You hear people talking about their “bucket list” all the time. A list of things they want to try before they die. For some people, they are jokes or wistful dreams. But for others, a bucket list is a guide to living life without regrets. I’m in that latter category. My bucket list isn’t long. I have been lucky over my 50+ years and able to do many of the things I wanted to. My biggest bucket list item right now is to attend a Winter Olympic Games. I’ve got hopes of attending the Milano Cortina Games in 2026 but it is going to be very expensive. 🤞🏻 I can make it.
The last time I was deciding what game to run, I had an epiphany. I realized that there are several game ideas that kept coming to mind and it would be useful to make a bucket list from them. Cloud storage services and generations of hard drives hold the scattered notes for these campaigns. Some ideas need more development. Others I was waiting for perfected planning and the perfect group before kicking them off. Once again, perfect is the enemy of good. I’ll never get to play them if I wait for perfection.
I think that, if asked, most gamers could produce a similar list of games. The trick is to articulate these dream campaigns as your gaming bucket list. Once you frame it that way, it becomes easier to act on them, to make progress towards running them. You will recognize resources that might be helpful. Most importantly, it will help you put your limited time and resources into the games you really want to play. Our lives are too short to spend on games that aren’t on top of our want list.
Once I had my bucket list, I started seeing published games that might fit my needs. Related news articles and inspiration from other media seemed to just fall into my lap. Relevant things I encounter day-to-day stand out; ready to be noted and used while running the campaign.
Articulating my bucket list has also made deciding what to run next easier. When it is time for a new campaign, my attention goes to shiny new games (The Borellus Connection or Mysteries of the Ancients) and old favorites (Feng Shui). Now I start with the bucket list. “Should I tackle one of those?” I don’t always pick bucket list games. I might not be feeling it, or the group just isn’t right. But, I always start with the bucket list.
So what’s on my game bucket list?
International spy thriller with lots of action, and lots of movement between European landmarks, probably with many of them being destroyed in the process.I crossed this off my list during COVID with my Dracula Dossier campaign.- A science fiction campaign about exploration. I want to invoke a sense of wonder in both characters and players. You know, that feeling I had when I first read Larry Niven’s Ringworld as a teenager, or when the epic music kicked as Drs. Alan and Ellie Grant see their first dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. I think I have found the campaign for this one, Deepnight Revelation. I’ve been preparing for it for a couple of years now and I hope to start soon.
- An epic fantasy campaign that I create from scratch (rather than from a published source). This one probably has to wait until I retire. I’ve got a few isolated ideas, but no solid plot to drive the story and I will need plenty of time to develop it.
- Masks of Nyarlathotep. I believe Masks was the first extended TTRPG campaign ever published. Chaosium recently updated it for the 7th Edition of Call of Cthulhu. You can find plenty of supporting information online. I have even collected some props for that tactile experience. Masks is a classic that I would love to experience.
- A rerun of a prior campaign. This is an unusual one as it isn’t a particular game; pretty much any game would do. I would like re run a campaign I ran previously with a different set of players. I am curious to see how much familiarity with the material helps, and how much I learned from the first run through. I am also interested in seeing how it plays differently. Where will these new characters take different approaches to problems? Where will they succeed and where will they fail? I don’t have a particular game in mind, but I could see running the Paizo Aventure Paths Kingmaker or Legacy of Fire again. For a shorter campaign, the Dracula Dossier is a likely target. Whatever game it is, the point is to see how it runs differently from the second time.
I think a game bucket list is probably something most game masters have. Be intentional about it. Expressing your priorities clearly will help you choose the games that matter most. What epic campaigns are on your bucket list? Let me know in the comments below.