2013 in Review

This year has been totally hectic (hence the lack of attention devoted to this blog).  There was moving, marriage, a death in the family.  (Consequently, I didn't write Dwimmermount.  Sorry, guys.)

In gaming terms, I played more but ran less; historically, this is a strange state of affairs.  (However, I mostly ran Unknown Armies — a failed modern game and a continuing early modern game — so that's a small victory.)  With the failure of the Carcosa campaign and the Spelljammer campaign, I think my brief flirtation with old school D&D has ended for the moment.  (If interest waxes again, then I may run again; I still plan on running the Carcosa megadungeon for Constantcon/FLAILSNAILS once the 4e crew finishes with it, and I'd like to return to Spelljammer at some point, because I put a notable amount of work into that campaign.)

Sadly, as I'm running fewer games, there have been fewer innovations on my part at the gaming table.  I have been posting my updates on the Better Than Any Man-to-Unknown Armies conversion, but that is about the only notable thing I have been doing recently.

Other than a litany of failed campaigns and incomplete gaming notes, I did finally complete an exciting project.  After almost a decade of being scattered on any available surface, the role-playing book collection has finally found a home.  Behold!

"Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

The gaming book collection achieved legendary status many years ago among my friends as its size became known.  In fact, those four shelves aren't enough to hold it; we'll need a fifth to accommodate the new World of Darkness collection and to account for any new growth.  Presently, they're nestled with some other assorted books and games on a shelf of their own.

The rest of the collection comprises this bottom shelf and the small stack of books on the far right.

I have a few duplicates, and Nicole's collection of roughly a dozen or so books (a score of books, maybe?) is interspersed within this collection, but that's largely my own insanity on display.

To my surprise, D&D and its many derivatives (including d20 Modern, retroclones, and any associated games) form the bulk of the collection.  (Although that's by volume; boxed sets are fairly bulky.)  World of Darkness makes a strong showing for second place.  Call of Cthulhu, Deadlands, and Unknown Armies probably round out the top five.

That's some of the most notable stuff for 2013.  As Janus bids us to reflect of the previous year and the next, hopefully there will be more gaming in the new year.  (I mean, that's always the hope, right?)