Part two of "Yes, I lived through the entire decade/century/millenia-ending criteria during Y2K. I know there's a whole 'nother year to go before I should be waxing nostalgic about the decade."
But I still don't care, so here's My Top Ten Personal Gaming Moments of the Decade.
#10 My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Bro!
With the girls getting older, it was a no brainer to grab the My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria Storytelling game. It was even more advantageous for me when I discovered that running the games in two hour sessions at cons was perfect for kids.
One of these sessions was only a a father-daughter team, so I pulled my chair around from the GM screen, sat down next to the little girl, and started working on making the most awesome pony of all time.
Then the bros came. Brandon and Anthony had pre-registered for the event, and showed up a few minutes late, but came in with the greatest attitude. They had needed a game to fill the time slot and ponies sounded intriguing, but almost challenging fun. If all my players came in with that sort of an attitude to each session, every game would be guaranteed A+ awesome.
As the session progressed, it became apparent that the young lady's pony, Harmony was becoming the center of the story, bluntly arguing with the Commander of the Gnoman Legions, and when her abilities were needed to stop a catastrophe, three grown men became wildly animated with each subsequent roll, tossing their own Tokens of Friendship at her in encouragement, and to improve her results. It was epic.
In a decade where safe spaces, x-cards, and "cosplay does not mean consent" signs festoon public gatherings, it was simply fantastic to have a table of people so energetic and engrossed in a game... and simply having fun.
#9 - Gnome Wars "The Battle of Yellowstone"
Not many sane people could put together a ten-player game covering the US Cavalry's management of the Yellowstone National Park in the late-19th and early 20th centuries.
And fewer people could pull it off, but I did.... using Gnomes.
I'd like to submit this one again for Cold Wars 2020, for the Wargaming in Education block, but the current kids' basketball schedule isn't going to let me be there on Saturday. Maybe next year... or even Historicon or Fall-In! this year?
Maybe I'll set it up using actual "human" figures and "real" animals, but don't hold your breath.
#8 - The Completion of Masks of Nylarathotep
The bulk of my long-running Call of Cthulhu campaign took place in this decade, but to say I actually completed running Masks of Nylarathotep was the bigger accomplishments, not only with survivors, but I allowed a good ending as well as a chance to revisit things one day.
#7 - Risus - "Curse of the Diminutive Pope"
From the moment I moved into the era to live with my wife, we started the Day of Sloth tradition: The Sunday before Labor Day extravaganza. Hot dogs, burgers, and of course, Illuminati University (IOU). Before there was Baby Yoda, there was college-age Yoda dueling atop a Ferris Wheel against Snake Gandhi's two invisible katanas with laser sights, but that was a top-ten game from the prior decade.
The greatest Risus IOU was the Curse of the Diminutive Pope, a tale about legal residency, Sarah Palin, dwarfism, and the lyrical stylings of the Bloodhound Gang. All around a fire pit in the twilight of a summer evening.
We've skipped the picnic the last two years, but thanks to Roll20, Risus IOU still lives on.
#6 - Maja's First Game
Ten years with three thousand posts to read is a bit overwhelming for a last-second end-of-decade top ten list, and I almost missed this one.
Maja's first "real" game. After months of making up stories with the minis in the closet, we grabbed some figures, drew up a little map, and proceeded with the Rescue of the Ruby Princess.
#5 - Online Gaming
It all started with a casual remark between friends, and now I'm at my computer 9pm every Monday night for the World of Andarras/Rocks of Scarra 5e game.
It's been an on-again, off-again success. We've lost one player, another lost their job, another is going through the problems with a divorce, but most everyone knows that if our fearless leaders, Jeff, is unavailable to run, then it's my time to fill in the slot with either BECMI D&D, Call of Cthulhu, or something Risus (and not always IOU). I think we'd all like to advance our characters' level and the plot a bit faster, but it is the only reason I own any 5th Edition books at this point.
#4 - Samoa
Way back on August 1, 2012, I declared my next (and only) huge project was going to be a Second Samoan Civil War game for Cold Wars 2014's theme of Forgotten Wars.
Over the next 19 months, the I documented picking out figures, researching the topic, even finding a perfect skin tone for Samoans (I found Foundry paints South American flesh tone set with the highlights looked acceptable).
