I am purposely not making any resolutions this year.
I always feel bad when I don't meet the resolution goals I set and even worse when I forget what they were all together. This holds true for gaming and this blog as well.
Last year (and in years prior as well) I promised to continue and/or complete a number of projects I simply haven't gotten around to. Muppet Mondays, Supervillain Sundays and completing the A-to-Z Challenge, completing the NaGaDeMon Challenge and Unfinished Business and mini-projects like The Storyteller, The Twilight Zone and probably a half dozen others.
That Sid and Marty Kroft game ain't making itself...
For this year, I intend to do a few things that I really want to do but I am making no promises. Consider these 'Low Resolutions'.
Here is what I hope to achieve with this blog in 2014:
1) Muppet March Madness Month II. I really want to update the games mechanics a little now that I've actually gotten the chance to playtest it with a large number of different people. Some things works, some things can be improved a little and there are still a lot of ideas I haven't gotten to explore. It is here that I will complete The StoryTeller RPG and add some additional concepts I've been considering. I've got a lot in store, not to mention the fact that the new Muppets motion picture, Muppets Most Wanted, will be out that month.
2) I want to Complete The A-to-Z Challenge in April this year very, very badly. I did it only once and after that drop the ball each time. Last year I only did 16 entries. The year before I didn't even bother. I'm not sure how to do it without getting bored or getting overwhelmed with other stuff, which is what usually happens to me around April. Hmmm. Maybe make it a Star Trek theme. We'll see.
3) Do the NaGaDeMon, National Game Design Month Challenge, next November. While it would be awesome if I could finally finish Unfinished Business, I am making no guarantees. I will do something. Just...something.
4) Posting More Often is a simple but major goal for 2014. I was really happy when Charles Akins, of the increasingly intriguing blog site Dyvers, included Barking Alien on his Great Blog Roll Call list, complete with a short but positive review, but bummed to see he listed it as being updated "About ten times a month". When I looked back at my average over the year and realized how accurate that was, I felt kind of ashamed. I can do better than that. I have a lot more to say and I will find a way to say it.
5) I Will Try Not To Start What I Can't Finish. I don't want another post of this nature next year. Expect fewer new projects this year in favor of going into depth on those subjects I love: Star Trek, Superheroes, Muppets, Traveller, Comedy, Star Wars, Mecha/Giant Robots, general Science Fiction gaming and Medieval Folklore will provide the core content.
That brings me to a few minor "sub-resolutions":
A. Talk more about Star Trek RPGs since I am running a new campaign.
B. Talk about Star Wars gaming. I can't believe I've done so little of that and played it so often.
C. Comprehend Pathfinder. One of my players is going to run it and I am switching to the role of player for that campaign. Will I survive? Will he?
D. Podcasts. Listen to more and if at all possible, do one. This is high on the 'I want to!' list.
E. I am thinking of going back to an old hobby of mine that actually made me some money. I have a hankering to build Japanese Mecha plastic model kits once more. I used to build them, kitbash and customize them, paint them up and sell them. I always kept a few around to inspire ideas for Mekton, so don't be surprised if that happens this time around as well.
Well, that's all for now.
I have a numbers of ideas for posts in the pipeline so maybe come back tonight and see if there are any updates.
Laters,
AD
Barking Alien
Showing posts with label The Storyteller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Storyteller. Show all posts
Monday, January 6, 2014
Friday, November 1, 2013
The Return Of The NaGaDemon
Greetings all, and a very happy November to you!
November is one of my favorite months, for it contains Thanksgiving, one of my favorite Holidays. Thanksgiving is a big deal with the Barking Alien clan and well love when it rolls around.
Another November festivity I've been looking for to is the tempestuous, biting and oh-so-challenging National Game Design Month event!
For those of you who don't know about it, National Game Design Month, or NaGaDeMon, is a challenge put forth by Nathan Russell who was riffing off November's annual National Novel Writing Month event.
(It's cool too by the way and you should check it out. Even if its initials don't spell out a mythological monster. Our contest is just cooler like that)
The challenge is to design, write, play and complete a workable, playable game in one month. It can be a board game, a card game, a role-playing game or anything else game related. There is no physical prize other than having a completed game of your own design in your hands but there are the accolades and cheers of your peers and fellow NaGaDeMon slayers.
