Finally Gaming Again

The internet is a wonderful place sometimes. I have little to no ability to play in a local game, but I have just recently started two online games that fit my life perfectly.  I'm also really enjoying myself.

The first is @DnDPrincessAria's Real Time D&D.  This game is done as a play-by-skype-chat game with an Obsidian Portal site to keep everything together.  It's designed for those of us who love the hobby, but don't have a lot of time to play.  A few minutes every few days, and thanks to the internet we're adventuring.  DnDPrincessAria has placed us in a truly high fantasy world using the D&D 3.5 system.  While I don't own any 3.5 material, I do play Pathfinder so making a character was no problem.  I am playing Ryfar, a Fetchling rogue sniper with his trusty repeating crossbow.  That character was made with Pathfinder rules, but I altered the skills to correctly fit the 3.5 edition character sheet that was available on Obsidian Portal.  So far, I've been the only player able to get a few sessions in, but that should change now that summer is near.  I can't wait to see where this goes as others get more involved.  DnDPrincessAria has a lot of GMing experience, and it shows in how she handles this odd game format. I also like that the world itself is a collaborative work, with players adding location details with story hooks.

My second game is my challenging game.  @MilwaukeeJoe is running the fourthcore weekly Grind4E as a play-by-blog-post game.  This is a great format for this challenging delve, and I'm really having a blast even though we just started.  The blog is at http://grind4e.blogspot.com, and it's really set up nicely.  The players seem to all be experienced gamers ready not only for the challenge, but also ready to really roleplay it.  By adding a "tech" section to any post, there's an easy way to separate meta talk from in character sections, and everyone is taking advantage of this.  Playing is really like being part of an interactive novel.  Right now we're not in a very good position, and I'm going to be pleased if I survive this first chamber.

Despite my lack of a local game, I've found places to play thanks to the work of these two fine DMs.  I really appreciate all the work they're putting into this, and I'm glad to be playing again.