In the early days of becoming a Stout Gnome at the HMGS conventions, I became friends with Friend of the Blog (and Award-Winning GM), Mike Lung. While my convention availability was a mixture of work and financial, Mike's cancellations and short visits were always governed by his kid's travel sports schedule. I did not mock him, I did not really try to empathize, because I did not fully understand the Geas put on parents by their children, but now, now I'm at the early stages of that.
This new 2019-2020 gaming "season" is the first with me as Vice-President of the Mountaintop Youth Basketball League. On top of that, I'm coaching Millie's team, watching Maja's, and to complicate matters more, I was convinced to allow them to play in an AAU developmental league this Fall that overlaps MYBL for three weeks.
And then there's three hours of dance. I've got to fit a few hour-long sessions for the painting table, and a little "Dad Time."
With my 2018-2019 gaming season in the books, what does 2019-2020 hold in store for me?
Let's Keep it Simple, Stupid!
More Family Time: It happened in waves, but we did get some quality gaming in the Casa Del Viscount this year. Next year should be more gaming in general, with more consistency. Better put, off with the devices, pick up all the dices.
Okay, maybe not perfectly constructed, but I get it.
Complete the Saga: I had launched the Lost Dispatches a year ago, and had expected this cycle of Actual Plays to end before the Summer. Except I've thoroughly enjoyed bringing distant memories back to life. Episode #48 ends the original campaign of my high school crew, but I am well past that, tying Elsderth Millbottom, ne Sir Elsderth Greyhawk into my further undocumented campaigns. There's enough material there to run well into May, and once that's done, there's always the Adventures in Gulluvia. It is technically in Georic, hence why it's listed with the other campaigns on the front page of my blog. And if I can get that finished? Well, there are ten episodes of the The Burning Trogs Redux waiting for a write-up (sans Elsderth). The Tuesday RPG Actual Play isn't going away any time soon.
Role-Playing:
The Online 5e Game: Jeff (or an elaborate Uzbek bot) has returned from his exile. Unsure how often the D&D 5e game will pick up again, but my other options are always available to fill the void, with or without Jeff .
Adventures in Gulluvia (BECMI D&D) was presented as a way to run some of the Red Box adventures again, but they've persisted long enough to almost get halfway through the storyline.
Curse of Nevoz - Canadian Call of Cthulhu in the 90's has never been this weird, and I have four or five sessions outlined.
The other direction is to restart some Face-to-Face games on Sundays. It's been five-plus years since I wound down my Call of Cthulhu campaign by starting up Masks of Nyarlathotep. Two options: Restart the CoC campaign in full, or assemble the Secrets of Saltmarsh. Hmmm.... perhaps Secrets might be a good online replacement, if things go south for Jeff AND he wants to stay in a player capacity.
Star Wars d6 - There's a new hope for a resurrection/reunion for a game I didn't get to play in during the 90's (and lamented about it during #RPGaDay back in August). The group was fabulous but slow as molasses twenty years ago, so this nothing's written in stone yet, but a chance to join this merry group of misfits... as a character I played in one of the GM's con games, has me excited.
Miniatures:
At first glance, I honestly have nothing planned, but then my brain sparks and it trickles in.
The Legions of Steel Playtest should take up a bit of my time (and it's pretty easy.. only 25 years since I heavily invested time in LOS).
Cold Wars 2020 is a heavy Wargaming in Education convention for HMGS, so I'm pondering reviewing and presenting my Battle of Yellowstone interactive game.
The Pulp Game doesn't thrill the family like it used to, but I'm interested in finishing Season 3 and even working towards one final push for Season 4.
One word: Mouslings. Whether I'm using Pulp Alley or Savage Showdown (Savage for the spells), I've got too many cool scenarios not to run.
Conventions:
HMGS cons and Mepacon day trips. Mepacons keep getting the way of "family life" so I might stop running games anyway. Luckily someone else is running My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria now.
Painting: Yes, Please!
Keep it Simple, Keep it Going. Dungeon Decor, Mushrooms, and perhaps, the entire family can paint up Space Marines and IG.
Kickstarters:
The year starts off with a taunting bang, especially as today we discover the fate of my wife's position at work. Golden Goblin Press, Pulp Figures, AND Bones 5 all concluding in this first month? Shoot me, please. And eventually this LOS playtesting is leading to a new Kickstarter as well...
The Viscount's Birthday Gala: But one of the Kickstarters that I've already paid for the Steve Jackson Games' Pocket Box Games of the 80's with a heavy dose of Car Wars. I'm thinking a Car Wars weekend sometime in April might be doable, culminating in food truck battle royal I pondered after my 40th birthday bash. I wonder what the weekend rate a hotel conference room is?
Gnome Wars:
The inspiration for the blog title. The Legion of Nauvoo might be my German "Flying Monkeys" for this upcoming decade. If anything, Maja enjoys painting them, so she can get something accomplished.
This new 2019-2020 gaming "season" is the first with me as Vice-President of the Mountaintop Youth Basketball League. On top of that, I'm coaching Millie's team, watching Maja's, and to complicate matters more, I was convinced to allow them to play in an AAU developmental league this Fall that overlaps MYBL for three weeks.
