Gaming Babble to note that I'm alive!

The first post for 2026 was not supposed to be coming out nearing the end of February, but here we are.

So this babble is probably going to be all over the place, but I am scatterbrained so it's fine.

What have I been playing on PC?

Aska

It is still in early access and definitely isn't a 'complete' game, but I really dig this game. I usually end up playing like an hour of it every two or three days and that consistency has meant that I've racked up quite a few hours of play time. People could argue that it is still very empty and I'd agree... that just means that there's more coming and honestly, I'm excited for it.

Foundation

I bought Foundation when it was still in early access and kinda forgot about it as they worked on their updates. It released it's 1.0 version in January last year and I decided to give it a go when a recent notification for update came up. I'm enjoying it. You have to think about how you want to build your town a little differently than one would in a game like Settlers and Banished. I play it when I want to relax and listen to music... which admittedly is quite frequently. I should be doing other things - more on that later.

StarRupture

Another early access game, this time by Creepy Jar - the makers of Green Hell which I've babbled about before. It feels like it took inspiration from Satisfactory as it is a factory-building and exploration game with a few other things that keep you on your toes. It's still early days and there are a lot of fixing that needs to happen to run the game smoothly, but it's going to be a fun one. The humour is there and the factory building aspect is fun. I always look forward to returning to my spaghetti-bowl base...

Battlefield 6

This is probably the game few people would imagine I'd play. I used to play the old single-player Call of Duty games and I didn't like the newer iterations and multiplayer. This is the first of the Battlefield franchise that I've played and there are elements that just spark a similar happy feeling. I'm not good at the game. My highest score is always how many times I've died. I don't know one scope from another or anything about gun stats, but that's not why I play the game. Sometimes it's just fun running and shooting the shit out of people while cackling a little crazily. This is my go-to game for that currently.

Don't Starve Together

After a very long break, I've restarted playing DST and playing it with friends even! It's still a brutally difficult game for me, but I love the art style, I love the humour, I love the characters and the challenge. And even though I die frequently, I find the game mostly relaxing. I have babbled about Don't Starve in the past, but basically it is a survival game where darkness means death and starvation is always around the corner. The beautifully twisted Tim Burton-esque art style keeps you entertained while you learn how to survive the different seasons, the different biomes, and the critters you encounter.

I've had this game for years, I've been playing it for years, I have yet to survive a game 'year'. I think my record was 48 days or something.... haha!

It is the game I turn to when I'm in the mood for a challenge with amusement laced in between. 

Satisfactory 

Satisfactory is a factory-building and exploration game that I've babbled about before. I've dumped so many hours into this game from early access to official release and it's almost always installed on my computer. My current playthrough is promising. I might just complete the game this time... but it's slow going. The problem is that it's about automation a lot of the time and while I understand that notion, I find it very difficult for my brain to really plan things in a way that makes it possible. So instead of being outside of the spaghetti conveyor belts and machines, my pioneer is one with the spaghetti, feeding into machines and making sure that everything works... well... reasonably.

That's a lot of gaming... what else am I up to?

Well, predictably, I've been running D&D and ToV (Tales of the Valiant) games. 

Oh! I'm so happy Level Up Store has begun stocking Tales of the Valiant books! As far as I know this is the first and only place where you can get these books in South Africa.

I currently have two dedicated campaigns that I'm running:

• My TNO homebrew for the North American crew is going really well. It's a big group of people, which can be a bit daunting as I've never had as big of a crew at one gaming 'table' but I love the stories that are coming from their characters.
• The Dragon Heist game that I started last year is still running. We're about a third into the game with the extra padding provided by the Alexandrian Remix. We've had a lot of player shuffling which does bring a challenge because now half of the people playing weren't there when the foundation for the intrigue-heavy game was laid, but we're navigating that alright. Fortunately I know the game so well after having run it so many times that it's not so much of a challenge to prep for it.

Along with running two dedicated campaigns, I also run oneshots of different games. I would like to do that more for systems like Tales of the Valiant, and Fantasy Age. But one thing at a time.... or a few (other) things at a time. haha.

Okay, that's a LOT of gaming.

Yes, I know. My plate is full up again. In among the games, I do life things - mostly consisting of work and sleep... haha. 

TTRPG Babble: Stats!

