The Nightmare Before Smurfmas! - Part I

A Merry Smurfmas and Smurfy Holidays My Smurfs! 

Although there isn't any snow on the ground where I am, it definitely feels like the holidays. New York City has decorations everywhere, with trees large and small covered in all manner of lights. The fancy stores along 5th Avenue have their amazing holiday display windows up and everyone is in a joyous rush to get home to their loved ones.

Now, it's Christmas Day!

Oh what a smurfy time of year! 

What better way to close out the year* than with a Smurfs TRPG one-shot that is also holiday themed? None I dare say! Especially in the case of last weekend's great game of The Smurfs Roleplaying Game, run with a mix of old friends and new, as I got the chance to be 'Storyteller Smurf' for Andy, Brandon, Heather, and Stephen, all formerly part of The Smurfs and The Palace of the Silver Princess. Stephen was the Storyteller for that, as well as for the one-shot The Smurfs and The Bluebird of Happiness. I was very excited [and honestly a bit intimidated] to be on the other side of the table for such a talented Smurfs GM.

Unfortunately, René (Suave Smurf) couldn't join us (we couldn't get a hold of him) but we did have the addition of Julia, a friend of Heather's, who gave us a much needed additional Smurf Girl of Smurfy Grove (since my own Smurfcornflower wouldn't be there). She and Stephen established a very different dynamic between this group and our last big outing even though four of the participants (and three of the Player Characters) were the same. 

Our group of Smurfs was therefore Smurfamaryllis, Apathy Smurf, Brash Smurf, Gamer Smurf, and Smurfhoneysuckle.

Smurfamaryllis (Julia)                  and              Gamer Smurf (Stephen)

Without further adeu, here is Part I of my recap of The Nightmare Before Smurfmas!

Snow is falling, the trees are decorated, and Baker Smurf is making his annual Chocolate and Smurfberry Yule Log Cake - Yes Smurf Boys and Girls, it's almost Smurfmas!** As Smurf Village and Smurfy Grove plan one smurf of a holiday party together, something strange lurks in the woods between the two hidden places. Azrael! Gargamel's nasty ol' cat seems to be searching for the Smurfs but Gargamel himself is nowhere to be seen. Hmm. It could be a trap! 

A group of Smurfs, Boys and Girls alike, volunteer to investigate. Well...sort of. Smurfamaryllis, Brash Smurf, and Smurfhoneysuckle volunteer and basically drag Apathy and Gamer along. What they discover is quite odd. Azrael seems pretty roughed up and eventually falls exhausted in the snow, whimpering softly.

While Apathy and Brash are not sure if they should go help him - I mean, he has tried to smurf many a Smurf over the years - Honeysuckle is already out there checking on the cat (Honeysuckle is a farmer and really cares about animals). Amaryllis tags along.

Gamer plays a quick Riddle/Guessing Game with the other boys. If he wins, they help Azrael. If they win, he'll follow their lead. Gamer wins! The entire group takes Azrael back to the edge of Smurfy Grove and calls on Smurfwillow's help. The wise older Female Smurf gives the cat some medicine and it begins to meow frantically! They are able to determine that Gargamel is in trouble! Something about a Magic Spell and some kind of Monster! Great Smurfs!

While Azrael rests and heals, Smurfwillow sends a message to Papa Smurf letting him know the group is headed to Gargamel's hovel/castle to investigate further. The group grabs their favored gear and receives some holiday treats before heading Northeast.

The trip is not an easy one. The region is covered in deep snow (if you're three apples tall that is) and there is a lot of slippery ice. Branches have fallen from trees and the wind wickedly whipped westward. There is also the matter of the Smurfs themselves, who smurfed each other the wrong way at every turn.

Smurfamaryllis needed to be the center of attention and kept trying to get the others to watch what she's doing. Apathy, well he's Apathy and couldn't have cared less, which just made Amaryllis try harder. The long standing competition/rivalry between Brash and Honeysuckle was friendly (flirty?) and good-natured but that took their focus away from Amaryllis and she didn't like that. She might also have been a little sweet on Brash. Gamer keeps wanting to make it all a game, which proves annoying to the others and potentially dangerous near ponds of thin ice.***

Eventually, Apathy took up the role of leader and got the party to get its smurf together. They decided to make a brief camp, warm up with some Smurfberry Leaf Tea and Smurfberry Biscuits, and smurf out their differences. After some heartfelt and humorous dialogue, Honeysuckle notices a light not too far away. She points it out to the others, believing it to be another campfire. The group gets up to take a closer look but can only see the shadows of small people.

After dowsing their fire, the party walks over to see a dozen or so (Thirteen to be exact) small, wizened elf-like beings gathered around their own campfire. One member of the group invites the Smurfs over to have a bowl of their soup, which the PCs suddenly notice is cooking over the little trolls' flame. Was that there a second ago? Amaryllis bows and says she would be honored to try their soup! After all, "I am well known as a Great Taster of Soups back in Smurfy Grove!", she exclaims. The little men laugh and slap their knees and each others backs. 

"Smurfs you say? Well, *chuckle* splendid, splendid! We, my brothers and I, are the Yule Lads. Here you are lovely Smurf", said one of the 'handsome goblins'**** as he handed her a bowl and a spoon. Smurfamaryllis loved the attention and praise and gladly took the gift of food. She scooped up a spoonful of thick broth and potato chunks and downed it in one gulp. She then spewed it out, coughing and making just the most contorted of faces.

"What the smurf? What's wrong Amaryllis?", shouted Honeysuckle, her hands balling into fists.

"It's sour and spoiled. Like it went bad long ago! Yuck! Awful! But it looked and smelled so good", replied Amaryllis, trying to use her scarf to wipe the taste off her tongue.

All 13 Yule Lads roared with laughter. "Oldest trick we have and still one of the best", said one. 

