GAME AT ME BRO!

Last year, after Con of the North, I'd had this dumb idea to bring a big, shabby tagboard hobo sign that says GAME AT ME BRO! and set up shop at empty table. I'd egg on passers by to sit with me and craft an RPG on the spot. Had things not gotten so busy with Saturday Night Space Opera, I might have still done it. Anyway, here were my thoughts:

GAME DESIGN
Total development time cannot exceed 60 minutes. Tasks to be completed include:

1. MECHANICS - Game must have a basic mechanic for resolving conflicts/problems/combat, etc. Doesn't matter if it's dice, cards, hand signals, staring contest, etc.--but there needs to be some sort of action in play, other than storytelling. This can be an existing ruleset, if both GMs agree.
2. SETTING - No more than 10 minutes permitted to brainstorm on genre and setting using the infallible Jeff Reints alchemical game creation proposal (omitting part 1, but using parts 2 and 3). Difficulty = using only resources available at the Con (any books on hand or immediately available via electronic device or memory)
3. CHARACTERS - Game must include at least 3 player-character types. (I don't want to say "classes" or "races" that's up to the GMs to figure out).
4. DETAILS - Once setting is established, GMs divide up duties of fleshing out as many foes/monsters, locations/maps, treasure/gear, what-have-you as the remaining time allows. Using existing resources from step 2 is totally acceptable, as long as some cross-pollination of sources was accomplished in that step. 

MARKETING
After one hour, the sign gets flipped around on the table. The GMs write the name of the new game on the tagboard with the added note of "WE JUST MADE THIS GAME. SEEKING PLAYERS TO PLAY NOW." Once at least three people show up to fill out the party, GMs can flip a coin to see who runs it. Anything not created ahead of time (e.g., rules, setting, etc.) is made up on the spot.

GAME ON
The game is played right then and there, for better or worse. It might suck, but everyone has a story to tell about that one time they played an insane game that was invented minutes before they sat down at the table. This could be a fun activity at a smaller con too--make it into sort of tournament style game design. Maybe something like this has been tried (I have no idea).

Even if none of this actually ends up being finished or made usable in 60 minutes, you'll end up having an awesome conversation with total strangers about games and what you love about them. Maybe your tastes will be totally incompatible. Or maybe you'll strike creative gold.

Either way, you're not stuck reading the same books, having the same boring debates about rules, or trudging along your same, overly-trod gamer paths.

In the time it usually takes you to sit down with a stack of RPG books and try and come up with next week's adventure, you've completely given yourself over to gamer ADHD and made something half-baked, but spontaneous. Ugly, but beautiful. Uneven, but exhilarating. Isn't that worth 100 real-life XP?

GALLERY: Feast your eyes on the spaceships of THE EXPANSE

SyFy has released a cargo hold-size cache of white-hot spaceship and space station art for The Expanse TV series. There's some seriously fantastic designs here--plenty to drool over and get excited for the first season, which officially starts Monday, December 14. SyFy already released the first episode though, which you can watch right now!

These also serve as great inspiration for your next hard scifi campaign or interplanetary space opera. Click to enlarge!

 

 

 

Images courtesy: SyFy

TRAILER: No Man's Sky gets a drop date!

It's been quite some time since I purchased a video game--even longer since I bought a console (Wii Sports, anyone?). But No Man's Sky really has me considering a Playstation, because it is SPECTACULAR.

The release date is set for June 2016. Check out this latest trailer:

A rich and diverse universe to explore

And I'm not just talking the look of it--the developers are reviving procedural-based world building, but on a scale and breadth never-before attempted.The game has been in development for years (first posted about it here) while they've worked on the algorithm that creates each star system and planet. Approximately 10% of the planets will have life (which might seem low, but remember there's still plenty of worlds inhabited and being fought over by sentients!).

And there's a method to the program's genesis. Here's one of the developers giving a tour of how the NMS universe works:

Via IGN 

And another quick behind-the-scenes overview:

More visuals to whet your appetite!

Here's some incredible stills from actual game play (right click to enlarge):

 

I'm really digging the sleek and vaguely Z-95 look of the spaceships. Finally, here's a supercut of some previous trailers. Enjoy!

• News via Krypton Radio 
• IGN has complete coverage with many more videos

TRAILER: Comic "Dark Matter" turned into space opera thriller for SyFy

Wow! It's literally RAINING SPACE OPERAS TODAY! At least I'd heard about this one. Dark Matter is based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name by writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. I've got the entire series (stored somewhere!) and thought it was...okay. The concept was pretty awesome, but the comic didn't hold my interest over time (I probably should give it a re-read). But I have to say, this trailer breathes new life into that initial concept, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Synopsis:

In Dark Matter, the crew of a derelict spaceship is awakened from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they got on board. Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal and hidden secrets.  

