RPGaDay Challenge 2016 - Day 6

I will catch up! I WILL!

Some years back I worked with a group that ran a small gaming convention with the proceeds going to a children's charity. That was pretty awesome.

While it might not totally qualify for what the question is asking, I'd have to say my favorite use of RPGs in aid of the community is the programs we've run at the learning and tutoring center where I work on Sundays.

Located in a middle class, predominately Chinese neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, my ex-wife started a center that provides homework help during the week, and additional education on the weekends. She hired me on some five years ago, or so to facilitate a program using role-playing games to teach the kids English reading, writing, and speaking. 

Over the years, the program has greatly assisted our students, many of who live in households where English is a second language, Listening to, talking about, and writing stories with their characters, and the worlds those character inhabit, all in English, has improved the creative, and cognitive skills of a large number of kids. 

I'm very proud to have been part of this idea, and that I can continue to do so.

AD
Barking Alien

LIMITED ACCESS

As the year draws to an end, I have a month worth of things to say, but little time to get it all blogged before the year is over.

Sigh.

I've been gaming a ton, since it's pretty much the only pastime I can participate in that doesn't cost me that much anymore*. I've been working as much as possible, to make as much as possible, to barely break even (*sob*), but when I have had a day off, I've gamed.

Additionally, I get to game as part of one of my jobs, working with kids at a tutoring center on the weekend, and I wouldn't change that experience for the world. I get to GM for some great, sharp, creative youngsters, and I get to use the medium to teach English and Creative Writing. What could be better than that, eh?

So, a lot of gaming, a lot of working, not a lot of sleeping. Luckily, sleep is not a major necessity for me. Add to this some issues with my computer late November, and early December, and blogging has suffered immensely. It's a bummer, as I've mentioned before. Blogging is something I really love doing, and not doing it makes me feel like I'm, I don't know, operating 'below standards'. My own standards. It's writing, about games, and as such it should be something I can do. Maybe I'm being too tough on myself, but it's my benchmark for how I handle my personal life's particular level of crazy. Right now, I don't feel I'm up to snuff.

So, I'm working on it.

My most recent forays have been hit and miss. When they've hit, they've hit BIG, with a mushroom cloud level of BOOM! When they've missed, well, the players have smiled, said the game was fun, but in my gut I know it was way off the mark.

I am hoping to do some posts before the month ends regarding my group's new Champions game, but I also have some ideas bubbling up on some very different subjects.

Between this post, and the end of the month, I hope to get in as many posts as I can. If not, I'll have a lot of material for the New Year.

Gotta stay positive.

Happy Holidays to all my fans (yes you Hobo Joe), friends, family, and the fans, friends, and family of my fans, friends, and family. Happy New Year to you all as well.

Talk to you soon,

AD
Barking Alien

*Most of the games I run I own, and have owned for a good number of years.

Sadly, nothing has come out over the last year or two that I want so bad I have to buy it. I am more than happy to read a friend's copy. If there is something of considerable interest (and honestly, I can't rightly recall anything of that nature in the past year or so), I might get the pdf.

I have a very tight budget, and the gaming industry has been doing a wonderful job of helping me maintain it. I miss buying RPGs, but I miss companies making games I want to buy even more.

Adventure Time

It's June and a new month (the true start of summer no less), signifies a renewed sense of purpose to get my game blog on, as it were.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Artitificial Intelligences and Non-or-Trinary Sexual Species from the Andromeda Galaxy, It's...ADVENTURE TIME!

Trying to maintain a theme these last two months has not done well by me so I think I am going to skip that approach for now and go back to the tried and true method of spilling out whatever weird concoction fills up in my head.

Ewwww.

I do it to cleanse the palette in a sense, as I have a pretty awesome theme month planned for July. It's one I've been wanting to do for some time and I think next month is the perfect time to (try to) pull it off.

In the meantime, I want to address the 'State of Gaming' for yours truly and also discuss a few ideas I have regarding a project that may allow you (Yes YOU loyal Barking Alien fans!) to join in on a game run by my moi. How's that for incentive to check back!

Why do I hear crickets?

Anyway, the status quo fo yo gaming bro is as follows:

Traveller: Operation Paladin

Run once a month, usually the 2nd Saturday, at The Compleat Strategist, New York City's FLGS.

We have 5 regular players, with 2 on again off again players for a full ensemble cast of 7. The campaign is a science fiction sandbox using a kitbash of the classic Traveller and MegaTraveller rules.

