2021 Gaming

 In 2021, I tried to be more mindful about playing new games and involved my lunchtime gaming group at work in this effort.  Here's an overview of how that went.

Things I kept playing:

• AD&D - 
• My regular game split into two games. This was mostly a response to the two different play styles at the table. 
  One group is still playing in the old setting. They're more engaged in factional play and digging into clues and rumors. It's a sandbox and is more experimental - we've taken on a bunch of rules from @BlackDragonCan's posts on Bhakashal. We play (nearly) every Thursday.
  The other group plays in a new setting, which relies a lot more heavily on published. adventures. It's more of a straight-up, deal with what's in front of us style of play. We play on Fridays.
• I also ran a game in what might turn into a "learn to play" campaign, though one of the players had a new baby last week, so we're on hold for a bit.
• In addition to my own adventures, we've played in U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, U2 Danger at Dunwater,  Through Ultan's Door vol I, and Tomb of the Serpent Kings.
• Mausritter - One game from the end of 2020 carried over into 2021, and I ended up running a second game for the DM of the Stack o' Dice podcast (I based this one on his setting as kind of an easter egg) and some friends. I really enjoy this game and I'm sure I'll be playing more of it.
• Crash Pandas - Three raccoons had to scavenge parts to get their car up and running then race across Phoenix. Dice were thrown, mayhem ensued,
• [Edit - I managed to forget a game I played in] OpenQuest - One of my players ran the Quickstart Adventure for OpenQuest for several of us. I'm really glad I bought into the Kickstarter on this one.

Things I started playing

• Space 1899 - We played the quickstart adventure - the Monastery of Tasharvan. The rules played smoothly and I love the setting.  I grabbed a bunch of sourcebooks and adventures when they were on sale and I can see myself running this again, and stealing some monsters for other games.
• Beneath Under The Floorboards - We played an expedition to the cellar to collect some wax candles. We had a great time with the system. I still want to run this for a bunch of Jermlaine protecting their lair.
• Mothership - We played The Haunting of Ypsilon 14. I liked it so much I bought into the Kickstarter for the boxed set.
• Cairn - we ran a group of Frogfolk, Lizardfolk, and Turtlefolk on a quest to save their swamp from an emergant chaos.  Very similar to Mausritter, another one that I'm looking for reasons to run.
• Night of the Hogmen - a Forged In The Dark starter for the upcoming game Teeth.  It was really evocative and played well.  I could see replaying this as a Halloween one-shot at some point.
• FATE of Cthuhu (FATE Accelerated) - speaking of Halloween games. We played this over the week leading up to Halloween. We're planning on more FATE in the near future.

Things I'm playtesting

• Kinopea - A lightweight, class-free system that relies on traits to define characters. It's set in a magic-soaked analog of Rome, where the Tyrant has made a deal with the devil (in the form of an AEther-node at the heart of the city. Gameplay focuses on class struggle, political factions, and the need to maintain your AEther. This is coming out soon.
• Høglund - from the publisher of Kinopea, this is a heavier version of the system. It uses both classes and traits. It is set in a Norse-inspired Fey culture with an emphasis on role-playing, for example, you must successfully boast about your actions in a mead hall to gain levels.
• Seven Sons of Aerulon - One of the players in my lunchtime group is creating a new game based on his D&D(ish) setting from his teens.  We've got a pair of ongoing games in this setting/system.  This game is also class-free and trait-based.  One of the coolest things is the modular magic system. Free-from spells are cast by combining runes and spending Lidigea.