Showing posts with label 40th Anniversary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 40th Anniversary. Show all posts

Sunday, August 27, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 27

Good morning, or good whatever time of day, or night you are reading this. 

It's Sunday morning here in NYC, and after a crazy yesterday, I'm feeling pretty good on this much more serene today. 

Now on to the day's question...






The essential tools, eh? 

The things you can't do without.

OK...dice? Yeah, though there are diceless games. I prefer dice, but I've played with other randomizers.

Paper, and pencil? Helpful, sure, but I'm not positive it's essential. I'm gamed freeform before, rolling dice, or flipping a coin when necessary.

How about...OH! I've got it!








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Barking Alien










Saturday, August 26, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 26

The day after my 40th Anniversary, and what a strange day it was.

Had a change in my life occur today, one that makes me sad, but which is probably for the best in the long run. 

Got some new furniture, nothing too fancy, but a few things that are starting to make my apartment really look like a normal Human being lives here. Haha! I have them all fooled...

It was National Dog Day, so I spent what free time I had playing with my best friend, my dog Delilah, and I gave an extra treats, cheese. Yeah, its not the best for them, but this was organic, farm fresh cheese and she loves it so why not. A little bit on a special day is alright I think.

Now on to today's question...






Hmmm.

I take this to mean, 'Which RPG provides the most useful supplements, or sourcebooks'. Is that right?

The best supported game I've ever seen, or run was easily Star Wars, The Role Playing Game by West End Games.

The team that produced that game was absolutely brilliant in their approach to producing supplemental material for both the RPG, and the Star Wars universe as a whole. 

Many of their early books were basically stat and game mechanics translations of anything and everything you'd seen in the films.

Get the Star Wars: A New Hope Sourcebook (Galaxy Guide: 1) and get to know useful game information on everything from Jawas to the Death Star, and from the Dianoga to Biggs. Galaxy Guide 4 covered Alien Races, and had data on every space faring background bogey you could pause a VCR at. 

At the same time, adventure modules, and other supplements added tons of new material, and mythos to the setting that had never been seen before. Original droids, starships, aliens, and so much more were created exclusively for the RPG. 

The best part was that a new book, adventure, game, or something was coming out of WEG constantly. There was always a new resource to use, or at the very least be inspired by. 

For a good, related read of the subject, check out this article from Rolling Stone Magazine.

That's it for this one.

I've still got a bunch of posts coming up before month's end.

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Barking Alien











Friday, August 25, 2017

Adventure Comics

As I think about today, and how amazing it is that I've been doing what I love [running and playing tabletop RPGs] in one form, or another for 40 years now, I find it curious how much of my current gaming revolves around Superheroes. 

It was Superheroes comic books that got me started in the hobby after all. 

Unlike a lot of people who came to RPGs from other games (particularly war games, and/or miniatures), or a love of fantasy literature, I came to it by way of wanting to create, and participate in stories of a heroic nature. 

The kid who taught me to play on that fateful day in Brooklyn, August 25th, 1977, was a year younger than I was, and learned to play the game from his older brother. He explained it to me by saying, "It's like playing out a comic book. You create a character, go on adventures, defeat villains, and save people."

For this reason as much as any other, I've rarely encountered the 'murderhobo' mentality in earnest. My fellow players, and I as GM, were simply never all that interested in the idea. Once in a blue moon perhaps, as a change of pace, we'd play people just trying to survive and make a name for themselves. Most of the time though, it was about bigger pictures, deep goals, righting wrongs, fighting for a better world, a better tomorrow.

The games that drew my attention, and won my favor were games in which you played heroes, fighting the forces of evil, toppling tyranny, and discovering the wonder of the universe. Games like Star Trek, Star Wars, and of course, various Superhero RPGs. 

These days I don't get to run, or play Star Trek, or Star Wars as much as I'd like (though I do get the chance once in a while. More about that another time). I do get in A LOT of Supers however. 

Why, just next week I will running a DC universe adventure as part of my Google Hangout groups Ultra Mega Summer Super Crossover Event!







I found this in the Dollar Bin of a Comic Book Store on a Parallel Earth.
It's in pretty good condition. What a bargain!




In addition to my ongoing My Hero Academia: American Ultra campaign, I am taking over the reins of our little online group for a few sessions (Muhuwahahahaha!) in order to run something very near, and dear to my heart - a Silver/Bronze Age DC Comics mini-campaign! 

