I’d like to spend some time talking about my gaming year in review. It’s been great, and I’ve managed to not just get lots of gaming in, but also expand what I’ve done – try some new stuff, if you like. Big thanks to everyone I’ve gamed with, who’s run games for me, or with whom I’ve set the industry right with – never have I felt more part of a UK RPG community than this year.

Conventions – Running Games

Not counting Go Play Leeds, the monthly gaming meet-up I run locally, I think I’ve made it to seven conventions this year. Most of them have been documented through the year – although there were two conventions, Dragonmeet and UK Games Expo, that I didn’t run or play anything at.

At Revelation I ran a Dungeon World adaptation of Forest of Doom, and 24 Hour Party People, an Urban Shadows game set in Britpop Manchester. North Star’s first incarnation saw me finally run Tenra Bansho Zero, a white whale of gaming put to bed (for now – although I’m tempted to get it out again sometime this year). At Seven Hills I ran 7th Sea (which now, makes me realise how much I liked it – must get it out again in 2019) and 13th Age in Glorantha (13G). At Continuum I went with 13G again and Blades in the Dark, and at Furnace I ran three different games of 13G. At Grogmeet, I ran Twilight 2000, a fun game despite a very dated system. I had a lot of fun trying to make it more enjoyable for my own style of GMing – although it’s not a system I think I’ll be returning to any time in the future.

One thing I did at Furnace I’m going to do more of – to make sure when I’m running multiple games at a con (I usually do) they are the same system, even if not the same scenario. Carrying around just one set of rules in my head made the weekend much less stressful than even if I’d run two games with different systems. I’ve also taken Simon Burley‘s advice and re-run some con scenarios; I think Beard of Lhankhor Mhy has seen three outings at least, and I’ve just finished running Night of Blood for WFRP4e for the second time. Simon is dead right about the benefits of this in terms of producing quality game time and being much more relaxing for the GM, and I wish I’d listened to him sooner.

Conventions – Games Played

I’ll start this off by saying that there are very few bad convention games, that even if it’s a game that I haven’t enjoyed I’ve always found it useful, and I haven’t had any real stinkers this year. I try to play as much as I run at cons and I think I’ve achieved that.

That said, the mark of a great game played for me is often that I go off and want to run it myself, and I’ve had memorable games of Blades in the Dark (from Pete Atkinson) and Warhammer 4th Edition (from Evilgaz) that have made me do just that.

I’ve also managed to get some ongoing play this year, in the form of a game of D&D5e playing through Waterdeep Dragon Heist. Scheduling has become tricky for this game – my job means committing to a weekly evening difficult – but it’s been great to see our PCs develop, and remember the fondness you develop for characters that emerge with a history and backstory – a great group of players and a great DM help with this too.

Plans for 2019

Looking forwards to 2019, I feel like I’ve got a few things already in mind to achieve in the coming year. Continuing with this blog, which has settled down into a mixture of game commentary and actual game material; I started this thinking I’d never look at hits, but you can’t help but do it and it’s pleasing that the number of people reading my words has increased to a level where this feels worthwhile! As always, feel free to suggest topics or games to look at either here or on other internet ventures (I’m @milnermaths on twitter).

I’ve got some writing and editing to do early in the year, with the Liminal RPG being released early in the year – I’ve got some case files, some locations, and a book on vampires to get down. There’s also a little project for the Cthulhu Hack, some stuff for 13G with D101 Games, and I plan on getting more one-shots up on here for people to play with for other systems. One of these is appearing in Role-Play Relief, a charity project from Simon Burley and others.

In terms of gaming, I plan to get some more online games under my belt, both one-shots and short 3-session minicampaigns. Go Play Leeds continues to grow, and it’s now got to the point where I no longer worry about having enough players, but having enough GMs to accommodate them, and I’ve taken up the reins with helping to organise the 7 Hills convention in Sheffield. I play to go to Airecon and Expo properly this year, and actually run some games. Go Play Leeds has also spawned a sister event, Go Play Manchester, which launches in January – which I aim to get to when I can. I seem to have a pretty full schedule already.

So, more games, more writing, and more stuff in the new year. People used to talk about the decline of the hobby, but it’s surely in another golden age now, yeah? Hope everyone has a great new year, and any gaming-related (or other) resolutions are easy to stick to!