It's a busy life.

I suppose I should give an overview of the current projects I'm involved in:

One of the two groups I currently game with is still doing a try-out for 4th Ed. D&D. We should be done withthat in about a month or so. Our host is currently on a two-week vacation, which means play has stopped for a while. Once we're finished with that, it's still to be seen where we'll go from there. There are currently three players clamouring for a turn as GM. One wants to run a prepublished D&D 3.5 campaign, another wants a go at running World of Darkness, and the third wants to explore a new (for the group, at least) system, Deadlands, which is western-based horror.

The other is a bi-weekly session that has finally picked up some speed again, after draggin on for a couple of months. The reason for that is the number of players: 6 players, including a few with very busy scedules doesn't make it easy to find quality gaming time. However, we have worked out the following solution; if two or more players can't make it to the game, those who do show up roll up a different character and have a one-shot adventure.

I am also currently taking part in a Warhammer tournament. So far, we're still fairly early, but I am in a good position, with some wins and fewer losses. Hopefully my Vampire Counts will continue to do me proud.

On the more conceptal side of gaming, I'm working on three different campaigns.

First, there is Ars Magica. It's one of those systems that set out to do one thing, but to do it very well. In this case, it's portraying medieval wizards. The magic system is robust and flexible, which is always good in a game focused on wizard. The one problem with the system I have (and this might sound weird) is that it is very much driven by character motivations alone, making it unappealing for most people I play D&D with.

Second, I'm working on a Maptools campaign. The thing is; until last summer, our local gaming group consisted of five people. But then Tom was lucky enough to score a job at Google. Unfortunately, this meant he had to move halfway across the globe. Maptools seems like a good way to keep gaming together, even though we can't be in the same room. The problem is finding time, the nine hour difference doesn't make it easy. Nevertheless, I'm sure we'll find time to game.

The last campaign I have in mind is largely thanks to the blogs I've been reading. They have inspired me to try and start a sandbox hexcrawl. My initial plays have been changed quite a bit, but the core has remained the same. More on this in a later post.

Introduction

I have been inspired by some excellent blogs that I have been following over the last few weeks to start my own. Unlike most that I follow, I have a somewhat different point of view, which I hope will be novel enough to warrant its existence.

First of all, I'm not a grognard. As the name of this blog already shows, I'm still in college. Although I consider myself a fairly experienced rpg-player, having played almost a dozen different systems through a period of time that's just shy of a decade, I'm far too young to have played old-school D&D. I have been lucky in a way that I started playing with some older gamers, who still remembered older stuff than that was on the market at the time (although even they had been brought up on second edition).

Second, I'm still in college (as the title of this blog should have told you). That means I have some advantages and some disadvantages to people who are working for a living. I have less money to spend on gaming material, but I probably think I have more free time that I can devote to gaming than your average grognard.

Thirdly, I'm Belgian and not American. That difference is probably inconsequential, but I'm putting it here for completeness' sake. Gamers will be gamers, wherever they are.

Lastly, I'm plugged in into a large network of fellow gamers. I'm part of a student club (I suppose the American equivalent would be a fraternity) devoted to gaming. Mainly boardgames, but also rpgs and card games. That means I don't a lot of trouble finding people to game with. I play at least once a week on average, not counting the weekly Warhammer night that I spend at my local gaming store. It could be more, but I need to devote some time to study and non-gaming stuff with my girlfriend.

Anyway, we'll see how this thing goes from here.