The Obligatory Projects Post

Here we are in January 2013. Not bad, since in my youth I was doubtful there would be a technologically advanced society left by the year 2000. And in the spirit of that optimism, here's a look at what's spinning around behind the curtain in my head, gaming-wise.

Scheduled Stuff
Any event already on the calendar (and hopefully recurring).

• Potluck and Game Night - I'm organizing an event at my church in Shrewsbury, MA. Hopefully this will become a monthly event after the first session this Saturday, 12 January 2013. If you're in the area and want to hang out with families of all ages and play some board games, head on over to our sign up page and RSVP.
• RPG for Kids - I've got the next session scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday, 26 January 2013. It's our second session, and I think the kids are ready to unleash their Luck Points to change the world in their favor. We'll see what mayhem they get into with their orc prisoner.
• PAX East - Sure, it's in late March, but I've got my 3 day pass confirmed, a request in for time off around that weekend, and a couple of panels submitted. We'll see how things shake out, and how much editing income I can scurry away between now and then to pay for things.

Front Burner Projects

These are in active development in the short term, whenever I get the chance but usually on the train to and from work.

• Paid Gigs - I've got a couple of smallish projects on my editing dance card for January. And if I don't do the paid stuff first, it's unlikely there will be much more paid work in the future. Funny how business works like that.
• The Tao of Gaming - I've taken some time away from this project so I can come back to it with fresh eyes. I want to get this thing written and look for some old school-looking brush art to play with for layout. This is spawning other projects like relearning LaTeX to get a decent Pocketmod version of the first 9 chapters cranked out.

Back Burner Projects

These threaten to abscond with my attention at any moment, burner placement be damned.

• A Light in the Dark - A tiny game of horror and confession using burning matches as a storytelling and resolution mechanic. Originally conceived for the Tin Ear Game Design Contest, but at this point I'm not sure I'll make the end of January deadline. We'll see how my burners shuffle around in the next 3 weeks.
• Hooked on Tonics - A game about a Victorian Women's Crocheting Circle going after snake oil salesmen. Needs a mechanic involving crochet hooks. Original idea spawned in a G+ thread by Meguey Baker, who spreads infectious game ideas with apparently no effort. You have been warned.
• Schrödinger's Gun GMing - There's more to explore here, but I seem to have lost my direction. I've got a few more ideas, but I get more interested in the ideas that find me instead of the ones I planned for. Hopefully I can finish the arc I started with and move into cleaning up this article series.

Personal Cleanup/Editing Projects
I've completed projects that need some finish work and polish.

• Domo - I made a version of a Domain Management Game as part of NaGa DeMon 2012. It's playable, but still needs some testing and twiddling. I hope to run a game or two via email or G+ (please let me know if you'd be interested) and get this into a finished state so I can start adding options.
• Adventures in Elysium - I wrote an arc of adventures for Classic Traveller. I got a little sloppy with rules near the end, and I'd like to compress it into a single PDF for ease of use. I'll need to check licensing, but I'm not sure I can actually sell it. Or maybe I'll get ambitious and port it to T5 when it's available.

Stuff I Want To Work On
This pile of things I'd like to focus on at some point, in no particular order.

• Gamma World Campaign - Yes, I'd like to take a crack at running the latest Gamma World in a setting involving the seven hills of Wormtown. I want it to be fairly serious campaign play, but given the way my games usually go there will be a pile of jokes as well.
• Traveller On Demand - I want to dust off a Classic Traveller one-shot that I ran years ago and get it in shape to run as needed as a system or campaign intro. After that, I may get the first few chapters of Adventures in Elysium in shape as well. Who cares if the system is years out of print? It's still a grand ol' time to play, and the entire mechanic is roll 2d6 plus mods and hope for an 8+.
• Playing New Systems - Dungeon World, Fate Core, Hillfolk, and Technoir come to mind. And I wouldn't mind actually playing Marvel since I haven't yet. So many game systems, so little time.

There's more. There's always more, but this gives me a checklist to start from. Stay tuned for more mayhem as it happens.