August begins, July passes

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:

Short Reviews – Archetypes, Backgrounds and New Races for D&D 5E from Cat Tale Press

Cat Tale Press has been producing support materials for Dungeons & Dragons, 5E, much of which is Pay What You Want.  These reviews look at eight of them, six providing new archetypes, one new backgrounds and the last, new races.  They are good but could be better, so suggestions for things to improve are included.

Starting with the archetypes which are mostly four pages: cover, one page of description and two of OGL.  In all cases they could have used more context for the archetype such as suggestions for where they might fir into a game world and what sort of culture would inspire them.  Also, and this is very common for such materials, is a lack of support material such as a new spell, magic item, place or even a legend to inspire adventure would make them some much more interesting and easier to fit into a campaign.

June Ends, Welcome to Summer and July

Hope all of my readers in the Northern hemisphere are enjoying Summer, it is looking to be a warm one in North America, and that those in the Southern are having a safe winter.

As most of my readers will know, July was named after that paragon of modesty, Julius Caesar in the re-formalization of the Roman Calendar that created the Julian Calendar (which is, naturally, also named for him).  So, in honor of Caesar, we shall be looking at governments, organization and people of ambition in the Sea of Stars and elsewhere.  As usual, if there is a particular subject you would like to know more about or see more of, please let me know.

Looking back over June, 2021, with a fair amount of posting:

Review – Shadowrun: Power Plays

Shadowrun: Power Plays is a sourcebook, specifically a “Runners Resource Book” for the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun covering the Big Ten Megacorporations who, let’s face it, run the Sixth World in a very real sense. While tagged as a Runner Resource, it strikes me as more a book for Games Masters who want to know what is going on at the higher levels so that they can decide what filters down to the level of hiring runners for. Overall, an interesting read with some excellent chapters and lots of inspiration for games.

Shadowrun: Power Plays, is a Runner Resource Book for Shadowrun, Sixth World Edition, providing a look at what is going on in the corporate world, as the megacorps are the primary villains in the world, knowing what is happening with them is important.

Dark Future Ahead 29 – News from the ‘Net of a Cyberpunk bent

How will the world change as we move into the new corporate dystopia?  Join me in looking at some inspiration for cyberpunk gaming culled from my many trips into the matrix.  Enjoy the news:

It is a ridiculous vehicle but cost effective, even if it does look like a toy, meet the Ami.  For absurdity, a chase involving several of these could be hilarious.

For those cyberpunk setting that feature Neo-Soviets or aggressive Russians, here is their Cathedral of War.  It seems like a rather over-engineered justification for any future military actions taken by the Russian state, not disturbing at all.

How Red Bull uses football (and other sports) to build their brand, the success of RB Leipzig in German Soccer. An excellent example of how corporations use various means to advertises themselves which sometimes  becoming money making enterprises in their own right.

The celebrity impersonators making money on Cameo, it seems there is at least the chance to have some confusion on an extraction mission here.  Or possible a way to help pay for that body sculpt into an obscure 20th C actor.

Need something valuable and interesting to people to steal (or need to protect)?  What about Bob Ross paintings which are surprisingly rare given the number he painted . . .

Who says technology and superstition do not meet?  There is a superstition, maybe humorously played into, that a certain type of snack will keep your technology functioning properly . . .

Robots and cows, living together in harmony, at the Oldenkamp Diary.  Would be an interesting place for a chase or fight.

Notes:It has been a bit since I did one of these, hope you find it interesting.

Photo of the Cathedral of War found on Wikimedia Commons, comes from the websites (mil.ru, минобороны.рф) of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and is copyrighted.  This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence.

 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Onward to June and Summer, Fare the well May

As you probably know, the month of June is named from the Roman month Iunius, or Junius, which in turn is named in honor of the ancient Roman goddess Juno who is the wife of Jupiter and oversees marriage among other portfolio (and is associated with the Greek Hera).   For the Romans, the first half of Iunius is a period of religious purification and was considered the most favorable time to marry.

June is also the anniversary of the start this journal, so I may try and do something special for that.

Summer officially starts this month, so, any thoughts on a theme, readers?  Send me your suggestions and I will try to act on them.

May, 2021, saw the following posts on the design journal:

Shadowrun Campaign News and a new Seattle Scream Prop (#70)

We are continuing to play Shadowrun via the wonders of the proto-Matrix  (supported by Tyche’s Games our local game store) and we are getting back to limited in person play!  Hooray!

Our NorCal set campaign has moved to 6th World Edition rules, with mostly new characters, I am playing a magician as an excuse to learn the magic rules by actually using them.  We have played two session which was one run as there is a lot of adjusting for the players.  I hope to have some sort of writeup on that shortly.

Time fora new screamsheet: Seattle Scream 70.  The piece about Eye in the Sky films is related to one of the runs the characters were on.

Notes: Photo from Needpix.com and is listed as being in the Public Domain.

Review – Shadowrun: Street Wyrd

Shadowrun: Street Wyrd is the long awaited Core Magic Book for the new edition of Shadowrun, and it is going to be a required book for Shadowrun games masters as it provides so many new resources in spells, adept powers, metamagic, magical groups and so much more. And players will be happy with new ways to improve their characters.

Shadowrun: Street Wyrd, is the Core Magic Book for Shadowrun, Sixth World Edition, expanding the available options for magic in all of its wonderful forms.

With Beltaine Eve, May begins, April and the A to Z Challenge ends

We are almost to the first day of May, once we pass through Beltaine, signally the change from Spring to Summer in the old Celtic calendar.  But for the Romans May (Maius in Latin) and was named after the Greek goddess Maia, maybe, who is associated with Spring.  So, what theme would you like to see for May?  Spring and nature?  The fae and faerie?  Something else?  Let me know and I will try to accommodate.

As should surprise no one at all, April’s writings were primarily for the A to Z Blogging Challenge, which I am pleased to say I completed, again.  So, the posts for April, 2021, were:

Superheroes – Once upon a Time in 1968 – Issue 7 – Pirates Ahoy!

A few months after Issue 6.

Cover:  Captain Kraken with cutlass in one hand and flintlock in the other menacing our heroes.

Opening page:  The helicopter-ship of Captain Kraken shattering through the museum skylight (“Kerassssh!!!) as well dressed guests gasp in terror, a keen eyed reader may notice Roboto in a tux in the crowd.

A page detailing how did we get here?: Shadowfist finds that some in Chinatown appreciate her and her friends weakening the Black Dragon triad, other dislike outsiders getting involved in Chinatown affairs.  808 is finding that the Federal Government would like to get a look at some of the out of dimension technology (the New York police just want it off the streets) , Jack Diamond is running interference for 808 but warns him of the Federal Government’s designs (especially the DoD).  Roboto is dealing with the fallout of the Daily Herald newspaper headline “Roboto and his gang destroy Chinatown Business in misguided illegal raid” written, of course, by R Richard Robertson.   Horizon is investigating, at the request of her grandmother. a mysterious Eastern European man (whom the locals have nicknamed “the Count”) who may be responsible of several young people with the Sight, but he proves difficult to follow.  Vulpix get an invitation for her and the team to attend the opening of the Treasures of the Age of Piracy exhibit at the Museum of Historical Art, which she accepts and convinced her uncle that she needs a new costume for.