I see that I always share my stats around October every year, so I figured better late than never.

This year was a little weird prep-wise. Usually there's a clear month-active / month-inactive that goes on where as I had four somewhat busy months this year and there rest were middling. It made sense though. March I was still under the impression that I was going to do the October convention (which didn't pan out) and I worked my ass off getting things ready. August was the GeeksxGamers event. September was spent making maps for my homebrew - and they're some nice maps but I can't share them (yet?). And end November was the next GeeksxGamers event.

Oddly though, while this year wasn't terrible in terms of possible burnout, I clocked the most hours prepped of the three years since I've been logging them. It makes sense though, I have had a lot of games and randomness going on this year.

Recap of the year's TTRPGS campaigns ran by me.

• I finished off "Phandelver" - deciding not to continue further with the "and Below" part.
• After 59 sessions, I've put my homebrew with the South Africans on permanent hiatus. Considering we started the game in 2021, I am quite pleased with how far it went.
• The last session for my homebrew for the North Americans this year will be session 29. It's still going surprisingly well even if we can sometimes only play once a month.
• I started running "Waterdeep: Dragon Heist" with some South Africans. Scheduling has been a challenge but I'm about to drop a bomb on them so I'm quite excited to see what happens. we have possibly one or two sessions left this year.

GeeksxGamers is doing it again!

So in August, GeeksxGamers had their maiden voyage into the world of conventions. On 29 November, they're setting sail again in partnership with Valhalla Gaming to run an event dedicated to gaming. 

Girls in Gaming is going to be an event filled with eSports, TTRPGs, Board Games, War Games, and other games, quizzes and cosplay.

This event, giving the nod to females in gaming, isn't reserved for them alone. It is more an acknowledgement that in a perceived male-dominated setting, women are active and willing to game as well. It is a celebration of diversity.

My part in this event is, of course, on the TTRPG side. I have games prepped for D&D 5e 2014, Realms of Pugmire, and Fantasy AGE. My fellow GMs are primarily focused on D&D, so it's not all weird new things we're doing on that front.

The GM workshop - Big Reveal

In my previous post, I talked about wanting to do something about the GM shortage that we have. And... I did a thing.

THE THING

In short, I'm running a six-session series on the absolute basics of GMing - specifically focusing on the more adminny, less creative aspect. Not all Game Masters are going to run their first, second, or even tenth game as a homebrew and there are some considerations that all of them would benefit to spend some time on. So that's what I'm going to try and facilitate.

The format is simple. Each session, I'll yammer for a maximum of 20 minutes on the subject I had prepared (with SLIDES! Oh! And HAND OUTS!). Then I'll open it up for discussion, questions, etc. until people are exhausted or two hours have passed.

Time zones being what they are, the current series will probably be easier for Africa, Europe and UK peeps to join, but if it works out, I might try to find a more friendly time for the Americas as well.

I'm very excited, a little nervous, but mostly determined to help do my part.

Let's see how this goes.

TTRPG Ramble: Past and present

This post is a mix of what I've been up to, what I'm actively working on, and future plans. 

First, what I won't be doing. In April, I blogged about the TTRPG thing at Con.ect. That has unfortunately fallen through. I'm sad about it but it is what it is.

Anyway, rather than ruminating too much about that, I'll instead babble about other TTRPG things:

I've been running a Phandelver game that's now heading towards a close. I was planning on doing the "and Below" part but there was a general sense of exhaustion coming from the group. They love their characters, but I didn't know whether this campaign would've been a good one for them.

And I have a Dragon Heist game going that is starting the second chapter of the book. It's been amusing so far. I haven't run DH in a while and need to reacquaint myself with all the strings of the various puppets and plots. The group is relaxed, so I don't think we're going to burn through the material quickly.

My South African homebrew game lasted 59 sessions before I called an indefinite break to it. But the story hasn't died in my mind. I'm still consistently making notes for it. Not only for the North American group that's currently working through the material, but for future possible scenarios.

Speaking of the North American group, we're 25 sessions in. It's been interesting leading them through because of the different focus' that they have towards aspects of the world. It makes me very appreciative of the groups I've had gone through it past and present because they have made me work harder on this idea of mine. 

I'm toying with the idea of running more games... I do have a few concerns about over extending myself though. Life has been pretty stressful and I don't know if adding more on my plate would be the best course of action.

