It would behoove so many people to learn the difference between "loose" and "lose." If people would learn how to spell them, I think the English-speaking world would be just that much better of a place to live.

Just so you're aware, I have nothing of real importance to talk about today. I still haven't found a job yet, so I alternate between feelings of desperate shame (at bringing in no additional income) and guilty pleasure (at getting to be at home all day). While turning on the TV to watch "Alias" on Sunday night, we learned that Saddam Hussein had been found and captured alive, so that's good. Seriously, I never expected we'd be able to take him alive - I figured he'd either commit suicide or we'd recover his corpse in a bombed-out structure as we did his sons. So, bully for the Coalition.

It's amazing what you can learn when you stop to talk to people. I was speaking with a groundskeeper today, shooting the breeze about the weather (it's cold and slushy) and such, and I noticed he had a spread of papers and folders across the trunk of his car. There was a jacket hanging inside his car that, at first glance, looked like a Pinkerton security jacket. He then said, "So you know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, I'm also a federally-licensed bounty hunter. Have you seen this guy?" He shows me a picture; I haven't, but then, I rarely go outside since losing my job. Wow. I started to wonder if I should mention that in this blog; maybe he works as a groundskeeper because it's a good cover. Do bounty hunters need a cover? I decided to go ahead and mention it because, hey, he's the one who brought it up in the first place, and because people don't often come out and tell you that they're bounty hunters.

Speaking of bounty hunters, I ran my first Star Wars roleplaying session for Marilyn, and it was a lot of fun. I really like the D6 system - it's quick, very easy, and has a randomizing element (the Wild Die) which actually makes running a game that feels like Star Wars very easy (it would work well for a pulp adventure game, like Indiana Jones, as well). This was Marilyn's first run as a solo player character, and we found that she's a bit intimidated by the experience: the structure of the adventure, the character she made, and the style of the game (Motto: KEEP MOVING! FASTER!) placed a lot on her shoulders. I can sympathize; Michael and I have played a lot of one-on-one adventures, and there's always a lot of pressure on the player to come up with all of the plans, pick up on all of the clues, and pull everything off without hints, ideas, or cooperation from other players. When it works, it's great, but when you get stuck, nothing's more frustrating and defeating than having to appeal to the GM for a deus ex machina to show you what to do next.

We've decided (or, perhaps more accurately, I jumped on Marilyn's concerns and interpreted them) to try a different game after we finish this adventure. I came up with a list of possible games that I thought she might have a better time with, and she made an additional suggestion that we should try something I've never run before. I've got about six or seven games on my shelf that I haven't ever run, and the thought of doing so is intriguing. Marilyn considered a game or two that I hadn't thought she'd be interested in, which made me happy. I already knew that my wife was intelligent and had good taste (except perhaps in men - hardy-har-har), but every now and again I'm surprised to learn something new about her interests. Spurred on by one of her comments about Sengoku, "Chanbara Roleplaying in Feudal Japan" (and by renting out Medal of Honor: Rising Sun for my PS2 for the week - I just finished it last night), I've been poking around Japanese stuff online, on my bookshelf, and in my CD collection. Of course, she might decide to play something completely different, which is great. That's just how my brain works - shifting from one genre or setting to the next over the course of a day or two...

I'm sure no one cares at all about this, but I feel like listing the games I've presented as possibilities for Marilyn. I have a need to make lists like this. Some of them are games I've never run before, and some are just games I thought Marilyn would like:
- Sengoku
- Birthright (originally, this is a D&D setting whose selling point was that players would play rulers and political movers. I don't think we'd do that; I only wanted a good setting for a generic fantasy campaign, and this one is pretty neat, so that's why I have this listed)
- Warhammer (Mmm, gothic dark fantasy goodness... This is one of my personal favorites)
- Castle Falkenstein (This is one of my favorite games, simply because it has class; it doesn't hurt that I have a monster campaign I was working on just before I moved to Minnesota...)
- Yrth (the setting for GURPS Fantasy, though I might use a different system...another good choice for generic fantasy, as it would allow me to use both real historical cultures, artifacts, and religions as well as Tolkienish stuff)
- Atlantis (Marilyn had mentioned an interest in Atlantis before; I thought that Bronze Age adventure could be a nice change of pace...especially since she liked Earthdawn so much. Two different animals, but a similar species, at least in my mind... I've got GURPS Atlantis and "The Lexicon," an old fantasy setting book from Bard Games with a prehistoric Earth that I could use)
- Spelljammer (Not the original AD&D setting, but the revamped version from an issue of Polyhedron - fantasy races flying around space in magical sailing ships, fighting Mind Flayers and Drow, stuff like that. I could use Steamjacks from the Iron Kingdoms adventures, too...hmmm...)
- Deadlands (Old West weirdness...I've got about 75% of everything Pinnacle ever published for Deadlands sitting in my closet; I've only ever run one adventure)
- Terra Incognita (this is a book I picked up long ago, made for Fudge, though I'd probably use D6 or Savage Worlds; basically, it can be anything from Jules Verne to Indiana Jones)
- In Nomine (I prepared to run something for an online Christian gaming convention using a modified version of In Nomine, only to be told that they weren't interested in hosting any secular games, so now I've got a little bit of material sitting around for this...it would be weird, but I think it could be fun)
- FVLMINATA (Ancient Rome! Woo hoo! I even have the Ave Victrix "teeth" dice to use with it...)
- Pendragon (This could be a lot of fun, and a bit of a different experience, given the emphasis the game places on family records and holdings and the epic scale, tracking a character over the span of years rather than days and months; on the other hand, it could prove to be tedious...but so many people think this is the Holy Grail of gaming (ha ha) that it must be worth a try)
- Shadowforce Archer (actually, this would be my interpretation of the d20 setting based on the information I got off of AEG's website, using the Fuzion system. Given how much Marilyn and I enjoy "Alias" and the Syphon Filter games, I thought that we could dig this...but the last time we talked about games, Marilyn had mentioned not being terribly interested in modern day games, so this is really up in the air)

There, is everybody gone now? I've gratified my desire for self-indulgence and wasted some time, thus fulfilling two of the few purposes of this blog. Now I'll go do something useful, I promise.