We are half way around, already. Time to take a look at the gaming year so far and reflect a little on the games that are getting actual play, and those that I have poured the energy and joy into as a GM.
Here is the breakdown of my 87 games so far:
The larger numbered games reflect campaigns, some of which are ongoing. I’m having such fun with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition, it’s a real gem. I’m playing in an ongoing campaign, which inspired me to take a look at the game in more detail, and there is a lot of detail. Though there is a lot of depth to the game, it lies beneath a clever and simple d100 test mechanic at the surface, all set in a rich and murky world, full of adventure. I’m now running The Enemy Within campaign, and have hit some convention high notes presenting one shots to people new to the game. I hope there will be much more play of this wonderful game.
My forever game is Traveller, so it is great to see it running high, mostly through campaign play. It just keeps delivering for me, and currently enjoying two very different campaigns, one from the Dungeon Muser and one from Dom. Those numbers will grow, and will include at least one Cepheus Universal game that I am planning for TravCon.
Simon’s Star Trek 2D20 has demonstrated a very good iteration of the Modiphius house system, in an authenticly delivered Trek setting. The tail end of my Trudvang Chronicles campaign account for the Dragonbane numbers, though it is so very good that I may well give it a run out during the latter part of the year. Currently, Dragonbane is acting as my BRP recovery, a return to my gaming youth with a slick modern coating.
The One Ring numbers have been bolstered by five sessions at LongCon, which I’ll write about elsewhere. What a stunning game, and so true to Tolkien’s work. We learned about the game as we played, and it came through very well. I wonder about the core Task Numbers a little and think taking 18 as the base rather than 20 would have been better, though we adjusted to that quite quickly, to no detriment to play. Further experience will hone my craft with that game.
Speaking of which, Fantasy Craft has been such incredible fun to play! I’ve bought into it, getting myself a first printing book and a clutch of PDFs. What is it about noughties games and me? Another of the 3.5 OGL innovative new games, occupying a similar start point as Green Ronin’s True20, a further gem that I would dearly pick up again. Fantasy Craft takes the 3.5 D20 engine and laces it with lots of new ideas. I’ll put something out about it elsewhere, but suffice to say that it provides some old school crunchy fun, with imaginative flair. The split between Vitality (a bit like D&D Hit Points, reflecting luck, energy, minor scrapes and lasting power), with Wounds, real deadly body strikes equal to your Con score, gives you a never quite safe feel to the game. I may have a go at running this game at the momentous Furnace XX convention. We’ll see.
I’m surprised that I gush over the 2009 Fantasy Craft, but not so much Shadow of the Weird Wizard (SOTWW). The game itself is fine and very well put together, as you would expect. Perhaps all F20 games are combat monsters, and SOTWW is certainly a fearsome beast ready, at all times, to slay. I may just have slightly overdosed on F20 combat games, and this very well designed new one, is yet another. I may come back to it with more enthusiasm.
The scattering of others reflect short series and convention one shots. It’s particularly gratifying to see Fading Suns 4th Edition in there. It’s a terrific game if a little heavy or, perhaps, fiddly. There are a couple of areas that I will either revisit or build out myself, in the hope that I can find another opening for the game. It deserves some more play. My own Black Hack based ‘Heroic Fantasy’ is getting some love. It’s such fun to run, whilst now collating some notes for a future unencumbering expansion to it.
In my social media identifier as ‘First Age’, I
speculated about what 2025 might bring. I kind of love that I didn’t see so much of what has now happened in my gaming life in such a short period. There are gems in those predictions that I’d still like to happen, so we will see. Mostly, I expect to be further surprised in the next six months.
A brilliant six months of gaming, clocking in at an average of a session every two days or so. That’s probably my upper limit.
Probably.
