Alas poor Spirit of the Century, I knew him.

My Spirit of the Century game ended last night, and, while I feel pretty good about how it ended, I'm pretty bummed about the aftermath.

The game itself was fun, especially the end. The final battle took place on an Atlantean outpost which had been raised from the bottom of the sea by a volcano. The group got into a gun battle through the ruins as the unstable city itself crumbled around them, slowly but inexorably falling into the volcano while they fought with the shadowy mastermind whose plans they had been opposing for the last three sessions.

It was brilliant, it was fun, and it really hit on all cylinders. In the end we finished an hour and a half earlier than usual without even noticing. Everything just flowed so fast and free that it was over before we knew it.

And then there was nothing. It was over.

It's a little sad really. We've played eight sessions in a row, and it's been so much fun, yet most of us feel like we're ready to try something new, and use Spirit of the Century the way we had originally intended, as a pick up game for those days when some of the group can't make it to our other regularly scheduled campaigns.

The problem is that one of our players is so into the game that I actually feel bad insisting on changing when its very clear that she doesn't want to. Even the thought of moving on to Dresden doesn't really excite her. She's really into the characters we made and the vibe we created, and as a newish gamer I worry that she thinks we won't be able to recapture it. The only other game she had played in with us was a Shadowrun game that ended disastrously with an out of character group blow-up that ended with the loss of two players.

I guess when your first experience with a group is tainted by two players who added so much stress and conflict that it felt like they were trying their hardest to tear apart the whole group you kinda hold on to the game that has been fun and exciting throughout.

Still, I really feel like it's time to step into something else (while keeping SotC in reserve for pick up games), and I have a lot of games I really want to do right now, but none of them really seems to interest her. At best I get a "Whatever you guys want to do," which I find infuriating.

Ah well, I guess it's back to the drawing board for now at least. I'm not going to attempt Pendragon with a group without total buy-in, and I know it's only a matter of time before I have enough Dresden to really get down and play, so maybe it's best this way.

Still, I'm going to miss that Spirit of the Century game.

A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.

Some switching around of games

Beginning work on playtesting the Dresden Files RPG is going to cause a few small problems in my group, most notably the fact that I have too many games, and not enough time. Now that is a very good problem to have. How many players actually complain that they have too much gaming to do?

Anywho, it's going to cause a bit of shifting in my current play schedule. Mostly because I'm too stubborn to give up the games I really want to run, and I've well and truly talked myself into playing Pendragon. Well, I've talked myself and my group into it.

I was a little shocked honestly. I expected some arguments when I broached it as our replacement for Spirit of the Century, but I think sometimes I don't give my groups enough credit, particularly that one. I always think I'm going to have to pull teeth to try something new, but they always jump right on board. It makes me pretty proud of the people we've gathered together. So many GMs out there complain about never playing what they want, and my players always just step up and tell me that they trust me to pick a good game and make it fun.

I love my players.

Anywho, the point is, I'm going to have to do a little shuffling. I talked up the Pendragon game so much I doubt I can back out now, so that needs to be fit in, and I have to make room for Dresden too.

I think for right now Dresden will take the place of the Spirit of the Century game we're wrapping up this Friday, but that really only gets me half the play time I want. I run Spirit of the Century every-other week, and I want to do weekly playtests. So I think the solution there is going to be running two Dresden games with two separate groups, both bi-weekly. That'll give me weekly playtests, and get a few more ideas from more players. For that, I think I'll see about moving one of my Spycraft games to a bi-weekly schedule. Then I can use my Sunday group to help out as well. That's not a game I'm running right now (one of my players is trying his hand at game mastering), so I'll have to ask, but I don't see it being a problem.

That just leaves Pendragon, and I'm not really sure what to do about that. It may just have to be put off until my Spycraft games end, which is really too bad. Mostly because I think my Spirit of the Century players will really enjoy it.

My plan is to actually run two Pendragon games, with two separate groups, on the same timeline, in the same world. Have them follow competing (though not necessarily fighting) lieges, and watch as hilarity ensues.

I could probably squeeze in one more game right now, but I doubt I could do two without giving up my Monday nights, the only night I keep for myself, and I'm just not willing to go there yet.

Ah well, good game ideas can wait, especially for something as good as I know Dresden is going to be, and it's only a matter of time until my Spycraft games both wrap up.

Huzzah! We have Dresden!

Ok, so I will soon have Dresden, in some form or fashion, but I'm very hyped at the moment.

If the new tag on the left isn't obvious enough, my group was selected to be a part of the Bleeding-edge alpha playtest that Evil Hat is doing, and from the briefest of teases I've seen so far I simply can't wait.

