Gaming and blogging in 2012 (part 1)

The lack of recent posts has not (only) been the result of some hectic moments at work, but also due to some background thinking on my part about my gaming and blogging in the new year.  I am trying to figure out what I  want to accomplish.  I've reached the point where some decisions need to be made, so I am throwing my thoughts up here for some feedback.

I really want to game more.  While I still play in the bi-monthly Pathfinder Serpent's Skull game, I definitely want to expand beyond that.  I think I have the time and I know I have the desire.  So, I've concluded I want to try and run a somewhat regular game via Google Hangout, drawing in a few of my former gaming friends who are now scattered about.  Additional choices need to be made here, about who else to include, how best to facilitate the game, what sort of schedule I can sustain, etc, but the decision to DO IT has been made.

That leaves me with another choice that hasn't been made yet -- what sort of game to run.  For rules, I am likely going to go with some sort of BECMI/Lamentations of the Flame Princesses mash-up (I really like the specialist from LotFP), with final decisions there to be made in consultation with the core players.  It's the setting I am really trying to figure out; I have two basic choices.

1.  I've been going on and on for a long time about a desert setting, something like Arabian Nights meets ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia meets the Old West.  My recent hand-drawn map sprung from this idea.  I have scattered notes about the setting elements and a list of things to look at for inspiration.  But that's really the extent of the development here.  Thus, there is a lot of work to do.  Playing in such a setting would "force" me to do more work.  Such work would be fun in and of itself, but would certainly consume some time and creative energy.  Such work would also be very good blog fodder.

2.  Use Mystara/The Known World from the BECMI series, including some published adventures.  I really do like this setting, not just because of it's nostalgia value, but because it strikes a nice balance between gonzo/kitchen sink fun and coherence.  I have a lot of material for Mystara, including most of the Gazetteers and a lot of adventures.  I also think it would be an interesting experiment to drop the LotFP rules into this setting and see what happens.  Prep work would be lighter, but I don't get the satisfaction of some collaborative world building and moving forward on a long-discussed gaming project.

All of this relates to other things, like blogging and some work things I want to accomplish this year.  I'll talk about those in the next post.  Any thoughts or feedback about the above are appreciated.  Thanks for reading!

Comments

  1. Having been involved in discussions (and a couple one-two game sessions) with you about the Arabian Knights meets Old West setting, I'm partial to that. I like the Known World setting just fine, but it's sort of like Greyhawk in that it's always there and it's always a safe choice. Plenty to explore but not really a place to let loose and do something different.

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