{"id":5184,"date":"2019-12-11T14:42:57","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T18:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/?p=5184"},"modified":"2025-05-17T08:40:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T12:40:35","slug":"captain-i-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/2019\/12\/captain-i-am\/","title":{"rendered":"Captain, I Am"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lasers & Feelings<\/a>\u00a0is a fun role playing game that can be run as a one-shot. Here is a short story from the viewpoint of my character, Fidget, an alien explorer. Fidget is based on \u201cbaby Yoda\u201d, but is an adult.<\/p>\n

Co-captains, they are. Captain’s chair empty. Climb, wiggle \u2013 there! \u201cCaptain, I am\u201d, I nod. \u201cExploring, we go!\u201d Slam hand on nearest button on chair’s arm.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Shaky, oh no! Tumble, fall. Ouch! All on floor now.<\/p>\n

Wrong button.<\/p>\n

I rub the ouch. Cogbucket co-captain picks me up. Am now in Captain’s chair, but not. Small seat, facing backwards, strapped in. Cogbucket co-captain says \u201csafety\u201d and \u201cbaby seat\u201d. Cannot… reach… buttons!<\/p>\n

Cogbucket co-captain’s metallic arms \u2026 one, two… stuck in seat straps. They have been disarmed. Piano co-captain communicates in musical notes. I tap Cogbucket co-captain’s arms to add percussion to the discussion.<\/p>\n

Cogbucket co-captain’s arms are taken. Cannot see who. Facing wrong way, I am. Still cannot…reach….buttons! I hear \u201caway team\u201d and \u201ctransporter\u201d. Cogbucket co-captain, now rearmed, frees me.<\/p>\n

Transporter panel with so many buttons<\/i>! I climb onto lap of crew member. Gently push button, \u201cOh. you’ve deleted the coordinates. I’ll have to put them back,\u201d crew member says. I nod and smile. Crew member types numbers. I look at crew member. Slowly reach for same button.<\/p>\n

Someone says to put me down. \u201cI can’t do that,\u201d crew member says, \u201cFidget is technically my captain.\u201d I nod. I smile. Someone makes offer. \u201cIf you go into the transporter you can see shiny things.\u201d My attention, you have. Raise my arms. Cogbucket co-captain carries me to transporter.<\/p>\n

Glowing stars, I see! I reach for them, but hard to catch. Fun! It stops. Holding Cogbucket’s ear, I am.<\/p>\n

I give it back.<\/p>\n

Big room with hole in wall. Piano co-captain sees panel full of buttons and plugs in. Quick, light, musical sounds they make. Other co-captains confused. \u201cExcited, Piano is,\u201d I explain. Piano co-captain communicates with Rodney co-captain, back at ship. I reach up, press nearest button. Growly noise, it makes. One more try. Same result.<\/p>\n

Reach for glowing stars again as we transport back. Now holding Cogbucket co-captain’s pinky.<\/p>\n

I give it back.<\/p>\n

Falling apart, Cogbucket is. Walk to Engineering and point at soldering laser. No one gives me. Back to bridge. Cypre co-captain has one. I point and wait. Success!<\/p>\n

Helping, I do. Accidentally remove Cogbucket co-captain’s hand. Melted their watch, I have. Puddle of black goo on floor. Bright yellow flashing lights blink on bridge. Distracted, I am.<\/p>\n

Lights stop. I tap Cogbucket co-captain’s leg. \u201cYour watch, I destroy. This, you may have.\u201d I hold up soldering laser.<\/p>\n

Two co-captains go to other ship to help. One goes to brig, for some reason. Things not going well, I see. I tap Rodney co-captain’s leg. \u201cExploring, I go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Transported to other ship. No stars to catch this time. Co-captains Cogbucket and Piano are on bridge here. One is dancing.\u201cCaptain, I am. To lab, I go,\u201d I announce.<\/p>\n

Escorted to lab. Listen to lab person explain. Explore machines, and data, and small, green creatures. Report back to co-captain Rodney. \u201cIn safety, they are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lasers & Feelings\u00a0is a fun role playing game that can be run as a one-shot. Here is a short story from the viewpoint of my character, Fidget, an alien explorer. Fidget is based on \u201cbaby Yoda\u201d, but is an adult. Co-captains, they are. Captain’s chair empty. Climb, wiggle \u2013 there! \u201cCaptain, I am\u201d, I nod. … Continue reading “Captain, I Am”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[293],"tags":[374],"class_list":["post-5184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ttrpg","tag-lasers-and-feelings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5184"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5186,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184\/revisions\/5186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaronbsmith.com\/cogwheel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}