Thanks to all the research and painting 100+ figures, not only was my event a success (thanks to the honorable award-winning GM Mike Lung's scenery assistance), but we ran a great 12-player Gnome Wars game based on the Siege of Apia at the same con, AND reused the project while participating in spirit with the HAWKS "Battle in a Box" contest at Fall-In 2018! The Samoans have been used individually as characters for our Pulp campaign, as well as generic tribesmen, and the US Marines have played a hefty roll in the Pulp Campaign as Lt. Col Thaddeus Ovaltine's Rough 'n Ready Riders.
#3 - The Notebook
The occasional reader might ask, "When did the focus from painting figures to role-playing ramblings actually begin? February 2017, after our usual day of a train show in Allentown and gaming in Easton, my college roommate, Steve presented me with an ancient artifact: the in-character game journal from our college AD&D game. By April, the first of 76 weekly episodes of the Ballad of the Pigeon God were coming out every Tuesday. I was already writing up my Call of Cthulhu games since I posted the first one one *cough* MySpace years prior, and my two Hackmaster campaigns were simple write-ups within the past decade with well-detailed journal entries.
The Pigeon God and the later Lost Dispatches of Feraso, were full of gaps, plot holes, and trying to create a better flow for my former campaigns. I'd like to think that I've done a fair effort documenting campaigns that are 20 and 30 years old now.
Keeping ahead of the posts has been a investment in time. I'm normally four to six weeks ahead of my current post, but some topics, some regions, some events, require a LOT of research to fit the puzzle pieces in, and I've used many a late Monday night reserved for a post-online game beer and some painting to pouring through texts and websites, trying to ensure the progress of a fictional account of a "remember when" campaign is logical and accurate.
#2 - Historicon 2010 at Valley Forge
In the wake of the great Baltimore fiasco, HMGS needed to move Historicon to the Valley Forge Convention Center (now Casino/Hotel/Convention Center). There were numerous problems tangential problems (I will never use those hotels ever again), but the games were great. "Uncle Duke" Seifried had his Diamond Jubilee of games there, and I got to play in not one, but two of them!
The Gnome Wars games were epic, and the Historicon joust created one of the greatest legends outside of the Stout Gnomes' own minds: Rosalie of the Rosary, now immortalized as my nurse in my California Imperial Guard unit.
#1 - Father's Day
Since 2012, my wife has been forced to work on Father's Day, and every year I guarantee that a game is played with my girls.
Even if they did start out small....
With all the craziness of our lives, the Father's Day Tea Party is one of those basic, silly constants I look forward towards. The latest extravaganza can be found here and the end of the post lists the links to all the other games. To be honest, most of those games would dominate my top ten, so it's more fitting to make this my #1 pick overall.
But I still don't care, so here's My Top Ten Personal Gaming Moments of the Decade.
#10 My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Bro!
With the girls getting older, it was a no brainer to grab the My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria Storytelling game. It was even more advantageous for me when I discovered that running the games in two hour sessions at cons was perfect for kids.
One of these sessions was only a a father-daughter team, so I pulled my chair around from the GM screen, sat down next to the little girl, and started working on making the most awesome pony of all time.
Then the bros came. Brandon and Anthony had pre-registered for the event, and showed up a few minutes late, but came in with the greatest attitude. They had needed a game to fill the time slot and ponies sounded intriguing, but almost challenging fun. If all my players came in with that sort of an attitude to each session, every game would be guaranteed A+ awesome.
As the session progressed, it became apparent that the young lady's pony, Harmony was becoming the center of the story, bluntly arguing with the Commander of the Gnoman Legions, and when her abilities were needed to stop a catastrophe, three grown men became wildly animated with each subsequent roll, tossing their own Tokens of Friendship at her in encouragement, and to improve her results. It was epic.
In a decade where safe spaces, x-cards, and "cosplay does not mean consent" signs festoon public gatherings, it was simply fantastic to have a table of people so energetic and engrossed in a game... and simply having fun.
 |
| Brandon and Anthony |
Not many sane people could put together a ten-player game covering the US Cavalry's management of the Yellowstone National Park in the late-19th and early 20th centuries.
And fewer people could pull it off, but I did.... using Gnomes.
I'd like to submit this one again for Cold Wars 2020, for the Wargaming in Education block, but the current kids' basketball schedule isn't going to let me be there on Saturday. Maybe next year... or even Historicon or Fall-In! this year?
Maybe I'll set it up using actual "human" figures and "real" animals, but don't hold your breath.
#8 - The Completion of Masks of Nylarathotep
The bulk of my long-running Call of Cthulhu campaign took place in this decade, but to say I actually completed running Masks of Nylarathotep was the bigger accomplishments, not only with survivors, but I allowed a good ending as well as a chance to revisit things one day.