"Their Memories are Gone, but the Truth Survives."

As with Killjoys, the show's cast looks to be largely Canadian. It seems SyFy is (smartly) relying on our neighbors to the north for fresh faces and likely huge production discounts. They're also heavily promoting that it's from the producers of Stargate--another smart move to woo back SG-1 and SG-U fans, in particular.

And is this show also gameable? Yes, totally! In fact, I've run something with a similar hook, a few years ago at Con of the North. Same basic concept: a team of specialists awakens aboard a spaceship--stocked with massive firepower--already en route to an unknown planet. Though, for mine, I gave them a captain who knew what was going on. :) (What do you want, we only had a 3 hour time slot!)

Dark Matter premieres Friday, June 12 at 9pm central.
That makes me wonder actually if Killjoys and Dark Matter going to be back-to-back space opera anchors (!!!) 

Another unanswered question--does this mean Dark Horse is continuing the comic (which was initially a miniseries)?

• Official SyFy page
• IMDB listing 
• Wikipedia entry (warning: SPOILERS)

Add a few more to the pile: previous articles on space opera projects (at SyFy, other networks):

• Killjoys, space bounty hunter series
• Farscape return still possible
• Star Wars Rebels, The Expanse, Ascension

TRAILER: "Killjoys" a new bounty hunter space opera from SyFy!

"From the producers of Orphan Black." SOLD. Looks like sorta Firefly-ish too me, as well, which is always welcome.

Synopsis:

Killjoys follows a fun-loving, hard living trio of interplanetary bounty hunters sworn to remain impartial as they chase deadly warrants throughout the Quad, a distant system on the brink of a bloody, multiplanetary class war.  

"Keeping the Peace, Keeps Them in Business"

So that's a great set-up for a space opera campaign right there. Stars mostly Canadians and British (I think?) so not well known actors in the US (a plus!). Makes sense since it's a joint production between SyFy (an American company owned by Universal/NBC) and SPACE, a Canadian cable network. Also, that's not Shawn "Iceman" Ashmore in the video. It's his twin, Aaron. Weird.

Anyway, looks awesome! I look forward to mining all the potential inspiration for games!

Killjoys premieres Friday, June 19 at 8pm central.

• Official SyFy page
• IMDB listing 

Previous articles on space opera projects (at SyFy and other networks):

• Farscape return still possible
• Star Wars Rebels, The Expanse, Ascension

TRAILER: The Venture Bros. are going into SPAAAAAAACE!

It really doesn't get any RADDER than Team Venture aboard a giant space station casino! They return to the cablewaves in a one hour special airing at midnight, Monday January 19. You have until then to binge watch a refresher on last season (it's been too long!).

Here's your trailer:




Via io9. Official site for The Venture Bros.

Here's my homebrew Space Opera idea starters...

Sometimes when I'm racking my brain, trying to come up with adventure ideas, it helps to think about the basic elements of space opera--or at least, the elements that I believe are the biggest dramatic story turn-ons. So if I get stuck, I remind myself to start small and build upon bare bones. Here are the minimal elements that I try to work with.

FOUR

Players. Yeah, we do just fine with three or even two, but four is a magic number because real group dynamics come into play. No longer is it the dynamic duo or trio, it's a fully realized team. It's much easier to diversify skills with at least four participants (besides the GM).

Even if fewer players actually show up, I try to write each game with four different classes and skill sets in mind. Let the players figure out who does what, but give them some purpose by challenging them on four fronts.

THREE

I go by the acronym A.R.M., which stands for alien, robot, monster. That could mean there's one of each or three of the same--or some combination thereof. Doesn't matter if they're friend or foe, but weirder is always better.

These creatures don't need to be instrumental to the plot, they can be encountered incidentally or as foreshadowing for a later adventure. But space opera is nothing if not exotic, so this is where I can turn up the dial on "fantastic beasts."

Hopefully every game has at least one thing they've not encountered before or at least has a unique spin on an old trope.

TWO

At least two destinations are required--could be planets, space stations, etc. But space travel needs a Point A and Point B to be interesting. Doesn't matter what those two places are, but preferably they require travel in a spacecraft of some sort. I always have at least one scene/encounter in space. ALWAYS.

I tend to ping pong my players between highly contrasted worlds (high tech vs. primitive, utopian vs. lawless, paradise vs. unbreathable hellscape, etc.). 