Last year I failed to complete the challenge. Heck, I barely started it. I had a few good ideas and false beginnings but the timing was terrible. Hurricane Sandy and some personal sadness lead to me giving up early on. My heart just wasn't in it (actually my heart was a mess but that's another tale for another time).
This year, SCREW YOU YA CREEPY, DICE-TAILED SERPENT! I am going to best this challenge and the resulting work is going to be so beautiful you will look upon it and cry little snake tears.
Yeah!
So what am I doing? Right...
Unfinished Business, my Ghost Story Role Playing Game which I have been thinking about for forever and a day, will be completed by month's end. That is my goal. You can read a little about my obsession and ideas for it here and here.
It may be biting off more than I can chew, but I also intend to finish The StoryTeller, my Muppets RPG variant based on the Jim Henson series of the same name featuring John Hurt and Brian Henson (as the Dog). You can check out what I've mentioned about it so far here. I have decided not to focus on any elements from the latter Greek Myths series but may do it as a sort of expansion at some later date.
Wish me luck and please stop by for periodic updates on my progress.
See you soon!
AD
Barking Alien
November is one of my favorite months, for it contains Thanksgiving, one of my favorite Holidays. Thanksgiving is a big deal with the Barking Alien clan and well love when it rolls around.
Another November festivity I've been looking for to is the tempestuous, biting and oh-so-challenging National Game Design Month event!
For those of you who don't know about it, National Game Design Month, or NaGaDeMon, is a challenge put forth by Nathan Russell who was riffing off November's annual National Novel Writing Month event.
(It's cool too by the way and you should check it out. Even if its initials don't spell out a mythological monster. Our contest is just cooler like that)
The challenge is to design, write, play and complete a workable, playable game in one month. It can be a board game, a card game, a role-playing game or anything else game related. There is no physical prize other than having a completed game of your own design in your hands but there are the accolades and cheers of your peers and fellow NaGaDeMon slayers.
Last year I failed to complete the challenge. Heck, I barely started it. I had a few good ideas and false beginnings but the timing was terrible. Hurricane Sandy and some personal sadness lead to me giving up early on. My heart just wasn't in it (actually my heart was a mess but that's another tale for another time).
This year, SCREW YOU YA CREEPY, DICE-TAILED SERPENT! I am going to best this challenge and the resulting work is going to be so beautiful you will look upon it and cry little snake tears.
Yeah!
So what am I doing? Right...
Unfinished Business, my Ghost Story Role Playing Game which I have been thinking about for forever and a day, will be completed by month's end. That is my goal. You can read a little about my obsession and ideas for it here and here.
It may be biting off more than I can chew, but I also intend to finish The StoryTeller, my Muppets RPG variant based on the Jim Henson series of the same name featuring John Hurt and Brian Henson (as the Dog). You can check out what I've mentioned about it so far here. I have decided not to focus on any elements from the latter Greek Myths series but may do it as a sort of expansion at some later date.
Wish me luck and please stop by for periodic updates on my progress.
See you soon!
AD
Barking Alien
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Three Ravens
My brain is a bit of a mess of late.
I have a lot on my mind, both life-wise, game-wise and the one place they cross and it is making other things I want to do difficult to concentrate on.
For the purposes of this post and you readers out there, I am basically chasing three ravens...
I am continuing to progress with my StoryTeller RPG, which is going through a few changes here and there. Overall it is essentially the same game that first came to me like a bolt from the blue, but as the shock from said bolt wears off, I am seeing ways of grounding myself a little more and realizing that the games does need more work than I first thought.
My second 'holy grail' of late (pun intended) is to finalize work on my upcoming Pendragon campaign before play starts at the end of the month.
For reasons both person and creative I seem to be having trouble reading through the entirety of the rulebook or even the key portions without getting tired or distracted. I am not sure if the material is too dryly written (because honestly I don't think it is) or if I still haven't gotten used to reading PDFs on a screen for extended periods but man, I just can't seem to get through the text in a timely fashion.