Most of my friends were Marvel fans when we were growing up. For a while, I would've said I was too if asked. DC wasn't as cool as Marvel you see, especially when you're between 8-14 years old, and living in the 1970s and 1980s. 

At the same time, if asked who my favorite superhero was, I would usually say Green Lantern. My favorite team? The Legion of Superheroes, and the Teen Titans. (But, you know, I'm still really a Marvel fan. Shyeah. Right.).

Eventually I grew to be proud of my love of the bigger, bolder, more mythic comic book company, and it's larger than larger-than-life heroes, and villains. Of course, I came to terms with this just as DC's management decided to blow it all up, and start fresh in the landmark Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series.

I now yearn for a simpler, yet more epic time. A time of four color heroes, threats to the world, and even the universe, Gold Kryptonite, Super-Pets, and Bat-submarines. I want to visit the Wild West of Jonah Hex, Batlash, and Cinnamon, and the ruined, mutant future of Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth. 

This campaign is therefore a celebration of DC Comics before 1984 - Before waves of anti-matter, and muted, red skies took away the true Earth-2, Earth-3, the original Superboy, and The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. It is the era of The Creeper, Ragman, Supergirl dating Brainiac 5 in the 30th Century, and a host of awesome forgotten villains, and heroes deemed 'not edgy', or 'extreme' enough to survive unmolested into later eras. 

Feh!

The Teen Titans Judas Contract, the Legion of Superheroes' Great Darkness Saga - these stories are worth a thousand times what modern DC is doing. 

Hold on to the Mobius Chair, unfold the Worlogog, and follow us on a journey through the space-time continuum to save an entire reality, or maybe two, in the...






I can't wait!

Stay tuned.

AD
Barking Alien









RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 25

Day 25 is a special day for me, so I am really hoping there is a special question.







Well alright. Not bad at all.

Let's give this some thought. Hmmm. OK, I've got it...








In my opinion, the best way to thank your GM is to invest in, and pay attention to the game they are running.

What I mean is that if your Gamemaster is putting work into creating distinctive and interesting NPCs, interact with them. Don't automatically assume they are untrustworthy, or unimportant. Get to know them.

If the GM puts time and effort into developing an interesting locale for a scene, or a battle, make use of your PCs surroundings, and embrace being hindered by the slippery rocks beneath a waterfall, or the exhausting heat of a desert. 

Thank the GM who cares about their craft by treating the campaign world as more than just the background of a video game. Be a part of it. Get to know how it works. Pay attention. Immerse. 

Over the last few years, I've had a number of players do things to 'help me GM'. This 'help' came in the form of trying to create plot hooks that didn't match what had already been established and getting the party together in a location through a method that made no sense considering where we left off the previous session.

Time and again I was told that they [the players in question] were just trying to help. They were creating content so I didn't have to. They were getting the group together to make the adventure easier to manage.

I can't tell you how much that annoyed me and how unhelpful it was.

It told me, "We don't care about or weren't really paying attention to the significance of the events you (the players) and I (the GM) worked so hard to establish and coordinate". It said they'd rather do their own thing without thought to the GM, the setting, or the other players.  

If you want to know the best way to thank your GM, it's by enjoying and appreciating the work they've put into the fun you've had and keep having.

Don't avoid the awesome villain in the Superhero RPG that your GM took the time to create. Confront it as a superhero would. Don't spend an hour or more of real time scanning the mystery at a distance in Star Trek, hoping to avoid any potential mishaps that might arise. Scan once, or twice, take the results, make a plan, and beam down.

Your GM made an adventure for you. One that a character of your type and personality would want to be part of. Go on the damn adventure!

You can thank the GM by not wasting his or her time and the time of your fellow players. You can do it by actually participating, including showing up regularly to the gaming sessions with the intent to game.

After all, that's why they, why I, spent a week or two working on the game. It's so it would be played.


You're welcome.

AD
Barking Alien








Thursday, August 24, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 24

Please let this be better than that last question...





I...What?

How could a Pay-What-You-Want publisher charge more?

Aren't they charging...I mean, if they were charging too little for...this makes absolutely no sense.

This is literally nonsense. They are asking that you pay as much as you like. Charging more is...

Screw this question.

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Barking Alien







Wednesday, August 23, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 23

*Sigh*

Really?

Are this year's question just a poll so you guys can figure out what you want your next product to look like?







