I Can't Get This Out of My Head - UFOs

So ends my attempt to discuss Anime/Manga gaming...for now.

I simply can't maintain the enthusiam if there isn't much of a response. I can do it if I am talking about something I am currently working on or an idea I love that just hit me but for a general discussion I need feedback or I get distracted and want to talk about some else.

There are a number of something elses on my mind as a matter of fact. Some of them, I can't seem to stop thinking about.

Other than the Dogs, Faerie Folklore, Muppets, Smurfs, Star Trek and Superheroes, there are a handful of other things I am obsessively fascinated by.

One of them is UFOs.

I had an idea last year for the NaGaDeMon Challenge but wasn't really feeling it and because of other circumstances during that period of time, I couldn't drum up the strength of will or creativity to push forward. While the idea was new the subject matter was not. Not for me anyway.

I have long since wanted to create, run and/or play a RPG in which the PCs are the crew of a UFO, visiting Earth and creating all sorts of mayhem as extraterrestrials on a modern day Earth. Exactly what that would entail I don't know. Rather, I have some ideas but they keep twisting and changing.

One key factor would be the idea that the aliens have advanced technology but are really just run-of-the-mill joes. I see them as very blue collar people but with a Masters-of-the-Open-Road attitude and mystique, like truck drivers or the guys on Deadlist Catch. They could also be scientists but less Mr. Spock and more the people who try to tag wild life in the rainforests to follow their migratory patterns. Smart, highly skilled professionals but in the end, just doing their job.

I want to incorporate as well as parody the troupes of UFO reports, stories and movies, including everything from mysterious power failures to abductions, cow mutilations to crop circles. I want to examine the 'REAL' reason these things occur in a fashion that is both sensible and humorous.

I have read Chariots of the Gods waaay too many times. I have seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind even more often. I love reading about and watching all those Discovery Channel and Nation Geographic shows where they search for answers and after an hour of television say, "So, we still have no freaking clue".

I want it to be, all at once:

Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Destination Truth, E.T., The Extraterrestrial, Escape from Planet Earth, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hunter Planet, Men in Black, Paranoia, Planet 51 and Teenagers from Outer Space.

And more than that.

Right now it's just an idea.

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Into Trekness...Up The Long Ladder

Wow.

My lack of posting this month, juxtaposed with how inspired I was (and still am) to discuss Star Trek RPG gaming is nothing short of monumental.

Yes, the degree to which I have neglected this blog in the month of May is a thing of awe.

I was going through something, a personal thing. It's hard to describe and I shall spare you the details anyway but it has my thoughts elsewhere and not on my favorite subject of leisure.

That said, I believe I am over it now and want to get back to the matter at hand. However, I also believe my brain is not really very condusive to theme months unless the inspiration strikes out of nowhere (meaning that is I plan it ahead of time, I tend to lose steam).

So for the rest of this month I will try to do some more Star Trek gaming posts but expect next month to be a mixture of the usual favorites and a few things I haven't gone into in detail. Highlights include Star Trek and Superheroes of course, but also Mekton, my newest 'He-Made-A-Game-Outta-What-Now?!' RPG and, believe or not, even some Medieval Fantasy (say it ain't so!).

May has felt like a slow crawl up a long ladder but I've finally reached the attic of my mind and found a whole bunch of cool stuff I seem to have hidden away.

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Barking Alien

The Beginning Of A New Year...5613

While 2012 wasn't my best year for everything to be sure, it was a great year for gaming.

As I look ahead to my upcoming Traveller campaign, I can't help and look back at the games I ran or played in 2012.

Somehow, with only 52 weeks in which to enjoy my favorite past time and the fact that I work 6 days a week, I managed to get quite a lot of dice rolling in.

Games I Played In 2012

A few sessions of my friends Hunter X Hunter RPG Homebrew.

And...That's it.

That can't be right. I must've played something else as a player last year. Maybe at RECESS? No...I ran two sessions at each event. Hmmm.

