ALIEN PLAYER CHARACTER

Player character number 1 anyway

Dean

Officer

Attributes

Strength 2

Agility 3

Wits 4

Empathy 5

Skills

Heavy Machinery, Stamina, Close Combat

Mobility 1, Ranged Combat 1, Piloting 1

Observation 1, Comtech 1, Survival

Command 3, Manipulation 2, Medical Aid

Talents

Frontline Leader

You get +2 dice to COMMAND rolls to rally a broken character

Equipment

IIC Flight Officer Licence

IRC MK.50 compression suit

Seegson P-DAT

(Assigned: Service pistol)

Personal Agenda

Bring the crew back safe. No mistakes.

Her second mission in charge of a crew beyond an atmospheric run... worrying this might be why they sent her.

Sophie Thatcher in The Boogeyman

Sophie Thatcher in Prospect

A L I E N W A T C H L I S T

Okay, have now rewatched Alien and Aliens, Outland, the cutscene movie of Alien Isolation, watched the cutscene movie of Alien: Rogue Incursion and videos about how ALIEN Evolved Edition plays, reread Dark Horse Aliens v1 and 2. That’s probably enough homework to play.

The Tyrant Philosophers RPG playtest

The Tyrant Philosophers RPG playtest signups are now open for the Handiwork Games adaptation of the novels by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Mage: The Ascension mic drop

Sunrise City

Snooty member of the Akashayana, Cara’s Mage Tradition of martial artists from 1883: “Let us see what our Tradition learns in the next century. That they let someone like you claim their name.”

Cara: “Well, I don’t wanna brag. So I’ll just kick your ass and you can draw your own conclusions.”

Hell yes proud of that one.

Didi’s player: My sister, my captain, my queen.

Star Wars Episode X

Director Jon Watts directed Skeleton Crew, writer Simon Kinberg co-created Rebels. Which are the most useful good credits.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Empire 2026

Vampire: The Masquerade fifth edition

Empire

When I am through with you
There won't be anything left

We have...

A Toreador jazz singer turned club owner looking for the soul in music

A Ventrue former labourer looking to move up in the world

A Malkavian seer looking to make a buck with their gift

A Tremere phlebotomist looking for independence from the blood trade

A Hecata scientist looking to challenge death itself

I’ll have to be sure to connect the first three and last two so this doesn’t feel like two games at one table. (Still better than five one-player games!)

Looking to be a less scruffy bottom rung of the ladder game than usual. I’m sure there will be plenty of ways to get them in trouble though, just starting in nicer scenery.

(Stopping myself putting the previous post to the tune of Leaving On A Jet Plane.)

T minus 24 hours

The character sheets are printed, the rulebook and dice are in the bag.

Now we wait.

Idea still nebulous, as “I’ll run this because nobody else is” ideas always are.

After last year, might go more episodic in case of player churn.

Very aware that I could readily do like three other games. But, eh, only one Sunday slot this year.

Stanislav Petrov Day

Because one person doing due diligence can save the world.

There's A Monster At The End Of This Video!

There’s A Monster At The End Of This Video! from Sesame Street on YouTube

Thanks to Derek for the link: Reinventing the classics for new media

Jim Henson at 90

And still baffling studio people.

Playing ALIEN

A chance to play ALIEN at GEAS on Wednesdays, so stood by the GM first to make sure they had a player before some others came over. Could have also gone for Cosmic Dark but looked like it had enough. (And there were also games with wizards and stuff.)

Looks like no major changes to character creation in the Evolved Edition, and it only takes a couple minutes even without the helpful creator. I’m sure this has nothing to do with a potential high bodycount.

So far I’ve made an Officer, two Roughnecks, a Marine, a Marshal and an Entertainer, so I can start with a hero, a useful support type, a flawed civilian with a key skill, a fighter, a different protag, or someone all but useless that I can inflict on the group later on, mwa ha ha.

No androids... or are there?

And the most difficult part - coming up with a name that people can shout in an action scene. A good ALIEN-y name should have one or two syllables and a hard consonant.

Autumn

The equinox is upon us! At like 1.08 this morning.

Happy birthday Mark!

CHVRCHES, Roses

Fill a glass with delusions of the good days of blood and wine, of pearls for swine

Kinda gothy guitars, kinda crashy drums, opening  Portisheady thrum, spoken word bit, this is the stuff

The brain is actually two organs

The new research finding shows that the human brain consists of two ancient nervous systems cleverly packaged together - a more primitive part that regulates our hearts’ beating, our breathing and other functions, and another that makes us distinctly human, capable of poetry, mathematics and wondering about our own origins.

How long before a zombie movie addresses this?

GEAS one-shot AAR

Judging by tonight’s one-shot I should have put Drive on the cut down skill list, as there were three attempts to run enemies over in the final fight.

