EXP Stands for "Expired"

The good news is that I completed the Bond-esque Operation Stealth, one of Delphine's cinematic titles of yesteryear. The bad news is that my Evercade EXP now only works if it's plugged in -- a distinct disadvantage for a handheld game system. I'm going to try my luck with the Blaze Taito Super Pocket, which also plays Evercade cartridges. Here's hoping the lil' guy will give me portability when I need it. Next up on my list is Delphine's masterpiece, Flashback, which I absolutely adored on my Sega Genesis back in the early '90s.

No Running Allowed

It's hard to keep pace with all the wacky rule changes in Major League Baseball. From in-game rules to the ever-evolving (and now suddenly very controversial) playoff format, baseball feels like it's in a state of flux. (How long until it evolves into blernsball?!)  

Larger bases and limitations on pitcher disengagements led to a significant increase in stolen bases this year. It's kind of ironic, then, that in my nineteenth-century Strat-O-Matic league, stolen bases are at an all-time low because starting catchers are throwing out runners at a ridiculous rate. Roger Bresnahan of the Haymakers has gunned down nearly three-quarters of would-be thieves, with fellow first-string backstops Buck Ewing, Connie Mack, and King Kelly all above 50% as well. In contrast, big-league catchers in 2023 were at just under 20% in throwing out base stealers. 

As I hit the halfway point of Season 10 of my historical league, the drop in base-stealing success is just one of the storylines I'm tracking. The Blue Legs got off to the hottest start in history with a 5-0 record, 26 runs for, and just 8 against, but then quickly fell back to the pack. Here at the midway mark, the Legs, Haymakers, and Resolutes are all sporting identical 7-5 records, with the Canaries bringing up the rear at 3-9. No team has pulled away thus far, so I think all four have a legitimate shot at reaching the championship series. As we look ahead to the second half, however, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Resolutes claim first place, as their actual winning percentage (.583) is below their Pythagorean (expected) win percentage (.624), which is by far the best in the league.

TWD DOA

Sometime this week, we'll be receiving a package that contains various materials for The Walking Dead RPG, which I was glad to back on Kickstarter. It will make for some fun reading material over the Thanksgiving holiday, but unfortunately it won't serve as the rules system for our upcoming zombie campaign. 

Nathaniel and I have spent many hours combing through the PDF version of the core rulebook, and we both came to the conclusion that the system really needs to be used for "theater of the mind" gaming, and is altogether impractical for a fully 3D campaign like the one I've been cooking up. The rules are fast and fun, and -- like its sister game, the Alien RPG -- shockingly lethal to player characters. They are also abstract. Like, really abstract. This is not a game for maps and miniatures, let alone an entirely 3D environment. Nathaniel and I went down some house-ruling rabbit holes but ultimately were rewriting the game. We even explored the possibility of re-skinning Alien for a modern setting, but that don't work out very well either. 

As such, I've landed on the TinyD6 system, which we used for the Tales of the Ternion superhero campaign and then again more recently for our Doctor Who game. I really wanted to make TWD work, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Butts and Zombies

With Matthew and Amy at a swim meet this weekend, Nathaniel and I have been keeping ourselves busy with some gaming fun. I completed Delphine's renowned Another World on my Evercade, albeit with some assistance from the internet to get past some of the more opaque puzzles. I gave Future Wars a go, but the port to Evercade makes a certain early section of the game unplayable due to the Evercade's controls, so I'm wondering if users of this recently released cart will complain loudly enough for some sort of patch to be released. Undaunted, I moved on to a third Delphine title, Operation Stealth, a James Bond-style adventure that's been loads of fun so far -- even though I haven't yet managed to get my secret agent through customs and out of the airport!

When Nathaniel finished his homework, we got down to business with a few hilarious games of Butts in Space, and then turned to more serious business: adapting the brand-new The Walking Dead RPG rules for use in our upcoming family campaign (a loose sequel to the recent Tales of the Ternion) that will utilize all the 3D buildings I've printed (and laboriously painted) and hordes of zombies from Zombicide (also laboriously painted). The TWG rules don't quite meet our needs; the main sticking point is that combat with walkers is abstracted and not played out round-by-round, whereas our fully 3D campaign will require much more precise rules for how many walkers there are, how far away from the heroes they are, etc. Nathaniel is always up for discussing game rules, however, so I think we'll land on some solid house rules before our packed calendar affords us time to get the campaign started.