Make Words Go Now

 Lots of interesting things happen in this world, and sometimes they happen to me.

I'm in a spot where I'm happy at home and happy at work, and we're smack dab in the middle of a global pandemic. I've done many creative things in my life, some with more gusto and dedication than others.

I'm trying to make a habit out of this with no overall goal in mind other than to do just this - write and talk about stuff I like.

You see, the internet is full of people taking dumps on things - it's full of hate and animosity, contempt and sanctimonious smugness. If you doubt what I say, take 30 seconds, find a random YouTube video, and start reading the comments section.

I rest my case.

Now, I like griping as much as the next guy, but I find that, oddly enough, I don't like talking about things I don't like. I tried being a movie critic, and I found that I always look for some bright spot to take away from a film, even if it is as bad as Batman & Robin or Volcano. I understood that not all movies are high art, and I approached films with a varying degree of expectations.

This led to a number of reviews going up with a, "It's ok," or, "I enjoyed it," popping up somewhere in the review at least half-a-dozen times.

Truth be told, there are very few things in this world I actively despise. Most things I dislike I can avoid, and, like I said, I don't like talking about the things I don't like. The internet, however, thrives on that. Just look around and you'll find numerous "Top 10 Worst" lists and "Such and such, finally explained!"

It gets old, and I don't want my voice to be out there in a crowd of people simply spewing hate around, even if it's hate at irrelevant things.

So my promise to you is that I will rarely, if ever, write about things I don't like. I will try to talk about things that make me smile, or look for the best in the things I have.

A friend of mine once looked at a shelf of mine filled with movies, pointed to one, and asked, "Hey is that any good?" He quickly realized what he had just asked: "Hey, that movie you bought and put on your shelf there, do you like it?" We don't routinely keep things around if we don't enjoy them in some fashion.

This goes for games as well. I have had thousands of games in my lifetime, and I have had several games that I really like, then get over and then dismiss. With some reflection on a game, and maybe playing it a second or third time, things can dawn on me that I really don't like that game, and that there's this other game that does what this game is trying to do way better.

Take my long-running obsession with superhero games. I mentioned that I started with the Marvel Superhero RPG from TSR, then switched to Champions, then to Silver Age Sentinels, Mutants & Masterminds, and then Savage Worlds. There is nothing wrong with any of these games and I had fun playing and running games in all of these systems. Each has its strengths and each has its weaknesses.

I've found that as I've aged, my specific wants from a game change. When I was younger, I wanted simplicity and beat-'em-ups that the Marvel FASERIP system could deliver easily. Then I aged a bit and wanted some more complexity and the ability to customize heroes in many more ways, so I started using Champions. After some time, Champions got old and we were tired of the over-complexity that came with the Hero system, and we moved on to Silver Age Sentinels.

The Silver Age Sentinels Tri-Stat system offered a good amount of customization and fluidity, yet was easy enough to play. I ran two campaigns in it and developed my own superhero setting that I've used ever since using those rules.

Then Mutants & Masterminds came along and knocked it out of the park. The notion of rolling a single d20 for everything was insane, and I bought into it whole-heartedly. Green Ronin did a great job creating a wonderful setting, rules, and went on to develop it over three editions that I both ran and played games in. I was a fan. I rode the tour bus, bought the t-shirt, and was all-around a happy GM with a superhero setting that I thought worked perfectly for my tastes.

Then I got older again, and the flaws of the game started to peek through after years of players figuring out loopholes, my inept handling of rules and campaigns, and new editions changing things over and over again. M&M is still a great game - a great system full of crunch and customization that should make anyone who loves comics blush.

But I found I wanted something simpler, more user-friendly, and not so minute in its detail. I moved to the second edition rules of the Savage Worlds Supers line. Now, I only ran one game in it, but it was a fun time. They have yet to update those rules to the new edition of Savage Worlds, so time will tell if that becomes the one I continue with, or if I go looking for something else.

This kind of took a turn in the middle there to talking about superhero games, which is not where I really thought I'd go. But, hey, it's where I ended.

I'm exhausted and going to bed now.