Merry pseudo random temporal intersection.

Finally rolled it !

Wind up

So whether one winds up a year or winds down for Christmas is a fair question but  as I am someone who, on balance, prefers endings to beginnings my attention is focused over the forthcoming weeks as we begin the seasonal and planet like rotation of our games. Christmas is an odd one, not just for flying bearded red men, but as people begin to slonk off early to associate with other genetically similar individuals, our numbers gently contract to a handful of local merry players and a collection of odd ball card games which do not require being totally sober. 

Nevertheless, its a question as to whether its better to get to a finale in before Christmas or afterwards, the key being that players won't be present if a game is concluded Christmas week. My preference is to close mid Jan and as it happens, and this is in keeping from last year but I believe at least one of the other games has now stopped.

So, coming soon to all of you in internet land, we already have prospective GMs and many suggestions of what they would like to run. There is a possible horror game of unknown origin from GM Dave, a possible Star Trek/ Ministry of Blades / Achtung Cthulu/ Cthulu/ deadlands from GM Jon, and I think a dual run Vampire for GMs Eleanor+Alessio. There may be some other contenders to add to the list in due course but there seems to be plenty of options at present. So for those who do new years resolutions, get yourself along to the biggest role playing club in town and for those who don't do new years resolutions, get yourself along anyway.

Visitation

Last week saw another of my semi regular visits to the Craft Beer Company and as always I remain as confused as ever regarding their somewhat alien operational model, though its always a pleasure to pop in and catch up with another group of like minded escape artists. The CBC Roleplayers do run 'The Strange Games Festival' in the woods over the summer months which has proved to be immensely popular with locals - not entirely a Larping affair, there are a number of social games such as Werewolf as well as various earth and turf throwing games played alongside a burger van or two. Simon had over a hundred customers this year and whilst I sort of help with the Railway Club admin, the idea of running a festival makes my mind boggle.

This time round however there were a meagerly seven of us who turned up to the pub, six GMs and one player, but it was a perfectly pleasant chat for an evening. Once again though I did inquire why an online group would meet physically as their Meetups site is still very busy turning over games in the virtual world, but by the end of the evening their ways were still shrouded in mystery to me.

For our part, our games are scheduled for rotation imminently, Think GM Mike is aiming for a Christmas finish which is very timely of him. Whilst I could have pushed for a seasonal end, there tend to be so many people away for the break of course, I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on any finale so I think three or four more session should carry us to mid Jan and we can enjoy silly games for those popping in over Christmas. The fun however has begun of rooting out new GMs for which the usual blackmail, guilt and intimidation rolls will be made.

Of note

Whilst I wax lyrical regarding my D&D and occasionally share the thoughts of a raving lunatic albeit my own or those of my fellow role players, I am polite enough to enquire after the other GMs at the end of an evening regarding the progress of their campaigns. Problem is that after a couple of beers and a head full of plot I don't really recall enough to put electron to blog. However, last week, GM Jamie was kind enough to offer me a note or more accurately, a collection of several notes passed between his players over the course of his Stars Without Number.

Where a picture can tell a thousand words, likewise a small role playing note can reveal all. I must admit its been several years since I have enjoyed a mischievous missive and there is nothing better for ramping up paranoia and generally escalating any perfectly agreeable situation, so here are a few notes of note from the impeccably disciplined crew of the SWN Spaceship:

"Do I know anything about the Captain from his Spacebook page ?"

"Browse the Captain's pirate porn collection."

"Order pizza and leave the empty boxes in the Captain's cabin."

I sense a lot of work during the crew's next annual reviews.

I think the funniest note I ever had was passed to me by another player in an AD&D a very long time ago before the internet happened.

"Dark brown wood stain, 9.99 at B&Q"

Needless to say, it didn't help.