Games I Ran In 2012

Ars Magica
Champions 4th Edition
DC Adventures (M&M 3E)
Dungeons & Dragons / AD&D 1E/ D&D 3E Homebrew Hybrid
Galaxy Quest The RPG / Homebrew
Marvel Heroic Role Playing
Mekton II / Homebrew Variant
Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition
Peek-A-Boo Horror / Japanese TRPG/InSpectres Hybrid
Smurfs Role Playing Game / Homebrew
Traveller / Original / MegaTraveller Hybrid
The Muppets RPG / Homebrew - Muppet Show and Sesame Street variations

Probably a few others I can't recall right now.

This year I will be skipping ahead a few dozen centuries to revisit the Third Galactic Imperium and the 'Canon-According-To-Me' universe of the classic Science Fiction RPG, Traveller. I've got to tell you, I'm really excited. I've been working up a lot of ideas and trying very hard to keep up the enthusiasm of the players, as the first session is still over a month away.

Character generation is the biggest hurtle for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the majority of the players don't have a copy of the rulebook for creating a PC. We've been scheduling individual and small group character generation sessions and that has helped but it's slow going.

As I work on this, I am also working on my games for the next RECESS Game Day, which will occur on Janurary 19th. I will be running my first ever Fraggle Rock session of my Muppets RPG and playtesting my hope-to-publish-this-year Ghost Story RPG (fingers crossed).

The future is looking bright for gaming this year much like the last.

Now if I could only get the rest of my life working too...

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Barking Alien 









Facing The NaGa DeMon

This is coming...
 

 

 

Actually, this is here...though technically it doesn't start until November. I...

Wait...why is this pink? They went with pink? Gah.

 

 

 

 

There that's better.

 

So what is this? Why this my creatively curious compadre is the NaGa DeMon or National Game Desgin Month for this November of 2012. A challenge to yourself and the creative community to come up with, design, write and play a game of some kind within one month.

 

Games of all kinds are welcome and encouraged, from traditional tabletop role playing games to boardgames and computer games. There are no judges, no prizes and no obligations. It is simply the chance to challenge yourself and see what you and your fellow designers can come up with.

 

I am pretty excited to be participating as I see this as a test run for the game I am intending to publish but can't seem to get going on. If I can do this NaGa Challenge successfully than I think it will give me the courage to finishing my little 'Project X'.

 

As far as what I will be doing for the NaGa DeMon, it will of course be an RPG of the more Storytelling Game variety, very likely based on some untapped faerie folklore and folk tale ideas I've been thinking about lately. 

 

Wish me luck. Will keep you all updated as I go.

 

Laters,

 

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Space Ghost Magic

It's not what you think.

It's one of those word play post titles I am so fond of.

What it is, is alot of this...

Or maybe this...

 

And a good bit of this...

Coming in October.

Hope you enjoy,

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Barking Alien

One Month And Two New Years Later

If this is the first month of the last year on Earth, I think it's gotten off to a pretty interesting start. You just can't beat a 'Year of the Dragon' for excitement and luck now can you?




While it's true my main game is going by the wayside, I think the potential for a new one is wide open and I'm very excited about the opportunities.

I began this month by discussing IPs and licensed games and indeed I have a new IP game concept or two waiting in the wings but I may hold off on discussing them just a little longer.

Instead, I would like to focus a bit on some of my newer game ideas, especially my projects for eventual publishing, my supernatural game idea which I've wanted to talk about forever and maybe, finally, a bit more about some of my favorite new indie games that some of you may not be familiar with.

Don't worry, we have until December before the Mayan Calendar ends and destroys us all. I'm sure I'll have time to get to everything.

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Barking Alien

Sleepless Dreams

Can't sleep. Feeling a bit down lately. Thinking of games.




Space:2012 - Homebrew hybrid of InSpace and Carnage Amongst The Stars

 Set in the Solar System of Earth and it's various colonies 13 years after mysterious circumstances caused an industrial accident the blew Earth's moon from it's orbit.

PCs work as civilians or government personnel trying to deal with the ecological, political, social and financial devastation and ramifications of the moonless Terra.

I have a lot of ideas for this but it could be a hard sell.


Lights In The Sky - Homebrew - Working title for my one of my pet project games I hope to publish someday*

 Science-Ficition/Comedy/Action-Adventure RPG about what UFOs are really doing buzzing around the Earth.