"The look on her silly face!" barked another.

"That's what you get for boasting", snapped a third, his face more serious than his kin. 

"Let's just be on our way...", Gamer began to say but it was too late. He was traveling with Brash Smurf and Brash Smurf tended to be rather...well...Brash. Leaping forward, his hands wrapped in his signature red cape, Brash grabbed the handles of the soup pot and threw the entirety of it at the Yule Lads. Not to be outdone ('cause isn't that her way), Honeysuckle followed up by smurfing the lid of the pot at them discus (frisbee) style. Amaryllis smurfed the Yule Lad who had handed her the rotten potato soup with her baton (stick) with a rattling 'thok!'

"And take that!", she exclaimed!

The Yule Lads erupted in yelps, shouts, and at least two in a loud 'BONG!' as the pot lid struck them. Suddenly the Smurfs were surrounded by the mischevious bunch, all attempting to trick, trip, pull, push, or steal something from the group. The team fought back in various very clever ways, from Amaryllis drawing their attention so Brash could send them rolling down the hill, to Gamer distracting them with a game of dice while Honeysuckle shook a bush that buried a few Yule Lads in falling snow.

Finally as the tricky, troublemaking trolls looked like they were on the outs, one of the Yule Lads stood tall with a burning stick in his hand, laughing hysterically yet furiously as he approached the Smurfs. Most were taken aback, quite intimidated or at least wary of the threat. Apathy gently pushed passed his friends and stood right in from of the fellow, classic nonplussed***** look of calm disinterest on his face. 

"Yes?", Apathy said in a bored monotone. "You have something to say?"

The Yule Lad leered at Apathy for a long moment. Then looked confused for nearly as long. Then he shut his mouth and stepped back. Apathy, face completely unchanged, took a slow and very deliberate step forward. The Yule Lad gulped, put out his torch in the snow, and grinned sheepishly. "Heh, just a bit of fun ol' nut? No real harm or foul, right? We'll be about our business and you the same."

"Not so fast!", said Honeysuckle in a deep, rough-sounding drawl, right hand clenched in a fist, "What are y'all doing here? You know what's going on up at the castle don't ya?" 

The Yule Lads began to mutter and whisper among themselves, most of the conversations ending in shrugs and head scratching. The one who'd been threatening the Smurfs a mere moment ago said, "We were doing nothing of note 'til you came along. Our Master told us to waylay any who'd come to the aid of the old malcontent up there in the ruined keep. A true misanthrope if ever there was one! Who'd come to help such a churl, I mean really?"

The Smurfs all looked at each other, their feelings and thoughts twisting in knotts. Gargamel.

"Who is your Master..." Gamer Smurf began, but the Yule Lads were gone. There was no fire, no evidence they'd ever been there. Wait...that wasn't quite accurate. On a log the wee cretins had previous been sitting on when the Smurfs first met them, Gamer found a small package in a bright green box tied with a red bow. A present? He showed it to the others and they suggested he hold on to it for the time being.

With that, off they went to Gargamel's...

So ends Part I of our Yule Tide Tale! Stay tuned for more after these messages...

AD

Barking Alien

*This game was not necessarily the last one of the year but it was holiday themed, it was Smurfs, and it just felt like if I had to make this one good just in case I don't get to play again this year. I know, I know. I do it to myself.

**Smurfmas isn't so much Christmas but more the Pagan Yule Tide holidays of pre-Christian France and Belgium mixed with a few more Christmas-y trappings. I always imagine the Smurfs are some sort of Forest Spirits or Fae so it kind of makes sense.

***This group of Player Character Smurfs featured a lot more interpersonal friction than any of my previous Smurf parties thus far. This was absolutely the intention. Discussed right before the start of the game, Julia wanted to play a character that leaned in the direction of Brainy being a Smart Alec, Hefty being Bull-Headed, Baker Being Greedy (at least on the Cartoon), and the like. This doesn't mean Brainy isn't smart, Hefty isn't strong, or that Baker isn't a skilled, er, baker. She just wanted to lean into Smurfamaryllis' flaws, not her Advantage. 

We talked about it to insure that the group understood issues might arise among the PCs but that had nothing to do with the players. More specifically, Julia wanted to make sure her idea didn't harsh everyone else's mellow. Everyone was cool with her character being trying sometimes and how that dynamic could generate a lot of humor and interpersonal moments. 

Stephen leaned into a similar idea but to a lesser extent. 

****Before letting the players and PCs know they were dealing the Icelandic Folklore beings known as 'The Yule Lads' I danced around the name with various descriptions of faerie beings like pre-Tolkien elves, brownies, lutins, and other such creatures. Julia offhandedly called them 'handsome goblins' at one point and, I don't know if it was the phrase or how she said it, but it struck me as really funny at the time. 

*****Nonplussed is such a great word. It is a contranym; a word with two opposite meanings. Nonplussed can mean surprised and confused, often beyond the ability to react or completely unphased, not peturbed at all.

Sorry this is so long. And that it's a Part I. I really thought I could summarize the session more concisely but like a great stocking over the fireplace on Xmas, this session was stuffed full of neat things. 

Blue Plate Special

HAPPY SMURFSGIVING WEEKEND EVERYONE!

To celebrate my favorite holiday1, I am smurfing up a four course meal of deliciously smurfy goodness. I am positively smurfing to smurf the Smurfs Roleplaying Game again, as I have had so much fun with it so far. It's to the point where I have a rather crazy2 thought but I'll smurf that for the end of the post.

First, why do I love this game so much? Seriously, what is wrong with me? lol Well, there are a number of factors actually:

• The obsurdity of it. Someone made an official Smurfs RPG!
• The rules system. I really like the mechanics a lot! 
• It's a comedic cartoon game AND a Fantasy/Fairytale game!
• It's fast and easy to run and play!
• Tools! So many tools for creating Houses, Magic Items, Characters, and more!

