Well, I now own a copy of the classic Call of Cthulhu adventure, “The Masks of Nyarlathotep”. When will I run it? Well, that depends. I’m sure I’d have players when I’m willing to start, but it’ll take quite a bit of time to run. How much? I really don’t know. Given our fortnightly play, possibly up to half a year. I’d really like Sarah to play (Sarah, would you give up your Friday night work for Masks?), but running it would have horrible implications for my Greyhawk 4E campaign, which is currently on hiatus until February (when Martin, Peggy and Nathaniel will all be back). I’m not sure what side my players would come down on… the next adventure in Greyhawk I’d want to run is the 4E version of “Tomb of Horrors”, which links nicely to the ongoing plot and is much less lethal than you might expect, but, you know, “The Masks of Nyarlathotep”!
I’m hoping that we’ll get back to my other 4E campaign – the Sunday afternoon one – in January, now it has hit epic levels. Adam, Josh, Greg and Nathaniel… do you want to continue? Are you available? I’d love to see you eventually take down Orcus. He needs taking down. And you get to meet the Raven Queen…
What will Martin run next year? He’s started an epic Eberron campaign, so I guess that will continue. It’d mean most of our time was now spent in D&D… unless Masks starts up. That decision can be delayed for a few weeks, though.
Things change. That’s what they do.
Sarah and I played our first game of Labyrinth earlier today. It’s a new game from GMT Games that evokes the USA’s “War on Terror” we’ve spent the last few years… well, not exactly living through. More observing sadly. The game ended quickly after the Jihadists (played by me) got a WMD to explode in the USA. I think we misinterpreted the implication of one of the rules: Sarah should have been able to hold a card in hand to stop it, but it was our first 2-player game, so that we got that rule wrong isn’t such a surprise. (I’m not 100% sure we got it wrong, I’m sure I’ll discover from BGG shortly).
It’s a very interesting and enjoyable game, though. Like Twilight Struggle (currently #1 on BGG!), it is a card-driven game where playing an opponent’s card triggers their event; I really, really like that style of design. It’s also designed to allow solo play, but although solo play is interesting, it doesn’t compare to having a real, live opponent.
Alas, Sarah received a call during the game that confirmed what we all feared: her cat died two weeks ago – the body had just been found. Lacey was old for a cat – seventeen years, as I recall – but it is still very sad for Sarah. She’ll get a new kitten in the New Year. My cat, Lil, is in good health, but is also getting on in years.
I’ve been slowly making my way through the ninth Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson, Dust of Dreams. With characters from eight previous books (on three continents and many plotlines) coming together now, I’m not entirely sure who all of the characters are. I need to reread the earlier books! It’s also the first half of what is the final story, so the pacing seems odd. There are still great, epic events in it; boy, Erikson is great at writing those. I haven’t been reading so much this year – I’ve been playing games or browsing the internet instead. To some extent, there haven’t been that many books that I’ve really, really wanted to read.
Nor have I been writing so much. I’ve just written a couple of session reports on BGG, but they’ve been few and far between this last half-year. (I also haven’t been playing that many solo wargames… playing three solo games of Labyrinth this week has been an aberration).
I’ll be staying home tomorrow, but spending the afternoon and evening on Friday (Christmas Eve) at Good Games with Jesse and Sarah, playing one or two boardgames, and likely some Magic as well. 2010 has been a year of mixed blessings, but Boxing Day, with the triple of the Test Cricket, the Dr Who 2010 Proms Concert and the Dr Who Christmas Special on TV, looks like making the end of 2010 quite enjoyable.
Exactly what occurs in my gaming life in 2011 I can’t say. I hope that you who read it find 2011 to be a great year – and that 2010 has treated you well.