I think I just need a holiday. That would be nice. I should maybe think of taking a couple of days off somewhere soon.

So that's what I've done and what I've been up to. What I'm planning on doing in future has to do with my whine a year ago about the lack of GMs. I figure one has to be the change one wants to see or some such. So I'm doing something that will hopefully yield something good. We'll see.

GeeksxGamers convention: Game, game, drop, take an energy drink, up you go

One Sunday, something strange happened to me. I got a phone call. I stared at the phone, looking at it as if it were a bomb and realised I should probably answer...

And in a way it was a bomb. A good bomb. There is going to be a convention in Gqeberha that's happening on 9 August 2025 at Walmer Town Hall. It's going to involve people being able to play D&D (2014), a selection of over 50 boardgames, and Magic the Gathering. There's going to be a Warhammer exhibition, two cosplay competitions and two Klask competitions.

It sounds super exciting to have this in the city and, having met the organisers, I can say that they're as excited and enthusiastic about the opportunity this will bring as I am.

How is the day going to work?

The convention is divided into two time-segments - day and night - and each of them has their own entrance fee of R300 or if you're planning on staying there from 9am to 11pm the cost is R500.

EDIT: Following the feedback received from the community, the convention slashed their prices. And is now charging half of the original cost! Thus R150 per session and R250 for the whole day.

There's been some critique about the cost being steep. My argument to that is that a stroll-through-stalls convention can cost you near R100, if not more. Attending a three-hour movie where you sit on your behind doing nothing but watching costs you R200. Here you have the opportunity to spend several hours playing games, learning some new once, interacting with people and having fun for R300. To me, it sounds like money well spent.

If that doesn't sell you, think on this. There are oneshot D&D tables that cost $25 per person per session for 2.5 to 3 hours. Being able to access several games that exceed that time for cheaper than that is a big deal.

EDIT: Following the feedback received from the community, the convention slashed their prices. And is now charging half of the original cost!

So what will I be doing?

I've been approached to be one of the 40 volunteers who will help make those brave souls who venture through the doors feel welcome... I will sit them down, smile, and then try to kill them in D&D.😈 There are going to be around six tables dedicated to running D&D for curious folk or seasoned veterans with party levels of 3rd, 5th, and 8th respectively. I've been asked to try and pack as many games into the day as I can... which will probably mean three or four sessions of around three hours each. 

That is a new kind of challenge for me, but I'm excited to take it on. And I won't be the only DM there. So what I'm saying is that the TTRPG tables will be rocking.

Boardgames

I'm not big on boardgames so I can't say much about it except that there will be a LOT on offer to play. There are also volunteers that will be taking care of players and helping them out. I've heard the selection will be beginner friendly but that there's some fun ones in the mix. Out of 50 games, I can't imagine that a person won't find one game they'd enjoy.

The ultimate problem for introverts tends to be finding the people who'll play those games with you and here is where the beauty of a convention catering for activities comes in. You can't throw stones at not finding people if you're not there to join with those who resonate at the same frequency. 

Magic the Gathering and Klask

I'll be honest, I don't know anything about either of these games but they'll also be at the convention and so should earn mention. There's more information on the convention's website about both.

Warhammer exhibition

Representatives of the city's wargaming enthusiasts are going to come show their awesome miniatures. They'll have a section specifically dedicated to Warhammer and will be there to interact with anyone interested in getting into the addiction.

Cosplay competition

There will be two cosplay competitions for each time segment of the convention. Pre-prep and communication before the convention is essential for those who're interested in taking part of it. More details on their website.

A last thing...

So I'm very excited about this convention, like I've said above, and I think it's worth supporting. To that end, I would ask that you spread the word if you're in the area or come join if you're curious. From the D&D side I can tell you that newbies are absolutely welcome at my table. And I know others feel the same. 

"But I don't have a character!" - That can be supplied.

"But I don't have dice!" - Dice will be provided.

"But but but..." - No buts! Just butt there! 

See you soon 😁

Build up and pay off - When TTRPGs go right.

It's almost four days since it happened.

Since what happened, you ask?

Magic. Since magic happened.

