RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026: Day 03

3. Where the heck are we?

"Our world is called Jee-Oh in the common language of the Zem. It is said that our world is one of many, and that the Ancients could see other worlds in the sky. There are legends of outworlders coming to Jee-Oh and of the Ancients exploring other worlds, but it is impossible to know what is fact and what is folktale. What we do know is that plantkind was the first to grow in Jee-Oh, followed by beastkind who sprouted into humanity, mutantia, and manimalia.

"We of the tribe of Zem dwell in the land of Ridia, which is an offshoot of the Great Continent. The climate varies greatly across the continent, but in Ridia it is hot and wet, with plentiful rain and vast vegetation. Here and there, we find ruins of the Ancients on land or undersea. Our Seekers map them and retrieve artifacts for cataloguing, study, and potential use for the betterment of life.

"Within Ridia, the tribe of Zem inhabit a slowly expanding patulous cluster of villages including Null, Onay, T'Woh, T'Hree, Foh-Ur, Feevay, Zix, and Seh-Ven. All Zem are free regardless of genotype. Each village elects a chief, and the village chiefs elect a tribal chief. In this way, the tribe defends itself from pests, maintains its health, and grows.

"I, Fernettica, am the chief of the village of Null, the original Zem settlement, and the eldermost of all the Zem. The Zem in Null have pride, but also wisdom. We remember the hardship. We remember the unity that enabled us to survive. We honor our ancestors and their pacts of friendship."

—Fernettica, Chief of the Zem in Null

[For more information about RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026, read this.]

[Read Barking Alien's RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026.]

RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026: Day 02

2. About Your Tour Guide

"I am the chief and veg-matron of the village of Null of the tribe of Zem. I am called Fernettica by those who cannot speak the subtle language of plants. I am the progenitor of all living Fern Plantients, for I am the only survivor of the Mass Herbicide of long ago. Amid the devastation, a Human called Botta Nist found me and brought me to a safe place where many others were given sanctuary. Over many seasons, this place, Null, became a new home to refugees who formed a new tribe called the Zem. The Zem have founded more villages and all follow the same tribal laws of hospitality and cooperation. All are welcome who share."

Fernettica's Mutant Crawl Classics RPG stats might be forthcoming. I'm just concerned about spoilers for my players. Suffice it to say she is a wise and majestic Plantient of the fern variety whose maternal instinct is extended to the entire tribe.

[For more information about RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026, read this.]

[Read Barking Alien's RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026.]

RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026: Day 01

1. Campaign Introduction and Overview

This month, I shall attempt to participate in Adam Dickstein's RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026 with two different campaigns in two different blogs. In Decidedly 6-Sided, I am discussing my Toledo Ghostbusters campaign. For Applied Phantasticality, I shall be using a campaign I have been preparing for, but have not yet run. (I would very much like to start it by this spring.) My responses to this challenge's prompts will likely be brief as this campaign world is a work in progress, but I think it may help in shaping its direction.

The campaign is called The Zem of Null. The system is Mutant Crawl Classics RPG. As with most MCC RPG campaigns, it starts with a rite of passage for the youths of a primitive tribe in a post-apocalyptic world and leads to an exploration of that world far beyond the travels of their elders where they will discover the ruins and artifacts of the Ancients and possible clues as to their disappearance. Player characters will be seeking to prove themselves to their tribe, improve their status, help their village, and expand their knowledge. They may also have other goals dictated by their own personal aspirations, codes, relationships, and interests.

The Zem is a tribe of all genotypes (Humans, Mutants, Manimals, and Plantients), essentially a confederation of the refugees of many different tribes that had been decimated by various hostile tribes, natural disasters, and monstrous rampages. They banded together for mutual protection and, through cooperation and the sharing of knowledge and traditions, prospered and expanded. There are now many villages in the Zem tribe including Null, Onay, T'Woh, T'Hree, Foh-Ur, Feevay, and others. The player characters begin as Zem in the village of Null about to take part in the rite of passage that will confer the privileges of adulthood in their society.

Each player will start with four 0-level characters in the standard manner of MCC RPG (eight 0-level characters each if I can't find more than two players). The house rules are here. As mentioned there, all human classes from both Mutant Crawl Classics RPG and Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG are permitted. Non-human classes from DCC RPG will be considered, but will probably have to be reskinned for this setting. In general, this is a science fantasy campaign where the line between sorcery and super science is blurry and the sword can be as mighty as the laser pistol.

[For more information about RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026, read this.]

[Read Barking Alien's RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026.]

Old School XP Heresy?

I enjoy both old school aesthetics and the very old school mindset of relying on one's own inventiveness, but I am not an idolator and there are certain aspects of the Original Fantasy Adventure Game I have always been more than willing to entertain the notion of tossing into a sphere of annihilation. One such thing is the concept of experience points—how they are gained, how they are calculated, how many are needed for levelling up. I have no use for it. If I were to run the earliest edition of Dungeons & Dragons or return to Swords & Wizardry White Box, I would be strongly tempted to use the experience system from Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, create my own, or just wing it free-form-style. Anything, to my mind, would be better than the pitiless bean-counting obstacle of fun and adversary of immersion that is the traditional experience point system unless it serves the fictional genre and/or can be referenced in character (such as video games or game shows). It may be heretical to the "rules as written" tribe, but I have always subscribed to the philosophy of necessary rules tinkering: If something doesn't work for you, replace it with something that does. When it hits your table, it's your game. You can craft it to suit the needs of your gaming group. It's the original old school way.

