Looking Ahead to 2015

Games Ahead

With the new year I'm thinking about changes and how to make things better in the months ahead. The #1 goal is to keep the existing Pathfinder games going to their conclusion. I have goals beyond that though:

• Hopefully 2015 becomes the year my long-desired regular superhero campaign becomes a real thing. I'm going to throw a few options out to my regulars and see what sticks. 
• I'd like to play more Savage Worlds, regardless of genre
• I'd like to keep something regular going with the Apprentices
• I'd like to tinker with 5th Edition D&D a little more
• I'd like to play/run something Star Wars
• I'd like to play/run something Star Trek
• I'd like to finish our 4th Edition campaign

Now those last three are fairly long shots outside of a one-off event type thing, but I can dream. The first one is really up to my players, and I suspect items 2-3-4 may be intermingled quite a bit. Schedules are a big deal here with one of the Apprentices off to college and one of my regular players getting married sometime this year, the pool is a little smaller now. Beyond these I need to  finish reading FATE core and Ars Magica and I need to catch back up on Shadowrun 5.

Miniatures: I'd also like to make 40K and Bolt Action more regular things.

Boardgames: I'm hoping these become a more regular thing too. Between CCA, Memoir 44, and Space Hulk we have some pretty cool options. 

Things to look forward to:

• Freedom City for M&M 3E - should be really good
• The Giantslayer adventure path from Paizo looks like a lot of fun
• Spirit of 77 - yeah! The final version of this should be great.
• Star Wars: Armada from FFG looks interesting. Expensive, but interesting.
• Warhammer 9th Edition - time to re-enter the fray? Have to see when it arrives
• 40K 7th edition, Year 2 - what will they do once they're updated every codex? It should be interesting.

Future of D&D

There's a poll up on EN World right now asking what we would like to see from WOTC in 2015. The choices are:

• An Open Gaming License
• An electronic tools suite
• A Forgotten Realms setting book
• Another established setting book
• A brand new setting
• Another genre (sci-fi, modern, horror, etc.)
• A book of new rules
• A book of new monsters, spells, or gear
• An adventure path
• Magazines in print (DRAGON/DUNGEON)

Some kind of open license would be great and I'm sure we will see something later this year. I'm just not positive that it won't be more like the GSL (the failed 4E version of the license) than OGL.

I don't think 5th is crying out for character tools the way Pathfinder or M&M do. The game is just not that complicated. 

I don't need another "all about the Realms" book. Keep it in the adventures. I don't really need a book on another setting either, new or old. I might be interested in some adventure material, but I don;t need another general overview of any of the settings.

Another genre - don't care. There are plenty of rules for other genres out there already.

I don't really need books specifically on new spells, gear, or monsters. Support for specific adventure path type things makes a lot of sense. I'd be fine with a couple of decent adventures a year.

Magazines - I just don't think you're going to see this again. PDF's, maybe, but I don't see WOTC reversing the decisions they made 7 years ago. It's not as if magazines have made some kind of comeback lately. I liked them a lot and bought Dragon for most of 30-something years, but I think their time has passed. 

I will say that in general I think WOTC is doing this right - start slow and build up rather than trying to push a bunch of stuff out in the first few months of a new edition. I'm not as excited about this one as some people but I think it will do well.

There is that, too.