In March 2024, I started a D&D homebrew campaign with the North American crew. Having run this adventure with the South Africans, I had some vague certainties as to what was going to happen down the line. So I began seeding things - gave one player's character random heartburn and weird dreams about the past.

Saturday night (technically Sunday morning for me), 19 sessions and more than a year later, I finally got to tell him why.

I was, as always, very nervous. I struggle with almost permanent anxiety and just having the reason for it being different. Needless to say, that was raging. I also have a large group of people whom I don't want to sideline for the big reveal, so I worked on ways to include them through recollection or questions. We also had a surprise new edition to the party that required me bringing them into the game in a way that still works for the story. Oh! And I only had two hours to do all of the things in.

A lot of things to juggle for my anxiety-crazed brain.

So I took away combat for this session. I mostly took away exploration. Instead, I focused in on the tier of play that I love the most and comes up the least in many campaigns. I let the people roleplay for two hours.

This group knows how to roleplay.

The player whose character had weird heartburn had such a look of shock when I finally revealed why there's a stabby-burn feeling in his chest. And the shock reverberated through all of them. There were slack jaw moments which I will cherish in my memory forever. It was such an amazing time. Amazing enough to vaguely write a post about it. ;-)

Story payoffs like this one doesn't come as frequently to me in a campaign. I will never be able to duplicate this even for the same group. But I'm challenged to try. 

What's happening in the land of Ris?

 So it's been a while... I got more weary after my last post and have been vegetating a bit. However, things are also kinda busy in my world so I thought I'd give a general babble about what's happening in terms of hobbies and what's not.

TTRPGs

There's been a number of developments in terms of what I'm up to with regards to TTRPGs. 

• My longest running homebrew D&D game with the South Africans have come to a bit of a halt. We completed 59 sessions from 2021 until now and, while we've had some breaks, they haven't been sufficient. People are fatigued and I decided that it would be better to put the game on indefinite hiatus. This also gives me the opportunity to rest more (see below on what I'm up to to why this statement is funny).

• My homebrew game with the North Americans is going on session 18. What I find interesting is that I'm the one who wants to move the current thread along and they're like "no, we want to use the next session to talk about things that has happened so far". Which is awesome. I am not complaining.
  
  
• I'm planning on running two different oneshots at our local gaming convention in October - one for the Fantasy AGE system and the other for Tales of the Valiant. I have the "stories" basically formulating in my mind and spent a huge amount of time on creating character sheets... and I'm not done yet. I'm also practicing the oneshots on my friends and will be running the ToV one in May. Should be fun.
  
  A bit more on the idea we have. A group of us are essentially going to have two tables running games on both days of the convention. The games will only be two-and-a-half hours in length - thirty minutes to familiarise players with the system and each other and then two hours on the actual playing. We're going to be showing off games like Fantasy AGE, Tales of the Valiant, Daggerheart, Realms of Pugmire, and others. 
  
  
  
  
  
• I'm also running two games with the same group of people on Saturdays. We're playing a Phandelver and Below D&D campaign, but on days when not everyone can come, we mess around with Fantasy AGE trying to familiarise ourselves with it.

Computer Gaming

• I'm slowly, very very slowly, playing Mass Effect again. And by slowly, I mean 'I have gotten to the Citadel for the first time and haven't touched the game in like a week afterwards' kind of slowly. I constantly try not to be sucked in by how amazing the game was build and the world constructed. I try to remind myself how hurt I was and how painful the end is going to be. And then I see a cutscene and it's like "Oooohhh..... prettty!" I be dumbass, yes.
  
  
• I'm also losing time in Stranded: Alien Dawn which has recently been acquired by Paradox Interactive... it doesn't immediately bother me but I have to wonder how many million DLCs they'd be able to get out of a game like that. 
  
  
• Aska is also a game I play quite regularly. I know there's a lot of micromanaging that you need to do, but it's relaxing. It's got all the makings of a settlement builder and survival game all meshed up into one. It ticks all the boxes in my mind as something that I want to play without thinking too hard.
  
  
• And then finally there's Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries. A game I shouldn't enjoy because I don't know anything about the stats and guns and whatnots. But somehow, even though I am terrible at the game, I find myself enjoying what I can do. I've had to restart several times in the campaign because I inevitably run out of money and working mechs, but it's still fun. I get the same enjoyment out of it that I got from Battletech and I miss just as badly. haha.

