigger than I'd hoped, and it just keeps going from strength to strength. Gorgeous books, lovely minis, and now tackling things like Discovery, Lower Decks, and more. (Personally, I'd like to see a weird alternate timeline book for the Kelvinverse, but that is just me). 

Unfortunately, Bond hasn't happened. And I don't think it will for a while, at least not until EON choose a new Bond and decide what they are doing with the Bond universe. 

So what would I say now? 

I'd still love to see a new edition of Ghostbusters, capturing the spirit (pardon the pun) and humour of that first West End Games edition. I'd love to see a new Star Wars RPG, as things seem to have come to a halt with the Fantasy Flight/Edge version - had a blast playing that one. I'd also love to see a new edition of WitchCraft, maybe using Cinematic Unisystem to speed things up, and add more action, employing the magic system of Buffy. And I'd love to see a new version of Star Frontiers, but we won't mention the horrible one that almost happened recently. 

#RPGaDAY2023 - DAY TWENTY-ONE: Favourite Licensed RPG

 

It's Day Twenty-One of #RPGaDAY2023, and it's a very difficult one for me. Favourite licensed RPG.

Anyone who knows me or has listened to me ramble on in my videos or blogs, or even on other people's podcasts, will know I LOVE licensed RPGs. There's just something about getting to play in your favourite worlds, whether it's the oppressed space of Star Wars, or the looming threats of Middle Earth. There's just something about playing in the world of my favourite TV series or movies that appeals to me. 

Back when #RPGaDAY first started I took this opportunity to rant about the lack of a Harry Potter RPG, but times have certainly changed and while I still think it would make an excellent RPG, now is probably not the time for it.

So, to really answer the question. Favourite licensed RPG. It's difficult. Ghostbusters really stands out as that's the RPG that inspired me to write for games (even though I was unsuccessful at the time). The West End Games Star Wars RPG is the stuff of legend, and I still have my corebook, sourcebook, and Star Warriors set. 

Star Trek Adventures, while I did work on the initial concepts I feel I can just about get away with including it in my favourites. It has captured the adventure, exploration, and themes of the series so brilliantly. I may have made some bits a little simpler, but I love what Modiphius have done with it, and the idea that they're allowed to use Picard, Discovery, and even Lower Decks, just fills me with joy.

Tales from the Loop is technically a licensed game, based on the amazing art of Simon Stålenhag. A brilliant, simple, and evocative game that really captures a weird eighties full of robots and time travel.

I'd still love to see a new Ghostbusters RPG, or have the chance to work on Star Wars in some way. I'd really love to get the chance to write an official RPG based on The X-Files or Twin Peaks. We can hope...

Who Do You Think You Are?

I'm not sleeping very well. I don't know if it's the lack of physical activity in this (third) lockdown, or if my head's too busy worrying about everything, but I spend a lot of time just staring at the ceiling and thinking. Wondering. Wondering why I'm not able to sleep. Wondering if Star Fleet uniforms in Star Trek: Discovery are so comfortable that you don't need socks - let's face it, Burnham wasn't wearing socks when her boots were ripped off by that baddie in the Jefferies Tube.

Anyway, at three in the morning a few weeks ago I had this idea. I wanted to write my autobiography. 

Crazy, huh? First of all, I'm not a great fan of autobiographies. I know a lot of people do get a kick out of them, but they really don't float my boat at all. I've read a few - one of the few I really did enjoy was Wil Wheaton's 'Just a Geek'. There was something about its honesty and the way it was written that meant I actually enjoyed it. 

But secondly, I don't think I'm actually very interesting. I had this conversation in my head at 3AM where I thought...

Why would anyone want to read an autobiography of you?

Well they wouldn't. But, then there are others out there who have done the same and I didn't know who they were either. Look at that Mark Barrowcliffe chap who did the one about growing up while playing Dungeons & Dragons? 

Yeah, but you didn't enjoy that one did you? 

It's no fault of the author, I'm just not a big fan of autobiographies! I know lots of people who loved that book.

But he was basically saying the same thing. About growing up in the 70s and 80s and playing far too much D&D. What could you bring to the table that's different?

That's the thing isn't it? What would make my boring autobiography different?

I had this idea many years ago about doing some of my Roll Your Own Life entries as some form of webseries - this was back when I used to think webseries were cool and before everything went horribly wrong. Of course, not only did the webseries thing come to a grinding halt, I had that realisation that (in the long run) no one would want to stare at my big bald face for any length of time.

How to make it different? And not boring?

