You down with (Gamer) A.D.D?

Yeah, you know me...

Gamer A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder). It's become a running joke in gaming circles. It's funny, although I worry that it in some way trivializes REAL A.D.D. (which is certainly not my intent).

In any case, it's become a shorthand for being easily distracted from one's current RPG pursuit(s) by the "new shiny". The proverbial "grass is greener on the other side" syndrome.

While I'm still firmly committed to getting a Supers game off the ground, I'd be a liar if I said there aren't other games tempting me. As a Solo gamer now, I feel like I (we?) am/are even more vulnerable to the dreaded Gamer A.D.D, as with a group, once everyone is on board with a game, usually it takes on legs of its own and the train keeps rolling. I'd say there's not a lot of suddenly skipping from one game to another on the whim of one person in a group.

In any case here are a few of the other Games I'd Like To Play:

My sci-fi crush

 "White Star", oh how you tempt me. Ever since I picked this up just for the intent of adding material to the Star Trek thing I was tinkering with, it has pulled at me strongly to do as a stand-alone thing.

I love the "generic with the serial numbers filed off" vibe of it. I could totally see playing in a style of the cheesy post-Star Wars sci-fi movies of the 80's, like Battle Beyond the Stars, Starcrash, The Humanoid, The Ice Pirates, or Galaxina, which I love. (Just like in my mind, all of my D&D sessions look like the cheesy post-Conan fantasy flicks of the 80's like Hawk the Slayer...)

With the recent release of White Star supplement Five Year Mission the urge is as strong as ever. It even gives me thoughts of the Trek thing AGAIN...

tempts me to Trek on again

The recent trailers for the new Bond flick "Spectre" got me to thinking, I haven't played a modern action/adventure game in a LONG time, not since Hero Games "Espionage" back in the 80's. But I was a BIG action adventure guy back in the day, eating up flicks like "Die Hard', "Lethal Weapon", "Rambo: First Blood Part II", and a particular favorite "Commando".

Even my choice of reading material back then skewed to the Men's Adventure novels of the 80's like Mack Bolan (the Executioner), Able Team, Phoenix Force, and so on.

Meet the guy who inspired Marvel to create "The Punisher"

So I was curious to see what kind of Spy &/or Action/Adventure games were out there. Though the modern digital age has been a huge boon in the options of readily available, affordable, gaming material, it can also be a BANE too, in that it can be an enabler of one to give in to the urge to ACQUIRE and COLLECT, especially since they are, y'know, so readily available and affordable...

ANYWAY, after shopping around, two games caught my fancy for simple and rules light that look like they'd be a lot of fun that I gave in and picked up, "Covert Ops" and "Dogs of W*A*R", the former being aimed at a more espionage bent (though it looks like it would really cover the whole gamut), while the latter is firmly aimed at those Men's Adventure novels I mentioned earlier.

"Covert Ops"in particular has really got me enthralled. There is a lot of ideas and good game crammed into that rules light package. All of the Random Generators for Major NPC's, Enemy Organizations, Master Villains, Missions, and Security and Traps alone are worth the price. I can already REALLY see running it RIGHT NOW, as a very zero prep, pick up and play, stand-alone adventures type thing, not unlike the Mini Six powered "Monster of the Week" thing that I still want to get back to at some point.

Another genre that I love is the Western. It's a genre that I'm intimately familiar with, having grown up at the tail end of the the heyday of the T.V. Western, and having a Dad who's a fan of the genre instilled a love of Cowboys and Gunslingers in me that has endured, so as such I've had an idea for a "Boot Hill" sandbox for some time that I'd still love to explore at some point.

SO, back to the titular subject of Gamer A.D.D, I wonder if as a Solo gamer that this couldn't end up being a POSITIVE, as we're really free to jump around, experiment, and play whatever we want, WHENEVER we want.

The biggest challenge for me is just to get past that feeling that I'm "cheating" on one game with another, or that I'm "abandoning" one game for another.

I tend to be a absolutist in my thinking, AND in my hobbies and gaming. I'm a real "all or nothing, all in" kind of guy. That's something I'd really like to get over, as when I look at the images posted of so many great games, I really want to make room for them all in my gaming life.

Motivational Monday

Keepers of an Ancient Rite

From the Italian Sci-Fi opus "The Humanoid":

These guys are awesome. I want them in a "White Star" game. :)

All mixed up

S&S, meet WNMHGB...

As mentioned previously, these are the two I'm planning on using for a "Star Trek" game, for reasons also mentioned previously. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that you can get "Starships & Spacemen" from Goblinoid Games, and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (for FREE) from Internet Archive (main site currently down).

