As we look forward to a whole new year, I can’t help but glance back at where we’ve been and marvel at how far we’ve come. 2016 marks the third year of podcasting for The Redacted Files and RPG gaming for me. A little more than a year ago, I took my first steps into the world of GMing, and since then, well I’ve tried to keep busy. Now, with a few sessions under my belt, a new job and an impending marriage, I have to wonder what I want to accomplish this year. And here’s what I’ve come up with.

1. Spend More Time in the GM Chair
   Megan and I like to trade off GM responsibilities pretty regularly, but lately I’ve been slacking as Beyond the Threshold and Not so Strange have struggled with scheduling issues. This year, I hope to start a new campaign with a new game (open to suggestions on which) and trying some new systems out. It’s not just a matter of sharing the load. In the next year, I hope to stretch my legs a bit and push my boundaries in the sorts of games I run and what moods I can work with.
2. Read More Games 
   I have (the opposite of) loads of free time. But I think in the new year, I want to read more games. This helps build an understanding of new ways to do things and can even prompt thoughts on how old ways of doing things really work well for you after all.
3. Go to Gencon
   Megan and I have had a long-standing desire to go to Gencon. This is for a number of reasons, ranging from it being a chance to meet a lot of friends from around the Internet to seeing the hobby and industry we’ve invested so much time and passion into in its most tangible manifestation. We currently have plans to attend and even run games this August, so stay tuned.
4. Produce a Scenario Worthy of Publication 
   Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m not looking to have anything in a major sourcebook or anything. I do think though that Megan and I have managed to come up with a few good stories in our hundreds of hours of actual plays. So I want to put forward the effort to produce something concrete from all that free form creativity. We’ll see what you can accomplish with a budget of almost nothing. 😛

So those are my aspirations for this year. I won’t go so far as to call them resolutions. Let’s meet back here in a year and see how I did.