One way of avoiding looking at my boring face is doing a podcast. But then there's editing, recording it without any background noise, adding music and stuff like that. It's doable, but is it the best way forward?

The other option is going for the comic strip. Heck, I used to draw comics. When I thought the RPG writing thing wasn't happening I wrote and published comics back during the UK Indie Comics boom of the late 90s. Admittedly, it has been a long time since I've drawn comics. I've done some drawing recently for illustrations for WILD, but I'm convinced I can't draw. 

But, I may give it a go anyway. 

So here's the pitch. My life, retold in comic strip form, in small episodes from different eras, badly remembered and slightly fictionalised, from the perspective of a long time tabletop gamer who really should get a life. It'll get me away from looking at computers in the evening (when I've spent most of the day looking at them) and it may be a laugh. It may also be rubbish. 

Now... where to start...???

#RPGaDAY 2019 - DAY 3: ENGAGE

Some of the old Wizards of the Coast Star Wars minis
Awesome custom dice with the Autocratik logo provided by Chimeric Designs

Day three of #RPGaDAY 2019 is "ENGAGE" - I don't know about you but when anyone says Engage I don't think of how I can engage with other players, or engage with people online. All I think of is Star Trek.

See, despite me being exposed to Star Wars at a very young age, I don't discriminate between my "Stars" - I love Star Wars, and I love Star Trek. But that's not what I wanted to talk about.

What I wanted to say for today is "Reach for the Stars".

Basically, many years ago I posted a video about small books, inspired by Traveller, and posted some ideas about how I'd tackle creating a new Star Trek RPG - this was before the awesome Star Trek Discovery aired, and I was watching the 2009 movie at every opportunity.

I mocked up some books, made a video, and thought nothing more of it.

But that video did get seen. It got noticed, and months after posting the video I was talking to the awesome people at Modiphius and became the line developer (albeit for a brief time) for their RPG Star Trek Adventures.

So if you have dreams, ideas and hopes, post about them and you never know what may happen.

I'm still hoping someone reads my many posts about Harry Potter and calls me up to offer me the chance to design an RPG...

We can hope.

Until then, be sure to ENGAGE!!

Breaking the Rules (Tales of Hogwarts 2)

Having one of those "What's the frelling point?" days today, looking at WILD and feeling like it's all nonsense and that no one will ever want to read it or play it. One of the problems sometimes of having too many ideas and not enough motivation or the means to go through with it.

The t-shirt I was wearing for last night's Tales from the Loop game -
Bonus points if you recognise the 80's movie it is from!

As a means of distraction, I've been continuing my thoughts of using the Tales from the Loop system to create a Harry Potter RPG. We had another excellent game of Tales from the Loop last night, resolving one of the plots of the many we'd uncovered in the mystery landscape.

Last post, I started discussing how the Pride and Luck rationing could be tweaked to better reflect the Kids' time at Hogwarts, rather than out in the field filled with bizarre technology and weirdness.

The next stage is taking a look at the Attributes and Skills used in Tales from the Loop and seeing what needs to be changed to suit Harry Potter.

-

It's strange, but I had weird flashbacks to Star Trek. A couple of years ago, when I first started talking to Modiphius about working on Star Trek, they told me it would be done using their 2D20 system and I should take a look at that and see how it could be adapted to suit Star Trek.

The first thing I did was look at the 2D20 games they had published, or were in the works, to start "breaking the rules" - so to speak. Breaking the rules down into their components to see how it works. A sort of reverse-engineering.

I looked at Mutant Chronicles, Infinity, Conan and John Carter, knowing that they wanted a level of complexity in the middle of the range (if Infinity/MC was the complex end, and John Carter was 2D20 "lite"). First thing I did was make notes of what Attributes and Skills were used for each incarnation of 2D20, and see what related to what.

My original notes during the early phases of Star Trek Adventures development
looking at the various incarnations of 2D20

I also took a long look at the previous incarnations of Star Trek - the FASA, Last Unicorn Games and Decipher versions - and looked to see what they had considered essential skills and attributes in their interpretations of Trek.

More of my original notes, looking at the previous versions of Star Trek
and how they broke down the skills and attributes.

Eventually, I came up with six Attributes, and the six "skills" (which were basically the posts on the crew, two for each Star Fleet Division). The Attributes were Bravery, Control, Empathy, Presence, Reason, and Resilience. And the "skills" were Command, Conn, Medical, Science, Engineering, and Security.

Those Attributes changed shortly after I left the project, but you get the idea of where I was going with it.

