goblin cartoons

In 2008, I got back into playing role-playing games on a regular basis, something I’d fallen out of.  I joined a regular Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay group, which was good. (I can take or leave the Warhammer game itself, but the group I played with was a lot of fun.) I also started playing Burning Wheel with two guys I met online, and I’ve fallen in love with the game. Burning Wheel has quickly become one of my favorite games.

But there’s an itch that still isn’t getting scratched. I love being a player, but I also love being a game master, so I’m determined to run a game in 2009. I would very much like to run the new Mouse Guard RPG, and I think I can get enough players to make it happen. I’d also love to run a few sessions of In a Wicked Age, as well as try out Vincent Baker’s new game, Storming the Wizard’s Tower. Of course, my big dream is to run a regular, long-term superhero game, almost certainly using Chad Underkoffler’s nifty Truth & Justice, but I don’t know if I could get that going.

At any rate, I want to run something. And I’m feeling inspired and fired up enough to make it happen.

There are some games that immediately grab me, shake me by the collar and yell “PLAY ME!” in my face. And yet for various reasons, I never seem to get a chance to play them. Castle Falkenstein is one of those games. The first time I read it, I fell in love, and sometimes I pick it back up and reread it (although my copy is completely falling apart at this point) and feel that love all over again.

Nine Worlds is another game that I’ve fallen for immediately, but never played. (I would link to the Nine Worlds website, but it’s down at the time of writing.) I own a copy of the original printing, but I’ve always intended to get the revised printing (with a better binding). Because it looked doubtful I’d have a opportunity to play it, though, I always put buying the revised version off. Which was a big mistake, because Matt Snyder, the designer and publisher, is getting out of the business and won’t be selling his games or making them available in any way. Nine World is out of print, and at this point, Matt says it will never be printed again. Damn.

I know Matt has his reasons, and I assume they’re good ones, but this makes me sad. I took it for granted that opportunities don’t always last. And he we have another missed one for me.

(It just occurred to me: Castle Falkenstein also went out of print, and both games use playing cards rather than the more typical dice. Huh.)