Wow, that last entry's a bummer, sounds like a gamer about to give up on gaming, which I never did. What I gave up in the interim was writing about playing -- and especially about not playing, as seemed to be happening in those days, because nobody needs more bellyaching.
Quick update, then. Over the past dozen years, I've kept playing in not one but two long-standing groups of overscheduled parents and allegedly grown-up professionals. It's still fun. Play with people you actually like.
One group's my hometown team, most of them friends from high school, which since 2008 has played mostly D&D, whatever edition, but also a full campaign of Shadow of the Demon Lord, among others.
The other group's mostly friends from university in the 90s, now mostly in other cities/countries dropping in and out as life allows/demands. This made us early experimenters with online play, so the pandemic didn't wreck everything. (Both groups now frequently convene online, which will always be my second choice; and infrequently in person, my first.)
Group two's d6 home rules got good enough to publish, so we did. I take it to conventions and have a blast running it for strangers when I can. My first published adventure for Elemental, The Stone of Roc Rock, is coming out soon. In short, my state of play is good. How's yours?