-

I started doing the same with Tales from the Loop. I knew the system was used by a couple of other excellent games - Mutant: Year Zero, and Coriolis - so I thought I'd look and see what Attributes and Skills were used for each of these games.

However, looking at the Attributes and Skills gave me the same feeling I had when I first started picking at 2D20 for Star Trek...

FREE YOUR MIND...

And by that, I wanted to take the ties off. One of the first things I suggested for Star Trek was to untie the relationship between Attribute and Skill. Sure, it means that some players will want to always use their strongest Attribute to do anything, but the situation will determine if a certain Attribute or Skill comes into play.

I used a simple example for this -

Say you want to lift a rock. Bear in mind, this is for the original Star Trek Attributes, not the ones they went for finally as I'm more familiar with my version...

If you want to lift a rock to hit someone with it, you'd use Resilience and Security (as it's combat).
If you want to lift a rock off of someone who is pinned, you'd use Resilience and Medicine.
If you want to lift a rock off of someone while lava is approaching, you could use Bravery and Medicine.
If you wanted to lift a rock to see what is underneath, you'd use Reason and Science.
If you wanted to lift a rock to by wedging something under it and levering it free you'd use Resilience and Engineering.

You get the gist.

Looking at the system used in Loop and the other games, the skills are firmly tied to an attribute... I'm quite keen to break those ties as the first stage.

I'd also like to use similar Attributes to Tales from the Loop - but Tech needs replacing. Next comes the big issue which I'll be pondering over the week - what should replace Tech? Would a Magic Attribute be too powerful?

Hmmm... I'm going to think about that, and look in depth again at the breakdown of Charms, Jinxes and Curses ready for the next post. (As well as going back to writing WILD - after all, there's a lot more chance of WILD seeing the light of day than there is a Harry Potter game!!)

Until next time, stay multi-classy!

Done, Done, Onto the Next One!

I've been a bit quiet on here recently - sorry! Been busy. I had a writing project come in - not a huge one, but it was a major one for me - and I was already a month or two late in delivering what was promised.

Why was it a major one? Well, that's two-fold.

In a strange way this is almost the anniversary of my stepping back from the Line Developer role working on Modiphius' Star Trek Adventures. A dream job, working on a license I love. I didn't want to withdraw my involvement, but circumstances meant that if I didn't I would have made myself seriously sick - certainly mentally, if not physically. I was doing too much and I just wasn't handling it as well as I should.

Backing out was hard, but necessary. Afterwards I kept questioning myself, asking if I'd done the right thing? And then came the desert that was writing work. It just wasn't there - I started to worry if word of my failure had spread, and now no one would hire me to work on their games. I'd shot myself in the foot, no one would touch me. Gone were my chances of ever helming another game, let alone my dreams of writing Harry Potter...

The other major thing about this writing job was that 60-70% of the gig was an adventure.

Back when I started trying to get into RPG writing, back in the late 1980s, the only thing I thought companies wanted was adventures. I wrote a couple of adventures for WEG's Ghostbusters RPG, which got some pretty positive responses - though they never saw print. Just wasn't suitable (I foolishly steered a little close to other movie copyrights). I started work on another Ghostbusters adventure, and a Price of Freedom one, but then life got in the way - I went to work in cartography and archaeology, and the worlds of gaming faded to the background for a while.

When I tried to get back into game writing again, it was with Eden Studios. The first thing I wrote for them was a sample supplement for All Flesh Must Be Eaten called "Summercamp Stalkers and Unstoppable Evil" - there was a sort-of adventure at the back of the book. More a setting for teens to run around and avoid a horrible undead nemesis. Not really a proper plotted adventure with a story, as such.

From there, everything I did either had adventures written by other people or didn't need adventures. Even for Doctor Who I got a handful of more qualified adventure writers on board to come up with that section, and I'm glad I did. I've always been a bit crap at coming up with adventure ideas.

This reluctance to write adventures (because I'm convinced I'm crap) even lead to my turning down one of the most high-profile adventure writing gigs around - Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave. I know... what a dumbass.

So I was cautious when it came to the new gig. I hadn't written for a while, and the last plotted and storied adventure I'd worked on was around 1989... But, the subject was fun, and I couldn't turn it down.

And I'm glad I worked on it. I just sent off the completed thing this evening. Now it's onto edits, revisions, layout and illustrations. I'm sure I'll mention it a lot in the following months, especially when the Kickstarter begins.

