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At any one time, there are exactly 42 Incarnates in the world; give or take 9 months. I suppose it depends if being in the womb is considered in the world. I've been in a womb 100 times; I say it counts.

Birth for an Incarnate--a silly moniker we begrudgingly accept--is really no different than mortal birth: pain and crying. But also love; a lot of it. I've had 100 mothers, most of which loved me. Given time, I can remember many of their names and some of their faces. These memories--or lack thereof--are an indication of their impact upon me or maybe just how long it's been. The past and present can be such a blur.

All of us go mad from time to time. I have; in only my 3rd life. Other times too but madness, like memory, fades.

Work keeps me going and by work I mean whatever idea takes hold in the little brain I currently occupy. Some of this "work" takes multiple lives to complete. I once spent 4 lives just to ensure the marriage of two bloodlines. One of those lost lives was by my own hand but that's a story for another time; perhaps another lifetime.

In truth, death is rarely that interesting. More often it's actually funny; hilarious even. Swapping death stories is a big hit among my brethren and sistren. But birth; now that is a wild fucking ride. See, in the womb, we're like little beacons, calling out to one of our own. With each Incarnate birth, one of us is summoned--for lack of a better word. A nagging feeling insisting you be in a specific location, at a specific time--about nine months. You just... feel it. It can be quite comforting in a way; knowing something with such certainty. You can live 100 lifetimes and not know anything for certain. Sorry, Incarnate humor.

And sometimes, because reasons, the summoned one fails to arrive and little baby Incarnate is on their own. This has happened to me more than once. It sucks. Because until we can talk--and more specifically, perform magic--we are vulnerable.

Lucky for me, on this, on the auspicious occasion of my 100th life, Amara was summoned. I hadn't seen her for a number of lifetimes. She hadn't change a bit--sorry, more Incarnate humor.

~ Eldar (currently Gareth Summerfield)

With 2023 in the rear-view, I began to reflect on the year from a gaming perspective. It turns out there are a number of things worthy of a shout-out!

1. Playing Games

I am a forever GM. I have run way more games than I've played. In 2023 that changed and I found myself playing a LOT more. It really opened my mind to various games and play-styles, and helped hone what I want in a game. This was definitely the biggest revelation and the reason for the rest of the list. If I was going to list a new year's resolution, it would have to be to just play more games. Here's hoping!

2. New Games

The game toolset of the year for me was Named. I'm a big fan of playing into a character and thus, I gravitate towards tag-based character builds. Named uses epithets called--strangely enough--Names. While similar to tags, for my money, they add more juice. I see them as things people call your character... or whisper behind their back. This is a small but important distinction; YMMV.

More interesting still is how Named handles advancement through Reflections. At the end of a session, the table talks about what each character did in the game. Did they earn a new Name? Did a name not fit or need changing? It's easily the best advancement system I've ever seen... and now it's mine; MINE! :D

I was fortunate to get the full hat-trick with Named. I played it, podcasted it and contributed to a setting for it: Skypirates of Jotnaar (that is REALLY cool if I do say so myself).

Honorable mention for Dr. Paul's Palaeolithic Voyages. You can keep your +1 swords; just gimme a good rock and some flint! I really wanna play more of this system.

3. New Genre

I played my first game of Delta Green. For whatever reason, I'm not drawn to Cthulhu games but I dig Delta Green. It comes down to the twist: characters are not trying to solve a mystery; they are trying to stop/contain/suppress/clean up a problem. More MIB or X-Files than straight Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Really fun game.

I look forward to reflecting on 2024!

We are exploring different approaches to TTRPGs. Through play we have come to value:

• A shared understanding of a world over rules
• Table trust over systems
• Immersion over character sheets
• Conversation and negotiation over procedures

That is, while there is value in the elements on the right, we value the elements on the left more.