I've been wanting to run Dresden since I first caught the show on Sci-fi, in fact, I intentionally tapped a little of that vibe with the Eternal Warriors game that I recently finished up, but having really gotten into Spirit of the Century over the last few months I really can't wait to sink my teeth into this.

There will definitely be more to come.

What I've been up to, or Games Galore.

Since I stopped blogging I've done a ton of reading and writing, but I'll touch more on that some other time. Today I just want to talk about games.

I mentioned yesterday that I've been gaming more than ever before since I got back from GenCon, but I thought I'd go into just a touch of detail to show just how much that is true.

Right after GenCon I wrapped up the Shadowrun 4th edition, Scion: Hero, and D&D games I had been running. Not long after I got back I had my car accident and took a bit of time off, but I put that time to good use, writing, planning, and preparing.

When I pulled myself together we jumped right into two biweekly games (alternating Fridays). Part of the group and I started a fantastic Spirit of the Century campaign that's still going on (though, much to our sadness that will be wrapping up next week). It's been the most fun I've had with this group, but it's time to move on for a bit, and given the contents of an email I received tonight I might know exactly what we're moving to. More on that when I find out what I can say.

The other Friday game was a GURPS 4e Traveller game set just after the 3rd Interstellar War. That one's still going as well, but it has the whole group in it, and it's been more than a little rocky. Hopefully however the kinks are starting to work themselves out. We had some player changes, and these things always seem to cause a few grouping pains.

Let's see, what was next. I'm pretty sure the next game we did was a one shot Don't Rest Your Head game for Halloween. I took out a bit of the supernatural and ran it as a zombie survival horror game, which I think the system itself did perfectly. The game itself could have been better, but I think that had more to do with us as players than the game. We simply weren't in the mood, and it's hard to be scary when everyone is laughing and getting to know one another again (as per the "growing pains").

Right after that I started a new GURPS game on Sunday nights that I'll go into a bit more detail on later. It's a bit of a cross between Fireborn In Nomine, and The End. To date it may have been the most powerful time that I've had running a short-term game in the 25 years I've been gaming. Even though... strike that... probably because both characters ended up dying in the final act.... Sacrificing themselves to save the world.

In November I added a Saturday game to my roster as well. This one is a Spycraft 2nd edition game set in a world very much like our own. It's been a lot of fun, but I see it morphing very soon into something much deeper.

Finally, my newest game is a Tuesday night DnD game set in the Five Fingers. If anyone read my review on the other site you know how much I absolutely love that product. It's been a little slow, but we're only three or so games in, and I can feel it picking up steam, which is cool.

So, I guess that's it really. I know it's not a huge number, bt it is 5 games run 4 nights a week. Actually, that's not quite true. I forgot to mention that one of my players is running a short-term Sunday night Spycraft game now, replacing the GURPS game in which I killed his character. If this works out it will mark my first significant time as a player in 15 years.

As for what's next, who knows, but I'm dying to find out, and that's a first for me in a really long time. That's really how I know I've recaptured whatever it is that I had lost. It's not just that I'm gaming more, or even that the games are that much better. It's that I'm liking it more, having more fun, and looking forward to the future.

Hopefully this other thing will work out, but if not, who knows, I'm thinking Pendragon....

GenCon is a great cure for burn-out.

Yeah, I know GenCon was a long time ago, but I've been meaning to make this post since then.

I went into GenCon with some pretty heavy burnout. Like, thinking about stopping playing type burnout.

At the time I was in denial, calling it anything but burnout, but really, that's what it was. Maybe it had something to do with the ENnies, or maybe it was some difficulties my group was having. Heck, maybe it was just a touch of mid-life crisis, who knows. The fact is, it hit me hard.

And then I went to GenCon.

You know, at the time I was there I wasn't really sure I was having a great time. Nothing really worked out the way I wanted it to, I didn't really game much, I had no plan, and my friends were staying at a hotel so far away it may as well have been on the other side of the city.

And yet... I'm not sure how to describe it, but a week after I was home and rested I wished I could go back. I felt refreshed and revitalized, I found myself thinking about cons and trying to make plans to make sure I could make it back in '08. Basically I just felt like I had recaptured a little bit of that RPG magic that I had let drain away. Maybe it was all the great people I got to meet, or the new books, but I really feel like it was just something in the air. There's something about being surrounded by thousands of people who think just a little like you do.

Anywho, I just had to get that out of my system. I went from being at one of the lowest moments in my gaming career, to playing more than I ever have, and enjoying it like I did in the beginning. To me that's pretty special. Sappy, but special.

Thanks to everyone who was a little part of that.

And you thought I said I was back....

Yeah, so it turns out that right before the holidays is generally a bad time to start doing much of anything, even blogging. Especially if you're just gearing up for a court battle with the ex-wife.

Anywho, this is not about such things, so it's the last time I mention it, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for all the down time.