Emma Ruth Rundle, Enough

Emma Ruth Rundle, Enough

More Gothy and also more Nirvana-y than expected

Via Stereogum, via A Very Special Episode

Adapting a property that may not adapt

The Pod Universe and the creators’ predecessor Are You Afraid Of The Dark Universe? look at cinematic universes, constructing settings for lots of stories, so the same kinda thing as an RPG setting and series / campaign planning.

And as we know some settings make better big settings than others.

Have you ever considered a setting and decided it really wasn’t viable?

Have you ever decided to go all in on that?

This week, a guest pitch for the Eraserhead Cinematic Universe.

Labelled The Worst Idea We Could Come Up With

With a chapter heading Why Eraserhead? Dear God, why?

“We are gonna try and do our best job with this terrible idea.”

Kinda makes me wanna...

CHVRCHES V

The new CHVRCHES album preview starts at the same time as my fortnightly Vampire: The Masquerade session. This seems like a trick by a cruel god.

I mean

Come ON

Talk Like A Pirate Day vs. BIPOC Vampire Day

This is a busy weekend.

Also International Red Panda Day!

Games Workshop announce Necromunda RPG

Necromunda Roleplay

A box set with miniatures for four intro characters and five enemies, blank character sheets and a screen as well as a rulebook.

I remember when Games Workshop got out of the RPG business, so strange to see them getting back in.

Mission: Impossible at 60

Mission: Impossible first aired September 17 1966. A straightforward idea for a show even if the episodes often weren’t, the setup making a rotating cast for isolated episodes a key and advertised part of the design, full of charming gimmicks like the masks and “This message will self-destruct in five seconds” and an absolute all-timer of a theme and credits sequence. I’ve often said that the Tom Cruise movies are an adaptation of the credits more than the show.

Cassie Workman Is Witchy AF

Cassie Workman Is Witchy AF

A puppet-heavy drinky history of the occult by Australian comedian Cassie Workman. Hail Satan!

Episode one, Aleister Crowley halfasses multiple attempts to contact the divine. Special guests include Shirley Manson explaining the pre-Crowley history of the house by Loch Ness.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Nocturne 2026-7

Reused placeholder chronicle title subject to change depending on emergent theme

Vampires hunt for blood in a world that looks like ours. They have their own societies, their own laws, their own conflicts, but they also walk among us, trying to hold onto their humanity - to some extent, at least.

Vampire: The Masquerade is a modern horror game where you are the monster. Knowledge of the system and setting are not required, the system is straightforward and the setting is full of mysteries.

CW: Horror and action violence, political and occult themes, metaphorical addiction, uneven power relationships, and blood.

V5 one-shot autumn 2026 edition

Vampires hunt for blood in a world that looks like ours. They have their own societies, their own laws, their own conflicts, but they also walk among us. Tonight, some of them just want to hear a singer's set and have a night out. But things are rarely that easy.

Vampire: The Masquerade is a modern horror game where you are the monster. Knowledge of the system and setting are not required, the system is straightforward and the setting is full of mysteries.

CW: Horror and action violence, occult themes, addiction with possible alcohol and drug use, and blood

Complaining about having to do a Vampire one-shot again

The age-old issue (ca. 1991) of preparing one-shots for an RPG with a complicated secretive background, for players who might never have played it or any other RPG either.

Setup for people I expect to know the game can go wild.

Setup for people I expect to know RPGs in general suggests a classic like a heist to show how differently vampires approach it.

Setup for possibly total newbies and... um...

Yes I could run a one-shot for something else, but I’m planning to run Vampire and I don’t like showing something I’m not planning to continue.

Buffy news this week

Sarah and David at the Emmys..

Sarah shared a photo from Scooby-Doo: Origins wrapping, showing McKenna Grace who plays Daphne in a Buffy T-shirt.

McKenna Grace (Daphne) and Maxwell Jenkins (Fred)
But what does his shirt mean?

Most photos suggest more traditional costumes but if the shirt appears in the show it causes a delightful reference paradox.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark 4K

Raiders Of The Lost Ark was great in the new restoration on the big screen.

Of course it was also great the time I saw a thirty-year-old original print that had gone kinda sepia-toned. It fit really.

A thousand ideas!

My pretty vague “ideas” tag just hit 1000!

What to GM, 2026-7 edition

Start of GEAS getting close now. Saturday game shop tour and quiz, Monday one-shots, Wednesday pitches. And in between my regular games are Sunday and Tuesday.

Having had no other brilliant ideas, and having some character sheets left, prolly run Vampire. Likely Sunday afternoons as no Sunday evenings by default (boo!) and have Sunday evening game anyhow (yay!) but would gladly do it at Teviot but no Teviot booking either (boooooo!)

Have assorted setup ideas, but keep it basic for new players.

Ill-Starred

Going back to a previous weird thought due to an unrelated game (Hunter) joked that my next Star Trek character will be a witch.

“Analysis?”

“Nothing on sensors, Captain.”

“Sycorax?”

(sound of bones rattling) “They’re here, alright.”

(And this was before seeing the Strange New Worlds episode trailer for the magic planet follow-up.)