As I get older I find I have less and less patience for reading rules. This started sometime ago. When I was 16.
Anyway, I will get through it I know I will as I am really looking forward to this campaign. We have some PCs worked out already and, true to form for my guys, they aren't classical or traditional Arthurian characters but they are damn interesting. More about them in an upcoming post.
I have a lot on my mind, both life-wise, game-wise and the one place they cross and it is making other things I want to do difficult to concentrate on.
For the purposes of this post and you readers out there, I am basically chasing three ravens...
***
I am continuing to progress with my StoryTeller RPG, which is going through a few changes here and there. Overall it is essentially the same game that first came to me like a bolt from the blue, but as the shock from said bolt wears off, I am seeing ways of grounding myself a little more and realizing that the games does need more work than I first thought.
***
My second 'holy grail' of late (pun intended) is to finalize work on my upcoming Pendragon campaign before play starts at the end of the month.
For reasons both person and creative I seem to be having trouble reading through the entirety of the rulebook or even the key portions without getting tired or distracted. I am not sure if the material is too dryly written (because honestly I don't think it is) or if I still haven't gotten used to reading PDFs on a screen for extended periods but man, I just can't seem to get through the text in a timely fashion.
As I get older I find I have less and less patience for reading rules. This started sometime ago. When I was 16.
Anyway, I will get through it I know I will as I am really looking forward to this campaign. We have some PCs worked out already and, true to form for my guys, they aren't classical or traditional Arthurian characters but they are damn interesting. More about them in an upcoming post.
***
Lastly, but certainly not least, I am working on a new game to run with the kids at the study center I work at in Brooklyn. The students are older now and no longer newbies to gaming so I want to do something a little more challenging. In addition , we've done Fantasy, Superheroes and even a little Comedic Horror but so far, very little Science Fiction.
So my idea for this semester, beginning this coming weekend, is to run a deep space exploration mission where the PCs, working for either an interstellar government or a megacorporation, travel through the universe encountering alien species, discovering lost civilizations and cataloging unknown worlds.
Now, are we looking at Star Trek? Maaaybe.
These kids are largely unfamiliar with the overall concept of Star Trek, which may prove to be awesome (and perfect for proving my 'You-Don't-Need-To-Know-Trek-To-Play-Trek').
Other options include doing it a bit more tongue-in-cheek and going with my homebrew Galaxy Quest, a bit more serious and have a realistic approach to space travel and investigation with InSpace (InSpectres variant) or even Traveller.
I'd love to hear peoples ideas and opinions on this. What simple, fast paced and relatively mechanically lite Sci-Fi game would work best for 1-2 hour session increments, with 6-8 players, ages 11-14?
Let me know.
More to come.
AD
Barking Alien
So my idea for this semester, beginning this coming weekend, is to run a deep space exploration mission where the PCs, working for either an interstellar government or a megacorporation, travel through the universe encountering alien species, discovering lost civilizations and cataloging unknown worlds.
Now, are we looking at Star Trek? Maaaybe.
These kids are largely unfamiliar with the overall concept of Star Trek, which may prove to be awesome (and perfect for proving my 'You-Don't-Need-To-Know-Trek-To-Play-Trek').
Other options include doing it a bit more tongue-in-cheek and going with my homebrew Galaxy Quest, a bit more serious and have a realistic approach to space travel and investigation with InSpace (InSpectres variant) or even Traveller.
I'd love to hear peoples ideas and opinions on this. What simple, fast paced and relatively mechanically lite Sci-Fi game would work best for 1-2 hour session increments, with 6-8 players, ages 11-14?
Let me know.
More to come.
AD
Barking Alien
Saturday, September 7, 2013
The True Bride
Sometimes the love of your life is right there in front of you, staring you in the face the entire time and you don't even realize it.
Such it was with my new beloved and old, dear friend...
Camelot, The Broadway Musical, 1967
AD
Barking Alien
A brief acknowledgement and thank you to my newest followers. Hope you enjoy the site and be sure to tell your friends!
Such it was with my new beloved and old, dear friend...
