So, it is a new year. This may seem a little late but due to my workload January is not a month where I can do anything hobby related, well except spending a little time hanging out on Discord.
It is customary to look back on what I may have achieved in the year just gone, and forward to what I want to achieve.
2023
Looking back is both easy and painful.
Easy, because I didn't really manage to achieve to anything, and painful for the same reason.
Over the years this is a common pattern, I think because I have too many projects I want to complete at any time, and my inability to focus on one until it is complete.
I am determined that this year will not end up the same way. I want to list all of my possible projects and rank them in order of completion.
But what are they?
Possible Projects
So these are all writing projects. I will be testing them solo, so I intend to get some solo play out of these. Whether I publish any of those play throughs will have to wait and see how I feel at the time.
Heroic Action Role-Playing System
This is a solo focused game system, that is mostly written but could use a spruce up and actually be released somewhere, other than this blog.
The aim is to get it finished/edited (by myself), polish the design/add art, and get it uploaded to DriveThru and possibly Itch.io.
Swashbuckling Setting Book
This is a very personal project. I have compiled two separate settings that I really like into one book and filled in some blanks.
The first is the very lightly sketched Edenstein setting from Two Hour Wargames 'By Savvy & Steel', and the second is Auvernais from the seemingly unreleased 'Robots & Rapiers'. R&R is somewhat well known by swashbuckling fans, as a (the) swashbuckling adventure generator.
The aim with this is to combine the two settings, quite easily done because Edenstein is very broad brush (there are little to no city names for example, just regions), and R&R is mostly a city with some named other cities and details, and get it professionally printed.
At this stage I need to decide where to stop with adding details and random tables and then get it finalised. This (is) will be my main setting for my solo swashbuckling games.
Freeform Universal Compendium/Appendix
Freeform Universal 1st Edition, or Classic Edition, is one of my favourite games. Over the years I have developed sub-systems and best practice (at least for me) that fill in gaps and provide advice to newer players. I would love to get this compiled and released for others to use.
It needs completing, the stealth and vehicular/chase rules in particular, an editing pass and general polishing/design.
Pirates: Adventure on the High Seas Redux
A long time ago now I threw together a FU Classic guide to running a pirate game. I was never entirely happy with it and always intended to revisit and revise it.
I have made a lot of progress on this, and integrated the core FU rules so it is a standalone product.
I also wanted to include a custom pirate setting and this is where I have got stuck. I need to complete this setting so it is truly standalone and revise some of the remaining rules and then intend to release it on DriveThru and possibly Itch.
Reaper Engine games
This is a bigger task, not least because it is not very far progressed. The actual rules part I have designed, not least because it is an amalgam of two old rulesets that I know well (it's a retro clone).
I have tinkered with designs and have an evocative old school vibe appropriate for the game in mind/designed. I have a couple of hold ups with this game (beyond writing it).
Firstly, how I want to structure the rules, do I go minimalist and produce separate booklets for each section? So, magic in a separate book to the core rules? This would speed up the process as I can release each as I complete them and fits the old school vibe, but could come across as disjointed.
Secondly, I need to decide what setting I pick. I have a few options, the first is a low fantasy monster/witch hunter setting, the second a feudal science fiction/fantasy setting akin to Dune-ish, the third a questing knights through forests, fields and fairy, the forth a science fiction post apocalypse gangs and finally a city of the dead fantasy gang game.
Black Seven Solo
This is little more than a thought and a few sketched out notes at the moment, but there is a great stealth related RPG called Black Seven (and Animus for it's fantasy equivalent) that would be ideal for solo rules.
I could probably complete this fairly quickly, but it's a niche of a niche and entirely unwritten.
Marooned - Pirate Borg Solo
This is a project that I would love to complete fairly soon, Pirate Borg is still relatively new and first mover solo rules would be a real possibility here, I just need to sit down and write them out.
The Veil
This is my final magnum opus. A swashbuckling horror game with a setting, rules and whatever I could throw at it. I even envisage expansions, a Kickstarter campaign and on-going support. For that reason this seems like something to wait until I have more experience, a better (any) reputation and (any) social media presence. Even here there are hurdles before I even 'start', but they seem far off for now.
Others
I could easily throw in a couple more projects, but at least one of those relies on another party agreeing, so I'll leave them off for now. These wouldn't happen until other work was completed anyway.
Solo Gaming
So this is ostensibly a solo gaming blog, so I should detail what I want to achieve here too right?
A lot of this is going to be testing the above as they are produced but there are two campaigns here that I want to highlight:
Edenstein
This may be a bit of cheat because I mention this above, but this is one campaign I keep returning to that I can't quite keep going for some reason.
Part of that is selecting an appropriate ruleset, I have dozens of swashbuckling games, each with their own pros and cons, plus my own ideas (and rules), so it all gets a bit complicated in my mind and shuts down with the effort.
I just need to push through with this one, and give myself the time to do projects and game without the feeling of letting myself down.
The Police Department
Blade Runner and police procedurals are possibly my favourite films (versus Star Wars), and my favourite TV genre. I've long had the idea of running an ensemble cast of characters in a near future police station, and I have pretty much everything ready to go for this.
Except for the aforementioned motivation and wanting it to be perfect in every respect. I really need to let that go and just get on with it.
Other Things
Life just wouldn't be life without events to get in the way (how high is my Chaos Factor?!), this includes boardgames, computer games, sport, family and work.
This year I really need to focus in on what I want to achieve, and in what order, so that I can really focus on one or two things at a time. Whether my addled brain will allow me that luxury I need to wait and see, but I need to stop making excuses!
