Yes, you read right. Two hundred, since May 4, 2015. I hadn’t realized the first went live on May the Fourth Be With You, until I looked through the list of my articles that WordPress helpfully keeps. Appropriate for a woman whose involvement with online RPG communities started with D20 Star Wars. So indulge me on a look back.
Like one or two others here, I started out writing for the long-lost (to a server crisis) Gamer Security Agency Blog, also under the auspices of D20 Radio. Most or all of those pieces were SWSE stats. When this new blog was started, I eagerly signed up–and volunteered to handle the proofreading/copy editing. Somebody needs to do it, I figured, and it might as well be someone who enjoys it and knows how. I was surprised when, about a year later, the current arrangement of having Staff Writers each with their own Feature was put into place–and Astral Projections was born.
I still do a lot of PC and NPC stats, but now they’re not just for SWRPG. As I got more familiar with systems I discovered, I started writing stats for those systems, beginning with Mutants & Masterminds 3e, then progressing to D&D5e, Castles & Crusades, and now Genesys. And systems weren’t the only things I branched out into. I found my own little niches, like “Try Before You Buy,” my reviews of free, inexpensive, and demo games and accessories and “Etiquette & Protocol,” just what it sounds like. (What can I say? I adore etiquette columnist Miss Manners.)
Favorite type of articles to write? Stats, especially critter stats! My very first venture into writing about game mechanics was a how-to on using the Star Wars Saga Edition Beast Creation rules, shared on the D20 Radio forums. I liberally use bits and pieces from my Zoology degree, and other sciences, for the “fluff.” (That background also comes in handy for the “2-1B Is In” series on Star Wars Medicine and Healing.) I think I might be onto something with this Xenobiologist schtick. My Tardigrade stats (Genesys/FFGSW, Mutants & Masterminds 3e) got a lot of attention, judging by the number of comments–and I even got a request to do Tardigrade stats for D&D 5e! Reading that request on Facebook really made my day. Someone wanted to see more of my work! (And yes, I do read all the comments.)
But enough about the past. Since it’s early in the New Year, I suppose (I hope!) you all are wondering what kind of things I’ve resolved to write about in 2019. My first resolution is to “Stay Chaotic Good”–continue to write about a variety of things in the gaming realm, including more Xenobiology. I am also going to do more of what I call “Crowdsourcing Articles,” where I ask the D20 Radio Facebook Friends for tips and ideas on a topic, to add to my own. I experimented with the format last year, with Etiquette & Protocol: Con Gaming and Crowdsourced: Space Combat for Everyone Else. Later this month I debut “Force Wizard,” my take on the FFSW Force powers, which should keep me busy for quite a while.
Finally, some big Thank You’s. First to GMs Chris, Dave & Wayne, for giving me a chance to do something for this community–first as a forum Mod and then as a Staff Writer. And thanks to the D20 Radio community–my people/ I am still getting a kick out of this gig, and I don’t intend to go away any time soon. Peace, Love & Good Gaming, as GM Chris says. (And if you have any requests for what you’d like to see in 2019, tell me here or on the Facebook page.)
