The local group I play D&D 5E with is nearing the end of a campaign I (and another friend, though he had to drop out after a few months due to him becoming a trucker) joined up with back in 2019 at level 10 and we've now been level 20 for about 5 sessions as of this point. The campaign was split into 4 Chapters and I joined at the beginning to Chapter 3 so the rest of the group started this campaign back probably in 2017 or maybe even earlier at level 1. We took a good 6-9 months off in 2020 and 2021 upon finishing Chapter 3 as we all agreed trying to play it online over Discord was proving to be sub-optimal. Most sessions tend to be heavier on the roleplaying side of things with combat not being a guarantee every session and even with combat it's been very rare for us to require a Short Rest, in part as the DM has had some trouble making challenging high level fights due to how overwhelming the party characters are. Now part of the reason these 2 chapters have taken about 80 sessions is because we're not always very efficient as players, with important battles in particular sometimes stretching out several hours for a 8-10 round battle, but with a 5-6 player group it can also be tough for everyone to stay focused on the game when the DM is focusing on one or two players as part of the narrative for right then.


I've considered getting art of my Tabaxi Cleric at times, and I even know the artist I'd ask, but I keep waffling on it as I keep going back and forth between liking my cleric and being indifferent towards him. I designed him with the idea of a more paladin-style (sword and board) build but I've rarely gotten to play him like that. Having the Life Domain (which worked best with the backstory and deity I and the DM worked out) also means he's more specialized towards support than actual tanking, to my chagrin and I've gone and retconned some feats and equipment that I thought would be useful but then never had seen any use even a dozen or two dozen sessions later. The worst was when we were playing over Discord in 2020 and I tended to just put him on support/healbot with my main focus on something other than the game because there was rarely anything useful I could do in combat between the tank being OP and able to soak up a massive amount of damage and the other three members able to dish out a massive amount of damage between them.


The story isn't anything truly unique what with being a form of cycles of rebirth with the party trying to break that cycle with the help of the gods but it's been told in an entertaining way (even if I feel there has been a bit of branching quest fatigue) and each player has had their own personal quest to deal with in addition to the main quest and all the sidequests that the DM has liked seeing if we'd take the bait on. Certainly the group has a greater focus on roleplaying, which is not a strong point for me, but there have been times when it's been fun to do and I've forced myself to stay In Character (especially once we started meeting up again in person last year) because he has been fun to play even if I've been frustrated at playing him some times.


All in all it's been fun. If nothing else it's been pleasant meeting up and hanging out with local friends for part of a day. I haven't decided what to do about my character once the campaign is fully over (we might do a one-shot in the future that is a dangling side quest for a dragon npc we've interacted with several times). I suppose ultimately it's a bit of "I've had fun with him but I'm also ready for the campaign to draw to an end to retire him, in part as finishing the campaign is one of the goals to be completed before I quit my job and move in the second half of this year.


To those that have stuck with this rambling journal for so long my question is- what other tabletop rpgs (ttrpgs) are out there? I've played Pathfinder and Pathfinder 2.0 with my group, I couldn't get into World of Darkness when my group was trying it out last year for the possibility of a future campaign but I'm willing to give W:TA another try but the superhero one they tried out also that was heavily roleplaying I didn't like, nor was I fond of Starfinder when we tried it. I love Triten and that you could build a very unique character but that rpg system is essentially dead (I have commissioned a picture of my buccaneer seagull mage and my deer hunter/mercenary that specialized in magical debuffs but I'm still waiting on them). Same with Gamma World when I played it with my group in Washington State. Shadowrun I've tried but couldn't get into and while I haven't played Call of Cthulhu I know of its reputation and from having played the Arkham Horror and Eldritch Horror games. I know there are a lot more out there and even if I looked up ttrpgs within the furry fandom I'm sure I'd find some but trying to find one that is decently known and can be found is a bit more challenging.