Heavily inspired by my ideas for Hunter Planet and other uses for InSpace.

I could run this as a campaign which would also serve as a playtest.


Barkley's Den - Homebrew - Working title for my one of my pet project games I hope to publish someday*

Another Sci-Fi/Comedy game I've been toying with for years. It focuses on a sort of 'Tales of the Floating Vagabond', Draco's Tavern, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon type setting. A bar/restaurant in the center of all kinds of galactic mayhem run by everyone's favorite emerald pooch. OK, my favorite emerald pooch.

Like 'Lights in the Sky' I could playtest this while running a campaign of it.


Unnamed Ghost Story RPG - Homebrew-ish...See below

An RPG that tries to fix what I've always felt has been missing from or wrong with most supernatural games that focus on ghosts.

Years ago I remember playing this cool RPG at GenCon that for the life of me I can't prove ever existed. I can't remember the name but I've tried to search for several names I thought might be right and come up with nothing. I can find no one else who remembers this game. I am beginning to think I am only remembering it in part or that I may have dreamt it.

If that is the case, someone (why not me?) needs to put this thing out as a game. The concept is too good. I will continue to search to make sure it doesn't already exist but I will also be working on it in my spare time. Possible playtest at the next RECESS.

That's all for now.

Goodnight third rock,

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 *As I have said before I am publishing a game this year. I promised myself. Now as to which one of these ideas I am going with, I haven't quite decided.

Speculative Engineering I

How do I know, at this point in my blogging experience, that I am a 'hit'?

Well, I now realize that it may have something to do with my lack of comments. Yes, my lack of comments. Apparently, considering the fairly large number of views my site gets, readers are so stunned by my brilliance they are unable to think and write back intelligible responses. Naysayers are rendered incapable of saying nay! I win the blogging!

So long as it doesn't go to my head.

***
I was thinking about games mechanics the other day and how,while I usually prefer they stay the heck outta my way, I need them to be able to facilitate the kind of games I want to run and create.

Part of the reason for this particular musing is that I am once again working on my 'Project X' RPG that I've mentioned in the past. I intend on self-publishing at least one RPG this year. I have ideas for others but let's get this first one out and see how it goes.

To that end, I have been imagining all sorts of wacky rule mechanics and I've come across one that intrigues me for some reason and yet I am not sure I will be using it for anything. What do you guys think of this idea...

Players have a choice when it comes to taking an action. Any action. They can choose to roll the dice and see what happens or take an automatic Pass or Fail. If you take an automatic Pass you accomplish your goal, succeeding at a skill check or hitting an opponent but suffer some penalty as a result. Likewise, you can declare an automatic Failure and net a benefit toward some other action.

Now this isn't really a new idea as there are some Indie Games that utilize a similar mechanic. In fact, a game called Ghost/Echo is wholly focused on this dynamic with actions taking the form of Goals and Dangers or, in an excellent hack of this that I saw based on Men In Black, Goals/Risks and Benefits/Dangers. I am seeing it slightly differently in my head but reading the concepts from Ghost/Echo, S/Lay w/ Me or Men In Black/Project: Blackbook will give you some idea of my inspirations.

The idea is that by increasing or decreasing the risk or danger to your goal or action, you can gain some kind of benefit. The opposite is also true. You can take the easy way out and automatically succeed but you are going to have to pay back Lady Luck for the assist at some later point in time.

I actually think this would be awesome as a plug it for D&D (whose combat system I find especially boring). You can automatically hit the leader of the Orc tribe this round by next round you fight at -2 because...I know!...because you chipped your sword hitting his armor last round. You could let yourself take a hit on purpose from a strong opponent and gain a +2 to hit him or save versus his attacks the following round because...know that you watched him you can better predict his style. It was chancey but worth the risk.

I actually imagine a considerably more developed system for this idea. Or at least, I think it would benefit from a more developed array of options as to what you would lose or gain for opting to go this route. It would also have to be tested to make sure it doesn't steamroll over rolling randomly. I still would want players who prefer that option to be able to do so.

What do you think?

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Barking Alien

A Super Idea or The Thoughts of A Mad Man?