A melancholy need to run something of a fantasy nature has stayed with me from the dawn of late Summer onward until now, not one bit frightened off by the coming spectre of Autumn.
I have given it respect and indeed been rallied by it in the form of inspiration and activity toward my own little work of passion and vanity, 'The StoryTeller RPG'.
While progress on the StoryTeller continues, it has not satiated my hunger for a long term game I can run with my regular group.
I looked back at my posts for the month of August and I noticed something.
I listed only two commercial Fantasy RPGs that I've ever really liked and one of them I have never run. I played it some 25+ years ago but never ran it. I've run the other one, Ars Magica, to varying degrees of success (OK, mostly lots of success, one time recently mediocre success). So why try a campaign of one and not the other?
Why indeed?
One of my favorite pieces of role playing game art ever.
By Lisa A. Free.
My thoughts are that with this game, which directly combines the concepts of actual medieval history with folklore and legend (for such is the very nature of its source material), I will have a better chance of evoking the kind of fantasy setting I am longing for while still giving my genre-challenged players the opportunity to battle enemy forces, slay monsters, hunt for ancient and possibly mystic treasures and gain wealth and notoriety, a major driving force for at least one member of the group.
For the majority of the players, the chance to do all of the above while exploring interesting characters is easily facilitated by the system and subject matter. The rules governing Passions and Traits will go along way toward helping one or two of them visualize their character beyond what skills they have and what weapon they use.
Most interestingly, its my now veterans who seem to have the most difficulty thinking outside the box when it comes to fantasy and genre-troupes in general, where as my newer players are pretty open-minded and flexible as they've had fewer years of D&D pounded into their heads. Well, two more new players maybe coming into the mix. This could get very, very interesting.
King Arthur as a Boy: "What's the best thing for being sad?"
Merlin: "The best thing for being sad is to learn something."Camelot, The Broadway Musical, 1967
AD
Barking Alien
A brief acknowledgement and thank you to my newest followers. Hope you enjoy the site and be sure to tell your friends!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Sapsorrow
Previously I said I felt lucky that when a really good idea hits me (or at least an idea that I think is good), it sort of POPS! into my mind complete and fully formed. After that it's all about cleaning off the direct and shining up the details.
Well, this one keeps coming. It hasn't stopped yet. I keep getting new ideas for it and ways to improve it and unfortunately, with the holiday weekend coming up, there is no way I am going to finish this project this month.
I am as sad a sap as Sapsorrow.
Even as I was getting ready to detail how Legend and Lore work, I began thinking how to refine the ideas for them, as well as considering adding a subsystem called Peril. I am on a roll. And yet...
The more I work on this the more I realize this is exactly the kind of game I would love and my players would not really get into. It's perfect for RECESS and would do very well with my old New Jersey group. For my current New York crowd...no so much.
I will continue to work on this and should have a finished game very soon. I will definitely be running it at the next RECESS Game Day, mark my words!
In regards to a new Fantasy game for my present group of players, I'm sort of back where I started. I say sort of because I have a bit more insight now as to what I want that will also work for them. If D&D is on the Red end of the spectrum and StoryTeller on the Violet End (although really its not. Its more Blue/Indigo), I need to find a way to locate or make a game that's...Green.
Green? Did I say Green?
It seems I walked right into my own metaphor. I knew there was a reason I liked that color.
AD
Barking Alien
Well, this one keeps coming. It hasn't stopped yet. I keep getting new ideas for it and ways to improve it and unfortunately, with the holiday weekend coming up, there is no way I am going to finish this project this month.
I am as sad a sap as Sapsorrow.
Now THAT is a sad sight if ever I saw one.
Even as I was getting ready to detail how Legend and Lore work, I began thinking how to refine the ideas for them, as well as considering adding a subsystem called Peril. I am on a roll. And yet...
The more I work on this the more I realize this is exactly the kind of game I would love and my players would not really get into. It's perfect for RECESS and would do very well with my old New Jersey group. For my current New York crowd...no so much.
I will continue to work on this and should have a finished game very soon. I will definitely be running it at the next RECESS Game Day, mark my words!