So what am I thinking about today...

Expanded Magic

The rules for casting Magic Spells, crafting Magic Items, and making Potions found in the Smurf are just so flavorful and fun that you'll probably have a least one player who wants to create a magic-using Smurf3.

At the same time, it is explained in the rules that 'instant spells', the outright casting of a  magical incantation out of the blue (the blue! get it?) is very rare in the default Smurfs setting. Following the traditions of French and Belgian folklore, most magic manifests in the form of creatures, objects, and elixirs. 

That said, not only do we sometimes see 'Ritual Magic' and traditional spells being used by characters such as Papa Smurf and Gargamel but this is your campaign and there is nothing preventing you from creating a Smurf with a talent for prestidigitation.

To add even more of a Fairytale/Folklore mystique to your Smurf sorcery, any Player Character with the ability to cast Magic Spells should have a limitation/quirk/requirement that accompanies the act. The concept is common throughout the myths and legends of numerous countries across Europe [and beyond]. 

This is an opportunity for the players and the Storyteller to lean into both the comedy and 'Dark Ages'/Early Middle Ages feel of the Smurfs' world [as I run it]. PC Smurfs might require a wand waved in a specific way [without which they can't use magic], spell out the name of their hexes before casting, or they might forget a recent memory after their rote has been used.

I would apply this to Spellcasting only, as Magic Items and Potions already have perimeters and difficulties built into them. Additionally, I would say that no such limiations should apply to Papa Smurf, Gargamel, and other major league Magicans, Witches, and magical beings such as Fairies (beyond something story based). 

Expanded Base-Building

One of the things I like most about the Smurfs game is of course the Base-Building element. The fact that the designers made the Mushroom Cottages a functional part of the game continues to impress me. The Smurf Houses serve to give the PCs a Safety Roll, which allows an unconscious and/or badly injured PC to wake-up in the comfort of their own home. Additionally, PCs begin with a single Room inside their house that gives them a bonus of +1 thanks to its particular design or a piece of equipment found within it

This got me thinking about various 'strategies' (for lack of a better term) for constructing one's personal abode. Imagine for example that my character Smurfcornflower, who started her first adventure with a Potions Room, essentially an indoor firepit with a cauldron mounted above it and some space to store her Ingredients. The Potion Room gives her a +1 (originally a +2) when making Potions in that room.

What if the next time I add a room, it's an Ingredients Pantry? If Cornflower needs to make a Potion with X, she can attempt a roll under her Mind Attribute +1 to see if she has any on hand. Next, maybe add a Recipe Library containing scrolls and books on hope to make a wide variety of Potions. You get what I am going for here.

Alternatively, a Smurf might want to diversify their portfolio, if you smurf my meaning. A Music Room for a Heart bonus, a Workout Area to benefit Brawn, etc. 

In a past post I discussed the idea of multiple Smurfs contributing Rooms to a single House. Since then I have come up with a host of other thoughts regarding the creation of non-standard Smurf homes. What if instead of a Mushroom Cottage your 'House' was an Inn, a Lighthouse, or even a Seagoing Ship4. An Inn would have rooms many Smurfs could use. A Lighthouse might give a bonus to sailing Smurfs so they could find they way safely home. A Ship gives you many advantages, from rooms on board to transportation to far off lands and maybe a canon for fighting off pirates! Such locations would serve a purpose beyond just being the home of a Smurf and may require, or simply benefit, from having additional rules added to the Base-Building mechanics. Maybe. I need to contemplate on this a bit further.

Expanded Folklore

I've mentioned before (many times - my apologies) that I didn't grow up reading or watching the type of Fantasy that inspired Dungeons & Dragons. I was a little too young and my preference was for Science Fiction and Superheroes. Television shows, movies, and comic books were my source material and few of those were of the Sword and Sorcery Fantasy type in 1977 (when I started gaming). I was far more well versed in things like Folklore, Mythology, and the works of L. Frank Baum and Lewis Carroll. 

When I run the Smurfs RPG, I lean heavily on the Legends and Fairy Tales of Western Europe, specially those from France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. Strong influences sneak in from England, Scandinavia, and elsewhere (to a lesser extent). How far beyond this can I expand? Obviously I can do anything I want in my games. How far beyond this do I want to go? That's a different story and one I've been thinking about quite a lot. 

I don't want to stray too far from Pseudo-Historical Medieval Legend Themed Fantasy Franco-Belgian Setting. The Smurfs themselves go beyond this from time to time, inventing the printing press, dreaming about being an astronaut, and even meeting an alien visitor and a Sci-Fi robot. There are tons of anachronisms in the stories that take place in their default fairytale forest milieu.

For me, I like to keep these instances to a minimum5. Perhaps 'a minimum' isn't quite the right phrase but please bare with me as I explain what I am going for. I think I get the most out of the Smurfs RPG by treating the setting as a Fantasy game, somewhere between Ars Magica and D&D2. Now that's one wide margin to be sure but having run and played Smurfs a number of times now, it really feels like our adventures have all have a very classic Fantasy feel with a humorous twist. A the same time, there is this vaguely dark, fairy folklore feel to them. By keeping the vibes of the original Peyo Comic Strip 'Johan and Peewit' and the legends of France and Belgium in mind, I believe I create a setting with a distinct character that stands out from other Fantasy games. 

Smurfing Solo

My exploration of Solo Roleplaying was rather interesting.

I had fun, I truly did, though I don't know that I ever shook the feeling that it was less a game and more an improvisational writing exercise. I still feel that way for the most part but again, it was fun. The biggest issue was, as always, time. With only so many hours in the day to devote to my hobbies, I couldn't/can't let a game no one will enjoy other than me eat into the time better used generating material for my friends and I to enjoy together.