I hope the company likes it, and I hope you like it when you see it. I had a blast writing it, and it's reassured me that I can not only have a go at adventures again in the future, but also that I can actually finish something. That was a big part - actually finishing something. With WILD taking so many years and failing to get anywhere I was starting to think I was incapable of doing anything anymore.

Anyway, I can't say what this project was, I'm sure it'll be announced soon. But, thanks to it, I'm back on the horse.

I think we must expect great things from you... 2018

...as long as they're not terrible.

I started writing a lengthy "end of year" blog post, filled with the usual "I didn't get this done" and "this is what has happened" nonsense. I even started thinking about my films, games and TV of the year. And you know what? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what I thought of the year, what movie I thought was good, or any of it.

What matters is what YOU thought of the year.

More importantly, what matters is what you make of the new year.

-

Reflecting on 2017, I just wanted to thank some people.

Thanks to Chris Birch and Sam Webb at Modiphius, for letting me play in the Star Trek universe for a bit. For giving me the opportunity to work with cool Trek people like Dayton Ward and Scott Pearson, and for letting me shape the game a little. Many, many congratulations to them for how the game turned out and for the critical response to it.

Thanks to Dominic McDowall and Jon Hodgson at Cubicle 7 for putting up with my stupid emails.

Thanks to Anthony Boyd for his hard work and dedication running 2017's #RPGaDAY, making it the most far-reaching and successful campaigns spreading the positive message of RPGs to the world.

Thanks to Eric Campbell at Geek & Sundry for hosting some of the coolest actual plays around online featuring the aforementioned Star Trek Adventures and, before it, the game I designed for C7 - Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space (or Doctor Who Roleplaying Game as it is now). The exposure of the Twitch streams have sent the popularity of both of these games into the stratosphere.

Thanks to all my friends and family who have put up with my constant crap all year, and especially thank you to my lovely wife, Debs. Together, we're going to grab 2018 by the proverbials and show the world what we can do.

-

2018 is a big year for me. I just hope I can make it even bigger by doing something really special.

Take care of each other, roll well, stay multi-classy and as Neil Gaiman said - "make good art."

Bryan Fuller-ing

Before we start, I just want to say I'm a big fan of Bryan Fuller, and I hope he doesn't mind that I've verbified his name for the purpose of what I have to say in this blog post. Bryan Fuller has made some amazing TV, including one of my favourites - Hannibal. I struggle to think of a more beautifully filmed, scripted and crafted series. It is simply gorgeous - if not one to watch while you're having your tea.

Bryan Fuller, as you probably know, got his start by being a huge fan of Star Trek. Back in the 90's, when Star Trek was producing multiple series as well as the movies, they had an open door policy where you could submit a script. This almost unheard-of process gave us a whole host of brilliant writers who have gone on to do wonderful things. Fuller, of course, went on to fantastic series like Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and the eagerly awaited adaptation of Gaiman's American Gods. 

Last year it was announced that he'd be showrunner on the new Star Trek series - Star Trek: Discovery, and fandom screamed and shouted for this was a genius move on behalf of CBS. Unfortunately, production has taken its time, and scheduling has meant that he's had to back out of Star Trek: Discovery completely. Speaking to Newsweek he said:

"Ultimately, with my responsibilities [elsewhere], I could not do what CBS needed to have done in the time they needed it done for Star Trek. It felt like it was best for me to focus on landing the plane with American Gods and making sure that was delivered in as elegant and sophisticated a fashion as I could possibly do."

Basically, he's defined how the series is, helped write the first couple of episodes, and he's had to pull out. It's not that he doesn't still love Star Trek, but circumstances beyond his control has meant that he's had to reassess the situation and pull out of the project.

I think you're starting to see where I'm going with this now.

Last year it was announced that Modiphius would be producing a new Star Trek roleplaying game, called Star Trek Adventures. 

In actuality, I knew about this a long time before as I had been involved since almost the second that the license with CBS was signed. I've known Chris at Modiphius a long time, and he was instrumental in getting the Doctor Who license for us when Cubicle 7 approached the BBC. Chris had seen my blog post many, many moons ago where I was ranting about how there isn't a Star Trek RPG, how I'd do it, and so on, and knew I was the person to ask to get involved. 

I, of course, leapt at the chance. Remember that time I was asked to write for Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave and turned it down? If someone asks if you're a God you say YES! So I did.

Modiphius, and Chris, were brilliant. They accommodated my day-job, and set me to work thinking how to adapt their house system, the 2D20 system, to suit Star Trek. Not only was I "lead writer" they had me consulting on artwork, how the miniatures looked, how the game would work, what supplements should be produced... everything. It was awesome. 