"Dude, I picked up this awesome game yesterday. You've got to check it out! No, the rules are crap, it's an uninteresting premise, and the writing is god awful, but DAMN that layout is the shiznit!"

Don't know. Don't care. I like games that look good and are easy to read, don't like ones that don't and aren't, and can not recall a time when my jaw dropped due to an RPG's layout.

Do you guys even RPG?

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Barking Alien






Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Do Not Worry, For I Am Here!

I wanted to update you on my new campaign, My Hero Academia: American Ultra!

I know I haven't even completed the recap of the first session, but we ran the second session already, and I wanted to talk about some elements from both that I've noticed so far.






My Hero Academia plays quite differently from a traditional Superhero RPG in some aspects, and it is those differences that make it interesting, as well as bit more challenging to run. 

My previous post, Question #22 on this year's RPGaDay Challenge, revolves around which RPGs are the easiest for me to run. Well, Superheroes is definitely up there, having grown up on Superhero comic books.

I likewise have little trouble running games that feel like Japanese Anime, and Manga, especially of the Shonen (Young Male Comic) Action/Adventure variety. I get their style of humor as well, or at least most of the time. Some Japanese comedies are too wacky for my liking, though I really love the ones that can balance just enough humor in with the serious stuff. 

My Hero Academia is a somewhat unusual case however. It is essentially a Japanese Action/Adventure-Comedy about American-style Superheroes. If that weren't strange enough, it adds the secret/special school genre in there as well, making it something akin to Young Justice meets Harry Potter.

What makes that combination rather more tricky than a classic Superhero game, is that there are several things to consider that aren't major factors in other Supers based campaigns, and some additional factors as well. 


A Lot of Supers

My Hero Academia is a setting in which 80% of the Earth's population has some kind of super-normal ability. While most people's Quirks (the common term for superpowers) aren't especially powerful, or combat effective, that still means there are easily a hundred million, or more people who are cable of becoming Heroes, or Villains (probably a lot more). 

In the Japanese version, each of the classes at UA High School has 18 students. There are two Hero classes, two Support classes, two for General studies, and two for Business. Just focusing on the Hero classes, that means that in just one grade year there are 36 potential, new heroes. Ignoring the other grades, the other classes, and rival schools, that means each graduating year the school churns out a team larger than many incarnations of the Avengers, and the Justice League.

In our campaign each class has 20 kids. So I need 40 NPC students named, and roughly stated out, minimum [the two hero classes]. There are also at least a dozen or so teachers, a slew of pro-heroes, parents, siblings, etc. Without even getting into the bad guys this is the most NPC-Supporting-Cast heavy game I've run in a long time (and I've run Star Trek with its 300-400 person starship crews). 

A lot of my prep time is spent just making up NPC students, and teachers. The trick I've found is to describe, and stat out only those NPCs who I have a clear idea about, and who are more likely to cross paths with the PCs. Ideas that aren't yet fleshed out are used for characters in the 'background'. They might appear in a crowded lunchroom scene, or in the stands at a sporting event. If a player takes interest in their vague description it tells me that might be a character worth developing. 


It's Limited to Superpowers

The setting's unique superhuman dynamic is one of the things that makes it hard, but really fun. At the same time, it lacks a number of elements one would expect to find in classic Superhero comics. 

There are no aliens, no demons, or deities, no hidden lands, and no mystic artifacts. Up until the year 2017, this world was our world. Then, sometime this year or next, people begin manifesting Quirks, beginning with a newborn baby in a small [ficitional] city in China.

Wait...the setting has fictional cities. Even in the main story, the school is located in a fictional town, in an actual, real world prefecture of Japan. The train station from the battle in the first issue/episode does not exist in the real world however.

So if there can be fictional cities, towns, and the like, can't there be a Latveria, Savage Land, or Atlantis? Er...no? It just wouldn't feel right. It would also draw attention away from that which makes the setting special. 

The end result is that it may be more difficult to create adventures in this setting later in the campaigns run. I don't really anticipate that because of my peculiar approach to adventure construction, but it is something to consider.

One way to remedy this in the short term is to keep focus on the PCs, their families, and their friends. Work out their relationships, keep things personal and relevant to the player characters so they will remain invested in the setting and story. 

If you don't have the over-the-top locales, and props common to most Superheroes stories, try not to bemoan not having them. Instead, rejoice in character development, and exploring the elements of the setting the world does have, such as the nigh-limitless variations on Quirks.