That said, I have been feeling like getting back into it lately. It's not like I have more free time (I have less in fact!) but right now two of the three campaigns I run are on hold. Others are doing the GMing and that does avail me some room to try some more experiments in Solo gaming. One idea I've been very interested in is 'Solo Smurfs'. The tricky part though is that much like Ghostbusters (which was my previous Solo experience), Smurfs isn't a setting that focuses on the adventures of a single character. Friendship and a group of companions is what the Smurfs is all about. So would I be playing an entire village of 101 characters? Smurf me! It's 201 if you count Smurfy Grove's Smurf Girls (which I absolutely would 'cause they're really neat). 

Hmmm. OK...smurf this...

I would create a single Smurf who would serve as my Solo character and each adventure they would accompany a constantly changing group of NPC friends. Picture this: Solo Smurf goes on an adventure to find a rare medicinal plant. They are joined by Smurfstorm, Brainy, and Smurfcornflower. In the next scenario, Gargamel has smurfnapped Smurfette and Solo Smurf teams up with Hefty, Smurflily, and Champion Smurf to free her. Maybe I would roll randomly to determine who's in Solo Smurf's party and/or how many Smurfs will be involved. 

Anyway, these are just some of my many thoughts on the Smurf RPG. I can't stop coming up with stuff for it! Help! lol Kidding. I'm having a blast. I am really looking forward to my next outing into the Cursed Lands and sharing it with all of you. 

Ta-ta for now! I hope you, your family, and your friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Smurf you soon,

AD

Barking Alien

1. I love Thanksgiving for the holiday it is to me and my family. A chance to get together, be happy we are here, healthy, and happy to be in each others presence. I understand some people don't view Thanksgiving that way but it means a lot to me. 

2. I've been thinking about running a Fantasy RPG lately and I wrestle with finding a game that does what I want it to when it comes to making this genre work. Why, when I actually have a fantastic Fantasy game that I really like. Why not run a long term Smurfs game? Can I? I may just try...

3. At least one but likely many if the option is available. I would limit it to one in a party unless one is a Spellcaster and the other is a Potion Maker. I could totally see my buddy Ray's Spelly Smurf teaming up with my PC Smurfcornflower. That would be really awesome! 

4. My friend Will's first Smurfs character, Lookout Smurf, has a Sailing Ship of the 'pirate ship' variety and it appeared in my very first short Smurf RPG adventure. That's when I first came up with the idea of a ship as Smurf House. We played it pretty fast and loose and it worked quite well but I continue to ponder refining the concept. 

5. My very first original Smurfs character was Spacey Smurf, a Smurf obsessed with 'Outer Space', which in his mind meant the night sky, the stars, and the Moon. He wears a faux 'Space Suit' built for him by Hefty Smurf from notes in a book Brainy has and the imagination of both Dreamy Smurf and himself. He's funny, he's fun, and I love him. He is also the exception and not the rule. He is a rare instance of me choosing to put such a character in my games. There aren't, so far, other characters like him. 

31 Questions for Barking Alien - Question 15

This is Question I5 of 31 and it might be my last for the month of December.

Work, life, and the holidays have gotten in the way, making it difficult to finish, let alone catch up to where I should be by this time.

Fret not! I sure won't. Not this time. 

The whole point of this endeavor you see was to light a fire of inspiration under me and it has done just that. December has the most posts I've put up in one month since back in August. Usually when I do these blog challenges I don't hit my goal and end up feeling bad about it. This has been and is very different. Here the goal was never 'to win'; I never prioritzed completing 31 answers to 31 questions. Rather, the objective was to 'get better engagement with the viewers/readers of the blog by interacting with them more and using said interactions to fuel my desire to post more often'. I feel I've accomplished that.

I've seen more responses and comments these past four weeks then I have in a long while. Again, I've also posted more this month than I have in the past three months combined! I'm mentally cataloging this as a success and it has me itching to prep for next month in advance. 

With all that, here is Question #15 - it comes from my friend Miguel de Rojas, who has my sword, my bow, and my axe but remember, I'm just lending them to you. I need them back. 

For a guy with such love for IPs and a stated interest in medieval Europe's myth, legend, and folklore (not to mention RPGs), The Lord of the Rings is conspicuously absent from your blog. Can you explain your relationship with Tolkien's works?

As Gandalf himself once said, “The wise speak only of what they know.”

I don't really know Middle-Earth. Not the way I feel I would need to in order to run it.

I discovered the Hobbit after first playing D&D and The Lord of the Rings sometime after the Hobbit. It took me a while to get through all three books of Tolkien's trilogy but get through them I did and yeah, I really enjoyed them. Those books started my interest in reading more Fantasy books of the Appendix N variety.

Thing was, there wasn't more Lord of the Rings after Lord of the Rings (at least not that I knew of at the time). At the end of the story, the tale has been told.  After the original Star Trek series there was the Animated Series, comic books, novels, later movies, and further on there'd be much more material across many different forms of media. The same is true of Star Wars, Marvel and DC Comics, and a host of other franchises.

Lord of the Rings impressed me but it was all there was to it. After a while it fell off my radar. It was never my all time favorite thing. It wasn't something that I really wanted or needed more of and that was fine because there really wasn't more to be had.

It was also a story that didn't (and to some extent still doesn't for me) lend itself to continuing. It was a set story with some unique characters and we know (largely) their final fates. There are a specific and very limited number of Mages and we know what happens to them (for the most part). Frodo (and to a lesser degree Bilbo) was rare and truehearted enough to carry the One Ring and again, he accomplished the goal of destroying it and had a happily ever after of sorts.

I mean, the LotR series focuses on 'The One Ring'. There's only one. It's in the name. We know who was part of the one Fellowship that went to rid the world of the One Ring and the events that ultimately did so.