Would you purchase, hypothetically, a PDF product which had ideas and information for running Superhero RPGs which was really well illustrated and system free? It would contain, among other things, descriptions of heroes, villains, organizations, plots and subplots, random charts with a little twist and really, really good artwork.

If yes, how big?
What would you want to pay (ballpark)?
Color or B&W?

What else would you like to see in it?

Personally I've always wanted such a product to exist but no one has quite done it. My thinking is that a lot of Supers RPG fans play or have played more than one Supers game, so it's best to have character concepts and ideas but no rules. Also, I have a fairly simply way to lay it out - nothing fancy at all - that makes it easy to print out and put into a folder or notebook (as I do the latter).

Also, I could use to make some extra cash doing something I enjoy. No beating around the bush here at Barking Alien.

Let me know your opinions.

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Barking Alien

Unfortunately, We Have to Have Rules

I'm fairly certain I could finish my personal gaming project, create the ultimate campaign and possibly even end world hunger if these efforts didn't require a set of rules.

Not that I advocate complete chaos (though incomplete chaos is vaguely appealing) but I have a lot of trouble creating rules and than writing them down.

See, I'm not a huge fan of rules. I acknowledge the need for them and a totally freeform game would get out of control too fast but generally I view the rules of most RPGs are a necessary evil. I feel that, 9 times out of 10, the rules slow the game down. And slow, for me, is bad. I'll slow down the atmosphere to create tension but I hate when the rules slow down our (the players and my) ability to do things.

Let's take initiative for example. Man I dislike the very concept of initiative. As if, in a fight between a bunch of your boys and those guys from down the street doesn't all occur at roughly the same time. Christian of Destination Unknown explains kind of how I feel. I usually just wing it based on the flow of the moment and common sense*. Problem is you can't write a game that way. Well, you could but it'd be a tough sell.

Unless a rule is fun in and of itself and/or invokes a feeling appropriate to the genre I'm playing in, all I want the rules to do is get out of my way so I can run my game. Its an attitude that has served me well for 33 years, yet doesn't translate well to a published game.

In the end, I may just use the rules that annoy me the least and assume that whoever plays my game is just going to chuck most of them anyway. Just like I would.

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Barking Alien

Spilling My Creative Juices

Ewww...

I've recently been busy (read borderline obsessed) with my newest project, creating an original RPG that I will likely publish through Lulu and hopefully sell at the brick-and-mortar stores owned by several friends of mine. Turns out you make some pretty good connections working in fandom related retail and distribution for over 20 years.

Creating your own RPG is hard...actually that's not true. Sorry to violate the code of the Masquerade but the truth is its not hard. I've created dozens over the years ranging from houseruled versions of popular RPGs to kitbashing several unrelated games together to creating games from whole cloth.

Creating one that is good enough that you feel you can honestly charge people money for it...that is where the difficulty comes in.

Between this project and my FIENDish campaign I've really got the creative juices flowing. Where will they flow next? I hope to surprise you...

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Barking Alien

In Need of Professional Help

In more ways than one...Huzzah! *Rimshot*

But seriously folks...

I realized three very important, potentially life-changing things today. I need to make some extra money. I am pretty darn good at drawing and writing. I love role playing games.

Combining these revelations together gives me the feeling that I should put together an RPG of mine own design, make a PDF of it and sell it. I have an idea, some neat concept art just waiting to be finished and the basics of the rules. I should be able to complete this puppy in no time...or so.

What I don't really know is what to do next. I've worked in the gaming industry but only for other people. Where do I start? Do I need to incorporate? How do I host the PDF? I'll look into Lulu later but should I look at it now? I'm good friends with the owner of a chain of FLGS and he'd probably carry my product but that's if I make books at some later point. I think. Help.

I've tried to find info online but a lot of what I see seems to start after square one and I need square one. Heck I need square zero.

Can any direct me to a good source to find this information. And sort of recommendations would be very much appreciated. A free copy of the game to anyone who can assist.

Thanks blog-o-friends! In the upcoming weeks I will reveal more about the project and how its progressing.

Hurray for Capitalism!

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Barking Alien