#7 - Risus - "Curse of the Diminutive Pope"
From the moment I moved into the era to live with my wife, we started the Day of Sloth tradition: The Sunday before Labor Day extravaganza. Hot dogs, burgers, and of course, Illuminati University (IOU). Before there was Baby Yoda, there was college-age Yoda dueling atop a Ferris Wheel against Snake Gandhi's two invisible katanas with laser sights, but that was a top-ten game from the prior decade.
The greatest Risus IOU was the Curse of the Diminutive Pope, a tale about legal residency, Sarah Palin, dwarfism, and the lyrical stylings of the Bloodhound Gang. All around a fire pit in the twilight of a summer evening.
We've skipped the picnic the last two years, but thanks to Roll20, Risus IOU still lives on.
#6 - Maja's First Game
Ten years with three thousand posts to read is a bit overwhelming for a last-second end-of-decade top ten list, and I almost missed this one.
Maja's first "real" game. After months of making up stories with the minis in the closet, we grabbed some figures, drew up a little map, and proceeded with the Rescue of the Ruby Princess.
#5 - Online Gaming
It all started with a casual remark between friends, and now I'm at my computer 9pm every Monday night for the World of Andarras/Rocks of Scarra 5e game.
It's been an on-again, off-again success. We've lost one player, another lost their job, another is going through the problems with a divorce, but most everyone knows that if our fearless leaders, Jeff, is unavailable to run, then it's my time to fill in the slot with either BECMI D&D, Call of Cthulhu, or something Risus (and not always IOU). I think we'd all like to advance our characters' level and the plot a bit faster, but it is the only reason I own any 5th Edition books at this point.
#4 - Samoa
Way back on August 1, 2012, I declared my next (and only) huge project was going to be a Second Samoan Civil War game for Cold Wars 2014's theme of Forgotten Wars.
Over the next 19 months, the I documented picking out figures, researching the topic, even finding a perfect skin tone for Samoans (I found Foundry paints South American flesh tone set with the highlights looked acceptable).
Thanks to all the research and painting 100+ figures, not only was my event a success (thanks to the honorable award-winning GM Mike Lung's scenery assistance), but we ran a great 12-player Gnome Wars game based on the Siege of Apia at the same con, AND reused the project while participating in spirit with the HAWKS "Battle in a Box" contest at Fall-In 2018! The Samoans have been used individually as characters for our Pulp campaign, as well as generic tribesmen, and the US Marines have played a hefty roll in the Pulp Campaign as Lt. Col Thaddeus Ovaltine's Rough 'n Ready Riders.
#3 - The Notebook
The occasional reader might ask, "When did the focus from painting figures to role-playing ramblings actually begin? February 2017, after our usual day of a train show in Allentown and gaming in Easton, my college roommate, Steve presented me with an ancient artifact: the in-character game journal from our college AD&D game. By April, the first of 76 weekly episodes of the Ballad of the Pigeon God were coming out every Tuesday. I was already writing up my Call of Cthulhu games since I posted the first one one *cough* MySpace years prior, and my two Hackmaster campaigns were simple write-ups within the past decade with well-detailed journal entries.
The Pigeon God and the later Lost Dispatches of Feraso, were full of gaps, plot holes, and trying to create a better flow for my former campaigns. I'd like to think that I've done a fair effort documenting campaigns that are 20 and 30 years old now.
Keeping ahead of the posts has been a investment in time. I'm normally four to six weeks ahead of my current post, but some topics, some regions, some events, require a LOT of research to fit the puzzle pieces in, and I've used many a late Monday night reserved for a post-online game beer and some painting to pouring through texts and websites, trying to ensure the progress of a fictional account of a "remember when" campaign is logical and accurate.
#2 - Historicon 2010 at Valley Forge
In the wake of the great Baltimore fiasco, HMGS needed to move Historicon to the Valley Forge Convention Center (now Casino/Hotel/Convention Center). There were numerous problems tangential problems (I will never use those hotels ever again), but the games were great. "Uncle Duke" Seifried had his Diamond Jubilee of games there, and I got to play in not one, but two of them!
The Gnome Wars games were epic, and the Historicon joust created one of the greatest legends outside of the Stout Gnomes' own minds: Rosalie of the Rosary, now immortalized as my nurse in my California Imperial Guard unit.
#1 - Father's Day
Since 2012, my wife has been forced to work on Father's Day, and every year I guarantee that a game is played with my girls.
Even if they did start out small....