And then there's three hours of dance. I've got to fit a few hour-long sessions for the painting table, and a little "Dad Time."
With my 2018-2019 gaming season in the books, what does 2019-2020 hold in store for me?
Let's Keep it Simple, Stupid!
More Family Time: It happened in waves, but we did get some quality gaming in the Casa Del Viscount this year. Next year should be more gaming in general, with more consistency. Better put, off with the devices, pick up all the dices.
Okay, maybe not perfectly constructed, but I get it.
Complete the Saga: I had launched the Lost Dispatches a year ago, and had expected this cycle of Actual Plays to end before the Summer. Except I've thoroughly enjoyed bringing distant memories back to life. Episode #48 ends the original campaign of my high school crew, but I am well past that, tying Elsderth Millbottom, ne Sir Elsderth Greyhawk into my further undocumented campaigns. There's enough material there to run well into May, and once that's done, there's always the Adventures in Gulluvia. It is technically in Georic, hence why it's listed with the other campaigns on the front page of my blog. And if I can get that finished? Well, there are ten episodes of the The Burning Trogs Redux waiting for a write-up (sans Elsderth). The Tuesday RPG Actual Play isn't going away any time soon.
Role-Playing:
The Online 5e Game: Jeff (or an elaborate Uzbek bot) has returned from his exile. Unsure how often the D&D 5e game will pick up again, but my other options are always available to fill the void, with or without Jeff .
Adventures in Gulluvia (BECMI D&D) was presented as a way to run some of the Red Box adventures again, but they've persisted long enough to almost get halfway through the storyline.
Curse of Nevoz - Canadian Call of Cthulhu in the 90's has never been this weird, and I have four or five sessions outlined.
The other direction is to restart some Face-to-Face games on Sundays. It's been five-plus years since I wound down my Call of Cthulhu campaign by starting up Masks of Nyarlathotep. Two options: Restart the CoC campaign in full, or assemble the Secrets of Saltmarsh. Hmmm.... perhaps Secrets might be a good online replacement, if things go south for Jeff AND he wants to stay in a player capacity.
Star Wars d6 - There's a new hope for a resurrection/reunion for a game I didn't get to play in during the 90's (and lamented about it during #RPGaDay back in August). The group was fabulous but slow as molasses twenty years ago, so this nothing's written in stone yet, but a chance to join this merry group of misfits... as a character I played in one of the GM's con games, has me excited.
Miniatures:
At first glance, I honestly have nothing planned, but then my brain sparks and it trickles in.
The Legions of Steel Playtest should take up a bit of my time (and it's pretty easy.. only 25 years since I heavily invested time in LOS).
Cold Wars 2020 is a heavy Wargaming in Education convention for HMGS, so I'm pondering reviewing and presenting my Battle of Yellowstone interactive game.
The Pulp Game doesn't thrill the family like it used to, but I'm interested in finishing Season 3 and even working towards one final push for Season 4.
One word: Mouslings. Whether I'm using Pulp Alley or Savage Showdown (Savage for the spells), I've got too many cool scenarios not to run.
Conventions:
HMGS cons and Mepacon day trips. Mepacons keep getting the way of "family life" so I might stop running games anyway. Luckily someone else is running My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria now.
Painting: Yes, Please!
Keep it Simple, Keep it Going. Dungeon Decor, Mushrooms, and perhaps, the entire family can paint up Space Marines and IG.
Kickstarters:
The year starts off with a taunting bang, especially as today we discover the fate of my wife's position at work. Golden Goblin Press, Pulp Figures, AND Bones 5 all concluding in this first month? Shoot me, please. And eventually this LOS playtesting is leading to a new Kickstarter as well...
The Viscount's Birthday Gala: But one of the Kickstarters that I've already paid for the Steve Jackson Games' Pocket Box Games of the 80's with a heavy dose of Car Wars. I'm thinking a Car Wars weekend sometime in April might be doable, culminating in food truck battle royal I pondered after my 40th birthday bash. I wonder what the weekend rate a hotel conference room is?
Gnome Wars:
The inspiration for the blog title. The Legion of Nauvoo might be my German "Flying Monkeys" for this upcoming decade. If anything, Maja enjoys painting them, so she can get something accomplished.
Sounds like a solid plan! Looking forward to watching it all come together!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I laughed out loud at the idea of Jeff - Elaborate Uzbek Bot!
DeleteFor some reason it reminded me of a moment in the early (or mid?) 90s when email was still a relatively new thing to me and I had little interest in (or access to) THE INTERNET! Some friends of mine were really into "chat groups" and were telling me about a "friend" of theirs in one who was from the recently "former" Yugoslavia who they hadn't heard from in some time and were VERY concerned about as he lived in some city that NATO was dropping bombs on... and I asked them how they knew he actually lived in Yugoslavia? They gawped at me with an utterly nonplussed look on their faces and eventually asked what I meant by that and I said "well, how do you know it's not a one-armed pirate named Pete living in the Florida Keys who just SAYS he's [whatever his name was] from Yugoslavia...?" (I'm certain I heard the tinkling sound of a worldview being shattered in their brains). Never actually occurred to them that someone might not actually be who they said they were on the internet... Ah, those simple days of (relative) youth...