You can also find this review over at rpg.net and boardgamegeek.com if interested.
Star Trek: Fleet Captains is a thematic strategy game put out by WizKids that is set in the Star Trek universe where you can play as the Federation, Klingons, Romulans (expansion), or Dominion (expansion).
(Death Card Drawn, and Candice died searching. Cache (size 6): the Hermit, the Empress, the Star)
Day 1
I feel really weird writing in this ~~~ Wait, sorry. I should start with my name: Justin Whittman. I’m sort of a flop actor, but I’ve been telling people that I am a doctor. Sorry Anne. I just wanted an excuse to touch you. I wish I’d gotten to do more before you~~~
Man, I am no good at this sort of thing. I thought that because I can actually spell and use grammar that I’d be so much better at all this journal stuff, but anyone reading this is going to think I am a bad person.
(OOC list: hatchet [6 of spades], backpack [World], Candice [Hanged man]. Health: wounded)
Day 6
I made myself some bandages for my knee. Candice left without me again today. I suppose that’s ok. It hurts a little when I walk, and I don’t think I would be able to run fast if I had to.
That’s a very scary thought. I do not want to think scary thoughts right now.
Candice came back with a glowing rock. It was not purple like the lights. It was more of a dark blue earie light that it gave off. She called it a star and has been cuddling it since she got back. If I die with the diary on me, then she will die with that star in her hands. That is how you will know us.
Unless the dark ones take it. I don’t think they take anything besides…well…but they might. Candice also has scars on her neck. Almost like rope burns. She was probably into things before the dark ones came. You can probably still find the scars on her body if you look.
Day 1
My name is Anne Darcy. I have found John Brighten’s journal. I hope John does not mind if I continue his story where he left off. I have not been injured or become sick, but I think about my death all the time. If I die, will I matter? Will anyone know me?
I know John because he kept a journal, and so I will keep his journal as well. If the dark ones get me, like the must have gotten John, and my altered body is found, please know who I am and miss me. I will take John’s hatchet and pointy pole as well, though I fear I will never be able to use them effectively.
I am definitely not staying in a house tonight. I am currently sleeping in an upside down bus in the ditch. It does not look like anyone could be in there when you see it from the outside. I like that about the bus. There are also no dead bodies in the bus, altered or not. That helps too.
Day 1
My name is John Brighten, and despite the circumstances I am in good health. I wish the same could be said for the rest of the world. I am not sure what happened or why, but I remember hearing about the apocalypse back when I went to church. Maybe this is it?
I have not had anyone to talk to for a long time, so I thought that maybe a journal would help keep me sane. Maybe someone will read it someday and know that I existed. It is a nice thought. Mostly all I think about these days is my existence.
I do not know the dates, but I do know that the sun has risen and set many times. I am glad that it still does. At least the dark ones have not taken that from us.
Today’s article is geared more towards GMs, but I hope dedicated players will be able to pull some things about it. After all, this is about you from the GM’s perspective.
Players are unpredictable.
If your world is at all rocked by that statement, then bless your heart. The rest of us probably learned this the first time we ran a game. Maybe at first we thought it was our fault; that he hadn’t prepared enough for the adventure. Eventually, if a GM sticks with it, then she will come to the inevitable conclusion that no matter how much she prepares, she will never be able to predict her players’ actions.
I once ran a campaign where one of the players had the goal that their character’s pet goat would kill a dragon. It came from a long discussion about how there were always goats around dragon nests in Skyrim so they were probably the secret guardians of humanity that…well, I’d probably better not try to explain it actually. That would take a whole other post.
For this post I would like to talk about pets, specifically having a character pet in Fate. We love them as players, we agonize over them as GMs, and we talk about them years after the campaign is over. Fate Core actually does a very good job of making sure that you can build a variety of pets depending on what you want them to be able to do, mechanically.
FATE Core is often used to play games based on preexisting worlds established in anime, book, movies, or television series. Sometimes we as gamers make the mistake that this means we don’t have to establish our game world because a rich one already exists.
Now I am not saying that traditional methods of creating the gaming world as you go, or just having the GM create the world for that matter, are always bad ideas. And perhaps the task sounds too daunting, and you would much rather delve into a dungeon right away then figure out how many air nomads are married in the Eastern Air Temple or which type of starships are available in a certain sector of space.
I once ran a FATE game where I decided to take inspiration from a YouTube series that made fun of roleplaying games. I put a lady of the lake in the game that was going to give the heroes a chance to prove they were the chosen ones and take an amazing weapon to be used for their own. Of course the catch was that this lady just wanted to mess with adventurers and gave them random bits of junk that she promised was the magic sword she was to grant the chosen ones.
Then the guy in the group that is usually very quiet and constantly giving up treasure to other members of the group that want it more spent every fate point he had to be accepted for the task. Apparently he is a HUGE fan of Arthurian lore, and he so badly wanted to be the one to wield my game’s equivalent of Excalibur.
Time for another batch of random Creative Challenges. The first time I did this, the challenges were meant for players and GMs of Fate to try and push themselves to try new things with the mechanics. This time, I am going to push for story challenges. Hopefully these will push you to be more creative and inventive with your characters and the story they are playing out.
Just like last time, these challenges are targeted at FATE gamers, but since they are more story-themed they may be easier to adapt to other games.
Burn Everything Gaming 