While I don’t believe in blaming a discrete measurement of time for any particular ill, it can’t be denied a lot of unfortunate things happened during 2016. As irrational as it makes me, I’m excited to get 2017 underway. I don’t really make personal resolutions, but I’ve been thinking of my gaming resolutions for the coming year and I thought I’d share them with you. Some relate to the blog and other creative endeavors, some to games I run or play, and the rest are sort of a wish-list for the coming year. In no particular order:

1. Learn and Play 3 New Tabletop Games Every Month – Even though I read many new games last year, I found that I actually played very few of them. So my goal for the coming year is to play three new tabletop games a month. I’m not fussy about the type of game, as long as it’s something I haven’t played before. Of course this is driven by a desire to just play more games. But I’m also hoping this will get me out to more gaming events through the year, whether those are private events run by friends, gaming conventions, and anything in between. I plan to blog those experiences as well, so you’ll be able to see my running tally through the year.
2. Attend More Gaming Events – A combination of health and personal issues kept me away from many of the gaming events I was invited to over the last year. With my new-found health, one of my goals for 2017 is to attend every local gaming con (attendee or volunteer, depending on availability), and get to as many small events as my schedule will permit. Hopefully this one will contribute to the prior resolution; a number of my invitations were for play-testing developing games, and I look forward to any of those which come my way.
3. Self-publish – With the writing and design I’ve put in to my new D&D campaign, the urge is with me publish some of the more refined bits. So I’ve got plans in place to get something up on Drive-Thru RPG and/or DM’s Guild in the coming year. Possibly several somethings, but we’ll see how the first one turns out and adapt from there. I’ll still share the occasional item here on the blog, of course.
4. Be a Better Player – I’ve referenced this saying before, and I can’t remember where I first heard it. But it goes, “If you’re playing a game and you can’t see the asshole at the table, be careful. It might be you.” I hope I’ve never been the asshole at the table (recently anyway, I can only apologize for my teenage self and move on), and certainly no one has called me on it. That might just mean they resolved to suffer in silence, however. So moving forward I’ll game with the conscious intention of not being That Guy.** No one likes playing with That Guy, and I think our hobby would be vastly improved by calling That Guy on their bullshit at every opportunity. This one will apply to all my games, player and game master, role-playing or board.
5. Collaborate – This one is mostly blog-related, but it could spill out to other aspects of my gaming as well. I enjoy creating content for the blog. I think I’ve worked out a plan which will allow me to get content up on a regular basis, without straining my schedule. As part of that plan I’d like to collaborate with other game bloggers, in whatever form that shakes out to. One blogger has already been in touch, and you’ll see the result of that in January. But I’m open to working with others, whether that’s a blog post exchange, something co-written, or even game material. So if you’re reading this and you might be interested, drop my a line.

Do you have any gaming resolutions? Share them in the comments!

**That Guy is the person at the table who is sucking the fun out of whatever you’re playing. They’re fastidious rules lawyers, or they bitch about how poorly they’re playing (whether they are or not). Or they mock and question what everyone else is doing or playing. Or they’re playing yet another Brooding Lone Wolf character, and get pissy when you won’t warp your RPG game to include them. You get the idea. That Guy takes many forms and can be any one, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, or creed. (Because of that last, I find the term That Guy less than perfect, but unitl I come up with a better one I’ll stick with it for now.)