A Savage AfterWorld Retrospective: Looking Back On 2016

And another year in The Savage AfterWorld comes to a close...

Every year since starting this blog, I like to close out the year by looking back at what gaming accomplishments and contributions I've made. I encourage you to do the same, as there's nothing like a bit of year-end introspection to make you appreciate what you've done and where you've been, as well as to energize you for the next year's gaming goodness. So let's take a look back and see what The Savage AfterWorld brought to the gaming community in 2016, shall we?

** Last  year with I lamented that my posts here at TSAW was a bit light -- only 117 posts for the year. This year beat that record with a paltry 47 posts. What is the cause of my fall-off of regluar posts? I guess I could chalk it up to the typical personal real-life distractions or perhaps that my Google Plus activity supplanted it. Or perhaps I just got lazy. I'll make a concerted effort to get more material placed here for your perusal in the coming year.

** In spite of the lack of posts, The Savage AfterWorld reached Post 1000 in 2016! So even though this year was a bit "shallow", there were enough posts made this year for this little piece of the blogosphere to reach a momentous milestone! Thanks to all of you who have stuck around over the years to see this blog hit that number of posts!

** The long-awaited Apes Victorious RPG was released by Goblinoid Games. I contributed a few things for this fantastic game of "astronauts stranded on a world of intelligent apes", and I'm very pleased to see how well-received this new game has been! I have a few ideas for adventures that I'd like to put together, so perhaps we'll see something in 2017.

** I've been trying to get some reviews up on the blog. I really do enjoy pointing out and discussing some games -- both new and classic -- that I've come to enjoy. Some of the stuff I've reviewed over the past year include Evenings of Terror for Chill 1e (with Elvira!); Quill: The Letter-Writing RPG;  Wayward: Adventure Board Game; The Fungus Forest; and The Advanced Mutant Companion for Mutant Future. I've got some new reviews already on the docket for 2017 including The Cthulhu Hack, Four Against Darkness, Riders: A Game About Cheating Doomsday; and Salvation Road and Last Friday board games. Look for these -- and others -- in the coming year!

** I offered up several new Cryptworld THINGs for use in your home horror games, including the Mirror Dweller, the Murdermatronic, and the Diabolic Structure. Some of these new creatures found their way into The Sketchbook of Grotesqueries -- a free-to-download compendium of new Cryptworld monsters! I used to offer this on an irregular basis, but now it's always available! Go grab it if you haven't yet!

** I entered the 200 Word RPG Challenge. My entry for Rule 1-2-3 was selected as a semi-finalist by one of the judges! I didn't make the cut to the final round, but it was a fun experiment and rewarding that my entry was chosen. Think YOU can write an RPG in 200 words? Try your hand at it next year!

** I'm still getting out to as many gaming events as I can attend over the year, and 2016 saw me get to two conventions. In June, I was able to return to North Texas RPG Con where the classic gaming folks meet to game and drink and game! This year, I decided to run only gonzo funny games, so I ran Ghostbusters and TOON for two crowded tables. Then, in October, the pendulum swung to the horrific end of the spectrum as I drove out to North Carolina for AVL Scarefest -- a convention that focuses on horror-related gaming! I introduced those folks to Cryptworld, which was VERY well received. Enjoyed it so much, I have plans to return in 2017!

** I've had some success with my Classic RPG Map cloth pattern I've had for sale on Spoonflower for a while. (Folks typically use this for dice bags and such.) Late this year, I decided to use this pattern (of my own design) to create a coffee mug for myself through Zazzle. Turned out so nice, I offered it up for sale on a new storefront. Then I created a tie using that pattern. And a T-shirt. And a notebook binder for gaming materials. And some wrapping paper for those OSR RPG gaming gifts you're givin'. And color me stunned, but these all seem to be a big hit! So thanks to everyone who's picked up one of these items!

So that's a wrap for 2016. As we head into 2017, I wish all of you the best in the coming year! See you at the gaming tables!

A Savage AfterWorld Retrospective: Looking Back On 2015

Excuse me while I conduct a bit of year-end navel-gazing...

As the year 2015 winds down, it looks like The Savage AfterWorld will close out the year not with a bang, but with a whimper. It looks like I'll end this year with 117 posts -- the fewest number of posts in one year since I began this blog back in 2009. It appears most of my gaming discussion is on G+, and this little corner of the Interwebs has been sadly ignored, upon first blush.

