TREK RPG COOLNESS

My favorite game recently, and one that I’m honored to have worked on professionally, is STAR TREK ADVENTURES, from Modiphius. I honestly feel that it’s the best rules system for playing Trek, and that’s saying something, as I’ve literally played all of them, back to FASA.

The system just feels right to me — it encourages teamwork, and the threat system used by the GM means that the stakes go up as the game goes on, which echoes the dramatic arc of an episode nicely. Modiphius even offers a free online character generator, which walks you through the options, and then generates a PDF of a filled-out character sheet, ready for printing. They’ve recently added the ability to create a starship with the same tool.

Recently, I’ve discovered an amazing fan-created resource — the website Continuing Mission, which features TONS of content: translating ships from STAR TREK ONLINE into STA stats, Adventure and Campaign ideas, Characters, Creatures, Equipment, and much more. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s available there, but everything I’ve read has been great. If you’re into the game, you need to be reading that site.

Decade’s End

WELP. Long time no post. I haven’t been here since August. Mostly, that was due to getting various mental ducks in a row.

I find myself now at the ending of the year — and more than that, the ending of the decade. In both cases, I’m glad to see the back of them. 2019 was pretty much the crap topping on the shit sandwich that was the entire decade.

Yeah, the 2010s will not be fondly remembered. Personally speaking, this decade has been the most difficult of my life, and so, against all logic and reason, I’m viewing the coming new year as a chance to start again. Do I still have it within me to hope? Oddly, yes — and I think that finally getting treatment for my depression and anxiety is a big part of that.

Whatever the reason, I’m going to try to hit 2020 at full speed. Part of that is getting back into the habit of writing more often — and not just on Twitter. So I’m going to try (yeah, yeah, I know) to put some more stuff here as the year draws to a close.

If there’s anything in particular that you’d like to read from me, drop a comment below, or hit me on Twitter @GMSkarka.

My Brain At 12, In Art.

Stumbled across these images, and it was like a door opening in my head. I hadn’t thought about these in decades, but for me, the art of Bob Pepper for the Milton Bradley game Dragonmaster (and to a lesser extent, his art for Dark Tower, which came out the same year) is the visual record of my D&D-obsessed mind in 1981-82.

I haven’t seen this illustrations in ages, and yet they immediately put me in a mood for Dungeons & Dragons.

Enjoy.

Continue reading “My Brain At 12, In Art.”