Let's Talk About Our Year In TTRPGs

[Reynard]

So how was your 2025 as it relates to TTRPGs? What did you play and/or run? Did you start and/or finish campaigns? Did you try new games? What did you buy? What did you get rid of? Did you go to any conventions or other organized events? Did you host any cons or other organized events? What was the highlight? The low point?

I'll be more detailed later when I have time, but I want to say my highlight ws first getting, then running at a convention Daggerheart. I really like the game and am looking forward to it dominating my weekly play in 2026 (once I finish this D&D 2024 campaign).

 

[payn]

Traveller 'goose 2E Pirates of Drinax campaign (GM). Was going well online until this summer hit and all my players have kids and busy stuff that even online wasnt working for us

Joined up a F2F Fading Suns session that is bi-weekly. Lots of political intrigue so im very happy. This system is like a cross between Traveller and 3E D&D.

Lots and lots of Battletech. I've been running narrative events and campaigns. Playing weekly at the FLGS.

For conventions I went to Adepticon for the first time at its new home in Milwaukee. Love the city and the dealer hall was amazeballs. My games could have used some more variety (event schedule for 2026 just dropped so im gonna mix it up more this year)

Finally, home grown Battletech only convention KSAGG in Mpls. This was my superbowl and it didnt disappoint. We had 100 attendees in 2024 and this year it increased to 150. I hosted an event with 40 players and over 20 maps of 3D terrain. I was a busy busy man. Though, my event had recieved the most call outs in the end surveys. A highlight for sure!

 

[TwoSix]

Kept on keeping on.

Friday table: My friend is primarily DMing 5e, our campaign that started in late 2023 is nearing its endpoint at 15th level. I also ran a few sessions of a fairly radical 5e experiment, with AD&D style multiclassing, class unlocks attached to dungeon items, and diegetic "gold" that acts as XP.

Thursday table: Lots of experiments and one shots. Dolmenwood was the most consistent game, but good sessions of Mork Borg, Sickest Witch, Monster of the Week as well.

Monday online group: Two 5e games, with two DMs alternating weeks. Relatively slow progress. Also did a few sessions of another 5e experiment with a "magic school", which has been well-received.

Saturday table: Finished the first arc of a military Eberron campaign, with me DMing. With 8 players to 1 GM, progress has been relatively slow. Also ran a few sessions of Daggerheart that was well-received, might move the table in that direction in 2026.

Got a few kickstarters this year; best product I got this year was the Stormlight Archive RPG.

 

[TheSword]

Good Question 2025 was a good year I would say. I’ve phrased it as the Stop, Start, Continue approach we do at work.

Stopped (or should have stopped)

• I backed the 2nd edition Alien RPG kickstarter. With a wash of enthusiasm. Then when I started reading around some of the previous 1e modules got a serious body horror reaction and felt pretty nauseous. Totally put me off. It’s all sitting in its shrink wrap unopened.
• I stopped using hosting services for VTT and paying extra for no good reason and switched to self hosting. Just took some research.
• Also cut back on some Patreons for maps and tokens. Definitely got a bit too excited there in 2025.
• Finally made a concerted effort not to engage in the politics/polarizing topics on EN World and spend more time talking about the game and campaigns I like.

Started in 2025

• I went to the UK Games Expo for the first time this year, despite only living 20 mins away. Which I enjoyed and would definitely plan better this time.
• Started my online Dragonheist/Golden Vault WFRP mash up which I’ve enjoyed a lot.
• Started running Dungeons of Drakkenheim 2024 F2F monthly which has been a joy. A real blast.
• I tried a little (1 a week) paid DMing for the first time which was a surprisingly smooth process.
• Started to play in a F2F Vecna Campaign 2024 rules which I enjoy a lot.
• Started writing a 5e Dalelands campaign instead of mapping to a published campaign. Did some writing myself following a useful thread with good advice about writing your own stuff.
• Started reading more about the hobby - some pretty good books on DMing. So You Want To Be A Games Master and Lazy Dungeon Master.
• Got the FR books which I think was a really good call. Those will get used a lot I think.

Continued in 2025

• Continued with Enemy Within WFRP now in its last legs after three years. Very satisfying.
• Finally finished act 3 of BG3 despite finishing Act 1 about 12 times and Act 2 about 6 times. Once was enough!

 

[Reynard]

Joined up a F2F Fading Suns session that is bi-weekly. Lots of political intrigue so im very happy. This system is like a cross between Traveller and 3E D&D.

I really like the "Price Is Right" d20 roll (highest without going over) as a way to gauge success and have considered yoinking it foer various design projects.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

2025 is notable for me as the year I walked away from the current D&D edition. Not the first time I've done so, and I imagine at some point in the future I'll be looped back in (though it would require a new edition that is dramatically streamlined from what it is now). I had been running Cyberpunk Red with the expectation that I would return to running D&D after all three core books came out and I had the time to read them. Only after reading all three, I realized that the game was no longer one I wanted to play.

One the one hand, I've found running Cyberpunk Red to be immensely freeing. On the other hand, saying "see you later" to D&D was a bit sad. And I did lose a player as a result of the switch.

Convention-wise, I just went to Origins this year. Not doing D&D Adventurers League made it different for me. I did get to dip my toes back into Shadowrun's organized play. I also tried to get out of the convention center and explore Columbus more. Wandered over to COSI.