My Blogging Challenge Sense Is Tingling

Adam Dickstein is starting a new blogging challenge in February called Barking Alien's RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026. I think it's an excellent idea, and I think it behooves us as bloggers to share this idea widely.

[This article is cross-posted here in Decidedly 6-Sided.]

Dare to Dream of Gaming

Here are some things I would like to do this year gamingwise:

• Continue our ongoing Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG campaign.
• Start a new Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG campaign (open table style?).
• Start a new Mutant Crawl Classics RPG campaign.
• Run some Flash Gordon Savage Worlds.
• Run some Teenagers from Outer Space.
• Resume the Toledo Ghostbusters campaign for Ghostbusters (1st edition).
• Play something at BASHCon?
• Game at the local board game parlor.
• Start a gaming podcast?

Locksmith with a Dagger

Once in a while, just for fun, I like to generate a 0-level character using the 0-Level Party Generator from Purple Sorcerer Games. Usually, I use the The Crawler's Companion app on my smartphone. In any event, if I use a character, I use it as is. I take the good with the bad and see how the character's life unfolds. I play the hand I was dealt, as it were. Take a look at this character I generated on 29 December 2025:

Occupation: Locksmith
Strength: 10 (0)
Agility: 14 (+1)
Stamina: 12 (0)
Personality: 12 (0)
Intelligence: 12 (0)
Luck: 8 (−1)
AC: 11; HP: 2
Weapon: Dagger −1 (1d40)
Speed: 30; Init: +1; Ref: +1; Fort: 0; Will: 0
Equipment: Chest—empty (2 gp)
Trade Good: Fine tools
Starting Funds: 30cp
Lucky Sign: Harsh Winter (All attack rolls)
Languages: Common

A locksmith. An average locksmith who is marginally more agile and marginally less lucky, with 2 hit points, an empty chest, fine tools, 30 copper pieces, and a dagger that causes 1d40 points of damage. 1d40... points of damage. True, his "lucky" sign is Harsh Winter, which means he suffers a −1 penalty to all attack rolls because his Luck score is 8, but if he does hit something, he causes 1d40 points of damage. I don't know if this an Easter egg, a glitch, or a mission from the gods, but this locksmith wields a dagger with a damage die that hasn't been invented yet, and I'm willing to make that work!

I could be satisfied with a simple 1d4 × 10 damage scheme, but just in case I face a judge who is a stickler for the full range of 1–40, I offer the following alternative for rolling 1d40 without a 40-sided die:

1d40 Substitute

Roll 1d10, then 1d4.
If you roll 1 on the d4, keep the d10 result.
If you roll 2 on the d4, add 10 to the d10 result.
If you roll 3 on the d4, add 20 to the d10 result.
If you roll 4 on the d4, add 30 to the d10 result.

Wandering Thoughts 2025-12-10

Things I Like about HârnWorld:

• The art.
• The maps.
• The attempt to make a grounded, believable, system neutral setting.

Things I Do Not Like About HârnWorld:

• The overspecificity of the setting.
• The rationale for the existence of monsters.
• The pantheon of gods.
• The religions.
• The history within the setting.
• The various countries.
• The overcomplexity of HârnMaster (the optional rules system).
• The general blandness.

It is not my cup of tea, but the art is fabulous.

Non-Blogging, Stop

I think my computer is on the verge of expiring. Regular blogging will probably not resume until I can afford to replace it. I do not know when that will be. In the meantime, take care.

Negatory NOvember

Oh, hello. It is November the 1st, and I am in a negative mood. Here are some highlights that are on topic.

I am annoyed by licensed role-playing games that become discontinued because the publisher lost the license to continue publishing them and related materials. It happens over and over and over. Sometimes the games are great and sometimes they're not, but when they're great, the loss is painful to the players, the publishers, and probably the designers. At this point, I may just give up on ever buying another licensed role-playing game. I'm tired of these yo-yo shenanigans. If I want to play a game based on a novel, movie, television program, etc., I'll just adapt it using a system I already know and enjoy. I'm tired of "official" rules and licensing nonsense.

I am bored by blowhards who argue about "the right way to play" role-playing games. What's right for you is what's right for you and maybe your gaming group. Who knows? There may be differences of opinion even amongst fellow gamers you've known for years. Role-playing is a leisure activity, not a science. Invest in a sense of humor.

I am growing weary of crowdfunding projects, especially when the "almost final draft" is released to backers with a plea to help find typographical errors and it turns out the draft is so poorly written and organized that it would require massive rewrites and untold hours of proofreading to make it anywhere near worthy of publication. If you want us to do this much work on a project, PAY US. If you can't pay us to do actual work that is unequivocally essential to the product's success (or existence), at least give us our copies for free. Competent proofreading, editing, and writing services ARE WORK DESERVING OF COMPENSATION. It makes me not want to support these projects in the future.

I am not supporting any product that uses "a.i." artwork, cartography, writing, or design in any way. If it isn't worth creating yourself, it isn't worth anyone else's time, money, or attention. I have no interest in rewarding laziness or incompetence. Peddle your slop in Hell.

Have a nice day!