In regards to a new Fantasy game for my present group of players, I'm sort of back where I started. I say sort of because I have a bit more insight now as to what I want that will also work for them. If D&D is on the Red end of the spectrum and StoryTeller on the Violet End (although really its not. Its more Blue/Indigo), I need to find a way to locate or make a game that's...Green.
Green? Did I say Green?
It seems I walked right into my own metaphor. I knew there was a reason I liked that color.
AD
Barking Alien
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
The Luck Child
Sometimes I get lucky and when an idea hits me, it hits all at once, bringing the theme, setting and mechanics with it in one fell swoop. It is like being buried in an avalanche of coolness.
Yeah. It's like that.
With The StoryTeller RPG it was very much like that, although granted, it didn't start that way.
Actually, it started something like this...
Search for the right Fantasy Game - Get frustrated - Keep searching - Get frustrated - Consider making my own - Keep searching - Get frustrated - Wait... POP! BOOOM! The StoryTeller.
So here's what I have so far...
Basically, the game is mechanically very similar to The Muppets RPG, which is in turn based on Risus, Sketch! and a number of other RPGs. In addition, some ideas from my Smurfs RPG have snuck in here as well. Since I designed that game with a heavy faerie folklore emphasis, a lot of the same concepts can be applied here (it also goes with the type of game I want to run and the stories I want to tell).
Above you will see the character sheet I designed for the game. It begins with, "Once There Was A...", where you list the type of character you are. Preferably, make this either as descriptive and folklore related as possible or as simple as you can. For example, The Luck Child could be identified as A..."Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" or A..."Luck Child".
Next is "Named", where you write your character's name. In our example, "Lucky" is the The Luck Child's name. Fancy that, eh?
"Who Sought Out" defines your character's overarching goal, quest, purpose or just what they really want in life. It need not be epic but it certainly could be.
The Luck Child did not initially seek anything, being happy to live life as the adopted son and bookkeeper for a Miller and his wife. After being discovered by the cruel and greedy King of the land to be the child prophesied to one day claim his throne, Lucky was told to head for the castle with a written, royal proclamation. Little did Lucky know that the proclamation told the Queen that, upon meeting the boy, she was to have the guards seize him and chop him into a thousand pieces.
Since Lucky did not know this, what he "Sought Out" could be listed as "His Fortune" or "The King's Castle".
This is where "Despite" comes into play. You could say, Despite "A Cruel and Greedy King" or "The Plans of a Greedy King".
Much of the interaction between the PC and the game mechanics and game universe (though not all of it) will come from trying to seek out what you want despite a thing trying to impede you. In the story of Fearnot, Fearnot is a young man "Who Sought Out" What It's Like To Be Scared "Despite" Being Incapable of Fear.
Finally, the opening of our sheet ends at the beginning with "And So Begins Our Story..." in which you give the title of your particular folktale. You see, each PC is a folklore character in a legend all their own. Not only will you be going on adventures of a mythic nature but you are also always on your own, personal mythic adventure.
How are you liking it so far?
What's that? Hit points? Where are the hit points and armor class you ask? What is the Luck Child's strength? I don't know. Haven't the foggiest. Hmm? Initiative? Don't worry about such things right now my friend. We're here to tell tales by fire light. If it's important I'm sure we'll get to it.
You old schoolers getting a bit uneasy? Keep calm, read on and Fearnot...
AD
Barking Alien
***
I don't want to depart for today without acknowledging a few items of interest and importance.
Today commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and the March on Washington that let it be heard. We could use an ounce of that fire in today's world.
On a personal note, I want to say Happy Birthday to another 'King', Jack 'King' Kirby, born this day in 1917. Born Jacob Kurtzberg, a native New Yorker, Mr. Kirby passed away at the age of 76 from Heart Failure in February of 1994.
He is remembered by comic book fans every day they look at an image or read a story featuring any one of the dozens upon dozens of characters he created or co-created for Marvel and DC Comics including The Fantastic Four, Black Panther, The New Gods, Mister Miracle, Galactus, The Silver Surfer and of course, Captain America.
I neglected to make mentioned on the 23rd that it had been one year since the passing of musician and Muppets puppeteer Jerry Nelson.