The setting is my personal take on the classic Traveller canon. Very story heavy and character driven. There have been no PC deaths thus far. Almost no combat has actually occurred honestly. A lot of politics, secret agendas, diplomacy and trading however.

This is going very well and is up to the 5th session I believe, with the 6th coming up this weekend (update for prosperity - the session run on June 15th was actually the 7th session of the campaign). I am liking this one a lot.

Champions: New Age Heroics

Run once a month, usually the 4th Saturday, at a public space in NYC. At this point, it looks like we'll have 4-5 players.

The system is Champions 4th Edition, though considerations will be given to adjustments or added material from 5th if the player can convince me its worth using.

The campaign will be set in my previously used Champions Earth Alpha Delta-1 universe, which was based on the nearly 11 year campaign created by my friend William. Part of the draw is that it will be set in the same 'universe' as my every other week campaign and could feature a crossover somewhere down the line. The main premise is a sort of Justice League-Lite or Avengers on the cheap. The PC team will be a B List superteam trying to reach A List in a world where there really isn't an A List superteam outside of those who work for UNTIL / Project: UNITY and Britain's Watch. The USA has no Avengers or JLA anymore. Can these guys be THE team?

This campaign has not yet begun.

Champions: Dark Champions NOW!

Run every other week or so, at a public space in NYC. There are only two players other than myself but I hope to add some more down the line.

This campaign will also be using Champions 4th Edition, with considerations given to 5th edition material based on player input and cajoling.

The campaign is a slightly above street level game focusing on gangs, organized crime and low level supervillains in Chicago. The setting is interesting. We have essentially gone back to Champions Earth Alpha Delta-1 (the setting of our previous campaign 'The New Age of Champions'), but we are pulling the camera in a little tighter on one particular city. It's kind of a new status quo (like Marvel's Marvel NOW) crossed with a darker, grittier Dark Champions outlook. Just started. Literally one 4 hour session so far.

Players liked it, I liked it and their characters are pretty cool. I hope this continues at least for a while. I am curious as to how I am going to cross this over with the other Champions campaign.

Marvel Heroic: Avengers Initiative: The Rookies

The campaign at the learning center where I teach on Sundays is approaching the end of its Marvel Heroic Event Series, designed and destined to finish up in time for the Summer Program to begin in July. At this point the kids, ages 10-13 for the most part, are in dire straights after a mysterious villain attacked them while they were aboard a SHIELD Helicarrier by dropping a Celestial on them from near orbit. If that sounds like it would hurt, you're right. It did.

What am I running next for the kids? Well...I do have an idea but I am going to save the details for another post. Stay tuned.

Trek Tuesdays

As I mentioned in my last post, I am currently in a Google Hangouts Star Trek game (actually two alternating campaigns) every Tuesday night and its been a real blast. Played again yesterday with my alien science officer taking even more of a command role aboard the USS Odin. I may switch my shirt from Blue to Gold.

***

Whoah Nelly! That's a lot of gaming going on don't you think? It doesn't even address the game I am working on for the younger kids class for summer and my Star Trek adventure planned for RECESS. I mean, I couldn't possibly take on another game.

Or could I?

Thinking very seriously about running a Google Hangouts game of my own set either in the Star Trek universe or in my homebrew Galaxy Quest game. I haven't decided anything yet but the ideas are germinating pretty quickly.

Would any site visitors be interested in joining in?

Lots more to see, show and tell on the next episode of Barking Alien!

AD
Barking Alien

Into Trekness...Captain's Holiday

This post is not specifically Star Trek related but does have Star Trek elements to it, so if you came here to learn how to repair the starboard nacelle's warp coil or realign the EM phase harmonic from the plasma manifold so you can reroute the resulting energy surge through the main deflector, well, sorry but that's not what this post is about. Nor is it exactly what Star Trek is about, but we'll get to that another time.

This past weekend, Memorial Day weekend, was filled to the brim with gaming, almost to the point of overflow.

Saturday I ran the 5th (?) session of my monthly Traveller campaign and it rocked. There hasn't been a bad session so far. Oh! Traveller 5th Edition, or T5 as it is often referred to, is in the hands of many kickstarter backers. Get ready to recieve yours soon. Woo hoo!

Sunday with the kids at the Study Center was pretty good, with one young lad doing a manuver so bold that, well, I clapped. Honestly. No adult player I've gamed with in a long while has taken so brave, heroic and foolhardy an action, if ever.

