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!

Where The Hell Is The Savage AfterWorld? (And Downloadable OSR RPG CAH!)

Hey gang!

Eep... It looks like your ol' pal Sniderman has been neglecting his little corner of the Blogoverse as of late. I've always prided myself on regular posts, updates, and general gaming nonsense over the years this blog has been in service, but recent "real life drama" has surfaced to drag me away from All Things Good-Fun.

So I'm popping my head in for a moment to let you know that TSAW hasn't been shut down or abandoned! In fact, here's a quick sampling of posts in-the-work that will be gracing your computer screen in the coming weeks:

• Sniderman's Tips on Running Convention Games -- I'm an old hat at running games at conventions, and I have a bunch of tips and tricks I've accumulated over the years that streamline those 4-hour-block RPG events. This will be a three-part series covering 1. How to write a convention RPG scenario. 2. How to prepare for running a convention RPG scenario. and 3. How to run your convention RPG scenario. This series has been in the works for a while, and I hope folks find some good info in there.
• More Role-playing and Board Game Reviews -- As much as I love to play and run games, I love to review them just as much. From the old classic to the new hotness, I like to give my readers a bit of an inside view of how games play, how fun they are, and if they're worth your hard-earned coins. Some games in the Review Chute include Riders: A Game About Cheating Doomsday; White Lies; and Ghostbusters: The Board Game.
• New Material for Cryptworld (and other games!) -- Of course, The Savage AfterWorld covers more games than just Cryptworld, but I confess this RPG is a bit closer to my monster-hunting heart than others. I have a graveyard full of new THINGs to share with you all, as well as a few new mini-scenarios for Pacesetter's modern-day horror RPG. Also, stay tuned for announcements of new Cryptworld projects that will be clawing out of their tomb soon...
• The Savage AfterWorld's Amazing "Post Number 1,000" Celebration -- The Savage AfterWorld is very, very, veeeeeery close to seeing my 1,000th post! I have big plans to celebrate such a milestone, and I've been stockpiling goodies to give away when that goal is reached. You know how Oprah used to give away Her Favorite Things? Yeah, it'll be a LOT like that.

Ok, I've been justifying my absence as well as my activities "behind the scenes" for far too long. Time to pay my Joesky Tax for this bit of introspection. Several days ago, I asked G+ folks to submit their best "OSR RPG-themed Cards Against Humanity" cards. Got a lot of funny stuff. Well, using the service at Bigger, Blacker Cards, I compiled these suggestions into a mini-set of cards I've dubbed "OSR RPG CAH". Click this link or the image below to download a set. (Print them out and glue them to lame, unfunny CAH cards you may have.)

 

U-Con's "Adventures In The Big City" OSR Roundtable Airing On Save Or Die!

In what is becoming a U-Con tradition, I was once again privileged to be part of a panel of gaming stalwarts as we discussed OSR-related topics. This year was "Cityscapes And The OSR". Ryan Thompson and Adam Muszkiewicz co-hosted the roundtable, as Bill Webb, Jim Wampler, John Reyst, Bill Barsh, and I discussed adventuring in a cityscape rather than a dungeon, the various products -- both classic and new -- that supported these kinds of games, and our thoughts and experiences running our players through a fantasy urban sprawl. Jim Wampler's podcast Save or Die! recorded the session, so if you want to get your players out of the dungeon and into the streets, give it a listen! (Click the banner above or this link to go to the podcast.)

U-Con Day 3: Breaking Codes And Digging Out

Hey gang, Day 3 of Michigan's U-Con Gaming Convention ended a day or so ago, and I'm running a bit behind with my final day wrap-up. So, just for the sense of closure, let me delve into my memory and let you know how the final day of U-Con shaped up:

• I woke up and looked out the window at the Winter Weather Wonderland spread out before me, concerned about the 2.5-hour drive home ahead of my later that day. On the plus side, the sun was shining pretty brightly which was melting the snow off the roads. On the minus side, my car still has a 10-inch layer of drift snow covering it. (NOTE TO FUTURE SELF: REMEMBER THAT THIS IS NOVEMBER AND IN THE NORTH, SO PLAN ACCORDINGLY.)
• Even worse, the warmest clothing I had packed were t-shirts, jeans, and a hoodie. Even my sneakers were thin canvas ones. I froze my keister off trying to clean the snow off my car. (NOTE TO FUTURE SELF: SEE PREVIOUS BULLETPOINT.)
• Played Codewords for the first time with a sizable group of two five-person teams. This was a very fun game, and I immediately ordered a copy when I got home. Wish I had known about it earlier as this would have been a great game to have during the Thanksgiving holiday.
• I passed through the dealer's hall for one last pass, and ran into Roy Snyder who had just bought a stack of games from another vendor. I went nuts when I saw one of those games was Task Force's Super Villains. This was literally my first RPG-ish game, purchased and played with before I ever played my first D&D game. Funny story: I've been trying to recall the name of this game for years. Roy sold it to me for what he paid for it. Thanks Roy! Holy Grail Achievement Unlocked!
• Walked through the OSR Room again to see if there were any drop-in games I could check out before I left. I gotta hand it to the U-Con organizers and staff -- having all OSR events happening in one large room was a great idea. As a GM, I loved being at the same table for the entire convention. And if I wanted to play any old school games, I knew where to look.
• And thus, U-Con -- the last convention I shall attend in 2015 -- came to an end. The drive home was uneventful, and I was home just in time to crawl into bed and drop into a well-deserved post-con coma.

And here are the lessons learned from this year's event:

• For all game conventions I attend from October to March,  I need to remember to pack warm winter clothes and a friggin' jacket. Even though most of my time is spent in the hotel/convention center, I **WILL** have to leave the building at some point, and I should have something appropriate for the season. Plus, I may have to dig my car out again.
  
• I need to create a convention "checklist" of stuff to always bring with me. Normally I pack days in advance, and I have time to reflect on items I need to take. This year, I zipped out the door and left behind something important. So I'm no longer going to rely on my memory.
• Although it's an obscure game, Stuper Powers! went very well, and we had a GREAT time. I believe I shall add this to my regular convention game rotation.
• However, with the no-shows I got with Ghostbusters, I'll probably only run it at larger conventions with a bigger OSR contingent like Gary Con or NTRPG.
• Speaking of the OSR, having one room dedicated to all of my favorite games was a Godsend. I loved having a one-stop gaming depot for the entire convention, and I would love to see other conventions adopt this.
• As much as I love wearing game-related t-shirts at cons, I'm usually wearing a hoodie or Hawaiian short over top of it, so you can't see my shirt's cleverness. And my actual everyday shirt of choice is a polo/golf shirt anyway. So I may have some con-only polo shirts made up with game-related logos/patches on the chest pocket. Stylish nerdery!