Those what know me know I suffer from SAD, or seasonal affective disorder. Long story short, lack of sunlight during winter triggers seasonal depression. I have several coping mechanisms to allow necessities (like work), but it does tend to leave me hibernating for much of the winter months, like a nerdy bear.

This year’s hibernation has come to its inevitable end, and I am wandering back into the wild. That means you’ll see much more activity around the blog as I get back to the work of play. If you waited patiently through the posting drought, thank-you; rain clouds are coming. If you didn’t, well, you’re likely not reading this anyway. But maybe you’ll find your way back.

To ease in, today’s post is just some gaming related personal news. I’m working on a buffer right now; I thought a lot about gaming (and played a fair amount, when people came to the “den”) , so I have some stuff to share in the next while. But for today, let me catch you up…

– My buddy Devin and I are hosting a regular monthly board game day, and I’m pretty excited about it. Devin wanted to play more board games and so did I, so he had the idea to just set a day and play with whomever shows up. I’m supplying the play space, we sent out an initial run of invites, and we’ll add to the invite list as we go. It’s a great opportunity for us to try new board games, as well as playing with different people since we won’t be sure about who will be there every month. So if you live in Edmonton and want to join us the last Sunday of every month, leave a comment.

– I am probably playing Hearthstone more than is good for me. But it scratches a CCG itch I didn’t know was still there. Blizzard has done a great job making the game fun and 98% douche-free, that last through the simple expedient of not having any sort of chat function between the players. The free-to-play but pay-to-play-better model does mean I run into the occasional “wallet deck”, but I’m used to that from my (ancient) Magic:TG days (Ice Age was the last expansion I played). As long as I keep having fun I’ll keep playing, so if you’re playing as well look me up. Username is Argentbear.

– While nothing will ever knock Pathfinder out of top spot, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire is firmly in my second-favourite RPG spot at the moment. I’m playing in one campaign and about to start play in another, and I can’t get enough of this game. Smart mechanics and great setting development, both in service to creating good role-play, all in the Star Wars universe? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend you get on it. And don’t let the funny looking dice throw you, you’ll pick that up in no time.

That’s it for now. If I think of anything else I’ll pop back and add it in. Otherwise, look for regular posts to trickle in this week, with the return to regular flow starting next Monday. Soon the GM and Player advice will start flowing like it never went away.