Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Happy New Year!

Image result for star wars happy new year
What's this a post on my blog? 
Several people are doing posts reflecting on 2019 and speculation as to what they will be doing in 2020. I recently realized 2019 marked my 40 years of playing/running RPG's.  I started gaming back in 1979.  Believe it or not, the first game I GM'd was Gamma World (1st edition), and not D&D.  D&D (and D&D based games) has always been in the background these past 40 years, but I've played a ton of other games over the years.  A big helping of Sci Fi has always been there (Traveller, Rifts, Gamma World, etc..).  Gaming has been a kind of therapy for me all these years. When things were gloomy or bleak, I could channel my energies into creating interesting worlds and characters to help get through the rough spots of my life. Hardly the evil Satanic influence, that they tried to say it was back in the day. LOL

As for 2019...in 2019, I did a good bit of gaming, played (& DM'd) a lot of 5E.  Ran a really fun Stars Without Number Campaign, that unfortunately had to end due to work schedules and life stuff.  Played Call of Cthulhu for the first time in a mini-campaign. Worked in other OSR games as time permitted.  Played way too much Fallout. Later in 2019, I found myself in full blown Sci Fi mode.  I just can't seem to get enough of it. Shows like The Expanse, Mandalorian, and more, helped to feed my sci fi cravings... So here marks the first day of the year 2020...wow, for an old guy like me 2020 sounds very sci fi... growing up as a kid, we were all led to believe the world would have been nuked by now...Glad we are still here!

2019 also marked the 10 year anniversary of this blog! Wow a decade of Green Skeleton Gaming Guild. Something I started on a whim, back in the early OSR days.  I readily admit I have not posted nearly as much as I did in the early days. On more than one occasion I considered taking the blog down. I spent a good bit of time (too much time) on G+ when it was a thing, I poke around on MeWe a bit now.  But the blog is still here, I launched it when the Mutant Future RPG was a new thing, and that took me back to my P.A. gaming roots.  Heck even my online handle, Brutorz Bill, was inspired by my first Gamma World character, named after a mutant horse (Brutorz).  Haven't played any P.A. gaming in awhile, but I'm sure I will circle back around to it at some point. The Mutant Epoch has been on my shelf waiting to be played for far too long.

So where do I see things going in 2020?  I'm a fickle gamer, back in the early days of the hobby, we'd play all kinds of different things without thinking anything of switching when someone had bought a new game or adventure, always rotating back to D&D or Gamma World at some point. I think I will keep the blog up, for now anyways, I may not post much, but I kind of like having it around. For 2020, I'd like to get more Sci Fi gaming in, maybe revisit my Stars Without Number Campaign, or try something new. Cepheus Engine looks pretty cool, and a buddy just sent me Tiny Frontiers. As for fantasy gaming; 5E as much as I have tried to like it, just doesn't really wow me.  I'm an old school gamer at heart I think so that's likely where you will find me. There are so many awesome OSR games out there I still need to try; Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea, Adventurer Conqueror King, B/X Essentials, Blood and Treasure etc...

I hope this post finds you healthy and happy. I hope 2020 is a year of fun, laughs and lots of gaming. 
May The Force Be With You!  -B.B.


10 comments:

  1. Always good to get a post from you Bill.

    Wow, Gamma World makes so much sense for you; I’m surprised you aren’t doing anything with it or Mutant Future (perhaps one the new year?). As a guy who sometimes gets monster cravings for new sci-do entertainment, is there anything you particularly recommend? I haven’t seen the Expanse yet; watched a couple episodes of Lost in Space (the new series) but it scared my kid. Also, I don’t have D+ (for the Mandalorian)...but movie recommendations are always welcome.
    ; )

    Best wishes for 2020, man!

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  2. JB, Thank you so much for dropping by and commenting! I'm sure I will get back to some form of Gamma Word at some point. : )
    As for movie recommendations...I'll have to ponder that.. I haven't been out to the movies much. Saw Rise of Skywalker, I give it a B. When you can watch The Expanse, it's not for little kids but great sci fi in an old school Traveller RPG sense. Thanks for the well wishes! I hope you have a wonderful 2020!!

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    1. I'll give the Expanse a shot (one of these days). I've been on a bit of a Traveller kick myself lately.

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    2. JB, I kept putting off watching the Expanse, but man, I am on season 3 now, GOOD stuff!

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  3. Your post reminded me that I started gaming in '79 too. Wow.

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    1. Hey Narmer! Thanks for the comment, us old timers gotta stick together!

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  4. Glad to see a new post. Last year I was delighted to get a few sessions of Mutant Crawl Classics to my table. Gamma World was a game I always wanted to try and never did, so it was especially fun to try running one of its spiritual descendants.

    Stars Without Number is fabulous. I got to run a campaign a few years back and would love to revisit it. And good old Star Frontiers is always calling to me. So many good sci-fi games.

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    1. Hey Tom, thanks for dropping in and commenting! I have MCC, but haven't had a chance to play it yet, looks fun. SWN is one of my favorite Sci Fi RPGs, I love it! We will get back to it at some point, but have something else on tap first. Have had some recent developments on the gaming front...more to come. : )

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    2. Oh hey, meant to ask, have you tried Other Dust yet? I've read it but haven't run it yet.

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    3. Tom, I have Other Dust, another great product by SWN. I haven't run a straight Other Dust game, but I have used content from it in my SWN Campaign.

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