Goblin Theory off our game 10.28.2020

Our regular Wednesday night game was going to be the best yet! We were wrapping up our play of the Blackwater Creek adventure for Call of Cthulhu 7e. The other sessions had gone very well, and even though I was almost 100% sure the players characters were going to die it was going to be a great game! I created an opening intro I thought would to lead to an epic night…

…and then things got weird. There was no single moment that it happened. It’s like we were just a little off tune and there was no creative harmony. We were not building a story together. Could have been that some heads just weren’t in the game. Maybe we were all just tired from our busy lives. Maybe some of us were playing to win instead of playing to create. It was still good fun, but a bit offbeat for us.

It happens. Not every game is going to be amazing.

So what do you do then? What I did was talk about it with the group. That conversation is about taking ownership and listening to feedback. Then you change it up. Maybe you pause the campaign and play a side quest that will add some depth and raise the stakes for the main campaign. Maybe you play a board game instead. Maybe you have a night where you hang out and cook something together from that fancy new D&D cookbook you just got. The point is to just get your gaming group around a table and get the great creative vibes and laughter back before you start from where you left off with the awkward session.

Goblin Theory got together Saturday and we talked about the weird game. Turns out that even though it was not our best game, the group still had a lot of fun and was eager to play some more. Then we made new characters for a Starfinder game for next weeks game session. It was a great time with a bunch of laughs, and the new characters that Squeeks and Elisa made are fantastic and I can’t wait to see how they play them on Wednesday!

Take care!

Jeremy Sparhawk