What game is your group most likely to play next? Why?

A hard question to answer, as I’m currently GMing several groups. I’m coming up on a pretty even split between Pathfinder and D&D 5e between them, and as I’m just starting or am in the middle of campaigns, we’ll be playing them for a while. But the honest answer to this question is: if I’m willing to run it, my groups are likely to play it. Which admittedly is a good feeling as a GM, but it contributes to my current playtime versus GM time imbalance.

But I have several games I’d like to try next. I’d love to run The Laundry, because I enjoy the idea of smothering bureaucracy trying to combat Otherworldly horror (“To schedule an exorcism, please fill out Form 47-B3 and submit in triplicate.”). A Trail of Cthulhu campaign would be a lot of fun, because I love the system and it has a different flow from the games I’m currently running. Plus, Cthulhu. And I’d really love to give Feng Shui a go, because I love Hong Kong cinema and action-movies, and a game with that sensibility would be fun.

And then there’s the classic games I’d like to revisit now that I’m old enough to appreciate them. Skyrealms of Jorune is a game from 1984, and it was one of the first games I played which broke from the classic fantasy mold. Unlike other RPGs which feature adventurers seeking treasure and glory often for its own sake, players in Skyrealms were seeking to become better citizens and better themselves; a mind-blowing concept for 14-year-old me, and one I couldn’t quite figure out how to run back then. I’d love to take a shot at it now, though. I’d also love to play a rainy-day Tales from the Floating Vagabond campaign, and just run it as a ridiculous episodic-style space-opera farce. If you’re not familiar with the game, I highly recommend picking up the PDFs from DriveThruRPG. A prime example of a “beer and pretzels” RPG, its ads featured lines like, “Life is like an anole: sometimes it’s brown and sometimes it’s green, but it’s always a small Caribbean lizard.” Yep. And there is part of me that wants to run a semi-serious, Terry Gilliam inspired Paranoia game. Of course I played it for slapstick fun when I was younger, and loved it. But I think it can actually lend itself to a more dark comedy tone, even bordering on the ominous. even if I’m wrong, it’d be fun to try.

That’s me. What is your group likely to play next? Let me know in the comments.