However, in actuality I see that this blog's content and my contributions to the OSR community over the past year is surprisingly robust.

** My biggest achievement for the year would be the release of Monsters Macabre -- Cryptworld's first official supplement. I created and wrote a considerable amount of material for it, and acted as the project developer and editor. Monsters Macabre has been very well-received and it's the first of more new Cryptworld supplements to come. Speaking of which...

** I also created a released Creepy Comic Conversion Issue 1. Folks really liked this Cryptworld-supplement mini-zine, and there are two more currently wrapping up for release soon!

** Meanwhile, continuing with the Cryptworld support, October became The Month of THINGS! Monsters Macabre was released to the public, I ran Cryptworld at conventions I attended, and new Cryptworld creatures were posted each week culminating with The Sketchbook of Grotesqueries (only available on All Hallow's Eve).

** My Thundarr the Barbarian Sourcebook for Mutant Future was upgraded one final time as I compiled my various convention-run scenarios and inserted them into the text. Everything I've created for Thundarr games is now found between those two covers.

** Over the year, this blog featured a ton of stuff for your home games including new material for Mutant Future (Arachnobull and Great White Stallion), Labyrinth Lord (Boon/Bane Coin, Blood Imps, Seacrush, and The Temple of Divine Sight) and Cryptworld (About 13 new THINGS, as well as the new monster-hunting society known as Hansels and Gretels). And I continued to create new Mutant Future material for Korgoth of Barbaria, which may one day find its way into a special supplement, much like my Thundarr the Barbarian Sourcebook!

** I enjoy pointing people to new (and older classic) products I think they may enjoy, so I've posted reviews of some of my favorite games both modern and classic, including Mayfair's Encounters, Toypocalypse RPG, and the Gamemaster's Apprentice Base Deck. More reviews are on the docket in the coming year of toys and games both popular and obscure!

** I introduced a new series known as "Gamehacks" where I create a new prop, card, or rule for my favorite games. I made some new cards for Monty Python Flux and some new zombie figs for Escape: Zombie City. I'm currently working on new Gamehacks for Hot Rod Creeps and Ghostbusters: The Board Game.

** The entire month of August was taken up with the RPG-A-Day challenge. I'm not normally a fan of these, but it was fun to rise to the challenge and give my own RPG habits and preferences some introspective.

** I'm still happily providing editing and proofreading services for any RPG author who like a bit of help getting the punctuation cleaned up and their words in the right order. At last count, I have 35 projects under my belt and I'm always available to assist with Your Great Work. Drop me a line if interested!

** Convention attendance was expanded, as I attended Gamicon Omega in Iowa, Origins in Columbus, Con on the Cob in Hudson, and U-Con in Ypsilanti, Michigan. I ran more than a dozen games and played in even more at these events. Next year, I have plans to attend just as many conventions, plus add a couple of new ones to my itinerary.

So, in spite of light offerings at The Savage AfterWorld in 2015, I'm pretty pleased with what I accomplished and what I've provided to the community. My hope is to give The Savage AfterWorld a bit more attention in the coming year, and I hope you'll stick around!

Looking Back On 2013: What Did I Accomplish? Achieve? Contribute?

I've been seeing some "2013 Retrospective" blog posts surfacing here and there as the year winds down. I thought that was as good a reason as any to look back at my own gamer achievements for the year and assess what I've managed to accomplish over the last 365 days.

And I gotta tell you: I was stunned.

I went back, month-by-month, and assessed my productivity -- what I managed to write, produce, run, edit, or release gaming-wise. I truly do not want this blog post to become a "LOOKIT ME" self-promotion fest, but rather I wanted to share my personal achievements toward my own projects, this blog, and the OSR community at large.

** I am a book editor by trade, and in January I began offering free editing services for smaller
publishers and garage press folks who had written RPG materials and supplements. Over the year, I have edited and/or proofed 15 products ranging from micro-supplements of a few pages to full RPG rulesets of several hundred pages. Just my way of contributing to the community, and the offer still stands for anyone working on something for 2014!

