Category: Uncategorized
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FTL Drives in Sci-Fi
In science fiction roleplaying games (primarily tabletop RPGs), faster-than-light (FTL) drives are fictional technologies designed to enable interstellar travel while supporting gameplay mechanics like adventure pacing, risks, and setting lore. They generally fall into broad categories like jump drives (discrete hops with fixed travel time), warp/hyper drives (continuous or dimensional travel with variable speed), portal/gate…
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The Hero’s Journey
The Hero’s Journey (also called the monomyth) remains one of the most reliable and widely used story templates for writers. It creates natural emotional satisfaction, strong character transformation, and a sense of epic scope—even in non-fantasy genres. Joseph Campbell originally described ~17 stages in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949). Most modern writers use…
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Gamer Burn-Out
So, I was talking to Mike earlier today and thought I would ask what he thought, “After years or trying to get a group together for gaming, what drives exasperation when you start to create a character or adventure you stop and think, ‘Why even try? They will not get used.’” That feeling hits hard…
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Creating a Custom Sci-Fi BRP TTRPG
Creating a custom science fiction tabletop RPG from Basic RolePlaying (BRP) Game Universal Game Engine Understanding the Basic Roleplaying (BRP) System The Basic Roleplaying (BRP) Universal Game Engine, published by Chaosium, is a flexible d100-based system designed for adaptation across genres. It’s the core engine behind games like Call of Cthulhu (horror), RuneQuest (fantasy), and…
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FTL Drives SF RPGs
Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Drives in Science Fiction RPGs In science fiction role-playing games, various faster-than-light (FTL) drive systems allow for interstellar exploration and adventure, while introducing engaging gameplay elements such as travel hazards, resource management for fuel, skill-based navigation challenges, jump mishaps, random encounters, and tactical bottlenecks. These mechanics borrow from common sci-fi tropes but are…
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Using Obsidian
Grokology, post 2 I asked Grok, “Creating an Obsidian starting a traveller vault.” It replied: To set up an Obsidian vault for a Traveller (likely Mongoose Traveller 2e) campaign, start with these basics and tailor for sci-fi elements like sectors, subsectors, worlds, ships, and characters. Step 1: Create the Vault Step 2: Recommended Folder Structure…
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RAW vs RAI
Grokology, post 1 I asked Grok, “What is the difference between rules as written and rules as intended?” It replied: Rules as Written (RAW) refers to interpreting and applying the rules of a game exactly as they are stated in the official rulebook, taking the text literally and in context, without considering external factors like…
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Hasbro did what?!?
[Yawn] So what did I miss? Wait… Hasbro did what? Jees, take a nap the the world makes a power grab.
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Star Drives
So, what is a star drive? In Traveller the Jump engine expends all its fuel in a massive burst of energy and control that propels the ship from part of the Universe to another. For instance, a J-1 Jump drive will send a ship over one parsec distance taking about 1 week. There is more…
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Year, Blog!
Good Year, everyone! So let me start off this year with a little background about my role-playing game hobby. I started out, as millions have in the US, with Dungeons and Dragons, in 1979. Soon after I graduated high school, I went to college and was introduced to a whole new gaming environment. I tripped…