It's what I tend to refer to as a Closed Story or Closed Setting. Star Trek, as an easy example, is an Open Setting. We learn there are other ships, with other crews, doing other things. It's inherent in the make up of the franchise's universe. Lord of the Rings feels more 'closed'; a single, specific group did a single, specific thing with a singular object. The End. Star Trek doesn't have a The End. It keeps on keeping on.

Part of that is because Star Trek is indeed a franchise, an IP, not a story. There isn't one book or trilogy called Star Trek. There will always be Superman comics. Star Wars could theoretically go on forever as well. Lord of the Rings just doesn't have that feel. 

Personally I never loved it enough to learn all the details and complicated history of its world. There are many people, including several of my gaming friends, who know far more about the setting then I. This puts me at a considerable disadvantage as a GM. I wouldn't mind playing in that world for a short while though. 

Lastly, while Middle-Earth might be influenced by European folklore and myth, it isn't Ars Magica. It's its own animal and one that I am less confident about adding my own stuff to, a key necessity when running in an established IP. 

I liked the Peter Jackson movies more than I ever did the books. I also enjoyed the animated film way back when. That's about as far as my love of Tolkien's creation exists for me today.

AD

Barking Alien

31 Days / 31 Characters - KEI OKAMI

When I was in my early years of college I had an on again off again romantic relationship with a girl named Liza. We used to joke that if we weren't seeing anyone it meant we were seeing each other.

I really liked her. It could have turned into something more but for various reasons it didn't and I had to break it off. That sucked as those things often do. When I was thinking about old characters from old campaigns I started thinking about her and her character Kei Okami and decided she needed to be included in this year's 31/31 Challenge.

The character that is, not the player. Well sure, the player too but well, you know what I mean. 

This character is rather unusual and stands out on this list as a great PC from a great campaign that I had absolutely nothing to do with. I'll explain...

Character: Kei (Pronounced Kay) Okami

AKA: Kei the Wolf Girl, Wolf-Spirit Kei

Player: Liza Rodriguez 

System: Hero System, 3rd and 4th Edition
 
Campaign: The River of Dreams

Gamemaster: Unknown. Never met the guy. 

Circa: 1989-1991

Origins: I wish I knew. Liza was clearly ahead of her time when creating this character as nowadays every Video Game, Manga, and Anime are chock full of tough, sexy, feral wolf-girls. Was she the first? Probably not and I'm sure Liza's love of Japanese Anime played a part in the creation of this character. 

Anime and RPGs were among the many interests Liza and I shared but I never actually got to game with her. As I recall she had her groups and I had mine and she played in this campaign in Brooklyn on the same day I ran one of my Star Trek or Star Wars games in Manhattan. We would update each other on the various characters and goings on in each others campaigns, which is how I have this story to tell.

Backstory: At some point during Japan's late Meiji or early Taisho Periods (roughly 1888 to 1912), many of the land's ancient spirit clans found their numbers dwindling; resources grew scarce, and their magic waned with an influx of foreigners and the expanded industrialization of the islands. It was during this time that a young, female Wolf-Spirit Bushi (Warrior) - orphaned in a past war with Humans long ago - found herself on the run from a demon known as the Spirit-Eater. Doomed to fade from the world like all the other supernatural beings, the demon discovered his power and lifespan could be extended by consuming other paranormal creatures. 

The Wolf-Spirit Girl, Kei, had been alternating between fighting and running from the demon for the better part of a day. When night fell she seized her chance to escape by making her way to a Human city along a river and disguising herself as a common Mortal. This was no easy task given her wolf ears, bushy tail, dark tan complexion (very different from the locals), and lack of knowledge of basic Human customs or manners. 

While moving along the river's edge she saw a man from the West in colorful garb performing magic tricks for applause and a few coins. He smiled at her and winked over his glasses, subtly gesturing towards a passing Steamboat. It was a large ship of Western design with lantern lights and music coming from onboard. Just then the demon - also in disguise though Kei could easily smell him - burst from a crowd of people. He was bearing down on her like a charging bull! Kei ran and believing the street magician may have been trying to help her, leapt over the railings and on to the ship. 

The demon seethed and stared daggers as the boat pulled away, disappearing into the evening mist. 

Overview: The campaign focused on this very 'New-Orleans-Turn-of-The-Century' steam powered riverboat as it traveled along 'The River' from one world to the next. Yes, you read that right. Kei met some of the boat's other passengers, all of whom were from different places and times (though all roughly within the era when Steamboats regularly traveled on rivers for the most part). 

The other PCs I can recall include:

A Cowboy Gunslinger type who was extraordinarily lucky, with both the good and bad kind being equally in play. 

A Fortune Teller/Medium who could see the future using tarot cards, speak with the dead through a seance, and had other such mystical abilities.

A Masked Superhero similar to DC Comics' Hour Man. A secret formula gave him Super Strength, Speed, and Toughness for a short time. Too much of the elixir made him go mad, giving him a slight Jekyll and Hyde vibe. 

A Mechanical Person, an advanced steam-powered automaton resembling a butler or maid (I forget which) that claimed to have been Human at one time. 

The Steamboat was owned by the Street Magician fellow whom Kei had met and who Liza described as a Willy Wonka-esque figure. The ship essentially ran itself, with no Captain or Crew aboard beyond the PCs and the Magician. 

Every few sessions the Steamboat would run a low on supplies or need repairs for some reason and dock at a port on 'The River' that could be literally anywhere. From what I can recall they once stopped at a medieval fishing town that thought they were circus performers of some kind. Another adventure had them at a late 16th century Pirate Cove. They encountered such adversaries as Unseelie Court Faeries, bloodthirsty Pirates, a Ghost Ship of Undead Sailors (late Age of Sail), and more. There was a Big Bad, a central menace behind it all that wanted the Steamboat and possibly the Magician but it wasn't a person; more like an abstract concept focused on crushing one's dreams. 

