Welcome to 2017!

Being a person who much prefers to look forward than to gaze over my shoulder, this post is an opportunity to discuss hopes for 2017.

Three subjects have been the focus of this blog over the years, although one of them has come to dominate:

• writing
• spirituality
• roleplaying

Writing

2016 brought an unexpected breakthrough when I was invited to submit a proposal for a Classic Fantasy roleplaying adventure. I was delighted by the acceptance and opportunity; I was proud to deliver my corrected manuscript a few days ago.

As a writer, 2017 is a time of hope. What will it feel like to have my adventure in print? Will I be invited to write more? Can I spread my wings to other types of writing?

To be honest, I have found a routine that I’d like to keep following: a short period of writing on most days soon adds up. For now, I’ve decided to use my writing time to feed into my gaming time by developing the setting that I began in 2016 – Mystamyr.

Perhaps, through the year, I’ll develop a greater sense of my writing direction. For now, I am content to keep writing whatever seems interesting.

Spirituality

2016 was a year without discipline in spiritual matters. I did not attend church, for one thing. Maintaining daily prayer was difficult and sporadic. In my professional life, my faith was sorely tested… although these challenges seem to have deepened many convictions.

Looking ahead, I need to find the courage to return to worship at church. Rediscovering the daily rhythm of prayer is also an important discipline for 2017. But there is more.

As a teacher, I find the daily demands of the role are outstripping my capacity to maintain. All around me, colleagues are resigning, retiring, or miserable and ill. Low-value busy work dictated from on high dominates, pushing out the time I used to have for reflection and creativity. This leads to frustration… an emotion that I need to acknowledge but never empower.

The pressures of living in 2017 require a step-change in terms of our spiritual engagement. Mindful awareness of the soul is paramount. To that end, I must walk further along the narrow path… because I can’t abide sitting down upon it much longer.

I’d like to share some of that journey here too, as was my original intention in beginning a blog back in 2010.

Roleplaying

Most of my readers are gamers. While many of you have probably seen the retrospective comments of our peers about which games were played last year, or even the games they are looking forward to playing in 2017, I find myself in a very different place.

If there’s one thing I need to do, it is to buy fewer new games. My 2017 will continue the natural trend of 2016: fewer systems, more depth in play.

There were two games we played with any regularity in 2016: Dungeons & Dragon (5th Edition) and Mythras Classic Fantasy. While I enjoyed the former, not least because it’s very easy to run, the latter was the game that truly engaged my heart.

Going forward, I want to play more Mythras. That doesn’t mean I won’t play other games (Star Trek Adventures and RuneQuest spring to mind), but it does mean I want to get better at running one system well.

Classic Fantasy in Mystamyr

We’re playing a campaign in Mystamyr, playing through that aforementioned adventure I wrote last year for one, and I want to develop this further.

I’ve already revised the “Lost Tomb of the Dragon Knights” to work with Mythras and there is more underway: Woodfell is getting a rewrite, as is Castle Mystamyr; Griffinwatch and the Fire Citadel of the Dragon Kings will follow.

What I seek in 2017 is greater depth to my gaming. While I’ve always enjoyed introducing new people to play, in this year my goal is to create something of substance in the fantasy genre.

Science Fiction Too

That said, I have always loved the science fiction genre. My inspiration was always Traveller and Star Frontiers, not to forget Dark*Matter for the paranormal stuff too. While I’ve been playing fantasy almost all year, Mythras also provides a platform to try out some futuristic adventures too.

With this, I aim to start small: a short introductory adventure to our Serene Dawn setting will suffice. Write it, get it out there, and invite someone to play. Simple stuff at first.

More Play

The Friday Night Roleplay group is great and I hope we can keep the home fires burning with our ongoing campaign. That said, I’ve also found enjoyment in playing online with new friends… although, due to the lack of a Mythras module for Fantasy Grounds, I’ve been playing D&D5e.

In 2017, I aim to run at least one session of Mythras online. If you’re interested, you can come and sign up while we work out the details. It’ll be probably be a run through of the Lost Tomb of the Dragon Knights, a four-hour session at most. Maybe I’ll run it more than one time, if there’s enough interest.

Why? Because the play is the thing. While I love to create, a creation unshared has less value. A game unplayed seems to be missing its purpose.

Game on, I say. Game on!