Last year, I kept track of how far I ran (miles), how much I wrote for fun/free (words), how much time I spent playing RPGs with friends (hours), and how many books I read.
The very first thing I wrote for this site back in 2022 was a post about the creative fulfillment I get from playing roleplaying games. I’m fortunate to have three (mostly) regular game groups, and to have had the opportunity to run a Dungeons & Dragons game at work that wrapped up in early 2024. Below is a list of the dozen different game systems I played, adding up to about 130 total hours of collaborative storytelling and fun.
- Monster of the Week – I’d played this a few times before and love the system. This year I sat in the Keeper’s chair for the first time and ran the intro adventure, “Dream Away the Time.” (Lesson learned: I underappreciated the quick thinking and improvisation of the Keeper who introduced me to MotW – the game mechanics are easy, but reacting and shaping the story on the fly was quite an adjustment from other gamemastering, and my players were understanding and patient and said they’d like to return to the world we built together.)
- Rocket Age – Our Monday night crew takes turns running different systems. This adventure took us from Mars to Earth to Venus, clashing with Nazis, rescuing a queen, and dodging thunder lizards.
- Mörk Borg – A one-shot, one-night intro to the system run by my friend Alex, founder of Forge of Ice and contributor to the Förk Borg book. (He also created his own Lost World setting game, which I’ll get to in a bit.)
- Alien – Surprise, we all died in space. Funny, because the game is atmospheric as hell.
- Pathfinder – I played more hours of this than anything else, because this is a semi-monthly campaign that’s well into its fourth year. It’s easily the longest campaign I’ve been a part of, and we’ve seen our characters go from levels 1-11 so far. (I’m playing a Brawler named Skunk. I kickpunch and grapple things and have recently learned that I’ve got a strange flavor of lycanthropy that didn’t come from a bite, but has been undiscovered until now.)
- Dungeons & Dragons (Fifth Edition) – At work, I’m co-founder of a Tabletop and Roleplaying Games affinity group, which we started in part because some of us had started an after-hours game, and other co-workers were interested in learning or re-discovering what D&D is all about. Last March, we wrapped up “The Sunless Citadel,” and we’re currently figuring out what to do this year.
- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons – The 1977-81 game Gen X nerds grew up on. I play several sessions of this every year at Gary Con.
- Dungeons & Dragons (1974 Edition) – A serious throwback and a hell of an adventure, also played at Gary Con.
- Something is Wrong with the Chickens – I have no idea where Brian found this “one-page, rules-lite TTRPG of Chickens, Eldritch Horror, and Revenge,” but it made for a hilarious Monday night.
- Cy-Borg – Brian ran this one, too, and here’s the highlight: Casino heist, yeah? So our party learns that the casino shuts down from 7-10am every day; we find the half-hidden rear entrance that the cleaning crew uses; and we obtain a device to unscramble the coded lock. Naturally our plan becomes “We should go in the front door during peak business hours so we blend in.”
- Star Trek Adventures – I played this during my first trip to Origins and signed up purely on the adventure’s premise: While the rules were Star Trek, the adventure was a sequel to Galaxy Quest. By Grabthar’s Hammer, we had a blast.
- Azor – Alex Bates’ sword-and-sorcery lost-world game and setting. The Monday night crew playtested an upcoming adventure.
- Pulp Cthulhu – Our current Monday night game. Shit goes sideways in alternate history 1930s New York City.
One system I missed last year? Numenera. I’ve run it for a couple groups and love the Ninth World. Hopefully I can get back there in 2025.
John Booth Writes 