The Highlights:

The two tales I remember the best are:

Stopping at a Napoleonic Era French port, the Gunslinger met a very lovely and charming 'Lady of the Evening' and invited her onto 'his' boat, claiming he won it in a card game. She turned out to be a powerful Vampire and the PCs were pretty outclassed. Thanks to excellent teamwork and the players' own knowledge of the Steamboat's layout (including the way each PC had defined their private staterooms), the heroes were able to beat her. 

Another story involved needing to travel down the river to get a medicine to heal one of the PCs. Kei covered their escape, holding off a dozen Spanish Inquisitor Zombies pretty much by herself. She got the job done with clever moves, great rolls, and a little help from a pack of Iberian Wolves. 

Game Info:

I never saw Kei's Character Sheet and Liza and I didn't talk rules, so I can't give you much solid information on Kei's attributes and the like but there are some things I do recall. 

The system used was initially Champions 3rd Edition, later updated to 4th. All the PCs started out as 200 Point Characters, with 150 Base Points and up to 50 points of Disadvantages. I believe Attribute Limits were enforced. 

Liza described Kei as twice as strong as a normal Human (Strength 20?), able to outrun turn of the century soldiers on horseback, capable of Anime leaps of 20-25 ft. or so, and tough enough to take very limited small arms fire. She would get hurt and bleed but would likely survive. Possibly more Justice, Inc. than Champions?

Her Powers and Skills included a Heightened Sense of Smell and Hearing, the ability to See in the Dark, Regeneration (amusingly she could regenerate faster if she could lick the wound), and the ability to Detect the Presence of Supernatural Entities such as ghosts, demons, and other spirits. Kei could 'smell' an Oni or similar creature even if she could not see it. 

The Wolf Girl was highly skilled at Hunting and Tracking, Stealth, Swordsmanship, and Martial Arts. Her fighting style involved a lot of launching herself at enemies from a crouched position and leaping down on enemies from above. 

In combat she initially wielded a Wakizashi of poor quality but was later gifted with a paired Katana and Wakizashi of superior, possibly supernatural quality. She could also scratch with her clawed fingernails or bite someone with her very sharp teeth. 

Her Disadvantages included a noted lack of proper Human etiquette, being baffled by many Human devices and tools, a very short temper (though her anger was just as quickly forgotten), and a need to howl at the full moon. 

Notes:

Okami means 'Wolf' in Japanese.

Kei - pronounced Kay - is the name of one half of the famous Japanese Science Fiction duo The Dirty Pair; the other being Yuri. Kei's hair is often referred to as a 'Wolf Cut'. 

I based the illustrations of Kei on the work of Japanese Manga Writer and Artist Kunihiko Tanaka, best known for the Anime and Manga 'Fam and Ihrie: The Ruin Explorers' and the Xenogears and Xenosaga series of video games. 

Liza's group preferred Fantasy over Superheroes but preferred the Hero System over other Fantasy games. That was likely a contributing factor to the creation of this campaign. 

What's next? A trip to the 25th Century aboard the starship Relativity and a visit with its reluctant captain, LANCE GRAVITY! Hyperwarp to Maximum!

AD
Barking Alien

Whistling At Night

We put on our masks

In the hope we might frighten

What dwells in shadows

-A Yokai Hunters Society Haiku

Continuing with my ideas for using the Japanese TRPG system Dice Fiction (or my take on it at least) to run a version of Yokai Hunters Society, I am leaning heavily towards the idea of building templates. 

One aspect I really liked from the original Yokai Hunters Society game (YHS going for forward) is the concept that each member of the organization wears a Mask to hide their identity and frighten their foes both mortal and supernatural. I just wish they had gone even further with it. I mean, picture a secret group within Japanese society made up of nobles and beggars, the clergy and the unclean, all equal while performing their clandestine duties as their true identities are unknown to even their closest allies. But for how long?

Then their is the choice of motif - Big and powerful Oni, sly and clever Fox (Kitsune), social yet secretive Cat (Neko), or perhaps you identify more with ghosts and monstrous beasts! This got me thinking that the players would choose a Template patterned after the Mask they wear. Each Template has a greater emphasis on one particular Attribute and Skill column or would see more unique Techniques (Special Abilities) to reflect their Mask type. 

Mechanically all Fox Hunters - YHS members with a Fox Mask - are geared towards Awareness, Illusion, and other trickery. Visually, all Fox Masks are foxes but they needn't look identical. Again, each is unique just like each Fox themed Hunter is unique as they pick their individual character's Strong Skills, Weapon of choice, etc.

Right now I have about five Attribute/Skill Templates completed: Cat, Fox, Ghost, Oni, and Tengu. I feel some may need further tweaking. Here are three examples:

The Fox

The Fox is wise and clever, as well as very sneaky. They possess both Disguise and Stealth for any sort of covert mission, not to mention the ability to create Illusions. The Fox walks the fine line between high and low society, well versed in Romance and The Arts but not afraid to walk the back alleys and dark streets. 

The Oni

The Oni is your powerhouse bruiser - Strong, tough, able to take a beating and dish one out. At the same time, they are among the most compassionate and personable, befriending old people and children. The Oni will decimate dangerous Yokai but never forgets the people they protect by doing so. 

The Tengu

The Tengu is a being of Air and Earth just like their namesake. They strike like bolts of lightning, often from above or starting out at a distance from their opponents. They have keen Insight into the thoughts of others and the wisdom and strategic skill to know what to do about them. They can be their own worst enemy, getting involved in things like Gambling and Politics but they can also be a powerful ally. 

The Techniques, as I envision them, are like Assignment Skills that can do things beyond normal levels of Human skill. Are they actually magic? I think I want that to remain unclear, even within the setting itself. They are a mixture of Feats, Special Abilities, and perhaps just a bit of legendary Power. 

