It's Been a While...

           

 It’s a New Year and once again, it’s time for me to make a New Year’s Resolution that I may not keep: namely, updating this blog on a regular basis.  My intention has always been to offer my readers insightful commentary, criticism, and reviews of Classic World of Darkness products and the new releases from the Onyx Path.  Yet, once again, I have fallen far behind those intentions, and I have a lot to catch up on and a lot to share with my readers.

            Last year was outstanding!  I got a new job working at a university bookstore which means better pay, better benefits, and a lot more free time to spend writing and gaming.  I also found two great RPG groups and run D&D 5E twice a week.  I know.  I know.  I’m a CWoD fanboy, but D&D always draws me back in with a new edition, especially an edition as good as Fifth.  If you haven’t had a chance to play it yet, I highly recommend it. 

            I do have one regret from last year, and that is that I was not able to properly thank the podcasters at Midnight Express Podcast for mentioning me in their episode.   I had every intention of writing an article on them, but time sort of slipped away.  I hope that you guys will forgive me.  I love your podcast and I'm always looking forward to new episodes!  If you aren't listening to Midnight Express already, please go over give them a try!  

            My Sunday group includes my girlfriend and friends that I’ve made since I moved to Virginia.  I’ve been running Hoard of the Dragon Queen for them and we have had a great time.  We are all looking forward to picking up the game again in the new year and finishing out the adventure before we move on to something else.  I have some ideas about upgrading Planescape for 5E, and thankfully 5E’s cosmology is an updated version of Planescape.  I can’t wait to shift this group from a pre-published adventure to the more story and character driven games that I enjoy. 

            My Wednesday group is an Adventurer’sLeague group who were strangers, but after several months of gaming, they have become dear friends as well.  I always leave that table reinvigorated and excited about the next adventure.  Originally, we started as an Encounters group, but since they want to continue the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure, I have every intention of completing the whole series for them including the sequel Rise of Tiamat. 

            As you can tell, I’ve been playing a lot of D&D, and that means that the focus of this blog is going to change slightly.  I’ll be discussing D&D some and offering some new resources for people who play D&D 5E.  That does not mean that I will be abandoning my articles covering elements and themes from the Classic World of Darkness.  As I mentioned several times last year, I will be reviewing the Revised Clanbook series as part of my ongoing Late Reviews Articles.  I hope that I can finish that series within the year along with the follow up article to summarize the series.  Next I’ll be focusing on newly released books from the Onyx Path as I purchase them.  I’m currently behind on those books, but I’ll be reading and reviewing them as quickly as I can.  I hope that I can get out ahead of the release schedule, especially with Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf the Apocalypse.

            Finally, as my twitter followers may know, I have been hired as a freelancer writer to work on a chapter of a book for Werewolf:  The Apocalypse.  It’s my first real job as a writer and I can’t share much here until the book is published, but once the book is out, I will be sharing my thoughts on writing for publication.  Spoiler:  It was a harrowing but rewarding experience.  Yet, that bit of good fortune (Thanks for the opportunity, Stew! And thanks to other authors for your support!), I will be working on articles for other gaming publications and submitting articles for publication at some websites.  2015 will be the year of resume building for me.  I have a stable job, a supportive girlfriend, and enough free time to really try to make a run at being a freelance writer. 

            Nevertheless, I will do everything that I can to continue to provide consistent reviews and articles for my readers over the next year.  My goal will be one article every two weeks, and I hope that I can release more than that!  This is going to be a big year for Read The Damn Book, and I appreciate all the support that you’ve given to me and my blog over the last year, despite my intermittent update schedule. 

            On a final note:  Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition’s Kickstarter campaign is entering its final days, I hope that all of you will support the rebirth of one of White Wolf’s most amazing games! 

            Happy New Year!