That Which Has Come to Pass, and Yet to Come

It’s a new year, which means, for most of us, another year of gaming ahead. So as we put a close on 2017, I’m going to take some time to both look back and look forward; what my year in gaming was like and what I am looking forward to in 2018.

A Look at 2017

Although both of my groups took December off, we got a lot of gaming done this year. As a GM I finished book four and have almost completed book five in Shattered Star. Moving on was a little bittersweet as we had to remove one of the players from the game. His character had been around from the first session of the game but sometimes things just don’t work out. This leaves only two players left from when we started, and only one of them playing their original character.

For my second group, I began the Hell’s Rebels adventure path. This has been a lot of fun because we are also live streaming the game. One of the players from my Shattered Star game is involved and it’s been a lot of fun. Whereas Shattered Star is a traditional find the McGuffin dungeon crawl, Hell’s Rebels is a more social game and I like the two different play styles that each one asks for.

As a player, I have finally completed book two of Rise of the Runelords. This game is played with my Shattered Star group and run by the same player who is also in my Hell’s Rebels game. I’m incredibly excited about this because I’ve basically run through book one about seven times, and each time the group had fallen apart before we could make it to the end.

I played my first game of D&D 5E this year. I’m still not a fan of WotC for other reasons, but the game seems solid enough. I played a game streamed for one of the many cons where The Blackmoor Society does digital gaming. I probably won’t make 5E my home game system but I had a good time with it.

Ahead to 2018

2018 should see all my groups move ahead to the next book in their adventure. I am really excited to get into book six of Shattered Star. I have never completed an AP before so this will be monumental for both myself and many members of my group. There’s still a bit to complete in book five, but we should be done by the end of February.

My Hell’s Rebels group is on the final battle of the first book. I’m looking forward to streaming again. Book two looms on the horizon and I suppose I should read it to start setting up. I’m also going to be trying out a new way to work the AP’s extra mechanic – the rebellion phase – more into the roleplay of the game.

Book three of Rise of the Runelords: even though RotRL has been out since Pathfinder was a third-party setting for Dungeon and Dragons 3.5, I have managed not to spoil myself on most of the books. I cannot wait to delve into more of the adventure. It’s also nice that I get some time off of DMing and get a chance to be a player.

Outside of the three games that I’m already playing, I’m looking forward to trying out some other stuff. With the release of Starfinder last year, my main group is looking to try it out on off-days when we don’t have all of our players. I’d also like to play a few more non-D&D/Pathfinder games, although probably as one-shots. I’m earnestly beginning to work on some stuff for a new system that I’ll probably give a try at some point as well.

So my year has been good, and the new year looks to be just as good or better. What was your 2017 like for gaming? What are you looking forward to in 2018?

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Looking Back, And Forward

Reflections On Things Past and To Come

Illustration by Luis Perez

With the holidays and a rough peak season at work on top of some technical difficulties today, getting today's article done was a one of the few times that this has seemed like work. But I haven’t missed a Wednesday article since the inception of the CRB a little over a year ago, and I don’t intend to start now. I was going to write a much longer piece – which will come next week – delving into the Snow Elves of the Pathfinder universe. However since this is the last article of 2016 I think I’m going to take a moment to just reflect on my own experiences this year and what I’m looking forward to next year.

I don’t get to game as much as I’d like, meaning that I don’t get to game every day. I do, however, have a great group with whom I play Pathfinder on Sundays. This year we made it through book three and are almost done with book four of the Shattered Star AP, as well as book one and half of book two of Rise of the Runelords. So the first thing I’d like to reflect on is how thankful I am to have another GM in my group who is willing to run when I need a break. If you’d like to check out his stuff he helps curate the player made stuff thread on the Paizo Rise of the Runelords board. A lot of the maps are his and he does good work.

Shattered Star has been a blast and this year has seen some exciting moments in the AP. Without giving too much away, our halfling has had two of the most memorable moments. He grappled a dragonfly that grappled him and then flew off. It crash landed and he made a last ditch acrobatics check to end up on his feet. He also grappled a qlippoth tentacled horror, of large size. He was helped by the paladin nauseating the creature, but the visual of the halfling standing tall over this monstrous squid-like creature was pretty awesome.

This year I also killed a player. I don’t pull punches in my games as I’ve talked about before but since the beginning of Shattered Star a little more than two years ago not a single character has died. The death was a little less than spectacular, but it is going to open the door to some interesting new things. The character will most likely be resurrected and then the fun can begin. My players read this blog so I’ll leave that hanging there for them.

