RPG A Day 2019--August 7th--Familiar

I'm having trouble with this one. Should we talk about systems we're familiar with or familiar situations we've been in? In any case I'm not going to spend a lot of time with thinking about it as there are many days and prompts ahead.

When it comes to RPGs and familiarity, I think we tend to stick with the games and even the people that we are familiar with. It's sometimes hard to move from the familiar because we feel safe and contented there. In particular, if you've invested a bunch of time or money in a game or particular edition, it's hard re-invest in something new. Almost every time I go to a Mexican Restaurant I get steak fajitas and a margarita. I might want to try something new, but at the end of the day, if I go outside the familiar and I don't like it, well, I feel like I missed out. Gaming is like that on a much larger scale. There is only a finite amount of money and time. Scheduling a session is rough. We tend not to want to waste that time learning a system we might like to play and would rather jump right into playing something that everyone is familiar with. That's okay, but sometimes you miss out on better by sticking with good.

Tomorrow's word is the opposite direction--Obscure. I'll be talking about a fairly obscure game I enjoy and that I feel is worth stepping away from the familiar for-Index Card Role Playing Game.

RPGaDay 2019--August 6--Ancient

Today's word is 'Ancient' which is sometimes how I feel if I'm playing with a 20-something or younger. It's hard to believe that I've been playing RPGs in one way or another for over thirty years.

Back in my day we didn't have any of these Elec-Tronic dice rollers...we actually had to roll dice and sometimes you had to color in the numbers and you were lucky to have more than one set.

We didn't have any of the fancy virtual table tops and applications--if you didn't have friends to play with you had to come up with a way to run solo or else play the Fighting Fantasy, Choose Your Own Adventure or  Wizards Warriors and You books.

And forget about video games, they were all text-based and you had to either play Adventure on the Atari 2600 or Gauntlet in the arcade.

Plus, if you did manage to find a group you'd all be pegged as Devil Worshippers anyhow and may make the news as a local coven.

And you wouldn't let any girls play with you and if they did show up, they were already attached to the one "cool guy" in your group, and you'd do your best to run them off and teach them a lesson.

That's the way it was and we liked it... We loved it!!

I was trying to channel Dana Carvey's old man character from Saturday Night Live but even the reference to that comedian and his skits dates me as being more ancient.

In gaming a lot have things have improved for the better since those "Ancient" times in the 1980's--maybe '70's for those more ancient than me--and I'm not a politically correct/SJW kind of guy, far from it, but wouldn't it be nice to go back to the time when kids playing Dungeons and Dragons--and other RPGs--was the biggest problem parents had to worry about.

Tomorrow's word is Familiar

RPGaDay 2019--August 5th--Space

Todays word is "space" as I stare at the blank space of this page and try to use the empty space between my ears to fill it. My idea about space today is the great amount of it between me and my gaming groups...and how it's not so big of a problem anymore.

I don't want the whole month to be about Roll*20 and other virtual table tops, but they truly are a godsend. For years and years I had no game to play at all because even a couple of hours travel time removed from the main group made it virtually impossible to attend regularly...and I can't be the flake.  Nowadays--especially if you are willing to run it--dozens of games are available and just a click away.

I still have problems getting together with old friends in the States and I'm sure the UAE group is done in as far as my participation in it is concerned~lots of space means different time zones~. I'm not clear how this year's effort will go as I relocate to China. Will I have access to a live group out there? Might I be able to recruit my new students or create a role playing club? Will my virtual table tops even work on their strictly regulated internet? Who knows?  However, there is no doubt that the world is a whole lot smaller thanks to our technology and the space between us is a smaller hurdle to participating in the hobby than it has ever been.

Tomorrow...'Ancient'

RPG A Day--August 4th--Share

I'm cheating a bit in this entry by SHARING one of what I hope is one of my funnier news reports. So many funny ones to choose from, and while these reports are 100% pure Markham, the campaign was the classic "Thicker Than Blood" module and the actions reported on were based on those taken by the players

Setting up the Clip:

It's from a Roll*20 session of a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign I ran around two years ago. I can't imagine any of you not knowing what Cyberpunk is, but just in case, it's a near dystopian future setting wherein we have progressed well technologically speaking, but maybe not so much socially. Some have called it hi-tech low-life. It's kind of like Bladerunner or Alita: Battle Angel.  I play as Cocoa Lopez AKA COLO she is a young media personality employed by Network 54 to report on the exploits of a team of edgerunners--the players--which she is embedded with. In these reports are her boss, anchor man, Lyle McClellen, her co-worker and rival, Bobbie Blake, and a few other NPCs.

The Broadcasts:

    This is Lyle McClellen with breaking news out of South Night City in the area known as the Hill. Earlier this afternoon an explosion decimated one of the many mill houses in the area resulting in the death of one Marta Anders. The 80-year-old, long-time resident was said to be a pillar of the community to the many undocumented workers that populate this area.  NCPD forensics had this to say on the matter:

“Well,  one thing’s for sure, it’ll have to be a closed casket funeral. Had to have some of the low-level tech boys blot what was left of her up with handiwipes—hope they get enough to take down to the morgue, so we can try an’ identify her officially. 

