I’m a gamer, specifically tabletop role-playing games (henceforth known as TTRPG). You know, Dungeons & Dragons and the like.
For the last decade or so, there has been the 10 X 10 Board Game Challenge. The idea is you play ten different board games ten times each over the course of the year.
Well, now role-players are getting in on the act with their own version of the challenge. Now we have the 6 X 6 TTRPG Challenge where you play six sessions of six different campaigns over the course of the year. Bonus if you use six different game systems. The goal is to play more games and have fun.
If you’re not into RPGs, let me break this down for you. A campaign in a role-playing game sense is a story told over a number of sessions. A session might last anywhere from an hour to all-nighters from sundown to sunup. This as opposed to a one-shot, which is a story told in one session. So, in a typical D&D campaign, your characters start in a tavern and end up getting a quest – either a caravan needs guarding as it crosses the land, or the local town is being attacked by monsters, or the local Duke needs you to discreetly steal back incriminating love letters to the Queen of a neighboring country. These adventures will unfold as the characters undertake the quest and have adventures. Think of it like watching all three Lord Of The Rings movies (1 , 2, 3) where Frodo and company go on a long journey to destroy the One Ring. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is more of a one-shot.
In the 6 X 6 Challenge, you’d play six different campaigns, each with six sessions. If you are playing in the same setting, using the same game system, you’d have thirty six sessions of the same type of game. Think six seasons of something like Game Of Thrones, where each season may have the same characters, but there is a different story arc each season.
If you are using different systems, then that is more like watching six different TV shows. Believe it or not, there are more game systems beyond D&D. Shocking, I know. There are game systems to play science fiction, urban fantasy, superheroes, noir detectives, even rabbits. Running six different campaigns, using six different game systems, is like having a full slate of primetime TV programming.
If you play three sessions a month, that’s 36 sessions for the year. Since my gaming group is spread out geographically, doing this challenge will be tricky. I’ll likely have to resort to some solo role-playing to get several of the campaigns completed. Yes, it is possible to play RPGs by yourself, but that is a topic for another time.
If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum