New Side Hustle · 5:26pm Jun 21st, 2022
So, I'm still doing GrubHub delivery, which remains as exhausting and soul-crushing as usual (if not moreso sometimes, given the way their tech will now take jobs away while I'm stuck in traffic with no options!) It also does quite the number on writing time, though I think I'm getting the gears grinding a little more on that all now!
But I'm looking for other options. And I see that one of the things happening now is paid GMing. I'm hesitant to call it 'pro' at this point, but paid.
And, as anybody who knows me can tell you, one of my problems is that I have more ideas and TTRPGs than anything like the time to actually do them if I'm relying on normal GMing protocols.
So here we are! I'm trying out paid GMing, as well as the writing, and hoping that the two taken together will help be productive for both! Providing me with a bit more time to write, while replacing the income I'm currently making by spending WAY more on gas than is sensible!
In particular, I am planning to run a variety of games, not all the same "grab Curse of Strahd, open Curse of Strahd, play Curse of Strahd, rinse and repeat." I love Ravenloft, really I do, but that's part of the problem with that approach - if I do Curse of Strahd, I want to hit up the other Domains of Dread as well.
At this point in time, I'm looking at several different systems and settings. At the moment, I have the following games available and (in some cases) scheduled:
This is a self-designed one shot using the Alien RPG by Free League Publishing, currently scheduled as part of the Virtual Horror Con July 8-10. Strong focus on tension and psychological tension, as well as potential horrific violence when things blow up in your faces. 40% of fees go to anti-bullying charity.
This is a Pathfinder 2 game set for the Abomination Vaults adventure path. I have one player currently who requested the game, and am looking for a few more for Sunday evenings.
A Town Called Malice is a Nordic Horror game designed for short games that go through the story of a small, dying town faced with forces trying to finish the job. While I have this one figured out already, I also have had another thought.
This could be done very nicely using several locations in G4 or G5 (Appleoosa having bad harvests and somepony turns up dead? Bridlewood beset by timberwolves?) If I had a few players from around here, I'd be happy to work up something like that!
This is a fascinating game that's designed to be as immersive as possible. Because it's played 100% over text/group chat, as a group of friends work to find a missing friend. I've done this a few times, and it's always a different experience - but always an incredibly tense one that ratchets up like a mystery film over the course of 90 minutes of play, with clues coming out steadily throughout.
This is the first of my original campaigns in the list, as opposed to one-shots. Using the Masks: The New Generation ruleset, the game is about teenaged heroes coming together to try and save the city after the various adult heroes have all been defeated by a new villain. And, in the process, maybe figure out who they really are as people, and what their place in the world is.
This game is a fun, rules-light system that is currently in playtest. The PCs - whether two-legged or four - are rebels against the Powers that Be trying to take over the post-apocalyptic wastes. This could easily be turned into a much lighter-toned version of Fallout: Equestria, or a number of similar settings.
This is a much darker game (also easily ponifiable) using the Don't Rest Your Head game system. Largely built for small one-shots and short campaigns, the concept is that your character(s) are Awake - chronic insomniacs whose slowly growing madness has let them see past the world we live in, and into The Mad City. It's a blend of Alice in Wonderland, Dark City, the Wizard of Oz, and the Matrix, as your characters try to resolve the issues keeping them trapped here. Or, alternately, give into the madness and become part of the City around them. Running several Virtual Horror Con sessions (hopefully).
Those are the games I've already gotten set up, and there are many more that I want to do at some point in the future, once I can get them set up for virtual play.
One is a Pathfinder game set in Galt, a nation torn apart by civil war and revolution like France during its revolution. The players start out trying to resolve the issues caused by the ongoing revolution... and, in the end, maybe lead their homeland into the glorious new future imagined for it by its first revolutionary leader.
Another is actually a Ponyfinder game, set in a variant Everglow that's intended to arc through three separate timelines - one in Everglow's past, one leading up to its fall following a golden age, and one set during the post-apocalyptic rebirth of the world after the fall of that Empire (Fallout: Equestria inspired). I'd like to get this one going, but there is a *lot* of pre-building that needs to happen first. Still figuring out which of the three available systems I'd use for it.
There are a bunch of others, ranging from PbtA hacks through to more standard fantasy games, but I think I've rambled more than long enough. If you're interested, I have a profile set up here, and would love to see folks around (or at least making tips on what they'd prefer to see instead!)