However, (and you knew it was coming) working two jobs, filling every waking hour with one job or another, was a bit too ambitious for me. When Christmas in retail came, along with a death in the family, I started to realise that something was going wrong. I wasn't sleeping, my health was suffering. I was breaking out in a rash, getting irritable with everyone, snapping and being just a misery to interact with. I couldn't concentrate on anything for more than ten minutes, and the docs pointed the finger at stress. I had to do something.

My last few posts have been about taking a "time out" from the world. Cutting back on everything for the sake of my health and sanity. Unfortunately, one of those things that I've had to cut was Star Trek Adventures. 

So, that's where the "Bryan Fuller-ing" comes from. I'm having to pull out of Star Trek Adventures. It doesn't mean I don't love Star Trek, and I have tremendous faith in the game. The vast team who are working on it are doing a fantastic job, and the line developer is doing a brilliant job of coordinating the various arms of Starfleet as they work on every aspect of the game - from the main RPG, to the Living Campaign, the miniatures, and the various supplements. 

It is going to be brilliant. 

Much like Bryan Fuller's input on Star Trek Discovery, there is a lot of me still in the game - the tone of voice, the "skills", freeing up the links between skills and attributes in a true IDIC-way, and the way the game is structured. Even the planned special editions are inspired by some of my suggestions. And, again like Bryan Fuller, I've penned a portion of the project, but alas I'm having to step away and reassess things.

I doubted myself, as you'd expect. I thought I was making a terrible mistake. But in the weeks since I made the decision, the stress is dissipating. My concentration is back - I'm able to sit through a whole episode of a TV without getting distracted. The skin is clearing up, and I'm sleeping better (when the cat lets me). 

If it's a choice between Star Trek and my health, then I'd have to listen to Spock and "Peace and Long Life". I'm sorry it has had to come to this, and I do feel like I've let Modiphius down, but if I'd have stayed on board my lack of concentration could have put the game at risk, and the project needed someone who could dedicate their time to making it the awesome game it will become. 

Keep up to date with Star Trek Adventures at www.modiphius.com/star-trek - it's going to be great. 

Until next post, I'm going to watch some great TV, await American Gods, and put my head in order. Maybe book some time on Riza... Maybe, just maybe, in the future, if Starfleet will have me and when I'm fit to serve, I can rejoin their ranks in a lesser capacity.

Live Long and Prosper.

Dave

#RPGaDAY Day Thirty: Your Ideal Game Room

Day Thirty of #RPGaDAY asks what your ideal gaming room would be like if budget was no option. I have to admit, I've stopped playing at the big, traditional table, preferring the more relaxed atmosphere of sitting in bigger comfy chairs. We have smaller tables if we need to roll dice, but the relaxed feel lets us get into character better.

I guess, if budget wasn't a problem, then the bridge of Enterprise D is a great start. If the front chairs swivelled around to face the others, that'd be great. Or it'd be ideal for running Star Trek - the GM could be where the viewscreen is...

Until tomorrow, for the final day - Peace, and Long Life...

#RPGaDAY 2016 - Day Eight: Hardcover, Softcover or Digital?

That one's an easy one. After the essay I wrote yesterday, this one boils down to a fairly simple answer. I'm not a fan of softcovers, because the covers end up curly or damaged after weeks of abuse of looking up detailed. I find PDFs handy for reference, and portability, but nothing beats a good hardcover!

Though it's always nice if you don't get a hernia lifting a super heavy tome like the latest Shadowrun.

I discussed this topic a long time ago in this seemingly timely video for my channel...

Some of that seems strangely apt now.

But it this question has raised an interesting thought. What about "apps"? Why hasn't anyone gone further with the digital route and done the book as an app?

While working on WILD, I really wanted the book's digital equivalent to be more than just pages. I wanted animations, tap to open new features or examples of play. That sort of thing.

One day.

Until tomorrow, Peace and Long Life, and stay multiclassy!

Gaming Nostalgia: The FASA Catalog Spring 1987

One of those #ThrowbackThursday things, I was looking through one of my old games (Did I mention my copy of the old FASA Doctor Who RPG is signed by Tom Baker?) and found this rather awesome gem - a snapshot of gaming history...

The FASA Catalog of Games and Books - Spring 1987

My scanner is under a pile of books somewhere, but I took some photos so you could join me in reliving the glory of FASA's wares of the day - Battletech, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and... Top Gun??