Its been a funny old year - when I have looked back at what we have done, we don't seem to have done lots of gaming but in reality it appears that we have done more than we usually do. Maybe its because I have been virtually convention-free this year? Maybe its because we have had a smaller group? I have no idea. Still, there have still been some excellent gaming highlights.
There has been one gaming, but not at the table, highlight - next year I have been asked to be a Guest of Honour at Continuum, which is one of the 'name' conventions on the calendar, especially amongst 'trad' circles. Clearly, I'm going to have to pull my socks up to make their generosity worth their while.
Honourable Mention: Playing @ Furnace
Gaming at Furnace was a delight this year, as I got to play one of my favourite games (Mouse Guard) and one of the systems I was yearning to play rather than GM (FATE). Great GMs and great games with great players. It was just an excellent convention.
Honourable Mention: The Gamma World finale
Gamma World was a funny old game. From the initial character generation to the rollout of the campaign ideas, randomness ruled, and it was a little difficult to balance and plan things. Kudos to Nigel for riding this rollercoaster so well. The final session, however, managed to do something I thought was impossible and that was to provide a funny, poignant and poetic ending to the campaign. For the three comedy heroes to be so close to global snack food domination and then have it snatched away from them, to end up back at square one and for it to feel like victory? Wonderful!
Future Mention: Dave's D&D Game
Two sessions of a campaign does not do something this epic justice, so I'm going to note this as a 'one to watch' for 2012.
#3: D&H 40k
As seems to be a growing tradition, one game which didn't necessarily 'work' enters into the top three. At Furnace, I ran two games of Duty & Honour based in the Warhammer 40k universe. The games were fine and I had a lot of fun running them in a very Gaunts Ghosts manner. However, the main victory was making the conversion of D&H, getting it printed up and it working just as I intended. The future, both literally and in game development sense, was here.
#2: Chronica Feudalis
CottageCon was a big of a wipeout for me this year. I was very unwell indeed and had to leave half way through. The upshot was that I only got to play in one of the games - a game of Chronica Feudalis based around 'The Tudors'. It was excellently conceived, perfect for the occassion and marked with some brutal PvP political action. The playaids were exemplary and really helped with the immersion in the setting. A great one-shot session. Excellent.
#1: The Temporal Detective Agency
My daughters have always been 'gaming curious' and have dabbled in the past, so they bullied me into running something for them. We have had three sessions (incl chargen) of the Temporal Detective Agency thus far and it has been revelatory. The girls possess a passion about the subject matter and a real ... purity (?) in the way that they approach the games. It has been the most refreshing gaming I have done in years. Real thrills, real excitement, real fear at one point! The only downside is that it takes me a while to think up a good enough story to put before them so my output is not matching their demand. Mouse Guard next for them, by the way!
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