With the start of the new year I thought it appropriate to do the traditional, “look back on the year that was.” Here’s my TTRPG reflections for 2024.
The New (to me) Games I Played
This isn’t a comprehensive list, but I’ve tried my best to remember all the games I played for the first time in 2024. I need to start keeping a log!
Ironbound
Ironbound was created by my friend, Dave Ward, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s got attribute pools like Cypher, open-ended magic like EZd6, and is set in a modern urban fantasy setting with a ton of flavor. Even better, it’s a d12 system which utilizes boons and banes. I played a werebear and it was a blast. Ironbound will see its official release in the first half of 2025, maybe even in the first quarter, and I can’t wait.
Dragonbane
I played a simple Dragonbane demo at Pax Unplugged in 2023, but in 2024 I both played a character in a one shot and ran it. In fact, my Basic Fantasy RPG campaign wound down to its close and after a short hiatus we started up a Dragonbane campaign.
Dragonbane is such a fun game to run. I love roll-under systems, and this game just…makes it work. Combat is scary, victories are earned, and there’s plenty to work with for both social encounters and exploration. My only knock is that, while the advancement rolls are fun, advancement to new abilities can take a while if a person rolls bad. But even with that, it’s such a blast. I can also award character abilities if I feel the folks do something really cool, so I can speed up advancement if I want.
Free League supplied me with a review copy of the box set back in 2023, but I’ve since purchased that set for one of my players and picked up the hardback core rulebook. I like this game.
Symbaroum
I was given a review copy of Symbaroum by Free League, for which I am grateful. The game’s got a lot going for it that I like. It’s roll under and a character’s skills are modified by their target, using whatever ability or skill would be appropriate. Its magic system, and the presence of a nice corruption mechanic, is one of the coolest I’ve be able to use. Armor also isn’t a static number, it’s a roll to determine how much damage is reduced. The default setting is pretty wild as well.
My biggest struggle with Symbaroum, both when I reviewed the game and began making characters for a one shot, is it’s both written with odd phrasing and organized weird. These factors made prepping the characters a lot more difficult than it should have been. Even with that obstacle, however, I needed to run this system. We played one of the adventures from the core rulebook and it was fun.
I’ve heard rumors that Symbaroum is getting an updated edition, and when that’s announced I will be picking it up. There is so much I find appealing about the game.
Forbidden Lands
I picked up Forbidden Lands back at Pax Unplugged in 2022, which also happens to be the moment when I met Doug Shute. I’d heard about the Year Zero Engine, and how cool it was, so I figured I’d check it out. At the time I was looking to cover some genres other than fantasy, however, so I ended up starting my experience with a Year Zero Engine game with Mutant: Year Zero and…while I love that game I will probably never play it. Why? Because it’s bleak. I then read Coriolis: The Third Horizon, and I thought that game had an amazing setting and a lot of flavor. But I was rather overwhelmed by it, so it also has sat on my shelf.
The sad reality of my first experiences with Year Zero Engine games is they pushed back my appreciation for the amazing Forbidden Lands—I didn’t get around to reviewing it until this past Spring. When I read it that second time for my review, though, I knew I needed to run it. I put together a one shot crawl and invited some folks from my discord to come try it out. It’s everything I’d hoped for. I love the resolution mechanics with the d6 pools, and how damage causes a character’s effectiveness to wane. The concept of each character getting a “fast” and a “slow” action each turn is also amazing. Players can move to get into melee range, but that takes up the action which allows them to defend against incoming attacks (unless they forego attacking themselves, that is). Everything’s fast and fun and intense. I like Dragonbane a tad better, but I’d be happy to run a campaign of Forbidden Lands at some point.
Hacked FASERIP
My friend, John Fredericks invited me to play in some of his super hero games in 2024 and my speedster character, The Bolt, is one of my favorite play. John’s simplified the old Marvel Superheroes FASERIP system even more than it was already, so the game is just plain fun.
Hacked Star Trek
I was also invited to play this game by the inestimable John Fredericks, and it was a blast. We played TOS era characters, and I played a Vulcan science officer who enjoyed responding to his human companion’s responses with “pure logic” (really, he was annoyed). It was which was so much fun! I’m not even sure what system John was using as his base, to be honest. All I know, is that I’d play it again in a heartbeat.
