This yearly update is the closest this blog gets to personal rather than game content or commentary. Eleven years, and this is the blog’s 496th published post. Not too bad – though I’m vain enough to be sad that my daily pageviews have dropped off by about 30%. Maybe someday I’ll try posting some videos of gaming advice, to see if that helps.

Anyway. It has been a very busy year and I’ve been productive on a lot of projects that aren’t available yet, including but not limited to Under the Seas of Vodari. I look forward to telling you all about them!

Games I’m Running

1. Aurikesh got, what five or six sessions run this year? Three of them were part of the Team Goblin spinoff campaign, but that still counts! I hope that scheduling sessions miraculously turns easy again in 2022.

2. Kainenchen and I are still running Birthright – the PCs have just reached 7th level and we’ve now completed autumn domain actions for the year. I think everyone’s still having a good time, though holidays are – predictably – making scheduling a disaster.

3. I’ve started running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist for Stands-in-the-Fire and four other friends, as a paid DM. The party is 3rd level as of session 17, we’re in Chapter 2, and they’ve completed the Blue Alley adventure. This is the most sessions of a published adventure I’ve ever run, by a margin of 15 sessions.

Games I’m Playing

1. Altera Awakens hasn’t held an event since February 2020, for the obvious reasons, but they’re anticipating starting up again in the new year, I believe.

2. Eclipse is having its first event since December 2019 this weekend! I am excited but anxious – do I even remember how to do this thing?

3. Kainenchen ran the first session of a two-parter Over the Edge game that I need to schedule the follow-up on.

4. Stands-in-the-Fire is still running his Tree of Potential homebrew 5e game, I’m still playing my eladrin wizard Harrow (named before I read the Locked Tomb series, I promise), and we’ve just reached 4th level. His fights are still masterclass-level encounter building.

5. Ethan S. is running a 13th Age game in a homebrew setting. It’s one of the games I mentioned being on pandemic-hiatus in last year’s post – we’ve returned to regular face-to-face play. We’re 1-2 sessions from 8th level and epic-tier play!

6. I’m playing in a Tomb of Annihilation game with some great folks! I’m playing Alemnet, an orc Hunter ranger, and we’re having a lot of fun… even if my one magic item so far did self-destruct the first time I used it (horn of blasting; I rolled 01 on my first time using it). It was certainly memorable!

7. WhatDoIKnowJR ran six sessions of Sentinels of the Multiverse RPG, which was a ton of fun. We might pick it back up again in the future – I know Kainenchen has a lot more she wants to do with her PC. I like the system overall, but making a character that works okay in Yellow and Red zones proved difficult, as is the use of Principles. I’d be reworking a number of powers if we played further.

8. I’ve continued playing Hollow Knight, clearing the first two Godhome Pantheons and a bunch of individual gods up to Ascended or Radiant. Still got a long way to go, but it’s something to do while I wait for Silksong.

9. I beat Dark Souls! Holy heck was that a great experience (that I still don’t recommend to everyone). I’m hoping to pick up DS2 and/or Elden Ring soonish.

10. I feel like Hades should have been part of last year’s post, but I’m not doing the legwork to check dates. If you’ve been living under a rock, video games-wise, Hades is one of the best video games ever made, full stop. I haven’t picked it up in quite awhile now, but it is ah-MA-zing.

11. Monster Train is currently scratching that roguelike deckbuilder itch for me. Great, great game.

12. Still need to finish Planescape: Torment.

Games I’m Observing

1. Critical Role, Campaign 3. I’m caught up through episode 3.

2. D&Debrief, DMSamuel’s campaign. A bunch of new podcast episodes just dropped, and I’m working my way through them!

3. How We Roll – this is a bunch of different CoC and D&D content all in one place.

4. Roll Together’s Warriors of Waterdeep campaigns – I’ve just started with Anvil of Dumathoin, and I’m enjoying it.

5. Rivals of Waterdeep – I think I’m up through about S1E4 or E5?

6. Wards & Witchcraft, a Mage: the Awakening 2e campaign that is, as usual, just me trying to learn how anyone can run Mage.

Thanks for reading and supporting Harbinger of Doom! Also check out my products on DriveThruRPG, and Fey Gifts & Bargains and Level Up Your Background on the DM’s Guild.

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You can now buy Under the Seas of Vodari in PDF!

Under the Seas of Vodari is a 300-page book that provides 5E/Fifth Edition material for both gamemasters and players to dive into a world full of action and adventure set beneath the waves of Vodari or your own campaign world. This book is a follow-up to The Seas of Vodari, a setting book filled with swashbuckling action and magical adventure. Dive into your first adventure today!