Edit: posting this on BlueSky got a character sheet made.

My thoughts always go to my US based friends today.

Slightly more solid plan for GEAS 2026-7

The game pitch form is out. No check box for Sunday evening. Hrm.

Vague plan for GEAS 2026-7

After last year and this summer, giving some thought to self-contained adventures whatever I run.

Which is an issue for Vampire, of course.

Solar Power!

Mum’s now has a new solar battery infuser.

And will you look at this Axiom from WALL-E lookin’ thing?

The green indicator light showing a leaf has to be an homage. Surely.

I kinda love it.

Trinity Continuum Bundle Of Holding

Trinity Continuum Bundle Of Holding focusing on the modern base era and Adventure! as add-on.

VTMDND Bones Of The Empire

Jason Carl demonstrates the D&D version of Vampire: The Dark Ages, from Gen Con 2026. Hopefully we can get the V6 demo back soon too?

(Update: 22nd September)

In the meantime the small number of Blood Points and the various uses for them is interesting - especially having to use one not a Frenzy.

Star Trek at 60

Star Trek was first broadcast in the US sixty years ago tonight!

(Not counting the Canadian premiere being two days earlier, as I noted ten years ago,)

There has been a lot of Star Trek in the last decade, in a wide variety of styles.

This is one of the great story engines. Speaking as someone who’s never quite used it for games.

Right now the flagship show is Strange New Worlds, a prequel to the original series, which I feel has gotten mired in the “strange” part of the title. I imagine a full 26-episode season where we get these premieres and finales and two normal-ish episodes for every one we actually see.

And after that there’s nothing in production.

This would be a good day to announce something. But the current rights holders may not be the people to do it.

We could do with some optimism right now.

What future do you want?

AMPCA

How would your PCs do in an online AMA, as opposed to a chat show or other such occasion?

Coyote Vs. ACME AMA

Wile E. Coyote Reddit AMA

The Blood Of Dawnwalker

The Blood Of Dawnwalker, not Blood Of The Dawnwalker so dangerously close to The Rise Of Skywalker.

As a game, third person medieval superhuman with a ponytail stabbing things so basics of The Witcher. As a vampire game, one character seeking revenge in the Middle Ages so a bit Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. As a vampire story, medieval guy trying to use his vampire powers for good without going full vampire during a ticking clock, so kinda Dracula Untold. Will we get HAND O' BATS as a late powerup?

Also amusing that his remarkable ability among vampires used to be normal until 1922.

Tabletop Scotland 2026

We won! Hosting it again next year.

Ian

The Muppet Show at 50

It’s time to play the music

It’s time to light the lights

It’s time to meet the Muppets

On The Muppet Show tonight

Could your player characters be the very special guest stars? In some games probably yes.

See also chat shows as the Muppets have done those too.

Assuming your characters aren’t Muppetational themselves.

Fun facts about Violetta Rossellini

Going a bit broad on Violetta for Hunter: The Reckoning, spent lunchtime coming up with weird backstory details to drop in casually.

(This is a favourite bit for suitable games, dropping the kind of thing that would be the subject of an adventure in backstory, dating back to a retired Watcher in a Buffy game assuring a new slayer she wasn’t doing as badly as the one who destroyed the world. See also the time I stopped myself doing it in Vampire.)

My family moved to Portland for work when I was five. I went St. Sophia’s Academy. As such I did not get a prom. But I have attended some formal dances and have an invitation to the city debutante ball in three months’ time.

I have at least been to a few slumber parties. And the other girls didn’t always ask me to perform a séance.

I do not currently have a boyfriend. My mother keeps introducing me to young men from good families who she reckons will be healthy. I suspect that this is because I manifested my sight younger than she did and she hopes a grandchild will be more powerful still.

I was raised Catholic, which made it a little awkward when I saw the afterlife. Turns out the ancient Egyptians were right. Just for their time and place, but still.

I believe that death should bring release from pain. I can do something about that, so I will.

As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. (off looks) Apparently it comes from some Victorian politician before Spider-Man.

I have a fake ID, and also there’s one club where they never card me. (off looks) Yes it’s The Coffin.

So far as I know I have met five vampires. One of them is my great-grandfather.

There are a number of doctors in my family and I would like to follow their lead, but am more likely to end up in academia.

My favourite Taylor Swift song is Shake It Off. I know, people expect it to be Bad Blood or Look What You Made Me Do, but come on.

I once met the Devil. (She pauses and looks at one of the others.) So have you.

It was on a book tour.

Ravenloft live-action Netflix series

Huh. okay.

Though still waiting on various other D&D things, as this announcement news mentions.

And hey, that World Of Darkness series...

What would freak out a superhero?

Just saw a retrospective of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, mostly about the first two of course, but little bits from 3 including the shot where Spidey punches through the Sandman. I always thought he should have freaked out and gone “Oh God, are you okay?!”

September

We have reached the -ber months again.