Into The Odd
Into The Odd was a game which was eye-opening for me. When I first read it I wasn’t ready for the way it takes “rules lite” to the extreme it does, but when I revisited it for my review I fell in love and I now rank this right up with EZd6 as a near-perfect one shot system. At the same time, Into The Odd also has some surprising avenues for long-term play. This game is fun. Also, RIP Gary.
Cypher System
My experience playing Cypher System began with with Numenera in 2023, so technically I’ve been running system for over a year. In 2024, though, I branched out from Numenera and used Cypher both to run some light-hearted fantasy one shots and a monthly super hero lunch session. Cypher System is flexible and easy to teach, which is why it’s become one of my favorite games.
BECMI
I collected Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert D&D back in the day, but never really played (I was never able to get a group together), and I never picked up the BECMI line of Basic D&D because it felt like I already had it. But at PAGE 1 in 2024 I was able to do some exploring in the Lost City and it was a ton of fun. My character even survived!
Fun Happenings
I’ve done a lot of cool TTRPG related things in 2024! I don’t think this is all of them, but let’s take a look.
Brewery Sessions
Late in 2023 a Brewery opened up a few blocks from me and thought it might be fun to take my Numenera group there to play a session or two. So in January of 2024 we headed down to Brewery 33 and enjoyed a great time. The owners are nice folks, and they were happy to set a couple of tables aside for us so we could play. One of my local friends even showed up to watch for a bit and he’s now running a character in the same group!
We’ve done a couple more of these throughout the year, and I’m itching to head back. In fact, our first Numenera session of 2025 will happen there! One thing I’d love is for some more folks to come over and cheer the players on. It’d be good for the business and a lot of fun for the players.
Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo
PAGE is a smaller game convention which had is inaugural year in 2024. I loved it. There were some wonderful vendors, cool seminars, and a ton of cool games to play. I didn’t meet PAGE’s founder, Ron Meischker, at the event last year but he became a huge Ecclesicon supporter—which we’ll talk about in a bit. Ron was even kind enough to designate me a “special guest” at PAGE2, which will put me in contact with some amazing folks from the hobby. It’s not an honor I really deserve, to be honest, so I’m rather grateful to him.
I was so happy with my experience last year that I managed to convince my wife to let me stay overnight in 2025, so I was there all day Friday and Saturday. I am kind of bummed to miss Sunday, but I tend to get missed when I don’t show up at church. I was able to come out for the cheesesteak dinner to kick off the convention, though. And I met Kelsey Dionne in person for the first time. That was awesome.
Actual Plays
Between Avenue Studios and Grimwood Games I was afforded some wonderful opportunities to be on actual play streams in 2024. It’s a fun thing to do and, even if the only people watching are friends and acquaintances, having that chat commenting on the adventure is amazing.
But this year I was also able to run some actual play sessions, which was my first time doing that since my Shadowdark stream back in 2022 (which imploded because I just didn’t have the hardware). It’s both an exhilarating and terrifying thing to do, because imposter syndrome is a thing. I’m grateful for the folks who gave me those opportunities!
Even better, my two Cypher System “chaos streams,” where all we had to work with for the adventure were some roll tables I created, were tied to a newer connection on YouTube—Elder Goblin Games. Jorbin had put out a video on his “RPG ‘to go’ bag because he and his family were getting way out of Asheville, North Carolina because of the flooding. That struck me, so I wanted to do something small to help out. Dave, from Grimwood Games, hosted the streams and I ran the game. In the end we raised a bit of money for the American Red Cross’ hurricane relief efforts. I love being able to use my hobby to do a bit of good.
Crossover Friendships (into meat space)
I mentioned the Avenue Studios folks earlier, and we met in person for the first time at PAGE in 2024. They’re fun folks to be around and I’ve been grateful for their support. When I announced Ecclesicon, however, (that’ll come up soon, I promise) Jacob and Dan blew my mind and announced they were coming down for the convention to run games. So we got to hang out for a couple of days. It was so much fun!
I met Dave, from Grimwood Games, in person for the first time at Pax Unplugged in 2023 and he helped make that such a wonderful experience. When I announced Ecclesicon Dave also said he wanted to come down—which blew my mind because Dave lives in Maine. That’s quite a hike to New Jersey. To make things easier on his wallet I offered him my guest room, so he crashed here for a few days and I loved having him stay with us.