 

[zarionofarabel]

Most of the year was either not gaming due to health issues, or the normal short form (1-3 shot) games I usually get stuck running. A few false starts for campaigns, all due to scheduling issues rather than system or people issues, so some hope for the coming year. Also got a few cool new games, most important of which was some horror stuff, which I have always stayed away from cause I'm not a horror fan so I figured I would be bad a GMing it. To my suprise the few games I ran went over really well so much so that a few peeps are working hard on figuring out a schedule for the new year in the hopes of getting a longer campaign going.

Most importantly was my reengagement with the whole online TTRPG space. I was active a few years ago but eventually grew discouraged because of how overwhelmingly D&D 5e oriented just about everyone and everything was. It actually all started with a single YT video that randomly popped up in my suggested list about the newest version of Pendragon (6th) and the creator went on at length about other non-D&D TTRPGs. Slowly over the course of a few weeks I looked back into the forums and YT videos and to my pleasant suprise discovered that the landscape was quite different than it was years ago, with a lot of folks discussing non-D&D TTRPGs!

Even more recently I was even more pleasantly suprised when I finally decided to give Actual Plays another chance. I tried watching Critical Role a few years back but it's just so far from a genuine tabletop experience that I couldn't get into it. To my very extremely pleasant suprise my YT feed suddenly became inundated with suggestions for actual plays. This has had a few side effects, most of which was reinforcing my preferences for games. I tried watching some D&D 5e AP, but wow, I never liked playing minis and grid combat cause I find it boring, but trying to watch it makes my eyes and ears bleed, especially considering that as soon as the minis hit the map (or tokens hit the grid) all description dissappears and it turns into a math game. Trying to watch 15 minutes of that is terrible. I skipped through a few just to see, and wow I can't understand how anyone would want to watch an hour or three. I also tried watching a few OSR AP, and I totally don't understand how folks can still be dungeon crawling after 40 years, it's, so boring. On the other hand I did find a TON of channels that do non-D&D AP, and wow some of them are bloody fantastic! The GMs are smart and imaginative, the players get into character and really put effort into the narrative. It's made me realize that there are probably a LOT more people out there that game the way I do than I originally thought. It's also had the side effect of skewing my YT algorithm so I keep getting recommendations for channels that do lots of non-D&D content, which is totally awesome! Turns out there are a heck ton of folks that are not D&D players just like me! It's definitely made me feel like I'm much less of an outlier than I've thought. So, if nothing else, this year has taught me that I might still be a weirdo, but much less so when it comes to my TTRPG preferences!

 

[billd91]

TTRPGs in 2025:

• DMing Tyranny of Dragons using the 5e.2024 rules. Characters are now 6th level after starting last October with character gen. Weekly on Thursday night
• Playing Curse of Strahd, my younger daughter (21) is DM using 5e.2014 rules. Characters are 8th level. Alternate Saturday afternoons.
• Started DMing Wilds Beyond the Witchlight using 5e.2024 rules. This is a back-up game to the Curse of Strahd game for when my daughter isn't available. Alternate Saturday afternoons.

Other stuff:
Read Game Wizards and The Elusive Shift.
Finally got Baldur's Gate 3 - am in Act 3 on first play-through.
Went to Gamehole Con where I DMed for their new organized play program - Wardens of the Eastern Marches.
Also tried out: Planet of the Apes, Mothership, and The One Ring. Played in Call of Cthulhu, D&D, and Star Wars games.
Started watching Critical Role's Campaign 4.
Continued watching The Glass Cannon Network's Time for Chaos.
Started and caught up on Ludo Narrative Dissidents podcast.
Started listening to Push the Roll with Ross Bryant podcast.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Started and ran ongoing 5E Radiant Citadel and Shadowdark sandbox campaigns, along with a Pirate Borg one shot. Also ran Heroes of the Borderlands for coworkers, who are eager to keep playing in 2026.

Got to play Mothership (great!) and Daggerheart (hard to tell, as the DM was probably the worst I've ever dealt with, just a smug jerk who made the whole experience miserable).

Published another thing, via the Appendix N Jam (and also posted it to DriveThruRPG). Need to get off my butt and publish a short thing for Heroes of the Borderlands that I realized I'll need for my next session, which will be my first DMs Guild product.

It was an incredibly busy year for me for work and family stuff, so I'm hoping things are calmer in 2026, although I suspect they won't be.

 

[Mannahnin]

Ran a few sessions of The Nightmares Underneath and of OSE early in the year, and adapted NG's The Jeweler's Sanctum to 5E for a few friends, including an adult friend playing for the first time and his teenage son, and ran that. Didn't have time or energy to run an ongoing campaign, but I'm getting the itch again.

Didn't get to any conventions this year but I want to get back to them next year.

Continued playing in my regular Wednesday night 5E 2024 game, with some old wargaming & 3E/4E buddies I've known for 26 years now. The new campaign just passed a year old, and is my second since we got this band back together a few years ago. We also played Dungeons of Drakkenheim start to finish, but we finished that last year.

Also have continued playing in my irregular Sunday Pendragon game, in which we've been slowly working through The Great Pendragon Campaign for three real-life years now, though the last year and this one have been very intermittent.

Played some of the new Battletech Alpha Strike this year with my best friend. That's a nice revisit to an old love. Didn't really do any other wargaming this year. I'm packing up my library/game room right now for a move and looking over all my old Warhammer, 40k, Kings of War, Song of Ice & Fire, Maelstrom's Edge, Battletech, and D&D minis and trying to figure out when I'll get back into that hobby regularly. I do miss painting.

I really like the "Price Is Right" d20 roll (highest without going over) as a way to gauge success and have considered yoinking it foer various design projects.

I've heard this also called "Blackjack" and I've seen it used elsewhere, like in BRP.