Forget the Villains, Your Book Report is Due

The PCs are 14 year old freshmen going to a school to learn to be Superheroes when they grow up. 

This means that while plots may loom large as to which villain is up to what scheme, and who the new mystery hero is who's got all the reporters talking, the PCs still need to finish their homework, and attend classes. 

Again, in a fashion similar to the Harry Potter books, there will be an attempt to ground much of the day-to-day activities of the students in the knowledge that they are students in high school. This means they're not the ones going after the major super-baddies right now. It is the professional Superhero, that which the PCs aspire to be some day, who goes out there righting wrongs, rescuing people, and the like.

Well...sorta kind of. 

We all know that in the Harry Potter world it isn't Miss McGonagall who uncovers the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets, or Flitwick who battles He Who Shall Not Be Named. It's Harry, and his friends, and it has to be. That is the world they live in.

Likewise the PCs heroes of My Hero Academia: American Ultra are the heroes of their story, and will periodically face dangers even the pro-Heroes would have trouble with. 

Have their butts saved by the pros only sparingly, and make it a reward for the players thinking on their feet. Promote the idea that teamwork, and techniques learned in class can tip the tide of battle against seemingly unstoppable foes. Play to the strengths of the genre, and its tropes. 



Mini-Rant

[Very often, while playing in a Hogwarts/Wizarding World game my friend runs, the other players try to alert the teachers, get them to help solve the problem, or otherwise engage in doing what makes absolute, practical sense. That is, instead of being teens and young adults in a Harry Potter book.

No, they approach it logically, with the most prevailing logic of all being that they are kids and this-or-that is dangerous, and an adult should take care of it.

All, but me.

Why? Because I freakin' love tropes! Tropes are how you tell one setting, and genre from another. Tropes are the metaphysical laws of a fictional continuum.

Harry Potter-style universe Trope #1 is that the adults are not able to perceive what the kids can. Especially not at first. This might be because they are occupied with other, seemingly bigger issues. It could be because they're not as open minded as the children. Whatever the reason that helps you work that out for yourself, the bottom line is it's a story about kid heroes, so the kids get to be the heroes. Yes, this also means they get to be in danger too. Par for the course, part of the deal. Enjoy it. Stop being so smart you remove the fun from the setting. No one is going to say, "My, my aren't you clever. Now there's no game. Thanks!"]


The PCs have already pursued the opening metaplot, with one fellow coming up with some crazy creative ways to find out what really happened when the Number 12 rated villain supposedly took out the Number 1 rated hero. 

Eventually the investigation (which occurred three days before the official first day of school at AU High School) lead to a confrontation with a group of villains who appeared to be attacking the school. They weren't. Mr. Number 12 villain, Killjoy, wanted to turn himself in. He claimed he didn't do it, but was turning himself in because he's spent every moment since running from heroes who want to kick his butt eight ways from Sunday, and then some. Unfortunately, some less calm, cool, and collected friends of his decided to tag along. 

Tempers flared, his buddies got edgy, and so did some of the pro-heroes. The situation eventually devolved into a fight, and the PCs lent the pros a hand, with some of them delivering serious blows to their opponents (while still realizing that were far from being on the pro-level yet). 

Eventually, the calm, rational mind of one of the pro-Superheroes prevailed, and the villains, including Killjoy, surrendered, and were taken into custody. 

[It was pretty friggin' awesome actually].

So there you have it. The challenges posed by this particular campaign on someone who is normally good at this sort of thing, and what can be done to overcome them. In brief at least.

catch you later,

AD
Barking Alien






RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 22

I like this one.


Star Trek (Especially the Last Unicorn Games version) and Star Wars (West End Games's D6, 2nd Edition) are by far the two games I find easiest to run. 




The reasons for this are manifold, but some of the key elements include:

First, and foremost, I have a love and preference for Science-Fiction gaming, and Space Adventure style stories. I especially love exploration oriented games, which is why Star Trek beats out Star Wars a bit. 

The episodic nature of Star Trek, and Star Wars lend themselves to well paced 'world' building as you add new planets, species, and other things each session.  Eventually, I can create a unique, personal version of these two well-known IPs over the course of a campaign that feels special to my players, as well as myself. It's not just the Star Trek, or Star Wars universe, but our Star Trek, or Star Wars universe. 

My familiarity with the established settings, the tones, and the styles used to tell game appropriate stories in these settings is also a major boon. I never require my players to have a deep familiarity with these universes, but I feel that having one myself helps me make them seem more 'real' when I GM. 

