One of Gnome Stew’s side projects is New Year, New Game (NYNG), an annual challenge to GMs: Run a new game this year. You can read more about this challenge on the NYNG site, if you’re curious.
Reader Edward Lockhart emailed me a reminder that it’s about time for a NYNG check-in post, and he’s absolutely right — thanks, Edward!
How’s it NYNGing?
If you’re taking the NYNG challenge this year — in brief, to run at least one game that’s new to you — how’s it going? Have you run a new game yet, or is one in the works? Have you run 10?
My NYNG brings all the halflings to the yard
For my part, I started a Star Wars: Edge of the Empire campaign this month. Prior to this I’d played it once, but it’s definitely new to me from a GMing standpoint. It’s been fun so far, and I like the dice system quite a bit. There’s a learning curve, but it delivers interesting results and takes the game in surprising directions more often than not.
I’ve also facilitated (not run, as it’s GM-less) Signal Lost, the game I designed for Game Chef 2013. We had fun with it, I got some great feedback, and I’m currently deciding whether this is going to be my next publishing project.
It’s late in the year to call it likely, but I still have a back-burnered plan to run B/X (Moldvay/Cook) D&D over Google+ Hangouts before too long. I’ve been picking at it and wiping it away and starting over a lot, which probably means it’s time to just bang something out and run it already. I’ve played Mentzer D&D before, and run Labyrinth Lord once, but Moldvay D&D is new to me as a GM.
There’s a better chance that I’ll get to run or facilitate at least one more indie RPG this year as well. I have a twice-monthly Hangout game that thus far has cycled through an indie game every month or so, and there’s lots of new games on my shelf I’m itching to try.
How about you?
Well, I haven’t gotten around to running my planned 17th Century pseudo-historical campaign I wrote about in the NYNG-Challenge. On the other hand I have just started another, for the moment short, campaign using HARP in a homebrew oriental setting with lots of religious and philosophical issues my players for once seemed interested to discuss at exhausting length.
The other game is still on my agenda but lazyness on my part and time-constraints on the part of the prospective players are keeping it from happening at the moment.
I have typically only run some version of D&D (3.5 mostly), so this summer I decided to branch out. I’ve run Pathfinder, Alpha Omega, and Eclipse Phase. I LOVE Eclipse Phase. To make life easier, I’ve been using the quick start rules and pre-gen characters. It makes the somewhat crunchy system much more approachable for new people. I recently supported their Kickstarter as well and I have to say the new Transhuman player’s guide method for character creation simplifies and clarifies the process wonderfully. We are incorporating more and more of the main book’s rule sets as everyone gets more comfortable – we’re all busy professionals so spending hours on end studying for a game isn’t in the cards. This new flavor has been a hit with my crew.
I have not as yet run my new adventure. for Two reasons. 1) I have not yet found a gaming group. None of the online posts I made about finding one worked out. I am guessing I live in a (relatively) dry RP area. and 2) I have not yet received my Kickstarter Numenera package! Soon though, perhaps even today… I have been watching where others live to see how close to here it has reached. (putting a big exception on the one I heard that made it to Australia!)
I’m a fan of 2nd Edition, so this year I’m running my third ever 3.5 game and I’m running it on Role Playing on Line. Eight players in two groups. I’m using a module to make things easier as I learn RPoL and it’s a module I’ve never played before.
So far, it’s been pretty interesting and a learning experience. I am finding things about 3.5 that I don’t particularly care for, which I’m discussing in my blog. But I’m having fun with it and so are my players, apparently.
We’ll see how it goes.
Thanks for the nod, sir. My NYNG self-challenge to run/play a whole lotta new games is going well. So far, I’ve added Savage Worlds (GM), Lamentations of the Flame Princess (Player), and Cosmic Patrol (Both) to the list of games I’ve played/ran. The Puddle and mayhaps Hellcats & Hockeysticks to come. I’m really enjoying the new perspectives and having a load of fun.
For the most recent specifics on my NYNG stuff goto: http://violentmediarpg.blogspot.com/2013/08/several-things-come-together.html
I’ll update my blog with more NYNG news as it happens.
— Edward
My NYNG is Ashen Stars (Gumshoe Space Opera). We started in April, and are still enjoying it. The game requires players to write out sub-plots they want to experience, and some players have balked on that but I’m used to intuiting what players want.
Mad science and black ops projects from the last war, that’s what they want!
I’ve reskinned the MiGo and Elder Things from Trail of Cthulhu and thrown them into the section of space the players are in.
As players encounter ruins that are way higher tech then they are, I’m stealing items from Numenera and giving them Gumshoe mechanics.
I did have one player who really didn’t like the simple Gumshoe combat system, so I started introducing the optional combat rules from Night’s Black Agents. But that player quit anyway, so I’m glad I only did one rule.
Here’s our site: https://sites.google.com/site/mesonshrapnel/home
I presented my idea to the group as one of several options by group members to run as our new campaign but it didn’t win the vote (this time). I’m not giving up on it though. This just gives me more time to work on it to present at a later date. I may adapt it as a scenario for CthulhuTech and post it on my blog.
I twisted the original idea into New Year, Old Game and that’s what our group has done this year! First off was AD&D 2nd Edition until June and, since then, I’ve been running WFRP 1st Edition (The Enemy Within campaign) – they’re currently about half-way through Death on the Reik.
It’s been great. I’ve loved going back to those old systems and, in the case of The Enemy Within, re-running a favourite campaign. The plan is to continue with WFRP until we finish Death on the Reik and then bring out WEG’s d6 Star Wars to finish up the year 🙂
Epic Fail. That about sums it up for me. 🙂
I Just started my new game a little over a month ago and decided on Warrior Rogue Mage. At first I was concerned by how overly simple the whole system is but it has been a blast! The rules light nature of the game has really helped not only me in focusing on the story and making sure that my players are having fun. But it really helped my group make characters that are incredibly Unique.
Started a new game but due to player friction and a newbie who cant seem to bother to learn the rules or show up on time I may have to scrap this game
thanks you for sharing