** I attended Gary Con for the second time. I really enjoy the yearly pilgrimage to Lake Geneva, "Where It All Started." Ran games of Chill, Timemaster, Mutant Future, and, of course, Thundarr the Barbarian! I also played in games of Dungeon Crawl Classics (a playtest run of a new module, in fact), Mazes and Minotaurs, Metamorphosis Alpha, and Mutant Future! Attending conventions is a great way to sharpen your teeth behind the screen and to try out games you don't normally get to play at home. And, upon getting home, I posted the adventures for both my Thundarr game and my Timemaster game for anyone who wanted to download them for their own home games.

** I spent the summer trying to find a classic dungeon map pattern to use for a project I had in mind. When I couldn't find anything that looked right, I went ahead and designed it myself. The Classic RPG Map pattern is now on sale at Spoonflower, and -- judging from sales -- lots of other folks wanted this cloth pattern as well. And that project I mentioned? Well, I wanted a dice bag made from it. I asked Michael AKA "greyedout" on Etsy to mke one for me and it turned out so nice, he added it as a regular offering in his shop.

** One of the biggest secrets I was asked to keep all summer was finally revealed in October when the new Pacesetter horror RPG "Cryptworld" was released. Dan Proctor initially approached me for some input and opinion on the new game he was writing. Well, my contributions to the book swelled until he asked me to join him as a co-author of the game. As a huge fan of the Pacesetter Action Table System, it was quite an honor to be a part of it.

** The Savage AfterWorld reached several milestones this year. First, it's the fourth year that this blog has been running. Next up, TSAW now has 300 followers, which was a huge shot in the arm for me. To think that 300 folks enjoyed the blog enough to come back regularly, well, that really means a lot. Thank you! And finally, today's post is number 178 for the year, officially beating last year's blog post count by 1 and making 2013 my most productive blogging year since I began.

** Con on the Cob is a yearly gaming convention in Ohio that I had missed attending for years. This year, I finally made it, staying on-site for the entire event. Had a great time, playing Fiasco, Labyrinth Lord, and other fun stuff. Ran Thundarr for some enthusiastic fans, but my highlight was running the first public convention game of Cryptworld (which had just come out the previous month). And that CW module was the seed of a future CW project I'm wrapping up "behind the scenes."

** I released my second Mutant Future supplement titled "One Year In The Savage AfterWorld." This book (several years in the making) is a collection of 52 micro-adventures that can be run over the course of a weekend. I've had the concept of the supplement in mind for several years, and it turned out exactly as I envisioned. I'm particularly pleased with the "nearly destroyed book" cover.

** My dream of appearing in a Thundarr the Barbarian cartoon came to near-fruition. As a higher-level backer of the "Cartoon Action Hour: Season 3" Kickstarter, I got myself drawn and statted up as the wasteland wanderer known as "Snydorr"! (I still get a huge kick out of my cartoon visage...)

** After four years of focusing solely on the post-apocalyptic RPG genre, I relaunched The Savage AfterWorld to encompass gaming in all of its forms and facets, allowing me to discuss, cover, and support many other games and systems I enjoy. I was afraid that the new direction of the blog might alienate some of my long-time readers, but folks stuck around and I even picked up a few new followers. Glad you're enjoying the new material, folks!

** For my yearly Christmas freebie for the readers, I wrote and released a free Cryptworld scenario for the holidays. "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" is creepy, eerie, deadly, and yet oh-so-festive! Also throughout the year, I created and posted new scenarios for Last Best Hope, Mutant Future, Ghostbusters, and other RPGs!

** Over the month of December, I organized the Obsolete Simulations Roundup which went live on December 29.  I had 17 folks sign up to participate (though only about half followed through), and it is my hope that this becomes a yearly celebration of our favorite forgotten games.

* * * * * * * * * * *

So, what's to come in 2014? Well, it's a bit early to reveal all of my grandiose plans for the coming year, but I can let you know that I have plans to:

• Wrap up the editing and layout of my Mutant Future module "Dead in the Water," which has been in the wrap-up-stage for far too long.
• Finish writing a Cryptworld adventure for a potential future release next year.
• Release a card game I've designed now that I've discovered how Drive Through Cards works.
• Edit more RPG materials for anyone who needs the professional help.
• Attend Origins Game Faire for the first time in years.
• Re-attend Con on the Cob, as I really enjoyed myself at my first one.

See you in 2014!