Further Figurings...

See, I don't need a break precisely. What I need is a break from Hekinoe. I need some just straight up mindless fun. Hekinoe, and GMing it, is fun. I have had more fun there than anywhere else in my gaming career. The thing is, Hekinoe is rewarding, and that is a bit different than fun. It can be fun, our exploits are a true example of that. But again, rewarding and fun are more or less two different things. 

To go back to Erevan and the 4th Edition sessions I played with Lance, Shawn, and Kristina. I had Erevan sew together a pile of rats to make into a weapon. What the fuck? That is far too ridiculous and downright stupid to do in my Hekinoe campaign, but in the 4th Edition game, it worked. We laughed and giggled and I was constantly amused, and hopefully my DM and party members were as well. It wasn't necessarily more fun than my Hekinoe scenarios, it was just...different. I didn't care about the story. There wasn't really a story, we were out in the wilderness and stumbled upon one another and then stumbled upon some kobolds and chaos and hilarity and looting ensued. 

It was fun because we just killed monsters, took their shit, and didn't think too hard about the consequences of our actions. Sometimes, that can be a shit ton of fun. As an example of the differences between Hekinoe and my 4th Edition group: shmeeps. Back in 2nd Edition AD&D, I allowed the guys to breed sheep with monkeys and then with bats to make shmeeps. Weird, sorcerously created pets that they sold. It was ridiculous and hilarious and silly. I wouldn't allow that sort of thing in my Hekinoe campaign, because there is (supposedly, heh) a more serious tone to the campaign. In the 4th Edition group, I would have taken it a step further and tied ten of them to a quarterstaff and made it into a shmeep flail. 

So my desire boils down to what I would call the DMing equivalent of watching a mindless action film. Lots of explosions and paper thin plots. Just endless entertainment and bombs and explosions and action and adrenaline. I think Gamma World will really hit the spot. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was probably more fun to play it, but I think GMing it will be a hoot as well. We'll see.