That said, a passing familiarity helps a lot, and these are the two most universally well known Space Adventure properties in the history of geekdom. Its extremely easy to run a game in which the players are Starfleet Officers pinned down by Klingon disruptor fire on an ice planet when you don't have to explain what Klingons are, why they might be shooting, and what an ice planet looks like. Sure, you want to describe the features that make this ice planet unique, but the popularity of the setting makes your overall attempt to paint the picture much less stressful. 

Both the aforementioned games feature fairly simple systems, without too much crunch, or at the very least they can be run with the crunch turned down a bit. That's important to me, as I prefer the rules of a game to fade into the background as much as possible. 

While I can run either Star Trek, or Star Wars with minimal prep (virtually none for Star Wars actually), these are games in which I very much enjoy the prep work. 

Other games I find easy are...

Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition
A campaign set in the Silver/Bronze Age DC Comics universe.
Teenagers from Outer Space. I don't even need the book to run it. I can do it from memory.
Faery's Tale Deluxe. It's a simple, rules-lite game, and I'm well versed on the subject matter.

So in conclusion, rules-lite, low crunch games that revolve around specific genres, or properties are among my favorites, and the easiest to run for yours truly.

Next question!

AD
Barking Alien







Monday, August 21, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 21

I am starting to lose my enthusiasm for this year's RPGaDay Challenge. 

Many of the questions so far can easily be answered with the same reply of 'Who Cares?'.

Best writing? I don't know. If I read it, and then I want to play it and can, it has good enough writing. Best cover? Seriously? Best interior art? Is this an award ceremony, or an RPG challenge?

This next one is almost intriguing, but only almost.




As I've stated in the past, it is my humble opinion that most RPGs are over-written. 

Too many unnecessarily complex rules, too many rules no one will use because they slow down the game, not enough examples of how gameplay works, but tons of uninteresting game fiction. Ugh. Save me. 

Asking which games do the most with the least amount of words sounds, to me, like a misunderstanding of how games should be written. The question should be, 'Which RPGs have just the right amount of words?', or 'Which RPGs use an economy of words to achieve the best results?'

I would have to say InSpectres is at the top of that category. Golden Sky Stories, the English translation, is another that uses what I feel are the right amount of words to get its point across, no more, and no less. 

I like to think my own game, The Googly Eyed Primetime Puppet Show, does a pretty good job of this, though it is by no means perfect. In fact, it may be a tad underwritten. I hope to do even better with my next product.

That's it. That's all I have to say on the matter.

Can we get an interesting question now please?

AD
Barking Alien







Sunday, August 20, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 20

A bit more practical a question.




Not sure what the best source is, but some sources I use include DriveThruRPG, and RPGNow for pdfs, Noble Knight Games, ebay, and used bookstores.

Yes, used bookstores. Especially here in New York City, out-of-print RPGs often turn up at used bookstores. Rarely do you see the hard to find early stuff, but you never know, so it's usually worth your time to check in you're in the market for such things.

Besides, who doesn't love used bookstores?

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Barking Alien








RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 19

Long, good weekend.

What do we have here?





I don't know.

Seriously, I do not know. I'm not sure I've ever really considered which games have great writing as opposed to being great games. Yes, I have read games with great writing, and others with poor writing, but I never made a list of the best and worst in my mind. I also don't know that I especially separated the 'writing' from the games that they're in. 

Some of these questions are difficult to answer, not because the question challenges my sensibilities, or makes me think, but because they ask questions I don't really think about the answers to.

My favorite games are games I've read, and re-read many times. I suppose that had great writing. If not, I guess I love crappy writing. 

Whatever works.

AD
Barking Alien







Friday, August 18, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 18

In the 'Easy question that's actually hard to answer' category we have...





I would have said this question was a no-brainer, but if I'm being honest, it's not that simple to answer after all. 

I can name the games I've played most often, in no particular order as to which was played more than another, but picking one as tops is pretty hard.

I play a lot of different games. I modify practically all of them. I kitbash games, and merge parts together. I invent my own. That said, there are a number of games I repeatedly come back to, and run with minimal alterations (see Question #16).

Which was played most is difficult because I might say Star Wars D6 by West End Games, and then a week later run a game of Champions 4E. I hadn't played Ars Magica in forever, then ended up running a game for one group, only to start another campaign with a different group two months later.

