February Blues

Is nothing ever easy? January has fled into the night, and here we are, with little to show for its time with us.

At least, some of the mania of the last month has calmed, and I'm looking forward to making more of an effort here this month. Unfortunately, intention isn't the same as action.

To be honest, I've been so preoccupied with getting the internet issues I've had worked out that I've gotten out of the right frame of mind. We run the danger in our Thursday game of "jumping the shark." With nearly two years in hand, we've lost the focus on the game. Instead of bearing down on the cultists we're chasing (Princes of the Apocalypse), we've stalled out in the Temple of the Crushing Wave. Sessions have deteriorated to cheap jokes and selfish one-upmanship. It is unfortunate, given that we finally have a full group of players that like each other and enjoy the game on the same level. But the game is suffering.

We've started another game at the game store, and have one session under the belt. It would be a great campaign with 5 or 6 people playing... we had nine. It feels like it will be fun, but with so many players, it is hard to get anything done. It will be fun to see how it develops. The interesting part was building characters in a session zero. It is an experience we have been longing to put into play, and it was fun to actually do.

I think it still fell short of the full effect that could come from true collaboration, but at least nine different people came up with nine different characters. It was still nine people working separately, which seems to undermine the point of the process. There should be a way to meld backstories and entwine them. I think with a smaller group, we could have gotten this done. Part of the drawback was one helpful player who sought to advise everyone else about what they should build for their character. At least the information was insightful, if a little over the top.

For now, it will be fun to play in two games. Now, I need to focus on getting my Roll20 game back up and running.