What does everyone think? I am really liking how this is coming along and although my primary focus for March will he my new Mecha RPG MSV - Mecha System Variant, I will definitely be continuing with this little project as I am enjoying where this is going. 

Join me won't you?

AD

Barking Alien

*The title of this post refers to a Japanese superstition that whistling at night or near a graveyard would bring forth ghosts. It is believed to originate with thieves, who would whistle to alert or signal each other during night time burglaries. Eventually the act was simply deemed evil, prone to bringing bad luck and ill intent. 

Here's Where Things Get Dicey

Fair Warning: This entry goes all over the place but if you'll follow along I think you'll enjoy the ride. 

My previous post on the Japanese tabletop RPG system Saikoro Fiction, or 'Dice Fiction' in English, by Adventure Planning Service was posted this morning, yet it was based on a conversation I had last Wednesday and actually written this past weekend. Why did it take so long to complete? Partly it was due to the accompanying illustration and the sample Attribute/Skill Grid I put together. 

Mostly though, it was because I did some addition research, had some thoughts, and got feeling truly creative again. Between my original twitter conversation and now I've been incredibly inspired in a way I haven't felt in a long while. I think the last time I was honestly this jazzed about gaming ideas was when I ran our Red Dwarf/Yellow Sun campaign using the ALIEN RPG. 

What follows - both in this post and over the next month - will be a breakdown of a series of ideas that have come to me, not all of which flow in a straight line. I will do my best to organize them into some kind of order. At some later point, when the ideas are largely out of my head and on paper/screen, I will likely compile some of them into a book of some kind. I can even see a sellable product coming out of some of them. 

To begin...

I am really intrigued by Dice Fiction and its Attribute/Skill Grid but one of the things I noticed when building a sample one was that with six Attribute columns and eleven Skill rows, the total number of Skills in sixty-six. 66! That's kind of nuts. It was really tough coming up with 66 names of Skills and what they might possibly be used for (or why one might be used as opposed to another).

I propose a 6 x 6 grid which would result in 36 skills. I also think that not every PC in a given game has the same 36 Skills. Creating different grids enables PCs to cover areas other PCs don't which not only allows for greater character customization but also enables you to make Templates not unlike those found in Star Wars D6. In a given setting its possible everyone has Dodge or Melee Weapon under the Attribute 'Prowess' but not everyone has the same special abilities, magical skills, or martial talents under their 'Technique' column. I believe some of the official Dice Fiction games do work this way.

 

Sample Attribute/Skill Grid for my Dice Fiction version

of the RPG Yokai Hunters Society

Now here's where my first idea comes in; a few weeks back I downloaded the game Yokai Hunters Society from the amazingly cool itch.io website. A neat, rules-lite game of masked, Meiji era Japanese folks battling demons, ghosts, and spirit monster against the background of the political and social change prevalent in Japan in the late 1800s. It has some similarities to a number of Anime and Manga series, notably the extremely popular Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, as well as numerous Japanese live-action TV shows and Movies in the Horror genre. 

Wow! I mean, seriously right up my alley, right? What a great idea for a game. Only...I don't love the system. Very simple, almost too much so, with not a lot to sink ones teeth into. It is functional, even fun, but a little lackluster for my tastes.

If I apply the Dice Fiction rules to the setting, I think I have something. Something really interesting that I can see being used for a long term campaign.

First though I am thinking of fleshing out some of the 2D6 vs. Assignment Skill mechanics with conditions or points that would allow for rolling with Advantage or Disadvantage. For example, an Enchanted Sword that gives you Advantage on your Melee Weapon/Sword so that you need to beat the Target Number on 2D6 but roll three six-sided dice and take the highest two. Meanwhile, if injured or perhaps cursed by a Yama Uba (Mountain Hag/Witch), you might roll three six-sided dice and take the lowest two.

I am definitely going to work on this and flesh it out a bit more. In addition, I will be posting both a more detailed overview of the basic Dice Fiction game (based on my research) and this alternate Barking Alien version I am developing. 

This leads me, indirectly mind you, to another idea I have. While it has nothing to do with Dice Fiction, it was looking into that game that reminded me of my age old love affair with Anime, Manga, and RPGs with an Anime/Manga influence and flavor. I miss running our very Japanese influenced games of Cyberpunk 2020 and Space:1889, not to mention games like Mekton and Teenagers from Outer Space. 

I figure it's about time I made one of my own.

Stay tuned...

AD

Barking Alien

My apologizes to the creator of Yokai Hunters Society, Chema González, who did an excellent job with the writing, illustrations, and layout. Clearly impressive enough to inspire my own take on the game.

 
Also an apology to Nate Treme, who created the Tunnel Goons rules used in Yokai Hunters Society. Again, fine rules, completely workable, but they just didn't grab me personally.  

31 Days / 31 Characters - 'DUSTY' DIBBS

I've only ever run one ongoing campaign in the Western genre, The Legend of Boot Hill. Strangely, while I've mentioned it on this blog a few times, I've never dedicated an entire post to it. I'll need to remedy that sometime this year.

I ran The Legend of Boot Hill campaign way back in 1979 or 1980 and it was so perfect, such a great campaign, that I can't imagine I'll ever match or surpass the pure awesomeness of that game. If I can't see running a game that good again, why bother?

Additionally, while I don't dislike Westerns, my interest in them doesn't come close to my interest in many other genres. The end result is that the pull to run a Western just isn't strong enough to overcome the fact that I don't feel I could do it justice anyway. 

All that being true, there is the case of Virgil 'Dusty' Dibbs and his tales of the Odd West...

Character: Virgil Dibbs

AKA: 'Dusty'

Player: David Cotton

System: Odd West - A Homebrew system of my own creation. 