Yeah. It's like that.
With The StoryTeller RPG it was very much like that, although granted, it didn't start that way.
Actually, it started something like this...
Search for the right Fantasy Game - Get frustrated - Keep searching - Get frustrated - Consider making my own - Keep searching - Get frustrated - Wait... POP! BOOOM! The StoryTeller.
So here's what I have so far...
Basically, the game is mechanically very similar to The Muppets RPG, which is in turn based on Risus, Sketch! and a number of other RPGs. In addition, some ideas from my Smurfs RPG have snuck in here as well. Since I designed that game with a heavy faerie folklore emphasis, a lot of the same concepts can be applied here (it also goes with the type of game I want to run and the stories I want to tell).
Above you will see the character sheet I designed for the game. It begins with, "Once There Was A...", where you list the type of character you are. Preferably, make this either as descriptive and folklore related as possible or as simple as you can. For example, The Luck Child could be identified as A..."Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" or A..."Luck Child".
Next is "Named", where you write your character's name. In our example, "Lucky" is the The Luck Child's name. Fancy that, eh?
"Who Sought Out" defines your character's overarching goal, quest, purpose or just what they really want in life. It need not be epic but it certainly could be.
The Luck Child did not initially seek anything, being happy to live life as the adopted son and bookkeeper for a Miller and his wife. After being discovered by the cruel and greedy King of the land to be the child prophesied to one day claim his throne, Lucky was told to head for the castle with a written, royal proclamation. Little did Lucky know that the proclamation told the Queen that, upon meeting the boy, she was to have the guards seize him and chop him into a thousand pieces.
Since Lucky did not know this, what he "Sought Out" could be listed as "His Fortune" or "The King's Castle".
This is where "Despite" comes into play. You could say, Despite "A Cruel and Greedy King" or "The Plans of a Greedy King".
Much of the interaction between the PC and the game mechanics and game universe (though not all of it) will come from trying to seek out what you want despite a thing trying to impede you. In the story of Fearnot, Fearnot is a young man "Who Sought Out" What It's Like To Be Scared "Despite" Being Incapable of Fear.
Finally, the opening of our sheet ends at the beginning with "And So Begins Our Story..." in which you give the title of your particular folktale. You see, each PC is a folklore character in a legend all their own. Not only will you be going on adventures of a mythic nature but you are also always on your own, personal mythic adventure.
How are you liking it so far?
What's that? Hit points? Where are the hit points and armor class you ask? What is the Luck Child's strength? I don't know. Haven't the foggiest. Hmm? Initiative? Don't worry about such things right now my friend. We're here to tell tales by fire light. If it's important I'm sure we'll get to it.
You old schoolers getting a bit uneasy? Keep calm, read on and Fearnot...
AD
Barking Alien
***
I don't want to depart for today without acknowledging a few items of interest and importance.
Today commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and the March on Washington that let it be heard. We could use an ounce of that fire in today's world.
On a personal note, I want to say Happy Birthday to another 'King', Jack 'King' Kirby, born this day in 1917. Born Jacob Kurtzberg, a native New Yorker, Mr. Kirby passed away at the age of 76 from Heart Failure in February of 1994.
He is remembered by comic book fans every day they look at an image or read a story featuring any one of the dozens upon dozens of characters he created or co-created for Marvel and DC Comics including The Fantastic Four, Black Panther, The New Gods, Mister Miracle, Galactus, The Silver Surfer and of course, Captain America.
I neglected to make mentioned on the 23rd that it had been one year since the passing of musician and Muppets puppeteer Jerry Nelson.
In loving memory.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
A Story Short
As you may have noticed, this month I have been trying desperately to find a system with which to run a Fantasy role playing game of a very different sort from that embodied by the approach used in Dungeons and Dragons, it's simulacrum, clones and the seemingly innumerable games inspired by it.
I am not in the mood or mindset to run D&D. but boy, am I ready for some medieval fantasy.
At some point while contemplating this rather vexing conundrum and discussing it here, on a few forums and most notably in a private RPG discussion group I am a member of on Facebook, I remembered a pet project I had put by the wayside which could very well solve my problem.
