Even now I’m considering which games will feature for me in 2023. Perhaps slightly early, but may represent how my mind works and is just the right side of embarrassing, rather like now seeing the red and green stocked Christmas ailes in the supermarkets. Early, but hope you’ll let me off for now.
The possibilities will need to be tempered by my real life and the many fun things that brings. As such this is probably a slightly unattainable shopping list of bubbling excitement that will be shaped in unexpected ways after I have hit ‘Publish’ on the blog.
My Current Games
The long running Wednesday night Strahd 5e game is due to finish this year, and by coincidence, my Saturday night D&D 4e campaign in Nentir Vale is also due to come to a dramatic ending, at least for the Heroic Tier, at the end of the year. Decks clearing, naturally freeing up some time in the gaming calendar. Darran’s 10 session or so Vasen game has morphed into a somewhat unplayable Monday nights, though I hope to play some more if it doesn’t disrupt his story arc. Thursday nights are currently well set for a Pathfinder 2e mega dungeon that may switch to fortnightly, opening up another possible opportunity for some alternatives. I have a CYBORG one-off coming from Dom.
So, it looks to me that there are two gaming nights to fill with new goodness, and some others, including convention play to come. A backseat for the D&Ds after a few years?
What’s In The Mix?
Dragonbane, and lots of it. The full first draft of the game will be out to us backers by Christmas or thereabouts. I will be all over it and keen to run through the Kickstarter adventures and start to consider how to use the game more broadly. It is altogether possible that I place the game system back into my Greyhawk ‘Bandit Kingdoms’ setting and pick up some play from there. After a terrific session with my three grown up kids, we’ll be going on adventures next year when we can get together. The game will also see extensive convention play.
I’m also attracted to the Dragonbane Third Party Licence, which might galvanise a little bit more writing out of me/ I’ve been talking to a gaming buddy about some writing collaboration. I’m looking forward to seeing what we come up with.
With fillial connection, I have a Trudvang Chronicles mini campaign pretty much good to go on Foundry VTT. Trudvang is an earlier iteration of Drakar och Demoner, sporting a somewhat more involved combat capacity system, and a skill list as long as many of your arms. Depsite some of its transparent flaws, it remains a cool game and I’d like to see more of that in play. I’ve slightly foolishly run it as a pick up convention game, with enough success to persevere, but Dragonbane clearly wins out in that context.
Whilst on the content creation side of things, I’d like to develop some more of my Eventide subsector, for Cepheus Deluxe, in a currently sketchy Hinterspace setting out on the endangered frontier. By ‘develop’, I also mean actual play too. I like the game and the way it plays out SF adventures.
Pete has promised a slot in his 13th Age playtest, to be played out at Patriot Games. I’m looking forward to the exploration of the new iteration of this game, and to becoming a playing part of our FLGS community.
If at all possible, I’d really like to play some more games on the Dungeon Musing Channel. Kevin has recently become enamoured of the Blackbirds RPG, which looks like a ton of fun. If I can muster it, I may also like to get into a regular game if it fits the Muser’s plans and I can actually do the CST time zone.
I’m transparently angling to get into Dr Mitch’s The One Ring 2e game, if it happens. There might, understandably, be a queue.
It would be a significant highlight to my year if we can get The Chronicles of Future Earth RPG out of Kickstarter to a delivered book, at least in electronic form, but hopefully also as a physical book. It looks great, has an interesting take on the Fate engine along with all the richness that Sarah Newton brings to the setting.
On a tangent, I have the option of an upstairs room in a very nice pub for a regular game night, for 1-2 tables. That feels like more of a project, and a time investment way beyond the night itself. Maybe, for some face to face gaming in a nice place with good food and drink downstairs.
Elbowing Contenders
It’s important to enjoy the flux. New ideas will emerge from the chaos mire, with shadowy forms suddenly taking a tangible and consuming reality. A selection of these are below, but there will be others…
I have a slightly ridiculous amount of Cypher fantasy to do something with, in and around the Diamond Throne.
The Forbidden Lands campaign ‘The Bloodmarch’ has landed in PDF and looks to be of the same consistently high quality as previous releases. It also strikes me that these adventures could be played using Dragonbane, with some thought to a light and consistent translation process. Someone may already have produced this, or will do so through the third party licence.
Starforged will be with me in time for Revelation next year, so that looks to be a shoe in for there, unless Tribe8 progresses or I get distracted by some more A|state, or even the PbtA Hearth fantasy Stonetop, if it progresses to a published state.
Homeworld 2d20, with a companion plastic miniatures festooned boardgame really ought to get my attention, even if it only fast jumps into North Star.
Will the lure of more D&D 4e overcome me? There are Paragon tales to be told beyond Nentir Vale.
I’m running conventions as per usual next year. Additionally, I have taken up leadership of the RPG track at AireCon 2023. I hope you will come along and participate? More online encouragement to come on that. In the meantime, go here: https://www.airecon.co.uk/gms
Of course, much of this may change in the run up and during the year, not least because my good gaming buddies will also come up with as yet unknown escapist fun. I will be on the lookout for spaces.