After Action Reports from The Front
Concepts:
Captain George, or just George, a character for the inevitable non-Star Trek sci-fi campaign that I’ll end up running.
Or some guy that the Pulp Heroes stumble upon. Man of Tomorrow, or just some crackpot?
The Baron, who will more than likely be the big bad who The Tiger Beetle and Jazz Bungo test their mettle against in the coming days.
Don’t touch that dial!
I’m relying too heavily on the random tables in my Captain’s Log campaign.
I need to set up some plot points or even a story arc that I want my character to follow.
And I’ll need to do something similar for any of the other solo RPGs that I start playing, too.
For now, I’ll have Excalibur return though the spatial rift and have them encounter a…
Now that would be telling.
Meanwhile, I’m coming up with ideas for Savage Worlds Pulp, including the big bad that The Tiger Beetle and Jazz Bungo will be fighting throughout the campaign.
Don’t touch that dial!
I was flipping through the Pulp Fantastic and came across the Archetypes section, and one popped out me:
MASKED AVENGER
And that settled it. I was gonna make a Green Hornet/Crimson Avenger tribute character, with a twist.
A Filipino playboy and his African-American valet/chauffer by day, scourge of the underworld at night!
Introducing….
THE TIGER BEETLE AND JAZZ BUNGO
I looked up insects of the Philippines, and the tiger beetle jumped out at me.
I mean, no color in the character’s name, which is fine (though tiger beetles come in black, brown and green) but OF COURSE I’m gonna take a beetle name.
And yes, that’s a saxophone on Jazz Bungo’s back.
I’ll work out all the character details later.
CRIMINALS, BEWARE! THE TIGER BEETLE STRIKES!
Remember when I said I was going to shelve Savage Worlds and focus on Dragonbane, Captain’s Log, and Dungeons & Dragons with the Mythic Game Master Emulator?
Well, 1 out of 3 was accomplished.
And while I still do plan on starting Dragonbane and Dungeons and Dragons, I’m re-adding Savage Worlds Adventure Edition to the mix, using Pulp Fantastic as the setting.
Along with The One Ring.
In the last month or so I’ve been delving into reaction videos for The Lord of the Rings, and *tried* to continue watching Rings of Power. The latter never got done, and after reviewing the game system, I’m going to play The One Ring with Strider Mode, the solo system for TOR.
Don’t touch that dial!
Truth be told, this was one of the reasons Savage Worlds appealed to me some years back.
From the description:
In Dawn of the Daikaiju, players take on the roles of giant monsters called kaiju or daikaiju (the terms are used interchangeably and both mean “giant monster”). Though daikaiju range in origin from oversized insects and dinosaurs to bio-engineered alien weapons, they somehow recognize in each other a single species. Even daikaiju from different worlds work together in packs.
Dawn of the Daikaiju contains a Plot Point Campaign, Adventure Generator, specially adapted race creation rules, and new Edges and Hindrances—and it’s all in Kaiju Scale!
I mean, c’mon, who wouldn’t wanna try to play tabletop Rampage, huh?
Don’t touch that dial!
As much as I wanted to ignore this system for now, I simply couldn’t after the 20th Anniversary package from Kickstarter arrived today.
And, I think I’ve decided on the setting/genre I wan to play with this system.
It came to me as I was washing my hands in the bathroom and saw this shirt in the mirror.
I checked online to see if there was a pulp setting for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, and came up with this.
So after I finish with the ending for the Star Trek: Excalibur pilot episode, I’ll be reading up on this system and setting.
Don’t touch that dial!
Ship’s Log, July 29, 2154.
While attempting to explore a spatial rift, the Excalibur was struck by a wayward piece of stellar matter from the nearby star, knocking us into the rift itself. We have sustained minor damage and many casualties, none fatal, but the crew will be operating at less than peak efficiency until our shipmates heal. Meanwhile, we have detected an uninhabited world nearby and upon further scanning there appears to be a graveyard for numerous shipwrecks scattered on the surface.
It’s starting to click. And not just this game system, but the way solo RPGs should work, sparking the imagination in driving the narrative of the story being created.
Listening to Star Trek music while playing really helps the mood, too.
This first episode is going to feel very much like a pilot episode, as the writer’s room (me) starts to find it’s legs.
I’m gonna go for 13 episodes for season one, with the option to pick up the back 9, as it used to be for TV shows in the days before streaming.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to play out Act 3 of this pilot episode.
Don’t Touch That Dial!
I actually started my first foray into Captain’s Log Solo Role-Playing!
I have to admit it was a bit slow going, and I didn’t get much past the initial first act after the title sequence/first commercial break.
But yeah, the first episode of Star Trek: Excalibur is underway!
I believe one of the best things of Solo RPGs (so far) is that you can decide just how long a session goes, from a whole day dedicated to it (a couple of Saturdays were spent reading the rules and creating characters, basically a Session Zero), or a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon followed by a couple of lunch sessions while working from home (like I did this past week).
For now I may follow that schedule, playing during football on TV on Sundays, and maybe one or two lunch sessions at home.
Don’t Touch That Dial!
