A few more than 365 days (the first article exclusive to the site went live 12/14/16). An article total of 179 by the end of the month, 104 of which are completely new to the site. Adventures were logged, systems were split, things got wonky, parties were met, games were reviewed, and a few oddball topics were thrown into the mix. With the holidays upon us, with a new year looming and a second cycle around the sun with Cannibal Halfling Gaming beginning, I though it might be fun to look back at a year’s worth of bringing games and gamers together before looking forward to new adventures.

Aaron will be putting out another Holiday Special for the Level One Wonk next Wednesday, looking back with a statistical bent to things (among other things), so I’ll leave the savory number crunching in his capable hands. Still, wow, I can tell you that this whole thing has gone a lot better than I thought it would. For one thing we’re still here (and I’m still super darn grateful that it’s a ‘we’ and not an ‘I’)! I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing when I got started, but I’ve learned quite a bit through trial and error and some helpful advice along the way. So, what have been some of the highlights?

The Patreon has kept chugging along at its own humble pace, and didn’t even take a dent during the recent Debacle; we actually picked up a new patron in the aftermath! It’s been a great help, both in keeping the site going and with morale, and we’ve put some pretty interesting things up there in the form of material taken from the GM notes of Living on Borrowed Time and the audio from interviews for The Independents. There hasn’t been as much in the way of rewards as I’d like, however, something I’m hoping to rectify in Year 2. Aside from more concretely thanking those who’ve supported us all this time there’s the hope that it’ll draw more Patrons to us. That’ll help us do some more things with the site, but I’m also hoping that we’ll be able to start paying it forward; there are a number of projects out there that it would be great to become a Patron for in turn.

Our DriveThruRPG Affiliate account has actually been humming along as well (thanks again go to Aaron for originally suggesting the idea), and we’ve got a nice fistful of credit stashed away (I’ll post a screenshot of our report on Twitter later today, for those curious). We’re either going to be polling our followers for what they want to see us review or continuing to save up so that we can review the Next Big Thing like we did for Genesys. This too is quite the morale booster; it’s tangible evidence that we’ve brought a game and a gamer together, which is always nice.

As mentioned there were a number of interviews over the course of the year, and those were probably among the most fun. Masks, Do: Fate of the Flying Temple, and the Mistborn Adventure Game all involved talking to the creator of the game in question, and several more involved an emailed question and answer session. I hope to do a fair number more of those and reviews in general over the course of Year 2; they’re probably my most ‘on brand’ contribution to Cannibal Halfling Gaming, they are really fun, and the games and creators deserve the attention.

I got to talk about the site with the lads over at Delve (as well as some Transit business)! That was a good time, and I hope to do some more similar stuff. Related, I’ve stubbornly kept Articles as a category because of the hope of there being more than the written word found on CHG. There are a few ideas percolating, and a campaign that has actually been fully recorded and may some day see the light of day as an actual play ‘cast. Nothing certain, yet, but we shall see.

The story of the crew of the Borrowed Time is coming to a close, and the last Adventure Log of Living on Borrowed Time could be as soon as next week, but that won’t be the end of the Log. Masks: High Impact Heroics will be taking over as the main record of actual play and the lessons learned therein; there are a couple of sessions to be written about already, and if it’s half as fun as the actual game than I think you’re going to enjoy it.

Meet the Party is probably my most niche offering, but it’s still fun to put together characters, particularly when I’m fulfilling a request from the readers (hint, hint) like the members of the Uprising or the Explorer Squad 11. I haven’t made anything using Xanathar’s Guide to Everything yet, for instance, and I hope to continue adding different games and systems to the roster.

So: thanks! Thanks to the readers for dropping by, the folks who have shared articles with others, everybody who left a comment here or elsewhere, everyone who suggested an idea for an article or pointed us towards an interesting game, everyone who clicked a link or pledged their support.

As for Year 2? I’m going to indulge in repeating myself, when I said goodbye to the Mad Adventurers Society a year ago: “Wherever the roads and the dungeon maps may take you, I wish you all the best. And I’ll see you out there. I can’t wait to hear the stories you’ll have to tell, and I can’t wait to tell you mine.” Here’s to another year of fun stories, good memories, and friendships old and new. Now go on and play some games.