It has also been a joy being a player. I look forward to playing more next year as well. Book four of Shattered Star should wind up sometime in early February and then I can get back to playing my Rise of the Runelords character, Aerodus. I’ve had a lot of fun with good old “Roddy.” He’s kind of in the leadership position, even though that’s not what I intended. This is now the longest I’ve made it into Runelords, and it’s been an interesting ride. I initially saw him as a straight-laced detective but now he’s become a little bit of a excitable swashbuckler type. How characters change in game always interests me.

There was a short lived second game, although life kinda said that I don’t have that much time. But while it lasted I got to explore some of the other areas of Golarion I had yet to. The players traveled to Osirian and the Mwangi Expanse. For the first time I even used some environment hazards. A sandstorm, dehydration, and the heat of a jungle were among the many things the players had to contend with. Using aspects of the game I haven’t used before is something I always enjoy about gaming in general.

This year I also started a twitch stream for a game I run every other Wednesday evening. Running a game that other people can watch is an interesting dynamic for me. On top of being watched by other people it is also a new group of players. It’s been good so far even if we’ve hit a few technical difficulties. If you’d like to come check us out our next game is schedule for January 5th.

Looking back it has been a good year for gaming for me. I look forward to a lot more Pathfinder in 2017. 2017 will probably bring a close to Shattered Star with just two more books left to finish. I hope to make it through at least book three of Rise of the Runelords as well. The twitch stream is only 2 hours so we should finish up the first module and be well into the second one next year. All in all I’m hopeful that 2017 will be as good a year for gaming as this past year has been.

I hope everyone had a great year of gaming. In the comments let us know about your year. What games did you play? What memorable moments did you have? How has it been running or playing? What are you looking forward to in 2017?

As we close out 2016 the CRB has grown in its audience. Providing the content you love to read is like a second full time job. If you’re wondering how you can help support your favorite content provider – I am your favorite, right? – becoming a patron is the surefire best way to help. Head over to my Patreon and pledge your support. Get a PDF of the first year of Wednesday article, all nice and indexed, when you become a patron. And don’t forget to come join the CRB community on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox on all platforms is always open.

The above illustration was created by a fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart.

Happy New Year

Although the CRB is not a year old yet, it is the New Year and I would like to both thank everyone and talk about what 2016 will bring.

Thanks

First I’d like to thank the readers, you guys are amazing. I never thought there would be so many of you, but the number of people exploring the CRB continues to grow every day. And to those of you who take the time to comment on the blog as well as on the Facebook and Reddit posts I make, extra big thanks to you. The CRB is designed to spark discussion. Whether you agree or disagree with me, it’s always good to hear multiple opinions on the subject so keep it up.

Beyond the fans I’d like to thank Neal Litherland over at the Improved Initiative blog. There are many games bloggers out there, and it’s tough to get started and to be original enough to get an audience. Neal has been selfless in helping the new kid on the block, for which I am thankful.

I would like to thank my blog mistress, who does all of my graphics, for I am artistically inept. Seriously without that support I would have gone next to nowhere with this.

My editors, both friends and fellow gamers, have helped shape the message I’m trying to send while keeping my typos to a minimum and my grammar halfway decent. Sometimes when I’m passionate about what I’m writing the words flow, just not in the right order, and my editors keep that cup from running over.

I’d also like to thank Brian Berg over at TPK Games and Robert Gresham at Wayward Rogue Publishing. Just four months into my foray into games writing and they took a chance on me, giving me the opportunity to become an “official” published games writer.

What’s in store…

Of course there is more of the CRB itself to come. With my busy season over I’ll be restarting Randomly Generated Characters; I’ve missed getting the creative juices flowing with those. There will also continue to be more articles exploring gameplay and world building, as well as more explorations into the deities of Golarion.

All this writing is time consuming but I love every minute of it. That doesn’t mean I don’t also want to try and make this a serious living. I have created a Patreon, and if you enjoy all the content I’m creating I hope you decide it’s worth supporting.

Lastly, I have set a goal for myself of creating my own modules. Well, module. I’m going to start small. I have started working on an adventure and I’m looking forward to making it available. There’s no exact timetable as I’ve never tried to create a module, but 2016 is gonna be the year I complete at least one. 

And don’t forget to subscribe to the CRB so you’ll get email notifications when new content is posted. This is especially important if you’re only on one of the reddit boards I post to, as they only let me promote one post a week. Also, the CRB now has a twitter presence @SimonSezCRB. As the CRB moves forward into 2016 it’s always good to keep abreast of what’s going on.