Mark is a friend I met when we were on a theology & technology podcast together and we’ve stayed in touch. For the past few years he’s been a regular part of my Thursday night group, playing both Basic Fantasy RPG and Dragonbane. I’d known Mark for years, but we’d never met in person. Until, that is, I suggested that if he came up to Ecclesicon we could have an in-person session of our Basic Fantasy RPG campaign. Mark jumped at the opportunity and flew up from Atlanta. He was as much fun in person as he is online.
Then there’s John Fredericks, of Sharp Mountain Games. We’d met through our shared love of Basic Fantasy RPG and had chatted a bit. But when he heard about Ecclesicon he decided to come down and I was even able to GM an EZD6 session for him!
Ecclesicon (At Last)
The most terrifying thing I attempted in 2024 was running a micro-convention at the church where I pastor. We ran it as a fundraiser, split 50/50 with the church’s roof replacement loan and our local food pantry. I like that we ran it to do a bit of good, but I had no idea if anyone would come.
Wow, was I wrong.
I’ve already mentioned Dave from Grimwood Games, the folks from Avenue Studios, Mark from my Thursday night group, John from Sharp Mountain Games, and Ron from PAGE—but they were not alone. I had a bunch of people sign up to run tables—some of whom I’d never met.
But, by far, the most fun was a local player named Elise who wanted to come but asked if it would be OK since she was a newer player. I told her, in no uncertain terms, that she’d be welcome with open arms. Well, Elise came and had a wonderful time! She’s played in Ron’s home group since then, met some amazing people, and was even a volunteer at PAGE2.
Elise has been one of the best people on my discord since she joined and I’m glad to know her, which would have never happened if I hadn’t run Ecclesicon! In fact, a bunch of folks are excited for her to try her hand at running a game—we think she’ll be amazing.
Ecclesicon ended up raising over $2000 on a budget of under…I think…$300.
Pax Unplugged
When I first went to Pax Unplugged in 2022 I wondered if I’d ever go back. Now I can’t imagine not going.
Going to PaxU has opened up so many avenues for me in this hobby. I’ve be able to meet some amazing people, dared to run some games, and covered some cool products.
Going to Pax Unplugged is now like going to a friendly get together. There’s folks on the expo floor I recognize from attending over several years, and some folks even reached out to me to set up scheduled interviews. I’m rather grateful to Inkwell Ideas, Exalted Funeral, Tim Eisner, and Project Hedron, Steve Jackson Games, and Evil Genius Games for reaching out to me. I appreciate it! Thanks, also, to Monte Cook Games for letting me run Numenera in their game room. That was so cool!
Most important, however, are the friends I’ve made at Pax Unplugged. You are all are awesome, and I look forward to seeing you every time the convention rolls around. I hope to see you in 2025!
The Channel
In 2024 I gained 1242 subscribers to the DM Tales YouTube Channel. I also hit the 3000 subscriber mark and held my first giveaway! I’m now drawing near to 4000 subscribers, which is when I’ll hold my second giveaway—a 2nd Edition AD&D Player’s Handbook. I’m grateful for the folks who’ve subscribed, watched, commented, and/or have become channel members. You all help make DM Tales what it is, thank you so much!
As for content, my analytics in 2024 say I posted 73 videos and 47 shorts. I also hosted 26 live streams. I had no idea I’d done that many live streams on the channel in 2024! I’ve found live stream interviews take a surprising amount of preparation on my part, but they also leave me the most energized afterward, so I need to be more deliberate scheduling them in 2024! I also branched out and began sharing my short form videos on Instagram and TikTok. TikTok is a more interesting place than I was expecting, with some great engagement and mostly positive interactions. It may not be around much longer because we are apparently only supposed to feed American oligarchs money and information, but it was fun while it’s lasted.
I’m entering 2025 with the same basic philosophy for my content I’ve always had. I’d like to be known by two adjectives. “Fair” is the first, the second is “Kind.” Folks may not like some of my takes on a game, and that’s awesome. But malicious is never where I want to go, even though that’s what the algorithm rewards. And, honestly, there’s times where I mess up the second because it’s easy to get triggered into being annoyed by something trivial. But I keep trying to learn and become better.
Conclusion
So there you have it, my 2024 TTRPG year in review. What are some of your TTRPG highlights from last year, and what are you looking to doing in this hobby space in 2025? Let me know in the comments below!
