A Passel of Games

Man, it’s been a sparse year in blogging for me. Edmund and I have now received both doses of Pfizer vaccine and will be reaching the end of the final 2-weeks waiting period later this week. We’re contemplating actually seeing other vaccinated people, in person, next weekend!

In the mean time, we’ve been gaming online a lot. At least it’s been good for long-term role-playing series, better than at any time in the last 25 years for us. Here is what it has looked like:

One-Shots

• BFF! (Heart of the Deernicorn)
• Checkpoint Midnight (PbtA) (Cloven Pine Games)
• Kids on Brooms (Renegade Game Studios / Hunters Entertainment)
• Lady Blackbird (One Seven Design)
• The Quiet Year (Buried Without Ceremony)
• Urchin (Clint Krause Games)

Of these, I GM’d or hosted BFF!, The Quiet Year, and Lady Blackbird.

Mini-Series

• The League of Exceptional Felines, using Cortex Prime (Fandom Tabletop)
• Last Fleet (Black Armada)
• Legacy: Life in the Ruins (Modiphius Entertainment)
• Star Trek Adventures (Modiphius Entertainment)

Of these, our friend Brian ran the Star Trek Adventures bonanza during the holidays, and Edmund ran the others.

Campaigns

• 13th Age (Pelgrane Press)
• City of Mist (Son of Oak Studio)
• Dragon Age (Green Ronin Publishing)
• Harlem Unbound / Monster of the Week hack (Darker Hue Studios/Evil Hat/Sophie Lagacé)
• Journey Away (Purple Aether Games)
• Monster of the Week (Generic Games/Evil Hat Productions)
• Numenéra (Monte Cook Games)
• Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne (Chaosium/Nocturnal Media)
• The Expanse RPG/Fate hack (Green Ronin/Evil Hat/Sophie Lagacé)

Of these, Edmund ran 13th Age, Dragon Age, Journey Away, Numenéra (ongoing), and Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne, Bryanna runs Monster of the Week, and I ran City of Mist, Harlem Unbound using the Monster of the Week system, and The Expanse using the Fate Condensed, with the latter two ongoing. It’s been a mental health-saver to be able to meet with friends online every week to play.

I think I’m going to write mini-reviews for some of these systems, but here is the skinny:

My favourites in the lot are by far Fate, Monster of the Week, and Lady Blackbird. In addition, I love the setting in Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne even though the Pendragon system which it uses is laughable. Similarly, Harlem Unbound is a fantastic setting even though it’s created to play with two systems I find uninspiring, Call of Cthulhu or GUMSHOE; I feel it is well-served by marrying it instead to Monster of the Week. For one-shots, BFF!, The Quiet Year, and Urchin are all great fun.

All the others earn mixed reviews, although all were fun at the virtual game table thanks to the people I was playing with.