Holiday Game Day!

Okay, it's not a glorious day setting toy soldiers on the floor, but tonight's the hopeful completion of my online group's Star Wars d6 Holiday Game.  It's been fun to return to West End Star Wars after over 80 sessions of Gamma World (with more of both to come in the future).  

Game Day!

It's game day, and we switched up from Gamma World, to run a quick Life Day holiday episode of Star Wars d6.  Our special guests (former players returning for one session) have essentially bailed on the idea, although, for full disclosure, they gave plenty of advance notice.  

Let's see what the weird fun is in store for "The Shadows of Yavin IV"  

Game Day!

The dice were flying last week, unfortunately they were radiation dice in Gamma World.  Let's see what Hell the players have wrought upon themselves. 



Game Day!

It’s Game Day!

Gamma Wasteland

The Image Created by NightCafe When I plugged the lyrics in.

Gamma Wasteland (Parody of "Baba O'Riley" by The Who)

Verse 1

Out here in the ruins
I fight for my life
I’m a mutant survivor
In a world full of strife

Verse 2

I’ve got my own power
In this irradiated land
I’ve got to keep moving
Got to make a stand

Chorus

Don’t cry, don’t raise your eye
It’s only Gamma Wasteland

Verse 3

Sally’s in the bunker
Sheltering from the storm
As the rad winds howl
We keep each other warm

Verse 4

The ancients left their tech
In the rubble and the dust
We scavenge through the wreckage
In search of what we must

Chorus

Don’t cry, don’t raise your eye
It’s only Gamma Wasteland

Bridge

Reactor fires burning
Mutants on the prowl
We fight for our future
In this world gone foul

Instrumental Break

Verse 5

The city lies in shadow
But our hope still burns bright
We’ll forge a new tomorrow
In the dark of night

Chorus

Don’t cry, don’t raise your eye
It’s only Gamma Wasteland

Outro

Only Gamma Wasteland, wasteland, wasteland
Only Gamma Wasteland, wasteland, wasteland
Gamma Wasteland, wasteland, wasteland
Gamma Wasteland, wasteland, wasteland

Game Day! Time to Fight Wandering Minstrels in Fair-Town!

 

Game Day! - All Roads Lead

Game Day!

Mutants Gone Wild!

I'm not going to shy away from the fact that I use AI for a decent portion of the my Gamma World campaign.  While we've gotten plenty of written adventures thus far, I'm happy to use ChatGPT to flesh out some of the non-cannon towns and a few NPCs, while I try NightCafe to create some artwork, for a game that only had a few classic pieces.  

In Episode #31 "Lathar Gets His Green Card",  NightCafe generated Lathar, as if he was played by Sebastian Bach, or another hair metal band.  That week in session, I simply requested ChatGPT to create a parody song of "Youth Gone Wild" based in Gamma World.

Mutants Gone Wild (Parody of "Youth Gone Wild" by Skid Row)

Verse 1

Since I was born, they couldn't hold me down
Another misfit with a mutant crown
I grew up tough, I fought my way through the waste
Now I'm a fighter with a scarred-up face

Pre-Chorus

They said I’d never make it, they said I’d fall
But I keep standing tall, through it all
In this world of chaos, we stand as one
United by the night, we rise with the sun

Chorus

They call us mutants gone wild
We’ll fight until the end, defying the vile
In the wastelands, we make our stand
We’re the mutants gone wild

Verse 2

Rising from the ashes of a shattered world
With our powers strong, our banners unfurled
Through the darkness, we ignite the spark
Lighting up the night, leaving our mark

Pre-Chorus

They tried to break us, but we won’t be tamed
Our spirits unchained, forever untamed
In the shadows, we forge our own path
United by our pain, fueled by our wrath

Chorus

They call us mutants gone wild
We’ll fight until the end, defying the vile
In the wastelands, we make our stand
We’re the mutants gone wild

Bridge

In the ruins we roam, in the storms we fight
With the world on our shoulders, we embrace the night
Through the trials and the tears, we’ll never fall
We’re the mutants gone wild, standing tall

Pre-Chorus

They said I’d never make it, they said I’d fall
But I keep standing tall, through it all
In this world of chaos, we stand as one
United by the night, we rise with the sun

Chorus

They call us mutants gone wild
We’ll fight until the end, defying the vile
In the wastelands, we make our stand
We’re the mutants gone wild

Outro

Mutants gone wild, forever free
Defying the dark, our destiny
In the wastelands, our spirits high
We’re the mutants gone wild, till the day we die

ViscountEric Returns to SATLOF

This Saturday was my groups annual SATLOF (Saturday After Thanksgiving Leftover Feast).  Stolen from my college roommate Steve's high school friends FATLOF (Friday), it was an excuse to bring leftover leftover, drink trash can punch at varying levels of responsibility, and play some random games.

TWO DECADES LATER, and things have evolved.  Apartments turned into houses, random girls brave enough to deal with our tomfoolery have become wives (some ex-wives), and the presence of children usually tones down the trash can punch, if it appears at all.

And the was before COVID.  

We did try a virtual SATLOF in 2020.  We reheated our own leftovers, provided our own beverages, and commiserated over Skype.  

Last year, Steve and Angie, our hosts for the past 15 years, only had one couple over for SATLOF.  Folks were still not feeling like traveling, or, like me, actually didn't feel good and didn't want to contaminate everyone else.  

This year, we still didn't have the out of state people available, but as I was invited (as usual), the girls and I visited my Mom in Easton, then ventured forth to beautiful, scenic Alburtis, PA for SATLOF.  

We can safely declare SATLOF as slowly recovering, as Steve and Angie went from hosting two to hosting five, when our friend Scott and his son/my godson Connor made an appearance.  

While the ever-growing event had meant cooking a completely new turkey that day, we had just enough for the "true spirit" of SATLOF.  Tupperware containers were broken out and reheated, open-face turkey sandwiches were constructed, half-eaten pies retrieved from the garage friend, and we ate, perused Steve's insane Kickstarter collection... and used gaming table he picked up, and caught up on a ton of news (somehow Steve missed my big news.  It's usually at a least a bullet point in our Monday night gaming group... Steve usually hops on late).  But we all managed to catch up on the trials and tribulations of middle age amongst our extended group of friends.  Mostly minor medical issues, but a few big ones, my news, and a super-secret marriage!

Seeing everybody face-to-face was a a huge relief and an absolute pleasure I don't want to take for granted.  But the best part was actually playing a game on Steve's giant dining room table that seats ten!

Sure it was Oregon Trail the Card Game,  and it was fitting that the first time we played it, we all died on the first turn, but the second game brought out all the positives that we've missed with playing face-to-face with friends.  No offense to my online crew, or the Stout Gnomes at convention, but I've been gaming with Scott since 1988, and Steve since 1998, it's on a different level.  

I know an equal number of people with harsh cases of COVID as I do serious cases of the flu right now., and having experience and even worse case of COVID myself, I don't like taking chances, but for one day, everything was alright, and outside of us not eating celery with the dip tray after the 3-year ran off with it in two hands, I'm confident that next year SATLOF will grow back to almost normal size.  

And maybe, just maybe, we can schedule some face-to-face roleplaying and use Steve's dining room table.