As I write this, I’ve just returned from Kraken, a baroque gaming retreat in the wilds of Brandenburg, and I’m reflecting on the games that I played. One highlight was a game of Hillfolk that I finally got to play in, run by the designer, Robin Laws. I backed Hillfolk when it was on Kickstarter, so it made me think about how long ago it was – 2013, as it turns out. 11 years later I actually get to play it.
And then I considered some of the other games I’ve played at the con, and their year of publication. Pendragon (2016, although a new edition is imminent). Feng Shui 2 (2015). Night Witches (2015) – again, I backed this, but haven’t had a chance to play it up until now.
What’s my point? Well, these games have been sitting around for a while before I’ve got round to playing or running them – and I’m very glad I have. A lot of these games have had fairly light support from their publishers, and of course following Kickstarter fulfilment a lot of games effectively end their lines. It’s easy to write off games as “I’ll never get to play this” and either ‘archive’ (put on the inaccessible shelves) or sell them.
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But games don’t go away. There’s a few voices in the TTRPG sphere trying to get us to play whatever we’ve bought (and I’ve long advocated Play > Read > Buy). Maybe we need to chill out a little bit about that, and just accept that we’ll play them eventually. You might just need a catalyst to get a game to the table. You could wait;
Until somebody runs it at a convention. Or, I guess, until somebody demands that you run it at a convention. Online cons are great for this!
Until a new edition comes out. Paradoxically, the 2nd edition announcement is what made me run a campaign of One Ring 1st ed, and go on a hefty spending spree to pick up the whole line. It was worth it!
When you’ve got a good idea for a one-shot or campaign. Of course, you want to be making sure you have these good ideas eventually – but no point forcing it.
Whenever you can. If you’ve a game you’re feeling guilty about not having run, a quick post on the social media of your choice “Thinking of running X, has anyone done this?” will get you some ideas and maybe some motivation to get it prepped – and will be more worthwhile than engaging in the latest TTRPG controversy du jour.
With this in mind, there’s a fair few games that I need to get playing – so I await the demands to run these at conventions to force me to actually do it!
City of Mist – like One Ring, it’s the kickstarter for the fantasy setting that has reminded me I should really run this soon
Bulldogs! – absolutely brilliant 2010 (!) FATE science fiction setting. I might even Savage Worlds it these days, but well worth a con run.
Ironclaw – the ultimate anthro fantasy game. I’ve run it’s slightly rules-light anthro noir version, Urban Jungle, a few times, and even Myriad Song, it’s prog-rock sci-fi setting. But Ironclaw demands some attention.
What are yours? And don’t worry about not having got them to the table yet – there’s still time, and those games aren’t going anywhere!