Ever since I finished my Muppets RPG (finished is relative as I am forever tweaking it), I have wanted to create a variant that could handle some of the more serious and less overtly Muppety Jim Henson productions such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and one of my all time favorites, The StoryTeller
"When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for...The Storyteller."
For those unfamiliar with Jim Henson's The StoryTeller, shame on you. Shame! Leave! Go on, shoo! Never darken my doorstep again. You are not welcome here.
Oh, alright fine. Perhaps it's not your fault. You can stay but be on your best behavior and try to learn something. Neanderthals.
The StoryTeller was a combination live action/actors and puppet/animatronics series of television episodes that originally aired in 1988. It was an American/British co-production, originally conceived by Lisa Henson, Jim Henson's daughter.
Jim and Lisa brainstormed the concept of the series, basing all of the episodes on authentic folktales from a variety of countries and sources. Although all the folktales were Western European, many where considered quite obscure by modern recollections.
To me, there has never been anything else quite like The Storyteller. It is an amazing series and every time I think of running a Fantasy RPG, this show is what I am thinking of and hoping for.
As I have mentioned many times before, I did not read very much 'modern' Fantasy or 'Sword and Sorcery' growing up outside of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and a little Robert E. Howard. Much later I would read Moorcock, Lieber, Vance, and others but not until I was already 13 or 14.
Prior to that and even prior to playing D&D for the first time at the age of 8, I had read the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, the book Faeries by Alan Lee and Brian Froud, and a number of other tomes of fairytales and folklore.
While I came to appreciate both types of Fantasy for their own individual merits, there is a game for one type and not the other.
So, what I am endeavoring to do (fingers, toes and eyes crossed) is create a StoryTeller RPG based on the sensibilities of the show and the tales that it told and using a slightly more 'grown up' version of my Muppets RPG rules.
Will it work? Will my current group understand it?
Only time will tell...
AD
Barking Alien
I am not in the mood or mindset to run D&D. but boy, am I ready for some medieval fantasy.
At some point while contemplating this rather vexing conundrum and discussing it here, on a few forums and most notably in a private RPG discussion group I am a member of on Facebook, I remembered a pet project I had put by the wayside which could very well solve my problem.
Ever since I finished my Muppets RPG (finished is relative as I am forever tweaking it), I have wanted to create a variant that could handle some of the more serious and less overtly Muppety Jim Henson productions such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and one of my all time favorites, The StoryTeller
***
"When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for...The Storyteller."
For those unfamiliar with Jim Henson's The StoryTeller, shame on you. Shame! Leave! Go on, shoo! Never darken my doorstep again. You are not welcome here.
Oh, alright fine. Perhaps it's not your fault. You can stay but be on your best behavior and try to learn something. Neanderthals.
The StoryTeller was a combination live action/actors and puppet/animatronics series of television episodes that originally aired in 1988. It was an American/British co-production, originally conceived by Lisa Henson, Jim Henson's daughter.
Jim and Lisa brainstormed the concept of the series, basing all of the episodes on authentic folktales from a variety of countries and sources. Although all the folktales were Western European, many where considered quite obscure by modern recollections.
To me, there has never been anything else quite like The Storyteller. It is an amazing series and every time I think of running a Fantasy RPG, this show is what I am thinking of and hoping for.
As I have mentioned many times before, I did not read very much 'modern' Fantasy or 'Sword and Sorcery' growing up outside of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and a little Robert E. Howard. Much later I would read Moorcock, Lieber, Vance, and others but not until I was already 13 or 14.
Prior to that and even prior to playing D&D for the first time at the age of 8, I had read the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, the book Faeries by Alan Lee and Brian Froud, and a number of other tomes of fairytales and folklore.
While I came to appreciate both types of Fantasy for their own individual merits, there is a game for one type and not the other.
So, what I am endeavoring to do (fingers, toes and eyes crossed) is create a StoryTeller RPG based on the sensibilities of the show and the tales that it told and using a slightly more 'grown up' version of my Muppets RPG rules.
Will it work? Will my current group understand it?
Only time will tell...
AD
Barking Alien
Saturday, August 24, 2013
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