A month of so after Issue 9, it is summer in New York City and things are about to get hotter.
Cover: A lightning bolt divides the cover, on one side is a blacked out New York City skyline on the other is the team looking on in horror as Roboto is enveloped in an electrical nimbus. “A Shocking tale of Heroism.” is written across the bottom.
Opening page: New York City blacked out. “How did this happen? Turn the page, dear reader, to find out.”
Another year, another GenCon, gosh it is nice to say that. After a year off, it was good to be back, even later in the year and perceptibly smaller. Still doing its utmost to be the “the best four days in gaming.”
As usual I was working for AEG, so we arrived late Tuesday evening and ended up having dinner at the Rathskeller, the German restaurant that many years back we had an L5R event at (memories). Service and cider remain excellent.
Wednesday was devoted to finishing booth setup, rah. It was very strange to be in a different section of the hall, with a smaller booth, in a smaller exhibitor hall with no Paizo, Asmodee (and the other companies under their umbrella such as Fantasy Flight) or Goodman Games and many more beside. It imposed a certain disconnect between what I was used to and what was at GenCon this year. By pure luck, I ran across my friend Drew Baker, who was just in for a few hours helping some of his friends get their booths ready. Had dinner at Goodwood which took over the Ram’s, which was very good though the cider was overpriced.
Suddenly October! Which is the eighth month (naturally) of the Roman Calendar. It seems the Romans had no special association for October beyond Autumn, but we have Halloween! So the theme on the Sea of Stars Design Journal for this month will be Monsters and Monstrous Things!
If you have ideas for a Monster you wish to see, let me know and I will try to make it happen.
Have a safe Autumn all.
September, 2021, saw the following posts here:
Should you wish to, first review my advice to those going, then look below:
I will be working in the exhibitor’s hall for Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) as usual, and we should have banners up, but you can find us at Booth 903. Right now my schedule looks something like this:
Thursday, working in the booth 11am-5pm.
Friday, working in the booth 11am-5pm. And from 6:30pm – latish, you will find me in the JW Mariott helping with AEG’s Big Game Night (BGN). I will be busy but if you want to come and learn one of the recent AEG games, drop by after 9pm and you can join in and play (though not get any swag unless you already have a ticket). As it winds down, I will have more free time, though you may have to talk with me as I check and pack away demo games. In any case, feel free to drop by.
Saturday, working in the booth 11am-5pm.
Sunday, last day, working in the booth 11am-2pm. 3:30pm on.
Spotting me in a crowd! On duty I will be wearing an AEG t-shirt and mask. My hair (pulled back in a pony tail) and beard are mostly white, and I am an average height slightly overweight white man, so, yeah, I will not be that easy to spot. However, I intend to be wearing these lovely masks made for me by my wife when not of duty during the Con. Photo attached for reference.
Beyond that, who knows? But I arrive late Tuesday to help with setup on Wens. So drop me a note if you want to try and meet up, I am sure we can work something out.
In any case, to all those going and not going: Have fun and play more games.
A few weeks after Issue 8, it is spring in New York, not too hot, yet.
Cover: 16-Tons holding up Roboto like a toy. “Is that all you’ve got?” A collapsing building behind him. A yellow circle down in the right corner has a picture of a rat-themed person. “Introducing Rat-Race!”
Opening page: Two silhouetted figures at night overlooking a club with a flashing neon sign reading “I Like It Like That”.
“Is everyone ready?” asks one.
GenCon is about two weeks away! Yikes! So, I thought I would (again) share my hard-earned experience and try and help out people who are going as I do every year.
As we move into September, the seventh month of the Roman calendar, and get closer to fall (in the northern hemisphere at least) and longer nights. September does not seem to have any particular ties to myth or tradition among the Romans, however, as Seven is usually viewed as a magical number, magic and spells will be the theme for this month. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see.
I will be back at GenCon this year, working for AEG as usual, so if you are there drop by the AEG Booth and say hello!
August, 2021, saw the following posts here:
A few weeks after Issue 7, spring is coming to New York.
Cover: The Star-Gazer glowing with power surrounded by the Zodiac signs, our heroes recoiling. “Can our heroes overcome the Threat of the Star-Gazer?!“
Opening page: Leonard, 808’s dirigible, making best speed across the Atlantic, the skyline of New York City receding behind. “Will we be in time?”
Part 1 – All at Sea – A page detailing how did we get here?: The team is practicing together in a vacant lot near to Chinatown. Hanging out of a nearby trash can is a copy of the New York Daily Herald with the headline: “Roboto and his gang damage museum, fail to protect civilians.” When a door appears in mid air. Just a normal white door. As they investigate, it opens and out of it, half falls Doctor Occult, Master of the Unknown Arts, dressed in trench coat and battered fedora. Through the open doorway a Ditko-esque psychedelic landscape can be seen. Dr Unknown explains that he had been sent to find Horizon by Cristofor Gold, a young Roma who knows Horizon, who was kidnapped. Dr Unknown explains that he and Challenger tried to stop a raid on the Manhattan Museum of Antiquities where a villain stole a set of astrologically aligned gems, having used the power of other such gems to manifest the avatars of the Zodiacal signs to help him. Now this villain is on his way to get the next, and final, four such gems from Mr Covington who is showing them off on his yacht, the North Star, before loaning them to the museum. Dr.Unknown will leave this to the teen heroes as he has an extra-dimensional peace to broker, he hands Roboto a black phone, unattached to anything, and tells them to call if they need him and he steps back through the door, it closes and vanishes.
After pondering for many a year, I have finally buckled down and started my own Shadowrun podcast:
It is a short podcast about how to shape the Shadowrun world to your campaign and how to make the canon and metaplot work for you when possible.
Please give it a listen and tell me what you think. Still working on improving the technical side of things and those should improve as I get more practice.
Update: I am planning for it to be weekly with new episodes on Wednesdays.
Welcome to the Sixth World.
August, which is named after the Roman first citizen (or Emperor if you prefer) Augustus Caesar, will be a month of personalities from the Sea of Stars (and possibly other places). If there is someone -or something– in particular you would like to see, write a comment or otherwise let me know.
Normally, I would be at GenCon at the start of August but it has been bounced to mid-September for this year. Who is planning to attend this year?
July, 2021, was a slim month but saw the following posts published in the journal:
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