DM Dickie's State of the Games Address Jan 2020

My first post is going to be straight to the point: this is where my current games are relative to how life is treating me! I have a strong tendency to take on too much and this has caused me a lot of misfires with my gaming (which are issues I will be delving into in a future post). The plan right now is to be clear and upfront about where various games are with me. After the jump we will start with a roll-call of games I'm running and their current status. After that I'll give a brief review of games I'm playing in before discussing my goals and plans for the next few weeks.

Games I'm Running

Currently, all the games I'm running are hosted through the Paizo website's forum boards. All of these games fall under one of three categories: Active, On Hold, and Suspended. Active games are currently up and running freely. On Hold are in a sort of limbo state as of this post. It doesn't mean they're inactive or suspended, but they are not getting the same attention Active games are getting. Suspended games are not going to be updated at all in the month of January and will be re-evaluated next month. I will discuss my current inactives in another upcoming post.

• We Be Goblins! Current Status: On Hold. The scrappy little goblins are at the conclusion of "We Be Goblins Too!" where they only barely survived the ogre farmer and his daughter. The players are happy to take a break for now as everyone has a lot of projects going and this is a reasonable stopping point.
• Kingmaker Current Status: Active. The slightly altered first book of Kingmaker is very much active and a high priority to me. Right now the heroes are still exploring much of the region and dealing with early encounters.
• The Dragon's Demand Current Status: Active. Nearly two-thirds of the way through the module and my longest running game, DD gets my highest priority because they're so close to finished!
• Journeys Across the Tablelands Current Status: Suspended. Going to mostly-original content for this game has really taken a lot out of me. Real life concerns and a kind of slow laptop make keeping up with an AD&D Dark Sun game an extreme challenge. I hope to get back on track in February if any of my players want to keep going, but we will have to see when the time comes.
• Mechwarrior: Treasure of the Buried Admiral Current Status: Suspended. As with the Dark Sun game above, the original content I'm trying to write hampers my efforts here. I really wanted to make it work, but in addition to my lack of time for creating material I have a more intensive set of technical issues. I plan to talk about this game a lot more in a future post where I will be looking for advice to revive it. That revival, however, will not be until February at the soonest.
• Shadow Over the Dales Current Status: On Hold. I recently posted to this game, but I do not know whether it will end up continuing on or not. I had plans for more original material mixed with plenty of published modules for this AD&D Forgotten Realms based game, but what really makes this a tough game to run is trying to adhere to original AD&D combat rules. 

Games I'm Playing In

• Draco Voodoo's To KoBoldly GO! GM: Draco Voodoo Character: Drahlneep. I joined this game to help out when they hit a slow spot from attrition but I haven't been keeping up with it the way I should. My kobold is a close-ranged blaster with anger and paranoia issues, but overall I have to admit he's my weakest character in role-playing terms. I'd like to get back on the ball and find out who Drahlneep really is.
• The Many-Faced GM's Wrath of the Righteous GM: The Many-Faced GM Character: Tarot. Originally conceived for a table game rather than PbP, Tarot is a personal favorite of mine both mechanically and conceptually. This game has only just started, but I'm looking forward to a chance to expand her and explore role-playing with a character saddled with her past lives' accomplishments and failures.
• A Push of the Fates.... Zakhara... You Jewel! GM: GMEDWIN Character: Nabila Al-Qut Min Najm. The Cat! An elven priestess who worships a deity of curiosity. Probably my favorite name for a character. This game has had some starts and stops, but is still going and even currently recruiting! 
• Tales of a Dying World: Dragoncat's AD&D DARK SUN Campaign GM: The Sorcerer-Cat of Athas Character Khar of Urik. When my own AD&D game started lagging a few months back, one of the players decided they needed more Dark Sun and started a new game. I ended up joining with a mul gladiator. Khar is a somewhat childlike, insecure, and uneducated arena champion. I can't wait to watch him grow!

Next Steps

One of the reasons for keeping this blog is to keep my players and GMs updated, but it is also meant to help me explore better processes. I have a handful of posts planned for the next few weeks focused on an array of topics. It is my intention to post a review of my inactive games, then write an entry discussing how my mental health issues impact my gaming for better or worse, and follow those up with some in-depth looks at some of my games. Some features I am considering doing regularly are monthly updates like this one where I give an overview of the games I am involved in and possibly weekly recaps of games I am running. I will be keeping the overall advertising of this blog limited for now, but eventually plan to use it to expand my skills and network with folks. We will see how it goes!

Have fun with whatever you're playing!

Dickie