So last month I got back in touch with my old gaming group and have been working my way back into their sessions. The last time I played was late last year and we were using a slightly modified house ruled Castles & Crusades system. It turns out I missed the entire time span that our GM/DM had changed to one of the other guys. I attended his last session (mostly to create a character when that campaign gets picked back up in a couple of months). I have also attended two more sessions and we are back to our usual GM and now running AD&D which it sounds like there might be a few house rules coming very soon to this as well. There are two new guys to the group and both seem cool and level headed which makes for great additions to the games.
However, I find myself constantly wanting to get more games in. The above mentioned group meets every Wednesday and I try to make as many as I can but sometimes work has me traveling and I have no choice but to miss a session or two. With that being said, most of my work travels happen during the week so I am thinking of trying to find some more gaming action to add to my weekends.
I do belong to an online Meetup.com group and decided to see what has been happening there lately. It seems that Pathfinder has become the predominant system in this group and is actually one of the systems I have been researching anyways. I looked at the group calender and it seen there were two Pathfinder games and a D&D 2e game being hosted in the town I live in. I mapped it and to my surprise the games are being hosted about six blocks from me own house! I contact the host/organizer and it turns out that his games are full for the foreseeable future but will let me know if a seat opens up so I can get a sample of Pathfinder.
Another thing I find interesting is the Pathfinder Society which from what I can see is some type of worldwide organized campaign. I just started reading up on this today so don't have a firm grasp on it just yet.
Now I have also had an urge lately to possible try my hand at hosting/running a campaign myself. I have purchased some Pathfinder core materials and own quite a bit of Castles & Crusades and D&D 4e. I am just not sure I have the confidence in knowing the rules or in my own creativity to give this a shot just yet.
I tend to really throw myself into whatever it is I do. This means over the next few weeks I plan to research hosting/running games as much as I can. If anyone knows where I can find some good tips or advice in GM'ing, please let me know.
I meant to ask you, do you play any one game more than another?
ReplyDeleteI actually have yet to play Pathfinder at all. I am trying to get into a local game here to see how others run it.
ReplyDeleteI have limited 4e experience as well. My usual gaming group tried it when I first got back into gaming a year or two ago but it was too much skirmish and not enough roleplay for most of them. The biggest gripe always seemed to be how long it took to finish battles. But with some of the tips I have seen on Twitter and Blogs I think time management can improve that considerably.
I don't know if I can talk them into giving it another shot so trying to dig up some other players that will join me and I can GM some 4e games and see how it goes.
These both seem to be the most popular systems currently in my area. My usual group seems to like the old school stuff more though. We lean toward OD&D or Castles & Crusades type games. Which is fine with me. I have a blast playing with them but I want to game more often.
Dude, go for it. DMing is easier than it looks.
ReplyDeleteThere are tons of players of Pathfinder/4e in the area, but I'd advise you pick the rules you want to run, because you'll be stuck with them. If you build it, they will come. Advertise on Meetup sure, but actually I found a bunch of players just using flyers at places like the library and Panera Bread (a campus bulletin board would be even better).
First of all I think I seen one of your old flyers up at Underhills the other weekend. It sounded like a description of our group but all of the tabs were pulled off of it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely hear what you are saying about making a choice between the two. I am wanting to get a few games of Pathfinder in before I can really make a good decision between the two. I have seen a lot of changes to 4e since we tried it and like what I see so far. But without a good understanding of Pathfinder I wouldn't feel right just setting it off to the side for 4e.
I really am interested in giving some DMing a shot though. I figure if I like it then it could add another to the rotation for our group as well. Even if we don't do either of the two above mentioned systems I am sure I could do something with C&C or something along those lines again.
Thanks for chiming in Mike!