From the Archive: on-getting-started-with-blogs-and-getting-restarted-with-rpgs
I was scrolling Twitter (rip) today when I happened to stumble across Zedek Siew's Bloggy Awards. Reading it really awakened a desire in me to participate more in the RPG scene online. Since Twitter's demise, I've been trying my best to use it less and less. As a result, RPG discourse has sorta fallen outside my reach--I can't for the life of me use Discord or any of the newfangled social medias everyone has seemingly scattered to.
Not that I have ever really been a part of the scene who's scattering I feel so deeply. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that I have always been more of a, well, consumer of RPG content than a creator of it. Sure, I did write my own Call of Cthulhu adventure one time (shout out to the Storytelling Colective) for dragging me through that unmotivated summer), but for the most part I lurk Twitter, binge Questing Beast and Seth Skorkowsky videos over and over again, and keep up to date on the usual variety of actual play and theory podcasts.
I haven't even ran a game in a long while. The two 5e games I play are fine and all, but they don't light my fire the way running a game does. I've had three campaigns burst on me in about as many years:
- A 5e game for my sister, brother in law, and cousin. They wanted to try out games, and I was willing to run it. Started running Dolmenwood from the Patreon material, but an open world did not motivate the group forward. Eventually the discord chat fell silent.
- A Mork Borg campaign for some friends. We were into the metal theme at first, and I made an effort to make it Dark Souls inspired. This one went for awhile, but eventually scheduling got away from us and I haven't been able to schedule a new session. We (meaning I) also just kinda got tired of Mork Borg. Good for one shots, but maybe not for a full campaign.
- A Delta Green game leading up to Impossible Landscapes. I still have intentions to see this one through, but it's going to need some planning on my end. I have ideas, though.
Which is where the idea of blogging comes in. If I'm having trouble finding new ways to engage with RPGs, why not go back to the tried and true method? In Zedek's Bloggy Awards, there's many writers who have only now gotten started with blogging. Let's give this thing a shot, and see if it gets the creative juices flowing.
So here's my plan: I'm going to start by diagnosing why I haven't been able to get a game going. Once that's accomplished, it's time to start Impossible Landscapes. Time is a factor too- I'm a high school English teacher, so my time is already stretched thin by a demanding job. I also hike and powerlift. Maybe a schedule is what's needed?