Upcoming and Incoming

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.

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

Stand by!

The Plot

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!

Systems Recap

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!

Star Trek: Excalibur, S01E01

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.

Continue reading

Star Trek: Excalibur: Season Preview

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!

For those keeping track

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!

Trader Captain

Can’t stop creating characters…

This character/miniature was originally slated for use in Five Parsecs from Home (and may still be) but I decided to create a merchant vessel for Captain’s Log, in the same vein as Harry Mudd/Cyrano Jones/Thadiun Okona.

I’m also using the other two character/miniatures that I created for that crew. along with the ship, the Infineon Beetle.

We’ll get to this one eventually, as I always say.

Don’t touch that dial!

Pulling Back

I think I have too many proverbial irons in the fire.

So I’m reluctantly shelving Savage Worlds and Marvel Multiverse RPG for the time being.

Focus will be on Dragonbane, Captain’s Log, and Dungeons & Dragons with the Mythic Game Master Emulator.

I didn’t get too deep into Savage Worlds and Marvel, having learned most of the mechanics and character creation through YouTube videos.

Don’t touch that Dial!

2 Log Crews

I love planning stuff, and I’m bad at execution.

As in I can create stuff for Captain’s Log, I just can’t seem to get anything started.

Examples:

Crew of the U.S.S. Discovery NCC-1798

Crew of the U.S.S. Diomedes NCC-314

That’s *four* different starships and crews that I have ready to play, from Enterprise-era to late TOS-era.

I don’t touch the Movie-era because that’s when the bulk of our FASA Trek campaign took place.

And we had one TNG-era adventure aboard the Intrepid-class U.S.S. Challenger as our last hurrah in FASA Trek, sometime in the late 1990s.

Don’t touch that dial!