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StarGate Olympus
StarGate Olympus is our current Sci-Fi RPG. It is run once a week at our local library and kids of all ages can participate. We give away themed books at every session. Our RPG sessions have appeared on the local news and a clip of our last session may be included in a documentary. Our website is: http://www.thorthebarbarian.com/stargateolympus What we are doing seems to be working but I would greatly like to expand our Sci-Fi offerings, hence this Forum. I am hoping that the creative minds of my fellow BookMoochers can help with brainstorming ideas.
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Hercules Invictus
13 years ago
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Thanks Hercules40! I love your blog! We create RPG settings based on books, comics or novelizations of other media and then the kids adventure in them. They read the books as well. We have a primary school age group, a middle school group, a teen group and family groups (mixed ages including adult family members). In our current Stargate Olympus storyline we've wandered through the Conan the Barbarian universe, Greek, Italian and Egyptian Mythology, Stargate, Dr. Who, Marvel's Incredible Hercules, Flash Gordon, Wonder Woman, Percy Jackson and the Olympians and last week (unposted) Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica Classic. Serenity/Firefly and Alien Nation are next on the list. I hope this helps. Thanks again! Hercules
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Hi, Hercules, good to see you keeping up the great work with the kids! For the primary school age group, have you considered doing something based on Nickelodeon's Avatar: the Last Airbender? The upcoming live-action movie looks rather disappointing on multiple fronts, but the original cartoon is marvelous; the creators are themselves involved in studying traditional Chinese martial arts, and there are a lot of good messages about hard work and cultivating physical and mental discipline that are drawn from those traditions. The actual licensed tie-in books and comics are aimed fairly young, but the series could serve as a springboard for getting the kids to explore books on martial arts, Asian and Native American history, etc. to learn more about the real-world inspirations for the fantasy world of the Avatar. (For the older tween and teen groups, fantasy and SF manga series that are popular with those age groups might serve as a similar gateway.)
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Thank you Miss Smilla! I am not familiar with 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' but will certainly look into it. It sounds like the type of setting we can generate a series of great adventures in. The Asian and Native American myths and history would be an added bonus. We visited Mythic Asia in several of our RPG campaigns, albeit briefly, and a few of our kids have created Samurai or Ninja inspired characters. In fact we had a Samurai in our 'Voyage of the Argo' campaign. We attempted to run a Manga style campaign a couple of years ago but it ran out of steam after a handful of adventures. We have many new kids now so perhaps it is time to re-visit this setting. Thanks again Miss Smilla, I appreciate your imput!
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I really can't possibly say enough good things about A:tLA. Depite all the constraints the creators must have had to work with in producing a cartoon for Nickelodeon that was marketed to kids in the 6 - 11 age range, it's got a remarkable amount of depth and complexity and heart, enough so that it was a real crossover success with many teen and adult viewers, too. It's definitely not one of those series that seems to have been slapped together by committee purely as a marketing tool to sell a toy line! Also, any girls and non-white kids in your program may find the diversity of the cast especially appealing; there are many female characters, and all of the show's cultures are clearly inspired by Asian and Native cultures, which can make the setting particularly empowering for kids who can't always find a lot of heroes and heroines that look like them or reflect their family's culture in mainstream media.
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Thanks again Miss Smilla! I have begun my quest of learning about 'Avatar: The Last Airbender', can definitely introduce this setting into one of our upcoming Sci-Fi RPG campaigns and see what happens. I have mooched whatever 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' books were available on BookMooch, have notified some of our local donors that we're interested in the series, I'm now checking around to see if I can obtain a DVD of the show on one of the trading sites. Joyous Journeys! Hercules
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I think the Dune novels could be a spiffy SF setting for adults or older teens who don't mind or even enjoy the author's take on how RL Earth religions may have evolved through a spatial diaspora of humanity.
The one commercial RPG created for it by Last Unicorn Game was unfortunately buried by Wizards of the Coast but there's a number of homebrew systems floating around the net.
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Try to find old ANALOG mags. lots of the better writers wrote for it.
Copys of it turn up all the time and sometimes for free. ill see what i can find to mooch.
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Thank you very much Aude! It has been years (a great deal of them) since I last visited Dune, it is time I remedied that. I'm in the process of forming a Sci-Fi group for adults here locally, I agree that the Dune setting would be more appropriate for them and the older teens rather than the younger kids. The quest for a Dune RPG, or guidelines for running adventures there, has begun. Dune books will be collected for GiveAways right now to generate interest. I will keep you posted through this Forum Aude. Joyous Journeys! Hercules
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Aude:
I mooched the copy of Dune and the handful of House Atreides that were available on BM, will start collecting these two books whenever they pop up until I have enough for a GiveAway.Thanks again! Hercules
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I remember reading ANALOG growing up! I just mooched a handful of ANALOGS through BM. Thank you for the excellent idea Fiddle 1! Joyous Journeys, Hercules
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@Hercules - There's a bunch of newer "Dune" works too, that weren't written by Frank Herbert himself, but were supposedly derived from his notes a long time after his death, and created quite a divide among the fandom regarding their merit. You'll have to adjudicate whether to pay them some interest.
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Greetings Aude! Thanks for the info, as per the blurbs on BM the House Atreides book was written by Frank Herbert's son based on his notes. As I collect the books I'll slowly re-familiarize myself with the mythos. Thanks again! Hercules
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Two series I liked when I was in younger: the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper and the York Trilogy by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
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The first of the ANALOGs I mooched arrived today Fiddle1! Thanks again for suggesting the idea.
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Miss Smilla: A friend from MA who came to visit last weekend also recommended 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' and his son gave me an introductory overview of the series. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention!
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Thank you very much for your suggestions and your generosity Becca! I mooched whatever was currently available on BM from The Dark is Rising and York Trilogies, will be familiarizing myself with the contents as I collect the books for GiveAways. Thanks again!
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Those two series are more fantasy than scifi so hopefully they will still be useful. If you want a more sci fi series there is the Liaden universe series by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Some of the books are more young adult then others and i also don't know how easy they are to find.
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Thanks Becca! Our Sci-Fi adventures have included Space Opera and Sci-Fi behind the scenes in Fantasy, so the term is used fairly loosely. There were two Liaden books available in BM, both 'Not to Your Country'. I will request assistance from a BM Angel in acquiring them. Thanks again, I really appreciate the input!
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Two more Analogs arrived today Fiddle1! I'm skimming them for story ideas.
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The first copy of 'Shadows on the Wall', Book One of the York Trilogy, has arrived Becca. It is high on my 'To Read' pile. Thanks again for suggesting it!
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More Dune, York Trilogy and Analogs coming in...
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And 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' too...
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