We are playing Marvel Heroic, with the kids using original characters of their own design but the story is set in the Marvel Universe (um, ya'know, like gamer want to do MWP. Just in case you're wondering why it didn't sell better). The group is part of the Avengers Initivative and are discussing their next move onboard a SHIELD Helicarrier after their run in with a rogue Celestial.

A group of (Marvel) supervillains crash land their cloaked jet onto the launch deck of the Helicarrier. Out of the plane steps six villains: Chemistro, Crossbones, the Grey Gargoyle, Mentallo, the Orb and Tigershark. Our tech experts identity the plane as utilizing the same technological specifications often employed by Doctor Doom.

Before any of them can move, our resident shapeshifter, Doctor Zoo, turns himself into Doctor Doom and tells the villains to abort the mission. He informs them that the Helicarrier contains more Superheroes than they thought, including Thor and Ms. Marvel. He goes on to tell them that there is a cloaked plane beneath them, which is how he got there, and instructs them to jump off the Helicarrier to the vehicle below waiting to catch them. A few rolls and some emotional stress later and three of them jump. Plummetting to a hard landing on the ocean surface below I might add.

All that remained were the three toughest...

Our telepathic hero, Mental Mind, tried to mind control one of the villains but failed. Mentallo was now aware of the ruse and looking for a fight. That's when Metal Guard, a very interesting PC hero, runs across the deck and tackles the Grey Gargoyle off the Helicarrier. Yes. He runs into him and keeps going. His intention was A) to surprise his opponent, which definitely worked, B) knock him out when the two of them hit the water and C) have one of his team mates - including a hydrokinetic named Ocean Demon - retrieve him.

See, Metal Guard can control and manipulate metal, any kind of metal. It's not magnetic powers like Magneto it's, hmmm, ferrokinesis? His primary use of this power is to coat himself in Vibranium, so he is nearly invulnerable to direct harm. I say direct because he doesn't turn into metal the way Colossus does. Metal Guard had to hold his breath one he hit the water as his insides were still Human. Cool character, no?

Anyway, fun-fun-fun game. The kids are really getting the hang of Supers.

Let's hope I can say the same for my regular group as I prepare to start up a brand new Champions campaign! What am I crazy?! Yes, very likely that is the case but our Ars Magica game ended (for now) and the guys want to go back to Supers so here we are.

A neat thing about this particular campaign is that it is going to connect to another Champions campaign I will be running set in the same universe. Our once a month Traveller game runs from 12 noon to 6, at which point a couple of the guys have to split but the rest can hang out for another few hours. My idea is that the after-Traveller game with be Champions, focusing on the Justice League/Avengers type team of the setting while the smaller, more regularly meeting group will focus on a more X-Men/Teen Titans scale team.

We'll see. I may have bit off more than I can chew.

Now...Star Trek Into Darkness...

It was made. It was shown in theatres. I went to see it. All of these things are very, very wrong and should not have been done.

On a happier note...this is happening...

MEKTON ZERO! A new edition of Mekton by Mike Pondsmith and R. Talsorian Games!

Are you psyched? 'Cause I am freakin' psyched!

Twenty-three days to go as of this writing and the game is already funded and headed for stretch goal #2! That my friends, is the awesomesauce.


Now someone just has to get the rights to do a new Star Trek RPG, hire me and we can all rest easy.

:)

Back to Star Trek and what lies beyond for Barking Alien coming up next...

AD
Barking Alien

Weekend Downs and Ups

Saturday was a dud.

The regular game was cancelled and an attempt at an impromptu get together at my FLGS amounted to a big ol' pile of nothing. Bleh. Spent the day doing chores, running errands and food shopping.

Sunday was nice if a little hectic.

Things for the early class I teach needed adjusting since the 3rd grade and 4th grade students really need different assignments. While there has been a good deal of crossover, the 4th grade work is now clearly ahead of the 3rd grade work.

The Storytelling/Writing/Game class has expanded to 16 kids. Holy Cats! That would be a lot of players in a game even if they weren't in elementary school. The whole thing went over surprisingly well however and it was a pretty smooth transition adding in the two new students. Plus, I've managed to sneak in some geography lessons since the current story is quite globetrotting.

Had dinner with my the rest of the staff (that is, my ex-wife and a friend of ours) and we went over some general business, what everyone's plans are for the holidays, etc. I was invited to run a game for them and a third friend in Jersey this coming weekend. That put a much needed smile on my face to be sure.

Well, off to work with the doggies. I'll keep you all posted.

Laters,

AD
Barking Alien