Author Archives: Chris

Upcoming and Incoming

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I seriously think I have too many options for gaming, resulting in executive indecision.

I’m reading up on that and may ask my doctor about it during my next annual visit.

In the meantime, I hope to finally get around to playing something more consistently in the next few weeks.

I’ve neglected all of the solo RPGs as I’ve been hopping around reading up different systems, when I should just focus on continuing the adventures of the Excalibur.

– – –

Meanwhile, I’ve been preparing for a couple of games that should be arriving in the next month or so, both from Firelock Games.

Oak and Iron is a tabletop naval game in the age of sail.  They have a second edition coming out soon, so I decided to pick this one up since I finally watched Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.  Ships are in 1:600 scale, and I found a few on MyMiniFactory that I’d like to have included in my games, including the HMS Surprise from the aforementioned M&C movie, and the USS Enterprise , from the late 18th century.

The core set comes with 6 smaller ships, but I did pick up a couple of expansions which contain much larger ships, including 1st/2nd/3rd rate Ships of the Line.

There was a Kickstarter for this last summer, which I backed.

This is basically a smaller scale skirmish version of Blood and Plunder from Firelock, based in the Jamaican city of Port Royal after the earthquake in 1692.

The miniature count for squads average about 6 models, and while I already have models for English, Spanish, Native Americans, and pirates, the core set contains15 models that will represent the French, and I included an add-on of the new Native American set with multi-pose plastic models that I will build as a Maroon (escaped African slaves) faction.

– – –

And of course, I have my sports games to play, but that’s another story.

Stand by!

Star Trek: Excalibur, S01E02

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Ship’s Log, August 3rd, 2154.

The Excalibur has returned us back to our original position prior to our little trip through the spatial rift.  We have resumed course to explore the unknown space before us, and have run smack dab into an Andorian blockade.

The Andorians have not acknowledged our hails and appear to have their weapons trained on the Excalibur.

Hey, this is what was rolled up a couple of days ago.  Though I added the details of them being Andorians and they aren’t answering hails and they appear to be ready to fire weapons on an Earth ship.

Don’t touch that dial!

SWADE Characters

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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!

The Plot

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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!

Savage Worlds Pulp Concept Characters

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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!

Systems Recap

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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!

The Other Setting

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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!

Savage Worlds: The Setting

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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!

Star Trek: Excalibur, S01E01

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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.

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