The closest I’ll get to gaming tonight is possibly a game of Hammer of the Scots, but I doubt it. Och, well. Happy Burns Night, lads and lasses.

Since I just thought of this minutes ago, I haven’t the time to provide any detailed rules or scenarios for this year’s festivities, but wouldn’t it be a perfect way to spend part of such a celebrated evening playing a lively parlor game or role-playing game? The players are present and fed and their imaginations fired by Burns’ verses, why not take advantage of the situation and make a truly great gaming night of it?

I think a fine way to begin might be The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Hogshead Publishing, if you can find it, or a game of Charades, to be followed by a Scottish-themed role-playing session. This would be the gaming highlight of the occasion and would preferably consist of a single-session scenario steeped in the atmosphere of Scotland’s past. Call of Cthulhu or Cthulhu by Gaslight or a Victorian mystery by way of Terra Incognita or whatever Fudge rules suit you best are the first ideas that spring to mind. Ghost stories set during Robert Burns’ lifetime are also appealing and have the added attraction of a time period rarely explored by role-playing games. Scotland is also a superb setting for medieval games, of course, which are far more plentiful, but I think special occasions call for special observations, which in this case means the exotic and unusual. Mystery, horror, and suspense are the order of the night. Perhaps next year I’ll have something more substantial to offer. Meanwhile, have a happy Burns Night!