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2015 Resolutions
Read More – Success!
In 2015, I completed four novels, three tabletop rulebooks, and literally hundreds of articles I’d saved to Evernote. Sadly, the novels alone allow me to count this resolution as a rousing success after my Two-Book-2014, though I’m hoping to read even more in 2016 (spoilers…). Getting through my Evernote article backlog was a major success, as completing that pile of posts allowed me to stay in the habit of saving articles and reading them in a timely manner. This new routine has allowed me to ingest a ton of new content I wouldn’t be otherwise be reading. In pursuing this goal I’ve learned that if I want to be reading, I’d better have something around I really want to read. This may sound obvious, but I attempted to explore a lot of different genres last year, and I think I’d read more if I knew it’d be stuff I’ll like. It’s (very) important to experience new and different perspectives, but this year I’d like to indulge in the fantasy and sci-fi that I love.
Battle my Video Game Backlog – Failed!
Oh man did I fail this one. I completed a ton of great games back in 2014, but I barely managed to get through any this year. At the very least I can explain how that happened. First of all, I did not anticipate how much tabletop gaming would dominate my schedule this year, and the number of campaigns I played in and ran heavily impacted my video game time. Secondly, I spent much of my gaming time playing “endless” games, including League of Legends and Final Fantasy XIV (which I finally returned to after 2014’s resolutions). I’ve enjoyed playing those games a lot, especially since I can do so with my friends, but playing those games means I’m not playing games that can be completed. Finally, I really enjoy listening to podcasts while I game nowadays, but doing that means I have to play story-and-sound-lite games such as FFXIV, Diablo, and Darkest Dungeon instead of story-based games such as Tales from the Borderlands, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, or Persona 4. My biggest failure in this resolution was my lack of self-control when it came to acquiring new games that I couldn’t possibly finish. I did that a lot. Not my best effort.
15% Productivity/Month – Failed!
In failing this goal, I learned how difficult it is to spend even 15% of your time doing work-like tasks (even if they’re fun!) on top of a job. I averaged around 9% productivity this year (and that’s without counting sleep time), and I only eclipsed 15% productivity in November, a month that included my Extra Life gaming marathon, which can only marginally be called “productive.” In spite of my failure with this resolution, I felt very productive this year. In spite of that feeling, I know I could do more. For one thing, I sacrificed a lot of sleep trying to get work done (or trying to get play done after work) and resting more will definitely help with productivity goals in the future. In 2016, I think I’m going to shoot for 10% productivity instead. Yes, it’s a lower number, but it’s one I feel far more comfortable about hitting.
Weekly D&D Show – Success!
I can’t believe that it’s been a whole year since I ran the first one-shots in the world of Iris. The campaign and its stream grew a lot in 2015, and I’ve been able to learn copious amounts about GMing, worldbuilding, and streaming on Twitch. In considering the success or failure of this resolution, I have to acknowledge that the show hasn’t run literally weekly; there were far too many holidays, personal emergencies, and other unforeseeable events for that. However, the video highlights on my Twitch channel show thirty-three episodes of the Chronicles of Iris from 2015, not counting our (two) chat show episodes or the initial one-shots. In the end, the fact that neither myself nor my players gave up on the show means that the Chronicles of Iris “weekly” stream is a success in my book. Of course, the show is no where near perfect, but I’m glad that I can continue to build on it and improve my skills as a GM and a streamer throughout 2016.
In looking back to my 2015 resolutions, I realized that they have been rather vague. Instead of continuing to make goals that are unverifiable, I thought set my 2016 resolutions in a SMART way like I have been doing at work. That way, when we reach 1/1/2017, I will know definitively whether or not I’ve met my goals. Without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2016!
2016 Resolutions
Beat 10 Video Games and Read 10 Books
I always have goals for media consumption, so this year I decided to merge two into one. Unfortunately, I only completed seven games last year, even with the help of my 24-hour Extra Life marathon. Similarly, I only finished eight “books”, three of which were tabletop rules or scenarios and one of which was just a bunch of saved Evernote articles. I want to do more of both, but doing so is going to take strategy and planning. As such, I’ve given myself benchmarks by which I can measure my progress throughout the year. If I’m going to do ten books and ten games in a year, I’ll need to complete one of each every five weeks this year. This will be quite the challenge for me, but I’m really looking forward to all the games and novels I pick up. A planned resolution like this one gives me a good chance to enjoy everything about which I’m excited.
Release Realmshaper’s 5e Challenge Rating Module
By DMing for several D&D 5e campaigns this year, I’ve realized how much I enjoy homebrewing items, spells, and monsters in D&D. Monsters present particular challenges for homebrewing, the greatest of which is tailoring their Challenge Ratings to accurately represent difficulty in battle.* The CR system from the 5e DMG is a frustratingly complex algorithm to do by hand for every monster you make, so I wanted to develop some software so I didn’t have to do it by hand anymore. To that end, I created realmshaper.com, a website for tabletop resources, the first of which will be D&D 5e monster creation with automated Challenge Rating calculation. Unfortunately, the web app is not finished. Not even close. My goal this year is to complete the CR calculation functionality and get it live on the site. There’s a lot I have to complete first to get to that point, but I have a plan of attack that should get me there this year. I’m also looking forward to finally getting a solo development project under my belt, especially since making what I’ve got so far has been such a good experience.
* It should be noted that 5e CR calculation feels like malarkey most of the time, but my players are evil, so I blame them over the system.
Run (and possibly Stream) a One-Shot/Adventure in a Tabletop System Other Than D&D 5E
I love D&D 5e, but my love of tabletop these days far eclipses the awesomeness of any single system. Since the beginning of last year, I’ve read and heard about tons of different games I’d like to play and run. Since it’s hard to get going on a new system without a bit of a push, I’m making it one of my resolutions to run a one-shot or short adventure in a completely new tabletop system. In 2015, I became interested in both Shadowrun 5e and Polaris, but games like Numenera, Stars without Number, or Star Wars: Edge of the Empire would also be lots of fun to try. No matter what game it is, I’m really looking forward to branching out into other systems to see what they can teach me about both playing and GMing. I figure that, if nothing else, I can bring any experience with other games back to my 5e campaigns. And, in the best case scenario, I would have a new tabletop game to play! Streaming is a bonus with this resolution just because it would be cool to record any new game I play so I can look back and remember my first session of it.
Be a More Prepared GM
I never expected to spend so much time running tabletop games in 2015, but I won’t be stopping any time soon, so I’m resolving to up my GMing game throughout the year. Unfortunately, that’s a particularly difficult goal to measure. How can you tell if you’re actually a better GM or not? Well, that’s a tough nut to crack, but I’ve got a few ideas for solid goals that I think might help. First, I’m going to try and cut down how much GMing I’m doing this year in order to up the quality of the games to which I’m more attached. Next, I’m trying to develop a system to help me track my session preparation for the remaining games. My goal is to be ready for every session, and I’m tracking with a “Session Readiness” checklist for every session I run. If I didn’t “feel” prepared, it doesn’t get a mark and I know I’ll have to do better for the next session. Finally, I want to improve my GMing by learning from other GMs. In other words, I’m hoping to PLAY MORE. This may be impossible, but I’ll fly out to conventions if I have to just to figure out what other people do well firsthand and make their skills my own! What it comes down to is this: I love tabletop and so I’d best be improving my tabletop game all year.
It’s going to be another busy year here at the N3rd Dimension but another really fun one. What are you resolving to accomplish this year?
You can read these resolutions, more resolutions, or lots of other stuff at the N3rd Dimension!