Of course it was booster gangs…but in a neighborhood like this “Nobody didn’t see nuffin’”…gets worse every year the freakin’ animals. What’s this supposed to be—some kind of accident? What did she do mistake a KG of military grade C6 explosives for Cake mix?  What kind of a sicko blows up an old lady anyway? That’s what I’d like to know. 

In what is surely an incredible coincidence, our own Coco Lopez, who is currently embedded with a group of “special investigators” for the hit show ‘Night City: Ride Along’ seen here each night on Network 54, was on the scene only a short time before the tragedy struck. Miss Lopez is there any insight that you can give so that the people of this city can make some sense out of this senseless act?

I didn’t see nuffin. 

I'll share another one...but they keep getting smaller...

If you have your jeweler's glass handy, you just might be able to check out one more...

 I wish I could make them bigger for you but I think you get the general idea. Tomorrow's topic...SPACE.




































and the report...if I can post it...

RPG A Day 2019-- August 3--Engage

It's time to Engage with the entry for today's RPG a Day: Engage

We'll go with the definition that means to take hold or to interact. While we're doing these RPGaDay exercises one can't help but to relate the topic to the activity. Engaging--especially with people outside of your normal circles, but also with different settings and systems--is very important for growth. As a lot of us are getting older--I can't believe that I have better than 30 years of role playing experience--it is important that we don't stagnate or separate ourselves from the community at large if we want to keep playing. Also, if you are particularly fond of an older system or edition, engaging new, younger players with those rules is always a possibility. With the advent of Roll*20 and other virtual table tops as well as the recent groundswell of interest in RPGs, there is no reason to be without a game. Engage with the community at hand, use the technology we have available and who knows what new adventures you may find.

Tomorrow we have "Share"

RPG A Day 2019--August 2nd--Unique

I believe that RPGs--while possibly not unique in this regard--are at least on a short list of past times that manage to stimulate both sides of our brains at the same time.

When we're playing an RPG--even a computer or video game version--we're using our imaginations to picture settings, characters, battles, and proper dialogue choices. Meanwhile, our left side is doing the number crunching, measurement, problem solving and resource management. Other mental activities such as: expressing emotions, showing empathy, use or lack of use of logic, and enjoying reciprocal feelings of camaraderie and respect are all happening when we play...and happening at the same time whether we realize it or not.

What's happening at the table doesn't even take into account the mental gymnastics required outside of the game to make a campaign a success. You are always planning for the next session, managing your schedule and hopefully showing up for said session, researching new products and engaging with the broader community of hobby enthusiasts--such as during RPG a Day and maybe most importantly, navigating the "unique"  personalities one runs into at any given table.

Personally, after most sessions, my mind is still racing and I often need a melatonin or something to slow it down. I don't get this feeling from anything else I do...let's just hope it's good for us.

Tomorrow...Engage

RPG A Day 2019--August 1st--First

It's that time of year again and time to write some RPG blog entries. It's been a very long time since I've updated.  It's year four for me, so I've been around for better half of these. I might pick up with the normal blog writing this school year as I will be starting a new adventure in China, but that's not why you came. It's RPG a Day month and we start with First...

This year's prompt list is purposely open ended so "First" can be any number of things. To put it out there, although I may have mentioned it before in one of the other responses, my first RPG had to be the Marvel Superheroes--FASERIP--from TSR. I ran it mainly for my younger brother and one of his friends. I'm not detailing that one because I'm sure it's in my blogs somewhere.

My response to "first" this year is that it's the first time since 2013 that I don't have anything going as a player or a GM. I am in the middle of a big move from teaching in the United Arab Emirates to teaching in China.

The UAE has quite the table-top community if you know where to look for it. It is mostly made up of expats, but a few locals have the bug too. I joined up with Gulf Roleplaying Community--which you can find on Facebook--that runs mini-conventions for play from time to time. This led to having a cup of coffee with a small group in Abu Dhabi. For those not in the know, the UAE is small on the map, but big in real-life. In spite of my love for the hobby, six hour round trips every Friday were not sustainable. From there I found Roll*20. Without a doubt virtual table-tops are the next best thing to live tables. I ran and played many different campaigns and one-shots with varying degrees of success. Flakiness on the part of other players--and sometimes the technology itself--causes frustration, but I've been able to play more often with more people via this medium than I ever have before. Finally, a live gaming group did appear out in the blight where I lived. The group has had many roster changes, but I was one of the founding members who established it in 2015. Many an adventure was had, and hopefully many more to come...

...but for me, I wrapped up the Roll*20 at the end of May. My latest group having ended with a whimper rather than a bang--but still on good terms--not knowing how or even if Roll*20 plays in China. I had to duck out of the live group out in the provinces of Abu Dhabi toward the end of June, but I am pleased that it will live on for at least another school year. Although with my exit,  all  of the founding members have moved on. So, for the first time in a long time--no playing, no running, and no immediate plans to pick things up again.

Tomorrow--Unique