The games I've played most in my 40 years in the hobby are (in no particular order - er, besides alphabetically):

Champions, 4th Edition (ICE/Hero Games)
Star Trek, Role Playing Game, TOS and TNG (Last Unicorn Games)
Star Trek, The Role Playing Game (FASA)
Star Wars, The Role Playing Game, Second Edition (West End Games)
Traveller, Classic/MegaTraveller hybrid (Games Design Workshop)

Honorable mention goes to Ars Magica, Mekton I & II, Mutants & Masterminds 2nd and 3rd, Teenagers from Outer Space, and Villains & Vigilantes.

I play a lot of different games.

AD
Barking Alien








Thursday, August 17, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 17

Oh @#%$. This question.




I don't buy food I'm not going to eat.
I don't buy clothes I'm not going to wear.
I don't own a TV because I only watch a few TV shows, and they're all on the internet.

I don't @#%$ing own games I'm not going to @#%$ing play.

Ugh.

AD
Barking Alien








Wednesday, August 16, 2017

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 16

This next one...how do I answer this?






Seriously, do people actually do this? Play games 'as is'?

Like, exactly how they read it in the book. Exactly?

Really? C'mon, you're pulling my leg.

Gosh. The thought of it is...disheartening somehow. It makes me feel sad.

I couldn't do it. I wouldn't want to. 

There is no game I enjoy without some sort of modification. 


AD
Barking Alien







RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 15

Wow! Hey look everybody!

Come see, come see! Come on! 

They included a question just for me!

Hurrah!

+


I modify a lot of games. 




I think I ran a game as-is in 1985 once...or was it '83? I really don't recall exactly. Honestly, maybe I dreamed it.

Considering the fact that A) I feel a lot games are overwritten without actually paying attention to trying to represent their respective genres, and B) I'm a tinkerer, and kit-basher by nature, I've adapted dozens upon dozens of games over the years.

In the 9 years this blog has been around, you've seen me turn Traveller into Star Wars (and consider turning it into Star Trek), Faery's Tale Deluxe into The Smurfs, heard tell of Teenagers from Outer Space being turned into everything from Wizard of Oz, and Time Travel, to Galaxy Quest and even American Superheroes. I toyed with using it to run My Hero Academia, but decided to hack apart three other games into an original system.

Marvel Heroic makes a great game for running American cartoons, or Japanese anime. InSpectres can easily be adapted to run Sci-Fi Survival. 

Honestly, if I have to choose the game I adapt the most, or have adapted the most, it would be TFOS. I've done sooo much with that game. It's just so simple, and easy to add stuff to. 

I do love me some RPG-hacking.

AD
Barking Alien






RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 14

I'm still behind, but gaining fast!







Open-ended campaigns are my preferred approach to RPGs. I would rather run a game this way then any other. 

Games that are not designed for long term, open-ended campaign play absolutely serve a purpose, and have a definite place in ones gaming collection. There are a number of them on my own shelves.

While it is possible to run my own game, The Googly Eyed Primetime Puppet Show, as a long term game with no definitive end, I fully don't expect that's what people are going to do with it. It, like Toon, Teenagers from Outer Space, Hunter Planet, Fiasco, and many other fantastic RPGs, serves best as a break from the usual, and familiar.

However, any game which focuses on exploration of the setting(s), and the characters, where power creep is relatively slow, or at least manageable, and you can change things up from time, to time without throwing the whole thing out of whack works for me for open-ended play.

I especially like games where the PCs are people living in the universe of the game. These are some of the best games for open-ended play because the players are following the lives of character who are native to the setting, and as such they may live, work, have adventures, get married, have kids, grow old, and die like real people. You are then able to play their kids, or grand kids. Life goes on, as they say, and a virtual life does the same except with space travel, magic, and more explosions.

My favorites for this type of game include:

Star Trek, using Last Unicorn's ICON System, RPG.

Traveller, using my Classic/MegaTraveller hybrid rules.

Champions, 4th edition of course, for Supers that keep on trucking. 

and while D&D isn't my favorite game by any stretch, I do concede that it is well built for open-ended, long term play. 

Others I've had success with include Star Wars (WEG D6), Villains & Vigilantes, Mutants & Masterminds, Mekton, and Teenagers from Outer Space (yeah, I know what I said, but it's possible to use the game for longer term play if you really want to).

OK, that's it for that. What's next?

AD
Barking Alien