Playtesting opportunities and back to gaming.

I was pretty excited to see that playtesting is about to start on the Dresden Files RPG. I mentioned on an earlier blog that I'm pretty excited about this game, so I went ahead and applied for a slot. I'm not hugely familiar with the world yet (having only seen the TV show and read Storm Front), so I doubt I'll get in, but the idea appeals to me.

Besides, playtesting means that the game may actually be coming close to a finished product, which excites me a great deal.

In the mean time, my various groups are all starting up their new campaigns. I've run two sessions of my GURPS game (tentatively titled "Eternal Warriors") and one session of Cold City, which is my first time using the Cold City Companion. It's a freaking great book, but anyone who has read my blogs knows what a fan I am of Cold City. I don't know why, but the darn thing just beats me over the head with cool-factor.

Tonight I'm starting my next game, for which I am trying something new. I won't tell anyone what we're playing. I know it's kind of starting to annoy people, but I'm a little tired of everyone showing up to character building sessions with a character in mind, or worse, a sheet in hand. If no one knows what to expect no one's mind will be working over time before we even get a chance to talk about what kind of group we want.

It's my hope that we'll get there, I'll present a couple of world options, we'll pick one, and then the players will talk about what kind group they want and what kind of adventures they want to play. With any luck we'll have character concepts in mind before we even talk about which system we'll use.

That's my hope anyways.

Tonight will likely be all character/group building, or at least I hope it will be. If so, we'll play this game again next week, and the week after that we'll start playtesting Chains of Aether. Since I had my car accident I haven't gotten the chance to work on it at all, so it'll be good to get back to it and finally get my chance for a "proof of concept."

One final comment. In my accident I lost my iPod. I'm not really sure if it flew out and someone picked it up (I checked the roadside after I got out of the hospital), or if perhaps the tow guys stole it (a possibility since I'm also missing some CDs that mysteriously vanished from my case), but regardless, I haven't caught any of my podcasts in the last few weeks and I'm really starting to jones a bit. I had no idea how much I had come to rely on them for entertainment during my drive into work.

With any luck the jerk at State Farm that is handling my claim will get off his butt some time soon and start reimbursing me for my losses.