Now, here is the mix I'm planning on using of each:

• Stats: S&S. I like a lot of in the  Microlite d20 system that powers WNMHGB, but the reduction of stats is one thing I din't like. I want my CON & WIS (PSI in S&S) blast it!
• Character Creation: WNMHGB. I'm torn. I like the old school 3d6 in order of S&S, but really, 4d6, drop lowest, arrange to taste really allows more of the "Starfleet" level of Heroic characters that one would expect, so that's what I'm going with.
• Stat Bonuses: S&S. I love B/X D&D's spread from +1 to +3, which S&S is based on. So that's that.
• Races: WNMHGB. S&S is "Star Trek" with the serial numbers filed off. WNMHGB wears its heritage proudly.
• Classes: WNMHGB. There is a charm in it's 3 Classes: Yellow Shirt, Blue Shirt, Red Shirt. However...
• Subclasses: S&S (Modified) ...I also like the B/X slash S&S style subclasses applied here (Command, Helm, Navigation, Science, Communications, Medical, Engineering).
• Skills: WNMHGB. S&S only has four (Combat, Contact, Science, Technical). I like the spread of six in WNMHGB better (Communication, Engineering, Knowledge, Medicine, Physical, Subterfuge). Also under consideration is the Skills system added onto White Star in Hyperspace Messenger #4.
• Talents: Has to be WNMHGB. S&S doesn't have them. They were one of the main motivators for the mash-up, as the original intention was just to strip races and other bits out.
• Saving Throws: S&S. I like having different ones for different things (though I'm REALLY tempted to go "one size fits all"...thanks "White Star"!)
• Psi Powers: I like S&S's take on them. WNMHGB really doesn't have one beyond the Vulcans more or less. There is a great White Star Supplement, Psionics, that I'll likely use as well.
• Task Resolution: Tie. I really do like the "new school" d20 "unified system" mechanic in WNMHGB, but I'm also cool with a simple "roll under stat on d20" as well, so could go either way.
• Hit Dice: S&S. All hail the d8.
• XP/Level Progression: S&S. WNMHGB's is too "nu-skool" loosey-goosey for me.
• Starship Combat: WNMHGB. It's the most "Trek-y" of the two, though I do like S&S's "mini game" of resource management via Energy Units & Power Points for travel, arming weapons, raising shields, and damage taken, & thus will be using it.
• Travel/Map/Energy Usage: S&S. WNMHGB hand waves such stuff. I want it as part of my game.
• Equipment: S&S (for the most part) with my own rules for Phasers. 

So, that's it. Since they're both descended from D&D, they're pretty cross compatible with little to no alteration. Same with all the other games I'm planning on looting for monsters and such.

Long live the OSR and the rise of the Retroclones. ;)

What I'm getting ready to play

...getting ready to 'seek out new life and new civilizations'

Just to get anyone reading up to speed, my first foray into Solo RPG'ing was a B/X D&D hexcrawl that lasted quite a while. Lots of fun, and I plan on getting back to it, but was in the mood to branch out after a while.

I took the jones for a "Monster-of-the-Week" style game, and successfully ran a several session long adventure using the MiniSix version of the d6 system.

Also great fun, also want to continue, but gamer ADD got me to thinking about Star Trek.

I've shared my ideas on what I'd like to do on the G+ Lone Wolf Solo Roleplaying group before, but here is a quick (?) recap for context of my G+ posts of what I'm getting ready to play. Session recaps are to follow here, so I thought this would be useful.

So I'm still slowly putting together what I want to do regarding a "Star Trek" solo campaign. I would have been ok with the old FASA game (which I have), but character creation & starship combat for it is a little too slow, & no rules for RANK advancement (though I'm still REALLY tempted). 

I decided to give a look at "Starships & Spacemen", the D&D derived retroclone, if for nothing else all the random tables. 

This one has really grown on me, as I'm enjoying class/level based right now. Plus I LOVE its whole "space hexcrawl" approach, & Energy Unit resource management "mini-game" 

Still, it isn't "exactly" Star Trek, so I'd been looking over what will need tweaking to bring it more in line with the source material. And I REALLY need a different starship combat system than the one provided. Then it hit me:

www2.abillionmonkeys.com:3389/trek/ 

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is based off of Microlite d20. Its starship combat system is close to perfect for what I need. Then I get to looking over all the cool Talents it has. I grok the d20 task resolution system (never really looked it over before). 

Now I'm planning on full on mash-up I think. ;) 

Oh, and "Starships & Spacemen" + its sister boardgame "Star Explorer", + "Where No Man Has Gone Before" + ITS sister game "Far Trek" = possibly all the Star Trek themed old school random tables that one could want. :D 

I am planning on putting together a list of what subsystems I'm using from each. Eyeballing the list I jotted down, it's about 50/50, & all of it character/task resolution etc related, with the starship combat from WNMHGB + the Energy Unit management & all the rules for hexcrawling in space from S&S. 

Another idea I had for what I think I want to use for supplemental material is : "Starships & Spacemen"/"Where No Man Has Gone Before" mash-up as the core + "Labyrinth Lord" (for monsters reskinned as alien flora & fauna) + "Mutant Future" (for PC's & NPC's reskinned as Alien Races) + "White Star" & "X-Plorers" & any/all material being released for them (especially stuff of a "Rockets & Rayguns" / retro sci-fi bent). 

Basically, the idea is "what if TOS was never cancelled?" (but with my own cast & crew). 

I'm looking at doing "my own" Star Trek, starting with the end of TOS (thus set in the midst of the "5 year mission", & disregarding all material that followed TOS, thus not feeling constrained to slavishly follow cannon of "what is to come". 

Set at the "southern" edge of Federation (between the Tholians & The Gorn) it will be mostly pure "seek out new life & new civilizations", with occasional guest shots by the Klingons, Romulans, Gorn, Tholains, & Orions. 

Been looking up tons of images of Aliens, Uniforms, Ships, Robots, Tech, etc. from old sci-fi shows & movies of the 60's - 80's to use as inspiration & to reskin right into Trek & preserve that "look" of TOS. So much cool looking "retro future"!

So, that's where all of this is going...more or less... :)