Game Mastering vs. Playing

                              

I've recently come to realize that I enjoy running games much more than being a player in someone else's game. I was playing in a friend's game and found myself starting to lapse into fits of sleepiness as I waited for my fellow players to conduct their turns. I realize that it's hard for me to keep my attention on the game unless I'm fully engaged at all times -that's why I like being a Game Master. I really do enjoy my friend's game but I frequently find myself asking how I would run a specific encounter, adjudicate a specific rule, or handle some situation that comes up during play, as opposed to paying attention to what my character should be doing during his turn.

I love crafting my own worlds, weaving stories for players to experience, and controlling all aspects of the game instead of controlling a lone character. I find the experience and dynamics of GM-ing much more rewarding (sometimes frustrating), than being a player. I've decided that once my tenure in my friend's game is at an end (character dies), I have no further plans to play in anyone else's game (after a short hiatus wherein I focus on being a better game-master), and concentrate solely on being a game-master.

Game Run... Pretty Good

So, I managed to run a couple of short sessions of Lost Mine of Phandelver for our band of adventurers, and I like to think that (hope), everyone involved had a good time. The party managed to survive a goblin ambush (although two characters almost died), and were able to track the vermin back to their hideout. Once there, the PCs fought more gobbos and their bugbear leader. In the end, the heroes managed to win the day and even rescued a fellow adventurer. There were a few more encounters in and around the area known as the town of Phandelver.

I won't bore the reader with a detailed accounting of what transpired for the remainder of our gaming sessions (in total, 3 sessions), other than fun was had by all and no characters died. D&D 5e is fun to gamemaster, has the feel of old school gaming, and I definitely plan on running a campaign of my own when I feel the time is right.

D&D 5e

As per the usual, it's been a really long time since I've posted anything here, but then again I haven't really felt the need to. The Pathfinder game I ran briefly, The Dragon's Demand imploded when we ran into time commitments and personality conflicts. Oh well, sometimes things don't work out quite as you envision them to, and games come to a screeching halt!   -it's the nature of the gaming beast. I'll try to get another Pathfinder game going sometime in the future.

For the time being though, I've been playing in my friend David's D&D next game and it has been pretty fun. Now that David's game is coming to an end, I've been tasked with running the D&D 5e Starter Set adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver and I must say that I'm really excited to be back behind the DM's screen for the first time in quite a while.

A New Game Group

It's been quite a long time since I've updated this thing, but I finally have a reason to-  I have a new game group to ring in the new year!  I've been looking for quality players for a new Pathfinder game I've been wanting to run, The Dragon's Demand, and I've finally found them!

It's been a while since I've done any gaming and I'm starting to go through withdrawal if I don't get back to the gaming table!  I'm hoping that this new campaign will be a fun, action-packed, and productive one.

Since my last post here, I've had mostly positive gaming experiences, but there have been a few notable exceptions that have not gone as well as I would have liked, and it's my hope that I can avoid some of the problems of the past.

It is said that there is no substitute for the wisdom that experience brings, and I do feel a bit wiser and confident to deal with the challenges that starting a new game will entails, and I'm ready to deal with the Dragon's Demand!

Blog... Long Time No See

I haven't been here in some time, but I've been meaning to change that. I think that I know what this blog will finally be about (details forthcoming!).

I'll Find My Footing

A friend of mine and I were discussing the post I had made regarding finding the focus of this blog, and some iteresting observations were made. My friend said that my blog was most likely going to suck for a while while I get my sea legs and figure out what I really want to blog about. He also said that my situation is normal for most blogs- most blogs tend to be rather blase' at the onset and they either build up steam, find their focus and become successful, or they go nowhere and crash.

So, finding this blog's focus may take some time (a lot of time), but as my friend said, "keep on writing and the focus of your blog will eventually reveal itself to you".  So I will take his advice and keep on writing about whatever is on my mind, or whatever is going on in my gaming realm at that time. I just hope that I can find enough stuff to write about.

More Game Table Nonsense

Well, I'm almost finished with the construction of my game table. My buddy from work came over last night and brought the re-cut legs with him. With screwdriver in hand, we got to work putting the legs back on the table.
We flipped the table over and surveyed the results: the table works! there's still a little bit of wobble, but nothing that would be too distracting from using it as a game table.

Being the perfectionist that I am, I'm still going to add some additional support braces to the table legs, and maybe some vinyl edging  to the table top to help round out the project. I'll be taking some photos to include with post, and will add them at a later date.

Here's a shot of Drew's Game on the new table:

All Hail the Golden Fisters!

I plan on having a friend of mine run his Swords & Wizardry game over the weekend, and we'll run the table through its paces with his game group and see how it holds up to the rigors of a riotous game group, spilled drinks and pizza stains- it should be good fun nonetheless!

Addendum: With the addition of the support bracers for the legs, the table held up quite nicely against the game group and everyone had a great time.  I guess the table works!  - Now to start running some games of my own!