A Year of Conventions, RPG Plans and Geeky Goals for 2024

The biggest shift in 2023 was getting back to gaming conventions. After a long stretch away, I made it to SaltCON Spring, SaltCON Summer and SaltCON End-of-Summer. Going to play was the plan at the start of the year. After talking it over with others, I changed course: next spring, I’ll be running two games. That puts preparation and time at the table at the center of my 2024 plans.

One session will use Basic Fantasy RPG. I’ve already written the one-shot and given it a polish, so it’s close to ready for players. I’d also like to submit the scenario to the BFRPG community for consideration. The other game takes inspiration from Star Trek Adventures: Lower Decks. Its crew will meet the cast of Top Core, a science-fiction parody of the BBC show Top Gear. The two sessions give me different kinds of work to look forward to: tightening an existing adventure and building a comedy-focused setup around familiar spacefaring fun.

A year full of shows and screens

Gaming wasn’t the only part of 2023 that filled the calendar. I saw Duran Duran, Love and Rockets, The Cure, Garbage and Depeche Mode, including several acts I’d been hoping to catch for years. I also went to a live comedy show featuring performers from “Who’s Line Is It Anyway.” The show had a different name, probably for copyright reasons. I plan to add photos from these events to the photo albums.

At home, streaming kept the movie queue busy. In theaters, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was a highlight. I also enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; its ending could leave room for another sequel, though I’d be content if the story stopped there. My youngest is a Five Nights at Freddy’s fan, so we saw that one together. I didn’t know much about the games, but the movie kept me engaged.

The 2024 movie list already has plenty to watch for: Dune: Part Two, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Those picks cover several kinds of big-screen spectacle, and I’m curious to see which ones make the strongest impression.

Television has been a steady source of comfort viewing. I’ve been catching up across the Star Trek shows; Picard landed its ending well, and I’d happily watch more Lower Decks. The Star Wars episodes have also been good. Archer is ending, but a show finishing while it’s still strong feels like a fair trade. What We Do In The Shadows continues to make me laugh, and MST3K season 13 was a blast.

Weekend viewing still includes Svengoolie and Creature Features. The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials and Christmas episode have me looking forward to the new episodes, while the Fallout series has caught my attention too. There’s more TV in the mix than I can reasonably list. I did cancel Peacock after going months without remembering I had it, which says enough about how much I was using it.

Reading, playing and making time

My comic reading remains anchored by Star Trek and James Bond. I’m enjoying Star Wars comics as well, but buying individual physical issues had become too expensive to keep up with. Moving that reading to Marvel Unlimited makes more sense when there are too many series to follow one issue at a time.

Video games have become another tempting backlog. I opened accounts on Steam and GOG and started picking up classic games I used to play, along with newer discoveries such as Fallout New Vegas and a few titles friends have recommended. The problem is time: when the week gets crowded, games are easy to set aside. I want to make room for them as recreation, rather than treating them as something I’ll get to only after every other task is done.

That same time pressure applies to writing. I’ve talked about wanting to write more, and 2024 is a chance to turn that intention into finished work. The Basic Fantasy scenario is one concrete starting point. I also have fan projects in mind, but I’d like to develop a few pieces that I can legitimately sell online. Getting a draft finished, revising it and sharing it with readers will take more follow-through than simply collecting ideas.

On New Year’s Eve, I was heading to the USS Ticonderoga party. The next day would bring the start of the Character Creation Challenge, a fitting way to begin a year focused on making things. Between convention games, writing goals, comics and a long list of shows, the challenge will be choosing what deserves my attention first. What did you enjoy in 2023, and what geeky projects are you hoping to take on in 2024? Join the discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server, email Carl at TardisCaptain.com, or use the social media links to share your plans.