Writing

I've picked up writing again, albeit very very VERY slowly. I have a Mass Effect fanfic that I'm posting for the first time which actually came into existence over a decade ago. For any of you who followed Shattered Reality on FanFiction.com, the story I'm posting now is the one that inspired and is referred to in that one. You can read both without being spoiled by the other, so if you are interested in Mass Effect fanfics the Shattered Reality story was finished and is beefy. 

TV / Streaming

I don't really watch any shows all that much. I've never been big at watching series unless it's something that really catches my attention. I'm happy to see that The Last of Us is back with a second season. Having played the games and enjoying the story, I'm happy to see how they translate that into a different medium. I was a little worried that Bella Ramsey wasn't going to seem older in the second season, but so far I'm on board. 

Board Games / Card Games

I'm still playing Arkham Horror at least twice a month. We've worked through a number of campaigns and it's been a lot of fun. I've been asked to teach others how to play the game at a board-gaming event. So naturally I decided to pull my friends in because I am not keen on doing stuff like that alone, haha. That's happening on Sunday this weekend. (If you are in the area and interested, send me a message and I'll give you details or link you up with people that have the details).

In Conclusion...

So I'm not inactive. If anything, I'm quite busy and keep myself at that level a bit too much. That said, I'm enjoying myself thoroughly, so I can't complain about things that help my mental health and give me joy. 

Outside of the hobby world, things are a bit rough. At least I have things I can take shelter in.

Lack of Energy - The BBEG

 So February behaved a little better than January did. That has been a mercy as the pendulum finally seems to be changing direction and heading the other, hopefully better, way. But with the passage of time, it has become very apparent that a 'new' challenger has reared its head.

Lack of Energy: the BBEG.

I have so much I want to do. I have D&D games I'm running, solo-games I want to do, I'm working on rewriting an old fanfic (more on that in a possible later babble), I have game manuals and stories to read. But I only have so much energy left in the tank, and refilling that energy doesn't seem to be happening at a sufficient enough pace.

Which is why I stopped streaming. It's not that I don't like it, I do. I enjoy it quite a bit. It's just that it expends a lot of energy. Energy that I don't currently have on hand.

I don't think it's burnout. At least, not yet. But I do realise that I have to be cautious that it doesn't turn into that.

So what am I going to do about it? Well, I'm taking a week off of work in two weeks and I'm actually leaving the house two of those nights to stay in a little rondavel by the ocean. So some peace and quiet might help quite a bit.

Is two nights quiet enough? Probably not, but I'm also trying not to put as much pressure on myself to perform. After January's events, it's clear I took a knock and I'm slowly trying to rebalance.

It's slow going but this BBEG is not one I'm going to allow to win.

Mini-babble: Cartograph Atlas Edition

So remember when I said December was an emotional trainsmash? Well, it would seem that January didn't like that and tried to one up it.

WTF, January?!

So as per usual, I sought escape from the insanity that I find myself in. And I found a new solo TTRPG to babble about! Introducing: Cartograph Atlas Edition.

So to play this game you need a number of six-sided dice that are going to represent one of three types of things so you need to try and have them be at least three colours. These are going to represent landmark dice, biome dice, and temporary dice. Along with that, you're going to need a piece of paper, a pencil, an eraser, a pack of playing cards, and a notebook to journal in.

The idea behind this game is that you take on the persona of a cartographer (selected from lists or rolled randomly) who arrives at an area populated by other people and you've been tasked to draw a map and chart what you find. You have different phases of play - one of which has you roll dice onto the paper to see what biomes and landmarks you find. You also have a phase that involves writing responses to prompts about the different areas you've travelled to.

Now obviously, you can play fast and loose with this idea. For example, I played a little following the rules and phases and then I realised that I'm just too brain tired to actually write anything, so I ended up just creating a map with the dice rolling (which is was quite fun). The book also gives you ways to modify play from the default fantasy roll, draw, and write.

One can buy Cartograph Atlas Edition pdf from Itchio for $12 USD. Or you can purchase it and over 100 other solo ttrpgs for $10 USD on Itchio by getting the Solo But Not Alone 5 bundle. I will probably babble about some of the solo TTRPGS in other posts as I explore them. The bundle is available for the next three months.