geekgasms.org

It's been nearly a month since I've moved back home. My diet's a little better, my alcohol consumption has dropped dramatically and I've even been doing a little bit of exercise. Overall my body is probably a little bit healthier. However, my geekiness is suffering. Scunthorpe has no comic shops and I can't seem to find any role playing groups at all.

I knew this was going to be a problem as soon as I made the decision to shift 400 odd miles south. It was a problem I thought I could cope with. That doesn't seem to be the case.

I figured comics would be fine. I'd read a couple of the New DC digitally and at some point, probably when I visit Dundee again, I'd get to pick up some of the books I'm missing out on. However time is marching on, and as I predicted before, I'm wondering how I can get my hands on the latest X-Factor issues. There's nothing quite like paper in your hands and I'm thinking a trip through to Lincoln is needed. Hell, if I was feeling flush I think Amazon would be getting an order for some Invincible.

Gaming on the other hand isn't so easily solved. The current group in Dundee has slowly formed over years, as games have come and gone certain players have lost interest and groups have merged. People move on or fall out. The start of this year we'd just welcomed a new member to the group to replace one who'd recently had a kid and his time evaporated. It took three attempts at a replacement before Duncan finally stuck.

Now I've had to turn my back on all that. Shred would have to put down his guitar, Kusanagi would no longer have to take Guardman's shit about being his manservant any longer. Worst of all the Mighty Union's persecution of Corvin industries would go unresolved. On the bright side at least Ghost finally got to find out who double crossed his team and kill the bastard. None of this will mean anything to 99% of the people reading this, and that’s all part of the fun. That's not even half of the campaigns we ran.

OK we had a tendency to start stuff and never finish it. That's the joy of doing this with mates, you follow what grabs your interest. Or at least badger the GM into going back to that game he wasn't really enjoying but the players were.

Campaigns can run for years, personally my superhero one was into its 4th year. Seven players have come and gone through those years. Each new player looking blankly as you reveal some big twist while the two guy's who've been in all along get excited. Or sometimes the two guys have forgotten all about it and you suddenly have to come up with an entire new plot on the fly to get them to care.

I miss gaming and now I'm on the other side of the coin. Now I'm the guy looking for group. Looking to join a campaign half way through, floundering as I don't really understand the story. Piss off that guard that the party have spent so long getting on their side. Fill the role in the party that's severely lacking but I'm not even sure I want to play as a cleric? All while learning a system I've never even heard of before.

So how the hell do you find a group in a place where you don't know any geeks?