New Year's Resolutions-Gaming Edition

So, it's the New Year. Of course I have my share of "standard" resolutions, one of which involves a bit less beer and food, compared to the holidays, and maybe a bit more exercise. Boilerplate stuff, really. I also have a list of gaming-related resolutions.

Start doing a bit more with magic items of various sorts. The spells for making potions and weapons are in the DCC RPG rulebook for a reason. Why not use them (or variants thereof) to my advantage. Our guys are starting to get to higher levels, and they seem to have some cash on hand. So, why not? I've been particularly interested in the potions. I could see a "Potion Mishap" table coming out of this interest.

Finish writing Goloch-Ka, my exploration of the origins of the elven menace on Planet Ore. My maps are done. My hexcrawl has been conceptualized (though I still need to do that map, come to think of it). I've written some pretty great monsters. Now all I have to do is key the maps and start playtesting. That'll take a while, but it's a labor of love.

Play more DCC RPG with all the groups of which I am part, online and off. One reason I hate the holidays is it breaks my routine. I'm a creature of habit and am most productive when I can get into a groove. This is difficult during the holidays because there are no set routines. Everybody's schedules get chaotic. I haven't been able to game nearly as much as I like to, and it bums me out. More games!

Make  it to more FLAILSNAILS games. I've done some great gaming with +Shawn Sanford, and recently got to play Dying Earth with +Barry Blatt. I've really enjoyed both, but haven't been able to do it as consistently as I'd hoped. I think I can do better. I have a lot of fun gaming with their crews of ruffians, and need to so more often.

Blog more. I've been a shitty blog-master the last month or so. I haven't written nearly enough content. Partly that's because I've been doing work for Goodman Games, and partly because my actual job has been particularly challenging, and partly because vacation left me a tad dragged out and unmotivated. This needs to change. When I make myself write, I find that other things improve as well.

Finish my research proposal for gaming-based research. I've been making noise about it for a while, but I really am gearing up to do some research related to gaming, particular with regard to hangout gaming, gamers' influences, and a variety of other topics. I need to get my proposal finished, approved by the institutional review board, and start recruiting participants for the research. If you're interested in participating, let me know.

Get my ass to GenCon. I've got my hotel reservations, and am waiting patiently to do airline tickets and badges. This shit is going to happen. I've never been to any sort of gaming con, so this is new and exciting. Plus, I'll get to meet (finally) +Adam Muszkiewicz and the lovely and talented +Kathryn Muszkiewicz, +Doug Kovacs, and the rest of the DCC crew. I'm also hoping my boy +Wayne Snyder will be able to make it again. I was really jealous at the tales of their various exploits, last year, and pledged that I wouldn't miss out in 2014.

Do a great job on this other project that I'm not at liberty to discuss right now, but about which I'm so very, very excited that I could just about poop myself. More on this later. Much later.

And, most importantly, make another go of gaming with my daughter. The first round didn't go particularly well, and I think I, personally, can do better. She maybe isn't a good fit for my regular, face-to-face group, but I certainly can run something solo, or for her and her friends, and make it fun and totally awesome. She's already interested, so there's not reason I shouldn't.

This is a pretty good list, but I think it's doable. Nothing like a low/medium bar to gauge success.

Tales from the Hollow Earth

So... remember that game, Illuminati? Guess who else does? Tila Tequila, that's who!

I grieve for her mental health, but there is such a wealth of potential gaming material in this rant. A sample:

SHALL I TELL THE PEOPLE ABOUT THE ENTIRE CITY INSIDE THE HOLLOW EARTH??? SHALL I TELL THE PEOPLE THAT YOU CAME HERE AND LEFT YOUR OWN PLANET TO INFILTRATE OURS AND NOW SOME OF YOU STILL CURRENTLY RESIDE ON THE MOON!

Now that's some Grade A cray cray, right there (Please don't hit me for saying "cray cray." I'm role playing, here, okay?).

As I recall, most of our games of Illuminati ended in all of us pretty much hating each other, and TOTALLY hating the winner. I really need to pick up a copy of it. Holidays are coming, after all. It wouldn't be the same if can't alienate at least one family member.

In game terms, I kind of like where she's going with this. Hollow Earth, alien hybrids, conspiracies that go all the way to the top, bases on the moon, experiments on people, missing children, super powers... It's got everything.

Now, what system should one use to run something like that? DCC RPG is a good candidate, but you'd definitely have to house-rule the hell out of the classes to achieve the right flavor. Fate would provide a great deal of flexibility, of course, but I'm still not comfortable with that system. I think I need to sit in on one of +Christopher Helton's games before I try that. I'm thinking that one of +Joshua Macy's SFX! games would be a good candidate.

Any other suggestions?