What Have I Been Up To...

It seems my promised return from absence has been harder to keep than expected and gaming has once again taken a back seat in the daily to-do list.

Despite my lack of activity on the blogging front, it doesn't mean that I have been completely detached from any semblance of gaming activity or thought. Even when I get a single minute out of my daily routine, the next thing that my mind wanders into is something related to my next game.

I think I've come to realize and acknowledge that gaming is in my blood and I don't think anything, short of life-changing, would ever take the gaming out of this gamer.

While most people might dread the prospect of not rolling dice for few months, as a DM I see it as an unplanned reprieve. One good thing about having a dry stretch before the next gaming session is that you have plenty of the commodity that prep-based DMs, like me, would always ask for; time.

So here's some gaming-related stuff that I'm working on or planning to do in the future, call it Questing's Guide to Doing Gaming Shit When Life is Tough (and a very late entry to May's RPG Blog Carnival).

Building a Sandbox
With plenty of time to prepare for your next game, you can use it to create something worthwhile to impress your players....like, say, a sandbox!

Without knowing when the next gaming session would be in sight, it's good exercise to divert all that creative energy into somewhere where every encounter, adventure, magic item, NPC idea that you have every now and then can have a cohesive form.

I have been beating the dust out of one of my favorite supplements from my favorite setting to try and build a sandbox out of it. I've even reactivated my Obsidian Portal account and am currently trying to lay down some groundwork for my sandbox.

Somehow seeing the sandbox grow bit by bit gives me the same sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and excitement after running a good game.

Reading up on GMing Advice
In Chinese classical martial arts literature, it is common to see the young and naive hero making a pilgrimage to a secluded mountain where they would meditate and train alone for years only to return as a seasoned and skilled master for the final showdown.

During a gaming drought, no one is expecting you to run a game and that is a good time to go into hiding and find new ways to brush up my GMing-fu.

Ever since I subscribed to gaming advice sites (Gnome Stew and Roleplaying Tips are my recommendations), I have to admit that I haven't really read through every issue carefully. It's just that when I'm in a hurry to find a quick solution for my gaming needs when running regular sessions, a two-page worth of words is one of the last places that I'll be looking.

Now that the pressure is off my shoulders indefinitely, I can really take the time to go through and appreciate every word of wisdom that was written about the science and art of GMing from people that I have no doubt are much more experienced than I am.

You'll never know where you'll find something useful in between those gigantic blocks of net tomes that can easily fix that gaming problem you've had for years, after it has sat in your inbox for that same amount of time (yes, I have a really long backlog to catch up with).

Even with those two sites I recommended alone, there is plenty of stuff to learn but if you are feeling ambitious, I bet you can find thousands of sites ready to pour advice on your like an unwanted ad. Just type http://www.rpgbloggers.com/ on your browser address bar.

Not forgetting those hardback DMGs from every edition. It surprises me that flipping through them over and over again and reading the same passages could reveal a different insight about GMing with each reading.

Stay Connected
While I don't have as much time as I like to write a post which consumes a lot of time and brainpower, it's still easy to stay connected with the gaming community with forums, Twitter and the RPG Bloggers Network.

Although I don't check on them as often as I used to, it's still stays as my daily readings that I do once or twice a day. In fact, with a busy working life, I've learned to filter stuff that would make a good read which is relevant and useful than just another thread on Why I Dislike the term Railroading.

I now only keep up-to-date on major gaming news related to my systems of choice and have given up on news just for the sake of being in 'the know'. The last Wizards layoff isn't going to affect how I run my next NPC that is intended to cream my PCs' ass in the next encounter.

Listening to gaming podcasts is another quick and easy way to keep in touch with the gaming community. They help to get a quick pulse check of what's going on in the gaming world in one place because that's what people tend to talk about.

Investing for your next Game
Have you ever felt awkward when you had to use the same miniature to represent the orc, zombie, wolf and kobold in the same night? I know I do and getting my hands on the miniatures I need for a game is time consuming because it requires me to scour the web for the right singles with the best deals.

Guess what, even if time doesn't permit you to game, you've got plenty of spare cash from the snack money, fuel and other necessary spendings that you saved from the session that can be used on something other than gaming books and supplements. So now it's a great time to invest in some plastic crack that you are missing.

I recently bought my first Dungeon Tiles while I was on a outstation working trip and now I'm getting the urge to build my own miniatures and tiles empire so that everything will look neat and shiny when I finally run my next game.

At least something is growing in my absence of gaming.

Gaming Droughts are Good
All in all, I think gaming drought doesn't mean it should be a gaming slump. On the contrary, it's a great time to come out stronger, better prepared and buffed up for your next game/adventure/campaign/whatever as a GM.