It is my Birthday!

Just an update.  Sadly not a gaming article.
But yeah, today is the day I hit thirty six.

Gosh.
That kinda stings.  Thirty six years old.
And still not a published RPG to my name.  I better get the move on and finish the books I've been toiling over.  I definitely want to get those out within the year.  Stop worrying about people liking it.  Just get it OUT there and move to your next project, Tobie.

As to my Twelve New Systems for 2013.
Games I've Run:
Houses of the Blooded: Wilderness
Fiasco
Our Best Last Hope
Blood and Honor
The Aegis Project
Wilderness of Mirrors
Kult
Castle Falkenstein

Games I have played in:
Shadows of Esteren
Rocky's home-brewed The Gossamer Saga

I haven't been able to take part in the Gamer's Meet sessions lately with the sudden surge of work on both ends.  The heat here in Manila has been getting horrendous too, to the point in some nights I end up falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion too early.

On our on-going chronicles list, there's been some adjustments:
Both Recruitment : Lacuna and The Riddle of Blood : Houses of the Blooded have been on hold, with the players and us having some issues finding the perfect schedule to play.  The Houses chronicle MIGHT have to be wrapped up too given one of the players has a new job and might not be able to join for the next few months.

I was extremely excited to be finally running Significators: Kult, but after the first session, one of the two key players in the game just informed us of the inevitable migration to a foreign land.  This meant he wouldn't be able to play anymore.   The rest of the group and I felt too dismayed to continue the game.

The Sunday group's Blood and Silk : Blood and Honor was pretty much cancelled (or discontinued rather) to make way for a new chronicle since a new player joined the group and I felt the itch for something darker.  So with the close of Blood and Silk, the new chronicle entitled The Umbra Group began.  Using the new World of Darkness system, the game is in many ways my homage to Planetary and a thesis on the role of meta-gaming in a game that supports meta-gaming.  

Our other game, In Flux : The Shadows of Esteren, hasn't taken steps forward given the GM of that game is kinda busy with real life matters.  But the biggest update of all is my partner, who only started gaming when we got together, has taken the huge step forward and ran his own home-brewed game, The Gossamer Saga.  The game is an epic story inspired by Magic: the Gathering, with each player portraying people who have been inducted into an organization that spans realities.  We opted for a FATE/Houses of the Blooded system approach with Virtues, as well as Aspects, and even drew from other games to map out the game as a whole.  Hopefully Rocky will find time to share his own game notes about it soon.

Finally, with the end of the Kult game, Aldwin requested for a chance to dive back into an good oldie and The Seven : Vampire the Masquerade was born.  The game assumes Gehenna did not come to pass with the coming of the year 2000, and so the Week of Nightmares never transpired and the Sabbat and the Camarilla continue their unending Jyhad.   Loving the existing metaplot, the players will have their moments to interact with many favorites, including the big names such as Ambrosio Moncada, Anatole, Sasha Vycos and more!  Oh Masquerade, people may judge you, but there's no denying how colorful a world you offer for gaming.

But yeah, going back, at Thirty Six, I feel old.  Not too old to game, mind you.  Gaming for me is a healthy way to keep your brain active.  And a very social way to enjoy your time with friends.   I probably will only quit gaming once I reach an age where speaking or communicating is no longer an easy task, but gods know if I am lucky I'm going to leave a legacy in the gaming community before I die.