Miscellania

* Our little two-person Regency/Gothic playtest is really, really not going right.  I can't say it isn't going well because there's been some fun romance and adventure and I've gotten to tap into my long-disused knowledge of Arthuriana -- but the fact that I just used "fun," "adventure," and "Arthuriana" to describe the game sums up all of the problems right there.  I just haven't mastered the tropes of the Gothic well enough to enact them in a way that provides a satisfying ending to a night's gaming -- a satisfying ending that enables us both to get up for work the next day without nightmares and angst.  That is, admittedly, going to be a challenge.  I acquired a copy of GURPS: Screampunk based on the review at Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque; I think it will be every bit as helpful as the review describes. 

* We played D&D Next with some friends a week ago.  I really liked it.  The advantage/disadvantage mechanic is simple and fun.  I'm sure I'll come to loathe levels and classes again as I always do, but it was an amusing diversion and I'd like to play more of it.  Maybe Robin and I can play a low-level Waterdhavian swashbuckling game when I get Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster's Forgotten Realms on my birthday.

* Chisholm Trail Winery kind of sucks.  The wines were always a bit odd, but these days the only ones even worth tasting are their Lenoir-based wines -- and those are definitely an acquired taste.  Plus, their grape stomp is seriously underwhelming.  Bleah!  Becker Vineyards is, as always, the best grape stomp around.

* You know who I miss?

This guy:

 

 Seriously, Marvel, bring him back.