 

Campaign: The Adventures of 'Dusty' Dibbs

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein 

Circa: 2010-2012

Origins: Sometime around late 2009 or early 2010 I was discussing RPGs with my good friend David Cotton (who passed away in 2020) and the conversation turned toward games we'd always wanted to play or run but hadn't for whatever reason. There were very few I could think of honestly since, as I've mentioned before, if I want to run a game I do. I find a way. 

The closest thing was a Western game, one like my old Boot Hill-But-Not game from nearly 30 years prior. I told him all the reasons I conveyed to you in the opening of this post. Funny enough, David said he'd love to try a Wild West game, especially if it were crossed over with other genres as I have described my Legend of Boot Hill game being. 

The next time a free game day came up, one where we weren't scheduled to run or play any of our regular campaigns, Dave and I sat down to play a homebrew I'd put together for that very occasion. I dubbed it 'Odd West'. Just me as GM and him as the sole player and PC. It went really well and over the next two years whenever there was a glitch in the usual schedule, we turned to Odd West.

The character himself is largely inspired by real life African American US Marshal Bass Reeves, thought by many to be the basis for the Lone Ranger. His name was originally Dane Dibbs but his first name was changed to Virgil when we realized Dave already had a character with the name Dane. Funny enough, years later he would name his Mobile Suit Gundam RPG character Dane Bradley. Dave liked the name Dane I guess. 

There were really only half a dozen sessions of this 'series' but they were really cool, memorable, and yet another reason I miss Dave.

Backstory: Virgil Dibbs was born the son of two former slaves who escaped the South sometime around 1840, eventually making their way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dibbs would join the Union Army in the fight against the Confederates at the young age of 17 and impress both his White Commanding Officers and fellow Black Soldiers with his marksmanship, resourcefulness, and uncanny luck. 

Whispers and rumors of Dibbs' luck spread as only such stories can and before long many who saw the young man thought him to either be favored by angels or having made a deal with the devil himself. He would leap into a ravine without looking only to land in a convenient pile of soft leaves. He made shots too keen for the Human eye at too far a distance. Riding last among his unit, his horse would clear terrain that threw the riders of horses but a moment behind him. How had they not seen that ditch? How had it not felled Dibbs?

Following the Civil War, one of his former commanders, now a US Marshal, introduced Dibbs to a man named Wilfred Wesley, a law enforcement officer of the US government in charge of a rather secretive branch that dealt with the paranormal. Wesley had collected numerous accounts of Dibbs and his lucky escapes, impossible aim, and nick-of-time saves. Believing Dibbs to be among 'The Gifted', Wesley offered him a job as a special sort of lawman. Dibbs agreed on two conditions: A portion of his pay went to help his family and their community back in Philadelphia and Virgil had some say in which assignments he undertook. Wesley agreed and rest is history. Well...legend...

Overview: The adventures of Dusty Dibbs all began the same way...I would open with Dibbs walking or riding into a town as I spoke a narration in the form of a letter to Dusty from Mr. Wesley. The narration would detail the place Dibbs was heading to and the reason why he was being sent there. Something along the lines of, "Mr. Dibbs, I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing because the owners and lumber workers at the Pine Bay Logging Company have reported a most unusual and hazardous animal in the vicinity of their camps, one that seems consciously determined to upset the White and Red Pine industry vital to our nations' development..."

Dibbs would then investigate, often befriending at least one person directly connected to the situation and with their aid, get to the source of the problem and attempt to solve it. On one occasion that involved fighting a 'Timber Baron' and his thugs as well as the 'Fearsome Critter' (a class of North American folklore creature) whose home territory they'd disturbed. In another instance he had to appease the Rain Spirit of the local Indigenous People who had become so upset it was flooding a section of the Great Lakes Region with an unending downpour. 

The Highlights:

I remember that the first session - the aforementioned scenario with a logging camp under attack by a Hugag - was reminiscent of an outdoor 'Die Hard'. Dibbs started by avoiding the owner of the camp and his heavies, periodically hunting them down and picking them off one by one as the Hugag wrecked the logging operation all around them.

I remembering doing a ton of research for the second (maybe third?) session we ran, which involved a 'Thunder Spirit' of the Kickapoo tribe. A week of torrential rain that was flooding Lake Eerie and a town along its coast was attributed to the anger of this otherwise benevolent entity. Dibbs apparently had some positive dealings with Native Americans in his Civil War days and was considered a friend to the local Kickapoo. It turns out a misguided young man had complained to birds in the area about the lakeside town. The birds conveyed his message to the sky and the Thunder Spirit enacted revenge on the young man's behalf. In the end, Dibbs had to protect the man from the townsfolk while also getting him to apologize to the birds and spirit for blowing things out of proportion. A lesson was learned by all. 

Legacy: As I've already said, doing a Western the way I want to isn't easy but is extremely rewarding when it works. It's hard to convey the balance between the real and the supernatural I am envisioning when I set up to do a Wild West campaign. This series of adventures leaned far more heavily into the mystic and paranormal than my original 'Legend of Boot Hill' campaign but it still maintanced that 'distance' between the 'real world' and the 'world beyond'.  

Dibbs hasn't been seen since 2012 and my other Western campaign concepts in triple that time (except the Red Rider - more on him later this month). Perhaps that should be reconsidered. Maybe there is a future for this peculiar vision of the past. 

Game Info: Odd West, the game I used to run this, was a homebrew, a strange mixture of D6 dice pools and Poker. I looked for my notes but couldn't find anything showing the system. As best as I can recall, the key element of the character mechanics-wise would be coming up with a way to invoke his 'luck power', either by giving him 'Luck Points' that could be spend to alternate/manipulate the outcome of a situation or a limited number of rerolls per session. I prefer the former of course. 

Next up, set coordinates for Amaro Highport at Aequine and initiate the Jump Drive! Look who survived character creation! It's none other than Doctor EMIL FUJIKAWA! See you soon Traveller. 

AD

Barking Alien