Tag / gaming

by guyeatsfood

Actual Prep: The Lazy Loremaster – The One Ring

Here’s a new project – I’m fascinated by prep, in all its forms – one-shot, long-form, session notes, handwritten scribbles. My own and others. A quick check online leads me to believe lots of you are, too. So, I’m going to showcase this on the blog. I can’t promise every session I’ll share my prep notes, but I’ll try and do it where I can – and I’ll offer a variable amount of commentary. 

These are also going to be 50% patreon exclusive – half of them will never be released to the public – so spread the word, and let me know if you’d like to share your own prep and talk to me about it. This one, however, links to an active Kickstarter – so, unlike most of my posts, it’s going public on both platforms at once – a reminder that usually Patrons get access 7 days earlier.

This is a little different. This is the 2nd (or 3rd, if you count our little Session Zero-to-One as Session 1 – I like to get a bit of play in at the end of a S0 to wet the whistle) session of an ongoing One Ring game that I had to set up because I was having so much fun playing TOR in another campaign. They’re going to be working for Saruman eventually, but some of the players are new to the system and so they are bumbling around Bree for now.

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by guyeatsfood

A Break Is As Good As a Rest, or Something

It’s a hobby, really, not a craft. But sometimes it helps to think of it like one. I remember reading a book about writing years ago – when I was just starting writing fiction – quoting darts player Jocky Wilson, “If the team you’re in isn’t getting promoted every year, you might need to find a new team.” It was talking about writing groups. It could have been talking about gaming groups. While we’re all in this for fun, ultimately, it’s also fun to get better at things; to stretch yourself and do difficult things, and get to that top of the trajectory and surpass it.

Darts legend Jocky Wilson

Or, to put it another way, sometimes it pays to be reflective and serious about your fun. For the last few years, I’ve tracked my RPG gaming on a spreadsheet for each year – it’s the source of posts like this, where I look back on what I’ve played, and also helps to seal in some great memories of what I’ve played and when.

And, as of the time of writing, it’s blank. 20 days into 2025 and I haven’t played a single session of any TTRPG.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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