More RPGing + Board Games on the horizon?

2021 was a year of more roleplaying, 2022 looks similar but with regular board gaming hopefully on the horizon.

I came into 2021 with a reasonable expectation that unless there was a significant improvement in all things COVID, I would continue to game exclusively online.

That expectation became reality fairly quickly, with a couple of small exceptions where I had friends over to play board / card games. Although in all fairness those were more about seeing these friends for the first time since the before times, rather than being specifically board game meetups. I continued my reluctance / disinterest in playing board games online so those occasions also represent the totality of my board gaming in 2021.

RPGs continue to dominate my gaming thanks to those same D&D games I reflected on at the end of 2020.

• Homebrew D&D campaign that's been running fortnightly for 3 years / 10 levels and now starting to build towards what the characters actually have ahead of them. I think the next few sessions will help to shape how the next 12 months of that campaign will go.
• D&D Adventurers League: Avernus Rising has been going for more than 12 months and we're now on part 14 of 20, in fact I think it's possible we might finish part 14 before we get into 2022.
• D&D Adventurers League: Eberron Oracle of War game that I play in. Run by Rich for Iain, Ian, Pete, Shane and I. It's been fantastic fun and a great opportunity to spend time with great people that I would normally see once or twice a year at most. I missed a few sessions this year due to illness or power cuts but I'm looking forward to what's next.

Other than D&D, my 2021 gaming included running games of Trail of Cthulhu, Call of Cthulhu (although that was only for a playtest), ALIEN, Star Wars FFG and The Expanse. Mostly these were one or two sessions.

I also took part in the RPG Writer Workshop again and published the currently 4.8 out of 5 rated and Silver selling "The Oxford Articles" for Call of Cthulhu.

Writing for a system that I had zero experience with was challenging but it's definitely got me thinking about writing more for it. I had hoped to do the workshop again in November but post AlbaCon 2021 I think I needed a break from being creative!

Speaking of AlbaCon, after raising > £3,100 for It's Good 2 Give in 2020 we were delighted to raise > £3,300 for Penumbra in 2021. It's a fantastic feeling that the effort we put in to make the event a success not only results in people having fun but also enables us to support charity.

So what about 2022?

RPG wise, 2022 will see the D&D Adventurers League Avernus Rising storyline come to an end. What we do after that is anyone's guess, I haven't asked the players yet what they want to do. More D&D? A campaign for something else or a series of short story arcs for a few months?

If we opt for something D&D, then my shelves and DMsGuild collection offer a multitude of options. If we opt for something not-D&D, well I likewise have many options for that.

My Homebrew D&D game will continue and I hope the Oracle of War game does the same. But what about other games?

Well, if the Avernus Rising group want to try something other than D&D then I have a few things on my "want to run" list.

• Night's Black Agents - I'd like to run a campaign / multi-part adventure for this. Either using one of the shorter arcs like The Persephone Extraction or The Zalozhniy Quartet, with the ultimate goal to run The Dracula Dossier although I'd probably build up to that using the Edom Files book which is more a series of one-shots but if it's a consistent group of players it'd build up nicely.

• Trail of Cthulhu - After running Midnight Sub Rosa as part of New Gamemaster Month in 2021 I'd like to run something longer form, perhaps a series of adventures from the Mythos Expeditions book.

• The Expanse / AGE System in general - After running Salvage Op I immediately wanted to run more of The Expanse but that didn't happen for a variety of reasons. Abzu's Bounty is the only published multi-part adventure for The Expanse and I think it'd be a great way to explore the game in more detail. Another option here is to run Lazarus which uses a modified version of the same AGE System that The Expanse uses. The game is based on the excellent Image Comics series by Greg Rucka.

• ALIEN - After enjoying running the one shot of Hope's Last Day, I wouldn't rule out running something more episodic or even just more oneshot of it.  That said, I'm not 100% sure I'd be up for running a campaign in that universe. Probably more something multi-session based like Chariot of the Gods from the Starter Set.

• Beyond that? Well, in the event of me writing / publishing more Call of Cthulhu stuff then it's safe to say that'll get run. Although I can't see me running anything long form for it, probably more likely to run some of the recognised oneshots like The Lightless Beacon or The Haunting available for free from the Chaosium website. Although, I did pick up Doors To Darkness recently so maybe that will get the nod.

RPGs aside, my board gaming will remain at the mercy of the pandemic.

I can't see ENT returning until April at the earliest. That was roughly when Alan and I were thinking anyway, but now more than ever I think there's a lot of things that need to happen before we're happy to start it up again.

Besides looking forward to playing games locally, I'm also hoping that conventions can return to relative normality.

AireCon is the first on my schedule for 2022, it's on the 11th to 13th March in Harrogate.

I've missed going to UK Games Expo a lot. It's a fantastic event but it's also where I meet up with friends that I don't get to see most the year, even in normal times. June 3rd to 5th at the NEC and Hilton Hotel.

Gen Con. After having to cancel bookings for 2020 and 2021, I'm very hopeful that we make it this year... Flights to Indianapolis & accommodation are all booked in preparation!

August is going to be a very busy month because Tabletop Scotland returns to the Dewars Centre in Perth on the 27th & 28th August 2022.

We're quite excited to host the convention again and have already got quite a few things in motion... More on that via the various Tabletop Scotland channels.