News from Gaming Land
It's been a while since I've shared the happenings in my own gaming.
This month, I decided to close down the open table campaign that I started three years ago. There had been some growing social issues in the group, and I didn't want to manage the dynamics of an open table anymore. Simultaneously, some facets of the campaign had developed into "spreadsheet gaming", which I decided isn't for me. I received supportive messages about this decision from many group members who had started to feel the same way. The most important part of a campaign is that the referee is having fun – the rest of the players' fun usually depends on that. (This is why I always tell referees to run the exact game they want to play, not what people want them to run.) And so we amicably ended the campaign.
After a month of reflection, I've started an Empire of the Petal Throne campaign. This might seem out of the blue, but it makes total sense if you've lived in my head these past three years. Since you haven't, I'll have to write about it over time. For now, suffice to say I've gathered a small, closed table of friends, and have been learning a lot about history, refereeing, and myself. It's only been one session so far, but I've been doing weeks of research. Digging through old magazines and forum threads like I do. It's been quite enjoyable. One particularly satisfying aspect has been finding that Professor Barker and I came to similar conclusions about games and refereeing. That we both have loved the same types of fantasy is the cherry on top. Another immensely enjoyable aspect, everyone agrees, is that the players are totally blind. They know nothing about EPT or Tékumel. And none of them have the rulebook! So far, feedback on this is extremely positive. I'll report back with more later.
Given the new campaign, and my focus on 1970s games, I plan to publish material that supports OD&D, EPT, and AD&D. These three games cover a wide range of the gameplay styles someone might desire from 1970s adventure gaming. (I expect you Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World players will be used to conversion from at least one of these games.) And so, Dungeon Blaster's earliest days will contain a mixture of AD&D articles from a man of some experience, and EPT/OD&D articles from a novice explorer. Looking forward to the fun.