ONE

A Big Bad Wolf! There's gotta' be at least one scheming maniac, super-powered warlord, evil space wizard, etc. This usually helps to not only give a climactic battle, but to flesh out some of the plot with motives and minions (henchmen/bounty hunters, etc.) that might be encountered by the PCs, as well as other story-centric elements that creatures in the A.R.M. category aren't always intended to exploit.

Honorable Mention:

At least one thing that's totally out of my control. For one game I gave the PCs a mutagen stim, with a random table of possible mutations. They were encouraged only to hold on to it until the last half of the game. It surpassed all expectations as they really went for it with roleplay and it became the best part of that game.

What about you?

Again, these are just the starting positions, but they generally get me off to the races brainstorming. What are your must-haves for your games?

VIDEO: Inspiring short films about "boldly going"

Here's a fantastic short film based on Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" speech that captures the energy and spirit of the late astronomer by setting it to some beautifully composed visuals. The film, Wanderers, is by Erik Wernquist, and it's candy for the eyes as well as the heart.


Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist from Erik Wernquist on Vimeo.


Love this still from the film:

Between this and October's Ambition short from the European Space Agency, we're riding a streak of really captivating shorts about space exploration.

The next was suggested by reader Graham. It's titled Man Conquers Space, and I'm afraid I don't know much about it, but looks to be an upcoming independent film. This is actually more of a trailer, but it makes good use of one of Wehrner Von Braun's finned rocket designs.

 

VIDEO: The ESA's "Ambition" sets imagination ablaze!

This could also go under the alternate title "Space Magic as Instructed by Littlefinger" or "The Most Awesome Thing I've Seen in Ages!". Both titles would be completely appropriate. But it's actually a short film by Tomek Baginksi, commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) to celebrate and highlight the importance of the Rosetta mission, to explore the origins of the solar system.

Look, it doesn't matter what it's really about. It's just freakin' awesome, so watch it already!

 

This is pretty much how I envision Geomancy would work, being a part of the space magic in Rad Astra. So you can see how I'd be excited!

P.S. Is it me, or would Aidan Gillen make for a fantastic Stephen Strange?




via io9.com

More about the Rosetta Mission to orbit and land on a comet.

Asteroids are good for lots of things

Tired of the same old space rock tumbling around in your home star system?

"Aw hell, who forgot to wind the wheel this morning?!"

Asteroid base - Captured asteroid serves as a space-based port; they can be dug into to provide cover, even disguised to appear as a regular 'ol space rock.

Mazes - Asteroids make for great zero-G labyrinths of any scale, including startfighter-sized tunnels if not the traditional humanoid-sized dungeon crawl.

Really big projectiles - Starship Troopers taught us they could be used as ammo for massive rail-gun type weapons with catastrophic consequences.

The trip to Grandma's just became one boring car ride.

Raw materials - That giant habitable ring around the sun needs ore! Where do you think it's going to come from? The value of an asteroid's mineral content has been valued in the trillions (today's dollars). Asteroids = treasure!

Colonization - Panspermia is the theory that life was seeded from space, via comets and/or asteroids. What happens when life already exists on a world that's about to be to get hit?

"Can I hang with you guys? Do you want to ride on my event horizon? Hey, where ya going? You know you can't escape, right?"

Food - Need to feed that rock-munching space kaiju? How about that stellar fragment that keeps following you around--or that sentient black hole that won't shut up?

Interdimensional jump gate - Buckaroo Banzai traveled through solid objects to breach the 8th dimension. What if phasing through rocks (or some sort of mineral found in them) were the only way (or easiest/quickest way) to travel between dimensions.

They remember what you did with the garden hose.

Insectoid alien nest - Weaving together several asteroids to make a hive or digging into the rocks to hollow them out for an alien ant nest.

Giant space geodes - Ultra rare jackpots for space miners or as a container for micro "Hollow Earth" adventures.

Monster - Space rocks need love too. And when they don't get it, they get angry, maybe even a little hostile. Think how many rocks there are between Mars and Jupiter that might have it out for us...WE'RE SURROUNDED!

Suggest more in the comments below, please!

Concept art: Lucasarts' abandonded Darth Maul game

Here's some incredible character designs and concept art from Lucasarts' cancelled Darth Maul video game. Game Informer's full, seriously strange tale of the game's demise has convinced me once and for all that the franchise is in better hands at the Mouse House.

 

And yes, that last pic is Darth Talon, from the far future of Dark Horse's Star Wars Legacy.

 Via Superpunch