[SolemnGolem]

TTRPGs also peaked in interest for my gaming group, as the pandemic diverted more people to virtual tabletops.

My group had cautiously tried playing Gloomhaven and found ourselves turned off by the strange combination of low-detail mechanics, limited player choice, inflexible character progression, and steep learning curve. After disassembling and plundering the GH box for everything remotely usable for a TTRPG, we then decided to try DFRPG with the leftovers.

Then the pandemic hit, and face to face became impossible.

We went with Tabletop Simulator, I bought four copies of DFRPG dead-tree version boxed set as gifts to my players, and we're now a few sessions into a heavily-modified "You All Meet At An Inn". I see myself running through plenty of Pyramid adventures before trying my own... the possibilities of this now feel endless after making the jump to virtual. I can well imagine if we never go back to FTF again even post-pandemic.

This does have somewhat dubious connotations to other SJG titles, though, which to my knowledge do not have any workarounds virtually. Munchkin, Chez Geek, and Revolution! were three of my favorite non-GURPS titles and I'm not sure we'll be able to do much of that in future unless we meet in person.

I'm glad to see SJG's evergreen lineup is keeping steady, staying afloat, and staying the course in its trade (unlike Evergreen Suez perhaps). At this point, I'm eagerly buying up or Kickstarter backing every GURPS thing they do.

Edit: I also just re-read the report's sad news about Monica Stephens. I am sorry for this loss - both for SJGames as an organization and for Steve himself.